This paper describes recent work on the "Crosswatch" project, which is a computer vision-based smartphone system developed for providing guidance to blind and visually impaired travelers at traffic intersections. A key function of Crosswatch is self-localization - the estimation of the user's location relative to the crosswalks in the current traffic intersection. Such information may be vital to users with low or no vision to ensure that they know which crosswalk they are about to enter, and are properly aligned and positioned relative to the crosswalk. However, while computer vision-based methods have been used for finding crosswalks and helping blind travelers align themselves to them, these methods assume that the entire crosswalk pattern can be imaged in a single frame of video, which poses a significant challenge for a user who lacks enough vision to know where to point the camera so as to properly frame the crosswalk. In this paper we describe work in progress that tackles the problem of crosswalk detection and self-localization, building on recent work describing techniques enabling blind and visually impaired users to acquire 360° image panoramas while turning in place on a sidewalk. The image panorama is converted to an aerial (overhead) view of the nearby intersection, centered on the location that the user is standing at, so as to facilitate matching with a template of the intersection obtained from Google Maps satellite imagery. The matching process allows crosswalk features to be detected and permits the estimation of the user's precise location relative to the crosswalk of interest. We demonstrate our approach on intersection imagery acquired by blind users, thereby establishing the feasibility of the approach.


OF THESIS Stargrazer One: A New Architecture for Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking of Solar Photovoltaic Sources The yield from a solar photovoltaic (PV) source is dependent on factors such as light and temperature. A control system called a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) ensures that the yield from a solar PV source is maximized in spite of these factors. This thesis presents a novel implementation of a perturb and observe (PO) MPPT. The implementation uses a switched capacitor step down converter and a custom digital circuit implementation of the PO algorithm. Working in tandem, the switched capacitor step down converter and the custom digital circuit implementation were able to successfully track the maximum power point of a simulated solar PV source. This implementation is free of the overhead encountered with general purpose processor based MPPT implementations. This makes this MPPT system a valid candidate for applications where general purpose processors are undesirable. This document will begin by discussing the current state of MPPT research. Afterward, this thesis will present studies done to be able to use the chosen switched capacitor step down converter. Then the digital circuit PO implementation will be discussed in detail. Simulations of the architecture will be presented. Finally, experimental validation using a hardware prototype will be shown.


The objective of the present study was to investigate the presence of gender stereotypes concerning occupational roles and sexualization in newspapers advertisements of two European countries very different for cultural values and gender equality, i.e. Italy and The Netherlands. The top three newspapers by circulation in each country were selected. We included all the issues of these newspapers published in one month. We selected all the advertisings of a quarter a page in size or larger containing at least one adult human. Using content analysis, 1666 characters depicted in the selected advertisings were coded by independent judges. Results demonstrated that men were primarily featured in playing professional roles, whereas women were more frequently presented as decorative. Compared to males, female characters were also more frequently sexualized and this phenomenon was stronger in the more gender unequal country, i.e. Italy. Because of the role of advertising in shaping the cultural values, policy makers and cultural promoters should try to further with some kind of incentives a more equalitarian representation of genders in advertisings.


A coupled thermo-mechanical model is employed to analyze the thermo-mechanical behavior of a widely used laminated composite subject to temperature decrease at service conditions. Three sets of governing equations, i.e. heat transfer, thermo-mechanical deformation and damage evolution are respectively described in the model. These equations are then assembled into a coupled matrix equation using finite element formulation and then solved simultaneously at each time interval. A numerical model of two layered composites with some preexisting equal-spacing cracks along the interface in the lower layer is set up to investigate the thermal induced crack propagation due to temperature decrease. Results are presented in the form of crack propagation process in stress profiles and discussed. Numerical simulations show that the crack propagation behavior of the composites is closely dependent on the physico-mechanical properties of two layers and preexisting cracks. It is found that thermal induced cracks penetrate into the upper layer and grow in the upper layer due to the low strength of the upper layer when the model is subject to uniform temperature decrease.


This study aims at identifying the accessibility of people with disabilities to the tourism activities in Batu City. Batu is a city whose tourism industry develops so rapidly that it is called A Tourism City. Despite its multiple artificial and natural tourist sites, Batu City does not provide the accessible infrastructure for people with disabilities. According to the Local Regulation Number 7 Year 2011 about The Urban Planning of Batu City Year 2010-2030, the regulation about the disabled-friendly infrastructure is still minimum. It is only stated in Chapter 10 Section (4) m, explaining that the pedestrian lane is equipped with the walking lane for people with disabilities. However, if we refer to the Local Regulation of East Java Province Number 3 Year 2013 about Security and Service for People with Disabilities, every city/district is obliged to provide the accessible infrastructure for people with disabilities, including the accessible infrastructure in the tourist site. The accessibility is not limited to the walking lane for people with disabilities included in the Local Regulation of Batu City, but it also covers the toilet, parking area, hotel/inn, transportation, and etcetera. Consequently, this study is necessarily carried out due to the fact that the number of people with disabilities in Indonesia is quite many, as many as 37.5 million people (Wirawan, 2015). This study employs the Mix Methods. It is a survey method strengthened by the descriptive qualitative study. The data are obtained by using questionnaire, in-depth interview, observation, and document study. The finding of this study is expected to be able to give an overview about the readiness of Batu City as a Tourism City that is disabled-friendly, thus, it can be used as a basis of fair policy making for all citizens as well as to eradicate the discrimination, particularly in the tourism activities.


Abstract 1132 Increased TF expression on monocytes contributes to coagulation activation in atherothrombosis, sepsis and cancer. Although it is well established that TF is predominantly non-coagulant and cryptic on unperturbed cells, the molecular mechanisms underlying TF activation remain intensely debated. Antithymocyte globulin (ATG) is a polyclonal rabbit IgG used in transplantation medicine to prevent organ rejection and graft-versus-host disease, but it can cause thrombocytopenia and low-grade DIC. In this study, we investigated the effect of ATG on TF activation. ATG specifically activated TF on cells of the (myelo)monocytic lineage, including THP1, HL60 and U937 cells, as well as isolated peripheral blood monocytes, but not on myeloma, glioma and epithelial cancer cells. Membrane-bound ATG dose-dependently enhanced the TF-specific procoagulant activity (PCA) of THP1 cells 30 ± 15-fold compared to control IgG, as assessed by one-stage clotting, chromogenic Xa generation assay or thrombin generation measured by the Technothrombin™ TGA. ATG rapidly (within 2 min) activated THP1 cells dependent on the Fc portion, but independent of Fcγ receptors, and required heat-labile plasma components for TF induction. ATG did not further enhance TF activity after cell lysis and had no effect on clotting induced by recombinant TF, demonstrating specific effects on TF activation rather than the coagulation reaction itself. ATG-mediated TF activation on THP1 cells did not involve inhibition of surface-floated TFPI and was more potent than, and synergized with, calcium ionophore treatment. Although ATG variably induced exposure of low to moderate levels of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the plasma membrane, as measured by annexin V-FITC binding (38 ± 25 vs. 8 ± 5% positive cells, ATG vs. control IgG, n=22), robust TF activation was observed even in experiments with marginal PS upregulation. Consequently, there was no correlation between TF PCA and PS exposure on ATG-treated THP1 cells ( r =-0.03), indicating that the primary effect of ATG was on the activation of TF itself. Previous studies have implicated protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and the TF extracellular allosteric Cys186-Cys209 disulfide bond as determinants for TF activation. Consistently, PDI was detectable at low levels on the surface of unstimulated THP1 cells by flow cytometry and ATG-induced TF activation was inhibited by 70 ± 15% (n=9) with RL90, an inhibitory monoclonal antibody to PDI previously shown to have antithrombotic effects in vivo . RL90 did not decrease PS externalization on ATG-activated cells and had no effect when added to THP1 cells after TF activation had occurred, demonstrating that the antibody specifically blocked the TF activation process. In addition, blocking free thiols of THP1 cells with N -ethylmaleimide slightly increased TF activity, but completely abolished further TF activation by ATG, demonstrating that thiol exchange reactions were critically involved. In order to directly probe the involvement of the allosteric TF disulfide in ATG-mediated TF activation, we raised monoclonal antibodies to Cys186-Cys209 disulfide bond mutants of human TF. Panreactive and mutant TF-specific antibodies were identified. Monoclonal antibody 3D10 did not bind to oxidized recombinant soluble TF, but selectively recognized the Cys186Ala recombinant mutant that retained a free Cys209 prone to S-nitrosylation/glutathionation. Antibody 3D10 completely inhibited ATG-induced TF activation on THP1 cells, but was without effect when added to THP1 cells after TF activation had occurred. The inhibitory effect of 3D10 on TF activation was dose-dependent (5-50 μg/ml), did not require Fcγ receptor binding and did not involve competition with ATG binding to THP1 cells. Preincubation of THP1 cells with 3D10-derived Fab fragments also inhibited ATG-mediated TF activation by 68 ± 7% (n=8) without affecting PS exposure. Importantly, the combination of RL90 and 3D10 Fab had no additive effects, suggesting that both interfered with the same molecular activation pathway. In summary, these data provide novel evidence that TF cellular activation involves intermediates with an altered conformation of the allosteric Cys186-Cys209 disulfide in the TF extracellular domain and further substantiate the concept that TF decryption involves PDI-dependent pathways that are distinct from the exposure of procoagulant PS on cell surfaces. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


This study surveys the musical notation appearing in the liturgical manuscripts of the Order of St. Paul the First Hermit from the fourteenth until the eighteenth century. As a Hungarian foundation, the Pauline Order adopted one of the most elaborate and proportionate Gregorian chant notations of the medieval Catholic Church, the mature calligraphic Hungarian/Esztergom style, and used it faithfully, but in a special eremitical way in its liturgical manuscripts over an exceptionally long period, far beyond the Middle Ages. The research sought to study all the Pauline liturgical codices and codex fragments in which this Esztergom-Pauline notation emerges, then record the single neume shapes and supplementary signs of each source in a database. Systematic comparison has produced many results. On the one hand, it revealed the chronological developments of the Pauline notation over about four centuries. On the other hand, it has been possible to differentiate notation variants, to separate a rounded-flexible and a later more angular, standardized Pauline writing form based on the sources, thereby grasping the transition to Gothic penmanship at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A further result of the study is the discovery of some retrospective Pauline notation types connected to the Early Modern and Baroque period, after the Tridentine Council. The characteristics of the notations of the choir books in the Croatian and the Hungarian Pauline provinces have been well defined and some individual subtypes distinguished – e.g. a writing variant of the centre of the Croatian Pauline province, Lepoglava.


