A 512 Mbit consumer DDR2 SDRAM that uses self-dynamic voltage scaling (SDVS) and adaptive design techniques is introduced in this paper. With the increase in the significance of process variation, higher performance requirements reduce the allowable design margin in DRAM circuits. However, self-dynamic voltage scaling gives a greater timing margin in the circuitry by changing the internal supply voltage in response to the operating frequency and process skew. By changing the internal supply voltage, the life time of the chip increases by more than 23 times when the supply voltage is lowered by 300 mV. The proposed adaptive design techniques include an adaptive bandwidth delay-locked loop and an adaptive clock gating. The former improves the performance by obtaining a wider valid data window and the latter saves on dynamic power consumption in the clock distribution network. The SDVS method reduces the IDD3P by 9.3% and the adaptive clock gating saves 8.8% of the IDD3N when measured at 200 MHz, 25°C The studied consumer DDR2 SDRAM was fabricated using 44 nm standard DRAM process technology. It occupies a 17.7 mm2 die area and operates using a 1.8 V power supply.


Epigenetic agents have drawn great attention as anti-cancer therapies, with several HDAC inhibitors approved for a subset of hematologic malignancies. One of the biggest challenges in targeting epigenetic mechanisms of tumorigenesis is the wide spectrum of effects which restrict the therapeutic window for these compounds. We have developed a series of potent small molecule inhibitors with specificity towards the CoREST epigenetic corepressor complex through a dual-action mechanism targeting LSD1 and HDAC1. These compounds show a unique profile of pharmacologic action with an improved therapeutic window in a variety of cell types. Screening of tumor cell lines for growth inhibitory effects revealed variable efficacy in a broad spectrum of cancers with the most consistent and potent effects seen in human melanomas. The growth of a number of melanoma cell lines was found to be potently inhibited by one of these compounds, Corin 2; however, primary human melanocytes were relatively resistant to this agent. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that Corin2 was a more potent inducer of tumor suppressor genes compared to the parent HDAC and LSD1 compounds. Genetic knockdown of CoREST or LSD1 in cancer cell lines abolished the differences in potency of Corin2 vs. the parent HDAC inhibitor, Entinostat, suggesting that Corin29s favorable pharmacologic effects rely on an intact CoREST complex. Corin2 was also effective in slowing tumor growth in a melanoma mouse xenograft model. These dual action inhibitors demonstrate a novel, potent, and specific therapeutic approach to targeting epigenetic pathways in human melanomas which may lead to improved therapeutic benefits in patients with advanced disease. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Muzhou WU, Jay Kalin, Byungwoo Ryu, Philip Cole, Rhoda Alani. A novel dual action inhibitor of histone deacetylase and demethylase in melanoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5068. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5068


Fiber Reinforced Polymer laminates (FRP) have properties, which are highly dependent on the ply fiber orientations and which can be designed for optimum laminate performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate effect of matrix cracking on the mechanical properties of FRP laminates with various off-axis angles. Carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymer laminates (CFRP and GFRP) are tested. FRP prepregs are cured by using autoclave method to form laminates with layups [m/ n]s. The laminates are then loaded monotonically and cyclically to obtain their mechanical properties and the effect of matrix cracks on the properties. One of the main effects is reduction of laminates' stiffness. In order to obtain higher crack densities in specimens, artificial cracks method was introduced in this study. The measured stiffness reduction as a function of the crack density is compared to an analytical prediction for cracked angle-ply laminates based on a variational stress analysis. The experimental results for stiffness reduction agree well with the analytical results. Understanding the behavior of damaged laminates with simple configurations used in this study is of high importance for prediction of damage effects on laminates with more complex configuration, e.g. with quasi-isotropic layups.


This paper discusses various biologically plausible computational models that recognize human facial expression and analyze them. Identifying facial expressions is a non trivial task for a human and is a key part of social interactions. However, it is not as simple as that for a computational system. Here we analyze six different universally accepted facial expressions for analysis with the aid of six biologically plausible computational models. There have been a limited number of studies comparing the performance of human subjects with computational models for facial expression recognition. This paper does a genuine attempt in making this comparison.


We present an efficient alternative to remove lateral chromatic aberration (LCA) in bright field light microscopy images. Our procedure is based on error calibration using time-sequential acquisition at different wavelengths, and error correction through digital image warping. Measurement of the displacements of fiducial marks in the red and green images relative to blue provide calibration factors that are subsequently used in test images to realign color channels digitally. We demonstrate quantitative improvement in the position and boundaries of objects in target slides and in the color content and morphology of specimens in stained biological samples. Our results show a reduction of LCA content below the 0.1% level.


