Language is both a cause and a consequence of the social processes that lead to conflict or peace. "Hate speech" can mobilize violence and destruction. What are the characteristics of "peace speech" that reflect and support the social processes that maintain peace? This study used existing peace indices, machine learning, and on-line, news media sources to identify the words most associated with lower-peace versus higher-peace countries. As each peace index measures different social properties, they can have different values for the same country. There is however greater consensus with these indices for the countries that are at the extremes of lower-peace and higher-peace. Therefore, a data driven approach was used to find the words most important in distinguishing lower-peace and higher-peace countries. Rather than assuming a theoretical framework that predicts which words are more likely in lower-peace and higher-peace countries, and then searching for those words in news media, in this study, natural language processing and machine learning were used to identify the words that most accurately classified a country as lower-peace or higher-peace. Once the machine learning model was trained on the word frequencies from the extreme lower-peace and higher-peace countries, that model was also used to compute a quantitative peace index for these and other intermediate-peace countries. The model successfully yielded a quantitative peace index for intermediate-peace countries that was in between that of the lower-peace and higher-peace, even though they were not in the training set. This study demonstrates how natural language processing and machine learning can help to generate new quantitative measures of social systems, which in this study, were linguistic differences resulting in a quantitative index of peace for countries at different levels of peacefulness.


Background: Cow´s milk allergy is the most common cause of food allergy in young children. Ingestion of milk products in children with a milk protein allergy can lead to anaphylaxis and must be avoided. Most guidelines generally recommend the use of an extensively hydrolyzed formula (EHF) in these cases; however rare allergic reactions can still occur. Here, we present a 3-month-old who developed anaphylaxis to a cow's milk formula. Subsequently he developed a rare systemic reaction to soy and an extensively hydrolyzed formula. Case: The patient had an unremarkable past medical history and presented with signs and symptoms consistent with anaphylaxis after being fed cow's milk formula for the first time. Symptoms included immediate vomiting, wheezing, stridor, angioedema of eyelids and lips. Although IM epinephrine was given, the patient continued to clinically deteriorate becoming more lethargic and necessitating admission to the pediatric intensive care unit. Subsequently, a trial of soy formula ingestion reproduced similar symptoms and an EHF was given. However immediately after taking an EHF, he developed facial angioedema and diffuse urticarial lesions. Conclusion: In most cases with a cow's milk allergy, an extensively based formula can be tolerated safely due to a hydrolyzed protein chain. However, medical providers must be vigilant when switching formula since a rare systemic allergic reaction to EHF can still occur.


The DNS query traffic in a campus top domain DNS server were statistically investigated in order to find out the security incidents, especially bot worm (BW)-infected PCs on the campus network. The interesting results are obtained: (1) The total traffic of the DNS query access from the outside of the campus network frequently correlates with that of the number of their unique source IP addresses. (2) The unique source IP address-based entropy (randomness) also frequently correlates well with the query contents-based one. Therefore, these results indicate that we can detect suspicious IP hosts, especially, spam bots in the campus network by only watching DNS query traffic from the outside of the university.


Youth unemployment in Africa challenges governments and development partners alike. This problem is hard to tackle because of the lack of reliable data and related analysis on scale, distribution and complexity of employment, unemployment and livelihood situation as well as effective policies, programmes and approaches for young women and men (F. Chigunta, J. Schnurr, D. James-Wilson and V. Torres, 2005). In addition to youth unemployment, there are other vulnerable groups of young people such as those on the Streets. Street youth are products of poverty, political instability, war, urbanization, HIV/AIDS amongst other causes. Many participate in crime, sex and drug peddling because of limited income generation alternatives. According to the United Nations 40 percent of young people in the developing countries live on less than USD 1 per day (UNICEF, 2000). There are also over 100 million youth worldwide working and sometimes living on the streets. The focus of this study is on the effectiveness of reintegration practices amongst the street children organizations in East Africa. Most institutions care for street children and reintegrate them once they become young adults, leaving them to find jobs and to fend for themselves. Some institutions reintegrate the children immediately they finish primary school while others while they are undergoing their secondary schooling or tertiary education. Unfortunately, for many children, at the time of reintegration they may not have adequate skills for competitiveness in the job markets (KARDS, 2006). This study will find out the nature of reintegration strategies and existing reintegration activities. Lastly the study intends to generate recommendations to improve the street youth reintegration in East Africa. The study uses a set of data collected by Koinonia Advisory Research and Development Service (KARDS) in 2006. KARDS is a Nairobi based community development consultancy. This data is based on the work-activities for 122 street children institutions in Nairobi and its surrounding areas. The data was collected between May and July 2006. Various operational activities for street children institutions such as rehabilitation, street work, outreach and reintegration were captured in this data. This study only uses the section of the data that focuses on reintegration.The study found out that while there were many rehabilitation activities for street children, reintegration activities for maturing street youth were very minimal on the overall constituting only 2% of the total institutional activities. Disengagement from programme benefits for most institutions is sudden and unplanned and may also be linked to punishments. Disengaging the children is a challenge for institutions because of the fear of what may happen to them once they are on their own.It is hoped that this study could be used to inform practitioners in order to improve their insights on reintegration; the government may use it to formulate policies based on evidence. Lastly it may provide useful insights to the donor community interested in helping reducing the vulnerability faced by street youth.


The present study conducted in the Burdwan district of West Bengal, has examined the socio-economic impact of MGNREGA on the rural poor who are mainly comprised of small and marginal farmers & agricultural labourers. The study is based on a random sample of 102 respondents (82 beneficiary and 20 non-beneficiary households) drawn by the PPS method from two good-performing and two poorly-performing Gram Panchayats randomly selected from one randomly selected good-performing block in the district. It has been found that significant changes have taken place in the socio-economic variables like annual per capita income, monthly per capita food expenditure, annual per child expenditure on education, per capita savings, condition of the dwelling houses, access to healthcare facility and possession of other assets or luxury items for those households which are regularly working in the scheme. According to the value of the socio-economic index prepared, it has been found that in the initial year of implementation (2007-08) of MGNREGA in the study area, 43.9 per cent beneficiary households were in poor socio-economic conditions which have gradually improved in the succeeding years and decreased to 32.9 per cent in 2008-09 and further to 18.3 per cent in 2009-10. The study has made some suggestions also for incorporating improvements in the present MGNREG scheme based on the constraints reported by the workers associated with this Scheme.


Objective To investigate the association between maternal obesity and the prevalence of fetal and infant death. Design Cohort study using prospectively collected data matched to a high-quality population-based registry data of fetal and infant death. Setting Five maternity units in the North of England. Participants 40 932 singleton pregnancies delivered between 2003 and 2005, excluding 1092 pregnancies associated with a congenital anomaly and/or maternal pre-gestational diabetes, and 9998 pregnancies with missing maternal body mass index (BMI). Main Outcome Measures Prevalence, among singleton pregnancies, of late miscarriage (20–23 weeks gestation), termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly (≥20 weeks gestation), stillbirth (≥24 weeks gestation), fetal death (miscarriage or antepartum stillbirth), perinatal mortality, neonatal mortality, post-neonatal mortality, and all infant mortality. Crude and adjusted (for maternal age, gestational age, where appropriate, birth weight, standardised for sex and gestational age, ethnicity, cigarette smoking status, index of multiple deprivation, and sex of infant/fetus) ORs of each outcome among maternal obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) compared to maternal recommended BMI (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2). Results Compared to women of recommended BMI, obese women were at significantly greater risk of a fetal death (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.94 (95% CI 2.02 to 4.27), p<0.001), including late miscarriage (aOR 3.27 (95% CI 1.43 to 7.44), p=0.005) and antepartum stillbirth (aOR 2.86 (95% CI 1.88 to 4.35), p<0.001), perinatal death (aOR 2.54 (95% CI 1.70 to 3.79), p<0.001), including stillbirth (aOR 2.77 (95% CI 1.86 to 4.13), p<0.001) and early neonatal death (aOR 3.00 (95% CI 1.12 to 8.03), p=0.03), and infant death (aOR 2.49 (95% CI 1.34 to 4.62), p=0.004), including neonatal death (aOR 2.57 (95% CI 1.13 to 5.88), p=0.03). There was no significant association between maternal obesity and post-neonatal death (aOR 2.27 (95% CI 0.89 to 5.80), p=0.09). The effect of obesity on risk of stillbirth was greater among small-for-gestational-age fetuses, but less among current smokers. Except for higher rates of pre-eclampsia among stillbirths, no specific cause of death could explain the increased odds of fetal and infant death among the obese. Conclusion Early-pregnancy obesity is significantly associated with fetal and infant death, independent of the known relationship with congenital anomalies. Further studies are required to investigate the specific mechanisms involved. In the meantime, women should be made aware of these risks and supported to optimise their weight before pregnancy.


