Several settings arise in the design of vibration control for sophisticated spaces in which it would be desirable to significantly increase the material damping of concrete, primarily to reduce resonant response. The paper presents an overview of a recent study addressing the various means by which concrete damping can be increased. A variety of methodologies are discussed, and the most efficacious approaches are examined in some detail. The easiest approach involves the introduction of polymer admixtures into the concrete when it is mixed. However, the resulting dynamic properties become dependent upon both temperature and frequency, and these must be considered when selecting the appropriate polymers to use. Experimental results are summarized, and some of the appropriate applications (as well as the limitations) of polymer usage are presented.


We used a DNA barcoding marker (mitochondrial cox1) to investigate the controversial natural occurrence of Euscorpius sicanus (C.L. Koch) in North Africa. We tested this hypothesis by comparing a sample collected from a mountain in Tunisia to disjunct populations in Sardinia, Malta, and Greece. Using these samples, and a few additional Euscorpius spp. from southern Europe as outgroups, we reconstructed the maternal phylogeny. We then used a molecular clock to place the phylogeny in a temporal context. The Tunisian sample grouped closest to a specimen from Sardinia, with both being more distantly related to E. sicanus from Malta, which is known to be genetically similar to samples from Sicily. Molecular clock estimates suggest an ancient disjunction across the Mediterranean Sea, with the divergence between samples from Sardinia and Tunisia estimated to have occurred between the Late Miocene and late Pliocene. The divergence date (mean = 5.56 Mya) closely corresponds with the timing of a sudden refilling of the Mediterranean Sea after it had evaporated during the Messinian salinity crisis. This rapid influx of water, in conjunction with tectonic activity, could have sundered connections between Euscorpius in North Africa and what is now the island of Sardinia. These results provide yet another case in which DNA barcodes have proven useful for more than just identifying and discovering species.


The spatial variability of air flow through complex topography is an important, but not fully understood, component of dune development and dynamics. This study examines the spatial variability of the wind field in a linear blowout in coastal dunes at Jockey's Ridge State Park, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A spatial array of single‐height anemometers and wind vanes were placed within the blowout. Topography exerted a significant steering effect when onshore winds approached from directions within 50° of the blowout axis. Under those conditions wind flow in the blowout aligned to the axis regardless of approach angle, maximizing the potential for erosion and transport in the trough. In other locations aspect variations caused deflection both proportional and disproportional to changes in the approaching wind. When prevailing winds approached from directions more oblique than 50° to the blowout axis, topographic steering through the blowout trough was reduced and secondary flow generated by flow separation over the trough became more prominent. During those approach angles, wind directions and speeds within the upper blowout trough became erratic as vortices and turbulence dominated the flow, minimizing transport potential. The changing characteristics of airflow in the blowout relative to differing approach angles has implications on dune development and variations in transport potential under changing conditions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In aerial data acquisition a new era started with the introduction of the first real hybrid sensor systems, like the Leica CityMapper-2. Hybrid in this context means the combination of an (oblique) camera system with a topographic LiDAR into an integrated aerial mapping system. By combining these complimentary sub-systems into one system the weaknesses of the one system could be compensated by using the alternative data source. An example is the mapping of low-light urban canyons, where image-based systems mostly produce unreliable results. For an LiDAR sensor the geometrical reconstruction of these areas is straight forward and leads to accurate results. The paper gives a detailed overview over the development and technical characteristics of hybrid sensor systems. The process of data acquisition is discussed and strategies for hybrid urban mapping are proposed. A hybrid sensor alone is just a part of the whole procedure to generate 3D content. As important as the senor itself is the workflow to generate the products. Here again a hybrid approach, with the processing of all datasets in one environment, is discussed. Special attention is paid to the hybrid orientation of the data and the integrated generation of base and enhanced products. The paper is rounded off by the discussion of the advantage of LiDAR data for the 3D Mesh generation for urban modelling.


Septoria tritici blotch (STB), caused by the fungus Zymoseptoria tritici, is a major constraint in global wheat production. The lack of genetic diversity in modern elite wheat cultivars largely hinders the improvement of STB resistance. Wheat landraces are reservoirs of untapped genetic diversity, which can be exploited to find novel STB resistance genes or alleles. Here, we characterized 188 Swiss wheat landraces for resistance to STB using four Swiss Z. tritici isolates. We used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genetic variants associated with the amount of lesion and pycnidia production by the fungus. The majority of the landraces were highly resistant for both traits to the isolate 1E4, indicating a gene-for-gene relationship, while higher phenotypic variability was observed against other isolates. GWAS detected a significant SNP on chromosome 3A that was associated with both traits in the isolate 1E4. The resistance response against 1E4 was likely controlled by the Stb6 gene. Sanger sequencing revealed that the majority of these ~100-year-old landraces carry the Stb6 resistance allele. This indicates the importance of this gene in Switzerland during the early 1900s for disease control in the field. Our study demonstrates the importance of characterizing historic landrace collections for STB resistance to provide valuable information on resistance variability and contributing alleles. This will help breeders in the future to make decisions on integrating such germplasms in STB resistance breeding.


We discuss the physics associated with the motion of the radial magnetic field footpoints at the Sun and its relation to the heliospheric magnetic field. Using the observed photospheric convection spectrum, we construct a model for the heliospheric magnetic field and relate it to observations made by Ulysses in the outer heliosphere in the fast solar wind during solar minimum. We find excellent agreement between both the magnitude and the radial variation of the large-scale transverse magnetic variance observed by Ulysses compared to the model calculations using the observed supergranulation velocity spectrum. This suggests that the model represents the physics well. We then calculate the spatial diffusion coefficient associated with the observed magnetic footpoint motion at the solar photosphere. The calculations are based on the motion of passive additives embedded within the transverse photospheric flows. Two different models for the temporal evolution of the transverse velocity are considered. We find that the diffusion coefficient associated with these motions is in the range κ ≈ 1500-1920 km2 s-1. This is approximately 3 times larger than is commonly used in models of the long-term solar magnetic field. It is also larger than is inferred from actual measurements of the dispersion of magnetic features on the Sun. The cause of this discrepancy is not yet clear.


To comprehensively quantitative assessment of delamination location in CFRP composite plates, a Lamb wave spatial frequency wavenumber imaging method based on laser ultrasonic full-wavefield scanning inspection is proposed in this paper. For a CFRP composite plate specimen containing a delamination, a piezoelectric sensor is arranged to excite a sinusoidal modulation tone-burst signal. A laser transducer is used for pointwise reception to obtain Lamb waves full-wavefield data. Frequency domain filtering were performed on the wavefield signal to obtain single-mode wavefield. Short-space Fourier transform and instantaneous wavenumber analysis were applied to single-mode wavefield signal to obtain a distribution image of Lamb wave spatial wavenumber respectively. At the same time, the Lamb wave dispersion relation in CFRP composite plate is analyzed, and the delamination location is calculated based on this relationship. Finally, it can be seen from the imaging results that instantaneous wavenumber analysis can accurately locate the distance between the delamination and the laser scanning detection surface, but the short-space Fourier transform technology cannot identify the location of defects under the experimental parameters set in this paper.


Image tweets are becoming a prevalent form of socialmedia, but little is known about their content — textualand visual — and the relationship between the two mediums.Our analysis of image tweets shows that while visualelements certainly play a large role in image-text relationships, other factors such as emotional elements, also factor into the relationship. We develop Visual-Emotional LDA (VELDA), a novel topic model to capturethe image-text correlation from multiple perspectives (namely, visual and emotional). Experiments on real-world image tweets in both Englishand Chinese and other user generated content, show that VELDA significantly outperforms existingmethods on cross-modality image retrieval. Even in other domains where emotion does not factor in imagechoice directly, our VELDA model demonstrates good generalization ability, achieving higher fidelity modeling of such multimedia documents.


First, some historical background. Like many births, these experiments were a happy accident. A forceful and unorthodox director of services believed that there were contradictions between the circumstances which would allow welfare to be produced in the most equitable, effective and efficient way, and the arrangements which local authorities made for the provision of care. So did I.

 Luckily, I arrived in Kent at the same time as this new director. I had got to know him because he had attended seminars I had taught at the LSE. His idea was to give users vouchers. However, that was overruled, partly because it would have been ultra vires, beyond the legal powers of his local authority. In essence, my response was to propose pooling service budgets, and allocating the money to what we later called case managers. They would be empowered to use it buy in any mix of the services hitherto provided without cost to the case manager, and other resources they could raise, for a caseload satisfying certain requirements. He liked the idea. I made the proposal and stated the argument in a paper written in 1974. However, an official of the central government thought this to be 'undesirable', and tried to declare my model to be ultra vires also. However, we took the advice of a senior specialist advocate - we took 'Counsel's Opinion', as we say in England. The barrister's view was that it was within the law.

 Therefore, it was not until 1976 that the case managers started work. An evaluation researcher to work with me started soon after. So our case management experiment for elderly, the Kent Community Care Project, the KCCP, was initiated at much the same time as the first American case management projects. We in the UK knew nothing about American case management writing. I discovered it early in 1979, and hurriedly arranged a tour of some of the main experiments and the centres from which they had sprung.

 The KCCP experiment was highly successful. The argument and results were fully stated by the end of 1986 (Davies and Challis, 1986). Our timing was lucky. Early in 1987, Mrs Thatcher invited Sir Roy Griffiths, managing director of our leading supermarket chain, to produce a report proposing how to reform community and long-term care. Sir Roy was an extremely shrewd and intelligent lawyer with vast management experience. He proved to be the hero of British community care. Among other things, he took a keen interest in budget-devolved care management and related ideas.


