Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a clinical tool used to treat various neurological
disorders, including tremor, Parkinson's disease (PD) and dystonia. Today's routine
use of this therapy is a result of the pioneering work of Benabid and colleagues, who
assessed the benefits of applying high-frequency stimulation to the ventral intermediate
nucleus and reported substantial long-term improvements in PD patients.
Clinical applications of DBS, however, have preceded research and left a number of
challenges to optimise this therapeutic technique in terms of quality, therapy costs
and understanding of its underlying mechanisms. DBS is based on monopolar or
bipolar stimulation techniques, which are characterised by a limited control over the
effects of stimulation and, in particular, over the shape and direction of the electric
field propagating around the electrode. This thesis proposes two approaches
to achieve dynamic electric field control during deep brain stimulation. The first
method is based on the use of current-steering multipolar electrode drive, adopted
to split the stimulation current between 2 or more contacts, in order to shift the
stimulation field to a desired location. The work included the design, development
and testing of an integrated circuit current-steering tripolar current source, developed
in AMS 0.35μm technology. The second method is based on the use of phased
arrays (PAs) in order to create an electromagnetic beam, which can be steered to
a desired location. Computational models have shown the ability to steer and focus
the electromagnetic fields in brain tissue by varying the phase and frequency of
stimulation. Modelling simulations have shown that the use of multipolar electrode
configurations is essential to achieve dynamic control over the shape and area of
tissue stimulated. Configurations with larger number of cathodes allow for several
stimulation patterns, making this stimulation approach beneficial in a clinical environment.
Tests on the performance of the integrated tripolar current source have shown its capability to generate stimulation currents up to 1.86mA, to linearly steer
the stimulation current to one of the anodes and to generate biphasic square and
exponential current pulses, with time constant up to 28ms. In vitro experiments,
carried out to map the electric potential generated by a dynamic tripolar current
source, validated the model results, by showing the ability to shape the potential distribution
around the electrode during stimulation. Finally, models of the behaviour
of PA fields in brain tissue have shown that PAs could be introduced to DBS to allow
for more accurate field steering and shaping in DBS. This thesis presents methods
and implementations to achieve dynamic field shaping in DBS, which can greatly
ameliorate the efficacy of clinical DBS.


This thesis contributes to the existing literature on the empirical applications of network theory and Random Matrix Theory to economic and financial complex systems.

It is based on six essays which can be structured in two parts. The first part consists of four essays (from chapter 2 to chapter 5), which are devoted to various applications of network theory to large data sets of credit relationships in the interbank market and between banks and other sectors of the economy. They study various properties in different structures of different financial networks. More specifically, the second and the third chapters respectively analyze structural correlations and structural similarities in one-mode networks. The fourth chapter deals with topological and structural properties in bipartite networks, and the fifth chapter is devoted to overlaps and correlations between layers in the multilayer structure of networks.
Two essays in the second part (respectively in chapter 6 and chapter 7), based on the methods of Random Matrix Theory, analyze the structure of the cross-correlation matrices of banks' loan portfolios and the structure of the cross-correlation matrix of worldwide economic sentiment indices.


Online self-presentation refers to the ways in which individuals share aspects of the self to portray a particular image. Being online presents opportunities for individuals to experiment with different versions of the self as part of identity development but also to manage how others perceive them. Research has shown that personality can influence online self-presentation behaviors, but these studies have mainly focused on internal characteristics, and more research is needed exploring the relational facets of personality. This study aims to investigate the extent to which an individual's self-concept clarity, self-monitoring tendency, self-esteem, and social anxiety predict different presentations of the online self. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 405 adult participants from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Results show that individuals with higher self-concept clarity and self-monitoring are more likely to present a single consistent online and offline self. Younger adults and those with greater social anxiety are more likely to present idealized self-images online, and participants with higher social anxiety and lower self-esteem are more likely to prefer online, rather than offline, communication. Findings are broadly consistent with the literature, and suggest the need for more systematic investigation into a variety of personality variables that take into account the relational nature of identity formation and impression management. This research emphasizes the multifaceted nature of online self-presentation behaviors, and the ways in which they are differentially influenced by personality variables.


Conventional unmanned helicopters are used to spray agricultural chemicals and take aerial photographs. In the near future, the aircrafts are expected to be used for a wide array of activities, such as rescuing and fire fighting. Then, an autonomous flight using several sensors typified by a global positioning system (GPS) is highly expected. In this paper, first, system identification experiments for a large-scale unmanned helicopter are carried out to obtain a numerical model of aircraft dynamics. The attitude error of the helicopter is compensated by a stability augmentation system that permits the experiments during the flight. System identification results are shown on the dynamics using the measured input and output data. Next, the position control systems based on the /spl Hscr//sub /spl infin// control theory is constructed by using the identified model. Finally, the position control experiments suggest that the proposed modeling and design approach is effective enough for practical applications.


Objective: To compare the Affirm VPIII Microbial Identification Test for detection and identification of Candida species, Gardnerella vaginalis and Trichomonas vaginalis to clinical and microscopic criteria commonly used to diagnose vaginitis. Methods: Women that were symptomatic for vaginitis/vaginosis and asymptomatic women being seen for routine obstetric or gynecological care were included in this study. Women treated with antibiotics or antifungals within one week or women who had douched within 24 hours were excluded. Two vaginal swab specimens were simultaneously obtained from each patient, one swab was placed in sterile physiological saline for immediate microscopic wet mount examination and KOH testing. The other swab was placed in the Affirm collection tube for Affirm VPIII testing based on previously demonstrated methods. Results: The Affirm assay was significantly more likely to identify Gardnerella and Candida than wet mount. 190 (45%) were positive for Gardnerella by Affirm compared to 58 (14%) by wet mount; 45 (11%) were positive for Candida by Affirm compared to 31 (7%) by wet mount; and 30 (7%) were positive for Trichomonas by Affirm compared to 23 (5%) by wet mount. Symptomatic women were significantly more likely to be positive by Affirm only (23% vs. 10%), wet mount only (3% vs. 2%) or Affirm and wet mount (15% vs. 1%). Asymptomatic women were significantly more likely to be negative for Affirm and wet mount (43% vs. 5%). Conclusions: The Affirm VPIII test is a more sensitive diagnostic test for detection and identification of symptomatic vaginitis/vaginosis than conventional clinical examination and wet mount testing.


One of the most significant current discussions in cyber security is cyber attack on supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). Stuxnet such as cyber-attacks on SCADA has become more precise and unique. In this paper, we describe the SCADA System and characteristics of cyber-attacks targeting on SCADA system. We also explain vulnerabilities of SCADA quantitatively. To this end, we proposed concept and methodology for reducing vulnerabilities of SCADA system by optimizing security functions.


Objective: Memory deficits have been shown in patients affected by schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar (BP)/mood disorder. We recently reported that young high-risk offspring of an affected parent were impaired in both verbal episodic memory (VEM) and visual episodic memory (VisEM). Understanding better the trajectory of memory impairments from childhood to adult clinical status in risk populations is crucial for early detection and prevention. In multigenerational families densely affected by SZ or BP, our aim was to compare the memory impairments observed in young nonaffected offspring with memory functioning in nonaffected adult relatives and patients. Methods: For 20 years, we followed up numerous kindreds in the Eastern Québec population. After having characterized the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders phenotypes, we assessed cognition (N = 381) in 3 subsamples in these kindreds and in controls: 60 young offspring of a parent affected by SZ or BP, and in the adult generations, 92 nonaffected adult relatives and 40 patients affected by SZ or BP. VEM was assessed with the California Verbal Learning Test and VisEM with the Rey figures. Results: The VEM deficits observed in the offspring were also found in adult relatives and patients. In contrast, the VisEM impairments observed in the young offspring were present only in patients, not in the adult relatives. Conclusion: Implications for prevention and genetic mechanisms can be drawn from the observation that VEM and VisEM would show distinct generational trajectories and that the trajectory associated with VisEM may offer a better potential than VEM to predict future risk of developing the disease.


Todaypsilas asymmetric threats put new challenges on military decision making. As new technology develops we have new possibilities to support decision making in such environments. However, it is important that the tools developed take into account userspsila (commanderspsila) decision needs. This paper presents some initial user studies of Swedish commanders testing a prototype application developed to answer these new challenges introduced by asymmetric threats. The application aids commanders by supporting situation awareness in terms of providing an overview of incoming intelligence reports and displaying probabilities of future events. The user study focuses on how the tool can support commanderspsila daily decision making activities. The results indicate that the general concept could be useful for Swedish commanders and analysts, but some suggestions for improvements are made. The issues found in this study will inform the continuing evaluation of this tool.


We extend standard models of price pass-through in an imperfectly competitive supply chain to incorporate rationing of trade credit. Credit rationing reverses predictions concerning effects of raw material import prices on pass-through to wholesale prices, and effects of regulations of intermediaries. To test these we study the effects of a policy in Bangladesh's edible oils supply chain during 2011-12 banning a layer of financing intermediaries. Evidence from a difference-in-difference estimation rejects the standard model. We find that the regulatory effort to reduce market power of financing intermediaries ended up raising consumer prices by restricting access to credit of downstream traders.