It has been reported that left ventricular (LV) diastolic functional parameters assessed by conventional Doppler echocardiography, which measures blood flow velocities in cardiac cavity, correlate with arterial stiffness assessed by the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and are markers for increased risk of cardiovascular events. Recently, tissue Doppler echocardiography, which measures velocities of regional cardiac wall, has been widely used for assessment of LV diastolic function because of more accuracy than conventional Doppler echocardiography. However, there are no data regarding the ability of tissue Doppler echocardiography for predicting increased arterial stiffness. We investigated the correlation of LV diastolic functional parameters from tissue Doppler echocardiography to CAVI in order to clarify the ability of tissue Doppler echocardiography for predicting increased arterial stiffness in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. Enrolled in the study were 70 patients (69 +/- 8 years) who had no overt heart disease, but had at least one of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. The peak early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E') was measured as an index of LV diastolic function using tissue Doppler echocardiography. The E' was correlated with CAVI (r = -0.518, p < 0.001). The optimal cut-off point for the detection of abnormal CAVI (> or = 8.81) was 5.6 cm/s for E' (sensitivity 71%, specificity 71%). The decrease in E' correlated with both LV diastolic dysfunction and increased arterial stiffness. Therefore, the LV diastolic dysfunction assessed by tissue Doppler echocardiography may be useful for predicting increased arterial stiffness and cardiovascular events in the patients with risk factors.


The Transition Initiative is a highly successful movement promoting localisation of economic processes. The basic question that this essay considers is how to relate this movement's favoured units of practice, transition towns with populations of around 5000, to the contemporary world of large cities, so-called world cities, global cities and mega-cities. My means to achieve this end is to interrogate the concept of "local" to make it more strategically amenable to analysing multiple-scale living, and concomitantly, to recognise and understand the importance of non-local spheres of behaviour. The latter is derived from Jane Jacobs work on the city in which the balance between local production and imported (non-local) production is crucial. Her import replacement argument is used to show compatibility between economic change and sustainability. This leads to the concept of green networks of cities which I begin to explore.


Adaptive channel equalization accomplished without resorting to a training sequence is known as blind equalization. The Godard Algorithm and the Generalized Sato Algorithm are two widely referenced algorithms for blind equalization of a QAM data system. These algorithms exhibit very slow convergence rates when compared to algorithms employed in conventional data-aided equalization schemes. In order to speed up the convergence process, these algorithms may be switched over to a decision-directed equalization scheme once the error level is reasonably low. In this paper we present a scheme which is capable of operating in two modes: blind equalization mode and a mode similar to the decision-directed equalization mode. In this proposed scheme, the dominant mode of operation changes from the blind equalization mode at higher error levels to the mode similar to the decision-directed equalization mode at lower error levels. Manual switch-over is not necessary since transitions between the two modes take place smoothly and automatically. The proposed scheme results in faster convergence rates and is applicable to a general class of stochastic-gradient type blind equalization algorithms.


Talvivaara was a mining company located in Sotkamo, in the east of Finland. This is the story of what happened at Talvivaara starting from 2006 and ending with bankruptcy in November 2014. The data was gathered from Helsingin Sanomat (HS), the leading daily newspaper in Finland. The aim of this study is to explore how corporate governance (CG) of Talvivaara was constructed in the articles to public. The results show that the media built up five discourses of CG. In the governance discourse the role and behavior of the CEO was dominant. The financing discourse highlighted the fact that investors and creditors who trusted the company lost their money. The market discourse related how the company could not adapt to the changes in the global market. The nature and people discourse focused on the exploitation of the environment, workers, and local residents. The discourse labeled as controlling relate to the attempts at control by shareholders, politicians, and authorities, which was described in terms of being too late and somewhat naïve. The study contributes to previous research on fallen companies that have shown ethical reasoning to be a cause of organizational failure. Keywords— Corporate governance, stakeholders, stateowned firms, role of board, controlling shareholders, mining company, Finland


To build togetherness in a relationship by activatingcommunication network in coordination to reach a goal in an organization issomething that needs to be socialized to all members. It must be carried outbecause the members involvement in work implementation has responsibility forthe success of members. Commitment is a circumstance of employees thatgenerates strong positive behavior to work organization. The purpose of thisresearch was to find out and analyze the influence of personal factor,organizational factor and non organization factor to organizational commitment atPT Kubota Indonesia. The population in this research was all employees of PTKubota Indonesia Semarang as 72 employees. The samples were 72 employees.The sampling technique used in this research was purposive sampling. The analysistool used in this research was multiple linier regression which was firstly examinedby validity and reliability test. The result showed that there was positive influenceof personal factor, organizational factor and non organization factor both partialand simultaneous. It means if personal factor, organizational factor and nonorganization factor improve, the organizational commitment will improve. Keywords : personal factor, organizational factor and non organization factor toorganizational commitment


Cell capacity in a CDMA communication system can be increased through the use of base station antenna arrays and digital beamforming. It is necessary to estimate suitable beamforming weights from the received signal data which contains interference and noise. This imperfect beamforming produces corrupted weight values which affect the performance of the system. Due to the data coding methods used in IS-95, it is necessary to utilise an enhanced beamforming weight estimation technique which we present here. This permits significantly more accurate estimates of the beamforming coefficients to be made. A simplified method for cell capacity estimation based on the power control information is also included. Sample simulation results indicate that approximately a 50% increase in capacity is obtained when beamforming with two antenna elements is used instead of one element. Results obtained from the proposed imperfect beamforming and the power control capacity estimation technique agree with those obtained for the situation where perfect beamforming weights are need.


We analyze the following question associated with flexible outsourcing under imperfect domestic labour market: How does the implementation of profit sharing influence flexible outsourcing? We show that in general profit sharing has a negative effect on low skilled wage and thus an outsourcing decreasing character. However due to labour union determination of effort a constant effort level will result so that in this case firm's optimal choice of profit sharing is zero.


The One Health concept merges environmental, wildlife, domestic animal, and human health into a global, interconnected context. Though recently a popular catchphrase due to the emergence and reemergence of diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), bluetongue, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Q Fever, Rift Valley fever, Nipah virus, West Nile virus (WNV), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, and plague, the One Health concept is not new. The One Health approach to managing infectious diseases aims to promote and implement meaningful collaboration and communication between multiple allied disciplines working locally, nationally, and internationally to attain optimal health for people, domestic animals, wildlife, and our environment. Rabies is an ancient disease that results in more than 55,000 human deaths worldwide each year. Historic and current emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to rabies control provides a prime example of a zoonotic disease that is being managed more effectively via the One Health approach. In North America, a few meso-carnivores and bats serve as reservoirs of rabies, perpetuating continual infection of humans, pets, and livestock. Increased emphasis on surveillance and control of rabies in wildlife is the key to local, regional, and continental elimination strategies.


In the light of the new era of climate action under the Paris Agreement (PA) and the rights and justice issues raised by climate change-related policies and measures, this paper discusses the integration of a human rights component within the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) of the PA. Established in article 6.4, the SDM is essentially a new mitigation mechanism available to all Parties aimed at helping them to achieve and increase their mitigation actions, while fostering sustainable development. Looking back at the experience of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol , which bears great resemblance to the SDM, as well as to the human rights concerns raised during its implementation, the integration of human rights considerations into the SDM and its governing rules seems to be necessary to prevent negative outcomes and human rights harms when implemented. The adoption of such rules, consistent with international human rights, could provide an opportunity for State Parties to operationalise the language included in the PA and tackle the climate change challenge, while ensuring respect for human rights. Keywords: Climate change; Paris Agreement ; Human Rights; Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM)


When contact sprays are applied for cockroach control, they are dispersed with the expectation that they will kill the insects actually in the room at that time but will have little if any effect on those that enter after the spraying has been completed. Residual sprays, which are applied to stationary objects such as walls or furniture, have the added advantage of also being toxic to those cockroaches that contact the treated surfaces at a later date. If the residual treatments actually kill a greater number of insects, they also may select for resistance at a much higher level and cause such resistance to develop more rapidly. In an effort to determine whether residual sprays produce resistant strains more readily than space sprays, or vice versa, a series of tests was conducted under simulated natural conditions in which German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), were exposed to chlordane treatments.


The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is afforded "extraordinary power" in reviewing first-degree murder convictions on appeal. Yet despite the plenary review established under § 33E - including the right to review the entire trial transcript for errors neither objected to at trial, nor raised on appeal - the survey undertaken in this article concludes that surprisingly few cases are reversed on appeal. This article presents the results of a survey of first-degree murder appeals in Massachusetts from 1998-2008. During that time-frame, just 7.25% of these convictions were reversed on appeal. Additionally, this article discusses the substantive issues giving rise to reversal, and the reversal rate for each issue. Criminal practitioners and scholars can benefit from a practical understanding of the aspects of homicide law which are most likely to support the reversal of a first-degree murder conviction.


Writing London Volume 3: Inventions of the City stages a series of interventions and inventions of urban space between the years 1880 and 1930. Addressing key literary texts and neglected authors of the period, Writing London explores the alterity within many of London's most familiar locations. Making sharp distinctions between modernity and modernism, the volume offers extensive readings of Richard Marsh, Amy Levy, Arnold Bennett and T. S. Eliot. Through detailed and attentive close readings which draw on both historiography and other interdisciplinary theoretical resources, Wolfreys reassesses the city as a series of singular sites irreducible to stable identities, whilst also offering a cogent re-evaluation of motifs of the nocturnal and the suburban in the literary imagination of London, concluding with an extended reading of The Waste Land and its manuscript drafts.


Adsorption of industrially important dyes (Acid Red 88, Acid Orange 8 and Bismark Brown R) on alumina from aqueous media has been investigated as a function of shaking time, amount of adsorbent, concentration of adsorbate and temperature. It is noted that the adsorption of Acid Red 88, Acid Orange 8 and Bismark Brown R on alumina decreases with an increase in temperature. The results obtained show that the adsorption isotherms at different temperatures are S-type and obey the Freundlich type of adsorption equation. Isosteric heats of adsorption (qst) have also been calculated at different coverages from the adsorption isosters and have been interpreted. The qst values for all the adsorption systems decrease with increasing surface coverage indicating that the alumina used possessed a heterogeneous surface with sites of different activities. The results also indicate that initial adsorption, whether by chemical or physical means, occurs first on the most active sites and then, as the concentration of adsorbate is increased, on sites of lesser activity.