The evaluation of efficiency of algorithms implemented in a FPGA, which are applied on phase unwrapping and image filtering for holographic interferometry performing, is here presented. A phase unwrapping linear algorithm was used in holograms obtained by holographic interferometry using the phase-shifting method; Fourier Transform and Bilateral filtering processes were also applied on 1024x1024 holographic images. Phase unwrapping operations combined with Bilateral image filtering implemented in the FPGA were 19 times faster than using an ARM processor, and 12 times faster when Fourier image filtering is used instead. Hardware capacities of FPGA as combined with high-level programming can be an alternative to improve heavy computing processes like those involved in digital holographic microscopy, for example.


The article examines the representation of gender, education, and citizenship in J. Nozipo Maraires epistolary novel Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter. This novel consists of a letter written by the protagonist, Shiri Shungu, to her daughter, who has recently left her home in Harare, Zimbabwe to study at Harvard University. Through her letter, Shiri seeks to supplement her daughters formal learning experiences regarding Shona culture, family history, and national events. Through the informal teaching offered in her letter, Shiri fosters her daughters understanding of indigenous practices and stresses the importance of self-definition. Shiri intends that the information contained in her letter will empower her daughter with a stronger sense of identity while Zenzele is far from home, yet her narrative also reveals ambiguity and anxieties she experiences regarding the status of women in contemporary Zimbabwe. While Shiris missive draws attention to the struggles of individuals who made sacrifices to ensure educational access for all, it also challenges assumptions regarding the nation that education is a panacea, exposing how Western education can undermine African systems of knowledge. Through her novel, Maraire argues that although education may offer benefits such as social mobility and prestige, it leads to empowerment and promotes dignity only when accompanied by full recognition of dual citizenship and responsibility to family, community, and nation.


In this paper we introduce new models of random graphs, arising from Latin squares and including random Cayley graphs as a special case. We investigate some properties of these graphs including their clique, independence and chromatic numbers, their expansion properties as well as their connectivity and Hamiltonicity. The results obtained are compared with other models of random graphs and several similarities and differences are pointed out. For many properties our results for the general case are as strong as the known results for random Cayley graphs and sometimes improve the previously best result for the Cayley case.


As part of a study of the chemical compositions of U.S. automobile original topcoats (1974 to 1989) using infrared spectroscopy, a number of organic pigments used in these finishes have been identified. The topcoats examined were single-layer finishes (monocoats) from the Reference Collection of Automotive Paints, and pigments from the benzimidazolone and quinacridone families were previously identified. The in situ identification of two other organic pigments used in these finishes, DPP Red BO and Thioindigo Bordeaux, is described here. DPP Red BO is a relatively new pigment which was first marketed in 1987, and it was only identified in two red nonmetallic enamels produced in 1989, the last year covered in this study. It is now quite common in automotive paints and its presence in an unknown original finish indicates that a fairly recent vehicle (most likely from the 1990s) was the source. In contrast, Thioindigo Bordeaux, which was identified in a few red and brown nonmetallic and brown metallic enamels, was more common in the 1950s and 1960s but was largely replaced by Quinacridone Violet in the 1970s. It is no longer used much in automotive paint. Spectra of several DPP automotive paint pigments introduced after 1989 are also presented and discussed.


Background Flow diversion and stent assisted coiling are increasingly utilized strategies in the endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Ischemic and hemorrhagic complications play an important role in the outcome following such embolizations. Little is published regarding patients on concurrent oral anticoagulation and undergoing such embolizations and the rates of complications and patient outcomes. Materials and Methods Retrospective data for consecutive patients on concurrent oral anticoagulation undergoing flow diversion or stent assisted coiling for cerebral aneurysms was accessed from databases at the participating sites. Patient demographics, comorbidities, antiplatelet regimens, aneurysm characteristics, complications, and radiographic results were recorded and descriptive statistics reported. Results Eleven patients were identified undergoing embolization in the setting of preoperative anticoagulant use and included seven patients undergoing flow diversion and four patients undergoing stent assisted coiling. There was a wide range of antiplatelet and anticoagulant management strategies. There were four major complications in three patients (27.2%) to include two serious bleeding events in addition to ischemic strokes. Both serious bleeding events occurred in patients continued on oral anticoagulation with the addition of antiplatelets. At a mean follow-up of 9.6 months, three aneurysms had continued filling for a good radiographic outcome of 72.7%. Conclusions Anticoagulant and antiplatelet use in the setting of flow diversion or stent assisted coiling may carry increased risks as compared to historical norms and, for flow diversion, offer decreased efficacy.


This paper presents the conditions under which a causal interpretation can be given to the association between childhood parental employment and subsequent education of children. In a model in which parental preferences are separable in own consumption and children's well-being, estimation is complicated by endowment heterogeneity and by the fact that parents may compensate or reinforce children's endowments relevant to education attainment. A sibling difference estimatation strategy is generally not sufficient to provide a consistent estimate of the parameter of interest. Identification rests on two stronger assumptions about the timing of parents' knowledge of their children's endowments and about the technology used to produce children's human capital. We find a negative and signifcant effect on the child's educational attainment of the extent of mother's full-time employment when the child was aged 0-5. The effects of mother's part-time employment and father's employment are smaller and less well determined but again negative. In the context of our conditional demand function framework, these results suggest that a higher full family income increases the educational attainment of children, and given full family income, a higher mother's or father's wages reduces their childen's educational attainment.


Economic history is a subset of history. Both economists and historians are trying to tell plausible stories about the past, and they succeed or fail by narrative standards to connect one event to another. Cliometrics has transformed the study of economic history from a narrative to a mathematical format. In the process, cliometricians have contributed to the development of both economics and history by combining theory with quantitative methods, constructing and revising databases, and adding the variable of time to traditional economic theories. This has made it possible to question and reassess earlier findings, thus expanding the frontier of our knowledge of the past and its ability to portend the future. The use of history as a crucible to examine economic theory has deepened our knowledge of how, why and when economic growth and development has and will occur.


Introduction: Rifampicin (RIF), a first-line anti-tuberculosis drug having an inimitable potential of rapidly killing mycobacterium. Unfortunately, it has poor bioavailability, short half-life period (t1/2), and intense toxicity. To solve the problem, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) of RIF were developed by high-pressure homogenization followed by ultrasonication technique. Objectives: The objective of this work was to understand the process variables and their effect on formulation aspects through an experimental approach and to optimize the formulation with the application of response surface methodology. Materials and Methods: The quality by design of 3(2) factorial was employed for the optimization of the formulation. The concentration of stearic acid (SA), lecithin, and poloxamer (POL) was considered as an independent factor, and their impact on particle size (PS), entrapment efficiency (%EE), and cumulative drug release (%CDR) was investigated. Results and Discussion: It was found that SA and lecithin had a positive impact, but POL had a negative impact on PS and %EE. The %CDR was positively influenced by lecithin and POL concentration, whereas it was negatively influenced by SA concentration. The average PS, zeta potential, and %EE of the optimized formulation were found to be 172.5 nm, −025.6 mV, and 70.34%, respectively. The optimized formulation showed a %CDR of 64.34% in 96 h, and the drug release pattern followed non-Fickan kinetics. X-ray diffraction study revealed large amorphousness nature of RIF in SLNs. Scanning electron microscopy study reported spherical shaped nanometric size particles. It was revealed from the stability study that the developed RIF-SLNs were stable at 4 ± 2°C when compared with their storage at 25 ± 2°C/60 ± 5% RH in 6 months of storage period. Conclusions: These results implied that the prepared RIF-SLNs could improve bioavailability and reduce toxicity for effective tuberculosis therapy.


This draft describes an IP fast re-route mechanism that provides
backup connectivity in the event of a link or router failure. In the
absence of single points of failure and asymmetric costs, the
mechanism provides complete protection against any single failure. If
perfect repair is not possible, the identity of all the unprotected
links and routers is known in advance. This IP Fast Reroute advanced
method was invented in 2002 and draft (draft-bryant-ipfrr-
tunnels-00.txt) describing it was submitted to the IETF in May 2004.
It was one of the first methods of achieving full repair coverage in
an IP Network, and as such the draft has been widely referenced in the
academic literature. The authors DO NOT propose that this IPFRR
method be implemented since better IPFRR advanced method capable of
achieving full repair coverage have subsequently been invented.


ABSTRACT This article constitutes the first systematic effort to promote a spatial and a subnational turn in the study of EU legal integration by demonstrating how geospatial methods and the selection of a subnational unit of analysis can improve our understanding of the use of the preliminary reference procedure. We conduct a theory-testing case study leveraging an original dataset of all references submitted by Italian courts from 1964 through 2013 and utilize geographic information systems (GIS) technology to analyze subnational patterns in reference activity. We use these data to evaluate whether several existing hypotheses explain recent subnational variation in reference rates. We uncover several illuminating findings. First, although population levels and domestic litigiousness best explain variation in reference rates, there is evidence that the domestic litigation effect is subnationally heterogeneous. Second, although use of the reference procedure has diffused since the 1960s, subnational reference rates are spatially clustered by issue area.


