This workshop introduces Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) to anyone who teaches CS or related subjects. In a POGIL classroom, teams of 3-4 learners work on activities with a particular structure based on learning cycles. Through scripted inquiry and investigation, learners discover concepts and construct their own knowledge. Using assigned team roles and other scaffolding, learners develop process skills and individual responsibility. The teacher is not a lecturer, but an active facilitator who helps all students to be engaged and achieve the learning objectives.POGIL is an evidence-based approach that has been shown to improve student performance significantly. Workshop participants will work through POGIL activities as students and complete meta-activities designed to introduce core POGIL concepts, practices, and benefits. We will share POGIL materials for a variety of CS courses. For more information, see http://IntroCSpogil.org and http://pogil.org, where you will find activities for CS1, CS2, and other courses.


We investigate the effects of pre-stress and surface tension on the electron–acoustic phonon scattering rate and the mobility of rectangular silicon nanowires.With the elastic theory and the interaction Hamiltonian for the deformation potential,which considers both the surface energy and the acoustoelastic effects,the phonon dispersion relation for a stressed nanowire under spatial confinement is derived.The subsequent analysis indicates that both surface tension and pre-stress can dramatically change the electron–acoustic phonon interaction.Under a negative(positive)surface tension and a tensile(compressive)pre-stress,the electron mobility is reduced(enhanced)due to the decrease(increase)of the phonon energy as well as the deformation-potential scattering rate.This study suggests an alternative approach based on the strain engineering to tune the speed and the drive current of low-dimensional electronic devices.


Emotional perceptions are objectivist (objectivity-directed or cognitive) and conscious, both attributes suggesting they cannot be ambivalent. Yet perceptions, including emotional perceptions of value, allow for strictly objectivist ambivalence in which a person unitarily perceives the object in mutually undermining ways. Emotional perceptions became an explicandum of emotion for philosophers who are sensitive to the unique conscious character of emotion, impressed by the objectivist character of perceptions, and believe that the perceptual account solves a worry about the possibility of a conflict between an emotion and a judgement. Back into the 1980s Greenspan has argued that emotional ambivalence is possible, her reasons implying that objectivist accounts of emotion are inconsistent with ambivalence. Tappolet has more recently replied that perceptual accounts allow for emotional ambivalence since the opposed values seen in ambivalence are good or bad in different senses. The present paper identifies strict objectivist ambivalence between judgements and between emotional perceptions by contrasting them with such ambivalence of separate values such as evoked by Tappolet.


A new method for image thresholding of two or more images that are acquired in different modalities or acquisition protocols is proposed. The method is based on measures from information theory and has no underlying free parameters nor does it require training or calibration. The method is based on finding an optimal set of global thresholds, one for each image, by maximising the mutual information above the thresholds while minimising the mutual information below the thresholds. Although some assumptions on the nature of images are made, no assumptions are made by the method on the intensity distributions or on the shape of the image histograms. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated both on synthetic images and medical images from clinical practice. It is then compared against three other thresholding methods.


This essay explores the arguments of Bruce Ackerman, who decries the Roberts Court's "shattering judicial betrayal" of our living constitution's Civil Rights Revolution. He argues for a broader conception of the constitutional canon: The higher law of the Constitution includes not only formally adopted provisions but also "landmark statutes" and judicial "superprecedents," for example, those of the Civil Rights Revolution. He also argues for a broader conception of popular sovereignty: We the People manifest our will not only through the formal amending procedures but also through higher lawmaking procedures outside Article V. He exhorts us to fidelity to our living constitution: the commitments "hammered out" through the processes of popular sovereignty during the Civil Rights Revolution. I reconstruct Ackerman's living constitutionalism as a moral reading in which faithful interpretation requires normative judgments about the best understanding of the constitutional commitments that have been built out over time.


Reduplication is widely attested in human languages, especially in the southern hemisphere. This distribution, often complementary with plural markings, is also found in languages spoken in China, which show a correlation between plural marking and reduplication/classifiers: if reduplication and classifiers are found extensively, then plural marking is not developed, and is sensitive to the semantic feature [+human]. The more plural marking is developed, such as in Altaic languages, the less this semantic feature is required. The more a language possesses a developed plural-marking morphology, the less it needs reduplication and classifiers. Subjectivity plays a key role in reduplicated adjectives. Reduplication is iconically motivated. Positive degree constitutes its core meaning. Reduplication with negative meaning characterizes the grammaticalization process from icon to symbol.


In this paper we estimate the effects of college education on cognitive abilities and health exploiting exogenous variation in college availability and student loan regulations. By means of semiparametric local instrumental variables techniques we estimate marginal treatment effects in an environment of essential heterogeneity. The results suggest heterogeneous but always positive effects on cognitive skills and homogeneously positive effects for all health outcomes but mental health, where the effects are around zero throughout. We find that likely mechanisms of positive physical health returns are effects of college education on physically demanding activities on the job and health behavior such as smoking and drinking while mentally more demanding jobs might explain the skill returns.


The purpose of this study was to investigate whether collegiate sport teams in which female participants are required to wear uniforms that are more revealing, have a more negative self-perception of body image and greater drive for muscularity than those with non-revealing uniforms. Female athletes from 7 women's NCAA Division I collegiate athletic teams from a Midwestern university took part in this study. Subjects were grouped according to the type of uniform worn during competition in their sport. Subjects were divided into two categories: revealing uniforms (n = 33), which included volleyball, track and field, cross country, and swimming, while non-revealing uniforms (n = 26) which included softball, soccer and basketball. These two group categories were formed in order to compare the relationship of perceived body image and uniform type. Measures used to evaluate perceived body image included the Drive for Muscularity Scale, Body Shape Questionnaire, and the Stunkard Scale (Ideal and Reality). Independent t-tests were used to compare the dependent variables between groups for each of the 4 measures. There were no significant differences (~0.05) between the revealing uniform group and non-revealing uniform group for any of the four independent variables relating to the results of the body image dissatisfaction and drive for muscularity. Results showed both groups having no or only mild levels of body dissatisfaction and a moderate to low drive for muscularity. The revealing uniform group indicated a leaner body image as their ideal body image as compared to non-revealing group (p=0.004). It was concluded from these findings that the type of sport uniform worn by these female collegiate athletes did not appear to influence levels of body dissatisfaction or drive for muscularity differently. However, those in the revealing uniform group indicated a learner ideal than those in the non-revealing uniform group.


We have isolated a chicken cellular myosin II heavy chain isoform cDNA clone that overlaps the published sequence for MHC-A (Shohet et al., 1989, Proc Natl Acad Sci 86, 7726-7730) and contains three canonical AAUAAA-polyadenylation signals in an additional 374 nucleotides at its 3' end. S1 nuclease protection analysis and PCR-amplification of MHC-A cDNA 3' ends have confirmed that all three of the signals are used in vivo. Differential usage of these signals without differential splicing in this region yields three messages that differ at their 3' ends but appear to encode the same protein. Comparison of the new chicken sequence with the homologous human MHC-A cDNA sequence (Saez et al., 1990, Proc Natl Acad Sci 87, 1164-1168) has revealed a number of similarities at this end of their long 3' untranslated regions (3'-UTRs). The three chicken polyadenylation signals reported here are positioned similarly to three signals evident in the human sequence. This region also contains distinct stretches of identity that are interspersed with regions of little homology. Within these regions of identity are a number of conserved sequence motifs, some of which have been demonstrated to be involved in mRNA metabolism in other systems. The pattern of mRNA sequence conservation demonstrated here suggests that the mechanisms for regulating MHC-A mRNA metabolism have been conserved between chickens and humans.


While plants have been useful to man as food and medicine, many have the potentials to induce toxicity either singly or in combination, which may result from their phytochemical contents or accumulation of toxic metals. Therefore, this study investigated the metal contents and acute toxicity of Vernonia amygdalina (VA) leaves and Garcinia kola (GK) seeds in single and combined forms on rat′s kidney and liver. Aqueous extracts of these plants were used to investigate their acute toxicity potentials separately and in combined formulation, VAGK, using male Wistar rats. Following previous studies, a limit acute toxicity investigation of VA and GK were carried out. In addition, a full acute toxicity test was performed on VAGK using Lorkes' method. The geometric means of doses were used to obtain the acute toxicity value. Histopathological examination was carried out on harvested rats' kidney and liver while metal analysis was performed on the powdered plants. Results showed that all animals survived the limit dose as well as the full acute toxicity tests. The Kidney and liver revealed no notable pathological changes in the tested plants. Concentration of some of the analysed metals (mg/kg) in plants fell within recommended permissible limits except for Pb, Co, Cr and Ni, which were above these limits. In conclusion, although the acute oral toxicity test revealed no mortality and demonstrated no detrimental effects on the kidney and liver of the treated rats, however based on metal results, caution must be taken when using these plants as herbal remedy.


In the eastern United States, existing paleo-reconstructions in fluvial environments consist primarily of site-specific investigations of climate and human impacts on riverine processes. This paper presents the first meta-analysis of fluvial reconstructions focused on regional watersheds of the eastern United States, including the Lower Mississippi, Tennessee, South Atlantic–Gulf Coast, Ohio, Mid-Atlantic, and New England regional watersheds. Chronologies of fluvial activity (i.e. alluvial deposition) and stability (i.e. landscape stability) were developed by synthesizing data from existing, published, and site-specific fluvial reconstruction studies conducted across the eastern United States. Overall, regional watersheds show variable patterns of synchronicity across watersheds and did not demonstrate cyclic behavior through the Holocene. During the last millennium, only the Lower Mississippi and Ohio regional watersheds exhibit high rates of fluvial activity active during the 'Medieval Climate Anomaly' (650–1050 yr BP), while nearly all other regional watersheds in the eastern United States were active during the 'Little Ice Age' (100–500 yr BP). These findings imply that fluvial activity may be more spatially restricted during warmer/drier climatic conditions than during cooler/wetter periods. We find an increase in fluvial activity during the era of Euro-American colonization (400 yr BP to present) in the southeastern United States but not the northeastern United States, implying a heterogeneous response of fluvial systems to human activities in the eastern United States related to climatic, cultural, and/or physiographic variability. These new insights gained from fluvial chronologies in the eastern United States demonstrate the utility of regionally synthesized paleo-records to understand large-scale climate variation effect on rivers.


