As the number of manmade structures installed on the seafloor is increasing rapidly, we seek to understand the impact of these immobile obstacles on marine geomorphological processes, such as the evolution of bedforms. A 5.8 m diameter monopile foundation was installed at the case study offshore windfarm approximately 30 m ahead of an approaching barchan (crescent‐shaped) dune. The impact of the monopile on the dune's evolution was analysed using six multibeam bathymetry surveys spanning 20 years. To substantiate this analysis, coupled three‐dimensional numerical modelling of flows and sediment was conducted in which the scour inducing bed shear stresses were calculated from the modelled turbulent kinetic energy. Following the installation of the monopile, the mid‐section of the dune accelerated and stretched in the direction of the wake of the monopile. Four years after the monopile's installation the rest of the dune had caught up, flattening out the slip face within half the dune's length downstream of the monopile. Due to the modified flow field, the dune was scoured deeply at the base of the monopile to a depth of 6.8 m (supported by the model results that predicted a scour depth exceeding 2 m over a period of just a few days). The surveyed volume of material scoured amounted to 8% of the total dune volume. Whilst the process of scouring occurs at a timescale of days to weeks, the dune migrated on average by 25 m/yr. The difference in the timescale of the two processes allowed the scouring to occur through the full thickness of the dune. The scoured dune profile recovered rapidly once the dune migrated downstream of the monopile. This article demonstrates how large geomorphological features can intercept and migrate past a monopile foundation without long‐lasting impacts on the integrity of the feature or the foundation. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In order to evaluate gas emission reduction potential of nutritional changes in lactating dairy cattle diets, an instrumentation system was developed to rapidly and accurately evaluate multiple treatments at one time. Six steady-state flux chambers were coupled via a multiplexer relay board and software with a photoacoustic multi-gas monitor to measure the concentration of ammonia and three greenhouse gases released from manure samples every 20 minutes over 24 hours. Each chamber sweep air flow rate was maintained at 0.5 air changes per minute via a calibrated flow meter. Five chambers evaluated emissions from manure samples consisting of 100 grams each of urine and feces from each cow on trial. This 50:50 urine:feces ratio produced as much or more ammonia gas than other ratios over 1 to 24 hour periods. The sixth chamber was filled with 200 grams of demineralized water for the initial gas concentration used in calculations. Emission was represented as the integral of gas released from the manure over a chosen time period. Results from five sub-samples of collected freestall manure had a standard error of 2% of the mean emission. Instrumentation use on manure slurry from trial cows was able to differentiate between diets but explanation of results may require additional information about other factors influencing gas emission. Results suggest that this method offers repeatable, simultaneous monitoring of gas emission from manure and offers potential to evaluate factors affecting emissions thus allowing better understanding and management of on-farm gas sources.


The problem of planning for reachability goals in full observable nondeterministic domains has been addressed in the literature, where plans are often expressed as state-action tables under the hypothesis that, states of the world can be sensed directly by the robot or agent executing the plans. In most real world domains, however, a robot or agent distinguishes states of the world by acquiring some optional observation information at some cost. In addition, some observation information may be unnecessary to the plan execution. Observation reduction for a general state-action table, aims at reducing the observation information that is unnecessary at execution time. The contribution of this paper is an algorithm that calculates the loops of belief states, and necessary observation information that may arise during the execution of a state--action table; and transforms the state-action table into a structured plan which only branches on the necessary observation information.


Three dimensional silica photonic crystals with the gyroid minimal surface structure have been synthesized using the butterfly Callophrys rubi as a template. The replicas are synthesized with a high degree of fidelity, which is confirmed by the spectral and morphological characterization. Further, the material is shown to be optically active.


Logical abilities are a ubiquitous ingredient in all those contexts that take into account soft skills, argumentative skills or critical thinking. However, the relationship between logical models and the enhancement of these abilities is rarely explicitly considered. Two aspects of the issue are particularly critical in our opinion, namely: (i) the lack of statistically relevant data concerning these competences; (ii) the absence of reliable indices that might be used to detect and measure the possession of abilities underlying the aforementioned skills. This paper addresses both aspects of this topic by presenting the results of a research that we conducted between October and December 2020 on students enrolled in various degree courses at the University of Florence. The dataset has been collected by a three-stage initiative. We started from an entrance examination to assess the students' initial abilities. This test included ten questions, each regarding a specific aspect of logical reasoning. Then, students underwent a short training course to strengthen their knowledge of logic. At the end of the short course, students underwent a final examination to evaluate the effectiveness of the training.
To verify the effectiveness of the training program we used students' characteristics into a Structural Equation Model comparing the distribution of abilities before and after the training.


In our work, we have theoretically calculated the nuclear energies of the rotational band states of the heavy Plutonium nucleus 240 ((_94^240)Pu), using the following approximations: HF + BCS, HTDA and routhian (Cranking). We divide our study into two parts named A and B. Part A is devoted to the determination of some static properties of studied nucleus ((_94^240)Pu) as; the axial deformation energy curves and also the potentiel energy surface, using the HF + BCS method and its comparison with HTDA treatment.This approach is conserving the number of particles. The calculations that were done in part A allowed us to determine the ground state of our studied nucleus.This ground state is used for the determination of the nuclear rotation band (spectrum) as well as some other rotational properties of this nucleusas the nuclear rotation velocity Ω and the moment of inertia I as a function of the state.The part Bis organized from a code called Hartree-Fock and Routhian. We performed the Routhian calculations with the SIII Skyrme force in first, then with the SkM* force, and we compare the results with the experimental data. We found in part A that the results obtained by HTDA are closer to the experimental results than those given by HF + BCS, and the nucleus is an axial nucleuswith absolute minimum and a prolatedeformation ( i.e : elongated ellipsoid along one of the main axes ) in its ground state. Finally we determined the rotation spectrum, when using SkM* force ;the spectrum is closer to the experimental one than that obtained with the SIII force. This means that the SkM* force translates more realistically the rotation in the atomic nucleus.


The recuperation of severely damaged limbs is a more frequent everyday occurrence. The process to reattach a limb is a team project, one in which each second is crucial for success. A professional nursing attitude can play an important role in order to obtain a brilliant result when dealing with patients having this need.


Hong Kong remains the backdrop to the science fiction movies of my youth. The city reminds me of my former training in the financial sector. It is a city in which I could have succeeded in finance, but as far as art goes it is a young city, and I am a young artist. A frustration emerges; much like the mould, the artist also had to develop new skills by killing off his former desires and manipulating technology. My new series entitled HONG KONG surface project shows a new direction in my artistic research in which my technique becomes ever simpler, reducing the traces of pixelation until objects appear almost as they were found and photographed. Skyler and Bliss presents tectonic plates based on satellite images of the Arctic. Working in a hot and humid Hong Kong where mushrooms grow ferociously, a city artificially refrigerated by climate control, this series provides a conceptual image of a imaginary typographic map for survival. (Laurent Segretier)


Background: The use of Glass ionomer cements (GIC) as restorative materials is beneficial due to fluoride release and ease of application. Strength and solubility are important properties that can affect the longevity of restorative materials in the oral environment. Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate compressive, diametral tensile strength and solubility of a nanofilled GIC (Ketac N100) compared to available GICs, Fuji IILC and Fuji IX. Material &Methods: Compressive and diametral tensile strength were tested by constructing 10 samples (6mm length x 4mm diameter) then tested as specified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 99172003). Solubility was assessed by constructing five samples (20mm diameter x 1.5mm thick), then storing them in distilled water for 24 hours before testing. Solubility was measured by weighing the residue that remains of each material following water evaporation of a portion of the suspension solution and calculating solubility as the total amount of soluble component in ratio to the total initial weight. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukeys test (p≤0.05). Results: Compressive and diametral tensile strength of Ketac N100 was significantly lower than that of Fuji II LC (p<0.05). The 24 hour solubility of Ketac N100 was significantly higher than Fuji IX and Fuji II LC (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study suggests that the 24 hour strength of nanofilled GIC was inferior to that of conventional resin-modified GIC, in addition to showing higher solubility.


Gene Expression Networks (GENs) attempt to model how genetic information stored in the DNA (Genotype) results in the synthesis of proteins, and consequently, the physical traits of an organism (Phenotype). Deciphering GENs plays an important role in a wide range of applications from genetic studies of the origins of life to personalized healthcare. Probabilistic graphical models such as Bayesian Networks (BNs) are used to perform learning and inference of GENs from genetic data. Current techniques of generating BNs of GENs from data, which are mostly approximate in nature, involve searching and scoring of multiple probabilistic graphical structures. However, while search algorithms can be efficiently implemented in software, the same is not true for scoring. Scoring of probabilistic models with inherent parallelism is inefficient when performed sequentially over conventional architectures comprising of deterministic devices. In this paper, we introduce a new nanoscale hardware acceleration framework, enabling fast and efficient Bayesian inference operations, significantly accelerating the scoring aspect of the BN learning of GENs using a combination of emerging stochastic devices and CMOS technology. The stochasticity of the devices is utilized to efficiently perform approximate inference on probabilistic networks, and the circuit framework constituting these devices is designed to exploit the inherent parallelism in these models. We demonstrate approximate inference operation over a small BN. We estimate the performance benefits of five orders of magnitude in performing inference operations using this architecture over software-only approaches.


