There have been investigated reactive properties of silicon avalanche photodiodes (MAPD—micropixel avalanche photodiode) with deeply buried micropixels (amplification channels) within AC signal frequencies f = 50-500 kHz. By experiment it is found out that measured capacitance of structures involving three p-n junctions in section passing through the pixels increases exponentially with Ufor (negative potential is applying to n-Si substrate) reaches maximum and at certain value Ufor = Uinv changes the sign becoming the negative capacitance (equivalent inductance). The magnitude of active component of complete conduction G grows with the applied voltage and reaches maximum value ~70 mS at Ufor = 1.0 V (f = 500 kHz). There has been calculated difference in phase  appearing between current and voltage and it is shown that at Ufor = 0 V the  = 80 and passes through the zero at Ufor = 0.55 V. The magnitude of negative capacitance recalculated to the inductance value with the growth of forward bias being decreased sharply tends to the saturation.


This article introduces a novel paradigm for the unsourced multiple-access communication problem. This divide-and-conquer approach leverages recent advances in compressive sensing and forward error correction to produce a computationally efficient algorithm. Within the proposed framework, every active device first partitions its data into several subblocks, and subsequently adds redundancy using a systematic linear block code. Compressive sensing techniques are then employed to recover sub-blocks, and the original messages are obtained by connecting pieces together using a low-complexity tree-based algorithm. Numerical results suggest that the proposed scheme outperforms other existing practical coding schemes. Measured performance lies approximately 4.3 dB away from the Polyanskiy achievability limit, which is obtained in the absence of complexity constraints.


This article deals with the limitations of judicial review and the possibilities of its augmentation or replacement by a regime of appeals on the merits. The author questions some assumptions that are commonly made about appellate structures. He criticizes the "broad-brush approach" and warns that there is no panacea. The article explains why any broad regime of appeals on the merits from tribunals to courts of general jurisdiction is not an available option, and it discusses alternative structures of appeals to tribunals. Finally, it explains why it would be irresponsible to propose any appellate structure covering any substantive subject except in the context of a comprehensive study of that subject.


Recent years have witnessed a growth in academic dishonesty of different kinds in Iran. The cases of fraud, plagiarism, cheating etc. have been so frequent that some people in Iran have tried to restore international credibility to the Iranian academia. We believe academic dishonesty will have negative impact not only on the academia, but also on the society, and one way to tackle it is to study different factors related to it. Therefore, we conducted a study on students in three faculties at University of Tehran. Participants were 300 BA university students (female = 182, male = 118) ranging in age from 17 to 34 years (M= 20.55 and SD= 2.04) from three faculties at University of Tehran: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Faculty of Management and Faculty of Social Sciences. Although we found small differences among students in three faculties, we found great differences among students from different years of study as regard to their perceptions of professors' academic dishonesty, their classmates' academic dishonesty, and righteousness of being academically dishonest. Each participant in this study was briefed about the nature of research and was assured about his/her anonymity. Only after getting participant's informed consent, we delivered the questionnaire.


What happens to travel behaviour when the right to park is removed? This controversial question, fundamental to travel demand management and land-use planning, has only been partially addressed by the literature so far. The impacts on travel to the destination concerned have been studied, but not the impacts on wider travel behaviour. This study reports on a natural experiment related to destination parking, where a university removed the right of most new undergraduates living in an 'Exclusion Zone' (a large majority) to park on its main suburban campus. 927 undergraduates, who started before and after the change in policy were surveyed in two waves to assess the impact of the policy on travel to campus, travel elsewhere, car ownership and licence-holding. Observations were also made of overspill parking on surrounding streets and a nearby superstore car park. The policy change was associated with a fall in the modal share of driving to campus of 9 percentage points. Car availability also reduced, although countervailing factors (which may have included road space freed up by the policy change) encouraged modal shift towards driving between the two waves. The policy change also introduced a gender difference in driving to campus for the first time; males without parking permits were more likely to drive than females without permits. The study supports the policy recommendation that modal shift 'carrots' are more effective when accompanied by 'sticks'. It shows that restricting parking at frequently-visited destinations may reduce parking pressures and traffic generation elsewhere in a city or region.


Although women still comprise a small percentage of the total prison population in countries in North America, Western Europe, and Latin America, their numbers have been rising in the past two decades. This article is a literature review of a new and dynamic field of scholarship that maintains that this increase is a byproduct of three interrelated factors: the war on drugs, globalization, and prison building. First, using international pressure, the United States has imposed its federalized and militarized drug war on the governments of other nations. Second, the transfer of U.S.-led neoliberal economic policies, fueled by globalization, has marginalized poor women of color in modern and developing nations. As a result, many of these women have become involved in criminalized behaviors, including drug trafficking, as a means of economic survival. In this post-September 11 environment, transborder crossings are closely monitored, increasing the likelihood of arrest. Third, in an effort to contain surplus populations created by economic restructuring the United States has promoted a social policy of mass incarceration. The union of these three factors results in the greater likelihood of the arrest, detainment, prosecution, and imprisonment of poor women of color. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the experiences of women in global prisons and recommends strategies to curtail women's imprisonment.


Members of the in braska range in time of resettlement, background and experience in adjustment to their new home. The im pact of cultural change and education on the Vietnam ese youth in this community is of particular importance. The Vietnamese youth are under-examined in the ar eas of adjustment and identity formation. The effects of cultural conflict have profound impact on the future of Vietnamese youth. The following study presents an ex amination of the variables that may affect Vietnamese youth, specifically culture and education as factors in ethnic identity formation. It also presents how these factors can affect the relationship between students and parents.


Mixtures of increasing failure rate distributions (IFR) can decrease at least in some intervals of time. Usually this property is observed asymptotically as time tends to infinity , which is due to the fact that a mixture failure rate is 'bent down', as the weakest populations are dying out first. We consider a survival model, generalizing a very well known in reliability and survival analysis additive hazards, proportional hazards and accelerated life models. We obtain new explicit asymptotic relations for a general setting and study specific cases. Under reasonable assumptions we prove that asymptotic behavior of the mixture failure rate depends only on the behavior of the mixing distri-bution in the neighborhood of the left end point of its support and not on the whole mixing distribution.


Eleven acute radial nerve palsies were examined between 3 days and 14 weeks following the onset of the neuropathy. Our objective was to quantify the relative extent of axon loss and conduction block in radial motor fibers supplying the extensor and abductor pollicis longus (EPL/APL) muscles. In 10 of 11 cases, conduction block exceeded axon loss. Maximum motor and sensory conduction velocities were normal distal to the spiral groove, suggesting that the larger myelinated fibers were not selectively involved in this acute neuropathy. The localization of the conduction block and slowing was, in every case, across the spiral groove. This method provides a relatively simple way of assessing the approximate contributions of axon loss and conduction block, and fits well with the early and usually complete clinical recovery in these cases.


The sensitive pulmonary function tests of change in maximum expiratory flow (delta Vmax 50) and volume of isoflow were used to determine the effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), smoking, and alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency phenotypes on peripheral airways. Patients were prospectively divided into 4 groups: 14 smokers with RA, 12 nonsmokers with RA, 11 smokers without RA, and 13 nonsmokers without RA. delta Vmax 50 was the most discriminating variable and demonstrated significant small airway obstructive disease in the first 3 groups, with an additive effect in the group of smokers with RA. An increased incidence of the alpha 1-antitrypsin-deficient MS phenotype was seen in the RA smoker group, and this phenotype was associated with severe pulmonary disease.


Xylanases hydrolyze the β-1,4-linked xylose backbone of xylans. They are of increasing interest in the paper and food industries for their pre-bleaching and bio-pulping applications. Such industries demand new xylanases to cover a wider range of cleavage specificity, activity and stability. The catalytic domain of xylanase Xys1 from Streptomyces halstedii JM8 was expressed, purified and crystallized and native data were collected to 1.78 A resolution with an Rmerge of 4.4%. The crystals belong to space group P212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 34.05, b = 79.60, c = 87.80 A. The structure was solved by the molecular-replacement method using the structure of the homologue Xyl10A from Streptomyces lividans. In a similar manner to other members of its family, Xys1 folds to form a standard (β/α)8 barrel with the two catalytic functions, the acid/base and the nucleophile, at its C-terminal side. The overall structure is described and compared with those of related xylanases.


We have found and characterized, by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), quasi-one-dimensional spin-split states in chain-like surface alloys formed by large Z elements (Bi and Pb) at the Cu(110) surface. The ARPES results are supported by first-principles relativistic calculations, which also confirm the spin polarization of these states, characteristic of the Rashba–Bychkov effect. The Fermi surface contours are open, but warped, as a result of the interaction with the bulk Cu conduction band. This interaction introduces a k dependence of the spin splitting perpendicular to the chains direction. We have also investigated the influence of the atomic spin–orbit parameter in substitutional isostructural Bi1−xPbx overlayers, and found that the magnitude of the spin splitting can be continuously tuned as a function of stoichiometry.


