By the 12th century, coffee was extensively cultivated in Yemen, and qawha and cahveh , hot beverages made from roast and ground coffee beans, became popular in the Islamic world over the next 300 years. Commercial production of coffee outside Yemen started in Sri Lanka in the 1660s, Java in the 1700s, and Latin America in 1715, and this production has associations with histories of colonial expansion and slavery. Introduced to Europe in the 17th century, coffee was described by Robert Burton in the section of his 1628 Anatomy of Melancholy devoted to medicines as "an intoxicant, a euphoric, a social and physical stimulant, and a digestive aid" (quoted in Weinberg and Bealer xii). Today, more than 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year. Coffee is also an ingredient in a series of iconic dishes such as tiramisu and, with chocolate, makes up the classic mocha mix. Coffee production is widespread in tropical and sub-tropical countries and it is the second largest traded world commodity; second only to oil and petroleum. The World Bank estimates that more than 500 million people throughout the world depend on coffee for their livelihoods, and 25 million of these are coffee farmers. Unfortunately, these farmers typically live and work in substandard conditions and receive only a small percentage of the final price that their coffee is sold for. The majority of coffee farmers are women and they face additional challenges, frequently suffering from abuse, neglect, and poverty, and unable to gain economic, social, or political power in either their family's coffee businesses or their communities. Some farm coffee under enslaved or indentured conditions, although Fair Trade regimes are offering some lessening of inequalities. At the opposite end of the scale, a small, but growing, number of high-end producers market gourmet sustainable coffee from small-scale, environmentally-aware farming operations. For many in the West today, however, coffee is not about the facts of its production; coffee is all about consumption, and is now interwoven into our contemporary cultural and social habits. Caffeine, found in the leaves, seeds, and fruit of the coffee tree, is an addictive psychoactive substance, but has overcome resistance and disapproval around the world and is now unregulated and freely available, without licence. Our gastronomic sophistication is reflected in which coffee, brewing method, and location of consumption is chosen; our fast-paced lifestyles in the range of coffee-to-go options we have; and our capitalist orientation in the business opportunities this popularity has offered to small entrepreneurs and multinational franchise chains alike. Cafes and the meeting, mingling, discussions, and relaxing that occur there while drinking coffee, are a contemporary topic of reflection and scholarship, as are the similarities and differences between the contemporary cafe and its earlier incarnations, including, of course, the Enlightenment coffee house. As may be expected from a commodity which has such a place in our lives, coffee is represented in many ways in the media—including in advertising, movies, novels, poetry, songs and, of course, in culinary writing, including cookbooks, magazines, and newspapers. There are specialist journals and popular serials dedicated to expounding and exploring the fine grain detail of its production and consumption, and food historians have written multiple biographies of coffee's place in our world. So ubiquitous, indeed, is coffee, that as a named colour, it popularly features in fashion, interior design, home wares, and other products. This issue of M/C Journal invited contributors to consider coffee from any relevant angle that makes a contribution to our understanding of coffee and its place in culture and/or the media, and the result is a valuable array of illuminating articles from a diverse range of perspectives. It is for this reason that we chose an image of coffee cherries for the front cover of this issue. Co-editor Jill Adams has worked in the coffee industry for over ten years and has a superb collection of coffee images that ranges from farmers in Papua New Guinea to artfully shot compositions of antique coffee brewing equipment. In making our choice, however, we felt that Spencer Franks's image of ripe coffee cherries at the Skybury Coffee Plantation in Far North Queensland, Australia, encapsulates the "fruitful" nature of the response to our call for articles for this issue. While most are familiar, moreover, with the dark, glossy appearance and other sensual qualities of roasted coffee beans, fewer have any occasion to contemplate just how lovely the coffee tree is as a plant. Each author has utilised the idea of "coffee" as a powerful springboard into a fascinating range of areas, showing just how inseparable coffee is from so many parts of our daily lives—even scholarly enquiry. In our first feature article, Susie Khamis profiles and interrogates the Nespresso brand, and how it points to the growing individualisation of coffee consumption, whereby the social aspect of cafes gives way to a more self-centred consumer experience. This feature valuably contrasts the way Starbucks has marketed itself as a social hub with the Nespresso boutique experience—which as Khamis explains—is not a cafe, but rather a club, a trademarked, branded space, predicated on highly knowledgeable and, therefore, privileged patrons. Coffee drinking is also associated with both sobriety and hangover cures, with cigarettes, late nights, and music. Our second feature, by Jon Stewart, looks at how coffee has become interwoven into our lives and imaginations through the music that we listen to—from jazz to blues to musical theatre numbers. It examines the influence of coffee as subject for performers and songwriters in three areas: coffee and courtship rituals, the stimulating effects of caffeine, and the politics of coffee consumption, claiming that coffee carries a cultural and musicological significance comparable to that of other drugs and ubiquitous consumer goods that are often more readily associated with popular music. Diana Noyce looks at the short-lived temperance movement in Australia, the opulent architecture of the coffee palaces built in that era, what was actually drunk in them, and their fates as the temperance movement passed into history. Emma Felton lyrically investigates how "going for a coffee" is less about coffee and more about how we connect with others in a mobile world, when flexible work hours are increasingly the norm and more people are living alone than any other period in history. Felton also introducess a theme that other writers also engage with: that the cafe also plays a role in the development of civil discourse and civility, and plays an important role in the development of cosmopolitan civil societies. Ireland-based Mairtin Mac Con Iomaire surveys Dublin—that tea drinking city—and both the history of coffee houses and the enduring coffee culture it possesses; a coffee culture that seems well assured through a remarkable win for Ireland in the 2008 World Barista Championships. China has also always been strongly associated with tea drinking but Adel Wang introduces readers to the emerging, and unique, cafe and coffee culture of that country, as well as some of the proprietors who are bringing about this cultural change. Australia, also once a significant consumer of tea, shifted to a preference for coffee over a twenty year period that began with the arrival of American Servicemen in Australia during World War II. Jill Adams looks at the rise of coffee during that time, and the efforts made by the tea industry to halt its market growth. These strong links between tea and coffee are reflected in Duncan Barnes, Danielle Fusco, and Lelia Green's thought-provoking study of how coffee is marketed in Bangladesh, another tea drinking country. Ray Oldenberg's influential concept of the "third place" is referred to by many authors in this collection, but Anthony McCosker and Rowan Wilken focus on this idea. By using a study of how Polish composer, Krzysztof Penderecki, worked in his local cafe from 9 in the morning to noon each day, this article explores the interrelationship of cafe space, communication, creativity, and materialism. Donna Lee Brien brings us back to the domestic space with her article on how the popular media of cookery books and magazines portray how coffee was used in Australian cooking at mid-century, in the process, tracing how tiramisu triumphed over the trifle.  By exploring the currently fashionable practice of "direct trade" between roasters and coffee growers Sophie Sunderland offers a fresh perspective on coffee production by powerfully arguing that feeling ("affect") is central to the way in which coffee is produced, represented and consumed in Western mass culture. Sunderland thus brings the issue full circle and back to Khamis's discussion, for there is much feeling mobilised in the marketing of Nespresso.  We would like to thank all the contributors and our generous and erudite peer reviewers for their work in the process of putting together this issue. We would also like to specially thank Spencer Franks for permission to use his image of coffee cherries as our cover image. We would lastly like to thank you the general editors of M/C Journal for selecting this theme for the journal this year. References Oldenburg, Ray, ed. Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories about the "Great Good Places" At the Heart of Our Communities . New York: Marlowe & Company 2001. Weinberg, Bennett Alan, and Bonnie K Bealer. The World of Caffeine. New York and London: Routledge, 2001.


Twenty-four soybean genotypes collected from different regions and origin were evaluated for their quality performance to explore their nutritional and medicinal values. The proximate compositions showed considerable variations among soybean genotypes. The USA genotypes recorded the highest values for protein (43.1 g/100 g), total fat (23.61 g/100 g), phenolic content and flavonoids (1.77 and 2.13 mg/g). Using GC-MS analyses of methanolic extracts, a total of 88 compounds were identified in the genotypes and were classified to: 19 heterocyclic compounds, 13 compounds for ketones and esters, 9 for phenolic compound, 7 compounds for carboxylic acids and sugar moiety, 5 compounds for aldehydes and alcohols, 4 ether compounds, 3 amide, 2 alkanes and one alkene and one fatty acid ester. Indonesian genotypes recorded the highest number of phenolic and the Australian genotype A-1 had the maximum number of esters. Genotypes showed high levels of proximate compositions and pharmaceutical components, offering potential candidates for improving those traits in adapted genotypes through breeding program, as well as serving as a good source of mass production of pharmaceutical and medicinal components either through classical or in vitro production. Furthermore, platform was set for isolating and understanding the characteristics of each compound for it pharmacological properties.


