Recent shared-memory parallel computer systems offer the exciting possibility of customizing memory coherence protocols to fit an application's semantics and sharing patterns. Custom protocols have been used to achieve message-passing performance---while retaining the convenient programming model of a global address space---and to implement high-level language constructs. Unfortunately, coherence protocols written in a conventional language such as C are difficult to write, debug, understand, or modify. This paper describes Teapot, a small, domain-specific language for writing coherence protocols. Teapot uses continuations to help reduce the complexity of writing protocols. Simple static analysis in the Teapot compiler eliminates much of the overhead of continuations and results in protocols that run nearly as fast as hand-written C code. A Teapot specification can be compiled both to an executable coherence protocol and to input for a model checking system, which permits the specification to be verified. We report our experiences coding and verifying several protocols written in Teapot, along with measurements of the overhead incurred by writing a protocol in a higher-level language.


An experimental study of the reduction in heat transfer to a transpiration-cooled flat surface subjected to pressure gradients (zero, negative, and positive) is presented for flow conditions similar to those encountered in gas turbines. The investigation is carried out for high injection rates and determines the blow-off conditions under which the boundary layer is lifted away from the wall by the transpired coolant. The study was conducted in a hot blow-down wind tunnel facility. The transient nature of the facility ensures that the wall remains isothermal. The Reynolds number, the ratio of the gas to wall temperatures, and the pressure gradient parameters K are chosen to be representative of the conditions found in advanced gas turbines. The effect of the pressure gradient was found to be small. However, a local strong acceleration can reduce the cooling effectiveness. The heat transfer rates or Stanton numbers on a solid surface downstream of a transpiration cooled wall are found to be sensitive to the upstream injection ratio (b) and to the pressure gradient parameter. The data indicate that the ratio of Stanton numbers with and without cooling is nonzero for values of the injection parameters larger than values obtained theoretically by Kutateladze. The predicted value of the critical injection ratio (bcr ) determined from this study agrees well with the experimental data of Liepmann and Laufer for a free mixing layer, which is similar to a transpired boundary layer near blow-off as pointed out by Coles.


In this brief, we present a new indicator, i.e., salient edge energy, for guiding a given contour robustly and precisely toward the object boundary. Specifically, we define the salient edge energy by exploiting the higher order statistics on the diffusion space, and incorporate it into a variational level set formulation with the local region-based segmentation energy for solving the problem of curve evolution. In contrast to most previous methods, the proposed salient edge energy allows the curve to find only significant local minima relevant to the object boundary even in the noisy and cluttered background. Moreover, the segmentation performance derived from our new energy is less sensitive to the size of local windows compared with other recently developed methods, owing to the ability of our energy function to suppress diverse clutters. The proposed method has been tested on various images, and experimental results show that the salient edge energy effectively drives the active contour both qualitatively and quantitatively compared to various state-of-the-art methods.


To measure the susceptibility of penicillin-resistant pneumococci to newer beta-lactam agents, we evaluated 54 selected strains recovered from patients with bacteremia or meniingitis. Three groups of pneumococci were tested: penicillinsusceptible strains, strains with intermediate penicillin resistance, and penicillinresistant strain. Minimal inhibitory concentrations of benzyl penicillin, oxacillin, cephalothin, cefamandole, cefoxitin, moxalactam (LY127935), cefotaxime (HR756), piperacillin, pirbenicillin, N-formimidoyl thienamycin (MK0787), cefoperazone (T1551), mezlocillin, azilocillin, and mecillinam were determined. For all groups of pneumococci tested, cefota3ime, and particularly thienamycin, had the greatest activity. Piperacillin, mezlocillin, and azlocillin had activity similar to that of benzyl penicillin. Cefoperazone had less activity than penicillin against strains with penicillin minimal inhibitory concentrations of <1 ,g/ml but greater activity than penicillin against strains with greater resistance. Oxacillin, cephalothin, cefamandole, and pirbenicillin all had less activity for each group of pneumococci tested; moxalactam, cefoxitin, and mecillinam had the least activity. The relative differences in susceptibility to penicillin ofeach group ofpneumococci tested were similar for each of the beta-lactam agents tested. The clinical effectiveness of cefotaxime and thienamycin for therapy of disease due to penicillin-resistant pneumococci needs further evaluation, and of particular interest will be the levels of these drugs which can be achieved in cerebrospinal fluid.


Background An inadequate response to clopidogrel is mainly attributable to the variable formation of its active metabolite. The CYP2C19*2 loss-of-function polymorphism leads to reduced generation of the active metabolite and is, similarly to high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HPR), associated with recurrent atherothrombotic events following coronary stent implantation. Aim To determine the relative contribution of CYP2C19*2 genotype to HPR. Methods and results CYP2C19*2 genotyping and platelet function testing using 5 and 20 μmol/l ADP-induced light transmittance aggregometry (LTA), the PlateletWorks assay and the VerifyNow P2Y12 assay, were performed in 1069 clopidogrel pretreated patients undergoing elective coronary stenting (POPular study, http://clinicalTrials.gov/ NCT00352014). The relative contributions of CYP2C19*2 genotype and clinical variables to the interindividual variability of on-treatment platelet reactivity and the occurrence of HPR were established using multivariate regression models. CYP2C19*2 carrier status was associated with a more frequent occurrence of HPR. CYP2C19*2 genotype alone could explain 5.0%, 6.2%, 4.4% and 3.7% of the variability in 5 and 20 μmol/l ADP-induced LTA, the PlateletWorks assay and the VerifyNow P2Y12 assay, respectively, which increased to 13.0%, 15.2%, 5.6% and 20.6% when clinical variables were considered as well. Besides the CYP2C19*2 genotype, multiple clinical variables could be identified as independent predictors of HPR, including age, gender, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, clopidogrel loading dose regimen, use of amlodipine and platelet count. Conclusion The CYP2C19*2 loss-of-function polymorphism is associated with a more frequent occurrence of HPR. However, the part of the interindividual variability in on-treatment platelet reactivity explained by CYP2C19*2 genotype is modest.


The purpose of this thesis is twofold: to provide a preliminary study for a complete biography of the Sung writer and official Ou-yang Hsiu - a subject which has so far been neglected by Chinese and European scholars alike - and to investigate his relation to the establishment of Han Yu as China's greatest prose writer, and the development of the ku-wen movement - again a matter which has been for the most part neglected, and where considered at all presented in a very false perspective. This thesis is accordingly divided into two sections:- 1. Biographical. This contains details of the Ou-yang clan and of Hsiu's family in particular, the circumstances of his childhood, youth and early career, up to and including his thirtieth year, when he was dismissed from the capital to spend a period of exile in the provinces. The general historical end administrative background details of the incident which led to his dismissal and biographical details of his contemporaries are included only in so far as they affect Hsiu himself. 2. Literary. The beginning of Hsiu's official career raises the question of his position in the field of literature, which is reviewed in this section. A brief survey is given of the nature and development of the ku-wen movement up to the beginning of the Sung dynasty. Technical matter has been omitted as this is to be the subject of a separate article, now in the course of preparation. This is followed by a consideration of the Sung ku-wen writers prior to Ou-yang Hsiu. Thereafter the position of Ou-yang Hsiu is considered in relation to this background. Both the biographical and the literary sections extend to the year 1036, at which point the first period of Hsiu's career is brought to a close by his banishment. A thesis which covers, as this does, an extensive and neglected field inevitably raises many problems which fall outside its scope. Some of these are set out briefly in a final chapter, with suggestions of the lines along which further research into them might be pursued.


The paper analyses existing business models and popular simulation modeling tools. Authors discuss the model, based on multi-agent resource conversion processes, which has been designed by themselves earlier, a model, based on integration of situational, imitation and expert modeling, designed for printing industry processes formalization, and the model of active and passive converters. Next the paper presents the comparison by features, which reveals that none of the present tools allow web-based service orientation, and only one has support for cloud computing. Since service orientation and cloud calculations are among the popular trends nowadays, authors found it a challenging task to start working on web-based simulation modeling service, which is discussed in this paper. The paper concludes with description of the service prototype. Service development is under current research of the authors.


Two classes of dynamical recurrent neural networks, Continuous Time Recurrent Neural Networks (CTRNNs) (Yamauchi and Beer, 1994) and Plastic Neural Networks (PNNs) (Floreano and Urzelai, 2000) are compared on two behavioral tasks aimed at exploring their capabilities to display reinforcement-learning like behaviors and adaptation to unpredictable environmental changes. The networks report similar performances on both tasks, but PNNs display significantly better performance when sensory-motor re-adaptation is required after the evolutionary process. These results are discussed in the context of behavioral, biological, and computational definitions of learning.


