CONTEXT
A central/visceral fat distribution and excess free fatty acid (FFA) availability are associated with dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. However, these two characteristics often coexist, making it difficult to detect the independent contributions of each. Whether FFA suppression is more closely linked to metabolic abnormalities is not clear.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between FFA suppression, body fat distribution, and fitness as contributors toward insulin resistance and hypertriglyceridemia.

DESIGN
We measured systemic palmitate turnover using an iv infusion of [9,10-(3)H]palmitate; upper body sc adipose tissue (UBSQ) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and a single-slice abdominal computed tomography scan; fitness with a graded exercise treadmill test; and insulin sensitivity with both the iv glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) (SI(IVGTT)) and mixed meal tolerance test (SI(Meal)).

SETTING
The study was conducted at a General Clinical Research Center.

PARTICIPANTS
Baseline data were obtained from 140 elderly adults (age, 60-88 yr; 83 males) and 60 young adults (age, 18-31 yr; 31 males) who participated in a previously published trial assessing the effects of 2-yr supplementation of dehydroepiandrosterone or testosterone on body composition, glucose metabolism, and bone density.

INTERVENTIONS
There were no interventions.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
We measured fasting plasma triglyceride (TG) concentrations, SI(IVGTT), and SI(Meal).

RESULTS
Using multivariate regression analysis, the strongest combined predictors of TG concentrations were VAT, postmeal nadir FFA concentrations, sex, and age. The best predictors of SI(IVGTT) were IVGTT nadir palmitate concentration, VAT, UBSQ fat, fitness, and age, whereas the best predictors of SI(Meal) were meal nadir palmitate concentration, UBSQ fat, fitness, and sex.

CONCLUSIONS
FFA suppression is associated with both fasting TG concentrations and insulin sensitivity, independent of measures of adiposity.


Most serum immunoglobulin M (IgM) is "natural IgM", which is produced apparently spontaneously by a distinct subset of B cells requiring no exogenous antigenic or microbial stimuli. Natural IgM is an evolutionarily conserved molecule and reacts with a variety of epitopes expressed on both self- and non-self antigens. It has long been understood that secreted (s) IgM contributes to the removal of altered self-antigens, such as apoptotic and dying cells. As we outline in this review, it is thought that this sIgM housekeeping function removes potential triggers of autoresponse induction. However, we recently demonstrated an unexpected and distinct role for sIgM in the control of autoreactive B cells: the regulation of bone marrow B cell development. The absence of sIgM blocked pro- to pre- B-cell transition and greatly altered the BCR repertoire of the developing B cells and the peripheral B-cell pools in genetically engineered mice. This finding strongly suggests that IgM is critical for B-cell central tolerance induction. Given that treatment of sIgM-deficient mice with polyclonal IgM corrected these developmental defects, therapeutic application of IgM could be of clinical relevance in the treatment of some B-cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.


Our objective was to evaluate the effects of time and temperature on whole blood used in the gamma interferon enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IFN-gamma ELISA) for paratuberculosis along with evaluating four potential positive controls, and four different mycobacterial antigens for the ELISA. Nine adult Holstein cattle naturally infected with Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis were used in a randomized complete block design. Forty-nine blood tubes were collected from each animal and held at 48.9, 37.8, 26.7, 21.1, 15.6 and 4.4 degrees C for 0, 4, 8, 12, 18, 24, 32, 48 and 72 h. Each blood tube was tested with four mycobacterial antigens (two johnin PPDs, an avain PPD and a whole cell sonicate) and four potential positive controls [concanavalin A (conA), phytohaemagglutinin A (PHA), pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and Staphylococcus enterotoxin A (SEA)]. After incubation for 24 h, the plasma was assayed with a commercial IFN-gamma ELISA. Blood stored at 21.1 and 15.6 degrees C maintained the highest ELISA optical densities (OD) over time with severe reduction in OD values at or above 37.8 degrees C. None of the potential positive controls exactly mimicked the antigen response. SEA and PWM were able to elicit a response after the whole blood quit responding to the antigen and conA underestimated the responsiveness. Phytohemagglutinin A was similar to the antigens on an average, but there was significant disagreement among samples. The PPDs were more potent at stimulating IFN-gamma production than the whole cell sonicate. In conclusion, whole blood should be stored/transported at ambient room temperature and stimulated within 12 h of collection.


Wrist injuries, in particular distal radius fractures, are very common in snowboarders. Previous studies have shown wristguards can reduce incidence of wrist injury. This study aims to determine if protection differs between guard designs. Snowboarders presenting to the Centre Medical d'Avoriaz during a 7 week period in the 2010-2011 winter season were surveyed on whether they used a wristguard as well as details of the design. Wristguard usage of the injured group--those with injuries distal to and including the elbow was compared to the controls--all others. Use of all types of wristguard was 20.2 % of the injured group and 27.0 % of controls (p = 0.035). Short guards accounted for 83.3 % of all guards used by injured snowboarders and 76.5 % of guards used by controls (p = 0.190). However, 100 % of snowboarders who had acquired distal radius fractures despite using wristguards used short guards (p = 0.031). Guards situated on the palm side only were used by 55.6 % of injured wristguard wearers and 47.1 % of control wristguard wearers (p = 0.144). The increased incidence of palm side wristguards in those with distal radius fractures compared to controls was not quite significant, 69.2 % (p = 0.064). This study confirms that wristguards can reduce the prevalence of wrist injury, and also suggests that some guards may offer better protection than others. In particular, the results suggest that short guards and possibly those worn on the palm side do not protect against distal radius fractures. Further work is needed to determine the wristguard design which offers the greatest protection against wrist injuries. Language: en


Reactive Turing machines extend classical Turing machines with a facility to model observable interactive behaviour. We call a behaviour (finitely) executable if, and only if, it is equivalent to the behaviour of a (finite) reactive Turing machine. In this paper, we study the relationship between executable behaviour and behaviour that can be specified in the $\pi$-calculus. We establish that every finitely executable behaviour can be specified in the $\pi$-calculus up to divergence-preserving branching bisimilarity. The converse, however, is not true due to (intended) limitations of the model of reactive Turing machines. That is, the $\pi$-calculus allows the specification of behaviour that is not finitely executable up to divergence-preserving branching bisimilarity. We shall prove, however, that if the finiteness requirement on reactive Turing machines and the associated notion of executability is relaxed to orbit-finiteness, then the $\pi$-calculus is executable up to (divergence-insensitive) branching bisimilarity.


Taxpayers and governments alike struggle to stay on top of the various complex sources of tax law and to apply them in a myriad of contexts. Given the potential for confusion and disagreement (not to mention the sometimes large financial stakes involved), it is appropriate to have a process for taxpayers to appeal government decisions to an expert body that can provide authoritative, reasoned, and rational solutions to tax disputes. For this reason Canada, like the United States, has a specialized tax court dedicated to hearing appeals from decisions of the tax administration. Yet there is some evidence in both countries that judges in tax cases may be influenced by their own personal policy preferences or other factors extraneous to the "true" legal merits in deciding appeals. This article examines appeals from tax assessments in Canada to understand the relative influence of judicial tax expertise and the policy preferences of judges on decisions at the Tax Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal. The authors first describe the institutions and processes for tax appeals. They then analyze the impact of judicial expertise and policy preferences on outcomes of tax appeals, drawing on approximately 3,400 decisions of the Tax Court of Canada in the period 2000-2006 and including, where applicable, the related appeals to the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. The authors arrive at and discuss three main results of the study: (1) policy preferences of judges matter, but not that much; (2) resources matter — a lot; and (3) there are dynamics relating to affirmation of appeals by the Federal Court of Appeal that are difficult to explain, although a desire to avoid the apprehension of bias is possible.


Dietary lipid modulation of structural and passive mechanical properties of isolated rat abdominal aortic segments were assessed during the early developmental period. Rats were raised from conception to 90 days of age on semisynthetic diets containing various types and amounts of lipids. Aortic segments from three groups of rats fed high-fat diets (15%, wt/wt) consisting of olive oil, corn oil, or lard as the sole lipid sources were compared with those from rats fed a low-fat control diet containing corn oil (5%, wt/wt). Morphometric analysis of the tunica media demonstrated that rats raised on diets with a relatively low polyunsaturated fatty acid content (olive oil and lard) had greater numbers of elastic lamellae than rats raised on diets with opposite fatty acid indexes (high- and low-fat corn oil). Changes in elastin content of the tunica media, determined biochemically, paralleled those seen by morphometric analysis of the elastic lamellar number. Altered dietary fatty acid ratios were also associated with changes in smooth muscle cell number. In this regard, a decreased cellular density was observed in the olive oil and lard diets compared with the corn oil diet. The olive oil diet was unique amongst the dietary lipid regimens in raising, whereas the lard-containing diet lowered, indexes of aortic tissue elasticity. These results demonstrate an effect of chronic feeding of high dietary fat on the composition and biomechanical properties of the connective tissue matrix of abdominal aortic rings from young Sprague-Dawley rats.


The purpose of this study was to characterize the influence of pulmonary inflations on the discharge patterns of rostral pontile respiratory neurons. Decerebrate and paralyzed cats were ventilated with a servo-respirator which produced patterns of pulmonary inflation, assessed by tracheal pressure, which paralleled alterations in integrated activity of the phrenic nerve. Neurons with respiratory-modulated neuronal activities were recorded in the pneumotaxic region of the nucleus parabrachialis medialis and Kolliker-Fuse nucleus, as well as in the trigeminal motor nucleus. Approximately equal numbers of neurons had phasic and tonic respiratory-modulated discharge patterns. The discharge patterns of most neurons were not qualitatively altered when pulmonary inflation was prevented. However, withholding inflation did cause the recruitment of some respiratory-modulated neuronal activities. Similar findings were obtained in normocapnia and hypercapnia. Results support the concept that the discharge of neurons in the pneumotaxic region may exert phasic, as well as tonic, influences on ventilatory activity.