Detecting drilling dysfunctions from surface data is not always easy as downhole vibrations tend to get damped before they reach surface sensors. Building machine learning models to recognize patterns in the surface data requires vibration signals captured by downhole sensors for training purposes. Such datasets are not widely available and therefore a methodology to expand these datasets is highly desirable. This work explores ways to utilize data augmentation to artificially diversify and increase datasets to build better models.
 Stick-slip (including full-stick), bit bounce, whirl, and bit balling are the primary dysfunctions considered in this work. Bayesian networks are used as classifiers to keep the model intuitive, and address situations where some input data is missing or unavailable. Once the dysfunction events in the downhole dataset were labeled, data augmentation techniques were used to generate synthetic data for scenarios where data was sparse.
 The dataset used in the project consisted of nine wells (with 19 bit runs). Most of the bit runs had a downhole vibration sensor at the bit, while some had sensors along the string as well. Of these 19 bit runs, 15 were used for training and four were used to test the models. Various data augmentations techniques were applied and validated manually as appropriate synthetic data. In the case of full-stick event detection, the saw tooth pattern in the surface torque signal was captured and provided as an input to the classifier. The classifiers thus trained were able to detect the dysfunctions using data from surface sensors to a high level of accuracy and with low false alarm rates.
 This paper presents models to predict downhole dysfunctions from surface data alone. This paper also provides guidance on data augmentation techniques that use sparse downhole datasets to improve machine learning drilling advisory models. For identifying drilling dysfunction from surface data, the tortuosity of the well is also taken into account.


People-tagging involves the process of adding non-hierarchical metadata to users of a system. Such metadata facilitates organising contacts and building user profiles in a collaborative fashion. People-tag-based user profiles can be used in use cases such as finding people with relevant expertise and filtering information. This thesis contributes to the initiative of peopletagging in three areas: a) a better understanding of how people-tags are used; b) automatic extraction, ranking and assigning people-tags to knowledge workers; and c) using tag-based profiles for an information propagation use case. Due to a lack of sufficient studies on people-tagging behaviour in online social platforms, initially, we studied how users of social media and in particular social blogs tag each other. We extracted people-tags from such websites and classified them into several categories. Our analysis suggests that people-tagging in public online social platforms is highly subjective and this may lead to interoperability drawbacks between systems that operate on top of peopletags. Building domain-specific vocabularies as well as ranking tags are approaches that we considered to eliminate subjectivity of people-tags. Current practices of tagging knowledge workers are manual processes that offer several disadvantages, such as increasing cognitive overhead for taggers and cold-start problem of peopletag-based systems. To address these issues, we developed approaches to (semi-) automatically extract, rank, and assign people-tags to knowledge workers. To this end, we extract metadata from collaborative platforms used by knowledge workers such as question–answering (Q–A) forums. We rank and assign such metadata to knowledge workers based on their contribution and collaboration history within collaborative platforms (e.g., solving an issue or providing helpful answers). We use tag-based profiles for an information propagation use case. We developed an access control and in particular an information propagation model which enables end users to define information sharing policies on top of people-tags and a numeric value called distance. The distance value determines the propagation depth of a resource in a network of connected users. As users may need help in drafting appropriate policies for a given resource, we further equipped our model with a policy advisor component to assist users for sharing items such as URLs and community-related announcements. The main goal of the policy advisor is to eliminate information overload and information shortage within a network of connected users. Given an item and tag-based user profiles as input, our policy advisor is capable of analysing the item and recommending topic-sensitive hubs who may propagate information in the network, in order to eliminate information overload and information shortage. All of our approaches are supported by prototypes that helped us to evaluate them with real-world data such as micro-blog posts and technical Q–A forums. The evaluation showed that our approaches help users to tag each other and to use tag-based profiles for a more user-centric information propagation model in social and collaborative platforms.


Vaporous and gaseous cavitation cause several physical phenomena which are typically undesirable, such as reduction in compressibility and material damage. Therefore, the ability to capture these effects in simulation is highly valued. In the fluid power field, lumped parameter modeling technique has proven effective for analyzing components and systems, allowing for fast simulations. Past efforts in modeling cavitation using lumped parameter approach have assumed dependence of fluid properties such as bulk modulus, density, viscosity directly to pressure, and temperature. This cannot be considered as the fluid mixture is composed of different phases of matter. Some other formulations account for gaseous cavitation based on the equations that are derived from vaporous cavitation. This paper illustrates a better approach that combines the two cavitation effects, by considering that both vapor and undissolved gas co-occupy a spherical bubble. The size of the spherical bubble is solved using the Rayleigh-Plesset equation and the transfer of gas through the bubble interface is solved using Henry's Law and diffusion of the dissolved gas in the liquid. These equations are coupled with a novel pressure derivative equation. To show the validity of the proposed approach, the instantaneous pressure of a closed fluid volume undergoing expansion/compression is compared with multiple experimental sources, showing an improvement in accuracy when compared to existing models. Integrating this modeling technique with current displacement chamber simulation can further improve the understanding of cavitation in hydraulic systems.


A face has its structural components such as eyes, nose and mouth. Availability of depth and facial shape information of a face is one of the main advantages of three-dimensional (3D) face recognition. In order to utilize the depth information, we extract rigid facial points on facial components and their relational features. We also extract shape indexes on areas around rigid points to represent curvature information of a face. We perform face recognition by using weighted distance matching, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA) with three different sets of features. From the experimental results, the proposed feature set performs the best compared with the other feature sets for all tested classifiers. The experimental results also show that using of both the position and the curvature features can represent a face effectively and distinctively while each of them does not provide a good discrimination power for face recognition individually.


Consuming "sprouted seeds" is one of the most important factors of a healthy diet. An experiment was conducted in the University of Debrecen, Research Centre of Nyíregyháza (Hungary) in 2014 to analyse some morphological traits of four winter wheat genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.) and one spelt (T. spelta) variety. Our results showed that the spelt wheat variety "Franckenkorn" could maintain higher root length throughout the experimental period. On average, both "Perbetei" and "Franckenkorn" varieties could maintain higher root number compared to the other varieties. The extensive breeding line "1401 HK" had the highest shoot length throughout the whole experiment, being significantly higher than the landrace variety "Perbetei" and both of the varieties "KG Bendegúz" and "KG Kunhalom". It could be concluded that "KG Bendegúz" cultivar and "Perbetei" landrace seem to be the most suitable for aquaculture techniques. In addition, "1401 HK" breeding line can be the most suitable for the production of juice since the minimal required shoot length (12 cm) was achieved within the shortest period of time after sowing (9 days). This breeding line and "Franckenkorn" can also be suitable for production of "wheatgrass", because it is consumed without roots. Further research is needed to evaluate nutritional values of these genotypes.


Purpose: To bring in perspective a rare case of spindle-cell sarcoma of lid with intra-orbital metastasis.
Methods: A seventy-five year old female presented with complaints of severe pain in right eye and right sided headache for 2 months along-with constant watering. She had a history of cataract surgery with IOL implantation in bag in right eye 4 months back. During the same time, a mass lesion was also removed from underside of right lower lid which was present for about 7-8 years. She was asthenic in built and was found to have pallor. On ophthalmic examination she was found to have Snellen's visual acuity of 6/60 OD, 6/18 OS. Intra-ocular pressure was 37.5 mm of Hg OD, 18.6 mm of Hg OS. Ocular movements were restricted in lateral and superior gaze in right eye. On palpation stony hard, tender induration could be appreciated along the right infero-nasal lid margin. Fundus examination revealed chorio-retinal folds in inferior quadrant peripherally. No palpable lymph nodes were observed. CT scan brain and orbit was advised along-with routine blood investigations and IOP control medications.
Results: CT scan revealed a heterogeneous cystic lesion measuring 17 × 16 × 21 mm in antero-inferior right orbit, abutting the globe and inferior rectus with thickening of uveo-scleral ring. The right globe was compressed and displaced supero-laterally. No bony erosion or infiltration of orbital fat or optic nerve was seen. Earlier histo-pathological report of excised lid tumor revealed low grade spindle cell sarcoma.
Conclusion: Spindle cell sarcoma of lid is rare entity. This case report reveals a spindle cell sarcoma of lid with intraorbital metastasis.


ABSTRACT:A remarkable feature often noted of artist Fred Sandback's string constructions: The geometrical forms he created with string have a strong planar feel. Phenomenologically, viewers perceive the spaces between the strings as planes with some substance. The illusion is amodally completed, as in the well-known Kanizsa triangle, by minimal prompts, but in three dimensions. Instead of creating an illusory figure, then, Sandback creates illusory planes. By noting how the constructions are like "impossible" figures, one can see how bottom-up and top-down effects combine to complicate the illusion, and the works become about the construction of space rather than its reification.


Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam), PNVCL, is a nonionic, nontoxic, water soluble, thermally sensitive and biocompatible polymer. It contains hydrophilic carboxylic and amide groups with hydrophobic carbon-carbon backbone suitable for biomedical applications. In this study, N-vinylcaprolactam was polymerized by free radical polymerization at 50, 60 and 70°C. The synthesized polymers were white powder, soluble in water and common organic solvents. The percent conversion vs. time plot is almost linear up to about 60% conversion without induction period. The activation energy of polymerization was calculated as 108.4 kJ/mol from the Arrhenius plot. FTIR and NMR results showed that polymerization takes place by opening of carbon-carbon double bond without any change in the caprolactam ring. Polymer was characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR and 13C -NMR, DSC, TGA and XRD techniques. The DSC thermogram of monomer has shown a melting point at 37.3°C. The polymer has Tg value at 1.8°C and softening temperature at 68.8°C. It was determined from the X-Ray powder pattern that the polymerization proceed in the b-crystallographic axis direction.


Bivalves are commercially important molluscs belonging to the Class Bivalvia
(Lamellibranchia or Pelecypoda), which is the second largest Class under the
Phylum Mollusca. They are bilaterally symmetrical, laterally compressed
molluscs, with extensive mantle lobes which secrete a single shell composed
of two valves. Bivalves are reported to have originated in the euryhaline
w a rm shallow coastal waters prior to their gradual invasion to estuarine,
brackish, fresh and all the reaches of marine, ecosystems. Although, none
have invaded the land, the bivalves are more successful in marine and a few
species are found in freshwater habitats. Nearly 652 species of marine
bivalves are reported from India, of which 88 species are endemic to Indian
waters.


