Foundations of Character takes a deep and insightful look into character and values development during the 'early years' phase of education.
It is commonly assumed that the influences on the early years of a child'slife are determinative for the future individual: the evidence from this report suggests that it is more complex.
Children's exposure to and engagement in early childhood education is currently a widespread phenomenon in England, with 92% of three year olds and 98% of four year olds benefitting from some free early years education of up to 15 hours per week.
This study aimed to explore the developing dispositions, values and attitudes of a sample of young children in the familiar contexts of their homes, early education settings, and primary schools. It was hoped that this exploration would also provide insights into the values of the significant adults in these children's lives, and these adults' views about the development of character and values.


There are strong research programs in nanotechnology related to chemical sensors, electromechanical devices, actuators, biosensors, etc. in leading laboratories across the world. In many cases, practical systems demand seamless integration of the nanodevice with higher order structures, for example, MEMS. Examples of this using carbon nanotube based chemical and biosensors are presented.


Aim: The study objective was to evaluate the diagnostic value of synovial fluid anti cyclic citrullinated peptide (sf-anti CCP) in comparison to serum anti CCP (s-anti CCP) in early and late rheumatoid arthritis and to clarify its correlation with disease activity.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study a total of 45 patients aged between 18 and 70 years with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) according to the ACR criteria were enrolled. Twenty six patients had a disease duration of more than 2 years (late RA) whereas 19 cases were referred to as early RA (<2 yrs). Baseline characteristics and laboratory studies including complete blood count (CBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in addition to anti CCP and rheumatoid factor (RF) levels in the serum and synovial fluid were recorded. Disease activity was assessed according to disease activity score of 28 joints - ESR (DAS28 - ESR).

Results: Serum and synovial fluid anti CCP correlated significantly (p<0.001, r=0.6). Sf-anti CCP also significantly correlated with sf-RF (p=0.02, r=0.34). No correlation was found between sf-anti CCP and disease activity according to DAS28-ESR (p=0.38, r=0.13). There also was no statistically significant difference between early and late RA in terms of sf-anti CCP (p=0.9).

Conclusion: The diagnostic value of sf-anti CCP for RA is similar to s-anti CCP. Therefore, sf-anti CCP can be useful if RA is suspected. The current study did not show any difference in sf-anti CCP between early and late RA and revealed no correlation with disease activity.


ABSTRACT Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from gram-positive bacteria is the counterpart to lipopolysaccharide from gram-negative bacteria. LTA, which activates Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), induces a unique cytokine and chemokine pattern. The chemical synthesis of LTA proved its immunostimulatory properties. To determine the minimal active structure of LTA, we reduced synthetic LTA in a number of steps down to the synthetic anchor and employed these molecules to stimulate interleukin-8 (IL-8) release in human whole blood. Ten times more of the synthetic structures with four to six d-alanine-substituted polyglycerophosphate units (50 nM) than of the native LTA preparation was required to induce IL-8 release. A further reduction to three backbone units with two or no d-alanine residues resulted in cytokine induction only from 500 nM. The synthetic anchor was not able to induce IL-8 release even at 5 μM. When the LTA derivatives were used at 500 nM, they induced increasing levels of IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor alpha with increasing elongation of the backbone. Peritoneal macrophages were less responsive than human blood to the synthetic structures. Therefore, TLR2 dependency could be shown only with cells from TLR2-deficient mice for the two largest synthetic structures. This was confirmed by using TLR2-transfected HEK 293 cells. Taken together, these data indicate that although the synthetic anchor (which, unlike the native anchor, contains only myristic acid) cannot induce cytokine release, the addition of three backbone units, even without d-alanine substituents, confers this ability. Lengthening of the chain with d-alanine-substituted backbone units results in increased cytokine-inducing potency and a more sensitive response.


The α+2βtype Ti-5Al-4.75Mo-4.75V-1Cr-1Fe (TC18) is a very difficult machine material for its low thermal conductivity, low elastic modulus, and high chemical activity. So how to improve the machining efficiency and prolong the tool life have got more and more attentions. In this paper, wear mechanism and wear types of coated (TiN+TiAlN) carbide tool and uncoated carbide tool are presented when face milling the Ti-18 alloy under the same machining condition. The results showed that wear types of PVD coated tool are mainly adhesive, diffusion and crater wear, while the mainly failure mode of uncoated carbide tool is tipping. So it is more appropriate to select the PVD coated tool than uncoated tool in the milling TC18 alloy process.


textabstractThis comparative child-psychiatric study of a group of three-year-old
children of low birth weight and a control group of full-term children
had its origins in the co-operation which exists between the
department of paediatrics and the department of child psychiatry in
Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam.
Thanks to an increasing paediatric competence which finds
expression in the highly specialized neonatal intensive care unit, the
low-birth-weight child has an ever better prognosis as regards
chances of surviving without serious physical sequelae (leaving aside
the group with extremely low birth weights).
The "Lancet" article of March 1971 entitled "Changeing prognosis for
infants of very low birth weight" (Rawlings et al.) is, as it were, the
exponent of this great medical progression. Alongside this, clinical
experience had already taught paediatricians and child psychiatrists,
via a lot of casuistics, that the overall development of the low-birthweight
child- its development not merely from a somatic but also from
an affective and cognitive viewpoint- is not always satisfactory.
This gave rise to the question whether, from the standpoint of
developmental psychology, children of low birth weight constituted a
risk group. In order to acquire more comprehensive information than
was to be found in most of the available literature, it was decided to
undertake a combined intelligence and child-psychiatric study.
The study has been restricted to a group of children tested at the age
of three years. We are aware that this has its limitations: some
researchers are more interested in development during the first year
of life; others prefer to base their opinions on the low-birth-weight
child during or after puberty, because it is only in adolescence that
identity and character are definitively established.
This study, therefore, claims to do no more than answer the following
question: based on the group investigated, how far has the low-birthweight
child come at three years of age with his developmental task
compared with his full-term contemporary, and what does he have to
contend with in terms of vulnerability?


Receptors for the nerve growth factor protein (NGFR) present in the human neuroblastoma cell line LAN‐1 were characterized. LAN‐1 cells display high‐affinity (type I, with KD value of 5.9 × 10‐11M) and low‐affinity (type II, with KD value of 9.2 × 10‐9M) binding to NGF. NGFR were fractionated by preparative isoelectric focusing in a granulated gel (PEGG). High‐affinity binding was found in the 5.9–6.2 pH region of the PEGG, and low‐affinity binding in the 4.6–4.8 and 8.8–9.3 pH ranges. After further analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) we observed both 92.5‐and 200‐kDa molecular species associated with NGF binding activity. The 200‐kDa protein was found in fractions displaying high‐affinity NGF binding and the 92.5‐kDa protein in fractions displaying low‐affinity NGF binding. Equilibrium binding analysis of NGF in PEGG fractions confirmed the presence of two specific saturable binding sites with KD values similar to those observed for whole dissociated cells. When NGFR II activity from the acidic region of the PEGG chromatogram was incubated with NGFR II from the basic region of the PEGG chromatogram, there was no change in NGF binding or in the number of apparent NGF receptors. However, incubation of these same fractions with a fraction having only NGFR I showed an apparent increase in high‐affinity NGF binding and a decrease in low‐affinity NGF binding. Immunoprecipitation of this "mixed" fraction and analysis on SDS‐PAGE under reduced and nonreduced conditions showed 200‐kDa and 92.5‐kDa proteins under nonreduced conditions and a 92.5‐kDa protein under reduced conditions. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that there are two distinct NGF receptors in NGF‐responsive cells. The interconvertibility of low‐and high‐affinity receptors and the possible existence of a modulator type protein or of "silent" type receptors are also in agreement with our findings.


The latest discoveries and advanced knowledge in the fields of stem cell biology and developmental cardiology hold great promise for cardiac regenerative medicine, enabling researchers to design novel therapeutic tools and approaches to regenerate cardiac muscle for diseased hearts. However, progress in this arena has been hampered by a lack of reproducible and convincing evidence, which at best has yielded modest outcomes and is still far from clinical practice. To address current controversies and move cardiac regenerative therapeutics forward, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the key cellular and molecular programs involved in human cardiogenesis and cardiac regeneration. In this review, we consider the fundamental principles that govern the "programming" and "reprogramming" of a human heart cell and discuss updated therapeutic strategies to regenerate a damaged heart.


Author(s): Holbrook, Alison Clare | Advisor(s): Kasari, Connie L | Abstract: Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) are one of the largest certified occupational groups providing intervention services to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). RBTs are classified as human service professionals, who are workers responding to the needs of people. As human service professionals, RBTs face significant occupational stressors that can be emotionally challenging and reduce occupational well-being (Maslach a Jackson, 1981). Occupational well-being is defined as a positive evaluation of various aspects of one's job (Horn, Taris, Schaufeli, a Schreurs, 2004). It is a key construct in organizational psychology because it is related to various individual and organizational outcomes such as health and job performance (e.g., Harter, Schmidt, a Keyes, 2003). This study is the first to apply the job demands-resources (JD-R) model of occupational well-being to identify job characteristics and organizational outcomes related to optimal well-being in RBTs working with individuals with ASD. The first aim of the study was to explore the relationship between job demands, resources, and occupational well-being (i.e., burnout and work engagement) of RBTs. The second aim of the study was to explore the relationship between occupational well-being and organizational outcomes (i.e., turnover intention, organizational commitment, and in-role job performance). The participants were 311 RBTs with complete responses to the study survey. Approximately 45% of RBTs reported high emotional exhaustion. Job demands (e.g., challenging behaviors) and resources (e.g., training) were significantly related to burnout, while resources (e.g., social resources) were significantly related to work engagement. Both burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion) and work engagement were significantly related to several organizational outcomes (e.g., turnover intention). Based on the study results, the field may begin to provide better support for RBTs to reduce burnout and improve work engagement. Clinical implications are discussed.