Objective The greater New York metropolitan area includes 8 medical schools. Their alumni association (AA) presidents formed a council 6 years ago, meeting 3 times a year to share ideas and identify best practices to solve mutual problems challenging students and alumni. Methods A survey of the 8 medical AAs was conducted; all responded, and the results constitute the data in this report. Results Mean AA membership was 2509 or 33% of mean alumni populations (7489). Two AAs conferred membership at graduation; hence, 100% of alumni were AA members. Omitting these 2 AAs reduced mean participation to 1722 or 23%. Alumni association support staff averaged 3.8 persons (range, 1–7 persons). The 2 most frequently cited AA challenges were membership and fund-raising. All AAs had annual or biennial reunions and considered the reunion to be a major commitment of resources. Despite this commitment, mean reunion attendance was only 242 alumni (range, 40–500 alumni) or 7.3% of alumni in anniversary years (5-year intervals). The mean number of alumni who contributed annually to their alma mater through its AA was 1936 alumni (range, 500–3500 alumni), or 26% (range, 5%–47%). Medical AAs reported mean assets of $2,755,000 (range, $6475–$11,000,000). The mean AA budget was $298,750, of which 65% (range, 13%–100%) was devoted to "medical student support". The most frequently cited student activities were "career night" (100%), "white coat ceremonies" (63%), medical equipment (stethoscopes, etc, 50%), and alumni host programs (38%). Eleven additional medical student activities received financial support from the 8 AAs in varying proportions. Conclusions Each AA in the Greater Metropolitan Medical Alumni Council has derived significant benefit from the application of best practices to its individual problem set. In particular, a nascent AA developed significant momentum in its formation and development by its participation in the Greater Metropolitan Medical Alumni Council. Additionally, these data provide a foundation for the development of best practices within medical school AA for optimizing support of student programs and alumni participation. Stronger AAs will translate into enhanced support of educational programs for medical students. We urge formation of similar medical AA organizations in other metropolitan areas.


Drug transporters are integral membrane proteins expressed by a variety of organs, including the liver, kidney, small intestine and testis, and they are generally known to mediate drug or xenobiotic transport into and out of cells. Previous studies have also reported the presence of several drug transporters at blood-tissue barriers where they are thought to protect organs from harmful agents. In this editorial, we briefly discuss and re-evaluate recent findings that show P-glycoprotein, an efflux pump, to function at the blood-testis barrier. We also put forth a mechanistic model, hoping this information will form a strong basis for future studies.


BACKGROUND
Ischemic brainstem dysfunction can be caused by extrinsic compression or kinking of the proximal vertebral artery. This is a retrospective survey of operated patients comparing neurologic examinations done postoperatively with preoperative neurologic evaluation. No patient with arteriosclerotic obstruction of the proximal vertebral artery treated by endarterectomy is included in this series.

METHODS
Over a 5 year period, 104 patients presented preoperatively with signs and symptoms of brainstem dysfunction, with negative computerized tomographic scans of the brain, and angiography which demonstrated radiographic findings compatible with impediment to and compromise of blood flow into the first part of the vertebral artery. All patients had surgical exploration of the proximal vertebral artery in the lower neck mainly under local infiltrative anesthesia. Extrinsic compression or kinking of the proximal vertebral artery was found in all patients and relieved by surgical decompression and arteriolysis. Thirty-eight (36%) of the 104 patients had staged bilateral vertebral artery decompression and arteriolysis.

RESULTS
There was no operative mortality and only minimal morbidity in this series. Twenty four patients had postoperative aortic arch angiography which showed absence of any radiographic abnormalities seen preoperatively, and which further showed a more directly aligned flow path of the proximal vertebral artery with the subclavian artery. The one year postoperative results in the 104 patients were as follows: 71 (68%) had sustained partial restoration of lost neurologic function, 23 (22%) had no change in neurologic status, and 10 (10%) became worse in neurologic status. In the group of 71 patients who had sustained partial restoration of lost neurologic function for 1 year postoperatively, 19 patients were neurologically evaluated for from 16 to 20 years postoperatively and continued to exhibit sustained partial restoration of lost neurologic function over that time.

CONCLUSIONS
A safe, effective surgical procedure that can be performed under local anesthesia, namely decompression and arteriolysis of the proximal vertebral artery, is available for the treatment of ischemic brainstem dysfunction caused by extrinsic compression or kinking of the proximal vertebral artery.


Paul Griffiths offers his own personal selection of some of his most substantial and imaginative articles and concert reviews from over three decades of indefatigable concertgoing around the world. He reports on premieres and other important performances of works by such composers as Elliott Carter, Sofia Gubaidulina, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Steve Reich, as well as Harrison Birtwistle and other important British figures. Griffiths vividly conveys the vision, aura, and idiosyncrasies of prominent pianists, singers, and conductors (such as Herbert von Karajan), and debates changing styles of performing Monteverdi and Purcell. A particular delight is his response to the world of opera, including Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande (six contrasting productions), Pavarotti and Domingo in Verdi at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron, and two wildly different Jonathan Miller versions of Mozart's Don Giovanni. From the author's preface: "We cannot say what music is. Yet we are verbal creatures, and strive with words to cast a net around it, knowing most of this immaterial stuff will evade capture. The stories that follow cover a wide range of events over a period of great change. Yet the net's aim was always the same, to catch the substance of things heard. "Criticism has to work largely by analogy and metaphor. This is no limitation. It is largely through such verbal ties that music is linked to other sorts of experience, not least the natural world and the orchestra of our feelings." Paul Griffiths's reviews and articles have appeared extensively in both Britain (Times, Financial Times, Times Literary Supplement) and the United States (New Yorker, New York Times). He has written numerous books on Bartok, Cage, Messiaen, Boulez, Maxwell Davies, twentieth-century music, opera, and the string quartet, and is the author of the recent Penguin Companion to Classical Music. He is also author of he Sea on Fire: Jean Barraque.


Data stream clustering provides insights into the underlying patterns of data flows. This paper focuses on selecting the best representatives from clusters of streaming data. There are two main challenges: how to cluster with the best representatives and how to handle the evolving patterns that are important characteristics of streaming data with dynamic distributions. We employ the Affinity Propagation (AP) algorithm presented in 2007 by Frey and Dueck for the first challenge, as it offers good guarantees of clustering optimality for selecting exemplars. The second challenging problem is solved by change detection. The presented StrAP algorithm combines AP with a statistical change point detection test; the clustering model is rebuilt whenever the test detects a change in the underlying data distribution. Besides the validation on two benchmark data sets, the presented algorithm is validated on a real-world application, monitoring the data flow of jobs submitted to the EGEE grid.


Background: The rat model has had limited utility for the study of long nerve gaps because of the small size of the animal. The authors sought to develop a simple, effective rat model for reconstruction of long nerve gap defects. Methods: Fifteen rats had a sciatic nerve transection followed by reconstruction. Positive control rats received a 1-cm isograft. Negative control rats received a 3.5-cm hollow silicone conduit, and experimental rats received a 4-cm isograft; these were implanted in a looped configuration to accommodate the long length. Nerves were harvested at 6 weeks (1-cm grafts) and 12 weeks (3.5-cm conduits and 4-cm grafts) for histologic and histomorphometric evaluation. Results: The 1-cm and 4-cm isograft groups showed robust regeneration in the distal nerve segment. The 3.5-cm hollow conduits showed absolutely no initiation of nerve regeneration. Histomorphometric values were as expected for the specified gap length. Conclusions: This study describes a simple and effective long nerve gap rat model for experiments on nerve grafts and nerve conduits. The long nerve graft model can be useful for studying techniques such as processed nerve grafts, which are currently a topic of frequent investigation. The 3.5-cm hollow conduit "no-regrowth" long-gap model is ideal for investigating conduit-based tissue-engineering solutions for long-gap nerve repair. The authors' approach overcomes the size limitation of the small animal while exploiting the features that make the rat the model of choice for preliminary nerve studies.


The shock ignition (SI) approach to inertial confinement fusion is a promising scheme for achieving energy production by nuclear fusion. SI relies on using a high intensity laser pulse (≈1016 W/cm2, with a duration of several hundred ps) at the end of the fuel compression stage. However, during laser-plasma interaction (LPI), several parametric instabilities, such as stimulated Raman scattering and two plasmon decay, nonlinearly generate hot electrons (HEs). The whole behavior of HE under SI conditions, including their generation, transport, and final absorption, is still unclear and needs further experimental investigation. This paper focuses on the development of an experimental platform for SI-related experiments, which simultaneously makes use of multiple diagnostics to characterize LPI and HE generation, transport, and energy deposition. Such diagnostics include optical spectrometers, streaked optical shadowgraph, an x-ray pinhole camera, a two-dimensional x-ray imager, a Cu Kα line spectrometer, two hot-electron spectrometers, a hard x-ray (bremsstrahlung) detector, and a streaked optical pyrometer. Diagnostics successfully operated simultaneously in single-shot mode, revealing the features of HEs under SI-relevant conditions.


Clothing and textiles research is examined within a futuring framework to discuss potential avenues for development of thought within the field. A philosophical perspective linking ontology, epistemology, and methodology is posited as important to exploring assumptions that guide the research process. The material culture studies perspective, the feminist social science perspective, and the critical science perspective are discussed as three potential ways of approaching the subject matter in need of mainstreaming as we look to the future of knowledge production within clothing and textiles. Based on this discussion, ideas and implications for scenario-building in the traditional futures sense are presented.