This paper details the development of a Neural Network (NN) controller for a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuated catheter, with potential application to tele-operated cardiac ablation procedures. The robotic catheter prototype consists of a central tubular structure actuated by four SMA tendons. A dual-camera imaging system provides position feedback of the catheter tip. Open loop bending responses are obtained and associated nonlinearities are identified. A NN controller is designed using time-shifted input-output maps generated from randomized open loop measurements. The tracking performance of this NN controller is compared with PI/PID controllers for various reference trajectories.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Background Tibial tunnel widening is a common phenomenon seen with hamstring anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Concern exists that increased tunnel widening can lead to delayed graft incorporation, graft laxity, or difficulties in revision surgery. Hypothesis Supplemental aperture fixation with autogenous bone cores or bioabsorbable interference screws will decrease tibial tunnel widening in hamstring anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Study Design Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods One hundred twenty-nine patients were divided into 3 groups based on type of aperture fixation: none, bioabsorbable interference screws, and autogenous bone cores. Tibial tunnel diameters were measured on plain radiographs at a minimum of 3 months postoperatively based on the timeline of tibial tunnel widening suggested by Simonian et al, and tunnel widening was quantified by the increase in tunnel diameters relative to initial reamer size. Results Means for tunnel widening based on both anteroposterior and lateral maximum tunnel width measures were significantly different between the 3 groups (P < .05, 1-way analysis of variances); however, compared with the means for the group receiving no aperture supplementation, the means for the group receiving bioabsorbable interference screws were more than 0.8 mm wider, representing a significant increase (P < .05, Bonferroni-adjusted t tests), while the means for the group receiving autogenous bone cores were less than 0.6 mm wider than the group without aperture supplementation and not significantly different (P > .25, Bonferroni-adjusted t tests). Conclusion Tibial tunnel aperture supplementation does not appear to decrease tunnel widening in hamstring anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and may actually increase the amount of tibial tunnel widening.


The compound KTi(SO4)(2)center dot H2O was recently reported as a quasi-one-dimensional spin-1/2 compound with competing antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor exchange J(1) and next-nearest-neighbor exchange J(2) along the chain with a frustration ratio alpha = J(2)/J(1) approximate to 0.29 [G. J. Nilsen, H. M. Ronnow, A. M. Lauchli, F. P. A. Fabbiani, J. Sanchez-Benitez, K. V. Kamenev, and A. Harrison, Chem. Mater. 20, 8 (2008)]. Here, we report a microscopically based magnetic model for this compound derived from density functional theory (DFT) based electronic structure calculations along with respective tight-binding models. Our (LSDA+U-d) calculations confirm the quasi-one-dimensional nature of the system with antiferromagnetic J(1) and J(2), but suggest a significantly larger frustration ratio alpha(DFT) approximate to 0.94-1.4, depending on the choice of U-d and structural parameters. Based on transfer matrix renormalization group (TMRG) calculations we find alpha(TMRG) = 1.5. Due to an intrinsic symmetry of the J(1)-J(2) model, our larger frustration ratio alpha is also consistent with the previous thermodynamic data. To identify the frustration ratio alpha unambiguously, we propose performing high-field magnetization and low-temperature susceptibility measurements.


Background Off Mafia Island, Tanzania, whale sharks are seen in a small bay that also boasts one of the country's largest coastal fisheries. We set out to determine the population structure of whale sharks here, examine their feeding behaviour and residency, and investigate the interaction between the sharks and fishers. Approach We conducted 261 boat-based surveys at Mafia Island between Oct 2012 and Dec 2015, recording all whale shark sightings as well as counting the numbers of tourist and fishing boats in the survey area during each trip. We estimated shark size visually and with laser photogrammetry and recorded sex, scars and behaviour of each shark. To examine residency, we deployed 67 acoustic tags on whale sharks and 19 receiver stations within the bay, and analysed recapture probability (both visual- and acoustic-based) with generalised additive mixing models. To investigate feeding plankton biomass and community structure, we collected 20 plankton samples when whale sharks were feeding and 202 background samples for comparison. We interviewed fishers and they recorded their fishing locations using a GPS. Results We identified 129 different whale sharks at Mafia Island, 54% of which were resighted in two or more years. Tagged sharks were acoustically detected throughout the year even though sightings were largely limited to Oct-Mar. Sharks ranged in total length from 2.5–9.7 m, were mostly male (87%), and were usually seen feeding (75%) at or near the surface. Dense patches (25 mg m–3) of large sergestids Lucifer hanseni prompted feeding, while background plankton tows were dominated by small copepods (2.5 mg m–3). Small and medium-sized planktivorous fishes also fed on the same patches of sergestids, often together with whale sharks. These smaller species were the main target of the local fishers. Fishing boats operated in the survey area on 90% of the time, but also made catches further afield. Fishers reported a conflict between whale sharks and their fishing operations on 36% of the time, although sharks were usually released from the nets without injury. A mean of 2.6 tourist boats per day searched the same survey area for whale sharks. Conclusions This small, resident group of whale sharks is routinely exposed to tourists, boat traffic and high fishing pressure. Whale sharks are commonly encircled in fishing nets and released, but scars indicate that they do occasionally get injured during this process. Mortalities are rare, based on interviews with fishers and long-term observers. Whale sharks at Mafia Island are unusually resident and face clear local threats. No defined management measures are currently in place, but we present some potential strategies for mitigating threats to whale sharks here.


Introduction The goal of transfer is to use knowledge obtained by solving one task to improve a robot's (or software agent's) performance in future tasks. In general, we do not expect this to work; for transfer to be feasible, there must be something in common between the source task(s) and goal task(s). The question at the core of the transfer learning enterprise is therefore: what makes two tasks related?, or more generally, how do you define a family of related tasks? Given a precise definition of how a particular family of tasks is related, we can formulate clear optimization methods for selecting source tasks and determining what knowledge should be imported from the source task(s), and how it should be used in the target task(s). This paper describes one model that has appeared in several different research scenarios where an agent is faced with a family of tasks that have similar, but not identical, dynamics (or reward functions). For example, a human learning to play baseball may, over the course of their career, be exposed to several different bats, each with slightly different weights and lengths. A human who has learned to play baseball well with one bat would be expected to be able to pick up any similar bat and use it. Similarly, when learning to drive a car, one may learn in more than one car, and then be expected to be able to drive any make and model of car (within reasonable variations) with little or no relearning. These examples are instances of exactly the kind of flexible, reliable, and sample-efficient behavior that we should be aiming to achieve in robotics applications. One way to model such a family of tasks is to posit that they are generated by a small set of latent parameters (e.g., the length and weight of the bat, or parameters describing the various physical properties of the car's steering system and clutch) that are fixed for each problem instance (e.g., for each bat, or car), but are not directly observable by the agent. Defining a distribution over these latent parameters results in a family of related tasks, and transfer is feasible to the extent that the number of latent variables is small, the task dynamics (or reward function) vary smoothly with them, and to the extent to which they can either be ignored or identified using transition data from the task. This model has appeared


Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) has been reported to induce antitumor activity in peripheral blood monocytes. We examined the role of GM-CSF on bone marrow (BM) macrophages in inducing antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against murine and human tumor cells in vitro and in vivo with the aim of applying this approach in an autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT) setting. GM- CSF induced a potent ADCC in BM macrophages against a murine melanoma in vitro. Treatment with GM-CSF alone or with antibody alone had no effect, whereas therapy with combination of both these agents resulted in a significant reduction in dissemination of melanoma both in a nontransplant as well as in BMT settings, with results being more optimal in the latter setting. Adoptive transfer of BM macrophages harvested from mice undergoing therapy with GM-CSF plus antibody significantly reduced the dissemination of melanoma in secondary recipients but only after irradiation, not in intact mice. GM-CSF also induced significant ADCC in human BM macrophages against a melanoma and a lymphoma in vitro and against a lymphoma implanted in nude mice in vivo. Again, these effects were more optimal after chemotherapy. These data suggest that treatment with GM-CSF plus tumor-specific monoclonal antibodies after BMT may induce an antitumor effect and help eradicate the minimal residual disease.


Abstract : Trichodesmium is a colonial, N2-fixing cyanobacterium found in tropical oceans. Species of Trichodesmium are genetically similar, but several species coexist. In order to coexist, species may occupy different niche spaces through differential utilization of resources and responses to physical characteristics. To investigate niche differentiation in Trichodesmium, I characterized cultured strains of Trichodesmium, identified and enumerated Trichodesmium clades in the field, and investigated P stress and N2 fixation in field populations. Species of Trichodesmium group into two morphologically diverse clades that are coherent with respect to pigment composition: clade I (Trichodesmium erythraeum and Trichodesmium contortum), and clade II (Trichodesmium thiebautii, Trichodesmium tenue, Trichodesmium hildebrandtii, and Trichodesmium pelagicum). I developed a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method to distinguish between these clades and applied it to field populations in the Atlantic and Pacific. Clade II Trichodesmium spp. were more prominent than clade I in the open ocean. Neither clade correlated with nutrients, but clade I had wider temperature and depth distributions than clade II. Trichodesmium populations in the North Atlantic were more P stressed and had higher N2 fixation rates than the Pacific. Unraveling differences among Trichodesmium spp. enables us to understand their coexistence and factors controlling global N2 fixation.