Author(s): Howard, Jonathan Michael | Advisor(s): Sanford, Jeremy R | Abstract: Eukaryotic gene expression involves a complex system of checkpoints that regulate RNA biogenesis, maturation, and localization. Along the way, these RNA will encounter a host of trans-acting factors, collectively known as RNA binding proteins (RBPs), which will govern the fate of RNA at each stage of gene expression. These RNA-protein interactions are the principal regulators of post-transcriptional control and are critical to the accurate expression of human genes. Misregulation of these interactions has been seen to be highly associated with several neurological disorders, cancer and inflammatory diseases. However, the regulatory mechanisms by which RBP function in the context of their RNA associations remains less understood. For my dissertation, I studied the RNA-protein interactions of a small set of proteins involved in the global regulation of transcription, processing and stability of the cellular transcriptome.In order to interrogate the global RNA interactions of the proteins of interest, I performed a technique called individual nucleotide resolution crosslinking immunoprecipitation, or iCLIP. This technique takes advantage of photoreactive amino acids and nucleic acids in order to capture the in situ RNA-protein interactions of endogenous factors from both cell culture and tissue samples. Partial RNase digestion, stringent purification conditions, and advantageous use of reverse transcriptase difficulty reading through protein adducts allow for direct identification both the genomic origin of the CLIP RNA and the exact crosslinking site of the RNA-binding protein of interest at high specificity. These data form a functional RNA-protein interaction map to elucidate putative molecular roles for any RBP. I have used this technique on three separate projects in order to elucidate the mechanisms by which these RNA binding proteins regulate their targets and interact and modulate the binding of other RNA-binding proteins. First, I studied the effects of modulating the cellular levels of a splicing repressor, hnRNP A1, on the RNA recognition and binding of two splicing enhancer, U2AF65 and SRSF1, and the subsequent changes in pre-mRNA splicing. Secondly, in two concurrent collaborations, I elucidated the endogenous RNA binding targets of IGF2BP3, an oncofetal RBP whose up-regulation is associated with aggressive pancreatic cancer and B-cell leukemia. Finally, I elucidated the effects of human disease-associated genetic mutations on RNA-protein interactions in the context of pre-mRNA splicing. These studies are discussed herein.


Consider a control-affine nonholonomic system (Σ).We present in this paper a new desingularization procedure which constructs explicitly from (Σ) a regular control-affine nonholonomic system. The main idea is to add new variables, thus augmenting the dimension of the state space, such that its projection coincides with the original control system (Σ). This construction will allow us to devise a global and fully constructive motion planning method for general driftless and control-affine nonholonomic systems under the sole assumption of the Lie Algebraic Rank Condition.


This investigation is done to select the best composite on bending strength and stiffness derived from different parts of sugar palm fibre reinforced unsaturated polyester composites. Sugar palm tree is one of the most popular natural fibres. The fibre was obtained from the sugar palm tree and mixed with unsaturated polyester (PE). All of the composites are labelled as SPF/PE for sugar palm frond composite, SPB/PE for sugar palm bunch composite, SPT/PE for sugar palm trunk composite and ijuk/PE for black sugar palm fibre composite. The bending strength and stiffness tests were done according to ASTM D 790-(2000). The higher value of bending strength and stiffness obtained by SPT/PE which is 41.906 MPa and 3.363 GPa respectively followed by SPF/PE (38.906 MPa and 3.001 GPa), SPB/PE (35.168 MPa and 2.749) and ijuk/PE (33.742 MPa and 2.424 GPa)


We report on the development of an antibody-functionalized interface based on electrochemically active liquid-exfoliated two-dimensional phosphorene (Ph) nanosheets—also known as black phosphorous nanosheets—for the label-free electrochemical immunosensing of a haptoglobin (Hp) biomarker, a clinical marker of severe inflammation. The electrodeposition has been achieved over the screen-printed electrode (SPE) using liquid-assisted ultrasonically exfoliated black phosphorus nanosheets. Subsequently, Ph-SPEs bioconjugated with Hp antibodies (Ab), using electrostatic interactions via a poly-L-lysine linker for biointerface development. Electrochemical analysis demonstrates that the Ab-modified Ph-SPEs (Ab@Ph-SPE) exhibit enhanced electroconducting behavior as compared to the pristine electrodes. This Ab-functionalized phosphorene-based electrochemical immunosensor platform has demonstrated remarkable sensitivity and specificity, having a dynamic linear response range from 0.01–10 mg ml−1 for Hp in standard and serum samples with a low detection limit (∼0.011 mg ml−1) using the label-free electrochemical technique. The sensor electrodes were also studied with other closely relative interferents to investigate cross reactivity and specificity. This strategy opens up avenues to POC (point-of-care) and on-farm livestock disease monitoring technologies for multiplexed diagnosis in complex biological samples such as serum. The technique is simple in fabrication and provides an analytical response in less than 60 s.


Learn the details of traditional investment as well as portfolio theory with the straightforward, manageable approach found in Strong's successful PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION, MANAGEMENT, AND PROTECTION, 5E. You'll learn how to save time and money as this applications-oriented book guides you from theory to practice. You'll see the small and large investor in action as unique topics introduce you to fiduciary duty, investment policy, and other subjects not found in other texts. References throughout the book to material covered in the CFA exam and questions drawn from the CFA exam help you prepare for testing and professional success.


The presence of minute amounts of embryonic zeta-globin chains in adult hemolysates is a marker for carriers of alpha-thalassemia-1 resulting from (--SEA/) deletion. Recently, we developed a murine monoclonal antihuman embryonic zeta-globin chain antibody, 8E8. By using this antibody, we have now established a slot-blot immunobinding assay for the rapid detection of zeta-globin chains in adult hemolysates. zeta-globin chains were found to be present in 30 blood samples obtained from individuals who were carriers of alpha-thalassemia-1. In another 30 blood samples from individuals who were not carriers of the (--SEA/) deletion, zeta-globin chains were not detected. This simple diagnostic test can be used in appropriate populations to identify those couples at risk of conceiving fetuses afflicted with the Hb Bart's hydrops fetalis syndrome due to homozygous alpha-thalassemia.


EDITOR,-Small bowel biopsy has an important role in paediatric gastroenterology. The diagnosis of coeliac disease, the second most common chronic disease in Swedish children, is fully based for instance on the findings of serial small bowel biopsies. In Sweden most paediatric centres perform biopsies using peroral capsule instruments and without general anaesthesia. This biopsy procedure is uncomfortable to children. Optimal sedation is thus essential. Moreover, in a well sedated child the radiation dose can be minimised.' We have previously found intravenous midazolam to be effective and superior to other sedatives given orally.2 The recommended intravenous dose of midazolam in children is 0-10-0-20 mg/kg body weight.3 However, with increasing experience of the preparation it became obvious to us that the dosage must be adjusted according to the age of the child. During the period between April 1991 and April 1994, 269 peroral small bowel biopsies were performed. Twenty nine patients were excluded from the study because they had received no sedation, or an alternative to intravenous midazolam. The remaining 240 children (table 1) were sedated with intravenous midazolam immediately before the biopsy procedure. The midazolam was given repeatedly with five minute intervals until the sedation was at least grade 3 on a five grade scale according to Karl et al,4 grade 1 being agitated, 2 anxious, 3 calm, 4 drowsy, and 5 asleep. The total amount of midazolam given before the biopsy was recorded. In addition metoclopramide 0 30 mg/kg body weight (maximum dose 10 mg) was given intravenously immediately before the midazolam was administered. If the biopsy procedure was more time consuming an additional reduced dose of midazolam was given if sedation was considered inadequate, that is, less than grade 3 on the five grade scale. The biopsy was performed on an outpatient basis but the children remained under observation in the hospital after the biopsy until they were fully awake and had eaten a light meal. The paediatric Storz capsule (Karl Storz KG, Germany) was used in 208 cases and the paediatric Watson capsule


A medical consultation is seen as a meeting between cultures which have developed from different standpoints. These cultures are described, as are the ways in which they may contribute to, or impede a full understanding between the doctor and the patient with asthma, or concerned parent.


The Sulfate-resisting concrete is traditionally specified by cement type and concrete mix proportions in terms of maximum water-cement ratio and/or minimum cement content. Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) has recently completed a major research project on the performance and specification of sulfate-resisting concrete. The research examines the long-term dimensional stability and strength retention of nineteen concrete mixes in 5 per cent sodium sulfate solutions maintained at pH 7 and 3.5. The concretes were made from 8 cements, six of these were sulfate-resisting cements (Type SR) in accordance with the Australian Standard AS 3972. The concretes were proportioned at water-cement ratios of 0.4, 0.5 and 0.65. The coefficient of water permeability and a new rapid sulfate permeability of the concretes were determined at the age of 28 days on 3 days moist-cured cylindrical discs. The rapid sulfate permeability is a 6-hour accelerated test, based on ASTM C1202, and measures the sulfate permeability in term of coulombs. Sulfate-resisting concrete can be produced by specifying the use of a performance-based AS 3972 Type SR cement and a performance-based limit on either a water permeability coefficient or a rapid sulfate permeability. These concretes were found to be resistant to both neutral and acidic sulfate conditions.