It is known that the addition of methanol to the culture medium stimulates the photosynthetic productivity of some species of microalgae, but its influence on the biochemical composition of the biomass has not been investigated. The aim of the present work is to determine the effect of methanol (50 mM) on the content of free amino acids, soluble proteins and reduced nicotinamide coenzyme NAD(P)H in C. reinhartdii cells. It is shown that in case of illumination of C. reinhardtii methanol raises intracellular content of NAD(P)H four times more efficiently than in the darkness. Total content of free amino acids is increased and their ratio is changed. The concentration of glutamic acid, glutamine, alanine, serine and tyrosine also increases. The concentration of valine and methionine is reduced. Growth of culture with methanol is followed by an increase in the content of intracellular protein by 30% after 20 hours of cultivation. The obtained data indicate that methanol stimulates growth of C. reinhardtii, not only as a result of additional carbon utilization, but also due to improved nitrogen assimilation and the impact on the energy metabolism of cells.


An electron/positron linear collider with a center-of-mass energy between 0.5 and 1 TeV would be an important complement to the physics program of the LHC. The Next Linear Collider (NLC) is being designed by a US collaboration (FNAL, LBNL, LLNL, and SLAC) which is working closely with the Japanese collaboration that is designing the Japanese Linear Collider (JLC). The NLC main linacs are based on normal conducting 11 GHz rf. This paper will discuss the technical difficulties encountered as well as the many changes that have been made to the NLC design over the last year. These changes include improvements to the X-band rf system as well as modifications to the injector and the beam delivery system. They are based on new conceptual solutions as well as results from the R&D programs which have exceeded initial specifications. The net effect has been to reduce the length of the collider from about 32 km to 25 km and to reduce the number of klystrons and modulators by a factor of two. Together these lead to s...


In the scope of this bachelor thesis, a program Pentagram_vt capable of identifying known objects in an image or in a video was created. It is based on the method published recently by D. Damen et al. at British Machine Vision Conference. The detection is almost real time and the learning may be performed on a very small set of training images. The observations gained during implementation may be used to further improve the method. Further, a few originally not emphasized or overlooked weak points, worth of attention, have been discovered.


The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new method for determining the fracture toughness of materials and adhesive interfaces. The new test specimen is a notchless triangular prism (NTP) which, when placed in the testing holder, achieves a configuration similar to that of the standard chevron-notched short rod (CNSR) specimen. It can be cast, ground, or simply machined easily and reproducibly without cutting an initial notch. Finite element analysis of a modeled NTP specimen loaded in tension showed a stress distribution similar to a CNSR specimen. A very good correlation was obtained between the NTP and CNSR fracture toughness values of poly(methyl methacrylate) during a calibration study. Fracture toughness values similar to those reported in the literature were obtained for several dental materials and one adhesive interface using the NTP test. The fracture patterns were indicative of plane strain conditions during testing. All bulk specimens and most of the adhesive specimens showed crack arrest, which suggested a stable, well-controlled testing procedure. These results suggest that the NTP fracture toughness test can be used to determine the fracture mechanics of bulk materials and adhesive interfaces.


The study revealed a broad representation of the system, controlling vocalization, in the brain structures of hens. Sound-producing structures are mostly represented in the mesencephalon, less--in the diencephalon and the least of all--in the striatum. Further on it is shown that the excitability of the structures at the mesencephalic and diencephalic levels participating in vocalization, is influenced by the corticoid lamine and striate formations (Hyperstriatum, Neostriatum). Forward and backward interconnections are revealed between the paliostriatum and soundproducing formations in the midbrain. Such functional connections, providing for excitatory or inhibitory control, are found between the neostriatum and the diencephalic structures. A suggestion is made, that vocalization processes proceed simultaneously in several parallel anatomic pathways.


Aims This article discusses European medical thought on alcohol in the late 18th and early 19th centuries against the backdrop of concurrent transformations in the epistemological and social underpinnings of medicine at large. Design The article focuses on key medical works on alcohol written in the 1700s and early 1800s. The analysis draws on historical typologisations of medical practice and knowledge-formation (Ackerknecht, Jewson), and the notion of "working knowledges" (Pickstone). Results The defining feature of the era's medical thought on alcohol was that the issue began to be treated more rigorously in empirical terms. Doctors aspired to build an objective body of knowledge about diseases consequent on excessive drinking. The singling out of alcohol misuse as a special cause of diseases laid ground for viewing misuse itself as a phenomenon whose determinants and underlying dynamics were to be delineated in empirical terms. Remote causes of drinking were commonly traced to the socio-cultural sphere, which had a bearing on doctors' ideas on "alcohol addiction", too. Conlusions Earlier historiography has identified medical thought on alcohol at the turn of the 19th century as the starting point of individualising disease concept of alcohol addiction. The proper legacy of the era is rather the establishment of alcohol-related phenomena as objects of empirical inquiry, and the articulation of socio-cultural embeddedness of alcohol-related pathologies.


Dietary intervention is one of the most important approaches for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Fasting and caloric restriction have profound effects on systemic metabolism. The energy source-producing organs, such as the liver, and peripheral tissues rewire their metabolism to meet the energy demands of the whole body. Glycogenolysis, fatty acid oxidation, and ketone body production are characteristic metabolic changes that occur during fasting and caloric restriction. These metabolic changes are regulated by various signaling cascades including PPARα and FGF21. Moderate fasting and caloric restriction have also been implicated in extending the lifespan in a variety of organisms from nematodes to vertebrates. Intensive research has unveiled several regulatory mechanisms of longevity including metabolic regulators such as mTOR and sirtuins. The epigenome has been attracting attention as a mechanism underlying metabolic diseases and longevity. The epigenome is the concept that involves covalent modifications of DNA, histones, and RNA, which are mediated by the action of epigenetic enzymes. The activity of these enzymes is regulated by energy states, i.e. metabolites including ketone bodies and intermediates of various metabolic pathways. Thus, energy states are recorded in cells as an epigenetic memory, which may cause future onset of metabolic diseases and affect lifespan.


The effect of beta-carotene on the frequencies of micronuclei (MN) induced in cytochalasin blocked binucleated Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) by a bifunctional alkylating agent mitomycin C (MMC), a monofunctional alkylating agent methyl methanesulphonate (MMS) and a radio-mimetic agent bleomycin (BLEO) was investigated. Four different modes of application of the combination of clastogens and beta-carotene were examined (pre-treatment, simultaneous treatment, pre- +simultaneous treatment and post-treatment). The results obtained showed no effect of beta-carotene on the frequencies of MN induced by MMS, a slight but not statistically significant reduction of MMC-induced MN only when beta-carotene was used in low concentrations (0.25 and 0.5 microM) and a potentiation of the clastogenicity of bleomycin by beta-carotene in three of the treatment regimes utilized, post-treatment being ineffective. On the basis of these results it can be concluded that the effect of beta-carotene on clastogenesis induced by chemicals depends on the type and mechanism of action of the clastogen used as well as the treatment protocol employed.


Northern Elephant Seal Skin Disease (NESSD) is a severe, ulcerative, skin condition of unknown cause affecting primarily yearling northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris); it has been associated with decreased levels of circulating thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Abnormalities of the thyroid gland that result in decreased hormone levels (hypothyroidism) can result in hair loss, scaling and secondary skin infections. However, concurrent illness (including skin ailments) can suppress basal levels of thyroid hormones and mimic hypothyroidism; when this occurs in animals with normal thyroid glands it is called ''sick euthyroid syndrome''. The two conditions (true hypothyroidism vs. ''sick euthyroid'') can be distinguished in dogs by testing the response of the thyroid gland to exogenous thyrotropin (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, TSH). To determine whether hypothyroidism is involved in the etiology of NESSD, we tested thyroid function of stranded yearling elephant seals in the following categories: healthy seals (rehabilitated and ready for release; N = 9), seals suffering from NESSD (N = 16) and seals with other illnesses (e.g., lungworm pneumonia; N = 10). Levels of T4 increased significantly for all three categories of elephant seals following TSH stimulation, suggesting that seals with NESSD are ''sick euthyroid'' and that the disease is not associated with abnormal thyroid gland function. 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Disturbances of angiogenesis and oxidative stress can lead to many serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes or ischemic heart disease. Substances neutralizing oxidative stress are known as antioxidants. They can affect angiogenesis process also, and thus, they modulate therapy results. Antioxidants become more and more frequently used in order to maintain homeostasis of the organism and diminish the risk of disease. Herein, we introduce some antioxidant preparations of natural plant origin (Rhodiola, Aloe vera, Resveratrol, Echinacea, Plumbagin) and antioxidant supplements (Padma 28, Reumaherb, Resvega). Analyses of their angiogenic properties, their multidirectional molecular effect on angiogenesis as well as medical application are within the scope of this review. Most of presented preparations down regulate neovascularization. They can be safely administered to patients with abnormally high angiogenesis. Rhodiola modulates, and Echinacea, Aloe vera and Plumbagin inhibit tumour-related angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo (animal models). Resveratrol and Resvega reduce neovascularization in the eye and may be applicable in eye disorders. Padma 28 preparation exhibits angioregulatory activity, decreasing high angiogenesis of cancer cells and increasing physiological angiogenesis, therefore can be used in therapy of patients with various disturbances of angiogenesis. Antioxidant application in the case of angiogenesis-related diseases should take into consideration angiogenic status of the patient.