In this paper, I analyze financial programs of the types adopted in the U.K., U.S.A., and in many developing countries under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund. I show that such a program has the effect of stabilizing the relevant macroeconomic system, as to be expected following a result established by Tobin and Buiter (1976). Additionally, I show that when budget deficit and monetary targets are pursued the government must choose at least two policy variables endogenously. I find support for these results in the macroeconomic performances of the U.K. economy in the 1980s. I also examine the effects of changes in certain policies on the steady state values and on the values along the transition path to such a state. Budget Deficit and Monetary Growth Targets: Macroeconomic consequences in an optimizing model


Silicon wafer is one of the key materials of LSI and SLSI and has been widely used in the electronic industries and IT products. In the new century of nano times, silicon wafer needs higher geometry accuracy, lower surface roughness and higher precision machining effecency, but no disfigurement in its surface layer. Nowadays, non-contact polishing still seems to be most efficient method to achieve nano-scale geometry accuracy and maintain surface roughness in the nanometer level even for silicon wafer, but it is still not easier to control its machining course and to obtain well-pleasing machining effecency. In this paper, a hydrodynamic electro-chemical polishing system based on CNC is established with micro-displacement compensating for nano-scale polishing. A new type of compliant polishing tool system is developed, which can turn orthogonal force control subspace and position control subspace to isomorphic position servo space. Moreover, it convert force control deflection to position servo deflection and in this way the polishing force is controlled by micro-displacement compensating with piezoelectricity. Polishing experiments on silicon wafer, in hydrodynamic polishing fluid mixed with nano-scale SiO2 abrasive particles, have been conducted to investigate the fundamental machining mechanism.


Competitiveness adjustment in struggling southern euro-area members requires persistently lower inflation than in major trading partners, but low inflation worsens public debt sustainability. When average euro-area inflation undershoots the two percent target, the conflict between intra-euro relative price adjustment and debt sustainability is more severe.

In our baseline scenario, the projected public debt ratio reduction in Italy and Spain is too slow and does not meet the European fiscal rule. Debt projections are very sensitive to underlying assumptions and even small negative deviations from GDP growth, inflation and budget surplus assumptions can easily result in a runaway debt trajectory.

The case for a greater than five percent of GDP primary budget surplus is very weak. Beyond vitally important structural reforms, the top priority is to ensure that euro area inflation does not undershoot the two percent target, which requires national policy actions and more accommodative monetary policy. The latter would weaken the euro exchange rate, thereby facilitating further intra-euro adjustment. More effective policies are needed to foster growth. But if all else fails, the European Central Bank's Outright Monetary Transactions could reduce borrowing costs.


have demonstrated that parent-child interactions and the family environment shape and advance the development of a young child's brain. At the same time, decisionmakers in health policy, child health research, and pediatric practice have begun to recognize the critical importance of the first three years of life for the optimal growth and development of children. National guidelines for pediatric care, such as Bright Futures, stress the delivery of health care in a manner consistent with this understanding of early development. In addition to good clinical health care, children age 3 and younger require services that promote cognitive and sensory stimulation. A growing body of literature suggests that family behavior and activities can have a profound impact on a child's brain development, physical health, and emotional wellbeing.


OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a risk factor for development of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after cardiac surgery.

DESIGN
Retrospective analysis.

SETTING
Single-center university hospital.

PARTICIPANTS
Five hundred forty-five patients in sinus rhythm preoperatively undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), aortic valve replacement, mitral valve replacement/repair, or combined valve/CABG surgery from January 2008 to April 2011.

INTERVENTIONS
Retrospective review of medical records.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Postoperative atrial fibrillation was defined as atrial fibrillation requiring therapeutic intervention. Of 545 cardiac surgical patients, 226 (41%) patients developed POAF. The risk was higher in 72 OSA patients than 473 patients without OSA (67% v 38%, adjusted hazard ratio 1.83 [95% CI: 1.30-2.58], p<0.001). Of the 32 OSA patients who used home positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy, 18 (56%) developed POAF compared with 29 of 38 (76%) patients who did not use PAP at home (unadjusted hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI: 0.35-1.15], p = 0.13).

CONCLUSION
OSA is significantly associated with POAF in cardiac surgery patients. Further investigation is needed to determine whether or not use of positive airway pressure in OSA patients reduces the risk of POAF.


We are studying microflares (A, B-C class flares) in active regions using coordinated observations from Hinode and RHESSI. Hinode/EIS has unprecedented diagnostic power for small, transient activity in the solar corona, providing temperature, density, and velocity information. For this purpose, we designed and ran an EIS observing sequence to provide high-cadence data at both transition region and coronal temperatures. A preliminary analysis of these observations is reported, with one data set given as an example.


The practices and perception of music creation have evolved with the cultural, social and technological contexts of music and musicians. But musical authorship, in its many technical and aesthetic modes, remains an important component of music culture. Musicians are increasingly called on to share their experience in writing. However, cultural imperatives to account for composition as knowledge production and to make claims for its uniqueness inhibit the development of discourse in both expert and public spheres. Internet pioneer Philip Agre observed a discourse deficit in artificial intelligence research and proposed a critical technical practice, a single disciplinary field with "one foot planted in the craft work of design and the other foot planted in the reflexive work of critique. … A critical technical practice rethinks its own premises, re-evaluates its own methods, and reconsiders its own concepts as a routine part of its daily work." This volume considers the potential for critical technical practice in the evolving situation of composition across a wide range of current practices. In seeking to tell more honest, useful stories of composition, it hopes to contribute to a new discourse around the creation of music.


PURPOSE
To determine the utility of repeat brain imaging in patients with stroke.

METHODS
We reviewed the medical records of 98 consecutive patients in whom stroke was diagnosed between January 1 and December 31, 1991. We noted the number of brain scans performed, the indications cited, and whether repeat imaging changed the therapeutic decisions or final diagnosis.

RESULTS
Ninety-eight patients underwent 221 procedures, with 123 repeat imaging studies (98 CT scans and 25 MR images). Sixteen patients had only one scan; 51 had two, and 31 had three or more. Indications for repeat imaging were explicitly documented in 62 (50%) of 123 repeated scans and inferred in another 41 (33%). In 20 (16%), no definite indication could be determined. Indications included lack of acute abnormal imaging findings on the initial scan (n = 48, 39%); compliance with stroke research protocol (n = 11, 9%). In none of the 82 patients did the repeated scan change the diagnosis; therapy was changed in only two (2%) of 82 patients (aspirin was discontinued).

CONCLUSIONS
Repeat imaging in patients rarely results in changes in the initial diagnosis or the therapeutic plan; indications for repeat imaging are frequently not clearly stated; in certain groups of patients with stroke, repeat imaging may not be useful.


A unified approach to kinematic synthesis of mechanism is presented in this paper. Firstly a new approach to adaptive curve fitting is presented, which leads the normal fitting error to be minimum for a series of given discrete points, including a plane curve fitting, a spherical curve fitting and a ruled surface fitting in terms of invariants of ruled surface. Approximate characteristic points and lines are defined, such as an approximate circle point, an approximate slide point, an approximate spherical cone point and an approximate constant axis with an approximate spherical image cone point and an approximate striction curve. Then, the ruled surface fitting will be converted into a space curve fitting and a spherical curve fitting by differential geometry. Based on these definitions and the adaptive curve fitting approaches, the unified mathematical model is set up for the kinematic synthesis of mechanism from planar, spherical to spatial motion. Finally, a planar mechanism or a spatial mechanism can be synthesized by means of searching for two approximate characteristic points, or a characteristic point and a characteristic line, even two characteristic lines. This puper lays a theoretic base for the existence of the best solution and the convergence of the optimum algorithm.


Broad health disparities (HDs) persist in Connecticut and the United States between minority and White patients, especially in access to and the utilization of behavioral telehealth services.

 We aimed to determine the geographic distribution of HDs in Connecticut between Black female and White female adults in Medicaid behavioral telehealth utilization in 2019 and 2020.

 We used the following spatial Connecticut data: (1) behavioral health utilization from Medicaid claims, from the Connecticut Department of Social Services, for the third quarters of 2019 and 2020; (2) mental health and drug and alcohol treatment facilities and ZCTA (ZIP Code Tabulation Area)-level descriptors from PolicyMap; and (3) Connecticut ZIP-to-ZCTA crosswalk data. Data were joined spatially, merged, and analyzed using spatial autoregressive models in Stata 17 (with outcome, predictors, and errors spatial lags). We computed ZCTA-level HDs comparing Black and White adult female Medicaid beneficiaries' rates of face-to-face and telehealth behavioral services utilization. Spatial regressions were used to test spatial effects, which are extensions of classic regressions, that add neighbors' effects to covariates.

 Distances to nearest treatment facility vary quite widely in Connecticut by ZCTAs, from 0.06 mile to 13.4 miles—3.5 miles on average. The overall White female versus Black female HDs in behavioral health care utilization were impacted by the distance to the nearest facility, such that ZCTAs farther away from the nearest facility display larger Black versus White HDs—nearly statistically significant effect in 2019 and significant effect in 2020. In 2020, in ZCTAs situated farther away from treatment facilities, both White female and Black female Medicaid patients had higher telebehavioral health utilization (spatial effects +1.3% points and +2.0% points, respectively, for 1 more mile farther away). The differential Black versus White female HDs in telebehavioral health care utilization were not impacted by distance to nearest facility, according to the total effect (direct and indirect through neighboring ZCTAs; P=.26).

 Quantitative analyses indicate broad differences in Medicaid enrollment and the utilization of behavioral health services among Black and White female Medicaid recipients in Connecticut and that these differences were rather stable between 2019 and 2020. It appears that the expansion of telebehavioral health services in 2020 enhanced the access to treatment among residents who were located furthest away from providing facilities.