Somatosensory evoked potentials (EP) and reaction time (RT) in response to tactile signals proceeding in a fixed or random sequences were simultaneously recorded in ten to eleven year old children. The connection between the dynamics of sliding means of both parameters was analysed. It was found that a reduction of RT correlated with stabilization of electrical cortical responses. The change in the signals alternation produced an interrelated lengthening of RT and dispersion of EP amplitudes, particularly pronounced for its early phases. Distinct interconnection between RT shortening and reduction of dispersions of EP components reflects the organization of a representative system, which provides for the enhancement of the level of pre-tuning (readiness) for perception of the highly probable sequence of the signals. Hypothesis of reflection of reverberation processes in the EP waves permits a satisfactory explanation of EP variability in signals recognition.


Toronto is a growing site for the alternative food movement with plenty of innovative projects. While the alternative food movement may emphasize the participation of diverse members and communities some observers have noticed the underrepresentation of immigrants and visible minorities within the movement. As Toronto increasingly acts as an immigration hub, it becomes critical to create room for diverse and marginalized voices in food spaces. This major research paper will reflect findings from interviews with five food leaders in Toronto involved in food justice and food security initiatives while using critical whiteness theory and critical race theory to deconstruct the complexities which surround the needs and visions of immigrants and visible minorities. Findings reveal that when the voices of immigrants and visible minorities are recognized in the food movement, there is work to be done in improving accessibility, inclusivity and collaboration of the movement.


This paper extends work by Burdett and Mortensen (1989) and Mortensen and Vishwanath (1991) and examines equilibria in a matching model with identical firms and workers in which employed as well as unemployed workers receive wage offers. It shows that there are generally a continuum of equilibria often of a form that resembles labour market segmentation in that there are some firms paying high wages and facing excess supply of labour and some firms paying low wages with an excess demand for labour. The implication of the model are explored.


Almost thirty years ago, Penny G. Estabrooks asked " Where and what are the scalar mesons? " [1]. The first part of her question can now be confidently responded [2]. However, with respect to the " What " many puzzles remain unanswered. Scalar and axial-vector mesons form part of a large family of mesons. Consequently, though it is useful to pay them some extra attention, there is no point in discussing them as isolated phenomena. The particularity of structures in the scattering of — basically — pions and kaons with zero angular momentum is the absence of the centrifugal barrier, which allows us to 'see' strong interactions at short distances. Experimentally observed differences and similarities between scalar and axial-vector mesons on the one hand, and other mesons on the other hand, are very instructive for further studies. Nowadays, there exists an abundance of theoretical approaches towards the mesonic spectrum, ranging from confinement models of all kinds, i.e., glueballs, and quark-antiquark, multiquark and hybrid configurations, to models in which only mesonic degrees of freedom are taken into account. Nature seems to come out somewhere in the middle, neither preferring pure bound states, nor effective meson-meson physics with only coupling constants and possibly form factors. As a matter of fact, apart from a few exceptions, like pions and kaons, Nature does not allow us to study mesonic bound states of any kind, which is equivalent to saying that such states do not really exist. Hence, instead of extrapolating from pions and kaons to the remainder of the meson family, it is more democratic to consider pions and kaons mesonic resonances that happen to come out below the lowest threshold for strong decay. Nevertheless, confinement is an important ingredient for understanding the many regularities observed in mesonic spectra. Therefore, excluding quark degrees of freedom is also not the most obvious way of describing mesons in general, and scalars and axial-vectors in particular.


Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) are appropriate for applications with load-independent speeds or synchronous operation with high accuracy under defined speed. In this paper analysis the structure and equations of the PMSM, direct torque control (DTC) and voltage space vector process then study model reference adaptive system (MRAS) estimators. The PI controller uses from estimate speed feedback and do the speed sensorless control of PMSM based on DTC method with MRAS. The simulation results show that the speed of rotor estimates with high precision and torque response is considerably fast.


TerraSAR-X data are processed for an "operational" mapping of bare soils moisture in agricultural areas. Empirical relationships between TerraSAR-X signal and soil moisture were established and validated over different North European agricultural study sites. The results show that the mean error on the soil moisture estimation is less than 4% regardless of the TerraSAR-X configuration (incidence angle, polarization) and the soil surface characteristics (soil surface roughness, soil composition). Furthermore, the potential of TerraSAR-X data (signal, texture features) to discriminate bare soils from other land cover classes in an agricultural watershed was evaluated. The mean signal backscattered from bare soils can be easily differentiated from signals from other land cover classes when the neighboring plots are covered by fully developed crops. This was observed regardless of the TerraSAR-X configuration and the soil moisture conditions. When neighboring plots are covered by early growth crops, a TerraSAR-X image acquired under wet conditions can be useful for discriminating bare soils. Bare soil masks were calculated by object-oriented classifications of mono-configuration TerraSAR-X data. The overall accuracies of the bare soils mapping were higher than 84% for validation based on object and pixel. The bare soils mapping method and the soil moisture relationships were applied to TerraSAR-X images to generate soil moisture maps. The results show that TerraSAR-X sensors provide useful data for monitoring the spatial variations of soil moisture at the within-plot scale. The methods of bare soils moisture mapping developed in this paper can be used in operational applications in agriculture, and hydrology.


