Several membrane proteins are preferentially partitioned in lipid microdomains called rafts. The hypothesis of an intimate relationship between proteins and their specific raft environment is nowadays widely accepted. Indeed, the raft–protein cross-talk would influence protein activity and trafficking either by specific lipid–protein interactions or changes in physico-chemical properties of the bilayer. Although lipid rafts used to be simply considered membrane patches enriched in sphingolipids, cholesterol, and saturated phosphocholine derivatives, the optimization of extraction procedures and recent lipidomic analyses challenged this established concept, highlighting a significant presence of phosphatidylethanolamine species. Relying on this evidence, we devised a generic coarse-grained raft-like model containing di-stearoyl phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and palmitoyl-oleoyl phosphatidylethanolamine species. The model was validated against available experimental data by studying the lipid mixture at different molar ratios through extended molecular dynamics simulations. The agreement of structural and dynamical properties with those of a liquid-ordered crystalline phase suggests that our model can represent a reliable lipid environment especially suited for computational studies aimed at unraveling raft–protein functional interactions.


AIM
To study histological, clinical features and prognosis in patients with fatty hepatosis (FH) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Clinical and laboratory data on 74 patients with FH of non-alcoholic origin were studied. All the patients have undergone puncture biopsy of the liver (a total of 91 biopsies). Patients with fatty dystrophy of the first, second and third degree and fibrosis of the first and second degree entered the group of fatty hepatosis without inflammation (group 1, n = 54), patients with fatty dystrophy of the second and third degree and fibrosis of the third degree were assigned to group 2 (n = 20), i.e. to the group of FH with inflammation. The latter group by modern histological characteristics belongs to NASH.

RESULTS
Functional disorders of the liver were insignificant, urobilinogenuria, delayed retention of bromsulphalein, hypertriglyceridemia were observed. AlAT activity was insignificantly elevated in FH patients. It was elevated 1.5-2.5-fold in NASH, the activity of AsAT, gamma-GTP was high in half of the patients. NASH has no specific clinico-biochemical signs and its diagnosis is based on the data of puncture biopsy of the liver. Long-term follow-up of 42 patients with FH and NASH discovered stabilization of the process in 34 patients. Cirrhosis of the liver occurred in 5 patients. Repeated biopsies established association of fatty dystrophy with developing micronodular cirrhosis.

CONCLUSION
NASH is an independent disease. This should be taken into consideration in differential diagnosis in patients with a stable rise of serum activity of AlAT and AsAT, especially in obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia. The diagnosis is verified at biopsy of the liver. In spite of scare symptoms, long-term follow-up detects progression of the disease in more than 1/3 of the patients. Cirrhosis arose in 1/6 of the patients. Standard NASH treatment is absent, though elimination of the provoking factors, therapy with antioxidant drugs and ursodesoxycholic acid produce a favourable effect.


Most Apicomplexan are obligate intracellular parasites and at different steps of their life cycle they invade host cells. The invasive forms are generally called zoites and the majority of them largely depend on a unique form of gliding motility to invade cells. Although the parasite intracellular motor complex that drives gliding motility and/or invasion is shared across different parasite stages and species, the extracellular transmembrane adhesins required to recognize and bind host molecules are not only species- but also stage-specific (even if homologues). This is not such a surprise as different parasite stages interact with different hosts or distinct host cells. In this issue, Siden-Kiamos et al. shows that specificity extends into the parasite cell, affecting how motility is regulated. Why is specificity occurring at this level? And how important is it? These are critical issues that will be hopefully addressed in the near future.


This study of flow just beyond a breakaway-separation point presents a description of planar nonlinear unsteady effects over a fairly wide parameter range, for a subsonic or supersonic boundary layer at large Reynolds numbers. The inviscid model thus produced essentially contains a vortex sheet near the smooth solid surface, with local inner–outer interaction. The governing equations couple the eddy velocity and pressure with the thicknesses of the detached boundary layer and the eddy. The computational method presented here uses a new adaptive gridding technique intended to capture accurately the spiky solution behaviour that develops and to compare with theory. Analysis and computations point to a breakup in the solution, suggesting an explanation for the start of transition and possible turbulent reattachment as found experimentally. The influence of the detached boundary-layer thickness proves crucial. The type of finite-time breakup encountered is studied analytically and the criterion for its occurrence is highlighted. This is guided by a characteristic analysis for a special case. The finite-time breakup is similar in spirit to, although different in detail from, a nonlinear breakup proposed earlier by one of the authors for general unsteady interactive boundary layers and it suggests a wide application of that nonlinear breakup theory and its criterion. Comparisons between computations and theory are found to be supportive.


Under mild conditions, trihydridosilanes interact with a variety of clean, hydrogenated and fresh metal and metalloid surfaces, including titanium, silicon and gold. In contrast, monohydridosilanes appear to have minimal interaction. All classes of hydridosilanes have minimal interaction with anhydrous oxide surfaces. Preliminary results suggest that surface modification with trihydridosilanes may provide a route for generating self-assembled monolayers on metal substrates. The synthesis of new trihydridosilanes is described. Contact angle, FTIR and XPS data for modified surfaces are provided.


Loess sediments are windblown silt deposits with, in general, a carbonate grain content of up to 30%. While regionally, loess was reported to increase weathering fluxes substantially, the influence on global weathering fluxes remains unknown. Especially on glacial‐interglacial time scales, loess weathering fluxes might have contributed to land‐ocean alkalinity flux variability since the loess areal extent during glacial epochs was larger. To quantify loess weathering fluxes, global maps representing the loess distribution were compiled. Water chemistry of rivers draining recent loess deposits suggests that loess contributes over‐proportionally to alkalinity concentrations if compared to the mean of alkalinity concentrations of global rivers (~4,110 µeq L−1 for rivers draining loess deposits and ~1,850 µeq L−1 for the total of global rivers), showing comparable alkalinity concentration patterns in rivers as found for carbonate sedimentary rocks. Loess deposits, covering ~4% of the ice‐ and water‐free land area, increase calculated global alkalinity fluxes to the coastal zone by 16%. The new calculations lead to estimating a 4% higher global alkalinity flux during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) compared to present fluxes. The effect of loess on that comparison is high. Alkalinity fluxes from silicate‐dominated lithological classes were ~28% and ~30% lower during the LGM than recent (with loess and without loess, respectively), and elevated alkalinity fluxes from loess deposits compensated for this. Enhanced loess weathering dampens due to a legacy effect changes in silicate‐dominated lithologies over the glacial‐interglacial time scale.


Here I describe a new genus, Iviephengus gen. nov., based on a single species, Iviephengus ferreirai gen. et sp. nov., from Peru. This new genus is characterized by the following combination of characters: interantennal distance close to 3 × the antennal socket length; antenna 12-segmented, IV to XI each with two long symmetrical compressed and apically slightly enlarged branches; labrum fused to frontoclypeus; mandibles short, obliquely crossed, each with a notch on the external margin to fit the other mandible and without extra teeth; maxillary palpi 4-segmented, last segment digitiform; labial palpi 2-segmented; posterior tentorial pit consisting of a single small fossa; wing with radial cell closed and transverse, vein r4 interrupted, r3 absent; first tarsomere of pro- and mesotarsus with a ventral comb covering the posterior half of the tarsomere; claws simple, without any teeth; aedeagus with paramere symmetrical, apex unevenly round, toothed inward, with short and sparse bristles. I provide a key to Mastinocerinae genera with 12-segmented antennae and the first pro- and mesotarsomere with ventral combs. I also provide illustrations for the diagnostic features for this new genus. Finally, I discuss the presence and function of some modifications in the mandible and the sternite VIII in Phengodidae and other Coleopteran families.


This study used a moderator model to examine the relationship between active living and the physical components of health-related quality of life [i.e. overall physical component of quality of life (PQOL), physical functioning and ability to fulfill physical role] among a randomly selected sample of rural residents (n = 407) from the Midwestern US. Results showed that active living was associated with greater increases in health-related quality of life for those reporting lower income. The effect size of the relationship between active living and the PQOL for the low-income group was over 2 times the effect size for the high-income group. For physical functioning, the effect size of active living for the low-income group was greater than 3 times the effect size for the high-income group. Although active living behaviors have been demonstrated to be less prevalent among those of low socioeconomic status, this group may have the most to gain from these activities. Findings highlight the need for increased and specifically targeted promotion of active living interventions.


Abstract:This article assesses the state of democracy in South Africa, twenty-five years after Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) came to power. The ANC won its sixth straight election in 2019, led by presidential candidate Cyril Ramaphosa. Yet the party faced a strengthened challenge from the populist left, and the 2019 contest saw the smallest ANC majority and the lowest turnout of any general election since the end of apartheid. This article argues that the most fundamental test for South Africa's democracy has been dislodging the corrupt networks of "state capture" entrenched under former president Jacob Zuma. Civil society, opposition parties, accountability agencies, and the ANC itself succeeded in removing Zuma before the end of his term, but the task of rebuilding public trust remains.