A PREVIOUS paper1has described the theoretical rationale and planning for the development of an inpatient Emergency Treatment Unit (ETU) at the Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC). The ETU is designed to investigate the use of brief (three-day) intensive hospitalization as a model for providing inpatient care which is especially tailored to the type of problems presented by lower socioeconomic class patients. Such patients often present themselves at the emergency room of large city hospitals as being in the midst of an emotional crisis with which they cannot deal effectively. ETU admits such patients from the Yale-New Haven Hospital emergency room with the goal of helping the person focus on current life struggles in order to facilitate the individual's return to the level of functioning that preceded the disruption and crisis that led to his seeking hospitalization. Following discharge from the three-day hospitalization a one-month


Evaluates the service quality of four clinics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center using a questionnaire methodology. The SERVQUAL instrument was administered to patients of the Medical Breast, Leukemia, Medical Gastroenterology and Bone Marrow Aspiration clinics. Results show that, according to the service gap methodology of comparing expectations and perceptions, across all four clinics the issues of billing accuracy and waiting times are deemed by patients as significant problems. In comparing the individual clinics, the Medical Gastroenterology and Leukemia clinics are best performers and the Medical Breast clinic is the worst. However, these differences in performance are due to differences in patients' expectations of service quality, rather than differences in perceptions. Concludes that customer expectations can have a strong impact on a firm's evaluation of its service quality.


Boron in Foraminiferal Calcite as an Indicator of Seawater Carbonate Chemistry Katherine A. Allen Foraminifera are unicellular organisms with a wide marine distribution. Many species secrete carbonate tests whose physical and chemical nature reflect the seawater conditions in which they grow. Thus, fossil tests preserved on the sea floor represent an archive that may be used to investigate the composition of ancient seawater. With the aim of improving our understanding of past ocean-climate links, I have tested proxies for seawater composition in the modern ocean and applied them to a key period in Earth history. The ratio of boron to calcium (B/Ca) in the calcite tests of planktic foraminifers has previously been suggested as a proxy for past seawater carbonate chemistry, but controls on B incorporation are not yet clear. The theoretical basis for this proxy is rooted in the pHdependent concentration of dissolved borate (B(OH)4 ) and its subsequent incorporation into foraminiferal calcite. In this thesis, I present: 1) new insights into the environmental controls on B/Ca revealed by culture experiments with living foraminifers, and 2) new reconstructions of past seawater chemistry during the last deglaciation based on B/Ca of fossil calcite from deep sea sediments. To test environmental controls on B incorporation, I performed several culture experiments that quantified the effects of pH, temperature, salinity, dissolved boron and inorganic carbon concentrations on the calcite tests of the planktic foraminifer species O. universa, G. sacculifer, and G. ruber (pink). In these experiments, B/Ca increases with pH (lower [HCO3 ], higher [CO 2− 3 ] and [B(OH) − 4 ]) and salinity, but not with temperature. Thus, normalizing B/Ca data to a constant salinity (e.g., S=35) should improve our ability to isolate the carbonate chemistry signal in B/Ca paleo-records and samples from different ocean sites. In addition, B/Ca decreases with total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) at constant pH (higher [HCO3 ] and [CO 2− 3 ], constant [B(OH) − 4 ]), which suggests competition between aqueous boron and carbon species for inclusion into the calcite lattice. While different cultured species exhibit similar B/Ca behavior in response to salinity, temperature, and pH changes, their absolute B/Ca values are offset under identical seawater conditions. Thus, B/Ca is both a function of environmental parameters that exert strong influence on test composition as well as biological processes that result in species offsets. To determine whether these culture calibrations are applicable in the open ocean, I used equations relating the B/Ca of cultured foraminifers with experimental seawater properties to predict B/Ca of wild specimens derived from sediment core-tops. Most measured core-top values for O. universa and G. sacculifer are similar to values predicted by culture calibrations (average offsets are 4 and 15 μmol mol−1, respectively) but values predicted for coretop G. ruber deviate by up to 60 μmol mol−1 from predicted values. The greater discrepancy observed for core-tops may suggest that our experiments still fall short of identifying all environmental controls on B/Ca and/or that we need to revisit the growth conditions assumed for planktic foraminifers, in particular the depth habitat of G. ruber. Further, an evaluation of planktic foraminiferal downcore data shows that B/Ca in planktic foraminifers is not sufficiently sensitive to surface ocean carbonate chemistry to permit reconstruction of Pleistocene atmospheric CO2 changes. However, B/Ca may serve as a useful proxy in environments that experienced large carbonate system changes, such as upwelling zones, or large events such as those during the Paleocene-Eocene. In contrast to planktic foraminifers, B/Ca of benthic foraminifer tests appears to respond to deep-water carbonate saturation state (∆CO2− 3 ). B/Ca of the benthic species Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi increases linearly with ∆CO2− 3 in all major ocean basins, as demonstrated in the modern core-top calibration of Yu and Elderfield (2007). To gain insight into carbon storage in the deep ocean across the last glacial termination, I investigated the B/Ca composition of C. wuellerstorfi in a sediment core from New Zealand's Bay of Plenty, located at a depth of 1,627 meters. The resulting reconstruction indicates that ∆CO2− 3 changed up to 30 μmol kg −1 across the deglaciation. Combined with benthic δC and independent paleo-O2 estimates, the [CO2− 3 ] record indicates increased storage of CO2 in the deep ocean during the LGM, with major roles for the biologic pump and carbonate compensation.


The heart is able to adapt to new, often pathologic, conditions, so-called cardiac remodeling. Although initially adequate, these adaptations could can become maladaptive over time. One of the adaptations of the heart during pathology is ventricular hypertrophy, which may go hand in hand with an increased risk of fatal ventricular arrhythmias. Moreover, ventricular hypertrophy may deteriorate into heart failure. Both compensated ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure are accompanied by a significant risk for sudden cardiac death, attributable to ventricular arrhythmias. In this thesis, we sought to elucidate underlying molecular, cellular, and structural mechanisms leading to increased susceptibility to fatal ventricular arrhythmias during the process of cardiac remodeling, with a focus on the determinants of impulse propagation. A variety of models (see below) has been used 1) to cover various stages of remodeling and 2) to obtain a more solid basis for extrapolation to human cardiac disease. In the calcineurin mouse (MHC-CnA), a model of artificially induced hypertrophy, impairment of conduction was associated with severe diminution of Nav1.5, Cx43 and Cx40 protein expression. Downregulation of Nav1.5 and Cx40 protein expression, however, was accounted for by a transcriptional mechanism. Protein reductions were accompanied by a decreased mRNA of Nav1.5 and Cx40, but not Cx43. The latter was accounted for by a post-transcriptional mechanism. Increased collagen deposition in the heart occurs during aging. A senescent mouse model showed that prevention of fibrosis by chronic RAAS inhibition resulted in an anti?arrhythmogenic effect. In addition, in treated mice, lower arrhythmogeneity was directly correlated to a reduced amount of patchy fibrosis. Longitudinal characterization in a murine chronic pressure overload model of compensated and decompensated hypertrophy (TAC, transverse aortic constriction) showed a rapid evolution of structural and electrical remodeling. TAC mice showed an increased vulnerability to induced ventricular arrhythmias, which were related to heterogeneous expression of Cx43. In heart failure patients, a heterogeneous distribution of Cx43 was also associated with a history of serious ventricular arrhythmias. Heterogeneous Cx43 distribution may lead to functional block and unstable reentry, giving rise to polymorphic ventricular tachyarrhythmias. Detailed 3D mapping in the chronic atrioventricular block (CAVB) dog, model of compensated hypertrophy, revealed focal activity to be the dominant mechanism involved in perpetuation of ibutilide induced TdP. This was in line with the frequent observation of a focal origin of activation during TdP and scanty electrophysiological changes in favor of reentry. In TAC rats, a pressure overload model of compensated hypertrophy, transmural conduction was impaired, which was related to a decreased total amount of Cx43 combined with increased heterogeneity of Cx43 expression and partial substitution with non-phosphorylated Cx43. In this model, these alterations resulted in polymorphic VTs. Virtually all results point out that a heterogeneous distribution of Cx43 generates a major arrhythmogenic substrate, both in the animal models and in heart failure patients. Cx43 heterogeneity correlated well with dispersed impulse conduction and increased arrhythmia inducibility. Therefore, spatial distribution of Cx43 might be a novel diagnostic tool in the identification of increased arrhythmia vulnerability in patients. Additionally, spatial Cx43 distribution might provide a new therapeutic target in the diseased myocardium


The text analyses two houses, namely, Cà da Paes in Aurigeno, by Buzzi studio di architettura and Casa Ferretti in Bedretto by Baserga Mozzetti architetti. Although they present different formal outcomes, what they have in common is the contrast between the appearance and reality of the construction system. This reality is finally revealed by the clues prepared by the architects, with an approach that is not intended to dissimulate but rather to slow down the perception of the work, or rather of its constructive character, which is grasped only on closer examination. A reconstruction of the genesis of the two buildings enables us to clarify this observation, showing that they are the result of an attempt to reconcile not only regulatory and budgetary constraints, but also the different conceptions of heritage cultivated by the clients, architects and the municipal and cantonal control commissions. Each of these is reflected in a different image of "heritage", the result of their different beliefs and convictions. The works discussed here seek to deal with this plurality of interpretations (and the divergent impulses arising from them), by embodying them as a theme of the design, which they interpret by treading with delicate poise (on the verge of ambiguity) the fine line between dissimulation and exhibition: an original path, in the recent architecture of the Canton Ticino, but not without its pitfalls.