Current supervised parsers are limited by the size of their labelled training data, making improving them with unlabelled data an important goal. We show how a state-of-theart CCG parser can be enhanced, by predicting lexical categories using unsupervised vector-space embeddings of words. The use of word embeddings enables our model to better generalize from the labelled data, and allows us to accurately assign lexical categories without depending on a POS-tagger. Our approach leads to substantial improvements in dependency parsing results over the standard supervised CCG parser when evaluated on Wall Street Journal (0.8%), Wikipedia (1.8%) and biomedical (3.4%) text. We compare the performance of two recently proposed approaches for classification using a wide variety of word embeddings. We also give a detailed error analysis demonstrating where using embeddings outperforms traditional feature sets, and showing how including POS features can decrease accuracy.


in your issue of 10 July (p. 59), which would be misleading to any reader who wishes to go back to the sources of reference. It was stated that the detection of precipitating antibodies against Thermopolyspora polyspora was reported by Pepys and colleagues in Thorax 1962.1 Whilst this report dealt with the precipitating antibodies in farmer's lung against extracts of mouldy hay, the discovery that thermophilic actinomycetes such as T. polyspora and Thermoactinomyces (Micronionospora) vulgaris, and particularly T. polyspora, are an important source of antigens in farmer's lung was reported by Pepys et al. in the Lancet in 1963.2 The antigens in specimens of mouldy hay responsible for farmer's lung and present in extracts of T. polyspora have been termed " farmer's lung hay " (FLH) antigens. A clinical evaluation of the precipitin (FLH) test in farmer's lung has been reported by Pepys and Jenkins.' This showed that an insidious onset of the attacks is not rare, as stated in your editorial. In 205 patients with farmer's lung, 49% had an insidious onset, 9 ,, started with attacks of insidious onset and subsequently had the typical attacks coming on after some hours, 32% had typical attacks from the beginning, and in 10°,,, after a period of attacks with insidious or typical onset, attacks later came on more rapidly with a more marked bronchial component to the reaction. The clinical and serological findings in the patients in the different groups were comparable. Staines and Forman4 have previously reported that an insidious or typical onset occurred equally frequently. It is desirable that the different modes of presentation, other than those of the classical description, should be recognized.-I am, etc.,


The vegetation colonizing dredge spoil is described from the first year following massive beach nourishment. Dredge spoil was deposited in late 1990 gulfward of mean high water on Perdido Key, a harrier Island off the coast of the Florida panhandle, for a distance of 8 km and averaging 150 m in width. A grid of permanent plots was used to measure density and cover of the colonizing species. With a density of 997 plants per ht in Summer 1991. Cakile constricta was the most abundant of ten species colonizing the dredge spoil. Other species with a density of more that 50 plants per ht were Uniola paniculata , lva imbruata, Panicum amarum , and Oenothera humifusa . Sand fencing 10 15 m below old mean high water increased the density of U. paniculata . Maps of C. construct a show that the highest densities were adjacent to and below the old mean high water. A new strand line of C. constricta that was establishing just above the new high water mark in May 1991 was lost following overwashing from late spring storms. Canonical Correspondence Analvsis was used to compare species cover data from plots on the dredge spoil to cover data from permanent plots on the main island and above the old mean high water. Vegetation in the first year of colonization most closely resembled a species-rich strand or low density developing dune vegetation. The precarious nature of the vegetation colonizing onto the dredge spoil during the first year following deposition indicates that additional dredge spoil deposition is not advisable for several years.


Patients with a pathologically proven diagnosis of malignant melanoma were entered into a phase II trial of bisantrene. Eligibility criteria included: measurable, metastatic disease; performance status 0-2 SWOG; and adriamycin total cumulative dose of less than 400 mg/m2. The initial bisantrene dosing schedule was 260 mg/m2 every three weeks for good risk patients. Due to the absence of an objective response and the lack of severe toxicity in the first 25 bisantrene treated patients, the starting dose was increased to 300 mg/m2 for good risk patients. Fifty-one patients received a median of two bisantrene courses (range 1-11 courses). Leukopenia was the major toxicity. Fifteen (68%) of the 22 good risk, intermediate dose patients (260 mg/m2), and 8 (80%) of the 10 good risk, high dose patients (300 mg/m2) evaluable for toxicity experienced mild-severe leukopenia. None of the 51 patients experienced a complete or partial response to bisantrene. Median survival was 3.3 months. We conclude that bisantrene is ineffective in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.


We examine long-term neighborhood effects on low-income families using data from the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) randomized housing-mobility experiment, which offered some public-housing families but not others the chance to move to less-disadvantaged neighborhoods. We show that 10-15 years after baseline MTO improves adult physical and mental health; has no detectable effect on economic outcomes, youth schooling and youth physical health; and mixed results by gender on other youth outcomes, with girls doing better on some measures and boys doing worse. Despite the somewhat mixed pattern of impacts on traditional behavioral outcomes, MTO moves substantially improve adult subjective well-being.


Bovine trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the flagellated protozoan Tritrichomonas foetus. A protective surface antigen was previously identified and immunoaffinity purified from T. foetus isolate D1 with cross-reactive monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) TF1.15 and TF1.17 (BonDurant, R. H., R. R. Corbeil, and L. B. Corbeil, Infect. Immun. 61:1385-1394, 1993). This antigen elicited antibody responses in the serum and cervicovaginal mucus of heifers. Thus, it may be useful as an immunodiagnostic reagent as well as a subunit vaccine. Conservation of the antigen in all strains would be crucial for either application. We investigated the conservation of this antigen among 36 isolates of T. foetus from Argentina, Costa Rica, and the United States using MAbs TF1.15 and TF1.17 in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. MAb TF1.17 reacted with 32 of the 36 isolates, whereas MAb TF1.15 reacted with all of the isolates tested. One of the isolates which did not react with MAb TF1.17 (i.e., D1#3) was investigated further by Western blotting (immunoblotting) to determine the reason for the lack of reactivity with one of the two cross-reactive MAbs. The antigenic band that was reactive with MAb TF1.15 had a molecular mass slightly lower than that of the corresponding band from isolate D1, which reacted with both MAbs TF1.15 and TF1.17. Thus, at least a major portion of the antigen appeared to be conserved. This was confirmed in a study of heifers infected with isolate D1#3. The vaginal immunoglobulin A antibodies of these infected heifers reacted with the antigen of isolate D1 that was immunoaffinity purified with MAb TF1.17. Therefore, even though the epitope recognized by MAb TF1.17 was missing in the challenge isolate (D1#3), the heifers developed an immune response to the rest of the molecule. These results indicate that the major portion of the previously described protective antigen is conserved in different isolates of T. foetus. This portion contains the epitope that reacts with MAb TF1.15. Most isolates express the whole antigen, which possesses both TFl.15 and TF1.17 epitopes, but the few isolates that are missing the portion containing the TF1.17 epitope may still elicit an immune reponse to the conserved portion. Thus, the protective surface antigen is promising for use in immunodiagnosis or vaccination against bovine trichomoniasis.


Historically, the treatment and outcomes related to pilon fractures have been variable despite anatomic reduction and fixation. Early results with treatment via early primary open reduction and internal fixation yielded mixed clinical outcomes, especially suboptimal complication rates, including infection, malunion, and nonunion. Treatment with external fixation also exhibited similar outcomes with mixed support reported in the literature. Despite continued controversy, the advent of newer implant technologies, improved surgical techniques, and management with a staged protocol have resulted in encouraging clinical outcomes with minimization of postoperative complications. Crucial decisions made during treatment can help to maximize outcomes while minimizing complication rates. Particular attention to the fracture pattern with radiographic guidance can help direct surgical decision making with appropriate care given to optimize soft-tissue status. A variety of available incisions can facilitate proper bony and articular reduction. During the late and failed stages of fracture management, additional treatment options include external ring fixation, arthrodesis, and arthroplasty. As complications arise, meticulous, prompt care can help to achieve the best possible outcomes.


Pregabalin (Lyrica) is a new antiepileptic drug that is active in animal seizure models. Pregabalin is approved in US and Europe for adjunctive therapy of partial seizures in adults, and also has been approved for the treatment of pain from diabetic neuropathy or post-herpetic neuralgia in adults. Recently, it has been approved for treatment of anxiety disorders in Europe. Pregabalin is structurally related to the antiepileptic drug gabapentin and the site of action of both drugs is similar, the alpha2-delta (alpha2-delta) protein, an auxiliary subunit of voltage-gated calcium channels. Pregabalin subtly reduces the synaptic release of several neurotransmitters, apparently by binding to alpha2-delta subunits, and possibly accounting for its actions in vivo to reduce neuronal excitability and seizures. Several studies indicate that the pharmacology of pregabalin requires binding to alpha2-delta subunits, including structure-activity analyses of compounds binding to alpha2-delta subunits and pharmacology in mice deficient in binding at the alpha2-delta Type 1 protein. The preclinical findings to date are consistent with a mechanism that may entail reduction of abnormal neuronal excitability through reduced neurotransmitter release. This review addresses the preclinical pharmacology of pregabalin, and also the biology of the high affinity binding site, and presumed site of action.


ABSTRACT A mechanistic approach is presented to describe oxidation of the greenhouse gas methane in the rice rhizosphere of flooded paddies by obligate methanotrophic bacteria. In flooded rice paddies these methanotrophs compete for available O2 with other types of bacteria. Soil incubation studies and most-probable-number (MPN) counts of oxygen consumers show that microbial oxygen consumption rates were dominated by heterotrophic and methanotrophic respiration. MPN counts of methanotrophs showed large spatial and temporal variability. The most abundant methanotrophs (a Methylocystis sp.) and heterotrophs (a Pseudomonas sp. and aRhodococcus sp.) were isolated and characterized. Growth dynamics of these bacteria under carbon and oxygen limitations are presented. Theoretical calculations based on measured growth dynamics show that methanotrophs were only able to outcompete heterotrophs at low oxygen concentrations (frequently <5 μM). The oxygen concentration at which methanotrophs won the competition from heterotrophs did not depend on methane concentration, but it was highly affected by organic carbon concentrations in the paddy soil. Methane oxidation was severely inhibited at high acetate concentrations. This is in accordance with competition experiments betweenPseudomonas spp. and Methylocystis spp. carried out at different oxygen and carbon concentrations. Likely, methane oxidation mainly occurs at microaerophilic and low-acetate conditions and thus not directly at the root surface. Acetate and oxygen concentrations in the rice rhizosphere are in the critical range for methane oxidation, and a high variability in methane oxidation rates is thus expected.