Two novel types of micromachined nanoelectrospray emitter tips have been designed, fabricated and tested. The fabrication method of the hollow tips is based on a self-aligning deep reactive ion etch process. The tips consist of either silicon dioxide or silicon and feature orifice diameters of 10 and 18 μm, respectively. The geometrical characteristics of both emitter types are favorable for the generation of stable electrospray ionization, i.e. wetting of the tip shaft is avoided and the base of the Taylor cone is limited to the diameter of the orifice. A silicon dioxide tip was operated in a bench top setup to visually evaluate the electrospray. Both types of tips were also successfully used for the analysis of an insulin sample in an ion trap mass spectrometer.


Talent management is an important issue in recent years. Most of the entrepreneurs know the importance and put more and more resources into it. However, there are not good performances for all the business which do talent management even for a long time. To know more about this situation, we may explore some moderating factors referenced from past literatures. Such as organizational strategy, environmental uncertainty, and degree of globalization,they are the 3 main moderating factors in this research. Furthermore, we define talent as key talent to identify the research subjects more clearly. We set the listed companies in Taiwan or more than 400 people entrepreneurs as survey subjects. These companies distribute in each field including service industy, manufacture industy and High-Tech industy. There are 69 valid samples included, and each sample is from each company without duplication. Most of the respondents are managements and serve in individual company for 5~10 years averagely. These samples are analyzed by SPSS regression model, and the results show as follows: (1) Environmental uncertainty is a significant moderator and has positive moderation affects. It means when companies do more key talent managements in high uncertain environment, the organizational performance will get better than others they don't do it. (2) Organizational strategy and degree of globalization are not significant. Even the results don't support the hypotheses, these two moderators still exist some interactions between key talent management and organizational performance due to the obvious significance of the entire model. In the end, we provide some practical suggestions and informations about the moderation effects. We are looking forward to seeing more and more medium companies can do key talent management more efficiently. Moreover, we wish it certainly can come with positive performance in doing key talent management.


We present a patient with syringomyelia and neuropathic osteoarthropathy involving the elbow, wrist, and hand unilaterally and discuss the differential diagnosis of the radiographic features. The unique pattern of joint involvement in this patient may be explained by selective involvement of specific anatomic sites within the spinal cord.


The use of a bidirectional DC-DC converter operating in the DC link of CRPWM-inverter-fed motor drives devoted to electric vehicles (EVs) application allows a suitable control of both motoring and regenerative braking operations, and it can contribute to a significant increase of the motor drive overall efficiency. This paper deals with the experimental study of a bidirectional DC-DC converter prototype which has been designed for application in small-size EVs propelled by axial-flux PM motor drives. The paper discusses the converter modes of operation and reports the experimental results taken from a converter prototype which has been constructed using an IGBTs power module rated 600 V, 50 A.<<ETX>>


In a retrospective case-control study, gonococci with nutritional requirements for arginine, hypoxanthine, and uracil were recovered from 24 of 25 men with asymptomatic gonorrhea and 10 of 25 men with symptomatic gonorrhea (P = .0001). These strains represent a smaller proportion of gonococcal isolate from blacks than from whites. Asymptomatic urethral infection is important in the epidemiology of gonorrhea, particularly among whites.


Summary
Interferon induction by 11 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of the HR strain, and 38 ts mutants of the AR339 strain of Sindbis virus was investigated. All HR and AR339 mutants induced interferon at 30 °C. Induction by the mutants at the restrictive temperature (39 °C) was dependent on the time of incubation, and, in some instances, on the input multiplicity. At an input multiplicity of 5, and after an incubation time of 16 h at 39 °C, induction by the AR339 mutants was dependent on virus RNA synthesis. All HR mutants showing detectable RNA synthesis at 39 °C induced interferon, but of those showing undetectable RNA synthesis at 39 °C, three induced interferon and three did not. At 42 °C, RNA synthesis by the HR wild-type and all ts mutants was depressed, and only one mutant and the wild type induced interferon. Temperature shift experiments showed that interferon induction was dependent on an early virus function. It is postulated that interferon induction is dependent on a low threshold level of RNA synthesis occurring early in infection.


Stroke, for some years now the neglected major indication in the pharmaceutical development cupboard, has recently become one of the hot areas for stem cell therapy development. This is driven by better understanding of potential therapeutic opportunities both in the acute and chronic phases and the launch of a series of new early phase clinical trials in a number of countries, driven by positive data in relevant animal models. In addition, the impetus for stem cell product development is motivated by patient demand, with thousands of victims seeking unproven treatments abroad. This article looks at the many challenges facing the development of a stem cell therapy for stroke. These range from product characterization and banking, through nonclinical safety and efficacy to the regulatory requirements for starting patient trials and beyond to maximizing value from carefully designed efficacy trials.


BACKGROUND
Many cardiovascular disease events occur before morning awaking and are more severe in hypertensive patients. Sleep-related cardiovascular regulation has been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis. In this study, we explored whether such impairments are exaggerated during late sleep (before the active phase) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs).

METHODS
Polysomnographic recording was performed through wireless transmission in freely moving SHRs and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKYs) over 24 hours. The SHRs were injected with saline and an α1-adrenergic antagonist (prazosin: 5 mg/kg) on 2 separate days. Cardiovascular and autonomic functions were assessed by cardiovascular variability and spontaneous baroreflex analysis.

RESULTS
Compared with the early-light period (Zeitgeber time (ZT) 0-6 hours), both the WKYs and SHRs during the late-light period (ZT 6-12 hours) showed sleep fragmentation, sympathovagal imbalance, and baroreflex impairment, which were exaggerated and more advanced in the SHRs. Like the morning blood pressure (BP) surge in humans, we found that there was a wake-related blood pressure surge (WBPS) during the late-light period in both groups of rats. The WBPS was also greater and occurred earlier in the SHRs, and was accompanied by a surge in vascular sympathetic index. Under α1-adrenergic antagonism, the late-light period-related sleep fragmentation and BP surge in the SHRs were partially reversed.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results reveal that sleep-related sympathetic overactivity, baroreflex sensitivity impairment, WBPS, and sleep fragmentation in SHRs deteriorates during the late-light period can be partially alleviated by treatment with an α1-adrenoceptor antagonist.


The effect of a carbohydrate or a 20% protein (HP) or a carbohydrate + 0.4% tryptophan (TRP) evening meal on plasma amino acids and on plasma neutral amino acid (NAA) ratios was studied in eight healthy men. After consumption of the protein meal, plasma amino acids rose after I h and remained at the same level at 2 h. The dietary profile of the essential amino acids, except for TRP, was retained in the plasma. The plasma profile of nonessential amino acids was not related to the dietary pattern. Glutamic acid and aspantic acid increased several-fold less and alanine several-fold more than would be expected from their dietary concentrations. The tyrosine/NAA and phenylalanine/NAA ratios were not altered by any of the meals and the TRP/ NAA ratio was increased only by the carbohydrate + 0.4% TRP meal. The leucine/NAA and isoleucine/NAA ratios were decreased by the carbohydrate and carbohydrate + TRP and increased by the 20% protein meals, while valine/NAA was decreased by the carbohydrate + TRP and HP but increased by the carbohydrate meal. From these data it is concluded that if brain neurotnans- mitten synthesis is controlled by the same mechanisms as in rats, then the evening meal containing added TRP was the only one of the meals likely to affect brain neurotransmitter (serotonin) synthesis. Am J Cliii Nutr 1982;36:143-l53.


Interview with George E. Fortenberry, who is an Army veteran and college professor from Arlington, Texas. In the interview, Fortenberry discusses his experiences in the Southwest Pacific Theatre during his time as a member of the 112th Cavalry of the Texas National Guard during World War II. He also describes what it was like growing up during the Great Depression and attending various different schools in both Texas and Oklahoma. Fortenberry discusses why he decided to join the National Guard, and also his experiences in early basic cavalry training. During much of the interview, Fortenberry reminisces about many of his various assignments and duties while serving in the war. Among these discussed include his assignment as a clerk to the veterinary section, time in Fort Bliss and Fort Clark, his shipment overseas to Noumea in New Caledonia, his transfer to the Medical Detachment as a clerk, and his time in New Britain, New Guinea and the Philippines. Fortenberry also recollects about everyday life in the Southwest Pacific, and includes details on tropical diseases and combat-related psychological problems that many of his comrades suffered through.


Within the Hepburn metamorphic-plutonic internal zone of the Wopmay orogen (Northwest Territories, Canada) there are two chronologically and petrologically distinct plutonic associations. The more voluminous of the two, the older 1.885 Ga Hepburn intrusive suite, includes rocks ranging in composition from gabbro to granite, peraluminous granite dominating. The younger 1.855 Ga neighboring Bishop intrusive suite (also gabbro to granite) represents the waning stages of a well-documented calc-alkaline arc, the Great Bear magmatic zone. The petrological distinctions between the two suites are all late-acquired features imposed primarily by contrasting environments of emplacement. Hepburn magmas were intruded within a closing, dominantly sedimentary, back-arc basin. Magma emplacement was synchronous with crustal imbrication, regional metamorphism, and translation of the basin-fill units onto Archean crust. Significant assimilation of sedimentary host rocks by the rising Hepburn magmas occurred, whereas the postregional metamorphism emplacement of the Bishop magmas precluded similar assimilation. The gabbroic contribution observed in the Hepburn intrusive suite is interpreted to reflect a mantle-derived precursor inherited from the back-arc rifting event that immediately preceded emplacement of the suite.