The United Nations Watercourses Convention entered into force in August 2014. Despite overwhelming support when signed in 1997, the ratification process has been slow. As a binding treaty, the Watercourses Convention provides hope that its provisions will articulate legal principles of transboundary water management capable of promoting cooperation and regional agreements. Despite entry into force, however, global support for the Watercourses Convention is weak, concurrent efforts to develop treaty regimes governing water resources create competition for resources and may obscure understandings of international water law, and the foundational principles of the Watercourses Convention remain ambiguous. These limitations are illustrated in a case study of the discordant hydropolitics of the Nile River Basin – perhaps the most significant watercourse lacking a cooperative management agreement. This article provides an analysis of international water law and the limitations of the Watercourses Convention, considering the implications of entry into force. While the Watercourses Convention creates a workable framework for negotiating regional agreements, low levels of support from UN member states, competing treaty instruments, and ambiguous legal principles limit the potential impact of the Watercourses Convention.


The emergence of computationally rich vehicles and recent advances in wireless communication technologies are fuelling vehicular network research in industry and academia. A key challenge to the successful deployment of vehicular communication is the implementation and efficiency of the medium access control (MAC) layer. There are mainly two types of MAC approaches, namely contention based and contention free. The current standard, IEEE 802.11p, is a contention-based approach, which has the severe limitation of unbounded transmission delays. An alternative contention-free approach called dedicated multi-channel MAC (DMMAC) has been proposed in the literature. In this work the authors analyse these two approaches, discuss their limitations and introduce an improved approach called medium access with memory bifurcation and administration (MAMBA). The authors evaluate the performance of the three approaches in highway and urban scenarios, for both low- and high-density traffic. The authors' performance evaluation results show that MAMBA improves throughput and message delivery ratio by up to 150 and 205' over IEEE 802.11p and DMMAC approaches, respectively. MAMBA also improves on the latency achieved by the other methods by up to 72 and 99' respectively, compared to IEEE 802.11p and DMMAC.


The flourishing worldwide Halal food industry needs an excellent and reliable traceability system to ensure that consumers are persistently well protected from unconsciously consuming non-halal food which is against the Islamic law or the Shari'ah. There are various types of traceability systems being implemented by different food industries, not only in Malaysia but around the world. However, in perspective to the Malaysian Halal industry, there are countless cases discovered by the authorities and the consumers signifying for a better traceability system to be implemented by industry players, in particular the supply chain stakeholders. This paper aims to explore how knowledge management can be a commanding tool for an effective traceability system in our Halal food industry supply chain. The paper kicks off with an overview of the Halal concept followed by a discussion on traceability systems in the Halal food industry as well as the different traceability systems that have been implemented in other food industries globally. The Knowledge Management concept is then discussed and trailed with how it can be used as a tool in the traceability system. The final part of this paper proposes how the knowledge-based system can contribute as an effective traceability system in the Halal food supply chain.


ANAMNESIS AND CLINICAL EXAMINATION
 A 56-year-old male patient consulted our surgical department presenting repetitive pain in his right upper abdomen and already known cholecystolithiasis. There were no other findings in the clinical examination; fever or abnormalities concerning bowel movement or micturition were denied. Except from the extirpation of a melanoma and an appendectomy years ago there were no relevant previous illnesses.

DIAGNOSIS
 An external CT-Scan of the abdomen revealed a cholecystolithiasis and an unclear thickening of the gallbladder wall near the infundibulum. Blood results showed no relevant pathologic excursion.

THERAPY AND CLINICAL COURSE
 After uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy the results of the histopathologic examination revealed a metastasis of the melanoma, which was diagnosed and excised years ago. Additional staging showed pulmonal metastasis and resection in palliative intention was performed.

CONCLUSION
 Gallbladder metastasis of any cancer entities are a rare event, but some studies suggest that the number of events is underestimated concerning the malignant melanoma.If there is a corresponding medical history, symptoms should quickly lead to determined diagnosis and, if in doubt, to cholecystectomy.


Many transition-metal complexes easily change their spin state S in response to external perturbations (spin crossover). Determining such states and their dynamics can play a central role in the understanding of useful properties such as molecular magnetism or catalytic behavior, but is often far from straightforward. In this work we demonstrate that, at a moderate computational cost, density functional calculations can predict the correct ground spin state of Fe(ii) and Fe(iii) complexes and can then be used to determine the (1)H NMR spectra of all spin states. Since the spectral features are remarkably different according to the spin state, calculated (1)H NMR resonances can be used to infer the correct spin state, along with supporting the structure elucidation of numerous paramagnetic complexes.


Until recently, diagnosis and management of small-bowel tumors were delayed by the diffi culty of access to the small bowel and the poor diagnostic capabilities of the available diagnostic techniques. An array of new methods has recently been developed, increasing the possibility of detecting these tumors at an earlier stage. Capsule endoscopy (CE) appears to be an ideal tool to recognize the presence of neoplastic lesions along this organ, since it is non-invasive and enables the entire small bowel to be visualized. High- quality images of the small-bowel mucosa may be captured and small and ? at lesions recognized, without exposure to radiation. Recent studies on a large population of patients undergoing CE have reported small-bowel tumor frequency only slightly above that reported in previous surgical series (range, 1.6%-2.4%) and have also confirmed that the main clinical indication to CE in patients with small-bowel tumors is obscure gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. The majority of tumors identified by CE are malignant; many were unsuspected and not found by other methods. However, it remains difficult to identify pathology and tumor type based on the lesion's endoscopic appearance. Despite its limitations, CE provides crucial information leading in most cases to changes in subsequent patient management. Whether the use of CE in combination with other new diagnostic (MRI or multidetector CT enterography) and therapeutic (Push- and-pull enteroscopy) techniques will lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment of these neoplasms, ultimately resulting in a survival advantage and in cost savings,remains to be determined through carefully-designed studies.


Commercial transport is often referred to as an early market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). In comparison to private transport, commercial transport with passenger cars is characterized by higher vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) forming an important factor for a quick pay-off of PEVs. In this paper, we analyze multi-day driving profiles of German passenger cars and light-duty commercial vehicles from the commercial transport sector. These commercial vehicles amount to almost two thirds of the annual vehicle registrations in Germany and thus form an important market segment. Our analysis shows that about 30 % of German commercial vehicles could be economically operated as PEVs in 2020. However, it becomes apparent that energy and battery prices have a high impact on the future market share of plug-in electric vehicles in this segment.


Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common, chronic bowel illness
involving the presence of unpleasant bodily sensations and pain. In the
current research the 'stories' women living with IBS had to tell were
studied as part of a multi-layered narrative 'bricolage' (Kincholoe,
1991) analysis. The language used to discuss women living with IBS in a
primarily scientific and deductive literature, was argued to be
problematic, and reinforce gendered notions of IBS as a 'women's
disease' (Dixon-Woods and Critchley, 2008). Informed by the
researcher's positioning as a feminist and a woman living with IBS
based in the UK, this feminist-narrative study was carried out and
placed women's standpoints (Harding, 1991) at the forefront of IBS
research.
Participants who volunteered to take part were women living with IBS
and who were based in 'Western' countries, such as the UK, USA and
Australia. Each of the participants completed a diary for one-week,
completing at least one entry per day by writing or drawing about what
was meaningful to them, reflecting upon their everyday lives and
experiences of IBS and illness. Diaries were used a means of conducting
narrative inquiry, which takes human experiences seriously as the
phenomena of interest (Clandinin and Connelly, 2006). The diary
method also facilitated adopting a stance on illness as 'embodied'
experiences, transcending a divide between the mind and body (see for
example, Bendelow, 2009).
The research aims were to explore stories the women had to tell about
their lives, whilst also considering if Western 'cultural scripts' (Miller,
2005) of femininities and of chronic illness informed the personal story
constructions.
The interpretations presented how the diverse and nuanced accounts
explored embodied experiences of bodily shame, suffering, hope to 'be
positive', and efforts to keep going when faced with the challenges of
living with a chronic illness. Consistent with past literature (Bjorkman et
al., 2013) illness was emplotted into the women's stories in gendered
and culturally meaningful ways, such as by drawing upon narrow
Western feminine body-ideals. Whilst the women could not contain
their 'leaky bodies' (Shildrick, 1994), this did not prevent them
constructing stories about trying to keep up an appearance of normalcy
and able-bodiedness.
In addition to providing valuable new knowledge about stories of IBS,
illness and gendered embodiment, this research showed the promise
of adopting a creative and playful approach to conducting feminist
research. The thesis itself was conceptualised by the 'insider'
researcher as having been symbolic of what it was like to complete a
PhD when experiencing intermittent illness. Poetry-as-method thus
provided a valuable vehicle for the research during the interpretative
process, but also in realising the potentials of artful research in creating
space for innovative and politicised social action.


