We show how single quantum dots, each hosting a singlet–triplet qubit, can be placed in arrays to build a spin quantum cellular automaton. A fast (∼10 ns) deterministic coherent singlet–triplet filtering, as opposed to current incoherent tunneling/slow-adiabatic based quantum gates (operation time ∼300 ns), can be employed to produce a two-qubit gate through capacitive (electrostatic) couplings that can operate over significant distances. This is the coherent version of the widely discussed charge and nano-magnet cellular automata, and would increase speed, reduce dissipation, and perform quantum computation while interfacing smoothly with its classical counterpart. This combines the best of two worlds—the coherence of spin pairs known from quantum technologies, and the strength and range of electrostatic couplings from the charge-based classical cellular automata. Significantly our system has zero electric dipole moment during the whole operation process, thereby increasing its charge dephasing time.


Introduction Cytotoxic drugs are used as part of cancer chemotherapy regimens in the healthcare setting and are recognised occupational hazards. Acceptable levels of exposure have not been established therefore national guidelines advocate levels as low as reasonably possible. This aim of this study was to establish whether training and reminders regarding work practices would limit occupational exposure to cytotoxic drugs. Platinum was chosen as the index cytotoxic drug due to its frequent use and validated analysis methods. Initial studies performed in 2007 and 2012 in our instituion found that focused training on the appropriate handling of cytotoxic agents brought about a reduction in occupational exposure to the drug. Methods A prospective study was carried out in the oncology day ward and pharmacy aseptic compounding unit of a tertiary level hospital. Urinalysis for urinary platinum was carried out on 10 staff members, including one control. End of shift, end of week samples were collected from a randomly selected group of staff. Samples were sent to an internationally accredited laboratory for analysis. A review of work processes was also performed. Result The mean urinary platinum level was 26.19 nmol/mol creatinine (range 15.89–91.42 nmol/mol creatinine), which is well above the reference level for the unexposed worker of 10 nmol/mol. The control was also high at 49.71 nmol/mol. Mean platinum concentration values increased by a factor of 11 from the 2012 study. Discussion These high urinary platinum results were unexpected. There had been no changes in equipment or work practices since the last study performed in 2012. As the control result was also high this was most likely a laboratory error or contamination rather than true high occupational exposures. To further evaluate this, we repeated testing and these results are pending (expected end of July).


One of the recent "crises" experienced by science is associated with a decline in its public support. We conducted two factorial surveys among university students aiming at broadening our understanding of the information cues influencing the wider publics' judgments of science. We found that sociological and criminological research results are perceived as less plausible compared to neuroscientific and physiological research, but as more plausible than results from genetics. In contrast with the previous data on the importance of funding and institutional prestige cues as the indirect indicators of the research quality among academic experts, we discovered the absence of any effects of funding or institutional prestige for the selected type of general audience.


Hope has been shown to be an important protective factor, with hypothesized origins in early childhood (Snyder, 2002). However, despite the established importance of hope, little research to date has examined its developmental origins. Specifically, a lack of appropriate instrumentation represents a significant barrier to detecting hope in children under the age of eight years old. The current study meets this need by examining the reliability and validity of a novel parent-report measure of hope in early childhood, titled the Parent Report of Child Hope (PRCH). The PRCH represents an initial step towards understanding individual differences in early childhood hope. The present study also sought to provide an understanding of the developmental influences on hope in early childhood using the PRCH. The PRCH was hypothesized to be a reliable and valid measure of hope in children younger than 8 years old. Specific Aims of the current study included, Aim 1: To provide evidence of the construct validity of the PRCH as an assessment of hope in young children, Aim 2: To provide evidence of the reliability and criterion-related validity of the Parent PRCH as an assessment of hope in young children, and Aim 3: To understand whether factors hypothesized to either contribute to or undermine hope development are predictors of hope, as well as agency and pathways thinking individually, in young children in order to provide a foundational understanding of hope development.Participants included 263 caregivers of children between the ages of 60 and 82 months. Parents completed online surveys containing the PRCH, an adapted, parent-report version of the Children's Hope Scale, and measures assessing child behaviors, social understanding, school readiness, and ego resilience. Parents also reported on the quality of their relationship with their child, their own level of depression, and the impact that COVID-19 has had on their family structure. The overall findings of the present study support the PRCH as a reliable and valid measure of hope in early childhood. The PRCH sufficiently captured individual differences in hope among young children and followed the expected two factor structure, confirming construct validity. The PRCH demonstrated good internal consistency and criterion-related validity. Child social understanding, parent-child closeness, and school readiness positively predicted PRCH scores. Parent-child conflict negatively predicted PRCH scores. Scores on the PRCH predicted ego resilience and prosocial behaviors in children. These findings are consistent with hope theory, which suggested that the developmental origins of hope could be measured in early childhood (Snyder, 2000). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)


All laws discriminate. Some discriminate in ways that are innocuous (like driving on the right side of the road). Others result in discrimination that is invidious (like segregation laws). And still others, like public accommodations laws, are meant to preclude discrimination against certain groups of individuals. Such antidiscrimination laws also discriminate, but they generally do so against offensive or undesirable conduct, which is unprotected under the Constitution. But what happens when antidiscrimination laws are applied to the expression of individuals or for-profit businesses? In particular, what happens when a State attempts to require a for-profit business to design and create expressive works that foster or promote a message with which the business and its owners disagree? At that point, antidiscrimination laws collide with the Supreme Court's laissez-faire approach to the marketplace of ideas, which eschews virtually all governmental regulation of free speech. Laws meant to preclude offensive and discriminatory conduct run into a constitutional provision meant to protect "offensive" and "even hurtful" speech.
Masterpiece Cakeshop, Inc. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n, requires the United States Supreme Court to consider this intersection of antidiscrimination laws and the broad protection afforded speakers under the First Amendment. As the scope of public accommodations laws has grown — in terms of both the types of entities classified as public accommodations and the number of groups protected from discrimination — the possibility for conflict with First Amendment speech rights has increased. In several high profile cases across the country, States have sought to apply their antidiscrimination laws to bakers, photographers, and florists who, based on their sincerely held religious beliefs, declined to create custom wedding cakes, wedding albums, and floral arrangements for same-sex weddings. The lower courts considering these cases have denied that the First Amendment safeguards the creative and expressive works of for-profit businesses from public accommodations laws for two primary reasons: (1) expressive businesses do not engage in speech when they offer their services to the public and (2) the Court's compelled speech cases, such as Hurley and Rumsfeld, do not require courts to exempt such businesses from antidiscrimination laws.
This article contends that the lower courts are wrong on both counts. The First Amendment is not limited to verbal speech or particular mediums of expression. Ornately decorated wedding cakes readily fit within the Court's broad view of protected expression, being designed to convey the importance and beauty of the event. Under Wooley, this is true even if the message is viewed as the speech of the couple (and not that of the bakery) because the First Amendment protects the right of businesses and individuals "to refuse to foster… an idea they find morally objectionable." Moreover, the lower courts misinterpret the Supreme Court's compelled speech and expressive association cases. Hurley establishes that public accommodations laws must yield to the First Amendment when they are applied in such a way as to violate a speaker's "autonomy to choose the content of his own message." The Court's expressive association cases confirm this result, drawing on Hurley to conclude that antidiscrimination laws cannot force an expressive association or a speaker to propound a view with which it disagrees. As a result, this article argues that because the expression of for-profit businesses falls within the marketplace of ideas, the First Amendment prevents the government from putting expressive businesses to the choice of engaging in expression with which they disagrees or remaining silent, thereby foregoing the opportunity to convey their desired message.


This abstract describes a self-advocacy program for people with mental health conditions. The programme called "ACTUA, TOTS PER TOTS" (ACT, ALL FOR ALL) has been designed and implemented by ATRA, an association with 30 years of experience in the treatment and care of people with mental disorders, addictive behavior and at risk of social exclusion. Key characteristics of the programme are the participation of volunteers with and without mental disorder. After 15 months of implementation, 30 persons have been attended with positive results and 23 volunteers have been involved. This INNOVATIVE program supports independent living for people with mental illness by incorporating the participation of volunteers with and without mental disorder. Participation of volunteers with mental illness positively enriches the program because it encourages cooperation and mutual support among people with the same challenges and experiences. Empowering these participants also helps to break down the stigmas associated with mental illnesses. It helps them build their confidence and self-esteem. All the volunteers, those with or without disease, share tasks and responsibilities to support people with mental disorders, who live alone or with their family and need supervision to maintain stability his/her disease and to live a normal life. The program was initiated based on two key data points. First, there was a need detected by professionals. Secondly, it considered a study by the local mental health service (CSMA) that identified an additional 103 possible beneficiaries of this program. The program aims to promote independence, improve quality of life, empower people with disabilities arising from mental illness, enhance the process of rehabilitation and facilitate patient's integration to the community. Specifically, it is an answer to the unmet need for guidance and support in performing activities for daily life with the objective being that the patients themselves are beneficiaries, as well as participants in their rehabilitation to a normal life. The ACTUA, TOTS PER TOTS program develops innovative and social transformative practices which are easily reproducible, making them available and transferable to other municipalities, countries and regions. It leverages an integrated approach to the individual and his/her needs with all actions aimed at his/her empowerment and full social inclusion. The beneficiaries have an active indispensable participation in the process from the very design of their PAP (personal attention program), which targets working within different areas of daily life: self-care, community skills, occupational and social Relations and domestic skills. Key elements of the Program: 1.The team of "ACTUA, TOTS PER TOTS" is composed of two professionals with extensive experience within the field of Mental Health. 2.Volunteers play a key role in the development of this program and training is a crucial aspect. All volunteers receive training prior to any involvement in the program, as well as continuous training throughout their involvement in the program. Each volunteer is assigned a number of beneficiaries, debriefed on the beneficiaries' PAP objectives and responsible for making home visits, with a frequency dependent on the needs of the person assigned. 3.The networking. Fluid and open-communication between the different professionals treating the person is indispensable. The program began in July 2014 thanks to the support received from the Obra Social La Caixa and Diputacio de Barcelona. In 2015, ATRA also received a grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya. Results of the first 15 months of implementation : Today, we attended to 30 people with mental disease from Garraf County. They receive support through individualized, custom-attention (tutoring with volunteers and professionals) and group care (professionals). ATRA also works with families at both the individual and group level. To date, we have successfully detected eight cases where individuals were not following the prescribed pharmacologic treatment properly, two cases of Diogenes syndrome, two psychiatric admissions were avoided, 17 people have started leisure activities, three people were suspected and confirmed to have addiction problem, and three people went back to study. Finally, we have supported four people mourning the death of a family member. Each month the list increases, highlighting the effectiveness of the program. Currently, ATRA has 23 volunteers participating in the program, eleven of them with mental illness. The message the volunteers gives is "If I can do it, you can do it also". Conclusions : People who participate in the program improve in the different areas of their PAP. Volunteers, help and support others, empower participants, fight the stigma of mental illness and increase social awareness. Sharing their experiences gives them the opportunity to show themselves as people and show everything they can do without constraints they often feel when diagnosed with a mental health problem.


