Wireless communications offer an attractive option for many military, commercial as well as personal communication needs because of flexibility, cost effectiveness, and mobility. The quality features of wireless communications have led to tremendous growth in the development of novel technologies that raise the need for broadband wireless communications. Optical wireless systems offer high transmission rates that can accommodate these broadband needs. Optical wireless links can be prone to the atmosphere, which can result in a performance degradation. Therefore, optical wireless networks should be adaptive with flexible links. In this paper we emphasize the adaptability of optical wireless networks and propose new heuristics for the optimization of communication delay in a flexible link regime for networks with unbounded degree transceivers. Extensive simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed heuristics and validate the improvement in network functionality as compared to the unadaptable environment. Empirical results show that a 50% reduction in average packet delay, as compared to unadaptable networks, can be achieved by a network based on the proposed heuristics.


This paper proposes a method to predict the future trajectory of a pedestrian as sequence data by using massive trajectory records collected by various sensor devices. We aim to use the method for safely and efficient path planning of autonomous mobile robots in a human-robot coexisting environment. For the prediction, we use Sequence to Sequence learning, which is frequently used in the field of natural language processing. That enables to treat long-term sequence data. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we conduct experiments using a dataset. As a result, we show that we can predict the trajectory sufficiently by converting the trajectory data to adequate sequence data.


The inadequacies of hegemonic liberal democratic ideas and institutions have been exposed by feminist theorists focusing on the marginalisation of women and by global theorists examining the impact of globalisation. These theorists have developed two distinct sets of reconstructive strategies that, until very recently, have remained in ignorance of each other. Further, both feminist and global democratic schemes have been dogged by problems in terms of their theorisation of power, politics, agency and change. Recent feminist arguments about citizenship and governance go some way to bringing together concerns about gender inequality and globalisation, but they remain centred on states and the states-system as vehicles for democratic representation and participation. This article argues that a more radical reconstructive strategy can be derived from debates about the democratisation of feminism itself. Drawing on the responses of black and third world feminists to racism in the white-dominated feminist movement, and examining their influence on efforts to organise transnationally, the article points to innovative ways of thinking about power, politics, agency and change. Together these amount to a democratic framework which has applicability beyond feminist organising and which confronts the marginalisations of both gender and globalisation.


Background Mass drug administration (MDA) for malaria elimination has been proposed as a feasible weapon especially for low endemicity settings. Nonetheless, the concept has not been tried for hypo-endemic areas of inland Africa. We conducted MDA using artemisinin-piperaquine and low dose primaquine with insecticide-treated bed nets (ITN) in Ngodhe Island, Lake Victoria, Kenya, aiming to reduce prevalence to below 1% in 6 months post MDA. Methods We conducted 2 rounds of MDA on days 0, 1, 35 and 36. We employed strong community linkages to ensure robust engagement with the community using workshops, feedback sessions and involvement of community health volunteers previously set up by the Ministry of Health and community fieldworkers. The MDA was administered (directly observed) and participants followed up for possible side effects. Participants were not tested for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Malaria infection was determined by microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results MDA coverage was 90% for round 1 and 89% for round 2, with no major drug side effects or haemolytic emergencies. The mean haemoglobin decrease after MDA was not significant. Prevalence by microscopy decreased from 3.1% on day 0 to 0% on day 8. Prevalence was 1.1% on day 35, and 0.21% on day 120. Importation of malaria was noted to pose a challenge in maintaining malaria freedom. Conclusions MDA led to a rapid reduction in malaria prevalence in a hypo-endemic setting in Western Kenya demonstrating feasibility when combined with strong community engagement. Primaquine was well tolerated with no haemolytic emergencies. Nonetheless, strategies to mitigate imported malaria need to be developed for long-term sustainability.


We present a new technique for the decomposition of convex structuring elements for morphological image processing. A unique feature of our approach is the use of linear integer programming technique to determine optimal decompositions for different parallel machine architectures. This technique is based on Shephard's theorem for decomposing Euclidean convex polygons. We formulated the necessary and sufficient conditions to decompose a Euclidean convex polygon into a set of basis convex polygons. We used a set of linear equations to represent the relationships between the edges and the positions of the original convex polygon and those of the basis convex polygons. This is applied to a class of discrete convex polygons in the discrete space. Further, a cost function was used to represent the total processing time for performing dilations on different machine architectures. Then integer programming was used to solve the linear equations based on the cost function. Our technique is general and flexible, so that different cost functions could be used, thus achieving optimal decompositions for different parallel machine architectures.<<ETX>>


The technological innovations promote the availability of geographic information on the Internet through Web GIS such as Google Earth and Google Maps. These systems contribute to the teaching and diffusion of geographical knowledge that instigates the recognition of the space we live in, leading to the creation of a spatial identity. In these products available on the Web, the interpretation and analysis of spatial information gives priority to one of the human senses: vision. Due to the fact that this representation of information is transmitted visually (image and vectors), a portion of the population is excluded from part of this knowledge because categories of analysis of geographic data such as borders, territory, and space can only be understood by people who can see. This paper deals with the development of a model of interpretation of topological spatial analysis based on the synthesis of voice and sounds that can be used by the visually impaired (blind).The implementation of a prototype in Google Maps and the usability tests performed are also examined. For the development work it was necessary to define the model of topological spatial analysis, focusing on computational implementation, which allows users to interpret the spatial relationships of regions (countries, states and municipalities), recognizing its limits, neighborhoods and extension beyond their own spatial relationships . With this goal in mind, several interface and usability guidelines were drawn up to be used by the visually impaired (blind). We conducted a detailed study of the Google Maps API (Application Programming Interface), which was the environment selected for prototype development, and studied the information available for the users of that system. The prototype was developed based on the synthesis of voice and sounds that implement the proposed model in C # language and in .NET environment. To measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the prototype, usability tests were conducted with the visually impaired (blind). The qualitative and quantitative analysis of samples demonstrated the feasibility of the model and its computational implementation. The prototype is being used at a special school for the visually impaired (blind) and has helped and benefited approximately 500 people.


CONTEXT: Based on the results of preliminary studies, the off-label use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 infection has been observed in practice. OBJECTIVES: To identify, systematically assess and summarize the best available evidence on the efficacy and safety of the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for COVID-19 infection. METHODS: Rapid systematic review. RESULTS: After the selection process, 30 studies were included: one open-label randomized trial, one open-label non-randomized trial and 28 ongoing studies. The outcome 'detection of viral load in oral swab' (surrogate outcome) was evaluated by both studies, involving a total of 72 participants. The findings of the studies were discordant: one study observed a higher frequency of negative viral load associated with hydroxychloroquine on day-7, while the other study did not observe any difference between hydroxychloroquine and the control group (standard treatment) on day-6. Both studies have methodological limitations when evaluated by specific tools according to study design (Cochrane Bias Risk Table and ROBINS-I). CONCLUSION: This rapid systematic review identified two clinical studies (with available data), with limited methodological quality, that evaluated the effects of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 infection. Based on the findings of these two studies, the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in patients with COVID-19 is still uncertain (very low evidence certainty) and its routine use for this situation should not be recommended until the results of ongoing studies could provide a proper assessment of their effects.


Shear wall is the structural component provided in midrise and tall buildings to resist earthquake and wind forces. These walls are continuous from foundation to top of buildings. Many times the wall around lift and staircase shaft of a building is designed as a shear wall. Generally these are of reinforced concrete but may be of masonry, wood, steel etc. As these walls have to resist heavy lateral forces these are of heavy sections and have a dense reinforcement at lower part which results substantial amount of closely spaced transverse reinforcement causing reinforcement congestion in boundary element creating problem of construction and placing. Heavy reinforcement and large thickness is required at lower stage and in boundary element of these walls. Displacement capacity of RC structures is generally depends on the deformation capacity of the concrete. If large displacement capacity is to be attained, steel is provided in concrete to enhance concrete behavior, particularly compressive strain capacity. To achieve these goals and maintaining size of cross section in control, heavy reinforcement ratio is required to maintain which creates problem of reinforcement congestion. To overcome this problem of reinforcement congestion a small amount of ductile material like steel fibres may be added to concrete. Many researchers had tried to investigate the behavior of RC shear wall with different composites to improve its performance but very few had tried with concrete with steel fibres. Use of composite materials steel fibers in concrete found beneficial in many structural elements is tried in this research for shear wall. In this paper finite element analysis of shear wall model has been carried out to study and compare the behavior of normal concrete shear wall and steel fiber reinforced concrete shear wall with and without opening using ETABS software to know improvement in behaviour when subjected to lateral load by adding steel fibers in concrete.


Operational planning, automation, and optimisation of field operations are ways to sustain the production of food and feed. A coverage path planning method mitigating the optimisation and automation of harvest operations, characterised by capacity limitations and features derived from real world scenarios, is presented. Although prior research has developed similar methods, no such methodologies have been developed for (i) multiple field entrances as line segments, (ii) the feasibility of stationary and on-the-go unloading in the headland and main field, (iii) unloading timing independent of the full bin level of the harvester, and (iv) the transport unit operational time outside the field. To find the permutation that best minimises the costs in time and distance, an artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm was used as a meta-heuristic optimisation method. The effectiveness of the method was analysed by generating simulated operational data and by comparing it to recorded data from seven fields ranging in size (5–26 ha) and shape. The implementation of controlled traffic farming (CTF) in the coverage path planning method, but not with the recorded data, resulted in a reduced risk of soil compaction of up to 25%, and a reduction in the in-field total travel distance of up to 15% when logistics was optimised simultaneously for two transport units. A 68% increase in the full load frequency of transporting vehicles and a 14% reduction in the total number of field to storage transports was observed. For fields located at outermost edges of the storage facility (>5 km), the increase in full load frequency, average load level, and decrease in in-field travel distance resulted in a reduction in fuel consumption by 7%. Embedding the developed coverage path planning software as a service will improve the sustainability of harvest operations including a fleet of one to many harvesting and transporting units, as the system in front of the vehicle operator calculates and displays all required actions from the operator.