Background In sepsis, circulating cytokines and lipopolysaccharide elicit mitochondrial dysfunction and cardiomyopathy, a major cause of morbidity and mortality with this condition. Emerging research places the PHB1 (lipid raft protein prohibitin‐1) at the nexus of inflammation, metabolism, and oxidative stress. PHB1 has also been reported in circulation, though its function in this compartment is completely unknown. Methods and Results Using a wide‐ranging approach across multiple in vitro and in vivo models, we interrogated the functional role of intracellular and circulating PHB1 in the heart during sepsis, and elucidated some of the mechanisms involved. Upon endotoxin challenge or sepsis induction in rodent models, PHB1 translocates from mitochondria to nucleus in cardiomyocytes and is secreted into the circulation from the liver in a manner dependent on nuclear factor (erythroid‐derived 2)‐like 2, a key transcriptional regulator of the antioxidant response. Overexpression or treatment with recombinant human PHB1 enhances the antioxidant/anti‐inflammatory response and protects HL‐1 cardiomyocytes from mitochondrial dysfunction and toxicity from cytokine stress. Importantly, administration of recombinant human PHB1 blunted inflammation and restored cardiac contractility and ATP production in mice following lipopolysaccharide challenge. This cardioprotective, anti‐inflammatory effect of recombinant human PHB1 was determined to be independent of nuclear factor (erythroid‐derived 2)‐like 2, but partially dependent on PI3K/AKT signaling in the heart. Conclusions These findings reveal a previously unknown cardioprotective effect of PHB1 during sepsis, and illustrate a pro‐survival, protective role for PHB1 in the circulation. Exploitation of circulating PHB1 as a biomarker and/or therapeutic could have widespread benefit in the clinical management of sepsis and other severe inflammatory disorders.


The European Commission aims to develop a more sustainable environment for research infrastructures ecosystem, and to ensure that the benefits and impacts are widely perceived by research communities and led to research excellence. This vision is reflected in a range of international and European documents. Recent work conducted by the OECD and the European Commission, particularly by ESFRI and e-IRG, have stated the need to make structural changes in the EU framework for research infrastructures (RIs). In line with this strategic vision, DARIAH intends to establish itself as a sustainable research infrastructure. DESIR (DARIAH ERIC Sustainability Refined) work package 6 TRUST contributes to DARIAH's long-term sustainability by measuring acceptance and impact of DARIAH in new cross-disciplinary DARIAH communities and core groups. This was the base to define the theoretical and methodological framework that supported the research here presented. Therefore, this report focuses on the development of recommendations and strategies to support and increase confidence in DARIAH services and infrastructure, aiming at contributing to a major DESIR goal, which is to enlarge DARIAH by engaging new cross-disciplinary communities and considering their specific requirements. The proposed recommendations could set the basis for a broader debate within the DARIAH and RIs landscape on the actions to be taken at all decision levels in order to address a vision for longer-term sustainable RI. So, this report intends to be a policy document that aims at inspiring the future path of DARIAH, contributing to its sustainability and to fulfil the mission for which it was created. The recommendations stem from the analytical work developed from the contributions of multiple sources of information: an academically-driven multi-country survey (see D6.2); 33 qualitative interviews in three different countries; a workshop with DARIAH national coordinators held in Warsaw; contributions from DESIR partners who lead other work projects within the project; and DESIR Winter School "Shaping New Approaches to Data Management in Arts and Humanities". After defining the entire set of recommendations, they were grouped according to three main strategic frameworks (sustainability, scope and DARIAH Strategic Plan) and visually displayed in a "Recommendations & Community Engagement Tool" (https://dariah.peopleware.pt), an open platform that supports DARIAH, strengthening the link with arts and humanities communities.

The new DARIAH Strategic Plan for the next seven years, which will be followed by the publication of a Strategic Action Plan, represents a big opportunity to address sustainability, both as a conceptual level and in terms of organizational and operational configuration. Therefore, the main findings are summarized in seven key recommendations, linked with the strategic pillars of the recent published DARIAH Strategic Plan:
1. Promote research excellence with inclusive, collaborative, bureaucracy free and community-driven approach.
2. Ensure the integration of tools, services, data and resources within DARIAH community and with other Research Infrastructures (e.g. by gathering them on a platform such as the Marketplace).
3. Foster a collaborative learning environment and anticipate the skills of the future through a joint strategy for education and training (e.g. DARIAH-CAMPUS).
4. Establish a flexible, participatory and effective governance model with a clear and sustainable business plan.
5. Strengthen DARIAH's representation in European and International policy arena, expanding its visibility and cooperation outside EU borders.
6. Broaden and extend DARIAH's role, action and benefits towards the strengthening of scientific citizenship in Europe.
7. Set up means for monitoring and bringing communities together, while respecting diversity on an institutional, scientific, disciplinary and methodological level.

The work developed in the DESIR project - particularly this set of recommendations - could be a contribution to foster the implementation of guidelines and short and long-term actions to improve DARIAH's sustainability and firmly establish it as a long-term leader and partner within arts and humanities communities.


Detecting commercial Ads from a video is important. For example, the commercial break frequency and duration are two metrics to measure the user experience for streaming service providers such as Amazon Freevee. The detection can be done intrusively by intercepting the network traffic and then parsing the service providers data and logs, or non-intrusively by capturing the videos streamed by content providers and then analyzing using the computer vision technologies. In this paper, we present a non-intrusive framework that is able to not only detect an Ad section, but also segment out individual Ads. We show that our algorithm is scalable because it uses light weight audio data to do global segmentation, as well as is domain crossing (movies, TVs and live streaming sports) captured from the popular streaming services such as the Freevee and the Prime Video (PV) live sports.


Context The trend of paediatric kidney disease is steadily rising and is contributing significantly to childhood morbidity and mortality. Aim This study aimed at determining the trends, pattern, and outcome of renal diseases in children over a 10-year period. Participants and methods This was a retrospective study of all the consecutive children admitted with renal diseases from January 2006 to December 2015. All relevant data were extracted from their case notes and analyzed appropriately. Results One hundred and two of 6269 children admitted during the study period had kidney disease, giving an overall prevalence of 1.2%. Sixty-one were boys whereas the remaining 41 were girls, with a male : female of 1 : 0.7. The age ranged from 10 to 180 months. There was a progressive increase in the number of admissions due to renal diseases from 0.9% in 2006 up to 3.4% in 2013 of the total annual admissions. Acute glomerulonephritis was the most common renal condition. The majority of children [94 (92.2%)] recovered fully, four (3.9%) were referred, one (0.98%) child left with his parents against medical advice, whereas three children died, giving a mortality rate of 2.9%. Conclusion There is a progressive increase in the prevalence of renal diseases among children studied, with acute glomerulonephritis being the most common condition seen.


Abstract Pointed wingtips and low wing-loading are believed to reduce the amount of energy used during migratory flight. If this is true, individuals with pointed wingtips or consistently low wing-loading should be able to migrate faster than conspecifics and may arrive on the breeding grounds and at stopover sites earlier. To test this hypothesis, I captured 97 Swainson's Thrushes (Catharus ustulatus; hereafter "thrushes") during May in three consecutive field seasons, 2003-2005, at a stopover site in central Illinois. I used molecular techniques to sex 47 of these thrushes and created a discriminant function analysis using wing, tarsometatarsus, and tail lengths that predicted sex with 80.9% accuracy (P < 0.001). I applied this function to the remaining 50 thrushes so that I could control for any sexual dimorphism in morphology and arrival timing, and then examined seasonal trends in sex and morphology. Male thrushes arrived earlier at my stopover site than females (P < 0.001). After controlling for sex, thrushes with more pointed wingtips (P = 0.002) and lower wing-loading (P = 0.044) arrived earlier than thrushes with more rounded wingtips and higher wing-loading. The general linear model with sex, wingtip pointedness, and wing-loading explained nearly one-third of the variation in arrival date (P < 0.001, r2 = 0.281, n = 90). Pointed wingtips and lower wing-loading may help migratory birds cover distance more quickly and arrive at the breeding grounds sooner; alternatively, thrushes with more pointed wingtips and lower wing-loading may have departed from the wintering grounds earlier. If wing shape and size affect rate of migration, these variables may be important determinants of individual quality in migratory passerines. El Sexo, la Forma de las Puntas de las Alas y la Carga Alar Predicen la Fecha de Arribo de Catharus ustulatus a un Sitio de Escala Migratoria


Users tend to store huge amounts of files, of various formats, on their personal computers. As a result, finding a specific, desired file within the file system is a challenging task. This article addresses the desktop search problem by considering various techniques for ranking results of a search query over the file system. First, basic ranking techniques, which are based on various file features (e.g., file name, access date, file size, etc.), are considered and their effectiveness is empirically analyzed. Next, two learning-based ranking schemes are presented, and are shown to be significantly more effective than the basic ranking methods. Finally, a novel ranking technique, based on query selectiveness, is considered for use during the cold-start period of the system. This method is also shown to be empirically effective, even though it does not involve any learning.


Differences in the substrate specificity of mammalian family X DNA polymerases are proposed to partly depend on a loop (loop 1) upstream of the polymerase active site. To examine if this is the case in DNA polymerase λ (pol λ), here we characterize a variant of the human polymerase in which nine residues of loop 1 are replaced with four residues from the equivalent position in pol β. Crystal structures of the mutant enzyme bound to gapped DNA with and without a correct dNTP reveal that the change in loop 1 does not affect the overall structure of the protein. Consistent with these structural data, the mutant enzyme has relatively normal catalytic efficiency for correct incorporation, and it efficiently participates in non-homologous end joining of double-strand DNA breaks. However, DNA junctions recovered from end-joining reactions are more diverse than normal, and the mutant enzyme is substantially less accurate than wild-type pol λ in three different biochemical assays. Comparisons of the binary and ternary complex crystal structures of mutant and wild-type pol λ suggest that loop 1 modulates pol λ's fidelity by controlling dNTP-induced movements of the template strand and the primer-terminal 3′-OH as the enzyme transitions from an inactive to an active conformation.