In this paper, we extend previous results for a novel internal model-based tracking control with a class of known LTV plant models driven by LTI exosystems to uncertain LTI plant models driven by LTV exosystems. The augmented time-varying system to be stabilized becomes uncertain. Moreover, the time-varying fashion under consideration renders the augmented uncertain system linear parameter-varying (LPV). By means of an output-feedback gain-scheduling design, the augmented uncertain LTV system is stabilized. Simulation results illustrate the proposed design method.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


This paper will look at the definition of a "data controller" within the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and consider whether the phenomenom of social networking (through Facebook (FB), MySpace and Bebo) has produced unintended consequences in the interpretation and application of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC to the online environment. The Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC defines a "data controller" broadly to refer to the 'natural or legal person, public authority, agency or any other body which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of processing are determined by national or Community laws or regulations, the controller or the specific criteria for his nomination may be designated by national or Community law.' If the definition of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (DPD) is applied literally to social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, arguably, not only organisations such as FB and MySpace are regarded as "data controllers" (through Art. 4 of the DPD), but individuals who posted information about others (friends or work colleagues etc.) would also be regarded as "data controllers" and thus have to adhere to the legal rules laid down under the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (ie. Art. 7 of the DPD fair and lawful processing; not excessive etc) unless it could be shown that the exemptions under Art. 9 that processing was intended for journalistic, artistic and literary purposes or that Art. 13 exceptions apply. As identified in an earlier paper, Art. 3.2 DPD (Wong and Savirimuthu, Art. 3(2) All or Nothing: This is the Question? The Application of Art. 3(2) Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC to the Internet) is unlikely to apply whereby processing was carried out for private and domestic purposes. This paper is an attempt to address a definitional difficulty that the legislatures did not anticipate. In attempting to protect the privacy of individuals, it is now possible to argue that it is becoming easier for individuals (and not merely organisations) to be brought within the scope of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC in a social networking environment.


This paper presents an agent-based software environment for testing Web-based applications. The infrastructure of the system consists of a light weight agent platform that supports agent communication, an ontology of software testing that enables flexible integration of multiple agents, and a formalism using XML to represent both the basic and compound concepts of the ontology. Relations between testing concepts are defined and their properties are analysed. A number of agents are implemented to perform various tasks in testing Web-based applications. Broker agents use the ontology as a means of inferences to manage the knowledge about agents and assign each task to the most appropriate agent.


Corrosion engineers take Nondestructive Testing (NDT) measurements at height as a method of determining the condition of Oil & Gas and other assets such as flare stacks, boilers, above ground storage and pressure vessels, piping and more. To do this at elevation currently the engineer may need to utilize a lift, scaffolding, ladders, or ropework or even inspection trucks with elevated baskets, sometimes cranes or even specialty access such as rigging catwalks, or other solutions. The engineer will often hold a handheld digital testing device to the asset to take the measurements in these scenarios. While NDT inspection programs can dramatically increase the safety and integrity of infrastructure, industrial and manufacturing assets, access requirements in performing these inspections at elevation introduces risk. NDT inspection sites often require access to elevated areas and require the use of personal fall protection equipment (safety harness and lanyard). Working at height is dangerous, due to the possibility of falls, as well as being time-consuming due to access. In certain instances, it may also require taking an asset, such as a flare stack or chimney stack, offline to allow it to cool so it can be accessed to take NDT readings.
 Utilizing an aerial robotics platform that makes contact with a surface in order to gather NDT measurements such as Dry Film Thickness (DFT), Surface Profile (SP), or Ultrasonic Thickness (UT) allows workers to remain safely on the ground. Since there is no need to move a lift, scaffolding or ladders and minimal movements required by the corrosion engineer or the robotic operator, the NDT measurement process can be faster in addition to being safer. Further, since the aerial robotic system (drone) contains onboard computers and sensors it is able to capture a lot of data during the exercise of an NDT inspection regime.
 Use of these aerial robotic NDT systems in offshore and marine environments carries unique challenges and operational variables. The Aerial Robotic System described in this paper afford safer, cheaper, and better NDT measurements and allow a more robust viewpoint into assets conditions than the slower and more expensive manual method. While early adopters in the offshore Oil & Gas and maritime industry stand to gain the most from implementing these systems they are also assuming the most risk until the systems become an industrial standard.


This paper finds that OM's 'one-size-fits-all' characterization of professional services, namely high levels of customer engagement, extensive customization, knowledge intensity, and low levels of capital intensity, does not hold when carrying out a 'deep dive' (to the best of our knowledge, a first in this area of OM) into consultancy in the US travel, tourism, and hospitality sector. We analyse mixed-method data (semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and a best-worst choice experimental survey) and observe that consultancy can actually be quite remote and passive and that any periods of face-to-face 'engagement' will typically be time limited and focused on specific project phases. Moreover, and further confirming the value of a study that allowed us to investigate professional service operations in a specific market context, our data suggest this may often be at the behest of the client. The significant variation observed in levels of customization we interpret as confirming Maister's (1993) notion of a portfolio of brains , grey hair , and procedural work. We also observed relatively high levels of capital intensity; reflecting perhaps the vintage of most OM characterizations and the dramatic ICT-related changes that have occurred in all business operations in the last 20 years. The work also demonstrates the necessity of a more contingent perspective on PSOM. We assess the impact of both firm (scale, specialization) and individual level (leverage) characteristics to demonstrate significant variation within what might be expected to be a relatively homogenous group of professional service operations. For example, investigating the effects of specialization (via a typology of consulting operations: super-specialists, generalists, deep knowledge traders, deep market knowledge traders) revealed that relative degree of interaction may be dependent upon degree of expertise, such that it was the super-specialists in our sample that spent less time with clients and the more generalist firms who were complementing their limited expert status with high levels of interaction (networking, etc.).


Summary

This paper combines nationally representative household survey data from Zambia in 2006, with detailed, spatially disaggregated, price data, to simulate the likely welfare impacts of the prices changes arising from the food, fuel and financial crises between 2006 and 2009. We find that urban households, particularly the poorest, were very hard hit by both the rises in food prices in 2008 and in non-food prices in 2009. However, agricultural households in rural areas generally benefited from the food price rises. The key determinant of impact was whether a household is a net producer or a net consumer of food. Our results are robust to a wide range of assumptions about wage changes over the period. However, the poor quality of data on wages and non-farm business income make it impossible to provide a definitive account of welfare changes.


Ophiopholis aculeata, a suspension feeding brittle star, is capable of removing artificial particles from seawater by some mechanism or mechanisms other than sieving; the animal can capture a finite proportion of particles in all size classes available from at least 30 to 360 micrometers in diameter. A marked shift in the size distribution of particles caught by the animal toward larger particle sizes agrees with predictions derived from aerosol filtration theory. Adhesion of particles to the tube feet is strongly dependent on the presence of fixed charged groups on the surface of the particles.


Returnee entrepreneurs are individuals who return to their home country to start a new venture after studying or working abroad. Such individuals are argued to be key agents of growth and innovation in emerging economies. Hence, they have attracted interest from policy-makers and scholars. Our work systematically reviews and thematically analyzes the growing but still fragmented research stream on returnee entrepreneurs. Our work identifies, examines and synthesizes this theoretically, methodologically and thematically diverse research stream by inductively categorizing it into themes and thematic areas. Based on the findings, we provide a conceptual mapping of the phenomenon and discuss promising research opportunities that address a range of key questions pertaining to returnee entrepreneurs and their importance in emerging economies. We provide a comprehensive inventory, organization and evaluation of the research stream offering guidance for the design and positioning of future scholarly enquiry in this field. Our detailed discussion of theoretical lenses and research designs also extends to potential contributions to adjacent fields and underlying theories, that is, well beyond the specific domain of returnee entrepreneurship.


The aim of this research is to determine the effect of teaching learning method and students writing interest on their poetry
writing ability at Indonesia Language and Literature Education Study Program of UHAMKA. The research method used is experiment
with factorial design 2x2 two ways ANOVA and the research subject was divided into 2 groups which was done randomly, they are the experiment class and the control class. The population of the research areall students of the Indonesia language and literature education study program, however the population can be reached on this research is students of the fifth semester which consists of 4 parallel classes. The technique used to get the sample is multi stage sampling by following these steps: firstly, deciding students of
semester V in 2015-2016 academic year as the purposive sampling. Then, deciding one class as experimental class (Collaborative
Method) and the other class as the control class (Individual Method).Based on the findings, the research yields that (1) there was a significant difference in students' writing ability on poetry, students who studied using collaborative method is higher than those who studied individual method.(2) The students' ability on Poetry writing who have higher writing interest and studied with collaborative method are higher than those who studied using individual method. (3) In average the students' ability on writing poetry who has low
interestand studied with collaborative method is lower than those who studied with individual method. (4) There was an influence of interaction between collaborative method and individual method with high and low intereston the students' ability in poetry writing.


The success of development programs depends on the role of underlying institutions and the impact synergies from closely related programs. Existing literature has limitations in accounting for these critical factors. This paper fills this gap by developing a methodology, which can quantify both the institutional roles in impact generation and the impact synergies from related programs. The methodology is applied to the Kala Oya Basin in Sri Lanka for evaluating the impacts of three development programs and 11 institutions on food security. The results provide valuable insights on the relative roles of institutions and the varying flow of impact synergies both within and across impact pathways.


This article presents a microservice-based development approach, MSDeveloper (Microservices Developer), employing variability management for product configuration through a low-code development environment. The purpose of this approach is to offer a general-purpose environment for the easier development of families of products for different domains: a domain-oriented development environment is suggested, where domain developers and product developers can utilize the environment as a software ecosystem. Thus, genericity is offered through supporting different domains. A domain is populated with feature and process models and microservices in a layered architecture. Feature models drive the product configuration, which affects the process model and the microservice layer. An experimental study was conducted to validate the applicability of the approach and the usability of the development environment. Students from different courses were assigned system modeling projects where they utilized helper tools supporting the provided methodology. Furthermore, professional software developers were consulted about this recommended domain-oriented development environment. Feedback from student projects and professionals' remarks are analyzed and discussed.


The role of data analytics increases in several application domains to cope with the large amount of captured data. Generally, data analytics are data-intensive processes, whose efficient execution is a challenging task. Each process consists of a collection of related structured activities, where huge data sets have to be exchanged between several loosely coupled services. The implementation of such processes in a service-oriented environment offers some advantages, but the efficient realization of data flows is difficult. Therefore, we use this paper to propose a novel SOA-aware approach with a special focus on the data flow. The tight interaction of new cloud technologies with SOA technologies enables us to optimize the execution of data-intensive service applications by reducing the data exchange tasks to a minimum. Fundamentally, our core concept to optimize the data flows is found in data clouds. Moreover, we can exploit our approach to derive efficient process execution strategies regarding different optimization objectives for the data flows.