 None declared.


We study vortex matter in layered superconductors in the limit of zero Josephson coupling. The long range of the interaction between pancake vortices in the c-direction allows us to employ a mean-field method: all attractive inter-layer interactions are reduced to an effective substrate potential, which pancakes experience in addition to the same-layer pancake repulsion. We perform numerical simulations of this mean-field model using two independent numerical implementations with different simulation methods (Monte-Carlo sampling and Langevin molecular dynamics). The substrate potential is updated self-consistently from the averaged pancake density. Depending on temperature, this potential converges to a periodic profile (crystal) or vanishes (liquid). We compute thermodynamic properties of the system, such as the melting line, the instability line of the crystal, and the entropy jump across the melting transition. The simulation results are in good agreement with approximate analytical calculations.


The last decade has experienced unprecedented uptake of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT), creating significant changes in the way prenatal clinicians provide services. Through the lens of social shaping of technology, we examine the effects of the introduction of this technology on the health care system in Ontario, Canada. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, we conducted a cross-sectional study investigating clinicians' perspectives of NIPT in 2014, 2016, and 2018. Through in-depth interviews (n = 37), we explored their perspectives on the impact of NIPT on their referral practices, workload, coordination of testing modalities, education and counseling, and elicited their views on recent expansions of the test. Findings suggest that the introduction of NIPT has created unintended consequences with respect to clinician workload and wellness, clinician education, equity of access, and public system resources. Responsiveness from decision makers is key to ensuring the responsible use of NIPT in the health care system.


Certain alleles of cytokine genes interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) are correlated with increased production of the proteins. The aim of this study was to investigate polymorphisms of these genes and their possible correlation with the development of stroke. This matched case-control study was nested within the population-based Västerbotten Intervention Program (VIP) cohort and the Northern Sweden World Health Organization MONICA (Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Diseases) cohort, based on individuals who were free from cardiovascular events when the cohorts were established. After an average period of 34.1 months, 113 individuals developed stroke and to each case 2 individuals not suffering from cardiovascular events were matched to serve as controls. Polymerase chain reaction amplification was used to analyze genetic polymorphisms. There was no association between polymorphic sites of the IL-1beta and IL-1Ra genes and stroke. Carriage of haplotype A2+IL-1beta/A2+IL-1Ra was significantly increased in normotensive cases (23.1%) compared with normotensive controls (8.9%) (odds ratio [OR] = 3.07; P = .045). In hypertensive male cases, there was an association between the A1A1 genotype of TNF-alpha and risk of stroke (OR = 2.46; P = .034). Our findings indicate an association between allele A1 of the TNF-alpha NcoI polymorphism and stroke in hypertensive male cases, as well as an association between haplotype A2+IL-1beta/A2+IL-1Ra and stroke in normotensive cases.


Background: Nicotine is the foremost chemical constituent responsible for addiction in tobacco products, in the non-ionized condition can be easily absorbed via epithelial tissue of the lung, the mouth, the nose  and across the skin
Objective:The study examines the harmful effect of   the nicotine which is an important component of cigarette in vitro.
Type of the study: Cross-sectional study.
Methods: Examines the harmful effect of   the nicotine which is an important component of cigarette in vitro by using two types of lung cancer cell lines (H460 TP53+/+, H441 TP53-/-).
Results: The results showed the total count of H460( TP53+/+) cancer lung cell lines  was (5.2 ×106 cells /ml) , the number  (4.9 ×106 cells /ml)  of them were alive  and (3.6×105 cells /ml) of them  were dead, with percentage  of viability (93.15%), while the total count  of H441( TP53-/-) lung cancer cells was (5.1 ×106 cells /ml), the number (4.1 ×106 cells /ml)  of them were alive, and the number (9.9×105 cells /ml) of them   were dead  with percentage  of viability (80.55%). And it  revealed that the nicotine inhibited viability of H460 lung cancer cell lines in all concentrations (1, 10, 500 and 1000 μ M) and the cells were completely abolished by treatment with (1000 μ M) when the viability reached to minimum percentage (3.43%), while nicotine induced proliferation in H441 lung cancer cell lines even in lowest concentration (1 μ M), whereas the viability reached to maximum percentage (41.04%) at concentration (1000 μ M). Also it noticed that  the treatment with nicotine at concentrations (1,10, 500 and 1000 μ M ) for 24 and 48 hr  induced the apoptosis but not necrosis in H460 lung cancer cell lines, especially at the highest concentrations (1000 μ M) for 48hr when the percentage of apoptosis reached to the maximum value (55.5%), however  it was induced proliferation in H441 lung cancer cell lines with highest proliferation at concentration (1000 μ M), when the percentage apoptosis value reached to the minimum percentage (1.5%) when compared to un treated  cells (control).
Conclusions: the cells lack to TP53(H441 TP53-/-)  will proliferate when exposed to nicotine and some of these cells will suffer from necrosis as a replacement of apoptosis.


Logic, Rhetoric and Grammar. The connection between Logic, Rhetoric, and Grammar, a connection well-known to the ancients, is also prominent in the modern theory of argumentation, in which the field of Logic – in the nineteenth century restricted to mathematical studies – is in fact extended. Logic and Linguistics have in common the study of languages, and the principles of Logic also show their validity in the semantics of natural languages. The problems of meaning in natural languages which appear difficult to analyze within a logical-semantic approach can be adequately dealt with in Pragmatics. While Logic proceeds through demonstrations and Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, argumentation employs both the deductive methods of formal logic and the alternative inferencing methods of pragmatics


Interest in global health is increasing among neurology residents. However, funding, time, and, recently, COVID-19 travel restrictions remain barriers to widespread participation. To meet this need, we instituted virtual global neurology morning reports with the objectives of (1) improving knowledge about neurologic diseases common in sub-Saharan Africa and (2) developing clinical reasoning skills through consideration of diagnostic and therapeutic limitations in resource-limited settings. Interactive case-based sessions were presented from Zambia via videoconference by a Johns Hopkins faculty member or Zambian neurology trainee. An anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted among Johns Hopkins neurology residents. Of eligible participants, 69% (n = 30) completed the survey, 66% of whom were female, and 33% reported prior in-person global health experience. Although most participants did not anticipate a career in global health, the majority (85%) reported that exposure to global health was important. All but 1 participant (96%) reported satisfaction with the global neurology morning reports, with 100% reporting that they were useful to their clinical knowledge and 86% reporting that they were useful to their clinical practice. All respondents felt that morning reports should continue, and 69% ranked the educational value of the experience in the top quartile of the residency curriculum. Resident satisfaction with and perceived utility of global neurology morning reports were high, although the majority did not plan to pursue global neurology opportunities as part of their career. Remote learning opportunities may increase interest in global health among neurology residents.


Herbal Cosmetoceutical preparation defined as a product used to topical applied to the outer part of skin for growing skin glow and cleaning, beautifying, promoting attrattractive face, Herbal cosmetic formulation is very useful medicine for our life which remove the skin related problem of the body such as eczema, Dermatitis, body inflammation, Itching, psoriasis, Skin cancer, Acne, Some type of Fungal Infection Like Aspergillosis. Blastomycosis. Candidacies. Candida infections of the mouth, throat, and oesophagus Infection. Vaginal candidacies. Candida auris. Coccidioidomycosis, according to India cosmetics surveillance cosmetic product mainly used to women and young men beautifying cleaning of face and other body part. The herbal cosmetics preparation used generally for daily rotation include herbal face wash, herbal conditioner, herbal soap, herbal shampoo herbals creams herbal some of preparation used for daily purpose. Manly some of type herbal product used such as Turmeric, Henna palms, Sandalwood, Azadiritica indicail, Emblica officinalis etc. an herbal cosmetic have growing demand in the world market and is an invaluable gift of nature. Herbal product always has attracted considerable attention because of their good beautifying, promoting attractive skin and comparatively minimum or nil adverse effect with synthetic medicine. Herbs and spices have been used in maintaining and enhancing human beauty.


A cost and reliability model which uses an automatic prototype generator (APG) is presented. According to this model, testers can introduce rapidly prototyped automatically generated codes into the testing phase. The model is called the APG test paradigm (APGTP). Two cases are considered: without a budget constraint, and with both a budget constraint and an objective to maximize the outgoing product reliability. Increased reliability can be attained by applying a five-step procedure. It is shown that the capital requirement for an APG exceeds the available installation cost, then installation of the APG should not be considered unless its reliability per dollar invested exceeds that of the traditional model. To demonstrate the procedures, the costs and reliabilities of the two approaches are compared for certain specified parameter values. The use of APGTP generally produces code of better reliability for the same cost as in traditional testing proposed by D.B. Brown and S. Maghsoodloo (1989). >


: The Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) has gained prominence as an agricultural R&D agenda. The KBBE attracts rival visions, each favouring a different diagnosis of unsustainable agriculture and its remedies in agro-food innovation. Each vision links a technoscientific paradigm with a quality paradigm: the dominant Life Sciences vision combines converging technologies with decomposability, especially for industrial uses of non-edible biomass, while a marginal vision combines agroecology with integral product integrity for quality food. From these divergent visions, rival stakeholder networks contend for influence over EU research policies and priorities. Although a Life Sciences vision remains dominant, agroecological approaches have gained a presence, thus overcoming their general exclusion from agricultural research agendas. In their own way, each rival paradigm emphasises the need for collective systems to gather information for linking producers with users, as a rationale for funding distinctive research priorities.