It is commonly appreciated that solving search problems optimally can take too long. Bounded suboptimal search algorithms trade increased solution cost for reduced solving time. Explicit Estimation Search (EES) is a recent state-of-the-art algorithm specifically designed for bounded suboptimal search. Although it tends to expand fewer nodes than alternative algorithms, such as weighted A* (WA*), its per-node expansion overhead is higher, causing it to sometimes take longer. In this paper, we present simplified variants of EES (SEES) and an earlier algorithm, A*epsilon (SA*epsilon), that use different implementations of the same motivating ideas to significantly reduce search overhead and implementation complexity. In an empirical evaluation, we find that SEES, like EES, outperforms classic bounded suboptimal search algorithms, such as WA*, on domains tested where distance-to-go estimates enable better search guidance. We also confirm that, while SEES and SA*epsilon expand roughly the same number of nodes as their progenitors, they solve problems significantly faster and are much easier to implement. This work widens the applicability of state-of the-art bounded suboptimal search by making it easier to deploy.


The paper describes a physical control method for rotating an object that has no support from below. Conventionally, physical correction of the rotational center of an unsupported object while maintaining rotation around an axis that is located outside the object is difficult. In particular, for the case in which the object is soft and pliable, control is more difficult because gravity can easily affect the shape of the object. As an example, we selected a task in which a robot turns a rope using an end effector. In order to accomplish this task, we propose a novel control method. To control the rotational center to a target position while fixing the shape by centrifugal force, we formulated a method whereby a compensator is added to a control rule that enables the trajectory of the end effector to converge to a limit-cycle within a fixed radius. We applied the proposed control method to a simplified rope simulator. The results of the simulation revealed that the end effector of the robot and the center of mass of the simplified rope converge to a limit-cycle attractor. This result indicates that the system applies the forces that stabilize the shape of the rope and the location of the rotational center. In addition, we applied the proposed method to a rope turning task performed by a humanoid robot. The robot was able to turn a rope with one fixed end and could collaborate with a human. Both tasks could be realized by the same control method.


Background and Aims: The aim of this study was to identifying effective factors on acceptance of information and communication technology among students of Tabriz University in the academic year 2015-2016. Methods: The research method was descriptive. The 360 students of University of Tabriz were selected by Random Stratified Sampling. For collecting data, Technology acceptance model questionnaire (Venkatesh& Bala, 2008) were used. the reliability of questionnaire based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .89. For data analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM) via Spss23 and Amos 23 is used. Results: The indexes of The confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation showed that CMIN/df= 1.712; CFI =.943 and is RMSEA =0.045. the results of confirmatory factor analysis confirm both the validity and reliability" of the questionnaire and the goodness of the latent variables. The variables: Perceived usefulness ( β =.07), perceived ease of use ( β =.11), imagine ( β =.24), Relevance to academic disciplines ( β =.55) Computer Playfulness ( β =.58) are positively correlated with technology acceptance; and computer anxiety ( β = -.20) is negatively correlated with technology acceptance. Conclusions: The results showed that perceived usefulness and ease of use, imagine, Relevance to academic disciplines, Computer Playfulness are positively and computer anxiety are negatively correlated with technology acceptance. In this study, subjective norm, computer self-efficacy and Perceived Enjoyment have no significant directly relationship with technology acceptance.


Seventy two patients with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were randomly allocated to receive gold or D-penicillamine therapy (DPA) in a prospective study designed to evaluate whether it is possible to predict which patients will show radiological progression despite therapy. Forty five patients completed 12 months' treatment. There were no significant demographic or clinical differences between them and the 27 drop outs. Twenty of the 45 patients showed no radiological progression between six and 12 months. These patients had less severe initial radiological damage, lower levels of serum aspartate transaminase (serum AST) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), but higher levels of serum cholesterol. Twenty five patients did show progression during the six to 12 month period. This group included all the men with nodules. Of the 43 pretreatment clinical and laboratory variables examined, however, the majority failed to predict whether or not progression would subsequently occur. This included the acute phase response and seropositivity.


Systems-theoretic process analysis (STPA) is a prospective safety assessment tool increasingly applied in healthcare. A problem hampering STPA proliferation is the difficulty of modeling systems for analysis by creating control structures. In this work, a method is proposed to use existing process maps-commonly available in healthcare-when creating a control structure. The proposed method entails (1) extract information from the process map, (2) determine the modeling boundary of the control structure, (3) transfer the extracted information to the control structure, (4) add additional information to complete the control structure. Two case studies were conducted: (1) ambulance patient offloading in the emergency department and (2) ischemic stroke care with intravenous thrombolysis. The amount of process map-derived information in the control structures was quantified. On average, 68% of the information in the final control structures was derived from the process map. Additional control actions and feedback were added from nonprocess map sources for management and frontline controllers. Despite the differences between process maps and control structures, much of the information in a process map can be used when creating a control structure. The method enables the creation of a control structure from a process map to be done in a structured fashion.


The research object is the electromagnetic processes in the semiconductor power converters based on the schemes with circuit commutation and containing resonant circuits of reactive elements and transformers with a small coupling coefficient. The research aim is to develop a technology for a fast wireless battery charging for the use in clean energy vehicles, which would be based on a resonant converter with a pulse-count adjustment with a phase shift control.

The latter provides a high energy performance in a wide range of regulation and a low sensitivity to changes in the magnetic system parameters.

This is a final report. The report presents the results of the work performed in accordance with the Terms of Reference for the second stage of the scientific and research work. The following theoretical problems have been solved: development of a mathematical model of a series resonant converter with a pulse-count adjustment for contactless inductive energy transmission, which provided a high accuracy for the studies of the electromagnetic processes in the power section of multi-circuit resonant converters for contactless energy transmission, as well as an opportunity to assess the energy parameters of multi-circuit converters at pulse-count adjustment; compilation of mathematical dependencies of the average input and output current values on the number of half-cycles of resonant oscillations during energy transmission to the circuit and energy dissipation, the supply voltage and the resonant circuit's parameters, which allowed assessing the converter's energy parameters over a wide control range; compilation of the dependencies of the converter's output power and coefficient of efficiency on the number of halfcycles of resonant oscillations during energy transmission to the circuit and energy dissipation, on supply voltage and on the resonant circuit's parameters, which made it possible to evaluate the efficiency of the pulse-count adjustment of resonant converters for contactless energy transmission; realization of a dynamic model of a resonant converter for contactless energy transmission in the form of transfer functions for small disturbances caused by fluctuations in supply voltage, which made it possible to estimate the effect of its instability on the quality of output current stabilization.


Introduction The individual prognostic factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are unclear. For this reason, we aimed to present a state-of-the-art systematic review and meta-analysis on the prognostic factors for adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Methods We systematically reviewed PubMed from 1 January 2020 to 26 July 2020 to identify non-overlapping studies examining the association of any prognostic factor with any adverse outcome in patients with COVID-19. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed, and between-study heterogeneity was quantified using I2 statistic. Presence of small-study effects was assessed by applying the Egger's regression test. Results We identified 428 eligible articles, which were used in a total of 263 meta-analyses examining the association of 91 unique prognostic factors with 11 outcomes. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, obstructive sleep apnoea, pharyngalgia, history of venous thromboembolism, sex, coronary heart disease, cancer, chronic liver disease, COPD, dementia, any immunosuppressive medication, peripheral arterial disease, rheumatological disease and smoking were associated with at least one outcome and had >1000 events, p<0.005, I2<50%, 95% prediction interval excluding the null value, and absence of small-study effects in the respective meta-analysis. The risk of bias assessment using the Quality in Prognosis Studies tool indicated high risk of bias in 302 out of 428 articles for study participation, 389 articles for adjustment for other prognostic factors and 396 articles for statistical analysis and reporting. Conclusions Our findings could be used for prognostic model building and guide patient selection for randomised clinical trials. ACE inhibitors, sleep apnoea, pharyngalgia, VTE history, sex, coronary heart disease, cancer, liver disease, COPD, dementia, immunosuppressive drugs, peripheral arterial disease, rheumatological disease and smoking predict outcomes of COVID-19 patients https://bit.ly/3pIaANC


The extremes of exercise capacity and health are considered a complex interplay between genes and the environment. In general, the study of animal models has proven critical for deep mechanistic exploration that provides guidance for focused and hypothesis-driven discovery in humans. Hypotheses underlying molecular mechanisms of disease and gene/tissue function can be tested in rodents to generate sufficient evidence to resolve and progress our understanding of human biology. Here we provide examples of three alternative uses of rodent models that have been applied successfully to advance knowledge that bridges our understanding of the connection between exercise capacity and health status. First we review the strong association between exercise capacity and all-cause morbidity and mortality in humans through artificial selection on low and high exercise performance in the rat and the consequent generation of the "energy transfer hypothesis." Second we review specific transgenic and knockout mouse models that replicate the human disease condition and performance. This includes human glycogen storage diseases (McArdle and Pompe) and α-actinin-3 deficiency. Together these rodent models provide an overview of the advancements of molecular knowledge required for clinical translation. Continued study of these models in conjunction with human association studies will be critical to resolving the complex gene-environment interplay linking exercise capacity, health, and disease.


Two different types of experimental methods have beeen developed for measuring lateral interaction forces between two solid surfaces for nano- and micro-meter scale contacts. One is the type of direct measurement methods which typically utilize AFM instrumentations. In the direct lateral force measurements some size-scale effects are commonly observed due to the effects of adhesion and surface roughness. A recent development of a fine AFM lateral force calibration method, a diamagnetic lateral force calibrator, has made it possible to study such size-scale effects systematically. The other type is the field projection method which requires a high resolution measurement of a deformation field near the edge of a contact. For such measurements a comprehensive map of deformation measurement techniques is introduced in a domain of spatial and strain resolutions. This technique provides a way of assessing the non-uniform distribution of the surface interaction forces for nano and micro-meter scale contacts.