Osler-Rendu-Weber syndrome also known as hereditary hemorrhagic telangectasiea (HHT) is an autosomal dominant vascular disorder. The pathogenesis of this disorder involves dilated post- capillary venules in the mucus membranes of different organs and large arteriovenous malformations. Gastrointestinal hemorrhages contribute to iron deficiency anemia in one third of these patients. Port wine stains belong to the family of arteriovenous disorders. These are due to abnormally dilated capillaries and produce reddish or pink discoloration of the skin. These are present at birth and increase in size during the growth period. No association has so far been reported between port wine stains and hereditary hemorrhagic telangectasiea. We report a case of 41 years old lady presenting with co- existence of these two lesions.


The prevalence of breastfeeding has increased over the past two decades in Brazil, as a result of public breastfeeding policies. The scope of this paper is to analyze the correlation between the increase in the prevalence of breastfeeding and hospitalization rates due to diarrhea. It is an epidemiological ecological study, based on secondary data from Brazilian Capital Cities and the Federal District. The prevalence of breastfeeding, the number of live births, and cases of hospitalization due to diarrhea were compared for the years 1999 and 2008 and the Spearman non-parametric test was used to correlate the variables. During the period, 1,329,618 children under one year of age in 1999 and 2008 were studied. The increase in the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding among children under 4 months old had a negative correlation with hospitalization rates due to diarrhea (Rho=-0.483, p=0.014). This correlation was stronger for girls (Rho=-0.521, p=0.008) than for boys (Rho=-0.476, p=0.016). The increase in the prevalence of breastfeeding between 1999 and 2008 appears to be correlated to a reduction in hospitalization rates due to diarrhea over the same period, corroborating the importance of public policies to protect, support and promote breastfeeding.


The need for compact, fast, low-noise front-end electronics in high resolution positron emission tomography (PET) has prompted this effort to design a preamplifier suitable for avalanche photodiode-based scintillation detectors. Due to the small signals from the detectors (< .03 pC/MeV), a preamplifier with ultra-low noise performance in the 5 to 20 MHz range is essential to achieve the timing resolution required by the PET application. Out of many available technologies, a new third generation MOSFET wqas selected and implemented as input transistor in an original charge sensitive (CSP) design. Performance among the best reported to date are obtained. The new design was implemented as a dual-channel preamplifier in high density hybrid (thick film) technology.


The various childhood problems that are often subsumed under the heading of "hyperactivity" occur in various combinations and, apparently, for various reasons. The designation does not define a homogeneous group of children, does not consistently point to a common cause, and has treatment implications only in the sense that multiple simultaneous approaches must typically be considered. Stimulant drugs, which seem frequently to be used for control of so-called hyperactivity, are an inadequate treatment when used alone, have a number of poorly studied effects, some of which are apparently negative, and may obscure problems other than the hyperactivity itself, which then may be ignored. There is some evidence now available that classroom learning does not improve with drug treatment despite common assumptions to the contrary.


This paper reports on experimental and modeling activities aimed to identify E(I, T) characteristics of commercial YBCO high-temperature superconductor coated conductors (HTS-CCs). The aforesaid approach is applied to investigate the HTS-CCs behavior in the different regimes: superconducting state, flux-creep, flux-flow, and normal state. In order to thoroughly represent the HTS-CCs behavior, parameterized analytical formulations of E(I, T) characteristics have been assumed and then validated through fitting methodologies. Numerical calculation of the electric field as a function of the temperature and of the current density in the HTS-CC, is fundamental to the development of models suitable to design devices based on HTS-CCs. In fact it allows improving the dedicated-software calculation accuracy. This is particularly important for the simulation of superconducting fault current limiter behavior against short-circuits and/or overloads events, because during the superconducting fault current limiter limitation, the HTS-CCs performance strongly depends on the different above-mentioned regimes. As matter of fact, numerical simulations are somewhat simpler for high prospective currents as compared to intermediate conditions as for overload or low short-circuit currents.


Crop plants can funnel water to the soil and increase water content more in the row relative to the interrow. Because the row intercepts more soil water after rains and higher root density, the soil may also dry out more between rains than does soil in the interrow. The objectives of this study were to determine if there is a row position difference in soil wetting after rain and drying between rains, and to determine the seasonal nature of these differences. The first experiment examined soil water content 0 to 0.06 m in row, interrow, and quarter corn row positions for eight sites at specific times during a corn (Zea mays L.)-growing season. During the growing season, the second experiment examined automated soil water measurements at one site for two corn years and one soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) year at row and interrow positions to 0.15-m depth. Soil water content changes were significantly greater in the row than the interrow for some mid-season dates. Temporal soil water changes showed that row wetting and drying dominated over interrow soil water changes for mid season. The mean ratio of row/(row + interrow) soil water changes for wetting was 0.76 and 0.77 for corn and 0.64 for soybean and for drying was 0.58 and 0.84 for corn and 0.60 for soybean. Soybean showed the row effect for a shorter time of the season (up to 71 days) compared with corn (up to 159 days).


A consistent theme of the U.S. Supreme Court's substantive due process case law over the last thirty years has been that, at a bare minimum, rights that are deeply rooted in history and tradition are constitutionally protected by the Fourteenth Amendment against state infringement. Some justices think the Fourteenth Amendment protects newer unenumerated rights as well, but all the justices including Scalia and Thomas agree that it protects unenumerated rights that are deeply rooted in history and tradition. Given this, we thought it would be valuable to do a survey of exactly what rights were protected under state constitutions in 1868 when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. We thus do a nose-count of rights protected by the thirty-seven state constitutions in 1868. We found that almost all of the rights in the federal Bill of Rights were also recognized as being fundamental rights by state constitutions in 1868. We think this finding is significant because it may suggest that the incorporation of the rights in the federal Bill of Rights on the ground that they were fundamental rights protected as a matter of Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process was correct. We found in addition that several provisions of the federal Bill of Rights that have not been incorporated arguably ought to have been incorporated. Our evidence suggests that the Seventh Amendment right to civil jury trial and the right to indictment by a Grand Jury probably ought to be incorporated. Perhaps surprisingly, the case for incorporation of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms as an individual right is a closer question.We also found that state constitutions protected a number of rights as being fundamental in 1868 that are not in the federal Bill of Rights. The most important such right is the right to a public school education, which was recognized in some form in thirty-six out of thirty-seven state constitutions in 1868. This provides new and never before published evidence of why Brown v. Board of Education was correctly decided. This finding alone is an incredibly striking one. In addition, it turns out that an Article V consensus of more than three-quarters of the state bills of rights in 1868 recognized either that there were natural law rights that were not enumerated in the state constitutions which were just as important as the enumerated rights or that the enumeration of specific rights in state constitutions ought not to be construed to deny or disparage other retained by the people. This is an exceptionally important finding because it suggests that if one looks at what rights are deeply rooted in history and tradition in state positive constitutional law in 1868, it turns out that as a matter of state positive law at that time the existence of unenumerated rights was taken for granted. This means that the whole effort of cabining substantive due process by looking at history and tradition may well be circular since history and tradition just point us back to natural law as it was understood in 1868.


ABSTRACT Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were detected by PCR amplification of DNA extracted from filtered water samples throughout the water column of Mono Lake, California. Ammonia-oxidizing members of the β subdivision of the division Proteobacteria (β-subdivisionProteobacteria) were detected using previously characterized PCR primers; target sequences were detected by direct amplification in both surface water and below the chemocline. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis indicated the presence of at least four different β-subdivision ammonia oxidizers in some samples. Subsequent sequencing of amplified 16S rDNA fragments verified the presence of sequences very similar to those of culturedNitrosomonas strains. Two separate analyses, carried out under different conditions (different reagents, locations, PCR machines, sequencers, etc.), 2 years apart, detected similar ranges of sequence diversity in these samples. It seems likely that the physiological diversity of nitrifiers exceeds the diversity of their ribosomal sequences and that these sequences represent members of theNitrosomonas europaea group that are acclimated to alkaline, high-salinity environments. Primers specific forNitrosococcus oceanus, a marine ammonia-oxidizing bacterium in the γ subdivision of the Proteobacteria, did not amplify target from any samples.


Chemical investigation of the methanol extract of the lichen Stereocaulon paschale collected in Nunavik, Canada, led to the isolation and identification of two new dibenzofurans (1 and 3) and 11 known lichen metabolites. The structures of the new compounds were established by analysis of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic and high-resolution mass spectrometric data. Herein, the first isolation of ascomatic acid dibenzofuran derivatives (1-3) from a whole lichen organism is reported. In addition, some of the isolated metabolites showed antibacterial activity against the oral pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Streptococcus mutans.


The 2008–2010 food crisis might have been a harbinger of fundamental climate-induced food crises with geopolitical implications. Heat-wave-induced yield losses in Russia and resulting export restrictions led to increases in market prices for wheat across the Middle East, likely contributing to the Arab Spring. With ongoing climate change, temperatures and temperature variability will rise, leading to higher uncertainty in yields for major nutritional crops. Here we investigate which countries are most vulnerable to teleconnected supply-shocks, i.e. where diets strongly rely on the import of wheat, maize, or rice, and where a large share of the population is living in poverty. We find that the Middle East is most sensitive to teleconnected supply shocks in wheat, Central America to supply shocks in maize, and Western Africa to supply shocks in rice. Weighing with poverty levels, Sub-Saharan Africa is most affected. Altogether, a simultaneous 10% reduction in exports of wheat, rice, and maize would reduce caloric intake of 55 million people living in poverty by about 5%. Export bans in major producing regions would put up to 200 million people below the poverty line at risk, 90% of which live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our results suggest that a region-specific combination of national increases in agricultural productivity and diversification of trade partners and diets can effectively decrease future food security risks.