Malaria is a major public health problem caused by parasites, namely, Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, P. ovale and P. malariae transmitted via the bites of the female anopheles mosquito. The illness results in recurrent attacks of chills and fever and is characterized by high morbidity and mortality rates. G.macrophyllus is used traditionally to treat fever. On the basis of this, the extracts of G.macrophyllus are evaluated for its antimalarial activity with the β-hematin inhibition assay. During intra erythroctic growth and proliferation, hemoglobin is utilized as a major source of nutrition by the malaria parasite and haem (ferriprotoporphyrin IX) is released as a toxic byproduct. The major route of haem detoxification in the malaria parasite is through the formation of haemozoin or β-haematin. Thus, inhibition of the β-haematin is utilized as an antimalarial drug target. The ground dried roots of Goniothalamus macrophyllus were extracted in aqueous methanol and the crude extract was sequentially partitioned with n-hexane, chloroform and butanol. The crude methanol, hexane, chloroform, butanol and residual were assayed for s-haematin inhibition. The inhibitory activity was determined by colorimetric method, measured at 405 nm with a microplate reader. Choloroquine, the most widely used antimalarial drug was used as the positive control. Based on the s-haematin inhibiton assay, butanol extract exhibited an IC50 value of 32 ± 0.06 μg/ml and was most potent towards the inhibition of β-hematin compared to the other extracts.


Quantitative real-time PCR has revolutionized many aspects of genetic research, biomedical diagnostics and pathogen detection. Nevertheless, the full potential of this technology has yet to be realized, primarily due to the limitations of the threshold-based methodologies that are currently used for quantitative analysis. Prone to errors caused by variations in reaction preparation and amplification conditions, these approaches necessitate construction of standard curves for each target sequence, significantly limiting the development of high-throughput applications that demand substantive levels of reliability and automation. In this study, an alternative approach based upon fitting of fluorescence data to a four-parametric sigmoid function is shown to dramatically increase both the utility and reliability of quantitative real-time PCR. By mathematically modeling individual amplification reactions, quantification can be achieved without the use of standard curves and without prior knowledge of amplification efficiency. Combined with provision of quantitative scale via optical calibration, sigmoidal curve-fitting could confer the capability for fully automated quantification of nucleic acids with unparalleled accuracy and reliability.


The propagation of a packet of weakly non-linear dispersive cold plasma waves is studied by means of a two-time scale expansion. The effects of amplitude dispersion and the coupling to the mean plasma motion are taken into account. The governing equations are put into a conservation form. It is found that this system of equations is elliptic or hyperbolic depending on the wave-number of the dispersive waves. In the elliptic case modulations in the wave train grow exponentially in time and a periodic wave train will be unstable in this sense. In the hyperbolic case, slow variations in the wave train propagate and the characteristic velocities give a non-linear generalization of the linear group velocity. It is shown that except for waves which have their wave vectors nearly at right angle to the unperturbed magnetic field only fast waves with wave-number less than 0.585 (Ωi Ωe)½/Vα are stable; where Va is the Alfvén velocity and Ωι Ωε, are the ion and electron cyclotron frequencies respectively. A process of steepening of these waves into shocks with dissipation due to wave turbulence at the head of the wave packet is suggested.


A Grammar of Makwe presents a detailed description of a hitherto largely undocumented Bantu language spoken in the North of Mozambique. Historically speaking, Makwe is the outcome of a long-standing contact between Makonde as spoken in the interior of Tanzania and Mozambique and Swahili as spoken along the East African coast. This grammar treats Makwe phonology, the morphology of nouns, verbs and minor word categories, the semantics of verbal conjugations, and different syntactic topics. A rich collection of texts is offered at the end. Throughout the work, the linguistic analyses are abundantly illustrated with natural speech examples. Of special interest are the so-called conjoint and disjoint verb forms and modifiers which present a striking example of an interface between phonology, morphology, syntax and pragmatics. Maud Devos received for this study her doctoral degree at Leiden University in 2004. She subsequently worked on Shangaji, another Bantu language from Mozambique, with a postdoctoral grant from the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Documentation Project. She is currently a researcher at the Linguistics Department of the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren (Belgium), where she is involved in a project on grammaticalization and (inter)subjectification.


The neutrophil is an integral part of the body's line of defense against infectious microbial agents. Its microbicidal activity is carried out by NADPH oxidase, an enzyme that uses electron transfer to create superoxide (O2"), which is then transformed into various toxins that are responsible for the demise of the foreign microorganism. The oxidase system is composed of membrane and cytosolic components. One of the cytosolic components is a low molecular-weight member of the Rho family of GTPases, Rac2. A genetic link has recently been established between Rac2 and Chronic Granulomatomous Disease (CGD), a disease in which the body's immune system is compromised as a result of a defect in the NADPH oxidase system. To further elucidate the role of Rac2, cytosolic subcellular fractions were immunoprecipitated and reconstituted in two different cell-free systems, SDS and McPhail, to determine the specific amount of Rac2 present, as well as how much of this protein can be depleted before immunity is compromised. Results indicated that immunoprecipitation (IP) of Rac2 was incomplete with concurrent IP of two other essential proteins, p47phox and p67phox, noted as well. The best results were obtained using 10% bovine serum albumin to block the sepharose beads, which were incubated with the cytosol separately from the antibody. It is possible that some Rac2 escaped IP or was present in the membrane prior to activation. IP of both Racl and Rac2 was completed to test a hypothesis that Racl was capable of substituting for Rac2 when its levels are diminished in the cell. Addition of purified Rac2 to IP cytosol demonstrated an optimal level of 1 pg, after which the increase in superoxide production began to level off. Finally, the GTP-dependency of this protein was studied using GTP-depleted cytosol in the McPhail cell-free assay. Control cytosol reached peak performance levels with the addition of GTP alone; GTP-depleted cytosol was shown to be dependent on the addition of both ATP and GTP.


Adhesion-type G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs) participate in a vast range of physiological processes. Correspondingly, these receptors are associated with diverse human diseases, such as developmental disorders, defects of the nervous system, allergies and cancer. Several aGPCRs have recently been linked to mechanosensitive functions suggesting that processing of mechanical stimuli may be a common feature of this receptor family. CIRL (ADGRL/Latrophilin, LPHN), one of the oldest members of the aGPCR family, sensitizes sensory responses of larval Drosophila to gentle touch and sound by amplifying mechanosensory signal transduction in low-threshold mechanoreceptors (Scholz et al., 2015; 2017). In the present study, we show that Cirl is also expressed in high-threshold mechanical nociceptors where it adjusts nocifensive behaviour under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Optogenetic in vivo experiments indicate that CIRL quenches cAMP levels in both mechanosensory submodalities. However, contrasting its effect in touch sensitive neurons, CIRL dampens the response of nociceptors to mechanical stimulation. Consistent with this finding, rat nociceptors display a drop in Cirl1 expression during allodynia. Taken together, these results demonstrate that CIRL exerts opposing modulatory functions in low-threshold mechanosensors and high-threshold nociceptors. This intriguing bipolar action likely facilitates the separation of mechanosensory signals carrying different physiological information.


This present research was designed to explore how and to what extent explicit knowledge of L2 chunks and chunking, which have both grammatical and idiomatic information, would benefit English learning and use. The operation of an EFL learner``s explicit L2 chunks and chunking knowledge has been qualitatively investigated over a 6-month period. Through ethnographic data collecting methods such as observations and interviews of the participant``s process of acquiring L2 knowledge system, it was found that the awareness of explicit knowledge of English chunks and chunking significantly played an effective role in developing the English language system in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity. Based on the results of this study, the researchers suggest that the explicit and declarative knowledge become implicit and procedural knowledge through prolonged and systematic practices: the explicit knowledge of L2 chunks and chunking works positively for L2 learning and use.


Purpose: Glaucoma drainage devices such as Baerveldt, Molteno and Ahmed tubes are used in complex refractory glaucoma and where previous trabeculectomy surgery has failed. A key step in the implementation of the device is the insertion and positioning of the tube through the sclera. Traditional technique employs the use of a 23 or 25 gauge needle to create a passage, but insertion of the tube subsequently can prove difficult, and the tube may sustain kinks and compression. Furthermore, leaks around the tube can lead to postoperative hypotony. Methods: We propose creation of a tract with a 23 gauge microvitreoretinal (MVR) blade, a blade designed to form fluid-tight incisions & self-sealing wounds in vitreoretinal surgery. Porcine eyes were obtained and sclera were individually pierced with an MVR blade or 23G needle and a sealed tube inserted, at an angle similar to surgery in humans. The surgical sites were exposed to a hydrostatic pressure of 40 cm of water, and leakage from wound assessed with fluorescein dye to look for a Seidel's positive sign. Results: Creation of a passage using an MVR rather than a needle made tube positioning easier without greater fluid leak at the wound edge, especially after application of a box suture with 10-O nylon. Conclusions: MVR blade insertion is a safe and easy way to create a scleral passage for a drainage tube.


Participation of the Roma and Saami in public policy decision-making reveals several inherent shortcomings of current democratic decision-making institutions present in their structure, choice of political orientations and legal norms within States and at the supranational level. Furthermore, it exposes the problematic nature of sociocultural pluralism, specifically the extent to which the political decision-making process makes space for heterogeneous identities and identity-based perceptions. The legal normativity that establishes a right to participation in political decision-making for minority and indigenous peoples tends to reproduce the illusion of inclusion within democratic societies. In actuality, however, the overriding importance conferred on the interests of the dominant group confines participation by marginalised groups to the periphery of the system. With this in mind, our goal is to present a relatively precise picture of the current avenues available to the Roma and Saami for participation in public policy decisions. We begin with an overview of the existing forums for participation and then present the legal foundations of such participation, providing an assessment of the system throughout.