Fullerene, C60, and its derivatives, have been fully investigated and commercialized. The importance of large carbon cage-based fullerenes for biomedical applications was gradually recognized due to their fantastic biological effects. In nanotoxicology, the key detection techniques are able to retain the intrinsic structure and properties of nanomaterials in a biological background. However, there were puzzling questions regarding how to facilely obtain detectable fullerene nanomaterials and their formation process. In this study, 13C-enriched fullerenes of a large carbon cage, C70, were synthesized on a large scale from a 13C-enriched raw carbon material by an arc-discharge method. The stable isotope 13C was directly incorporated into the skeleton of the fullerene cages without destroying their intrinsic structures. The isotopic effects of 13C-labeled C70 were investigated in detail. The amount of 13C labelling of C70 was about 7% higher than that of the natural abundance, which greatly improved the 13C detection signal in isotope ratio mass spectrometry and gave an apparent 8-fold carbon nuclear magnetic resonance signal enhancement for the fullerenes. The 13C-enriched fullerenes showed significant isotopic effects, such as the strongest peak position shifting up (m/z > 840) and the Poisson distribution of the isotopic peaks in the mass spectra, and the migration or splitting of infrared and Raman characteristic peaks. When comparing the 13C labelling amounts and the isotopic effects of 13C-enriched C70 and those of 13C-enriched C60, the formation dynamics of the fullerenes were different with different carbon cages; lower carbon cage fullerenes were easily generated in the arc-discharge process, and the 13C stable isotopic effects in high carbon fullerenes were also slightly weak. Moreover, these important isotopic effects of the 13C-enriched fullerenes will facilitate the development of new analytical methods for carbon nanomaterials in vivo.


This book is a study of the settlement patterns of the Middle to Later stages of the Paleolithic period in the natural landscapes of the Iranian Plateau. By analyzing different environmental settings, stone artifacts, faunal remains and finally the game behavioral movements, this book evaluates the previous models and theories of site location, game management and Middle and Upper Paleolithic groups land use that were employed for Iran. As a major result, it demonstrates that, the ecological approach of structural landscape analysis is a strong methodology for understanding the mechanisms behind settlement patterns, land use and mobility strategies of early humans."


The aim of this paper is to assess a selection of marketing journals in terms of: (i) the proportion of 'empirical' versus 'non-empirical' contributions; (ii) the proportion of national versus international research data; (iii) the geographic origin of research data; and (iv) the authors' geographic affiliations. The sample consists of: Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), European Journal of Marketing (EJM) and Journal of Marketing (JM). The empirical findings indicate that empirical contributions dominate in the selected journals. In addition, the geographic origin of research data and the authors' geographic affiliation with empirical research data varies across the selected journal titles. In addition, there are only minor differences between national and international research data.


Fluid inclusion studies give unique insights into physical conditions and composition of fluids involved in geological processes. Most studies to date are performed on transparent minerals. Near-infrared (NIR) microscopy allows also microthermometry to be performed on minerals that are opaque to the visible light such as pyrite, hematite, wolframite, enargite and stibnite. The main drawback of this technique is the underestimation of the recorded phase-change temperatures with increasing light intensity, up to several hundred percent in the case of ice-melting temperatures. Although this issue has been known for a decade, it is poorly understood. We address this problem based on a systematic study of synthetic fluid inclusions in a variety of opaque minerals. For the first time, fluid inclusions have been co-synthetized with success in quartz and opaque minerals. Fracturing the host minerals by in-situ quenching allowed for fluid–mineral equilibration prior to fluid inclusion formation. In this study, we assess the impact of mineral intrinsic parameters, mainly absorption and thermal-conductivity, and experimental settings (light source operative power, diaphragms aperture, and the use of filters) on recorded phase-change temperatures. We show that these are underestimated due to local overheating of the sample caused by radiative heating from the light source. It affects all minerals and the extent of the temperature shift of the observed phase-changes depends on sample thickness, mineral characteristics, and the amount of light reaching the sample. Thus, any calibration of the temperature shift as a function of the amount of light is complicated and in most cases impracticable. However, we demonstrate, based on co-generated inclusions in opaque minerals and quartz that yield similar values during NIR-microthermometry that for any mineral, there is a range of light power and microscope settings for which no shift is noticeable within the thermal stage accuracy. These are defined as "ideal measuring conditions" ensuring reliability of acquired microthermometry data.


Women face unprecedented challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging evidence suggests that women are unduly burdened by inequitable access to economic, health, and social resources during the pandemic. For many women, COVID-19 has presented new urgency to challenges and illuminates unique issues long encountered. Gendered roles such as family caregiving and frontline occupations increase women's exposure to COVID-19 infections and critical outcomes. To increase dialogue around COVID-19's impact on women, the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health convened a moderated virtual town hall on April 25, 2020, with 2 sexual and reproductive health experts. The town hall was the second in a series to increase public awareness of COVID-19's impact on vulnerable populations. This report highlights policy and practice implications that are particularly relevant for engaging key populations and delivering information to increase public awareness of COVID-19.


Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases especially atherosclerosis, are the main causative of disability and death in all over the world and they have increasing spread in Iran. Homocysteine and fibrinogen are two new risk factors for prediction of atherosclerosis. Considering this, our aim in this study was to evaluate the effect of 8 weeks aerobic training on serum predictive inflammatory markers of atherosclerosis and lipid profile in obese elderly women. Materials & methods: In a quasiexperimental study, 44 obese women (BMI≥30) 55 to 65 years old as volunteer, were selected and randomly divided into two groups of experiment (22 individuals) and control (22 individuals). Training program included aerobic exercise with 45 to 65 percent of maximum heart rate for 1 hour per session and 3session per week and continued for 8 weeks. Blood samples were collected after 12 hours fasting in the pretest and 48 hours in the post-test to measure homocysteine, fibrinogen, high-sensitivity protein (CRP) and lipid profile. Findings: Present study data shows that a significant decrease was observed in homocysteine (p=0.004), hs-CRP (p=0.009), cholesterol (p=0.037), triglyceride (p=0.017) and LDL-C (p=0.047) levels in experimental group; while there wasn't significant relation between study variability in control group. Also, a significant difference was observed in comparison between control and experimental groups about homocysteine (p=0.000), hs-CRP (p=0.037), cholesterol (p=0.049), triglyceride (p=0.000) and LDLC (p=0.012). There was a significant relation between body fat percentage(r=0.87) and body mass index(r=0.68) with homocysteine. Discussion & Conclusions: To sum up, by losing weight and body fat, homocysteine, CRP and also the increase of HDL study results showed that 8 week aerobic training can lead to reduction of cardiovascular risk factors and improving the health status in the elderly women.


Penile cancer is a rare disease in the United States, but rates are increasing, causing concern. Several risk factors have been associated with the disease, including human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Knowledge of HPV pathogenesis has led to the development of a vaccine, which has proven instrumental in reducing the incidence of female HPV-related cancers, but results in men have yet to be elucidated. Fortunately, rates of vaccination are up-trending in both males and females in the past several years. In addition, targeted therapies are the focus of several ongoing research efforts. Some of these therapeutics are currently in use, while several are in trials. With continued patient education and research, both treatment and prevention of HPV-related pre-malignant lesions and penile cancer will likely diminish.


Over the last 50 years advances in technology have led to an increase in the complexity and sophistication of systems. More complex systems can be harder to maintain and the root cause of a fault more difficult to isolate. Down-time resulting from a system failure can be dangerous or expensive depending on the type of system. In aircraft systems the ability to quickly diagnose the causes of a fault can have a significant impact on the time taken to rectify the problem and return the aircraft to service. In chemical process plants the need to diagnose causes of a safety critical failure in a system can be vital and a diagnosis may be required within minutes. Speed of fault isolation can save time, reduce costs and increase company productivity and therefore profits. System fault diagnosis is the process of identifying the cause of a malfunction by observing its effect at various test points. Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a method that describes all possible causes of a specified system state in terms of the state of the components within the system. A system model is used to identify the states the system should be in at any point in time. This paper presents a method for diagnosing faults in systems using FTA to explain the deviations from normal operation observed in sensor outputs. The causes of a system's failure modes will be described in terms of the component states. This will be achieved with the use of coherent and non-coherent fault trees. A coherent fault tree is constructed from AND and OR logic, therefore only considers component failed states. The non-coherent method expands this allowing the use of NOT logic which implies that the existence of component failed states and working states are both taken into account. This paper illustrates the concepts of this method by applying the technique to a simplified water tank level control system.


This paper explores findings from a West Australian study that examines the ways in which 35 beginning teachers use information and communications technologies (ICT) in their teaching. The educational policy environment in Australia explicitly supports ICT integration, and this is translated into targeted initiatives covering infrastructure, equipment, electronic learning materials and professional development. However, for all the energy expended to encourage teachers to use ICT, it seems that few teachers take full advantage of the significant opportunities that they present. A number of reasons have been posited to explain this, the most compelling of which are bound up with teachers' skills in harnessing ICT and their pedagogical beliefs about teaching itself. In the spirit of Cuban's (2001) investigation into teachers' use of computers in the Silicon Valley, this study presents an in-depth examination of a cohort of teachers (2006 graduates) that are digitally literate and familiar with contemporary, student-centred theories of learning. It is suggested that these teachers may be likely to integrate ICT into their teaching in innovative ways, and the primary research question - to what extent is ICT integration, a feature of beginning teachers' classroom practice? – is aimed, at least in part, at confirming or challenging this assertion. The study tracks these teachers through their first three years in the profession, gathering evidence through a mixed method approach that helps to understand the dynamic nature of participants' beliefs about teaching and attitudes towards ICT within their socio-cultural context. As expected, the study has found that most participants are competent users of ICT. Participants also articulate pedagogical beliefs that aim to engage students in active meaning making. However, observations reveal that participants' ICT competence and stated pedagogical beliefs do not necessarily translate into classroom practices that optimise the use of ICT for learning. For example, none of the participants have used Web 2.0 tools although most claim to value electronic communication and rapid publishing. Using a schema developed by Newhouse, Clarkson and Trinidad(2005) where ICT use is considered on a continuum from Inaction to Transformation, it is apparent that most participants are at early stages of development. There seems to be a mismatch between the ideals that participants hold to be important and their capacity to use ICT to help realise these ideals. The use of ICT has been limited to a combination of three Rs: reward, rotate and reinforce. These themes, which will interest teachers and education managers, are explored in this paper along with a consideration of how different socio-cultural settings impact on participants' evolving pedagogical identities.