A systematic approach for heat integration into an eco-industrial park through an integrated trigeneration system is presented. The approach is based on a new superstructure formulated as a multiobjective mixed-integer nonlinear programming model, where intraplant and interplant heat exchange for the process streams is allowed, in addition to the energy integration into the utility system that is constituted by a steam Rankine cycle (to produce electric power and hot utility), an organic Rankine cycle (to recover waste heat and produce electric power), and an absorption refrigeration cycle (to recover waste heat and provide refrigeration). To run the utility system, several external heat sources (solar, fossil fuels, and biofuels) are considered, which impact the economic, environmental, and social objectives considered in the model. A systematic approach to tradeoff the objectives considered is presented. Two examples are presented, where the advantages of the integrated eco-industrial park are shown. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 213–236, 2014


This paper aims to describe how the AnaFocus' Eye-RIS family of vision systems has been successfully embedded within the roving robots developed under the framework of SPARK and SPARK II European projects to solve the action-oriented perception problem in real time. Indeed, the Eye-RIS family is a set of vision systems which are conceived for single-chip integration using CMOS technologies. The Eye-RIS systems employ a bio-inspired architecture where image acquisition and processing are truly intermingled and the processing itself is carried out in two steps. At the first step, processing is fully parallel owing to the concourse of dedicated circuit structures which are integrated close to the sensors. These structures handle basically analog information. At the second step, processing is realized on digitally-coded information data by means of digital processors. On the other hand, SPARK I and SPARK II are European research projects which goal is to develop completely new sensing-perceiving-moving artefacts inspired by the basic principles of living systems and based on the concept of "selforganization". As a result, its low-power consumption together with its huge image-processing capabilities makes the Eye-RIS vision system a suitable choice to be embedded within the roving robots developed under the framework of SPARK projects and to implement in real time the resulting mathematical models for action-oriented perception.


Consumers have shifted their consumption of online content dramatically from websites that they browse from a personal computer to apps that they use on mobile devices. Marketers have moved with the eyeballs, particularly since people use their smartphones much of the day and carry them wherever they go. These changes have disrupted the online advertising industry. This paper provides a primer on the mobile advertising business, particularly on how the economic structure of the online advertising industry has changed as a result of the move to mobile, and explores some of the issues that policymakers will need to consider as the digital economy moves from websites browsed from fixed devices to apps used on mobile devices.


Programming paradigms based on object mobility, such as mobile agents, can greatly contribute in designing distributed applications, but also introduce issues which are not present when objects are statically bound to their execution environments. Auxiliary mechanisms are necessary in order to allow an application to control mobile objects as well as to provide mobile agents with the capability of interacting with each other despite of mobility. The work described in this paper deals with how to build a mobile objects system based on the Java distributed object model. In particular we describe how to take advantage of the Java RMI's distributed garbage collector to implement an effective remote reference updating scheme, necessary, to support object interaction even in the presence of mobility.


One hundred ninety-five cases of traumatic hyphema admitted to 2 medical centers over an 8 year period were studied in terms of factors effecting the rebleeding rate. It was found that aspirin given for analgesia had a detrimental effect on the rebleeding rate, and that dilating the iris offered some protection against this complication. This report is the second one to show association of higher rebleeding rate and aspirin.


Although there is still some controversy about the existence of psoriatic arthritis as a specific form of inflammatory arthritis associated with psoriasis, epidemiological, and clinical studies support the unique features of psoriatic arthritis. Because of lack of diagnostic or classification criteria, the disease has been thought of as uncommon. Over the past several decades, it has become clear that the disease leads to serious disability and even increased mortality. Traditional medications have not been effective in preventing the progression of joint damage. New medications, including biologics, have emerged with the potential to control the inflammation and arrest the progression of joint damage.


This paper examines the role of debt in affecting the value of a firm in the developing and the developed financial markets. The study uses panel data of 120 companies for the years 2000 to 2003 from the selected financial markets. The paper extends the literature by performing a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between debt and the value of a firm, by using a correct proxy to value a firm. Furthermore, the results are interpreted by taking into account the foundations of the developing and developed markets and different financial theories are ranked on the basis of these results of the study. The findings of the study suggest that higher debt plays a negative role in affecting the value of a firm in the selected markets showing the effect of market imperfections in the developing market. The result supports the second trade off theory and the foundation of the developed financial market. An efficient regulatory authority improves the firm's performance by defending the rights of shareholders and reducing principal and agent conflicts. Similarly, the dual leadership structure, investors' confidence and optimal utilization of assets improve shareholders' value in these markets. The results are valuable to academics and policy makers as these results suggest an optimal capital structure for the firms of the selected financial markets.


Gaussian random fields (GRFs) are important building blocks in hierarchical models for spatial data, but there is no practically useful, principled approach for selecting the prior on their hyperparameters. The prior is typically chosen in an ad-hoc manner, which lacks theoretical justification, despite the fact that we know that the hyperparameters are not consistently estimable from a single realization and that there is sensitivity to the choice of the prior. We first use the recent Penalised Complexity prior framework to construct a practically useful, tunable, weakly informative joint prior on the range and the marginal variance for Matern GRFs with fixed smoothness. We then discuss how to extend this prior to a prior for a non-stationary GRF with covariates in the covariance structure.


Root and rhizomes of Smilax zeylanica (Family: Similaceae; Kabarossa in Sinhala; Kumarika in English) is widely used as a traditional remedy to manage cancer. Yet, its ethnomedical usage is not scientifically proven. Present study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant, cytotoxic and antibacterial activities of root and rhizome (RR) of S. zeylanica. Dried RR was refluxed with methanol and the phytochemical screening was conducted using standard methods and was confirmed by thin layer chromatography. Total phenols and flavonoids were quantified with Gallic acid and Quarcetine as respective standards. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging assay, while cytotoxic activity was tested (n=50) with Brine shrimp lethality assay. Antibacterial activity against two gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis and Streptooccus aureus) and two gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Proteus sp.) bacteria conducted using disk diffusion method. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of unsaturated sterols, terpenes, saponins, flavonoids, pro-anthocynidines, anthraquinones, tannins, and polyphenols. The free radical scavenging potential of the extract increased with increasing concentration in a linear fashion. Further, the extract found to be a strong free radical scavenger (IC50: 6.53±0.02 μg/ml) compared to the standard ascorbic acid (IC50: 2.59±0.02 μg/ml). Cytotoxic effect of S. zeylanica showed a significant different with the standard Potassium dichromate (p<0.05). The IC50 value exhibited by the extract was 90±2.8 μg/ml compared to the standard (32 μg/ml). The extract did not exhibit any antibacterial activity against the tested bacterial strains. The present study confirms ethnomedical use of RR of S. zeylanica against cancer. It is suggested that the active compounds of methanol extraction of RR of S. zeylanica play a role to inhibit free radical activity and kill Artemiasalina nauplii. The substances can be considered as potential antioxidant and cytotoxic agents as well as imminent candidate for cancer therapy. Further investigations on chemical composition and possible isolation of active ingredients are required. Keywords: Smilax zeylanica, Methanol extract, Antioxidant activity, Cytotoxicity, Antibacterial activity


We present a study of radiometric calibration and the in-camera imaging process through an extensive analysis of more than 10,000 images from over 30 cameras. The goal is to investigate if image values can be transformed to physically meaningful values and if so, when and how this can be done. From our analysis, we show that the conventional radiometric model fits well for image pixels with low color saturation but begins to degrade as color saturation level increases. This is due to the color mapping process which includes gamut mapping in the in-camera processing that cannot be modeled with conventional methods. To this end, we introduce a new imaging model for radiometric calibration and present an effective calibration scheme that allows us to compensate for the nonlinear color correction to convert non-linear sRGB images to CCD RAW responses.


Armed conflict in Yugoslavia gave birth to six nations with different identities and economic outlooks. It is now divided along ethnic lines and includes six republics – Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia – and Kosovo with supervised independence. The conflicts that arose through this division of nations still exist in different forms; one religious, and the other, nationalism. There have been many attempts to analyse peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts and practices in different conflict-hit countries. Studies of peacebuilding have received particular attention in security and peace studies around the world. The emergence of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the unique case studies for peace and security researchers and many scholars have highlighted the country's dangerous conflict. Adam Moore's book was published in 2013 by Cornell University Press, Ithaca, US. The book was funded in project form by several international organisations and institutes of peace such as the Council of European Union Studies, International Research and Exchanges Board and The United States Institute of Peace. The book contains an interesting case study of two Bosnian towns, Brcko and Mostar. The examples of these towns have been used in a comparative analysis to improve understanding of the differences in peacebuilding practices between local political parties and institutions, and local and international ones.


This paper investigates the conditions under which socially responsible investment (SRI) is neutral from the viewpoint of general equilibrium theory. Three conditions are jointly sufficient for neutrality of SRI. First, the financial market is complete and SRI does not compromise the spanning opportunities it provides. Second, consumers' rankings of consumption bundles are unaffected by their asset holdings. Third, firms maximize shareholder value. Under an additional assumption that is satisfied, e.g., if SRI takes the form of negative screening, the taxes and transfers needed to implement a Pareto‐optimal allocation are the same as in the absence of SRI. SRI is neutral despite financial market incompleteness if there are perfect substitutes for targeted stocks.


The offshore micro integrated energy system is closely related to the production process of marine engineering and operates independently. It is difficult to save the cost and minimize CO2 emissions of the system while considering the effect of production process or the uncertainty of external environment. From the perspective of optimization planning for integrated energy system, this paper establishes an electricity-heat-CO2 coupling model of the offshore micro integrated energy system based on the concept of energy hub. Considering the effect of production process and external environment uncertainty, this paper develops a multi-objective stochastic planning model with the target of minimizing the total cost and CO2 emission, which is constrained by electricity and heat network balance. Then a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is used to solve the model. As a result, the multi-objective optimization planning which combines cost and environmental protection is realized. Through the optimal planning for micro integrated energy systems of a group of offshore oil and gas platforms and an all-electric vessel, the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method are verified.