Leishmania mexicana express several cysteine proteinases, some of which appear to be good drug targets. Findings suggested that cysteine proteinases may have an immunomodulatory role within the mammal and recently it has been shown that cysteine proteinase-deficient mutants stimulate a Th1 response in susceptible mice strains compared with the Th2 phenotype normally observed in wild-type infections. To investigate further the immunomodulatory activity of leishmanial cysteine proteinases and their role in host-parasite interactions, a major cysteine proteinase of L. mexicana, CPB, was produced in recombinant form. The enzyme, CPB2.8DeltaCTE, generated without its C-terminal extension was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and purified from inclusion bodies to yield enzyme with high specific activity. The successful method was also used for the attempted production of a full length CPB with its C-terminal extension of L. infantum in recombinant form. This proved less successful apparently because of the presence of the hydrophobic C-terminal extension. The recombinant CPB of L. mexicana was analysed for its effects on the host response to the parasites and parasite antigen. In vitro analysis entailed incubation of explanted peritoneal exudate cells with recombinant CPB2.8 to assess production of inflammatory mediators considered to be important in leishmanial infection. The enzyme did not affect the production of interleukin-12 or nitric oxide but it did reduce the level of IL-10. The vaccine potential of the enzyme was investigated by co-administration with recombinant IL-12 as a vaccine, in three mouse strains, before challenge with wild-type L. mexicana. The consequent infection and host immune responses were monitored. The enzyme was partially protective when administered with IL- 12 even in the highly susceptible BALB/c line. The activity of the enzyme was shown to be unimportant in its ability in promoting a Th 1 response rather than the exacerbative Th 2 response normally seen in wild-type infection. These results demonstrate the potential of recombinant CPB as part of a vaccine against leishmaniasis. Targeted gene deletion of the cysteine proteinases of L. mexicana has produced several null mutants including the single and double null mutants. The single null mutant (denoted by Deltacpb) is generated by deletion of the entire cpb array, which encodes the 19 CPB isoenzymes, while deletion of both the cpb array and the cpa gene generates the double null mutant (denoted by Deltacpb/cpa). The latter mutant produces a no lesion growth phenotype in BALB/c mice and has been suggested as being a potential vaccine candidate. The parts played by the cysteine proteinases were investigated further by using these mutant parasite lines in which CPB was analysed by methods of re-integration directly into the chromosome or by re-expression via a cosmid vector. In order to compare metacyclic-specific and amastigote-specific genes and see if time of cysteine proteinase expression was important in establishing infection, the single null mutant was re-integrated with either metacyclic- expressed CPB2 or amastigote-expressed CPB2.8. Furthermore, each proteinase was engineered with its native promoter or with a chimaeric promoter, to assess expression levels and to investigate if there was a direct correlation between CPB expression and virulence since metacyclic CPBs are normally not expressed in the amastigote and vice versa. Re-integration of metacyclic CPB2 with its native and chimaeric promoter, significantly increased parasite proliferation resulting in increased lesion growth, re-integration of amastigote CPB2.8, did not promote an increase in virulence as the enzyme with its native promoter but did promote virulence when the enzyme was re-integrated with the chimaeric promoter. Analysis of the humoral and cellular responses to the single null mutants, indicated a mixed Th phenotype with IFN-gamma and IL-4 being produced by ex vivo splenocytes in response to leishmanial antigen stimulus. Antibody and lesion analysis of the double null mutant-infected mice was also carried out and did not result in an increase in virulence. Indeed reintegration of either CPB2 or CPB2.8 resulted in significantly higher IgG2a production indicating more of a Th 1 response than that already seen in double null-infected mice. Re-expression of the cpb array as a cosmid vector into the single null mutant did not result in a significant increase id virulence in mice compared with that of the single null mutant alone. The methods used to analyse these immune responses have been developed to permit further examination of other leishmanial CPs and should help to elucidate the role of these important parasite molecules.


Traditional metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor scaling has advanced successfully over 50 years providing significant increases in transistor count per chip and operating frequency, thus enabled the built of ever more performant and complex systems. Approaching to atomic scales, the energy efficiency of the transistors is severely compromised due to short channel effects and the explosion in the leakage current. Although the introduction of new materials and structures postpone the confrontation with theoretical limitations, 2D scaling strategy is fast approaching its limits. Thus alternative strategies have to be engineered for future growth of chip functionalities. Accepting the nanometer-limitation and with exchange of nanometer scale priority for femtojoule priority, energy efficiency has become the new yardstick. One approach being intensively investigated is to build transistors with steep switching characteristics offering high on/off current ratios. The principle of thermionic emission limits the subthreshold swing of MOSFETs to 60mV/dec at room temperature and consequently their energy efficiency. In this regard, new frontiers are opened by using new device physics (band to band tunneling, impact ionization, ferroelectric materials etc.) to minimize the energy per operation. In this work, tunneling field effect transistors which which work based on band-to-band tunneling process are evaluated focusing on their benefits in terms of energy/power saving for logic operations. Thanks to their superior subthreshold swing compared to CMOS, TFETs can offer higher performance for the same leakage level or better energy efficiency for the same performance at low operating voltages. Key device characteristics of TFETs are benchmarked and their reflection on the circuit performance are discussed based on simulations of primitive building blocks. Temperature sensitivity of TFETs that is investigated experimentally shows that TFETs are suitable for temperature sensitive applications, since they show less variation compared to thermionic emission based FETs under wide temperature ranges. Lastly, innovative ways of exploiting TFETs for capacitorless DRAMs and optical sensing are presented.


The dynamics of dark solitons is studied within the framework of the mathematical model of nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NSE) with an external harmonic potential. A comparative analysis of the solution of no stationary problems is performed for a linear harmonic oscillator and the NSE model with a harmonic potential for different signs of the self-action potential. It is shown that the main specific feature of the dynamics of dark NSE solitons in a parabolic trap is the formation of solitons with dynamically changing form factors producing the periodic variation in the modulation depth (the degree of "blackness") of dark solitons. The oscillation period of the dark solitons does not coincide with the oscillation period of a linear quantum-mechanical oscillator, which is caused by the periodic transformation of the black solitons to the gray one and vice versa.


This research examines the predictors of actual discrimination claiming among terminated workers by investigating a number of variables suggested by organizational justice and social information processing theories. This study investigated initial decisions to claim in a sample of 439 terminated workers who were surveyed at several unemployment offices. Logistic regression was used to examine how the decision to claim for discrimination was affected by procedural and distributive justice, social guidance, minority status, gender, age, tenure, and eductation. All of the variables except education and gender were found to be significant. Thus, the resutls support variables from each of the theories. Social guidances was found to have a major influence on discrimination-claiming. A counter-intuitive finding for minority status was found such that Whites were more likely to claim than minorities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


Circumbinary disks are common around post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) stars with a stellar companion on orbital timescales of a few 100 to few 1000 days. The presence of a disk is usually inferred from the system's spectral energy distribution and confirmed, for a sub-sample, by interferometric observations. We used the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on the Very Large Telescope to obtain extreme adaptive optics assisted scattered light images of the post-AGB binary system AR Puppis. Data have been obtained in the V, I, and H bands. Our observations have produced the first resolved images of AR Puppis's circumbinary disk and confirm its edge-on orientation. In our high-angular-resolution and high-dynamic-range images we identify several structural components such as a dark mid-plane, the disk surface, and arc-like features. We discuss the nature of these components and use complementary photometric monitoring to relate them to the orbital phase of the binary system. Because the star is completely obscured by the disk at visible wavelengths, we conclude that the long-term photometric variability of the system must be caused by variable scattering, not extinction, of starlight by the disk over the binary orbit. Finally, we discuss how the short disk lifetimes and fast evolution of the host stars compared to the ages at which protoplanetary disks are typically observed make systems like AR Puppis valuable extreme laboratories to study circumstellar disk evolution and constrain the timescale of dust grain growth during the planet formation process.


Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is one of the most straightforward applications of the so-called nanoplasmonics. This powerful molecular spectroscopy technique is based on the enhancement of the inelastic scattering from molecules located near nanostructured metallic surfaces when these are illuminated and surface plasmons are excited. The analytical applications of SERS are hindered when the Raman cross-section of the analyte is too low, which is often the case in inorganic molecular species. This problem is even more serious when atomic species are to be identified, since these cannot display a vibrational signal. Herein we discuss the recent advancements toward the SERS detection of small inorganic compounds, including both molecular and atomic species.