Information about the partial structure factors of densified GeO2 glass has been obtained from neutron and x-ray diffraction measurements. Densification causes a reduction in the length scale of the intermediate range order (IRO). The difference structure factors obtained by combining the x-ray and neutron data so as to eliminate one partial structure factor at a time shows the greatest effects when the Ge-Ge correlations are eliminated and least when O-O correlations are eliminated. This implies that the reduced length scale results from a decrease in the next-nearest neighbor Ge-O and O-O distance caused by a rotation about the Ge-O-Ge bonds and a distortion of the GeO4 tetrahedra.


Informative Global Community Development Index (IGC) is an analysis method that looks at the development of the community currently residing in a intelligent city. From the understanding method, the development of intelligent cities based on a deontological ethics, the process of developing an intelligent city has to return maximum interest to the majority of the residing community in terms of hardware and software. The enhancement of IGC has become vital as the mile mark in developing Malaysia into a developed nation by the year 2020. In conjunction to that the method of cumulative index analysis IGC development has been used in this research as the main method in measuring the development of IGC. About 127 middle class families in Subang Jaya Smart City were chosen as research respondents in order to measure the IGC development index in Subang Jaya. All the variables are covered under ability component (humanware), management component and information supervision (infoware), components of ownership and communication and information technology usage (technoware), as well as the usage value of ICT and cyber ethics (valueware). The IGC development Index which was used utilized the Rogers scale which looked at levels of innovation, preacceptance, pre-majority, final majority and final scale. The analysis showed that most of the residents in Subang Jaya only achieved IGC development in the pre-acceptance, pre-majority and final majority scale. This meant that there weren't any of the residents in Subang Jaya which achieved the final scale.


Provides reviews of all major facets of hydrology. Topics covered include: influences of the atmosphere and of land and vegetation on stream flow; temporal and spatial variability of stream flow, with separate chapters on floods and on low flow and hydrologic drought; snow and ice, the frozen components of the hydrosphere; the hydrology of lakes and wetlands; hydrogeochemistry of rivers and lakes; the aquatic biota; sediment movement and storage; the riverscape for selected North American rivers; and the influence of Man on hydrologic systems. Accompanying color plates show histograms of river water chemistry, runoff and flow regimes, and the distribution of precipitation minus evaporation for North America.


The 2005 report of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Child Health and Maternal Health, and subsequent UN reports on maternal health, make grim reading. With barely five years to go to 2015, the target set for the fifth Millennium Development Goal, reducing the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR -- the ratio of deaths from childbearing to all live births) by three quarters between 1990 and 2015 -- remains far beyond the reach of many low-income countries. To achieve a reduction of 75 per cent, the annual decline in the MMR between 1990 and 2005 should have been 5.5 per cent. With the actual average annual decline estimated at less than 1 per cent over these years, it is apparent that many countries cannot reach the target.  Worse, the average annual decline to date masks huge global inequalities. WHO data show an especially alarming situation in low income countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the MMR has been declining on average by only about 0.1 per cent a year.  Why is this happening? What does this terrible crisis of maternal mortality and associated ill health tell us about the state of health systems in much of Sub-Saharan Africa? These very high maternal death rates are not only a crisis requiring urgent attention; they also provide a 'gender lens' that illuminates the discriminatory gendered structure of health systems and health policy, and tell us a great deal about the roots of the crisis in the economics of health systems.


Chip-scale optical microresonators with integrated planar optical waveguides are useful building blocks for linear, nonlinear, and quantum-optical photonic devices alike. Loss reduction through improving fabrication processes results in several integrated microresonator platforms attaining quality (Q) factors of several millions. Beyond the improvement of the quality factor, the ability to operate the microresonator with high coupling ideality in the overcoupled regime is of central importance. In this regime, the dominant source of loss constitutes the coupling to a single desired output channel, which is particularly important not only for quantum-optical applications such as the generation of squeezed light and correlated photon pairs but also for linear and nonlinear photonics. However, to date, the coupling ideality in integrated photonic microresonators is not well understood, in particular, design-dependent losses and their impact on the regime of high ideality. Here we investigate design-dependent parasitic losses described by the coupling ideality of the commonly employed microresonator design consisting of a microring-resonator waveguide side coupled to a straight bus waveguide, a system which is not properly described by the conventional input-output theory of open systems due to the presence of higher-order modes. By systematic characterization of multimode high-Q silicon nitride microresonator devices, we show that this design can suffer from low coupling ideality. By performing 3D simulations, we identify the coupling to higher-order bus waveguide modes as the dominant origin of parasitic losses which lead to the low coupling ideality. Using suitably designed bus waveguides, parasitic losses are mitigated with a nearly unity ideality and strong overcoupling (i.e., a ratio of external coupling to internal resonator loss rate > 9) are demonstrated. Moreover, we find that different resonator modes can exchange power through the coupler, which, therefore, constitutes a mechanism that induces modal coupling, a phenomenon known to distort resonator dispersion properties. Our results demonstrate the potential for significant performance improvements of integrated planar microresonators for applications in quantum optics and nonlinear photonics achievable by optimized coupler designs.


Joint hypermobility syndrome/Ehlers–Danlos syndrome hypermobility type (JHS/EDS‐HT) is an evolving and protean disorder mostly recognized by generalized joint hypermobility and without a defined molecular basis. JHS/EDS‐HT also presents with other connective tissue features affecting a variety of structures and organs, such as skin, eye, bone, and internal organs. However, most of these signs are present in variable combinations and severity in many other heritable connective tissue disorders. Accordingly, JHS/EDS‐HT is an "exclusion" diagnosis which needs the absence of any consistent feature indicative of other partially overlapping connective tissue disorders. While both Villefranche and Brighton criteria include such an exclusion as a mandatory item, a systematic approach for reaching a stringent clinical diagnosis of JHS/EDS‐HT is still lacking. The absence of a consensus on the diagnostic approach to JHS/EDS‐HT concerning its clinical boundaries with similar conditions contribute to limit our actual understanding of the pathologic and molecular bases of this disorder. In this review, we revise the differential diagnosis of JHS/EDS‐HT with those heritable connective tissue disorders which show a significant overlap with the former and mostly include EDS classic, vascular and kyphoscoliotic types, osteogenesis imperfecta, Marfan syndrome, Loeys–Dietz syndrome, arterial tortuosity syndrome, and lateral meningocele syndrome. A diagnostic flow chart is also offered with the attempt to support the less experienced clinician in stringently recognizing JHS/EDS‐HT and stimulate the debate in the scientific community for both management and research purposes. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


I study two-way effects between financial markets and contractual agreements with a risk sharing component, such as compensation packages within a firm, or mortgages and loans. I construct a model with many Units, in each of which one of the contracting individuals, the Agent, has private information, while the uninformed individual, the Principal, has the opportunity to trade with the Principals in other Units. I give general conditions under which financial markets induce a transfer of risk from Agents to Principals. I also show how asymmetric information interacts with financial markets through two channels. First, the distortion of the allocation of the high risk Agents, feeds back in the market portfolio increasing risk on markets, and in the contracts of the low risk Agents. Secondly, markets change the Principals' screening problem preventing low risk Agents from enjoying an information rent. The model results can explain empirical evidence from the subprime mortgage market during the securitization boom leading to the 2008 financial crisis and suggest further implications for other markets segment. JEL codes:


PERSPECTIVES ON MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION: CASE STUDIES OF A GERMAN AND AN AMERICAN FEMALE MINORITY TEACHER by Yesim Ozbarlas American and German educational systems have both experienced an increase of ethnic groups in the classrooms; however, in both countries the increase in ethnic groups is not matched by increases in the numbers of minority teachers (NEA, 2005). Therefore, challenges such as interracial tensions and conflicts, an increasing percentage of second language learners, and continuous gaps in achievement suggest that an increase in the numbers of minority teachers is imperative as the twenty-first century begins (Gay, 2000; Luchtenberg, 2004). These increases suggest a need for a more thorough understanding of minority teachers' viewpoints as they serve as role models, mentors, and activists (Carrington & Skeleton, 2004). Two naturalistic case studies based on critical theory, critical race theory, and feminist theory will examine perspectives on, challenges of, and opportunities regarding cross-cultural issues among a German and an American minority teacher and their views on multicultural education. The following questions guided the study: 1) What are the challenges and/or support experienced by a German and an American female minority teacher who attempt to implement multicultural principles in their classrooms? 2) What are the similarities and/or differences experienced by a German and an American female minority teacher regarding the implementation of multicultural principles into their teaching practice? 3) To what extent are the teachers' beliefs and actions shaped by their subject positions as minority females? During each 2-month period of investigation, qualitative data methods such as observations, semi-structured interviews, daily field notes, lesson plans, telephone conversations, emails, and the researcher's reflections were used to gather data. Data were analyzed using constant comparison methods (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to identify codes and categories and to develop emergent themes. Analysis revealed following themes: life and classroom experiences, opinions related to differences and similarities, and participants' subject positions as female. Both teachers' experiences emphasized a culturally sensitive pedagogy toward minority students. PERSPECTIVES ON MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION: CASE STUDIES OF A GERMAN AND AN AMERICAN FEMALE MINORITY TEACHER


An optimized therapeutic rehabilitation program involved 393 patients with fractured long bones (humeral, radial/ulnar, femoral, crural) admitted to the Orthopedic Department of the Stavropol Regional Children's Clinical Hospital and the Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped Children and Adolescents. Rehabilitation was performed in three consecutive stages, viz. immobilization, functional recovery and training. The proposed approach ensured rather fast functional recovery of the affected extremity even in cases with compound fractures. The rehabilitation program included polyenzyme therapy with wobenzym during 3-4 weeks after injury or surgical repositioning of bone fragments. Pain and oedema syndromes resolved twice as fast as after traditional treatment. The use of this program permitted to avoid development of contracture and disturbances of locomotary activity; moreover, it improved the quality of life in children with fractures of long tubular bones.


AB S TRACT. Bruce Ackerman argues that major shifts in constitutional law can occur outside the Article V amendment process when there are unusually high levels of sustained popular attention to questions of constitutional significance. This Note develops a new empirical strategy to evaluate this claim using the debate over ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment as its test case. The Note applies a statistical process known as unsupervised topic modeling to a dataset containing over 19,000 pages of text from U.S. newspapers published between 1866 and 1884. This innovative methodological technique illuminates the structure of constitutional discourse during this period. The Note finds empirical support for the notion that the salience of constitutional issues was high throughout the ratification debate and then gradually declined as the country returned to a period of normal politics. These findings buttress Ackerman's cyclic theory of constitutional change at one of its more vulnerable points.


To address deployment schemes over large dispersed geographical area a paradigm shift in the technology was needed. Wireless Mesh Networks (WMN) has emerged as a promising technology to such challenging tasks. As wireless network grows it puts an increased demands in infrastructure based networks.802.11s based WMN is a concrete step that address this paradox to make infrastructure itself wireless. As there is a high demand of internet usage and revolution in computer technology in university campuses, we have done a survey among the students on usage of WiFi based communications and henceforth modeled and implemented an interworking Campus Mesh Wi-Fi Network and have evaluated the networks performance.


This paper presents a unique empirical analysis of Salop and Scheffman?s raising rival?s cost theory of predation. The cost efficiency of cooperative wholesaling organizations including the nations largest, Wakefern Food Corporation, are highly susceptible to throughput volume. The Royal Ahold/Pathmark offer to purchase Wakefern?s largest member via a bankruptcy proceeding that attempted to supercede its membership contract, if consummated, would have reduced Wakefern?s volume by 13 percent. It also would have triggered a domino effect of other member exits because it would have raised the costs of supplying remaining members. This report marshals the available empirical evidence to demonstrate that the predatory move by Royal Ahold and Pathmark would most likely be very profitable for them because it would have diminished competition in many markets where they compete with ShopRite supermarkets. Thus in this case, the move is credible.


Developing nondrug antimicrobial and antibacterial treatment techniques are necessary because of the emergence of antibiotic resistance worldwide. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and electromagnetic therapy (EMFT) are two examples of these approaches. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy is a novel and promising technique that involves the simultaneous presence of visible light, oxygen and a photosensitizer (PS). It can be applied for eradicating pathogenic microorganisms such as Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeasts and fungi. Moreover, electric fields, magnetic fields and pulsed EMFs (PEMFs) are common approaches showing promising antimicrobial effects. These treatments can be used as alternative or adjunctive treatment for some infections. This paper reviews the recent developments and basic principles of nondrug antimicrobial techniques focusing on EMFs and PDT techniques. The future perspectives of these techniques as well as clinical considerations are discussed.


BACKGROUND
 The COVID-19 outbreak has affected the lives of millions of people by causing a dramatic impact on many health care systems and the global economy. This devastating pandemic has brought together communities across the globe to work on this issue in an unprecedented manner.

 OBJECTIVE
 This case study describes the steps and methods employed in the conduction of a remote online health hackathon centered on challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to deliver a clear implementation road map for other organizations to follow.

 METHODS
 This 4-day hackathon was conducted in April 2020, based on six COVID-19–related challenges defined by frontline clinicians and researchers from various disciplines. An online survey was structured to assess: (1) individual experience satisfaction, (2) level of interprofessional skills exchange, (3) maturity of the projects realized, and (4) overall quality of the event. At the end of the event, participants were invited to take part in an online survey with 17 (+5 optional) items, including multiple-choice and open-ended questions that assessed their experience regarding the remote nature of the event and their individual project, interprofessional skills exchange, and their confidence in working on a digital health project before and after the hackathon. Mentors, who guided the participants through the event, also provided feedback to the organizers through an online survey.

 RESULTS
 A total of 48 participants and 52 mentors based in 8 different countries participated and developed 14 projects. A total of 75 mentorship video sessions were held. Participants reported increased confidence in starting a digital health venture or a research project after successfully participating in the hackathon, and stated that they were likely to continue working on their projects. Of the participants who provided feedback, 60% (n=18) would not have started their project without this particular hackathon and indicated that the hackathon encouraged and enabled them to progress faster, for example, by building interdisciplinary teams, gaining new insights and feedback provided by their mentors, and creating a functional prototype.

 CONCLUSIONS
 This study provides insights into how online hackathons can contribute to solving the challenges and effects of a pandemic in several regions of the world. The online format fosters team diversity, increases cross-regional collaboration, and can be executed much faster and at lower costs compared to in-person events. Results on preparation, organization, and evaluation of this online hackathon are useful for other institutions and initiatives that are willing to introduce similar event formats in the fight against COVID-19.


Defect classification using partial discharge (PD) measurement has historically been achieved by representing the data in phase-resolved form. This paper presents phase-resolved PD patterns obtained using radio frequency (RF) and conventional IEC60270 techniques for a number of different defects including free particles, protrusions, floating electrodes and voids. Oil, SF6 and resin were used as insulating media. Each PD geometry was placed inside an aluminium test chamber fitted with an internal UHF antenna. Around 2000 RF and IEC PD pulses have been recorded simultaneously along with their phase position for each PD source configuration using a 3 GHz digital oscilloscope. Results indicate that due to the responses of each system, clear differences exist in the phase-resolved patterns, implying that more accurate defect classification should be achieved if a system is trained exclusively using either IEC or RF data. In other words, if a classification algorithm has been trained using measurements from a conventional IEC system, the accuracy of diagnosis will be reduced if RF sensors are then used to measure on-line data without re-training the system.


REDD+ (Reducing Emissions, Deforestation and forest Degradation+) is a United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) process through which governments reduce the impacts of climate change through forest conservation in a results-based payments scheme. Distinct from international negotiations about the REDD+ framework under the UNFCCC, there are also REDD+ projects that help governments to set up the institutional architecture, plans and strategies to implement REDD+. These capacity-building projects, in the first phase of 'REDD+ readiness', involve negotiations among national and international actors in which recognition and authority claims are used by participants to influence project-level negotiations. This study analyses the project development negotiations in a World Bank-led REDD+ capacity building regional project, involving six Central African countries between 2008 and 2011. It explores how the project created a 'negotiation table' constituted of national and regional institutions recognised by the donors and governments, and how this political space, influenced by global, regional and national political agendas led to 'instances' of recognition and misrecognition – in which some negotiating parties' claims of representation were acknowledge and affirmed, while others' claims were not. Focusing on Cameroon and Gabon, this article analyses how negotiations shaped full participation by Cameroon and only partial engagement by Gabon.