The present exploratory study evaluated perceptions of actual support received in relation to stress and well-being among first-year students attending Canadian and U.S. higher education institutions (N = 126). Given that traditional assessments of received support account only for how often support was received, the present research examined unique effects of support quality in addition to frequency with respect to four distinct sources of support (family, friends, faculty/staff, institution). Following from empirical confirmation of received support frequency (RSF) and received support quality (RSQ) as distinguishable constructs, RSQ was found to significantly mediate effects of RSF across varied well-being outcomes (e.g., stress, burnout, quitting intentions) in relation to family, faculty/staff, and institution support. Overall, study findings highlight the importance of evaluating the quality of support received by first-year students during the transition to higher education and show faculty/staff support to be an important contributor to student well-being.


We study the collective dynamics of an ensemble of coupled identical FitzHugh-Nagumo elements in their excitable regime. We show that collective firing, where all the elements perform their individual firing cycle synchronously, can be induced by random changes in the interaction pattern. Specifically, on a sparse evolving network where, at any time, each element is connected with at most one partner, collective firing occurs for intermediate values of the rewiring frequency. Thus, network dynamics can play the role of noise and connectivity in inducing this kind of self-organised behaviour in highly disconnected systems which, otherwise, would not allow for the spreading of coherent evolution.


Urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) is the second most common type of malignancy in the urinary tract with high frequency of recurrence and high progression rate (1). European Urology Association (EAU) guidelines recommend radical cystectomy (RC) for muscle invasive bladder cancer or non-muscle invasive bladder cancer at highest risk of progression (2). Adjuvant chemotherapy after RC can be considered for high-risk M0 patients, such as pT3/4 and/or lymph node–positive disease (3). However, more than half of patients revealed hydronephrosis (HN) at time of RC and often require adjuvant chemotherapy. Cisplatin-based CTx, especially in patients with renal insufficiency, is a critical issue related to patient survival. For save renal function and treat HN, we may consider internal ureteral stenting (IUS) or percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) tube insertion. Both procedures are well-established techniques for rapidly relieving ureteral obstruction and improving renal function. However, optimal management of malignant ureteral obstruction remains unclear before RC.


Low vitamin B-12 concentrations are frequently observed among older adults. Malabsorption is hypothesized to be an important cause of vitamin B-12 inadequacy, but serum vitamin B-12 may also be differently affected by vitamin B-12 intake depending on food source. We examined associations between dietary sources of vitamin B-12 (meat, fish and shellfish, eggs, dairy) and serum vitamin B-12, using cross-sectional data of 600 Dutch community-dwelling adults (≥65 years). Dietary intake was assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Vitamin B-12 concentrations were measured in serum. Associations were studied over tertiles of vitamin B-12 intake using P for trend, by calculating prevalence ratios (PRs), and splines. Whereas men had significantly higher vitamin B-12 intakes than women (median (25th–75th percentile): 4.18 (3.29–5.38) versus 3.47 (2.64–4.40) μg/day), serum vitamin B-12 did not differ between the two sexes (mean ± standard deviation (SD): 275 ± 104 pmol/L versus 290 ± 113 pmol/L). Higher intakes of dairy, meat, and fish and shellfish were significantly associated with higher serum vitamin B-12 concentrations, where meat and dairy—predominantly milk were the most potent sources. Egg intake did not significantly contribute to higher serum vitamin B-12 concentrations. Thus, dairy and meat were the most important contributors to serum vitamin B-12, followed by fish and shellfish.


Existential rules have been proposed for representing ontological knowledge, specifically in the context of Ontology-Based Query Answering. Entailment with existential rules is undecidable. We focus in this paper on conditions that ensure the termination of a breadth-first forward chaining algorithm known as the chase. First, we propose a new tool that allows to extend existing acyclicity conditions ensuring chase termination, while keeping good complexity properties. Second, we consider the extension to existential rules with nonmonotonic negation under stable model semantics and further extend acyclicity results obtained in the positive case.


In order to solve the environment problem caused by the inhibitors that are widely used to improve the corrosion and scaling of the carbon steel pipes and equipment in the transportation of the industrial water, the design of using coatings or films on carbon steel is put forward without adding inhibitor. Based on this design, the Ni3P-TiO2 coatings have been prepared on carbon steel by chemical plating and sol–gel method. The coatings mainly compose of Ni3P and TiO2 analyzed by the XRD patterns. The microstructure and morphology of the Ni3P-TiO2 coatings are full, smooth and no cracks using a scanning electron microscopy. The properties of the Ni3P-TiO2 coatings are determined through the electrochemical experiment, scaling inhibition and antibiosis experiment. The results demonstrate that the coatings have the excellent properties of anticorrosion, scaling inhibition and antibiosis. The mechanism of the efficiency maybe due to the change of the interfacial energy, but it need prove through the farther examination.


Jakarta is one out of ten cities in the world whose tourism sector has improved rapidly, based on the study conducted by WorldTravel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in 2017. Many tourism places can be found in Jakarta. One of the tourism places, which is quite well known, is Ragunan Zoo. The present study was aimed at investigating the impacts of factors of product quality, service quality, emotional, price and cost towards the visitors of Ragunan Zoo's satisfaction. The method employed in the study was descriptive qualitative method. The sample collecting technique was purposive sampling, consisting of 100 respondents who have visited Ragunan Zoo. The data collection method was conducted by administering a questionnaire by using Likert scale and was analyzed by using SPSS application. The present study utilized answer index analysis. The result of the answer index analysis showed that the quality of product, the quality of service, the emotional factor, the price, and the cost factors reached the account of 77,156 and showed that the visitors of Ragunan Zoo's satisfaction was high.


Cardiac valve replacement is the second most common heart operation. Currently available replacement heart valves all have limitations. This study aimed to produce and
characterise a decellularised, biocompatible porcine pulmonary root conduit for use in the Ross procedure. A process for the decellularisation of porcine pulmonary roots was developed incorporating trypsin (2.25 × 104 Unit.ml-1) digestion of the adventitial surface of the scraped pulmonary artery and sequential treatment with: hypotonic Tris buffer (HTB; 10mM Tris pH 8.0, 0.1% (w/v) EDTA, 10KIU aprotinin), 0.1% (w/v)SDS in HTB, two cycles of DNase and RNase, and sterilisation with 0.1% (v/v)
peracetic acid.

Histology confirmed an absence of cells and retention of the gross histoarchitecture. DNA levels were reduced by >90 % throughout the decellularised tissue and functional
genes were not detected using PCR. Immunohistochemistry showed a lack of α-gal epitopes and confirmed cell removal but a loss of collagen IV. In vitro biocompatibility
studies indicated the decellularised leaflets were not cytotoxic while the pulmonary wall was shown to reduce 3T3 cells viability in 3 out of 6 samples.

Uniaxial tensile testing to failure demonstrated no significant difference in the tensile properties between the fresh and decellularised leaflets and pulmonary walls in the circumferential and radial directions with the exception of the elastin phase slope of the pulmonary artery in both directions which showed a significant decrease in the decellularised tissue. Pulsatile flow testing indicated the decellularised pulmonary roots
had excellent hydrodynamic function and leaflet kinematics in comparison to the fresh tissue. Initial attempts to culture fresh pulmonary roots in a heart valve bioreactor were unsuccessful, indicating a need to develop the physiological culture system further.

Overall the decellularised porcine pulmonary roots have excellent potential for development of a tissue engineered solution for right ventricular out flow tract reconstruction during the Ross procedure.


Some phenolic acids can either inhibit or stimulate the growth of Oenococcus oeni and other lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in wine. It has been observed that some LAB metabolism could have an influence on wine colour. In this article, some of the relationships between LAB, malolactic fermentation (MLF) and phenolic compounds are summarised; these relationships are important for the selection of LAB to make starter cultures and are of interest for wineries in terms of its effect on wine colour.


The Virgin Islands Beginning Farmer Training Program aims to ensure that there will be a sustainable new generation of farmers in the Virgin Islands. The project seeks to improve beginning farmer's income and enhance their potential for success. The target audience is beginning crop and small livestock farmers. These farmers are provided with information, skills, and techniques needed to make informed decisions to enhance the success of their farming enterprise. This is achieved through education and training in production and farm financial management to assist them in acquiring and successfully operating their farming agribusiness. It is expected that, as a result of the project, the target audience will successfully operate their farms while attracting other beginning farmers to operate sustainable agribusiness enterprises. The program provided training to 127 beginning farmers in the Virgin Islands. Special emphasis was placed on demonstrations and hands-on activities which enabled participants to successfully perform necessary farm-related tasks. Of those involved in the training program 60% are currently farming and plan to continue farming and increase the size and efficiency of their farming enterprise. The program has attracted the attention of other persons who are interested in participating in the program and getting involved in farming. The feedback from the persons involved has been very positive.