Abstract. A recently developed technique for reconstructing approximately two-dimensional (∂/∂z≈0), time-stationary magnetic field structures in space is applied to two magnetopause traversals on the dawnside flank by the four Cluster spacecraft, when the spacecraft separation was about 2000km. The method consists of solving the Grad-Shafranov equation for magnetohydrostatic structures, using plasma and magnetic field data measured along a single spacecraft trajectory as spatial initial values. We assess the usefulness of this single-spacecraft-based technique by comparing the magnetic field maps produced from one spacecraft with the field vectors that other spacecraft actually observed. For an optimally selected invariant (z)-axis, the correlation between the field components predicted from the reconstructed map and the corresponding measured components reaches more than 0.97. This result indicates that the reconstruction technique predicts conditions at the other spacecraft locations quite well. The optimal invariant axis is relatively close to the intermediate variance direction, computed from minimum variance analysis of the measured magnetic field, and is generally well determined with respect to rotations about the maximum variance direction but less well with respect to rotations about the minimum variance direction. In one of the events, field maps recovered individually for two of the spacecraft, which crossed the magnetopause with an interval of a few tens of seconds, show substantial differences in configuration. By comparing these field maps, time evolution of the magnetopause structures, such as the formation of magnetic islands, motion of the structures, and thickening of the magnetopause current layer, is discussed. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (Magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers) – Space plasma physics (Experimental and mathematical techniques, Magnetic reconnection)


Limitations in current imaging tools have long challenged the imaging of small pancreatic islets in animal models. Here, we report the first development and in vivo validation testing of a broad spectrum and high absorbance near infrared optoacoustic contrast agent, E4x12-Cy7. Our near infrared tracer (E4x12-Cy7) is based on the amino acid sequence of exendin-4 and targets the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R). Cell assays confirmed that E4x12-Cy7 has a high binding affinity (IC50 = 4.6 ± 0.8 nM). Using the multi-spectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT), we imaged E4x12-Cy7 and optoacoustically visualized ß-cell insulinoma xenografts in vivo for the first time. In the future, similar optoacoustic tracers that are specific for ß-cells and combines optoacoustic and fluorescence imaging modalities could prove to be important tools for monitoring the pancreas for the progression of diabetes.


The analytical investigation of several historically important natural yellow and red dye sources is presented, extending previous work on the chemical characterisation of the acid hydrolysed extracts from dyed yarns. The PDA HPLC studies of weld (Reseda luteola L.) dyed yarn extracts found that neither the substrate nor additional steps in the dyeing process significantly altered the relative ratio of the main flavonoid components. Furthermore, their relative photo-degradation rates on the dyed yarns were similar, presenting few problems in the identification of the biological source. In contrast, the relative ratio of the main flavonoid components in dyer's greenweed (Genista tinctoria L.) dyed yarn extracts was highly dependent on the dyeing process. The PDA HPLC and HPLC ESI MSn investigation of the acid hydrolysed extracts of yarn dyed with the Serratula species, sawwort (Serratula tinctoria L.) and Serratula coronata L., identified their characteristic dyeing components to be luteolin, apigenin, quercetin, kaempferol and 3-O-methylquercetin. Similar studies performed on young fustic (Cotinus coggygria Scop.) dyed yarn extracts identified the main colouring components to be fisetin and sulfuretin. Due to the relatively high photo-degradation rates of many of the characteristic components in both sawwort and young fustic, the identification of historical yarns dyed with these sources was problematic. The dye components characterisic for Mexican cochineal (Dactylopius coccus Costa) were all found to be structurally related anthraquinones, with similar photo-degradation rates on the dyed yarns. Analysis of the principal dye components from brazilwood (Caesalpinia sappan L.) and logwood (Haematoxylon campechianum L.) using negative ion ESI MSn enabled the identification of new, structure dependent, mass spectrometric breakdown pathways. The mechanisms were supported by deuterium labelling experiments and the results were shown to be useful for the structural determination of previously unidentified components. An elimination product observed in the PDA HPLC analysis of hematein dyed yarn extracts was structurally characterised using NMR techniques. A similar component, derived from brazilein, was also observed in brazilwood dyed yarn extracts. A novel approach towards mordant identification using inductively coupled plasma techniques was investigated. ICP MS analysis was successful in identifying the metallic ions present in the acid hydrolysed extracts from both reference and historical yarns. However, interpretation of the results from historical samples was challenging due to the observation of large amounts of both aluminium and iron in the sample extracts. Within the Monitoring of Damage to Historic Tapestries (MODHT) project, yellow and green yarns from a selection of 15th – 17th century tapestries were investigated. Analysis of the yarn extracts identified weld and dyer's greenweed as the most prevalent yellow dye sources, with young fustic frequency identified in the metal thread core extracts.


From the introduction to concurrency, we saw one of the fundamental problems in concurrent programming: we would like to execute a series of instructions atomically, but due to the presence of interrupts on a single processor (or multiple threads executing on multiple processors concurrently), we couldn't. In this chapter, we thus attack this problem directly, with the introduction of something referred to as a lock. Programmers annotate source code with locks, putting them around critical sections, and thus ensure that any such critical section executes as if it were a single atomic instruction. As an example, assume our critical section looks like this, the canonical update of a shared variable: balance = balance + 1; Of course, other critical sections are possible, such as adding an element to a linked list or other more complex updates to shared structures, but we'll just keep to this simple example for now. To use a lock, we add some code around the critical section like this:


Medical or clinical practice guidelines of professional institutions establish rules (standards) for good medical treatment (quality of care). They take the form of international, national, regional and local guidelines and are set up by international and national medical organisations, mainly by medical scientific societies, but also by regional (e.g. medical associations in the German Lander states) and local (up to hospital departments) institutions. The rules of good medical treatment (medical or clinical practice guidelines) have to conform to the corresponding medical standard, which is defined by scientific knowledge (evidence-based medicine), practical experience and professional acceptance. The binding character of the standard for medical practice increases with the reliability of scientific evidence and practical experience. Insofar, medical guidelines which correspond to the standard fulfil a quality assurance function for medical treatment as a means of communication in the medical profession, an implementation function for the enforcement of standards and thus also a protective function for patients. Three main issues are concerned: the harmonisation of the procedure for development and the criteria for the quality of good clinical guidelines ("guideline for guidelines"); the legitimation of the objectives of professional guidelines towards the patients and the transformation or reception of medical guidelines by the law. Guidelines can be legally transformed by the courts into standards of due care in liability law, into statutory health insurance law (directives) by the legislator or into the law of tax-financed national health systems. In this function they rationalise (e. g. medical malpractice) decisions of the courts or the legislator by increasing the transparency of their medical basis and thus also contribute to the quality improvement of legal decision-making on medical malpractice. Medical guidelines can also influence (legally binding) health insurance law directives. On principle, guidelines of the scientific medical associations do not involve any economic considerations (efficiency) and should be strictly separated from these (principle of separation and transparency). Medical guidelines have to be differentiated from (health insurance law) directives and recommendations. In addition to the quality assurance function, the guarantee function for efficiency of treatment is a priority for health insurances.


The present study included both (adult and foetal) cadaveric dissection with clinical studies. The results of the study are based on the
routine dissection methods, radiological methods and clinical studies. The branching pattern and the variation of the brachial artery in the present
study has contributed to our knowledge regarding the relationship, course and the variation of the branching pattern which is of considerable
practical importance in the conduct of reparative surgery in arm, forearm and hand.
Their importance lies in the fact that the large artery may occur where the existence of capacious vessels would not ordinarily be
expected, because the greater number of aberrant radial and ulnar arteries arise in the proximal half of the arm. The occurrence of accessory major
channels through the greater extent of arm is precluded. Consequently, serious secondary haemorrhage might occur in the depth of the wound
when the operator has successfully ligated or identified only those vessels which are normally encountered in the area. Careful scrutiny of the anti cubital area, should be made preceeding simple venipuncture, there is a possibility of entering an aberrant ulnar artery.
Accidental intra arterial injections may lead to gangrene of fingers,
hand and fore arm. This accident is facilitated by the superficial course of
the ulnar artery of the high origin and by its consistent relationship to the
medial basilic and medial anti-brachial veins. The brachial artery itself
may be located superficially in the cubital fossa just medial to the biceps
tendon. The superficial position of the arteries make them vulnerable to
trauma and also make them more accessible to cannulation if needed.
The superficial radial artery and the superficial ulnar artery have
been encountered during elevation of the radial forearm flap. The
superficial ulnar artery has been suggested on the basis for skin flap.
Arteriographic misinterpretation results when the contrast dye is injected
distal to the origin of these variant arteries. The existence of the
superficial radial artery implies the absence of the normal radial pulse at
the wrist level. The recently reported clinical case says that the absence of
the ulnar artery was responsible for hand ischaemia after radial artery
grafting for coronary bypass.
In my extensive studies, I have found many variations regarding the branches of the brachial artery namely profunda brachii, superior
ulnar collateral and the presence of superficial brachial artery high origin of radial and ulnar arteries. All these variations pointed out in this study
will warn the medical people before they finalised the therapeutic use. In this way my findings about the above said "brachial artery and
its branching pattern and variations will be definitely helpful and useful to the clinicians of their respective fields.


Clinicogenetic assessment of a family whose six members proved to be carriers of an identical pathological trait allowed the delineation of the clinical picture of the hereditary disease described. Its major components include congenital cranial and facial abnormalities, malformed extremities characteristic of acrocephalosyndactyly, and a progressive pattern of psychic disturbances and higher cortical dysfunctions arising in old age. The first to come are increasing acoustic agnosia and disconnected delusions (stage of psychotic disorders) which are followed by progressive overall mental retardation with concomitant deactualization and disappearance of delusional feelings (stage of dementia). It has been suggested that cases of this kind make up a new (viz., the sixth) type of acrocephalosyndactyly with an autosomal dominant pattern of hereditary transmission. The mutant gene appears to be pleiotropic and characterized by complete penetrance and slightly varying expressivity.