The first part of this PhD thesis is devoted to the application of molecular genetics to describe demographic trends, geographic distribution patterns and genetic status of the Alpine population 15 years after the reintroduction program. In order to achieve the first objective we a) increased the number of STR markers (from 10 to 15 loci) in the Alpine population to raise the informativity content for population genetics studies, and possibly resolve uncertain parentage assignments; b) presented an annual overview of the demographic status of the Alpine population for a long-term monitoring program; c) measured the genetic diversity over generations, highlighting possible trends d) identified parentage relationships and provided a pedigree reconstruction, showing if there is an increase of inbreeding events over generations; e) estimated the effective population size; f) verified whether or not a connection between the reintroduced population in the central Alps and the Dinaric population was established. We furthermore provided considerations for conservation and management of this species in the Alps, taking into account the emerged demographic, spatial and genetic aspects.
The second part is methodological and is about developing a new set of SNP markers to enhance the resolution power
for population genetics analysis of the Alpine and Apennine populations. In order to identify reliable and informative SNPs we a) tested the effectiveness of an existing SNP panel, developed for the Scandinavian brown bear populations, on the two Italian brown bear subspecies, identifying a set of SNPs that has potential for a SNP-based individual and sex identification system. I took into consideration the ascertainment bias that arises when transferring SNP markers across populations; and b) tested the selected subset of SNPs for parentage assignments in the Alpine population, comparing its resolution power with that derived from STRs.


W hitney Gordon Sampson, MD, died on July 18, 2000, after a brief illness with cancer. His distinguished career was marked by his excellence as a teacher in the areas of optics and contact lenses and his leadership in the most prominent ophthalmic organizations. He was trained in ophthalmology at Baylor College Affiliated Hospitals and was active on the staffs of several hospitals in the Houston area. He was also president of the TexasOphthalmologicalSociety,ContactLensAssociation of Ophthalmology, American Association of Ophthalmology, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr Sampson is survived by his wife of 44 years, Marlys Hayward Sampson, and their 3 children, Linda Sampson Cox, Leslie Sampson Keller, and Whitney Gordon Sampson, Jr, as well as 6 grandchildren. In addition to his achievements in ophthalmology, Dr Sampson will be remembered for his sense of humor, his imposing physical stature, and his string bow tie. At his funeral, the song "I Did It My Way" was played. Those who knew him know the song must have been written with Whitney in mind.


In spite of the good combination of strength and toughness, the microstructure properties of Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) sometimes lead to machinability issues. Therefore, the effect of carbide proportion in machinability has been investigated in this project work with two ADI-900 grades; Alloy 2 with high (<0.5%) and Alloy 3 with low (<<0.1%) carbide proportion using drilling tests. TiAlN coated solid carbide twist drills with 3.5mm diameter were used. The microstructure of the drilled holes in both alloys revealed two regions in the vicinity of the drilled edge where the microstructure was either completely changed or where the microstructure was distorted compared to the bulk which we have called Machining Affected Zone (MAZ) and Total Deformed Layer (TDL) respectively. Factorial tests were conducted to obtain regression equations for Thrust, Torque, Surface roughness, MAZ and TDL in both alloys to assess the change in one or more of these responses when speed and/or feed level were changed within the high and low limits. Tool life tests were conducted at 80m/min and 0.12 mm/rev, wherein, flank wear rate was higher in Alloy 2 than in Alloy 3 and provided more realistic prediction of tool life. The change in chip morphology could be a useful visual tool to predict tool life with Alloy 3. No significant difference in surface roughness was seen among the holes drilled throughout the tool life in either alloys. MAZ and TDL measurement in selected holes from both alloys showed that in case of Alloy 2, MAZ dropped slightly at 2500 holes, after which it increased until the end while no significant difference was seen among the holes in Alloy 3. No trend in TDL depth could be noticed among the holes in both alloys. Micro hardness test indicated that the hardness within TDL was appreciably higher compared to the bulk. The flank wear level had a positive influence on the maximum hardness level obtained in the vicinity of drilled edge in Alloy 2.


Thyroid hormone (3,5,3'-tri-iodothyronine; T3) regulates gene expression through binding to its specific receptor in the nucleus. In euthyroid animals, roughly half of all receptors are occupied by the hormone. Nuclear extracts thus yield mixtures of occupied and unoccupied receptors. We present here a simple method for transforming occupied receptors into unoccupied ones. In vitro, the T3-receptor complex dissociated in a half-dissociation time exceeding 100 h at 0 degrees C, and at temperatures that accelerated the dissociation the receptor was quickly inactivated. Long-chain-fatty-acyl-CoAs, on the other hand, greatly accelerated the dissociation of T3-receptor complex at 0 degree C. The receptor was extracted from rat liver nuclei, incubated with oleoyl-CoA to release the bound hormone, and passed through a small column of Lipidex, which strongly adsorbed both oleoyl-CoA and the dissociated hormone. The receptor was recovered in the flow-through fraction in its unoccupied form, as seen by the results of DEAE-Sephadex column chromatography and the loss of all previously bound [125I]T3. The maximum T3-binding capacity of the unoccupied receptor was about 1.5-fold that of the untreated sample, and the dissociation constant was unaltered. The results suggest that most nuclear thyroid-hormone receptors occupied by the hormone were transformed into unoccupied ones. From the T3-binding capacity before and after oleoyl-CoA treatment, the in vivo T3 occupancy of the receptor was estimated. The procedure is easy to perform, and the method should be useful for studies of unoccupied receptors.


Background. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that low smooth pursuit gain in schizophrenia is related to an abnormality in motion perception. Methods. The subjects were 19 schizophrenics treated with clozapine and 19 controls. In addition to smooth pursuit and motion perception paradigms, sustained attention was also assessed using a continuous performance task (CPT). Results. In the patient group, there was a statistically significant negative correlation between smooth pursuit gain and motion perception threshold (r =−0·60, P<0·01). This relationship was not secondary to attention deficits as assessed by the CPT. Conclusions. Our results are consistent with the notion that the smooth pursuit gain deficit is related to a deficit in motion perception rather than in attention. Brain area V5 (also referred to as 'MT' in macaque), located in the parieto-occipital region, is known to be critically important both for motion perception and gain. Thus, our results point to an abnormality in this area in schizophrenia.


We were at first puzzled by Alexander Wendt's latest rejoinder, since systemic theorists need concede nothing in recognizing states as self-interested actors with identities and interests. They have only to add that these identities and interests are shaped by the system in general and are given specific direction at any one time by the systemic pressures operating in the previous period. After all, 'self-interested' is a dummy term, until supplied with content, and systemic theorists can regard the system as the source of what matters. Explanations which proceed 'top-down' by explaining the behaviour of the units in terms of the system need some kind of feed-back mechanism involving the units. It is no objection to systemic theory that the units contribute to the process, provided that they do so in ways shaped by the demands of the system. In short, why does Wendt believe that the identities and interests of actors cannot be formed by the system? Waltz certainly offers a powerful explanation cast in precisely these terms.


Background. Intracoronary ultrasound (ICUS) has the ability to quantitatively evaluate vessel wall morphology and is well suited for serial studies of coronary artery disease regression and progression. However, the potential risk for catheter-induced endothelial damage and accelerated atherosclerosis in instrumented vessels is a concern. The acute effects as well as the 1-year safety of ICUS regarding its impact on the atherosclerotic process were assessed. Methods and Results. The acute studies include 240 intracoronary studies performed in 170 cardiac transplant recipients. Patients were systematically heparinized. Only vessels >2 mm in diameter were visualized. Coronary arteries of 38 patients were measured by quantitative coronary angiography in matched angiograms at an interval of 1 year after the initial ICUS examination was performed to assess long-term effects. The angiographic measurements in the previously instrumented and noninstrumented vessels were compared. Forty-nine vessels that had been imaged (IM) in these 38 patients with a SF ICUS catheter were compared with 61 vessels not previously imaged (NIM) in the same patients. Absolute and percentage change in angiographically measured mean vessel diameters in the ICUS imaged and nonimaged segments were compared. Despite pretreatment with nitroglycerin, 20 patients (8.3%) had angiographically evident coronary spasm. In all cases, this was reversed by giving nitroglycerin. One year after the original imaging study, no difference was noted between imaged and nonimaged vessels in change in absolute vessel diameter (IM, -0.11±0.28 mm vs NIM, -0.07±0.22 mm; P=.49) or in percentage change in diameter (IM, -5±11% vs NIM, -3+7%; P=.32). Conclusions. Intracoronary ultrasound in cardiac transplant recipients was associated with no clinical morbidity and a low incidence of vessel spasm in large and medium-size coronary arteries. It does not accelerate progression ofangiographically quantifiable coronary artery disease. This study suggests that ICUS can be safely used even in coronary arteries not undergoing interventions. (Citruaion. 1993;88[part 1]: 1709-1714.)