Ongoing global warming may cause an increase in air and soil temperatures. These increases can then lead to increase in the frequency of soil freezing and thawing cycle during the winter in cool-temperate and other high-latitude regions. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of repeated soil freezing and thawing treated cycles (FTTC) on wet aggregate stability (WAS) and hydraulic conductivity (HC) in incubation laboratory and field experiment on Pellustert, Argiustoll, Haplustept, and Fluvaquent soils, the major soil groups in the eastern part of Turkey. To provide long-term climatic effect of soil FTTC on WAS and HC, a laboratory study was conducted simulating with three steps based on 60-year temperature cycles occurring in the region. The results demonstrated that the initial WAS increased with increases in FTTC from 3 to 6, by 18% to 113% but decreased after that point in all the soil freeze-thaw treatments by 2% to 25%, depending on soil type. The effect was more pronounced with increased moisture contents at freezing. The percent decrease in HC of soils ranged from 19% to 44%. The highest WAS values of soil samples under laboratory condition were determined in the Argiustoll soil, followed by Pellustert > Haplustept > Fluvaquent but was Fluvaquent > Haplustept > Pellustert > Argiustoll for HC of the soils. The field study results showed that global climate changes occurring in recent decades in the region deeply affected the WAS and HC values and that the highland soils are most sensitive to the global climatic change. Increasing air temperature has resulted in the rise of soil temperature, increasing the frequency of soil freeze-thaw cycles during the winter in cool-temperature and other high-latitude regions. If ongoing global warming continues this trend, WAS and HC changes in highland soils may lead to decrease and alterations in regional agricultural production such that regular organic manure or green manure amendments will be needed to sustain soil management and crop production for these major soil groups.


The establishment of more accurate imaging of surface microstructures is needed. The most significant distortion in atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging is induced by the probe tip shape, whenever the sample surface contains features whose dimensions are comparable to the probe tip size. The acquired AFM image is the dilation between the tip shape and the sample topography. To restore the original topographical profile, a numerical erosion procedure using a precise probe shape function is required. Here, a new technique for reconstruction of probe shape function using a well-defined nanostructure is proposed. First, AFM topography images of the given-shape nanostructure dispersed on flat substrates are taken. Then, a probe shape function is determined by a numerical calculation procedure. By using the experimentally determined probe shape function, the most probable surface morphologies from the observed AFM topography images of unknown samples can be extracted.


Ludwigia is an important broadleaf weed of direct-seeded rice in Asia. Crop interference that relies on shading may have potential as a component of integrated weed management strategies but it requires understanding the extent to which rice can interfere with weed growth and how these weeds may respond. The growth of ludwigia was studied when grown alone and in competition with 4 and 12 rice (cv. IR72) plants. Rice interference reduced ludwigia height, number of branches, and shoot and root biomass. However, ludwigia showed the ability to reduce the effects of rice interference by increasing leaf weight ratio, increasing stem and leaf biomass in the upper half of the plant, and increasing specific stem length. At 11 wk after seeding, for example, ludwigia grown with 12 rice plants had 38% greater leaf weight ratio compared to plants grown alone. When grown with 12 rice plants, the weed had 82% of its leaf biomass in upper half of the plant compared to only 25% in weeds grown alone. The results showed that ludwigia responded to rice interference with a combination of adaptations typical of many weed species. Despite such plasticity, the control of ludwigia may be achieved by dense rice stands and increasing interference. Nomenclature: Ludwigia, Ludwigia hyssopifolia (G. Don) Exell; rice, Oryza sativa L


Prostate‐specific antigen‐based prostate cancer screening remains a controversial topic. Up to now, there is worldwide consensus on the statement that the harms of population‐based screening, mainly as a result of overdiagnosis (the detection of clinically insignificant tumors that would have never caused any symptoms), outweigh the benefits. However, worldwide opportunistic screening takes place on a wide scale. The European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer showed a reduction in prostate cancer mortality through prostate‐specific antigen based‐screening. These population‐based data need to be individualized in order to avoid screening in those who cannot benefit and start screening in those who will. For now, lacking a more optimal screening approach, screening should only be started after the process of shared decision‐making. The focus of future research is the reduction of unnecessary testing and overdiagnosis by further research to better biomarkers and the value of the multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, potentially combined in already existing prostate‐specific antigen‐based multivariate risk prediction models.


This paper shows that Cayley Transforms, which map Orthogonal and SkewSymmetric matrices, may be considered the extension to matrix field of the complex conformal mapping function f1(z) = 1− z 1 + x . Then, by using a set of real matrices which are, simultaneously, Orthogonal and Symmetric (the Ortho−Sym matrices), it similarly shows how to extend two complex conformal mapping functions (namely, the f2(z) = i− z i + z , and the f3(z) = 1− z 1 + z i here called the clockwise, and the counter clockwise functions), to matrix field. This extension consists of some new one-to-one mapping relationships between Orthogonal and Symmetric, and between Symmetric and Skew-Symmetric matrices. This new relationships complete the picture of the one-to-one matrix mapping among Orthogonal, Symmetric, and SkewSymmetric matrices. Finally, this paper shows how to map among Orthogonal, Symmetric, and Skew-Symmetric matrices, by means of a direct product.


The aim of this work is to compute time optimal controls for a perturbation of a Brockett integrator with state constraints. Brockett integrator and its perturbations appears in many applications fields. One of them described in details in this note is the swimming of microorganisms. We present some key results for a fast and robust numerical method to compute time optimal controls for the perturbation of a Brockett integrator. This numerical method is based on explicit formulae of time optimal controls for the Brockett integrator. The methodology presented in this work is applied to the time optimal control of a micro-swimmer.


The production of prostaglandin E (PGE) and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) by amnion was measured in vitro in 12 women delivered after spontaneous preterm labour and in 15 women delivered after spontaneous labour at term. The placenta and fetal membranes were examined histologically in all cases. PGE output (fmol/mg dry weight/2 h) in the amnions from uncomplicated preterm deliveries was low (median 486, range 232-3203, n = 7) compared with the values obtained after spontaneous labour at term (5529, 1722-14,226, n = 15). In amnions from preterm deliveries complicated by acute chorioamnionitis or round cell infiltration there was massive release of PGE (15,262, 10,905-27,640, n = 5) which was accompanied by an increase in LTB4 production. Inflammatory infiltration of the fetal membranes results in a huge increase in PG production which could cause preterm labour.


We will review the econometrics of non-parametric estimation of the components of the variation of asset prices. This very active literature has been stimulated by the recent advent of complete records of transaction prices, quote data and order books. In our view the interaction of the new data sources with new econometric methodology is leading to a paradigm shift in one of the most important areas in econometrics: volatility measurement, modelling and forecasting. We will describe this new paradigm which draws together econometrics with arbitrage free financial economics theory. Perhaps the two most influential papers in this area have been Andersen, Bollerslev, Diebold and Labys(2001) and Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard(2002), but many other papers have made important contributions. This work is likely to have deep impacts on the econometrics of asset allocation and risk management. One of our observations will be that inferences based on these methods, computed from observed market prices and so under the physical measure, are also valid as inferences under all equivalent measures. This puts this subject also at the heart of the econometrics of derivative pricing. One of the most challenging problems in this context is dealing with various forms of market frictions, which obscure the efficient price from the econometrician. Here we will characterise four types of statistical models of frictions and discuss how econometricians have been attempting to overcome them.


We show how simple statistical techniques for capturing critical transitions used in natural sciences, fail to capture economic regime shifts. This implies that we need to use model-based approaches to identify critical transitions. We apply a heterogenous agents model in a standard housing market model to show that these family of models generate non-linear responses that can capture such transitions. We estimate this model for the United States and the Netherlands and find that first, the data does capture the heterogeneity in expectations and, second, that the qualitative predictions of such nonlinear models are very different to standard linear benchmarks. It would be important to identify which approach can serve best as an early warning indicator.


Objectives: Available data indicate that liver involvement is present in a significant proportion of children with celiac disease (CD) at the diagnosis (elevated transaminases 15%–57%, autoimmune liver disease 1%–2%). We sought to evaluate prevalence, clinical course, and risk factors for liver involvement in a large cohort of children with CD. Methods: Children (age 0–18 years) diagnosed with CD from March 2010 to April 2016 were enrolled. Liver involvement was considered to be present when alanine transaminase (ALT) levels were >40 U/L (hypertransaminasemia [HTS]). Patients with HTS were re-evaluated after at least 12 months of a gluten-free diet. Results: CD was diagnosed in 806 patients during the study period; of these, ALT levels were available for 700 patients (86.9%), and were elevated in 27 (3.9%, HTS group); median ALT and aspartate transaminase levels in the HTS group were 57 U/L (interquartile range 49–80 U/L) and 67 U/L (interquartile range 53–85 U/L), respectively. Younger age, malabsorption symptoms, and low hemoglobin or ferritin were significantly more common in the HTS group at univariate analysis. At multivariate analysis, only age ⩽4.27 years correlated with risk of liver involvement (odds ratio 3.73; 95% confidence interval: 1.61–8.66). When retested on a gluten-free diet, all but 3 patients normalized ALT levels; of these, 1 was diagnosed with sclerosing cholangitis. Conclusions: Liver involvement in celiac children is now less frequent than previously reported, possibly due to changing CD epidemiology. Younger age is the only risk factor. Associated autoimmune liver disease is rare.


AIM: To study relationships between clinical course of chronic pancreatitis (CP) and humoral immunity in CP patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Humoral immunity to structural and secretory pancreatic components and some phlogogenic factors of humoral and cellular origin as well as distribution of HLA antigens were studied in 115 CP patients. RESULTS: Two variants of CP course were identified: immunologically dependent and immunologically independent. These variants have typical clinical, laboratory, immunological and immunogenetic differences. CONCLUSION: Identification of immunologically dependent variant of CP has both fundamental and practical value as it enables more precise prognosis of the disease clinical course and differential approach to its treatment.