ProSper is a python library containing probabilistic algorithms to learn dictionaries. Given a set of data points, the implemented algorithms seek to learn the elementary components that have generated the data. The library widens the scope of dictionary learning approaches beyond implementations of standard approaches such as ICA, NMF or standard L1 sparse coding. The implemented algorithms are especially well-suited in cases when data consist of components that combine non-linearly and/or for data requiring flexible prior distributions. Furthermore, the implemented algorithms go beyond standard approaches by inferring prior and noise parameters of the data, and they provide rich a-posteriori approximations for inference. The library is designed to be extendable and it currently includes: Binary Sparse Coding (BSC), Ternary Sparse Coding (TSC), Discrete Sparse Coding (DSC), Maximal Causes Analysis (MCA), Maximum Magnitude Causes Analysis (MMCA), and Gaussian Sparse Coding (GSC, a recent spike-and-slab sparse coding approach). The algorithms are scalable due to a combination of variational approximations and parallelization. Implementations of all algorithms allow for parallel execution on multiple CPUs and multiple machines for medium to large-scale applications. Typical large-scale runs of the algorithms can use hundreds of CPUs to learn hundreds of dictionary elements from data with tens of millions of floating-point numbers such that models with several hundred thousand parameters can be optimized. The library is designed to have minimal dependencies and to be easy to use. It targets users of dictionary learning algorithms and Machine Learning researchers.


A high-level abstract-datatype-based constraint modelling language opens the door to an automatable empirical determination -- by a synthesiser -- of how to 'best' represent the decision variables of a combinatorial optimisation problem, based on (real-life) training instances of the problem. the extreme case where no such training instances are provided, such a synthesiser would simply be non-deterministic. A first-order relational calculus is a good candidate for such a language, as it gives rise to very natural and easy-to-maintain models of combinatorial optimisation problems.


Populations of widespread marine organisms are typically characterized by a low degree of genetic differentiation in neutral genetic markers, but much less is known about differentiation in genes whose functional roles are associated with specific selection regimes. To uncover possible adaptive population divergence and heterogeneous genomic differentiation in marine three‐spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we used a candidate gene‐based genome‐scan approach to analyse variability in 138 microsatellite loci located within/close to (<6 kb) functionally important genes in samples collected from ten geographic locations. The degree of genetic differentiation in markers classified as neutral or under balancing selection—as determined with several outlier detection methods—was low (FST = 0.033 or 0.011, respectively), whereas average FST for directionally selected markers was significantly higher (FST = 0.097). Clustering analyses provided support for genomic and geographic heterogeneity in selection: six genetic clusters were identified based on allele frequency differences in the directionally selected loci, whereas four were identified with the neutral loci. Allelic variation in several loci exhibited significant associations with environmental variables, supporting the conjecture that temperature and salinity, but not optic conditions, are important drivers of adaptive divergence among populations. In general, these results suggest that in spite of the high degree of physical connectivity and gene flow as inferred from neutral marker genes, marine stickleback populations are strongly genetically structured in loci associated with functionally relevant genes.


Context. The long and almost continuous observations by Kepler show clear evidence of a granulation background signal in a large sample of stars, which is interpreted as the surface manifestation of convection. It has been shown that its characteristic timescale and rms intensity fluctuation scale with the peak frequency (νmax) of the solar-like oscillations. Various attempts have been made to quantify the observed signal, to determine scaling relations for its characteristic parameters, and to compare them to theoretical predictions. Even though they are consistent on a global scale, large systematic differences of an unknown origin remain between different methods, as well as between the observations and simulations. Aims. We aim to study different approaches to quantifying the signature of stellar granulation and to search for a unified model that reproduces the observed signal best in a wide variety of stars. We then aim to define empirical scaling relations between the granulation properties and νmax and various other stellar parameters. Methods. We use a probabilistic method to compare different approaches to extracting the granulation signal. We fit the power density spectra of a large set of Kepler targets, determine the granulation and global oscillation parameter, and quantify scaling relations between them. Results. We establish that a depression in power at about νmax/2, known from the Sun and a few other main-sequence stars, is also statistically significant in red giants and that a super-Lorentzian function with two components is best suited to reproducing the granulation signal in the broader vicinity of the pulsation power excess. We also establish that the specific choice of the background model can affect the determination of νmax, introducing systematic uncertainties that can significantly exceed the random uncertainties. We find the characteristic frequency (i.e., inverse timescale) and amplitude of both background components to tightly scale with νmax for a wide variety of stars (about 2–2000 μHz in νmax), and quantify a mass dependency of the latter. To enable comparison with theoretical predictions (which do not include the observed power depression), we computed effective timescales and bolometric intensity fluctuations and found them to approximately scale as τeff ∝ g −0.85 T −0.4 and Agran ∝ (g 2 M) −1/4 (or more conveniently R/M 3/4 ), respectively. Similarly, the bolometric pulsation amplitude scales approximately as Apuls ∝ (g 2 M) −1/3 (or R 4/3 /M), which implicitly verifies a separate mass and luminosity dependence of Apuls. We have also checked our scaling relations with solar reference values and find them in good agreement. Conclusions. We provide a thorough analysis of the granulation background signal in a large sample of stars, from which we establish a unified model that allows us to accurately extract the granulation and global oscillation parameter. The resulting scaling relations allow a simple estimate of the overall spectral shape of any solar-type oscillator and might serve as a starting point for future largesample studies or as a reference for theoretical modelling of granulation.


The standard way to procedurally generate random terrain for video games and other applications is to post-process the output of a fast noise generator such as Perlin noise. Tuning the post-processing to achieve particular types of terrain requires game designers to be reasonably well-trained in mathematics. A well-known variant of Perlin noise called value noise is used in a process accessible to designers trained in geography to generate geotypical terrain based on elevation statistics drawn from widely available sources such as the United States Geographical Service. A step-by-step process for downloading and creating terrain from realworld USGS elevation data is described, and an implementation in C++ is given.


The effect of sodium saccharin (SAC) or L-tryptophan (LT) on urinary bladder carcinogenesis initiated by feeding N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]formamide (FANFT) for 4 weeks as 0.2% of the diet to male F344 weanling rats was evaluated. SAC was fed as 5% of the diet, and LT was 2% of the diet. FANFT fed for 4 weeks followed by 100 weeks of control diet did not produce any carcinomas; one of 25 rats developed a bladder papilloma. Of 26 rats fed SAC for 100 weeks after FANFT, two developed papillomas, and five developed carcinomas (p less than 0.03). Of 26 rats fed LT for 100 weeks after FANFT, three developed papillomas, and two developed carcinomas (p greater than 0.1) Eight rats fed FANFT for 72 weeks all developed bladder carcinomas, but rats fed control diet alone, control diet with SAC, or control diet with LT did not develop any bladder tumors. Scanning electron microscopic examination of Week 104 of the experiment showed the presence of pleomorphic microvilli on the bladder surface of some rats fed SAC of LT whether following 4 weeks of control diet alone or 4 weeks of FANFT. Four weeks of FANFT feeding, a lower dose than used previously in our studies, appears to be a subcarcinogenic level. Under these experimental conditions, the promoting activity of SAC is demonstrated with statistical significance. The results with LT were not statistically significant.


We study online compound decision problems in the context of sequential prediction of real valued sequences. In particular, we consider finite state (FS) predictors that are constructed based on the sequence history. To mitigate overtraining problems, we define hierarchical equivalence classes and apply the exponentiated gradient (EG) algorithm to achieve the performance of the best state assignment defined on the hierarchy. For a sequence history of length h, we combine more than 2(h/e)h different FS predictors each corresponding to a different combination of equivalence classes and asymptotically achieve the performance of the best FS predictor with computational complexity only linear in the pattern length h. Our approach is generic in the sense that it can be applied to general hierarchical equivalence class definitions. Although we work under accumulated square loss as the performance measure, our results hold for a wide range of frameworks and loss functions as detailed in the paper.


The study objective was to determine the prognostic value of assessment of staining of p53 and bcl-2 in a well-selected group of serous ovarian carcinomas. Immunohistochemical detection was used to identify both p53 and bcl-2 positive tumors. One hundred thirty-two tumors were analyzed for positivity of staining, grade of staining intensity, and for p53 alone, percent expression rates. These were analyzed alongside traditional clinicopathologic parameters for their ability to predict overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and response to chemotherapy (CR). Univariate COX analysis revealed percent p53 expression (P= 0.012) and p53 grade (P= 0.01) to be significant predictors of DFS. Neither the p53 nor bcl-2 measurement parameters were found significant for OS or prediction of CR. On multivariate analysis, incorporating clinicopathologic parameters, p53 parameters did not retain independent significance for any outcome measure. As in primary reported studies, bcl-2 was not found to be of clear independent prognostic value in this group of ovarian tumors. If mutation of p53 and its consequent overexpression is an early event in ovarian tumorigenesis, then p53 assessment may prove useful prognostically in the assessment of either low-grade ovarian carcinomas, as a possible indicator for progression, or in early-stage ovarian tumors, as a marker of tumor aggression or likelihood of recurrence. p53 analysis of a larger group of stage I ovarian tumors would be desirable to further explain the potential association with DFS.