Reuslts of radiogeochronological studies on the igneous and metamorphic rock complexes can be effectively interpreted only when taking into account the possibilities and limitations of each method applied. Igneous rocks are comparatively easily dated when have not suffered superimposed thermal or tectonothermal (metamorphic) events after their cooling. Concordant ages are usually obtained using the Rb-Sr, U-Pb and K-Ar methods. The Ar-Ar method may be crucial for understanding the cooling history. U-Pb dating of zircon cores may supply information about the source rocks, and initial Rb-Sr ratios and SmNd data are important for petrogenetic interpretations. When the igneous body has been subjected to post-intrusion tectonothermal events, its origin and evolution may be elucidated only with the aid of a complex of methods. The age of the intrusion may be obtained using isochrone methods: Rb-Sr whole-rock isochrone (the mineral isochrone reflect the time of superimposed metamorphism) and U-Pb zircon ages using the concordia-discordia diagram. In the second case, the upper concordiafdiscordia intercept is related to the intrusion age whereas the lower intercept gives the age of the superimposed -metamorphism. In the most general case, K-Ar dates would be "mixed data" situated between the age of cooling and the time of superimposed metamorphism, and in case of full radiogenic Ar loss during the superimposed event, would date the latter. In such a case, the Ar-Ar method will supply information about the cooling history of this last tectonothermal event. A single metamorphic event (or cycle) imposed over a sedimentary or volcano-sedimentary sequence would result in concordant ages obtained by different isotopic methods. Considerable difficulties arise when trying to date polymetamorphic complexes with a long and controversial history. Unfortunately, such is the case with most of the polymetamorphic rocks exposed in the central parts of the Balkan Peninsula. The present overview aims to compare the information obtained during the last years when extensive new data have been published. The reference list contains (due to the very limited space) only a selected fraction of the various sources used. The author apologizes for the forceful omission of many valuable sources that will be fully cited in a following extended publication.


This paper describes a joint experimental and numerical investigation of the control of the flow over the flap of a three-element high-lift configuration by means of periodic excitation. At Reynolds numbers between 0.3 ◊ 10 6 and 1 ◊ 10 6 the flow is influenced by periodic blowing or periodic blowing/suction through slots near the flap leading edge. The delay of flow separation by periodic vertical excitation could be identified in the experiments as well as numerical simulations based on the Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (URANS). As a result, the mean aerodynamic lift of this practically relevant wing configuration could be significantly enhanced. By investigating dierent excitation frequencies and intensities optimum control parameters could be found. The behaviour of the aerodynamic forces with varying flap deflection angle are measured on a finite swept wing. Scientific visualisation of the numerical simulations of an infinite swept wing allows a detailed analysis of the structures in this complex flow field and the eect of flow control on these.


The purpose of this paper is to examine the adaptation of the lean production system in China. In a large context of worldwide Japanization, the Chinese firms paid more attention to and introduction the Toyota production system earlier than American and European firms. First Automotive Works(FAW), the prototype of the Ford production system in China, began to introduce the philosophy of Toyota production system under the direct technological instructions by Taiichi Ohno, one of the earliest proponents of the Just-in-Time method in Toyota in late 1970s. also built a typical Toyota-style transmission plant which received technological assistance from Hino Motor Co. of Toyota Group in late 1980s. These efforts have been contributing to a great extent the evolution of the production system in FAW. FAW invited Taiichi Ohno, who was born in China, to conduct seminars and on-the-spot technological instructions in 1977 and 1981. In FAW, Ohno not only harshly criticized the existing mass production system of FAW, but also taught FAW by showing the example of changing the lay-out of production line. Besides, FAW also sent an observation mission to learn Japanese management methods and visited ten Japanese automobile companies for five months in 1978. The FAW Transmission Plant, which introduced Just-in-Time(JIT) method, is viewed as one of the best plants in China. FAW has attempted to adopt the lean production system that characterizes Toyota. FAW is in the middle of learning the lean production, and the transmission plant has become a typical model of this system. Every person above manager level in FAW has the book "The Machine that Changed the World"(MIT, IMVP). By 1995 thirteen seminars focused on lean production had been held at the FAW Academy of Communist Party. Technology transfer between plants is one of the serious problems in FAW. There is a unique coexistence of different production systems including those former Soviet Union, Japan, US and Germany because of the different adoption time. In general, the evolution process of production system of FAW shows and example of worldwide Japanization and a good direction for the reform of state-owned firms which are in the labor pains of building up competitiveness in an increasingly market-oriented economy in China. Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation(SAIC), which is viewed as one of the most successful holding company in the Chinese automobile industry, is another typical case for adopting lean production system in China. In order to reach the quality regulation of Shanghai Volkswagen(SVW), a core joint venture company under Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, SAIC first established unique system 'Special Production Zone' within its subordinated factories. While it was Japan Koito Manufacturing Company that actually brought lean production into Shanghai. The largest overseas investigation delegation consisted of top managing staff from 16 makers of SAIC was assigned to Japan by the invitation of Koito Manufacturer for almost one-month actual investigation in 1992. From 1994, SAIC selected Shanghai Automobile Gear Works and other 4 factories as a breakthrough to practice 'Team Work Method', 'Just-In-Time Production', 'JIT Delivery System of Components' and 'Systematic Supply'. In the beginning of 1995, SAIC drafted a 'New Strategic Prospect' for the forthcoming 5 or 6 years, so called 'Up and Down'(development capability-up, product cost-down). To realize cost reduction and enhance the crisis consciousness, SAIC began its promotion of lean production thoroughly. While in the establishment duration of lean production, the conflicts existed between the traditional identity of mass production & Chinese-style production management and the identity of Toyota's JIT. The resolution of mechanism degree of technique transformation among factories, that is the degree of the lean production introduced within the whole company serially has become the biggest touchstone to test the evolution capability of FAW. On the other hand, SAIC's introduction and promotion of lean production resulted in the mutual function of inner & outer elements with the privilege of capacity improvement. This paper implies one realistic problem that is the breaking away from former management system and traditional mass production under the present planned economic system.


Hard and brittle materials such as ceramics and glass are not only difficult-to-machine but also occur easily cracks at the exit surface in through-hole drilling. This paper deals with through-hole drilling of glass plate for plasma display panel using an electroplated abrasive grain tool in order to find out drilling conditions for smaller cracks, higher drilling efficiency and longer tool life. In particular, the influence of the crack in two kinds of abrasive grain is examined. The main conclusions obtained in this study are as follows. The crack in diamond grain tool is smaller than that in CBN grain tool. Moreover, the tool life of diamond grain tool is longer than that of CBN grain tool. Adhered volume of chip increases with drilling numbers, so the crack size and the thrust force increases. The washing of tool is required in order to restrain crack and force.


OF THE two types of liver transplantation, in situ replacement and heterotopic insertion, the latter has the advantage that hepatectomy in the recipient is not required. The magnitude of the operation involved in total hepatectomy adds to the mortality and morbidity of in situ replacement of the liver. Auxiliary liver transplantation is appealing because it might be applied in cases of acute or chronic liver failure or biliary atresia when hepatectomy might not be indicated. It might prove useful also as the initial operation of a staged total replacement. The main problems of liver transplantation are, as in the case of other organs, basically immunological. Nevertheless, suitable techniques and methods also are important for further experimental studies. Several techniques of auxiliary liver transplantation have been described. 1-6 The purpose of the present study was to devise a relatively simple technique for heterotopic liver transplantation and to evaluate function of the


We report on the discovery of exotic superconductivity (SC) and novel magnetism in heavy-fermion (HF) compounds, CeCu2Si2, CeRhIn5 and CeIn3, on the verge of antiferromagnetism (AFM) through nuclear-quadrupole-resonance (NQR) measurements under pressure (P). The exotic SC in a homogeneous CeCu2Si2 (Tc = 0.7 K) revealed antiferromagnetic critical fluctuations at the border to AFM or a marginal AFM. Remarkably, it has been found that the application of magnetic field induces a spin-density-wave (SDW) transition by suppressing the SC near the upper critical field. Furthermore, the uniform mixed phase of SC and AFM in CeCu2(Si1−xGex)2 emerges on a microscopic level, once a tiny amount of 1% Ge (x = 0.01) is substituted for Si to expand its lattice. The application of minute pressure (P∼0.19 GPa) suppresses the sudden emergence of the AFM caused by doping Ge. The persistence of the low-lying magnetic excitations at temperatures lower than Tc and TN is ascribed to the uniform mixed phase of SC and AFM. Likewise, the P-induced HF superconductor CeRhIn5 coexists with AFM on a microscopic level in P = 1.5–1.9 GPa. It is demonstrated that SC does not yield any trace of gap opening in low-lying excitations below the onset temperature, presumably associated with an amplitude fluctuation of superconducting order parameter. The unconventional gapless nature of SC in the low-lying excitation spectrum emerges due to the uniform mixed phase of AFM and SC. By contrast, in CeIn3, the P-induced phase separation of AFM and paramagnetism (PM) takes place without any trace for a quantum phase transition. The outstanding finding is that SC sets in at both the phases magnetically separated into AFM and PM in P = 2.28–2.5 GPa. A new type of SC forms the uniform mixed phase with AFM and the HF SC occurs in PM. We propose that the magnetic excitations such as spin-density fluctuations induced by the first-order phase transition from AFM to PM might mediate attractive interaction to form the Cooper pairs in the novel phase of AFM.


In 1977, phylloxera was discovered in five year old own-rooted Cabernet Sauvignon vines. Interpretation of aerial photos taken annually 1978-81 shows that phylloxera is readily distinguishable from other grapevine maladies, and that the annual rate of increase averages 255%. Projecting annual increases at this rate, all vines will be dead or unproductive in the eighth year following phylloxera discovery. However, because of the geometric increase in infestation, production may still be economical through the fifth to seventh year. Annual aerial detection and projection of the increase rate will enable vineyard managers to determine the optimum time to replant infested vineyards with vines grafted onto phylloxera resistant rootstocks.