"The New York African Society, for mutual relief,...has been in existence over a hundred years in New York City...although it has not increased its membership in recent years, this society has become, I understand, comparatively wealthy as a result of its earlier investments," wrote Booker T. Washington in 1909.(2) The income of the African Society in its early years is something of a mystery, but its bank and real estate holdings suggest prosperity. An 1867 fire destroyed the treasury records, and subsequent attempts to reconstruct its history did not recover much information about the society's ante-bellum finances. What is clear is that the earliest members saw their fiscal success as evidence of social uplift, establishing a strikingly different legacy than their post-bellum counterparts who regularly published financial statements but did little else. Paradoxically, if the ante-bellum men held fiscal success as the foundation for their political work, the post-bellum initiates viewed politics as a threat to a primarily financial relationship. After the Civil War, the members proved far better at increasing the society's wealth than increasing its rolls. From the 1880s to 1945, the African Society's net worth increased every year-save those of the Great Depression-but recruitment was failing partly because members voted to cap intake in order to limit their liabilities and managerial concems and partly because the organization's wealth gave them a reason to be more selective and an incentive to raise the cost of initiation. As the assets grew, many members began to view their certificates of membership as corporate stock entitling them to shares of the society's wealth. The dilernma of that stance was immediate: every new initiate reduced the value of their memberships, but if initiation fees and dues were raised to stabilize their investments those costs alone would prohibit intake. For decades, the African Society's members struggled to sustain the organization's body while consuming its flesh. The problem of membership was settled in the 1940s only with the liquidation of the African Society's holdings and its dissolution along with its affiliate organizations.At its first official meeting on June 6, 1808, the founders imposed financial order upon their political and social union. Daniel Berry, a Manhattan tobacconist, was elected treasurer, and procedures for the collection, investment, and distribution of funds were adopted. William Hamilton, the charter president, was the likely author of the treasury regulations, and he was clearly behind their formalization over the next two decades. Any two officers could withdraw funds, a simple arrangement that permitted the members and officers to dedicate their time to organizing the local black community. The initiates had agreed to raise themselves and their neighbors through individual and group efforts while Mutual Relief swore to defend and protect them and their families in times of crisis. The officers needed a liquid treasury to meet the organization's balance of individual uplift and community action. Almost a hundred men were added to the roll in the first year, and the treasury regulations evolved in reaction to and anticipation of the challenges of running a large and multifaceted organization. The goal of keeping fiscal matters from interfering with the commitment to moral reform was paramount.The trust implicit in this method was also a danger. "When in the full tide of prosperity, our hearts exulting in the success of our enterprise...foul treachery, with its baleful effects intruded," recalled Secretary Peter Vogelsang. In October 1812, Daniel Berry, "in whose honesty we confided-deceived, and at one fell swoop, robbed us of our funds." Berry embezzled five hundred dollars and threw the African Society into chaos. Hamilton placed John Teasman, a three-term vice president, in charge of the society's property and cash in order to calm fears and to save its small meeting hall from foreclosure. …


Three commercial-grade cellulase enzymes and a live cell rumen inoculum were used to compare in vitro digestible dry matter of five high cellulose grass species in advanced stages of maturity in the Trans-Pecos, Texas. Three prediction equations were developed to define the relationships between in vitro rumen inoculum techniques and those using cellulase enzymes. All microbial cellulase techniques reliably estimated digestibility, although the rumen inoculum provided a greater extent of digestibility (P < 0.01) than the cellulases. Different grass species exhibited varied levels of digestibility (P < 0.01). Prediction equations between the rumen fluid and cellulase techniques were well correlated (1= 0.69 to 0.81) and highly significant (P < 0.01). These data suggest that enzyme digestibility estimates are effective and may be accurate predictors of live cell dry matter digestibility of range grasses consumed by ruminants.


The aspect of lightweight constructions becomes more and more important. This particularly applies to the automotive industry which wants to lower the fuel consumption by a smaller vehicle weight. Under this point of view in recent years steel has often been replaced by aluminum alloys. In comparison with this the application of lightweight magnesium alloys, whose specific density is appropriate within the range of plastics, opens further prospects for weight reduction. The pre-condition for this purpose is the supply of suitable joining processes for magnesium alloys, which are universally applicable and offer the maximum utilization of the materials of the joined parts under operating loads. Mechanical joining techniques provide the opportunity of connecting magnesium components homogeneously as well as in material mix. However, the anisotropic deformation characteristics of the hexagonal crystal structure of magnesium at room temperature contain the application for mechanical joining techniques. Only starting from temperatures of approx. 225°C a sufficient plastic deformation and thus a crack-free shaping of the magnesium material is given. Therefore preheating of magnesium substrates leads to a broad extension of deformability and offers the chance to realize a high quality mechanical joint. This article describes a process-safe realization of the mechanical joining operations clinching, self piercing riveting and clinch riveting of magnesium sheets by means of an inductive heating of the substrates in laboratory scale. In this context, feasibilities and limits of the considered joining techniques are shown.


The ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic necessitates the fast development of vaccines as the primary control option. Recently, viral mutants termed "variants of concern" (VOC) have emerged with the potential to escape host immunity. VOC B.1.351 was first discovered in South Africa in late 2020, and causes global concern due to poor neutralization with propensity to evade preexisting immunity from ancestral strains. We tested the efficacy of a spike encoding mRNA vaccine (CVnCoV) against the ancestral strain BavPat1 and the novel VOC B.1.351 in a K18-hACE2 transgenic mouse model. Naive mice and mice immunized with formalin-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 preparation were used as controls. mRNA-immunized mice developed elevated SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific antibody as well as neutralization titers against the ancestral strain BavPat1. Neutralization titers against VOC B.1.351 were readily detectable but significantly reduced compared to BavPat1. VOC B.1.351-infected control animals experienced a delayed course of disease, yet nearly all SARS-CoV-2 challenged naïve mice succumbed with virus dissemination and high viral loads. CVnCoV vaccine completely protected the animals from disease and mortality caused by either viral strain. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 was not detected in oral swabs, lung, or brain in these groups. Only partial protection was observed in mice receiving the formalin-inactivated virus preparation. Despite lower neutralizing antibody titers compared to the ancestral strain BavPat1, CVnCoV shows complete disease protection against the novel VOC B.1.351 in our studies.


Time of flight LiDARs are used for auto-driving of vehicles, while FMCW LiDARs potentially achieve a higher sensitivity. In this study, we fabricated and tested each component of a FMCW LiDAR based on Si photonics and experimentally simulated the ranging action. Here, we drove a Si photonic crystal slow light modulator with linearly frequency-chirped signal in the frequency band of 500–1000 MHz and a repetition frequency of 100 kHz, to generate FM-signal light from a narrow-linewidth laser source. Next, we branched the signal light into two paths. One was inserted into a fiber delay line of 20–320 m and its output was irradiated to a photonic crystal slow beam steering device acting as an optical antenna via the free-space transmission. When the irradiation angle was optimized so that the antenna gain took maximum for a set laser wavelength, light was efficiently coupled into the antenna. We mixed the light output from the antenna with reference light of the other path with no delay, and detected it by balanced photodiodes. We observed a beat signal whose frequency well agreed with the theoretical value predicted from the length of the delay line. Thus, we succeeded in the experimental simulation of the FMCW LiDAR. We also observed a spectral sequence around the beat spectrum, in which the inter-frequency spacing equals the repetition frequency and corresponds to a range resolution of 30 cm which will be improved by expanding the modulation bandwidth.


Mandibular mobility plays a significant role in human daily lives, enabling food intake, respiration, speaking, and other oral activities. However, as for the patients suffering from mandibular mobility disorders, their mandible functions are deteriorated, which severely affects their quality of life. In this paper, we present a new solution to recover mandibular mobility: a soft oral rehabilitation robot (SORR), which is actuated by a novel type of soft pneumatic actuator (SPA). After identifying the biometrics of the human mandible, we illustrate the application-oriented design of the robot and the SPA. A static model of the SPA was established to predict its behavior and eligibility for the application. In the experimental characterization, we measured the elongation and force output of the SPA, and the detailed results are presented. The comparison and analysis of the results provide physical insight into the mechanisms of the SPA. As the first application of soft robot inside human body, this work enlightens profound application potentials of the silicone-based SPAs.


Controlling the dynamics of entanglement and preventing its disappearance are central requisites for any implementation of quantum information processing. Solid state qubits are frequently affected by random telegraph noise due to bistable impurities of different nature coupled to the device. In this paper, we investigate the possibility to achieve an efficient universal two-qubit gate in the presence of random telegraph noise by periodic dynamical decoupling. We find an analytic form of the gate error as a function of the number of applied pulses valid when the gate time is much shorter then the telegraphic process correlation time. The analysis is further supplemented by exact numerical results demonstrating the feasibility of a highly-efficient universal two-qubit gate.


© 2016 American Physical Society. We extend the phase field crystal (PFC) framework to quantitative modeling of polycrystalline graphene. PFC modeling is a powerful multiscale method for finding the ground state configurations of large realistic samples that can be further used to study their mechanical, thermal, or electronic properties. By fitting to quantum-mechanical density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we show that the PFC approach is able to predict realistic formation energies and defect structures of grain boundaries. We provide an in-depth comparison of the formation energies between PFC, DFT, and molecular dynamics (MD) calculations. The DFT and MD calculations are initialized using atomic configurations extracted from PFC ground states. Finally, we use the PFC approach to explicitly construct large realistic polycrystalline samples and characterize their properties using MD relaxation to demonstrate their quality.