Abstract - The main figure is most important in all schools is the teacher. School quality can be measured through the output generated is not only measured by the status of the school, a large number of students and the magnificent building with complete facilities in it. Output or a good and qualified graduates, supported by qualified teachers, and vice versa. On the initial observations conducted on SMK Gotong Royong Gorontalo found the problem process was based on Nepotism without regard to the quality of the candidate, the assessment and test results using the manual way, the accumulation of files applicants, delays decision-making and mistakes administering the value because the human factor error. The purpose of this research is to produce decision support system applications to process data is the acceptance of honorary teacher at SMK Gotong Royong Gorontalo and be known how the application of TOPSIS method in the process is Honorary teacher acceptance so that the process of assessment is better. The results showed a decision support system provides simplicity in the process of determining prospective teachers respect by applying discusses decision support system that is computer-based, so that the process is faster and the test results test try the White box testing can be inferred that the flowchart menu, the application of the Test the test case with white box testing approach can produce the systems and processes on a looping flowchart in the system to be effective and efficient.  Keyword : decision support systems, teacher honorarium, TOPSIS


To assess sexual behaviour and awareness about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young male adults in Lebanon, and to explore determinants associated with increasing levels of sexual risk, a cross-sectional survey of 730 conscripts was conducted. About 50% reported any lifetime heterosexual experience. Non-mutually exclusive sex predominated, and only half of the respondents reported consistent condom use during insertive vaginal sex. Higher sexual risk-taking was associated with urban residence, higher education, lower family crowding and younger age at first sexual experience. A national strategy with epidemiological and behavioural surveillance and educational programmes must be initiated before sexual risk-taking and incidence of STIs become a major public health issue.


The influence of the external electric field on the transition of the wetting mode over pillar-arrayed surfaces is investigated through a molecular dynamics study. The interplay between the energy barrier and the electrostatic force is analyzed by varying the pillar arrayed texture on a charged base substrate. At low density pillar texture, apart from a lesser energy barrier, the sagging of the liquid–gas interface also affects the switching of the wetting mode. A pattern map is developed to show the variation of the threshold voltage required for wetting transition at different surface topographies. The mechanism of the wetting transition on heterogeneous pillar-arrayed surfaces has also been analyzed from a molecular study. In light of the rapid development in the field of nanotechnology, the analysis of the wetting transition by an external electric field may provide significant insight towards the advancement of tunable engineered surfaces for nano-scale heat transfer and antifouling applications.


The purpose of this interactive workshop is to promote conversations and generate ideas around good practice in International Social Work Student Exchange with a particular focus on concepts of reciprocity and mutual benefit for students and faculty of both travelling and host institutions and organisations. These concepts and others are emerging from the 'Going Places' research project which aims to document, analyse, develop and disseminate exemplary practices in International Student Exchange in the Asia Pacific. Participants in this workshop will have an opportunity to share experiences, critique perceptions and assumptions, offer critical comment and reflections on emerging data and contribute to the understanding of themes and phenomenon. The workshop is designed as a scaffolded interaction with participants, through three tiers of engagement. Firstly organisers will share the background to, and emerging themes from, the 'Going Places' research project. The presentation will proceed from the premise that International Social Work requires graduates who are prepared to work across cultures, in a range of contexts, with a sound understanding of the social, economic and political factors that impact on community wellbeing. Incorporating international student exchange as part of University studies is one means of promoting the international skills of graduates, enhancing their abilities to work across cultures and to work with those who hold different cultural assumptions (Gothard, Downey & Gray, 2012). The organisers will present a case study based on early research findings that exemplifies the issues raised above but which also highlights the risks associated with such programs, such as the potential for international student exchange programs to operate unidirectional initiatives from the Global North that lack reciprocity (Nuttman-Schwartz & Berger, 2012) and reinforce colonial assumptions and "professional imperialism" (Gray 2005, p. 235). Following this initial presentation, participants will be invited to reflect on the emerging themes, share experiences, and explore alternative understandings of the data, in small interactive and collaborative groups. In the final session of the workshop organisers will present the outcomes of the small group work undertaken by participants in a collaborative plenary session thus providing opportunity for ongoing discussion and network building. The implications for good practice and mutually beneficial international social work student exchange will be elucidated as outcomes of the workshop. The manner in which international student exchanges take place raises significant issues for the social work profession, social work educators and educators from other tertiary disciplines seeking to foster truly reciprocal, ethically sound and mutually beneficial relationships with partner institutions. "Promoting Dignity and Worth" is relevant for higher education institutions and particularly social work educators as they seek to develop and embed appropriate curriculum and learning experiences that reflect social work values and professional ethics. Organisers envisage this workshop will be of interest to social work educators involved in organising international exchanges or in hosting exchange students. Students and practitioners who have engaged in international exchange opportunities will also offer great insight as will practitioners who support students involved in diverse international social work activity.


The effects on Boulder County, Colorado, of a major nuclear war are predicted. Although many of the effects of such a horrific event would be global in nature, the direct ones on Boulder County were considered in terms of being primarily due to three one-megaton blasts in Denver, situated 40 km to the south-east. Under assumed wind conditions, agricultural crops would be contaminated with radionuclides for prolonged periods, rendering them dangerous for human consumption. Loss of animal life, flooding, increased sedimentation, and extensive soil-erosion, should also be expected. Recovery times for environmental systems are difficult to predict. Indeed, unknown synergistic effects and global changes in atmospheric conditons might preclude eventual recovery. Although numerous assumptions were made in these predictions, and the impacts described are scenario-dependent, the implications are clear: even if Boulder County received no direct hit, a nuclear war would have a devastating impact on the environmental systems that were considered. The prognosis from this study and others for human societies and involved ecosystems in the event of nuclear war is grim. We hope that continued research and dignified publicity of results on the effects of nuclear war will increase the urgency with which solutions to the nuclear dilemma are sought.


This essay aims at shedding some light on Demotic accounts as a vital administrative tool in the ancient Egyptian's everyday life in the Late and Greco-Roman Periods as evidenced by the large number of published accounts. Account documents belong to Demotic documentary texts and they usually record lists of various amounts of specific items that have been paid or received by certain individuals in different transactions. Such documents began to be recorded in Demotic from the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. Among the abundant vocabulary of accounts in Demotic, ip  "account" and wn  "list" seem to be the only two words which were used to refer to accounts as a type of text. A full-structured account, which is not the case in most of Demotic accounts, normally contains a maximum number of three elements, that is, the heading, the main body, and the closing formula.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jarce.54.2018.a005


Two new photonics-based microwave frequency translators are presented. They are based on Serrodyne modulation to frequency translate an optical carrier, which beats with a microwave signal sideband at a photodetector to generate a frequency translated microwave signal. The proposed frequency translators have a simple structure, a wide bandwidth and a large spurious signal suppression ratio. Experimental results are presented for the novel structures, which demonstrate the realisation of microwave signal frequency translation with >38 dB spurious signal suppression over a wide microwave signal frequency range of 2 to 18 GHz and with >35 dB spurious signal suppression for a translation rate of 500 Hz to 3 MHz. Frequency translation of an 80 MHz bandwidth frequency modulated continuous wave signal at 5.88 GHz frequency with >34 dB spurious signal suppression is also demonstrated.


As blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cr) are well-recognized biomarkers for estimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) since they are freely filtered at the glomerulus due to their small size. Cr is more preferred in clinical practice for this purpose because it is not reabsorbed in the renal tubules of the nephron, while approximately half of the BUN is reabsorbed after filtration (1). The magnitude of BUN reabsorption is greatly affected by neurohormonal activity. Therefore, BUN to Cr ratio (BUN/Cr) is usually regarded as a metric of neurohormonal activity. Since neurohormonal activity is associated with prognosis of acute heart failure (AHF) (2), it is reasonable to hypothesize that BUN/Cr is a potential prognostic factor for AHF.


The photosynthetic capacities of Trichodesmium were investigated in a multidiscipli- nary study comprising 9 cruises in a region of the Coral Sea, southwest Pacific Ocean, where these diazotrophic cyanobacteria are particularly abundant. Thirty specific measurements of photosynthe- sis in natural communities of Trichodesmium using an O2 electrode with the addition of a 14 C-tracer gave a mean photosynthetic quotient of 1.19, quite close to the theoretical value. Seven photosynthe- sis vs. irradiance curves exhibited typically high light-saturated and compensation photosynthetic parameters Ik and Ic (327 and 77 µE m -2 s -1 , respectively), implying that Trichodesmium requires a stronger irradiance for growth than other phytoplankton typical of oligotrophic systems. The vertical profiles of in situ productivity of Trichodesmium generally showed a maximum at 10 or 20 m depth and a lower value at the surface, the latter probably being due to photoinhibition. Based on produc- tivity data and the mean measured C:chl a ratio of 188 g C g chl a -1 , the maximum Trichodesmium growth rate ranged between 0.18 and 0.32 d -1 . The high level of energy required by these organisms to grow could explain why the vertical distribution of Trichodesmium colonies is generally restricted to well-lit surface waters. Furthermore, our observations suggest that the presence of a shallow mixed-layer is a prerequisite for an optimal light regime and a maximum growth rate for this genus. Hence, the seasonal changes in both incident radiation and water column stratification would strongly control the variations in the abundance of Trichodesmium populations, which tends to be minimum in winter and spring and maximum in summer.


This article explains about the existence of 'Reba' as a culture in the midst of easy and instant modernization, especially in getting information supported by modern technology. So far Bajawa people still maintain and revive 'Reba' so that the culture of 'Reba' still shows its existence in the middle of the current globalization and modernization. 'Reba' is an unifying symbol for generations of Bajawa people that cannot be replaced with other cultures because the culture of 'Reba' has history and philosophical value that are only understood by Bajawa people.The culture of 'Reba' is not only for an annual celebration of gratitude, but also as as a venue for family gathering coming from distant places. The end of this article will also explain about moral values of the culture of 'Reba' so that 'Reba' can be maintained as a celebration of gratitude toward ancestors in the midst of modernization.