The dissertation 'The idea of Unity in John: A reception historical study of Johannine passages on unity' as the title suggests is a critical historical study of the reception of the Johannine passages on unity and abiding in Jesus. It is my intention in these pages to assess the reading of some of the passages in John that dwell on unity and abiding in Jesus by modem scholars, early church fathers and the Protestant reformers of the 16th century. I have chosen the periods when unity was of great urgency for the church and only the major scholars at these periods. The modem scholars whose works will be focused on are Bultmann, Schnackenburg, Brown and Barrett; the fathers whose commentaries are examined are John Chrysostom and Augustine of Hippo; while the protestant reformers that will be considered are Martin Luther, a first generation reformer and John Calvin, a second-generation reformer.The thesis shows that despite the diversity of readings emanating from the different periods in the history of the reading of the texts and passages on unity, the scholars at each of the periods have much more in common than is generally imagined. All the scholars at the three periods under consideration were close readers of the texts, with the modem scholars only being more systematic and more disciplined than the fathers and the reformers, who were more polemical in their attempt to argue their doctrinal point of view. The thesis also shows that the various readers address the issue of how the text speaks to their particular generation and how the various scholars look to the texts to provide a theological basis for unity.Having said that, the thesis also shows the areas where the various scholars differ. The thesis points out that there is a great divide in the scholars' understanding of the nature of unity in the text, those who are prayed for to be in unity. All the readers sought unity, but the kinds of unities they sought differs at the various periods. The fathers spoke about unity that is more inclusive, the reformers talked about unity of those who hold particular faith, doctrine of the scripture, while the present day scholars are more sensitive in their discussion about the nature of unity in the gospel. The various scholars also differ on their reading of what it means to abide in Jesus, who believers are. They are also divided on the question of unity of believers and the faith of the world and on the question of the nature of grace in unity and abiding in Jesus. The thesis also brought into focus what is interesting about the different interpretations at the various periods. It shows, to a greater degree than one would imagine, that the reading of the texts in the earlier periods serve as a point of departure for the later period. It points out how far the earlier readings of the texts influence the modem reading of the text, and to what extent modem scholars stand in a tradition of the readings from the last two Millennia. It shows that at various periods, the readers enter into dialogue with the texts in which they bring their own experiences and interest to bear in the constraction of the meaning of the texts for them. It also shows how they attempt to fill in the gaps and resolve some of the ambiguities in the text. The thesis also will show that none of the interpretations at various periods is short of circumstantial influences such as the interpreters' circumstance, studies and the religious institution to which he is attached and most especially the concerns of the church.


AIMS
To identify the developmental course of non-medical use of four separate prescription drug classes (opioids, sedatives, stimulants and tranquilizers) by examining the general functional growth and related covariates during the transition from adolescence to adulthood in the United States.

DESIGN
Nationally representative probability samples of high school seniors were followed longitudinally across five waves (waves 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5: modal ages 18, 19/20, 21/22, 23/24 and 25/26 years, respectively).

SETTING
Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires to high school seniors and young adults in the United States.

PARTICIPANTS
The sample consisted of nearly 72 000 individuals in 30 cohorts (high school senior years of 1977-2006) who participated in at least one wave.

MEASUREMENTS
Self-reports of annual non-medical use of prescription opioids, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquilizers.

FINDINGS
The annual non-medical use of prescription opioids, sedatives, stimulants and tranquilizers was highest at wave 1 over the five waves. There was a consistent descending path (linear and quadratic slopes, P < 0.001) in annual non-medical use from baseline across all four prescription drug classes (e.g. opioids linear slope = -0.043 and opioids quadratic slope = 0.034, P < 0.001). While the annual non-medical use of stimulants declined over time (linear slope = 0.063, P < 0.01; quadratic slope = -0.133, P < 0.001), the same decrease was not observed for the annual non-medical use of prescription opioids, sedatives or tranquilizers when controlling for socio-demographic and substance use behaviors at baseline. The covariates associated with the general functional growth differed across the four prescription drug classes.

CONCLUSIONS
The non-medical use of prescription opioids, sedatives, stimulants and tranquilizers appears to peak during late adolescence, suggesting preventive intervention efforts should be initiated in early adolescence. The developmental course of non-medical use is not the same among all four classes of prescription drugs, suggesting that each drug class warrants individual research.


A strong complex agent is normally used in the alkaline chemical plating solution for Ni-P plating in order to prevent Ni ion from precipitation by hydrolysis. To keep a stable pH condition, an NH3-NH4 Cl buffer system is used. Traditionally, it is considered that NH3 does not participate in the complex because of the relatively low Ni-NH3 complexing constant, but some experimental results cannot be explained reasonably. Touhami etc. have proposed a ternary Ni-citrate-NH3 complex involved in the discharge process, however they cannot give the direct support on the presence of this complex in solution. In this paper, a UV-Vis spectrometric study was carried out to identify the nickel complex in the Ni-P plating solution, and the results indicated the presence of both Ni-cit binary complex and Ni-cit-ammonia ternary complex. After the systematic investigation of the dependence of UV-Vis spectra on the two ligands (cit and ammonia), the composition of this Ni-cit-ammonia ternary complex was supposed to be Ni(II) (C6H5O3-7)(NH3)3.


Humans can perform unseen tasks by recalling relevant skills acquired previously and then generalizing them to the target tasks, even if there is no supervision at all. In this paper, we aim to improve this kind of cross-task generalization ability of massive multi-task language models, such as T0 and FLAN, in an unsupervised setting. We propose a retrieval-augmentation method named ReCross that takes a few unlabelled examples as queries to retrieve a small subset of upstream data and uses them to update the multi-task model for better generalization. ReCross is a straightforward yet effective retrieval method that combines both efficient dense retrieval and effective pair-wise reranking. Our results and analysis show that it significantly outperforms both non-retrieval methods and other baseline methods.


Behavior-based control architecture has been broadly recognized due to their compentence in mobile robot development. Fuzzy logic system characteristics are appropriate to address the behavior design problems. Nevertheless, there are problems encountered when setting fuzzy variables manually. Consequently, most of the efforts in the field, produce certain works for the study of fuzzy systems with added learning abilities. This paper presents the improvement of fuzzy behavior-based control architecture using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). A wall-following behaviors used on Particle Swarm Fuzzy Controller (PSFC) are developed using the modified PSO with two stages of the PSFC process. Several simulations have been accomplished to analyze the algorithm. The promising performance have proved that the proposed control architecture for mobile robot has better capability to accomplish useful task in real office-like environment.


After ingestion of ginseng, the bioavailability of its parent compounds is low and enteric microbiota plays an important role in parent compound biotransformation to their metabolites. Diet type can influence the enteric microbiota profile. When human subjects on different diets ingest ginseng, their different gut microbiota profiles may influence the metabolism of ginseng parent compounds. In this study, the effects of different diet type on gut microbiota metabolism of American ginseng saponins were investigated. We recruited six healthy adults who regularly consumed different diet types. These subjects received 7 days' oral American ginseng, and their biological samples were collected for LC-Q-TOF-MS analysis. We observed significant ginsenoside Rb1 (a major parent compound) and compound K (a major active metabolite) level differences in the samples from the subjects consuming different diets. Subjects on an Asian diet had much higher Rb1 levels but much lower compound K levels compared with those on a Western diet. Since compound K possesses much better cancer chemoprevention potential, our data suggested that consumers on a Western diet should obtain better cancer prevention effects with American ginseng intake compared with those on an Asian diet. Ginseng compound levels could be enhanced or reduced via gut microbiota manipulation for clinical utility.


The major distributed power generation (DG) technologies which are discussed are: microturbines, fuel cells and photovoltaic power systems. Other DG technologies to be discussed are: combustion/diesel engines, and wind. However, these are not be discussed in detail due to insufficient wind speed availability in all geographic regions; and combustion/diesel engines because of high emissions, and operation and maintenance costs. In addition, most internal combustion engines are designed for stand-by service and not continuous duty. The study shows that DG technologies have a much greater market potential in areas with high electricity costs and low reliability such as in developing countries.


This article deals with some fundamental aspects of understanding spoken language in general and spoken French by non-native speakers of French in particular.The problem is discussed within a theoretical framework based on Marslen-Wilson's cohort theory, Morton's Information Processing theory, and psychological skill theory. It is predicted i) that a word form is recognized the more readily as it resembles more its "canonic" (=citation) form and ii) that a word is recognized more rapidly by native than by non-native speakers. In French there are three phenomena that affect the canonic form. They all have to do with the specific structure of French, where syllable boundaries often do not co-incide with word boundaries, and where syllable structure generally has priority over word structure.These three phenomena are elision, liaison and enchainement. In experiments on the word recognition by native and non-native speakers of French we found that:- Native speakers recognize words more rapidly than non-native speakers- Elision has an important effect on word recognition when it occurs at the beginning of a word, none at all at the end of the word, whereas the influence of Enchainement and Liaison on word recognition seems to be less important for both native and non-native speakers.


Anthony Burgess has always attracted acclaim and notoriety in roughly equal measure. He is admired for his literary novels, but known to a wider audience as the author of the ultra-violent shocker, A Clockwork Orange. Burgess was a brilliant polymath, a composer, and a man for whom chaos and creativity, fact and fiction, existed in a complex and unique balance. Drawing on his fraught relationships with publishers, friends and his first wife, as expressed in interviews, unpublished writings, letters and diaries, The Real Life of Anthony Burgess reveals both the professional writer and the private man as he has never been seen before.