Apoptosis is characterized by a translation switch from capdependent to internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated protein translation. During apoptosis, several members of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)4G family are cleaved specifically by caspases. Here we investigated which of the caspase-cleaved eIF4G family members could support cap-independent translation through IRES elements that retain activity in the dying cell. We focused on two major fragments arising from the cleavage of eIF4GI and death-associated protein 5 (DAP5) proteins (eIF4GI M-FAG/p76 and DAP5/p86, respectively), because they are the only potential candidates to preserve the minimal scaffold function needed to mediate translation. Transfection-based experiments in cell cultures indicated that expression of DAP5/p86 in cells stimulated protein translation from the IRESs of c-Myc, Apaf-1, DAP5, and XIAP. In contrast, these IRESs were refractory to the ectopically expressed eIF4GI M-FAG/p76. Furthermore, our study provides in vivo evidence that the caspase-mediated removal of the C-terminal tail of DAP5/p97 relieves an inhibitory effect on the protein's ability to support cap-independent translation through the DAP5 IRES. Altogether, the data suggest that DAP5 is a caspase-activated translation factor that mediates translation through a repertoire of IRES elements, supporting the translation of apoptosis-related proteins.


Multi Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT), Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) and Elimination methods of Multi-Criteria Decision analysis (MCDA) are tested to assess and compare the sustainability of different agricultural systems. Indicators and composite indicators are derived from data gathered using the agricultural sustainability categories of Productivity, Stability, Efficiency, Durability, Compatibility and Equity (PSEDCE).
Agricultural systems around the world face challenges from current agricultural practices, over-exploitation of natural resources, population growth and climate change. As a result, understanding agricultural sustainability has become a global issue. Assessment is a first step in benchmarking and tracking agricultural sustainability and can support related policy and programmes. This thesis applied the PSEDCE categories to understand more about the complexities inherent to agricultural sustainability assessment.
Agricultural sustainability assessment (ASA) requires a wide variety of ecological, economic and social information with various methods. In the first part of this thesis, a systematic analysis of the scientific soundness and user-friendliness of eight ASA approaches revealed that MCDA based ASA is the preferred holistic method. MCDA can take into account both qualitative and quantitative indicators of all dimensions of sustainability and analyze them to draw a comprehensive picture. As a multifaceted, complex issue, agricultural sustainability assessment is well-suited to MCDA, which is able to handle large data sets including stakeholders' perspectives. Given that it is a relatively new analysis procedure in the study of agriculture, only a few researchers have applied this technique to measure sustainability. Considering these findings, three MCDA methods, MAUT, PROMETHEE and Elimination, were tested to measure the relative sustainability of five agricultural systems in coastal Bangladesh.
To investigate the performance of MAUT, PROMETHEE, and Elimination, a total of 50 indicators from agricultural sustainability categories of PSEDCE were tested. From these 50 indicators, 15 composite indicators were developed through proportionate normalization and hybrid aggregation rules of arithmetic mean and geometric mean. The 15 composite indicators were used in MAUT and PROMETHEE analysis, and the 50 indicators were used in Elimination analysis.
The analyses show that MAUT is able to aggregate diverse information and stakeholders' perspectives to generate a robust score that enables a comparison of sustainability across the different agricultural systems. PROMETHEE is a non-compensatory approach that can also accommodate a variety of information and provide thresholds for ranking relative agricultural sustainability for each of the five agricultural systems. Elimination ranks the sustainability of agricultural systems through a set of straightforward decision rules expressed in the form of "if … then …" conditions. Elimination appears to be quick and…


This paper attempts to model the likely interaction between political dynamics and windfall oil rents in a number of soon-to-be oil-dependent economies in Africa. Using a theoretical framework designed by North, Wallis and Weingast, and a game theoretic model developed by Robert Bates, it examines the potential impact of these rents in four countries, namely Ghana, Liberia, Uganda and Tanzania, conditioned on the nature of the current political equilibrium. Only when these dynamics are properly understood can credible policies be designed to overcome the difficulties normally associated with oil dependence. The paper finds that the nominal existence of democracy is by itself insufficient to propel countries towards economic dynamism and meaningful political inclusion. Only in instances where ratios of oil rent to government revenue are low and existing institutions relatively strong is equilibrium political stability likely to be maintained. In almost all instances, oil rents disrupt political incentives in a way that is likely to undermine economic performance. Ghana is a potential exception but the bulge of youth unemployment and relatively limited access to economic opportunities outside the extractive industries remain a cause for concern. In the light of these findings, policy practitioners should aim to design policies for oil rent management that understand political equilibria and neither disrupt these equilibria towards instability in the short run nor entrench a predatory elite over the long run. A B O U T T H E A U T H O R Ross Harvey holds an MPhil degree in public policy from the University of Cape Town (UCT). He is a visiting research fellow at the Governance of Africa's Resources Programme (GARP) at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), and a PhD student at the UCT School of Economics. His GARP research examines the political economy of mining and development across Africa. His PhD research focuses on how Chinese investment in Africa's minerals and energy sectors affects the nature of the elite bargain in host countries.


Various Rapid Prototyping methods have been available for the production of physical architectural models for a few years. This paper highlights in particular the advantages of 3D printing for the production of detailed architectural models. In addition, the current challenges for the creation and transfer of data are explained. Furthermore, new methods are being developed in order to improve both the technical and economic boundary conditions for the application of 3DP. This makes the production of models with very detailed interior rooms possible. The internal details are made visible by dividing the complex overall model into individual models connected by means of an innovative plug-in system. Finally, two case studies are shown in which the developed methods are applied in order to implement detailed architectural models. Additional information about manufacturing time and costs of the architectural models in the two case studies is given.


Research has shown the importance of sex differences for various aspects of schizophrenia. This study focused on sex-related differences in thought processing as shown in the Rorschach test. Thirty-six schizophrenic patients (18 men and 18 women) were tested with the Rorschach in accordance with the Comprehensive System. The results showed that the female patients were more active in handling information input but showed more impairment in conceptualization. The male patients showed more perceptual disturbance. It was concluded that the Rorschach might add information in differentiating among subtle thought disturbances. It might even be useful to detect relationships between thought processes and neuroleptic medication.


Objectives: The aim was to determine the accuracy of a novel algorithm for individually fitted 1st trimester growth curves using a new growth model. Methods: Prospective observational study. Women in the 1st trimester presenting to the Early Pregnancy Unit, between November 2006 and December 2009, underwent transvaginal scan. Women with viable singleton pregnancies in the 1st trimester who had at least three CRL measurements > 5.6 mm were selected. A power function for CRL was derived from two CRL measurements. Individual curves were fitted using computer software to estimate a dating adjustment factor (the k coefficient), and 'P' (growth coefficient) values for each case. Results: 81 pregnancies met the criteria for CRL growth curve validation. The average percentage error of the model in predicting a third CRL measurement was 1% with a SD of 9.1%. Conclusions: Individually-fitted growth curves for the 1st trimester using the KP algorithm are accurate in predicting CRL growth trajectories.


Abstract Objectives: To systematically synthesize the status of predoctoral implant dental education in terms of clinical outcomes including implant success and survival of them when placed by predoctoral students. Materials and methods: A thorough search was carried out up to February 2019 using Medline (OVID), EMBASE, ERIC, and Web of Science electronic databases. In addition to this, bibliographies of the potentially eligible articles were searched manually. Abstracts that seemed to satisfy the initial selection criteria were selected for the recovery of the full text. The full-text risk of bias assessment was then done, in line with the selection criteria by two reviewers. The selected articles were evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal tools. The GRADE approach was adapted, but not validated, for observational studies to assess the certainty of evidence. Results: Overall, 15 articles were included. Most of the reported implants were used to support mandibular overdentures or single unit implants and their survival rates were found to be generally favorable. Only a few studies also used patient satisfaction surveys which displayed overall satisfaction, suggesting that the dental implant treatment may be adequately provided in school settings. Clinical significance: The success and survival of the implant's type done in an undergraduate classroom setting is indicative of the undergraduate dental implant curriculum. Based on this work, it can be concluded that the success and survival of such implants appear to be reasonable and most of the patients getting an implant at the school were satisfied.


The representation, matching and analysis of objects of interest are of prime importance in shape-based retrieval systems. Considering that these systems involve analysis of various complex shapes, an accurate representation of free form shape is required. A simple and accurate shape representation procedure would ensure meaningful results from the shape-based retrieval systems. Motivated by this factor, this paper presents a free form shape representation technique using Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) modelling. The free form shapes are modelled using control points and weights. NURBS posses attractive properties such as spatial uniqueness, bounded and continuous, local shape controllability and shape invariance under transformation. Furthermore, NURBS based shape descriptor allows accurate reconstruction of the shape boundary from the NURBS features used to describe it. This paper presents the details of deriving a set of NURBS features using the boundary of the object. The accuracy and data reduction properties using NURBS are examined by carrying out an experiment on two sets of images: geometric and free form. Accuracy of the representation is evaluated by using centroidradii error function, which computes the cumulative distance between the intersection points by radii lines on the boundary of the original image and the reconstructed image. The data reduction property is shown by the ratio computation between the number of control points and the boundary points. The overall experiment results show that NURBS is an accurate shape descriptor and a potential candidate for use in shape-based image retrieval systems.