An image processing procedure is presented to construct a three-dimensional representation of a vehicle from a set of two-dimensional circular synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. Given a previously generated digital elevation map, a third dimension is inferred from layover and polarization. With high data rates and circular flight paths, SAR scenes may be large relative to the standoff distance. Consequently, variations in elevation angles (with respect to terrain) across the scene become crucial for identifying signatures. The proposed 3D processing inverts elevated point layover to provide partial invariance to elevation angle and produces an unordered set of scattering centers with attributes including an azimuth attribute to preserve anisotropy. The proposed processing is demonstrated on both measured and simulated data.


Autoreactive T cells mediate diabetes in animal models of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and are believed to cause the disease in humans. Therefore, immunotherapies directed against T cells are of particular interest for the treatment of IDDM. One candidate for such immunotherapy is anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), but clinical side effects are common with anti-CD3 treatment due to the ability of these MoAbs to activate T cells in vivo. However, F(a′)2 fragments of anti-CD3 are nonactivating and immunosuppressive. We evaluated the effects of whole anti-CD3 MoAb and F(ab′)2 fragments in the setting of experimental autoimmune diabetes. Treatment with whole MoAb or F(ab′)2 fragments significantly reduced the hyperglycemia induced with multiple low dosages of streptozocin (MDSDM; 232 ± 23 mg/dl, P < 0.01 and 235 ± 16 mg/dl, P < 0.01 vs. 325 ± 25 mg/dl, respectively) in male CD1 mice. Both whole MoAb and F(ab′)2 fragments suppressed the development of insulitis (P < 0.001). Treatment with whole MoAb resulted in marked weight loss (10.4 ± 1.5% of total body wt), and the mice appeared ill and listless, whereas, mice treated with F(ab′)2 fragments gained weight (4.9 ± 5.5% of total body wt) and appeared healthy. Treatment with whole MoAb caused activation of T cells in vivo as reflected by proliferation of freshly isolated spleen cells to recombinant interleukin-2. Depletion of T cells with whole MoAb was more pronounced than with F(ab′)2 fragments, and T-cell receptor (TCR) reexpression on remaining cells occurred with F(ab′)2 fragments within 48 h after F(ab′)2 treatment. Despite the expression of this surface molecule, signaling by the TCR complex was blocked because T cells stimulated with anti-CD3 MoAb failed to produce lymphokines. We conclude that treatment with either whole anti-CD3 MoAb or F(ab′)2 fragments suppresses the hyperglycemia and insulitis of MDSDM. The morbidity seen with whole MoAb does not occur with F(ab′)2 fragments and is correlated with the failure of the latter to activate T cells in vivo. Nonactivating forms of anti-CD3 MoAbs may be a useful form of immunosuppressive treatment for incipient IDDM because they do not cause morbidity associated with activation of T cells, which occurs with whole MoAb.


Abstract Differential evolution (DE) presents a class of evolutionary and meta-heuristic techniques that have been applied successfully to solve many real-world problems. However, the performance of DE is significantly influenced by its control parameters such as scaling factor and crossover probability. This paper proposes a new adaptive DE algorithm by greedy adjustment of the control parameters during the running of DE. The basic idea is to perform greedy search for better parameter assignments in successive learning periods in the whole evolutionary process. Within each learning period, the current parameter assignment and its neighboring assignments are tested (used) in a number of times to acquire a reliable assessment of their suitability in the stochastic environment with DE operations. Subsequently the current assignment is updated with the best candidate identified from the neighborhood and the search then moves on to the next learning period. This greedy parameter adjustment method has been incorporated into basic DE, leading to a new DE algorithm termed as Greedy Adaptive Differential Evolution (GADE). GADE has been tested on 25 benchmark functions in comparison with five other DE variants. The results of evaluation demonstrate that GADE is strongly competitive: it obtained the best rank among the counterparts in terms of the summation of relative errors across the benchmark functions with a high dimensionality.


Analyzing macro-political processes is complicated by four interrelated problems: model scale, endogeneity, persistence, and specification uncertainty. These problems are endemic in the study of political economy, public opinion, international relations, and other kinds of macro-political research. We show how a Bayesian structural time series approach addresses them. Our illustration is a structurally identified, nine-equation model of the U.S. political-economic system. It combines key features of the model of Erikson, MacKuen, and Stimson (2002) of the American macropolity with those of a leading macroeconomic model of the United States (Sims and Zha, 1998; Leeper, Sims, and Zha, 1996). This Bayesian structural model, with a loosely informed prior, yields the best performance in terms of model fit and dynamics. This model 1) confirms existing results about the countercyclical nature of monetary policy (Williams 1990); 2) reveals informational sources of approval dynamics: innovations in information variables affect consumer sentiment and approval and the impacts on consumer sentiment feed-forward into subsequent approval changes; 3) finds that the real economy does not have any major impacts on key macropolity variables; and 4) concludes, contrary to Erikson, MacKuen, and Stimson (2002), that macropartisanship does not depend on the evolution of the real economy in the short or medium term and only very weakly on informational variables in the long term.


BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of death in the world. Because of the rate of emergencies and disasters in the country, this study was conducted to investigate the challenges of providing health services to cardiovascular patients in emergencies and disasters in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This conventional content analysis study was conducted in 2020. Subjects were selected from among 16 Iranian experts) epidemiologists, cardiologists, PhD in Disaster Health, and PhD in Nursing (using purposeful and snowball sampling methods. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and were analyzed by the content analysis. RESULTS: The results were obtained after analyzing the data in the pre-emergency phase (lack of training on medication and nutrition, lack of training vulnerable groups, lack of databases of cardiovascular patients, and lack of identification of patients before disasters), the emergency response phase (lack of sleep and rest patterns, lack of health forces, lack of blood pressure control, lack of proper nutrition, increased medication needs, and lack of mental health interventions), and the post-emergency phase (lack of planning, lack of management of patients' mental problems). CONCLUSION: Developing strategies for planning, training, providing resources, and mental health during the three phases of the emergency management cycle for specific groups such as cardiovascular patients together with empowering these patients in the event of disasters is one of the key strategies which can be used after curbed emergencies and disasters to reduce the rate of mortality.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between sleep duration and body mass index (BMI) in Norwegian children (aged 10-12).

METHODS
Children and parents of a population of primary school children (N=9 430) were invited to complete a questionnaire containing questions about usual bedtimes, wake-up times, self and parent evaluations of pubertal maturation, parental education and economic status, and parent-reported height and weight of the child. Sixty per cent of parents and children participated. BMI was available for 4 158 children, 44% of the original sample.

RESULTS
A U-shaped relationship was found between sleep duration and age- and gender-adjusted BMI. Shorter and longer sleep durations were significantly related to high BMI. The percentage of obesity and overweight was higher in the shortest sleep duration group compared with intermediate sleep durations. Crude logistic regression analyses showed a significant association between early pubertal maturation and both obesity and overweight. Socio-economic status was significantly related to overweight. Short sleep duration showed a significant association with obesity but not with overweight. In an adjusted logistic regression model, short sleep duration was still significantly associated with obesity when controlling for physical maturation and socio-economic status.

CONCLUSIONS
High BMI was associated with short and long self and parent-reported duration of sleep. The percentage of obesity/overweight was higher in the shortest sleep duration group than for intermediate sleep durations. Short sleep duration was significantly associated with obesity but not with overweight. Adjusting for physical maturation and socio-economic status, short sleep duration still showed a significant association with obesity.


This study validates a protocol to identify inmates with institutional adjustment difficulty from mental disorder, and who might have a need for therapeutic programming of a cognitive nature. The Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) was administered to a total of 236 South African male inmates of whom 102 were diagnosed with mental health disorders, mostly Schizophrenia and psychotic related disorders (44%). The data were analysed using a variety of multivariate procedures, including logistical regression to model the behavioural characteristics to the inmates' mental health state. Findings suggest that there are significant differences between mentally ill and non-mentally ill participants. The subscales of anger, criminal tendencies and anti-social personality have a significantly higher mean score for mentally ill respondents, while the subscale "conduct problems" remains a borderline case.


OF DISSERTATION LEFSCHETZ PROPERTIES AND ENUMERATIONS An artinian standard graded algebra has the weak Lefschetz property if the multiplication by a general linear form induces maps of maximal rank between consecutive degree components. It has the strong Lefschetz property if the multiplication by powers of a general linear form also induce maps of maximal rank between the appropriate degree components. These properties are mainly studied for the constraints they place, when present, on the Hilbert series of the algebra. While the majority of research on the Lefschetz properties has focused on characteristic zero, we primarily consider the presence of the properties in positive characteristic. We study the Lefschetz properties by considering the prime divisors of determinants of critical maps. First, we consider monomial complete intersections in a finite number of variables. We provide two complements to a result of Stanley. We next consider monomial almost complete intersections in three variables. We connect the characteristics in which the weak Lefschetz property fails with the prime divisors of the signed enumeration of lozenge tilings of a punctured hexagon. Last, we study how perturbations of a family of monomial algebras can change or preserve the presence of the Lefschetz properties. In particular, we introduce a new strategy for perturbations rooted in techniques from algebraic geometry.


This list is not a complete list of the books we have in this genre. Please ask a librarian for further recommendations. This list was created with the help of Charlotte Ide in 2016.


Disastrous events are one of the most challenging applications of multihop ad hoc networks due to possible damages of existing telecommunication infrastructure. The deployed cellular communication infrastructure might be partially or completely destroyed after a natural disaster. Multihop ad hoc communication is an interesting alternative to deal with the lack of communications in disaster scenarios. They have evolved since their origin, leading to different ad hoc paradigms such as MANETs, VANETs, DTNs, or WSNs. This paper presents a survey on multihop ad hoc network paradigms for disaster scenarios. It highlights their applicability to important tasks in disaster relief operations. More specifically, the paper reviews the main work found in the literature, which employed ad hoc networks in disaster scenarios. In addition, it discusses the open challenges and the future research directions for each different ad hoc paradigm.