Several techniques have been proposed for human action recognition from videos. It has been observed that incorporating mid-level viz. human body and/or high-level information viz. pose estimation in the computation of low-level features viz. trajectories yields the best performance in action recognition where full body is presumed. However, in datasets with a large number of classes, where the full body may not be visible at all times, incorporating such mid- and high-level information is unexplored. Moreover, changes and developments in any stage will require a recompute of all low-level features. We decouple mid-level and low-level feature computation and study on benchmark action recognition datasets such as UCF50, UCF101 and HMDB51, containing the largest number of action classes to date. Further, we employ a part-based model for human body part detection in frames statically, thus also investigating classes where the full body is not present. We also track dense regions around the detected human body parts by Hungarian particle linking, thus minimising most of the wrongly detected body parts and enriching the mid-level information.


The exploration of evolutionary patterns over geological time has recently received new impetus from the development of morphological disparity as a new biodiversity metric alongside taxonomic diversity. Clade dynamics can be analyzed by comparing and contrasting these two metrics. Like any metrics based on sampling, quantification, and naming, taxonomic diversity and morphological disparity are not free from bias. The long use of taxonomic diversity has prompted many studies of bias and its effects, whereas bias affecting morphological disparity has only been summarily explored. This is particularly so for the effect of the growth of knowledge over paleontographical time (i.e., historical period of study) and its repercussions on morphological disparity and on the relative stability of disparity and diversity. Here, we analyze evolutionary patterns at a detailed scale. For a sample of Jurassic ammonites, morphological disparity increases faster than taxonomic diversity during paleontographical time. For disparity, we demonstrate two paleontological practices, based on comparison with a random numerical model: a tendency to identify and name extreme forms before intermediate ones for some morphological aspects (ornamentation), and a correlated tendency to underuse some other morphological aspects (shell geometry). However, the effects of the growth of knowledge over paleontographical time are only slightly marked on biodiversity curves through geological time, mainly because new discoveries and revalidations and/or invalidations of species are randomly distributed within the subzones during paleontographical time.


This paper presents SecuriTAS, a tool to engineer adaptive security. It allows software designers to model security concerns together with the requirements of a system. This model is then used at runtime to analyze changes in security concerns and select the best set of security controls necessary to protect the system.


ABSTRACT To evaluate new vaccines when human efficacy studies are not possible, the FDA's "Animal Rule" requires well-characterized models of infection. Thus, in the present study, the early pathogenic events of monkeypox infection in nonhuman primates, a surrogate for variola virus infection, were characterized. Cynomolgus macaques were exposed to aerosolized monkeypox virus (105 PFU). Clinical observations, viral loads, immune responses, and pathological changes were examined on days 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 postchallenge. Viral DNA (vDNA) was detected in the lungs on day 2 postchallenge, and viral antigen was detected, by immunostaining, in the epithelium of bronchi, bronchioles, and alveolar walls. Lesions comprised rare foci of dysplastic and sloughed cells in respiratory bronchioles. By day 4, vDNA was detected in the throat, tonsil, and spleen, and monkeypox antigen was detected in the lung, hilar and submandibular lymph nodes, spleen, and colon. Lung lesions comprised focal epithelial necrosis and inflammation. Body temperature peaked on day 6, pox lesions appeared on the skin, and lesions, with positive immunostaining, were present in the lung, tonsil, spleen, lymph nodes, and colon. By day 8, vDNA was present in 9/13 tissues. Blood concentrations of interleukin 1ra (IL-1ra), IL-6, and gamma interferon (IFN-γ) increased markedly. By day 10, circulating IgG antibody concentrations increased, and on day 12, animals showed early signs of recovery. These results define early events occurring in an inhalational macaque monkeypox infection model, supporting its use as a surrogate model for human smallpox. IMPORTANCE Bioterrorism poses a major threat to public health, as the deliberate release of infectious agents, such smallpox or a related virus, monkeypox, would have catastrophic consequences. The development and testing of new medical countermeasures, e.g., vaccines, are thus priorities; however, tests for efficacy in humans cannot be performed because it would be unethical and field trials are not feasible. To overcome this, the FDA may grant marketing approval of a new product based upon the "Animal Rule," in which interventions are tested for efficacy in well-characterized animal models. Monkeypox virus infection of nonhuman primates (NHPs) presents a potential surrogate disease model for smallpox. Previously, the later stages of monkeypox infection were defined, but the early course of infection remains unstudied. Here, the early pathogenic events of inhalational monkeypox infection in NHPs were characterized, and the results support the use of this surrogate model for testing human smallpox interventions.


New York State has a long history related to teachers' unions. Superintendents are often the main players for school districts when negotiating teachers' contracts. While much has been researched about negotiations, there is a gap in the literature in relation to the motivating factors of superintendents to successfully negotiate teachers' contracts. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of school superintendents who have successfully negotiated teachers' contracts within suburban areas of New York State. The central research question was: What are the lived experiences of school superintendents who have successfully negotiated teachers' contracts in public school districts in suburban New York? Sub-questions explored motivations, external factors, and internal or personal characteristics of the superintendents who have lived experience. The theories guiding this study included the negotiation theory (Zartman, 1978) and the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000b). The methodology that was utilized was a transcendental phenomenological design that includes purposeful sampling of participants, data collection obtained through questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis for 11 participants. Data analysis utilized Moustakas' (1994) prescribed procedures for constructing thematic portrayals of the lived experiences of the participants. When the data were analyzed, four themes emerged: negotiations processes, opportunities of negotiating, obstacles of negotiating, and effectuation of success. Results described the lived experiences of superintendents and how these experiences play a role in administration, with teachers' unions and within the community.


The objective of this study was to investigate the tempo-spatial distribution of paddy rice in Northeast China using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. We developed an algorithm for detection and estimation of the transplanting and flooding periods of paddy rice with a combination of enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface water index with a central wavelength at 2 130 nm (LSWI2130). In two intensive sites in Northeast China, fine resolution satellite imagery was used to validate the performance of the algorithm at pixel and 3×3 pixel window levels, respectively. The commission and omission errors in both of the intensive sites were approximately less than 20%. Based on the algorithm, annual distribution of paddy rice in Northeast China from 2001 to 2009 was mapped and analyzed. The results demonstrated that the MODIS-derived area was highly correlated with published agricultural statistical data with a coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.847. It also revealed a sharp decline in 2003, especially in the Sanjiang Plain located in the northeast of Heilongjiang Province, due to the oversupply and price decline of rice in 2002. These results suggest that the approaches are available for accurate and reliable monitoring of rice cultivated areas and variation on a large scale.


Digitally capturing and displaying real-time images of people in public places raises concerns for individual privacy. Applying principles of Value Sensitive Design, we conducted two studies of people's social judgments about this topic. In Study I, 750 people were surveyed as they walked through a public plaza that was being captured by a HDTV camera and displayed in real-time in the office of a building overlooking the plaza. In Study II, 120 individuals were interviewed about the same topic. Moreover, Study II controlled for whether the participant was a direct stakeholder of the technology (inside the office watching people on the HDTV large-plasma display window) or an indirect stakeholder (being watched in the public venue). Taking both studies together, results showed the following: (a) the majority of participants upheld some modicum of privacy in public; (b) people's privacy judgments were not a one-dimensional construct, but often involved considerations based on physical harm, psychological wellbeing, and informed consent; and (c) more women than men expressed concerns about the installation, and, unlike the men, equally brought forward their concerns whether they were The Watcher or The Watched.

http://vsdesign.org//publications/pdf/Watcher and Watched PUB VERSION.pdf


Abstract.
 The purpose of this application, under Articles 65.2.1 and 65.2.2 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the widely used generic name Neobisium Chamberlin, 1930 and of the family-group names neobisiinae Chamberlin, 1930, neobisiidae Chamberlin, 1930 and neobisioidea Chamberlin, 1930. These names are threatened by an overlooked fixation (by monotypy) of Chelifer trombidioides Latreille, 1804 as the type species of Obisium Leach, 1814 (a junior homonym of Obisium Illiger in Kugelann and Illiger, 1798) and hence of its replacement, Neobisium. Chelifer trombidioides is a senior objective synonym of Obisium orthodactylum Leach, 1817, the type species of Chthonius C.L. Koch, 1843 by subsequent designation of Simon (1879), which makes Neobisium a junior objective synonym of Chthonius. Consequently, family-group names based on Neobisium (currently in use up to superfamilial level) would become junior objective synonyms of those based on Chthonius. In order to maintain current usage of the names concerned, it is proposed that Obisium muscorum Leach, 1817 be designated as the type species of Obisium Leach, 1814.


In continuously cropped, irrigated rice fields, soil microbial biomass as measured by total phospholipid fatty acid concentrations declined during the second half of the crop cycle. This decline was also observed in other components of the microbial community assessed by viable counts, including denitrifiers and sporeformers. Simultaneous with total biomass decline was the increase in potential indicators of nutrient stress--such as ratios of cyclopropanol ((Sigma)[cy/(omega)7c]) and trans ((Sigma)[(omega)7t/(omega)7c]) phospholipid fatty acids--in plain crop soil but not in the rhizosphere. Polyhydroxyalkanoate levels were enhanced in the root environment of mature rice. Polyunsaturated eukaryotic biomarkers accounted for only 13 to 16 mol% of the total phospholipids, including 2 mol% of 18:2(omega)6, which is considered a fungal biomarker. Single biomarkers for defined physiological groups of bacteria did not follow the declining trend of total microbial biomass. Signature compounds for gram-positive and gram-negative fermenters (plasmalogen phospholipids), methanogenic bacteria (diether lipids), and methanotrophs (18:1(omega)8c) increased as the crop approached maturity. Methanotrophs were not particularly enriched in the rhizosphere. Methanogenic biomarkers were, however, most abundant in root extracts from mature rice plants. Assuming that soil microbial biomass plays a significant role as a passive nutrient pool, its reduction during the second half of the cropping season suggests a mechanism that may ultimately contribute to declining productivity in irrigated, continuous rice cropping systems.


