Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

The number of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, a major histological type of lung cancer, has soared recently. Although some lung adenocarcinoma patients could be diagnosed at early stages and received surgical resection, nearly 50% of patients still died from recurrence. This phenomenon indicates that using only traditional prognostic factors, like TMN staging, is not sufficient for regimen decision. Here we proposed a bioinformatic method to evaluate the activity of cell cycle from expression profiles and proved that the activity of cell cycle can be applied as prognostic factor of lung adenocarcinoma, especially for early stages.

A gene set named as cell cycle signature (CCS), which correlated with cell cycling, was used to measure the activity of tumor proliferation. The E2F1 target genes and E2F3 target genes were also applied to measure the E2F signaling pathway activity, which was regulated by the cell cycle. The prognostic ability of these gene sets was evaluated by applying Cox hazard proportional analysis to three microarray datasets of lung adenocarcinoma.

Our result revealed that the association between high activities of cell cycle and poor survival outcomes existed in lung adenocarcinoma patients. The result of Cox hazard proportional analysis showed that the CCS and E2F1/E2F3 target genes are significant contributors to survival risk. The p-values of CCS, E2F1/E2F3 target genes were all showed significant (p<0.05), and these three gene sets still gave statistical significances after the survival analysis was applied on only early stage lung adenocarcinoma. The hazard ratios of CCS, E2F1 target genes and E2F3 target genes were 5.69, 3.32, and 3.96, respectively; all p-values were smaller than 0.002.

We demonstrated that the three gene sets, which accountable for the activity of cell cycle, can be applied as prognostic factors for lung adenocarcinoma, including early stage patients. Our data inferred that tumor with higher activity of proliferation is malignant eventhough its size may still be small. This finding is valuable in predicting the survival of early stage lung adenocarcinoma patients and might be useful for making treatment decisions.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1993.


Classical models predict that the division of stock returns into dividends and capital appreciation does not affect investor consumption patterns, while mental accounting and other economic frictions predict that investors have a higher propensity to consume from stock returns in the form of dividends. Using two micro data sets, we show that investors are indeed far more likely to consume from dividends than capital gains. In the Consumer Expenditure Survey, household consumption increases with dividend income, controlling for total wealth, total portfolio returns, and other sources of income. In a sample of household investment accounts data from a brokerage, net withdrawals from the accounts increase one-for-one with ordinary dividends of moderate size, controlling for total portfolio returns, and also increase with mutual fund and special dividends. We comment on several potential explanations for the results.


BACKGROUND: Loeys–Dietz syndrome (LDS) is an autosomal dominant connective tissue disorder characterized by a classic triad of hypertelorism, bifid uvula and/or cleft palate, and generalized arterial tortuosity. There are limited data on the prevalence and rupture risk of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) in the setting of LDS, with no established guidelines. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence and rupture risk of IA in LDS. METHODS: Electronic medical records of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of LDS and available cerebrovascular imaging were reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the presence of IA. Unmatched and propensity-matched analyses were used to identify potential risk factors for aneurysm formation. RESULTS: Records of 1111 patients were screened yielding a total of 60 patients with a diagnosis of LDS. Eighteen (30%) patients had IA, 4 (22.2%) of whom had multiple aneurysms for a total of 24 IAs. Twenty-three (95.8%) aneurysms were located in the anterior circulation; none of them were ruptured. On unmatched analysis, age (P = .015), smoking history (P = .034), hypertension (P = .035), and number of extracranial aneurysms (P < .001) were significantly higher in patients with IA. After matching for age, sex, race, stroke history, family history, and extracranial aneurysms, smoking history (P = .009) remained significant. CONCLUSION: Patients with LDS have an increased risk of IAs, especially with a history of smoking. The prevalence rate of IAs in our series was 30%. Screening imaging should be considered at diagnosis, and patients should be encouraged to abstain from smoking. Further studies are needed to elucidate the risk of IA rupture and treatment considerations in this unique population.


Systematic Reviews have been introduced to improve the synthesis of available evidence and to reduce bias in the conclusions about a body of evidence. Nowadays, Systematic Review is an established method also in the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) field. It is the Cochrane Work Review Group that facilitates authors to produce Cochrane reviews of intervention topics in this area. A variety of guidelines used Cochrane Work reviews for underpinning their recommendations. Due to the comprehensive search and reproducibility of the methods of a systematic review, it turned out that systematic reviews can be powerful in changing beliefs. For example, studies published in the eighties advocated the use of back schools. Nowadays, we know that the total body of evidence has changed the traditional view that training in lifting techniques could prevent back pain. 'Sitting is the new smoking' is an eye catching nicely alliterating motto, but it is of course highly overstated. The findings of a Cochrane review of the effects of interventions to decrease sitting at work showed that sitting time can be reduced by a bit less than two hours per day by providing sit-stand desks plus education. However, it is unclear if this is sufficient to counter the effects of sitting. A wealth of evidence on OSH interventions has been collected by international collaboration in the Cochrane Work Review Group. This can be extended to systematic reviews of the effects of exposure of workers to assess to which risks of adverse health effects they are exposed.


Much of the attention around OERs has been on institutional projects which make explicit learning content available. These can be classified as 'big OER', but another form of OER is that of small scale, individually produced resources using web 2.0 type services, which are classified as 'little OER'. This paper examines some of the differences between the use of these two types of OER to highlight issues in open education. These include attitudes towards reputation, the intentionality of the resource, models of sustainability, the implicit affordances of resources and the context of their hosting sites.


Metal flux at consuming interfaces (e.g., sensors or microorganisms) is simulated in environmental multiligand systems using a new numerical code, MHEDYN (Multispecies HEterogeneous DYNamics), based on the lattice Boltzmann method. The attention is focused on the computation of the maximum flux of Cu(II), that is, the flux controlled by diffusion-reaction in solution, irrespective of processes occurring at the interface. In parts III and IV of this series, three types of typical environmental complexants are studied: (a) simple ligands (OHand CO3), (b) fulvic or humic substances including many sites with broadly varying rate constants, and (c) aggregates including a broad range of sizes and diffusion coefficients. Part III focuses on computations in the presence of simple ligands and fulvic/ humic substances separately, and part IV discusses the case of aggregate complexes alone and the mixtures of all ligands in typical natural waters. These papers describe the dynamic contribution of the various types of sites for fulvic and aggregate Cu(II) complexes for the first time. Whenever possible, the metal fluxes computed by MHEDYN are compared with those given by another code, FLUXY, based on a fully different mathematical approach, and very good agreement betweenthesecodes isobtained. Inallcases,MHEDYNcomputes the concentration profile of each complex and its time evolution, as well as the steady-state flux and the corresponding contribution of each complex to the flux. The metal fluxes can be computed at a planar consuming surface such as an organism or a sensor surface, in presence of an unlimited number of complexation reactions of the metal M, and for any metal/ ligand concentration ratio, with values of the physicochemical parameters ranging over many orders of magnitude.


This volume has its roots in the distant past of more than 20 years ago, the International Hydrologic Decade (IHD), 1964-1974. One of the stated goals of the IHD was to promote research into groundwater situations for which the state of knowledge was hopelessly inadequate. One of these problem areas was the hydrology of carbonate terrains. Position papers published early in the IHD emphasized the special problems of karst; carbonate terrains were supposed to receive a substantial amount of attention during the IHD. There were indeed many new contributions from European colleagues but, unfortunately, in the United States the good intentions were not backed up by much in the way of federal funding. Some good and interesting work was published, particularly by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), but in the academic community the subject languished. About this same time the Cave Research Foundation (CRF), organized in 1957 to promote the systematic exploration, survey, and scientific study of the great cave systems of Mammoth Cave National Park, was casting about for a broader scope for its research activities. Up until that time, CRF research had been largely restricted to detailed mineralogical and geological investigations within the caves, with the main part of the effort concentrated on exploration and survey. The decision to investigate the hydrology required a certain enlargement of vision because investigators then had to consider the entire karst drainage basin rather than isolated fragments of cave passage.


&NA; Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common nosocomial infections. These complications lead to revision surgery, delayed wound healing, increased use of antibiotics, and increased length of hospital stay, all of which have a significant impact on patients and the cost of health care. Such intraoperative factors as proper skin preparation, adherence to sterile technique, surgical duration, and traffic in the operating room contribute more to SSIs than do patient‐related risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, obesity, and preexisting colonization with methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Surgeons have a responsibility to understand the current evidence regarding the factors that affect the rates of SSIs so as to provide the highest level of patient care.