Online adaptive radiation therapy has the potential to ensure delivery of optimal treatment to the patient by accounting for anatomical and potentially functional changes that occur from one fraction to the next and over the course of treatment. While on-line adaptive RT (ART) has been a topic of many publications, discussions, and research, it has until very recently remained largely a concept and not a practical implementation. However, recent advances in on-table imaging, use of deformable image registration for contour generation and dose tracking, faster and more efficient plan optimization, as well as fast quality assurance method has enabled the implementation of ART in the clinic in the past couple of years. The introduction of these tools into routine clinical use requires many considerations and progressive knowledge to understand how processes that have historically taken hours/days to complete can now be done in less than 30 minutes. This session will discuss considerations to perform real time contouring, planning and patient specific QA, as well as a practical workflow and the required resources.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the difficulties, challenges and available technologies for online adaptive RT. 2. To understand how to implement online adaptive therapy in a clinical environment and to understand the workflow and resources required. 3. To understand the limitations and sources of uncertainty in the online adaptive process I have research funding from ViewRay Inc. and Philips Medical Systems.; R. Kashani, I have research funding from ViewRay Inc. and Philips Medical Systems.; X. Li, Research supported by Elekta Inc.


This latest collection of Lady Anne Barnard's writing consists of the previously unpublished and unrevised diaries she kept in the Cape between 1799 and 1800. Each of the Van Riebeeck Society publications covers a year of her reflections on life at the Cape. In this sense the diaries are a sequel to her published journals, The Cape Journals of Lady Anne Barnard 1797-1798, edited by A. M. Lewin Robinson with Margaret Lenta and Dorothy Driver, also published by the Van Riebeeck Society (Cape Town, 1994) and are also a companion to the letters she wrote to Henry Dundas, The Letters of Lady Anne Barnard to Henry Dundas, edited by A. M. Lewin Robinson and published by Balkema (Cape Town, 1973).


Regularization, Optimization, Kernels, and Support Vector Machines offers a snapshot of the current state of the art of large-scale machine learning, providing a single multidisciplinary source for the latest research and advances in regularization, sparsity, compressed sensing, convex and large-scale optimization, kernel methods, and support vector machines. Consisting of 21 chapters authored by leading researchers in machine learning, this comprehensive reference: Covers the relationship between support vector machines (SVMs) and the Lasso Discusses multi-layer SVMs Explores nonparametric feature selection, basis pursuit methods, and robust compressive sensing Describes graph-based regularization methods for single- and multi-task learning Considers regularized methods for dictionary learning and portfolio selection Addresses non-negative matrix factorization Examines low-rank matrix and tensor-based models Presents advanced kernel methods for batch and online machine learning, system identification, domain adaptation, and image processing Tackles large-scale algorithms including conditional gradient methods, (non-convex) proximal techniques, and stochastic gradient descent Regularization, Optimization, Kernels, and Support Vector Machines is ideal for researchers in machine learning, pattern recognition, data mining, signal processing, statistical learning, and related areas.


Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) integrates both spectroscopic and imaging methods to produce spatially localized spectra from within the sample or patient. Although MRSI is a relatively new imaging technology for clinical applications and relevant databases still do not exist, the rapid advances made in the field of NMR and the associated scanning technologies, the increased frequency in which oncological diseases appear may soon lead to the creation of large databases of such images at least in main medical centers. Therefore, the need for indexing and retrieval of MRSI images might soon emerge. This paper proposes the application of a new method for content based MRSI medical image retrieval. The description of MRSI images relies on a new Descriptor which includes global image features, capturing both brightness and texture characteristics at the same time, based on an evaluation of MRS spectrum per voxel. Image information is extracted using a set of fuzzy approaches. Experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technique using synthetic images.


Multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), communicating with each others in an opportunist way and through an arbitrary topology, create an ad-hoc underwater sensor network. Due to the mission in which AUVs might be employed or simply due to the drift typical of underwater scenarios, each node might be subject to movements from its initial position, leading to a variation on the network topology. In this paper, we evaluate the effect of mobility on underwater routing algorithms when any possible movement of the AUV (i.e., both voluntary and involuntary) is taken into account. Namely, we assume that the movement of each AUV might be due to either an involuntary drift or a voluntary movement to accomplish a given mission. Results depict the impact of mobility on the system performance, considering both location dependent and independent applications.


A compound has been isolated from the acid catalyzed ring closure of 2, 2'-dihydroxychalcone. From the physical properties and the infrared and ultraviolet visible spectra, this green compound is assumed to be the cis form of 2, 2'-dihydroxychalcone. The sulfuric acid color test for flavanones and chalcones was investigated and found to be unreliable. It was found from the ultraviolet and visible spectra that the same color in sulfuric acid was obtained from both the chalcone and its isomer the flavanone. Furthermore the two isomers were found to interconvert. The flavanone was found to be less stable in sulfuric acid than was the chalcone with the equilibrium favoring the chalcone in most instances. Aluminum chloride and boron trifluoride tests for chalcones were also studied. It was found that the aluminum chloride and boron trifluoride complexes are intensely colored precipitates when formed from the 2'-hydroxychalcones.


The effect of different lecithin sources and presentations on growth, food conversion ratio and survival of P. vannamei (290 mg +/- 0.02) was studied. The bioassay was designed in order to compare different dietary levels and different quality of lecithin. Squid lecithin, crude soybean (7%), deoiled soybean lecithin (3.48%) in combination with fish oil or squid neutral lipids, in a partially dilapidate formula. The isoenergetic diets were fed ad libitum to four replicate groups (tanks) of 15 shrimps each (5 x 4 x 15), during 28 days. The result of the bioassay with the partially dilapidate formulas was; the best growth rate (191%) and FCR (1.69 +/- 0.041) were obtained with the diet containing 7% of soybean crude lecithin as the unique lipid source. Followed by the diet countering 3.94% deoiled lecithin and 2.42% Menhaden oil (172% and 2.03 +/- 0.054 respectively). As expected, the worst results were obtained without the dietary lecithin 121% and 2.42 +/- 0.129). Crude soybean lecithin alone covered the phospholipid and neutral lipids requirements as well as the combination of deoiled soybean lecithin with fish or squid oil.


Compression of encrypted data draws much attention in recent years due to the security concerns in a service oriented environment such as cloud computing. We propose a scalable lossy compression scheme for images having their pixel value encrypted with a standard stream cipher. The encrypted data are simply compressed by transmitting a uniformly sub sampled portion of the encrypted data and some bit-planes of another uniformly sub sampled portion of the encrypted data. With a proposed content adaptive interpolation prediction method with side information, at the receiver side, a decoder performs content adaptive interpolation based on the decrypted partial information, where the received bit-plane information serves as the side information that reflects the image edge information, making the image reconstruction more precise. When more bit-planes are transmitted, higher quality of the decompressed image can be achieved. The experimental results show that our proposed scheme achieves much better performance than the existing lossy compression scheme for pixel value encrypted images, and also similar performance as the state-of-the-art lossy compression for pixel permutation based encrypted images. In addition, our proposed scheme has the following advantages: at the decoder side, no computationally intensive iteration and no additional public orthogonal matrix is needed. It works well for both smooth and texture-rich images.


When nutrients become scarce E. coli cells enter into a non-growth phase known as stationary and develop a multiple-stress resistance state analogue to sporulation in B. subtilis. Morphological changes are observed, including rounded shape, loss of flagella and thickening of the cell wall. General metabolism is re-directed, macro- molecular degradation is increased, and storage and osmoprotection compounds are synthesized. The reorganization of the nucleoid is ac- companied by an overall repression of gene expression, but a subset of genes required for starvation survival become transcribed in a manner dependent on the stationary phase-specific subunit of RNA polymerase (RpoS or σ s ). The regulatory function of σ s seems to be central to a global gene network that is beginning to be understood. Also, stationary phase populations are highly heterogeneous in prop- erties as viability, genotype, and mutability. The emergence of mu- tant subpopullations capable of using nutrient traces suggest survival strategies during long term starvation. This review focuses on the major characteristics of E. coli during stationary phase and on the regulatory gene network responsible of such characteristics.


: Olecranon and prepatellar bursitis have a prevalence of 3 in 1000 patients; the predominant etiology is a traumatic lesion with or without inoculation of infectious material, mainly during professional or leisure activities. Separation into septic and non-septic bursitis is possible in most cases according to clinical parameters and characteristics of the contents of the affected bursa. The therapy of acute and chronic bursitis is guided mainly by the nature of the aspirate retrieved from the bursa: a serous content justifies conservative treatment with compression, immobilization, antiphlogistic medication, and (in selected cases) the instillation of corticosteroids; a purulent aspirate necessitates bursotomy with incision and drainage, or bursectomy. Only in selected cases is a conservative trial with antibiotics, immobilization, and antiphlogistic medications justified.


Radiofrequency energy is a promising new technology in arthroscopy. Further basic science work is needed to define the mechanical characteristics of tissues in vivo at different times postoperatively. Long-term clinical follow-up studies are needed to determine the useful applications of this technology in the future.