This paper summarizes the barriers Green Teams in a variety of settings may face. A survey was sent to members of a Green Team project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) to obtain information on barriers faced in order to compare these barriers to other organizations and businesses barriers. This comparison was done by conducting a thematic analysis, which grouped barriers into themes. The themes were compiled and recommendations on how to overcome those barriers were made. Green Teams have many benefits including waste reduction, increased employee satisfaction, and saving the planet from further damage. This study tries to maximize these benefits by providing a resource to businesses and organizations that will allow them to prepare for possible barriers faced. Barriers found within the survey given to those at UNL were consistent with barriers found in literature, implying recommendations made can be applicable to a variety of environments. Important recommendations included getting administrative and corporate assistance, knowing obstacles, having consistent goals, spreading the word, making sustainability fun, and having prescheduled time for Green Teams to meet.


Presently, most organisations are already using e-recruitment to post jobs and accept resumes online where they also correspond with the applicants through e-mail. This paper proposes a framework for evaluating usability performance of e-recruitment websites. The evaluation mainly focuses on the Sarawak Government e-recruitment website (e-recruitment.gov.my). The usability criteria such as navigation that include hyperlinks, length of page, search engine and user location indication were assessed. Under page layout criteria, usage of colours and images, consistency and attractiveness were evaluated. The results found that these criteria are the key determinants of a successful erecruitment website. Since e-recruitment surpasses the traditional employees hiring methods, usability of the e-recruitment websites is vital to facilitate users in finding jobs effectively and efficiently.


The objective of this research is to examine processes of activity scheduling and rescheduling by experiments. Activity scheduling processes were examined by using a combination of mail surveys and telephone interviews. It was found that individuals' schedules are hardly complete. Scheduled activities take place less than 50% of all executed activities. The incompleteness suggests that activity scheduling and execution are a concurrent process and the distiction between is vague. Activities with relatively high level of fixity (e.g., work activity, educational and organizational activities) are more likely to be executed than other activities. Routine activities are no more or less likely to be scheduled than non-routine activities. Attributes of activities differ substantially between scheduling and execution. In particular, the deviation between scheduling and execution in starting time appears to be smaller than that in duration. Two suggestions may be offered: individuals may be able to schedule starting time more precisely than duration or individuals may respond to unexpected events by adjusting activity duration first. Activity rescheduling processes were examined by asking subjects to talk aloud while completing controlled in-lab scenarios. It was found that the actual rescheduling processes deviate greatly from the ideal utility maximization framework. More specifically, it was found that subjects rarely assess the overall situation before rescheduling operations; rarely evaluate multiple alternatives that are available before rescheduling operations; rarely revise previously rescheduled activities; the search for rescheduling is multi-directional, but most forward-moving; and subjects are quite efficient in the process of arriving their final revised schedules. Based on findings on activity rescheduling processes, a structure of activity rescheduling was proposed. The proposed structure adopts Hayes-Roth and Hayes-Roth's model structure of errand planning in that it consists of several independent cognitive specialists and the flow of operation is not pre-fixed. The theory of active choice set was also proposed, asserting that subjects select which activity to be rescheduled next based upon how recently this activity is assessed.


The sensors most commonly used for monitoring machine health are wired accelerometers because of their high performances and good stability. However, these transducers are usually large in size; require an external power source. Hence, there is a need for cheaper and reliable alternative for the conventional accelerometers. This thesis reports the development of a wireless accelerometer based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) inertial sensor and off-the-shelf digital RF communication modules. It is small enough to be installed on the rotating shaft of a machine. In addition, it has a high enough resolution to be used to analyse the dynamic behaviour of rotating shaft. The wireless sensor is mounted with its sensitive axis in the tangential direction with respect to the centre of the rotor. This position allows the sensor to perform high resolution tangential acceleration measurements and nullifies the centripetal acceleration. To assist in the validation of the wireless sensor, a mathematical model was derived to simulate the vibration signals from the test rig. Experimental and simulated results both confirmed the effectiveness of the wireless sensor in detecting different degrees of misalignments and unbalance of a flexible rotor system. The wireless sensor has been confirmed to possess the capability of detecting small degrees of misalignment using the spectral amplitude of the peak at 2X running speed compared to other conventional sensors (wired accelerometers, laser vibrometers). In addition, the results of the experiment and simulation have also confirmed the capacity of the wireless sensor to detect different shaft unbalance grades at 1X running speed using spectral and order magnitudes. However, the wired sensors used for comparison failed to show any clear separation of the different grades of shaft unbalance. Moreover, it has been observed that the instantaneous angular speed (IAS) derived directly from the wireless sensor correlates well with that obtained from a shaft encoder and showed the capacity to detect the main features of rotor dynamics. An advanced algorithm has been developed to remove the gravity effect. The application of the algorithm has made the IAS computed from the wireless sensor more indicative to that obtained by a shaft encoder.


Observations were carried out in the eastern part of Hungary. In this experiment we studied the nutrient supplyreaction of four apple cultivars (Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Idared and Jonathan Csany) under different Nand NPK-doses. The following fruit quality parameters were detected: fruit diameter, fruit height, fruit weight, fl esh fi rmness, colour-cover and we studied the thicket of foliage of trees. The research results showed, that N-fertilization has a great effect on fruit quality. This appears in the cases of increase of fruit largeness. The increase is proportional to N-levels. Moderate N-doses plus PK-addition had also positive effects. The nutrient supply increased vegetative area in addition to the generative parts, in particular pure N fertilizer. But the thicked foliage hindered the growth of fruit weight and colour-cover, also decreased the fruit quality. And decreased the fl esh fi rmness of cultivars, that has a negative effect on storageability.


: Oral valganciclovir is a new and highly efficacious alternative to the chronic administration of ganciclovir in the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in HIV-infected patients. In addition to its excellent bioavailability and favorable pharmacokinetic profile, valganciclovir has also proved cost effective and is the most widely used drug in the armamentarium for the treatment of CMV retinitis. Valganciclovir is a prodrug of ganciclovir, the erstwhile commonly used therapy. In March 2001, the US Food and Drug Administration approved valganciclovir for the induction and maintenance treatment of CMV disease, including CMV retinitis. Valganciclvoir has compared favorably with both oral and intravenous treatments for induction and maintenance therapy with ganciclovir. The reduced pill burden and the ease of oral administration has helped avoid the risks associated with intravenous therapy. The most serious adverse event is neutropenia, which makes the patient susceptible to infections. In the current review, we have compiled all the available evidence-based information on valganciclovir.


Certain ontology and epistemology perspectives are most relevant to human systems' enquiry. These are derived from a synergy of insights from theories of autopoiesis, interpersonal neurobiology and complexity. Ontology has implications for our comprehension of the nature of human systems: 1/ Human systems are embodied and situated, exhibiting selforganising and emergent properties; 2/ Human experience is personal but not private, it is born in the interactions with the environment, and is validated by the human structure; 3/ Changes in human structure are necessarily subservient to conservation of autopoiesis, i.e. self-production and maintaining life. The epistemological implications deem ontology and epistemology as mutually informative in human enquiry; the thrust of this article. Our knowledge is limited by our capabilities of awareness. The quality of perception interlinks with cultivating awareness and intentionality for maintaining wellbeing, i.e. sustaining life-enhancing conditions. The concept of 'wellbeing informatics' is used to outline a tangible approach to evaluating wellbeing.


'What Is The Role Of A Constitutional Court In A Democracy.' Constitutional courts in the comparative context have taken up extraordinarily expansive roles in their respective societies without any hesitancy or apprehensions involving democratic legitimacy. They have ventured far beyond the confines of ordinary judicial review and banned political parties, canceled election results, voided constitutional amendments and invalidated political appointments, among other seemingly controversial actions. They have also stepped into the exclusive domain of the elected branches and performed roles with severe budgetary implications like regulating health care, food security, environment, foreign affairs, and monetary systems. The 'counter-majoritarian difficulty' fixated American constitution theory cannot explain or justify most of the commonly observed roles by constitutional courts in the comparative context. On the other hand, existing comparative scholarship has barely grappled with the issue of judicial role as a whole – instead focusing on singular and more micro questions dealing with constitutional courts. This is the gap that this paper hopes to fill. In devising a normative conception of judicial role for constitutional courts in the comparative context, this paper raises a different set of questions from those asked about reconciling judicial review with democracy in American constitutional theory. After posing questions with implications for democratic legitimacy, popular sovereignty, institutional capacity, and judicial independence, this paper shows that a normative conception of judicial role in the comparative context would be pluralistic in nature with different individual roles. These individual roles would be of varying importance and would have to be performed in a constantly changing and evolving manner. In some way this conception of judicial role requires constitutional courts in the comparative context to take a step forward in performing certain roles while taking a step back in others. Ultimately this paper asks constitutional courts to be extremely strategic and pragmatic in their judicial decision-making; paying heed to an array of considerations before their interventions. The primary aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to offer a template for the successful operation of constitutional courts in the comparative context. Secondly, and more modestly, to potentially raise newer questions regarding judicial role in America.


Abstract
Prenatal exposure to adverse conditions is known to affect health throughout the life span. It has also been shown that health is unevenly distributed at advanced ages. This chapter investigates whether health inequalities at old age may be partially caused by prenatal circumstances. We use a sample of people aged 71–91 from eight European countries and assess how shocks in GDP that occurred while the respondents were still in utero affect four important dimensions of later-life health: cognition, depression, functional limitations, and grip strength. We find that early-life macro-economic circumstances do not affect health at advanced ages, nor do they affect inequalities in health. In additional analyses, we show that the least healthy people may not enter our sample as the probability of dying before reaching age 71 is high, and mortality rates among those who were prenatally exposed to adverse GDP shocks are higher. We conclude that selective mortality may mask effects of early-life circumstances on health and health inequality at old age.