Since the early 1970s, geodetic networks became a most important tool to monitor the present day deformations of the volcanic arc of the Aeolian Islands. The first benchmarks were installed in this region at Lipari and Vulcano Islands and the number of GPS benchmarks increased in time since the early '90s. These networks were periodically surveyed in the frame of national and international geodynamic projects and for Civil Protection programs devoted to the mitigation of the volcanic hazard. The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) played a fundamental role in the realization and periodical reoccupation of these networks, with the goal to investigate the tectonic and volcanic processes, still active in this crucial area of the central Mediterranean. An updated GPS velocity map for this region, both for the horizontal and vertical component of land motion, with details for Lipari, Vulcano and Panarea Islands, is provided in this paper. The presented GPS velocity field also includes a set of additional discrete stations located in northern Sicily and Calabria together with data from the available CGPS networks active in southern Italy. Here we show the results from eighteen years of repeated GPS surveys performed in this region in the time span 1995-2013 and the open access AINET-GPS data archive, now freely available for the scientific community. Data will support scientific research and hopefully improve the assessment of volcanic and seismic hazard in this region.


Summary Wireless Ad-Hoc networks are collection of nodes that can communicate without any fixed infrastructure. A crucial problem in Ad-Hoc networks is finding an efficient route between a source and a destination. The need for scalable and energy efficient protocols, along with the recent availability of small, inexpensive and low power positioning instruments justify introducing position based routing algorithms in mobile Ad-Hoc networks. This paper presents an overview and a qualitative comparison of the existing Ad-Hoc routing protocols that make forwarding decisions based on the geographical position of a packet's destination. We conclude our findings by investigating opportunities for future research.


This paper was commissioned by the Education for All Gl background information to assist in drafting the 2005 report. It has The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the attributed to the EFA Global Monitoring Report or to UNESCO. Th following reference: "Paper commissioned for the EFA Global M Quality Imperative". For further information, please contact efarepo 2005/ED/EFA/MRT/PI/7


The extent and quality of prenatal care are important for the health of women and their babies. Recent studies suggest that women lack adequate prenatal care in contemporary Turkey. This paper uses regression models to examine the major factors impacting on the access of women to prenatal care through the 1993 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey. The findings suggest that after controlling for class, ethnicity does not explain the likelihood of a woman's access to prenatal care, partly because the predominant patriarchal ideology in Turkey determines women's access to education, which in turn determines their access to prenatal care. It can be argued that unless women's socioeconomic status in the family improves, their access to health care in general and prenatal care in particular will not increase significantly.


Mechanical properties of Ni-Ti-Nb alloys taken by the different heat treatment processes and constraint reply conditions at low temperature had been tested respectively to analyzing the variation law. The results show that the mechanical properties of alloys under vacuum heat treatment is much better than that of alloys under cold-drawn and the general heat treatment. Additionally, there is not clear the yield plateau on the stress curve of constraint reply samples whoseσ0.2 is far greater than σs of unconstraint reply specimens, and the tensile strength is higher than the latter also.


Apple Incorporated's recent announcement of its
entry device – The Apple Watch™ to the wearable's market can
arguably be said to put a final seal of authenticity on
wearables. The inevitable ubiquity of wearable devices for
eHealth monitoring is a fact soon to be reckoned with. Access
to the physiological information provided by the wearables
through the '6A Connectivity Concept' of IoT will find positive
applications in various fields, most especially in the eHealth
and mobile-Health domain.
The state of health of a student is key in determining the
student's overall academic performance. Health-related issues
usually affect the motivation and ability of students to learn.
Therefore it is necessary to provide better health services for
students in their various schools and institutions. This paper is
a study of the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) and
eHealth solutions to effectively manage and monitor university
students' health. One of IoT's main technologies in healthcare
is Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology. In this
study, we show how RFID technology is used to implement an
eHealth solution known as Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
for managing students' health information (which includes
students' medical history, prescriptions, laboratory results,
Electrocardiography (ECG) results, blood pressure results,
and vital signs). This paper also studies wearable devices for
monitoring students that are at risk for high blood pressure,
which can be due to intense stress, overweight conditions, and
family history of high blood pressure.


Several carbon sequestration technologies have been proposed to utilize carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce energy and chemical compounds. However, feasible technologies have not been adopted due to the low efficiency conversion rate and high-energy requirements. Process intensification increases the process productivity and efficiency by combining chemical reactions and separation operations. In this work, we present a model of a chemical-electrochemical cyclical process that can capture carbon dioxide as a bicarbonate salt. The proposed process also produces hydrogen and electrical energy. Carbon capture is enhanced by the reaction at the cathode that displaces the equilibrium into bicarbonate production. Literature data show that the cyclic process can produce stable operation for long times by preserving ionic balance using a suitable ionic membrane that regulates ionic flows between the two half-cells. Numerical simulations have validated the proof of concept. The proposed process could serve as a novel CO2 sequestration technology while producing electrical energy and hydrogen.


Relatedness among strains of Lactobacillus buchneri, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus hilgardii, Lactobacillus confusus, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus cellobiosus, Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus collinoides, Lactobacillus fructivorans, Lactobacillus kandleri, and Lactobacillus viridescens was determined by computerized comparison of total soluble cell protein patterns. Two related subgroups of L. buchneri were obtained: the first comprised a tight cluster of strains ATCC 11579 and ATCC 9460 with neotype strain ATCC 4005, and the second contained strains ATCC 12936, ATCC 12935, and ATCC 11307. L. brevis ATCC 13648, ATCC 4006, ATCC 367, and ATCC 8287 appear to be related to the neotype strain of L. brevis (ATCC 14869), L. brevis ATCC 11577 to L. hilgardii, and L. confusus ATCC 27646 to L. brevis ATCC 367 and ATCC 8287. L. brevis ATCC 14434 and L. cellobiosus ATCC 11740 were originally misclassified. The protein patterns of these strains did not resemble those of any of the other named lactobacilli which were examined. Our findings support the reclassification of L. brevis ATCC 8007 as Lactobacillus kefir, L. cellobiosus ATCC 11739 as L. fermentum, and L. fermentum ATCC 23272 as L. reuteri. L. collinoides, L. fructivorans, L. hilgardii, L. kandleri, L. reuteri, and L. viridescens are distinct, separate species.


Vitamin D plays a critical role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis by regulating the expression of genes affecting cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The vitamin D 24-hydroxylase CYP24A1 functions in vitamin D target tissues to degrade the hormonal form of vitamin D. Existing knowledge regarding dysregulated CYP24A1 expression supports its candidacy as a putative oncogene. In our presentation, we demonstrate that the suppression of constitutive CYP24A1 expression by CYP24A1-specidic shRNA conferred target cells with increased susceptibility to apoptosis and consequently inhibited anchorage-independent growth in breast carcinoma cells. In addition, suppression of vitamin D metabolism following knockdown of CYP24A1 significantly reduced tumor growth in vivo. Since these data provide substantial evidence for a pro-survival and stimulatory oncogenic effect of CYP24A1 in breast carcinoma cells, we will discuss the potential feasibility of CYP24A1-inhibitory cancer therapies. Citation Format: Makoto Osanai, Yusuke Ono, Akira Takasawa, Kumi Takasawa, Masaki Murata, Norimasa Sawada. CYP24A1-induced vitamin D insufficiency promotes breast cancer growth [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2485.


Acute bacterial conjunctivitis is the eye disease most commonly seen by general practitioners, and is estimated to represent approximately 1% of all consultations in primary care. This article gives a review of the epidemiology, aetiology, clinical picture, complications, differential diagnoses, in vitro examinations and therapy of acute bacterial conjunctivitis. Until now, topical antibacterial therapy has generally been preferred by both physicians and patients because this will usually shorten the course of the disease slightly and allow the early readmittance of children to their kindergarten or school. Recently, several reports from primary care have confirmed the well‐known clinical experience that the disorder has an excellent prognosis with a high frequency of spontaneous remission. In accordance, an expectant attitude or delayed prescription policy are now frequently strongly recommended. However, these reports also emphasize the difficulty in making a correct clinical distinction between bacterial and viral conjunctivitis. The effect of a general non‐prescription attitude on transmission rates of pathogens also remains to be clarified. This must be born in mind when deciding how these patients should be handled. The socioeconomic and medical pros and cons of different treatment policies are discussed, and a highly personal view on the optimal handling strategy for these patients is also presented.