Recently, according to the rapid development of display, many display applications, such as, cellular phone, navigation, monitor and LCD TV have been changed from CRT type to LCD type. BLU(Back Light Unit) is one of main parts in LCD unit and generally, it consists of a light source, a reflective sheet, a LGP(Light Guide Plate), a diffuser sheet, and two prism sheets. The most important component of BLU is a light guide plate, which diffuses the input light to the TFT-LCD module uniformly. The LGP is usually made by injection molding process, and it has numerous optical micro patterns on the surface. In the present study the micro-patterned stamper which has cylindrical shape was fabricated by using the UV- LiGA process. And the replication characteristics have been compared among three different kinds of injection molding process; general injection molding, injection/compression molding and RHCM(Rapid Heating and Cooling Molding). Average replication ratios of CIM and ICM were 19.1% and 64.6%, respectively. On the other hand, the average replication ratio of RHCM process showed the higher value of 98.4% among these. It show that maintaining the mold surface above Tg could increase the replication ratio of micro patterns substantially.


It is important to estimate the intensity distribution of a magnetic field as a possible magnetic method in an industrial nondestructive evaluation application. A magnetic camera provides the distribution of a quantitative magnetic field with homogeneous lift-off and same spatial resolution. Magnetic flux leakage near a crack on the specimen can be amplified by using a 3- dimensional magnetic fluid, that is to say a magnetic lens. This study introduces the experimental consideration of the effects of magnetic lenses for concentrating of magnetic flux. The experimental results showed that the magnetic fluid has a sufficient lens effect for magnetic camera and effect of improvement in probability of detection.


Bismuth cuprate superconductor has a unique structure called a structural modulation (supercell, SC) consisting of modulated several unit cells. Strain induced by multilayered structure increases the intensity of SC modulation, while an oxygen deficient sample shows expansion of SC size. In this study, as opposed to the multilayer strain, by preparing samples with thick film thicknesses the effect of strain on crystal structure was investigated including SC structure. Epitaxial growth was verified by x-ray diffraction, and the thicker film showed other epitaxial phase rotated 32° around the surface normal with respect to the initial epitaxial phase. The SC size estimated by x-ray reciprocal space mapping was double the size of the initial epitaxial phase. Interestingly, the initial epitaxial phase became a dominant structure after further deposition. In order to evaluate the different SC size and SC modulation, a new index related with an incline of the modulation vector was proposed.


This paper describes a measurement experiment performed on a PDP 11/45 system running under UNIX (version six) which employs swapping rather than paging in managing memory. Regression equations relating the system''s responsiveness to certain system and workload parameters are obtained. Sample applications such as predicting the system''s performance due to workload and system changes, load control as well as representing the swapping behaviour in simulation and analytic models are presented. The similarities between the paging and swapping dynamics are discussed. The paper also includes a brief discussion of the accuracy of the model as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the regression technique.


Hydrogen is expected to be a next-generation energy source that does not emit carbon dioxide, but when used as a fuel, the issue is the increase in the amount of NOx that is caused by the increase in flame temperature. In this study, we experimentally investigated NOx emissions rate when hydrogen was burned in a hydrocarbon gas burner, which is used in a wide temperature range. As a result of the experiments, the amount of NOx when burning hydrogen in a nozzle mixed burner was twice as high as when burning city gas. However, by increasing the flow velocity of the combustion air, the amount of NOx could be reduced. In addition, by reducing the number of combustion air nozzles rather than decreasing the diameter of the air nozzles, a larger recirculation flow could be formed into the furnace, and the amount of NOx could be reduced by up to 51%. Furthermore, the amount of exhaust gas recirculation was estimated from the reduction rate of NOx, and the validity was confirmed by the relationship between adiabatic flame temperature and NOx calculated from the equilibrium calculation by chemical kinetics simulator software.


Large areas of uncertainty still surround the relationship between environmental exposure to toxic materials, on the one hand, and human health, on the other. Several historical accounts have recently shown that this state of ignorance is not only due to the complex nature of the interactions between toxic agents and human bodies. Most of these accounts cast light on the strategies set up by big corporations to hide the dangers of the toxic materials they use, sell or dispose of in the environment. The cases of tobacco smoke (Proctor 2012), global warm-ing (Oreskes and Conway, 2010) and toxic chemicals (Markowitz and Rosner, 2003) provide evidence of these strategies contributing to the "social production of ignorance" over environ-mental health issues. Until now, these accounts have tended to focus on how industry draws on specific networks of scientists, politicians and experts in regulating agencies to produce doubts about the harmfulness of their products. These approaches tend to limit the role of governing bodies to that of organizations "captured" by private interests (McGarity and Wagner 2008). In so doing, they overlook the fact that for governing bodies, ignorance can have a value in and of itself. For instance, it helps the contemporary state to reduce complex issues (Scott 1998) so as to make them "governable" (Foucault 2004). Recent environmental health studies support this thesis. The cases of indoor air pollution (Murphy 2006), of pesticides' effects on bees (Kleinman and Suryanarayanan 2013), and of the consequences of human exposure to chemicals in the soils of post-Katrina New Orleans (Frickel and Vincent 2007), show that ignorance is a useful resource for the control of toxic chemicals in the environment. [First paragraph]


The corpus of law texts surviving from tenth-century England reveals a society that sought to maintain public order without anything resembling a police force. Rather than envisioning order as the product of state coercion, the kingdom's upper-elite legislators understood society to attend to its own ordering on a local scale through a mix of individual action and communal self-regulation. This tenth-century idealized legal order is unlikely to hold much appeal today; it combined alarmingly libertarian assumptions about the legitimacy of lethal male violence with a harshly punitive communitarian approach to theft, involving both routinized execution and theft-prevention measures that intruded heavily on the lives of the ordinary people. Yet there is much to suggest that this vision of order was rarely realized, and that communal control meant this culture's cruel fantasies of retributive justice often ended up yielding in the face of the more humane sentiments embedded in local interpersonal networks.


TERRY, DAVID B. A holistic investigation of alternative gate stack materials for future CMOS applications. (Under the direction of Dr. Gregory N. Parsons.) High dielectric constant (high-k) insulators and metal gate electrodes are important for advanced MOS devices to limit gate leakage by increasing gate capacitance with ultimately thicker films and eliminate poly-depletion & dopant diffusion, respectively. Reactions between dielectric/substrate and gate electrode/dielectric during deposition or postdeposition processing lead to an increase in interfacial layer formation, and the mechanisms that control the changes need to be well understood. We investigate yttrium-based and hafnium-based high-k dielectrics and ruthenium-based gate electrodes formed by various processing methods such as physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Si(100). Characterization techniques include IR, XPS, TEM, EELS, AES, and IV and CV electrical analysis. During deposition and postdeposition treatments the interfaces have some extent of interfacial layer formation. The extent of the intermixing depends on substrate surface preparation, process conditions, and annealing conditions. The transition metal alluminate dielectrics show evidence on flatband voltage tuning via charge compensation. Also, the ruthenium gate electrodes show that process condition can have a direct effect the electronic and chemical properties of MOS structures such as in-situ versus ex-situ capacitor fabrication and the role of subsurface adsorbed oxygen in ruthenium. A holistic investigation of alternative gate stack materials for future CMOS applications


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Objectives: Prediction of late-onset sepsis (onset beyond day 3 of life) in preterm infants, based on multiple patient monitoring signals 24 hours before onset. Design: Continuous high-resolution electrocardiogram and respiration (chest impedance) data from the monitoring signals were extracted and used to create time-interval features representing heart rate variability, respiration, and body motion. For each infant with a blood culture-proven late-onset sepsis, a Cultures, Resuscitation, and Antibiotics Started Here moment was defined. The Cultures, Resuscitation, and Antibiotics Started Here moment served as an anchor point for the prediction analysis. In the group with controls (C), an "equivalent crash moment" was calculated as anchor point, based on comparable gestational and postnatal age. Three common machine learning approaches (logistic regressor, naive Bayes, and nearest mean classifier) were used to binary classify samples of late-onset sepsis from C. For training and evaluation of the three classifiers, a leave-k-subjects-out cross-validation was used. Setting: Level III neonatal ICU. Patients: The patient population consisted of 32 premature infants with sepsis and 32 age-matched control patients. Interventions: No interventions were performed. Measurements and Main Results: For the interval features representing heart rate variability, respiration, and body motion, differences between late-onset sepsis and C were visible up to 5 hours preceding the Cultures, Resuscitation, and Antibiotics Started Here moment. Using a combination of all features, classification of late-onset sepsis and C showed a mean accuracy of 0.79 ± 0.12 and mean precision rate of 0.82 ± 0.18 3 hours before the onset of sepsis. Conclusions: Information from routine patient monitoring can be used to predict sepsis. Specifically, this study shows that a combination of electrocardiogram-based, respiration-based, and motion-based features enables the prediction of late-onset sepsis hours before the clinical crash moment.


This paper reflects on and discusses the didactical intentions and implications of an extensive project in science and technology education, which has been going on between the years 1980 – 2007, mainly as a joint venture between Deutsches Museum in Munich and the University of Goteborg. The actors in this paper are of two kinds: first, the introducers and inventors of new aspects of science and technology, the scientists and technically minded people, and secondly the intermediaries, for example teachers, who act as communicators of science and technology. Learning is, in this paper, tentatively regarded as an interaction between cognitive neural networks, in the minds of those persons who participated in the seminars, and distributed cognition in artifacts in science and technology museums.The aim is to try to enhance learning and retention processes by taking into account changes in synaptic connections within the brain which leads to neural plasticity. This project has involved student training and in-service teacher training and has included weeklong seminars in science and technology museums in different countries. The results of this project unambiguously underscore, as found by evaluations and papers produced by the participants, the importance of having qualified guidance in museums in order to create a fruitful interaction in these four main dimensions:1. Inventions and inventors:This part of the project studies emergent "quantum jumps" of science and technology in space and time.2. The Mind:The Mind as it is affected by changes in cognitive neural networks of participants in the seminars.3. Museums:The distributed cognition in the artifacts, which are exposed.4. The Curriculum:The national curricula in technology, which guides the selection of topics. The visits to authentic environments also enhanced the retainment of the content which was taught, as facts were placed into historical and developmental contexts focusing on genesis and evolution of science and technology. The results also pointed to fruitful possibilities to operationalize the concept "Pedagogical Content Knowledge" (PCK), in order to make a transfer from Technological Content Knowledge to Pedagogical Content Knowledge in science and technology education, and in learning processes, utilizing museum contexts. In this paper, the evolution of technology was thus regarded as dependent on time, space and mind in interaction with society. The aspects of technology transfer and diffusion were regarded from a point of view of creation of artifacts and learning by the participants.