ABSTRACT. Despite the advances in the diagnosis of dementia, neuropsychological assessment remains an important tool. The Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) was designed to evaluate people with suspected dementia and allows for the analysis of different cognitive domains. Considering the numerous cases of early-onset dementia, specific reference standards aimed at the middle-aged population are necessary. Objective: To provide normative data for the middle-aged Brazilian population in DRS and to investigate the influence of education level, age, sex, and intelligence quotient (IQ) on the results. Methods: Overall, 120 healthcare professionals and caregivers from a hospital, who were healthy, aged between 45 and 64 years, and had at least four years of formal education, were included in the study. They were equally divided into six groups. In each age group (45–54 and 55–64 years), there were three educational levels: 4–7, 8–11, and 12 or more (12+) years of formal education. The results are presented as mean values, standard deviations, and percentiles. Comparisons between groups were carried out for age, sex, and education level. Age, years of formal education, and IQ were also analyzed as continuous variables by Spearman's correlation. Results: Concerning education level, the comparison between groups showed differences in the results for the total scale and subscales, except for the Construction subscale. No differences were found for age and sex. Correlations observed for years of formal education and IQ were similar. No correlation was found for age. Conclusions: The present study contributes to the evaluation of dementia concerning people younger than 65 years of age and reinforces the importance of education in the interpretation of the scores.


: A mathematical model of normal regulation of carbohydrate metabolism by the pancreas endocrine apparatus is presented. In a numerical experiment the model imitated changed levels of sucrose, insulin glucagon and gastrointestinal hormones in the blood in response to the ingested 50 g of glucose. The model of normal regulation was damaged in the way which theoretically should result in diabetes development. Then an estimation was made to what extent the disturbances of carbohydrate metabolism characteristic of diabetes were reproduced by the changed model. It has been shown that disturbances specific for diabetes appear when the sensitivity of beta-cells to glucose stimulus or hyperproduction of glucagon decreased. No changes in the behaviour of blood glucose typical of diabetes were obtained in the model when a decrease of the sensitivity of insulin receptors due to hyperinsulinemia in insulin-dependent tissues was imitated, as well as an increased activity of liver insulinase or hyposecretion of gastrointestinal hormones. These results point to the necessity of further development of these hypotheses.


Long-term results of treatment of 126 cases of abdominal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas under 14 years are discussed. Survival doubled (from 24 to 49%) on application of modern methods of complex treatment. Such factors as stage, general symptoms, biologic activity and localization within the abdominal cavity at presentation were found to be of the highest prognostic value.


: Resting and exercise 99mTc-technetryl myocardial scintigraphies were performed in 145 patients with various cardiovascular diseases. Normal lowered and elevated radioopaque accumulations were found to be present in both coronarogenic and noncoronarogenic diseases. Four degrees of agent hypofixation and four types of stress myocardial scintigraphies were interpreted from clinical points of view. Coronary failure is characterized by more severe hemoperfusion disorders (degrees 3-4) and the 3rd-4th variant of stress myocardial scintigraphy.


Purpose: This phase 1 dose escalation study evaluated the safety and feasibility of single-dose intrapleural IFN-β gene transfer using an adenoviral vector (Ad.IFN-β) in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and metastatic pleural effusions (MPE). Experimental Design: Ad.IFN-β was administered through an indwelling pleural catheter in doses ranging from 9 × 1011 to 3 × 1012 viral particles (vp) in two cohorts of patients with MPM (7 patients) and MPE (3 patients). Subjects were evaluated for (a) toxicity, (b) gene transfer, (c) humoral, cellular, and cytokine-mediated immune responses, and (d) tumor responses via 18-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography scans and chest computed tomography scans. Results: Intrapleural Ad.IFN-β was generally well tolerated with transient lymphopenia as the most common side effect. The maximally tolerated dose achieved was 9 × 1011 vp secondary to idiosyncratic dose-limiting toxicities (hypoxia and liver function abnormalities) in two patients treated at 3 × 1012 vp. The presence of the vector did not elicit a marked cellular infiltrate in the pleural space. Intrapleural levels of cytokines were highly variable at baseline and after response to gene transfer. Gene transfer was documented in 7 of the 10 patients by demonstration of IFN-β message or protein. Antitumor immune responses were elicited in 7 of the 10 patients and included the detection of cytotoxic T cells (1 patient), activation of circulating natural killer cells (2 patients), and humoral responses to known (Simian virus 40 large T antigen and mesothelin) and unknown tumor antigens (7 patients). Four of 10 patients showed meaningful clinical responses defined as disease stability and/or regression on 18-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography and computed tomography scans at day 60 after vector infusion. Conclusions: Intrapleural instillation of Ad.IFN-β is a potentially useful approach for the generation of antitumor immune responses in MPM and MPE patients and should be investigated further for overall clinical efficacy.


Each winter, Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) maintenance operators are responsible for plowing snow off federal and state roads in Iowa. Drivers typically work long shifts under treacherous conditions. In addition to properly navigating the vehicle, drivers are required to operate several plowing mechanisms simultaneously, such as plow controls and salt spreaders. There is little opportunity for practicing these skills in real-world situations. A virtual reality training program would provide operators with the opportunity to practice these skills under realistic yet safe conditions, as well as provide basic training to novice or less-experienced operators. In order to provide such training to snowplow operators in Iowa, the Iowa DOT purchased a snowplow simulator. The Iowa DOT commissioned a study through Iowa State University designed to (1) assess the use of this simulator as a training tool and (2) examine personality and other characteristics associated with being an experienced snowplow operator. The results of this study suggest that Iowa DOT operators of all ages and levels of experience enjoyed and seemed to benefit from virtual reality snowplow simulator training. Simulator sickness ratings were relatively low, implying that the simulator is appropriate for training a wide range of Iowa DOT operators. Many reported that simulator training was the most useful aspect of training for them.


In recent years, corporate governance in the U.S. has received a significant amount of attention in the nonprofit sector because of several major high-profile accounting scandals. Consequently, both professional and political groups are calling for a higher level of accountability and transparency, especially in the nonprofit healthcare sector. Before such actions are taken, policymakers and other interested groups should give consideration to the current status of corporate governance. This paper reports the results of a descriptive study that assesses the extent that U.S. nonprofit hospitals have adopted corporate governance practices, and identifies the type of governance techniques that represent "best practices". The findings should provide a basis for nonprofit hospital management and their governing boards to assess the quality of their own system of corporate governance.


This research note explores the impact of international migration on global population distribution since the 1990s. The impact of migration on population distribution is a function of both the intensity as well as the effectiveness of migration, that is the imbalance between flows and counter-flows. The presence of reciprocal flows is a well-recognized feature of international migration systems; however, this dimension has been difficult to capture at the global level due to a lack of origin-destination flow data. In this research note, we apply metrics developed for the analysis of internal migration to global migration flows to explore the impact of international migration on global population distribution over time, and across levels of human development. In the five years to 2020, international migration redistributed 0.39 percent of the world's population (28 million people) despite 1.38 percent (101 million) changing country of residence. This has declined from 0.56 percent of the global population in 1990–1995. This decline in impact is underpinned by a reduction in migration effectiveness, that is, the migration system is becoming more balanced over time. The impact of migration was greatest for flows between countries at Very High levels of human development, reflecting high migration intensity and exchanges between countries at Low and Very High levels of human development, reflecting significant asymmetry of flows. Our results suggest systematic shifts in both the level and pattern of flows across the development ladder, with flows becoming more intense and balanced with higher levels of human development.


. The historical hard coal mining area of the districts of Zwickau and Lugau/ Oelsnitz in Saxonia (Germany) is a source of heavy metals and arsenic polluting the adjacent ground- and surface waters. Heavy metals and metalloids like Zn, Cd, Ni, Co, As and Mn are transported, partially as fine precipitates, to the adjacent river Zwickauer Mulde and with that to the river Elbe. Some of the dumps are partially older than 150 years, and some of them were remediated more than 50 years ago. Today we still can learn from the more or less successful remediation measures after some decades of application. In this paper, three different dumps are presented and differences between their remediation measures and the long-term success of it shall be pointed out. As a result, especially a sealing and covering of a dump turned out as very successful for the prevention of AMD generation. A further utilization of such a remediated and revegetated area is possible, or it can be "given back" to the nature. In contrast, a revegetation without covering results in a long-term AMD-generation of such a mining dump site.


This research project was a case study of Kenya Commercial Bank, strategic responses to competition in Kenya. The objective of the study was to establish the strategic responses to competition adopted by Kenya Commercial Bank. This included technology, cost leadership, differentiation, quality customer service, restructuring, alliance and joint ventures among others. In effort to meet this objective, pertinent primary data was obtained from personal interview with the respondents who are the Directors of Strategic Planning, Operation, Finance, IT and Risk and Compliance. Secondary data collected from its magazines and journals. Data was analyzed qualitatively using content analysis. Following these finding, it was recommended that other commercial banks or any other organizations should have specific strategic responses to competition in order to remain significant in market. Show full item record


The use of officially supported export credit programs for agricultural products has been a widely debated issue at the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations in recent years. The European Union (EU) has agreed to reduce their direct export subsidies if the United States reduces its export credits. Specifically, the main issue of contention is whether to limit the length of repayment of the U.S. export credit programs to a period not exceeding 180 days. However, the impacts of such a reduction on the importing countries and the United States are not clear. In light of this debate, we analyze the impact of a reduction in the repayment period to 180 days on importing countries and examine the subsequent effects on U.S. exports supported through export credit programs. Our results indicate that importing countries do indeed benefit from export credit programs and are likely to increase their imports when they are in place. However, the benefits are reduced when the export credit repayment period is limited to 180 days. This implies that the more restrictive terms and conditions that the WTO is trying to impose over these programs, based on their implicitly subsidized components, may have an adverse impact on importing countries.


Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a disease caused by the mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). It is prevalent in Southeast Asia and East Asia. Diagnosis of JE is generally accomplished by testing of serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to detect virus-specific antibodies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful adjunct for the diagnosis. Thalamic invasion is classical findings of MRI. Other areas in the brain may be invaded are midbrain, pons, cerebellum, basal ganglia, cerebral cortex.
Case 1: A 60-year-old man presented with headache and fever. Neurological examination showed consciousness Kernig's sign. CSF: JEV HI antibodies: X320. (Figure 1) Axial T2-weighted MR image (4 days after onset) shows high intensity area in the left thalamus (arrow) and the left putamen (curved arrow).
Case 2: A 91 year-old woman presented with deteriorated consciousness. CSF: JEV CF antibodies: X32, JEV HI antibodies: X160. (Figure 2) Axial T2-weighted MR image (8 days after onset) shows high intensity area in the bilateral thalamus (arrow).


Abstract The biraphid genus Olifantiella (Bacillariophyta), which was recently discovered from the Mascarene Islands (Indian Ocean), is also present in coral reef environments of the islands of Tahiti and Moorea (South Pacific) as an epiphyte on the mangrove Rhizophora stylosa. The genus Olifantiella may be considered elusive because all of its currently known species are very small and difficult to identify under a light microscope. Several Olifantiella taxa first described from Rodrigues Island are also present in the South Pacific, along with three new taxa: O. societatis sp. nov., O. sp., and O. pilosella var. rhizophorae var. nov. Olifantiella societatis resembles O. paucistriata but the buciniportula opening of the former is oblong and faces one stria only. Olifantiella societatis and O. sp. show distinctive features of the genus Olifantiella but are very rare. A description of the buciniportula in O. pilosella is given. Although it is still unclear, the role of the buciniportula may be related to the excretion of mucilaginous material. The diversity of Olifantiella taxa between the Mascarene and Society archipelagos is similar with 6–7 species, five of which are common to both. Olifantiella mascarenica and O. pilosella are the most common members of the genus in the Mascarene Islands and the South Pacific, respectively. Olifantiella has only been previously described from the Indo-Pacific Basin, but it may be a widespread tropical genus. This genus has probably been overlooked in the past or misidentified as Navicula because of its overall naviculoid shape and small size. Electron microscopy remains essential in determining the identity of very small diatoms such as Olifantiella.


Large data centers host thousands of tenants and services, and today's data center networks are no longer simple end- to-end transfer fabrics. Tenants desire more functionality like strong performance isolation, latency control, load balancing, middlebox placement, and other services. As tenant performance requirements become more demanding, data center providers wish to increase the set of services they offer in an attempt to meet the demand and attract new customers. Critically, while the promise of cloud computing makes it straightforward to rent compute resources, there is no standard model for tenants to pick and choose the network resources and services they require. Traditionally, a single procedure governs the allocation of resources to tenant services. For efficiency, data center providers multiplex tenants across the physical infrastructure, leveraging end host virtualization to carve out well-specified units of isolated CPU, memory, and storage. In contrast, tenants typically receive loose, qualitative descriptions of network performance with a limited set of available features. This disparity is problematic for today's data centers, which need to satisfy services with a diverse and non-uniform set of networking needs. This dissertation proposes to resolve this contention by provisioning a custom virtual network for each of the data center's clients. It presents task switching, a framework that redefines how tenants interact with and obtain resources from the network by servicing their individual requests for virtual network tasks. It then describes a model with two components, Blender and Omakase, that defines interfaces for the network provider to implement differing features and resource allocation procedures that tenants may choose to adopt for their tasks. Blender focuses on performance isolation, eliminating the either/or balancing act between resource efficiency and performance predictability by allowing data center operators to run multiple performance isolation models simultaneously. Omakase augments the Blender model to incorporate general purpose features for tasks, including customized in- network middlebox processing, failure resolution, and flow scheduling. We evaluate the architecture with a prototype implementation that addresses its correctness, scalability, and performance. We show that our SDN-based prototype can efficiently express many recently proposed performance isolation models and network features


Thymidine and deoxyguanosine produce antiproliferative effects on murine Leukemia L1210 cells when added to the growth medium, and these effects can be prevented by the addition of one on a combination of deoxynucleosides. This study utilized these toxic deoxynucleosides to induce growth rate inhibition in L1210 cells in order to investigate the relationship between growth rate and deoxynucleoside triphosphate pool size in mammalian cells. Deoxyguanosine toxicity of these cells was manifested by deoxynucleoside triphosphate concentration changes which were correlated with growth rate. Both dTTP and dCTP decreased in parallel in a linear manner, while dATP remained unaffected and dGTP increased. In thymidine-inhibited cells, although both dCTP and dATP decreased, only their sum diminished in proportion to growth inhibition.


Adherents of methods not based on scientific proof, especially the disciples of Huneke's "neural therapy", believe not only that foci represent local lesions, but also that they may cause remote effects. Therefore, in the opinion of these physicians, foci should be regarded as "fields of disturbance" with regulatory consequences, as described by Huneke and Pischinger. Thus when the diagnosis is in doubt, such "zones of interference" are searched for using function tests which are much in dispute. The most important of these "tests" are: electroacupuncture (Voll), the electro focus test (Glaser-Türk and Türk), neural therapy (Huneke) and thermoregulation (Schwamm). Moreover, it should be remembered that the adherents of the above-mentioned methods, on the basis of diagnoses worked out by the above techniques, will "cure" these foci, a serious matter. It is, therefore, recommended, that medical societies and medical and arbitration boards pay attention to this problem which also concerns unqualified practitioners. The results of such efforts should be published for the information of patients, doctors and insurance companies.


ABSTRACT
Wood has been used for thousands of years as interior decoration. It is therefore
logical that many objects made of this material are found in a cultural heritage
context. A large amount of historical art pieces, such as decorated wooden panels,
have been stored in historical buildings. Heating systems are not common in historical
buildings, not even after renovations. In some occasions it is not allowed to apply an
HVAC-system because of the cultural heritage value of the building itself. Since these
buildings are often not climate controlled it is important to know how the indoor
climate is affecting the historical art.
The aim of this study is to understand the cause-effect relationship between a
fluctuating climate and wooden panels. Wood is a hygroscopic material, meaning that
it will absorb and desorb moisture during changes in relative humidity and
temperature of the ambient air. Changing moisture content in the wood comes with
expansion or contraction of the wood cells, which could cause deformations of the
panel.
A simulation model is developed to compute the state of deformation, which is
expressed in curvatures. Two types of simulations are made; simulations of moisture
transport in wooden panels subjected to a fluctuating climate during a year; and
isothermal simulations for mechanical deformation of the panel due to changes in the
vapour concentration at the surface. Before running the simulations, a literature study
was done to get a greater view of the possible outcome of the simulations. With the
numerical tool, moisture transport was analysed first and afterwards the curvature of
the panel was computed. Six indoor climates were taken as an input, which gave six
simulations of the curvature for one panel. The model confirms that deformation of
the panel is in line with fluctuations of relative humidity of the ambient air. By
increasing the surface vapour resistance factor of the panel, the range of the curvature
decreases.
The calculations show many repetitive and alternating cycles of curvature. However,
it is not known how many and how big these cycles need to be before cracks occur.
Therefore a proposal for future research is to develop a scale that represents damage
against deformation.
Keywords: Wood, relative humidity, moisture content, temperature, moisture
transport, moisture transport coefficients, expansion coefficients, deformation, pores,
paintings, historical buildings


Bipolar disorder is characterised by intense fluctuations in mood, including the experience of severe episodes of depression, mania and hypomania. The experience of bipolar disorder can also be associated with biases in various cognitive processes, including rumination in response to positive and negative mood states and tendencies to make dysfunctional self-appraisals. Preliminary research has also suggested that bipolar disorder may be associated with deficits in the recall of specifically detailed autobiographical memories.The lack of specificity in the recall of autobiographical memories, known as the ?overgeneral? recall bias, refers to tendencies to generate generalised memory representations as the memory recall process is terminated prior to the activation of specifically detailed memories. This overgeneral recall of autobiographical memories can also contribute to ruminative thought patterns, impair the generation of effective solutions to problems, and is associated with poor illness outcomes. The overgeneral bias has been extensively researched within major depressive disorder and suicidality, but has been comparatively under-researched in bipolar disorder and in vulnerable individuals.A series of eight studies were designed to: (i) investigate the cross-sectional associations across measures of positive and negative rumination and self-appraisal with the vulnerability to hypomania, and investigate the associations of these cognitive styles with prospective mood symptoms in an at-risk sample; (ii) investigate the cognitive vulnerability to hypomania in relation to rumination, problem-solving and autobiographical memory specificity; (iii) conduct a preliminary investigation into the associations between goal-related memory processes and extreme goal-pursuit in relation to hypomania vulnerability; (iv) investigate whether the vulnerability to hypomania and future bipolar disorders is associated with similar patterns of overgeneral memory recall on a standardised cue memory task; and (v) investigate the patterns of autobiographical memory specificity within a remitted bipolar sample. The heightened vulnerability to future bipolar disorders was associated with tendencies to engage in both positive and negative forms of ruminative thought processes, and with poorer psychosocial problem-solving, however, this relationship with problem-solving was not independent of current mood symptoms. The results of two studies indicated that the heightened vulnerability to hypomania was associated with an overgeneral memory bias across two different assessments of memory specificity, in direct contrast to previous research. Individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder also reported more extreme overgenerality during memory recall than a sample of age and gender-matched healthy controls, but were able to recall some specifically detailed negative memories in short response latencies compared to non-bipolar control participants. The research presented within this thesis supports the notion of a continuum of increasing overgenerality in the bipolar disorder spectrum, inclusive of at-risk individuals to people formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Although bipolar disorder appears to be associated with a trait-based overgeneral memory bias, bipolar individuals appear to have ready access to some specific negative memories even during remission from symptoms. The clinical implications of this research, methodological considerations in the assessment of memory specificity, and directions for further investigations into the nature of autobiographical memory recall in bipolar spectrum disorders are discussed.