An historical analysis of the management of the arts in Australia in the last fifty years demonstrates clearly the problems faced by arts organisations which have poorly selected and trained Boards of Directors. Traditionally Board members were selected because they represented the various facets and skills involved in business (marketing, law, accountancy, management, entrepreneurship) or they were arts practitioners or patrons, or they had some particular social standing. Arts organisations recruited Board members like a "mixed bag of lollies - one of these and one of those". No consideration was given to the vital qualities of enthusiasm, reliability, empathy, capacity for hard work, strong arts interest, effective communication skills and respect for organisational processes.


This paper examines the extent of international headquarter relocations worldwide. About 6 percent of all multinationals relocated their headquarter to another country in the 1997-2007 period. The paper presents empirical evidence on the role of tax in these relocation decisions. It considers a sample of 140 multinationals that relocated their headquarters over the past decade and compares them to a control group of 1943 multinationals that have not done so. It is found that the additional tax due in the home country upon repatriation of foreign profits has a positive effect on the probability of relocation. The empirical results suggest that an increase in the repatriation tax by 10 percentage points would raise the share of relocating multinationals by 2.2 percentage points, equivalent to an increase in the number of relocations by more than one third. Furthermore, the introduction of controlled foreign corporation legislation also has a positive effect on the number of relocations.


Herpes simplex virus (HSV) initiates invasion of human cells by binding to the cell surface heparan sulfate (HS) glycosaminoglycan chains. This step is mediated by the viral envelope glycoproteins gC and/or gB. Sulfated polysaccharides are compounds that mimic the structure of HS chains, and therefore are capable of inhibiting HSV attachment to and subsequent infection of cells. However the high molecular weight and associated with it poor tissuepenetrating activity have limited potential antiviral application of sulfated polysaccharides in humans. Here we found that the HS mimetic PI-88, a sulfomannan oligosaccharide of low molecular weight, efficiently reduced, in contrast to conventional sulfated polysaccharides, the cell-to-cell spread of HSV. Analogues of PI-88 with chemical modifications based on the introduction of specific hydrophobic/aromatic group(s) at the reducing end of PI-88 oligosaccharide chain showed enhanced capability to inhibit infection of cells and the cell-tocell transmission of HSV and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). One of these analogues (denoted 536), prepared by modification of PI-88 with cholestanol group, exhibited in contrast to the parental compound an HSV-inactivating activity. Furthermore, several disulfated cyclitols, identified by screening for an anti-HSV activity of a large number of low molecular weight sulfated compounds, efficiently reduced the cell-to-cell spread of HSV and demonstrated an HSV-inactivating activity. The second aim of this thesis was to elucidate the molecular basis for viral resistance to PI88. Variants of HSV type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2), selected for by virus propagation in cultured cells in the presence of PI-88 were analysed. Many of these variants had a low infectious titer, indicative of a profound impairment in biological activities of the virus in response to continuous pressure from the drug. These variants were substantially resistant to PI-88 presence during their initial infection of cells and/or their cell-to-cell spread. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that PI-88 targeted predominantly the viral envelope glycoproteins that comprise mucin-like region(s), i.e., glycoprotein gC of HSV-1 and glycoprotein gG of HSV-2. The deletion of the mucin-like region of HSV-1 gC (amino acids 33-116) or the deletion of whole HSV-2 gG provided the virus with selective advantage to attach to and to infect cells in the presence of PI-88. In conclusion, we have identified several novel antiviral compounds. One of these compounds, the PI-88 analogue 536, seems to be an attractive candidate for the development of a topical virucide for prevention of genital HSV infections in humans. We have also identified a novel biological function of HSV-2 gG, i.e., its targeting by sulfated oligosaccharides, which suggests involvement of this protein in HSV-2 attachment to cells or in modulation of this step.


This paper analyzes the issue of enforced disappearances occurred in Spain during the civil war in the light of the international standards of reparation for serious human rights violations. The authors focus on the legal controversy relating to the international regulation of enforced disappearance as a continuing crime, the state's obligations to investigate, criminally prosecute and punish such crimes or extradite the possible culprits and its peculiar application by the Spanish Supreme Court and the Audiencia Nacional. In the opinion of the authors, that domestic interpretation implies for the victims the denial of adequate reparation under the applicable international legal regimes and a breach of Spain's international obligations. The paper subsequently examines the role played by the European Court of Human Rights in guaranteeing the victim's rights to a legal remedy through access to a court in its controversial and the restrictive interpretation of the limits ratione temporis of its own jurisdiction with regard to human rights violations of a continuing nature. Finally, the authors give some suggestions for implementing a truth commission in relation to past human rights abuses in Spain.


Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) is a master regulator of angiogenesis, vascular development and function. In this study we investigated the transcriptional regulation of VEGF-A-responsive genes in primary human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using genome-wide global run-on sequencing (GRO-Seq). We demonstrate that half of VEGF-A-regulated gene promoters are characterized by a transcriptionally competent paused RNA polymerase II (Pol II). We show that transition into productive elongation is a major mechanism of gene activation of virtually all VEGF-regulated genes, whereas only ∼40% of the genes are induced at the level of initiation. In addition, we report a comprehensive chromatin interaction map generated in HUVECs using tethered conformation capture (TCC) and characterize chromatin interactions in relation to transcriptional activity. We demonstrate that sites of active transcription are more likely to engage in chromatin looping and cell type-specific transcriptional activity reflects the boundaries of chromatin interactions. Furthermore, we identify large chromatin compartments with a tendency to be coordinately transcribed upon VEGF-A stimulation. We provide evidence that these compartments are enriched for clusters of regulatory regions such as super-enhancers and for disease-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Collectively, these findings provide new insights into mechanisms behind VEGF-A-regulated transcriptional programs in endothelial cells.


This article describes a new and unified approach to computerized hand diagnosis and rehabilitation. The system uses a workstation to automate diagnosis data collection and analysis and to assess the rehabilitation progress. A new diagnosis glove was developed and tested. This device measures grasping forces applied to 16 regions of the hand. A physician using this system can also utilize modern diagnosis devices such as electronic dynamometer, pinchmeter, and goniometer. Additionally, three VR rehabilitation exercises were created using WorldToolKit graphics library and run on the same workstation. These exercises were modeled after standard hand rehabilitation procedures and involve manipulation of virtual objects and transparent real-time data gathering. Grasping forces were modeled and fed back using the Rutgers Master worn on the patient's hand. An Oracle database was used to store, analyze, and integrate the patient's diagnosis and rehabilitation data. The system is presently undergoing clinical trials.


In Li‐rich cation‐disordered rocksalt oxide cathodes (DRX), partial fluorine substitution in the oxygen anion sublattice can increase the capacity contribution from transition‐metal (TM) redox while reducing that from the less reversible oxygen redox. To date, limited fluorination substitution has been achieved by introducing LiF precursor during the solid‐state synthesis. To take full advantage of the fluorination effect, however, a higher F content is desired. In the present study, the successful use of a fluorinated polymeric precursor is reported to increase the F solubility in DRX and the incorporation of F content up to 10–12.5 at% into the rocksalt lattice of a model Li‐Mn‐Nb‐O (LMNO) system, largely exceeding the 7.5 at% limit achieved with LiF synthesis. Higher F content in the fluorinated‐DRX (F‐DRX) significantly improves electrochemical performance, with a reversible discharge capacity of ≈255 mAh g−1 achieved at 10 at% of F substitution. After 30 cycles, up to a 40% increase in capacity retention is achieved through the fluorination. The study demonstrates the feasibility of using a new and effective fluorination process to synthesize advanced DRX cathode materials.


Although dissolved air flotation (DAF) has been successfully adopted for water and wastewater treatment, the fundamental characteristics of the process have not been fully investigated. According to recent theoretical work on DAF, bubble size is one of the most important factors that affect the efficiency of the process, with better removal efficiency when the sizes of both bubbles and particles are similar. In this study, a newly developed particle counter method (PCM) was introduced to measure particle sizes. To confirm its usefulness, the results were compared with those from image analysis. Then, using PCM, the size of bubbles in DAF was measured under various pressure conditions which are known to affect the bubble size the most (from 2 to 6 atmospheres). The bubble size decreased as the pressure increased up to a pressure of 3.5 atmospheres. Above this critical pressure, the bubble size did not decrease with further increases in pressure. According to these experimental results, it is not only costly, but also unnecessary, to maintain a pressure above 3.5 atmospheres if the goal is only to generate smaller bubbles.


Learn to use all parts of Office for Mac with this easy, visual method Since its release in January 2008, Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac has sold faster than any previous edition. Including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage, this office productivity suite has the tools you need for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and managing e-mail and contacts. Teach Yourself VISUALLY Office 2008 for Mac shows you how to use each one. If you learn best when you see how things are done, this book is made for you. More than 175 useful and essential tasks are presented with clear, step-by-step instructions, illustrated with full-color screen shots that show you exactly how to use each application. Covers all the applications in Office 2008 for Mac: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage Shows how to create and edit documents in Word, manage spreadsheets and crunch numbers with Excel, and develop knockout presentations with PowerPoint Helps you improve your productivity by taking full advantage of the calendar, to-do list, contacts, and e-mail functions of Entourage Practical examples and advice along with full-color illustrations on every page help you learn quickly Step-by-step instructions and clear, high-resolution screen shots demonstrate more than 175 important tasks, so you can read less and learn more Teach Yourself VISUALLY Office 2008 for Mac gets visual learners up to speed on Office 2008 for Mac quickly and easily.