A systematic study of the ontogeny of aortic 6-ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha synthesis from birth to adult life and the effect of premature weaning on this process was investigated in rabbits. Prostacyclin (PGI2) synthesis by both endogenous and exogenous arachidonic acid and its relation to aortic arachidonic acid content was determined. It was found that 1) PGI2 synthesis from endogenous arachidonic acid increased with age, whereas 2) PGI2 synthesis from exogenous arachidonic acid decreased. This correlated with a decrease in the incorporation of [14C]arachidonic acid into phospholipids with age. Aortic arachidonic acid concentration did not change from birth until 3 wk of life but increased markedly by 5 wk of age. Premature weaning caused a decrease in the synthesis of aortic PGI2 and in aortic arachidonic acid concentration initially, but the changes did not persist in later life. These studies suggest that the utilization of exogenous arachidonic acid by aorta decreases after birth perhaps due to maturity of the enzyme systems that synthesize and utilize endogenous substrates.


When the term "voice" is used in the discussion of contemporary fiction – as it frequently is – its meaning
is taken to be understood intuitively, and more often than not no further elaboration is either required or
offered. In these essays – augmented by my novel, Ballistics, which has more than once been described as
having a "very distinct voice" – I examine what, exactly, we mean (or think we mean) by the term "voice"
when we use it in our discourse about fiction: it turns out that what we know intuitively does not so
elegantly hold up under scrutiny. I examine the standardized methods for both talking about "voice" and
improving it in one's own fiction, as put forward by luminary novelists and teachers like John Gardner and
Jack Hodgins, and I suggest that part of the reason why discussion of "voice" is limited to what we feel,
intuitively, is because voice is not embedded in the text, but, instead, constitutes the experience – the
what it's like – of engaging with a work of literature.


Human practices related to space has two aspects; creation of spaces andrepresentation of them. The theme of this paper is space as it is representedin Western culture. The reason of this choice is the prominance of centeralprojection in spatial representation. It is generally believed that perspec-tive is the climax of the efforts starting with foreshortening in antiquity. Itis also asserted that perspective is the most objective, scientific, realistic,and natural technique of representation compared to these evolved in non-Western cultures. Ready acceptance of perspective in the world provides asupport for the claims to its superiority.However, there is enough evidence showing inadequacy of perspective pro-jection In many respects. Firstly, the geometry on which perspective isbased, that is Euclidean geometry, Is not the geometry of visual space. Allthe experimental findings confirm that physical space is not perceived inEuclidean terms. So, mathematical precission of perspectives cannot be con-sidered as the measure of realism. Any correctly drawn (of computer generated) perspective is equally truewith respect to mathematical principles. But, it is a common experience foreveryone who is familiar with drawings that each correct perspective pro-jection does not provide equivalent visual quality. While some of them seemquite realistic, the others may appear distorted. For this reason strict rulesof perspective are modified even in Renaissance. After the principles of cen-teral projection were formulated by renaissance artists, several problemswere gradually identified. These problems are inevitable because it is im-possible to represent 3-dimensional extension fully on a flat surface. Con-sequently, deformations are inherent in perspective and flatness of the pic-ture plane always presents problem to any technique of drawing.Moreover, there Is rich variety of perception experiments showing insuffi-ciency of pictures relying on monoscopic retinal image. Visual perception ofspace is a dynamic process based on cues of retinal and extra-retinal origin.By utilization of perspective wholeness of perceptual process is neglectedand static Instantaneous retinal Image is overemphasized. Perceptual find-ings point out that projection of a 3-dimensional setting on a flat surface isinadequate for simulation of 3-dimensional percepts.Accumulation of information on problems of perspective and insistance onIts special status is an intriguing paradox. Although perspective was aban-doned in painting In 19th century, it gained superficial validity and objec-tivity by moving Into the field of pure mathematics. Foundation of its math-ematical bases In descriptive geometry, and advancement of photographysupported the views of some theorists who claim that perspective is the besttechnique for correct spatial representation.In spite of detailed information on problems of projection most of the theo-rists working on pictorial representation are perspectivists. Few theoristsasserting conventionality of pictorial representation oppose all the per-spectivist claims. The contrasting views on perspective is a subject thatneeds further investigation. Clarifying the reasons of this theoretical con-troversy will surely cast some light on the problems of perspective andnon-perspective pictures. Then, It will be possible to evaluate properly thenature of representational space both in Western and non-Western cultures.


Abstract : In this monograph, Dr. Tami Davis Biddle examines why it is so difficult to devise, implement, and sustain sound strategies and grand strategies. Her analysis begins with an examination of the meaning of the term strategy and a history of the ways that political actors have sought to employ strategies and grand strategies to achieve their desired political aims. She examines the reasons why the logic undergirding strategy is often lacking and why challenges of implementation (including bureaucratic politics, unforeseen events, civil-military tensions, and domestic pressures) complicate and undermine desired outcomes. This clear-headed critique, built on a broad base of literature (historical and modern; academic and policy-oriented), will serve as a valuable guide to students and policymakers alike as they seek to navigate their way through the unavoidable challengesand inevitable twists and turnsinherent in the development and implementation of strategy.


With the development of new threats, that are less predictable, more dynamically evolving and less visible, the potential benefits of space-based systems for homeland security are recognized by the European Union. Wide area coverage, unrestricted access, security and reliability of information, guaranteed service, operational capabilities and readiness are some of those potential benefits of space-based systems. Kopernikus/GMES, Galileo and SATCOM are the fundamental initiatives of the European Union with the cooperation of the European Space Agency for the security of Europe in terms of military and civilian crisis management. Considering the cooperation of existing and planned space-systems with these programs, the European Union have taken most of the required steps for the security of Europe.


Herein we report the synthesis of "clickable" magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) stable in suspension in physiological media for bioorthogonal click chemistry applications. These MNPs incorporate into their coating a cyclooctynyl derivative for strain-promoted azide–alkyne (SPAAC) cycloaddition and either a polyethylene glycol or a glucose moiety to ensure MNP stability in physiological media. Their reactivity towards azide-functionalised Si surfaces was investigated, demonstrating their potential as bioorthogonal probes.


In the context of EU accession, Romania has pledged to reduce cross-border crime and illegal immigration, safeguarding its citizens by issuing biometric passports. Thus, the Romanian Government approved on 24 June 2008 an Emergency Ordinance which provides that the Romanian National Printing Company will produce an exclusive basis, a series of documents, such as biometric passports. Conceptual architecture that describes the technical implementation of the ePass is related to two basic elements: the solution components and operational model for implementation. The components describe the entire hierarchy of components in accordance with the responsibilities they have static relationships between them and how they collaborate to deliver the functionality required of an IT system. Components are the primary concept used in a modular design. A component can be defined as an embedded part of a system that has a well-defined interface that is accessed through its services. Next we present the main components of this system architecture.


The magnetism of magnetic surface alloys such as Fe–Pt on Pt(997) has been investigated by micromagnetic model calculations. A unique feature of some of these systems is that interatomic exchange, magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and Dzyaloshinski–Moriya (DM) interactions are all of comparable magnitude, of the order of 0.5 meV. This leads to an intriguing nanoscale interplay between ordinary magnetization states and noncollinear spin structures. We identify two cases where the latter dominate. First, for sufficiently strong DM interaction, the zero-field spin structures change from uniform to a canted state with an incommensurate wave vector. Second, a similar transition occurs for weak DM interaction when the reverse external field approaches the nucleation field.


Optical quality single crystals of sodium D-isoascorbate monohydrate were grown by a slow cooling technique. The crystal possesses a bulky prismatic morphology. Thermal analyses indicate that the crystals are stable up to 125 °C. The optical transmission window ranges from 307 nm to 1450 nm. The principal refractive indices have been measured employing Brewster's angle method. The crystallographic and the principal dielectric axes coincide with each other such that a lies along Z, b along X and c along Y. The optic axis is oriented 58° (at 532 nm) to the crystallographic a axis in the XZ plane and the crystal is negative biaxial. Type 1 and type 2 phase matching curves are generated and experimentally verified. No polarization dependence of the light absorption was observed confirming the validity of Kleinman's symmetry conjecture, leading to a single nonvanishing nonlinear tensor component. According to Hobden's classification the crystal belongs to class 3. The crystal also exhibits second order noncollinear conic sections. The single shot and multiple shot surface laser damage thresholds are determined to be 32.7 GW cm−2 and 6.5 GW cm−2 respectively for 1064 nm radiation.


Background Significant obesity is an increasing global health problem. Obese individuals often have a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia. Thus, symptomatic patients often have a high pre-test probability of coronary artery disease (CAD) and are frequently referred for cardiac stress testing. These patients can provide significant technical challenges for imaging due to body habitus. The feasibility, safety and accuracy of stress echocardiography in patients with morbid obesity is unknown. Methods In this prospective multi-centre study, height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and body surface area (BSA) of all patients clinically referred for SE were measured. For patients with BMI >35, patient demographics and SE test results were also collected. The feasibility of SE was defined as the ability to perform and complete the test, achieving interpretable images for all three coronary artery territories. Agreement with angiography findings in patients subsequently referred for cardiac catheterization was also evaluated. Results Over an 11 month period across 3 hospitals, 2601 patients underwent SE, by 12 different operators, of whom 170 (6.5%) had BMI >35. Mean age was 59yrs, 44% were male and 25% had known CAD. Mean BMI was 39.5 and mean BSA was 2.2 m2. Dobutamine and exercise stress were performed in 60% and 40% respectively. Ultrasound contrast was used in 96% cases. There were no complications during the SE studies. SE demonstrated excellent feasibility, with a diagnostic test result achieved in 163/170 (96%) patients. Of the 7 patients with inconclusive SE, 2 were due to side-effects from dobutamine, 2 due to failure to reach target heart rate and 3 were due to poor image quality (thus just 3/170 [2%] due to poor image quality). Of 23 patients with inducible ischaemia, 19 proceeded to angiography and 17 had corresponding significant CAD (positive predictive value 89%). Conclusions SE demonstrates excellent feasibility, safety and positive predictive value in real-world clinical practice in patients with morbid obesity. These results are clinically pertinent given the increasing proportion of such patients sent for non-invasive testing. Follow-up of this cohort to delineate event-free survival will reveal the accuracy of risk stratification of SE in this high-risk population.