Introduction Socioeconomic disparities have been linked to survival differences in patients with lung cancer. Swedish healthcare is tax-funded and provides equal access to care, therefore, survival following lung cancer surgery should be unrelated to household income. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between household disposable income and survival following surgery for lung cancer in Sweden. Methods We conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study including all patients who underwent pulmonary resections for lung cancer in Sweden 2008–2017. Individual-level record linkages between national quality and health-data registers were performed to acquire information regarding socioeconomic status and medical history. Cox regression by quintiles of household disposable income was used to estimate the adjusted risk for all-cause mortality. Results We included 5500 patients and the age-adjusted and sex-adjusted incidence rate of death per 100 person-years was 15 and 9.4 in the lowest and highest income quintile, respectively (mean follow-up time 3.2 years). Deprived patients were older, had more comorbidities and were less likely to have preoperative positron emission tomography or minimally invasive surgery, compared with patients with higher income. The adjusted HR for death was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.62 to 0.96) for the highest income quintile compared with the lowest. Conclusions We found an association between household disposable income and survival in patients who underwent surgery for lung cancer in Sweden, despite tax-funded universal health coverage. The association remained after adjustment for differences in baseline characteristics.


In this paper, a novel morphological edge detection using adaptive weighted morphological operators is presented. The newly introduced operators employ weighted structuring element (SE) and apply multiplication or division in place of addition and subtraction in classical morphological operations. It judges its edge and its direction by means of training method and differentiable equivalent representations for the operators, efficient adaptive algorithms to optimize SEs are derived. The gradient of the adaptive weighted morphology utilizes a set of SEs to detect the edge strength with a view to decrease the spurious detail edge and suppressed the noise. Results will be presenting for images in comparison with the others edging detectors.


The study aimed to explore the current situation and services efficiency level of problems of Institutional framework of government support for Ukrainian farms. Nowadays, the agrarian sector of the economy shows a positive dynamics of growth, forming in recent years about 14% of gross value added in the country and about 40% of foreign exchange earnings on exports in Ukraine. This article aims to examine, through content analysis and statistical description, the importance of the agrarian sector in the national economy and its role in ensuring the country's food security requires the sustainability and effectiveness of its development based by experiences of USA and Europe practices. Therefore, the study examined the development of farming and service cooperatives are the necessary actions of the state, aimed at ensuring that a person working on the ground can earn enough money to be interested in continuing the work on his own land. Research data were collected from State Statistics Service of Ukraine, World Economic Forum and The European Statistical System. Research results showed that creating new jobs in the countryside are taxes to local budgets, and the development of rural areas, and the slowdown of urbanization, the reduction of the rate of extinction of the Ukrainian village. Such economic results, supplemented by the solution of other problems that farmers say, will obviously be better prepared for the opening of the land market in the future. Keywords: governmental support, Ukrainian farms, land market, state aids, rural development Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017.237


Two-dimensional time-dependent calculations for a molecular model of finite extensibility in the journal-bearing geometry are presented. The flow is considered to be incompressible and isothermal. The momentum conservation equation is integrated using a time-marching procedure in which local ensembles of dumbbells act as stress calculators. The calculations are based on the Calculation of non-Newtonian flows: finite elements and stochastic simulation technique (CONNFFESSIT) and combine deterministic (finite elements) and stochastic techniques to advance the velocity and stress fields in time. The ability of CONNFFESSIT to treat models for which no closed-form constitutive equation can be derived is illustrated by performing calculations using FENE dumbbells. Significant differences in the stress field between the true FENE and the linearized FENE-P are found, especially during the inception period. Steady-state kinematics are, however, identical within error bars for both FENE and FENE-P and for the Newtonian fluid. The essential algorithm of 2-D CONNFFESSIT is detailed, as well as experience gathered from its parallel and vector versions.


The effective transportation of picophytoplankton to the mesopelagic layer in the ocean by cell aggregation and attachment to large particles has been reported. Those findings suggest that picophytoplankton play important roles in ecological processes in the deep ocean. However, there is no information about vertical transportation of picophytoplankton cells from the epilimnion in lakes, though the presence of picophytoplankton cells in the hypolimnion has been reported. The present study demonstrated the possible importance of Synechococcus (Cyanobacteria) in ecological processes of the hypolimnion in the deep mesotrophic Lake Biwa, Japan. The chlorophyll a concentration in the 0.2−2.0-μm fraction, which is mainly derived from Synechococcus, accounted for a large portion (up to 28.8%) of the total chlorophyll a concentration in the hypolimnion during the thermal stratification period. We found a significant positive correlation between Synechococcus abundances in the epilimnion and hypolimnion during the stratification period. In addition, our incubation experiment revealed that Synechococcus did not show significant growth during the first 2 d in dark conditions. These results suggest the recent delivery of a significant fraction of Synechococcus cells from the epilimnion to the hypolimnion. Our results indicate that the abundance of Synechococcus makes a greater contribution to ecological processes in the hypolimnion of Lake Biwa than previously hypothesized, and this may also be the case for other deep lakes.


BACKGROUND
Nerve compression syndromes in the posterior cranial fossa can severely impair patients' quality of life. There is often uncertainty about the best treatment. In this article, we provide an overview of these conditions and the corresponding treatment strategies.

METHODS
This review is based on pertinent publications retrieved by a selective search in PubMed and on a scientific analysis of the authors' patient collective.

RESULTS
These syndromes are caused by compression of a cranial nerve by an artery or vein at the zone of the nerve's entry to or exit from the brainstem. The best-known neurovascular compression syndrome is trigeminal neuralgia, followed by hemifacial spasm. Less well known are glossopharyngeal neuralgia, nervus intermedius neuralgia, and vestibular paroxysmia. The initial treatment of trigeminal neuralgia is medical: the first line of treatment is with sodium-blocking anticon- vulsants, such as carbamazepine. For patients with hemifacial spasm, botulinum toxin injection is the recommended initial treatment and often leads to a satisfactory regression of the spasms. If these treatments fail, a microvascular decompression operation is indicated. The aim of the procedure is to separate the irritating vessel from the nerve and to keep these structures apart permanently. There is hardly any available evidence on these treatment strategies from randomized controlled trials.

CONCLUSION
Nerve compression syndromes in the posterior cranial fossa can generally be treated nonsurgically at first. Over the course of the condition, however, treatment failure or intolerable side effects may arise. In such cases, a microvascu- lar decompression operation is indicated. This is a causally directed form of treat- ment that generally yields very good results.


The proliferation of reusable space vehicles has fundamentally changed how assets are injected into the low earth orbit and beyond, increasing both the reliability and frequency of launches. Consequently, it has led to the rapid development and adoption of new technologies in the aerospace sector, including computer vision (CV), machine learning (ML)/artificial intelligence (AI), and distributed networking. All these technologies are necessary to enable truly autonomous "Human-out-of-the-loop" mission tasking for spaceborne applications as spacecrafts travel further into the solar system and our missions become more ambitious. This paper proposes a novel approach for space-based computer vision sensing and machine learning simulation and validation using synthetically trained models to generate the large amounts of space-based imagery needed to train computer vision models. We also introduce a method of image data augmentation known as domain randomization to enhance machine learning performance in the dynamic domain of spaceborne computer vision to tackle unique space-based challenges such as orientation and lighting variations. These synthetically trained computer vision models then apply that capability for hardware-in-the-loop testing and evaluation via free-flying robotic platforms, thus enabling sensor-based orbital vehicle control, onboard decision making, and mobile manipulation similar to air-bearing table methods. Given the current energy constraints of space vehicles using solar-based power plants, cameras provide an energy-efficient means of situational awareness when compared to active sensing instruments. When coupled with computationally efficient machine learning algorithms and methods, it can enable space systems proficient in classifying, tracking, capturing, and ultimately manipulating objects for orbital/planetary assembly and maintenance (tasks commonly referred to as In-Space Assembly and On-Orbit Servicing). Given the inherent dangers of manned spaceflight/extravehicular activities (EVAs) currently employed to perform spacecraft maintenance and the current limitation of long-duration human spaceflight outside the low earth orbit, space robotics armed with generalized sensing and control and machine learning architecture have a unique automation potential. However, the tools and methodologies required for hardware-in-the-loop simulation, testing, and validation at a large scale and at an affordable price point are in developmental stages. By leveraging a drone's free-flight maneuvering capability, theater projection technology, synthetically generated orbital and celestial environments, and machine learning, this work strives to build a robust hardware-in-the-loop testing suite. While the focus of the specific computer vision models in this paper is narrowed down to solving visual sensing problems in orbit, this work can very well be extended to solve any problem set that requires a robust onboard computer vision, robotic manipulation, and free-flight capabilities.