The influence of she of acute myocardial infarction on heart rate, Mood pressure, cardiac output, total peripheral resistance (TPR), cardiac rhythm, and mortality was determined in 58 anesthetized cats by occlusion of either the left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex or right coronary artery. LAD occlusion resulted In immediate decrease in cardiac output, heart rate, and blood pressure, an increase in TPR, and cardiac rhythm changes including premature ventricular beats, ventricular tachycardia, and occasionally ventricular fibrillation. The decrease in cardiac output and increase in TPR persisted in the cats surviving a ventricular arrhythmia. In contrast, right coronary occlusion resulted in a considerably smaller decrease in cardiac output. TPR did not increase, atrioventricular conduction disturbances were common, and sinus bradycardia and hypotension persisted in the cats recovering from an arrhythmia. Left circumflex Ugation resulted in cardiovascular changes intermediate between those produced by occlusion of the LAD or the right coronary artery. Mortality was similar in each of the three groups. We studied the coronary artery anatomy in 12 cats. In 10, the blood supply to the sinus node was from the right coronary artery and in 2, from the left circumflex coronary artery. The atrioventrlcular node artery arose from the right in 9 cats, and from the left circumflex in 3. The right coronary artery was dominant in 9 cats and the left in 3. In conclusion, the site of experimental coronary occlusion in cats is a major determinant of the bemodynamic and cardiac rhythm changes occurring after acute myocardial infarction. The cardiovascular responses evoked by Ugation are related in part to the anatomical distribution of the occluded artery.


We investigate the impact of the 2015 Mount Calbuco eruption and previous eruptions on stratospheric aerosols, polar stratospheric clouds, and ozone depletion using the Community Earth System Model coupled with the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres compared with several satellite and balloon observations. The modeled volcanic sulfate aerosol size distribution agrees with the Light Optical Aerosol Counter observation at the Reunion Island site (21°S, 55°E) on 19 August at 20 km within estimated 0.1‐ to 1‐μm radius error bars. Both the observed and simulated backscatter and extinction show that volcanic sulfate aerosol from the Mount Calbuco eruption was transported from midlatitude toward the Antarctic and slowly descended during transport. They also indicate that the SO2 emission into the stratosphere from Mount Calbuco is 0.2–0.4 Tg. The modeled number density indicates that the volcanic sulfate aerosol from the Mount Calbuco eruption penetrated into the Antarctic polar vortex in May and thereafter and reduced the polar stratospheric clouds effective radius. In the simulations, the Antarctic stratosphere denitrified too early and by too much compared with Microwave Limb Sounder observations. Heterogeneous nucleation of nitric acid trihydrate or sophisticated gravity wave representations may be required to simulate nitric acid trihydrate particles with smaller falling velocity. The volcanic sulfate aerosol increases the ozone depletion in September especially around 100 hPa and 70°S, relative to a case without any volcanic eruptions. The simulated surface area density, earlier ozone loss, and larger area of the ozone hole are consistent with the presence of volcanic sulfate layers observed at 16 km as well as previous studies.


Abstract. This study introduces an Earth observation (EO)-based system which is capable of operationally estimating and continuously monitoring the ultraviolet index (UVI) in Europe. The UVIOS (i.e. UV-Index Operating System) exploits a synergy of radiative transfer models with high performance computing and EO data from satellites (Meteosat Second Generation and Meteorological Operational Satellite-B), and retrieval processes (Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and the Global Land Service). It provides a near-real-time now-casting and short-term forecasting service for UV radiation over Europe. The main atmospheric inputs for the UVI simulations include ozone, clouds and aerosols while the impacts of ground elevation and surface albedo are also taken into account. The UVIOS output is the UVI at high spatial and temporal resolution (5 km and 15 minutes, respectively) for Europe (i.e. 1.5 million pixels) in real-time. The UVI is empirically related to biologically important UV dose rates and the reliability of this EO-based solution was verified against ground-based measurements from 17 stations across Europe. Stations are equipped with spectral, broadband or multi-filter instruments and cover a range of topographic and atmospheric conditions. A period of over one year of forecasted 15-min retrievals under all sky conditions were compared with the ground–based measurements. UVIOS forecasts were within ±0.5 of measured UVI for at least 70 % of the data compared at all stations. For clear sky conditions the agreement was better than 0.5 UVI for 80 % of the data. A sensitivity analysis of EO inputs and UVIOS outputs was performed in order to quantify the level of uncertainty in the derived products, and to identify the covariance between the accuracy of the output and the spatial and temporal resolution, and the quality of the inputs. Overall, UVIOS slightly overestimated UVI due to observational uncertainties in inputs of cloud and aerosol. This service will hopefully contribute to EO capabilities and will assist the provision of operational early warning systems that will help raise awareness among European Union citizens of the health implications of high UVI doses.


Introduction: Analysis of differential alternative splicing from RNA-seq data is complicated by the fact that many RNA-seq reads map to multiple transcripts, besides, the annotated transcripts are often a small subset of the possible transcripts of a gene. Here we describe Yanagi, a tool for segmenting transcriptome to create a library of maximal L-disjoint segments from a complete transcriptome annotation. That segment library preserves all transcriptome substrings of length L and transcripts structural relationships while eliminating unnecessary sequence duplications. Contributions: In this paper, we formalize the concept of transcriptome segmentation and propose an efficient algorithm for generating segment libraries based on a length parameter dependent on specific RNA-Seq library construction. The resulting segment sequences can be used with pseudo-alignment tools to quantify expression at the segment level. We characterize the segment libraries for the reference transcriptomes of Drosophila melanogaster and Homo sapiens and provide gene-level visualization of the segments for better interpretability. Then we demonstrate the use of segments-level quantification into gene expression and alternative splicing analysis. The notion of transcript segmentation as introduced here and implemented in Yanagi opens the door for the application of lightweight, ultra-fast pseudo-alignment algorithms in a wide variety of RNA-seq analyses. Conclusion: Using segment library rather than the standard transcriptome succeeds in significantly reducing ambigious alignments where reads are multimapped to several sequences in the reference. That allowed avoiding the quantification step required by standard kmer-based pipelines for gene expression analysis. Moreover, using segment counts as statistics for alternative splicing analysis enables achieving comparable performance to counting-based approaches (e.g. rMATS) while rather using fast and lighthweight pseudo alignment.


Missing data is a common feature of large data sets in general and medical data sets in particular. Depending on the goal of statistical analysis, various techniques can be used to tackle this problem. Imputation methods consist in substituting the missing values with plausible or predicted values so that the completed data can then be analysed with any chosen data mining procedure. In this work, we study imputation in the context of multivariate data and we evaluate a number of methods which can be used by today's standard statistical software packages. Imputation using multivariate classification, multiple imputation and imputation by factorial analysis are compared using simulated data and a large medical database (from the diabetes field) with numerous missing values. Our main result is to provide a control chart for assessing data quality after the imputation process. To this end, we developed an algorithm for which the input is a set of parameters describing the underlying data (e.g., covariance matrix, distribution) and the output is a chart which plots the change in the prediction error with respect to the proportion of missing values. The chart is built by means of an iterative algorithm involving four steps: (1) a sample of simulated data is drawn by using the input parameters; (2) missing values are randomly generated; (3) an imputation method is used to fill in the missing data and (4) the prediction error is computed. Steps 1 to 4 are repeated in order to estimate the distribution of the prediction error. The control chart was established for the 3 imputation methods studied here, assuming a multivariate normal distribution of data. The use of this tool on a large medical database was then investigated. We show how the control chart can be used to assess the quality of the imputation process in the pre-processing step upstream of data mining procedures.


Sensitivity to noise makes most of the current quantum computing schemes prone to error and nonscalable, allowing only for small proof-of-principle devices. Topologically-protected quantum computing aims at solving this problem by encoding quantum bits and gates in topological properties of the hardware medium that are immune to noise that does not impact the entire system at once. There are different approaches to achieve topological stability or active error correction, ranging from quasiparticle braidings to spin models and topological colour codes. The stability of these proposals against noise can be quantified by their error threshold. This figure of merit can be computed by mapping the problem onto complex statistical-mechanical spin-glass models with local disorder on nontrival lattices that can have many-body interactions and are sometimes described by lattice gauge theories. The error threshold for a given source of error then represents the point in the temperature-disorder phase diagram where a stable symmetry-broken phase vanishes. An overview of the techniques used to estimate the error thresholds is given, as well as a summary of recent results on the stability of different topologically-protected quantum computing schemes to different error sources.


The aerogels of nickel-alumina system have been synthesized from aluminum triisoprppoxide and nickel glycoxide by sol-gel and subsequent supercritical drying, and the catalysis of NiO-Al2O3 aerogels for the methane reforming by carbon dioxide have been examined. The aerogel catalysts showed higher activity for the reforming than the impregnation catalysts prepared by a conventional impregnation method, on the other hand, the carbon deposition was much less significant on the aerogel catalysts than on the impregnation catalysts. By TEM and XRD observations, it was found for aerogel catalysts that fine nickel particles were formed throughout the alumina aerogel support with high dispersion. This resulted in not only higher catalytic reforming activity but also much less coking activity. The suppression of catalyst deactivation during the reforming was ascribed to the retardation of both carbon deposition and sintering of nickel particles on alumina aerogel support.