Advances in genetic research have greatly enhanced our understanding of diseases and have allowed improvements in terms of practical applications such as genetic testing (also known as DNA testing). Genetic testing (GT) is a type of medical test that looks for differences in the genetic makeup of individuals. The results of the test are useful with regard to informing people as to how to make decisions with regard to managing their healthcare. The successful implementation of the technology is heavily dependent on public support and acceptance, which translates into their intention to adopt the technology. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to examine stakeholders' intention and its associated predictors with regard to the adoption of GT in Malaysia. The final version of the validated questionnaire was developed and administered to a representative samples of the Malaysian population (n=421). Two stakeholder groups were considered in the form of representatives of local healthcare providers (n=221) and patients with genetic disease or their family members (n=200). The results of the study suggested that a high level of trust in key players, followed by the technology being highly accepted on religious grounds and their perception of the technology being highly beneficial, are factors with regard to supporting GT. In addition, Malaysian stakeholders reported themselves as being moderately engaged with medical genetics, and rated the risks and issues on GT as being moderate.


Tatangkain sa papel na ito ang isang preliminaryong kumparatibong analisis ng dalawang pangkasaysayang salaysay nina Mabini, La revolución filipina (sinulat 1901-1902), at Isabelo de los Reyes, La sensacional memoria de Isabelo de los Reyes sobre la revolución Filipina de 1896-97 (1899). Sisikaping palitawin sa ganitong paraan ang maaaring magkakaibang konsepto nila hinggil sa kasaysayan ng Rebolusyong Pilipino. Apolinario Mabini (1864-1903) and Isabelo de los Reyes (1864-1938) (also known as Don Belong) were born on the same year. These two individuals had very different, contrasting personalities, and both of them only reluctantly became involved with the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution of 1896. De los Reyes and Mabini wrote two important texts on their views and experiences of the revolution. De los Reyes' account was published with the full title, La sensacional memoria de Isabelo de los Reyes sobre La Revolución Filipina de 1896-97 por la cual fué deportado el autor al Castillo de Montjuich [The emotional memoir of Isabelo de los Reyes on the Philippine Revolution of 1896-97 for which the author was deported to the Castle of Montjuich] (De los Reyes, 1899, 2001). This essay will draw mainly upon the first, original section of De los Reyes' memoria written in Bilibid prison and signed by him on the 25th of April 1887 to be presented to Governor and Captain General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera as a collective plea of innocence to the charge of rebellion. (The second part of the complete memorias published in 1899 in Madrid consists of various compiled texts.) De los Reyes' memoria will be compared with Mabini's La Revolución Filipina (Mabini, 1900, 1931, 2001), this latter work was originally written in the years 1901-1902 in Guam where he had been exiled by the American authorities. Both texts were therefore written under conditions of colonial repression, in prison and in exile. Don Belong's text deals with a shorter period of time than Mabini's which proceeds beyond the Pact of Biak-na-Bato up to the final years of the Philippine revolution.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to uncover the underlying drivers of sustained high performing companies based on a field study of 127 companies in Brazilian, Russian, Indian and Chinese (BRIC) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) emerging markets. Understanding these companies provides a complementary way of appraising the growth, development and transformation of emerging markets. The authors synthesize the findings in an overarching framework that covers six strategies for building and sustaining legacy that leads to the succession of intergenerational wealth over time: overcoming institutional voids, inclusive markets, deepening localization, nurturing government support, building core competencies and harnessing human capital. The authors relate these strategies to different levels of development using Prahalad and Hart's BOP framework.

Design/methodology/approach
This study examines the underlying drivers of sustained high-performance companies based on field studies from an initial set of 105,260 BRIC companies and close to 500 companies in ASEAN. The methods employed four screening tests to arrive at a selection of the highest-performing firms: 70 firms in the BRIC nations and 58 firms from ASEAN. Following the selection, the authors constructed cases using primary interviews and secondary data, with the assistance of Ernst & Young and with academic colleagues in Manila. These studies were originally conducted in two separate time periods and reported accordingly. This paper synthesizes the findings of these two studies to arrive at an extended integrative framework.

Findings
From the cases, the authors examine six strategies for building and sustaining legacy that lead to high performance over time: overcoming institutional voids, creating inclusive markets, deepening localization, nurturing government support, building core competencies and harnessing human capital. To address the evolving state of institutional voids in these countries, the authors employ similar methods to hypothesize the placement of these strategies in the context of the world economic pyramid, initially formulated as the "bottom of the pyramid" framework.

Originality/value
This paper synthesizes and extends the authors' previous works by proposing the concept of legacy to describe the emergence and succession of local exemplary firms in emerging markets. This study aims to complement extant measures of nation-growth based primarily on GDP. The paper also extends the literature on institutional voids in shifting the focus from the mix of voids to their evolving state. Altogether, the paper provides a complementary narrative on assessing the market potential of emerging markets by adopting several categories of performance.


Kuechler, R.R., Birgel, D, Kiel, S, Freiwald, A, Goedert, J.L., Thiel, V & Peckmann, J. 2011: Miocene methane-derived carbonates from southwestern Washington, USA and a model for silicification at seeps. Lethaia, Vol. 45, pp. 259–273.

Exotic limestone masses with silicified fossils, enclosed within deep-water marine siliciclastic sediments of the Early to Middle Miocene Astoria Formation, are exposed along the north shore of the Columbia River in southwestern Washington, USA. Samples from four localities were studied to clarify the origin and diagenesis of these limestone deposits. The bioturbated and reworked limestones contain a faunal assemblage resembling that of modern and Cenozoic deep-water methane-seeps. Five phases make up the paragenetic sequence: (1) micrite and microspar; (2) fibrous, banded and botryoidal aragonite cement, partially replaced by silica or recrystallized to calcite; (3) yellow calcite; (4) quartz replacing carbonate phases and quartz cement; and (5) equant calcite spar and pseudospar. Layers of pyrite frequently separate different carbonate phases and generations, indicating periods of corrosion. Negative δ13Ccarbonate values as low as −37.6‰ V-PDB reveal an uptake of methane-derived carbon. In other cases, δ13Ccarbonate values as high as 7.1‰ point to a residual, 13C-enriched carbon pool affected by methanogenesis. Lipid biomarkers include 13C-depleted, archaeal 2,6,10,15,19-pentamethylicosane (PMI; δ13C: −128‰), crocetane and phytane, as well as various iso- and anteiso-carbon chains, most likely derived from sulphate-reducing bacteria. The biomarker inventory proves that the majority of the carbonates formed as a consequence of sulphate-dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane. Silicification of fossils and early diagenetic carbonate cements as well as the precipitation of quartz cement – also observed in other methane-seep limestones enclosed in sediments with abundant diatoms or radiolarians – is a consequence of a preceding increase of alkalinity due to anaerobic oxidation of methane, inducing the dissolution of silica skeletons. Once anaerobic oxidation of methane has ceased, the pH drops again and silica phases can precipitate. □Biomarkers, carbonates, isotopes, methane, Miocene, silicification, Washington.


As twentieth century philosophy fades into the distance, Martin Heidegger seems to be standing the test of time. His stature in continental philosophy is beyond question, and those French thinkers who avoid his influence most noticeably (such as Alain Badiou and Gilles Deleuze) are often difficult for precisely this reason, since it is Heidegger who has shaped our vision of philosophy more than anyone else. Even analytic philosophers have begun to find useful insights in Heidegger's works, while no analytic thinker has a comparable influence in the other direction - not even Wittgenstein. As the dust settles on the past hundred years of philosophy, it is Heidegger who looms as the ancestor whose influence we most need to absorb and resist. No one has seen this more clearly than Emmanuel Levinas. His claim that we must leave the climate of Heideggerian philosophy, and that we cannot do so by returning to a philosophy that would be pre-Heideggerian, strikes me as definitive. Nor does Levinas offer this statement as merely a vague program: in my view, he has done more than anyone else to move us into the post-Heideggerian climate that he recommends. In the works of Levinas, the lasting breakthroughs of Husserlian phenomenology are present in easily recognizable form, even if played in a strange new key. He grapples with Heidegger's question of being and his famous tool-analysis, reworking them in ways their author never attempted. Levinas does this along two separate paths. First and most famously, he senses the lack of any ethical philosophy in Heidegger, and also identifies a new space for such an ethics: the famous alterity or exteriority of the other. In this way Heidegger is challenged from above, with an appeal to the good beyond being. In a second and less prominent sense, Levinas challenges Heidegger from beneath, with his concepts of enjoyment and the elemental. While Heidegger submits all objects to a relational system of tools serving a series of purposes, Levinas objects to this form of holism. Entities are not simply dissolved in some global system of purposes, but close off in themselves, with a sort of inviolable integrity apart from all networks or functions. Humans always stand somewhere in particular, bathing in the material reality of wind, water, and stars, not to mention hammers and cigarettes, none of them entirely used up by their assignment to wider purposes. It is often forgotten that this second criticism of Heidegger is the basis for the first: for in Totality and Infinity, it is "separation" that paves the way for exteriority and transcendence.1 In this article, I will claim that there is also a third critique of Heidegger to be found in Levinas, one more closely related to the second than to the first. As Alphonso Lingis has lucidly observed,2 Levinas gives us a new definition of individual substance without relapsing into the traditional substance discredited by Heidegger's shifting system of tools. For Levinas, specific things are not just ontic debris to be dissolved in a mighty ethical Other, but neither are they just formless elements such as water or clouds. Things are substances, closed off in themselves even while permeated by what lies beyond them. If metaphysics for Levinas is inconceivable without the command of the Other, it is also unthinkable without the integrity and resistance of specific, autonomous entities. Heidegger misses the ethical moment, but perhaps more fatefully, he also misses the unyielding autonomy of specific objects. While Heidegger is quick to dismiss drums, houses, and tea plantations as "ontic," Levinas glimpses the metaphysical dimension of particular things. My one criticism of the Levinasian approach is that it remains too human-centered, too much in the shadow of Kant's Copernican Revolution. Things may hide behind their contours in substantial plenitude, resisting human effort, but Levinas also seems to grant them independence only when humans are on the scene to feel resistance. …


Chronic shortage in organs for transplantation worldwide is leading many policy-makers to consider various incentives that may increase donation rates.1 These range from giving holders of donor cards some priority on the transplant waiting list or a discount on health insurance premiums, to giving families who consent to donation a medal of honour, reimbursement of funeral expenses, tax incentives or even financial compensation.2–4 Of the various proposed incentive mechanisms, the one that has consistently garnered the most criticism and objection in the literature is that of paying families who consent to donate the organs of a deceased loved one.