Angiotensin II (Ang II)–induced phospholipase D (PLD) activity is greater in aortic smooth muscle from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) versus normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). Whether and how this signaling pathway is altered in preglomerular microvascular smooth muscle cells (PGSMCs), a cell type that may participate in genetic hypertension, is unknown. The goals of the present study were to determine in SHR and WKY PGSMCs the following: (1) whether Ang II induces PLD activity; (2) whether the effect of Ang II on PLD activity is greater in SHR; (3) which PLD isoform is stimulated by Ang II; (4) what signaling pathway mediates Ang II–induced PLD stimulation; and (5) whether the signaling pathways mediating Ang II–induced PLD activity are different in SHR and WKY. The EC50 for Ang II–induced PLD stimulation in SHR was 10-fold lower than the EC 50 in WKY, and both were inhibited by L-158,805, an AT1 antagonist. Inhibitors of phosphoinositol-3-kinase and protein kinase C did not block Ang II–induced PLD activity in SHR and WKY PGSMCs. Catalytically-inactive constructs of PLD2 and RhoA, but not PLD1, ADP ribosylation factor 1 (ARF1), ARF6, or ADP ribosylation factor nucleotide exchange factor (ARNO) blocked Ang II–induced PLD activity in SHR and WKY PGSMCs. Brefeldin A completely blocked Ang II–induced PLD activity in SHR but only slightly reduced Ang II–induced PLD activity in WKY PGSMCs. Therefore, we conclude that in PGSMCs, the effect of Ang II on PLD activity is (1) greater in SHR; (2) mediated by AT 1 receptors signaling to PLD2; (3) transduced primarily by Rho proteins; and (4) inhibited in SHR by brefeldin A. (Hypertension. 2001; 37[part 2]:635-639.)


The techniques of information retrieval and information extraction are complementary, but to date there has been little work aimed at integrating the two. We describe how each of these techniques contributes to the process of transferring information from generator to user, summarise the issues which must be addressed if they are to work together, and report the results of some preliminary experiments on coupling them.


This paper is concerned with the identication and validation of a stochastic mesoscale material description for metallic polycrystals. For this purpose we make use of a bounded random matrix model characterizing the mesoscale elasticity tensor of heterogeneous material. The bounded random matrix exhibits uctuations that are connected to ne scale features through a calibration process performed using a micromechanical framework. The experimental calibration and validation of the model requires testing of a statistically meaningful number of samples possessing statistically similar microstructures. To that aim we rst employ a statistical model for generating 2D polycrystals that are consistent with the available microstructural measurements on the geometry and crystallographic orientations. The calibration of the mesoscale probabilistic model using realizations of digitally generated polycrystalline microstructures is briey discussed. We then present validation of the probabilistic model from simulated data resulting from subscale simulations. It is found that the probabilistic model for bounded mesoscale elasticity matrix is adequate to predict the response quantity of interest. The scatters in the model predictions are found to be consistent with the ne scale response. The proposed probabilistic model combined with the nite element analysis can be used as a predictive tool in the system level in the context of structural health monitoring and damage prognosis.


AstraZeneca is refusing to give ground in a war of words with the watchdog group Healthy Skepticism, an international non-profit organisation, over advertising claims made for its bestselling proton pump inhibitor, esomeprazole (Nexium).

Before the 2003 Rugby World Cup tournament in Australia, AstraZeneca sponsored an advertisement featuring a footballer diving to score a try. "Experience the power. Feel the relief," the advertisement in the September edition of Australian Family Physician magazine proclaimed. It added: "Nexium 40 mg offers greater healing power than either omeprazole or lansoprazole: with no compromise in tolerability," with the punchline "it's got the power—Nexium."

Ever since Healthy Skepticism's …


Within the European food market, traditional food products (TFP) represent a growing segment. Nonetheless, European consumers' definition and perception of TFP have not been thoroughly addressed thus far. The specific aim of this study was to provide an all-embracing consumer definition of the concept of TFP that is comfortable for the largest possible majority of European food consumers. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from representative consumer samples from Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Spain in November 2007, yielding a total sample of 4,828 participants. The study elaborates on country-specific peculiarities and identifies consumer segments that differ in the emphasis they place in the conceptualization of TFP. The following definition emerged, A traditional food product is a product frequently consumed or associated to specific celebrations and/or seasons, transmitted from one generation to another, made in a specific way according to gastronomic heritage, naturally processed, and distinguished and known because of its sensory properties and associated to a certain local area, region or country. Cross-European homogeneity was found in the elements to include in the definition, across and within-country heterogeneity existed regarding the specific emphasis of particular elements. Four consumer segments were distinguished by whom TFP are predominantly defined as multiconcept, usual/familiar, authentic/typical, and inherited. The first segment displayed a very broad conceptualization, without a clear differentiation. For the latter three segments, particular elements dominated their conceptualization. Product positioning, marketing, and communication challenges for TFP facing these consumer segments are discussed. [EconLit citations: D12; M39; Q13]. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Internationally recognised expert and one of India's most distinguished economists, C.H. Hanumantha Rao has contributed immensely to a better understanding of India's economy. Often quoted over the years, his meticulously prepared research papers and analytical writings have enlightened students, senior researchers and policymakers alike. The present volume brings together author's papers on the three related themes, viz., Agricultural Growth, Farm Size and Tenure, and Rural Poverty Alleviation in India. Written over a period of four decades while the author worked at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi (1961-1992) and thereafter as an honorary professor, at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad, they reflect the evolution of policies for agricultural development and rural poverty alleviation in India over this period. The 31 essays included in this book highlight author's approach and the position taken on these three major interrelated issues which are of continuing interest and concern in the current academic and policy discussions. Needless to say, here's an extremely useful book for students of Indian economy and a valuable guide for policymakers, researchers and economic analysts.


and is an important determinant of consultation behaviour and clinical care. Hannay made us familiar with the symptom iceberg,3 although only one in 40 symptoms becomes the subject of a medical consultation.45 The severity of symptoms is a poor predictor of a patient's likelihood to consult a general practitioner; studies of gastrointestinal symptoms have shown that concern about the implications of symptoms for serious or life threatening disease operates as a trigger to consultation.6 Thomas made the crucial observation that in up to 40% of patients seen in general practice it is impossible to make a firm physical diagnosis and that most of these patients recover completely and spontaneously; Thomas coined two telling phrases to describe this work-"the temporarily dependent patient"7 and "the therapeutic illusion."8 In general practice we are concerned to make early and accurate diagnoses of important illness and to avoid unnecessary investigation of minor and self limiting disorders. To answer the question "Well, if it's not serious then what is it?" we use what Dixon dubbed diagnostic black boxes, which apparently explain problems as long as you do not inquire into the mechanism too closely.9 Terms such as "a virus," "sprains," and "fibrositis" help to identify otherwise unidentifiable disorders and point the way to non-intervention. The last piece of the jigsaw was provided by Thomas'"; in patients in whom no definite diagnosis could be made a "positive consultation" (in which a definite dignosis was nevertheless given) was associated with greater patient satisfaction and a higher recovery rate than an artificially "negative consultation." Cohen's patients will undoubtedly benefit from his diagnostic certainty. A particularly elegant path between candour and paternalism was taken by the eminent specialist in the apocryphal quotation: "You want to know what's wrong. Well, it's not a condition to which we doctors can yet exactly put a name. But I want you to know this. You've come to the very best man in Britain for it."


LPT (Lanzhou Penning Trap) is an ion-trap facility in Lanzhou, China. As ions can be cooled to an extremely small phase space and can be stored for a very long time, ion traps are a perfect instrument for high precision mass measurements. A system with specialized electronics for LPT is under construction now. This system could be used for voltage and timing control to make ions moving in a special mode, and the data acquisition and analysis online/offline could be achieved in the mean time. The requirements of control system, the distribution of hardware, the overview of software, and the latest progress of LPTCtrlSys (Lanzhou Penning Trap Control System) are presented.


We review the bourgeoning literature on ethno-racial diversity and its alleged effects on public trust and cohesion in the context of the evolution of the concept of social capital and earlier claims about its manifold positive effects. We present evidence that questions such claims and points to the roots of civicness and trust in deep historical processes associated with race and immigration. We examine the claims that immigration reduces social cohesion by drawing on the sociological classics to show the forms of cohesion that actually keep modern societies together. This leads to a typology that shows "communitarianism" to be just one such form and one not required, and not necessarily ideal, for the smooth operation of complex organizations and institutions. Implications of our conclusions for future research and immigration policy are discussed.


The Garden of Uzza (2 Kgs 21,18.26) is commonly regarded as a pleasure garden in or near Jerusalem which came to be used as a royal burial ground once the tombs in the City of David had become full. However, in this article it is argued that the religious and cultic significance of royal garden burials has been widely overlooked. In drawing upon comparative evidence from the ancient Near East, it is proposed that mortuary gardens played an ideological role within perceptions of Judahite kingship. Biblical texts such as Isa 65,3-4; 66,17 and perhaps 1,29-30 refer not to goddess worship, but to practices and sacred sites devoted to the royal dead.