Phototrophic microorganisms are frequently engineered to regulate the expression and the activity of targeted enzymes of interest for specific biotechnological and agricultural applications. This protocol describes a method to evaluate the expression of RuBisCO (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) in the model cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, at both the transcript and protein levels by quantitative PCR and Western blot, respectively. We further describe an experimental method to determine photosynthetic activity using an oxygen electrode that measures the rate of molecular oxygen production by cyanobacterial cultures. Our protocol can be utilized to assess the effects of RuBisCO engineering at the metabolic and physiological levels.


GH and IGF-I control over 80% of postnatal growth. We recently established that TNFalpha impairs the ability of IGF-I to increase protein synthesis and promote expression of myogenin in myoblasts. Here we extend these results by showing that ceramide, a second messenger in both TNFalpha and IL-1beta receptor signaling pathways, is a key downstream sphingosine-based lipid that leads to IGF-I resistance. A cell-permeable ceramide analog, C2-ceramide, inhibits IGF-I-induced protein synthesis by 65% and blocks the ability of IGF-I to increase expression of two key myogenic factors, myogenin and MyoD. Identical results were obtained with both TNFalpha and IL-1beta (1 ng/ml). Consistent with these data, neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase), an enzyme that catalyzes formation of ceramide from sphingomyelin, blocks IGF-I-induced protein synthesis and expression of both myogenin and MyoD. The possibility that cytokine-induced ceramide production is required for disruption of IGF-I biologic activity was confirmed by treating C2C12 myoblasts with inhibitors of all three ceramide-generating pathways. A N-SMase inhibitor, glutathione, as well as an acidic sphingomyelinase (A-SMase) inhibitor, D609, reverse the cytokine inhibition of IGF-I-induced protein synthesis by 80% and 45%, respectively. Likewise, an inhibitor of de novo ceramide synthesis, FB1, causes a 50% inhibition. Similarly, all three inhibitors significantly impair the ability of both TNFalpha and IL-1beta to suppress IGF-I-driven expression of myogenin. These experiments establish that ceramide, derived both from sphingomyelin and de novo synthesis, is a key intermediate by which proinflammatory cytokines impair the ability of IGF-I to promote protein synthesis and expression of critical muscle-specific transcription factors.


Rb-Sr isochrons obtained for locally extruded siliceous volcanic rocks in units in the Excelsior and Pilot Mountains, western Nevada, indicate ages, respectively, of 103 ± 5.7 m.y. and 142 ± 17 m.y. Both dated units occur in a complex of terrigenous and volcanic rocks previously thought to be entirely of early Mesozoic age. K-Ar ages of granitic rocks of the Excelsior Mountains region indicate that plutonism occurred mainly between about 70 and 100 m.y. B.P. The newly dated volcanic rocks of the Excelsior Mountains provide the first recognition of a volcanic center of Cretaceous age in the Great Basin and evidence that at least some of the thrusting and folding in the Excelsior Mountains region occurred in the Cretaceous or later time. Together, the two new Rb-Sr ages indicate a more prolonged history of Mesozoic sedimentation and extrusion than previously realized. The dated volcanic rocks of the Excelsior Mountains are generally contemporaneous with recently discovered Cretaceous extrusive rocks in the central Sierra Nevada, suggesting that volcanism may have been widespread in the Cretaceous in eastern California and western Nevada between 37° and 38°N. K-Ar ages of granitic plutons in the Excelsior Mountains region suggest that the Cretaceous volcanic rocks vented near the beginning of a 20-m.y.-long pulse of intrusion. Moreover, the pluton ages indicate a time lag between Cretaceous volcanism and plutonism similar to that in the Sierra Nevada.


Endarterectomy of the carotid sinus is one of the most frequent vascular operations. Until now, however, few details have been reported on the characteristic features of the disobliteration site during uncomplicated postoperative progress. Full histological and morphometric investigation was performed on the bifurcation of the carotid artery of 23 autopsies with previous endarterectomy, in some cases on both sides. The postoperative interval was of up to 10 years duration (early phase up to 6 months postoperatively 15x, late phase 14x). The findings were compared with surgical specimens of 9 restenoses. The reconstruction of an inner layer (so-called neointima) and the smoothing of the marginal layers of the disobliteration site takes place rapidly through the proliferation of smooth muscle cells from the remaining portions of the media. The narrower this remaining portion of the media, the greater the width achieved by these "neo-intima" (p < 0.05). There is occasional formation of elastic lamellae, similar to an elastic internal lamina, close to the luminal surface. Furthermore, in some cases the reconstruction of an intimal thickening (fibrous ridge) characteristic of the carotid bifurcation was observed at the entrance to the carotid sinus; this can be assessed as an indication that flow irregularities apparently persist postoperatively at this location. In the late phase, intramural calcification and new sclerotic plaques usually occur; these plaques closely resemble those of surgically removed restenoses. The distribution of plaques of this kind is largely congruent with the pattern of plaques in asymptomatically diseased carotid arteries. Thus, following endarterectomy in the carotid sinus, sclerotic plaques recur even during an uncomplicated course subsequent to reparative processes; as with the natural history of sclerotic plaques at the carotid bifurcation, this recurrence seems to be largely determined by hemodynamic factors.


In March of 2010, the Irish government announced that the age at which the state pension is paid would be raised to 66 in 2014, 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028. Also during 2010, the economic news became increasingly bad as the full scale of the fiscal and banking crises in Ireland emerged. The question we address in this paper is whether expected retirement ages of Irish individuals aged 50 to 64 changed as a result of the policy announcement and/or the bad economic news. The data we use are from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Between late 2009 and early 2011, over 8,500 people aged 50 and over in Ireland were interviewed about a wide range of issues including standard socio-economic items such as labour force status, earnings and education. Respondents were also asked at what age they expected to retire. Our findings show that there was no noticeable break in expected retirement ages before and after 3 March 2010 (the day on which the policy announcement was made). However, there was a clear shift of people into the categories "don't plan to retire" and "do not know" before and after September 30 2010. This was the day that the full scale of the banking crisis emerged (named by the media as "Black Thursday") and was followed by the set of events which led to the bailout of November 2010. Similarly, there was a shift away from modal expected retirement ages after that date.


The wider genealogical affiliations of the Timor-Alor-Pantar languages have been the subject of much speculation. These languages are surrounded by unrelated Austronesian languages, and attempts to locate related languages have focused on Papuan languages 800 km or more distant. In this paper we examine three hypotheses for genealogical relatedness, drawing on both pronominal and especially lexical evidence. We rely in particular on recent reconstructions of proto-Alor-Pantar vocabulary. Of the hypotheses evaluated here, we find the most striking similarities between TAP and the West Bomberai family. However, we conclude that the evidence currently available is insufficient to confirm a genealogical relationship with West Bomberai or any other family, and hence, TAP must be considered a family-level isolate.


The work of Bessy (1990) has showed the transformation of fitness centers from a masculine space to a more feminine space. If there were an initial commercial logic to this change, it also occurred in step with the successful liberation of the female body on one hand, and, on the other, their adhesion to a space open to a free selection of sports practices.These "spas" have gradually evolved into gyms that offer new, diverse, trendy, and fashionable activities that suit all ages. Their public has indeed evolved as they attract "older" women. The expectation of living life in good health has indeed increased significantly in the last 20 years (INSEE, 2010). The concern with aging well (Feillet, 2012), the desire to preserve one's image (and body) for oneself and others (Corbin, Courtine Vigarello, 2005), the need to appear "forever young" (Amadieu, 1990), the weight of the cult of youth in the media (Kaufmann, 2001)—to name a few factors among many—have led to a democratization of fitness for all ages to meet concerns about the body and its shape.In a few years, fitness has become a "tool" in the fight against aging and, for women concerned with meeting prescribed social norms, in preventing it.