Arguments against such a policy abound: it could exploit the poor, influence the family to prematurely withdraw care, encourage families to withhold medical information that would result in transplant-transmission of disease, and finally, it would commercialise the value of human life and result in the perception of human organs as commodities. Indeed, to date no Western country has adopted a policy of financial compensation to families for consenting to organ donation.2

Recently, a country suffering from severe shortage in organs has implemented a policy of financial incentives that uses cash payments. Wu and Fang5 describe a recent pilot programme in China that compensates families for postmortem donation, through an independent third party (the Red Cross Society of China) and based on consent or presumed consent (ie, no documented past objection) of the deceased. The particular context within which this programme is implemented validates and even exacerbates some ethical concerns that have been voiced in the Western medical and bioethics …


Mean depth was calculated from the bathymetry surface for each cell using the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Focal Statistics "Mean" parameter. Mean depth represents the average depth value (in meters) within a square 3x3 cell window. The 2x2 meter resolution mean depth GeoTIFF was exported and added as a new map layer to aid in benthic habitat classification. Acoustic imagery was acquired for the VICRNM on two separate missions onboard the NOAA ship, Nancy Foster. The first mission took place from 2/18/04 to 3/5/04. The second mission took place from 2/1/05 to 2/12/05. On both missions, seafloor depths between 14 to 55 m were mapped using a RESON SeaBat 8101 ER (240 kHz) MBES sensor. This pole-mounted system measured water depths across a 150 degree swath consisting of 101 individual 1.5 degree x 1.5 degree beams. The beams to the port and starboard of nadir (i.e., directly underneath the ship) overlapped adjacent survey lines by approximately 10 m. The vessel survey speed was between 5 and 8 kn. In 2004, the ship's location was determined by a Trimble DSM 132 DGPS system, which provided a RTCM differential data stream from the U.S. Coast Guard Continually Operating Reference Station (CORS) at Port Isabel, Puerto Rico. Gyro, heave, pitch and roll correctors were acquired using an Ixsea Octans gyrocompass. In 2005, the ship's positioning and orientation were determined by the Applanix POS/MV 320 V4, which is a GPS aided Inertial Motion Unit (IMU) providing measurements of roll, pitch and heading. The POS/MV obtained its positions from two dual frequency Trimble Zephyr GPS antennae. An auxiliary Trimble DSM 132 DGPS system provided a RTCM differential data stream from the U.S. Coast Guard CORS at Port Isabel, Puerto Rico. For both years, CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) measurements were taken approximately every 4 hours using a Seabird Electronics SBE-19 to correct for the changing sound velocities in the water column. In 2004, raw data were logged in .xtf (extended triton format) using Triton ISIS software 6.2. In 2005, raw data were logged in .gsf (generic sensor format) using SAIC ISS 2000 software. Data from 2004 were referenced to the WGS84 UTM 20 N horizontal coordinate system, and data from 2005 were referenced to the NAD83 UTM 20 N horizontal coordinate system. Data from both projects were referenced to the Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) vertical tidal coordinate system. The 2004 and 2005 MBES bathymetric data were both corrected for sensor offsets, latency, roll, pitch, yaw, static draft, the changing speed of sound in the water column and the influence of tides in CARIS Hips & Sips 5.3 and 5.4, respectively. The 2004 data was then binned to create a 1 x 1 m raster surface, and the 2005 data was binned to a create 2 x 2 m raster surface. After these final surfaces were created, the datum for the 2004 bathymetric surfaces was transformed from WGS84 to NAD83 using the "Project Raster" function in ArcGIS 9.1. The 2004 surface was transformed so that it would have the same datum as the 2005 surface. The 2004 bathymetric surface was then down sampled from 1 x 1 to 2 x 2 m using the "Resample" function in ArcGIS 9.1. The 2004 surface was resampled so it would have the same spatial resolution as the 2005 surface. Having the same coordinate systems and spatial resolutions, the final 2004 and 2005 bathymetry rasters were then merged using the Raster Calculator function "Merge" in ArcGIS's Spatial Analyst Extension to create a seamless bathymetry surface for the entire VICRNM area south of St. John. For a complete description of the data acquisition and processing parameters, please see the data acquisition and processing reports (DAPRs) for projects: NF-04-06-VI and NF-05-05-VI (Monaco & Rooney, 2004; Battista & Lazar, 2005).


Background: It is well known, since the pioneristic observation by Jenkins and Dallenbach (Am J
Psychol 1924;35:605-12), that a period of sleep provides a specific advantage for the consolidation
of newly acquired informations. Recent research about the possible enhancing effect of sleep on
memory consolidation has focused on procedural memory (part of non-declarative memory system,
according to Squire's taxonomy), as it appears the memory sub-system for which the available data
are more consistent.
The acquisition of a procedural skill follows a typical time course, consisting in a substantial
practice-dependent learning followed by a slow, off-line improvement. Sleep seems to play a
critical role in promoting the process of slow learning, by consolidating memory traces and making
them more stable and resistant to interferences.
If sleep is critical for the consolidation of a procedural skill, then an alteration of the
organization of sleep should result in a less effective consolidation, and therefore in a reduced
memory performance. Such alteration can be experimentally induced, as in a deprivation protocol,
or it can be naturally observed in some sleep disorders as, for example, in narcolepsy.
In this research, a group of narcoleptic patients, and a group of matched healthy controls,
were tested in two different procedural abilities, in order to better define the size and time course of
sleep contribution to memory consolidation.
Experimental Procedure: A Texture Discrimination Task (Karni & Sagi, Nature 1993;365:250-2)
and a Finger Tapping Task (Walker et al., Neuron 2002;35:205-11) were administered to two
indipendent samples of drug-naive patients with first-diagnosed narcolepsy with cataplexy
(International Classification of Sleep Disorder 2nd ed., 2005), and two samples of matched healthy
controls. In the Texture Discrimination task, subjects (n=22) had to learn to recognize a complex
visual array on the screen of a personal computer, while in the Finger Tapping task (n=14) they had
to press a numeric sequence on a standard keyboard, as quickly and accurately as possible. Three
subsequent experimental sessions were scheduled for each partecipant, namely a training session, a
first retrieval session the next day, and a second retrieval session one week later. To test for possible
circadian effects on learning, half of the subjects performed the training session at 11 a.m. and half
at 17 p.m. Performance at training session was taken as a measure of the practice-dependent
learning, while performance of subsequent sessions were taken as a measure of the consolidation
level achieved respectively after one and seven nights of sleep. Between training and first retrieval
session, all participants spent a night in a sleep laboratory and underwent a polygraphic recording.
Results and Discussion: In both experimental tasks, while healthy controls improved their
performance after one night of undisturbed sleep, narcoleptic patients showed a non statistically
significant learning. Despite this, at the second retrieval session either healthy controls and
narcoleptics improved their skills. Narcoleptics improved relatively more than controls between
first and second retrieval session in the texture discrimination ability, while their performance
remained largely lower in the motor (FTT) ability.
Sleep parameters showed a grater fragmentation in the sleep of the pathological group, and a
different distribution of Stage 1 and 2 NREM sleep in the two groups, being thus consistent with the
hypothesis of a lower consolidation power of sleep in narcoleptic patients. Moreover, REM density
of the first part of the night of healthy subjects showed a significant correlation with the amount of
improvement achieved at the first retrieval session in TDT task, supporting the hypothesis that
REM sleep plays an important role in the consolidation of visuo-perceptual skills.
Taken together, these results speak in favor of a slower, rather than lower consolidation of
procedural skills in narcoleptic patients.
Finally, an explanation of the results, based on the possible role of sleep in contrasting the
interference provided by task repetition is proposed.


Mean lifetimes of high-spin states of Kr-74 have been determined using the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The high-spin states were studied using the Ca-40(Ca-40, alpha 2p) reaction at a beam energy of 160 MeV with the GASP gamma-ray spectrometer. The ground-state band and negative parity side band show the presence of three different configurations in terms of transitional quadrupole deformations. A dramatic shape change was found along the ground-state band after the S-band crossing. The deduced quadrupole deformation changes are well reproduced by cranked Woods-Saxon Strutinsky calculations.


Defining an efficient training set is one of the most delicate phases for the success of remote sensing image classification routines. The complexity of the problem, the limited temporal and financial resources, as well as the high intraclass variance can make an algorithm fail if it is trained with a suboptimal dataset. Active learning aims at building efficient training sets by iteratively improving the model performance through sampling. A user-defined heuristic ranks the unlabeled pixels according to a function of the uncertainty of their class membership and then the user is asked to provide labels for the most uncertain pixels. This paper reviews and tests the main families of active learning algorithms: committee, large margin, and posterior probability-based. For each of them, the most recent advances in the remote sensing community are discussed and some heuristics are detailed and tested. Several challenging remote sensing scenarios are considered, including very high spatial resolution and hyperspectral image classification. Finally, guidelines for choosing the good architecture are provided for new and/or unexperienced user.


pRPL is an open-source general-purpose programming library developed by the author to parallelize almost any raster-processing algorithm with any arbitrary neighborhood configuration, and support any data type. This paper introduces the advanced features of pRPL, compares it with other similar programming libraries, and demonstrates the performance of a parallel geographic Cellular Automata (CA) model developed using pRPL with real-world datasets. In conclusion, pRPL effectively reduces the development complexity of parallel programming, and efficiently reduces the computing time.