Abstract Developmental researchers face considerable challenges regarding maximizing data collection and reducing participant attrition. In this article, we use our experiences implementing our study on the effects of timing of prenatal stress on maternal and infant outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic as a framework to discuss the difficulties and solutions for these challenges, including the development of two types of virtual assessments. Specific information regarding use of virtual platforms, confidentiality, engaging children during video conferencing, and modifying the major assessments of our research are discussed. Feasibility data are presented, and data analytic challenges regarding statistical inference are outlined. Finally, we conclude with some of the unintended positive consequences for our research that resulted from making these modifications to our original methods.


Consolidation and upgrades of accelerator equipment during the first long LHC shutdown period enabled particle collisions at energy levels almost twice higher compared to the first operational phase. Consequently, the software infrastructure providing vital information for machine operation and its optimisation needs to be updated to keep up with the challenges imposed by the increasing amount of collected data and the complexity of analysis. Current tools, designed more than a decade ago, have proven their reliability by significantly outperforming initially provisioned workloads, but are unable to scale efficiently to satisfy the growing needs of operators and hardware experts. In this paper we present our progress towards the development of a new workload-driven solution for LHC transient data analysis, based on identified user requirements. An initial setup and study of modern data storage and processing engines appropriate for the accelerator data analysis was conducted. First simulations of the proposed novel partitioning and replication approach, targeting a highly efficient service for heterogeneous analysis requests, were designed and performed.


Abstract In an effort to determine whether it is feasible to use tracer techniques in the study of circulations and rain scavenging processes in severe convective storms, a pilot experiment using indium as tracer was conducted. A total of 200 gm of indium was released over a period of 21 min into the updraft feeding a relatively small convective system. The tracer was released by means of pyrotechnic flares from an airplane flying at about 3200 ft altitude. The rainfall from the system was sampled at the ground by means of an array of samplers placed and recovered by two mobile units. Analysis of the samples compared against analyses of untagged rain samples and reagent backgrounds of indium distinctly indicates the presence of tracer indium in a reasonable distribution pattern.


Selling virtual goods is an increasingly popular revenue model for operators of social online services, examples of which are virtual worlds and social networking services. Compared to more traditional revenue models, such as time-based pricing, the revenue generation logic in virtual goods sales has a tighter interdependence with service structures, such as the rules of internal economy and game mechanics. The sold products are in interaction with the virtual environment, both of which are designed by the developers. However, the planning of business models in synergy with such service design is not currently well understood.This thesis adopts a conceptual-analytical perspective. By reviewing literature pertaining to virtual goods sales and virtual world services, this thesis seeks to identify business aspects of virtual goods sales. Identified aspects and theories are then synthesised under one model utilising conceptual business model frameworks.The results provide a conceptual meta-model of virtual goods sales business, with fur-ther descriptions of business model components. Moreover, the results show business aspects that current business model frameworks cannot sufficiently describe. The thesis suggests modifications to current frameworks particularly pertaining to such aspects as user-generated content, service structure driven segmentation (self-selection), customer equity metric-driven development, and service context, which in virtual world design specifically includes game mechanics, social interaction design and rules of virtual economy.


Abstract : The general nonlinear regression problem associated with the inversion of magnetotelluric data to a one-dimensional, horizontally homogeneous earth model is investigated. An automatic program that will invert most magnetotelluric data encountered by the author to a significant one-dimensional model without any interaction on the part of the computer operator is presented. A comparison is made of the Gauss-Newton method, a modified Newton-Raphson method, and the Nelder and Mead flexible simplex method for fitting data with a model in a least square sense. It is concluded that the modified Newton0Raphson method with a gradient starter is generally the most successful algorithm for inverting magnetotelluric data and also for use in the automatic program. Another study is made to determine what range of frequencies of the surface data are altered most by perturbations in the model at various depths. From this study and other work an algorithm is presented that generates a first guess model for a magnetotelluric inversion program. In addition, this perturbation technique is useful in determining what frequency range of data is necessary to define a particular geological profile. Many program and model insensitivities that occur during the inversion process are categorized and discussed, and corrections for each type of insensitive program termination are suggested for use in the automatic program. Several examples of the automatic program inversions of theoretical data with and without noise and actual field data are presented and discussed. (Author)


Crumb rubbers have been investigated as additives to concrete and promising results have been observed. Organosulfur compounds from a petroleum-refining factory were used to modify the surface properties of crumb rubbers. The intermolecular interaction forces between cement hydration products (C-S-H) and rubber crumbs were measured directly by an atomic force microscope (AFM) equipped with a colloid probe. Experimental data indicate that crumb rubber surface is more hydrophilic after the treatment with organosulfur compounds and the intermolecular interaction forces between C-S-H and rubber increase with the treatment of crumb rubbers with organosulfur compounds. Furthermore, these increased interaction forces lead to an increased concrete strength.


The Rayleigh-Plesset equation has been used extensively to model spherical bubble dynamics, yet it has been shown that it cannot correctly capture damping effects due to mass and thermal diffusion. Radial diffusion equations may be solved for a single bubble, but these are too computationally expensive to implement into a continuum model for bubbly cavitating flo ws since the diffusion equations must be solved at each position in the flo w. The goal of the present research is to derive reduced-order models that account for thermal and mass diffusion. We present a model that can capture the damping effects of the diffusion processes in two ODE's, and gives better results than previous models.


BACKGROUND
Tuberculosis (TB) causes pressure on healthcare resources, especially in terms of hospital admissions, despite being considered an ambulatory care-sensitive condition for which timely and effective care in ambulatory setting could prevent the need for hospitalization. Our objectives were to describe the spatial and temporal variation in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) hospitalizations, identify critical geographic areas at municipality level and characterize clusters of PTB hospitalizations to help the development of tailored disease management strategies that could improve TB control.

METHODS
Ecologic study using sociodemographic, geographical and clinical information of PTB hospitalization cases from continental Portuguese public hospitals, between 2002 and 2016. Descriptive statistics, spatiotemporal cluster analysis and temporal trends were conducted.

RESULTS
The space-time analysis identified five clusters of higher rates of PTB hospitalizations (2002-16), including the two major cities in the country (Lisboa and Porto). Globally, we observed a -7.2% mean annual percentage change in rate with only one of the identified clusters (out of six) with a positive trend (+4.34%). In the more recent period (2011-16) was obtained a mean annual percentage change in rate of -8.12% with only one cluster identified with an increase trend (+9.53%).

CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that space-time clustering and temporal trends analysis can be an invaluable resource to monitor the dynamic of the disease and contribute to the design of more effective, focused interventions. Interventions such as enhancing the detection of active and latent infection, improving monitoring and evaluation of treatment outcomes or adjusting the network of healthcare providers should be tailored to the specific needs of the critical areas identified.


This article examines the epistemic use of the conditional in French. After surveying the current research into the different traditions in which such a conditional has been analysed (evidentiality, polyphony and modality), it proposes an analysis according to which the epistemic use of the conditional is a subtype of the hypothetical one. This assumption is based on diachronic data, which show that the epistemic conditional can be interpreted as coming from an allusion to a hypothetical point of view. The shift toward the epistemic value is realized by the ambiguous interpretation between the report of a point of view [si l'on suit le point de vue de X] (according to X's point of view) and the report of a saying [si ce que dit X est juste] (if X says the truth). The epistemic value of the conditional comes from a loosening of the semantic link between the latter protasis and the main conditional clause.


In spite of the amount of research conducted on financial literacy, the literature offers little information about the role of attitude toward finance in financial achievement. This exploratory study aims to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the phenomenon of 'attitude toward finance', viewed as potentially connected to people's financial knowledge levels. The study focuses on a sample of 87 women aged between 19 and 65 years old in order to assess and compare their attitude to finance. Methodologically, this is a qualitative study based on focus group discussions. We find different 'attitude profiles' in our sample reflecting the complex interaction of affect with learning finance, cognitive competence, value, difficulty, and interest in finance. As might be expected, women with a specific educational or professional path in finance are found to have a more favourable attitude toward finance. Conversely, age appears to have no relationship with attitude toward finance. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.


This paper describes the reconstruction of electrons and photons with the ATLAS detector, employed for measurements and searches exploiting the complete LHC Run 2 dataset. An improved energy clustering algorithm is introduced, and its implications for the measurement and identification of prompt electrons and photons are discussed in detail. Corrections and calibrations that affect performance, including energy calibration, identification and isolation efficiencies, and the measurement of the charge of reconstructed electron candidates are determined using up to 81 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data collected at √s=13 TeV between 2015 and 2017.


TNF is produced in the spleens of Listeria-infected mice during the first 3 days of a sublethal immunizing infection. The production of Listeria-induced TNF coincides with the time when peak numbers of bacteria are present in the liver and spleen. Evidence suggesting that TNF produced in Listeria-infected organs functions in a T cell-independent resistance mechanism comes from results showing that listeriosis is exacerbated in both T cell-intact mice and T cell-deficient (athymic nude) mice treated with a monospecific anti-murine TNF IgG. Listeriosis is exacerbated, however, only if the anti-TNF IgG is given during the first 3 days of infection, i.e., at the time when TNF is being produced in the spleen. Anti-TNF IgG administered on the first day of infection neutralized all the cytotoxic activity of endogenously produced TNF in the spleen. Additional evidence that TNF plays an important role in antibacterial defenses was obtained by showing that administration of pure murine rTNF protects mice against a normally lethal Listeria challenge given 1 to 24 h later.