PURPOSE: To describe the specific characteristics of passive accessory intervertebral
movements (PAIVMs) to the cervical spine that relate to patient
symptoms and segmental mobility.
RELEVANCE: PAIVMs are common manual therapy techniques. The interpretation
of PAIVM findings is often described using force-displacement
curves contained in movement diagrams, but it has not been clear what
aspects of the force-displacement curves are related to patient symptoms
or to intervertebral mobility.
DESCRIPTION: Contrary to the initial concepts of PAIVMs, the intervertebral
movements produced are neither accessory nor localized, but rather
physiological and involve the entire cervical region. Nonetheless, specific,
measurable characteristics of PAIVMs have been shown to be related
to patient outcomes and to local tenderness. This paper will discuss
how these specific characteristics compare to simulations using computer-
based modeling.
EVALUATION: Experimentally determined changes in PAIVMs at symptomatic
locations that occur with symptom improvement are similar to differences
between tender and less tender locations. The relevant differences
are easier to visualize using stiffness-displacement curves than the forcedisplacement
curves that are typically used in movement diagrams and
become apparent at levels of force starting at less than those required to
click a retractable pen (4-5 N). Computer-based modeling indicates that
similar differences in PAIVM stiffness to those found in the clinical studies
would be expected to occur with a reduced lax zone of the underlying
motion segment.
CONCLUSIONS: The behaviors of PAIVM stiffness related to patient symptoms
(1) are more clearly visualized with stiffness curves than force-displacement
curves, (2) occur from low levels of force, and (3) are consistent
with a smaller lax zone at the underlying intervertebral motion segment.
IMPLICATIONS: The early parts of PAIVM movements contain clinically important
information. Simple linear approximations of force-displacement
curves of PAIVMs may not be sufficient to detect the specific characteristics
that are related to patient symptoms.


Behavioral finance argues that some properties of asset prices are most reasonably considered as deviations from fundamental value and they are caused by the presence of traders who are not fully rational hence called noise traders. Noise trader approach assumes that sentiment traders exert greater influence during highsentiment periods than during low-sentiment periods, and sentiment traders misestimate the variance of returns weakening the mean-variance relation. This study's main objective is to provide a framework to model conditional volatility regarding the changes in the investor sentiment by measuring the effect of noise trader demand shocks on the volatility of stock market indexes of the various countries. GARCH, TARCH, and EGARCH models are used to test whether earning shocks have more influence on the conditional volatility in high sentiment periods weakening the mean-variance relation. This paper takes an international approach using weekly and daily returns of Nasdaq, Dow, S&P500, Nikkei225, HangSeng, FTSE100, CAC40, DAX, and ISE indexes. Weekly and daily trading volume changes of these indexes are used as a proxy for investor sentiment and significant evidence is found that there is asymmetric volatility in these market indexes and earning shocks have more influence on conditional volatility when the sentiment is high.


Human recombinant erythropoietins (EPO) and darbepoetins are widely used for anemias associated with chronic kidney disease.  Allergic reactions to erythropoetins and darbepoetins have only occasionally been reported. These skin reactions include pruritus, wheals at the injection site, orofacial anaphylaxis and anjioedema. In this article, we report an 11 year-old female who experienced generalized   erithematous skin eruption and desquamation after both erythropoietin and darbepoetin treatments.  We successfully used darbepoetin with the support of premedication and desensitization.


This paper proposes a low-complexity algorithm for blind equalization of data in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based wireless systems with general constellations. The proposed algorithm is able to recover the transmitted data even when the channel changes on a symbol-by-symbol basis, making it suitable for fast fading channels. The proposed algorithm does not require any statistical information about the channel and thus does not suffer from latency normally associated with blind methods. The paper demonstrates how to reduce the complexity of the algorithm, which becomes especially low at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Specifically, it is shown that in the high SNR regime, the number of operations is of the order O(LN), where L is the cyclic prefix length and N is the total number of subcarriers. Simulation results confirm the favorable performance of the proposed algorithm.


The grasslands of the northern Great Plains (NGP) region of North America are considered endangered ecosystems and priority conservation areas yet have great ecological and economic importance. Grasslands in the NGP are no longer self‐regulating adaptive systems. The challenges to these grasslands are widespread and serious (e.g. climate change, invasive species, fragmentation, altered disturbance regimes, and anthropogenic chemical loads). Because the challenges facing the region are dynamic, complex, and persistent, a paradigm shift in how we approach restoration and management of the grasslands in the NGP is imperative. The goal of this article is to highlight four key points for land managers and restoration practitioners to consider when planning management or restoration actions. First, we discuss the appropriateness of using historical fidelity as a restoration or management target because of changing climate, widespread pervasiveness of invasive species, the high level of fragmentation, and altered disturbance regimes. Second, we highlight ecosystem resilience and long‐term population persistence as alternative targets. Third, because the NGP is so heavily impacted with anthropogenic chemical loading, we discuss the risks of ecological traps and extinction debt. Finally, we highlight the importance of using adaptive management and having patience during restoration and management. Consideration of these four points will help management and restoration of grasslands move toward a more successful and sustainable future. Although we specifically focus on the NGP of North America, these same issues and considerations apply to grasslands and many other ecosystems globally.


We present phase equilibria experiments on a depleted peridotite (Mg# 92) fluxed with variable proportions of a slab‐derived rhyolitic melt (with 9.4 wt.% H2O, 5 wt.% CO2), envisaging an interaction that could occur during formation of continents by imbrication of slabs/accretion of subarc mantles. Experiments were performed with 5 wt.% (Bulk 2) and 10 wt.% (Bulk 1) melt at 950–1175°C and 2–4 GPa using a piston‐cylinder and a multi‐anvil apparatus, to test the hypothesis that volatile‐bearing mineral‐phases produced during craton formation can cause reduction in aggregate shear‐wave velocities (VS) at mid‐lithospheric depths beneath continents. In addition to the presence of olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and garnet/spinel, phlogopite (Bulk 1: 3–7.6 wt.%; Bulk 2: 2.6–5 wt.%) at 2–4 GPa, and amphibole (Bulk 1: 3–9 wt.%; Bulk 2: 2–6 wt.%) at 2–3 GPa (≤1050°C) are also present. Magnesite (Bulk 1: ∼1 wt.% and Bulk 2: ∼0.6 wt.%) is present at 2–4 GPa (<1000°C at 3 and < 1050°C at 4 GPa) and its thermal breakdown coincides with the visual appearance of trace‐melt. However, an extremely small fraction of melt is inferred at all experiments based on the knowledge of fluid‐saturated peridotite solidus and the difference between bulk H2O and total H2O stored in the hydrous phases. Calculated mineral end‐member volume‐proportions were used to calculate VS of the resulting assemblage at experimental conditions and along representative continental geotherms (surface heat flow of 40–50 mWm−2). We note that reactive crystallization of phlogopite ± amphibole by infiltration of 3–10% slab‐derived hydrous‐silicic melt can cause up to 6% reduction in VS and that the estimated reduction in VS increases with increasing melt:rock ratio. The presence of phlogopite limits amphibole‐stability, making phlogopite a more likely candidate for MLDs at >100 km depth.


Physiologic and task performance measures are compared for young and elderly subjects on a simple speeded task, an auditory Stroop task and a cross‐modal auditoryvisual Stroop task using verbal responses. The results suggested that all three tasks are perceived as physiologically stressful by both subject groups and that older subjects were more physiologically reactive to visual stimuli than younger subjects. Differences in reaction times suggested a longer overall processing time for older subjects, as well as greater interference in processing incongruent stimuli. However, analysis of response errors indicated significantly better accuracy on difficult tasks for the older subjects. The implications of these findings will be discussed in terms of task strategic differences and resource conservation.


The determination of all rare earth elements (REEs) in human blood serum by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was performed with the aid of chelating resin (Chelex 100) preconcentration after acid digestion with HNO3 and HClO4. When chelating resin preconcentration was carried out at room temperature, the recoveries of heavy REEs were lower than those of light REEs because of their stable complex formation with residual organic compounds remaining in the digested serum solution. These problems were overcome by heating the solution at 80 degrees C during the chelating resin preconcentration process. As a result, the recoveries for all REEs were improved to 92-102% in the case of a concentration factor of 4, where the analytical detection limits for REEs were below 0.2 x 10(-12) g ml-1. Consequently, all REEs in individual human blood sera collected from five healthy volunteers could be determined by ICP-MS with good precision. The concentrations of REEs in human blood serum were extremely low, in the range from ca. 1 x 10(-12) g ml-1 of Eu to ca. 230 x 10(-12) g ml-1 of Ce.


INTRODUCTION
Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is the mainstay of systemic therapy for advanced prostate cancer (PCa), but has significant adverse effects, including increasing concern for cardiovascular (CV) and thromboembolic (TE) complications. This study carefully investigates any relationship between ADT use and hypercoagulability as a possible mechanism of these adverse effects.