This paper reports evidence for a possible "chromosome 13 syndrome," which includes panic disorder, kidney or bladder problems, serious headaches, thyroid problems (usually hypothyroid), and/or mitral valve prolapse (MVP). In the course of a genetic linkage study of panic disorder, we noted these medical conditions in individual family members. (We were blind to family relationships and marker data.) We hypothesized that there may exist a subgroup of panic families with these medical conditions, which for simplicity we called it the "syndrome." Subsequently we reclassified the families as with or without the "syndrome" and extended the phenotype for analysis to include the above medical conditions. All these classifications were also done before the analysis and blind to marker data. We then examined our linkage results, looking for significant differences between families with and without the "syndrome" (using several definitions of the "syndrome")-i.e., testing for genetic heterogeneity. When the families with and without bladder/kidney problems were separated from each other, one marker-D13S779 (ATA26D07)-yielded a lod score of over 3 in the families with bladder/kidney problems. This lod score went up to 4.2 in these families when we diagnosed any individual with any one of the "syndrome" conditions as affected. These results were statistically significant even after applying an extremely overconservative Bonferroni correction for multiple tests. We present these results in order to alert other investigators working on panic disorder, for replication. If replicated, one may hypothesize that a candidate gene for the syndrome should be expressed in CNS, kidney, gut, thyroid, etc. We also noted that two independent studies report recent linkage findings between schizophrenia and the same region on chromosome 13. No connection between schizophrenia and panic disorder has ever been reported. Finally, we suggest that genetic studies of psychiatric disorders might prove more fruitful if phenotypes were expanded to include possible manifestations of the disorder in medical (non-mental) symptoms. Am. J. Med. Genet.(Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:24-35, 2000.


To the Editor: Bluetongue is an arboviral disease of domestic and wild ruminants characterized by vascular injury that produces widespread edema and tissue necrosis (1). Bluetongue virus (BTV), the causative agent of bluetongue, is the prototype virus of the family Reoviridae and the genus Orbivirus (2).

BTV occurs throughout temperate and tropical areas of the world coincident with the distribution of vector Culicoides spp. midges (3–5). Different midge species transmit different constellations of BTV serotypes in distinct global episystems (3,5). For example, C. sonorensis is the principal, if not exclusive, vector of BTV serotypes 10, 11, 13, and 17 in much of North America, whereas C. insignis is the major vector of multiple BTV serotypes (including BTV 1–4, 6, 8, 12, 17, 19, 20, and probably others) in the Caribbean basin, Central America, and South America. C. insignis is also found in the southeastern United States, and although this species might have recently expanded its range in the region, its distribution in North America remains poorly defined. Serotypes of BTV other than 10, 11, 13, and 17 are found in areas of the United States: BTV-2 was first reported in Florida in 1982. Since 1998, ten additional serotypes (BTV-1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 14, 19, 22, and 24) have been identified in the southeastern United States (6).

Approximately 26 BTV serotypes have been described and the global distribution of BTV has recently been altered (2,4). Coincident with the invasion of novel BTV serotypes into the southeastern United States (6), likely by extension from the adjacent Caribbean basin, multiple BTV serotypes have spread throughout much of continental Europe and parts of the British Isles and Scandinavia, precipitating an economically devastating epidemic (7). Similarly, ongoing surveillance has identified novel BTV serotypes in regions to which it historically has been endemic (e.g., Australia and the Middle East) (2). Climate change may have contributed to this dramatic recent expansion in global distribution of BTV, most notably in Europe (8).

Bluetongue was first described in the late 19th century among sheep brought from Europe to South Africa, and later in North America in ≈1950 (4). Surveillance in western North America since that time has confirmed that only BTV-10, 11, 13 and 17 are present in this region, including our recent intensive surveillance of sentinel cattle on dairy farms throughout California, USA (9,10).

However, during investigation of an outbreak of acute coronitis and ulcerative stomatitis among cattle at a dairy farm in the northern Sacramento Valley in California in August 2010, a blood sample from a heifer was found by using described methods (10) to be positive for BTV by serogroup-specific quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) but negative by serotype-specific RT-qPCRs for BTV-10, 11, 13, and 17.

Further analysis using additional serotype-specific RT-qPCRs identified virus in the blood sample as BTV-2. BTV was isolated in primary bovine endothelial cells from blood collected from the heifer. Sequence analysis of the serotype-specific L2 gene of the virus isolate confirmed it to be BTV-2 (2), and phylogenetic analyses showed it to be most closely related to a strain of BTV-2 isolated in Florida in 1999 (Figure). However, sequence analysis of the entire genome of the virus from California indicated that it is a reassortant that includes genes from BTV-6 and BTV-2. Specifically, genes encoding the viral protein 1 polymerase and viral protein 3 major core protein segregate with those of the US prototype strain of BTV-6 (isolated in 2006), but other genes are derived from BTV-2. BTV-2 and BTV-6 have been isolated only in the southeastern United States, which indicates translocation within the United States of reassortant BTV-2.

Figure

Cladogram comparing the L2 genes of different bluetongue virus (BTV) serotypes and global strains of BTV serotype 2 (BTV-2) with that of a virus isolated in northern California, USA (2-California-2010; GenBank accession nos. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide-range","attrs":{"text":"JQ822248-JQ822257","start_term":"JQ822248","end_term":"JQ822257","start_term_id":"390980698","end_term_id":"390980714"}} ...

How this virus spread to California is not known, and its distribution in the United States is uncertain because there is no comprehensive national BTV surveillance program. However, BTV-2 was not detected previously in California, suggesting that this serotype was recently introduced into the region or that it is uncommon. Identification of this novel BTV serotype in western North America emphasizes the need for ongoing entomologic and livestock surveillance, particularly in light of recent changes in the global distribution and nature of BTV infection (4,6,8).


OBJECTIVES
KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) isolates commonly co-harbour the aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme (AME) gene aac(6')-Ib, which encodes an AME that can confer resistance to some of the commercially available aminoglycosides. We sought to determine the influence of AAC(6')-Ib in KPC-Kp on the pharmacodynamic activity of aminoglycosides.

METHODS
Six KPC-Kp clinical isolates, three with and three without aac(6')-Ib, were analysed. Using these isolates, the bacterial killing of amikacin, gentamicin and tobramycin was assessed in static time-kill experiments. The pharmacodynamic activity of the aminoglycosides was then assessed in a dynamic one-compartment infection model over 72 h using simulated human pharmacokinetics of once-daily dosing with amikacin (15 mg/kg), gentamicin (5 mg/kg) and tobramycin (5 mg/kg).

RESULTS
At clinically relevant aminoglycoside concentrations in time-kill experiments and the dynamic one-compartment model, gentamicin was more active than amikacin or tobramycin against the isolates harbouring aac(6')-Ib. Amikacin, gentamicin and tobramycin all showed progressively reduced bacterial killing with exposure to repeated doses against most isolates in the dynamic one-compartment model. MIC values were generally not a good predictor of gentamicin pharmacodynamic activity against KPC-Kp, but were more reliable for amikacin and tobramycin.

CONCLUSIONS
Gentamicin may be preferred over amikacin or tobramycin for treatment of KPC-Kp infections. However, gentamicin MICs are not a consistent predictor of its pharmacodynamic activity and unexpected treatment failures are possible.


We determined the curvature of apparent frontoparallels in a natural scene (a large lawn in broad daylight). Data on frontoparallels in these conditions are very sparse and reveal idiosyncratic curvatures of frontoparallels and irregular variation with distance. We used a method of bisection of linear segments indicated through pairs of stakes at angular separations (from the vantage point) of up to 120 deg. Distances of 2 m and 10 m (in the forward direction) were used. The bisection was carried out by the observer through maneuvering a radio-controlled vehicle carrying a third stake. Four observers participated in the experiment; they had no problems with the task and yielded mutually consistent results. We found that the frontoparallels are significantly curved and are concave towards the observer. Surprisingly, the sign of the curvature is opposite to that found when the frontoparallels are defined through an exocentric pointing task. Available theory (Luneburg's) does not predict this, but the theory is hardly applicable to the case of vision in natural scenes. This interesting discrepancy has not been reported before.


Existing models of the principal-agent relationship assume the agent works only under extrinsic incentives. However, many observed agency contracts take the form of a fixed payment. For such contracts to work, the principal must trust the agent to work in the absence of incentives. I show that agency fosters the advent of intrinsic motivation and trustworthy behavior. Three distinct motivational schemes are analyzed: norms, ethical standards, and altruism. I identify conditions under which these mechanisms arise and show how they promote trust. The analysis alters several important predictions of conventional models: (1) Better outcomes may ensue in highly uncertain environments; (2) the principal is better off the more the agent is risk averse; and (3) larger equilibrium extrinsic incentives need not be associated with larger effort or larger total surplus. Copyright 2004 Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK..


A gallery of children's art collected by the Paintbrush Diplomacy organization over the past several decades. Artwork represents topics ranging from indigenous village life from around the world, to children's impressions of war and events like 9/11.