The ubiquitin-proteasome system is a major regulatory pathway of protein degradation and plays an important role in cellular division. Fbxw7 (or hCdc4), a member of the F-box family of proteins, which are substrate recognition components of the multisubunit ubiquitin ligase SCF (Skp1-Cdc53/Cullin-F-box-protein), has been shown to mediate the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of several oncoproteins including cyclin E1, c-Myc, c-Jun, and Notch. The oncogenic potential of Fbxw7 substrates, frequent allelic loss in human cancers, and demonstration that mutation of FBXW7 cooperates with p53 in mouse tumorigenesis have suggested that Fbxw7 could function as a tumor suppressor in human cancer. Here, we carry out an extensive genetic screen of primary tumors to evaluate the role of FBXW7 as a tumor suppressor in human tumorigenesis. Our results indicate that FBXW7 is inactivated by mutation in diverse human cancer types with an overall mutation frequency of approximately 6%. The highest mutation frequencies were found in tumors of the bile duct (cholangiocarcinomas, 35%), blood (T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia, 31%), endometrium (9%), colon (9%), and stomach (6%). Approximately 43% of all mutations occur at two mutational "hotspots," which alter Arg residues (Arg465 and Arg479) that are critical for substrate recognition. Furthermore, we show that Fbxw7Arg465 hotspot mutant can abrogate wild-type Fbxw7 function through a dominant negative mechanism. Our study is the first comprehensive screen of FBXW7 mutations in various human malignancies and shows that FBXW7 is a general tumor suppressor in human cancer.


Author(s): Goodwin, Marc | Advisor(s): Cohen, Lawrence | Abstract: This dissertation, On the Other Side of Hyperactivity: an Anthropology of ADHD, provides a meta-historical and cultural perspective on the emergence and proliferation of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the United States over the last three decades. Through in-depth multi-sited ethnography (15 months in the San Francisco Bay Area) with doctors, educators, parents, and children as well as detailed archival research into the disorder's antecedents, my research explores how ADHD operates as both a psychiatric category and social imaginary that links together in its operation the domains of education, biomedicine, and family life in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. More broadly, by examinig the relationship between consumption and time, my analysis pushes the study of ADHD into new territory showing how ADHD's symptoms--hyperactivity and impulsivity--operate both through the body and its exteroor milieus creating a new architecture of experience in contemporary American life.Toward this end, my analysis here develops a renewed concept of hyperactivity that differs from the term's everyday use. Hyperactivity comes from the Greek "huper-," "over, beyond, above" and the Latin "activus" related to the noun "actus," a "driving" or "impulse." In both its broadest sense as a concept and its specific meanings as a medical category, hyperactivity as a condition marks a threshold. On the one hand, the challenge of this dissertation is to locate this threshold by attending both ethnographically and historically to the ways that hyperactivity has been marked as a significant problem in the world: for example, when and where does hyperactivity emerge as a target of psychiatric intervention? Why does its diagnosis and treatment remain controversial today? How do scientific and medical approaches to hyperactivity challenge commonsense ideas about personal responsibility and accountability? More importantly, the challenge is to think life on the other side of this threshold, on the other side of hyperactivity. This means thinking hyperactivity not simply as a medical category or oppressive label, but as an active and dynamic force. It also means thinking hyperactivity not only in the negative sense of the limits it sets on life--how do the categories, labels, modes of treatment and diagnosis of the condition constrain and confine, etc.--but also in the positive powers of creativity, novelty, and difference. Therefore the task, I argue, and what my dissertation attempts to do, is to show through sustained empirical attention and conceptual reflection the singular way hyperactivity articulates things like neurological deficit, rituals of self-stimulation, habits of consumption, and modes of identification and belonging that before had no direct connection, and thus to appreciate what is new and different about hyperactivity in the world today.


Drought and water scarcity pose a risk to the economy, particularly sectors where water is a crucial input to the production process. This paper describes integrated simulations of water shortages from a dynamic national water resource systems model with a static economic input‐output (I‐O) model to assess total drought risk to the economy. To quantify the economic risks of drought and water scarcity, the analysis: (a) integrates a large ensemble of simulated meteorological droughts, propagated through a national hydrological model and water resource systems model to simulate water availability from reservoirs and groundwater; (b) assesses implications of restrictions on water availability for multiple water user categories, representing natural and human contributions to water scarcity; (c) investigates how water shortages propagate into economy‐wide direct and indirect impacts. The study focuses on England and Wales where the water supply system is considered under strain, with growing recognition of the economic risk of prolonged and widespread shortages. The direct Expected Annual Loss (EAL) to water users, averaged over an ensemble equivalent to 2800 years of synthetic daily weather, is estimated to be £11.7 million in the 2011 base‐year. Accounting for indirect economic losses results in a total EAL of £30.2 million in 2011. The most severe event simulated results in a total loss of £1.4 billion in 2011, equivalent to 0.11% of GVA. The analysis provides a framework to assess what the economically efficient level of system reliability should be, and for deciding upon appropriate water management regulations and strategic investments.


Binary encounters between spherical particles in shear flow are studied for a system bounded by a single planar wall or two parallel planar walls under creeping flow conditions. We show that wall proximity gives rise to a new class of binary trajectories resulting in cross-streamline migration of the particles. The spheres on these new trajectories do not pass each other (as they would in free space) but instead they swap their cross-streamline positions. To determine the significance of the wall-induced particle migration, we have evaluated the hydrodynamic self-diffusion coefficient associated with a sequence of uncorrelated particle displacements due to binary particle encounters. The results of our calculations quantitatively agree with the experimental value obtained by Zarraga & Leighton (Phys. Fluids, vol. 14, 2002, p. 2194) for the self-diffusivity in a dilute suspension of spheres undergoing shear flow in a Couette device. We thus show that the wall-induced cross-streamline particle migration is the source of the anomalously large self-diffusivity revealed by their experiments.


To assess the dental practitioners' use of social media, concerning demographic and social variables and the impact of social media use on dental practice.The study was a cross-sectional analytical study of dental practitioners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered 30-items questionnaire was distributed to 438 dentists, which included eight questions related to background and demographic information and 22 questions related to the use of social media within the dental practice. Data were entered and analyzed usingSPSSsoftware. Data analysis included frequency distributions and chi-square tests to assess the association of social media use with demographic and social variables and its impact on dental practice. Significant level was considered ifpwas less than 0.05.Of participating, 338 dentists, 52% were using social media in their practice. Twitter was the most commonly used (35%). Education was the primary purpose of using social media (43%), while entertainment was the least (8%). Approximately 62% and 68% are using social media for marketing of their dental practice and broadcasting treatment outcome, respectively. Social media was observed to be used significantly higher among Non-Saudi, general and private dentists. Participating dentists who used social media in their practice significantly recommended using social media to other dentists.In general, non-Saudis, general practitioners and dentists practicing in private clinics are significantly using more social media during their practice. The majority of dental practitioners indicated that social media has improved their dental practice and become an indicator of successful practice.


With the advancements in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, energy harvesting IoT devices are becoming significantly important. These tiny IoT devices can harvest bounded energy, thus need an efficient protocol to conserve the energy in more efficient manner. From the review, it is found that the development of an efficient energy efficient protocol for energy harvesting IoT is still an open area of research. It is found that fuzzy based energy harvesting IoTs has shown significant improvement over the existing protocols. However, the fuzzy logic suffers from the data uncertainty issue. Therefore, in this paper, Gaussian functional shapes-based type-II fuzzy membership function is used to elect the cluster heads among the IoT devices to reduce the energy consumption of energy harvest IoTs. Thereafter, inter-cluster data aggregation is used. Finally, the communication between the elected cluster heads and the cloud servers or sink. Extensive experiments are drawn by considering the existing and the proposed protocols for energy harvesting IoTs. Comparative analysis reveals that the proposed type-II fuzzy membership function-based protocol outperforms the existing protocols in terms of bandwidth analysis, throughput, conserve energy, network lifetime, and average consumed energy.


Using a Sheet of personality Self-estimation of Le Senne eight subgroups were isolated from a group of patients with sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis, and analogous subgroups were isolated from healthy subjects which served as control subgroups. By the inquiry method and by the Test of Sentence Completion IG the clinical form of tuberculosis, degree of pulmonary tissue damage, extent and location of pulmonary lesions, and the intensity of conflict areas were determined. The statistical analysis showed that no temperament type was an epidemiological barrier protecting the organism against invasion by and development of M. tuberculosis. As compared to other temperament types the sentimentalists showed most intense conflict areas which was reflected in antituberculosis treatment. Attention is called to the usefulness of psychological testing for epidemiological studies on tuberculosis and to the necessity of their more widespread use in the programmes of postgraduate studies.


Traditional ballasted railway track substructure usually consists of graded layers of granular media of ballast and subballast (capping) placed above a compacted subgrade (formation soil). Ballast particles breakdown and deteriorate progressively under heavy train cyclic loading. Breakage of ballast is always associated with railway track deformation, which requires costly regular track maintenance in the form of replacing the degraded (recycled) ballast with fresh aggregates and subsequent re-compaction (tamping). In this paper, the use of geosynthetics for improving the deformation and degradation characteristics of recycled ballast is investigated. The prospective use of three different types of geosynthetics (i.e. geogrid, geotextile, and geocomposite) in enhancing the performance of recycled ballast under cyclic loading is examined using a large-scale prismoidal triaxial rig. A plane strain finite element analysis (PLAXIS) of the prismoidal triaxial rig is also carried out and used to obtain the optimum location of geosynthetics in railway track substructure. The results indicate that the use of geosynthetics for stabilizing the recycled ballast in railway tracks improves the performance characteristics of the track and consequently, reduces the track maintenance cost.