Exploring cellphone network data has been proved to be a very effective way to understand urban populations because of the high penetration rate of cellphones. However, the state-of-the-art population models driven by cellphone data are typically built upon single cellphone networks, assuming the users in a particular cellphone network used are representative of all residents in the studied city with multiple cellphone networks. This assumption usually does not hold in the real world due to strategic spatial coverages and business concentrations of cellphone companies, which lead to data biases, and thus overfitting of resultant population models. To address this issue, we design a model called MultiCell to model real-time urban populations from multiple cellphone networks with two novel techniques: (i) a network realignment technique to integrate individual cell-tower spatial distributions from multiple cellphone networks for finer granular population modeling; (ii) a data fusion technique based on cross-network training to design a population model based on multiple network data. We implement MultiCell in the Chinese city Shenzhen based on three cellphone networks with 10 million active users and their daily data records at 11 thousand cell towers. We evaluate MultiCell by comparing it to the state-of-the-art models driven by single cellphone networks, and the evaluation results show that MultiCell outperforms them by 27% in terms of accuracy. Finally, we cross-validate MultiCell with three transportation systems with more than 8 million passengers to investigate its performances.


Today, it iswell known that patientswithCKDwith erythropoiesisstimulating agent (ESA)–resistant renal anemia have a poorer prognosis than those without ESA-resistant renal anemia.1 Sakaguchi et al.2 reported that patients treated with long-acting ESA showed higher mortality rates than those with short-acting ESA after adjusting patient characteristics. This raises a critical question whether widely used long-acting ESA per se has some adverse effects on the prognosis of patients with CKD. In their study, patients were divided into the first to the third tertile according to ESA doses, and all-cause mortality in the same tertile was compared between long-acting and shortacting ESA. As ESA doses increased up to the third tertile, the adjusted hazard ratio for all-cause mortality in long-acting ESA users became significantly worse than that in short-acting ESA users. However, we are concerned about the appropriateness of this approachbecause it is difficult to interpret the results obtained from ESAs with different pharmacodynamics. Although the authors calculated the ESA resistance index from ESA doses, hemoglobin level, and body weight, a conversion ratio such as epoetin alfa/beta (EPO) to darbepoetin alfa (DA) should be taken into consideration. It has been reported that 1 mg of DA is equivalent to 200 U of EPO (EPO/DA ratio 5200),3 whereas in their study, the EPO/DA ratio was 163, 167, and 136 in the first, second, and third tertile, respectively. This suggested that long-acting ESA users were more resistant to ESA than short-acting ESA users by origin, and this difference may bias the study conclusion. Detailed information regarding patient characteristics for the first to the third tertiles of long-acting and short-acting ESA users may help better understanding. As review teammembers in the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, the authority for new drug approval in Japan, we consider the study as a preliminary analysis at this moment, and more careful interpretation and further well designed, randomized, controlled trials are necessary to draw a solid conclusion. Of note, no significant difference for mortality was observed in a recent meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials comparing DA and EPO.4 DISCLOSURES


This paper describes a signal simulator which is designed to calibrate eddy current probes. By using simultaneously an excitation coil and an electrically conducting plane, the simulator can emulate signals which correspond to spot welds with different flaws. The presence of a conducting plane allows a wide variation of the amplitude and phase of the excitation coil voltage during the calibration of a probe. A mathematical model for the simulator is derived and used to study the variation of the impedance change upon the parameters of the probe. Numerical computation shows that the impedance change depends in an important way on the frequency of the excitation coil current. >


This tutorial reviews the design of common meaning representations, SoTA models for predicting meaning representations, and the applications of meaning representations in a wide range of downstream NLP tasks and real-world applications. Reporting by a diverse team of NLP researchers from academia and industry with extensive experience in designing, building and using meaning representations, our tutorial has three components: (1) an introduction to common meaning representations, including basic concepts and design challenges; (2) a review of SoTA methods on building models for meaning representations; and (3) an overview of applications of meaning representations in downstream NLP tasks and real-world applications. We will also present qualitative comparisons of common meaning representations and a quantitative study on how their differences impact model performance. Finally, we will share best practices in choosing the right meaning representation for downstream tasks.


Abstract The lecturers and community-based science and technology service activities are carried out as an effort  to control white root fungal disease caused by Rigidiporus microporus or Rigidoporus lignosus which is difficult to control by farmers because it attacks the root system of rubber plants. One effort that can be done to control this JAP disease is the application of Trichoderma sp in the nursery of rubber plants, so that the rubber seedlings that will be planted fries have been protected by Trichoderma sp. The partner in this service activity is the True Nursery Breeder farmer group which is a group of rubber seed breeder farmers. Farmers are trained to be able to propagate Trichoderma sp and utilize agricultural waste into compost using Trichoderma sp as a decomposer. This activity was held in Kenagarian Sungai Dareh, Pulau Punjung District, Dharmasraya Regency. The result of this activity is that the farmers succeeded in propagating Trichoderma sp using bran as a growing medium, farmers have also made compost from agricultural waste around their environment. After isolating the soil of rubber seed media that has been applied Trichoderma sp, it is known that Trichoderma sp successfully grows well in the soil media and the root system of rubber seedlings. Thus, farmers have been able to do nurseries using Trichoderma sp as an initial effort to overcome the attacks of white root fungus. Rubber seeds with Trichoderma sp, compost and Trichoderma sp produced by the True Nursery breeders have been marketed to farmers and the community around Kenagarian Sungai Dareh, so that this activity can help improve the welfare of farmers.


Coastal regions of India are prone to sea level rise, cyclones, storm surges, and human-induced activities, resulting in flood, erosion, and inundation, and some of these impacts could be attributed to climate change. Mangroves play a very protective role against some of these coastal hazards. The primary aim of the study was to estimate wave energy attenuation by mangrove vegetation using modeling, and to validate the model results with measurements conducted off Mumbai coast, where a mangrove forest is present. Wave measurements were carried out from 5–8 August 2015 at three locations in a transect normal to the coast using surface-mounted pressure-level sensors in spring tide conditions. The measured data presented wave height attenuation of the order of 52%. Model set-up and sensitivity analyses were conducted to understand the model performance with respect to vegetation parameters. It was observed that wave attenuation increases with an increase in drag coefficient, vegetation density, and stem diameter. For a typical set-up in the Mumbai coastal region having a vegetation density of 0.175 per m2, stem diameter of 0.3 m, and drag coefficient varying from 0.4 to 1.5, the model reproduced attenuation ranging from 49% to 55%, which matches reasonably well with the measured data. Spectral analysis performed for the cases with and without vegetation very clearly portrays energy dissipation in the vegetation area. This study also highlights the importance of climate change and mangrove vegetation.


them. The dynamic changes in the anatomical structures during the cardiac cycle were displayed using continuously gated, dynamic 3D (4D) echocardiography. STIC and TUI was used. Post processing, multiplanar mode was used. The combination of B-flow with STIC along with the creation of a render image was mandatory, and allowed demonstration of blood vessels and heart chambers. Results: Complete examination by the proposed protocol was possible at 57% cases. The median of scanning time was 24 min on-line examination and 75 min off-line. There were discovered 4 major cardiac anomalies (AV canal, HLHS, TGA, Fallot tetralogy), and there were missed GAT, VSD, RAA with RD, without any cardiac anomaly, A Co. Conclusions: None of the cases was diagnosed strictly due to volumes, but due to prolonging the scan, reexamination for better fetal position, and especially due to Doppler (color or power) imaging. The overall detection rate for CHD did not rise after introducing the protocol for high risk pregnancies in our unit (although enabling examination of the fetal heart in the absence of the patient). Yet, the gestational age at diagnosis went down (median of 4.3 weeks). The exploration is more time-consuming and requires a high level of training of the examiner. Furthermore, in some CHD there are later manifestations of structural and functional changes.


The relationship of N-linked glycosylation and association with heavy chain binding protein (BiP) to the secretion of Factor VIII (FVIII), von Willebrand Factor (vWF), and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) was studied in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. FVIII has a heavily glycosylated region containing 20 clustered potential N-linked glycosylation sites. A significant proportion of FVIII was detected in a stable complex with BiP and not secreted. Deletion of the heavily glycosylated region resulted in reduced association with BiP and more efficient secretion. Tunicamycin treatment of cells producing this deleted form of FVIII resulted in stable association of unglycosylated FVIII with BiP and inhibition of efficient secretion. vWF contains 17 potential N-linked glycosylation sites scattered throughout the molecule. vWF was transiently associated with BiP and efficiently secreted demonstrating that CHO cells are competent to secrete a highly glycosylated protein. tPA, which has three utilized N-linked glycosylation sites, exhibited low level association with BiP and was efficiently secreted. Disruption of N-linked glycosylation of tPA by either site-directed mutagenesis or tunicamycin treatment resulted in reduced levels of secretion and increased association with BiP. This effect was enhanced by high levels of tPA expression. The glycosylation state and extent of association with BiP could be correlated with secretion efficiency.