This research work identifies the roles and
values of USE CASES in software development, and
analysed the concept of USE CASES critically in other to ascertain their usefulness in achieving a user's requirement when applied to a system development methodology. We examined the major considerations for deploying advanced UML modelling by considering the best approach for a
programmer to get to the source code by putting the right aspect of the UML to work at the right stage of a system life cycle in an object (OO) oriented analysis and design practice. research has found out that to achieve a successful object oriented programming design and implementation, an analyst should strive to drive an OO software design from USE CASES


Advanced non-invasive experiments like computer automated radioactive particle tracking and computed tomography along with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed in mimic anaerobic digesters to visualize their flow pattern and obtain hydrodynamic parameters. The mixing in the digester was provided by sparging gas at three different flow rates. The simulation results in terms of overall flow pattern, location of circulation cells and stagnant regions, trends of liquid velocity profiles, and volume of dead zones agree reasonably well with the experimental data. CFD simulations were also performed on different digester configurations. The effects of changing draft tube size, clearance, and shape of the tank bottoms were calculated to evaluate the effect of digester design on its flow pattern. Changing the draft tube clearance and height had no influence on the flow pattern or dead regions volume. However increasing the draft tube diameter or incorporating a conical bottom design helped in reducing the volume of the dead zones as compared to a flat bottom digester. The simulations showed that the gas flow rate sparged by a single point (0.5 cm diameter) sparger does not have appreciable effect on the flow pattern of the digesters.


ABSTRACT Ten years after the last large scale piracy attacks in the Western Indian Ocean, other maritime crimes such as illicit fishing and maritime smuggling have emerged. The spill over of conflicts in Yemen and Mozambique and maritime grey-zone activities have also become major maritime security issues. Yet, perhaps the most worrying – though largely underappreciated – trend is the surge of naval activity and strategic competition in the region. This is a major dilemma for the region: The region relies on external military actors to protect vital shipping lanes, but the presence of these actors also risks importing geopolitical tensions that could undermine regional maritime stability. How can the region address these maritime insecurities and the evolving militarisation dilemma? We investigate the regional maritime security architecture to identify institutions that can help the region manage the militarisation dilemma. We argue that only the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) mechanism and the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) can help mitigate geopolitical competition in the region. Preparing these mechanisms to deal with the militarisation dilemma will be vital for the long-term prosperity of the Western India Ocean.


Myeloid sarcomas are extramedullary tumours with granulocytic precursors. When associated with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML), these tumours usually affect no more than two different extramedullary regions. This report describes a myeloid sarcoma associated with AML with tumour formation at five anatomical sites. The patient was a 37 year old man admitted in September 1999 with a two month history of weight loss, symptoms of anaemia, rectal bleeding, and left facial nerve palsy. The anatomical sites affected were: the rectum, the right lobe of the liver, the mediastinum, the retroperitoneum, and the central nervous system. A bone marrow smear was compatible with AML M2. Flow cytometry showed that the peripheral blood was positive for CD4, CD11, CD13, CD14, CD33, CD45, and HLA-DR. A karyotypic study of the bone marrow revealed an 8;21 translocation. The presence of multiple solid tumours in AML is a rare event. Enhanced expression of cell adhesion molecules may be the reason why some patients develop myeloid sarcomas.


The protease coded by a picornavirus is central in the control of the viral replication. It is essential in the production of virus structural proteins, and regulates the viral RNA replicase in infected cells. The properties of the poliovirus protease are summarized and compared with other viruses. The interaction of polio protease with host defenses was examined. A cellular ribosomal protease degrades poliovirus and other "foreign" proteins, thus restricting viral functions. However, shortly after infection, ribosomal protease activity is suppressed, and in virus-infected extracts the enzyme is degraded. A second line of defense are the protein antiproteases of animal sera. Some of these inhibitors are able to complex the polio protease. A regulatory pathway summarizing the possible interactions of viral protease and the host defenses is presented.