Objectives Despite the wide use of the 6 min walk distance (6MWD), no study has ever assessed its validity as a surrogate marker for haemodynamics and predictor of outcome in isolated pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-PAH). We designed this work to address this issue. Methods Treatment-naïve patients with SSc-PAH were prospectively included from two sources: the French PAH Network (a prospective epidemiological cohort) (n=83) and randomised clinical trials submitted for drug approval (Food and Drug Administration) (n=332). Correlations between absolute values of the 6MWD and haemodynamics at baseline, as well as between variations of 6MWD and haemodynamics during follow-up, were studied in both populations. Results In the French cohort, baseline cardiac output (CO) (R2=0.19, p=0.001) and New York Heart Association class (R2=0.10, p<0.001) were significantly and independently correlated with baseline 6MWD in multivariate analysis. A significant, independent, but weaker, correlation with CO was also found in the Food and Drug Administration sample (R2=0.04, p<0.001). During follow-up, there was no association between the changes in 6MWD and haemodynamic parameters in patients under PAH-specific treatments. Conclusions In SSc-PAH, CO independently correlates with 6MWD at baseline, but accounts for a small amount of the variance of 6MWD in both study samples. This suggests that other non-haemodynamic factors could have an impact on the walk distance. Moreover, variations of 6MWD do not reflect changes in haemodynamics among treated patients. Our results suggest that 6MWD is not an accurate surrogate marker for haemodynamic severity, nor an appropriate outcome measure to assess changes in haemodynamics during follow-up in treated SSc-PAH.


We propose a robust data-driven model predictive control (MPC) scheme to control linear time-invariant systems. The scheme uses an implicit model description based on behavioral systems theory and past measured trajectories. In particular, it does not require any prior identification step, but only an initially measured input–output trajectory as well as an upper bound on the order of the unknown system. First, we prove exponential stability of a nominal data-driven MPC scheme with terminal equality constraints in the case of no measurement noise. For bounded additive output measurement noise, we propose a robust modification of the scheme, including a slack variable with regularization in the cost. We prove that the application of this robust MPC scheme in a multistep fashion leads to practical exponential stability of the closed loop w.r.t. the noise level. The presented results provide the first (theoretical) analysis of closed-loop properties, resulting from a simple, purely data-driven MPC scheme.


Abstract This paper investigates relative purchasing power parity for a sample of nine Asian economies during the post-Bretton Woods floating exchange rate era. While most existing studies of purchasing power parity employ linear tests of non-stationarity or non-cointegration, we employ a new cointegration test, recently advocated by Enders & Siklos and Enders & Dibooglu, that tests for an asymmetric adjustment towards parity with respect to positive and negative real exchange rate deviations from parity. In most cases, we find that long-run purchasing power parity is most likely to hold with respect to positive deviations only.


An experiment was conducted to evaluate substitution of native grass and rice bran eith palm press fiber (PPF) and dried palm oil sludge (POS) in nine growing males dairy cattle. The animal had a mean of liveweight of 190 ± 11.2 kg. Levels of substitution were 0, 50, and 100% or 0, 15, and 30% of ration dry matter. Inclusion of PPF and POS in ration had no effect on daily liveweight gain (1.270 ± 0.2 kg). Analysis of empty body composition using the urea space technique revealed that the liveweight gain was associated with deposition of protein and fat. PPF had a low palatability and reduced total dry matter intake when the inclusion was higher than 7% of ration dry matter. However, the PPF was fermentable and volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration in the rumen increased linearly as PPF level increased in the ration (VFA = 75 ± 0.53 PPF; P<0.05). The intake of the digested organic matter was 2.63, 2.68, and 1.97 kg and that of digestible energy was 19.3, 19.5 and 15.5 Mcal for ration caontaining 0, 15, 30% of PPF, respectively. It was concluded that the POS was an excellent substitute for rice bran, but PPF as a grass substitute should be limited up to 23% of total grass dry matter or 7% of ration dry matter.


In this paper, we investigate the problem of supporting keyword-based searching for the discovery of software resources that are installed on the nodes of large-scale, federated Grid computing infrastructures. We address a number of challenges that arise from the unstructured nature of software and the unavailability of software-related metadata on Grid sites. We present Minersoft, a Grid harvester that visits Grid sites, crawls their file-systems, identifies and classifies software resources, and discovers implicit associations between them. The results of Minersoft harvesting are encoded in a weighted, typed graph, named the Software Graph. A number of IR algorithms are used to enrich this graph with structural and content associations, to annotate software resources with keywords, and build inverted indexes to support keyword-based searching for software. Using a real testbed, we present an evaluation study of our approach, using data extracted from a production-quality Grid infrastructure. Experimental results show that our approach achieves high search efficiency.


During clotting under flow, platelets bind and activate on collagen and release autocrinic factors such ADP and thromboxane, while tissue factor (TF) on the damaged wall leads to localized thrombin generation. Toward patient-specific simulation of thrombosis, a multiscale approach was developed to account for: platelet signaling (neural network trained by pairwise agonist scanning, PAS-NN), platelet positions (lattice kinetic Monte Carlo, LKMC), wall-generated thrombin and platelet-released ADP/thromboxane convectiondiffusion (PDE), and flow over a growing clot (lattice Boltzmann). LKMC included shear-driven platelet aggregate restructuring. The PDEs for thrombin, ADP, and thromboxane were solved by finite element method using cell activation-driven adaptive triangular meshing. At all times, intracellular calcium was known for each platelet by PAS-NN in response to its unique exposure to local collagen, ADP, thromboxane, and thrombin. The model accurately predicted clot morphology and growth with time on collagen/TF surface as compared to microfluidic blood perfusion experiments. The model also predicted the complete occlusion of the blood channel under pressure relief settings. Prior to occlusion, intrathrombus concentrations reached 50 nM thrombin, ~1 μM thromboxane, and ~10 μM ADP, while the wall shear rate on the rough clot peaked at ~1000-2000 sec-1. Additionally, clotting on TF/collagen was accurately simulated for modulators of platelet cyclooxygenase-1, P2Y1, and IP-receptor. The model was then extended to a rectangular channel with symmetric Gaussian obstacles representative of a coronary artery with severe stenosis. The upgraded stenosis model was able to predict platelet deposition dynamics at the post-stenotic segment corresponding to development of artery thrombosis prior to severe myocardial infarction. The presence of stenosis conditions alters the hemodynamics of normal hemostasis, showing a different thrombus growth mechanism. The model was able to recreate the platelet aggregation process under the complex recirculating flow features and make reasonable prediction on the clot morphology with flow separation. The model also detected recirculating transport dynamics for diffusible species in response to vortex features, posing interesting questions on the interplay between biological signaling and prevailing hemodynamics. In future work, the model will be extended to clot growth with a patient cardiovasculature under pulsatile flow conditions. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering First Advisor Scott L. Diamond Second Advisor Talid R. Sinno This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2452


To test the relative efficiency and learning effect of text, pictures, and animation in on-line help systems, six versions of an on-line help system for telephones were designed. The operational information was presented in either text, pictures, or animation and presented either with or without spatial information (in pictures). Subjects were asked to perform thirteen tasks, using these six versions of the instructions and to do the same tasks again, using the same version of the instructions, one week later. The results show that only presenting the operational information via text is the most efficient. Subjects using instructions in animation needed significantly more time than those using the text or picture versions. Adding spatial information (in pictures) was counterproductive: without this information subjects performed better in all versions. Performing the same tasks with identical instructions one week later produced the same results, but the differences were much smaller. Therefore, it has been concluded that text remains the most efficient medium as long as users have to apply the instructions immediately. If the time needed to read/see the instructions is deducted, animation turns out to be the most efficient medium. It is therefore concluded that animation could be the best medium for learning how to operate a device.


One-year old rope grown mussels ( Mytilus edulis L.) were held in experimental lantern nets at 2 m and 6 m depths in Loch Kishorn on the west coast of Scotland. Growth, mortality and shell morphology were monitored from May 1993 to August 1994. Water temperature, salinity, transparency and food availability were also determined. These showed a clear seasonal cycle, in consequence, growth of mussels was relatively rapid from May to November and very slow during the rest of the year. Depth had a insignificant effect on shell length and tissue growth (P>0.05) due to similar environmental factors. Shell length growth and tissue growth exhibited different seasonal patterns and mussels reached marketable size of 50 mm over 2 years old. Shell morphology was similar at both depths (P>0.05) while shell weight was significantly higher at 2 m than 6 m (P0.05). Most of the mortalities were occurred just after stocking and attributed to stress due to handling of mussels.


1.1. Introduction: Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is still a global epidemic. More than 40 million people died of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) so far. Antiretroviral treatment (ART), among other health care measures, reversed this fatal outcome. The aim of this study was to analyze the survival time of people living with HIV (PLHIV) through national and international studies in a systematic review with meta-analysis. 1.2. Material and Methods: An electronic search was conducted in three databases PubMed, SciELO and ScienceDirect identify original studies about survival time of PLHIV published until 12/31/2018. 1.3. Results: A total of 2,650 entries were retrieved from which 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. The total number of PLHIV included in these studies was 75,020 people. They were performed in 11 countries, with 35.29% of them in Brazil. The overall mean survival time of PLHIV was 6.36 years (95%CI 5.58-7.14; I2=100%; p<0.001). Survival time of PLHIV was higher for those on ART than for those without treatment: an average of 2.4 years and 1,52, respectively. Survival time of PLHIV also increased with higher educational levels and younger age. 1.4. Conclusion: This systematic review with meta-analysis consolidated the scientific evidence that ART increases survival time of PLHIV.


The newest draft version of IEC/EN 62305-2 standard dealing with risk management includes the environmental risk in a much better way than before. It takes also into account all the explosives zones when only zones 0 and 20 where addressed before. Purpose of this paper is to show how these changes will modify the level of risk obtained with previous version of standard. The environmental risk is clearly more tailored to what is needed with version 2 of the standard even if it may lead to increased risk compared to before when insufficient data exist. When taking into account the explosives zones 1, 2, 21 and 22, the risk may increase even if the new method tends to reduce the risk globally. An example of use of storm detectors to reduce the risk is also given.