CHAPTER 1: Industrial Catalysts for Regio- or Stereo- selective Oxidations and Reductions. A Review of Key Technologies and Targets. J. Whittall CHAPTER 2: Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Alkenes, Enones, Ene-esters and Ene-Acids 2.1: (S)-2,2'- Bis{[di(4-methoxyphenyl)phosphinyl]oxy}-5,5',6,6',7,7',8,8'-octahydro-1,1'-binaphthyl as a Ligand for Rhodium-Catalysed Asymmetric Hydrogenation I. Gergely, C. Hegeds and J. Bakos. 2.2: Synthesis and Application of Phosphinite Oxazoline Iridium Complexes for the Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Alkenes F. Menges and A. Pfaltz. 2.3: Synthesis and Application of Heterocyclic Phosphine Oxazoline (HetPHOX) Iridium Complexes for the Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Alkenes F. Menges and P.G. Cozzi. 2.4: (R)-2,2',6,6'- Tetramethoxy-bis[di(3,5-dimethylphenyl)phosphino]-3,3'-bipyridine [(R)-Xyl-P-Phos] as a Ligand for Rhodium-Catalysed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of a-Dehydroamino Acids J. Wu and A.S.C. Chan. 2.5: (R,R)-2,3-Bis(tert-butylmethylphosphine)quinoxaline (Quinox P*) as a Ligand for Rhodium-Catalysed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Prochiral Amino Acid and Amine Derivatives T. Imamoto and A. Koide. 2.6: Rhodium-Catalysed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Indoles R. Kuwano and M. Sawamura. CHAPTER 3: Asymmetric Reduction of Ketones 3.1: (R,R)-Bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,3-diphenylpropane as a Versatile Ligand for Enantioselective Hydrogenations N. Dubrovina and A. Borner. 3.2: Synthesis of Both Enantiomers of 1-Phenylethanol by Reduction of Acetophenone with Geotrichum candidum IFO 5767 K. Nakamura, M. Fujii and Y. Ida. 3.3: Titanocene-Catalysed Reduction of Ketones in the Presence of Water. A Convenient Procedure for the Synthesis of Alcohols by Free-Radical Chemistry A. Rosales, J.M. Cuerva and J.E. Oltra. 3.4: Xyl-TetraPHEMP: A Highly Efficient Biaryl Ligand in the [Diphosphine RuCl2-diamine]-Catalysed Hydrogenation of Simple Aromatic Ketones P.H. Moran, J.P. Henschke, A. Zanotti-Gerosa and I C. Lennon. 3.5: N-Arenesulfonyl- and N-Alkylsulfamoyl-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine Ligands for Ruthenium-Catalysed Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation of Activated Ketones M.S. Stephan and B. Mohar. 3.6: The Synthesis and Application of BrXUPHOS: A Novel Monodentate Phosphorus Ligand for the Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Ketones M. Wills, Y. Xu, G. Docherty and G. Woodward. 3.7: In Situ Formation of Ligand and Catalyst: Application in Ruthenium-Catalysed Enantioselective Reduction of Ketones J. Wettergren and H. Adolfsson. 3.8: SYNPHOS and DIFLUORPHOS as Ligands for Ruthenium-Catalysed Hydrogenation of Alkenes and Ketones S. Jeulin, V. Ratovelomanana-Vidal and J-P. Genet. 3.9: An Arene Ruthenium Complex with Polymerizable Side-chains for the Synthesis of Immobilised Catalysts E. Burri, S.B. Wendicke, K. Severin. 3.10: Selective Reduction of Carbonyl Group in beta, gamma- Unsaturated alpha- Ketoesters by Transfer Hydrogenation with Ru-(para-cymene) (TsDPEN) M. Guo, D. Li, Y. Sun and Z. Zhang. 3.11: Preparation of Polymer-Supported Ru-TsDPEN Catalysts and their Use for the Enantioselective Synthesis of (S)-Fluoxetine L. Chai, Y. Li and Q. Wang. 3.12: Polymer-Supported Chiral Sulfonamide-Catalysed Reduction of B-Keto Nitrile: a Practical Synthesis of (R)-Fluoxetine G.Wang and G. Zhao. CHAPTER 4: Imine Reduction and Reductive Amination 4.1: Metal-Free Reduction of Imines: Enantioselective Bronsted Acid-Catalysed Transfer Hydrogenation using Chiral BINOL-Phosphates as Catalysts M. Rueping, E. Sugiono, C. Azap and T. Theissmann. 4.2: Metal-Free Bronsted Acid-Catalysed Transfer Hydrogenation: Enantioselective Synthesis of Tetrahydroquinolines M. Rueping , T. Theissmann and A. P. Antonchick. 4.3: A Highly Stereoselective Synthesis of 3a-Amino-23,24-bisnor-5a-cholane via Reductive Amination S. N. Khan, N.J. Cho and H-S. Kim. CHAPTER 5: Oxidation of Primary and Secondary Alcohols 5.1: Copper (II)-Catalysed Oxidation of Primary Alcohols to Aldehydes with Atmospheric Oxygen S. Jammi and T. Punniyamurthy. 5.2: Solvent-free Dehydrogenation of Secondary Alcohols in the Absence of Hydrogen Abstractors using Robinson's Catalyst G.B.W.L. Ligthart, R.H. Meijer, J. v. Buijtenen, J. Meuldijk, J.A.J.M. Vekemans and L. A. Hulshof. 5.3: 2-Iodoxybenzoic Acid (IBX)/ n-Bu4NBr/ CH2Cl2-H2O: a Mild System for the Selective Oxidation of Secondary Alcohols K. Kittigowittana, M. Pohmakotr, V. Reutrakul and C. Kuhakarn. CHAPTER 6: Hydroxylation, Epoxidation and Related Reactions 6.1: Proline-Catalysed a-Aminoxylation of Aldehydes and Ketones Y. Hayashi and M. Shoji. 6.2: Ru/ Silica* Cat* TEMPO(c)-Mediated Oxidation of Alkenes to a-Hydroxyacids R. Ciriminna and M. Pagliaro. 6.3: Catalytic Enantioselective Epoxidation of trans-Disubstituted and Trisubstituted Alkenes with Arabinose-Derived Ulose T.K. M. Shing, G.Y.C. Leung and T. Luk. 6.4: VO(acac)2/ TBHP-Catalysed Epoxidation of 2-(2-Alkenyl)phenols. Highly Regio- and Diastereo-selective Oxidative Cyclisation to 2,3-Dihydrobenzofuranols and 3-Chromanols A. Lattanzi and A. Scettri. 6.5: An Oxalolidinone Ketone Catalyst for the Asymmetric Epoxidation of cis-Olefins D. Goeddel and Y. Shi. 6.6: a-Fluorotropinone Immobilised on Silica: a New Stereoselective Heterogeneous Catalyst for Epoxidation of Alkenes with Oxone G. Sartori, A. Armstrong, R. Maggi, A. Mazzacani, R. Sartorio, F. Bigi and B. Dominguez-Fernandez. 6.7: Asymmetric Epoxidation Catalysed by Novel Azacrown Ether-Type Chiral Quaternary Ammonium Salts under Phase-Transfer Catalytic Conditions K. Hori, K. Tani, and Y. Tohda. 6.8: Enantioselective Epoxidation of Olefins using Phase-Transfer Conditions and [6-N-((S)-1,2,2-Trimethylpropyl)-5H-dibenz[c,e]azepinium] [rac-TRISPHAT] Salt as Catalyst J. Vachon, C. Perollier, A. Martinez and J. Lacour. 6.9: Catalytic Asymmetric Epoxidation of a,Unsaturated Esters Promoted by a Yttrium-Biphenyldiol Complex M. Shibasaki, H. Kakei and S. Matsunaga. 6.10: Catalytic Enantioselective Epoxidation of a,-Enones with a BINOL-Zinc Complex A. Minatti and K.H. Dotz 6.11: Asymmetric Epoxidation of Phenyl 2-(3'-Pyridylvinyl) Sulfone using Polyleucine/ Hydrogen Peroxide Gel M. Pitts and J. Whittall. CHAPTER 7: Oxidation of Ketones to Lactones or Enones 7.1: Synthesis of 2-(Phosphinophenyl)pyridine Ligand and its Application to Palladium-Catalysed Asymmetric Baeyer- Villiger Oxidation of Prochiral Cyclobutanones K. Ito and T. Katsuki. 7.2: (D)-Codeinone from (D)-Dihydrocodeinone via the Use of Modified o-Iodoxybenzoic Acid (IBX) P. Mather and J. Whittall. CHAPTER 8: Oxidative C-C Coupling 8.1: Enantioselective Oxidative Coupling of 2-Naphthols Catalysed by a Novel Chiral Vanadium Complex N-S. Xie, Q-Z. Liu, Z-B. Luo, L-Z. Gong, A-Q. Mi and Y-Z. Jiang. 8.2: Catalytic Oxidative Cross-Coupling Reaction of 2-Naphthol Derivatives S. Habaue and T. Temma. 8.3: Oxidative Coupling of Benzene with a,-Unsaturated Aldehydes by Pd(OAc)2/ HPMoV/ O2 System T. Yamada, S. Sakaguchi and Y. Ishii. CHAPTER 9: Oxidation of Sulfides and Sulfoxides 9.1: The First Example of Direct Oxidation of Sulfides to Sulfones by an Osmate- Molecular Oxygen System B.M. Choudary, C. Reddy, V. Reddy, B.V. Prakash, M.L. Kantam and B. Sreedhar. 9.2: Selective Oxidation of Sulfides to Sulfoxides and Sulfones using Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) in the Presence of Zirconium Tetrachloride K. Bahrami. 9.3: WO3-30% H2O2-Cinchona Alkaloids: a New Heterogeneous Catalytic System for Asymmetric Oxidation and Kinetic Resolution of Racemic Sulfoxides V. V. Thakur and A. Sudalai. 9.4: Benzyl-4,6-isopropylidene-a-(D)-glucopyranoside, 2-deoxy-2-[[(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)methylene]amine] as a Ligand for Vanadium-Catalysed Asymmetric Oxidation of Sulfides R. Del Litto, G. Roviello and F. Ruffo. 9.5: Asymmetric Sulfoxidation of Aryl Methyl Sulfides with H2O2 in Water A. Scarso and G. Strukul