The increase in the extent of vehicles running on internal combustion engines has led to serious concern towards the harmful gasses emitted from them, which affects the balance of natural ecosystem. To reduce the amount of emissions emitted from vehicles, emission regulations are reinforced continuously; which all vehicle manufacturers must fulfil. To meet the emission regulations, powertrain testing has become more important right from the development process of a vehicle.
The Hardware-in-Loop is one of the powertrain testing approach which allows testing to be conducted on a test object. The test object can be an engine or any powertrain component without the need for a complete vehicle as in Chassis Dyno testing. Besides the test object which is physical hardware, software components containing all the models to replicate the complete vehicle testing are required. The correct functionality of the software component is vital; if one model produces unwanted behaviour, the whole test can be delayed for days.
The objective of the thesis is to create a tool that can be used to check the software components and inform the user if the behaviour of the models varies from what is expected. This testing approach is called Model-in-Loop testing.
Engine along with its Electronic Control Module (ECM) was regarded as test objects in our Hardware-in-Loop testing. To convert from Hardware-in-Loop to Model-in-Loop, two new models have been introduced: one for the internal combustion engine and another for the electronic control module of the engine. The remaining software components are retained from Hardware-in-Loop. After the introduction of these two models, the Model-in-Loop was fully functional and the simulation of the complete vehicle was made possible.
Once the simulation was possible, the next stage was to create a tool that would perform a check on the models. This tool is referred in this report as Unit Testing. In case the current models are further developed or new models are being introduced, the testing tool will analyse the output and inform the user about the reliability of the models. The user can also use this tool to have an in-depth analysis of the speed of the vehicle, distance travelled and how well it manages to follow the target speed trace, the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
The final step was to compare the Model-in-Loop testing results across Chassis Dyno testing and Hardware-in-Loop testing to understand the feasibility of further development of the models to capture reliable results. The results obtained from Model-in-Loop was comparable with that of other two testing approaches. The complexity involved in obtaining accurate torque values were realised to implement more models to capture turbocharger, Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR), mass airflow effects and possible future work in the development of this testing approach was studied.
The thesis is split into three parts; report, appendix and code. The report contains information about the reasoning, objective, methods and findings and is available for public. The appendix and the code, together with the data used in simulation are considered confidential and is only available within Volvo Car Corporation.


Continuous respiratory monitoring is important to assess adequate ventilation. We present a fiber optic-based smart textile for respiratory monitoring able to work during Magnetic Resonance (MR) examinations. The system is based on the conversion of chest wall movements into strain of two fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, placed on the upper thorax (UT). FBGs are glued on the textile by an adhesive silicon rubber. To increase the system sensitivity, the FBGs positioning was led by preliminary experiments performed using an optoelectronic system: FBGs placed on the chest surface experienced the largest strain during breathing. System performances, in terms of respiratory period (TR), duration of inspiratory (TI) and expiratory (TE) phases, as well as left and right UT volumes, were assessed on four healthy volunteers. The comparison of results obtained by the proposed system and an optoelectronic plethysmography highlights the high accuracy in the estimation of TR, TI, and TE: Bland-Altman analysis shows mean of difference values lower than 0.045 s, 0.33 s, and 0.35 s for TR, TI, and TE, respectively. The mean difference of UT volumes between the two systems is about 8.3%. The promising results foster further development of the system to allow routine use during MR examinations.


This paper reports the results of a computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis of the South African sugar industry. The study was inspired by analyses of the EU South Africa Free Trade Agreement that indicated the importance of sugar exports to the welfare gains from agricultural trade liberalisation and by the increasing pressure upon OECD countries to reform their sugar (trade) policies. In addition to the effects of trade liberalisation this study also considers the implications of increases in the efficiency with which sugarcane is converted to raw sugar, which is an important determinant of the competitiveness of sugar production and exports. The results indicate that there would be substantial welfare gains across all household groups and that overall agricultural producers in South Africa should benefit; however there are substantial variations in the impact upon agricultural producers in different provinces, with farmers in some provinces facing reductions in the profitability of farming.


This chapter deals with magnetic colloids with catalytic properties for the treatment of polluted waters and the efficient production of fuel alternatives. This kind of materials presents great advantages such as high surface/volume ratio, reproducibility, selectivity, ability to be magnetic harvested, functionalizable surfaces (e.g. with tunable pores and selective chelators deposited on them), high efficiencies and reusability. In particular, this chapter will consider the case of magnetic iron oxide colloids, which can be easily synthesized at low cost, are biocompatible and presents a well-developed surface chemistry. The most common techniques for the synthesis and functionalization of these magnetic nanoparticles will be reviewed and summarized. The iron oxide nanoparticles present outstanding properties that can be exploited in different aspect of the wastewater treatment such as heavy metals and organic pollutants removal by ionic exchange or adsorption, and degradation of the contaminants by advanced oxidation processes, among others. In the field of alternative energies, they have also been used as catalysts for biofuels production from oil crops, in Fischer-Tropsch reactions for liquid hydrocarbons and many other processes with potential environmental impact.


The choice of a good annealing schedule is necessary for good performance of simulated annealing for combinatorial optimization problems.  In this paper, we pose the simulated annealing task decision-theoretically for the first time, allowing the user to explicitly define utilities of time and solution quality.  We then demonstrate the application of reinforcement learning techniques towards approximately optimal annealing control, using traveling salesman, clustered traveling salesman, and scheduling problems.  Although many means of automating control of annealing temperatures have been proposed, our techniques requires no domain-specific knowledge of problems and provides a natural means of expressing time versus quality tradeoffs.  Finally, we discuss alternate abstractions for future decision-theoretic variants.


We have studied the effect of hypothetical violations of Lorentz and CPT symmetry by calculating the corrections to the energy levels of hydrogen induced by the Standard-Model Extension (SME). Hydrogen studies are interesting because the energy levels of hydrogen can be measured with great precision and the theory for hydrogen based on the Standard Model (SM) is well understood. We obtained corrections through order \alpha^2 times the SME parameters for all levels of hydrogen and applied them to determine the SME corrections to the transition frequency for the 2S-1S transition.


For more than forty years now, modern theories of literature (Compagnon, 1979) insist on the role of paraphrases, rewritings, citations, reciprocal borrowings and mutual contributions of any kinds. The notions of intertextuality, transtextuality, hypertextuality/hypotextuality, were introduced in the seventies and eighties to approach these phenomena. The careful analysis of these references is of particular interest in evaluating the distance that the creator voluntarily introduces with his/her masters. Phoebus is collaborative project that makes computer scientists from the University Pierre and Marie Curie (LIP6-UPMC) collaborate with the literary teams of Paris-Sorbonne University with the aim to develop efficient tools for literary studies that take advantage of modern computer science techniques. In this context, we have developed a piece of software that automatically detects and explores networks of textual reuses in classical literature. This paper describes the principles on which is based this program, the significant results that have already been obtained and the perspectives for the near future.


This paper shows that participation in a community-level female empowerment program in India significantly increases access to employment, physical mobility, and political participation. The program provides support groups, literacy camps, adult education classes, and vocational training. We use truncation-corrected matching and instrumental variables on primary data to disentangle the program's mechanisms, separately considering its effect on women who work, and those who do not work but whose reservation wage is increased by participation. We also find significant spillover effects on non-participants relative to women in untreated districts. Using instrumental variables and matching, we find consistent estimates for average treatment and intent to treat effects.


Cancer became the second largest contributor to death in the world , after cardiovascular. Cancer therapies such as chemo therapy, has some side effects that can not be underestimated. Electric field with a frequency of 150KHz-300KHz capable of destroying cancer cells without any biological effects that are so meaningful. Trends in the patient after being diagnosed with cancer is loss of control, depression and despair. So the psychological condition of the patient should also get special treatment because of poor emotional state will affect the diet and lifestyle of the patient. Sound is a stimulant of the brain waves . Sound can deliver patients to the condition of the alpha and theta brain waves. Alpha and theta brainwaves can eliminate stress, improve morale and life expectancy of patients, improve the body's immune and self-healing from within. So we need to design an electric field generating device to destroy cancer cells that is integrated with the brain waves stimulant. With this tool the patient receives treatment for cancer at the same time with psychological therapy. This tool is also relatively easy to use and relatively cheap. K eyword – kanker, frekuensi, Gelombang otak, stress, psikologis.