Payday lending remains a highly controversial subject. The debate about its merits of is polarized. Proponents focus solely on the payday loan as the only source of helpful credit to a segment of consumers excluded from mainstream lenders. Opponents focus solely on the adverse consequences so many customers experience after using payday lenders. Neither side acknowledges arguments, however legitimate, the other makes. Demand for small-amount, short-term loans is undeniable. Absent from most discussions of the subject is an exhaustive comparison and analysis of the myriad of rationales industry attackers and defenders use to justify their positions and conclusions. A deconstruction of the arguments leads to the inescapable conclusion that the justifications for payday lending are not supported by the evidence. Thus, even if consumers have no other alternatives, payday lending is not the answer because any benefits from its use do not outweigh detriments. But neither steering certain credit seekers to mainstream markets that either ignore or exploit them or resignedly accepting a predatory lending system serves those with credit impairments well. The solution to this conundrum lies in a concerted effort by state and federal governments, nonprofits, responsible corporations, faith-based groups, and philanthropic organizations together to develop an alternative and sustainable financial system for those for whom traditional credit is unattainable or undesirable without the exploitation that characterizes payday lending.


Background: Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS) is an exfoliative dermatitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus infection. In contrast to infants, it is rarely observed in adults. SSSS in adults usually occurs in predisposed individuals such as those with renal failure or immunodeficiency, but has also been reported in otherwise healthy subjects. The reported mortality rate in adults is usually high because of serious underlying disease. Patient and Methods: We report a case of SSSS in a young female patient with T-lymphoblastic lymphoma, who survived this potentially lethal complication. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of SSSS in an adult patient with T-lymphoblastic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Clinicians should be aware of SSSS as a rare but potentially fatal disorder, particularly in adult patients with malignancies undergoing aggressive chemotherapy.


This thesis investigates the suitability of manganese silicate (MnSiO3) as a possible copper interconnect diffusion barrier layer on both a 5.4 nm thick thermally grown SiO2 and a low dielectric constant carbon doped oxide (CDO), with the focus of understanding the barrier formation process. The self forming nature of this diffusion barrier layer resulting from the chemical interaction of deposited Mn with the insulating substrate has potential application in future generations of copper interconnect technologies as they are significantly thinner than the conventional deposited barrier layers. The principle technique used to study the interface chemistry resulting from the interaction of deposited manganese with the insulating substrates to form a MnSiO3 layer was x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements provided information on the structure of the barrier layers which could be correlated with the XPS results. Significant differences in the extent of the interface interaction which resulted in the formation of the MnSiO3 barrier layer were found to depend on whether the deposited Mn was partially oxidised. The studies performed on the 5.4 nm thermally grown SiO2 confirmed that the growth of the MnSiO3 resulted in a corresponding reduction in the SiO2 layer thickness. Interactions between residual metallic Mn and subsequently deposited copper layers were also investigated and showed that in order to reduce the width of the barrier layer, it was preferable that all the deposited Mn was fully incorporated into the silicate. TEM measurements were also used to investigate thicker thermally deposited Mn/Cu heterostructures on SiO2 which were subsequently annealed in order to study the diffusion interactions between copper and manganese. The formation of Mn silicate layers on low dielectric constant carbon doped oxide (CDO) was also investigated and compared with the formation characteristics on the thermally grown SiO2.


: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is considering a change in rules concerning the circumstances when an organization must present consolidated financial reports with its related organizations. This change could affect healthcare providers that have related foundations or have profit-making affiliates such as a property management company, laundry company, or collection bureau.


Objectives The aim of this study was to compare ultrasound (US) grading and laboratory measures in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods Two-hundred four patients with rheumatoid arthritis who received US evaluation for synovitis were included after excluding those using tocilizumab. Ultrasound grading of synovial hypertrophy (SH) and power Doppler (PD) at the most severe site were recorded. An assessment of the correlation of laboratory measures and US grading was conducted by reviewing the electronic medical records. Results High-titer anti–cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies positivity was associated with SH grade ≥2 (odds ratio [OR], 6.00; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.78–20.2) and PD grade ≥2 (OR, 5.56; 95% CI, 1.82–16.9). Recent C-reactive protein (CRP) levels ≥0.3 mg/dL were associated with SH grade ≥2 (OR, 3.13; 95% CI, 1.38–7.10) and PD grade ≥2 (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.31–4.31). Anti-CCP antibody levels correlated with US scores better than the levels of CRP with higher Spearman ρ correlation coefficients. Most of the patients with recent CRP levels <0.3 mg/dL had US synovitis. In logistic regression, high levels of anti-CCP antibodies and CRP were both independently associated with SH grade ≥2 and PD grade ≥2. Conclusions Higher levels of anti-CCP antibodies and CRP may predict synovitis on US, whereas discrepancies existed between inflammatory markers and US grading. These findings suggest that US has a role in the comprehensive assessment of disease activity, especially for patients with high-titer positive anti-CCP antibodies.