An increasing number of studies have recently detected within‐organism genetic heterogeneity suggesting that genetically homogeneous organisms may be rare. In this review, we examine the potential costs and benefits of such intraorganismal genetic heterogeneity (IGH) on the fitness of the individual. The costs of IGH include cancerous growth, parasitism, competitive interactions and developmental instability, all of which threaten the integrity of the individual while the potential benefits are increased genetic variability, size‐specific processes, and synergistic interactions between genetic variants. The particular cost or benefit of IGH in a specific case depends on the organism type and the origin of the IGH. While mosaicism easily arise by genetic changes in an individual, and will be the more common type of IGH, chimerism originates by the fusion of genetically distinct entities, and is expected to be substantially rare in most organisms. Potential conflicts and synergistic effects between different genetic lineages within an individual provide an interesting example for theoretical and empirical studies of multilevel selection.


Wireless networks with their ubiquitous applications have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Wireless networks demand more and more spectral resources to support the ever increasing numbers of users. According to network engineers, the current spectrum crunch can be addressed with the introduction of cognitive radio networks (CRNs). In half-duplex (HD) CRNs, the secondary users (SUs) can either only sense the spectrum or transmit at a given time. This HD operation limits the SU throughput, because the SUs cannot transmit during the spectrum sensing. However, with the advances in self-interference suppression (SIS), full-duplex (FD) CRNs allow for simultaneous spectrum sensing and transmission on a given channel. This FD operation increases the throughput and reduces collisions as compared with HD-CRNs. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of FD-CRN communications. We cover the supporting network architectures and the various transmit and receive antenna designs. We classify the different SIS approaches in FD-CRNs. We survey the spectrum sensing approaches and security requirements for FD-CRNs. We also survey major advances in FD medium access control protocols as well as open issues, challenges, and future research directions to support the FD operation in CRNs.


The purpose of this study is to assess the long-term efficacy of aged garlic extract to improve periodontitis. Two hundred and one participants were randomly stratified and assigned equally to the regimen group or the control group. At the start, 12 month, and 18 month subjects received dental examination and periodontal evaluation. Probing Pocket Depth and Gingival Recession were examined. For each efficacy parameter, the mean value of examination was calculated and assessed using paired-difference t tests. Statistical tests were two-sided using a 5% significance level. The mean value of pocket depth for the aged garlic extract group at 18 month was 1.06 ± 0.49 as compared to the baseline value of 1.89 ± 0.74 (p<0.001) and the corresponding value of 1.50 ± 0.46 for the placebo group (p<0.001), indicating the beneficial effect of aged garlic extract on periodontitis. According to a Multiple linear regression analysis the only three variables which reached statistical significance as predictors of PPD level were the baseline PPD scores (p<0.001), smoking (p = 0.020), and consumption of daily dose of aged garlic extract (p<0.001). These results demonstrated that aged garlic extract is an effective supplement for preventing or improving periodontal disease. The well demonstrated benefits of aged garlic extract for the oral disease may also be used as a means to improve general health because of the close relationship between periodontitis and some systemic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and others.


With a rapidly growing population and arable land declining, sustainable agriculture is pivotal to food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Food security issues for subsistence farmers in most low-income countries are a product of both endogenous (crop yields) and exogenous (currency fluctuations) factors. In Mozambique the value of the Metical has decreased by 37% since January 2016. While this makes domestically produced products more attractive in a relative sense it negatively affects those agricultural industries which rely on imported inputs such as feed and fertilizer. Large scale poultry production in Mozambique is still in its infancy, but is necessary to providing inexpensive protein to one of the most protein deficient parts of the world. The decline of the Metical has curtailed historically cheaper poultry imports from South Africa and Brazil, thus helping local poultry producers, but has come at a steep price as the majority of feed (soya and maize) has to be imported. In response to this exogenous currency crisis, research was conducted in Nampula, Mozambique on the most efficient method for implementing maize production to reduce the risk that accompanies the devaluation of the local currency to combat food insecurity. The objectives included: 1) perform on-site maize evaluations, and 2) perform a maize crop profitability analysis. Many low-income producers often times prefer income stability over income maximization (Nalley and Barkley, 2010) and as such this study provided poultry producers in Mozambique an insurance tool to smooth revenue from exogenous factors such as currency devaluation. Implementing a program such as this aimed to increase total income as well as reduce income variability. Our results indicated that if small scale poultry producers could raise maize on small plots they could earn additional income and stabilize domestic prices of maize, which could increase food security and producer livelihoods.


Estrogenic activity of the fruit extract of Artocarpus lakoocha (Moraceae) in female sprague-dawley rats. The powdered of the fruit were extracted with hydro alcoholic and the resultant extracts were subjected for phytochemical analysis to identify different phyto constituents. Preliminary Phytochemical investigation showed the presence of flavonoids, tannins, steroids, and saponins, as major secondary metabolites. Some of the physiochemical parameters such as ash value, extractive value and loss on drying were also been studied. Estrogenic activity of extract were studied by removing it both ovaries, and then given the different dose of extract as per body weight of animals by the oral route. Treatment of animal with Hydro-alcoholic extract of fruit of Artocarpus lakoocha shows significantly (p<0.05) value. It is observed that Hydro-alcoholic extract of fruit of Artocarpus lakoocha posses estrogenic property which was evident by biochemical parameters and histopathological reports.


Abstract #1056 Epidemiological studies have identified obesity as a significant risk factor for developing breast cancer among postmenopausal women. Adipose tissue is an important extragonadal source of estrogen. Although circulatory estrogen levels in postmenopausal women decline, tissue-specific estrogen levels remain virtually unchanged and are even found elevated in breast tissue from obese patients and patients with breast cancer. Therefore, excessive estrogen production due to overall adiposity is considered to be a critical contributing factor to obesity-associated breast cancer risk. However, it is not clear whether adipose tissue per se can also affect breast cancer development in a hormone-independent manner. In the current study, we used adipocyte stromal cells (ASCs) isolated from lipoaspirates from cancer-free patients and studied their possible influence on tumor cell behaviors. Using the Boyden-chamber assay, we found that ASCs had a stimulatory effect on the migration of both ER-positive (MCF-7) and ER-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231), suggesting that ASCs can influence the behaviors of breast cancer cells in an estrogen-independent manner. A similar effect of ASCs on MDA-MB-231 cells was also observed in a wound-healing assay. Furthermore, in a xenograft experiment using co-transplanted MDA-MB-231 and ASCs, we observed a significant role of ASCs in promoting the invasiveness of MDA-MB-231 cells. These data indicate that, in addition to their established role in supplying local estrogen, ASCs may facilitate tumor invasion into surrounding tissue and subsequently metastasis. The possible molecular basis for this effect of ASCs on tumor cell migration and invasion will be discussed. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 1056.


The genetic regulation of common biological functions has redundant control mechanisms, and it is unlikely that a single marker will ever be identified that will be both highly sensitive and specific. It is more likely that combinations of gene and/or protein markers, perhaps also combined with obstetric family histories, will be required to achieve the goal of a truly sensitive and specific screening profile for spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth. The rapidly evolving disciplines of genomics and proteomics are now beginning to be applied to the study of spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth. These techniques are able to measure multiple markers (in the thousands) in a biological sample and, given the likely presence of biological changes that precede by weeks or even months the clinical manifestations of the disease, are ideally suited to the evaluation of spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth. Over the next few years, these technologies will hasten a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology of spontaneous preterm labour, discover novel target molecules and diagnostic biomarkers and ultimately aid in formulating more effective interventions to prevent preterm birth. Pharmacogenomics is another rapidly evolving discipline that holds great promise for the treatment and prevention of spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth. Because spontaneous preterm labour is a final common pathway for multiple aetiologies, there remains no reason why any single therapy will work optimally for all women. As patient‐specific pharmacogenomic profiles are developed, it will be possible to develop patient‐specific treatment regimens. Beyond that, it may become possible to identify those women who are, or are not, destined to labour spontaneously and give birth remote from term and to institute patient‐specific preventive measures. Spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth remains a syndrome, with a final common pathway for multiple aetiologies. As a result, no single explanation, marker or treatment is likely to be 100% sensitive, specific or successful. It is also clear, however, that there is a genetic predisposition in many cases of spontaneous preterm labour. Over the next few years, several recently developed diagnostic mechanisms, and others that have yet to evolve, will hold a greater potential than ever before to unlock the secrets of the genetic predisposition to spontaneous preterm labour and its underlying causes. An improved understanding of these mechanisms will allow clinicians to employ therapies that will be optimally effective for individual women and their unborn babies. Eventually, these advances could be applied to the presymptomatic prevention of spontaneous preterm labour. It is the intent of this manuscript to review the current status of these new technologies and disciplines and to speculate on their applications in the intermediate future.


'Oh dear,' said Mr. Majeika, 'I seem to have made the spell too strong.' Class Three has fun during Book Week, when famous storybook characters suddenly appear! But there's trouble ahead with Wilhemina Worlock, the witch at the school's Olympic Sports Day...Will Mr. Majeika manage to magic up a solution?


Nonmilitary providers play a critical role in the diagnosis and management of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children and adolescents who may one day desire to join military service as well as current military members who do not have access to military dermatologists. Failure to diagnose or incorrect diagnosis of AD in a child, adolescent, or current service member may have negative implications on their ability to effectively and safely serve in the US Military.