Proteoglycans have been implicated in the invagination and formation of various embryonal cavitied primordia. In this paper the expression of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan (CSPG) is analysed in the lens primordium during lens vesicle formation, and demonstrate that this proteoglycan has a specific distribution pattern with regard to invagination and fusion processes in the transformation of placode into lens vesicle. More specifically, CSPG was detected in: (1) the apical surface of lens epithelial cells, where early CSPG expression was observed in the whole of the lens placode whilst in the vesicle phase it was restricted to the posterior epithelium; (2) intense CSPG expression in the basal lamina, which remained constant for the entire period under study; (3) CSPG expression in the intercellular spaces of the lens primordium epithelium, which increased during the invagination of the primordium and which at the vesicle stage was more evident in the posterior epithelium; and (4) CSPG expression on the edges of the lens placode both prior to and during fusion. Treatment with beta- D -xyloside causes significant CSPG depletion in the lens primordium together with severe alterations in the invagination and fusion of the lens vesicle; this leads to the formation of lens primordia which in some cases remain practically flat or show partial invagination defects or fusion disruption. Similar results were obtained by enzyme digestion with chondroitinase AC but not with type II heparinase, which indicates that alterations induced by beta- D -xyloside were due to interference in CSPG synthesis. The findings demonstrate that CSPG is a common component of the lens primordium at the earliest developmental stages during which it undergoes specific modifications. It also includes experimental evidence to show that 'in vivo' CSPG plays an important role in the invagination and fusion processes of the lens primordium.


Financial fraud detection is an important problem with a number of design aspects to consider. Issues such as algorithm selection and performance analysis will affect the perceived ability of proposed solutions, so for auditors and researchers to be able to sufficiently detect financial fraud it is necessary that these issues be thoroughly explored. In this paper we will revisit the key performance metrics used for financial fraud detection with a focus on credit card fraud, critiquing the prevailing ideas and offering our own understandings. There are many different performance metrics that have been employed in prior financial fraud detection research. We will analyse several of the popular metrics and compare their effectiveness at measuring the ability of detection mechanisms. We further investigated the performance of a range of computational intelligence techniques when applied to this problem domain, and explored the efficacy of several binary classification methods.


Several laboratory studies have shown that the ingestion of dietary linoleic (18:2 ω6) acid before winter can promote deep and continuous torpor, whereas excess consumption of α-linolenic acid (18:3 ω3) can interfere with an animal's ability to reach and maintain low body temperatures during torpor. As mammalian heterotherms obtain linoleic and α-linolenic acid strictly from the diet, diet selection has been proposed as a mechanism that allows hibernators to ingest levels of linoleic and α-linolenic acid that promote favorable torpor patterns. Here diet, dietary nutrient content and patterns of forage preference of a representative hibernator, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens, and a facultative heterotherm, the black-tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus, were examined under natural field conditions. Diets of black-tailed (BTPD) and Utah prairie dogs (UTPD) differed across seasons (BTPD F26,108=9.59, P<0.01; UTPD F38,80=3.25, P<0.01) and elevations (BTPD F26,108=20.15, P<0.01; UTPD F38,80=20.51, P<0.01), and forage preference indices indicate that neither species randomly selected plant species relative to their abundance on colonies in any season. Black-tailed prairie dogs did not consume or avoid consumption of plant species based on levels of total lipids, linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid or nitrogen. Considering only the plants consumed, black-tailed prairie dogs appeared to prefer plants with low levels of α-linolenic acid (F1,19=5.81, P=0.03), but there were no detectable relationships between preference and other nutrients. Utah prairie dogs consumed plants higher in α-linolenic acid (t=1.98, P=0.05) and avoided plants high in linoleic acid (t=−2.02, P=0.04), but consumption-avoidance decisions did not appear to be related to nitrogen or total lipids. Of the plants consumed, Utah prairie dogs again preferred plants high in α-linolenic acid (F1,17=4.62, P=0.05). Levels of linoleic and α-linolenic acid were positively correlated in plants consumed by prairie dogs (BTPD Pearson r=0.66, P<0.01; UTPD Pearson r=0.79, P<0.01), reducing the opportunity for independent selection of either lipid.


In wireless communication systems, multipath interference has a significant impact on system design and performance. Fast fading is caused by the coherent summation of one or more echoes from many reflection points reaching the receive antenna. Antenna diversity can be used to mitigate multipath fading. The main challenge of antenna diversity in practical application is the integration of multiple antennas on a small ground plane. Two-element antenna structure based on coupling element antenna concept for diversity application has been studied in previous work and it has shown to be feasible for low frequency diversity application with stable and low envelope correlation across wide frequency range. The studied structure has been tuned to be operating at 1600 MHz for measurement evaluation purpose. This paper presents an analysis of diversity performance of the structure in terms of efficiencies, envelope correlation, and apparent and effective diversity gains in isotropic (i.e. statistically uniform) propagation channel, using spherical near-field technique in an ideal line-of-sight environment (anechoic chamber) and inside reverberation chamber. The envelope correlation is less than 0.1 and the diversity gain is equal to 10.2 dB at 99% reliability level using selection combining technique across simulation and both measurement methods. The measurement techniques are compared to show how accurately the diversity performance of a mobile terminal antenna can be estimated.


The energy level alignment in metal-organic and organic-organic junctions of the widely used materials tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq3) and 1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (NTCDA) is investigated. The measured alignment schemes for single and bilayer films of Alq3 and NTCDA are interpreted with the integer charge transfer (ICT) model. Single layer films of Alq3 feature a constant vacuum level shift of ∼0.2–0.4 eV in the absence of charge transfer across the interface. This finding is attributed to the intrinsic dipole of the Alq3 molecule and (partial) ordering of the molecules at the interfaces. The vacuum level shift changes the onset of Fermi level pinning, as it changes the energy needed for equilibrium charge transfer across the interface.


Emission of the neutron star surface potentially contains information about its size and thus of vital importance for high energy astrophysics. In spite of the wealth of data on the emission of luminous accreting neutron stars, the emission of their surfaces is hard to disentangle from their time averaged spectra. A recent X-ray transient source XTE J1701-462 has provided a unique dataset covering the largest ever observed luminosity range for a single source. In this paper, we extract the spectrum of the boundary layer between the inner part of the accretion disc and the neutron star surface with the help of maximally spectral model-independent method. We show compelling evidences that the energy spectrum of the boundary layer stays virtually the same over factor of 20 variations of the source luminosity. It is rather wide and cannot be described by a single temperature blackbody spectrum, probably because of the inhomogeneity of the boundary layer and a spread in the colour temperature. The observed maximum colour temperature of the boundary/spreading layer emission of kT~2.4-2.6 keV is very close to the maximum observed colour temperature in the photospheric radius expansion X-ray bursts, which is set by the limiting Eddington flux at the neutron star surface. Observed stability of the boundary layer spectrum and its maximum colour temperature strongly supports theoretical models of the boundary/spreading layers on surfaces of luminous accreting neutron stars, which assume the presence of a region emitting at the local Eddington limit. Variations in the luminosity in that case lead to changes in the size of this region, but affect less the spectral shape. Elaboration of this model will provide solid theoretical grounds for measurements of the neutron star sizes using the emission of the boundary/spreading layers of luminous accreting neutron stars.


The aim of this anthropometric survey, conducted between 2015 and 2016 in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), was to map local geographical differences in male stature and some other anthropometric characteristics (sitting height, arm span). In addition, to investigate the main environmental factors influencing physical growth, the documented values of height would be compared with available nutritional and socioeconomic statistics. Anthropometric data were collected in 3192 boys aged approximately 18.3 years (17–20 years), from 97 schools in 37 towns. When corrected for population size in the examined regions, the average height of young males in BiH is 181.2 cm (181.4 cm in the Bosniak-Croat Federation, 180.9 cm in Republika Srpska). The regional variation is considerable—from 179.7 cm in the region of Doboj to 184.5 cm in the region of Trebinje. These results fill a long-term gap in the anthropological research of the Western Balkans and confirm older reports that the population of the Dinaric Alps is distinguished by extraordinary physical stature. Together with the Dutch, Montenegrins and Dalmatians, men from Herzegovina (183.4 cm) can be regarded as the tallest in the world. Because both nutritional standards and socioeconomic conditions are still deeply suboptimal, the most likely explanation of this exceptional height lies in specific genetic factors associated with the spread of Y haplogroup I-M170. The genetic potential for height in this region could then be the greatest in the world. Future studies should further elucidate the roots of this intriguing phenomenon, which touches an important aspect of human biodiversity.


One key requirement for radio access in advanced, third generation (3G) mobile communication systems is the ability to accommodate a variety of services via a flexible and efficient medium access control (MAC) protocol. The paper presents and evaluates a new multiple access protocol termed CRDA (collision resolution and dynamic allocation), which has the potential to meet the above requirement. CRDA is basically a slotted packet-reservation multiple access technique with dedicated reservation slots, which allows the main shortcoming of previous PRMA schemes, i.e., contention, to be overcome through the integration in the MAC protocol of a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) transmission mode used to access the reservation slots. This prevents collisions during the reservation phase and enhances channel throughput, notably in the case of mixed voice/data traffic. Our simulations of the CRDA MAC integrate voice channels with data sources, generating what we call advanced data traffic, which has a very similar shape to the actual traffic generated by World Wide Web (WWW) applications. The standard assumption of Poissonian data traffic is also considered. Our conclusion is that the CRDA MAC protocol satisfactorily accommodates both types of traffic.