The University of Westminster is located in London and is celebrating 175 years as an educational institution this year. A key part of the University's vision is in "building the next generation of highly employable global citizens to shape the future" (University of Westminster, 2013). This vision inspired us to look at the digital literacy skills our students need in order to be highly employable. In Spring 2012, the Information Services department at the University of Westminster secured Jisc funding to run a one year project exploring students' attitudes towards digital literacy and its relationship to employability for our students. The work is being carried out by a project board and a delivery group, which include members of staff from across the University who have an active interest in this area. We named the Project "DigitISE" (Digital Information Skills for Employability) and colleagues involved with the project take turns in writing for its blog http://blog.westminster.ac.uk/jisc-employability/blog/ A questionnaire was circulated to find out about students' attitudes towards digital literacy and this was followed up by some focus groups. The headline findings from the survey are that 87.6% of students love digital technology and 81.5% believe themselves to be digitally literate. Attitudes vary significantly between subject areas. For example, with regard to the statement that the digital literacy skills needed in the courses get more complex as students progress through the course, students from the Business School agreed significantly more with this than did students from the School of Law, Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages or Architecture. The focus groups have supported the questionnaire findings and highlighted that students are largely unaware of the training that is already available to them. Ideas of how to market future training more effectively will therefore be an important outcome of this work. A further focus group is planned to ask students what they think a digitally literate graduate should be / will look like. A one day conference, "Get the Digital Edge", is being held in March for students to discover more about the links between their digital literacy skills and their employment prospects. Workshops on offer include "Using Facebook & LinkedIn for job seeking", "Learning from the media", "Researching companies for a job interview" and "Managing your e-reputation", and will be run by experts in these areas. We also have invited a leading corporate communications company to speak at this event. Although the project will come to an end in Spring 2013, the findings will inform other University initiatives, including a proposal looking at embedding information skills into the curriculum and Learning Futures @ Westminster, which is considering the future of teaching and learning at the University. In summary, this presentation will include: ● an introduction to the project ● key findings of the questionnaire and focus groups ● a report on the "Get the Digital Edge" one day student conference ● plans for the future, including how the legacy of the project will be managed through other University initiatives References University of Westminster, (2013). Vision, mission and values.  Retrived from: http://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-university/vision-mission-and-values Normal 0 21 false false false SV X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */
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Working capital management is indispensable in strengthening firms' liquidity position. A weak liquidity position poses a threat to the solvency of the company and makes it unsafe as well as unsound. The persistent winding up of most Nigerian manufacturing firms and the recent decline in the world oil price which significantly affected all the oil producing countries in the world of which Nigeria is not an exception demand for effective and efficient management of  resources to guarantee going concern.  This study examined the impact of working capital management on financial performance of quoted consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria by specifically examined the impact of working capital management on return on assets and gross operating profit. The secondary data used were obtained from annual financial statements over a period of ten (10) years from 2005 to 2014 of purposively sampled fifteen (15) firms. Descriptive statistics were used to measure variations, statistical inferences were drawn using correlation and panel regression analysis was applied on performance and working capital management indicators to test the formulated hypotheses. The findings revealed that efficient working capital management increases financial performance. In conclusion, a negative relationship exists between Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) and financial performance while there is a positive relationship between Average Collection Period (ACP) and financial performance. The study recommended that firms within the industry may increase their average collection period above the present industry average collection period of 58 days and proper analysis of working capital components should be constantly carried out to ensure that those critical areas for decision making process as it related to each of the performance measurement variables are identified and properly examined.


This paper provides a detailed analysis of the performance of systems recently proposed by various authors in which the received signal is Fourier transformed in real time (usually with a surface acoustic wave device) and then filtered by a multiplication of the transformed signal by an appropriate transfer function. We shall refer to this operation as transform domain filtering. General expressions for the output waveforms of the system will be derived, and a specific example illustrating the performance of the system when operating in the presence of a narrow-band interferer plus additive white Gaussian noise will be presented. It will be shown that certain filtering techniques not feasible in conventional systems, such as filtering with ideal bandpass filters, become straightforward using transform domain filtering. Finally, a receiver will be described which will eliminate that intersymbol interference between adjacent data symbols due to filtering at the receiver.


The role of Trusted Service Manager (TSM) is essential in the Near Field Communication (NFC) ecosystem. One of its responsibilities is to manage all or part of a secure chip hosting sensible data and applications named Secure Element (SE). The management of this SE is often based on a prior knowledge of its characteristics and on business and technical agreements with the chip provider and the Issuer. In this paper, we propose a framework to ease the management and the deployment of mobile contact less services on the SE by TSMs. The proposed solution consists in a three-layer framework. At the bottom, one encounters an OWL ontology-based model of the Global Platform Card Specification. The framework allows characterizing a given SE by injecting into the reference model the SE configuration data consisting in some management rules and a description of the card content. We propose to store the SE configuration data on-card. When retrieved by the TSM, it allows having a comprehensive description of the SE and querying the model to determine the way to perform card content management operations. Finally, the framework allows exchanging the SE configuration data and, thus, facilitates the management by multiple TSMs.


– Restaurant operators can process a greater number of customers and increase revenues by reducing service encounter duration during high demand periods. Actions taken to reduce duration may be experienced by customers as an increase in the pace of the service encounter. While achieving a reduction in duration may be appealing from a revenue perspective, will customers' perceptions of the resulting pace of the service encounter negatively impact their satisfaction? The aim of this paper is to propose that, in the context of restaurant experiences that are hedonic and extended in nature, the overall relationship between perceived service encounter pace and satisfaction follows an inverted U‐shape., – Respondents were asked to recall a recent (i.e. within the last three weeks) restaurant experience, write a description of that experience, and then complete scales that measured their perceptions of pace and satisfaction with the experience., – The relationship between perceived pace and satisfaction has an inverted U‐shape. This holds both at the level of the overall service encounter and by service stage within the encounter. The effect of perceived pace on satisfaction is moderated by service stage, with a greater tolerance of a faster pace during the post‐process stage than during the pre‐process or in‐process stages., – The results of this study have implications for the application of revenue management strategies for duration control. Management need to consider the negative effect that service encounter pace can have on consumer satisfaction. Service stage should also be factored into strategy development for duration control., – This paper extends the wait time literature, demonstrating that as the perceived pace of the service encounter increases, satisfaction increases, but only up to a point, beyond which it decreases as perceived pace continues to increase.


106101-8787 IJMME-IJENS © February 2010 IJENS I J E N S Abstract— Nodularised Ductile Cast Iron, when subjected to heat treatment processes – austenitising and austempering produces Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI). The microstructure of ADI also known as ―ausferrite‖ consists of ferrite, austenite and graphite nodules. Machining ADI using conventional techniques is often a problematic issue due to the microstructural phase transformation from austenite to martensite during machining. This paper evaluates the wear characteristics of ultra hard cutting tools when machining ADI and its effect on machinability. Machining trials consist of turning ADI (ASTMGrade3) using two sets of PCBN tools with 90% and 50% CBN content and two sets of ceramics tools; Aluminium Oxide Titanium Carbide and Silicon Carbide – whisker reinforced Ceramic. The cutting parameters chosen are categorized as roughing and finishing conditions; the roughing condition comprises of constant cutting speed (425 m/min) and depth of cut (2mm) combined with variable feed rates of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4mm/rev. The finishing condition comprises of constant cutting speed (700 m/min) and depth of cut (0.5mm) combined with variable feed rates of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4mm/rev. The benchmark condition to evaluate the performance of the cutting tools was tool wear evaluation, surface texture analysis and cutting force analysis. The paper analyses thermal softening of the workpiece by the tool and its effect on the shearing mechanism under rough and finish machining conditions in term of lower cutting forces and enhanced surface texture of the machined part.


Is there an informational gain by training a Deep Reinforcement Learning agent for automated stock trading using other time series than the one to be traded? In this work, we implement a DRL algorithm in a solid framework within a model-free and actor-critic approach and learn it with 21 global Multi Assets to predict and trade on the S&P 500. The Efficient Market Hypothesis sets out that it is impossible to gather more information from the broader input. We demand to learn a DRL agent on this index with and without the additional information of these several Multi Assets to determine if the agent could capture invisible dependencies to end up with an informational gain and a better performance.<br>The aim of this work is not to tune the hyperparameters of a DRL agent; several papers already exist on this subject. Nevertheless, we use a proven setup as model architecture. We take a Multi Layer Perceptron (short: MLP) as the neural network architecture with two hidden layers and 64 neurons each layer. The activation function used is the hyperbolic tangent. Further, Proximal Policy Optimization (short: PPO) is used as the policy for simple implementation and enabling a continuous state space. To deal with uncertainties of neural nets, we learn 100 agents for each scenario and compared both results. Neither the Sharpe ratios nor the cumulative returns are better in the more complex approach with the additional information of the Multi Assets, and even the single approach performed marginally better. However, we demonstrate that the complexly learned agent delivers less scattering over the 100 simulations in terms of the risk-adjusted returns, so there is an informational gain due to Multi Assets. A DRL agent learned with additional information delivers more robust results compared to the taken risk. We deliver valuable results for the further development of Deep Reinforcement Learning and provide a unique and resourceful approach.


Internationalization is becoming an agenda of growing strategic importance to higher education institutions across the world driven by influences of globalization. Embedding the internationalization process within the CDIO context would certainly benefit the higher education institutions and the attributes of their graduates. This paper suggests embedding implicitly the internationalization process within the CDIO standards without the needfor creating additional mandatory or optional ones. The case of institutionalizing the internationalization process at the Australian College of Kuwait is then presented and discussed.