METHODS
We performed a prospective, longitudinal study in a cohort of patients with advanced PCa initiating ADT (n=18). Controls included men with biochemical failure after local therapy on watchful waiting (n=10), as well as healthy controls (n=8). Global hemostasis was evaluated using the sensitive global hemostasis assay, thromboelastography (TEG). Patients were evaluated at baseline and every three months for a minimum of 12 months.

RESULTS
The results of the TEG studies demonstrated 14/18 (78%) of advanced PCa patients had evidence of a hypercoagulable state before initiating therapy. Significant baseline hypercoagulability was documented in this cohort compared to the two control groups. ADT did not appear to exacerbate hypercoagulability over time as a whole: only 10/18 (56%) patients had TEG findings consistent with hypercoagulability at the end of study. However, 3/18 (17%) PCa patients initiating ADT had significantly new hypercoagulable TEG changes on treatment compared to baseline.

CONCLUSIONS
This prospective pilot study demonstrates a complex interaction between ADT and hypercoagulable state in men with advanced PCa. TEG abnormalities were mostly associated with volume of cancer as compared to ADT use; however, it is possible that ADT may lead to hypercoagulability in a subset of men, suggesting that sensitive monitoring of coagulation of men on ADT could help identify those at risk of developing CV/TE complications. Study limitations include the relatively small cohort of men followed after initiating ADT and these results require confirmation in a larger trial to rule out subtle effects on hypercoagulability.


Multiprocessor platforms are becoming increasingly more popular. Providing more computation capacity on a single hardware platform, multiprocessors make it possible to integrate previously federated real-time systems onto a single platform. Multiprocessor hierarchical scheduling techniques provide the ground for composing real-time components, while guaranteeing the timing correctness of the composed system. A considerable deal of compositional real-time systems are embedded systems that operate on battery power. In such systems, reducing the power consumption is of paramount importance to increase the system lifetime. In this paper, we present our idea on reducing the energy consumption when performing hierarchical scheduling on multiprocessors. We formulate the problem, present the model and sketch the outline of the solution. Finally, we present a number of challenges which will be addressed in our work.


The dendrites of many neurons are endowed with active mechanisms which confer them properties of excitability and enable the genesis of local dendritic spikes. In this work, we consider the propagation of dendritic spikes in a dendrite composed of a single branch. These local dendritic spikes are due to voltage dependent ion channels (i.e. sodium, calcium or NDMA spikes). Because the dendritic compartments are connected with passive conductors, dendritic spikes propagate in both sides, although with possibly different speeds. Two dendritic spikes propagating in opposite directions will cancel out when they collide as in the case of the axon because of the refractory period. We focus on an abstract description of this nonlinear behaviour which is more amenable to analysis. This description reveals a rich mathematical structure that we study through the use of applied combinatorics. This also provide an algorithm for an efficient simulation. In passing, we link this description to the famous Ulam problem opening the door for a mean field model. Whenever a dendritic spike reaches the soma, it triggers a depolarization. For simplicity, we put a spiking mechanism in the soma as a generalised integrate and fire model. We call such model, a Ball-and-Stick (BaS) neuron. We then study the large N limit of networks of N excitatory BaS neurons. Among other findings, we are able to extract the right scaling for the synaptic weights which allows to have a large N limit which we derive. Numerical simulations are presented for cases not covered by our mathematical results. This is one of the first work on mean field limits of networks of spiking neurons with a dendritic branch.


Even though the presence of the female prostate has been reported in many species, including humans, bats and several rodents, it has many anatomical and histological variations. There is still plentiful discussion on the biological function of this organ. Many authors state that paraurethral ducts and glands are functional and homologous to the male prostate. The use of experimental models and a better knowledge of the female prostate gland in other species, can be useful to veterinary medicine as well as human medicine. Therefore the aim of this study is to check for the presence of this gland in female dogs of various breeds and age. For that purpose 25 urethras, from the bladder to the vulva, were collected, fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin, routinely processed and sectioned into 4 slides of 4 μm, each with 40 μm gap between each set of 4 slides, using an automatic microtome and stained with Hematoxylin and Eosine (HE). The HE sections were evaluated for the presence of prostatic gland in the sample. Unstained tissue sections cut from paraffin blocks were marked with a polyclonal anti-PSA primary antibody. The prevalence of the gland was 32% (8/25). The structure of the paraurethral PSA-positive gland was acinar, organized in buds, with secretory epithelium varying from cubic to columnar; eccentric nuclei, with lose chromatin and a layer of basal cells, very similar to the male prostate were observed. In view of these characteristics, for the first time in the literature, was demonstrate that those glands may be considered as female prostate in dogs, as they are in other vertebrates.


INTRODUCTION
Obesity is a chronic disease whose prevalence is increasing up to be considered a real epidemic. In the case of morbid obesity, in many cases required to resort to surgery to achieve adequate weight reduction and improvement of comorbidities. There are, however, few studies have evaluated the influence of a structured program of physical exercise in these patients before surgery.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the influence of a structured program of physical exercise in morbidly obese patients awaiting bariatric surgery.

METHOD
Prospective intervention study in 10 patients (6 women and 4 men) morbidly obese bariatric surgery pending of 47.1 ± 4.6 years. Structured exercise program for 2 months (16 sessions) along with "food education". It was assessed before and after intervention anthropometric and body composition by bioelectrical impedance, fitness, food habits survey, physical activity, quality of life and satisfaction with the program.

RESULTS
Weight loss achieved after the program was 5.17 ± 4.01 kg and BMI of 1.77. There was also a favorable change in body composition with 1.77% increase of muscle mass and decrease of 2.83% and 1.43% in total fat mass and visceral, respectively. The distance traveled as an expression of the physical condition of the subjects improved significantly going from 586.72 ± 82.8 m to 625.59 ± 78.2 m. No significant differences in the assessment of quality of life, adherence to the program was 75% and the degree of satisfaction with it was very high.

CONCLUSIONS
A structured program of physical exercise in morbidly obese patients awaiting bariatric surgery helps in reducing weight and improving body composition while increasing fitness and is well accepted by patients, so it can be a part of the multidisciplinary approach to this disease.


Oxide deposition followed by high-temperature annealing in N2O has been investigated to improve the quality of 4H-SiC MOS structures. Annealing of deposited oxides in N2O at 1300oC significantly enhances the breakdown strength and decreases the interface state density to 3x1011 cm-2eV-1 at EC – 0.2 eV. As a result, high channel mobility of 34 cm2/Vs and 52 cm2/Vs has been attained for inversion-type MOSFETs fabricated on 4H-SiC(0001)Si and (000-1)C faces, respectively. The channel mobility shows a maximum when the increase of oxide thickness during N2O annealing is approximately 5 nm. A lateral RESURF MOSFET with gate oxides formed by the proposed process has blocked 1450 V and showed a low on-resistance of 75 mcm2, which is one of the best performances among lateral SiC MOSFETs reported.


Adult Polycystic Liver Disease (APLD) is a rare affection characterized by multiple cystic lesions of the liver. It may be associated with kidney cysts too and is frequently diagnosed accidentally in images studies as a non symptomatic condition. However, some patients can develop symptoms due to mass effect of multiple and big sized cyst such as abdominal pain, gastric compression, palpable mass and biliary obstruction1,2 Surgical treatment is the only option available in order to resolve those symptoms and could varies from minimally-invasive surgery to liver transplantation. Once diagnosis is made, surgical strategy and timing to operation can be a challenging situation3,4,5.


This paper constructs a general equilibrium model with two types of people where asset price fluctuations are caused by random shocks to the price level that reallocate consumption across generations. In this model, asset prices are volatile, and price-earnings ratios are persistent, even though there is no fundamental uncertainty and financial markets are sequentially complete. I show that the model can explain a substantial risk premium while generating smooth time series for consumption and financial assets across types. In my model, asset price fluctuations are Pareto inefficient and there is a role for treasury or central bank intervention to stabilize asset prices.


The right to Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources (PSNR) emerged in the era of decolonization. As a reaction to the irresponsible exploitation of their natural resources by colonial powers, the peoples under colonial rule and the newly independent developing states asserted the right to control and dispose of their own natural resources. The UN General Assembly recognized and reinforced their claims by adopting series of resolutions relating to the right of PSNR so as to facilitate the process of decolonization. However, the subjects of the right to PSNR has expanded to include 'all peoples' due to legal developments in international law pertaining to the right to self-determination of peoples and other human rights standards. This article explores the contemporary application of the right to PSNR to indigenous peoples, by virtue of their being of 'peoples', tracing the various developments in the international law of indigenous peoples since the inception of the right in the 1950s.


The Latin square completion (LSC) problem is an important NP-complete problem with numerous applications. Given its theoretical and practical importance, several algorithms are designed for solving the LSC problem. In this work, to further improve the performance, a fast local search algorithm is developed based on three main ideas. Firstly, a reduction reasoning technique is used to reduce the scale of search space. Secondly, we propose a novel conflict value selection heuristic, which considers the history conflicting information of vertices as a selection criterion when more than one vertex have equal values on the primary scoring function. Thirdly, during the search phase, we record previous history search information and then make use of these information to restart the candidate solution. Experimental results show that our proposed algorithm significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art heuristic algorithms on almost all instances in terms of success rate and run time.


Author presents his views on the past and present problems of public health. Special attention is given to the differences in public health goals of industrialized and developing countries.