Gender and Spoken Interaction presents a diverse collection of gender research with an exclusive focus on spoken interaction. Now in paperback, this volume explores how gender is reflected and accomplished in a wide range of lively talk from speakers across all life stages, from different ethnic, social, national and linguistic backgrounds, in both private and institutional contexts. The volume explores topics such as the interaction in private and institutional talk between gender and other identity positions such as sexuality, social class and ethnicity, the relationship between local interactional practices and larger-scale ideologies, and how analysis of spoken interaction can contribute to traditional feminist debates about gender inequality. With a strong methodological and analytical framework, these areas are be explored on the basis of spoken interactional data from British school children; adolescents from working and middle-class backgrounds; London private school girls; British Asian university students; UK and New Zealand company directors and employees; male-identified Hindi-English speaking women in New Delhi; and Austrian Jewish refugees.


Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) represents a very attractive technique for the obtainment of dense materials including nanostructured ones. SPS basically consists in the simultaneous application of a pulsed DC current and an uniaxial mechanical load through a powder compact. Other than providing rapid Joule heating and likely enhancing mass transport through electromigration, the imposed pulsed high current is also reported to generate a plasma within the voids surrounding the powder particles, thus facilitating the removal of oxides surface layers that may hinder the sintering process. Selected results obtained through SPS in our laboratory for the preparation of a wide variety of materials, i.e. TiC-TiB2, MgB2, and NbAl3, will be presented in this work. Specifically, all the chosen examples are related to the use of the SPS technique for obtaining the desired material by simultaneously performing synthesis and consolidation stages in one-step.


Kenya's population has been growing tremendously over the last five decades. The population has increased from 10.6 million in 1969, to 38.6 million as at 2009. Close to 80 per cent of this population is rural based and practice subsistence form of agriculture. On the flipside, Kenya's economy has not been growing at a rate that commensurate with this population growth. With rising poverty levels in the 1990's, millions of Kenyan's in the country side have resulted in alternative livelihood strategies or straddled livelihoods, to cushion household members from plummeting fortunes from subsistence farming. This book explores the dynamism of the rural non-agricultural sector in Kenya. Besides documenting the level and patterns of non-agricultural activities and income as well as determinants of participation to these activities, this book provides a detailed analysis on the linkage between non-agricultural activities. This book provides useful food for thought to development researchers, academicians, development practitioners, and policy makers. Further, this publication comes in handy to a general reader with an interest in understanding rural livelihoods in Kenya.


Brazil has the fourth largest equine herd in the world and the State of Minas Gerais has the largest equine population in the country. Therefore, an accurate diagnosis of cases of neurologic diseases is a priority in Minas Gerais. The aim of this study was to identify by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) infectious agents associated with neurological disease in the central nervous system (CNS) of horses. A survey of encephalitis and encephalomyelitis in horses in Minas Gerais State was performed on samples of CNS from horses that died with neurological signs from January 2009 to January 2011. Forty seven CNS samples from 217 (21.7%) horses were positive for rabies virus by the indirect immunofluorescence assay and mouse inoculation. Among the 170 samples that were negative for rabies, EHV-1 was detected in 20 (11.8%) and the swine herpesvirus-1 (SHV-1) was detected in one sample by PCR, and the Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) was identified in another sample by reverse transcription (RT) and PCR (RT-PCR). Rabies virus is the most common causative agent of encephalitis in horses, despite the increasing number of cases of encephalitis associated with EHV-1 in the State of Minas Gerais.


The paper explores examples of contemporary experience in order to demonstrate the moralisation of new areas of behaviour (especially in relation to environmental issues). It sketches a Foucauldian framework for understanding the historical transformation of experience, in terms of the "apparatus of experience." On that basis, it presents a novel account of critique, in which critique is seen as the potentially transformational, experiential practice of re-experiencing the contemporary apparatuses of experience. In other words, critique is "experience squared." It is this re-experiencing of our everyday experience that permits us, to a certain extent, to "get over ourselves" and thus to reflect critically on the processes of moralisation and de-moralisation in which we participate.


For a smart city, soft or non-physical assets share an important capital component with many impacts in different contexts. They enable a city to deliver and mainstream a people-centered policy in addition to the benefits provided by traditional, hard infrastructure. Soft assets can involve social and human capital, knowledge, participation, and innovative approaches that drive value in the city. However, it is always a challenge for city policy makers to identify and strengthen these soft assets using a systemic approach due to their inherent characteristics. This paper argues that soft assets should be strategically integrated into the development process of smart and resilient cities. Therefore, exploring various approaches to prioritize soft asset consideration would provide helpful guidelines to city policy makers for municipal value creation, and identify where the greatest needs for soft or intangible assets lie. This paper examines how to identify and decide which soft assets should take priority in smart and resilient cities. The findings can assist policy makers in their consideration of an optimal mix and balance of soft assets required in the city to improve living structures for a people-centered approach.


In order to assess the effects of schistosomiasis in the prostate gland, seminal vesicles, and the intraabdominal portion of the vas deferens, we examined these organs at 200 consecutive autopsies of African males. Portions of these organs as well as of the bladder, were digested in KOH; the proportion of eggs of Schistosoma haematobium found in these organs was: seminal vesicles, 54.5%, spermatic duct, 39.9%, and prostate gland, 20.5%. Eggs of Schistosoma mansoni were rarer in these tissues (bladder, 1%; seminal vesicles, 15.5%; spermatic duct, 8%; and prostate gland, 1%). The mean number of S. haematobium eggs/gm of tissue was substantially greater than for S. mansoni. To compare the histologic technique with that of digestion of tissue, we studied a further 100 consecutive autopsies--77% showed evidence of schistosomiasis by 1 or the other method. The bladder was affected in 65%; prostate gland, 21%, seminal vesicle, 70%; and the vas deferens in 42%. The detection of schistosomiasis was almost as good by the traditional histologic as by the digestion technique. Neither method revealed all infections. The frequency and severity of the lesions in these tissues was studied by standard histologic technique: tissues from the last 100 consecutive cases showed definite inflammatory lesions especially in the seminal vesicles, but less than in the prostate gland. In none, however, was the reaction marked. There was good correlation between the mean number of eggs by the histologic and digestion methods, the exception being the prostate gland. No correlation could be shown between the number of eggs and inflammation; only a few eggs may provoke a marked response or the reverse may occur. Eggs were found mainly in the muscle layer of the seminal vesicles, but also in the mucosa and even the lumen. The number of eggs did not vary much with age of infected person; however after age 60 the mean number of eggs in the bladder and seminal vesicles dropped markedly.


This thesis recovers the practice of 'armchair geography' as an overlooked, yet significant aspect of the mid-nineteenth-century culture of exploration. These histories are popularly associated with such famed explorers as Dr David Livingstone and John Hanning Speke, who travelled across Africa. Yet, far from the field, there were other geographers, like William Desborough Cooley and James MacQueen, who spoke, wrote, theorised, and produced maps about the world based not on their own observations, but on the collation, interpretation, speculation, and synthesis of existing geographical sources.

The dominant historical trope of geography through the nineteenth century is one of transition, shifting from an early modern textual practice of the 'armchair' to a modern science in the 'field'. This thesis challenges such a limited view by demonstrating how critical practices continued to be a pervasive presence in the period 1830–1870, and how these two modes of geography co-existed and overlapped, and were combined and contested. It seeks to dismantle the static binarism that positions the critical geographer as both separate and in opposition to the field explorer. The chapters move to survey explorers that sit; explorers that read; critical geographers that move; books that travel; and libraries that lay out the world. In so doing, it identifies and attends to the unsettled physical and spatial boundaries between modes and methods of geography. It examines the role of the 'armchair geographer' in developing geographical thought and practice, and in negotiations concerning credible knowledge at the newly founded Royal Geographical Society.

Crucially, this thesis expands the history of 'armchair' practices in geography beyond an entertaining tale of 'conflict' in exploration, and presents a critical examination of the many spatial manifestations of the 'field' and 'fieldwork' in geography's disciplinary identity. This thesis contributes a spatially sensitive account of geographical knowledge making that interrupts and challenges current histories of the development of geography as a field of knowledge and set of practices in the nineteenth century.


The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process converts synthesis gas (H2/CO) over a heterogeneous catalyst into hydrocarbons. Generally, cobalt catalysts supported on oxidic carriers are used for the FT process, however it appears to be difficult to obtain and maintain fully reduced cobalt particles. To overcome these problems we started to use carbon nanofibers (CNF), a novel support material on which cobalt-support compounds are not expected to form.
In chapter 2 we describe our research on the preparation of catalysts on CNF and on silica using the HDP method. Besides the conventional deposition starting from acidic solution we also performed experiments starting from basic solution. Presented results demonstrate that the newly developed method yields better-dispersed Co catalysts on both supports compared to the conventional low-pH method. Due to the larger cobalt surface area we found 2-4 times higher FT activities for samples prepared from basic environment, with similar or better catalyst selectivities.
In chapter 3 the influence of cobalt particle size on the Fischer-Tropsch reaction was investigated using catalysts with average cobalt particle sizes varying from 2.7 to 27 nm. It was found that the turnover frequency (TOF) was not affected for catalysts with sizes larger than 6 nm (1 bar) or 8 nm (35 bar), while both the selectivity and the activity changed for catalysts with smaller particles. This demonstrates that the minimal required cobalt particle size for Fischer-Tropsch catalysis is larger (6-8 nm) than can be explained by classical structure sensitivity. Other explanations raised in literature, viz. formation of CoO or Co carbide species on small particles during catalytic testing, were not substantiated by experimental evidence. Interestingly we found with EXAFS a decrease of the cobalt coordination number, which points to reconstruction of the surface. Consequently, it is argued that the cobalt particle size effects can be attributed to CO-induced non-classical structure sensitivity. The profound influence of cobalt dispersion on FT performance found in our work is very relevant for the design of economic Fischer-Tropsch catalysts.
Chapter 4 deals with the preparation and testing of MnO-promoted cobalt catalysts supported on CNF. We demonstrated with XPS and STEM-EELS that in the dried samples the promoter was only present associated with the cobalt particles. After reduction at 350 oC the manganese phase remained in the oxidized state, localized close to the cobalt particles, as the inert support material lacked sites with significant interaction with metal oxides. This close association between cobalt and MnO resulted in significant improvement in catalytic performances even with very low concentrations of promoter present.
It has been mentioned before that CNF consists of interwoven fibers. In chapter 5 it is shown that these individual fibers have an inner tube that is opened during the activation treatment in nitric acid. The preparation of cobalt and palladium catalysts with impregnation and ion exchange, respectively, resulted in the deposition of metal particles inside the fibers. Using TEM tilt series and quantitative XPS we showed that the weight fraction of metal deposited in the inner tube is related to the fraction of surface area or pore volume related with this tube.
Presented results demonstrate that the use of CNF helped to solve fundamental issues related with Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Moreover, we discovered ways to enhance both activity and selectivity of these catalysts, which is very interesting for the development of new Fischer-Tropsch catalysts