The task of Grammatical Error Correction (GEC) has received remarkable attention with wide applications in Natural Language Processing (NLP) in recent years. While one of the key principles of GEC is to keep the correct parts unchanged and avoid over-correction, previous sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) models generate results from scratch, which are not guaranteed to follow the original sentence structure and may suffer from the over-correction problem. In the meantime, the recently proposed sequence tagging models can overcome the over-correction problem by only generating edit operations, but are conditioned on human designed language-specific tagging labels. In this paper, we combine the pros and alleviate the cons of both models by proposing a novel Sequence-to-Action (S2A) module. The S2A module jointly takes the source and target sentences as input, and is able to automatically generate a token-level action sequence before predicting each token, where each action is generated from three choices named SKIP, COPY and GENerate. Then the actions are fused with the basic seq2seq framework to provide final predictions. We conduct experiments on the benchmark datasets of both English and Chinese GEC tasks. Our model consistently outperforms the seq2seq baselines, while being able to significantly alleviate the over-correction problem as well as holding better generality and diversity in the generation results compared to the sequence tagging models.


Abstract: Extreme land abandonment is one of the most visible expressions of urban decline. Conventional theory emphasizes housing lifecycle processes, municipal fiscal challenges and deindustrialization to explain its prevalence. Empirically however, these factors are not strongly associated with the most extreme instances of land abandonment in the American Rust Belt. Race, by contrast, is strongly associated with these patterns, yet there is little mention of it in conventional theory. This article draws on group threat theory to explain how the construction of Blackness as a threat to white property, power and political influence, has propelled the production of extreme land abandonment. The constructed threat has translated into a sustained suppression of demand and capital for overwhelmingly black neighborhoods. These forces operate both independently and as an accelerant for other abandonment drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to identify anatomic landmarks and surgical techniques that maximize bone removal for exposure of the distal internal auditory canal (IAC) to avoid labyrinthine injury during retrosigmoid removal of tumors within the IAC.

STUDY DESIGN
Anatomic dissection, radiological assessment and retrospective case series.

SETTING
Tertiary referral center.

METHODS
On the basis of previously conducted temporal bone anatomic dissections of the temporal bone, the authors performed intraoperative measurement of the undissected distal IAC, performed pre- and postoperative radiological assessment of vestibular schwannoma (VS) patients. The surgical and anatomic information was used to determine the anatomic limits of labyrinth sparing bone dissection and the landmarks most critical to maximal IAC exposure. The authors describe surgical techniques using these data. An edited video of representative surgery highlights important principles. Review of 251 patients requiring IAC bony dissection for tumor removal from January 2005 through October 2017 is described.

RESULTS
Achieving complete exposure of the IAC fundus is not possible, without labyrinthine injury, via retrosigmoid approach. Anatomic dissection, intraoperative photography, and postoperative radiographs demonstrate that bone removal within 2 to 3 mm of the fundus is routinely possible. The endolymphatic sac and duct is the optimal landmark for optimizing IAC exposure.

CONCLUSION
The course of the endolymphatic sac and duct in the posterior petrous bone is the most important landmark determining the lateral limit of bony removal during IAC exposure for tumor resection. Surgical techniques based on these anatomic findings facilitate tumor resection while preserving the labyrinth.


This thesis assesses the effectiveness of social media platforms, specifically Facebook and blogs, in facilitating women's participation in the online public sphere in India. Discussion provides a literature review of the internet as a new public sphere and its impact and influence in enriching the existing public sphere in India. The study also reviews the relationship between the online public sphere and the role women play in this sphere through social media in India. The research is supplemented by a review study of the 'India Against Corruption' movement in order to demonstrate the case for the online public sphere. Moreover, the present study also provides a snap shot of how some blogs and Facebook pages are used by women. Taking as a case study the 2012 'Delhi gang rape' incident, through a topical network analysis of the Facebook pages and blog articles, this research attempts to understand the role of these media in allowing women to discuss social issues and participate in the public sphere. Drawing from the analysis of blog contents and examining Facebook pages I demonstrate how the women's voices inhabiting the online sphere are limited to a certain class and region. In the cases studied here respondents appeared to be predominantly urban and middle class. While the scope of the research is small, this is one of the first studies in the area, and the findings suggest that social media are becoming a significant communicative tool in India and that women are increasingly appropriating these technologies. The study also demonstrates that women are discussing issues which were previously considered as taboo like rape and sexual violence, albeit in small numbers. Lastly, I identify challenges limiting women's participation in the emerging online public sphere in India.


The haemodynamic responses of the isolated, perfused gill of the tropical cichlid, Oreochromas (Sarotherodon) niloticus, to exogenous application of adenosine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) showed that both drugs are potent vasoactive agents. However, while adenosine had vasoconstrictory effect, ATP induced vasodilation. ATP-induced vasodilation was reversibily inhibited in the presence of the enzyme, adenosine deaminase, and the P1 receptor antagonist, theophylline, but was unaffected by the P2 receptor antagonist, quinidine. This indicates that ATP acts specifically through P1 receptor stimulation. The significance of the inhibition of ATP by adenosine deaminase remains obscure since in purine metabolism the enzyme catalyzes the conversion of the haemodynamically active adenosine to inactive inosine.


Spores of Oedipodium griffithianum are studied under SEM and TEM, revealing a unique combination of characters: distinct trilete laesura, distal surface densely covered by club-shaped papillae often fused by their distal parts, perine mostly eroded and fallen off in the mature spores, and layer between exine and intine strongly variable in size and texture between distal and proximal hemisphere. This layer is homogeneous or occasionally totally absent at distal pole, lamellose in equatorial region in sections of fully developed spores, while indistinctly lamellose to homogeneous in a slightly premature spores; in the proximal hemisphere and in laesura it is thick and has complex structure. In somewhat premature spores an electron dense perine is observed upon exine, but it seems to easily fall off during spore maturation, so fully mature spores almost lack perine like in Bruchia brevifolia. Oedipodium is similar to Sphagnopsida in distinct laesura, unstable perine and complex multilaminate innermost layer of exine, a remnant of tripartite lamella.


The revolution in wireless and cellular communications has led to a remarkable growth in smart mobile devices capable of Internet access and mobile web browsing. In particular, the advent of the third generation (3G) cellular networks, followed by fourth generation (4G) networks with tremendous increases in transmission capacities, has accelerated the convergence of the Internet and wireless telecommunications and networks. The Internet is thus becoming increasingly mobile and user-centric, with mobility, ubiquity, and anywhere/anytime flexibility characterizing the new mobile Internet. With the 4G communications technology increasingly replacing 2G and 3G cellular networks, the future potential of mobile communications in general, and mobile Internet in particular, seems to be enormous. Fourth-generation cellular networks are envisioned to be truly broadband systems, allowing for significantly higher transmission, ranging from 10Mbps to 100Mbpds (Dekleva, Shim, Varshney, & Knoerzer, 2007), and providing global roaming across multiple wireless and mobile networks (Varshney & Jain, 2001). Taking advantage of the concomitant advancements and improvements in cellular and wireless telecommunications, mobile devices continue their unabated evolution, proliferation, and diffusion. Mobile phones in particular are increasingly becoming miniature computing devices, with processing power and storage capacities that ravel desktop computers of a few years ago. Smart phones are a special type of these devices with integrated features and a growing list of advanced and innovative features and capabilities enabled by continuous advances and innovations in hardware, sensing, navigation, and monitoring technologies, and fuelled by competition among the major industry players. Given its remarkable potential, the smartphone has been recognized as a game-changing and user-empowering information technology (Dery, Kolb, & MacCormick, 2014; Jung, 2014). The penetration rates for mobile phones and mobile broadband continue to rise worldwide and in several economies in the developing and the developed worlds (ITU, 2014a & 2014b). High penetration rates are occurring even in developing nations, such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and many of the gulf countries, supported by significant investments in 3G and 4G network infrastructures (see Table 1). Additionally, according to the Cisco (2015)'s Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2014 to 2019, worldwide mobile data traffic will increase nearly tenfold between 2014 and 2019, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 57 percent, and smartphones, laptops, and tablets will drive about 94 percent of this global mobile data traffic increase. This proliferation of mobile phones, particularly smartphones, has propelled an enormous growth in mobile device applications (apps), and has accelerated the adoption of mobile Internet. Internet Services and the Shift toward Mobile Internet and Ubiquitous Connectivity