Background: Dyspepsia is a syndrome located in the epigastric area. Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) tract endoscopy and histopathological examination are important diagnostic tools for dyspepsia. This study aimed to evaluate the pattern of dyspepsia in patients who underwent endoscopy examination at Koja Hospital, Jakarta. Method : All patients with dyspepsia who visited Koja Hospital from January until December 2011 were evaluated in this observational study. The data taken was age, gender, clinical symptoms, risk factors, alarm symptoms, body mass index, UGI tract endoscopic and histopathological findings. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis. Results : Of 1,279 patients with dyspepsia symptoms, 148 patients underwent UGI tract endoscopy. The main symptom was epigastric pain (91.2%). The most common risk factor was female (60.1%). The most common finding of alarm symptoms was history of UGI bleeding (21.6%). The most frequent result of UGI tract endoscopy was gastritis (79.7%). The most widely found of gastritis type was moderate antral gastritis (56%). The most common gastritis histopathological finding was non-active, non- atrophic, non-dysplastic chronic moderate gastritis (56%). All biopsy results included those with gastritis as well as gastric ulcer, which revealed negative results of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Conclusion : The pattern of dyspepsia at Koja Hospital includes female predominant, most patients had alarm symptom history of UGI bleeding, gastritis on endoscopic findings, but H. pylori was not found in histopathological results. Keywords : dyspepsia, symptoms, risk factors, endoscopy, histopathological


Laying hens were fed contaminated feed containing narasin 2.5 mg/kg for 21 days followed by a 7 day withdrawal period, hens in the control group were fed unmedicated feed. Eggs were collected during trial days 0, 3, 7, 14, 21 and after the withdrawal period of 7 days. The concentration of narasin in yolks and egg whites was analyzed by a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. Narasin was found to accumulate in yolks, where the narasin concentration increased during the treatment. The concentration of narasin varied from 5.9 to 13.8 microg/kg (mean 10.6 microg/kg) in yolks after 21 day feeding periods. The concentrations of narasin ranged from < 0.9 to 1.4 microg/kg after the withdrawal period. Narasin residues were not found in egg whites of the laying hens fed contaminated feed nor in either yolks or egg whites of the laying hens fed unmedicated feed. The effect of cooking was also tested on the amount of narasin residues in eggs. Cooking for 10 min did not significantly influence the narasin residues in eggs. Traces of lasalocid were also found in the yolks. The traces of lasalocid are attributable to an accidental contamination of the feed during its manufacture.


Exploration is an essential part of play in modern video games. It refers to the discovery-based activities, in which players explore mechanisms, as well as spatiality of virtual world. Exploration games and games with exploration plots are booming in gamer communities. In this paper, we focus on spatial exploration, which is central to play in role-playing games (RPG) and real time strategy (RTS) games. We investigate the game-playing behaviors of human players in exploration games, so as to discover behavior patterns and understand gamer styles. The intention is to contribute to the design and development of believable agents. We conducted an experiment where 25 participants played three types of exploration games. In-game data, think-aloud data, questionnaire responses and post-game interview data were collected to gain a deeper understanding of exploration preferences. We used thematic analysis to analyze data and mapped out four game exploration archetypes: Wanderers, Seers, Pathers and Targeters. An analysis from the four highlight aspects: strategy, reasoning, conception and hesitation, is conducted to investigate the behavioral traits of these four archetypes.


BACKGROUND
Mu opioid agonists suppress natural killer (NK) cell activity in animal models. Studies in human volunteers, however, have yielded conflicting results, with morphine suppressing and fentanyl increasing NK cell activity. This study evaluated the effect of a constant 8-h infusion of remifentanil on NK cell number and function in human volunteers.

METHODS
After IRB approval and informed consent was obtained, 10 healthy volunteers underwent an 11 pm to 7 am infusion of saline, and at least 1 week later an infusion of 0.02-0.04 microg x kg(-1) min(-1) remifentanil. Blood was collected at 7 am for measurement of NK cell cytotoxicity using a (51)Cr release assay and measurement of NK cell number using fluorescent flow cytometry.

RESULTS
Median and range of the total NK cell cytotoxicity (KU ml(-1)) was 745.0 (498.3-1483.6) on the control morning and 818.6 (238.5-1454.5) on the morning following the remifentanil infusion. Neither the number of NK cells ml(-1) (2.5 x 10(5) (1.4 x 10(5)-4.2 x 10(5)) vs 2.7 x 10(5) (1.1 x 10(5)-4.4 x 10(5))) nor the cytotoxicity per 1000 NK cells (KU 1000 NK cells(-1)) (3.0 (1.8-5.2) vs 2.9 (0.9-6.7)) changed between the control and remifentanil conditions.