The impact of "place" on health is a classical and key element of epidemiology. Recent advances in geographic information systems have facilitated the use of spatial methods to investigate public health issues. Such approaches are particularly helpful when a public health phenomenon is relatively new and adequate environmental exposure information is lacking. The overarching objective of the present epidemiological investigation is to use spatial methods to explore relationships between several infant and children's health outcomes and potential environmental exposures. The public health significance of this work is to identify possible sources of harmful exposures that may motivate further research, primary prevention efforts, and eventually policies to further limit exposures in these sensitive populations. It is well known that the embryo/fetus is particularly sensitive to the effects of environmental agents. Early life exposures are of public health significance since they may harm infant health and also have further adverse consequences in childhood and adulthood. The present work encompasses two relatively new but growing areas of interest related to fetal, infant, and children's health: 1) unconventional natural gas development and adverse birth outcomes, and 2) sources of air toxics and childhood autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Geographic information systems are used to spatially link health outcomes, including birth weight, small for gestational age, preterm birth, and ASD, with nearby sources or with aggregated (e.g., census tract-level) estimates of exposure. Logistic regression is conducted to determine associations between risk for each of the above health effects and the exposures of interest, adjusting for other sociodemographic and personal risk factors. Overall, results indicate that environmental factors have a small but important role to play in the health of infants and children, even after accounting for other potentially confounding factors. Since spatial surrogates for exposure are the primary focus of this investigation, future work will benefit from improved individual exposure assessment and a prospective study design to confirm and further explain these associations.


The non-coherent techniques that do not require the channel state information have gained significant interest especially when multiple transmitter and receiver nodes are involved in communication. In this paper, we analyze the energy efficiency of differential and coherent cooperative Multiple-input Multiple-output (MIMO) method using space-time block codes (STBC). We exploit the benefits of the extension of the observation interval of differential STBC to three blocks in Wireless sensor networks (WSNs). We propose an energy efficient decision fusion (EEDF) algorithm in WSNs which utilizes the benefits of Multiple symbol differential detection (MSDD) decision fusion by optimally selecting the ring amplitude of the differential amplitude phase shift keying (DAPSK) constellation. The simulation results show that processing differential multiple symbols provides significant energy saving compared to the conventional two-symbol processing. Furthermore, significant performance gain is achieved for the proposed algorithm compared to 16 DPSK MSDD decision fusions.


CCC Library resources (books, eBooks, DVDs, streaming videos) related to the United States' and Oregon's history of race and racism, whiteness, white privilege, and intersectionality.


In this research, the influence of structure on the tensile properties of single- walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is evaluated using molecular mechanics technique and finite element method. The effects of diameter, length and chiral angle on elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio of armchair, zigzag and chiral structures are investigated. To simulate the CNTs, a 3D FEM code is developed using the ANSYS commercial software. Considering the carbon-carbon covalent bonds as connecting load-carrying beam elements, and the atoms as joints of the elements, CNTs are simulated as space-frame structures. The atomic potentials are estimated using harmonic simple functions. The numerical results show that by increasing the diameter and length to a certain amount, the size effect on tensile behavior of modeled nanotubes is omitted. In fact, for nanotubes with diameter over 2 nm and length over 36.5 nm the chiral angle is the only effective factor on the tensile properties. Also, it is found that the structure has a little effect on the elasticity modulus, which is about 4%. However, Poisson's ratio can be affected significantly with chiral angle. Asymmetric structures with angles θ <18˚ show higher Poisson's ratio in comparison with the other structures, such that it can be 16% larger for little chirality CNTs than armchair.


Abstract Developing a comprehensive portfolio of theoretically sound indicators is fundamental to effective place-based management of coastal ecosystems at a wide range of scales. We reviewed indicator development case studies from seven different social-ecological systems over the first 10 years of the NOAA integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) program, with the goals of identifying effective strategies and highlighting general principles that would inform future efforts. The IEA framework provided a versatile approach to developing indicators across a diverse range of differently scaled systems and partnerships, guided by organizing principles of screening transparency, iterative review, and an adaptive balance between quantitative evaluation methods and qualitative stakeholder guidance. Information exchange across the broad community of EBM practitioners facilitated progress between systems, chronologically tracking a path that reflected improvements in indicator development methods (especially for social indicators) and a growing focus on multisector EBM in smaller coastal communities. Most projects adopted innovative visual imagery to engage partners and stakeholders, which built trust and communication while enhancing the spectrum of indicators. Using guidance from the lessons above, future indicator development efforts will be better prepared to confront the recurring, transdisciplinary challenges of managing integrated social-ecological systems.


This paper presents a practical formation motion control scheme for robotic swarms based on single-view distance estimation, which is performed using a single nonsophisticated camera on each robot agent, and the prior information about the heights of the robots and other objects in the environment. Here, a nonsophisticated camera means one that has limited field of view and limited resolution. First, the vision mechanism is analyzed, and a single-view distance estimation scheme is designed. Then, a set of decentralized control laws, to be incorporated with distance estimation scheme, is introduced to move the robotic swarm in formation from an arbitrary initial position to an arbitrary final position without deforming the formation shape. The robots do not have any global positioning sensors, and they do not communicate with each other. The stability and performance of the overall system are analyzed mathematically. Later, practical issues are discussed regarding the proposed scheme, and the effects of delay and quantization in distance estimation are formally analyzed. Finally, we present experimental results demonstrating the performance of the proposed control scheme in real time.


Grit blasting using bioactive HA and biodegradable CMP followed by acid etching has been done. HNO3 and H3PO4 were used for the etching solution by controlling the concentration and etching time to know the effect on the surface chemistry and morphology of the Ti implant. Characterization of samples was done by using SEM, EDX and surface profilometer. The contents of residues on Ti surface decreased with increasing acid concentration and etching time. It was observed that the acidic etching rate of HA grits on Ti surface was faster than that of CMP grits. And HNO3 etched more rapidly the HA and CMP grits on Ti surface, compared to H3PO4. Therefore, the surface roughness of dental implants can be controlled by having appropriate combination of acid concentration and etching time.


Since medieval literature was mostly consumed by listening, its functioning was influenced by the performance's sonic surroundings. This is particularly relevant for rethinking the circulations of texts within the Devotio Moderna communities of Sisters of the Common Life, that appear to have been governed by silence, but at the same time were situated within the rich urban sonic environment. Complementing traditional literary research, which relies on visual means of perception, this article explores some of the possibilities offered by sound-based research to oral literature, specifically song, in devout convents. A reconstruction – soundscape – is presented of the events that the Sisters of the Common Life would hear when fulfilling their obligation to visit the parish church on Sundays and feast days. It is demonstrated that sound played a larger part in convent life than is suggested by the Rule of Silence, indicating that the devout concept of silence should be understood as 'managed sound'. The soundscape also offers a clearer insight into how the sisters' aural experiences were influenced by their sonic environment. Furthermore, it offers a pathway to come nearer to the oral processes that are essential to the functioning of oral literature – especially song – in religious communities, as is tentatively illustrated by the Middle Dutch song codex Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preusischer Kulturbesitz, mgo 185.


With a conventional lens sharpness of the image is always limited by the wavelength of light. An unconventional alternative to a lens, a slab of negative refractive index material, has the power to focus all Fourier components of a 2D image, even those that do not propagate in a radiative manner. Such "superlenses" can be realized in the microwave band with current technology. Our simulations show that a version of the lens operating at the frequency of visible light can be realized in the form of a thin slab of silver. This optical version resolves objects only a few nanometers across.


We study the problem of using the crowd to perform entity resolution (ER) on a set of records. For many types of records, especially those involving images, such a task can be difficult for machines, but relatively easy for humans. Typical crowd-based ER approaches ask workers for pairwise judgments between records, which quickly becomes prohibitively expensive even for moderate numbers of records. In this paper, we reduce the cost of pairwise crowd ER approaches by soliciting the crowd for attribute labels on records, and then asking for pairwise judgments only between records with similar sets of attribute labels. However, due to errors induced by crowd-based attribute labeling, a naive attribute-based approach becomes extremely inaccurate even with few attributes. To combat these errors, we use error mitigation strategies which allow us to control the accuracy of our results while maintaining significant cost reductions. We develop a probabilistic model which allows us to determine the optimal, lowest-cost combination of error mitigation strategies needed to achieve a minimum desired accuracy. We test our approach with actual crowdworkers on a dataset of celebrity images, and find that our results yield crowd ER strategies which achieve high accuracy yet are significantly lower cost than pairwise-only approaches.