Abstract Nanofiltration membranes (NF) are being employed in pretreatment unit operations in both thermal and membrane seawater desalination processes and as partial demineralization to seawater. In order to predict NF membrane performance, a systematic study on the filtration performance of selected commercial NF membranes against seawater is presented in this paper. Two commercial nanofiltration membranes (NF90 and NF270) have been investigated in details to study their performance in filtering the salt mixture, synthetic and real seawater in a cross‐flow NF membrane process at a pressure range from 4 to 9 bars. The Spiegler‐Kedem model was used to fit the experimental data of rejection with the permeate flux in order to determine the fitting parameters of the reflection coefficient (σ) and the solute permeability (Ps). The results showed that the rejection increases with pressure for NF90 and slightly increases with pressure for NF270. Also, the NF90 membrane has shown to be able to reject both monovalent and divalent of all investigated mixtures and seawater with very reasonable values but at a relatively low flux. Moreover, it reduced the salinity of investigated seawater from 38 to 25.5 g/L using one stage of the NF membrane at 9 bars. This makes NF90 more suitable for the application in the pretreatment of desalination processes. On the other hand, NF270 can reject monovalent ions at relatively low values and divalent ions at reasonable values. It has also reduced the seawater salinity to 33.6 g/L, but at a very high permeate flux. The SKM model fitted the experimental data of divalent ions in salt mixture and seawater.


In the wake of the disappointing outcome of cop 24/cma 3.1 in relation to human rights, this article asks whether the Paris Agreement's preambular recital on human rights is the outer limit of what the regime can countenance, as the text appears to suggest, or whether it is a hook for the gradual mainstreaming and expansion of human rights protections in the climate regime, as many human rights advocates hope. To address this question, the article explores the contest over the manner and extent to which human rights law applies in the climate change regime, as well as the context in which it is set in relation to the evolution of the climate regime from a prescriptive to a facilitative regime. The article concludes that procedural rights and commitments, which leave considerable discretion to states in relation to outcomes, slot neatly into the Paris Agreement's architecture, and will likely be progressively mainstreamed and expanded. However, a significant expansion of substantive human rights protections in the climate regime will need to await its moment.


Hermann Hesse was strongly influenced by Dostoevsky's artistic method, especially by his treatment of the fragmentation of the human personality and his portrayal of the decaying West. Their novels depict the tragedy of intellect - man's problematic exist-ence taking place amidst the silent loneliness and disharmony characteristic of a diseased city, of modern culture, civilization, philosophy, and industrialization. Both writers believed that a "new man" would replace that educated individual whose reason cannot free itself from the problems and dilemmas it creates. This "new man" would unite Europe and Russia into one organic whole by revealing the nature of true, "active" love. Dostoevsky and Hesse insisted that salvation could be attained only through inner struggle and profound suffering. In their respective works, ey portrayed a progression from a state of internal chaos to the realization of the many polarities existing in man, culminating in a spiritual metamorphosis through man's acceptance of his chaotic nature. The belief in an ultimate unity and harmony underlies the philosophies of both Dostoevsky and Hesse. It is toward this harmonious totality of all things and beings that man must always strive. Dostoevsky and Hesse considered it their responsibility to point to this ideal realm as the only way out of the spiritual and emotional impasse characteristic of their times, when traditional concepts and old beliefs and values were rejected. Both writers ardently advocated the advent of the Third Kingdom of the Spirit, in which all nations would form one family, perfect harmony would be established, and all concepts of good and evil would dis- appear of their own accord.


Silicon carbide‐based cellular ceramics characterized by a hierarchical pore structure were processed. An open‐cellular PU foam template with a mean cell density of 10 pores per inch (ppi), equivalent to a cell diameter of 4 mm and a strut thickness of 250 µm, was coated with a primary SiC slurry. Cross‐linking of a polysiloxane binder at 190 h resulted in a SiC filled reticulated thermoset foam (first generation). Subsequently, this matrix foam was infiltrated with a second slurry of slightly different polysiloxane composition which upon heating to 290 °C caused bubble nucleation and formation of a second generation foam filling the cell space in the matrix foam skeleton. After pyrolysis at 1000 °C a SiC/SiOC reaction bonded composite foam with a hierarchical cell structure and a fractional density of 0.31 was obtained. SEM and X‐ray µ‐CT analyses confirm both generations of matrix as well as infiltrated foam to be open cellular but with a pronounced difference in cell size (matrix foam cell size 2.5 mm versus infiltrated foam cell size 0.29 mm). While the matrix foam skeleton provides control of macroscopic shape as well as density distribution in the component, single‐ or multistep foam infiltration may offer a high potential for improving the mechanical properties of hierarchical cellular materials. Thus, hierarchical structure formation offers a high potential to fabricate low density cellular ceramics which might be of interest for lightweight design of novel engineering materials.


Disaggregated data is often used to model the cost-benefit of residential energy management systems. However, obtaining such data is time-intensive and monetarily expensive. This hinders the depth of analysis that can be done on these systems and negatively influences their large-scale uptake. This study proposes a novel generalised model of these systems that uses smart meter load profile data to model their cost-benefit. Using two years of half-hourly electricity consumption data from 5379 households in London, the model was used to examine how sociodemographic, tariff structures, and the choice of operational objectives of these systems, interact to influence their cost-benefit. The results showed that the proposed model produced reliable cost-benefit results within what is normally obtained in literature. The model demonstrated that applying one set of objectives to different customers leads to an inequitable distribution in benefits; rather, an optimal set of objectives for a given customer under a specific tariff structure can be found to produce a more equitable distribution in benefits across all customers. The proposed model is replicable and uses data that can be obtained easily and cheaply from smart meters, making it versatile for large-scale cost-benefit analysis by any electricity retailer.


The sliding friction of various kinds of hydrogels has been studied and it was found that the frictional behaviors of the hydrogels do not conform to Amonton's law F equals (mu) W, which well describes the friction of solids. The frictional force and its dependencies of on the load are quite different depending on the chemical structures of the gels, surface properties of the opposing substrates, and the measurement condition. The gel friction is explained in terms of interfacial interaction, either attractive or repulsive, between the polymer chain and the solid surface. According to this model, the frictional is ascribed to the viscous flow of solvent at the interface in the repulsive case. In the attractive case, the force to detach the adsorbing chain from the substrate appears as friction. Surface adhesion between glass particles and gels measured by AFM showed a good correlation with the friction, which support the repulsion- adsorption model proposed by authors.


It is widely believed that machine learning can produce useful insights into human behaviours. However, algorithms can also replicate existing racisms and racial hierarchies. On the one hand, an increased awareness of algorithmic bias has heightened the need for new computational practices. On the other, researchers often describe algorithmic bias in ways that might further invalidate Black life. In this way, racialised individuals are seen as "Others"and without agency. Less considered is the affirmative generation of Black life in relation to algorithmic culture. This project asks if it is possible to craft a relationship between Blackness and computation that is something other than the negation of Black life? What might a more affirmative relationship look like? Lastly, can the production of Black life be thought of, following Denise Ferreira da Silva, as a type of "dark matter" or something that but must be experienced prior to being observed?

The project takes a unique approach to these questions by using machine learning methods to capture discrete fragments of Black experience in single, non-repeatable, moments of public performance, group exhibition, peer-reviewed text, and contributions to the field by means of consultation and advisory. Like machine learning, the project uses these traces as data to inform the next iterative capture of racialised experience. In this way, each item of the project contributes both to a single understanding of the conditions of Black life from within computational systems, as well as to a larger comprehension of the substances of race in the wider techno-racial environment.

The project has been disseminated widely at non academic and academic institutions, including the XXII Triennale di Milano (Italy), the Barbican (London), Royal Academy of Art (The Hague), Het Nieuwe Instituut (Rotterdam), Critical Curatorial Cybernetic Studies (Geneva), Sonic Acts (Berlin), and Yale School of Art (USA).


: The fit of spark-eroded titanium and cast gold alloy copings was compared by assessment of retrieved cement film analogues. This technique was chosen for its simplicity, nondestructive nature, and for the information it provided on overall fit. The present study showed that the overall fit of titanium copings was comparable to that of gold copings. In marginal areas, the space between die and coping was found to be larger for spark-eroded than cast copings.


Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) was newly discovered as a pathogen in 2001 and is thought to be associated with respiratory disease. To elucidate the prevalence and clinical significance of hMPV among children, we investigated the positive cases of hMPV-RNA by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in their nasopharyngeal specimens collected from January to August 2003 in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Our prospective study revealed 77 hMPV-positive cases among 377 children with acute respiratory diseases. Clinical diagnoses of 77 hMPV-positive cases were as follows; bronchitis (33.8%), pneumonia (24.7%), acute respiratory illness (19.5%), asthmatic bronchitis (11.7%) and bronchiolitis (5.2%). The most common symptoms were cough (97.4%), high fever (94.8%) and rhinorrhea (76.6%). Most of the hMPV-positive cases were identified in the spring (between March and May), indicating the presence of an epidemic of hMPV infection in Hiroshima Prefecture. Phylogenetic analysis of the amplified F gene of hMPV isolates revealed that hMPV strains were divided into two genotypes and that their simultaneous circulation occurred within the same epidemic area of Hiroshima Prefecture.