Recent studies have interpreted intraspecific divergence in relative head sizes in snakes as evidence for adaptation of the trophic apparatus in gape-limited predators to local prey size. However, such variation might also arise from non-adaptive processes (such as allometry, correlated response, genetic drift, or non-adaptive phenotypic plasticity). We test predictions from these alternative hypotheses using data on the allometric relationship between head size and body size in two wide-ranging snake species: eight populations of adders (Vipera berus) and 30 populations of common gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis). Our data enable strong rejection of the alternative (non-adaptive) hypotheses, because the relationship between head and body size differed significantly among populations, the geographic distance separating pairs of populations explained less than 1.5% of their divergence in allometric coefficients, and the within-population allometric coefficients were higher than the among-population coefficients in each species. In addition, the geographical variability of allometric coefficients in females did not parallel that in males, suggesting that allometric coefficients have evolved independently in the two sexes. Phenotypic plasticity also cannot explain the data, because laboratory studies show that the allometric relationship between head size and body size is relatively insensitive to differing growth rates. We conclude that the intraspecific head size divergence in these snakes is better explained by spatially heterogeneous selection to optimize prey handling ability, than by non-adaptive processes.


Feed efficiency is a paramount factor for livestock economy. Previous studies had indicated a substantial heritability of several feed efficiency traits. In our study, we investigated the genetic background of residual feed intake, a commonly used parameter of feed efficiency, in a cattle resource population generated from crossing dairy and beef cattle. Starting from a whole genome association analysis, we subsequently performed combined phenotype-metabolome-genome analysis taking a systems biology approach by inferring gene networks based on partial correlation and information theory approaches. Our data about biological processes enriched with genes from the feed efficiency network suggest that genetic variation in feed efficiency is driven by genetic modulation of basic processes relevant to general cellular functions. When looking at the predicted upstream regulators from the feed efficiency network, the Tumor Protein P53 (TP53) and Transforming Growth Factor beta 1 (TGFB1) genes stood out regarding significance of overlap and number of target molecules in the data set. These results further support the hypothesis that TP53 is a major upstream regulator for genetic variation of feed efficiency. Furthermore, our data revealed a significant effect of both, the Non-SMC Condensin I Complex, Subunit G (NCAPG) I442M (rs109570900) and the Growth /differentiation factor 8 (GDF8) Q204X (rs110344317) loci, on residual feed intake and feed conversion. For both loci, the growth promoting allele at the onset of puberty was associated with a negative, but favorable effect on residual feed intake. The elevated energy demand for increased growth triggered by the NCAPG 442M allele is obviously not fully compensated for by an increased efficiency in converting feed into body tissue. As a consequence, the individuals carrying the NCAPG 442M allele had an additional demand for energy uptake that is reflected by the association of the allele with increased daily energy intake as observed in our study.


Pilot plant testing is invaluable for ascertaining the robustness of water treatment processes against raw water quality events such as turbidity and colour spikes, whether it be for stress testing of an existing process or designing of a new process. Unfortunately, the natural occurrence of such events (particularly colour) can be difficult to predict and commercial humic materials generally fail to closely match the indigenous natural organic matter (NOM) present in the raw water. Therefore, it is highly desirable to be able to simulate NOM event conditions. This paper describes a simple brewing method that we developed and used in our recent pilot plant evaluation of a proposed DAF/Ozone/BAC process for drinking water treatment. Using this method we successfully prepared, by using fallen leaves etc. collected from the local catchment area, large quantities of a concentrated NOM stock solution with its specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA), when diluted, very close to the median SUVA of historical NOM events. The brewed solution showed broadly similar NOM characteristics to those of the raw water encountered during the pilot investigation period in terms of molecular weight distribution and fractionation. The coagulation behaviour was also examined for the spiked and non-spiked raw water.


Background Conversational agents (also known as chatbots) have evolved in recent decades to become multimodal, multifunctional platforms with potential to automate a diverse range of health-related activities supporting the general public, patients, and physicians. Multiple studies have reported the development of these agents, and recent systematic reviews have described the scope of use of conversational agents in health care. However, there is scarce research on the effectiveness of these systems; thus, their viability and applicability are unclear. Objective The objective of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of conversational agents in health care and to identify limitations, adverse events, and areas for future investigation of these agents. Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols will be used to structure this protocol. The focus of the systematic review is guided by a population, intervention, comparator, and outcome framework. A systematic search of the PubMed (Medline), EMBASE, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases will be conducted. Two authors will independently screen the titles and abstracts of the identified references and select studies according to the eligibility criteria. Any discrepancies will then be discussed and resolved. Two reviewers will independently extract and validate data from the included studies into a standardized form and conduct quality appraisal. Results As of January 2020, we have begun a preliminary literature search and piloting of the study selection process. Conclusions This systematic review aims to clarify the effectiveness, limitations, and future applications of conversational agents in health care. Our findings may be useful to inform the future development of conversational agents and promote the personalization of patient care. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/16934


For applying acoustic radiation force to manipulate biomaterials such as cell, DNA, bio-macromolecule without contact, stationary sound field of an ultrasonic transducer was computed numerically. With the numerical data about the sound field, spatial distribution of the acoustic radiation force was analyzed. Besides the radiation force in the axial direction, trapping forces in the lateral direction were discovered. By moving the reflector continuously and carefully, positions of trapping wells were changed simultaneously, as the result, non-contact manipulation of micro cells was implemented.


The vascular laboratory as a recognised entity is, at best, only 15 years old. Many growing technologies were applied prior to this time, but it was not until the addition of Doppler ultrasound to the vascular surgeon's armamentarium that non-invasive diagnosis began to take hold. The vascular laboratory was necessary because angiography, which was felt to be the gold standard by many, was expensive, had the risk of potentially serious complications, and did not have the characteristics of a test which made it easily repeatable at frequent intervals. Most importantly, angiography was an anatomic evaluator and provided minimal information regarding function. Although pathologic anatomy and function are often related, the relationship is sufficiently weak to dictate the need for an accurate method of functional evaluation. This was the role of the early vascular laboratories. Today's vascular laboratory provides both functional and anatomic information. In some cases, the anatomic information is superior to that which can be obtained from angiography.


For most transducers, the two kinds of displacement and angular variants can not be captured at the same time. While for the unrestricted object, it often translates and rotates synchronously. For some important or special application fields, it is becoming more and more important to find a way to acquire all the six motion signals concurrently. Based on the parallel robot technology, a novel type of this kind of device is brought forth. It is composed of the end-effector, the stationary platform, and six sub-chains. It can translate along and rotate around any one of the three axes. Main structure and operation principle of this device are both described and analyzed. Measurement circuit system is designed and how to handle the twelve input signals is also explained. Finally the program flowchart and simulation examples are given.


The soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability often constrains soil carbon (C) pool, and elevated N deposition could further intensify soil P limitation, which may affect soil C cycling in these N‐rich and P‐poor ecosystems. Soil microbial residues may not only affect soil organic carbon (SOC) pool but also impact SOC stability through soil aggregation. However, how soil nutrient availability and aggregate fractions affect microbial residues and the microbial residue contribution to SOC is still not well understood. We took advantage of a 10‐year field fertilization experiment to investigate the effects of nutrient additions, soil aggregate fractions, and their interactions on the concentrations of soil microbial residues and their contribution to SOC accumulation in a tropical coastal forest. We found that continuous P addition greatly decreased the concentrations of microbial residues and their contribution to SOC, whereas N addition had no significant effect. The P‐stimulated decreases in microbial residues and their contribution to SOC were presumably due to enhanced recycling of microbial residues via increased activity of residue‐decomposing enzymes. The interactive effects between soil aggregate fraction and nutrient addition were not significant, suggesting a weak role of physical protection by soil aggregates in mediating microbial responses to altered soil nutrient availability. Our data suggest that the mechanisms driving microbial residue responses to increased N and P availability might be different, and the P‐induced decrease in the contribution of microbial residues might be unfavorable for the stability of SOC in N‐rich and P‐poor tropical forests. Such information is critical for understanding the role of tropical forests in the global carbon cycle.


a difficult problem. This, it should be noted, is an isolated cognitive defect. Few qualified doctors find the concept of acquired dyslexia, as for example the result of a cerebral vascular accident, difficult to accept, but strangely an inherited defect causing difficulty in learning to read in an otherwise normal child appears to be almost unbelievable. Were this not the case the term dyslexia would not be held in such suspicion and the powerful negating control that many educational psychologists hold over the whole problem of reading difficulties would never have eventuated. One must sadly come to the conclusion that many doctors have abrogated their responsibilities for this important aspect of the school medical service. This has led to greater hardships for this group of children, who with their parents are in an impossible position to conduct their own defence. This is the chief cause for the shortage of specialised remedial teachers of which you make mention, whereas many other countries which recognise the true nature of the problem have no such deficit. For a more balanced view of the whole subject of the problem of children who cannot read I recommend a small book by MacDonald Critchley.' It is, of course, recognised that this group of children with a neurological defect are suffering from only one of a number of causes of reading difficulties. They are, however, quite separate from the continuum usually recognised by the educational psychologists, which range from intellectual inadequacy at one end of the scale to neurosis at the other. They are nevertheless all too often incorporated into this, and as a result spend their secondary school careers in the general remedial section undergoing the usual group therapy. It is generally recognised by experts that they respond poorly to this and need much greater specialised teaching.2 They need, and are worthy of, special consideration, and as a working rule it is most misleading to qualify the degree of their disability as "particularly likely to express the behaviour-poor reading-in an adverse environment (for example, a large family or a poor school)." Most of them come from good caring and loving homes with two or three children, and it has not been my experience that any school shows particular poorness by demonstrating a greater number than others.