CONCLUSIONS
An 8-h infusion of remifentanil did not affect NK cell activity in normal volunteers. This result differs from previous findings of morphine-induced NK cell activity suppression and fentanyl-induced NK cell activity enhancement in normal volunteers.


Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and features of low back pain (LBP) among stroke caregivers. Method: Participants included 64 caregivers of stroke survivors in our inpatient clinic. Age, gender, body weight, FIM™, and Brunnstrom Scale of patients and low back pain history, Short Form-36 (SF-36), Beck Depression Measure (BDM), and Oswestry Disability Scale (ODS) of caregivers were reported. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, and Mann-Whitney U test were used. Results: Fifty-three (82.8 %) of caregivers had LBP. Stroke survivors of caregivers with LBP (group 1) had significantly lower FIM™ scores when compared with stroke survivors of caregivers without LBP (group 2) (P < .05). All SF-36 subscores and total score of group 1 except mental health were significantly lower than SF-36 scores of group 2. Discussion: The lifetime, 12-month period, and point prevalence of LBP were 44.1%, 34.0%, and 19.7%, respectively, in our country. Caregivers had a higher frequency of LBP in this study. However it was a study with a small number of participants. There are many studies about stroke caregivers' depression and life quality. LBP should also be investigated.


OBJECTIVES
Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy (BMAB) is painful when performed with only local anesthetic. Our objective was to determine whether viewing nature scenes and listening to nature sounds can reduce pain during BMAB.

DESIGN
This was a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Adult patients undergoing outpatient BMAB with only local anesthetic were assigned to use either a nature scene with accompanying nature sounds, city scene with city sounds, or standard care. The primary outcome was a visual analog scale (0-10) of pain. Prespecified secondary analyses included categorizing pain as mild and moderate to severe and using multiple logistic regression to adjust for potential confounding variables.

RESULTS
One hundred and twenty (120) subjects were enrolled: 44 in the Nature arm, 39 in the City arm, and 37 in the Standard Care arm. The mean pain scores, which were the primary outcome, were not significantly different between the three arms. A higher proportion in the Standard Care arm had moderate-to-severe pain (pain rating ≥4) than in the Nature arm (78.4% versus 60.5%), though this was not statistically significant (p = 0.097). This difference was statistically significant after adjusting for differences in the operators who performed the procedures (odds ratio = 3.71, p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed earlier findings showing that BMAB is poorly tolerated. While mean pain scores were not significantly different between the study arms, secondary analyses suggest that viewing a nature scene while listening to nature sounds is a safe, inexpensive method that may reduce pain during BMAB. This approach should be considered to alleviate pain during invasive procedures.


BACKGROUND
Ultraprocessed food consumption has increased in the past decade. Evidence suggests a positive association between ultraprocessed food consumption and the incidence of overweight and obesity. However, few prospective studies to our knowledge have investigated this potential relation in adults.

OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the association between ultraprocessed food consumption and the risk of overweight and obesity in a prospective Spanish cohort, the SUN (University of Navarra Follow-Up) study.

DESIGN
We included 8451 middle-aged Spanish university graduates who were initially not overweight or obese and followed up for a median of 8.9 y. The consumption of ultraprocessed foods (defined as food and drink products ready to eat, drink, or heat and made predominantly or entirely from processed items extracted or refined from whole foods or synthesized in the laboratory) was assessed with the use of a validated semiquantitative 136-item food-frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted HRs and 95% CIs for incident overweight and obesity.

RESULTS
A total of 1939 incident cases of overweight and obesity were identified during follow-up. After adjustment for potential confounders, participants in the highest quartile of ultraprocessed food consumption were at a higher risk of developing overweight or obesity (adjusted HR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.45; P-trend = 0.001) than those in the lowest quartile of consumption.

CONCLUSIONS
Ultraprocessed food consumption was associated with a higher risk of overweight and obesity in a prospective cohort of Spanish middle-aged adult university graduates. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our results. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02669602.


of quantile regression, including linear and nonlinear programming for parametric and nonparametric modeling. Chapter 8 extends the main ideas to survival and copula functions, binary and count data, structural equations, and the Choquet integral used in utility, risk, and portfolio analyses. Appendix A gives examples of practical quantile regression modeling using the package from R language (beginning from its free installation). The author, a leading figure in the quantile regression, describes a wide range of methods and problems and provides examples and explanation of the results and more than 400 references covering all related areas. The book is also full of philosophical considerations and citations on statistical methodology from Boscovich (mid-18th century), Francis Galton, Edgeworth, Mosteller, Tukey, Cox, and many other modern scholars.