The Monte Alpi is a key area to decipher the structural setting of the southern Apennines fold-and-thrust belt. There, high-angle faults juxtapose Mesozoic carbonates of the inner Apulian Platform, and their terrigenous Messinian sedimentary cover, against the allochthon terranes. In the recent past, two main tectonic models related to the evolution of the Monte Alpi area ascribed the significant exhumation of the Apulian carbonates to two different mechanisms. The first one, highlighted the role of high-angle faults, which affect and cross-cut both carbonates and allochthon terranes. The second model, inferred the significant exhumation of the Apulian Platform carbonates as due to low-angle extensional faulting. In light of the aforementioned discrepancies, the present work shows the results of original field and laboratory analyses aimed at reconstructing the structural setting of both Apulian carbonates and allochton terranes. In particular, two different folding stages and the geometry of the thrust sheets are assessed, by means of detailed field and micro-structural analyses, for the allochton terranes. In the Apulian carbonates, both attitude and kinematics of the syn-sedimentary high-angle faults bounding the Upper Messinian deposits are documented. Furthermore, the tectonic structures associated to the contractional, strike-slip and extensional stages are distinguished based on their abutting and crosscutting relationships. Finally, the results of such a work are discussed in terms of the time-space evolution of deformation in the Monte Alpi area; five main tectonic stages are deciphered for the Pre-Pliocene to Holocene times.


The aim of this paper is the needs to analyze the survival time for patients with Covide-19b who remains in the hospital until death, so it is necessary to study the survival times and estimate the reliability. The problem of finding the best distribution that fits the data is the key idea to analyze the data accurately. Consequently, the misspecifying of the distribution that fit the data leads to poor quality inference criteria of the phenomenon, also leads to unreliable reliability estimations. Many data of sciences areas are of different probability distributions depending on the nature of the phenomenon within the studied communities Some of the data are represented simple phenomena that cope with a unique probability distribution, and some of which are very complex and heterogeneous systems that force the researchers to use probability distributions fits the behavior of this random phenomenon. Many works in the field of reliability, failure and survival times, and the function of reliability (survival) follows some common distributions such as the Exponential distribution, Weibull distribution and other distributions. In this paper we introduced the survival function that follows an important distribution in survival modeling, that is called the Lindley distribution with two Parameters, taking into account two forms of this distribution, one of them we proposed based on different forms of the probability density function and finding the survival function for the distribution and compared to other distributions using several methods of estimation including the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE), (percentiles estimators) by using Monte Carlo simulation experiments and comparing using the Integrated Mean Square Error (IMSE), (-2ln L) and AIC to achieve the best estimate of survival function among the distributions, as well as a real data analysis conducted for the survival times for patients with COVID-19 stay in hospital until death. The proposed distribution fitted the data very well in the Maximum Likelihood method compared with the other distribution.


Software interfaces for interactive multiple-entry taxonomic identification (polyclaves) sometimes provide a "best character" or "separation" coefficient, to guide the user to choose a character that could most effectively reduce the number of identification steps required. The coefficient could be particularly helpful when difficult or expensive tasks are needed for forensic identification, and in very large databases, uses that appear likely to increase in importance. Several current systems also provide tools to develop taxonomies or single-entry identification keys, with a variety of coefficients that are appropriate to that purpose. For the identification task, however, information theory neatly applies, and provides the most appropriate coefficient. To our knowledge, Delta-Intkey is the only currently available system that uses a coefficient related to information theory, and it is currently being reimplemented, which may allow for improvement. We describe two improvements to the algorithm used by Delta-Intkey. The first improves transparency as the number of remaining taxa decreases, by normalizing the range of the coefficient to [0,1]. The second concerns numeric ranges, which require consistent treatment of sub-intervals and their end-points. A stand-alone Bestchar program for categorical data is provided, in the Python and R languages. The source code is freely available and dedicated to the Public Domain.


We examine the temporal means and variability of the semidiurnal internal tide energy fluxes in 1/25° global simulations of the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) and in a global archive of 79 historical moorings. Low-frequency flows, a major cause of internal tide variability, have comparable kinetic energies at the mooring sites in model and observations. The computed root-mean-square (RMS) variability of the energy flux is large in both model and observations and correlates positively with the time-averaged flux magnitude. Outside of strong generation regions, the normalized RMS variability (the RMS variability divided by the mean) is nearly independent of the flux magnitudes in the model, and of order 23% or more in both the model and observations. The spatially averaged flux magnitudes in observations and the simulation agree to within a factor of about 1.4 and 2.4 for vertical mode-1 and mode-2, respectively. The difference in energy flux computed from the full-depth model output versus model output subsampled at mooring instrument depths is small. The global historical archive is supplemented with six high-vertical resolution moorings from the Internal Waves Across the Pacific (IWAP) experiment. The model fluxes agree more closely with the high-resolution IWAP fluxes than with the historical mooring fluxes. The high variability in internal tide energy fluxes implies that internal tide fluxes computed from short observational records should be regarded as realizations of a highly variable field, not as "means" that are indicative of conditions at the measurement sites over all time.


A B S T R A C T Most frequently, a bird strike cause damage to aircraft, and, in certain number of cases, a bird strike may have some considerably serious consequences (injuries and death of passengers, crew or third persons on a ground). In the circumstances of damage occurred, one side is entitled to demand a repair or a financial compensation, and the other side is obliged to realise the repair or the payment of the stated sum. The right to file a demand for repair or compensation depends on the result of determination of someone's liability. In case of bird strike (either with Croatian or foreign registration aircraft) at any airport in the Republic of Croatia, legal grounds for determination of liability are found in the Republic of Croatia Legal Regulations and in international conventions as International Private Air Law. These regulations elaborate the application of the competent law as well as the jurisdiction of court the proceedings may be instituted in. The question of compensation of the material and non-material damage occurred, with regard to differences of legal systems and attitudes of the courts, arises as very interesting in Croatia and worldwide.


Background The recent rises in global food prices have passed on to India and all the Indian states experienced huge price rise for all the major food items including rice and wheat. Recent studies showed that India's impressive economic growth had not transformed to better maternal and child nutrition outcomes, and it is unknown whether the rising food price cause child malnutrition. We investigated the effect on food price shock on child nutrition in Andhra Pradesh, one of the largest Indian states where more than 85 million people live. Methods We used a natural experiment study design with multilevel regression model. We used wasting as main outcome measure as this would better measure the effects of short-term fluctuation (price) of food intake on child nutrition outcome and price as the predictor after controlling for potential confounders such as socio-economic-demographic variables and episodes of natural disaster and social security programs. We utilised the food consumption and anthropometric measures from DFID-Young Lives data, a longitudinal cohort study set up in Andhra Pradesh in 2002 with a sample size of 2000 children of 6–18 months who had been followed in 2006 and 2009. This data was merged with the monthly price data from various market hubs collected by National Sample Survey Organisation since 2000, and we used the district level price of 12 highly consumed food items among Indian households. Results The food price increased steadily from 2000 but had more than doubled after 2006. The per capita food intake had declined and the proportion of food expenditure to total expenditure increased after 2006. The percentage of children wasted was 19% in 2002 and 18.4% in 2006 but increased to 28% in 2009. An increase in the price each of the major food items increased the odds of wasting among the children, for e.g. one unit increase in price of rice resulted in 5% increase in the odds of wasting (adjusted odds ratio: 1.05; p < 0.001). Conclusion The rising food prices adversely affected the childhood nutrition in India. The development programs to improve the maternal and child health will become ineffective if the policy measures to control the rising food price and to increase food security for people are not implemented.


Dendritic cell (DC) migration is essential for efficient host defense against pathogens and cancer, as well as for the efficacy of DC-based immunotherapies. However, the molecules that induce the migratory phenotype of DCs are poorly defined. Based on a large-scale proteome analysis of maturing DCs, we identified the GPI-anchored protein semaphorin 7A (Sema7A) as being highly expressed on activated primary myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs in human and mouse. We demonstrate that Sema7A deficiency results in impaired chemokine CCL21-driven DC migration in vivo. Impaired formation of actin-based protrusions, resulting in slower three-dimensional migration, was identified as the mechanism underlying the DC migration defect. Furthermore, we show, by atomic force microscopy, that Sema7A decreases adhesion strength to extracellular matrix while increasing the connectivity of adhesion receptors to the actin cytoskeleton. This study demonstrates that Sema7A controls the assembly of actin-based protrusions that drive DC migration in response to CCL21.


Roland Barthes was all life long interested in photography. Not only did he write several important critical essays about this subject, but he also applied his vision to all that comparable to photography. This particular vision is in relation with his observation upon all cultural phenomena. Indeed, many scholars have already agreed upon this remark. Philippe Dubois, for example, thought that Barthes adopted a so-called "photographic gaze" upon all sorts of things, either image or text. In other words, by the photographic gaze, Barthes entered into a questioning position in face of his contemplated object. So, the notion of "photography" can even be considered here as "an implicit general process" of his thinking mode, which is also present in his reluctant autobiography roland Barthes by roland barthes. This paper will try to prove that Barthes did look into his plural ego images, his self-reflection and all ideas, as if this were relevant to photography. Through Camera Lucida, one can read/see this uncommon autobiography, one eye upon Barthes himself and the other eye upon photography. Finally, we will try to define our own intertextual reading as an incessant come-across movement between these two texts of Barthes.