Male-biased dispersal is a common trait in mammals, including carnivores, but its genetic consequences at the population level have been rarely considered for solitary species. We used long-term genetic data from cougars (Puma concolor) in and around Yellowstone National Park to test predictions based on differences in dispersal behaviour among males and females. Consistent with frequent long-distance dispersal of males, we found support for our prediction of less than expected allele sharing in pair-wise comparisons. In contrast, female residents present at the same time and females separated by few generations failed to share more alleles than expected, contrary to our predictions based on limited female dispersal. However, we find that genetic contributions of females with higher reproductive success were still noticeable in subsequent generations, consistent with female offspring showing fidelity to their natal area. These results highlight the importance of male dispersal for inbreeding avoidance, but do not indicate that short-distance dispersal or philopatry in female cougars results in spatial clustering of related individuals.


Abstract Plant tests and finite element (FE) analyses of the injection stretch-blow moulding (ISBM) process of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles have been carried out in this study with a view to optimizing preform designs and process conditions. Plant tests were carefully conducted at first to make bottles in a 330 ml mould from four preform designs under different process conditions. Both a digital handheld thermometer and a FLIR ThermoCAM Imager system were used to measure the initial preform temperature distributions (IPTDs). Comprehensive FE analyses using ABAQUS were then carried out to model the ISBM of these bottles, using a physically based model (Buckley model) to model the complex constitutive behaviour of PET. It was found that the numerical simulations often resulted in free blowing or over-thinning of the bottle bottoms when the measured IPTDs and process conditions were modelled. Parametric studies of the IPTDs, the pre-blowing pressure and the material parameters of the Buckley model were carried out. It was demonstrated that all of them had considerable effects on the effectiveness of FE modelling. In particular, the stress-strain relations modelled by the Buckley model were very sensitive to two parameters used to model the strain-stiffening behaviour. By carefully adjusting the material parameters and process conditions, successful simulations with excellent bottle thickness predictions were then achieved. It is concluded that the model parameters must be obtained by accurately testing the bottle-grade PET with similar process conditions to those in industrial ISBM so that the Buckley model can be confidently used to model the ISBM process. It is also found that good predictions of bottle wall thickness alone do not necessarily justify the numerical modelling. Validation of the deformation process may be equally important.


We study the effects of information shocks on macroeconomic and term structure dynamics in an estimated medium-scale DSGE model for the US economy. We consider news about total factor productivity and investment-specific technology, as well as foresight about monetary policy. Our empirical investigation confirms the findings of previous studies on the limited role played by productivity news in this class of models. In contrast, we uncover a non-trivial role for investment-specific news and anticipated monetary policy shocks not only in the historical and variance decomposition of real economic variables but also for the overall dynamic behavior of the term structure of interest rates. We also document substantial qualitative differences in the dynamic responses of the macroeconomy and the bond yield term structure to anticipated and surprise structural and policy innovations.


Importance
Multiple immunostimulatory agonist antibodies have been clinically tested in solid tumors to evaluate the role of targeting glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-related protein in anticancer treatments.

Objective
To evaluate the safety and activity of the fully human glucocorticoid-induced TNF receptor-related protein agonist IgG1 monoclonal antibody BMS-986156 with or without nivolumab in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This global, open-label, phase 1/2a study of BMS-986156 with or without nivolumab enrolled 292 patients 18 years or older with advanced solid tumors and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 1 or less. Prior checkpoint inhibitor therapy was allowed. Monotherapy and combination dose-escalation cohorts ran concurrently to guide expansion doses beginning October 16, 2015; the study is ongoing.

Interventions
The protein agonist BMS-986156 was administered intravenously at a dose of 10, 30, 100, 240, or 800 mg every 2 weeks as monotherapy, and in the combination group 30, 100, 240, or 800 mg plus 240 mg of nivolumab every 2 weeks; same-dose cohorts were pooled for analysis. One cohort also received 480 mg of BMS-986156 plus 480 mg of nivolumab every 4 weeks.

Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary end points were safety, tolerability, and dose-limiting toxic effects. Additional end points included antitumor activity per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, version 1.1, and exploratory biomarker analyses.

Results
With a follow-up range of 1.4 to 101.7 weeks (follow-up ongoing), 34 patients (16 women and 18 men; median age, 56.6 years [range, 28-75 years]) received monotherapy (4 patients completed initial treatment), and 258 patients (140 women and 118 men; median age, 60 years [range, 21-87 years]) received combination therapy (65 patients completed initial treatment). No grade 3 to 5 treatment-related adverse events occurred with BMS-986156 monotherapy; grade 3 to 4 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 24 patients (9.3%) receiving BMS-986156 plus nivolumab, with no grade 5 treatment-related adverse events. One dose-limiting toxic effect (grade 4 elevated creatine phosphokinase levels) occurred in a patient receiving 800 mg of BMS-986156 plus 240 mg of nivolumab every 2 weeks; BMS-986156 with or without nivolumab exhibited linear pharmacokinetics with dose-related increase after a single dose. Peripheral T-cell and natural killer-cell proliferation increased after administration of BMS-986156 with or without nivolumab. No consistent and significant modulation of intratumoral CD8+ T cells and FoxP3+ regulatory T cells was observed. No responses were seen with BMS-986156 alone; objective response rates ranged from 0% to 11.1% (1 of 9) across combination therapy cohorts, with a few responses observed in patients previously treated with anti-programmed death receptor (ligand) 1 therapy.

Conclusions and Relevance
Based on this cohort, BMS-986156 appears to have had a manageable safety profile, and BMS-986156 plus nivolumab demonstrated safety and efficacy comparable to historical data reported for nivolumab monotherapy.

Trial Registration
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02598960.


Two chemical vapor transport methods with Zn(NH4)3Cl5 transport agent were developed to grow ZnSe bulk single crystals. Two kinds of Zn-rich ZnSe single crystals, conical crystal and flake crystal,were grown directly from untreated ZnSe polycrystals and two elements, respectively. The structure characters, purity and etch pit density were studied by rotating orientation XRD, PL spectrum and optical microscope. The contrastive investigation between two growth results indicated that the conical crystal was composed of (111) and (100) faces, and the flake crystal exhibited only (111) face. Moreover, the vicinal interface leaning to (111) face by the angle of 3.1° was the dominative growth face in vapor growth system, and growth occurs by layer-by-layer model. FWHM of RO-XRD pattern of ZnSe (111) face was 24sec for conical ZnSe crystal and 48s for ZnSe flake crystal. The results suggested that high-quality ZnSe crystals can be grown from the chemical vapor transport method with Zn(NH4)3Cl5 transport agent.


This paper presents a simulation method for direct-drive permanent-magnet linear generators designed for wave power. Analytical derivations of power and maximum damping force are performed based on Faraday's law of induction and circuit equations for constant-torque-angle control. Knowledge of the machine reactance or the load angle is not needed. An aim of the simulation method is to simplify comparison of the maximum damping force, losses, and cost between different generator designs at an early design stage. A parameter study in MATLAB based on the derived equations is performed and the effect of changing different generator parameters is studied. The analytical calculations are verified with finite element method (FEM) simulations and experiments. An important conclusion is that the copper losses and the maximum damping force are mainly dependent on the rated current density and end winding length. The copper losses are inherently large in a slow-moving machine so special consideration should be taken to decrease the end winding length. It is concluded that the design of the generator becomes a trade-off between material cost versus high efficiency and high maximum damping force.


Bioreactor technology is a branched research area of tissue engineering. Dynamic culture environment mimicking in vivo pulsatile conditions could be achieved by bioreactor otherwise might not through static cultures. In this paper, we present a new type of pulse bioreactor which can provide arbitrary and easily adjustable circulatory flow conditions of 0 - 0.2 MPa pressure. The pulse amplitude range was 0 - 7%. The pulse frequency can be adjusted between 0 and 80 times/min. In addition, the new type of pulse bioreactor can be sterilized and dismantled easily. This bioreactor has been used in dynamic culture of assembled adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) and shown promise in tissue engineering.