The Challenge is Great Diabetes is a pandemic which shows no signs of slowing down. Recent developments, such as the COVID 19 epidemic, have highlighted the role of diabetes specifically uncontrolled diabetes, in defining health outcomes.1 We have known, for long, the role of glycaemic control in improving long term vascular outcomes. Now, however, we have robust data which demonstrates that a 1% reduction in glycated haemoglobin can reduce probability of getting severe COVID19 by 21%.2 A major obstacle to ensuring euglycaemia is lack of education. Lack of awareness, at individual, family and societal level, leads to delayed recognition, diagnosis and management of diabetes.3 This is turn, creates a situation where control becomes progressively more difficult to achieve, and satisfaction with health care becomes lesser and lesser.


Plummer (1995) has identified a number of new sexual stories that characterize erotic life in late modern societies. He notes a number of such scripts emerging and flourishing between 1970 and 1990, speculating that sadomasochistic stories might be in the ascendant at the turn of century. However, Langdridge and Butt (2004) find little evidence of the emergence of a coherent sadomasochistic identity. They contend that the transgressive nature of the sexual in sadomasochism makes it difficult for participants in such practices to achieve legitimate "sexual citizenship" (Weeks, 1998). In this article, we note the emergence of an alternative construction of sadomasochistic practices; one that emphasises the erotic exchange of power. This illustrates both personal and social moments in the construction of erotic life.


The growing significance of 'big data' raises new issues for copyright law, not least when the data is presented visually or graphically to generate new and useful information and insights. One such example is the case of digital maps. Maps and written descriptions of geographic information have long presented challenges for the law of copyright, most particularly because they are perceived as factual compilations. The appearance of maps, and the information they contain, has changed considerably over time. However, the last few years has seen an extraordinary transformation in the methods and practices of collecting, storing, representing and disseminating geospatial data and information. This article considers how copyright law applied in the analogue era to regulate the production and dissemination of geographic information, the effects of new technologies and digitisation on how law applies to geospatial data and associated products and systems, and whether either a database right or some other form of protection is required.


Background
In the Netherlands, each year, 17,000 people are hospitalised after a hip fracture. Almost one out of three hip fracture patients deceases within the first year after surgery. This mortality rate could be decreased by improving the rehabilitation process. Nowadays, the rehabilitation process of elderly hip fracture patients is monitored by clinimetric tests, but continuous monitoring could be a valuable addition. The purpose of this study is to determine how the monitor devices Fitbit Charge HR and MOX can be used to continuously monitor functional recovery of frail elderly hip patients to optimise the rehabilitation process.

Methods
Qualitative research is set up to determine the definition of functional recovery and to compose parameters that are useful for continuous monitoring of functional recovery of elderly hip patients. This qualitative research consists of literature research and conducted interviews on healthcare specialists and patients. Additionally, a quantitative research was set up. This consisted of an experiment, in order to determine whether the formulated parameters can actually be measured by the monitor devices. A GERonTologic simulator (GERT), an age simulation suit, was used in order to evaluate whether progress in rehabilitation of functional recovery can be monitored.

Results
The parameters that can be measured by the monitor devices Fitbit Charge HR and MOX, are: number of steps, heart rate, classification and intensity of activities. When the subject was walking with a walker, the Fitbit attached to the wrist showed a very low correlation and the Fitbit attached to the ankle a high correlation between the counted steps of the observer and the counted steps by the Fitbit. Within most subjects, when wearing GERT, the heart rate increased while the intensity of the performed activity maintained approximately the same value. The increased heart rate was higher in 15 of the 24 cases for 'with GERT' than
'without GERT' during walking, with a mean rank of 13.17. When a patient was doing activities of daily living, the increased heart rate was higher 'with GERT' than 'without GERT', in 11 of the 15 cases, with a mean rank of 7.95.

Discussion
Safety and independence, mobility, balance and resilience are important parameters which were not evaluated in this study, due to the restrictions of technology specifications of the monitor devices. For this reason the definition of functional recovery formulated in this study, does not cover the entire content. As young healthy subjects were included, GERT was used in order to simulate a not functionally recovered elderly patient, by increasing the fatigue. However, the included subjects obviously differed from frail elderly patients with a hip fracture, due to the fact that the included parameters can be affected by aging. Besides this, the study population was very small. Results showed a difference between 'with GERT' in comparison to 'without GERT' in heart rate increase for relatively equal intensities. Despite this, further research needs to be done to apply this for continuously monitoring of elderly people.