Identification of symptoms or biological abnormalities that predispose to suicide or identifies specific vulnerabilities, may one day improve allocation of resources or help tailor treatment to the patient. Paper I: We compared the predictive value of symptom-oriented questions against direct questions about suicidality in assessing risk for suicide attempts. The self-rated Suicide Assessment Scale was administered to 496 psychiatric patients, whose medical records were analyzed a year later. Four questions directly concerned with suicidality contributed to predictive power, but not the symptom-oriented ones. Paper II: We investigated the relationship between suicidal intent and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction in 78 suicide attempters with depression and adjustment disorder. In depressed patients, lower cortisol was associated with more serious suicide attempts. Paper III: We investigated how life-time adversities related to past and present morbidity, and genotype. Forty-two, suicide attempters and 22 matched control patients were followed-up after 13 years. Genotype may have affected risk of attempting suicide, but showed no signs of affecting long term prognosis. Paper IV: Previously published SPECT data showed a correlation between temperament and serotonin transporter availability in suicide attempters. We studied whether these findings were reflected in anatomical differences. Magnetic resonance images were retrieved from 13 of the original subjects, and we found changes in the globus pallidus consistent with this hypothesis. Paper V: Altered perceptual asymmetry measured with dichotic listening has been associated with reduced white matter integrity, prefrontal functioning and response to treatment in depression. Perceptual asymmetry correlated with clinical measures of suicidality in 20 suicide attempters. (Less)


Previous research has consistently alluded to the search for meaning as a characteristic feature in the radicalization of seemingly well-integrated young Muslims in western countries. However, what these studies have not examined is whether the search for meaning in life serves as a catalyst for radicalization. This research proposes a novel conceptual model for understanding the homegrown threat of violent extremism in Australia, in particular how neojihadists construct meaning in their violent pursuit. Specifically, the research attempts to demonstrate that radicalization can be reduced to four psychological antecedents of meaning: (a) instability of values, goals and aspirations, (b) ambiguous standards and expectations, (c) competitive and hostile social environments, and (d) limited opportunities and capabilities. These antecedents evoke a plethora of biases, which translate into beliefs that perpetuate extremism, culminating in radical behaviour and even terrorist acts. Hence, the model will demonstrate that attempts to derive meaning, from biased assumptions, will impede the capacity of individuals to forge an enduring sense of meaning overall. As such, some individuals render themselves vulnerable to extreme religious ideologies, which are prescriptive on how to lead a meaningful life. Materials from wiretap recordings of convicted Australian neojihadists, interviews with former Australian neojihadists who have renounced violence, and focus group sessions with Australian Muslims elucidate these biases. With this unique approach, the research seeks to extend the knowledge on violent extremism and generate new insights to better understand the psychological determinants of radicalization. Several provisional implications for countering violent extremism are delineated.


In addition to having numerous applications as food flavorings and pharmaceuticals, terpenoids are an important class of defensive compounds that can accumulate in plants after pathogen infection or injury by insects. Sequences of DNA encoding putative terpene synthases and an oxidosqualene synthase, isolated from insect-damaged Medicago truncatula leaves, were selected from an expressed sequence tag (EST) database. The eDNA clones were used as radiolabeled probes to analyze gene expression in leaves treated with factors known to trigger a defense response in plants. Transcript levels for all of the genes examined increased in response to artificial wounding, insect herbivory, and methyl jasmonate (meJA) treatments, whereas salicylic acid (SA) and glucose oxidase (GOX) had no measurable effects on transcript levels. Furthermore, the genome ofM. truncatula was analyzed via DNA blots for an estimation of the number of copies of enzyme isoforms and indicate that each of the enzymes examined is encoded by a single-copy gene or a small gene family. The results show that M. truncatula can serve as a valuable source for novel terpene synthase clones and potentially for strong wound-inducible regulatory elements.


Rational detachment and effective communication are tools Extension professionals can use to increase their effectiveness at handling agitated individuals in conflict situations, such as those that can occur during certain 4-H events. If you need to enhance your ability to defuse conflicts, understanding these skills is an important step. You can learn to handle conflicts effectively and professionally without becoming angry or responding improperly. Rationally detaching from altercations can help you gain credibility and, thus, make your points more profoundly. Also, by using a three-pronged approach to communication—incorporating appropriate body language, tone of voice, and empathic words—you can gain control of potentially explosive situations rather than try to control those involved.


Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effects of project-level external knowledge search breadth and search depth on the innovation performance of open innovation (OI) projects in large firms; it further considers these effects mediated by two forms of control mechanisms (process and outcome control) when the level of project complexity and the two stages of a project – early (problem definition) and late (solution development) – are taken into account.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on a survey of 187 managers responsible for an OI project, the authors use theory on behavioral-based control mechanisms to explore whether the effect of external knowledge search breadth and depth on OI performance is contingent on having the right levels of control mechanisms in place.

Findings
The results showed that the control mechanism mediates the relationship between external knowledge search breadth and depth and OI project performance. Furthermore, project complexity is an important moderator of these effects, especially for outcome control.

Originality/value
A better OI project's performance is not achieved by external knowledge search breadth and depth alone, but by building process and outcome control mechanism on it to balance knowledge sharing and protecting tension. Furthermore, Outcome control is only helpful with less complex OI projects.


Non-natural peptide analogs have significant potential for the development of new materials and pharmacologically active ligands. One such architecture, the β-peptoids (N-alkyl-β-alanines), has found use in a variety of biologically active compounds but has been sparsely studied with respect to folding propensity. Thus, we here report an investigation of the effect of structural variations on the cis-trans amide bond rotamer equilibria in a selection of monomer model systems. In addition to various side chain effects, which correlated well with previous studies of α-peptoids, we present the synthesis and investigation of cis-trans isomerism in the first examples of peptoids and β-peptoids containing thioamide bonds as well as trifluoroacetylated peptoids and β-peptoids. These systems revealed an increase in the preference for cis-amides as compared to their parent compounds and thus provide novel strategies for affecting the folding of peptoid constructs. By using NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallographic analysis, and density functional theory calculations, we present evidence for the presence of thioamide-aromatic interactions through C(sp(2))-H···S(amide) hydrogen bonding, which stabilize certain peptoid conformations.


Interest in calculating numerical solutions of a highly nonlinear parabolic partial differential equation with fractional power diffusion and dissipative terms motivated our investigation of a heat equation having a square root nonlinear reaction term. The original equation occurs in the study of plasma behavior in fusion physics. We begin by examining the numerical behavior of the ordinary differential equation obtained by dropping the diffusion term. The results from this simpler case are then used to construct nonstandard finite difference schemes for the partial differential equation. A variety of numerical results are obtained and analyzed, along with a comparison to the numerics of both standard and several nonstandard schemes. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2009


This study asserts that countries with large internally displaced populations (IDPs) are more likely to experience a higher rate of suicide terrorism. After demonstrating this, the study tests four intervening factors hypothesized to drive the relationship between IDPs and suicide attacks: IDPs are expected (1) to increase the pool of potential suicide recruits, thereby lowering the labor costs for suicide terrorist groups; (2) to increase local ethnic conflicts that foster a favorable environment for suicide terrorism; (3) to worsen the human rights conditions in countries, prompting aggrieved people to support suicide terrorist tactics; and (4) to raise the counterterrorism and policing costs of the state, enabling terrorists to plan and execute suicide attacks. Results from negative binomial regression and Tobit models show evidence for the IDPssuicide terrorism connection. When recursive models are employed to evaluate the effects of four intervening variables, the results most consistently support human rights violations as a significant and substantive mediator between IDPs and suicide attacks.


A method of parametric modeling composite microstructure is proposed. It can be used for composite microstructure virtual testing and optimization procedure. Considering the fiber random distribution features of composite microstructure and the flaw distribution in the fibers, a three dimensional parametric model has been built in this paper. Then, the sizes of the composite representative volume element (RVE) generated by the method are determined by moving-window function method. These models are close to reality and can be used for further virtual testing. Finally, numerical experiment is presented by the secondary development of the finite element packages (ABAQUS) via Python language programming to verify the proposed method. The following conclusions are obtained: (i) fiber volume fraction of the composite structure model reaches 65% by the modeling method, which meets the majority engineering demands; (ii) stress distribution feature of RVE generated by using moving-window function method coincides with general prediction.


The task of extracting significant built structure in digital surface models (DSM) is analyzed. The original data are obtained by means of interferometric SAR or LIDAR techniques and have different resolution and noise characteristics. This work aims to make a comparison of what (and how precisely) it is possible to detect and extract starting from these models, taking into account their differences but applying to them the same planar approximation approach. To this aim, data over Los Angeles and Denver is considered and evaluated. The results show that LIDAR data provide a better shape characterization of each building, and not simply because of their higher resolution. Indeed, less accurate results obtained starting from radar data are mainly due to shadowing/layover effects, which can be only partially corrected by means of the segmentation procedures. However, better results than those already presented in the literature could be achieved by using the IFSAR data correlation map.


Abstract. In spite of its name, the solid effect of dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is also operative in viscous liquids, where the dipolar interaction between the polarized nuclear spins and the polarizing electrons is not completely averaged out by molecular diffusion on the timescale of the electronic spin–spin relaxation time. Under such slow-motional conditions, it is likely that the tumbling of the polarizing agent is similarly too slow to efficiently average the anisotropies of its magnetic tensors on the timescale of the electronic T2. Here we extend our previous analysis of the solid effect in liquids to account for the effect of g-tensor anisotropy at high magnetic fields. Building directly on the mathematical treatment of slow tumbling in electron spin resonance (Freed et al., 1971), we calculate solid-effect DNP enhancements in the presence of both translational diffusion of the liquid molecules and rotational diffusion of the polarizing agent. To illustrate the formalism, we analyze high-field (9.4 T) DNP enhancement profiles from nitroxide-labeled lipids in fluid lipid bilayers. By properly accounting for power broadening and motional broadening, we successfully decompose the measured DNP enhancements into their separate contributions from the solid and Overhauser effects.