Alvocidib is a potent inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase-9 (CDK9) and induces apoptosis in cancer cells by reducing the expression of short-lived, anti-apoptotic proteins such as MCL-1. Alvocidib, as a part of a sequential combination regimen with cytarabine and mitoxantrone (ACM), is currently in a Phase II clinical trial in relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Patients with AML that have a high dependence on MCL-1 are considered more likely to benefit from the alvocidib-containing regimen. MCL-1 has emerged as a key protein in drug resistance of multiple solid tumor types including breast, prostate and lung cancers. The use of alvocidib in clinical settings beyond the ACM regimen is somewhat limited by the current intravenous route of administration. An orally administered form of alvocidib would allow prolonged repression of MCL-1 through chronic dosing and scheduling. Alvocidib itself is highly permeable in CACO-2 monolayers and is soluble at acidic pHs but solubility is strikingly reduced at neutral or basic conditions, which could hamper the development of an oral formulation. We hypothesized that a phosphate prodrug of alvocidib would improve solubility under neutral or basic conditions and enable the efficient systemic delivery of alvocidib via oral administration. We synthesized a phosphate prodrug of alvocidib, TP-1287, in three steps from the parent compound. The solubility of TP-1287, was determined at various pH levels. It was found to be highly soluble under acidic, neutral, and basic conditions (1.5 mg/mL at pH 2.2; 1.8 mg/mL at pH 4.5; 9.5 mg/mL at pH 6.8 and 9.3 mg/mL at pH 8.7) compared to alvocidib (4.4 mg/mL at pH 2.2; 1.3 mg/mL at pH 4.5; 0.02 mg/mL at pH 6.8 and 0.02 mg/mL at pH 8.7). Pharmacokinetic studies were conducted in mice in which TP-1287 was efficiently converted to the parent alvocidib (Cmax = 1922.7 ng/ml, t1/2 = 4.4 hr) with high oral bioavailability (%F = 182.3, compared to intravenous alvocidib). Efficacy and pharmacodynamic studies (measuring MCL-1 expression levels), were evaluated in tumor xenograft models. TP-1287 demonstrated significant anti-tumor efficacy in the MV4-11 AML mouse xenograft model and produced as much as a 61.7% inhibition of the pharmacodynamic biomarker MCL-1 in xenografted tumors, demonstrating a wide, 75-fold therapeutic dosing window. In addition, TP-1287 strongly inhibited tumor growth, achieving 109.1% tumor growth inhibition (%TGI) at the 7.5 mg/kg dose level. TP-1287 is highly soluble over a broader pH range than alvocidib and is efficiently metabolized to the parent compound in vivo, following oral administration. Tumor xenograft models and pharmacodynamic studies indicate that oral delivery of TP-1287 is efficacious in mice. Based on these results, we anticipate moving TP-1287, as an orally delivered CDK9 inhibitor, into a forthcoming clinical trial directed towards solid tumors vulnerable to the suppression of MCL-1. Citation Format: Wontak Kim, Hillary Haws, Peter Peterson, Clifford J. Whatcott, Steven Weitman, Steven L. Warner, David J. Bearss, Adam Siddiqui-Jain. TP-1287, an oral prodrug of the cyclin-dependent kinase-9 inhibitor alvocidib [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5133. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5133


The study focuses on the web presence of the main Spanish media and seeks to determine whether hyperlink analysis of media and political parties can provide insight into their political orientation. The research included all major national media and political parties in Spain. Inlink and co-link data about these organizations were collected and analyzed using multidimensional scaling (MDS) and other statistical methods. In the MDS map, media are clustered based on their political orientation. There are significantly more co-links between media and parties with the same political orientation than there are between those with different political orientations. Findings from the study suggest the potential of using link analysis to gain new insights into the interactions among media and political parties. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Two types of bauxite occur in the Jajarm Bauxite deposit, the first one is the hard bauxite and the other is the shaly bauxite or soft bauxite. The Al 2 O 3 content ranges from 30% to 60% and SiO 2 varies between 5% to 39%.The total tonnage is more than 22 million tons with a mean value of Al 2 O 3 content between 47% to 48% , SiO 2 around 10% and Fe 2 O 3 ranges between 6.95 to 27% . The Jajarm bauxite deposit shows high concentration of active SiO 2 and Fe 2 O 3 in comparison with other bauxite deposits of the world. Efforts have been made in this research to delineate the characteristics of the Jajarm monohydrate bauxites, consisting of a diaspore and chamosite mixture, to improve their chemistry by different beneficiation techniques and optimize their processing, grinding and digestion conditions for alumina production The Jajarm bauxite shows politomorphic and micro- granular texture with several secondary textural elements. The size of diaspore grains (which is the main mineral component) are generally below 10 microns, with a homogeneous matrix. In addition, for the very hard bauxite we can not do any separation between the crystal grains and the matrix because of similar hardness for both with closely packed space filling and in consequence of the absence of welldefined grain boundaries. Based on the above studies, the Jajarm bauxite can be enriched neither by grain analysis nor by magnetic separation. In this research hard bauxite was crushed between 2 to 3 inches and then samples were washed with 5% HCl. The result of this laboratory studies shows that the silica modulus has improved from 1.05 to 2.56 which indicates an increase of 29% in the Al 2 O 3 content. Jajarm laboratory s study shows that Jajarm bauxite deposit partially can be improved only by water treatment.


The new species to be described here is very common in the English Channel, though like other members of this genus it is so fragile that it needs to be cultured to be effectively detected. This particular species has been under observation for some years, but publication has been deferred until sections of it could be made available. The observations involved in the taxonomic description have been based on two early isolates numbered 4 and 43 in the Plymouth collection. More recently, however, it has been encountered frequently in routine sea-water samples brought into temporary culture to record the nanoplankton forms present, and we are therefore able for the first time to give tables of seasonal and depth distributions for the incidence of the species, at various stations. In Table i of Appendix (p. 187) its occurrences are listed, all being from water-bottle samples, except those taken on 23 August 1950 and 6 November 1957 (fine tow-net) and on 19 June 1957 (very fine tow-net). Table 2 (p. 188) gives densities at different depths sampled on one day at Hydrographic Station E 1.


We report a methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) perovskite-based photoenhanced triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). It features a dual working mechanism that relies on the joint properties of the photoelectric and triboelectric effects of the perovskite material. Both the photoconductivity and the surface triboelectric density of the perovskite-based composite thin film are significantly altered under solar illumination, resulting in considerable enhancement of the electrical output. The triboelectric output open-circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Isc), and amount of electric charge (Q) were increased by 11%, 11%, and 9%, respectively, after illumination under full-sun conditions. Our work provides an approach for the enhancement of the mechanical-to-electrical conversion efficiency of the TENG by sunlight absorption.


Motivated by the strategic importance of reduced lead times in today's competitive business environment, this doctoral dissertation analyzes the dynamic impacts of lead time reduction (LTR) improvements on customer satisfaction and related financial performance metrics. The core thesis is centered on development of an integrated dynamic performance measurement framework which covers operational, customer-oriented and financial performance dependencies over time. The framework is demonstrated through two empirical industrial cases. Effective reduction of lead time is possible through understanding the relationship between lead time and lead time related factors, and the implications of these relations on system performance. Reducing lead time can have direct and indirect effects, improving overall company performance in short-term and long-term. Due to certain system interactions, not only does operational performance improve, but so do customer satisfaction and financial measures which are affected in terms of, e.g., reduced inventories and inventory carrying costs; improved service quality, diminished cancelled orders and reduced penalty costs; increased sales, improved market shares and profitability. In particular, this research targets to identify which situational factors play a critical role between lead time reduction strategies and related effect on performance, and to understand how reduction of lead time impacts long-term performance compared to short-term effects. In this direction, an integrated performance measurement framework has been developed by considering mathematical principles of lead time reduction and covering dynamic dependencies between financial and non-financial performance dimensions. The framework is comprehensive yet simple enough to consider trade-off characteristics among both time-based and non-time-based metrics. The application of the framework was based on hybrid use of two methods: Queuing Theory Based Modeling (QTM) and System Dynamics Modeling (SD) . Illustration of the lead time reduction framework is provided through two interrelated studies based on industrial applications done collaboratively with two international manufacturing companies. In this regard, two studies summarize these stages: • The first study focuses on integrated analysis of some lead time reduction strategies on system performance (locating bottleneck capacity buffers, eliminating sources of waiting, setup time and reducing variability). In particular, we focus on the dynamic dependencies between bottleneck buffer configuration and station loading policies in order to analyze how those dependencies affect operational performance improvement: Throughput increase and reduction of lead time while considering various levels of demand variability. In particular, our analysis provides evidence for performance improvement without needing to invest to increase the bottleneck resource. Application of a particular station loading strategy and usage of multiple buffers (moving from a single common buffer to multi-buffers) yields better performance when variability increases. • The second study focuses on analyzing the dynamic impacts of lead time reduction approaches on customer satisfaction and financial performance based on an industrial case created in joint collaboration with a European-based international company operating under make-to-stock manufacturing strategy. Based on the system's characteristics some lead time reduction strategies are selected (i.e. optimization of batch size, reallocation of system resources by pooling labor and improving the setup time) and the industrial production process is successfully improved without significant cost and time investments. Subsequently, related effects on customer-based performance and corresponding financials such as capacity investment (i.e. buying a new machine) are analyzed. Key cost figures, such as processing, inventory, labor costs and others were determined by evaluating the underlying cost accounting system. Later, motivated by the industrial application, the framework was further analyzed using sensitivity analysis. The insights gathered through industrial applications are used to present a sensitivity analysis based on short and long-term demand and lead time interaction. The sensitivity analysis is used for two main purposes: (i) to analyze the long-term performance impacts of lead time reduction under the extreme conditions of market demand; (ii) to question the conditions to maintain the long-term sustainability of lead time reduction. The sensitivity analysis provided additional insight into the dynamic behavior of the demand and lead time interaction.


Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won the Lower House election in 2009 and became the first party that defeated the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in terms of the number of seats. The DPJ controlled both chambers, the Upper and Lower House when it formed a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the People's New Party (PNP). However, the DPJ administration lasted merely three years and three months stretching from September 2009 to December 2012. The DPJ was badly defeated in the Lower House election in 2012, losing 75 percent of its seats. The party obtained only 57 out of 480 seats contested compared with the LDP that won 294 seats. Furthermore, eight of the DPJ cabinet members were defeated in the elections, including the finance minister. The former Prime Minister, Naoto Kan also lost his seat in the election, but he was saved by the Proportional Representative (PR) election system. The objective of this paper is to analyze the defeat of the DPJ in the Lower House elections in December 2012. Researchers argue that the change of the electoral system in 1994 which aimed at elevating the importance of manifestoes in the election as the main cause of the defeat of the party.


Abstract This article addresses the activation of aesthetics through the examination of an acute sensitivity to melancholy and time permeating the literary and pictorial arts of Japan. In medieval court circles, this sensitivity was activated through a pervasive sense of aware, a poignant reflection on the pathos of things. This sensibility became the motivating force for court verse, and through this medium, for the mature projects of the ukiyo-e 'floating world picture' artist Katsushika Hokusai. Hokusai reached back to aware sensibilities, subjects and conventions in celebrations of the poetic that sustained cultural memories resonating classical lyric and pastoral themes. This paper examines how this elegiac sensibility activated Hokusai's preoccupations with poetic allusion in his late representations of scholar-poets and the unfinished series of Hyakunin isshu uba-ga etoki, 'One hundred poems, by one hundred poets, explained by the nurse'. It examines four works to explain how their synthesis of the visual and poetic could sustain aware themes and tropes over time to maintain a distinctive sense of this aesthetic sensibility in Japan.


Laser welding of steel 316L sheets is considered and the effects of laser welding parameters on the laser weld quality and metallurgical changes in the weld section are presented. The laser weld quality is assessed through careful examination of weld geometrical features, and the resulting weld microstructure. Metallurgical changes in the weld sites are examined using optical, and electron scanning microscope (SEM). Two levels of heat inputs are used-1500W and 2000W; and two scanning speeds of 2cm/s and 4cm/s are used to laser weld 316L sheets. It is found that at the high laser power intensities, evaporation takes place in the irradiated region and as the laser power intensity increases further, a cavity is formed at the top surface of the welding cross section. A similar situation is also observed as the laser scanning speed reduces. The low diffusivity of the alloying elements at high temperatures preserves the segregation profile. The scattered partitioning of the cells and dendrite boundaries are observed due to the presence of Cr and Mo.


Malaria pathogenicity is determined, in part, by the adherence of Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes to the microvasculature mediated via specific interactions between PfEMP1 variant domains to host endothelial receptors. Naturally acquired antibodies against specific PfEMP1 variants can play an important role in clinical protection against malaria. We evaluated IgG responses against a repertoire of PfEMP1 CIDR domain variants to determine the rate and order of variant-specific antibody acquisition and their association with protection against febrile malaria in a prospective cohort study conducted in an area of intense, seasonal malaria transmission. Using longitudinal data, we found that IgG to the pathogenic domain variants CIDRα1.7 and CIDRα1.8 were acquired the earliest. Furthermore, IgG to CIDRγ3 was associated with reduced prospective risk of febrile malaria and recurrent malaria episodes. Future studies will need to validate these findings in other transmission settings and determine the functional activity of these naturally acquired CIDR variant-specific antibodies.


Text World Theory and Keats' Poetry applies advances in cognitive poetics and text world theory to four poems by the nineteenth century poet John Keats. It takes the existing text world theory as a starting point and draws on stylistics, literary theory, cognitive linguistics, cognitive psychology and dream theories to explore reading poems in the light of their emphasis on states of desire, dreaming and nightmares. It accounts for the representation of these states and the ways in which they are likely to be processed, monitored and understood. Text World Theory and Keats' Poetry advances both the current field of cognitive stylistics but also analyses Keats in a way that offers new insights into his poetry. It is of interest to stylisticians and those in literary studies.


Single Particle Tracking (SPT) is one of the most widespread techniques to evaluate particle mobility in a variety of situations, such as in cellular and model membrane dynamics. The proposed TRAIT2D Python library is developed to provide object tracking, trajectory analysis and produce simulated datasets with graphical user interface. The tool allows advanced users to customise the analysis to their requirements. Availability and implementation: the software has been coded in Python, and can be accessed from: https://github.com/Eggeling-Lab-Microscope-Software/TRAIT2D, or the pypi and condaforge repositories. A comprehensive user guide is provided at https://eggeling-lab-microscope-software.github.io/TRAIT2D/.


We revisit the relationship between international trade, economic growth and inequality with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. The paper combines two approaches: First, we employ a cross-country panel framework to analyze the macroeconomic effects of international trade on economic growth and inequality considering the strength of trade connections as well as characteristics of countries' export markets and products. Second, we consider event studies of past episodes of trade liberalization to extract general lessons on the impact of trade liberalization on economic growth and its structure and inequality. Both approaches consistently point to two broad messages: First, trade openness and connectivity to the center of the trade network has substantial macroeconomic benefits. Second, we do not find a statistically significant or economically sizable direct impact of trade on overall income inequality. JEL Classification Numbers: F43; F60; F10


Embryonic and adult muscle express distinct complements of proteins. Transplant experiments have shown that embryonic and denervated muscles can form synapses with foreign neurites, while normal innervated mature muscles cannot, except at the synaptic area. To identify molecular differences between 'innervatable' embryonic muscle and 'non-innervatable' mature muscle, we used a differential immunization method to make monoclonal antibodies that recognize antigens present in embryonic muscle rather than normal mature muscle. Four independent monoclonal antibodies that stain embryonic and mature muscle sections differentially have been obtained. One stains the entire embryonic muscle cell surface but only the synaptic area in mature muscle; 3 stain the entire embryonic muscle cell surface but do not stain mature muscle. The antibodies also stain other embryonic tissues at several stages. The antigens are concentrated in basal laminae and in an extracellular-matrix (ECM) fraction, indicating that they are ECM molecules. The temporal expression of all 4 antigens in developing muscle is coincident with muscle innervation. All antigens exhibit temporal and tissue distributions different from those of any reported muscle proteins, suggesting that novel antigens underlie these patterns. These results confirm that the immature muscle ECM has a distinct molecular composition, and suggest that the presence of these antigens may be part of the molecular basis for the innervatability of embryonic muscle.


Among the possible solutions to the paradoxes of collective preferences, single-peakedness is significant because it has been associated to a suggestive conceptual interpretation: a single-peaked preference profile entails that, although individuals may disagree on which option is the best, they conceptualize the choice along a shared unique dimension, i.e. they agree on the rationale of the collective decision. In this article, we discuss the relationship between the structural property of singlepeakedness and its suggested interpretation as uni-dimensionality of a social choice. In particular, we offer a formalization of the relationship between single-peakedness and its conceptual counterpart, we discuss their logical relations, and we question whether single-peakedness provides a rationale for collective choices.


Douglas J. Beecher reported on the methodology that a U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation laboratory used to identify an intentionally anthrax-contaminated letter(s) among mail collected from a Congressional building or postal facility that serves the U.S. Congress after the incident of contamination that occurred on 15 October 2001 (1). The described sampling strategy and initial screening and analysis methodology using direct plating were reported to be efficient and safe. However, the data supplied in the paper could not be used as evidence for judging the quality of the spores or to support or dismiss conceptions about the presence or absence of spore additives or about the production engineering used to prepare the spores. Furthermore, the type of sampling and analysis data presented in the paper could not be used for extrapolation of ideas concerning spore quality or the method of production. It is possible that Dr. Beecher's laboratory has performed additional analysis and obtained data that might support such conclusions but that were not included in the paper; if that is the case, it would be more scientifically appropriate to add "unpublished data" in parentheses next to the conclusions he offered concerning the apparent lack of additives, spore quality as reflected in particle size distribution, and the production engineering. In a meeting I attended in September 2006, a presentation was made by a scientist who had worked on samples of anthrax collected from letters involved in the same incident in October 2001; that scientist described the anthrax spore as uncoated but said that it contained an additive that affected the spore's electrical charges (D. Small, CBRN Counter-Proliferation and Response, Paris, France, 18-20 September 2006; organized by SMi [www.smi-online.co.uk]).