Abstract Congenital hydrocephalus affects approximately one in 1000 newborn children and is fatal in approximately 50% of untreated cases. The currently known management protocols usually necessitate multiple interventions and long-term use of healthcare resources due to a relatively high incidence of complications, and many of them mostly provide a treatment of the effect rather than the cause of cerebrospinal fluid flow reduction or outflow obstruction. Future studies discussing etiology specific hydrocephalus alternative treatments are needed. We systematically reviewed the available literature on the effect of ciliary abnormality on congenital hydrocephalus pathogenesis, to open a discussion on the feasibility of factoring ciliary abnormality in future research on hydrocephalus treatment modalities. Although there are different forms of ciliopathies, we focused in this review on primary ciliary dyskinesia. There is growing evidence of association of other ciliary syndromes and hydrocephalus, such as the reduced generation of multiple motile cilia, which is distinct from primary ciliary dyskinesia. Data for this review were identified by searching PubMed using the search terms 'hydrocephalus,' 'Kartagener syndrome,' 'primary ciliary dyskinesia,' and 'immotile cilia syndrome.' Only articles published in English and reporting human patients were included. Seven studies met our inclusion criteria, reporting 12 cases of hydrocephalus associated with primary ciliary dyskinesia. The patients had variable clinical presentations, genetic backgrounds, and ciliary defects. The ependymal water propelling cilia differ in structure and function from the mucus propelling cilia, and there is a possibility of isolated non-syndromic ependymal ciliopathy causing only hydrocephalus with growing evidence in the literature for the association ependymal ciliary abnormality and hydrocephalus. Abdominal and thoracic situs in children with hydrocephalus can be evaluated, and secondary damage of ependymal cilia causing hydrocephalus in cases with generalized ciliary abnormality can be considered.


The structure of energy-containing turbulence in the outer region of a zero-pressure- gradient boundary layer has been studied using particle image velocimetry (PIV) to measure the instantaneous velocity fields in a streamwise-wall-normal plane. Experiments performed at three Reynolds numbers in the range 930 < Reθ < 6845 show that the boundary layer is densely populated by velocity fields associated with hairpin vortices. (The term 'hairpin' is here taken to represent cane, hairpin, horseshoe, or omega-shaped vortices and deformed versions thereof, recognizing these structures are variations of a common basic flow structure at different stages of evolution and with varying size, age, aspect ratio, and symmetry.) The signature pattern of the hairpin consists of a spanwise vortex core located above a region of strong second-quadrant fluctuations (u < 0 and v > 0) that occur on a locus inclined at 30–60° to the wall. In the outer layer, hairpin vortices occur in streamwise-aligned packets that propagate with small velocity dispersion. Packets that begin in or slightly above the buffer layer are very similar to the packets created by the autogeneration mechanism (Zhou, Adrian & Balachandar 1996). Individual packets grow upwards in the streamwise direction at a mean angle of approximately 12°, and the hairpins in packets are typically spaced several hundred viscous lengthscales apart in the streamwise direction. Within the interior of the envelope the spatial coherence between the velocity fields induced by the individual vortices leads to strongly retarded streamwise momentum, explaining the zones of uniform momentum observed by Meinhart & Adrian (1995). The packets are an important type of organized structure in the wall layer in which relatively small structural units in the form of three-dimensional vortical structures are arranged coherently, i.e. with correlated spatial relationships, to form much longer structures. The formation of packets explains the occurrence of multiple VITA events in turbulent 'bursts', and the creation of Townsend's (1958) large-scale inactive motions. These packets share many features of the hairpin models proposed by Smith (1984) and co-workers for the near-wall layer, and by Bandyopadhyay (1980), but they are shown to occur in a hierarchy of scales across most of the boundary layer. In the logarithmic layer, the coherent vortex packets that originate close to the wall frequently occur within larger, faster moving zones of uniform momentum, which may extend up to the middle of the boundary layer. These larger zones are the induced interior flow of older packets of coherent hairpin vortices that originate upstream and over-run the younger, more recently generated packets. The occurence of small hairpin packets in the environment of larger hairpin packets is a prominent feature of the logarithmic layer. With increasing Reynolds number, the number of hairpins in a packet increases.


This paper presents four cases of financial cooperative networks in developing countries with significant rural outreach. The four cases are SICREDI (Sistema de Cooperativa de Credito) in Brazil, SANASA in Sri Lanka, RCPB (Reseau des Caisses Populaires du Burkina) in Burkina Faso, and KERUSSU (Kenya Rural Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Union) in Kenya. These cases represent examples of FC networks with significant outreach in rural areas, but operating in widely varying economic contexts. Access to financial services contributes to rural development and poverty reduction by promoting income-enhancing and vulnerability-reducing investments, enabling better management of cash flows and risk, and facilitating remittances. However, financial access is limited in most rural areas in developing countries because of high transaction costs and risks attributed to low levels of economic activity, poor infrastructure, high levels of production and price risks in agriculture, and poor public policies, such as interest-rate caps and debt write-offs. Through a case study approach, this paper attempts to answer such questions as: Can FCs provide financial services in rural areas in developing countries and still be profitable? Do FCs provide services to low-income clients? How does the regulatory environment affect FC performance? How does the business model of FC networks affect FC performance?


Maintaining ecosystem services of coral reefs, sustainable fishing, and improved food security are the three higher level outcomes of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF). Food security is an obvious concern of the CTI-CFF because of 130 million people dependent on fish resources for food, income, and livelihoods, and also because it provides 11.3% (19.1 million tons) to global fisheries production from capture fisheries and aquaculture. Yet, anthropogenic stressors, especially overfishing, threaten the ecosystems that support food production. Fish supply deficits and undernourishment are observed in varying degrees across the CTI-CFF countries to be further exacerbated by increasing populations, increasing demand for fish from developed economies, unabated coastal development, and climate change. Short-term and urgent strategies to improve food security focus on arresting continued deterioration of coral reefs and fisheries to improve availability of fish, stabilize ecosystem services, and improve incomes at the local level. Wealth-focused and welfare-based approaches to achieve food security at various governance levels are proposed.


The effects of vortex generators and periodic excitation on vorticity dynamics and the phenomenon of axis switching in a free asymmetric jet are studied experimentally. Most of the data reported are for a 3:1 rectangular jet at a Reynolds number of 450 000 and a Mach number of 0.31. The vortex generators are in the form of 'delta tabs', triangular-shaped protrusions into the flow, placed at the nozzle exit. With suitable placement of the tabs, axis switching could be either stopped or augmented. Two mechanisms are identified governing the phenomenon. One, as described by previous researchers, is due to the difference in induced velocities for different segments of a rolled-up azimuthal vortical structure. The other is due to the induced velocities of streamwise vortex pairs in the flow. While the former mechanism, referred to here as the ωθ-dynamics, is responsible for a rapid axis switching in periodically forced jets, e.g. screeching supersonic jets, the effect of the tabs is governed mainly by the latter mechanism, referred to as the ωx-dynamics. Both dynamics can be active in a natural asymmetric jet; the tendency for axis switching caused by the ωθ-dynamics may be, depending on the streamwise vorticity distribution, either resisted or enhanced by the ωx-dynamics. While this simple framework qualitatively explains the various observations made on axis switching, mechanisms actually in play may be much more complex. The two dynamics are not independent as the flow field is replete with both azimuthal and streamwise vortical structures which continually interact. Phase-averaged measurements for a periodically forced case, over a volume of the flow field, are carried out in an effort to gain insight into the dynamics of these vortical structures. The results are used to examine such processes as the reorientation of the azimuthal vortices, the resultant evolution of streamwise vortex pairs, as well as the redistribution of streamwise vortices originating from secondary flow within the nozzle.


We investigate performance characteristics of secure group communication systems (GCSs) in mobile ad hoc networks that employ intrusion detection techniques for dealing with insider attacks tightly coupled with rekeying techniques for dealing with outsider attacks. The objective is to identify optimal settings including the best intrusion detection interval and the best batch rekey interval under which the system lifetime (mean time to security failure) is maximized while satisfying performance requirements. We develop a mathematical model based on stochastic Petri net (SPN) to analyze tradeoffs between security and performance properties, when given a set of parameter values characterizing operational and environmental conditions of a GCS instrumented with intrusion detection tightly coupled with batch rekeying. We compare our design with a baseline system using intrusion detection integrated with individual rekeying to demonstrate the effectiveness.


Air pollution is one of the world's most important problems. Our paper presents and discusses the relationship between a structure of a flow field among neighboring buildings immersed in a boundary layer, and characteristics of pollutant dispersion in that area. The flow and dispersion of gases emitted by a point source located in front of the buildings also were determined by numerical model with the use of a commercial CFD code (Ansys FLUENT). This paper presents the results of a complex research program aimed at understanding the character of the flow field around groups of buildings in urban areas and the unsteady phenomena resulting from the character of the wind or from the interference of the wake flow connected with the vortexshedding process. The results showed that it is the factor-affecting process of the dispersion of pollutants in the built-up area that is more complex than the propagation of small parts explained on the basis of the processes of advection and turbulent diffusion.


Understanding the impacts of land-use mosaics on elephant distribution and the patterns of habitat use is essential for their conservation in modified landscapes. We carried out a study in 205 villages, covering 610 km2 of plantation–agriculture–forest mosaic of Hassan–Madikeri divisions in southern India, an area of intense human–elephant interactions. We monitored elephant movements, crop damage incidents, and human casualties on a daily basis for a 2-year period (2015–2017) to understand the patterns of elephant distribution across the landscape and habitat-use patterns, resulting in 1,117 GPS locations across six major habitats. Elephants were distributed across the landscape in the first year, but a high concentration of locations were noticed toward northern part of the study area during the second year, owing to clear felling of trees and installation of barriers around coffee plantations, causing an overall shift in their distribution. Investigations into habitat use by elephants revealed that during the day, elephants preferred monoculture refuges of acacia, eucalyptus, and so on, and forest fragments, avoiding reservoir, coffee, roads, and habitations. At night, agricultural lands were used more frequently while moving between refuges compared with forest fragments and habitations. Seasonally, forest fragments and agriculture were used significantly more during dry and wet, respectively. Across years, use of monoculture refuges and coffee increased with a corresponding decrease in the use of forest fragments and agriculture. In areas devoid of forest habitats, retention of monoculture refuges which provide shelter for elephants and facilitating free movement through open habitats may help minimize human–elephant conflict and promote coexistence in such land-use mosaics.