Two field experiments were conducted in 1992-93 and 1994 at Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, to evaluate clomazone, oxyfluorfen, and prometryn as preplant herbicides in cabbage. After three weeks, clomazone (1.12 and 2.24 kg ai/ha), oxyfluorfen (0.28 and 0.56 kg ai/ha), and prometryn (2.0 and 4.0 kg ai/ha) reduced weed density by more than 67% and 90% in 1992-93 and 1994, respectively. At the lower rate, clomazone and oxyfluorfen caused 15% to 25% injury to cabbage when evaluated after three weeks, and 2% to 10% after six weeks. Prometryn caused more than 65% injury and reduced cabbage yield by more than 84%. Cabbage treated with clomazone at both rates and oxyfluorfen at 0.56 kg ai/ha produced yields similar to that of the handweeded check (39,980 kg/ha) in 1992-93. Interference to cabbage was caused mostly by purple nutsedge ( Cyperus rotundus L.) in 1994.


This paper examines the translation of the Athenian Grain-Tax Law established in 374/3 BC, the period often referred to as early Classical antiquity. A particular focus is placed on the potential contribution of 'accounting history' as a means of exploring the use of grain tax to ensure food security. In terms of historic interpretations, the Grain-Tax is a relatively new piece of evidence discovered in the Athenian market place excavations of 1986 and, as yet, not known to have been studied within accounting research. Empirical research for this paper took the form of a hermeneutic analysis. The focus of examination was our translation of a Marble Stele inscribed in Greek with the Athenian Grain-Tax Law of 374/3 BC. This included a linguistic translation by the authors taking into account alternative translations of the Grain-Tax from other disciplines and placing the evidence in context through symbolic interpretations of other artifacts of the time based on fieldwork research. Emphasis was placed on the method of accounting for tax collection depicted by the Grain-Tax. Our interpretation of the tax highlights the challenges of researching the interchangeable nature of grain and coinage as a 'currency' for payment including aspects of measurability alongside accountability and the potential implications of this for the use of the tax system as a means of ensuring food security. Drawing new evidence for accounting research from Classical Athens and further exploring the use of hermeneutics within accounting history as a means to increase the scope of what is viewed as evidence in accounting history.


Learning from experimentation allows a system to acquire planning domain knowledge by correcting its knowledge when an action execution fails. Experiments are designed and planned to bring the world to a state where a hypothesis e.g., that an operator is missing a precondition can be tested. When planning an experiment, the planner must take i n to account the interactions between the execution of the main plan and the execution of the experiment plans, since after the experiment i t m ust continue to carry on its main task. In order for planners to work in such e n viron-ments where they can be given several tasks, they must take i n to account the interactions between them. A usual assumption in current planning systems is that they are given a single task or set of goals to achieve. However, a plan that may seem adequate for a task in isolation may make other tasks harder or even impossible to achieve. Diierent tasks may compete for resources, execute irreversible actions that make other tasks unachievable, or set the world in undesirable states. This paper discusses what these interactions are and presents how the problem was adressed in EXPO, an implemented system that acquires domain knowledge for planning through experimentation.


The structure of monomeric serine carboxypeptidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (CPD-Y), deglycosylated by an efficient new procedure, has been determined by multiple isomorphous replacement and crystallographic refinement. The model contains 3333 non-hydrogen atoms, all 421 amino acids, 3 of 4 carbohydrate residues, 5 disulfide bridges, and 38 water molecules. The standard crystallographic R-factor is 0.162 for 10,909 reflections observed between 20.0- and 2.8-A resolution. The model has rms deviations from ideality of 0.016 A for bond lengths and 2.7 degrees for bond angles and from restrained thermal parameters of 7.9 A2. CPD-Y, which exhibits a preference for hydrophobic peptides, is distantly related to dimeric wheat serine carboxypeptidase II (CPD-WII), which has a preference for basic peptides. Comparison of the two structures suggests that substitution of hydrophobic residues in CPD-Y for negatively charged residues in CPD-WII in the binding site is largely responsible for this difference. Catalytic residues are in essentially identical configurations in the two molecules, including strained main-chain conformational angles for three active site residues (Ser 146, Gly 52, and Gly 53) and an unusual hydrogen bond between the carboxyl groups of Glu 145 and Glu 65. The binding of an inhibitor, benzylsuccinic acid, suggests that the C-terminal carboxylate binding site for peptide substrates is Asn 51, Gly 52, Glu 145, and His 397 and that the "oxyanion hole" consists of the amides of Gly 53 and Tyr 147. A surprising result of the study is that the domains consisting of residues 180-317, which form a largely alpha-helical insertion into the highly conserved cores surrounding the active site, are quite different structurally in the two molecules. It is suggested that these domains have evolved much more rapidly than other parts of the molecule and are involved in substrate recognition.


The term polycentricity originally emerged in the West, but with multiple meanings. More recently, the concept of polycentricity has been increasingly invoked as a policy idea, seeking balanced development within both cities, and more broadly, regions. Consequently, polycentricity has been applied to a variety of spatial plans at a number of different scales. Edge cities have become a part of the polycentric city regions used to try to create balanced development particularly at the intra-urban scale. Towards the end of 20th century, polycentricity and the edge city, were introduced as new planning concepts into China. Subsequently a number of super/mega city regions (shiyu) began to apply polycentric development spatial planning strategies designed to better facilitate more sustainable and balanced development. After more than fifteen years' development, there is, however, little research available on how successful this application has been, and it remains unknown whether Chinese edge cities, at a local level, have been effectively planned and formed under the umbrella of upper level polycentric strategies. This research attempts to fill this gap by developing a conceptual framework for the application of polycentricity and a methodology for investigating it, at both the city regional and local scales with specific reference to the Chines context. More particularly the focus is to reveal and interpret the challenges and difficulties, from the perspective of planning and development, of Chinese edge cities. Methodologically, this research adopts an embedded case study approach. Initially eight super/mega city regions were selected across China based on when the application of polycentricity development first became evident. This macro policy analysis led to two more detailed city regions Guangzhou and Nanjing. After this, the formation of Chinese edge cities was explored at a local scale. This involved looking at the development trajectories of the selected Chinese edge cities through planned, unplanned or integrated processes, and also going beyond the subject of edge cities, and examining the dynamics behind their formation. The data were mainly drawn from documentary analyses of plans/policies and interviews with key stakeholders in China at both the city regional and local scales. The findings highlight the divergent interpretations of polycentricity in master planning practices at the city regional scale and show how plans have been adjusted to help deliver the idea of polycentric development. Although the concept of polycentricity is relatively new in China, it has also been a fuzzy and flexible term open to different interpretations as in the West. It has become a policy tool especially used in spatial planning to help promote land-centred urban policies, and to further facilitate central cities' prosperity through spatial restructuring. At the local scale, the findings show three different development trajectories of the emerging Chinese edge cities in terms of three elements: spatial form, functional identity and governance arrangements. Major challenges in effectively delivering polycentric development strategies and in forming Chinese edge cities are recognised particularly from the perspective of key actors.


We examined the properties of exotoxins produced by Aeromonas trota (A. enteropelogenes), one of the diarrheagenic species of Aeromonadaceae. Nine of 19 A. trota isolates that grew on solid media containing erythrocytes showed hemolytic activity. However, the hemolytic activities of the culture supernatants of these hemolytic strains of A. trota were markedly lower than those of A. sobria when cultured in liquid medium, and the amount of hemolysin detected by immunoblotting using antiserum against the hemolysin produced by A. sobria was also low. A mouse intestine loop assay using living bacterial cells showed that A. trota 701 caused the significant accumulation of fluid, and antiserum against the hemolysin produced suppressed the enterotoxic action of A. trota 701. These results indicated that A. trota 701 was diarrheagenic and the hemolysin produced was the causative agent of the enterotoxic activity of A. trota. The hemolysin in A. sobria was previously shown to be secreted in a preform (inactive form) and be activated when the carboxy-terminal domain was cleaved off by proteases in the culture supernatant. Since mature hemolysin was detected in the culture supernatants of A. trota, we analyzed the extracellular protease produced by A. trota. Fifteen of 19 A. trota isolates that grew on solid media containing skim milk showed proteolytic activity. We subsequently found that most A. trota isolates possessed the serine protease gene, but not the metalloprotease gene. Therefore, we determined the nucleotide sequence of the serine protease gene and its chaperone A. trota gene. The results obtained revealed that the deduced amino acid sequences of serine protease and the chaperone were homologous to those of A. sobria with identities of 83.0% and 75.8%, respectively.


As a result of company-wide involvement in quality assurance we have been able to advance the concept of participatory management though the organization's base is centralized in Kalamazoo. Despite the great size and geographical span of UHCS, regional and office management staff across North America play an integral part in guiding our future. Our QA program has given field operations the opportunity to display to management their interest and desire to be involved in the overall process. Success in the home health care industry is due in large part to the work ethic of our employees and their desire to do their jobs in a truly professional manner. It is extremely important for a multiagency organization that all of its employees in every location, know that the company is only as good as its people. After all, an organization is perceived by the public through individual employees. Thus, expectation levels for health care employees must always be heightened. Quality improvement is an ongoing effort no matter how well we do it. We keep attempting to reduce the amount of rework or correction and to achieve higher levels of productivity. Employees of any healthcare organization, large or small, need to know that the organization cannot be satisfied with where it is today. We in the health service industry must be looking toward the care we can provide, better and more efficiently, tomorrow. Quality improvement is an ongoing effort, no matter how well we do it.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to highlight ways two novice secondary English teachers negotiated the politics of college and career readiness along with the literacy needs of students, in the age of accountability.