Our understanding of mechanisms by which the expression of IFN-γ is regulated is limited. Herein, we identify two evolutionarily conserved noncoding sequence elements (IFNgCNS1 and IFNg CNS2) located ≈5 kb upstream and ≈18 kb downstream of the initiation codon of the murine Ifng gene. When linked to the murine Ifng gene (–3.4 to +5.6 kb) and transiently transfected into EL-4 cells, these elements clearly enhanced IFN-γ expression in response to ionomycin and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and weakly enhanced expression in response to T-bet. A DNase I hypersensitive site and extragenic transcripts at IFNgCNS2 correlated positively with the capacity of primary T cell subsets to produce IFN-γ. Transcriptionally favorable histone modifications in the Ifng promoter, intronic regions, IFNgCNS2, and, although less pronounced, IFNgCNS1 increased as naive T cells differentiated into IFN-γ-producing effector CD8+ and T helper (TH) 1 T cells, but not into TH2 T cells. Like IFN-γ expression, these histone modifications were T-bet-dependent in CD4+ cells, but not CD8+ T cells. These findings define two distal regulatory elements associated with T cell subset-specific IFN-γ expression.


Rats whose adrenergic nerve function has been blocked are similar to adrenalectomized rats in their responses to external stimuli that require an increased expenditure of energy. The basal metabolism is almost normal; but on exposure to cold or to muscular work, neither animal can elicit piloerection, vasoconstriction or shivering; nor do they show lipolytic or glycogenolytic responses to epinephrine. The finding that epinephrine fails to restore these responses in adrenalectomized animals indicates that the incapacity of these animals to withstand cold or strenuous work results from failure of sympathetic target organs to respond to transmitted messages. Communications are re-established by aldosterone as well as glucocorticoids, suggesting that the inexcitability of adrenergic receptors after adrenalectomy is related to changes in electrolytes.

An important contribution to biology has been the concept of Sutherland and co-workers that cyclic 3',5'-AMP is the chemical trigger mediating catecholamine action in sympathetic target organs. These authors have outlined the various steps in the activation of phosphorylase by catecholamines. Some of the steps in the activation of another sympathetic function, the breakdown of triglycerides to FFA, may be outlined as follows:

Catecholamines stimulate lipolysis by causing an instantaneous activation of adenyl cyclase, thereby increasing the steady-state level of cyclic 3',5'-AMP. This response, however, is limited by the destruction of cyclic 3',5'-AMP by phosphodiesterase. On the other hand, the steady-state level of cyclic 3',5'-AMP is increased still further by theophylline, which inhibits phosphodiesterase. As a result, lipase is activated to a much greater extent by theophylline than by the catecholamines.

The effect of catecholamines is inhibited by such diverse compounds as beta-adrenergic blocking agents and nicotinic acid. The beta blocking agents act by competitively blocking catecholamines at adenyl cyclase, whereas the inhibitory effects of nicotinic acid appear to be due, at least in part, to stimulation of phosphodiesterase. This action would explain why nicotinic acid has such a marked effect on the basal output of FFA. In addition, the effects of catecholamines are prevented by adrenalectomy, presumably through lack of proper ionic environment at the receptor site.

Finally, treatment with thyroid hormone induces the formation of additional adenyl cyclase; in contrast, thyroidectomy reduces the amount of enzyme. In neither case is the amount of lipase affected. Should these effects on the fat pad be typical of other thyroid functions, the interplay between these systems could be explained by a given amount of catecholamine activating a larger amount of adenyl cyclase. As a logical extension of this view, certain actions of thyroid hormones should be diminished after sympathectomy. This might explain why certain sympatholytic agents produce ameliorative effects in patients with hyperthyroidism.


Background: Differentiating ulcerative colitis (UC) from Crohn's colitis (CC) can be difficult and may lead to inaccurate diagnoses in up to 30% of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. Much of the diagnostic uncertainty arises from the overlap of clinical and histologic features. Matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI‐MS) permits a histology‐directed cellular protein analysis of tissues. As a pilot study, we evaluated the ability of histology‐directed MALDI‐MS to determine the proteomic patterns for potential differences between CC and UC specimens. Methods: Mucosal and submucosal layers of CC and UC colon resection samples were analyzed after histologic assessment. To determine whether MALDI‐MS would distinguish inflammation, the uninflamed (n = 21) versus inflamed submucosa (n = 22) were compared in UC and the uninflamed (n = 17) versus inflamed submucosa (n = 20) in CC. To determine whether there were proteomic differences between the colitides, the uninflamed UC submucosa (n = 21) was compared versus the uninflamed CC submucosa (n = 17), the inflamed UC submucosa (n = 22) was compared versus the inflamed CC submucosa (n = 20), and inflamed UC mucosa versus inflamed CC mucosa. Pairwise statistics comparisons of the subsets were performed. Results: Pairwise comparative analyses of the clinical groups allowed identifying subsets of features important for classification. Comparison of inflamed versus uninflamed CC submucosa showed two significant peaks: m/z 6445 (P = 0.0003) and 12692 (P = 0.003). In the case of inflamed versus uninflamed UC submucosa, several significant differentiating peaks were found, but classification was worse. Comparisons of the proteomic spectra of inflamed submucosa between UC and CC identified two discrete significant peaks: m/z 8773 (P = 0.006) and 9245 (P = 0.0009). Comparisons of the proteomic spectra of uninflamed submucosa between UC and CC identified three discrete significant peaks: m/z 2778 (P = 0.005), 9232 (P = 0.005), and 9519 (P = 0.005). No significantly different features were found between UC and CC inflamed mucosa. Conclusions: MALDI‐MS was able to distinguish CC and UC specimens while profiling the colonic submucosa. Further analyses and protein identification of the differential protein peaks may aid in accurately diagnosing IBD and developing appropriate personalized therapies. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2011;)


The purpose of this project was to review the effects of dietary supplements on degenerative ocular tissue changes. Early evidence established roles of dietary essential vitamins and minerals based on of gross deficiency symptoms which respond to supplementation. Ocular tissue changes resulting from specific vitamin or mineral deficiencies are numerous and include corneal neovascularization, opacification and ulceration, secretory cell production, blepharitis, papilledema, retinal edema, cataracts and night blindness. Recent research suggests uncontrolled oxidation reactions initiated by free radical formation may produce significant tissue damage including macular degeneration and cataract formation. The antioxidant activities of vitamins C and E, and the mineral zinc demonstrate interesting potential as dietary supplements for prevention and possible treatment of these conditions. In addition, bcarotene, taurine, glutathione, superoxide dismutase and a lesser known class of compounds known as flavinoids also show antioxidant activity and potential for dietary supplementation. Continued investigation is needed to prove the efficacy of each. Degree Type Thesis Degree Name Master of Science in Vision Science Committee Chair Kenneth Eakland


If decision-makers (DMs) do not always do what is in their best interest, what do choices reveal about welfare? This paper shows how observed choices can reveal whether the DM is acting in her own best interest. We study a framework that relaxes rationality in a way that is common across a variety of seemingly disconnected positive behavioral models and admits the standard rational choice model as a special case. We model a behavioral DM (boundedly rational) who, in contrast to a standard DM (rational), does not fully internalize all the consequences of her own actions on herself. We provide an axiomatic characterization of choice correspondences consistent with behavioral and standard DMs, propose a choice experiment to infer the divergence between choice and welfare, state an existence result for incomplete preferences and show that the choices of behavioral DMs are, typically, sub-optimal.


A common concern of survey researchers is whether the coverage properties of an address-based sampling (ABS) frame create outcome bias in the estimates from in-person surveys. This paper evaluates basic demographics and several drug use and mental health measures obtained from 1,725 respondents in a probability sample of 200 area segments from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The evaluation compares outcomes from respondents covered by the NSDUH's field enumerated (FE) frame to those covered by an ABS frame derived from the United States Postal Service Computerized Delivery Sequence (USPS CDS) file. After post-stratifying the weights to populations with known ABS undercoverage, we test for significant differences in outcomes between the two frames.


We have never met, although we are neighbors of sorts. I live a couple of blocks from your Hyde Park home. We vote at the same polling place, Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School. My daughter Karen has met you. She took two classes from you when she was in law school at the University of Chicago. My granddaughter Lauryn has met you, too-although she doesn't remember the occasion. Karen brought her to class one day, shortly after her birth. Karen and Lauryn both attended your inauguration, ticketless but with much enthusiasm. I wasn't there, but I share their enthusiasm. Which is why I am writing you this letter. You have somehow, against all odds, become president. You are in position to do things that few others on this planet are in position to do. This is not a letter you'll want to show to your economic advisers anytime soon, certainly not to Paul Volcker or Robert Rubin or Larry Summers. They would find it crazy and/or hopelessly utopian, probably both. But if the policies they propose are implemented yet fail-as I fear they will-you might want to think about some of the things I'll be saying here. I'm proposing, if you will, a backup plan.


In this thesis, we consider the feature selection, model specification and estimation of the generalised semi-varying coefficient models (GSVCMs), where the number of potential covariates is allowed to diverge with the sample size. Based on the penalised likelihood approach and kernel smoothing method, we propose a penalised weighted least squares procedure to select the significant covariates, identify constant coefficients among the coefficients of the selected covariates, and estimate the functional or constant coefficients in GSVCMs. A computational algorithm is also proposed to implement the procedure. Our approach not only inherits many desirable statistical properties from the local maximum likelihood estimation and nonconcave penalised likelihood method, but also computationally attractive thanks to the proposed computational algorithm. Under some mild conditions, we establish the theoretical properties for the proposed procedure such as sparsity, oracle property and the uniform convergence rates of the proposed estimators. We also provide simulation studies to show the proposed procedure works very well when the sample size is finite. We then use the proposed procedure to analyse a real environmental data set, which leads to some interesting findings. Finally, we establish a classification method and show it can be used to improve predictive modelling for classify the patients with early inflammatory arthritis at baseline into different risk groups in future disease progression.