It would be of importance for Dr. Beecher to submit data in support of his conclusions in another paper to establish a sound scientific basis for his arguments.


Since the post-Mao reforms began, the Chinese central government has made efforts to revitalize the grassroots self-government system in urban areas in order to cope with the resulting sociopolitical changes. In 2000 the government stepped up its efforts by changing the old Residential Committee (jumin weiyuanhui, or RC) to the new Community Residents' Committee (shequ jumin weiyuanhui, or CRC) and by giving the latter more autonomy. Survey data that the authors collected in the urban areas of Beijing in 2004 indicate that most of their respondents supported the new CRCs and the current self-government system as a whole. Moreover, the authors found that urban residents' subjective orientations—such as their assessment of existing CRCs' performance, belief in democratic principles, sense of political efficacy, and life satisfaction—significantly influenced their support for the system; the type of housing complex was a sociopolitical contextual factor that also helped shape their support. These findings have important political implications for the future viability of the urban self-government system.


Here, we adapted the basic concept of artificial neural networks (ANN) and experimentally demonstrate a broadly applicable single layer ANN type architecture with molecular engineered bacteria to perform complex irreversible computing like multiplexing, de-multiplexing, encoding, decoding, majority functions, and reversible computing like Feynman and Fredkin gates. The encoder and majority functions and reversible computing were experimentally implemented within living cells for the first time. We created molecular-devices, which worked as artificial neuro-synapses in bacteria, where input chemical signals were linearly combined and processed through a non-linear activation function to produce fluorescent protein outputs. To create such molecular devices, we established a set of rules by corelating truth tables, mathematical equations of ANN, and molecular-device design, which unlike molecular computing, does not require circuit diagram and the equation directly correlates the design of the molecular-device. To our knowledge this is the first adaptation of ANN type architecture with engineered cells. This work may have significance in new platform for biomolecular computing, reversible computing and in transforming living cells as ANN-enabled hardware.


Nowadays by the rapid digitization of the data in the Healthcare sector has resulted in the collection of mountains amount of data in various Electronic Health Records (EHR). As the data is the biggest asset in the modern age, whose proper utilization in the Healthcare sector can lead to the discovery of the dreadful diseases very well in time which in turn will provide high quality of care to patients and at less expenditure. Breast Cancer is a primary cause of death in women whose precise detection of Breast Cancer is important in early stages. Precise results can be achieved through data mining algorithms. Developing a machine learning models that can help us in prediction the disease can play a vital role in early prediction. These Machine learning methods can be used to classify between healthy people & people with different disease. In the given project the light is been thrown on the same disease by using certain selected machine learning algorithms in WEKA tool and a corresponding evaluation of the selected Machine learning algorithms in terms of accuracy is also performed so as to select the best classifier for the early diagnosis of the said disease with better accuracy results In this paper three different types of models were implemented on the Breast Cancer dataset as Naive Bayes, Logistic Regression and Random Forest. Out of the three Random Forest lead the top by having accuracy of 98% and sensitivity 99% followed by Logistic Regression with accuracy of 96% and sensitivity 98% and finally with Naive Bayes with accuracy of 91% and sensitivity 94%.


This paper proposes one new attempt to formulate a mathematical approach to climate parameters in the context of their complex implications for tourist activities through the tourism climate comfort index (TCCI). This paper also aims to formulate an original and optimal mathematical correlation between readily obtainable climate parameters (mean monthly air temperature, monthly amplitude of air temperatures, monthly insolation, average monthly relative air humidity and the number of rainy days), which results in values of the TCCI. Simultaneously, this index will provide the values correspondent to the values of air temperatures (°C), which represents a comparative baseline understandable equally for tourists, tourism planners and managers. The example of Serbia as a mainland country in the south-east of Europe was used to apply the proposed methodology. The spatial-temporal variability of TCCI is formulated on basis of data for the period 1961-2000 while for testing model was used selected period 2001-2010 on the sample of 26 meteorological stations distributed all around Serbia. For this purpose a standard statistical techniques were applied and ArcGIS software was used for analyze of the variability of the TCCI in relation to the altitude, which is of particular importance for the development of tourism in the mountains. Checking variability of the index was carried out in relation to statistical data about number of tourists on the three most visited tourist destinations which are of importance for the development of urban, mountain and spa tourism, the leading forms of tourism activities on the territory of Serbia. The obtained results correspond with the fact of the pronounced seasonality of tourism market and thus may represent a good basis for future tourism planning and management.


Research on ethnic politics within Political Science has been characterized by a curious imbalance of producing an elaborate set of expectations of what identity appeals do without the equivalent in-depth examination of what they actually are in practice. In an effort to escape the over-determinism of earlier work which saw identities as fixed and primordial, an entire research tradition has developed to emphasize the 'social' aspect of identity formation and stress that individual identities are fluid, mutable, context-dependent, and constructed. However, classifications and the formulation of expectations inducing group interests up from personal identity attributes have impoverished our understanding of the full scope and consequences of the politicization of ethnic identity. Intended to aid the comparative work on identity in order to further our understanding of the processes behind identity redefinition and change, constructivism has been left unable to do so by blunt concepts and inadequate methodologies. Attributing causality to individual identity attributes alone, regardless of the extent of advanced combinatorics attached to their interpretation, cannot offer a satisfactory understanding of the consequences of social identity construction. I will argue that the ways, in which ethnic appeals are currently conceived and measured could not allow them to perform the function necessary for the theory to hold. Further, an over-emphasis on the performance of the appeal coupled with a perfunctory understanding of its nature leads to the lack of clear expectations and the adequate formulation of testable propositions regarding the conditions, under which various identity appeals are likely to be articulated. The latter is among the longest-standing and most consequential questions in politics. The paper suggests that ethnic appeals in political campaigns be modelled as narratives combining claims about group authenticity and value with rhetoric of rights and entitlement into arguments about representation and redistribution. This structure is able to account for how political rhetoric both evokes and moulds personal identifications into mobilization for group action. A conceptual vocabulary for characterizing ethnic appeals is suggested, which privileges the internal logic of the narrative over categorical distinctions between groups. Theoretically, the argument contributes to linking social categories, individual identities and political behavior with obvious import for mobilization. Empirically, the paper provides a notion of the distribution of the types of ethnic appeals in political campaigns across countries and allows for testing hypotheses of their determinants.


This paper involves a comprehensive evaluation of electromagnetic shielding characteristics of woven fabrics. The conductive fabrics produced by using cotton/copper-wrapped and cotton/stainless steel-wrapped hybrid yarns in plain and twill weaves were tested in single and double layer structures to determine the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE), absorption and reflection values over an incident frequency of 0–3000 MHz. In addition, the shielding effectiveness (EMSE) of these conductive fabric layers was tested under pure cotton fabric. The results indicated that fabrics including copper-wrapped hybrid yarns exhibited EMSE values that increase with increasing incident frequency then decline after a peak value is reached. On the other hand, fabrics including stainless steel-wrapped hybrid yarns showed no sharp peak values, instead; slight peaks were observed. The differences between the EMSE values of plain and twill weave fabric samples were found to be statistically insignificant. The use of fabrics including stainless steel-wrapped hybrid yarns in the layered structures resulted in better shielding effectiveness in a wider incident frequency range when compared to the fabrics including copper-wrapped hybrid yarns. Finally, it was found that the use of conductive fabrics under pure cotton fabric did not interrupt the shielding effectiveness of the conductive fabrics, which can lead to consider the use of layered structures for garments requiring special protective capabilities.


Large floodplain rivers have internal structures shaped by directions and rates of water movement. In a previous study, we showed that spatial variation in local current velocities and degrees of hydrological exchange creates a patch‐work mosaic of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and ratios in the Upper Mississippi River. Here, we used long‐term fish and limnological data sets to test the hypothesis that fish communities differ between the previously identified patches defined by high or low nitrogen to phosphorus ratios (TN:TP) and to determine the extent to which select limnological covariates might explain those differences. Species considered as habitat generalists were common in both patch types but were at least 2 times as abundant in low TN:TP patches. Dominance by these species resulted in lower diversity in low TN:TP patches, whereas an increased relative abundance of a number of rheophilic (flow‐dependent) species resulted in higher diversity and a more even species distribution in high TN:TP patches. Of the limnological variables considered, the strongest predictor of fish species assemblage and diversity was water flow velocity, indicating that spatial patterns in water‐mediated connectivity may act as the main driver of both local nutrient concentrations and fish community composition in these reaches. The coupling among hydrology, biogeochemistry, and biodiversity in these river reaches suggests that landscape‐scale restoration projects that manipulate hydrogeomorphic patterns may also modify the spatial mosaic of nutrients and fish communities. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.