Abstract This study examined attitudes towards bicycling among bicycle users with different experience levels and how these attitudes influence the bicycle use. The study area is The Ohio State University's main campus and we used the 2015 Campus Transportation Survey that asked questions about different commuting modes to the campus, bicycling experience levels, attitudes toward bicycle use, and demographic characteristics. For the empirical analysis, we grouped 20 attitudinal statements on bicycling into eight factors by using principal component analysis: perception of living in a bicycle-friendly community; perception of bicycling barriers; bicycling willingness upon facility availability; awareness of bicycling benefits; familiarity with local bicycling information; preference for bicycling; sensitivity to bicycle security; and perception of the availability of campus bicycle facilities. We ran t-test analyses to examine whether the attitudes toward bicycling vary by bicycling experience levels. Then, we employed binary logit analyses to estimate the effects of the attitudes differentiated by bicycling experience levels on being a bicyclist. The empirical analyses show that experienced bicycle users have more positive and favorable attitudes toward bicycling while less experienced bicycle users perceive greater bicycling barriers. We also found that the availability of bicycle facilities has a greater importance for less experienced bicycle users than for experienced bicycle users.


It is with great pride that I welcome you to the inaugural issue of the Journal of Information Architecture. The Journal of Information Architecture is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, and its aim is to facilitate the systematic development of the scientific body of knowledge in the field of information architecture. The journal will focus on information architecture research and development in all types of shared information environments, such as for example social networks, web sites, intranets, mobile and Rich Internet Applications, from various perspectives such as technical, cultural, social, and communicational


A group of 117 psychiatric male inpatients under age fifty, physically healthy, without known diabetes or manifest heart disease or electrocardiographic evidence of myo-cardial infarction, were given a 100-gm., two-hour oral glucose tolerance test because their electrocardiograms showed inverted or isoelectric T waves. These men were compared with a similarly studied control group of 303 who did not have such nonspecific abnormalities. Significantly more diabetes was discovered in the former group among those aged forty to forty-nine. At that age, then, abnormal T waves were significantly associated with previously unknown diabetes. Results suggest there is an unusually high prevalence of undetected diabetes among apparently healthy men in their forties who have these nonspecific T wave abnormalities.


In the spring of 2006, Eastern Washington University Libraries received an institutional strategic planning grant to hold a two-week strategic planning institute with faculty members representing the six colleges at Eastern Washington University (EWU). The purpose of the institute, titled "Reinventing the Library," was to articulate a five-year vision for the role of the library within the university. The institute was held at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library on the Cheney campus of EWU from July 24 through August 4, 2007, and was planned and facilitated by Dean of Libraries Patricia Kelley. Thirteen faculty members, including two members of the library faculty, participated. The curriculum for "Reinventing the Library" included presentations by guest speakers on national and institutional trends affecting EWU Libraries, group discussion, and planning activities. In the last days of the institute, participants achieved consensus on the future role of the EWU Libraries and drafted a vision statement. The institute has had a significant impact on library planning and operations.


Advanced Train Control System (ATCS) is a proprietary network protocol that expands the functionality and efficiency of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) systems, by using radio communications (radio code line) for message delivery. However, end-to-end cyber security issues were not considered during initial design of ATCS in the 1980s. Meanwhile, the landscape of cyber-physical threats and vulnerabilities has changed dramatically over the last three decades. Even though cutting-edge systems like Positive Train Control (PTC) have adopted security properties such as integrity check and encryption methods, major railroads in North America still deploy legacy ATCS standards to maintain their individual CTC system.
 This paper first illustrated the background and general specifications of ATCS applications in North American railroads. The research team has noticed that few studies have systematically analyzed this topic since the emergence of ATCS, though its applications are still prevailing in the industry. Divided by both vital and non-vital operational scenarios, this paper presented case studies for ATCS-related vulnerabilities. We used a sender-receiver sequencing-based analysis and proposed a consequence-based simulation model to identify and further evaluate the cyber and physical risks under potential cyber-attacks. For the identified risk, the paper evaluated the likelihood based on the practical operational sequences, and recommended potential countermeasures for the industry to improve the security over the specific case. The research concluded that the fail-safe design in the ATCS systems would prevent the exploiting known security vulnerabilities which could result in unsafe train movements. However, the service disruptions under certain speculated attacks need further evaluation. At the end of this paper, we discussed our ongoing work for disruption evaluation in the wake of successful cyber attacks.


This thesis is one part of a overall task of designing a module for frequency shift keying (FSK) to be used in an Ultra Wide Band (UWB) system. The FSK system has a Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) and Digital-to-Analog (DAC). The DACs differential current signals are directly fed to a RF (Radio Frequency) unit that generates the UWB RF signal. The focus of this thesis is on DAC while the DDS is developed in VHDL as another thesis work. This thesis demonstrates a low-power, ultra wide band 10 bit DAC with an update frequency of 24 MSPS(Mega Samples Per Second). The DAC uses a L-fold linear interpolation architecture. It includes a 16-tap voltage controlled delay line and a 10 bit binary-weighted DAC with a time interleaved structure. The linear interpolation technique improves the attenuation of mirror components and also reduces the glitch. This helps to relax the analog filter requirements and sometimes an off chip capacitor is enough as low pass filter. The attenuation of image components is doubled in decibels(dB) compared with that of conventional DAC. In this work various DAC architectures are studied. The current-steering DAC is chosen due to its high speed and high resolution. A binary weighted architecture is chosen to reduce the digital circuits. This helped in reducing the power consumption. The design and simulation is done with help of Cadence. The layout is done in Cadence Virtuoso and the DDS is integrated with the DAC. The chip is to be manufactured in 130 nm CMOS process.


With the growth of internet, many network applications are relied on group communication model. To provide confidentiality for the communication between group members, a secret key called group key is used. Since the group is dynamic, whenever there is a membership change (join/leave), group key is changed (rekeying) to provide forward and backward confidentiality. The hierarchical key-tree approach is widely used to achieve logarithmic costs for changing the key. Along with group key, key-tree also comprises of other set of keys called auxiliary keys which must also be changed as a part of rekeying. Key-tree based schemes involve a trusted entity called key server which performs rekeying operations. The load on the key server is increased with the increase in membership change (specifically with leave event). In this paper, we propose a scheme to reduce the load on the key server from O(mlogmn) to O(m) for a group of n users with the degree of the tree being m. The paper also addresses handling membership changes at regular intervals called batch rekeying, which reduces the rekeying complexity.


Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) traits differ between genetically distinct mouse strains. For example, DBA/2 mice have a higher HSPC frequency compared with C57BL/6 mice. We performed a genetic screen for micro-RNAs that are differentially expressed between LSK, LS(-)K(+), erythroid and myeloid cells isolated from C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice. This analysis identified 131 micro-RNAs that were differentially expressed between cell types and 15 that were differentially expressed between mouse strains. Of special interest was an evolutionary conserved miR cluster located on chromosome 17 consisting of miR-99b, let-7e, and miR-125a. All cluster members were most highly expressed in LSKs and down-regulated upon differentiation. In addition, these microRNAs were higher expressed in DBA/2 cells compared with C57BL/6 cells, and thus correlated with HSPC frequency. To functionally characterize these microRNAs, we overexpressed the entire miR-cluster 99b/let-7e/125a and miR-125a alone in BM cells from C57BL/6 mice. Overexpression of the miR-cluster or miR-125a dramatically increased day-35 CAFC activity and caused severe hematopoietic phenotypes upon transplantation. We showed that a single member of the miR-cluster, namely miR-125a, is responsible for the majority of the observed miR-cluster overexpression effects. Finally, we performed genome-wide gene expression arrays and identified candidate target genes through which miR-125a may modulate HSPC fate.


Reflux esophagitis causes Barrett's metaplasia, an abnormal esophageal mucosa predisposed to adenocarcinoma. Medical therapy for reflux esophagitis focuses on decreasing gastric acid production with proton pump inhibitors. We have reported that reflux esophagitis in a rat model develops from a cytokine-mediated inflammatory injury, not from a caustic chemical (acid) injury. In this model, refluxed acid and bile stimulate the release of inflammatory cytokines from esophageal squamous cells, recruiting lymphocytes first to the submucosa and later to the luminal surface. Emerging studies on acute reflux esophagitis in humans support this new concept, suggesting that reflux-induced cytokine release may be a future target for medical therapies. Sometimes, reflux esophagitis heals with Barrett's metaplasia, a process facilitated by reflux-related nitric oxide (NO) production and Sonic Hedgehog (Hh) secretion by squamous cells. We have shown that NO reduces expression of genes that promote a squamous cell phenotype, while Hh signaling induces genes that mediate the development of the columnar cell phenotypes of Barrett's metaplasia. Agents targeting esophageal NO production or Hh signaling conceivably could prevent the development of Barrett's esophagus. Persistent reflux promotes cancer in Barrett's metaplasia. We have reported that acid and bile salts induce DNA damage in Barrett's cells. Bile salts also cause NF-κB activation in Barrett's cells, enabling them to resist apoptosis in the setting of DNA damage and likely contributing to carcinogenesis. Oral treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid prevents the esophageal DNA damage and NF-κB activation induced by toxic bile acids. Altering bile acid composition might be another approach to cancer prevention.