A summary is given of literature on causes of rocket charge, ambient fields, and on probe techniques. A variety of techniques are available for determining rocket charge, represented by a potential relative to space of 0 to 10 volts. A cylindrical probe characteristic, analysed by the older Engel and Steenback methods, was obtained for a pulse discharge with a low electron concentration of 2 x 10(^7) electrons/c.c, in the author's experiments. The probe sheath was collision free, and conditions for such sheaths in the upper atmosphere are given. The predicted ambient field is about .02 mV/cm, fields measured being .60 mV/cm. (by a probe technique) and 200 V/m (by field meters). The author's tentative opinion is that the ambient field might be measured by a simultaneous determination of potential at two points using probes. Laboratory simulation seems to require a low voltage gradient discharge, (preferably with ions and electrons in thermal equilibrium,) because two probes cannot be placed as close as a Debye length. The contract specifically excluded development of circuitry so a precise answer cannot be given, but definite proposals are made. In the experiment, the measured voltage gradient was about 30 V/cm, which seems abnormally high at a discharge current of about 10(^-4) amps when compared with recent results for steady glow discharges. The explanation may reside in the existence of striations. From the work recently reported in a Czechoslovakian journal it might be argued that the probe is responsible foe the striations. No material is included oh re-entry physics, nor on the time and space variations of electric fields. A study of the latter should be related to a precise knowledge of the rocket motion. Tine research represents a branch of Atmospheric Electricity which had not previously been studied at Durham.


Latino Americans have a powerful voice in society and a wealth of cultural traditions. Fundamental to those traditions are numerous folktales. Some are funny, some draw upon the supernatural, some look back on ancestral ways, and some capture the experience of Latinos in the United States. Written expressly for students and general readers, this book assembles and comments on a wide range of Latino American folktales. These are grouped in topical sections on origins; heroes, heroines, villains, and fools; society and conflict; and the supernatural.
 Each tale is introduced by a headnote, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography of print and electronic resources suitable for student research. Students of literature and language will value this book for its exploration of Latino American folktales, while students of history and society will welcome its illumination of the Latino American experience. The more than 30 tales are grouped in thematic sections on origins; heroes, heroines, villains, and fools; society and conflict; and the supernatural.


Cancer illness representations and screening history among residents of Kolkata, India, were investigated along with socio-demographic characteristics in an effort to understand possible motivations for health behavior. A total of 106 participants were recruited from community locations in Kolkata, India and completed surveys including demographics, the illness perception questionnaire-revised (IPQ-R), and previous experience with cancer and screening practices. Participants were 51.5% college educated, 57% female, 51.5% full-time employed with average age of 32.7 years (R: 18-60 years). Descriptive statistics were generated for the subscales of the IPQ-R, cancer-screening practices and cancer experience. Correlation analyses were conducted to investigate associations between cancer representations and socio-demographic variables. Univariate ANOVAs were calculated to determine gender differences in IPQ-R subscales and differences between participants who knew someone diagnosed with cancer versus those who did not. While 76% of participants knew someone with cancer, only 5% of the sample engaged in cancer screening. Participants perceived cancer as a serious illness with negative emotional valence. Younger age (r(100)=-.36, p<0.001) and male gender (F(1, 98)=5.22, p=0.01, η2=0.05) were associated with better illness coherence. Males also reported greater personal control (F(1, 98)=5.34, p=0.02, η2=0.05) were associated with better illness coherence. Low screening rates precluded analyses of the relationship between illness representations and cancer screening. Cancer was viewed as a threatening and uncontrollable disease among this sample of educated, middle class Kolkata residents. This view may act as a barrier to seeking cancer screening. Public awareness campaigns aimed at improving understanding of the causes, symptoms and consequences of cancer might reduce misunderstandings and fear, especially among women and older populations, who report less comprehension of cancer.


SUMMARY: Intracranial lipomas are rare lesions. Intracranial lipoma associated with a subcutaneous lipoma is extremely rare. Various vascular abnormalities have been described in association with intracranial lipoma, including distension, kinking, or narrowing of arteries and veins; arteriovenous malformation; and aneurysm. To our knowledge, association of sagittal sinus fenestration, falcine sinus, and absent straight sinus with intraextracranial lipoma has not been reported before. We report the imaging findings of an infant with interhemispheric and subcutaneous lipoma associated with falcine sinus and sagittal sinus fenestration.


The master/worker (MW) paradigm can be used as an approach to parallel discrete event simulation (PDES) on metacomputing systems. MW PDES applications incur overheads not found in conventional PDES executions executing on tightly coupled machines. We introduce four optimization techniques in MW PDES systems on public resource and desktop grid infrastructures. Work unit caching, pipelined state updates, expedited message delivery, and adaptive work unit scheduling mechanisms in the context of MW PDES are described. These optimizations provide significant performance benefits when used in tandem. We present results showing that an optimized MW PDES system using these techniques can exhibit performance comparable to a traditional PDES system for queueing network and particle physics simulation applications while providing execution capability across metacomputing systems.


MiR-552 is a small non-coding RNA located on chromosome 1p34.3, and its expression level is significantly up-regulated in tissues or cells of various tumors. miR-552 can target multiple genes. These targeted genes play important regulatory roles in biological processes such as gene transcription and translation, cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell migration, and invasion. Besides, miR-552 may affect the efficacy of various anticancer drugs by targeting genes such as TP53 and RUNX3. This review summarizes the biological functions and clinical expressions of miR-552 in human cancer. Our goal is to explore the potential value of miR-552 in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of human cancer.


A three-year-old boy with Philadelphia chromosome-positive B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL) presented with an osteolytic lesion in his right upper arm. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as imatinib and dasatinib are an essential component throughout the course of treatment for Ph+ALL. However, TKIs are reported to affect the bone metabolism. In the treatment course of the current patient, the osteolytic lesion quickly improved despite the continuous use of TKIs, even during the concomitant use of corticosteroids. This suggests that TKIs can be safely given with concomitant corticosteroids to children with Ph+ALL, even when osteolytic lesions are present.


Teaching method plays vital role on learning and teaching.  An appropriate and good teaching method directs both teacher and student forward to better teaching and learning, respectively. Accordingly, in this research we compare the effectiveness of Jig Saw teaching methods and teaching- learning method, mastering on academic achievement of sixth grade students, district 2, Bandar Abbas. This research has been done in a semi experimental method and with a control group. All of the sixth grade students of Bandar Abbas district 2, made the statistical population of this research. The required data and information were collected through field methods. ISM's academic achievement motivation questionnaire was the tool of the data collecting. The Analysis of covariance test was used to test the research hypothesis. The results show that both methods (Jig Saw and proficient learning) have 95% significant effect. Also the means after the tests show that the Jig Saw method was more effective than the proficient learning.


A new species of Genea Vittad. from Greek forests of Abies cephalonica is proposed based on morphological and genetic studies. Macroscopic images of fresh specimens, as well as observations made under optical microscopes, drawings, a 28S rDNA phylogenetic tree and a small key are provided


A novel rolling method based on the traditional plastic rolling principle is introduced to solve the problems in the plate-fin machining process in this paper, such as technological complexity, fin falling, high rate of rejection, high cost and so on. The finite element simulation models of the rolling tool and workpiece are established according to the plate-fin plastic rolling principle. The plate-fin rolling process is simulated with Deform-3D. The state of stress-strain and laws of metal flowing are studied. The plate-fin rolling experiments are carried out by using industrial purity aluminum AL-1100. The fin appearance and characteristic parameters are consistent with simulation results. At the same time, the experimental results verify the feasibility of plate-fin rolling forming method and the accuracy of the numerical simulation results.


BACKGROUNDPancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET) are rare malignancies frequently diagnosed at a late stage, with symptoms related to bulky disease. Hormonal secretion, when responsible for symptoms, permits, on the other hand, early diagnosis of the disease. Surgery remains the cornerstone of therapeutic management. However, due to advanced disease, many patients are not candidates for aggressive surgical therapy. Tumor growth control and symptom management are thus achieved through medical approaches, including somatostatin (SST) analogs, chemotherapy, interferon, and more recently, targeted therapy. The purpose of this review is to collect, examine, and analyze data available in the literature regarding contemporary therapeutic management of PNET, with emphasis on medical approaches. It also offers perspectives on the future of molecular targeted therapies in these neoplasms. However, we point out that much of the literature published to date includes noncomparative studies (mainly phase II studies), leading to thorny interpretation of the results.METHODSA systematic search of all the literature in English regarding PNET was performed, based on a MEDLINE search (Pubmed) carried out from January 1970 to May 2005.RESULTSApproximately 40 trials, including over 1,000 patients, have been retrieved from our MEDLINE search. SST analogs and interferon therapies do allow control over hormone secretion and subsequent symptoms in the majority of treated subjects, but offer a poor tumor growth control rate. Chemotherapies, although more efficient in reducing tumor burden, are often toxic. New approaches such as immunotherapy and targeted therapies are still under investigation.CONCLUSIONSWhether alone or in combination with surgery, conventional medical therapies represent a crucial aspect of PNET management. Hopefully, in the near future, a new era of antitumoral agents, such as targeted therapies, will strengthen our therapeutic arsenal, either alone or combined with other therapies.