The purpose of this article is to examine the issue of 'lobbying' in the EU legislative process, using an interdisciplinary analysis of the development of copyright laws as a way of explaining why some lobbyists are more successful than others in having their preferences taken into account in legislation, and how this success is achieved. As this article will demonstrate, the keys to successful lobbying in this field are information exchange, the ability to frame issues at an early stage in the legislative process (agenda setting), and the political salience of an issue. By assessing not only where legislative initiatives in copyright reform have been successful, such as the passing of the Information Society, Enforcement and Term Extension Directives, but also where legislative initiatives fail, as in the case of ACTA, it will be demonstrated that legislative success is not a simple case of 'big business getting what it wants', but of varying levels of political salience. Where the salience of an issue is low and voters consider that issue comparatively unimportant to other issues, industry representatives are able to effectively frame legislative outcomes. Where salience is high, and an issue important to voters, this ability is substantially reduced. By approaching copyright law development in this way, it is possible to reconceptualise the role of lobbying in the EU legislative process.


The main contribution of this thesis is on the study of optimization methods in aft hull design. The optimization methods are inverse geometry design methods to find an aft hull with the flow velocities we specify. The analytic foundation for the flow is given by Stratford in [31], and gives a prescribed velocity distribution on the aft body. With the parameter β we have adjusted this flow to have a certain margin to separation along the pressure recovery region.This principle and optimization method are successfully applied to design of ships with pram-type aft hull. The 2D optimized profiles corresponds to centerline buttock, and 3D hull sections are extended from this centerline buttock with a bilge radius. Stratfords original pressure distribution for pressure recovery region were meant for Reynolds numbers up to 107. We have extended Stratfords formula to yield for ship full scale Reynolds numbers to 109. Different optimization methods were programmed and tested. The best routine for our optimization of aft hull with Stratford flow, was when the offset y-value were the optimization parameter to be changed. When we tried to optimize a complete 2D profile with a given pressure distribution, it worked best to use the variables in a B-spline as the optimization parameter.Extensive windtunnel tests and towing tank tests are carried out. The tests verified the hydrodynamic properties of the hulls.Towing tests indicates that the optimized hull lines have lower total resistance than conventional ships with the same main dimensions. Both the frictional, viscous pressure resistance and wave making resistance are significantly lower. Further we can increase cargo capacity with the same power consumption, and achieve a more favourable distribution of the displacement in the aft hull.This study has shown us that the slant angle for the bottom of the aft hull should not excess 15o with horizontal plane due to danger of separation over the bilge, and longitudinal vortices forming.


Previously, we have shown that embryonic corneal epithelia can interact with, and respond to, soluble extracellular matrices (ECM) (laminin, collagen, and fibronectin). The basal surface of epithelia isolated free of the underlying ECM can be seen to be disrupted by numerous blebs that sprout from this formerly smooth surface. Laminin, collagen, or fibronectin added to the culture medium cause the epithelium to reorganize its cytoskeleton and flatten its basal surface. We show here that ECM molecules at concentrations that reorganize epithelial cytoskeletal morphology also increase the amount of collagen produced by the epithelial cells. However, molecules that do not reorganize basal epithelial morphology (concanavalin A, heparin, bovine serum albumin) have no effect on collagen production. We also report that fluorescently labeled laminin, collagen, and fibronectin, when added to the medium surrounding isolated corneal epithelia, bind to and flatten the basal epithelial cell surface. The binding site on the basal surface is protease sensitive and is specific for each ECM molecule. These results are compatible with the idea that the basal epithelial plasmalemma possesses a diverse population of binding sites for ECM that link cell surface matrix to the cytoskeleton, causing a dramatic cytoskeletal reorganization which in turn results in enhanced production of collagen by the cells.


Spatio-temporal matching of services to customers online is a problem that arises on a large scale in many domains associated with shared transportation (ex: taxis, ride sharing, super shuttles, etc.) and delivery services (ex: food, equipment, clothing, home fuel, etc.). A key characteristic of these problems is that matching of services to customers in one round has a direct impact on the matching of services to customers in the next round. For instance, in the case of taxis, in the second round taxis can only pick up customers closer to the drop off point of the customer from the first round of matching. Traditionally, greedy myopic approaches have been adopted to address such large scale online matching problems. While they provide solutions in a scalable manner, due to their myopic nature the quality of matching obtained can be improved significantly (demonstrated in our experimental results). In this paper, we present a two stage stochastic optimization formulation to consider expected future demand. We then provide multiple enhancements to solve large scale problems more effectively and efficiently. Finally, we demonstrate the significant improvement provided by our techniques over myopic approaches on two real world taxi data sets.


Nobiletin is a nonpeptide compound with a low molecular weight from a citrus fruit and has the activity to rescue bulbectomy-induced memory impairment. Here we describe that nobiletin itself induces neurite outgrowth in PC12D cells, a rat pheochromocytoma cell line, like NGF, and the molecular mechanism of its neurotrophic action. As cultured in the presence of nobiletin or NGF for 48 h and then assayed using a scanning electron microscope, PC12D cells treated with nobiletin showed morphology with flatter and larger cell bodies than the cells cultured with NGF. Nobiletin-induced neurite outgrowth was inhibited by PD98059 and U0126 but not K252a. Consistently, nobiletin caused a concentration-dependent enhancement of Erk/MAP kinase phosphorylation and a sustained increment of phosphorylation of MEK and Erk/MAP kinase, resulting in a stimulation of CREB phosphorylation and CRE-mediated transcription. This compound also increased intracellular cAMP and CRE-mediated transcription in the presence of forskolin and enhanced PKA activity to stimulate phosphorylation of multiple PKA substrates in PC12D cells. Furthermore, nobiletin preferentially inhibited Ca2+/CaM-dependent phosphodiesterase in vitro. This compound failed to stimulate phosphorylation of Erk5, which is known to be induced by NGF/TrkA signaling. These results suggest that nobiletin induces neurite outgrowth by activating a cAMP/PKA/MEK/Erk/MAP kinase-dependent but not TrkA-dependent signaling pathway coupling with CRE-mediated gene transcription and may thus become a novel type of biochemical probe for elucidation of the molecular mechanism of neuronal differentiation.


In experiments with monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) it has been shown that whole-body irradiation with a dose of 45 Gy (6.5 Gy/s) causes considerable changes in the EEG response to rhythmic photostimulation (PS). These changes are: reduction of the desynchronizing effect of PS with regard to a background rhythmicity; decrease in the reception rate of the rhythms of light flashes (RLF); narrowing of the RLF frequency range; and increase in the reaction momentum. The postirradiation changes in the EEG response to PS are considered as a manifestation of inhibition of the cortex functional activity and impairment of sensory information processing in the brain.


In the mid-2000s, the gender work of the World Bank took a different turn with a new Gender Action Plan. Up until then, gender equality had been on the margins of the World Bank, concentrated around a small number of advocates. This particular articulation of gender took as its tagline 'gender equality as smart economics'. The Plan attracted three times the original budget of US$24.5 million, and moved gender analysis into new fields of work: labour, work, land and agriculture rather than the more usual areas of health and education. It emerged at a time when gender work was becoming more legitimate in the field of development economics; where World Bank economists were 'a more receptive crowd than before'. The mid-2000s was also a time when the World Bank was becoming more conscious of its use of media technologies. The article draws on these two elements—economics and the use of media—to suggest the broader environment against which gender agendas take on meaning. Structural shifts in the field of development economics—the dominant discipline at the World Bank—made work on gender more legitimate and credible, and made World Bank staff 'a more receptive crowd than before', while the increasing use of media technologies meant the World Bank was conscious of how its work looked to outside audiences. These elements, only loosely related to what we might think of 'gender' as a normative agenda, nonetheless, changed what gender meant to many people working within the World Bank.


This article argues that the inclusion of video-sharing platforms in the new version of Audiovisual Media Service Directive, not only extends the scope of media regulation in the EU, but also brings a fundamentally new approach to the content regulation as such. With this approach, EU recognises the inherent difference between more traditional types of media, in which the editorial rights and responsibilities lie with the media themselves, and the platformed social media, in which it is the active user, who is the originator and primary uploader of the content. Following this distinction the new regulation is systemic rather than focusing on individual pieces of content on the platforms, but also recognises the rights of the users, and legislates for more transparency. Although the latter two elements are included in the Directive in only rudimentary form, and they apply only to video content, the proper transposition of these into the national legislations of the EU member states have a real potential for improving the current state of social media governance.


Vladimir Karacharovskiy – Candidate of Science  in Economics, Assistant Professor, Deputy Head of the Laboratory for the Comparative Analysis of Post-Socialist Development, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Address: 20 Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Shkaratan – Doctor of Science  in History, Tenured Professor, Head of the Laboratory for the Comparative Analysis of Post-Socialist Development, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Address: 20 Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com paper analyses the "shadow price" of social changes. For the first time, an attempt was made to determine the approaches to measuring this value with regard to non-market phenomena and processes, and to apply these approaches in an empirical analysis, based on a representative survey in Russia (N = 1,000) using experimental situations.Specifically, it quantitatively evaluates (1) the degree of divergence between the real and the ideal structure of the time budget of several important domains of social life; (2) the ratio of social ills to social benefits; (3) individual public welfare functions, (4) the social cost, legitimated by citizens, of reproducing two fundamental public goods: "the capacity to maintain 'superpower' status" and "the well-being of the future generations". The authors introduce and operationalize the novel concept of the socially sub-optimal product of labour, i.e. the product resulting from alienated (or unwilling) labour, and conversely, the product which could potentially result from using unutilized willing labour. In doing so we support the idea of distinguishing productive and unproductive forms within both the notion of labour and the notion of leisure. Aggregated estimates of these values show the share of GDP which could be optimized due to a redistribution of the time budget of the population between the main areas of life, according to ideal social preferences.The balance of social benefits and social ills resulting from the life experiences and activities of individuals are empirically evaluated. We consider this balance, which is the sum of impacts of the social environment on the individual, as a suitable model for explaining how individuals make decisions about whether or not to participate in public life. "Individual public welfare functions" are assessed empirically, demonstrating that individual utility depends on personal and collective consumption. Empirical testing covered a wide range of nation-building areas with public investment in relevant types of merit and public goods.Then the authors propose and test on empirical data an opportunity cost approach to evaluating socially legitimate amounts of funding for the fundamental social benefits "superpower" or "additional power" of the nation.The cost of the public good "well-being of the future generations" is calculated for the Russian sample.Finally, the estimates of the discount rates of human lives and "healthy and prosperous years of life" were obtained for Russia for the first time. The findings of the study are relevant for the efficient management of complex socio-economic systems. The authors strongly believe that revealing the structure of existing social preferences and estimating their impact on various areas of social life will help improve policy making by explicitly taking into account the specifics of the real social contract between the state and society.