Electrically Conductive Adhesives (ECAs) are spreading the electronic industry, often deployed in adverse climatic conditions. A series of accelerated climatic experiments was undertaken to gather more information about this technology and its environmental stability. During these tests, an interesting behavior of the two-component ECAs was observed: a sharp drop of electrical resistance in a short time after the curing of the ECA. This indicated a possible problem with the stability of two-component ECAs and mandated further research. Its results are published in this paper and seem to support the validity of the original finding — that there exists a possible risk when using certain conductive adhesives and that manufacturer-supplied curing temperature profiles might, in some cases, be insufficient.


Complexes of 125I p30, a viral core polypeptide, and rat anti-p30 antibody, preformed in vitro, were injected into the heart of BN rats bearing Moloney sarcomas (MST) and of BN rats bearing an unrelated tumor or unexposed to tumor. Complexes were cleared from the circulation of MST-bearing rats more rapidly than from sera of controls and were almost completely eliminated after 30 hr. There was no relationship between rate of disappearance and size of tumor or levels of circulating complexes. Disappearance rates in rats with progressing and regressing tumors were similar. Uncomplexed labeled p30 was cleared from the circulation of tumor-bearing and control rats with kinetics similar to those of labeled complexes. Complexes were localized in the spleen of tumor-bearing and control rats, but much more in spleens of MST-bearing rats. No other tissues, including tumor, concentrated complexes, nor was there binding to peripheral blood and spleen cells. The data suggest that augmented clearance and sequestration were due to the formation of large insoluble complexes that were rapidly removed by the reticulo-endothelial system.


The coastline of the Mexican Gulf of Mexico is an area of paramount importance. It poses valuable biological and ecological resources such as coastal lagoons, rivers, estuaries, wetlands and swamps. It poses 206 coastal systems including 73 coastal lagoons with high biological richness. Their study shows the physicochemical characteristics and pollution levels into the four more productive lagoons of Tampamachoco, Mandinga, Alvarado in the Veracruz state and Terminos Lagoon in Campeche state, México, have the present characteristics. The lagoons show a wide interval in physiochemical parameters (temperature: 18–32°C, salinity: 11–38 ups, and nutrients: oxygen 1.8–9.0 mg/L, total phosphorus 2.6–123 μ M total nitrogen 5–70 μ M, and chlorophyll 10–50 mg/m 3 ). All of them oscillated between normal to eutrophication condition. The presence of PAHs and some of the high toxicity as anthracene, and chrysene, as well as naphthalene and its methyl derivatives has been reported. Also, chlorinated hydrocarbons used for agriculture purposes and malaria control (DDT, lindane, endosulfan) have been identified in these lagoons. Metals as Cr, Pb, Ni, Cd, and V among others were recently reported in the lagoons considered in this study. Concentrations of pollutants also show significant variations depending on the time and the type of lagoon, or estuary.


Over the last decade, Unconventional Liquids Rich Reservoirs (ULR) have become the main target for oil and gas investors as conventional formations started to deplete and diminish in numbers. These unconventional plays have a huge oil reserve; however, the primary oil recovery factor is predicted to be less than 10%. Unconventional Improved Oil Recovery (UIOR) techniques are still a new concept in the oil industry since there is no commercial project reported for any IOR technique yet. Miscible gas based EOR technique might be the most potential strategy to improve oil recovery in such complex plays.
 In this study, a comprehensive and critical review has been conducted to evaluate the feasibility of miscible gas based EOR technique in ULR. The reports and studies from three different approaches (lab, simulation and pilot tests) were summarized and combined to provide in-depth insights and lessons learned from the applicability of miscible gas based EOR in ULR. Firstly, the main problems in the previous lab and simulation approaches, which were used to investigate the viability of different EOR methods, have been diagnosed. Secondly, the performance of injecting different miscible gases to enhance oil recovery in the pilot tests conducted in ULR has been extensively discussed. Thirdly, the physical and chemical reasoning behind the performance gap for the injected gases in the lab scale versus the field scale of ULR been diagnosed.
 This study reported that most of the previous lab and simulation approaches suffered from significant lacks and drawbacks, which created a clear gap in the performance of the injected gases in the lab scale versus the field scale. This research clearly found that the performance of Natural Gas (NG) injection is significantly better than the performance of CO2 injection in terms of enhancing oil recovery in the field pilots. This study also found that the production response of unconventional reservoirs to the injected NGs is much faster than that for the injected CO2. Combining the pilot tests data and simulation studies showed that the number of cycles in huff-n-puff operations has a negative impact on CO2-EOR while it has a positive impact on NGs-EOR. Finally, this research provided deep insights on what the operators can expect from the EOR performance by injecting different miscible gases in the lab scale versus the field scale of ULR.


Electrification to reduce greenhouse effect gases in transport sector is now well-known as a relevant and future solution studied intensively by the whole actors of the domain. To reach this objective, a tool for design and characterization of electric machines has been developed at IFP Energies nouvelles. This tool, called EMTool, is based on physical equations and is integrated to a complete workflow of simulation tools, as Finite Element Models or System Simulation. This tool offers the possibility to study several types of electric machine topologies: permanent magnet synchronous machine with radial or axial flux, induction machines, etc. This paper presents the main principles of design and the main equations integrated in the EMTool, the methods to evaluate electric machine performances and the validations performed on existing machine. Finally, the position of the EMTool in the simulation tool workflow and application examples are presented, notably by coupling the EMTool with advanced optimization algorithms or finite element models.


I present three studies of magnetospheric tail dynamics associated with bursty bulk flows (BBFs) and substorms, concentrating on observations of the current systems of the BBFs and the dynamics of magnetotail current sheet waves. From a case study, I show that the observed magnetospheric current system of a BBF consisting of two flow bursts matched the current system predicted by Sergeev et al. (1996), and that the currents were consistent with previous studies. I also show that the particle signatures of the BBF were similar to the particle signatures in the PSBL prior to the BBF observations, demonstrating that the BBF was produced by the reconnection of lobe magnetic field-lines. From a survey of 628 BBF events, I show that BBF occurrence is highest during the recovery phase of substorms and lowest during non-substorm times and substorm growth phases. Using a subset of 211 BBF encounters that were sufficiently far from the magnetotail current sheet to determine the field-aligned currents, I show that the current magnitude is larger during the expansion and recovery phases of substorms than during the growth phase. Furthermore, the current magnitude is larger in the pre-midnight sector on large scale sizes. Utilising data from groundand space-based observatories, I investigate an interval of current sheet wave activity following a solar wind pressure pulse and two substorms. By comparing the propagation of aurora and tail dipolarization signatures and the neutral sheet waves, I conclude that the propagation of these features is controlled by the same mechanism. I test two models of neutral sheet wave propagation and find that the model of Erkaev et al. (2008) gives a good fit to the data.


In this paper, we propose a cross-layer resource-allocation scheme for orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) systems with imperfect channel-state information (CSI). In our modeling, we consider two traffic types: 1) streaming traffic, which requires a maximum guaranteed average delay, and 2) elastic traffic with flexible rate requirements. We then consider queue-state information (QSI) and CSI in a cross-layer framework to maximize the total transmission rate of elastic users while the average delay constraint for streaming users and the maximum transmission power constraint are satisfied. We also consider the impact of imperfect CSI. An algorithm is then proposed based on the dual decomposition method to obtain the subcarrier assignment and power allocation for each user. Using simulations, we evaluate the impact of streaming traffic on the total achievable rate of elastic users for different values of the required outage probability. It is also shown by simulation that, by increasing the variance of CSI estimation, the total rate of elastic traffic is decreased.


: A method is described for determining the concentration of volatile substances that are excreted through the skin via insensible perspiration. The technique involves placing the hand into a polyethylene bag maintained at 37 degrees C and allowing the air around the hand to come to equilibrium with the vapors emanating from the skin. Gas samples were removed from the bag and the concentration of volatile substances was determined by gas chromatographic analysis. Using ethanol as a test substance, alcohol excretion from the skin was determined and compared to breath and blood concentration. The results indicate that the concentration of alcohol in insensible perspiration is not substantially different from that of breath or blood following complete absorption. However, during the period of active drug absorption, perspiration alcohol concentration lags behind the blood and breath concentration, and then later has a slightly higher concentration than blood and breath.