The increase reliance on information systems has created unprecedented challenges for organizations to protect their critical information from different security threats that have direct consequences on the corporate liability, loss of credibility, and monetary damage. As a result, the security of information has become a top priority in many organizations. This study investigates the role of socio-organizational factors by drawing the insights from the organizational theory literature in the adoption of information security compliance in organizations. Based on the analysis of the survey data collected from 294 employees from different organizations, the study indicates management commitment, awareness and training, accountability, technology capability, technology compatibility, processes integration, and audit and monitoring have a significant positive impact on the adoption of information security compliance in organizations. The study contributes to the information security compliance research by exploring the criticality of socio-organizational factors at the organizational level for information security compliance.


Glucose-induced insulin secretion is desensitized during long-term exposure of pancreatic islet beta-cells to elevated glucose levels. This study characterizes an in vitro model of glucose-induced desensitization in cultured isolated islets of the rat. Insulin secretion in desensitized islets cultured with 11 mM glucose for 4–7 days was progressively reduced compared with the normal freshly isolated (fresh) islets. When desensitized islets were returned to a basal concentration of glucose (5.5 mM) for up to 2 h, the glucose sensitivity of insulin secretion was restored to normal (recovered islets). Carbachol and L-arginine also reversed the effects of desensitization. However, basal insulin release was elevated in desensitized and recovered islets. Sodium-dependent myo-inositol uptake was reduced during desensitization by up to 49% within 4 days. myo-Inositol uptake was restored to normal in a time-dependent manner during recovery of islets at 5.5 mM glucose. The recovery of myo-inositol uptake paralleled that of insulin release. The apparent transport constant for myo-inositol uptake was significantly increased during desensitization, whereas the maximum uptake was not changed. myo-Inositol supplementation (35 or 250 µM) during islet culture did not alter myo-inositol uptake or insulin secretion in desensitized islets. Na+)-K+)-ATPase activity, but not 5′-nucleotidase activity, in desensitized islets was also inhibited by 65 and 47% when compared with fresh islet and recovered islet Na+)-K+-ATPase activity, respectively. Thus, cultured islets represent an appropriate model to study biochemical parameters associated with the onset and reversibility of glucose desensitization of insulin secretion. associated with the onset and reversibility of glucose desensitization of insulin secretion. Alterations in Na+-K+-ATPase activity and coupled myo-inositol uptake during desensitization may contribute to the defective pattern of insulin release in this model.


In the last decade, investigations in fs-laser damage mechanisms have proven that the interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with dielectric matter is driven by electronic processes. This fact leads to a deterministic damage behavior and a well defined dependency of the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) on the absorption gap of the dielectric optical material. These facts have been considered in detail for dielectric thin films. Additionally, numerous investigations in filamentation, supercontinuum generation (SCG) and optical breakdown in bulk material have been published. The phenomena are also traced back to the interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with dielectric material. In contrast to thin films, these effects are based on a large interaction length of the beam with the dielectria. Consequently, additional nonlinear effects can contribute to the damage process of bulk materials. In the presented work, nonlinear absorption and the LIDT of fused silica are investigated. The influence of the propagation distance of the laser beam in the solid was in the focus of interest for an experiment on a series of fused silica samples of identical material and different thickness. The results of this study show that nonlinear absorption and laser-induced damage strongly vary in dependence of the sample thickness. The variations in the damage threshold range over more than one order of magnitude.


High-resolution spatial characterization of photovoltaic devices and photodetectors can reveal local defects that can have a detrimental impact on the lifetime and performance of such devices. Photocurrent mapping methods can provide high-resolution measurements and characterization can be achieved under actual operating conditions. However, such methods usually require costly, complicated systems and possess limited measurement speed. In this work an optical system based on a digital micro-mirror device is used for photocurrent mapping and a measurement protocol with a theoretical upper limit for scanning rate of 22 kHz is presented. The digital micromirror device itself provides synchronised spatial and temporal modulation in order to perform current mapping. Photocurrent maps of solar cells devices obtained with a scanning rate of 1000 pixels in less than 6 s are reported (the speed was limited by the device's response time and its photon to current conversion efficiency). The speed of photocurrent mapping is thus increased by almost two orders of magnitude compared to other methods and is only limited by the response of the device under test. A lateral resolution of 34 µm is achieved, with the potential to increase it even further. The absence of any moving parts allows high repeatability of measurements. Combined with the high-speed control of the light field, this enables the development of novel measurement techniques for the simultaneous measurement of temporal and spatial parameters. The fully digital control of the mapping system also presents a high potential for integration in industrial automated systems as it can be fully controlled using machine learning algorithms to achieve fast detection of crucial defects and features of devices during manufacturing.


: A valid consent is a necessary precondition to the administration of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, the assessment of mental competence to consent may be both complicated and controversial because neither case law nor statutes provide a clear description of the necessary mental abilities. The closest approximation in the literature is that derived from judicial commentary on the relevant case law and summarized into four standards. We designed a 15-item questionnaire to define and test the content or essential elements of each of these standards, and surveyed lawyers and health care professionals with known expertise or interest in the field to investigate the content validity of the questionnaire. Of the 15 items, 12 were rated important or essential to the assessment of competence to consent to ECT by > or = 67% of the lawyers and 11 were so rated by > or = 67% of the health professionals. Ten items were rated as important or essential by > or = 67% of both groups. Only two items were not so endorsed by > or = 67% of one of the groups. We conclude that the questionnaire has a satisfactory content validity and may be considered a general guideline for assessing competence to consent to ECT.


The threats to sustainable agriculture caused by severe land degradation, high soil salinity, and increased production costs on salt-affected, irrigated croplands of Uzbekistan, Central Asia, are both challenging and urgent. The present wide-spread cultivation practices of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays L.), but in particular cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), which was the predominant crop during the Soviet Union period (1924-1991) need to be altered by considering improved, technically feasible and economically viable practices. Therefore, the economic performance of three innovative crop rotation systems have been assessed and compared to Conventional Tillage (CT) practices. The cropping systems were all exposed to Bed Planting (BP) with a crop residue cover and included cotton-cover crop-cotton, cotton-wheat, and cotton-wheat-maize. Risk assessment was based on commodity prices and included State Procurement Price (SPP) and free Market Price (MP), but also variable production and input costs. A linear mathematic optimization model was employed to generate various simulations. Financial benefits (expressed in US dollars) were based on 2009 input costs and product prices. The findings revealed that Conservation Agriculture (CA)-based practices applied to the cropping systems could substantially increase economic returns especially in the early stages of adaption, provided they are flanked with appropriate agricultural practices and careful farm managements.


This paper proposes a model for the analysis of emotions in which each emotion word in each language is made up of a universal component and a language-specific component; the universal component is drawn from a set of universal human emotions which underlie all emotion words in all languages, and the language-specific component involves a language-particular thought pattern which is expressed as part of the meanings of a variety of different words in the language. The meanings of a variety of emotion words of Biblical Hebrew are discussed and compared with the meanings of English words with the same general meaning; it is shown that a number of the Biblical Hebrew words (though by no means all) directly represent the biblical conception of God and the role of God combined with one or another of the proposed universal emotions.


SECTION I. (1) It is concluded that while the unprecedented extent of the recent decline in the incidence of diphtheria is attributable to large-scale prophylactic inoculation, the decline in the severity of the disease, which continued over many years but has not been well-marked since the introduction of mass inoculation, must be mainly attributed to other factors - such as improvement in the hygienic and nutritional state of the community, more early diagnosis (and thus more effective treatment), and more accurate diagnosis (the result of the realisation that diphtheria may occur in clinically atypical forms, and of the availability of bacteriological facilities for the diagnosis of such cases). (2) A series of cases of diphtheria occurring during the year 1947-48 is described and compared with two other series, the others consisting of cases occurring during the years 1942 and 1951 respectively. In spite of the very marked decline in the incidence of diphtheria which took place between 1942 and 1951, the features of the disease were much the same in each of the three series. (3) With regard to the comparative characteristics of diphtheria in inoculated and uninoculated subjects, it was found that the typical membrane of the disease occurred slightly more frequently in the 'inoculated' group of cases than in the 'uninoculated', but that in the former group the patients were more often admitted to hospital relatively early in their illness, the membrane was much less often extensive,/ extensive, and toxic complications were very much less frequent. (4) Attention is directed to certain factors which have been shown to, or might be thought to, play a part in determining whether an individual infected with C. diphtheriae will develop symptoms or not and, if so, whether the diagnosis of diphtheria will be made or not. With regard to 'atypical' attacks of diphtheria (without the formation of the typical membrane of the disease, but with signs of follicular or catarrhal tonsillitis or pharyngitis), it is suggested that it is virtually impossible to determine the true incidence of such attacks, but that it is probably not so that, as is sometimes implied, they seldom occur except in previously inoculated subjects (and in those who have had previous attacks of diphtheria). In fact, in the present series of cases it was found, as stated above, that typical membrane formation occurred more frequently in the inoculated than in the uninoculated, and that atypical attacks were correspondingly less frequent in the former group. Further, regarding the total suspected-diphtheria admissions with signs of follicular or catarrhal tonsillitis, the diagnosis was confirmed in only half as many of the cases with a history of inoculation as of those without. (5) It is pointed out that it is often impossible to differentiate, with any reasonable degree of assurance, between atypical diphtheria (with signs of, for example, follicular tonsillitis) and other disease occurring in a/ a carrier. While consideration of the epidemiological circumstances may assist in the diagnosis, the shick test is only of limited value. The difficulties which may arise in the treatment of such cases are briefly referred to: while toxic complications are most unlikely to occur, that possibility cannot be entirely dismissed. (6) The factors which are of importance in the diagnosis of diphtheria are considered in detail (they are summarised on p. 200 ff.). it is concluded that the criteria laid down in such classic accounts as those of Bretonneau and Ker are still, to a large extent, valid. in applying these criteria in present-day circumstances, however, it is necessary to bear in mind, first, that it is now realised that diphtheria may occur relatively commonly in clinically atypical forms, and, second, the implications of the recent extraordinary decline in the incidence of the disease. (7) The following conclusions were formed regarding the cases in which the diagnosis of diphtheria was not confirmed (a) Streptococcal tonsillitis was the condition most frequently mistaken for diphtheria. (b) Infection with staphlococci, or with certain of the other common aerobic organisms, is probably not a frequent cause of tonsillitis. (c) Vincent's organisms were present in large numbers in a considerable proportion of both the diphtheria and other cases. The significance of this bacteriological/ bacteriological finding is discussed in some detail. It is stressed that the finding does not indicate that the presence of some other disease, for example, diphtheria or streptococcal tonsillitis, is any the less likely. (d) The possibility is entertained that infection with a non-virulent strain of C. diphtheriae may be capable of causing tonsillitis. There is no evidence to show that this infection can cause diphtheria. (e) Of the other diseases which may simulate diphtheria, glandular fever, tuberculosis, and syphilis are briefly considered. Although this was not so of the case of glandular fever encountered in the series, that disease may mimic diphtheria particularly closely. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).