Abstract. The new species Gentiana woodii J. S. Pringle, from Departments Cochabamba and La Paz, Bolivia, and Gentianella glenniae J. S. Pringle, from Departments Amazonas and Cajamarca, Peru, are described. Gentiana woodii differs from G. sedifolia Kunth and G. sirensis J. S. Pringle in its conspicuously white-margined leaves, which are more widely spaced distally, and from G. microphylla Griseb. in its monocarpic habit and narrower leaves. Gentianella glenniae differs from G. ericothamna (Gilg) Zarucchi in its more elongated inflorescences, triangular rather than linear calyx lobes, and more deeply lobed corollas, and from G. oreosilene (Gilg) J. S. Pringle in its smaller flowers, more deeply lobed corollas, and narrowly lanceolate rather than obovate corolla lobes.


Aims To evaluate the associations of emergent genome-wide-association study-derived coronary heart disease (CHD)-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with established and emerging risk factors, and the association of genome-wide-association study-derived lipid-associated SNPs with other risk factors and CHD events. Methods and results Using two case–control studies, three cross-sectional, and seven prospective studies with up to 25 000 individuals and 5794 CHD events we evaluated associations of 34 genome-wide-association study-identified SNPs with CHD risk and 16 CHD-associated risk factors or biomarkers. The Ch9p21 SNPs rs1333049 (OR 1.17; 95% confidence limits 1.11–1.24) and rs10757274 (OR 1.17; 1.09–1.26), MIA3 rs17465637 (OR 1.10; 1.04–1.15), Ch2q36 rs2943634 (OR 1.08; 1.03–1.14), APC rs383830 (OR 1.10; 1.02, 1.18), MTHFD1L rs6922269 (OR 1.10; 1.03, 1.16), CXCL12 rs501120 (OR 1.12; 1.04, 1.20), and SMAD3 rs17228212 (OR 1.11; 1.05, 1.17) were all associated with CHD risk, but not with the CHD biomarkers and risk factors measured. Among the 20 blood lipid-related SNPs, LPL rs17411031 was associated with a lower risk of CHD (OR 0.91; 0.84–0.97), an increase in Apolipoprotein AI and HDL-cholesterol, and reduced triglycerides. SORT1 rs599839 was associated with CHD risk (OR 1.20; 1.15–1.26) as well as total- and LDL-cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B. ANGPTL3 rs12042319 was associated with CHD risk (OR 1.11; 1.03, 1.19), total- and LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and interleukin-6. Conclusion Several SNPs predicting CHD events appear to involve pathways not currently indexed by the established or emerging risk factors; others involved changes in blood lipids including triglycerides or HDL-cholesterol as well as LDL-cholesterol. The overlapping association of SNPs with multiple risk factors and biomarkers supports the existence of shared points of regulation for these phenotypes.


In this paper, we study masked autoencoder (MAE) pretraining on videos for matching-based downstream tasks, including visual object tracking (VOT) and video object segmentation (VOS). A simple extension of MAE is to randomly mask out frame patches in videos and reconstruct the frame pixels. However, we find that this simple baseline heavily relies on spatial cues while ignoring temporal relations for frame reconstruction, thus leading to sub-optimal temporal matching representations for VOT and VOS. To alleviate this problem, we propose DropMAE, which adaptively performs spatial-attention dropout in the frame reconstruction to facilitate temporal correspondence learning in videos. We show that our DropMAE is a strong and efficient temporal matching learner, which achieves better finetuning results on matching-based tasks than the ImageNet-based MAE with $2\times$ faster pre-training speed. Moreover, we also find that motion diversity in pre-training videos is more important than scene diversity for improving the performance on VOT and VOS. Our pre-trained DropMAE model can be directly loaded in existing ViT-based trackers for fine-tuning without further modifications. Notably, DropMAE sets new state-of-the-art performance on 8 out of 9 highly competitive video tracking and segmentation datasets. Our code and pre-trained models are available at https://github.com/jimmy-dq/DropMAE.git.


We study, both experimentally and theoretically, the deformation of blanketed and patterned bilayer thin film microstructures subjected to temperature cycles from room temperature to elevated temperatures following processing by surface micromachining and release from the substrate. While the theoretical treatment is general, the experimental component focuses on beam-like microstructures consisting of a 0.5 /spl mu/m thick gold film on a polysilicon film that is either 1.5 /spl mu/m or 3.5 /spl mu/m thick. For all microstructures the underlying polysilicon film is the same size, but the gold film is patterned into a line that runs the length of the beam. Its width is varied from 0 to 100% of the width of the polysilicon. We experimentally characterize the deformation by measuring the full-field deflection of the gold/polysilicon bilayer beams as a function of temperature using a white-light interferometric microscope. From the deflection, the curvature is determined, and we report the evolution of curvature with the temperature cycling. Qualitatively the behavior is the same regardless of the linewidth. The quantitative differences can be described by a simple model incorporating an inelastic temperature-driven mechanism in addition to linear thermoelastic behavior. We show experimentally and/or analytically, how the parameters in the model vary with linewidth. The results are discussed in the context of the current understanding of microstructural evolution in thin-film metals, and in relation to anticipated thermoelastic response. We show that via a suitable thermal process, the thin film material microstructure can apparently be stabilized over a prescribed temperature range, rendering the subsequent deformation linear thermoelastic. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of the design and fabrication of high-yield, dimensionally stable MEMS devices utilizing bilayer material systems. Although our measurements are focused on gold/polysilicon bilayer films, the concepts and associated analysis are applicable to other bilayer film systems, particularly ones with metals, although there will surely be quantitative differences.


In the just-published Remixing Persona: An Imaginary Digital Media Object from the Onto-Tales of the Digital Afterlife, artists Mark Amerika and Laura Hyunjhee Kim perform as MALK, a new media remix band that ruminates on the post-digital life of the traditional scholarly book. Working against the concept of an e-book, the publication includes an original music video titled the Digital Afterlife as well as a downloadable PDF that the artists refer to as an imaginary digital media object (IDMO). The work has been released as the inaugural publication in the new MEDIA : ART : WRITE : NOW series with Open Humanities Press. For this special issue of Media-N, MALK proposes their next IDMO track by focusing on the relationship between AI-generated forms of remix and artist-generated forms of psychic automatism. The experiment will start with the artists improvising a cluster of hand-drawn charts that conceptually blend their musings on what they refer to as "future forms of artificial creative intelligence." The language in these charts will then serve as source material to input into an advanced Generative Pre-trained Transformer to trigger source material for a new music video and an adjoining PDF. Our question is whether the Generative Pre-trained Transformer as an advanced yet still essentially weak AI can co-write the artists' IDMO as they address issues related to their research into psychic automatism and artificial creative intelligence.


Controls over the position and orientation of anisotropic particles in their assemblies are intriguing issues for functional colloidal crystals that are switchable with external fields such as electric and magnetic fields. We propose a novel approach for the fabrication of rattle-type colloidal crystals containing an anisotropic, movable core surrounded by a void space that allows rearrangement of the anisotropic core in the assembly. In the fabrication, multilayered core-shell particles composed of a titania core, polystyrene shell, and silica shell were prepared and then heated at 500 °C for 4 h to selectively remove the middle layer of polystyrene. The heating treatment induced deformation of spherical titania cores in the compartment of silica shells, while the void space required for the orientation and relocation of anisotropic core was generated. The rattle particles fabricated were self-assembled by a simple dip-coating to form an arrangement of the spherical yolk/shell particles incorporating an anisotropic core. Brownian motion of the anisotropic cores observed with an optical microscope showed that the assembly of rattle-type particles had the potential to control location and orientation of the anisotropic cores in the shell compartment by application of external fields.


Background: There are unorganized, published documents about the ecology of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in northeastern part of Iran. The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution and characteristics of larval habitats of Culicidae in Kalaleh County. Methods: Larvae were collected using dipping method and adults by human landing catch technique during April–October, 2012. Larval habitat characteristics were recorded such as vegetation status, and sunlight, water situation. Lacto-phenol and de Faure's media were used for conserving and mounting samples. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software, version 11.5. Results: Out of the 395 larvae collected, 332 were adult mosquitoes comprising; Culiseta, Culex, Anopheles and Ochlerotatus genera and 14 species including An. superpictus, An. maculipennis s.l., An. hyrcanus, An. psudopictus, An. claviger, Culex pipiens, Cx. theileri, Cx. perexiguus, Culiseta longiareolata, Cs. subochrea, Ochlerotatus caspius, Oc. echinus and Oc. geniculatus. Culex pipiens larvae were predominant (27.6%) and Cs. subochrea (1%) was found as the lowest species in terms of number. In the adult form, Cx. pipiens (28.9%) was predominant whereas, Cs. subochrea and Cx. perexiguus were reported to have had the lowest frequency. Conclusion: The larvae of An. superpictus and An. maculipennis species as the main vectors of malaria in north of Iran were reported in permanent habitats with clear water and vegetation, full and partial sunlight situations and muddy as well as sandy substrates that are important in larvicide application programs. Exclusive studies are necessary to diagnose An. maculipennis species complex using molecular and morphological analysis in the future.


Abstract The 3D solution structure of α-cobratoxin, a neurotoxin purified from the Naja naja siamensis snake venom, has been determined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy, in conjunction with distance geometry and restrained molecular dynamics, at pH 7.5. A total of 490 distance restraints were obtained from NOE intensities and 25 φ dihedral angle restraints deduced from J- coupling data. The generated structures are well defined with root mean square deviations from a geometrical mean structure of 0.107 ± 0.036 nm for the backbone atoms and 0.128 ±0.073 nm for the side-chain atoms (considering residues 1 to 66 minus 26 to 35). A comparison between the generated structures at pH 7.5 and the mean NMR solution structure at pH 3.2 revealed that the 3D structure of α-cobratoxin is more compact at neutral pH. This major difference is mainly due to the pH-dependant conformational variations of three residues His(18), Thr(44) and Thr(59).