A 60-day feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary chromium on growth, feed efficiency and biochemical parameters of Labeo rohita fingerlings. Four isonitogenous (crude protein 35%) and isocaloric (415 k cal 100 g-1) experimental feeds were prepared by supplementing different levels of dietary chromium picolinate viz., control (0.0 mg kg-1), T1 (0.4 mg kg-1), T2 (0.8 mg kg-1) and T3 (1.2 mg kg-1). Weight gain WG (%), specific growth rate (SGR), feed efficiency ratio (FER) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) and apparent net protein utilisation (ANPU %) were significantly improved (p<0.05) when chromium was supplemented at 0.8 mg kg-1 feed. The protein retention (PR %) value increased with the dose of chromium, showing the highest value in T2 group. Chromium supplementation significantly increased (p<0.05) liver glycogen in T1 and T2 groups but decrease was observed at high level of chromium supplementation in T3 group. Chromium supplementation significantly reduced (p<0.05) serum cholesterol and triglycerides in all the experimental groups compared to control showing the highest reduction in T2 group. The serum high density lipoproteins-cholesterol (HDL-C) was increased (p<0.05)in all experimental groups due to chromium supplementation and the highest blood HDL-C was observed in T2 group. However, no difference (p<0.05) in the serum low density lipoproteins-cholesterol (LDL-C) and phospholipid was observed in any of the experimental groups. Similarly, highest muscle protein as well as lowest liver AST and ALT were observed in T2 group. The results of the present study indicates that growth, feed utilisation and biochemical parameters in Labeo rohita can be significantly improved by feeding the fingerlings with chromium picolinate supplemented diet (0.8 mg kg-1feed).


The southern Pierre Auger Observatory has been detecting cosmic rays above 1018eV since 2004, exploiting a hybrid air shower detection technique, with 1660 water Cherenkov detectors together with 24 air fluorescence telescopes on a 3000 km2 site. As low energy enhancements to the observatory, 3 additional telescopes with elevated fields of view were built (HEAT). The detector density was increased in the HEAT fields of view by a factor of four in an area of about 25 km2. This setup enables unbiased hybrid data taking above 1017eV. The infilled area is also being equipped with large underground scintillator muon detectors (AMIGA). Finally, a prototype array of radio antenna stations (AERA), working from 30 to 80 MHz, has been installed in a part of the infill. Properties and status of AMIGA, HEAT, and AERA are presented.


This is the Third Servier-IGIS Symposium Diabetes Supplement. As members of the International Group on Insulin Secretion (IGIS), we have done the utmost to fulfill the promise made at the First Servier-IGIS Symposium (1): the provision of yearly symposia of the highest scientific significance dealing with insulin secretion, β-cell biology, and islet pathophysiology. These symposia are made possible by a generous unrestricted educational grant from Servier (Paris). This company also manages the complex logistical tasks involved in the organization of these symposia, which are held in a pleasant venue that provides excellent opportunities for scientific exchange.

The Third Servier-IGIS Symposium focused on the 'Regulation of Insulin Production' and explored both genetic and molecular mechanisms behind the control of stimulus-secretion coupling in β-cells. A special emphasis was placed on the regulation of K+ATP channels in β-cells and the understanding of cellular mechanisms tranducing nutrient and hormonal signals into insulin release. Importantly, this symposium illustrated how a better knowledge of islet biology and pathology has in turn generated novel concepts and compounds for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The contributions by leading scientists active in these areas constitute the basis of the articles of this supplement; these have been reviewed and carefully edited by the IGIS board and selected referees.

Section 1 is concerned with efforts to discover genes associated with the susceptibility to diabetes mellitus. One identified locus has a major effect on type 1 diabetes susceptibility (IDDM 1), while other loci also have small but significant effects (IDDM 2, IDDM 15). One limitation in studies to date has been the lack of statistical power due to the inadequate size of collections of affected families. With regard to type 2 diabetes, genome scans in families with multiple affected individuals from several racial/ethnic groups have been performed. In one …


Treating of dairy waste scum into fuel will be the very beneficial for milk dairies in terms of energy savings, reduction
of hazardous emissions and independency on foreign fuels. This new approach of developing and utilization of dairy
scum oil methyl ester is highly pronounced in the field of alternative fuels for diesel engines. In the present study
experimental work attempts to unfold the influence of DSOME blends and injection timing (IT) on the performance,
emission and combustion characteristics of diesel engine. In the first phase of experimental work effect of different
blends namely DSOME-B10, DSOME-B20, DSOME-B30 and DSOME-B100 are studied and compared with petroleum
diesel. In second phase of experimental work different injection timings namely 20.deg.bTDC, 23.deg.bTDC,
26.deg.bTDC and 29.deg.bTDC are studied and compared with standard engine. From first phase of experimental
works its revealed that significant improvement of brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption and
reduced HC, CO emissions are observed for DSOME-B20 blend hence it is optimized and carried to the second phase of
the work to optimize the injection timing. From second phase of experimental results it is concluded that 26.deg.bTDC
IT for DSOME-B20 operation shown the improved performance, combustion and emission characteristics among
other ITs hence it is optimized for DSOME-B20 fuel blend.


This study investigated the protective mechanism of aqueous leaves extract of Eucalyptus obliqua (EOAE) in CCl4-mediated liver damage in Wistar rats. The animals were orally pretreated with either the extract (200 and 500 mg/kg) or vitamin C (200 mg/kg) for 10 days prior to the intraperitoneal administration of 3 mL/kg CCl4 (30% in olive oil). Subsequently, hepatic function, antioxidant and histological analyses were evaluated. The results showed that the CCl4-induced increases in the activities of ALT, ALP, AST and the concentrations of bilirubin, oxidized glutathione and malondialdehyde were significantly and dose-dependently reduced in the extract-treated rats. The extract also significantly improved the attenuated activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase as well as total protein, albumin and glutathione concentrations in the hepatotoxic animals. These improvements could be attributed to the phytoconstituents revealed by the GCMS analysis of the extract. The observed activities compared with that of vitamin C and are suggestive of hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties of EOAE and were also supported by the histological results. Overall, these data indicate that EOAE has a significant protective effect against acute CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats, which may be due to its capability to fortify the antioxidant defense systems


Cloud computing is the fastest growing technology. This technology has changed the face of traditional computing technologies and offers many benefits to the field of IT enterprises, even though it has to overcome many challenges to satisfy its maturity level. Cloud computing provides a adaptable, flexible and convenient way for sharing the data that brings plethora of benefits for both the industry and community. But often there is a natural resistance for individual users/industry to directly outsource the data to be shared on to the cloud server as the data often might contain sensitive information. Encryption is the one of the most secured way to prevent unauthorized access. This paper discusses the major security challenges of cloud computing and also highlights the importance of various cryptographic encryption algorithms as it is the major solution that can be considered for the security challenge. Due to increasing demand for more clouds and data are stored in an open environment several security issues like confidentiality, integrity and authentication may arise. This paper discusses various algorithms that ensure security in the cloud environment.


Ensuring stability is one of the most important themes of humanoid robot, because humanoid robot inherently suffers from instability. And the stable landing is the first step in various environments for the stable walking. However, it is difficult to obtain ground information in landing. So, we propose the stable walking of humanoid robot by using landing control in various environments. Landing control needs to satisfy constraints of dynamic stability, ground conditions and various feet motions to fit the each case in various environments. In most of the previous researches on landing control, robot equips foot with special mechanical equipments to obtain environment conditions. However in this paper, the various environments can be recognized with only FSRs (Force Sensing Resistors). The proposed method is evaluated through walking on an ascent with a 19 DOF (Degree of Freedom) biped robot model.


A consistent body of evidence supports an independent association between uric acid (UA) level and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in humans. It has been observed in experimental data that UA is capable of inducing renal damage through several pathways, including activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), oxidative stress, and inflammation. Treatment with urate lowering agents and RAAS inhibitors prevented renal insult mediated by UA in animal models. Both of the xanthine oxidase inhibitors available in clinical practice, allopurinol and febuxostat, were efficient in controlling gout flares. However, data from randomised controlled trials are still inconsistent in relation to their benefit for slowing CKD progression. This review discusses the metabolism of urates in humans as well as the experimental and clinical evidence linking UA to CKD. Current evidence about the effect of allopurinol and febuxostat on CKD progression is also considered.