Designed to help the learner develop their basic language skills, this book consists of informative reading texts with comprehensive notes, word lists, further explanation on points of grammar and a wide variety of exercises.


Egypt Exploration Society.—The expedition to Tell el-Amarna under the direction of Mr. C. Leonard Woolley worked on four distinct sites. In the city itself the vizier Nekht's house was the most imposing yet found. In the eastern foothills a complete plan of the walled village (discovered last season) was obtained. It was evacuated under Tutankh-amen. A river temple, partly underlying Hagg Gandib, produced Akhenaten reliefs, but was occupied as late as XXVIth dynasty. Finally, Maru-Aten, the Precinct of the Disc, was uncovered at the south end of the plain. In the centre lay a lake, around which were grouped trees, flower-beds, and a number of buildings in stone or brick, some of them richly decorated. Outside stood the royal kennels containing the bones of the king's greyhounds. An exhibition was held early in July at the Society of Antiquaries. The walls were hung with plans, coloured elevations, drawings of painted pottery, and naturalistic decoration—the work of Mr. F. G. Newton. Original objects included relief-heads of Akhenaten, the inscribed door-jamb from Nekht's house, specimens of frescoed pavements, fragments of sculptured drums and panels, Aegean sherds, and many objects of domestic use from the walled village.


When lidocaine is given systemically, cardiac Na channels are blocked preferentially over those in skeletal muscle and nerve. This apparent increased affinity is commonly assumed to arise solely from the fact that cardiac Na channels spend a large fraction of their time in the inactivated state, which exhibits a high affinity for local anesthetics. The oocyte expression system was used to compare systematically the sensitivities of skeletal (mu 1-beta 1) and cardiac (hH1-beta 1) Na channels to block by lidocaine, under conditions in which the only difference was the choice of alpha subunit. To check for differences in tonic block, Na currents were elicited after 3 min of exposure to various lidocaine concentrations at -100 mV, a potential at which both hH1-beta 1 and mu 1-beta 1 channels were fully reprimed. Surprisingly, hH1-beta 1 Na channels were threefold more sensitive to rested-state block by lidocaine (402 +/- 36 microM, n = 4-22) than were mu 1-beta 1 Na channels (1,168 +/- 34 microM, n = 7-19). In contrast, the inactivated state binding affinities determined at partially depolarized holding potentials (h infinity approximately 0.2) were similar (Kd = 16 +/- 1 microM, n = 3-9 for hH1-beta 1 and 12 +/- 2 microM, n = 4-11 for mu 1-beta 1). Lidocaine produced more use- dependent block of peak hH1-beta 1 Na current elicited by trains of short-(10 ms) or long- (1 s) duration step depolarizations (0.5 Hz, -20 mV) than of mu 1-beta 1 Na current. During exposure to lidocaine, hH1- beta 1 channels recover from inactivation at -100 mV after a prolonged delay (20 ms), while mu 1-beta 1 channels begin repriming immediately. The overall time course of recovery from inactivation in the presence of lidocaine is much slower in hH1-beta 1 than in mu 1-beta 1 channels. These unexpected findings suggest that structural differences in the alpha subunits impart intrinsically different lidocaine sensitivities to the two isoforms. The differences in steady state affinities and in repriming kinetics are both in the correct direction to help explain the increased potency of cardiac Na channel block by local anesthetics.


Molecular chemotherapy strategies have been developed for a number of epithelial malignancies based on selective delivery and expression of a toxin-encoding gene into the cancer cells. To date, these strategies have not been explored in the context of carcinoma of the cervix, despite the fact that a variety of factors suggest this as an appropriate disease for this gene therapy approach. One limitation in this respect is that appropriate tissue-specific promoters for selective toxin gene expression have not been defined for cervical carcinoma. In this regard, the secretory leukoprotease inhibitor (SLPI) gene has been shown to be constitutively expressed in many epithelial carcinoma cells including the uterine cervix. Thus, we investigated the utility of the SLPI gene as a tissue-specific promoter for regulatory control of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene for in vitro treatment of cervical carcinoma cells. For this analysis, a gene construct was derived with the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene under regulatory control of the 5' upstream regions of the SLPI gene. Transient transduction of three human cervical carcinoma cell lines with the SLPI-thymidine kinase (TK) construct was followed by treatment with the prodrug ganciclovir. Crystal violet staining was subsequently used to assess cell viability. In this analysis, it was shown that the SLPI-TK construct directed TK-mediated killing in two of three tested cervical cell lines, with the two cell lines being positive for SLPI. In addition, mixing experiments established that cervical carcinoma cells could exhibit a bystander effect which potentially augments the efficacy of molecular chemotherapy approaches. These findings may allow for the development of efficacious, target-specific, toxin gene therapy strategies for cervical carcinoma in human patients.


DISSERTATION: Resilience and Protective Factors in a Midwestern Community: A Participatory Action Approach STUDENT: Heather Wood DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy COLLEGE: Teachers DATE: May 2012 PAGES: 341 Resilience is a systemic process between a person and his/her environment (Ungar, 2005), whereby a person demonstrates a pattern of "good outcome despite serious threats to adaptation or development" (Masten, 2001, p. 28). Despite much research, the resilience research field lacks consensus on specific definitions of resilience factors (Ungar et al., 2005). Therefore, it is recommended that research prioritize specific resilience variables (Luthar & Zelazo, 2003) while attending to contextual and systemic factors (Ungar, 2005). The study took place in a community center in a low SES, predominantly African-American neighborhood in the Midwest. Neighborhood residents worked with research team members to co-construct a local definition of youth resilience through focus groups. Children meeting this definition were nominated by staff and participated in interviews about resilience factors. Children, parents, and staff also completed rating scales measuring resilient youth's academic, behavioral, social, and emotional functioning. Qualitative examinations of data resulted in an ecosystemic model of resilient youth in the community. Resilience was found to be influenced by interactions between individual, familial, and community factors. Individual perseverance and adult involvement and awareness, as well as community cohesion were important protective factors identified by participants. Results of the study were shared with community center staff with plans to utilize them at the center to help promote positive youth functioning.


The gene co-expression networks of many organisms including bacteria, mice and man exhibit scale-free distribution. This heterogeneous distribution of connections decreases the vulnerability of the network to random attacks and thus may confer the genetic replication machinery an intrinsic resilience to such attacks, triggered by changing environmental conditions that the organism may be subject to during evolution. This resilience to random attacks comes at an energetic cost, however, reflected by the lower entropy of the scale-free distribution compared to the more homogenous, random network. In this study we found that the cell cycle-regulated gene expression pattern of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae obeys a power-law distribution with an exponent α = 2.1 and an entropy of 1.58. The latter is very close to the maximal value of 1.65 obtained from linear optimization of the entropy function under the constraint of a constant cost function, determined by the average degree connectivity 〈k〉. We further show that the yeast's gene expression network can achieve scale-free distribution in a process that does not involve growth but rather via re-wiring of the connections between nodes of an ordered network. Our results support the idea of an evolutionary selection, which acts at the level of the protein sequence, and is compatible with the notion of greater biological importance of highly connected nodes in the protein interaction network. Our constrained re-wiring model provides a theoretical framework for a putative thermodynamically driven evolutionary selection process.