Video colorization task has recently attracted wide attention. Recent methods mainly work on the temporal consistency in adjacent frames or frames with small interval. However, it still faces severe challenge of the inconsistency between frames with large interval. To address this issue, we propose a novel video colorization framework, which combines semantic correspondence into automatic video colorization to keep long-range consistency. Firstly, a reference colorization network is designed to automatically colorize the first frame of each video, obtaining a reference image to supervise the following whole colorization process. Such automatically colorized reference image can not only avoid labor-intensive and time-consuming manual selection, but also enhance the similarity between reference and grayscale images. Afterwards, a semantic correspondence network and an image colorization network are introduced to colorize a series of the remaining frames with the help of the reference. Each frame is supervised by both the reference image and the immediately colorized preceding frame to improve both short-range and long-range temporal consistency. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms other methods in maintaining temporal consistency both qualitatively and quantitatively. In the NTIRE 2023 Video Colorization Challenge, our method ranks at the 3rd place in Color Distribution Consistency (CDC) Optimization track. Code will be available online at https://github.com/bupt-ai-cz/TCVC


Abstract Introduction. In order to examine the consequences that a changed view of the child had on early twentieth-century teaching in Sweden, this article analyses a battle that erupted when a proposal for new lesson content for Swedish school gymnastics was presented. Material and methods. The study method is a comparative qualitative analysis of texts which present the views of the supporters and opponents of the proposal. The data analysis is based on a model showing five different constructions of childhood: a moment of innocence and purity; a period of lacking, but with naturally unfolding potential for, rational power; the primitive stage of human evolution; a time for redemption: saving the child from his/her sinful nature; and a period of active growth. Results. For the proposal's supporters, the fact that they mainly regarded childhood as a time of active growth meant a form of gymnastics more suited to children and their needs as well as a desire to get them to participate and become involved. For the proposal's opponents, the notion of childhood as the primitive stage of human evolution meant that considerable space was accorded to order movements, commands, and other military elements designed to subjugate and control in order to develop and civilise pupils in accordance with the values and ideals this side represented. Conclusions. The findings show that the views of both sides concerning which gymnastics should be practised can be linked to different notions of the child.


We propose a novel way to further secure the data transmitted along routes of a wireless ad hoc network, after a potentially secure connection has been established between two nodes. In our method, the encryption/decryption key used is the message itself. Our approach requires that the message is split into parts (sub-messages) and that the encrypted sub-messages be transmitted along different paths (routes) which are reception disjoint.


The present study was carried out to investigate the Fe deficiency effect on the secondary metabolism  responses in two Pisum sativum cultivars characterized by different tolerance to Fe deficiency. Previous study  investigating the physiological responses to Fe deficiency in these two pea cultivars showed that Kelvedon was  more tolerant than Lincoln. Both cultivars were grown in the absence or presence of Fe with the addition of bicarbonate for twelve days. Higher concentrations of phenols and flavonoids were observed in Fe-deficient  tissues of both cultivars; however, the increase was greater in the tolerant cultivar than in the susceptible  one. The activity of shikimate pathway enzymes tested was more enhanced in the tolerant cultivar. In  addition, lipid peroxidation and H 2 O 2 concentrations were more increased in the susceptible cultivar when  compared with the tolerant one. Peroxidase activity was increased in the tolerant cultivar grown under  bicarbonate supply, while a considerable diminution was observed in the susceptible one, suggesting the  involvement of this antioxidant enzyme in the tolerance of pea to Fe deficiency. The lignifying peroxidases  activity was more decreased in Lincoln than in Kelvedon, especially in the presence of bicarbonate. Our data  suggest that the tolerance of Kelvedon was related to its ability to modulate the phenolic metabolism pathway and to enhance the antioxidant potentials. Key words : Iron deficiency, bicarbonate, phenolic metabolism, antioxidative enzymes, Pisum sativum.


Objective: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine where or not "Are Cox-2 inhibitors such as celecoxib and parecoxib effective in reducing post-tonsillectomy pain?" Study Design: Review of three double blind randomized controlled trials (RTC). Data Sources: All studies were published in peer-reviewed journals found via the use of PubMed. Outcomes Measured: Patients were divided into two groups: those who received the Cox-2 inhibitor and those who received the placebo, in order to measure postoperative pain using patient or parent reported journals or diaries, questionnaires, and various pain scales (CHEOPS, and WP24HR with VAS). Results: Two out of three studies show a modest, but clinically significant decrease in pain post tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy. However, one study did not show a change in pain scores between the Cox-2 group and the placebo. Using parecoxib as the drug, Li X showed Group P had significantly lower CHEOPS scores than Group S (7 [5-8] vs. 9 [8-11] respectively. P=0.001). Murto et al showed the celecoxib group resulted in an 11% reduction in WP24HR score averaged over POD 0-2 (95% CI: 0.3-14. P=0.04) and additionally a 14% increase in WP24HR pain scores on POD 3 after the cessation of the intervention. Van Daele et al did not show a statistically significant decrease in pain between the two groups even though the scores for the intervention group were generally lower than the placebo. Conclusions: Two out of the three randomized controlled trials studied reported statistically significant decrease in pain post tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy in the intervention group versus the placebo. Van Daele et al concluded that there was no statistical significant decease in pain between the two groups, however, this study used patients eighteen and older, which varied from the other studies. With this information it can be concluded that in children aged two to eighteen, Cox-2 inhibitors do show a statistically significant decrease in pain post tonsillectomy. Further studies are warranted in order to determine significance in an older patient population.


Abstract Introduction and aims Patients with thoracic cancer often complain of a reduced exercise capacity which can impede levels of independence and quality of life. Several factors may be responsible but there is little formal study in this group. We have explored how various physiological and psychological factors relate to performance in a test of exercise capacity. Methods Inspiratory muscle strength, peripheral muscle power, lung function and mastery over breathlessness were assessed using sniff nasal inspiratory pressure, leg extensor power, simple spirometry and the mastery domain of the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire respectively. Exercise capacity was assessed using the Incremental Shuttle walk Test (ISWT) during which patients wore a K4 b2 system allowing continuous measurement of heart rate, minute ventilation (VE) and oxygen uptake (VO2). Relationships between ISWT distance and independent factors were determined using Pearson's correlation coefficient and β regressions coefficients. Results 41 patients (21 male, mean (SD) age 64 (8) years) took part. They walked a median (IQR) 320 (250–430) m and reached 76 (10)%, 48 (14)% and 77 (25)% of their predicted maximal heart rate, VE and VO2 respectively. Exercise capacity was significantly associated only with inspiratory muscle strength (r=0.42, p<0.01) and peripheral muscle power (r=0.39, p=0.01). These factors were also significant determinants of exercise capacity (β coefficients (95% CI) 1.77 (0.53 to 3.01) and 1.22 (0.31 to 2.14)). Conclusions Both inspiratory and peripheral muscle performance appear to influence exercise capacity in people with thoracic cancer. Interventions aimed at maintaining or slowing down the decline in exercise capacity should include components targeting muscular performance.


Abstract With global land and sea temperatures rising, the importance of accurate monitoring of the world's ice sheets is increasing. Satellite radar altimetry can be used to measure elevation changes of ice sheets from which mass balance can be derived. In the percolation zone of ice sheets, summer melt which percolates into the snowpack and refreezes causes a re-distribution of mass through densification, which can result in elevation changes which are not representative of changes in mass balance. We present data collected in the percolation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet prior to and post the processes of summer melt, percolation and refreezing. Data from nine sites along two 1-km transects show that in 2004 there was a 31.6% increase in accumulation over the summer, but due to surface melting percolation and refreezing the average snowpack density increased by 26.2%, resulting in only a 5.3% increase in elevation. Our results indicate that in areas of substantial seasonal melt and refreezing, densification rates must be accurately quantified if mass balance estimates are to be usefully derived from surface elevation change.


We present constraints on both the kinetic temperature of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z = 8.4, and on models for heating the IGM at high-redshift with X-ray emission from the first collapsed objects. These constraints are derived using a semi-analytic method to explore the new measurements of the 21 cm power spectrum from the Donald C. Backer Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER), which were presented in a companion paper, Ali et al. Twenty-one cm power spectra with amplitudes of hundreds of mK can be generically produced if the kinetic temperature of the IGM is significantly below the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB); as such, the new results from PAPER place lower limits on the IGM temperature at z = 8.4. Allowing for the unknown ionization state of the IGM, our measurements find the IGM temperature to be above ≈5 K for neutral fractions between 10% and 85%, above ≈7 K for neutral fractions between 15% and 80%, or above ≈10 K for neutral fractions between 30% and 70%. We also calculate the heating of the IGM that would be provided by the observed high redshift galaxy population, and find that for most models, these galaxies are sufficient to bring the IGM temperature above our lower limits. However, there are significant ranges of parameter space that could produce a signal ruled out by the PAPER measurements; models with a steep drop-off in the star formation rate density at high redshifts or with relatively low values for the X-ray to star formation rate efficiency of high redshift galaxies are generally disfavored. The PAPER measurements are consistent with (but do not constrain) a hydrogen spin temperature above the CMB temperature, a situation which we find to be generally predicted if galaxies fainter than the current detection limits of optical/NIR surveys are included in calculations of X-ray heating.


The Human Genome project has provided an abundance of genetic information, including identification of many disease-causing genes. Clinical applications, genetic counseling and the potential ethical issues raised by the availability of genetic testing are all areas of concern in gene research. Will genetic counseling in classical genetic diseases help to provide guidelines for behavioral disorders?


This paper analyzed counsel/witness discourse using the High Court in Nnewi Municipal Council. Specifically, it described the structure and organization of counsel/witness discourse in the courtroom context highlighting some discourse features inherent in them, and observed the communication strategies and motivation of participants towards each other and towards the subject matter. The methodology used in collecting data for this research was non-participant observation. The data were used to illustrate certain discourse/pragmatic features in the exchange; including the structures- -transaction, exchange, moves and act – and the strategies used by participants in negotiating meaning. The findings of this study reveal that (1) Initiation – Response (IR) structure was the predominant exchange structure (2) that the counsel initiates exchanges and controls discourse while the witness does not; (3) that the witness replies cooperatively when questions help to further his cause .The conclusion of the paper summarized the discourse structure and organization observed in the study.