Neutrophilic granulocytes express cluster of differentiation 64 (CD64) antigen upon activation. CD64 can be used as a marker of bacterial infection and sepsis. The goal of this study was to determine whether CD64 is a useful biomarker for critically ill patients and analyze longitudinal measurements with regard to outcome and sepsis severity.


Hypaxial skeletal muscles develop from migratory and non-migratory precursor cells that are generated by the lateral lip of the dermomyotome. Previous work shows that the formation of migratory precursors requires the c-Met and SF/HGF genes. We show here that in mice lacking c-Met or SF/HGF, the initial development of the dermomyotome proceeds appropriately and growth and survival of cells in the dermomyotome are not affected. Migratory precursors are also correctly specified, as monitored by the expression of Lbx1. However, these cells remain aggregated and fail to take up long range migration. We conclude that parallel but independent cues converge on the migratory hypaxial precursors in the dermomyotomal lip after they are laid down: a signal given by SF/HGF that controls the emigration of the precursors, and an as yet unidentified signal that controls Lbx1. SF/HGF and c-Met act in a paracrine manner to control emigration, and migratory cells only dissociate from somites located close to SF/HGF-expressing cells. During long range migration, prolonged receptor-ligand-interaction appears to be required, as SF/HGF is expressed both along the routes and at the target sites of migratory myogenic progenitors. Mice that lack c-Met die during the second part of gestation due to a placental defect. Rescue of the placental defect by aggregation of tetraploid (wild type) and diploid (c-Met-/-) morulae allows development of c-Met mutant animals to term. They lack muscle groups that derive from migratory precursor cells, but display otherwise normal skeletal musculature.


This article is an ethnographic study of the spatial aspects of the everyday life of neighborhood police officers, based on participant observation conducted in Kazana in 2007. It analyzes forms of neighborhood policemen's professional activities and four types of professional spaces where their work takes place: (1) the precinct—the primary (often spatially disordered) area of the officer's supervision and the space for basic practices of self-presentation to the controlled population; (2) the neighborhood in general and, in particular, the space of the precinct station where officers' primary professional solidarity is formed and where, as a rule, structured interactions with the local population happen; (3) the space of the district police department, which usually appears to the "ordinary" neighborhood police officer as "the bosses' territory" and therefore as "other" and "hostile" space; (4) the citywide space beyond the precinct, where professional duties are often perceived negatively and treated as a violation of policemen's labor rights. In Russian, extensive summary in English .


The contamination of surface water and ground water by human activities, such as fossil fuel extraction and agriculture, can be difficult to assess due to incomplete knowledge of the chemicals and chemistry involved. This is particularly true for the potential contamination of drinking water by nearby extraction of oil and/or gas from wells completed by hydraulic fracturing. A case that has attracted considerable attention is unconventional natural gas extraction in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, particularly around Dimock, Pennsylvania. We analyzed surface water and groundwater samples collected throughout Susquehanna County with complementary biological assays and high-resolution mass spectrometry. We found that Ah receptor activity was associated with proximity to impaired gas wells. We also identified certain chemicals, including disclosed hydraulic fracturing fluid additives, in samples that were either in close proximity to impaired gas wells or that exhibited a biological effect. In addition to correlations with drilling activity, the biological assays and high-resolution mass spectrometry detected substances that arose from other anthropogenic sources. Our complementary approach provides a more comprehensive picture of water quality by considering both biological effects and a broad screening for chemical contaminants.


For nearly two decades, the Australian national project Advancing Science and Engineering through Laboratory Learning (ASELL), has been using an evidence based approach to improve undergraduate experiments. This paper presents the ASELL Students Laboratory Experience (ASLE) survey, administered to 2691 students in five disciplines: biochemistry, biology, chemistry, physics, and pharmacology. The 14 item survey probes students' perceptions of an experiment, practical or fieldwork. An exploratory factor analysis extracted two factors, 'experiment-based motivators' and 'course-level resources', and both factors correlate well with 'overall' learning experiences. Each survey item was also compared to the 'overall' learning experiences of the experiment, revealing the most critical elements of each experiment. The implications of this analysis, for practitioners is that the survey items in the 'course-level resources' taper off indicating that after an optimum value, further investment in these aspects do not necessarily influence student perceptions of their learning experiences. On the other hand, the survey items in the 'experiment-based motivators' behave differently in that they do not taper off indicating that further investment can influence experiences. How these factors relate to the overall experience suggest they correspond to the well-known two-factor theory of motivation.


In their introduction to this collection of essays, the editors argue that constraints can be seen as a source of literary creativity, and given that translation is even more constrained than 'original' literary production, it thus has the potential to be even more creative too. The ten essays that follow outline ways in which translators and translations are constrained by poetic form, personal histories, state control, public morality, and the non-availability of comparable target language subcodes, and how translator creativity may-or may not-overcome these constraints. Topics covered are: Baudelaire's translation practices; bowdlerism in translations of Voltaire, Boccaccio and Shakespeare, among others; Leyris's translations of Gerard Manley Hopkins; ideology in English-Arabic translation; the translation of censored Greek poet Rhea Galanaki; theatre translation; Nabokov and translation; gay translation; Moratin's translation of Hamlet; and state control of translation production in Nazi Germany. The essays are mostly highly readable, and often entertaining.


ABSTRACT This paper provides an update on the fast‐evolving field of the induced polarization method applied to biogeophysics. It emphasizes recent advances in the understanding of the induced polarization signals stemming from biological materials and their activity, points out new developments and applications, and identifies existing knowledge gaps. The focus of this review is on the application of induced polarization to study living organisms: soil microorganisms and plants (both roots and stems). We first discuss observed links between the induced polarization signal and microbial cell structure, activity and biofilm formation. We provide an up‐to‐date conceptual model of the electrical behaviour of the microbial cells and biofilms under the influence of an external electrical field. We also review the latest biogeophysical studies, including work on hydrocarbon biodegradation, contaminant sequestration, soil strengthening and peatland characterization. We then elaborate on the induced polarization signature of the plant‐root zone, relying on a conceptual model for the generation of biogeophysical signals from a plant‐root cell. First laboratory experiments show that single roots and root system are highly polarizable. They also present encouraging results for imaging root systems embedded in a medium, and gaining information on the mass density distribution, the structure or the physiological characteristics of root systems. In addition, we highlight the application of induced polarization to characterize wood and tree structures through tomography of the stem. Finally, we discuss up‐ and down‐scaling between laboratory and field studies, as well as joint interpretation of induced polarization and other environmental data. We emphasize the need for intermediate‐scale studies and the benefits of using induced polarization as a time‐lapse monitoring method. We conclude with the promising integration of induced polarization in interdisciplinary mechanistic models to better understand and quantify subsurface biogeochemical processes.


The integral theory of Petros and Ulmsten has profoundly changed our understanding of the female pelvic floor. Anatomic laxity of the vaginal wall caused by pelvic floor defects induced at different damage zones is frequently not only responsible for stress urinary incontinence but also for pollakisuria, urgency, post-void residual and pelvic pain. A number of minimally invasive techniques have been developed to correct these defects. Applying a tension-free polypropylene tape around the mid-urethra has become an established method to correct the anterior ligaments. The infra-coccygeal sacropexy can achieve dorsal stabilization of the vaginal wall. Currently, polypropylene meshes are increasingly used for repairing supporting pelvic fasciae. The most recommended conservative methods are exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Duloxetine increases the rhabdosphincter contractility during the filling phases, but not during voiding, and therefore is a promising drug for clinical use.


This article describes an innovative Decision Support System (DSS) for Placement of Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (PIDPS) in large-scale communication networks. PIDPS is intended to support network security personnel in optimizing the placement and configuration of malware filtering and monitoring devices within Network Service Providers' (NSP) infrastructure, and enterprise communication networks. PIDPS meshes innovative and state-of-the-art mechanisms borrowed from the domains of graph theory, epidemic modeling, and network simulation. Scalable network exploitation models enable to define the communication patterns induced by network users (thereby establishing a virtual overlay network), and parallel attack models enable a PIDPS user to define various interdependent network attacks such as: Internet worms, Trojans horses, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, and others. PIDPS incorporates a set of deployment strategies (employing graph-theoretic centrality measures) in order to facilitate intelligent placement of filtering and monitoring devices; as well as a dedicated network simulator in order to evaluate the various deployments. Experiments with PIDPS indicate that incorporating knowledge on the overlay network (network exploitation patterns) into the placement and configuration of malware filtering and monitoring devices substantially improves the effectiveness of intrusion detection and prevention systems in NSP and enterprise networks.


in one of my patients the operation performed was simply closure of a perforation, and this can scarcely have affected acid or pepsin secretion. Moreover, since writing the paper referred to I have seen a similar oesophageal stricture follow an attack of acute pancreatitis. The patient had a laparotomy only, and an indwelling naso-gastric tube was used for several days. Investigation after the onset of dysphagia showed that this patient, too, had a hiatus hernia. It seems clear that if any oesophagitis was present beforehand in these cases it became much more severe in the early postoperative period. I still think the most reasonable explanation is that in these patients, who happened to have hiatus hernias, severe oesophagitis and stricture formation were precipitated by a combination of two factors: (I) the recumbent position adopted post-operatively, and (2) the presence for some days of an indwelling naso-gastric tube.I am, etc.,


The conversion of N2(g) to NH3(g) is an important industrial process that plays a vital role in sustaining the current human population. This chemical transformation relies heavily on the Haber-Bosch process (N2 thermal reduction, N2TR), which requires enormous quantities of energy (2% of the world supply) and extreme conditions (200 atm and 500 °C). Alternatively, N2(g) can be reduced to NH3(g) through electrochemical means (N2ER), which may be a less energy intensive and lower-capital approach since the H atoms come from H2O not H2. However, N2ER efficiency is far from satisfactory. In order to provide the basis for developing a new generation of energy efficient processes, we report the detailed atomistic mechanism and kinetics for N2ER on Ru(0001) along with a comparison to N2TR. We obtained these results using a new electrochemical model for quantum mechanics (QM) calculations to obtain free energy surfaces for all plausible reaction pathways for N2ER under a constant electrode potential of 0.0 VSHE. For both processes, the elementary steps involve several steps of breaking of the NN bonds, hydrogenation of surface N2HX or NHX, and NH3 release. We find similar energetics for the NN cleavage steps for both systems. However, the hydrogenation steps are very different, leading to much lower free energy barriers for N2ER compared to N2TR. Thus, N2ER favors an associative route where successive hydrogen atoms are added to N2 prior to breaking the NN bonds rather than the dissociative route preferred by N2TR, where the NN bonds are broken first followed by the addition of Hs. Our QM results provide the detailed free energy surfaces for N2ER and N2TR, suggesting a strategy for improving the efficiency of N2ER.