As an international doctoral student, the author is reflecting on her relationships with her privileged status back home as well as her evolving ongoing struggles with her otherness while living, studying, and teaching in the United States. As a racial and cultural hybrid instructor, the author portrays three relevant factors. First, she examines her pedagogy and relationships with the students she teaches. Next, she explores the way her otherness is portrayed in the classroom. Lastly, she investigates the various facets of being a non-U.S. American female scholar in social, public, and academic spaces.


"Spectro-Chrome," an alternative healing method based on the application of colored visible light to the body, was practiced by more than ten thousand Americans over the half-century following its introduction in 1920. It was the invention of Dinshah Ghadiali, a charismatic inventor and popular science lecturer, who used the rhetoric and tactics of contemporary popularizers to discredit orthodox medicine's claim to scientific authority, and to advance his own on behalf of his followers of the "Science of Automatic Precision." Practitioners, who mostly treated themselves and their immediate families, were encouraged to think of themselves as scientific researchers. Dinshah's students presented their findings at local and national meetings, engaged in continuing education, critiqued one another's work, and articulated an ethos of science that repudiated the obscurantism and greed that they believed had infected scientific medicine. Beyond its perceived value as a healing practice, Spectro-Chrome's inclusive, pragmatic, and straightforward nature appealed to Americans excluded from a scientific establishment that had begun to seem remote and arcane, and from a medical culture they perceived as oriented more toward commercial ends and professional consolidation than traditional patient care.


Human trafficking is on the rise. Whether for sexual exploitation or forced labour, women, men and children are being trafficked to and inside the UK. In July 2011 the
new UK strategy on human trafficking was published by the Home Office. It promises to tackle the problem in four distinct ways. This article looks at those promises and
critically assesses how child victims of trafficking currently fair in the UK and if their plight will be any better under the new UK Strategy.


The comic book superhero film has become a mainstay amongst Hollywood blockbuster films. However, despite their popularity and financial success, the genre has only recently begun to receive scholarly attention. In particular, there has been little research on what traits distinguish and define the genre, and even less on the music which accompanies the films. This scope of this dissertation can be divided into three parts. First, it is a study of the superhero film genre. I provide a historical overview both of the superhero comic, as well as its filmic adaptations -delineating the semantic and syntactic traits of the superhero film genre and the ways in which it adheres to and differs from its encompassing genre of the action film. Second, it is a study of the music for superhero films. By examining the musical themes of superhero films over time, I establish what musical parameters are held in common amongst superhero films -namely, what contributes to the comic book sound. Finally, it is a study of topic theory, and in particular, how topical analysis can function within, and enrich the study of film music. By expanding on topical theories established for the study of classical music, I further systematize the topical study of film music, using superhero films as a model for demonstrating the potential for new musical topics to be uncovered through the topical analysis of film music. Department Music Description text Subject Musical topics Superhero films Film music Comic book superheroes URI http://hdl.handle.net/2152/21430 Collections UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations Musical topics in the comic book superhero film genre  


This paper attempts to analyse India's changing structure of technology-intensive exports using a systemic perspective. In doing so, it explores the increasing significance of linkages between National and International System of Innovation. Technology-intensive exports from the developing economies have witnessed rapid growth and an increase in their share compared with low-tech or medium tech exports in international trade in the last two decades. India is no exception to this and has demonstrated a sharp increase in the manufactured exports of technology-intensive products. The paper examines the changing structure of exports and its link with economic development and whether technological learning affects low, medium and high-tech differently. Findings reveal that export performance can be enhanced through improving technological capabilities. However, it is not only codified knowledge in R&D output such as publications, patents and designs that influence technological learning and innovation process. Interactive processes of international collaboration, inward and outward foreign direct investments also contribute significantly towards this process.


Inflammation has been shown to play a part in the disease processes of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infections. The chemokines CCL20, CCL21, and CXCL13 all play important roles in the immune response and have each been, in some manner, linked to HIV-1 and SIV infection. Expression of these chemokine genes has been shown to affect disease state and it is, therefore, important to study the transcriptional regulation of these genes as a possible mechanism of controlling their expression. Transcriptional regulation occurs primarily via the promoter region of a gene. This promoter is the target for binding by transcription factors that can either activate or repress the expression of that specific gene. In this study, the promoter regions of the macaque chemokines CCL20, CCL21, and CXCL13 were analyzed. These promoter regions were characterized via sequence alignments and analyses, as well as by mapping putative transcription factor binding sites. Not only were differences between multiple clones of each chemokine promoter identified, but the homology between the rhesus macaque, cynomolgus macaque, and human promoter regions were explored. By cloning the three promoters into the pGL2-Basic vector, a promoterless luciferase expression plasmid, transcriptional control was measured from each promoter via levels of luciferase expression. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was designed and optimized as a method of quantitating transcriptional control from macaque chemokine promoters. After stimulation, an increase in CCL20 transcriptional levels, but no change in CCL21 and CXCL13 transcriptional levels, was observed. Possible methods of inhibiting transcription from the CCL20 promoter were explored by testing the effects of glycerol monolaurate (GML), (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and ethyl gallate (EG) on transcriptional levels. In summary, we have amplified three macaque chemokine promoters, characterized their basal and induced transcriptional control of the luciferase gene, and have identified potential inhibitors of their upregulation. The public health relevance of this study is its ability to potentially pave the way for additional approaches to modulating chemokine expression as a method of combating the inflammation associated with HIV-1-driven disease.


This research-in-progress study aims to extend the research on Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) collaborative learning by theoretically exploring the role of virtual co-presence from an ecological perspective. Although a growing number of researchers has started to investigate learning behaviors of digital native in the MMOG virtual environment, the study for theoretical justification of collaborative behavior and motivational profile of players in MMOG is still under-researched. To bridge this gap, this study applies concepts from ecology, namely biological interactions, and integrates with technology-based collaborative learning streams of research to theoretically explore the patterns of knowledge conversion in MMOG. Based on existing literatures, this study proposes two constructs of co-presence based on the theory of symbiosis in the field of ecology on biological interaction to explain and predict gamers' motivational profile and participation in knowledge conversion mode in the MMOG game-based learning, Also, this study proposes a multiple method approach (including field observation, self-reported survey and focus group interview) to test four hypotheses that advocate the research potentials of MMOG in future research.


Data mining is the process of analysis of large amount of data to find out useful patterns and rules. Data mining is the process of taking information from a data set and convert it into an understandable and meaningful structure for further use. There are various techniques of data mining like classification, clustering, association rule mining etc. Each technique has its own importance according to his role. There are various applications of data mining in various fields like education, scientific and engineering, healthcare, business and many more. In this paper we will discuss basics of educational data mining. In this paper we will mainly focus on the applications of data mining in the field of education.


On-field pediatric injuries are unavoidable regardless of better equipment and rule changes geared towards safer play. Initial recognition of time-sensitive injuries is important for minimizing potential long-term consequences. With appropriate knowledge and training, rst-responding orthopedic surgeons should be able to evaluate and manage sudden cardiac arrest, concussion, heat stroke, and eye injuries along with the more common musculoskeletal injuries.


This paper provides lessons learned from developing several large system dynamics (SD) models. System dynamics modeling practice emphasize the need to keep models small so that they are manageable and understandable. This practice is generally reasonable and prudent; however, there are times that large SD models are necessary. This paper outlines two large SD projects that were done at two Department of Energy National Laboratories, the Idaho National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. This paper summarizes the models and then discusses some of the valuable lessons learned during these two modeling efforts.


"Class, Critics, and Shakespeare "is a provocative contribution to "the culture wars." It engages with an ongoing debate about literary canons, the democratization of literary study, and of higher education in general.For a generation at least, academic readings of literary works, including those of Shakespeare, have often challenged privilege based on race, gender, and sexuality. Sharon O'Dair observes that in these same readings, class privilege has remained effectively unchallenged, despite repeated invocations of it within multiculturalism. She identifies what she sees as a structurally necessary class bias in academic literary and cultural criticism, specifically in the contemporary reception of William Shakespeare's plays.The author builds her argument by offering readings of Shakespeare that put class at the center of the analysis--not just in Shakespeare's plays or in early modern England, but in the academy and in American society today. Individual chapters focus on "The Tempest" and education, "Timon of Athens" and capitalism, "Coriolanus "and political representation. Other chapters treat the politics of cultural tourism and land-use in the Pacific northwest, and analyze the politics of the academic left in the U.S. today, focusing on the debate between what has been called a "social" left and a "cultural" left.The author's quest is to understand why an intellectual culture that values diversity and pluralism can so easily disdain and ignore the working-class people she grew up with. Her provocative and heartfelt critique of academic culture will challenge and enlighten a broad range of audiences, including those in cultural studies, American studies, literary criticism, and early modern literature.Sharon O'Dair is Associate Professor of English, University of Alabama.


Microparticles (MPs) resulting from vesiculation of platelets and other blood cells have been extensively documented in vitro and have been found in increased numbers in several vascular diseases, but little is known about MPs of endothelial origin. The aim of this study was to analyze morphological, immunological, and functional characteristics of MPs derived from human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) stimulated by TNF, and to investigate whether these MPs are detectable in healthy individuals and in patients with a prothrombotic coagulation abnormality. Electron microscopy evidenced bleb formation on the membrane of TNF-stimulated HUVECs, leading to increased numbers of MPs released in the supernatant. These endothelial microparticles (EMPs) expressed the same antigenic determinants as the corresponding cell surface, both in resting and activated conditions. MPs derived from TNF-stimulated cells induced coagulation in vitro, via a tissue factor/factor VII-dependent pathway. The expression of E-selectin, ICAM-1, alphavbeta3, and PECAM-1 suggests that MPs have an adhesion potential in addition to their procoagulant activity. In patients, labeling with alphavbeta3 was selected to discriminate EMPs from those of other origins. We provide evidence that endothelial-derived MPs are detectable in normal human blood and are increased in patients with a coagulation abnormality characterized by the presence of lupus anticoagulant. Thus, MPs can be induced by TNF in vitro, and may participate in vivo in the dissemination of proadhesive and procoagulant activities in thrombotic disorders.