Background and Aims The aim of study is to evaluate the applicability of an individualized strategy for closure of PDA in preterms. We verified the closure rate and consequently the failure of PDA closure, the rate of reopening and the onset of secondary outcomes. Methods We recruited 36 preterms (27 weeks mean GA; mean birth weight 828 g) with PDA and candidates for the pharmacological closure according to the internal protocol. Using serial ECHOS, we evaluated the persistence of the PDA after the administration of a first dose of ibuprofen, establishing the need to repeat a second or third dose each 24 hours. Results We observed a rate of complete closure of 77.7% (33.3% after the first dose, 30.5% after the second and 13.8% after the third dose). The incidence of re-opening is 16.6%, without significant difference related to the number of doses (p=1). There was a significant difference in terms of birth weight and GA between patients with persistent PDA (mean BW 485 g and mean GA 24+3) and patients who kept the ductus closed (mean BW 901.4 g and GA 27) (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in terms of incidence of outcomes (IVH, NEC, broncodisplasia, deaths) comparing to a group which received a standard treatment of 3 doses. Conclusion The individualized strategy allows to expose preterms to a minor amount of doses, without changing the number of closure and outcomes. However, the extreme GA are associated with an increased risk of failure of closure and reopening.


The developing biliary system in normal human embryos from 29 days to 8 weeks post‐fertilization was studied. The primitive extrahepatic bile duct that originates from the embryonic hepatic foregut diverticulum is in contact with the hepatic anlage from the start of organogenesis and remains so throughout the gestational ages examined. The primitive extrahepatic bile duct maintains continuity with the ductal plate from which intrahepatic bile ducts are eventually formed. Contrary to long‐held concepts of biliary development, no 'solid stage' of entodermal occlusion of the common bile duct lumen was found at any stage of gestation in the material investigated. Therefore, biliary atresia is not caused by incomplete vacuolization of the 'solid stage'.


A process for obtaining (nitroxymethyl)phenyl esters of salicylic acid derivatives of formula (I) wherein R1 is the OCOR3 group characterized in that it comprises the following steps: a) reaction of a halide of a salicylic acid derivative with hydroxybenzylacohol in the presence of a base: b) nutration of the obtained product in anhydrous conditions by a mixture of nitric acid with a different inorganic acid, or an organic acid, or an anhydride of one or two organic acids: c) recovery of the final product.


Macrophages and their precursors, monocytes, are key cells involved in the innate immune response. Although both monocytes and macrophages produce caspase-1, the key enzyme responsible for pro-IL-1β processing; macrophages are limited in their ability to activate the enzyme and release functional IL-1β. In this context, because mutations in the pyrin gene (MEFV) cause the inflammatory disorder familial Mediterranean fever, pyrin is believed to regulate IL-1β processing. To determine whether variations in pyrin expression explain the difference between monocytes and macrophages in IL-1β processing and release, pyrin was studied in human monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages. Although monocytes express pyrin mRNA and protein, which is readily inducible by endotoxin, monocyte-derived macrophages express significantly less pyrin mRNA and protein. Pyrin levels directly correlated with IL-1β processing in monocytes and macrophages; therefore, we asked whether pyrin might promote IL-1β processing and release. HEK293 cells were transfected with pyrin, caspase-1, apoptotic speck protein with a caspase recruitment domain, and IL-1β. Pyrin induced IL-1β processing and release in a dose-dependent manner. Conversely, pyrin small interference RNA suppressed pro-IL-1β processing in both THP-1 cells and fresh human monocytes. In summary, both pyrin expression and IL-1β processing and release are diminished upon the maturation of monocytes to macrophages. When pyrin is ectopically expressed or silenced, IL-1β processing and release parallels the level of pyrin. In conclusion, in the context of endotoxin-induced activation of mononuclear phagocytes, pyrin augments IL-1β processing and release.


Epidemiological studies, such as family, twin, and adoption studies, demonstrate the presence of a heritable component to both attempted and completed suicide. Some of this heritability is accounted for by the presence of comorbid psychiatric disorders, but the evidence also indicates that a portion of this heritability is specific to suicidality. The serotonergic system has been studied extensively in this phenotype, but findings have been inconsistent, possibly due to the presence of multiple susceptibility variants and/or gene–gene interactions. In this study, we genotyped 174 tag and coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 17 genes within the serotonin pathway on 516 subjects with a major mood disorder and a history of a suicide attempt (cases) and 515 healthy controls, with the goal of capturing the common genetic variation across each of these candidate genes. We tested the 174 markers in single‐SNP, haplotype, gene‐based, and epistasis analyses. While these association analyses identified multiple marginally significant SNPs, haplotypes, genes, and interactions, none of them survived correction for multiple testing. Additional studies, including assessment in larger sample sets and deep resequencing to identify rare causal variants, may be required to fully understand the role that the serotonin pathway plays in suicidal behavior. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


75 first time donors were interviewed in detail at their first presentation at the Singapore Blood Transfusion Service. In addition they were asked to complete forms which elicited the motivating factors behind donating blood as well as the Crown Crisp Experiential Index. The results of this study show that the main motivating factor in these donors was that of an altruistic and humanitarian desire to help people. A high proportion (2/3) had some previous personal or familial contacts with the blood service. It also reports these donors as being more social and emotional people. These findings correlate with other studies and have implications for setting up blood donor recruitment programmes.


We present a new algorithm and the corresponding convergence analysis for the regularization of linear inverse problems with sparsity constraints, applied to a new generalized sparsity promoting functional. The algorithm is based on the idea of iteratively reweighted least squares, reducing the minimization at every iteration step to that of a functional including only '2-norms. This amounts to smoothing of the absolute value function that appears in the generalized sparsity promoting penalty we consider, with the smoothing becoming iteratively less pronounced. We demonstrate that the sequence of iterates of our algorithm converges to a limit that minimizes the original functional.


Medicaid health homes is a new optional benefit for high-need, high-cost beneficiaries with chronic physical conditions or serious mental illness, authorized in Section 2703 of the Affordable Care Act. Distinctive features of the model include the elevated importance placed on integrating physical health care with behavioral/mental health care and on linking enrollees to social services and other community supports. The Urban Institute is conducting the 5-year long-term evaluation for the DHHS Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation. This initial report examines the context, design, and initial implementation challenges and successes of six programs in Missouri, Rhode Island, New York, and Oregon, the first four states with approved programs.


Conservation of function can be accompanied by obvious similarity of homologous sequences which may persist for billions of years (Iyer LM, Leipe DD, Koonin EV, Aravind L. 2004. Evolutionary history and higher order classification of AAA+ ATPases. J Struct Biol. 146:11–31.). However, presumably homologous segments of noncoding DNA can also retain their ancestral function even after their sequences diverge beyond recognition (Fisher S, Grice EA, Vinton RM, Bessling SL, McCallion AS. 2006. Conservation of RET regulatory function from human to zebrafish without sequence similarity. Science 312:276–279.). To investigate this phenomenon at the genomic scale, we studied homologous introns in a quartet of insect species, and in a quartet of vertebrate species. Each quartet consisted of two pairs of moderately distant genomes, with a much larger evolutionary distance between the pairs. In both quartets, we found that introns that carry a regulatory segment or a conserved segment in the first pair tend to carry a conserved segment in the second pair, even though no similarity of these segments could be detected between the two pairs. Furthermore, introns from one pair that are preserved in the other pair tend to carry a conserved segment within the first pair, and be longer in the first pair, compared with the introns that were lost between pairs, even though no similarity between pairs could be detected in such preserved introns. These results indicate that selective constraint, presumably caused by conservation of the ancestral function, often persists even after the homologous DNA segments become unalignable.


A bulk of empirical literature has emerged that explores the role of various location factors as determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). A notable feature of these studies is that their empirical approaches abstract from third-country (spatial) effects in FDI across the home and host country dimensions. Neglecting these effects could bias results concerning the role of location factors for attracting FDI. This in turn may lead to misguided economic policy conclusions. The current paper adds to the literature by applying the recently proposed spatial "origin-destination-flow model" of LeSage and Pace (2008) to FDI flows from 7 Western OECD home countries to 8 CEE host countries. Controlling for country-pair and time effects our results indicate that (a) spatial interactions across the host country dimension matter for FDI revealing that vertical complex FDI flows dominate total FDI flows to CEECs; (b) spatial autocorrelation in the home country dimension is absent; (c) results of previous studies remain valid as coefficient estimates on location factors change only slightly when spatial interdependencies are considered and (d) effective corporate income taxes and the endowment with production-related material infrastructure are statistically and economically significant determinants of FDI in CEECs.


To determine the distribution of etiologic agents of fungemia in San Martin Hospital, La Plata, we retrospectively studied 81 consecutive episodes of fungemia, diagnosed in 46 adults and 35 preterm newborn (PNB) hospitalized from November 1998 to August 2001. The diagnosis was achieved by blood culture obtained by venipuncture and by catheter aspiration and was processed using BactAlert and lysis-centrifugation technique. Isolated yeasts were identified employing API 32C system and additional tests. Candida parapsilosis (28.4%), C. albicans (25.9%) and C. tropicalis (25.9%) were predominant as etiological agents (80%). Other species of Candida (C. pelliculosa, C. kefyr and C. guillermondii), Malassezia pachydermatis, Cryptococcus neoformans and Histoplasma capsulatum were recovered in low percentage (each one < or = 7%). C. parapsilosis was predominant as causative agent among PNB male (47.4%), C. albicans among adult women (41.7%) and C. tropicalis among adult men (32.3%). The species of Candida (C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis and C. albicans) were predominant as etiologic agents of fungemia, with a different distribution in the episodes which occurred in adults and PNB patients, and also according to gender in both groups.