Background: The Canadian CT Head Rule was developed to allow physicians to be more selective when ordering computed tomography (CT) imaging for patients with minor head injury. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing this validated decision rule at multiple emergency departments. Methods: We conducted a matched-pair cluster-randomized trial that compared the outcomes of 4531 patients with minor head injury during two 12-month periods (before and after) at hospital emergency departments in Canada, six of which were randomly allocated as intervention sites and six as control sites. At the intervention sites, active strategies, including education, changes to policy and real-time reminders on radiologic requisitions were used to implement the Canadian CT Head Rule. The main outcome measure was referral for CT scan of the head. Results: Baseline characteristics of patients were similar when comparing control to intervention sites. At the intervention sites, the proportion of patients referred for CT imaging increased from the "before" period (62.8%) to the "after" period (76.2%) (difference +13.3%, 95% CI 9.7%–17.0%). At the control sites, the proportion of CT imaging usage also increased, from 67.5% to 74.1% (difference +6.7%, 95% CI 2.6%–10.8%). The change in mean imaging rates from the "before" period to the "after" period for intervention versus control hospitals was not significant (p = 0.16). There were no missed brain injuries or adverse outcomes. Interpretation: Our knowledge–translation-based trial of the Canadian CT Head Rule did not reduce rates of CT imaging in Canadian emergency departments. Future studies should identify strategies to deal with barriers to implementation of this decision rule and explore more effective approaches to knowledge translation. (ClinicalTrials.gov trial register no. NCT00993252)


BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to characterize cardiac reactivity measures, heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV), following acute intravenous (IV) alcohol administration and their association with subjective responses in social drinkers.

METHODS
Twenty-four subjects (11 females) received IV alcohol infusions to attain and clamp the breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) at 50 mg% or placebo in separate sessions. Serial 5-minute cardiac recordings at baseline and during the infusion were analyzed to obtain frequency and time domain cardiac measures. Self-reported subjective perceptions were also obtained at the same time points.

RESULTS
HR showed significant decreases from baseline, while the HRV measure pNN50 showed steady increases during the ascending phase of alcohol infusion. HR was inversely correlated with pNN50 across time and treatment. There was a significant association of HR with subjective feelings of high, intoxication, feeling drug effects, and liking drug effects across time during the ascending phase.

CONCLUSIONS
Acute IV alcohol resulted in decreases in HR and increases in HRV consistent with autonomic parasympathetic activation. The association of these changes with subjective responses suggests that cardiac reactivity may serve as a physiological marker of subjective alcohol effects. This study broadens the understanding of acute cardiovascular effects of alcohol and clinically significant cardiac conditions such as arrhythmia and cardiomyopathy associated with chronic alcohol drinking.


The issue of identification is the major factor in an enrichment program to gifted students, because it determines which students will be attended and the criteria used in the identification process. The objective was to develop a method capable of providing a probabilistic interpretation to identify talented students from Renzullis three rings conception. This research can be defined as quantitative, cross-sectional and correlational, which seeks to establish relationships between the concepts involved in defining giftedness. The methodological approach followed to address the issue of study is: (a) analysis of the different conceptualizations of giftedness, (b) analysis of the various processes of identifying gifted students, (c) reflection on the use of probability in science and (d) development of a mathematical procedure in order to identify gifted students. The identification of gifted students is a challenging task because of the controversy over the definition of Giftedness and its suitability to the school context under study, the subjectivity of some identification methods and the limitations of psychometric tests. The probabilistic interpretation proposed in this work agrees with this view that giftedness is not absolute and is an attempt to minimize the subjective aspects of identification processes. At the same time, due to the tendency of adopting multiple criteria to identify gifted students, the method of Propellers satisfies the need to consider the correlation between the scores obtained by students. Thus, this research presents a new way of evaluating the data obtained in the traditional processes of identifying gifted students. A pilot study was conducted and found that students with equivalent values of the mean of the scores from the identification process had different values of CTC and types of giftedness. The correct interpretation of the parameters proposed must necessarily lead school administrators to work with uncertainty. A student with a CTC value higher than another student is not necessarily more talented. This uncertainty should serve to promote discussion and reflection on how many and which students should be selected to care programs, and the same influence on the structuring of these.%%%%A questao da identificacao e um dos fatores mais importantes em um programa de atendimento especializado aos alunos talentosos, pois determina quais alunos serao atendidos e os criterios utilizados no processo seletivo. O objetivo foi desenvolver um metodo1 capaz de proporcionar uma interpretacao probabilistica para a identificacao de alunos talentosos a partir do modelo dos tres aneis de Renzulli. Essa pesquisa pode ser definida como quantitativa, transversal e correlacional, na qual busca-se estabelecer relacoes entre os conceitos envolvidos na definicao de Altas Habilidades/Superdotacao. O percurso metodologico trilhado para contemplar o problema de estudo e: (a) analise das diferentes conceituacoes de Altas Habilidades/Superdotacao; (b) analise dos diversos processos de identificacao de…


The labor market in developing countries is remarkably heterogeneous with a small productive formal sector, enjoying high wages and attractive employment conditions and another large informal sector with low productivity and volatile wages. The informal sector is particularly diverse. In this paper we examine the heterogeneity of the informal sector at regional level in Colombia. In general, our findings suggest that, both voluntary and involuntary informal employment co-exist by choice and as a result of labor market segmentation. We also find that there are striking differences in labor market characteristics between cities, in particular in the traditional informal segment.


Abstract Objectives Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an important immunomodulatory cytokine. The association between IL-10 promoter gene polymorphisms and acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) risk is established; however, results of these studies remain inconclusive. We performed a meta-analysis to clarify the effects of IL-10 promoter gene polymorphisms on aGVHD risk. Methods The authors searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases. Two independent authors extracted data, and the effects were estimated from an odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses identified sources of heterogeneity. Results Finally, a total of 11 studies encompassing 3588 recipients and 3221 donors were included to study IL-10 -1082 G > A, -819 C > T, and -592 C > A polymorphisms. IL-10 -819 CC genotype was associated with an increased aGVHD risk (grade I–IV: OR, 2.722 (95% CI, 1.360–5.450); grade II–IV: OR, 2.265 (95% CI, 1.015–5.053)). Furthermore, patients who received grafts from donors with an IL-10 -819 CC genotype experienced more frequent grade I–IV aGVHD (OR, 2.306 (95% CI, 1.168–4.551)). Recipients with IL-10 -592 CC genotypes were at increased risk for grade II–IV aGVHD (OR, 1.999 (95% CI, 1.230–3.250)). Together, this meta-analysis found that IL-10 -819 CC and -592 CC polymorphisms increased aGVHD risk. Discussion and Conclusion This meta-analysis found the evidence that the IL-10 -819 CC and -592 CC genotypes in both recipients and donors increased the risk of aGVHD in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients. These results contribute towards improving patient outcome through insight and rationale for individualized treatment strategies considering genetic determinants.


In the first paper of this series (Holttum, 1969) I gave a brief summary of taxonomic treatment of the family Thelypteridaceae in the present century, and stated that in my judgement no satisfactory subdivision of the family, as represented in the tropics of the Old World, had yet been achieved, the arrangements of Ching (1963) and Iwatsuki (1964) being in part inadequate because the authors were not sufficiently acquainted with the majority of species in the Malayan region and in the Pacific, which far outnumber those of mainland Asia. I have been attempting a complete survey of all species of Asia, Malesia, and the Pacific, and it has become evident to me that a study of a wider range of characters than those used in most taxonomic species-descriptions is necessary in order to distinguish individual species clearly, and in order to provide data on which the delimitation of natural species-groups can be based. Therefore an essential preliminary is a detailed study of the morphology of the type-species of genera already proposed, as these species control the application of generic names. Such a study should indicate the nature of the differences between the species which by accident have become the types of genera, and will also provide standards against which the distinctive character-combinations found in newly recognized species-groups may be judged. The most- important generic names for the Old World tropics are Thelypteris, Cyclosorus, and Ampelopteris; in connection with the last-named, its resemblance to tropical American species included in Goniopteris Pr. (as re-defined by Christensen) necessitates a detailed examination also of at least one species of that genus.


External solar shading devices can substantially reduce the cooling load of buildings and large energy savings can be achieved. Hence, intercepting the radiant heat wave before penetrating to the internal environment through envelope openings is the main criterion in designing solar shading. In hot and humid climate, one draw back of using shading devices is the risk to reduce daylight level thus increases in use of artificial lighting. Therefore it is important to understand the magnitude of energy consumption for cooling and lighting when shading devices are adapted in order to analyze optimum shading as energy conservation option in high-rise office buildings. In other words, little is known about the relationship between energy use and external horizontal shading device geometry. In an attempt to elucidate these complex relationships, a simple experiment of an office room is carried out using dynamic computer simulation program eQUEST- 3 (DOE 2.2). The study indicated depth of the external horizontal overhang can be manipulated to obtain an optimum energy use in high-rise buildings. The results showed that correlation between overhang depth and energy is an important aspect compared to correlation between overhang depth with building cooling loads and daylight level, especially in tropical climate conditions.


The paper describes the MilaNLP team's submission (Bocconi University, Milan) in the WASSA 2021 Shared Task on Empathy Detection and Emotion Classification. We focus on Track 2 - Emotion Classification - which consists of predicting the emotion of reactions to English news stories at the essay-level. We test different models based on multi-task and multi-input frameworks. The goal was to better exploit all the correlated information given in the data set. We find, though, that empathy as an auxiliary task in multi-task learning and demographic attributes as additional input provide worse performance with respect to single-task learning. While the result is competitive in terms of the competition, our results suggest that emotion and empathy are not related tasks - at least for the purpose of prediction.