The study examines the internationalization process of online service providers in terms of network. Online service providers (OSPs) depend on digital delivery over the internet, thus, undertaking internationalization faster than traditional firms. The literature describes such phenomenon as 'born global' also means that OSPs can overcome geographical borders easily. Network theory emphasized the importance of pre-existing knowledge and network relationships of the entrepreneur both business and social. That drives OSPs to the new markets in more efficient, less risky and faster way. This study also reveals the trust building aspect of networks as well as the role of strong and weak ties in internationalization process. The technologically complex nature of online services and the importance of building local network relationships could explain why the case company used controlled mode of entry. World wide web provides the new ways and tools to build relationships, thus giving the chance for individuals to have a larger number of network relationships. Social media such as LinkedIn or Facebook create a base with useful and easily reachable contacts, which could facilitate internationalization of OSPs. All in all, this study contributes to the existed researches and demonstrates the internationalization process of recently launched international startups providing services through online channels. ______________________________________________________________________


In 2012, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ('UNDRIP') celebrates its fifth birthday. Since its adoption by the UN General Assembly in 2007, the UNDRIP has inspired expansive academic commentary. This literature has scrutinised every aspect of the UNDRIP, from questioning the strategy and motives of its Indigenous co-drafters, to its ostensible delimiting of Indigenous peoples' right to self-determination in international law, as well as the controversial unilateral expansion by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues of its mandate to be the supervisory mechanism of state's implementation of the UNDRIP. In particular, there is acute interest in the UNDRIP's status in customary international law, no doubt generated by the over-eager scholars who claimed at the outset that some of the rights contained within the Declaration already form part of customary international law. The anxiety over whether aspects of the UNDRIP are binding or not binding is palpable, yet less attention is paid by the purveyors of this interpretation to the limitations of customary international law and the unrealistic expectations such speculation creates in Indigenous communities. Given the scrutiny it has attracted, this article traces some of the key themes emerging from the somewhat discursive multi-disciplinary commentary of the past five years, in order to reflect on the significance of the UNDRIP's fifth anniversary.


Scholars have recently examined the role of black churches in initiating civil rights and social justice activities, community development and rehabilitation projects, and family support and community health outreach programs. Practically all of this research has been on black Protestant churches. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature by investigating the extent to which African-American Catholic congregations engage in social action and social service programs in their communities. Data drawn from a nationwide survey of U.S. Catholic parishes are used to show that black churches are significantly more likely than white churches to engage in social service and social action activities independent of a variety of demographic, organizational, and structural factors known - or suspected - to influence activism. This finding lends support to the argument that the extra-religious functions of black churches - Protestant and Catholic - are more deeply ingrained in these religious institutions than is suggested by some analysts. Equally significant is the finding of positive and significant relationships between churches that have parish councils and leadership training programs and congregational activism. This finding lends support to previous findings that suggest that the organizational structure of religious institutions may influence churchgoers - opportunities for learning and practicing civic skills relevant to community activism.


Satellite-based persistent scatterer satellite radar interferometry facilitates the monitoring of deformations of the earth's surface and objects on it. A challenge in data acquisition is the handling of large numbers of coherent radar scatterers. The behavior of each scatterer is time dependent and is influenced by changes in deformation and other phenomena. Built environments are especially challenging since scatterers may have different signal qualities and deformations may vary significantly among objects. Thus, the estimation of the actual deformation requires a functional model and a stochastic model, both of which are typically unknown per scatterer and observation. Here, we present an approach that models the deformation behavior for each individual scatterer. Our technique is applied in a postprocessing phase following the state-of-the-art interferometric processing of persistent scatterers. This addition significantly improves the interpretation of large data sets by separating the relevant phenomena classes more efficiently. It leverages more information than other methods from individual scatterers, which enhances the quality of the estimation and reduces residuals. Our evaluation shows that this technique can discriminate objects in terms of similar deformation characteristics that are independent of the specific spatial position and temporal complexity. Future applications analyzing large data sets collected by satellite radars will, therefore, drastically benefit from this new capability of extracting categorized types of time series behavior. This contribution will augment traditional spatial and temporal analysis and improve the quality of time-dependent deformation assessments.


textabstractThis introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book begins with a brief history of the conflict and of previous peace processes, making the case that the current peace process is best understood in relation to the wider historical process of state consolidation and successive peace attempts in Colombia. The book discusses in detail the agreements between the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—Ejercito del Pueblo (FARC—EP) and the Colombian Government and its transitional justice component. The book focuses on identifying the challenges facing the implementation of the objectives of the transitional justice component of the peace agreement between the FARC—EP and the Colombian Government. It examines the challenges encountered in relation to policies regarding land and its restitution in Colombia. The Colombian Government has implemented and experimented with a diversity of measures in pursuit of justice and transitional justice in Colombia.


Abstract: Objective: To assess the crossreactivity of glucosamine sulfate, used for treatment of degenerative joint disease with antibodies induced in heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Background: HIT is a severe adverse effect of heparin therapy induced by an immunological mechanism. The antibodies in HIT are induced by a complex of heparin and, in most cases, platelet factor 4. Hereby generation of the antigen is not strictly dependent on heparin. Heparin can be substituted by a variety of polysulfated carbohydrates. In vitro and in vivo crossreactivity of HIT antibodies has been demonstrated for a chemically polysulfated chondroitin‐like substance (Arteparon®, Luitpoldwerke, Munich, Germany), formerly used for chondroprotection. Another drug widely used in the treatment of degenerative joint disease is glucosamine sulfate. Glucosamine is a building block of glycosaminoglycans, of which heparin is the clinically most important. Many patients with degenerative joint disease use glucosamine sulfate. This group is also at the highest risk to develop HIT following joint replacement surgery. Methods: We examined the interactions of glucosamine sulfate (DONA 200‐S, Opfermann, Wiehl, Germany) with platelets and antibodies of patients with HIT in and without the presence of heparin. Sera of 5 HIT patients and platelets of 4 healthy donors were used. The binding of HIT antibodies to PF4/glucosamine sulfate complexes was assessed by an ELISA. Results: HIT antibodies did not activate platelets in the presence of glucosamine sulfate in a serotonin‐release assay. Preincubation with glucosamine sulfate did not inhibit platelet activation by HIT antibodies in the presence of heparin (0.2 IU/ml). Antibodies bonded to PF4/heparin but not to PF4/glucosamine sulfate complexes. Conclusions: In contrast to sulfated glycosaminoglycans, there is no evidence for an immunological crossreactivity of HIT antibodies between heparin and glucosamine sulfate.


The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) Health Matters program is a randomized controlled trial of a community‐based health coaching program operating in Sacramento, California, since January 2001. It is modeled after the Health Enhancement Program and Senior Wellness Program of Seattle, Washington. Like the Health Enhancement Program, this program incorporates a menu of disability‐prevention strategies, with health coaching, patient education on the self‐management of chronic illness, and fitness forming the program's core. Unlike the Health Enhancement Program, the Health Matters program focuses as much attention on linking participants to existing community, health plan, and self‐directed programming as it does encouraging them to participate in programming developed especially for the project. All participants and controls continue to receive their usual medical care from their managed care providers. Eligibility criteria for the program include having one or more qualifying chronic health conditions, being aged 65 and older, being a member of a participating health plan, and being accepted into CalPERS' Long Term Care Insurance Program. Baseline exclusions include being cognitively impaired or qualifying for long‐term care insurance benefits due to deficiencies in two or more activities of daily living. The project has been successful in its enrollment strategy. It has also been successful in recruiting participants into project‐sponsored, community‐based, and self‐directed disability‐prevention programming. This is particularly true for programming related to diet, exercise, and various aspects of disease management.


Consensus problem with multi-agent systems has interested researchers in various areas. Its difficulties tend to appear when available information of each agent is limited for achieving consensus. Besides, it is not always the case that agents can catch the whole states of the others; an output is often the only possible measurement for each agent in applications. The idea of graph Laplacian is then of help to address such a troublesome situation. While every single agent obviously makes decision to achieve an individual goal of minimizing its own cost functional, all agents as a team can obtain even more improvement by cooperation in some cases, which leads to cooperative game theoretic approach. The main goal of this master thesis is to accomplish a combination of optimal control theory and cooperative game theory in order to solve the output consensus problem with limited network connectivity. Along with this combination, bargaining problems are considered out of necessity.


Many real data come in the form of non-grid objects, i.e. graphs, from social networks to molecules. Adaptation of deep learning from grid-alike data (e.g. images) to graphs has recently received unprecedented attention from both machine learning and data mining communities, leading to a new cross-domain field---Deep Graph Learning (DGL). Instead of painstaking feature engineering, DGL aims to learn informative representations of graphs in an end-to-end manner. It has exhibited remarkable success in various tasks, such as node/graph classification, link prediction, etc. In this tutorial, we aim to provide a comprehensive introduction to deep graph learning. We first introduce the theoretical foundations on deep graph learning with a focus on describing various Graph Neural Network Models (GNNs). We then cover the key achievements of DGL in recent years. Specifically, we discuss the four topics: 1) training deep GNNs; 2) robustness of GNNs; 3) scalability of GNNs; and 4) self-supervised and unsupervised learning of GNNs. Finally, we will introduce the applications of DGL towards various domains, including but not limited to drug discovery, computer vision, medical image analysis, social network analysis, natural language processing and recommendation.


The work which is submitted for the degree of PhD by publication comprises eleven papers published in peer-reviewed journals: six sole-authored papers and five jointauthored. The publications span the years 1995 to the present, and the qualitative research projects from which the data and publications are derived were undertaken over a period of approximately ten years, commencing in 1994/95. The publications are included in full and are examined, both individually and within a more general context, in an overview. The overarching focus of the research coheres around the construction and maintenance of occupational and leisure identities, and more specifically in the case of the latter, on sporting identities. All the research projects from which the publications derive were qualitative in nature, apart from the earliest work on doctoral students in the social sciences, which was based predominantly on documentary analysis of the relevant literature. Whilst the unifying theme of the research and the PhD submission might be termed 'identity work', three principal strands can be delineated and these are described in some detail in the overview: 1) Occupational identities: contract researchers in the social sciences; 2) Occupational identities: doctoral research students; 3) Sporting identities: distance