Measures of substrate oxidation have traditionally been calculated from indirect calorimetry measurements using stoichiometric equations. Although this has proven to be a solid technique and it has become one of the standard techniques to measure whole body substrate metabolism, there are also several limitations that have to be considered. When indirect calorimetry is used during exercise most of the assumptions on which the method is based hold true although changes in the size of the bicarbonate pool at higher exercise intensities may invalidate the calculations of carbohydrate and fat oxidation. Most of the existing equations are based on stoichiometric equations of glucose oxidation and the oxidation of a triacylglycerol that is representative of human adipose tissue. However, in many exercise conditions, glycogen and not glucose is the predominant carbohydrate substrate. Therefore we propose slightly modified equations for the calculation of carbohydrate and fat oxidation for use during low to high intensity exercise. Studies that investigated fat oxidation over a wide range of intensities and that determined the exercise intensity at which fat oxidation is maximal have provided useful insights in the variation in fat oxidation between individuals and in the factors that affect fat oxidation. Fat oxidation during exercise can be influenced by exercise intensity and duration, diet, exercise training, exercise mode and gender. Although a number of important factors regulating fat oxidation have been identified, it is apparent that a considerable degree of inter-subject variability in substrate utilization persists and cannot be explained by the aforementioned factors. Future research should investigate the causes of the large inter-individual differences in fat metabolism between individuals and their links with various disease states.


High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane programs are widely adopted in metropolitan areas in an effort to reduce congestion by encouraging carpooling. However, the operation of HOV lanes may result in traffic interactions that affect safety performance. In this paper, historical data from a number of freeway corridors in California are used to illustrate the distribution of collisions on different lanes on the freeway. The peak hours' data, when compared to those in the non-peak hours, from all corridors indicate that more interactions due to traffic weaving near the HOV lanes might lead to a greater concentration on the inside lanes of the corridors. In addition, a comparison of corridors with continual access with those with dedicated ingress/egress sections also implies that the restricted entrance and exit into the HOV lanes could cause more intense and challenging lane-changing actions and subsequently a greater proportion of collisions near the HOV lanes. The collision data presented in this paper demonstrate the phenomena of collision concentration near HOV lanes, presumably caused by traffic merging and weaving. The results from this study provide valuable insights into the planning of HOV operations and in the identification of safety countermeasures for such facilities.


Charges for medical services of persons covered by the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal Employees Program from 1974 through 1978 who were first diagnosed as having one of four chronic diseases in 1975 and within one year began mental health treatment (MHT) were compared with persons who also were first diagnosed as having one of these diseases in 1975 but had no subsequent MHT. In the third year following the diagnosis, those having seven to 20 MHT visits had medical charges $309 lower and those having over 21 MHT visits had medical charges $284 lower than the comparison group. The savings in medical charges over three years of the group having seven to 20 MHT visits were a function of lower use of inpatient services and roughly equaled the cost of 20 MHT visits. Outpatient mental health treatment can be included in a fee-for-service medical care system to improve the quality and appropriateness of care and, if not extensive, may also serve to lower medical care costs.


Altered nutritional experiences such as undernutrition, overnutrition, andmodifiedmilk formula in the immediate postnatal life via the phenomenon of metabolic programming have been identified as one of the components in the etiology of metabolic syndrome. We have developed a rat model in which an altered dietary experience in the form of a highcarbohydrate (HC) milk formula in the immediate postnatal life of rat pups results in chronic hyperinsulinemia and adultonset obesity in these rats. The HC dietary modification causes functional alterations in pancreatic islets and the hypothalamus during the period of the dietary modification. These early adaptations in islets (supporting hyperinsulinemia) and the hypothalamus (supporting hyperphagia and increased body weight gain) persist in the postweaning period despite withdrawal of the HC milk formula at the time of weaning. In female rat pups receiving the HC milk formula, metabolic programming effects translate into an adverse (hyperinsulinemic, hyperleptinemic, and obese) intrauterine environment during pregnancy, causing spontaneous transfer of the maternal phenotype to the progeny (generational effect). Our results suggest that alterations in feeding practices for babies (early introduction of cereals, fruits, etc.) and babies born to obese/hyperinsulinemic mothers may be contributing factors for the obesity epidemic prevalent in developed and developing countries. J. Nutr. 140: 658–661, 2010.


Background: To understand the degradation behavior of diacerein and to develop a simple, rapid, sensitive, and validated RP-HPLC method for the determination of diacerein, in the presence of its degradation products. Materials and Methods: An accurate, sensitive, precise, rapid, and isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method, equipped with a photo-diode array (PDA) detector for analysis of diacerein in the bulk drug has been developed and validated. The best separation was achieved on a 250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5-μm particle, RP C18 column with 50 : 50 (v/v) of water (pH adjusted to 2.9 with orthophosphoric acid) : acetonitrile as the mobile phase, at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/minute. The detection wavelength was set at 257 nm. Results: The response was a linear function of concentration over the range of 0.50 – 20 μg/ml (r = 0.999) and the limits of detection and quantitation were 0.1 μg/ml and 0.50 μg/ml, respectively. The method was validated in accordance with the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. The drug was subjected to oxidative, hydrolytic, photolytic, and thermal stress. The drug decomposed under alkaline hydrolytic stress conditions and also on thermal degradation and photolysis. It was stable on acid hydrolysis and oxidation. The degradation products produced as a result of this stress did not interfere with the detection of diacerein, and the assay could thus be regarded as stability-indicating. Conclusion: The method was suitable for application in the analysis of formulations of diacerein in quality-control laboratories, because it was simple and rapid, with good accuracy and precision.


Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the way in which Sri Lankan business associations contribute to addressing such issues and the motivation behind their contributions.

Design/methodology/approach
Data, in this study, came from publicly available sources (online news articles, newspaper articles, reports, etc.) and a series of unstructured elite interviews with leaders of Sri Lanka's most prominent peak business associations.

Findings
Sri Lankan associations contribute to addressing problems associated with human capital flight because doing so, ultimately, benefits their members and secretariat organisations. Peak bodies make their contributions by easing the push factors that catalyse the outflow of skilled migrants from the island nation and helping to replenish skills in the country by engaging in initiatives aimed at training and developing workers, young people and entrepreneurs.

Research limitations/implications
The behaviours of Sri Lanka's business interest associations and the logics that drive their actions are similar to those of their counterparts in other countries (as per academic literature in the area), where association membership is not state-mandated. Rational actions of business associations have the potential to produce socially beneficial positive externalities (as in the present case issues around the brain drain).

Social implications
Findings from this research can assist government bodies, non-government organisations and other civil society organisations develop a better collaborative relationship with the private sector in developing nations to tackle problems associated with human capital flight.

Originality/value
While there has been a lively debate, among philosophers and scholars of public policy, on how governments should help address issues associated with this phenomenon, very little attention has been given to the real and potential contributions of non-governmental, non-charity-based civil society groups such as unions and business chambers. This paper seeks to address this gap.


The beta(3)-adrenergic receptor (AR) gene variant (Trp64Arg) has been reported to be associated with obesity and insulin resistance in humans. However, this association remains controversial. We investigated the relationships between the beta(2)-AR gene variant (Gln27Glu) and obesity, insulin resistance, and serum lipids in Japanese-Americans. The frequency of an abnormal Gln27Glu allele in the beta(2)-AR gene in 652 subjects was 0.092 in males, 0.077 in females, and 0.084 overall, markedly lower than the previously reported value of 0.4 in Caucasian men and women. In both males and females, there were no differences in the indices of obesity, insulin resistance, and serum lipid levels between the subjects with and without the beta(2)-AR gene (Gln27Glu) variant in patients with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or diabetes (DM). The frequency of the beta(2)-AR gene (Gln27Glu) variant tended to increase with worsening of glucose tolerance, but the differences were not statistically significant. Furthermore, there were no differences in the frequency of the beta(2)-AR gene variant in either males or females with obesity (body mass index [BMI], > or = 25.2). Even in Japanese-Americans, who have a more westernized life style than Japanese, the association of the beta(2)-AR gene (Gln27Glu) variant with the parameters of obesity, insulin resistance, and serum lipid level has yet to be clarified. We conclude that the beta(2)-AR gene (Gln27Glu) variant might not be an important factor for obesity or IGT in Japanese subjects.