In their article, "Biologics: The New Antitrust Frontier," Michael Carrier and Carl Minniti provide a comprehensive review of the various kinds of antitrust violations that beleaguer pharmaceutical markets in the United States. Carrier & Minniti examine the applicability of these anticompetitive behaviors to biopharmaceutical (a.k.a. biologics) markets, and in doing so alert regulators and courts to such potential antitrust violations in the emerging area of follow-on biologics. Carrier & Minniti's article also provides recommendations for limiting anticompetitive behavior in biologics markets that will, no doubt, serve as a valuable guide for regulators, judges, and practitioners. Yet, Carrier & Minniti's article appears to share in an optimism about the prospects of such markets: that if we just policed them properly, competition could be guaranteed and, with it, prices would drop significantly. Such optimism is unwarranted.
The legislative and regulatory efforts to instill competition into biologics markets have been fraught, from their outset, with persistent and mostly successful counter-efforts by the brand-name pharmaceutical industry ("Industry") to make follow-on biologics a limited and contained regulatory and commercial phenomenon. To that end, the Industry — with its lobbying spearheads, BIO and PhRMA — and its many allies in Congress, state legislatures, and state and federal administrations, have been waging war to maintain existing and erect new regulatory obstacles to the development, approval, and marketing of follow-on biologics. The Industry's success in undercutting the emergence of truly competitive follow-on biologics markets thus far rests on four pillars: (1) an Industry-favorable, obstructed pathway for the approval of follow-on biologics; (2) acceptance and upholding of the view that regulatory filings submitted to the FDA are proprietary and confidential; (3) state laws making onerous the substitution of biologics with follow-on versions thereof; and (4) efforts to block any and all specific attempts to make, gain approval for, and sell follow-on biologics. Of these four pillars, the area of antitrust law (and, thus, Carrier & Minniti's article) addresses mostly the fourth. Yet, the emergence of competitively robust follow-on biologics markets requires dismantling more than one pillar. Until then, efforts to open biologics markets to competition will continue to be no more than a rearguard battle over the approval and marketing of a small number of follow-on versions of a mere handful of original products with limited substitutability. The price, as always, will be borne by payors, patients, and ultimately, the public.
In this comment, I discuss each of the four pillars supporting the Industry's success in inhibiting the development, approval, and marketing of follow-on biologics. I show that unlike the story of the Hatch-Waxman Act, that of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) does not and probably will not have a happy ending; that if the goal is to significantly lower biologics' prices, then the paradigm of approval of follow-on biologics in the United States would need to change.


Abstract #3044 Introduction: Obesity is an independent risk factor for breast cancer and obese breast cancer patients exhibit a higher risk for larger tumor burden, increased metastasis and poor response to endocrine therapy. Obesity affects breast carcinogenesis by autocrine and paracrine effects of adipocytokine leptin and IGF-1. We have previously shown that leptin induces growth stimulation of breast cancer cells by recruiting histone acetyltransferases and mediator complex to cyclin D1 promoter via activation of Stat3. In the present study, we found a novel bidirectional crosstalk between IGF-1 and leptin signaling that promotes invasion and migration of triple-negative (ER, PR, HER2 negative) breast cancer cells; MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, MDA-MB-435 and HCC-1806.
 Methods and Results: IGF-1 induced significant tyrosine phosphorylation of leptin receptor (Ob-Rb) and leptin induced tyrosine phosphorylation of IGF-1 Receptor (IGF-1R). Combined treatment of leptin and IGF-1 induced synergistic activation of both Ob-Rb and IGF-1R along with activation of Akt and ERK. Furthermore, IGF-1 and leptin synergistically transactivated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and induced proliferation of triple negative breast cancer cells. We also found that tyrosine phosphorylation of EGFR induced by combined treatment of leptin and IGF-1 was significantly inhibited not only by EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, AG1478 but also with a broad-spectrum matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, GM6001 indicating that leptin and IGF-1 induced EGFR transactivation is dependent on proteolytic release of EGFR ligands. Intriguingly, we also found that combined treatment of leptin and IGF-1 potently induced invasion of triple negative breast cancer cells in Matrigel invasion and quantitative Electric Cell-Substrate Impedance Sensing invasion assays. Inhibition of leptin and IGF-1 mediated EGFR activation using a highly potent, reversible inhibitor of HER1/EGFR tyrosine kinase, erlotinib or dual epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/human EGFR-2 (HER2) kinase inhibitor, lapatinib effectively inhibited leptin and IGF-1 induced invasion. Also, inhibition of EGFR activation using erlotinib and lapatinib reduced leptin- and IGF-1-induced migration of triple negative breast cancer cells.
 Discussion: Taken together these data indicate a novel bidirectional crosstalk between leptin and IGF-1 signaling that transactivates EGFR and promotes metastatic properties, invasion and migration of triple negative breast carcinoma cells. Our novel findings indicate the possibility of using EGFR inhibitors erlotinib and lapatinib to counter the pro-cancerous effects of leptin and IGF-1 signaling in triple negative breast cancers. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 3044.


OBJECTIVE
Puerto Rico (PR) has undergone rapid changes during the last decades. Some of these involve the health care system and the delivery of care to the critically ill patient. With this in mind, we investigated how the intensive care units throughout our island's hospitals are organized so that we could establish a profile of the adult intensive care units (ICU) in PR.

METHODS
From January 1, 2010 through April 30, 2010, questionnaires were distributed by e-mail or fax to every hospital that maintained a critical care unit. The questionnaires asked for such details as the structure of the unit; whether is use on an open or closed model; the number of beds in the unit; the total number of faculty members in the unit; the credentials of the unit's medical faculty and nursing staff; whether critical care service was available, and the different people in-charge of the unit during the day and at night.

RESULTS
A total of 33 questionnaires were distributed, of which 19 were collected and analyzed. Among the ICU directors who responded, the predominant specialty was cardiology. Surprisingly, only 26% of the hospitals had critical care specialists. In most of the institutions, an internist or a primary care physician was on site during the day, this individual directly supervised patients and had decision making authority. At night, however, patients were managed by supervising nurse with limited ability to medically identified patient complications, though primary care physician was always available by phone if a critical decision needed to be made. Some of the units used protocols as part of their medical-management armamentarium.

CONCLUSION
Although only a small percentage of the island's ICUs participated in our project, the study's findings serve as evidence of the need to re-evaluate the delivery of care to the critically ill population.


Non-volatile main memory, such as memristors or phase change memory, can revolutionize the way programs persist data. In-memory objects can themselves be persistent without the need for a separate persistent data storage format. However, the challenge is to ensure that such data remains consistent if a failure occurs during execution. In this paper, we present our system, called Atlas, which adds durability semantics to lock-based code, typically allowing us to automatically maintain a globally consistent state even in the presence of failures. We identify failure-atomic sections of code based on existing critical sections and describe a log-based implementation that can be used to recover a consistent state after a failure. We discuss several subtle semantic issues and implementation tradeoffs. We confirm the ability to rapidly flush CPU caches as a core implementation bottleneck and suggest partial solutions. Experimental results confirm the practicality of our approach and provide insight into the overheads of such a system.


This paper is focused on investigations of the improved correction of the effect of variation in incidence angle on ScanSAR data. Conventional correction methods (such as LLM, locally linear mapping) typically assume that each target class has a similarity distribution in the middle of the image. The objectives of this study are to extend the correction algorithm to full swath width without any assumptions. For a target class only distributed on one or both sides of the image, interpolation or extrapolation of the confidence interval is realized using the linear regression technique based on the exponential model. The position of the reference band is then determined and the correction is performed. Experiments were performed on ENVISAT ASAR and RADARSAT-2 ScanSAR data. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Neonatal piglets have been used as models to study human campylobacteriosis and helicobacteriosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative pathogenicities, on the basis of the duration of fecal shedding and colonization of tissues, of three Arcobacter species in 1-day-old cesarean-derived colostrum-deprived piglets. Two experiments were conducted. In experiment 1, two piglets each were infected per os with either Arcobacter butzleri ATCC 49616, Arcobacter cryaerophilus 1B ATCC 43159, Arcobacter skirrowii CCUG 10374, or the three field strains of A. butzleri (approximately 5 X 10(9) CFU per piglet). Rectal swab samples were taken prior to infection and daily thereafter for up to 7 days. Arcobacter spp. were detected at least once in rectal swab samples of all but one of the experimentally infected piglets but not in the control. At necropsy, A. butzleri was recovered from the lung, kidney, ileum, or brain tissues of the four infected piglets which had received either the field strain or the ATCC type strain of A. butzleri. A. cryaerophilus 1B was detected in rectal swab samples for up to 7 days postinfection but was not cultured from tissues at necropsy. Arcobacters were detected in the rectal swab sample of the A. skirrowii-infected piglet only on day 3 postinfection; no isolates were obtained from tissues at necropsy. No gross pathological lesions were consistently noted in the experimentally infected piglets. In experiment 2, two piglets each were infected per os with A. butzleri ATCC 49616, A. cryaerophilus 1A ATCC 43158, A. skirrowii CCUG 10374, or the single A. butzleri field strain Yard J/c (approximately 5 X 10(9) CFU per piglet). Arcobacter spp. were cultured from rectal swab samples of all but one of the experimentally infected piglets at least once. At necropsy Arcobacter spp. were cultured from the liver, kidney, ileum, or brain tissues of two of the four A. butzleri-infected piglets. However, no severe gross pathology was noted. These data suggest that Arcobacter spp., especially A. butzleri, can colonize neonatal pigs.


UNLABELLED
We describe a technique by which a gum elastic bougie (GEB) is used to facilitate an anticipated difficult endotracheal intubation in a patient undergoing rigid bronchoscopy. After placing the GEB through the lumen of the rigid bronchoscope, the GEB-suction catheter assembly was used to safely withdraw the bronchoscope in a manner mimicking the withdrawal of an intubating laryngeal mask airway (LMA) over the endotracheal tube using a stabilizer rod. The rationale for management and potential advantages of this approach versus use of an airway exchange catheter (including increased stability of an intubation guide) are discussed.

IMPLICATIONS
We describe a technique of using a gum elastic bougie to facilitate an endotracheal intubation in a patient undergoing rigid bronchoscopy, which can be useful in a variety of clinical situations when the rigid bronchoscope is used in patients with abnormal airway.