Parrots are among the most endangered birds in the world, owing to the international pet trade, and habitat degradation. Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus, the most traded wild-caught species, has suffered a steep decline across its vast African range. This PhD investigates Grey Parrot's ecology to understand the mechanisms by which harvest and habitat loss affect populations. The island of Principe was chosen as a study area owing to its healthy Grey Parrot population, its tradition of parrot harvest and the disturbed-to-pristine range of habitats. Parrot densities were exceptionally high (mean±SE: 53±3 parrots km-1), and their distribution within the island was shown to change significantly between pre- and post-breeding season. The presence of nest tree species was the best predictor of densities in the former (F=2.99, p=0.07), while slope and food tree species were in the latter (F=3.0, p<0.05 and F=8.04, p<0.01). Variation in habitat use across seasons highlights the importance of opportunely timed surveys, and the need of preserving a matrix of habitats. Three simple and inexpensive methods were tested, which may be useful where more precise methods cannot be used. Simple encounter rates were shown to be a workable proxy for actual densities: a relationship was found between the two (R2=0.8, df=9, p=0.01). Long watches proved to be far less accurate and suitable only in limited cases (i.e. enough vantage points overlooking small areas and numerous encounters). Counts along flyways were suggested to be a good monitoring method, although further testing is required. Nest densities were found to be very high (mean±SE: 16.8±7.9 and 72.4±26.2 nests km-2 in secondary and primary forest respectively) compared to those elsewhere. The habitat characteristics measured didn't affect productivity, suggesting that cavity characteristics may be more important. The best demographic data available on the species, were used to build a Population Viability Model to investigate its population dynamics in the face of harvest and habitat loss. In Principe, Grey Parrots were shown to have increased rapidly after a trade ban was put in place, highlighting the recovery potential of the species. Harvest alone was shown to be harmless only when small quotas (e.g. 600 chicks year-1) are yielded from large populations, while habitat loss lowered the predicted maximum population size. The interaction of these threats can be much more unpredictable. The effects of harvest are worsened if poorly regulated or techniques that include the harvesting of adults are used. Extinctions were predicted to occur with significant delay (≥40 years), and the conservation implications were discussed. Finally, the contribution of this thesis to the understanding of Grey Parrots ecology and conservation is highlighted and research priorities identified.


Female perceptual limitations may explain why sexual selection doesn't always lead to exaggerated male traits. Darwin was famously puzzled by the length of a peacock's train—what made it so big and so elaborate? The theory of sexual selection provided us with the answer: Females choose males with more exaggerated traits, such as a bigger tail, because they signal benefits for their offspring (1). Recent studies, however, have suggested that this is an oversimplification because the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underlying female choice may not always lead to larger and more extravagant male traits (2, 3). On page 751 of this issue, Akre et al. offer further evidence that female perception can make a big difference. They show that although female frogs prefer male frogs with longer calls, the females are less able to discriminate between males as their calls become longer, perhaps constraining the evolution of call length. The finding is consistent with Weber's law (4), which holds that as the magnitude of two stimuli increases, a greater difference is required to distinguish between them.


This paper provides a brief historical review of the Meccano set used to construct a number of mechanical analog computing machines, known as small-scale differential analyzers. While the full-scale machines and most of the early Meccano models have long since been either scrapped or consigned to museums in the form of static exhibits, it remains the case that students and members of the public who have the opportunity to observe a differential analyzer in operation find it captivating. By giving reality to the mathematical symbolism, the differential analyzers brings problems to life in a way that digital and electronic analog computers cannot.


This master thesis investigates whether there are financial costs associated with sustainable investing with a focus on the Nordic stock market. We apply two different models to test our hypotheses. Firstly, inspired by Hong & Kacperczyk (2009), we estimate whether "sin" stocks generate abnormal returns. Overall, we find mixed evidence on investors paying a financial cost from negatively screening "sin" stocks. For both Sweden and Finland, we find excess returns associated with "sin" stocks. Further, we investigate the relationship between sustainability ratings, specifically ESG Ratings, and riskadjusted returns. We do not detect a significant relationship between superior ESG Ratings and superior risk-adjusted returns. Consistent with existing literature, we present mixed evidence on whether sustainable investing implies financial costs. 0978470 0974694 GRA 19703


We investigate valuation of derivatives with payoff defined as a nonlinear though close to linear function of tradable underlying assets. Interest rate derivatives involving Libor or swap rates in arrears, i.e. rates paid at wrong time, are a typical example. It is generally tempting to replace the future unknown interest rates with the forward rates. We show rigorously that indeed this is not possible in the case of Libor or swap rates in arrears. We introduce formally the notion of linear plain vanilla derivatives as those that can be replicated by a finite set of elementary operations and show that derivatives involving the rates in arrears are not (linear) plain vanilla. We also study the issue of valuation of such derivatives. Beside the popular convexity adjustment formula, we develop an improved two or more variable adjustment formula applicable in particular on swap rates in arrears. Finally, we get a precise fully analytical formula based on the usual assumption of log-normality of the relevant tradable underlying assets applicable to a wide class of convexity related derivatives. We illustrate the techniques and different results on a case study of a real life controversial exotic swap.


Use of carbamazepine for the treatment of psychiatric disorders is reviewed. Carbamazepine's mechanism of action may be related to inhibition of kindling (repeated subtherapeutic electrical stimulation) in the temporal lobe and limbic system. In most published studies, carbamazepine was useful in affective disorders, especially in patients with bipolar manic disorders. In controlled, double-blind studies in patients with primary affective or schizoaffective disorders, carbamazepine significantly decreased manic symptoms and showed some antidepressant effect. Synergistic effects have been observed when carbamazepine is used with lithium. Carbamazepine has been reported to decrease symptoms in patients with aggression, dyscontrol syndromes, schizophrenia, and alcohol withdrawal syndrome, but few of these studies have been controlled, comparative trials; carbamazepine may be useful in patients with these disorders who do not respond to conventional therapies. Beneficial effects of carbamazepine in psychiatric disorders are usually observed with doses of 400-1600 mg/day and serum concentrations of 8-12 micrograms/mL. Carbamazepine is useful alone or in combination with other agents for bipolar affective disorders, especially in patients who are intolerant of or unresponsive to lithium. Serum carbamazepine concentration, hematological profile, and serum electrolytes should be monitored carefully to minimize the risk of toxicity.


This paper is concerned with the development of methods for the validation of complex non-linear models of helicopter dynamics using measured flight data. The approach which has been adopted is based on the use of a series of simplified descriptions involving linearised models for each flight condition. Estimates of parameters in each of these linearised models, as found from the application of system identification techniques to flight data, are compared with parameter values in an equivalent linearised description obtained from the theoretical nonlinear model. In broad terms the aim is to achieve matching trends for both sets of parameters and thus establish the validity of the nonlinear model from which the linearised descriptions are derived. This use of system identification techniques as a means of validating flight mechanics models has required the development of improved tools for helicopter parameter identification. Frequency-domain methods of identification have been found to have advantages over more conventional time-domain methods.
Important advantages of the methodology include the use of a restricted frequency range for the estimation of parameters of the rigid-body model and the incorporation of time delays into the model. Both of these are facilitated by the formulation of the problem in the frequency domain and have been found to provide practical benefits in the estimation of parameters of six-degrees-of-freedom models in which higher-order dynamics associated with rotor modes cannot be represented explicitly.


Silica-collagen type I nanocomposite hydrogels are evaluated as medicated dressings to prevent infection in chronic wounds. Two antibiotics, gentamicin and rifamycin, are encapsulated in a single step within plain silica nanoparticles. Their antimicrobial efficiency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus is assessed. Gentamycin-loaded 500 nm particles can be immobilized at high silica dose in concentrated collagen hydrogels without modifying their fibrillar structure or impacting on their rheological behavior and increases their proteolytic stability. Gentamicin release from the nanocomposites is sustained over 7 days, offering an unparalleled prolonged antibacterial activity. Particle immobilization also decreases their cytotoxicity towards surface-seeded fibroblast cells. Rifamycin-loaded 100 nm particles significantly alter the collagen hydrogel structure at high silica doses. The thus-obtained nanocomposites show no antibacterial efficiency, due to strong adsorption of rifamycin on collagen fibers. The complex interplay of interactions between drugs, silica and collagen is a key factor regulating the properties of these composite hydrogels as antibiotic-delivering biological dressings and must be taken into account for future extension to other wound healing agents.