Civil wars often force people to leave their homes. Displaced populations run higher risk in terms of disease, hunger and death, something that is well-documented. They leave their land, cattle and other assets behind for an uncertain existence in a refugee camp or depend on relatives or friends. But what happens when they return back home? This paper investigates the food security and poverty of formerly displaced households. Using the 2006 Core Welfare Indicator Survey for Burundi we compare their food intake and their level of expenses with that of their non-displaced neighbours. We test whether it is the duration of displacement that matters for current welfare or the time lapsed since returning. We use log- linear, ordered probit models as well as propensity score matching and an IV-approach to control by self-selection bias. We find that the individuals and households who returned home just before the time of the survey are worse off compared to those who returned several years earlier. On average, it takes 8 to 10 years after return before the level of welfare of the displaced converges to that of the non-displaced. The duration of displacement seems not to matter. On average, the formerly displaced have 7% lower food expenses and calorie intake, showing that the formerly displaced consume relatively more high calorie products. Results seem to be robust after controlling by self-selection bias. Despite international, government and NGO assistance, the welfare of recent returnees is lagging seriously behind in comparison with the local non-displaced populations.


2 Abstract: Data mining is the process of extracting hidden analytical information from large databases using multiple algorithms and techniques. Classification technique can be solving several problems in different fields like medicine, industry, business, and science. Basically it involves finding rules that categorize the data into disjoint groups. In this paper we present the basic classification techniques. Several major kinds of classification method including decision tree, CHID, ID3, C4.5 and C5.5algorithms. The goal of this paper is to provide a review of different classification techniques in data mining.


Herein, two new Zn(II)/Cd(II) MOFs, namely {[Zn2(1,4-ndc)2(3-abpt)]·2DMF}n (1) and {[Cd(1,4-ndc)(3-abit)]·H2O}n (2) (1,4-ndc = 1,4-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid, 3-abpt = 4-amino-3,5-bis(3-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole, 3-abit = 4-amino-3,5-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)-1,2,4-triazole), based on 3-abpt and 3-abit, respectively, containing the same functional group 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole were synthesized and structurally characterized by single crystal and powder X-ray diffractions, elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, and TGA. X-ray structural analysis reveals that 1 adopts a 2-D 4-connected net with a Schlafli symbol of (44·62) constructed by flywheel-shaped [Zn2(COO)4] dimeric units, 1,4-ndc single bridges, and double bridges composed of 3-abpt and 1,4-ndc. 2 displays a 3-D 2-fold interpenetrated six-connected architecture with a Schlafli symbol of (412·63), fabricated by planar [Cd2(COO)4] dimeric units, 3-abit double bridges, and 1,4-ndc single bridges. 1 and 2 exhibit stronger luminescence as compared to their organic ligands and very rare multifunctional sensing properties. They can selectively and sensitively sense Fe3+ and Al3+ through luminescence quenching and enhancing effect, respectively. Moreover, 1 and 2 show high sensitivity for the detection of TNP than for other nitro aromatics. The mechanisms of 1 and 2 as multifunctional sensors have been preliminarily studied.


The authors describe two design techniques for slanted-finger interdigital transducers (IDTs) which could not be designed using conventional techniques. One technique provides a large stopband attenuation: individual fingers or groups of slanted-fingers are withdrawn from the selected portions of the IDT. The other technique realizes a nonlinear phase response: the center-to-center distance between transmitting and receiving ITDs is varied along the axis normal to the surface acoustic wave (SAW) propagation axis. Two examples of filters, fabricated on x-112y LiTaO/sub 3/, are shown with about a 30% fractional bandwidth and a 19 MHz center frequency. One filter has a 45-dB stop-band attenuation, a 1.10 shape factor, and +or-0.05-dB passband ripples. The other filter has a nonlinear phase response which equalizes the phase response of an LC filter. This filter achieves a group delay distortion of less than +or-10 ns.<<ETX>>


Importance
Adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae after traumatic stress exposure are common and have higher incidence among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Pain, depression, avoidance of trauma reminders, reexperiencing trauma, anxiety, hyperarousal, sleep disruption, and nightmares have been reported. Wrist-wearable devices with accelerometers capable of assessing 24-hour rest-activity characteristics are prevalent and may have utility in measuring these outcomes.

Objective
To evaluate whether wrist-wearable devices can provide useful biomarkers for recovery after traumatic stress exposure.

Design, Setting, and Participants
Data were analyzed from a diverse cohort of individuals seen in the emergency department after experiencing a traumatic stress exposure, as part of the Advancing Understanding of Recovery After Trauma (AURORA) study. Participants recruited from 27 emergency departments wore wrist-wearable devices for 8 weeks, beginning in the emergency department, and completed serial assessments of neuropsychiatric symptoms. A total of 19 019 patients were screened. Of these, 3040 patients met study criteria, provided informed consent, and completed baseline assessments. A total of 2021 provided data from wrist-wearable devices, completed the 8-week assessment, and were included in this analysis. The data were randomly divided into 2 equal parts (n = 1010) for biomarker identification and validation. Data were collected from September 2017 to January 2020, and data were analyzed from May 2020 to November 2022.

Exposures
Participants were recruited for the study after experiencing a traumatic stress exposure (most commonly motor vehicle collision).

Main Outcomes and Measures
Rest-activity characteristics were derived and validated from wrist-wearable devices associated with specific self-reported symptom domains at a point in time and changes in symptom severity over time.

Results
Of 2021 included patients, 1257 (62.2%) were female, and the mean (SD) age was 35.8 (13.0) years. Eight wrist-wearable device biomarkers for symptoms of adverse posttraumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae exceeded significance thresholds in the derivation cohort. One of these, reduced 24-hour activity variance, was associated with greater pain severity (r = -0.14; 95% CI, -0.20 to -0.07). Changes in 6 rest-activity measures were associated with changes in pain over time, and changes in the number of transitions between sleep and wake over time were associated with changes in pain, sleep, and anxiety. Simple cutoffs for these biomarkers identified individuals with good recovery for pain (positive predictive value [PPV], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.82-0.88), sleep (PPV, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.59-0.67, and anxiety (PPV, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.72-0.80) with high predictive value.

Conclusions and Relevance
These findings suggest that wrist-wearable device biomarkers may have utility as screening tools for pain, sleep, and anxiety symptom outcomes after trauma exposure in high-risk populations.


The impact of declining sea ice on Arctic sea-ice primary production is projected to be both large and complex. The Arctic sea-ice decline is among the most emblematic manifestations of climate change and is occurring before we understand its ecological consequences. We investigated future changes in algal productivity combining a biogeochemical model for sympagic algae with sea-ice drivers from an ensemble of 18 CMIP5 climate models. Model projections indicate quasi-linear physical changes along latitudes but markedly nonlinear response of sympagic algae, with distinct latitudinal patterns. While snow cover thinning explains the advancement of algal blooms below 66°N, narrowing of the biological time windows yields small changes in the 66°N to 74°N band, and shifting of the ice seasons toward more favorable photoperiods drives the increase in algal production above 74°N. These diverse latitudinal responses indicate that the impact of declining sea ice on Arctic sympagic production is both large and complex, with consequent trophic and phenological cascades expected in the rest of the food web.


To be able to successfully pursue a future career within engineering, students need to acquire not only disciplinary knowledge but also generic skills to become professionals. The CDIO model provides a foundation of generic skills that can be expected by the students' future employers. This paper presents pros and cons when integrating generic skills in disciplinary projects and is based on surveys and interviews with students and teachers on two integrated courses, Project management and Interactivity in smart environments, on an integrated five-year Master of Science program at Umeå University. The results show that integrating two courses to give disciplinary meaning to projects make the students maintain their motivation during the course in Project management. In addition, the integration of the courses led to more time for the students for the actual project work. Lastly, both students and teachers also had the possibility to provide a better formal project structure on the disciplinary course. However, the results also show that the confusion among the students increased due to different requirements in each course. Thus, a high level of communication and a holistic view among the involved teachers is desirable to improve the overall success in course integration.


In the present work, the thermo-mechanical behavior, temperature versus thermal deformation with respect to time, of different coating films were studied by a non-destructive technique (NDT) known as shearography. Organic coatings, i.e., Epoxy, on metallic alloys, i.e., carbon steels, were investigated at a temperature range simulating the severe weather temperatures in Kuwait especially between the daylight and the night time temperatures. The investigation focused on determining the in-plane displacement of the coatings, which amounts to the thermal deformation and stress with respect to temperature and time. Along with the experimental data, a mathematical relationship was derived describing the thermal deformation and stress of a coating film as a function of temperature. Furthermore, results of shearography indicate that the technique is very useful NDT method not only for determining the thermo-mechanical behavior of different coatings, but also the technique can be used as a 2D-microscope for monitoring the deformation of the coatings in real-time at a microscopic scale.


Product cost estimation in early design stage puzzles researchers for long-time. A new product cost estimation model is proposed, which is applicable for few estimating samples and product information in early design stage. Similarity between the estimating product and the samples are calculated by model of Euclidean distance. Both of utilization ratio of estimating samples and reliability of estimation result are improved based on samples' sequencing for effect of product cost. The cost estimation model is applied in design of claw of brake disc. The estimation result indicates that the presented model can be used for condition of few estimating samples and product information in early design phase.