Despite clear physical and psychosocial benefits, disabled people are half as likely to participate in sport as able-bodied peers. Active adolescents typically become active adults, making early engagement in sport important. For those with upper limb absence, sport participation levels are poorly understood, with limited literature on prosthesis provision, usage or impact. Activity monitors facilitate objective data collection on arm use during sport activity, but have yet to be used to explore this.
The objectives of this feasibility study are to:
• Capture objective prosthesis wear and usage patterns from physically active upper limb absent (ULA) adolescents;
• Develop understanding of how this usage relates to sports participation; and to
• Gather sports participation data and capture participants' views on sport, prostheses and reasons for use / non-use in sport.

Three active adolescents with unilateral upper limb absence were recruited alongside four comparable anatomically intact (AI) adolescents. Bilaterally wrist-worn activity monitors and activity diaries were used for data collection over 2-weeks. The ULA participants also undertook semi-structured interviews.

Prostheses were worn between 16.2% and 56.5% of the time during sport. Reliance on the anatomical arm during prosthesis wear was 72% overall but 68% during sports. Contrastingly, AI adolescents showed similar reliance on both arms (51% reliance on dominant overall, 50% during sport). Thematically analysed interviews identified three organising themes, participants' attitudes to: sport; prosthesis use during sport and everyday prosthesis use. The global theme identified was that, "the ability to participate in sport has a powerful influence on participants' lives. Despite minimal prosthesis wear during sport, prostheses were used when participants felt they offered specific benefits."
Overall data suggest minimal use of prostheses during sport, with devices used only when participants believed it functionally benefited participation. With prosthesis wear, patterns of activity were still skewed towards the anatomical side. These findings raise questions over functionality and usability of current prostheses for sports. Larger studies using similar methods are therefore warranted.


We investigated the relationship between brood size and social dominance during the brood-rearing period in Lesser Snow Geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) by experimentally manipulating food availability to create high-biomass food patches. A total of 128 social interactions were subsequently observed in experimental areas; the rate of interactions was significantly higher in experimental high-biomass plots (9.6 hr −1 ) than in control, low-biomass, areas (0.4 hr −1 ). During social interactions families (pairs with one or more goslings) were always dominant over pairs without goslings. However, there was no clear dominance hierarchy among families in relation to brood size. Neither aggressiveness (the number of interactions initiated) nor the proportion of successful interactions varied consistently with brood size. We conclude that, during brood rearing, dominance ranking is determined more by individual variation in aggressiveness of adult (parent) birds, rather than by any «motivational» effect of offspring or by brood size per se. Geese fed longer in the high biomass plots (mean 19.2 min per visit) than in control plots (2.9 min), and birds «defended» high biomass areas: 32% of all interactions involved a social unit inside the experimental plot driving off a social unit which was trying to enter the plot from outside. This suggests that geese derived benefits from monopolization of good quality food patches. The behavior of foraging geese varied in relation to food availability: birds took fewer steps per minute during both feeding and non-feeding bouts in the experimental plots and females, but not males, had shorter feeding bouts in experimental plots, i.e., they adopted the vigilant head-up posture more frequently. We suggest that the benefits of utilizing high biomass food patches during brood-rearing include higher intake rates, decreased energetic costs of foraging and reduced predation risk through increased vigilance behavior by parents and greater cohesion of the family unit


Understanding of social venturing activity has been limited due to an impasse in theory building that results from the theorizing being too close to entrepreneurship research literature. This paper proposes taking a cue from psychology to understand the motive of venture sponsors. It contrasts two ventures in the same activity with the same declared goal but one operating along declared commercial lines and the other with a strict eye to a social priority over the commercial. It shows how the sponsor motive is a possible discriminator to tell the two kinds of ventures apart as against an opportunity driven understanding. Practice implications and further research with established scales is suggested for larger studies.


The convergence properties of linearly stable multi-dimensional systems are investigated for the case of delta-operator implementations in fixed-point format. It is shown that zero-convergence is almost never achieved, if the sampling time is small. Using a one-dimensional analysis, it is demonstrated that zero-convergence cannot be guaranteed along the axis of the first hyper-quadrant for a first hyper-quadrant causal system. This limits the use of delta-operators for solving partial differential equations in discrete time with fixed-point arithmetic.<<ETX>>


In 2012 106 vessels over 100 gross tonnes were lost. During the damage incidents many of these vessels required assistance from shore based emergency response services with regards to their damaged strength to stabilise the situation, preserve life, prevent environmental disaster and limit financial costs to owners and insurers. The research work presented in this Engineering Doctorate Thesis surrounds the strength assessment of damaged steel ship structures, the influence of damage on the strength of steel-plated structures and methods for assessing the residual strength of a vessel in an emergency. The focus of the work is to improve the modelling of damaged steel ship structures within an emergency situation, in order to improve guidance provided to a stricken vessel during a damage incident or salvage process. Literature study has shown that structural idealisation through the use of interframe progressive collapse analysis, to be the current state of the art method for the rapid assessment of intact and damaged ship structures. However, a number of weaknesses have been identified in the method when applied to damage assessment. The literature study has also shown a lack of understanding of the effect of damage on steel-plated structures as specific analysis has not been performed previously. Significant research has been undertaken into the influence of damage, in the form of a hole, on the ultimate collapse strength of steel-plated structures. Three levels of structural modelling have been used, stiffened-plate, stiffened panel and grillage. Comparison of the predicted ultimate collapse strength by finite element analysis (FEA) with predictions using the interframe progressive collapse idealisation, has shown the calculated results to be conservative for the assessment of damaged structure when the failure mode remains in the interframe collapse form. However, changes in the failure mode lead to the interframe progressive collapse method over predicting the ultimate collapse strength. The analysis shows that even small damage events can lead to significant changes to the failure mode and resulting ultimate collapse strength of the structure. Such influences must be accounted for in any simplified method. A new method for the assessment of damaged ship structures is proposed that is capable of modelling a damage scenario more accurately. Demonstration of the method has shown the results to be less conservative than the current state of the art, when compared to FEA, for local analysis of damaged steel-plated structure. The ability of the method to account for the influence of damage, and the resulting failure modes, that may significantly influence the ultimate bending strength of the structure has also been demonstrated. The method implements a compartment level progressive collapse analysis with structural data captured through the use of the response surface method 'kriging', using data points provided from FEA. This method allows the critical damage variables to be captured and strength data accessible quickly for use in the analysis. The time to provide a solution to the damage scenario is equivalent to the existing interframe progressive collapse method. Therefore, the method is suitable for application within an emergency response or salvage service.


Author(s): Czaicki, Nancy Lynn | Advisor(s): McCoy, Sandra | Abstract: The widespread availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV infection in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has resulted in decreased morbidity, mortality, and transmission of HIV. This region, however, still represents the majority of the global burden of HIV. Furthermore, levels of retention in care and medication adherence, critical determinants of ART effectiveness, are currently suboptimal, and, thus, continue to be the target of many interventions. This dissertation is comprised of three chapters related to understanding ART adherence and interventions to improve it.Chapter 1 quantitatively describes and examines the distribution of poor adherence to antiretroviral therapy in a study of HIV-positive patients in Zambia. In a novel application of the Lorenz curve, a tool used commonly in economics, this analysis characterized the concentration of medication non-possession in a network of clinics in order to identify "hotspots" and predictors of poor adherence. Results extend previous studies by revealing that even though average adherence is high, lapses in adherence are common and concentrated among a minority of patients, and also in certain clinics. This concentration and variability varies with time on ART. Furthermore, a small fraction of patients accounts for the majority of days of medication non-possession, with the size of this group increasing with time on ART. This suggests that targeted interventions may represent a preferable overall strategy as compared to those targeting all patients to improve adherence. Furthermore, there was high variability across clinics suggesting that interventions targeting clinic "hotspots" may also represent an efficient use of resources to improve ART adherence. Chapter 2 presents the results of the first qualitative study to examine conditional incentives for ART adherence and their potential pathways of action among people living with HIV. This study was conducted within a study of conditional food and cash transfers to increase retention in care and adherence to ART among HIV-positive food insecure recent adults in Shinyanga, Tanzania. Although financial and in-kind incentives have been shown to improve outcomes along the HIV care cascade, results are mixed, and there is little evidence about the pathways through which incentives work. Results of this qualitative study and analysis revealed that incentives acted through three primary pathways to potentially increase retention in care and adherence to ART: 1) addressing competing needs and offsetting opportunity costs associated with clinic attendance, 2) increasing motivation and 3) alleviating stress associated with attending clinic, worry about providing for oneself and one's family, and providing hope for a better future. The first pathway was the strongest, which was consistent with field observations and discussions with local clinic staff, research staff, and Ministry of Health officials. Participants did not report any harmful events associated with the incentives, and reported a variety of beneficial spillover effects on household welfare. Understanding these pathways can help improve design and targeting of future food or cash incentive interventions. Chapter 3 focused on intrinsic motivation within the aforementioned study of food and cash transfers for ART adherence in Tanzania. Some critical of incentives argue that incentives can 'crowd out' intrinsic motivation, making the individual less likely to engage in the desired behavior after the incentive is removed, potentially leading to limited durability of effect and causing harm in the long term. This hypothesis was examined among recent antiretroviral treatment initiates in Tanzania by comparing participants' level of intrinsic motivation before receiving transfers to the level once the transfer period ended. The analysis revealed that, not only did intrinsic motivation not decrease after the transfer period ended, but that the level of intrinsic motivation increased overall and within study arms. Furthermore, the change in motivation did not differ by study arms. As the first study to empirically examine the crowding out hypothesis regarding incentives in a real-world, resource-limited setting, these results suggest that incentive interventions in such settings should not be impeded by concerns of crowding out intrinsic motivation.Together these chapters contribute to improving our understanding of antiretroviral adherence and intervention response. The Lorenz curve and medication possession analysis provides a more comprehensive and detailed measurement and illustration of adherence and its variability across individuals and clinics in Zambia. Such information is critical to targeting and designing future interventions. Next, by examining an ongoing intervention to improve adherence in Tanzania, we were able to elucidate and examine the potential pathways of action of food and cash transfers. Furthermore, we found no evidence that these incentives decreased intrinsic motivation. Knowledge gleaned from this deep exploration of the incentives' mechanism of action in a real-world setting not only informs refinement of the intervention, but also helps to fill the gap in understanding how and when these interventions may work.