This paper describes an investigation about the grinding fluid optimization supply based on lubrication theory. The models for three-dimensional hydrodynamic flow pressure in contact zone between wheel and work are presented based on Navier-Stokes equation and continuous formulae. It is well known that hydrodynamic fluid pressure generates due to this fluid flux, and that it affects overall grinding resistance and machining accuracy. Moreover, conventional methods of delivering grinding fluid, i.e. flood delivery via a shoe or jet delivery tangential to the wheel via a nozzle, have been proved that they can not fully penetrate this boundary layer and thus, the majority of the cutting fluid is deflected away from the grinding zone. Therefore, in this paper, a new delivery method of grinding fluid, the minimum quantity lubricant (MQL)-near-dry green grinding is presented and analyzed for it not only reduces hydrodynamic lift force but also reduces grinding fluid cost to achieve green manufacturing. Experiments have been carried out to validate the performance of the MQL supply compared with conventional flood cooling. The experimental results have shown that the theoretical model is in agreement with experimental results and the model can well forecast hydrodynamic pressure distribution at contact zone between and workpiece and the MQL supply in grinding is feasible. Experiments have also been carried out to evaluate the performance of the MQL technology compared with conventional flood cooling. Experimental data indicate that the proposed method does not negatively affect to the surface integrity and the process validity has been verified.


There is some uncertainty in the fisheries science–policy interface. Although progress has been made towards more transparency and participation in fisheries science in ICES Areas, routine use of state-of-the-art quantitative and qualitative tools to address uncertainty systematically is still lacking. Fisheries science that gives advice to policy-making is plagued by uncertainties; the stakes of the policies are high and value-laden and need therefore to be treated as an example of "post-normal science" (PNS). To achieve robust governance, understanding of the characteristics and implications of the scientific uncertainties for management strategies need to come to the centre of the table. This can be achieved using state-of-the-art tools such as pedigree matrices and uncertainty matrices, as developed by PNS scholars and used in similar science–policy arenas on other complex issues. An explicit extension of the peer community within maritime systems will be required to put these new tools in place. These new competences become even more important as many countries within the ICES Area are now embarking on new policies.


This thesis traces the social networks of company directors involved in multinational commerce during the seventeenth century. It places commerce and directors at the centre of key economic, political and social developments during the seventeenth century, answering three interrelated questions: how did relationships between different corporate spheres change during the seventeenth century? How did the director develop as a socioeconomic agent during the seventeenth century? How did directors influence the formation of the English political economy?

The first chapter defines the company director and places them in the wider historiographical traditions, while also outlining the methodological approaches used throughout the thesis.

Chapter two examines how debates concerning the Virginia Company affected the wider community of company directors in the first decades of the seventeenth century, demonstrating how disparities in visions for trade created friction, which in turn affected the formation of governance in other companies.

The third chapter analyses how the networks of different groups of directors developed during the civil wars and Interregnum period. The tension between the varied parties drove fertile debates on company formats, which stretched existing notions of corporate governance.

Following on from this, chapter four traces how directors purged and counter-purged one another in during the Restoration. New networks were shaped by private trade overseas, by new extra-company institutions and by increased competition between companies. The growing differences between the Levant Company and the East India Company inspires renewed debates over directors' role.

The fifth chapter investigates how directors became familiar in England during the late seventeenth century. The joint stock boom of the 1690s gave a new presence to commercial corporate governance in England, while the links between the director community and the English state were further cemented by foundation of the Bank of England.

The final chapter examines the foundation of the New East India Company in 1698, as well as the subsequent merger of the old and new companies. The new company fractured and expanded of the director community. However, the merger between the two companies ignored contemporary political ideologies, and forged the directors' networks into a corporate superstructure.

The dissertation challenges the assumption that conflicts between insiders and outsiders in the commercial community accelerated the formation of the English political economy by tracing networks across a community of diverse individuals. It offers a new understanding of the relationship between commerce, politics and society in seventeenth century England, and demonstrates the importance of company directors as socioeconomic agents, emphasising the social nature of the early modern trading corporation.


The molecular identification of ion channels in internal membranes has made scant progress compared with the study of plasma membrane ion channels. We investigated a prominent voltage-dependent, cation-selective, and calcium-activated vacuolar ion conductance of 320 pS (yeast vacuolar conductance, YVC1) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we report on a gene, the deduced product of which possesses significant homology to the ion channel of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family. By using a combination of gene deletion and re-expression with direct patch clamping of the yeast vacuolar membrane, we show that this yeast TRP-like gene is necessary for the YVC1 conductance. In physiological conditions, tens of micromolar cytoplasmic Ca2+ activates the YVC1 current carried by cations including Ca2+ across the vacuolar membrane. Immunodetection of a tagged YVC1 gene product indicates that YVC1 is primarily localized in the vacuole and not other intracellular membranes. Thus we have identified the YVC1 vacuolar/lysosomal cation-channel gene. This report has implications for the function of TRP channels in other organisms and the possible molecular identification of vacuolar/lysosomal ion channels in other eukaryotes.


Based on the shift-splitting technique and the idea of Hermitian and skewHermitian splitting, a fast shift-splitting iteration method is proposed for solving nonsingular and singular nonsymmetric saddle point problems in this paper. Convergence and semi-convergence of the proposed iteration method for nonsingular and singular cases are carefully studied, respectively. Numerical experiments are implemented to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. AMS subject classifications: 65M10, 78A48


Winner of the National Book Award, 'Going After Cacciato' captures the peculiar mixture of horror and hallucination that marked the Vietnam War, this strangest of wars. In a blend of reality and fantasy, this novel tells the story of a young soldier who one day lays down his rifle and sets off on a quixotic journey from the jungles of Indochina to the streets of Paris. In its memorable evocation of men both fleeing from and meeting the demands of battle, 'Going After Cacciato' stands as much more than just a great war novel. Ultimately it's about the forces of fear and heroism that do battle in the hearts of us all.


Theoretical models of allometric scaling provide frameworks for understanding and predicting how and why the morphology and function of organisms vary with scale. It remains unclear, however, if the predictions of 'universal' scaling models for vascular plants hold across diverse species in variable environments. Phenomena such as competition and disturbance may drive allometric scaling relationships away from theoretical predictions based on an optimized tree. Here, we use a hierarchical Bayesian approach to calculate tree-specific, species-specific, and 'global' (i.e. interspecific) scaling exponents for several allometric relationships using tree- and branch-level data harvested from three savanna sites across a rainfall gradient in Mali, West Africa. We use these exponents to provide a rigorous test of three plant scaling models (Metabolic Scaling Theory (MST), Geometric Similarity, and Stress Similarity) in savanna systems. For the allometric relationships we evaluated (diameter vs. length, aboveground mass, stem mass, and leaf mass) the empirically calculated exponents broadly overlapped among species from diverse environments, except for the scaling exponents for length, which increased with tree cover and density. When we compare empirical scaling exponents to the theoretical predictions from the three models we find MST predictions are most consistent with our observed allometries. In those situations where observations are inconsistent with MST we find that departure from theory corresponds with expected tradeoffs related to disturbance and competitive interactions. We hypothesize savanna trees have greater length-scaling exponents than predicted by MST due to an evolutionary tradeoff between fire escape and optimization of mechanical stability and internal resource transport. Future research on the drivers of systematic allometric variation could reconcile the differences between observed scaling relationships in variable ecosystems and those predicted by ideal models such as MST.


 Abstract : In recent years, applications of wireless sensor network (WSN) is emerged as the revolutionary phase in many functional areas such as industrial, environmental, business, military and many need based self-intelligent real time systems. Some of the applications require data communication from harsh physical environment which poses great challenges to wireless sensor networks. The deployment of these sensor nodes in the hostile environment cause sensor nodes failure. This demands fast, redundant fault tolerant, energy saving approaches which meet the requirements of most recurring failures and path disruption scenarios in wireless sensor networks. Hence there is need for fuzzy knowledge based fault detection because traditional fault detection methods are endured by low detection accuracy. The proposed fuzzy knowledge based faulty node detection and redundancy approach (FNDRA) is presented to identify the faulty nodes and provide the management method for nodes reusability. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was implemented using Matlab and the results shows that the proposed approach meets the constraints and requirements of most common and predicated critical failure


Connections of two telencephalic vocal control nuclei, the hyperstriatum ventrale, pars caudale (HVc), and robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA), were investigated in adult canaries. Methods used were transport of horseradish peroxidase and 3H‐adenosine and silver staining of degenerating axons. Three nuclei project to HVc: medial nucleus magnocellularis ofthe anterior neostriatum (MAN), nucleus interfacialis (NIf) of midneostriatum, and nucleus uvaeformis (Uva) of the diecephalon. Uva also projects to NIf. NIf and Uva have not been described previously. HVc projects to area X of lobus parolfactorius, to RA, and to field Avalanche of hyperstriatum ventrale. Nucleus RA receives projections from HVc and from lateral MAN. All these projections are ipsilateral. No gross male/female differences were apparent in the projections to and from HVc. Uptake of HRP by cell somata in HVc following localized injections of this substance into RA or HVc suggests that HVc is composed of rostrocaudally organized clusters of cells, with little lateral communication between them.