Abstract. The research presents a new digital approach to wayfinding analysis in immersive reality, integrated with biosensors for the interpretation of data surveyed. The three-dimensional model of the actual state of the Hall of Perugia Railway Station was realized, considering and detecting the present signage, and it was developed a specific algorithm for a multi-platform graphics engine, able to register an interaction mediated by HMD devices. Wayfinding experiences in immersive reality are developed guaranteeing to the user to move freely to complete the missions assigned. The algorithm in this phase runs in the background and records the movements of users and their pupil, saving them in a special file. In the second phase, instead, the real data processing and the subsequent representation of the collected information take place. Starting from its current state, the Station hall is transformed inserting different elements, derived by the aim of developing four scenarios, to analyse different users' response in wayfinding. A three-dimensional heat map of visual attentions is created and the different scenarios can be valued for their impact in the user wayfinding, the results are then confronted with the neuro-analysis obtained by EEG instruments and biosensors. In this way, it is possible to value the impact of the environment and spatial orientation cues, by quantifying and qualifying the impact of the project choices.


Organizations continue to employ the matrix organizational form as it enables companies to use human resources flexibly, produce innovative solutions to complex problems in unstable environments, increase information flow through the use of lateral communication channels, and leverage economies of scale while remaining small and task oriented. Despite its strengths, the matrix has inherent problems. Earlier studies have primarily addressed structural problems. In this paper, we identify four interpersonal challenges that impede matrix performance: misaligned goals increase competition among employees, roles and responsibilities are unclear, decision‐making is untimely and of possibly low quality, and silo‐focused employees do not cooperate. We propose that emotionally intelligent employees can function better in the matrix. We offer solutions for both managers and employees to improve performance in matrix organizations by applying the four components of emotional intelligence, specifically, managing, understanding, using, and perceiving emotion, to each interpersonal challenge.


OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha) on the phagocytic function in cultured human trabecular meshwork (HTM) cells. METHODS HTM Cells were cultured and subcultured in vitro. The third to fifth passage of HTM cells were treated with different concentrations of IL-1alpha or vehicle in DMEM/F12 medium. 1000 of 0.85 microm microsphere/per cell were added to each well. The morphological changes of HTM cells were observed by an inverted phase-contrast microscope and electron microscope. The cellular phagocytic function of HTM cells was evaluated by counting the numbers of microsphere in 20 HTM cells using a light microscope. RESULTS The break of HTM cell membrane was found under the electron microscope. The numbers of microsphere in HTM cells was significantly (P = 0.005) reduced in a dose- and incubation time-dependent manner (F = 3.603, P = 0.046, F = 15.846, P = 0.005, respectively). CONCLUSIONS IL-1alpha affects the phagocytic function of HTM cells that is correlated to the concentration and the incubation time.


We describe a graphical model for probabilistic relationships – an alternative to the Bayesian network – called a dependency network. The graph of a dependency network, unlike a Bayesian network, is potentially cyclic. The probability component of a dependency network, like a Bayesian network, is a set of conditional distributions, one for each node given its parents. We identify several basic properties of this representation and describe a computationally efficient procedure for learning the graph and probability components from data. We describe the application of this representation to probabilistic inference, collaborative filtering (the task of predicting preferences), and the visualization of acausal predictive relationships.


Introduction: Prosthodontic management of palatal defects has been employed for many years. Palatal defects of any extent cause multiple problems in speech, mastication and aesthetics. Obturator prosthesis for an edentulous patient is more critical in terms of its movements as there is no mechanical retention available. Obturators and facial prostheses are important not only for rehabilitation and aesthetics, but also in patient resocialisation. Maxillary defects are created by surgical treatments of benign or malignant neoplasms and by trauma, in which case, denture is supported only by the underlying residual ridge and the defect. This clinical report describes the rehabilitation of a maxillary resected patient with a single piece hollow bulb denture obturator fabricated by double investment technique. Materials & Methods: In this double investment technique of hollow bulb denture obturator fabrication two same size transposable flasks were used for flasking and curing of the prosthesis. Results: Hollow bulb denture obturator was obtained by this double investment technique. Conclusion:  Decreased weight of prosthesis positively affects retention leading to improved physiologic function, and it also does not cause excessive atrophy in muscle balance.


Differential search algorithm (DS) is a relatively new evolutionary algorithm inspired by the Brownian-like random-walkmovement which is used by an organism to migrate. It has been verified to be more effective than ABC, JDE, JADE, SADE, EPSDE, GSA, PSO2011, and CMA-ES. In this paper, we propose four improved solution search algorithms, namely "DS/rand/1," "DS/rand/2," "DS/current to rand/1," and "DS/current to rand/2" to search the new space and enhance the convergence rate for the global optimization problem. In order to verify the performance of different solution search methods, 23 benchmark functions are employed. Experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm performs better than, or at least comparable to, the original algorithm when considering the quality of the solution obtained. However, these schemes cannot still achieve the best solution for all functions. In order to further enhance the convergence rate and the diversity of the algorithm, a composite differential search algorithm (CDS) is proposed in this paper. This new algorithm combines three new proposed search schemes including "DS/rand/1," "DS/rand/2," and "DS/current to rand/1" with three control parameters using a random method to generate the offspring. Experiment results show that CDS has a faster convergence rate and better search ability based on the 23 benchmark functions.


Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) is a syndrome emerges as result of a continuously low Iodine content in human body during a period of time. The year 1998's National Mapping IDD Survey throughout areas of Indonesia shows that 33% of sub district in the country are classified as endemic, 21% as low endemic, 5% as medium endemic and 7% as severe endemic areas. IDD has become a serous issue because its impacts, directly and indirectly, to the human being and to the quality of human resources. Due to serious impacts of IDD, the government of Indonesia has tried to prevent IDD problems by focusing on distribution of iodized oil capsule for productive women (15 - 49 years old) in severe and medium endemic areas (as the short term effort), and salt iodination or iodized salt consumption (as the long-term effort). But the program is not yet optimal, because some producers are still producing non-iodized salt or producing iodized salt with less than 30 ppm iodine content, some distributors are still distributing non-iodized salt or distributing iodized salt with less than 30 ppm iodine content and majority of consumers is not critical and less concerned toward the consumption salt product. To overcome the problem, then, it needs Social Enforcement as a policy for pressuring and supporting through the regulator function. In the previous research, it doesn't involve agent's activities process. In our research, it will describe people activities process in order to consume iodized salt especially in endemic areas in West Java and including the previous policy by government to take care this problem using social simulation SOARS. The objective of our research is to get new policies which could reduce Iodine Deficiency Disorder problem.


Coordination of spatial and transport planning policy for modern land management in Warsaw follows the guidelines prepared in three main city documents: "Development strategy for the city of Warsaw until 2020", "The study of Warsaw spatial development conditions and directions of development" and "The strategy for sustainable development of Warsaw transport system by 2015 and subsequent years". It helps to make public transport modes more attractive for passengers and to achieve the wide public acceptance for car traffic restrictions. Sustainable urban planning is a chance for improvement, or at least not worsening, living standards in metropolis, where streets over packed by cars make cities less attractive not only for inhabitants, but also for visitors and investors. The most important achievement of Polish urban planning practice is that all documents shaping conditions for Warsaw's sustainable development are well correlated. The development strategy formed the general guidelines which were implemented in Warsaw's spatial policy. Transportation policy, the city document prepared as the last one, forms main objectives following the spatial policy guidelines. This Warsaw experience could be followed by other Central European cities implementing modern land management for urban dynamics. Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, shares its experience in sustainable urban planning, taking part in the European project GUTS (Green Urban Transport Systems) for improvement in quality of life factors.


In this article, a transversely isotropic linear elastic half-space with depth wise isotropy axis of material containing a cylindrical cavity of finite length is considered to be under the effect of an arbitrary torsion force applied on the wall of the cavity. To this end, the equation of equilibrium has been written in a cylindrical coordinate system, by dividing the involved domain to two regions and considering the equation of equilibrium in each region and by means of Fourier cosine integral transforms, the non-zero displacement component is obtained in the transformed domain. With the aid of the inversion theorem of the Fourier cosine integral transform, the displacements are determined in the real domain. By writing boundary and continuity conditions, a governing generalized Cauchy singular integral equation is obtained. By solving the governing integral equation, the shear stress and the torsional displacement are obtained for any point. The degenerated results for isotropic media are compared with existing results reported in the literature, where there exists an excellent agreement. The results of the paper may be used as the benchmark for the related research in the transversely isotropic media.


This is a revised version of a paper presented at the APA Eastern Division's 115th annual meeting in New York on Monday January 07, 2019. It was presented at session 2O Author Meets Critics: Michael Jacovides, Locke's Image of the World. The session chair was Antonia LoLordo (University of Virginia), the critics were Robert Pasnau (University of Colorado Boulder) and Kathryn Tabb (Bard College), and the author was Michael Jacovides (Purdue University).