Epigenetic regulation of transcription refers to reversible, heritable changes in gene expression that occur in the absence of changes in DNA sequence. A major epigenetic mechanism involves the covalent modification of nucleosomal histones to create binding sites for transcriptional regulators and chromatin remodeling complexes that mediate activation or repression of transcription. While it has been known for a number of years that many histone modifications are reversible, it has only recently been shown that methyl groups are enzymatically removed from lysine residues. Here we discuss the recent characterization of a new class of demethylase enzyme, the JARID1 family, which catalyzes the removal of methyl groups from lysine 4 of histone H3. We summarize recent findings regarding the function of this family of proteins, focusing on our characteriza‐ tion of Little imaginal discs (Lid), the sole JARID1 family protein in Drosophila, which is rate‐limiting for Myc‐induced cell growth. Finally, we propose models to explain the role of Lid in Myc‐mediated growth and discuss the relevance of these findings to human disease and tumor formation.


Patients who take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may develop serious gastrointestinal (GI) side effects in both the upper and lower GI tract. Those at risk should be considered for prevention with misoprostol, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or COX-2 selective inhibitor (coxib) therapy. A coxib or an NSAID+PPI combination is considered to have comparable GI safety profiles, but evidence from direct comparison is limited. PPIs are effective in the prevention of upper GI events in endoscopy trials and in a few, small, outcome trials in patients at risk. Coxibs have been evaluated in endoscopic ulcer studies and clinical outcome trials, and shown to significantly reduce the risk of upper GI ulcer and complications. Moreover, unlike PPIs, coxibs significantly reduce toxicity in the lower GI tract compared with NSAIDs. Coxibs and possibly some NSAIDs also increase the risk of developing serious cardiovascular events, an effect which may depend on the drug, dose and duration of therapy. It is not known whether concomitant low-dose aspirin use, which occurs in more than 20% of patients, will reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events, although concomitant aspirin increases the risk of developing serious GI events in patients taking either an NSAID or a coxib. Such patients may require additional PPI co-therapy. Current prevention strategies with an NSAID+PPI, misoprostol or a coxib must be considered in the individual patient with GI and cardiovascular risk factors. A PPI+coxib is indicated in those at highest risk (e.g. previous ulcer bleeding). PPI therapy must be considered for the treatment and prevention of NSAID-induced dyspepsia.


The scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in South Africa substantially reduced AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections. However, its success is threatened by the emergence of resistance to non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI). The MARISA (Modelling Antiretroviral drug Resistance In South Africa) model presented here aims at investigating the time trends and factors driving NNRTI resistance in South Africa. MARISA is a compartmental model that includes the key aspects of the local HIV epidemic: continuum of care, disease progression, and gender. The dynamics of NNRTI resistance emergence and transmission are then added to this framework. Model parameters are informed using data from HIV cohorts participating in the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) and literature estimates, or fitted to UNAIDS estimates. Using this novel approach of triangulating clinical and resistance data from various sources, MARISA reproduces the time trends of HIV in South Africa in 2005–2016, with a decrease in new infections, undiagnosed individuals, and AIDS-related deaths. MARISA captures the dynamics of the spread of NNRTI resistance: high levels of acquired drug resistance (ADR, in 83% of first-line treatment failures in 2016), and increasing transmitted drug resistance (TDR, in 8.1% of ART initiators in 2016). Simulation of counter-factual scenarios reflecting alternative public health policies shows that increasing treatment coverage would have resulted in fewer new infections and deaths, at the cost of higher TDR (11.6% in 2016 for doubling the treatment rate). Conversely, improving switching to second-line treatment would have led to lower TDR (6.5% in 2016 for doubling the switching rate) and fewer new infections and deaths. Implementing drug resistance testing would have had little impact. The rapid ART scale-up and inadequate switching to second-line treatment were the key drivers of the spread of NNRTI resistance in South Africa. However, even though some interventions could have substantially reduced the level of NNRTI resistance, no policy including NNRTI-based first line regimens could have prevented this spread. Thus, by combining epidemiological data on HIV in South Africa with biological data on resistance evolution, our modelling approach identified key factors driving NNRTI resistance, highlighting the need of alternative first-line regimens.


A new bHLH gene from mouse that we call pMesogenin1 (referring to paraxial mesoderm-specific expression and regulatory capacities) and its candidate ortholog from Xenopus were isolated and studied comparatively. In both organisms the gene is specifically expressed in unsegmented paraxial mesoderm and its immediate progenitors. A striking feature of pMesogenin1 expression is that it terminates abruptly in presumptive somites (somitomeres). Somitomeres rostral to the pMesogenin1 domain strongly upregulate expression of pMesogenin's closest known paralogs, MesP1 and MesP2 (Thylacine1/2 in Xenopus). Subsequently, the most rostral somitomere becomes a new somite and expression of MesP1/2 is sharply downregulated before this transition. Thus, expression patterns of these bHLH genes, together with that of an additional bHLH gene in the mouse, Paraxis, collectively define discrete but highly dynamic prepatterned subdomains of the paraxial mesoderm. In functional assays, we show that pMesogenin1 from either mouse or frog can efficiently drive nonmesodermal cells to assume a phenotype with molecular and cellular characteristics of early paraxial mesoderm. Among genes induced by added pMesogenin1 is Xwnt-8, a signaling factor that induces a similar repertoire of marker genes and a similar cellular phenotype. Additional target genes induced by pMesogenin1 are ESR4/5, regulators known to play a significant role in segmentation of paraxial mesoderm (W. C. Jen et al., 1999, Genes Dev. 13, 1486-1499). pMesogenin1 differs from other known mesoderm-inducing transcription factors because it does not also activate a dorsal (future axial) mesoderm phenotype, suggesting that pMesogenin1 is involved in specifying paraxial mesoderm. In the context of the intact frog embryo, ectopic pMesogenin1 also actively suppressed axial mesoderm markers and disrupted normal formation of notochord. In addition, we found evidence for cross-regulatory interactions between pMesogenin1 and T-box transcription factors, a family of genes normally expressed in a broader pattern and known to induce multiple types of mesoderm. Based on our results and results from prior studies of related bHLH genes, we propose that pMesogenin1 and its closest known relatives, MesP1/2 (in mouse) and Thylacine1/2 (in Xenopus), comprise a bHLH subfamily devoted to formation and segmentation of paraxial mesoderm.


To understand the molecular basis of hemophilia A and to provide heterozygote detection and prenatal diagnosis by DNA analysis, we used cloned factor VIII:C DNA fragments to study 10 affected families. In four of these families, inhibitors of factor VIII:C had developed in affected persons. In one such family a deletion of approximately 80 kb within the factor VIII:C gene was identified. Carriers of the deletion were identified through detection of an abnormal DNA fragment located at the deletion end points. In another family a single nucleotide change in the coding region of the factor VIII:C gene produced a nonsense codon leading to premature termination of factor VIII:C synthesis. Carrier detection was performed in eight female members of this four-generation family. In a third family a small change in the size of a restriction-endonuclease fragment correlated with the presence of the mutant gene, and in the other seven families the molecular defect has not yet been identified. In addition, we used two common polymorphic sites in the factor VIII:C gene to differentiate the normal from the defective gene in four of six obligate female carriers from families with patients in whom inhibitors did not develop. Carrier detection was possible in other members of these families. These data suggest that DNA analysis of the factor VIII:C gene provides an accurate method of carrier detection and, potentially, of prenatal diagnosis in at least 50 per cent of the pedigrees affected by hemophilia A.


Input buffered switch architecture has become attractive for implementing high performance routers and expanding use of the Internet sees an increasing need for quality of service. It is challenging to provide a scheduling technique that is both highly efficient and fair in resource allocation. In this paper, we first introduce an iterative fair scheduling (IFS) scheme for input buffered switches that supports fair bandwidth distribution among the flows and achieves asymptotically 100 percent throughput. The IFS is evaluated both under synthetic workload and with Web traces from the Internet. Compared to the commonly used synthetic input, our simulation results reveal significant difference in performance when the real network traffic is employed. We then consider fair scheduling under various buffer management mechanisms and analyze their impact on the fairness in bandwidth allocation. Our studies indicate that early packet discard in anticipation of congestion is necessary and per-flow based buffering is effective for protecting benign users from being adversely affected by misbehaving traffic. Buffer allocation according to bandwidth reservation is especially helpful when the input traffic is highly bursty.