This paper presents new results for partially observed nonlinear differential games. Using the concept of information state, we solve this problem in terms of an infinite-dimensional partial differential equation, which turns out to be the Hamilton--Jacobi--Isaacs (HJI) equation for partially observed differential games. We give definitions of smooth and viscosity solutions and prove that the value function is a viscosity solution of the HJI equation. We prove a verification theorem, which implies that the optimal controls are separated in that they depend on the observations through the information state. This constitutes a separation principle for partially observed differential games. We also present some new results concerning the certainty equivalence principle under certain standard assumptions. Our results are applied to a nonlinear output feedback $H_\infty$ robust control problem.


&NA; The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different protein ingredients on performance, egg quality, organ health, and jejunum morphology of laying hens. A total of 216 32‐wk‐old Hy‐Line W36 laying hens with similar egg production was randomly divided into 3 treatment groups with 6 replicates of 12 birds each. The experimental diets were isocaloric (metabolizable energy, 2 655 kcal/kg) and isonitrogenous (crude protein, 16.5%). The control group was fed a corn‐soybean meal basal diet (SBM), and the other 2 experimental diets consisted of a basal diet with 195.0 g/kg low‐gossypol cottonseed meal (LCSM) or 292.0 g/kg double‐zero rapeseed meal (DRM). The feeding trial lasted 12 weeks. The egg production, daily feed intake, egg weight, and feed conversion ratio were not affected (P > 0.05) by diets used. The daily egg mass was decreased in the LCSM group in wk 7 to 12 (P < 0.05). Albumen height, Haugh unit, albumen weight, albumen proportion, and oviduct index were reduced in the 195.0 g/kg LCSM at wk 12 (P < 0.05), while yolk color was increased (P < 0.05). A lower yolk weight, yolk proportion, abdominal fat, dry matter of the liver, and fat content of the liver were observed in the DRM group at wk 12 (P < 0.05). Using LCSM or DRM as a sole protein ingredient in the diet reduced the ovomucin content of albumen when stored 28 d at 4°C. The villous height of the jejunum in the LCSM group was the lowest among treatments (P < 0.05). The mucosal columnar epithelial cell layer of the magnum in the LCSM group was incomplete, and there was a little albumen secretions in the lumen of the magnum. Together, our results suggest that the 195.0 g/kg LCSM diet may produce an adverse effect on daily egg mass and albumen quality. The adverse effect might be associated with the reduction of absorption ability in the jejunum and secretion capacity in the magnum.


Hybridization solutions containing chaotropes may be used to modulate the thermal stability (Tm or Td) of oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) duplexes or hybrids over a 900C range. Modulation of Td allows formulation of hybridization solutions that permit ambient temperature hybridization using most combinations of probe length, probe composition, target type, and facilitates development of convenient and rapid assay formats. The conditions required to achieve ODN duplex fidelity, and optimal yields of hybridized product, are described for trichloroacetate, thiocyanate, guanidinium salts and other chaotropic salts. The effects of different solid supports on Td are described. Also, a method is presented that uses chaotropic compounds to reduce background arising from signal ODN probes in a sandwich assay hybridization format.


Soluble macromolecules are essential to Nature's control over biomineral formation. Following early studies where macromolecules rich in aspartic and glutamic acid were extracted from nacre, research has focused on the use of negatively charged additives to control calcium carbonate precipitation. It is demonstrated that the positively charged additive poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) can also cause dramatic changes in calcite morphologies, yielding thin films and fibers of CaCO3 analogous to those produced with poly(aspartic acid) via a so‐called PILP (polymer‐induced liquid precursor) phase. The mechanism by which PAH induces these effects is investigated using a range of techniques including cryo transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis, and the data show that hydrated Ca2+/PAH/CO32− droplets initially form in solution, before coalescing and ultimately crystallizing to give calcite, together with small quantities of vaterite. It is suggested that it is the initial formation of hydrated Ca2+/PAH/CO32− droplets that is key to this process, rather than a specific polymer/mineral interaction. These results are discussed in terms of their relevance to biomineralization processes and highlight the opportunity for using counter‐ion‐induced phase separation of polyelectrolytes as a method for generating minerals with non‐crystallographic morphologies.


Many interactive rendering algorithms require operations on multiple fragments (i.e., ray intersections) at the same pixel location: however, current Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) capture only a single fragment per pixel. Example effects include transparency, translucency, constructive solid geometry, depth-of-field, direct volume rendering, and isosurface visualization. With current GPUs, programmers implement these effects using multiple passes over the scene geometry, often substantially limiting performance. This paper introduces a generalization of the Z-buffer, called the k-buffer, that makes it possible to efficiently implement such algorithms with only a single geometry pass, yet requires only a small, fixed amount of additional memory. The k-buffer uses framebuffer memory as a read-modify-write (RMW) pool of k entries whose use is programmatically defined by a small k-buffer program. We present two proposals for adding k-buffer support to future GPUs and demonstrate numerous multiple-fragment, single-pass graphics algorithms running on both a software-simulated k-buffer and a k-buffer implemented with current GPUs. The goal of this work is to demonstrate the large number of graphics algorithms that the k-buffer enables and that the efficiency is superior to current multipass approaches.


In mammals, scent marking behavior is a pervasive form of chemical communication that regulates social interactions within and between groups. Glandular microbiota consist of bacterial communities capable of producing chemical cues used in olfactory communication. Despite countless studies on scent marking in primates, few have examined the microbiota associated with glandular secretions. Nancy Ma's owl monkeys (Aotus nancymaae) are nocturnal, socially monogamous primates that frequently scent mark using their subcaudal glands. Previous analyses revealed that unique chemical signatures of Aotus may convey information about sex and age. We used positive reinforcement to sample the subcaudal glands of 23 captive owl monkeys to describe their glandular microbiomes and examine how patterns in these bacterial communities vary with age, sex, rearing environment and/or social group (pair identity). We coupled these analyses with behavioral observations to examine patterns in their scent marking behavior. We isolated 31 bacterial species from Phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria, consistent with the dermal and glandular microbiomes of other primates. Several bacterial taxa we identified produce volatile organic compounds, which may contribute to olfactory communication. These bacterial communities are best predicted by an interaction between sex, rearing environment and pair identity rather than any of these variables alone. Within mated pairs of A. nancymaae, males and females scent mark their nest boxes at similar frequencies. In some pairs, rates of scent marking by males and females fluctuated over time in a similar manner. Pairs that had been together longer tended to exhibit the greatest similarities in their rates of scent marking. Together, these findings suggest that scent marking behavior and close social interactions with pair mates in Aotus may influence bacterial transmission and their glandular microbiomes. Chemical communication, including coordinated scent marking, may play a role in strengthening pair bonds, signaling pair status and/or in mate guarding in this socially monogamous primate.


Noting the enormous importance of the Russian and energy complex for international and domestic energy policies, the paper critically reviews the Energy Strategy of Russia until 2035, focusing on the state, challenges, and development trends of the global and Russian energy. We devote a lot of attention to the internal problems and export opportunities, the key aspects of the Russian energy policy in long-term perspectives, as well as review the development scenarios and stages of implementation. While conducting a critical review, we focus on how well the Strategy captures the current situation in international energy markets and trends in the development of the Russian energy and fuel complex. We also look into how comprehensively the Strategy addresses the identified challenges and possible prospects, as well as discuss which provisions could strengthen the Strategy. Our analysis clearly demonstrates that the Strategy adequately addresses both international and domestic processes leading to the current state of the Russian fuel and energy complex. However, we also point out to a number of shortcomings. First, it still supports the export-oriented model of energy development in Russia, but it would be much promising to focus on building a model of resource-innovative development. Second, there is no comprehensive strategy of working on the European energy market and the markets of the Asia-Pacific region, and the proposed scenarios do not take into account the shrinking export demand in the future. Third, it primary focuses on the carbon resources, not providing sufficient attention to the increasing role of renewable energy. Fourth, the outlined ambitious plans of technological modernization of the refinery sector appear hard to implement in the current conditions of protracted technological development and technological sanctions. These identified drawbacks could be used for developing policy recommendations.


This paper argues that, due to their inherent strategic competition, Washington and Moscow rely on low-yield or Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNWs) to overcome intrinsic geo-strategic uncertainties of international politics. It further explores the nuclear policy of the US and Russia while positing that both states are depending on the use of battlefield nuclear weapons for ensuring nuclear deterrence stability. It also maintains that Pakistan's policy of full-spectrum deterrence and its declaration to use TNWs, when certain red lines will be crossed, is in line with the policy of above-mentioned states.


Approximate expressions for the phase-error variance due to the nonwhite frequency noise of optical sources are derived to analyze the performance of optical phase-locked loops (PLL's). The approximation incorporates the loop propagation delay, which is inevitable in actual systems. The obtained expressions are in simple form and yield only 3% maximum error. Using the obtained expressions, the influence of the flicker frequency noise and the random-walk frequency noise on the laser linewidth requirements are discussed. By examining semiconductor lasers that have been reported, it is found, quantitatively, that the flicker frequency noise does not affect the linewidth requirements, even in the presence of finite loop propagation delay. The obtained approximate expressions are used to examine low-white-frequency-noise optical sources, such as solid-state lasers, and to yield the allowable values of flicker frequency noise and random-walk frequency noise. >


Abstract : In order to evaluate the compatibility of structured nanoparticles produced by aqueous emulsion polymerization with the non-covalent imprinting procedure, a number of imprinted polymeric nanoparticles have been synthesized by seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence and absence of a porogenic solvent. Propranolol was chosen as the template molecule using methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) as functional monomer and crosslinker respectively. The influence of the porogen and the amount of template added was studied by measuring the capacity of the polymeric particles to rebind template both in organic and aqueous buffers by radioligand binding assay. By increasing the amount of template from 0.5 to 6% (mol/mol with respect to monomers) the specific rebinding was increased from 2% to 24% in aqueous buffer and to 31% in a toluene based assay. The influence of the porosity was also established when the rebinding was performed in an organic solvent.