The application of natural zeolite clinoptilolite (Si/Al = 5.8) for substituting up to 20 vol. % of the cement (in mortars) was studied. The effect of the natural zeolite on the consistency and compressive strength at 7, 28 and 90 days was tested at different dosages of clinoptilolite in the mixture. The optimal content (15 % by volume) of the active mineral addition was selected according to the achieved strength results of the mixture and the effect of natural zeolite on the early and late cement hydration was studied. The results of Chapelle test for pozzolanic activity, the initial and final setting times of the paste, thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction analysis of hardened cement paste showed that natural zeolite clinoptilolite accelerates early and late hydration of cement. No significant differences in calcium hydroxide (CH) content between the specimens modified with clinoptilolite and the specimens containing only ordinary Portland cement (OPC) were observed, despite the high pozzolanic activity of the zeolite.


In this report, a 5 kW PEFC system running on dry hydrogen with an appropriately sized Balance of Plant (BoP) was used to conduct experimental studies and analyses of gas supply subsystems. The improper rating and use of BoP components has been found to increase parasitic loads, which consequently has a direct effect on the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system efficiency. Therefore, the minimisation of parasitic loads while maintaining desired performance is crucial. Nevertheless, little has been found in the literature regarding experimental work on large stacks and BoP, with the majority of papers concentrating on modelling. A particular interest of our study was the anode side of the fuel cell. Additionally the rationale behind the use of hydrogen anode recirculation was scrutinised, and a novel anode purging strategy was developed and implemented. Through experimental modelling, the use of cathode air blower was minimised since it was found to be the biggest contributor to the parasitic loads.


Multi-stimuli responsive materials based on cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), especially using non-conventional stimuli including light, still need more explorations, to fulfill the requirements of complicated application environments. The structure determination of functional groups on the CNC surface constitutes a significant challenge, partially due to their low amounts. In this study, rhodamine spiroamide groups are immobilized onto the surface of CNCs leading to a hybrid compound being responsive to pH-values, heat and UV light. After the treatment with external stimuli, the fluorescent and correlated optical color change can be induced, which refers to a ring opening and closing process. Amine and amide groups in rhodamine spiroamide play the critical role in this switching process. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy coupled with sensitivity-enhanced dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) was used to measure (13)C and (15)N in natural abundance, allowing the determination of structural changes during the switching process. It is shown that a temporary bond through an electrostatic interaction could be formed within the confined environment on the CNC surface during the heat treatment. The carboxyl groups on the CNC surface play a pivotal role in stabilizing the open status of rhodamine spiroamide groups.


Anodic oxide films were formed on titanium using an electrolyte solution containing phosphoric acid for dental implants by an electrochemical method. The parameters of the oxidation process were current density and electrolyte concentration. The micro structural morphology, surface roughness, thickness of the oxide layer and the behavior of voltage-time curves were examined. The results show that the surface roughness, porosity size and the thickness of the oxide layer showed similar trends as the process parameters were changed. The surface morphology of the samples was observed for different current densities at a constant electrolyte concentration. The pore size, thickness and roughness of the anodic oxide films are directly proportional to the maximum voltage and the slope of the voltage to time transient (dV/dt) curves during the growth of the galvanostatic anode oxide film on plate type Ti.


Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the major causative bacterial pathogen responsible for hospital and community associated i nfections. Active surveillance remains the key component of MRSA infection control in the hospital setting. This study examined the MRSA colonization level among patients seen at the tertia ry hospital. The study was conducted at University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. A standardized questionnaire and interview was employed in enrolling 231 patients into the study a nd 3 anatomical body sites (nasal, axilla and groin) per patient were swabbed and analysed by sta ndard bacteriological techniques. A total of 981 specimens were analysed, 21(2.1%) S.aureus isolates were identified, 10(%) MRSA and 11(%) MSSA isolates detected. The mean age was 34.02+13.2 year s, gender distribution of 12(57.1%) male and 9(42.9%) female. Majority of S.aureus isolates were recovered from nasal compared to non-nasal origin (<0.001), while no statistical significant d ifference was observed between the MRSA colonization and demographic variable documented. Th e S.aureus isolates demonstrated high resistant pattern to fusidic acid, all MRSA isolate s exhibited multidrug resistant pattern and inducib le phenotype. This is the first report on MRSA coloni zation level among patients management in a hospital setting in this geographical zone, and the S.aureus strains demonstrated high resistant to fusidic acid and exhibited high inducible phenotype which is of public health concern particularly i n infection control and patient management.


Extracted from text ... Among the most important constituencies of the South
African Journal of Surgery are its readership and contributing
authors. The needs and interests of our readers are being
addressed in several ways. A new feature in this and the following
issues of the Journal is a review highlighting one of the
academic departments of general surgery in South Africa.
Each of the eight heads of department has been invited to
introduce and record the achievements and talents of his
department in a remit that includes a synoptic background
and biographical detail of previous opinion leaders and staff
who have made ..


Poles and building edges are frequently observable objects on urban roads, conveying reliable hints for various computer vision tasks. To repetitively extract them as features and perform association between discrete LiDAR frames for registration, we propose the first learning-based feature segmentation and description model for 3D lines in LiDAR point cloud. To train our model without the time consuming and tedious data labeling process, we first generate synthetic primitives for the basic appearance of target lines, and build an iterative line auto-labeling process to gradually refine line labels on real LiDAR scans. Our segmentation model can extract lines under arbitrary scale perturbations, and we use shared EdgeConv encoder layers to train the two segmentation and descriptor heads jointly. Base on the model, we can build a highly-available global registration module for point cloud registration, in conditions without initial transformation hints. Experiments have demonstrated that our line-based registration method is highly competitive to state-of-the-art point-based approaches. Our code is available at https://github.com/zxrzju/SuperLine3D.git.


A key function of categories is to help predictions about unobserved features of objects. At the same time, humans often find themselves in situations where the categories of the objects they perceive are uncertain. How do people make predictions about unobserved features in such situations? We propose a rational model that solves this problem. Our model complements existing models in that it is applicable in settings where the conditional independence assumption does not hold (features are correlated within categories) and where the features are continuous as opposed to discrete. The qualitative predictions of our model are borne out in two experiments.


Writing closely spaced tracks in the cross-track direction helps increase the storage density but leads to erasure of the adjacent tracks. This phenomenon is called adjacent track erasure (ATE). This article aims to establish the presence and numerical extent of ATE in different heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) media. We find that thermal exchange coupled composite (ECC) media can be more susceptible to ATE compared with single layer FePt media of equivalent thickness. We implement optimization techniques to reduce the ATE in different media and increase the recording signal to noise ratio (SNR) in this process. While the ATE in single layer FePt media seems to be relatively impervious to changes in the applied field angle, small field angles appear to reduce the ATE for the high $T_{c}$ thermal ECC media. However, small angle also reduces the SNR, leading to the conclusion that 30° actually yields the best SNR even in the presence of overwrite. Introducing a finite intergranular exchange coupling improves the writing performance of the single layer FePt and reduces the ATE. We rigorously calculate the thermal decay constant and use it to evaluate the performance of pulsed laser recording. Finally, we establish a hypothesis that helps explain the presence of ATE in different HAMR media. We believe the ATE is proportional to the thermal stability factor at a temperature just below the write temperature. The proposed hypothesis correctly predicts the ATE in the single layer FePt media assuming coherent rotation. Our results can help increase the HAMR storage density and make HAMR media resistant to the ATE.


Cell-cell and cell-extracellular (ECM) protein interactions are mediated through heterodimers termed integrins. We have demonstrated that dendritic epidermal T cell (DETC) lines adhere to the ECM proteins, fibronectin, fibrinogen, and vitronectin but not to collagen, laminin, or control proteins. This adhesion was blocked by the tetrapeptide RGDS, but not the control peptide, RGES. We have derived a hamster mAb H9.2B8, and a rat mAb, 8.18E12, from immunizations with DETC lines. The mAbs in combination, but not individually, specifically inhibited the adhesion of DETC lines to fibronectin, fibrinogen, and vitronectin. Immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that both mAbs reacted with a heterodimer composed of noncovalently linked 140- and 95- kD subunits. The 140-kD subunit can be reduced to 120- and 23-kD fragments. Although the two mAbs did not cross-compete for binding to DETC, sequential immunoprecipitation studies indicated that they react with the same 120-kD fragment. While all DETC cell lines and several T cell clones were reactive with the mAbs, the mAbs were not reactive with normal spleen, lymph node, thymus, or skin. Stimulation of splenic T cells with Con A or allogeneic cells induced mAb reactivity after 1 wk in vitro. These data demonstrate that a single lymphocyte receptor, with biochemical features characteristic of integrins, mediates RGD- dependent binding to the ECM proteins, fibronectin, fibrinogen, and vitronectin. Furthermore, since this integrin is expressed by long-term activated T cells, this receptor may play a physiological role in T cell function.


We consider the problem of multicasting information from a source to a set of receivers over a network where intermediate network nodes perform randomized linear network coding operations on the source packets. We propose a channel model for the noncoherent network coding introduced by Koetter and Kschischang in , that captures the essence of such a network operation, and calculate the capacity as a function of network parameters. We prove that use of subspace coding is optimal, and show that, in some cases, the capacity-achieving distribution uses subspaces of several dimensions, where the employed dimensions depend on the packet length. This model and the results also allow us to give guidelines on when subspace coding is beneficial for the proposed model and by how much, in comparison to a coding vector approach, from a capacity viewpoint. We extend our results to the case of multiple source multicast that creates a virtual multiple access channel.