Businesses are bombarded with great deals of risks, vulnerabilities, and unforeseen business interruptions in their lifetime, which negatively affect their productivity and sustainability within the market. Such risks require a risk management system to identify risks and risk factors and propose approaches to eliminate or reduce them. Risk management involves highly structured practices that should be implemented within an organization, including organizational planning documents. Continuity planning and fraud detection policy development are among the many critically important practices conducted through risk management that aim to mitigate risk factors, their vulnerability, and their impact. Information systems play a pivotal role in any organization by providing many benefits, such as reducing human errors and associated risks owing to the employment of sophisticated algorithms. Both the development and establishment of an information system within an organization contributes to mitigating business-related risks and also creates new types of risks associated with its establishment. Businesses must prepare for, react to, and recover from unprecedented threats that might emerge in the years or decades that follow. This paper provides a comprehensive narrative review of risk management in information systems coupled with its application in fraud detection and continuity planning.


Objectives: To evaluate the prediction of fetal acidemia using ductus venosus (DV) Dopplervelocimetry and to determine the best parameter and cut-off values for this prediction in pregnancies complicated with placental insufficiency. Patients and methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study involving forty-seven patients with placental insufficiency managed in two Brazilian hospitals (Hospital Sao Paulo and Maternidade-Escola Assis Chateaubriand) who were submitted to DV Dopplervelocimetry in the last 24 hours before delivery. All pregnancies were singleton, over 26 weeks of age and without structural or chromosome anomalies. Metabolic or mixed acidemia at birth were considered pathological. A ROC curve was calculated for each DV parameter (independent variable) and acidemia (dependent variable). A cut-off value was established and sensibility, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated. The MacNemar test was used to compare the parameters. Results: The DV S, D and A peak velocities were not good predictors of acidemia at birth. Pulsatility Index for Veins (PIV) was a good predictor of acidemia (ROC curve area 0.79, p = 0.003), as well as the S/A and (S-A)/S ratios (ROC curve area 0.818, p = 0.001). The cut off values were PIV = 0.76, S/A = 2.67 and (S-A)/S = 0.63. Conclusions: In this high-risk population angle-independent DV Doppler indexes were good predictors of birth acidemia. PIV, S/A and (S-A)/S ratios were statistically equivalent in this prediction.


Electoral politics in the Arab world are either portrayed as clientelistic affairs void of content or as highly ideological clashes between Islamist and Secular Left forces. Although both arguments are intuitively appealing, the empirical evidence to date is limited. This article seeks to contribute to the debate by investigating the extent of programmatic voter support for Islamist and Secular Left parties in seven Arab countries with data from recent surveys by the Arab Barometer, Afrobarometer and World Values Survey. Ideological congruence between voters and parties exists but is limited to the Islamist–Secular core divide with regard to the role of religion in politics and gender values. In contrast, there are virtually no differences in economic attitudes between respondents and there is no evidence of class-based voting, with Islamist and Secular Left parties sharing the same voter base of better-off, more educated voters. Core results are robust across surveys.


Brand marketers often wonder how they should allocate budget between TV and online ads in order to maximize reach or maintain the same reach at a lower cost. We use probability models based on historical cross media panel data to suggest the optimal budget allocation between TV and online ads to maximize reach to the target demographics. We take a historical TV campaign and estimate the reach and GRPs of a hypothetical cross-media campaign if some budget was shifted from TV to online. The models are validated against simulations and historical cross-media campaigns. They are illustrated on one case study to show how an optimized cross-media campaign can obtain a higher reach at the same cost or maintain the same reach at a lower cost than the TVonly campaign.


Background Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease endemic today in many areas of South America. Methodology We discovered morphologic and molecular evidence of ancient infections in 4 female skulls in the archaeological cemetery of Coyo Oriente, in the desert of San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile. The boney facial lesions visible in the skulls could have been caused by a number of chronic infections including chronic Leishmaniasis. This diagnosis was confirmed using PCR-sequenced analyses of bone fragments from the skulls of the affected individuals.Leishmaniasis is not normally found in the high-altitude desert of Northern Chile; where the harsh climate does not allow the parasite to complete its life cycle. The presence of Leishmaniasis in ancient skulls from the region implies infection by the protozoan in an endemic area–likely, in our subjects, to have been the lowlands of North-Eastern Argentina or in Southern Bolivia. Conclusions We propose that the presence of the disease in ancient times in the high altitude desert of San Pedro de Atacama is the result of an exogamic system of patrilocal marriages, where women from different cultures followed their husbands to their ancestral homes, allowing immigrant women, infected early in life, to be incorporated in the Atacama desert society before they became disfigured by the disease. The present globalization of goods and services and the extraordinary facile movement of people across borders and continents have lead to a resurgence of infectious diseases and re-emergence of infections such as Leishmaniasis. We show here that such factors were already present millennia ago, shaping demographic trends and the epidemiology of infections just as they do today.


The discovery of vitamin D. It was as early as the mid-1600s that Whistler (1) and Glisson (2)independently published scientific descriptions (in Latin!) of rickets, caused, we now know, by a vitamin D deficiency. However neither treatise recognised the crucial role of diet or exposure to sunlight on the prevention of this disease. Around 200 years later, in 1840, a Polish physician called Sniadecki realised that cases of rickets occurred in children living in the industrial centre of Warsaw but did not occur in children living in the country outside Warsaw. He surmised that lack of exposure to sunlight in the narrow, crowded streets of the city where there was considerable pollution due to the burning of coal and wood, caused the disease. Such a view was poorly received at the time as it seemed inconceivable that the sun could have any useful benefit on the skeleton. The prevalence of rickets increased as industrial processes and labour expanded and, by the end of the nineteenth century, this bone disorder was estimated to affect more than 90% of children living in such urban polluted environments in Europe. Similarly, as Boston and New York City grew in the late 1800s, so did the number of cases until, in 1900, more than 80% of children in Boston were reported to suffer from rickets.


Abstract Air quality in a classroom is very important. According to a study by Wargocki et al (2012) a shortage of ventilation in the classroom reduces the ability of students to concentrate and causes an increase in the number of errors during the elaboration of tasks. The aim of this study was to contribute to the optimization of acquisition and operating costs of HVAC equipment and to ensure hygienic requirements of air quality in the indoor environment for classrooms. An analysis of calculation methods to determine the optimal ventilation rate is carried out and the proposed methodology is compared to experimental results. Values of concentrations of carbon dioxide and ventilation rates are verified by experimental measurements. The methodology most suitable for calculating ventilation rate in Slovakia is selected based on the comparison with the results from experimental measurements. Based on this a methodology for calculating ventilation rates for classrooms is determined.


Vertebrae, along with intervertebral discs, compose the vertebral column, or spine. It extends from the skull to the coccyx and includes the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral regions. The spine has several major roles in the body that include: protection of the spinal cord and branching spinal nerves, support for thorax and abdomen, and allows for flexibility and mobility of the body. The intervertebral discs are responsible for this mobility without sacrificing the supportive strength of the vertebral column. The cervical region contains seven vertebrae, denoted C1-C7, which are the smallest of the vertebral column. The intervertebral discs, along with the laminae and the articular processes of adjacent vertebrae, create a space through which spinal nerves exit. The cervical vertebrae, as a group, produce a lordotic curve. While all vertebrae share most morphologic features, there are several notable features in the cervical region.Typical vertebrae consist of a vertebral body, a vertebral arch, as well as seven processes. The body bears the majority of the force placed on the vertebra. Vertebral bodies increase in size from superior to inferior. The vertebral body consists of trabecular bone, which contains the red marrow, surrounded by a thin external layer of compact bone. The arch, along with the posterior aspect of the body, forms the vertebral (spinal) canal, which contains the spinal cord. The arch consists of bilateral pedicles, cylindrical processes of bone that connect the arch to the body, and bilateral lamina, flat, bone segments form most of the arch, connecting the transverse and spinous processes. A typical vertebra also contains four articular processes, two superior and two inferior, which contact the inferior and superior articular processes of adjacent vertebrae, respectively. The point at which superior and articular facets meet is known as a facet, or zygapophyseal, joint. These maintain vertebral alignment, control the range of motion, and are weight-bearing in certain positions. The spinous process projects posteriorly, and often inferiorly from the vertebral arch and may overlap the inferior vertebrae to various degrees, depending on the region of the spine. Lastly, the two transverse processes project laterally from the vertebral arch in a symmetrical fashion.Typical cervical vertebrae have several features distinct from those typical of thoracic or lumbar vertebrae. The most notable distinction is the presence of one foramen, in each transverse process. These transverse foramina encircle the vertebral arteries and veins. This is true of all cervical vertebrae except C7, whose transverse foramina contain only accessory veins. Another feature unique to the cervical vertebrae is the bifid spinous process (See "physiologic variants" section), which may serve to increase surface area for muscle attachment. The spinous process of cervical vertebrae increases as the spinal column descends. Cervical vertebrae tend to have superior articular facets that face posteromedially. Some studies have shown that more inferior cervical vertebrae have superior facets that face in a posterolateral direction – more akin to those of the thoracic region. Lastly, cervical vertebrae are known to have the greatest intervertebral disc height, which increases the range of motion. There are three atypical vertebrae found in the cervical region. C1, also known as "atlas," is unique among all vertebrae in that it lacks both a vertebral body and a spinous process. The relatively circular bone contains two bilateral masses that take the place of a body in its load-bearing capacity. The superior articular facets of these masses contact the occipital condyles of the skull, and the inferior facets articulate with superior facets of C2. C2, also known as "axis," is distinct in that it contains bilateral masses to articulate with C1, a body, through which weight is transmitted through C3 and below, and an odontoid process, or "dens," on the superior aspect of the body. The dens articulates with the posterior surface of the anterior arch of C1. C7 may be considered typical or atypical but has two distinct features. The first is that unlike the rest of the cervical vertebrae, is that the vertebral artery does not traverse the transverse foramen. The second is that it contains a long spinous process, also known as "vertebra prominens."