S UMMARY . Frequency of infection, main effects and interactions among four geographic sources of white pine blister rust (WPBR) ( Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch.) and 10 Ribes –sites ( Ribes L. species · site combinations) was investigated using leaf disk assay. Two clones, one of R. hudsonianum (Dougl.) Jancz. and one of R. viscosissimum Prush., were not infected by any sources of WPBR. One clone of R. viscosissimum that was not infected by two sources of WPBR was susceptible to the other sources. Highly significant WPBR source · Ribes – site analysis of variance interaction for incubation period and infection efficiency precluded testing main effects. Profile plots of incubation period interaction means showed orderly interaction by all WPBR sources and plots of infection efficiency showed that aggressively virulent WPBR from Oregon (Champion Mine) ranked near or at the bottom for infection efficiency for all Ribes –sites. Meanwhile, aggressively virulent WPBR from Idaho (Merry Creek) ranked near the bottom for infection efficiency when inoculated onto Ribes obtained from the Cascade Mountains but switched to the highest ranking when inoculated onto Ribes obtained from Idaho. Geographic interaction of white pine blister rust and Ribes for incubation period and infection efficiency may help to explain geographic patterns recently observed in WPBR molecular markers.


In automotive software development, dependencies among process artefacts, i. e. requirements, implementation and test cases, are often not obvious. This causes time-intensive manual analysis efforts to incorporate changes during software evolution. Therefore, automated tool support is essential to establish an efficient change management during the software life cycle. This paper presents a model-based concept which integrates the artefacts themselves as well as development-related meta information about them to establish both functional and process-related artefact analyses. To this end, we represent them as models in the Eclipse Modeling Framework and apply model transformations to support different kinds of automated analyses.


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Some damages of piles can be unavoidably caused by natural disasters and extreme constructions. Usually, piles can be cut into two parts by shocks such as earthquakes, that is fracture piles. Obviously, the dynamic behavior of a single fracture pile is different from that of normal piles. But the problems of inspection, appraisal, repairs and maintenance of piles will face us. By studying dynamic behavior of a single fracture pile of vertical oscillation, the paper introduces a dynamic model of the fracture pile. The model is not perhaps perfect, but it is a method to begin to study the vibration of the fracture pile. The individual example does not detail the dynamic characteristics of the fracture pile, but the tendency of the curve of the dynamic impedance versus frequency can give a mainly rule.


Objectives: Ductus venous (DV) evaluation is used today in detection of major cardiac abnormalities and for aneuploidy screening at 11-13+6 weeks' scan. Our aim was the development of an objective method for identifying abnormal / negative DV a-wave by semi-quantitative analysis of DV waveform. Methods: Depending to the aspect of the a-wave, the active ventricular filling during atrial systole, DV flows were classified into normal, false or real negative a-wave. We calculated the S/V, S/D and V/D ratios, where S ventricular systole (S-wave) V – ventricular tele-diastolic relaxation, D passive ventricular diastolic filling (waveform D). Were considered unique, singleton fetuses with a Crown–rump length of 45-84 mm. Studied cases were retrospectively identified in 2009-2016 database, classified with possible or real negative DV a-wave. 439 normal pregnancies, with positive DV a-wave, prospectively evaluated during 2015-2016, formed the control group. Results: Were available for analysis 436 cases a-wave positive, 37 with a-wave false positive and 24 with a-wave real negative. The average values of S/V and S/D ratios were significantly different among all three study groups, having a progressive increase from the normal towards the true negative form, respectively 1.48±0.15, 1.67±0.17 and 2.08±0.75 for S/V; 1.19±0.06, 1.23±0.06 and 1.33±0.15 for S/D (means ± standard deviation). Mean value for V/D ratio was greater for the flow with a-wave positive, but there were no significant differences between groups with the a-wave false or real negative. Conclusions: Semi-quantitative assessment of DV blood flow waveform can facilitate recognition of negative a-waves.


Using Tree-Ring Data to Analyze the Effects of Volcanic Eruptions on Climate in Inner Asia from 500 BCE to Present Jennie Zhu Volcanic eruptions have influenced regional and global climate on annual, interannual, decadal, and multi-decadal time scales. However, past studies have largely focused on the response of global temperature to modern eruptions with the aid of satellite records. This approach limits the number of eruptions that can be studied and restricts our knowledge to relatively small events when compared to the volcanic history of the late Holocene. I used modern climate records to evaluate the effect of recent eruptions on Mongolian climate. I then extended my analysis to the last 2500 years by examining existing and new tree-ring data from Mongolia to understand how volcanic eruptions influence different climatic variables (temperature, moisture, and solar irradiance) in Inner Asia. This study, part of a larger research project on human ecology in Inner Asia, focuses on past volcanic eruptions (600 BCE to 2013 CE) at three sites in north central Mongolia: Solongotyn Davaa (48.3°N, 98.93°E), a temperature-limited site, Khorgo lava (48.17°N, 99.87°E), and Urgaat lava (46.40°N, 101.46°E), both moisture-limited sites. To test how modern eruptions (1959-2012) influenced temperature and precipitation regimes in Mongolia, I used the Grid Analysis and Display System to run composite analyses using Climatic Research Unit 3.21 temperature and 3.21 scPDSI data. Three eruptions were analyzed and both composite analyses suggest that, at each location, temperature and moisture variabilities are statistically insignificant during the year of the eruption. I then used superposed epoch analysis to evaluate how past eruptions affected regional climate by separating temperature, moisture, and solar irradiance variables. Again, the results fell within the 95% confidence limits for years zero to three, suggesting that these large eruptions do not affect temperature, moisture, and solar irradiance as much as once thought. Lastly, I looked at the tree-ring anatomy of individual samples to see if there was any anatomical evidence of an eruption event. Select eruption events are evidenced in tree-rings by the presence of narrow ring-width, false rings, and absent rings without any clear pattern as to why certain events affected tree growth at Khorgo lava and Urgaat lava. Chi-square tests comparing non-eruption years with eruption years show that the number of false rings and absent rings at Khorgo lava, and absent rings at Urgaat lava, is statistically significantly higher in the second year following the eruption, showing some effect on tree-ring growth but not necessarily tree-ring-width. The study calls into question the process of studying volcanic eruptions using tree-rings by showing that the atmosphere may be an intransitive cycle where the effects of volcanic eruptions can be variable and uncertain.


Phospholipids with unsaturated acyl chains are major targets of reactive oxygen species leading to formation of oxidized lipids. Oxidized phospholipids have a pronounced role in cell membrane damage. We investigated the effect of oxidation on physiological properties of phospholipid bilayers using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. We studied phospholipid bilayer systems of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl- sn - glycero -3-phosphocholine (POPC) and its two stable oxidized products, 1-palmitoyl-2-(9 0 -oxo-nonanoyl)-sn - glycero -3-phosphocholine (PoxnoPC) and 1-palmitoyl-2-azelaoyl- sn - glycero -3-phosphocholine (PazePC). Structural properties of the POPC lipid bilayer upon the addition of PoxnoPC or PazePC with concentration ranging from 10% to 30% were described. The key finding is that PazePC lipids bend their polar tails toward the bilayer-water interface whereas PoxnoPC lipids orient their tail toward the bilayer interior. The bilayer thickness decreases such that the thickness reduction in bilayers containing PazePC is stronger than in bilayers containing PoxnoPC. The average area per lipid decreases with a stronger effect in bilayers containing PoxnoPC. The addition of PoxnoPC makes both POPC acyl chains slightly more ordered whereas the addition of PazePC reduces the order in the two POPC acyl chains. These structural changes lead to an enhancement in the permeabilities of the bilayers containing these two oxidized products depending on the type, and the amount of oxidation. This enhancement can be achieved with a lower concentration of PazePC (10% or 15%), whereas a higher concentration of PoxnoPC (20%) is required to achieve an apparent enhancement in permeability. While the permeability of bilayers containing PazePC is higher than bilayers containing PoxnoPC in the 10–20% concentration range, by increasing the concentration of the oxidized products to higher than 20%, permeability of the bilayers containing PazePC is reduced such that it is slightly smaller than those containing PoxnoPC.


Designers are increasingly collaborating with data scientists to apply smart data technologies to understand large-scale user behavior during their design research. This is useful in specific impact domains with vulnerable users and unfamiliar contexts, such as healthcare design. Patient journey mapping is the most common design tool for developing and communicating patient-centred perspectives in healthcare design. However, creating a traditional patient journey map is labor intensive. Consequently, they often represent the experiences of a limited number of patients and, therefore, have limitations in including an extensive group patient experience. To overcome these challenges, we present a new data-driven and hybrid intelligent design approach that utilizes tens of thousands of online patient stories and machine-learning techniques through collaboration with data scientists. We set up two studies in the field of oncology and demonstrate that combining the two machine-learning techniques allows for quantifying the experiences of a wide range of patients, detecting relationships between co-occurring experiences within the journey, and detecting new design opportunities/directions. In these studies, designers gained a large-scale , yet qualitative and inspiring, understanding of a complex context in healthcare with reduced time and cost investments.


fused (fu) is a maternal effect segment polarity gene of Drosophila melanogaster. In addition, fu females have tumorous ovaries. Two ethyl methanesulfonate mutageneses were carried out in order to isolate suppressors of the fu phenotype. A new gene, Suppressor of fused (Su(fu)), was identified. It is located in the 87C8 region of the third chromosome. Su(fu) displays a maternal effect and is also expressed later in development. Although Su(fu)LP is a complete loss-of-function mutation, it is homozygous viable and has no phenotype by itself. Su(fu) fully suppresses the embryonic and adult phenotypes of fu mutants. Su(fu) mutations are semidominant and a Su(fu)+ duplication has an opposite effect, enhancing the fused phenotype. It is proposed therefore that the Su(fu)+ product is involved in the same developmental step as the Fu+ kinase. Thus, a new gene interacting with the segment polarity pathway was identified using an indirect approach.