Design/methodology/approach

This three-year longitudinal qualitative case study focused on two participants in English teacher preparation and their first two years in the classroom.

Findings

The findings focus on participants' definitions of college and career readiness as it pertains to their English Language Arts classrooms. Next, the focus is on two themes: tensions these novice teachers experienced as they attempted to build classrooms focused on postsecondary readiness, and the ways in which they worked to bridge the gap between their definitions of college and career readiness and the realities of their classrooms.

Research limitations/implications

Connections among high stakes testing environments, postsecondary readiness and literacy teacher education are important to the field. Studying the experiences of novice teachers can fill a present gap at the intersection of these concepts.

Practical implications

Curriculum in teacher education should introduce standards, as well as provide a platform for negotiating and critiquing them. Three focus areas to help pre-service teachers mitigate tensions between minimum skills assessments, college readiness and literacy are personal experience, collaboration and reflective partnerships.

Originality/value

There has been little to no research done on the tensions between preparing all students to be college and career ready and the minimum skills based priorities that govern many school systems and its impact on novice teachers. This classroom reality is important to literacy teacher education.


This interim project report addresses the ongoing work of Dunham's Data: Katherine Dunham and Digital Methods for Dance Historical Inquiry. The project centres choreographer Katherine Dunham's transnational circulation, and takes a critical mixed methods approach informed by feminist and anti-racist discussions in the digital humanities in order to explore the questions and problems that make data analysis and visualization meaningful for dance history. Dunham's Data sits on robust datasets that we have manually curated from currently undigitized sources – an iterative and evaluative process that approaches these archives and the histories that they contain from a granular perspective. This update contextualizes our particular conjunction of archival and digital methods within dance history's precedents for curating data, and talks through our own datasets as tools for dance historical analysis in terms of Dunham's global legacy.


Summary: We are currently in the bronze age of information security. The explosive growth in computer systems and their interconnections via networks has increased the dependence of both organizations and individuals on the information stored and communicated using these systems. This has increased the need to protect the data and the resources from disclosure and to protect the entire network from network based attacks. There are many attacks intended to deprive legitimate users from accessing network resources and functions. Denial of service (DoS) attack is an attack on the availability of Internet services and resources. A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is an attack which prevents legitimate users from using a victim computing system or network resource. Flooding based Distributed Denial of service (DDoS) attack presents a very serious threat to the stability of the Internet. We want to design a comprehensive mitigation mechanism against the DDoS attack. In the proposed system the entire attack detection process is divided into two levels due to the distributed nature of DDoS attack.In the first level the individual detection systems are installed in all autonomous systems to perform local detection. In the second level the all the detection systems exchange their messages using consensus method to take global decision. Prevention and early detection of DDoS attack is very important. The objective is to minimize the expected delay of detecting DDoS attack after its occurrence. For this reason, good lower bound is to be fit on the expected time between false alarms before the DDoS attack. So the overall detection time would be reduced for global decision making. Defense in depth is an essential feature of the proposed work.


The previous literature on tuned power amplifiers has not made clear the fundamental differences between amplifiers in which the output device acts 1) as a current source, or 2) as a switch. Previous circuits have often operated in contradiction to their design assumptions, resulting in the need for "cut-and-try" design. The new class of amplifiers deseribed here is based on a load network synthesized to hWe a transient response which maximizes power efficiency even if the active device switching times are substantial fractions of the ac cycle. The new class of amplifiers, named "Class E; 1 is defined and is iflustnated by a detailed description and a set of design equations for one simple member of the class. For that circuit the authors measured 96 percent transistor efficiency at 3.9 MHr at 26-W output from a pair of Motorola 2N3735 TO-5 transistors. Advantages of Class E are unusually high efficiency, a priori designability, large reduction in second-breakdown stress, low sensitivityy to activedevice characteristics, and potential for high-efficiency operation at higher frequencies than pI eviously published Class-D circuits. Harmonic output and power gain are comparable to those of conventional amplifiers.


Author(s): Chong, Seenae | Advisor(s): Mintrop, Rick | Abstract: Engaging low-income parents of color in schools in ways that empower and respect rather than further marginalize remains a persistent challenge. Current studies on organizations which work with low-income parents of color in schools, which I term "parent engagement organizations" or PEOs, highlight how PEOs lend critical infrastructure and resources to activities such as disseminating information about educational practices or organizing parents for school reform. Less understood is how organizational survival, a condition specific and unique to the organization as a social actor, may influence parent engagement practices and, subsequently, how low-income parents of color are empowered to engage in schools. In this study, I move beyond technical descriptions of organizational resource brokerage in parent-school relationships to uncover how organizations, as distinct social formations, mediate parent agency in schools. Bringing insights from the sociology of organizations to bear on research that examines the possibilities of empowering low-income parents of color in schools, I used a multi-case study design to explore how the conditions of survival and sustainability shaped the ways two PEOs—one educative, the other political—fostered parent agency and positioned parents in the micro-politics of schooling.The findings suggest that organizational mediation of parent-school relationships consists of far more activities than resource brokerage. The two focal organizations dedicated resources and care to creating spaces on school sites which were welcoming and responsive to parents. However, the types of parent agency advanced by the organizations were limited to those which could also accommodate organizational needs for survival and sustainability. In the educative PEO, the parent engagement program was funded through a sub-contract with the school district. While parent engagement staff offered information and activities which addressed parents' desire to be useful and helpful in school life, organizational identity, roles and routines, and context construed parent engagement as a compliance task that needed to be fulfilled to maintain its sub-contractor status with the district. Prioritizing good school relations was evident in the ways parent engagement staff suppressed parents' critiques and concerns and redirected parents toward volunteer activities in peripheral school operations. In the political PEO, parents gained the skills and knowledge to advocate for and advance their interests in a variety of arenas. However, organizing was limited to district-sanctioned spaces of engagement, as pressures from collaborations with other organizations as well as district politics challenged staff's ability to stay focused on parents' specific, expressed interests. Consequently, the power relations which upheld policy-making authority in the hands of district elites remained unchallenged. This study demonstrates the ways parent engagement organizations are socially productive actors which shape the everyday interactions among parents, teachers, and school and district leaders, thereby shaping the social life of schooling.


Extrusion and time-consuming surgical techniques required of implantation have been the major criticisms of quasi-integrated implants such as the Iowa Implant. With these concerns in mind, the Universal Implant (Oculo-Plastik, Montreal) has been designed to offer the motility advantages seen with quasi-integrated implants and the ease of placement of a sphere. The Universal Implant incorporates most of the advantages seen in the Iowa Implant and other quasi-integrated implants. In addition, the Universal Implant (1) utilizes a faster surgical technique for implantation; (2) avoids cleaning the muscles; (3) has lower, more rounded, smaller mounds that should decrease the late extrusion rate; (4) can be used as an enucleation implant, evisceration implant, or secondary implant; and (5) has a greater girth and larger radius of the posterior surface that helps support orbital fat and tissues, resulting in a more natural superior sulcus. Considering that the Iowa Implant is presently not available, the Universal Implant should be used by those surgeons who were pleased with the former implant and should be considered as a reasonable alternative to other enucleation implants.


Working memory serves as an essential workspace for the mind, allowing for the active maintenance of information to support short-term cognitive goals. Although people can readily report the contents of working memory, it is unknown whether they might have reliable metacognitive knowledge regarding the accuracy of their own memories. We investigated this question to better understand the core properties of the visual working memory system. Observers were briefly presented with displays of three or six oriented gratings, after which they were cued to report the orientation of a specific grating from memory as well as their subjective confidence in their memory. We used a mixed-model approach to obtain separate estimates of the probability of successful memory maintenance and the precision of memory for successfully remembered items. Confidence ratings strongly predicted the likelihood that the cued grating was successfully maintained, and furthermore revealed trial-to-trial variations in the visual precision of memory itself. Our findings provide novel evidence indicating that the precision of visual working memory is variable in nature. These results inform an ongoing debate regarding whether this working memory system relies on discrete slots with fixed visual resolution or on representations with variable precision, as might arise from variability in the amount of resources assigned to individual items on each trial.


Lip-read speech suppresses and speeds up the auditory N1 and P2 peaks, but these effects are not always observed or reported. Here, the robustness of lip-read-induced N1/P2 suppression and facilitation in phonetically congruent audiovisual speech was assessed by analyzing peak values that were taken from published plots and individual data. To determine whether adhering to the additive model of AV integration (i.e., A+V ≠ AV, or AV-V ≠ A) is critical for correct characterization of lip-read-induced effects on the N1 and P2, auditory data was compared to AV and to AV-V. On average, the N1 and P2 were consistently suppressed and sped up by lip-read information, with no indication that AV integration effects were significantly modulated by whether or not V was subtracted from AV. To assess the possibility that variability in observed N1/P2 amplitudes and latencies may explain why N1/P2 suppression and facilitation are not always found, additional correlations between peak values and size of the AV integration effects were computed. These analyses showed that N1/P2 peak values correlated with the size of AV integration effects. However, it also became apparent that a portion of the AV integration effects was characterized by lip-read-induced peak enhancements and delays rather than suppressions and facilitations, which, for the individual data, seemed related to particularly small/early A-only peaks and large/late AV(-V) peaks.