The onset of thermal convection in an enclosed rotating cylinder is greatly influenced by the interaction between the Coriolis force and the cylinder sidewall. For temperature differences between the hot bottom and the cool top that are too small to sustain convection throughout the entire cylinder, convection sets in as pairs of wall-bounded hot thermal plumes ascend and cold thermal plumes descend in the sidewall boundary layer, the so-called wall modes of rotating convection. Over an extensive range of parameter space, several wall modes with different numbers of thermal pairs coexist stably, and this multiplicity of states leads to very rich nonlinear dynamics as the temperature difference is increased to a level supporting thermal convection throughout the bulk of the cylinder. The bulk convection takes on characteristics of Kuppers–Lortz spatiotemporal chaos, but its interaction with the persistent wall modes also leads to further flow complications which are explored here via numerical simulations.


In this article, we present a tube‐based framework for robust adaptive model predictive control (RAMPC) for nonlinear systems subject to parametric uncertainty and additive disturbances. Set‐membership estimation is used to provide accurate bounds on the parametric uncertainty, which are employed for the construction of the tube in a robust MPC scheme. The resulting RAMPC framework ensures robust recursive feasibility and robust constraint satisfaction, while allowing for less conservative operation compared with robust MPC schemes without model/parameter adaptation. Furthermore, by using an additional mean‐squared point estimate in the objective function the framework ensures finite‐gain ℒ2 stability w.r.t. additive disturbances. As a first contribution we derive suitable monotonicity and nonincreasing properties on general parameter estimation algorithms and tube/set‐based RAMPC schemes that ensure robust recursive feasibility and robust constraint satisfaction under recursive model updates. Then, as the main contribution of this article, we provide similar conditions for a tube‐based formulation that is parametrized using an incremental Lyapunov function, a scalar contraction rate and a function bounding the uncertainty. With this result, we can provide simple constructive designs for different RAMPC schemes with varying computational complexity and conservatism. As a corollary, we can demonstrate that state of the art formulations for nonlinear RAMPC are a special case of the proposed framework. We provide a numerical example that demonstrates the flexibility of the proposed framework and showcase improvements compared with state of the art approaches.


Mean arterial pressure (MAP) is estimated at the brachial artery level by adding a fraction of pulse pressure (form factor; =0.33) to diastolic pressure. We tested the hypothesis that a fixed form factor can also be used at the aortic root level. We recorded systolic aortic pressure (SAP) and diastolic aortic pressure (DAP), and we calculated aortic pulse pressure (PP) and the time-averaged MAP in the aorta of resting adults (n=73; age 43+/-14 years). Wave reflection was quantified using the augmentation index. The aortic form factor (range 0.35-0.53) decreased with age, MAP, PP and augmentation index (each P<0.001). The mean form factor value (0.45) gave a reasonable estimation of MAP (MAP=DAP+0.45PP; bias=0+/-2 mmHg), and the bias increased with MAP (P<0.001). An alternative formula (MAP=DAP+PP/3+5 mmHg) gave a more precise estimation (bias=0+/-1 mmHg), and the bias was not related to MAP. This latter formula was consistent with the previously reported mean pulse wave amplification of 15 mmHg, and with unchanged MAP and diastolic pressure from aorta to periphery. Multiple linear regression showed that 99% of the variability of MAP was explained by the combined influence of DAP and SAP, thus confirming major pressure redundancy. Results were obtained irrespective of whether the marked differences in heart period and extent of wave reflection between subjects were taken into account. In conclusion, the aortic form factor was strongly influenced by age, aortic pressure and wave reflection. An empirical formula (MAP=DAP+PP/3+5 mmHg) that is consistent with mechanical principles in the arterial system gave a more precise estimate of MAP in the aorta of resting humans. Only two distinct pressure-powered functions were carried out in the (SAP, DAP, MAP, PP) four-pressure set.


In this study we report the isolation and purification of the capsular polysaccharide elaborated by Staphylococcus aureus SA1 mucoid. The capsule was isolated from bacterial extracts and culture supernatants by a series of ethanol precipitations and enzyme digestions, followed by ion-exchange chromatography. Teichoic acid contamination was eliminated by oxidation with sodium metaperiodate, and the final product eluted in the void volume of a Sephacryl S-300 column. The purified capsular polysaccharide was analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy, 13C and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, amino acid analysis, immunelectrophoresis, and numerous biochemical assays. The major constituents of the capsule were 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-alpha-galacturonic acid (4-O linked), 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-alpha-fucose (3-O linked), and taurine. The polysaccharide also contained O-acetyl groups which were removed by mild alkaline hydrolysis. Serologically and biochemically, the capsule from strain SA1 mucoid appeared very similar to that produced by strain M. Purified capsular polysaccharide was immunogenic in both rabbits and mice. The optimal immunizing dose in mice was 0.1 microgram of purified capsular polysaccharide administered intraperitoneally. SA1 mucoid resisted opsonophagocytic killing by human leukocytes and complement. However, antibodies raised to the purified capsular polysaccharide neutralized the antiphagocytic effect of the capsule.


The proliferation of topic hierarchies for text documents has resulted in a need for tools that automatically classify new documents within such hierarchies. One can use existing classiiers by ignoring the hierarchical structure, treating the topics as separate classes. Unfortunately , in the context of text categorization, we are faced with a large number of classes and a huge number of relevant features needed to distinguish between them. Consequently, we are restricted to using only very simple classiiers, both because of computational cost and the tendency of complex models to overrt. We propose an approach that utilizes the hierarchical topic structure to decompose the classiication task into a set of simpler problems, one at each node in the classiication tree. As we show, each of these smaller problems can be solved accurately by focusing only on a very small set of features, those relevant to the task at hand. This set of relevant features varies widely throughout the hierarchy, so that, while the overall relevant feature set may be large, each classiier only examines a small subset. The use of reduced feature sets allows us to utilize more complex (proba-bilistic) models, without encountering the computational and robustness diiculties described above. Multiple submission statement: This paper is currently not under review for another conference or journal, nor will it be submitted elsewhere during ML's review period. Abstract. The proliferation of topic hierarchies for text documents has resulted in a need for tools that automatically classify new documents within such hierarchies. One can use existing classiiers by ignoring the hierarchical structure, treating the topics as separate classes. Unfortunately, in the context of text cat-egorization, we are faced with a large number of classes and a huge number of relevant features needed to distinguish between them. Consequently, we are restricted to using only very simple classiiers, both because of computational cost and the tendency of complex models to overrt. We propose an approach that utilizes the hierarchical topic structure to decompose the classiication task into a set of simpler problems, one at each node in the classiication tree. As we show, each of these smaller problems can be solved accurately by focusing only on a very small set of features, those relevant to the task at hand. This set of relevant features varies widely throughout the hierarchy, so that, while the overall relevant feature set may be large, each classiier only examines a …


Advanced sensor technology is widely used in aquatic monitoring and research. Most applications focus on temporal variability, whereas spatial variability has been challenging to document. We assess the capability of water chemistry sensors embedded in a high-speed water intake system to document spatial variability. This new sensor platform continuously samples surface water at a range of speeds (0 to >45 km h(-1)) resulting in high-density, mesoscale spatial data. These novel observations reveal previously unknown variability in physical, chemical, and biological factors in streams, rivers, and lakes. By combining multiple sensors into one platform, we were able to detect terrestrial-aquatic hydrologic connections in a small dystrophic lake, to infer the role of main-channel vs backwater nutrient processing in a large river and to detect sharp chemical changes across aquatic ecosystem boundaries in a stream/lake complex. Spatial sensor data were verified in our examples by comparing with standard lab-based measurements of selected variables. Spatial fDOM data showed strong correlation with wet chemistry measurements of DOC, and optical NO3 concentrations were highly correlated with lab-based measurements. High-frequency spatial data similar to our examples could be used to further understand aquatic biogeochemical fluxes, ecological patterns, and ecosystem processes, and will both inform and benefit from fixed-site data.


The high-performance computing domain is enriching with the inclusion of networks-on-chip (NoCs) as a key component of many-core (CMPs or MPSoCs) architectures. NoCs face the communication scalability challenge while meeting tight power, area, and latency constraints. Designers must address new challenges that were not present before. Defective components, the enhancement of application-level parallelism, or power-aware techniques may break topology regularity, thus, efficient routing becomes a challenge. This paper presents universal logic-based distributed routing (uLBDR), an efficient logic-based mechanism that adapts to any irregular topology derived from 2-D meshes, instead of using routing tables. uLBDR requires a small set of configuration bits, thus being more practical than large routing tables implemented in memories. Several implementations of uLBDR are presented highlighting the tradeoff between routing cost and coverage. The alternatives span from the previously proposed LBDR approach (with 30% of coverage) to the uLBDR mechanism achieving full coverage. This comes with a small performance cost, thus exhibiting the tradeoff between fault tolerance and performance. Power consumption, area, and delay estimates are also provided highlighting the efficiency of the mechanism. To do this, different router models (one for CMPs and one for MPSoCs) have been designed as a proof concept.


Observed and unobserved characteristics of an individual are often used by researchers to explain choices over the provision of environmental goods. One means for identifying what is typically an unobserved characteristic, such as an attitude, is through some data reduction technique, such as factor analysis. However, the resultant variable represents the true attitude with measurement error, and hence, when included into a non-linear choice model, introduces bias in the model. There are well established methods to overcome this issue, which are seldom implemented. In an application to preferences over two water source alternatives for Perth in Western Australia, we use structural equation modeling within a discrete choice model to determine whether welfare measures are significantly impacted by ignoring measurement error in latent attitudes, and the advantage to policy makers from understanding what drives certain attitudes.