Background
 In sickle cell disease (SCD), acute chest syndrome (ACS) is associated with prolonged hospitalization, increased risk of respiratory failure, future lung disease and 25% mortality in hospitalized patients(Bakshi, & Krishnamurti, 2017; Vinchinsky et al. 1997). Pediatric patients with SCD frequently present to the Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) with complaints of fever, chest pain, and cough, all of which may or may not be related to ACS. It is challenging for PED providers to determine which patients are at highest risk of ACS, so chest X-Rays (CXR) are frequently ordered which increases radiation exposure and healthcare costs. The objective of this study was to identify incidence of CXR performance, as well as ACS diagnosis, in SCD patients presenting to our PED with or without fever. Our goal was to identify significant clinical predictors of ACS in this population in order to implement a diagnostic algorithm for PED providers.
 Methods
 This was an IRB-approved retrospective medical record review of subjects diagnosed with SCD with inclusion criteria: ages 2-12 years, who presented to the University of Maryland PED between 2016-2018. We performed bivariate analyses comparing these variables between subjects who were febrile vs. afebrile on presentation to the PED, as well as those who were ultimately diagnosed with ACS compared to those who were not. Analysis of categorical variables was performed using Chi-square or Fischer exact test as appropriate. We performed a multivariable logistic regression model to identify significant predictors of ACS diagnosis. Analyses performed using SAS 9.4.
 Results
 We identified 424 SCD subjects who presented to our PED meeting inclusion criteria, with 25% (n=108) presenting with fever. Of these, 69% received a CXR on presentation vs. 42% of afebrile subjects (p=<0.0001). In our febrile group 21% (n=23) patients had more than 2 febrile episodes and 100% received CXRs. There were no significant differences between the febrile and afebrile subjects when it came to sex, asthma diagnosis/comorbidity, hydroxyurea use, folic acid supplementation, or pneumococcal prophylaxis. Overall, 10% of patients presenting to the PED were diagnosed with ACS (n=42), made up of 13% of those presenting with fever vs. 9% of those presenting without fever. Those subjects ultimately diagnosed with ACS were significantly more likely to present with chest pain (p=0.003), tachypnea (p=0.001), and hypoxia (p<0.0001), and were more likely to have a past history of asthma (p=0.0085). Sickle cell variant, home medications, and history of splenectomy were not significantly associated with ACS diagnosis. Upon multivariable modeling, when adjusting for fever and pre-existing asthma diagnosis, the only significant predictors of ACS diagnosis were chest pain and hypoxia. Patients without chest pain had an odds ratio (OR) =0.3 of ACS diagnosis [95% Confidence Interval, CI 0.14-0.67], indicating they had 70% lower odds of ACS compared to patients with chest paint. Patients without hypoxia had OR=0.12 of ACS compared to those with hypoxia [CI 0.06-0.25], indicating an 88% reduced odds of ACS diagnosis. Conversely, those with chest pain had 3.3x the odds of ACS diagnosis [CI 1.5-7.4] and those with hypoxia had 8.4x the odds of ACS diagnosis [CI 4-17.9] compared to those without these symptoms.
 Conclusion
 In ACS, current guidelines recommend that patients presenting with fever, hypoxia, tachypnea, tachycardia and abnormal respiratory exam findings should be treated empirically as well as receive a CXR. However radiological signs can be delayed compared to physical signs so a normal CXR does not preclude the diagnosis of ACS if there is clinical suspicion(Howard et al. 2015). Our data demonstrate that clinical findings such as chest pain, tachypnea and hypoxia were most likely to correlate to a diagnosis of ACS. While 69% of our febrile patients received a CXR in the PED, only 13% were ultimately diagnosed with ACS, indicating that more CXRs and radiation exposure occurred in the febrile population than may have been necessary. When adjusting for fever and asthma, the most notable predictors of ACS were hypoxia and chest pain. When present, these findings are significant predictors of ACS; when absent, subjects had significantly decreased odds of ACS. Incorporating the presence or absence of chest pain and hypoxia may help focus the use of CXR on the appropriate patient population.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The responses of interphase and mitotic chromatins to beta-mercaptoethanol were studied. The reaction of X-chromatin of interphase nuclei was expressed in the increase of the percentage of cells with X-chromatin. beta-Merceptoethanol removed a condensing effect induced by spermine on the diffused chromatin of interphase cultured fibroblasts. beta-Mercaptoethanol caused a differential staining of metaphase chromosome when added to the cultured cells 0.5 hours prior to fixation. The treatment of chromosome preparations with different concentrations of beta-merceptoethanol and for different times led to different staining of chromosomes with asur--eosin. Low concentrations and/or short treatment induced G-banding, most typical with moderate concentrations. Higher concentrations and longer treatment prevented G-staining due to the loosening of G-segments.


We present a novel definition of privacy in the framework of offline (retroactive) database query auditing. Given information about the database, a description of sensitive data, and assumptions about users' prior knowledge, our goal is to determine if answering a past user's query could have led to a privacy breach. According to our definition, an audited property A is private, given the disclosure of property B, if no user can gain confidence in A by learning B, subject to prior knowledge constraints. Privacy is not violated if the disclosure of B causes a loss of confidence in A. The new notion of privacy is formalized using the well-known semantics for reasoning about knowledge, where logical properties correspond to sets of possible worlds (databases) that satisfy these properties. Database users are modeled as either possibilistic agents whose knowledge is a set of possible worlds, or as probabilistic agents whose knowledge is a probability distribution on possible worlds.
 We analyze the new privacy notion, show its relationship with the conventional approach, and derive criteria that allow the auditor to test privacy efficiently in some important cases. In particular, we prove characterization theorems for the possibilistic case, and study in depth the probabilistic case under the assumption that all database records are considered a-priori independent by the user, as well as under more relaxed (or absent) prior-knowledge assumptions. In the probabilistic case we show that for certain families of distributions there is no efficient algorithm to test whether an audited property A is private given the disclosure of a property B, assuming P ≠ NP. Nevertheless, for many interesting families, such as the family of product distributions, we obtain algorithms that are efficient both in theory and in practice.


Background Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is currently one of the most commonly performed procedures globally. Morbidity of laparoscopic cholecystectomy is low; however, bile duct injury is still a feared complication. Despite worldwide efforts, the global incidence of bile duct injury remains higher for laparoscopic cholecystectomy compared with open cholecystectomy. Despite the general belief that the learning curve and lack of laparoscopic skills represent the most common causes of bile duct injuries, the principal cause is the misidentification of biliary anatomy. The aim of our study is to determine if laparoscopic transillumination is a feasible approach to bile and vascular structures visualization during laparoscopic cholecystectomy because the only other method for real-time visualization is fluorescent cholangiography, which can be cost-prohibitive and requires specialized equipment and training. Materials and methods We performed a retrospective comparison of outcomes between the transillumination approach in 10 patients receiving laparoscopic cholecystectomy (group A) and a control group of 50 conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients (group B). We compared demographic data, type of surgery, operative time, bleeding, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and hospital stay. We used a conventional four-port positioning for laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and a 5-mm/30° scope was used as a light source and placed behind the area identified as Calot's triangle. Results Group A consisted of 10 patients (9 women, 1 man), with a mean age of 50.7 (± 17.4) years. The mean body mass index (BMI) in group A was 26.8 (± 0.65) kg/m2. In group A, three of the cholecystectomies were conducted as emergency procedures. Group B consisted of 50 patients (40 women, 10 men), with a mean age of 49.7 (±15.2) years. The mean BMI in group B was 27.5 (±4.5) kg/m2, and two cholecystectomies were emergency procedures. In comparing the transillumination approach with conventional cholecystectomy, we found no statistical differences in operative time, bleeding, complications, or mean hospital stay. Conclusions Laparoscopic transillumination is a feasible method for real-time visualization of Calot's triangle structures. Our initial experience with transillumination did not provide better outcomes than conventional cholecystectomy.


The goal of the study was to learn whether native prairie grasses and, eventually, a diverse mixture of native forbs could be incorporated in permanent pastures by means of rotational grazing by cattle. An experiment was established on a farm in northeastern Iowa on a pasture that had never been plowed but had been grazed since the 1880s. One treatment was protected from grazing to test for the presence of remnant vegetation. Andropogon gerardii, Sorghastrum nutans, Panicum virgatum, and Desmanthus illinoensis were introduced in plots first treated with glyphosate; seeds were either drilled (DR) or hand‐broadcast and incorporated by controlled cattle trampling (BT). Seedling establishment and aboveground biomass were followed over 3 years. There was no evidence for remnant native plants on uplands, but seven species of native forbs and four native graminoids flowered in exclosures erected within waterways. D. illinoensis initially established up to 12 seedlings/m2 but had disappeared from all but one plot by the third year. Variation in native grass establishment among replicate plots within treatments was very high, ranging initially from 0.2 to 9.9 plants/m2. In August of the second year, native grasses made up only 8% of the available forage in DR plots and 1% of BT plots. One year later, however, native grasses made up 56% of the available forage in DR plots and 37% of BT plots, and these differences were significant (p= 0.05). A pilot study seeded in late winter (frost seeding) suggested that seeds spread after cattle trampling produced five times more seedlings (2.5/m2) than seeds spread before cattle trampling (0.5/m2). Frost seeding had advantages because it did not require herbicide for sod suppression or tractor access to the site. New plantings could be safely grazed in early spring and late fall, before and after most native grass growth, to offset the negative economic impact of protecting new plantings from burning during the growing season. But this practice precluded subsequent prescribed burning. I propose a strategy for incorporating native wildflowers into the pasture over time with minimum cost.


Low-grazing-angle backscattering from a modeled breaking-wave surface profile has been calculated using a ray-optical approach and compared with reference scattering found using an extended moment method. The calculations show that interference between the direct backscatter from the breaking plume and multipath scattering between the plume and wave face can lead to the HH-to-VV polarization-backscattering ratios of greater than 9 dB that characterize sea-spike events. The multipath effects can be accurately predicted from simple reflection from the front face at the smallest grazing angles. At higher angles, diffraction from rapid changes in the surface curvature must also be considered.