We present a concise overview of the physical and mathematical structures underpinning the appearence of nonassociative deformations of geometry in non-geometric string theory. Starting from a quick recap of the appearence of noncommutative product and commutator deformations of geometry in open string theory with $B$-fields, we argue on physical principles that closed strings should instead probe triproduct and tribracket deformations in backgrounds of locally non-geometric fluxes. After describing the toy model of electric charges moving in fields of smooth distributions of magnetic charge as a physical introduction to the notions of nonassociative geometry, we review the description of non-geometric fluxes in generalized geometry and double field theory, and the worldsheet calculations suggesting the appearence of nonassociative deformations, together with their caveats. We discuss how algebroids and their associated AKSZ sigma-models give a description of non-geometric backgrounds in terms of higher geometry, and consider the quantization of the membrane sigma-model which geometrizes closed strings with $R$-flux. From this we derive an explicit nonassociative star product for the quantum geometry of the closed string phase space, and apply it to derive the triproducts that appear in conformal field theory correlation functions, to describe a consistent treatment of nonassociative quantum mechanics, to demonstrate quantitatively the coarse-graining of spacetime due to $R$-flux, and to describe the quantization of Nambu brackets. We also briefly review how these constructions lead to a nonassociative theory of gravity, their uplifts to non-geometric M-theory, and the role played by $L_\infty$-algebras in these developments.


We have described a case of massive edema of the ovary, with recurrence of surgical fixation. Massive edema of the ovary appears to be only an earlier stage of what has been previously reported as torsion and infarction of the normal adnexa.


This book is the first to chronicle the story of Housing First (HF), a paradigm-shifting evidence-based approach to ending homelessness that began in New York City in 1992 and rapidly spread to other cities nationally and internationally. The authors report on the rise of a 'homeless industry' of shelters and transitional housing programs that the HF approach directly challenged by rejecting the usual demands of treatment, sobriety and housing readiness. Based upon principles of consumer choice, harm reduction and immediate access to permanent independent housing in the community, HF was initially greeted with skepticism and resistance from the 'industry'. However, rigorous experiments testing HF against 'usual care' produced consistent findings that the approach produced greater housing stability, lower use of drugs, and alcohol and cost savings. This evidence base, in conjunction with media accounts of HF's success, led to widespread adoption in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, and Australia. The book traces the history of homelessness and the rapid growth of the publically funded homeless industry, an amalgam of religious and philanthropic organizations, advocacy groups, and non-profits that were insufficient to stem the tide of homelessness resulting from dramatic reductions in affordable housing in the 1980s and continuing to the present day. The authors summarize research findings on HF and include a chapter of personal stories of individuals who have experienced HF. Unique to this book is the participation of the founder of HF (Tsemberis) and well-known research on HF by the co-authors (Padgett and Henwood). Also unique is the deployment of theories-organizational, institutional and implementation-to conceptually frame the rise of HF and its wide adoption as well as the resistance that arose in some places. Highly readable yet informative and scholarly, this book addresses wider issues of innovation and systems change in social and human services.


Abstract Elastic stable intramedullary nailing (ESIN) has been established as state of the art treatment for forearm fractures in children, if operative stabilization is required. Their use has been expanded to single bone shaft fractures, and also more complex injuries such as Monteggia fractures or Monteggia-like lesions. A wide range of complications has been reported in the literature, up to 70% in certain investigations. The purpose of this study was to assess the complication rate after ESIN treatment of forearm fractures in children and adolescents in a representative cohort of patients from a level 1 trauma center in Germany. Between 2000 and 2015, we retrospectively analyzed all patients, up to the age of 16 years, with forearm fractures, who were operatively treated using ESIN in our department of general and trauma surgery. The main outcome measurements were the rates of postoperative complications after ESIN such as re-fracture, malunion, nonunion, tendon lesion, wound infection, and limited range of motion. In all, 201 consecutive patients with 202 forearm fractures were included in this study. Age averaged 9.7 years (range 3–16 years). Fifteen (7.4%) fractures were open. Fractures were 82.2% diaphyseal both-bone forearm fractures. Follow-up averaged 10.2 months (range 0.7–176.3 months). Complications were 10 re-fractures, 2 malunions, 3 extensor pollicis longus tendon ruptures, 1 superficial wound infection, and 2 limited range of motions. Fourteen (6.9%) children required a secondary operative intervention for their complication. Time to implant removal averaged 3.8 months (range 0.4–16.3 months). Elastic stable intramedullary nailing is a minimally invasive and reliable technique with a low complication rate. Both-bone forearm fractures and single bone fractures, and also Monteggia and Monteggia-equivalent fractures can be successfully treated with this method. As a major complication, re-fractures are frequently seen, even with ESIN in situ.


SARTRE is an acronym for the project Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risk in Europe, which implies a collaboration between a number of organisations in the field of traffic safety and road traffic research in Europe to carry out coordinated surveys. The first phase of the project started in the early 90's and then it included about 16 countries in Western and Central Europe. In the third round of the continued Sartre project, reported here, new interviews were conducted with European drivers to study their attitudes to traffic and traffic safety. This time the questionnaire contained 134 questions, and more than 23,000 drivers were interviewed in 23 countries in Western and Central Europe. The main topics were speeds, seat belts and alcohol, but the interview also covered some more general traffic safety issues, new technologies as well as some questions concerning self-reported behaviour. The purpose of the report is mainly to give a reasonably clear presentation of the available Sartre data in a format for those who wish to do their own data-digging and make their own comparisons. As an introduction the report contains a very brief account of the Sartre project and a number of more detailed comments regarding the limitations of the study and the obtained results. The major part of the report contains 128 tables, each giving the results of a single question in the interview. The results are presented as response distributions for each participating country, supplemented with summarizing average or median results for ease of comparison (A). This document is also available at http://www.vti.se/EPiBrowser/Publikationer/R541%20541A.pdf.


Aiming to create an efficient, less-expensive catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), a synthetic protocol is developed to prepare ternary metal phosphide nanoparticles, Ni2−xRuxP, incorporating Ru, a traditional catalyst for OER, and Ni, a highly active but inexpensive metal. Using solution-phase arrested-precipitation reactions, crystalline Ni2−xRuxP particles could be realized for compositions up to x ≤ 1, whereas more Ru-rich compositions, including Ru2P, were amorphous. For x ≤ 1, particles are spherical, of sizes that vary between 5 and 10 nm in diameter (with a clear decreasing trend as the Ru amount is increased), and samples exhibit narrow size distributions (polydispersity < 15%). In contrast, amorphous Ru-rich phases exhibit worm-like morphologies. ICP-MS data indicate the actual metal ratio closely follows the target ratio employed in the synthesis. OER electrocatalytic activity was evaluated for selected compositions over the entire synthesis range (0 ≤ x ≤ 2). Intriguingly, Ru2P proved to be the least active phase (overpotential of 0.56 V at 10 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH) with the best performance observed for the bimetallic Ni1.25Ru0.75P phase (overpotential of 0.34 V). The augmented activity at x = 0.75 is attributed, at least in part, to electronic activation of Ni by Ru, facilitating Ni oxidation and thus decreasing the kinetic barrier for OER.


Determining the evolutionary relationships between fossil hominid groups such as Neanderthals and modern humans has been a question of enduring interest in human evolutionary genetics. Here we present a new method for addressing whether archaic human groups contributed to the modern gene pool (called ancient admixture), using the patterns of variation in contemporary human populations. Our method improves on previous work by explicitly accounting for recent population history before performing the analyses. Using sequence data from the Environmental Genome Project, we find strong evidence for ancient admixture in both a European and a West African population ( p ' 10 (cid:1) 7 ), with contributions to the modern gene pool of at least 5%. While Neanderthals form an obvious archaic source population candidate in Europe, there is not yet a clear source population candidate in West Africa.


In recommendation systems, practitioners observed that increase in the number of embedding tables and their sizes often leads to significant improvement in model performances. Given this and the business importance of these models to major internet companies, embedding tables for personalization tasks have grown to terabyte scale and continue to grow at a significant rate. Meanwhile, these large-scale models are often trained with GPUs where high-performance memory is a scarce resource, thus motivating numerous work on embedding table compression during training. We propose a novel change to embedding tables using a cache memory architecture, where the majority of rows in an embedding is trained in low precision, and the most frequently or recently accessed rows cached and trained in full precision. The proposed architectural change works in conjunction with standard precision reduction and computer arithmetic techniques such as quantization and stochastic rounding. For an open source deep learning recommendation model (DLRM) running with Criteo-Kaggle dataset, we achieve 3x memory reduction with INT8 precision embedding tables and full-precision cache whose size are 5% of the embedding tables, while maintaining accuracy. For an industrial scale model and dataset, we achieve even higher >7x memory reduction with INT4 precision and cache size 1% of embedding tables, while maintaining accuracy, and 16% end-to-end training speedup by reducing GPU-to-host data transfers.