Conclusion
Functional recovery is returning to the premorbid living situation by achieving a safe and independent performance of their personal targets of physical functioning, with a low fatigability. The parameter heart rate increase is promising in continuously monitoring functional recovery of elderly hip fracture patients, and is therefore a useful parameter for further research. Also, the measured number of steps and intensities can give an indication of functional recovery, by gaining more insight into the active minutes of a patient. To conclude, a combination of the Fitbit Charge HR and the MOX is recommended to continuously monitor functional recovery of a hip fracture patient during the rehabilitation process.


With 'green shoots' giving way to more definite signs of recovery in the global economy - most leading nations have already emerged from recession, with the UK being the latest – and with the global financial system back on an even keel (stock markets around the globe have recovered most of the ground lost after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the Autumn of 2008 and credit markets have thawed out to a degree following the stabilisation of house prices in the West) now is perhaps a good time to bring to a close my survey of the sub-prime-induced credit crunch and the damage it wrought around the World. Internationally-co-ordinated action on the fiscal, monetary and financial fronts and a determination to resist protectionist tendencies appear to have successfully pulled back the World economy from the brink of depression and the financial system from near collapse. Of course, the real recovery is likely to be weak and protracted and unemployment, as a lagging indicator, is likely to continue its remorseless rise, albeit at a slower pace, for some time yet in most parts of the globe, but the worst does seem to be behind us. Wary of damaging the nascent recovery, policymakers are still developing their "exit strategies" – from extraordinary fiscal and monetary stimuli and state intervention in the financial system – rather than implementing them, with much discussion being devoted to how to reform financial regulation with a view to preventing a recurrence of a similar-style systemic collapse. These and other policy issues thus necessarily appear prominently in the analysis below. For now, without being complacent, our political masters can congratulate themselves for having spared their citizens from an even worse maelstrom, but much remains to be done if history is not to repeat itself and taxpayers are to be shielded from the consequences of financial "excess" in the future.


Over the last 30 years, the forest industry in Eastern Canada has undergone a radical transformation, from a model where larger forestry businesses operated their own production equipment to a model where harvesting, transport, and forest road construction are awarded to contractors. This change in strategy on part of the large corporations has created new start-up opportunities for many forest entrepreneurs. Their dependency on a single large client (wood buyer), however, could hinder entrepreneurial behavior. This study aims to examine the forest Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) population, identify the factors that stimulate their per‐ formance despite a business environment that may be deemed unfavorable, and draw an overall picture of the existing situation. An analysis of 535 questionnaires filled by forest machine owners suggests that SMEs with four employees or more show better performance results than those with three or fewer employees, considered very small enterprises (VSEs), essentially because these businesses are typically able to work more weeks in a year. Their managers use a significantly higher number of tools to measure performance and attribute greater importance to management duties. The results have enabled us to identify certain performance factors, but suggest that further research is needed to better understand the underlying causes of contract assignment and the relationships that develop between SME managers and large forest product companies.


The current surgical trend is to expand the variety of minimally invasive approaches and, in particular, the possible application of robotic surgery in head and neck surgery. For this purpose, we explored the feasibility of a combined transcervical-transnasal approach to the posterior skull base, using the da Vinci Surgical System in 3 cadaver heads. Superb visualization of the sellar, suprasellar and clival regions was possible in all three specimens. The trocars` placement through a transcervical port made a more cephalad visualization possible, eliminating the need to split the palate. The advantages of robotic surgery applied to the posterior cranial fossa are similar to the ones already clinically experienced in other districts (oropharynx, tongue base), in terms of tremor-free, bimanual, precise dissection. The implementation of instruments for bony work will definitely increase the applicability of such a system in the forthcoming years.


BACKGROUND: It is widely accepted that periconceptional supplementation with folic acid can prevent a significant proportion of neural tube defects (NTDs). The present study evaluated how folic acid knowledge and periconceptional use for NTD prevention varies by ethnicity in the United Kingdom (U.K.). METHODS: A literature search was conducted to identify studies that included assessment of folic acid knowledge or use in U.K. women of different ethnicities. Only research and referenced sources published after 1991, the year of the landmark Medical Research Council's Vitamin Study, were included. A meta-analysis was performed of studies that assessed preconceptional folic acid use in Caucasians and non-Caucasians. RESULTS: Five studies met the inclusion criteria for assessment of knowledge and/or use of folic acid supplements in U.K. women including non-Caucasians. The available evidence indicates that South Asians specifically have less knowledge and lower periconceptional use of folic acid than Caucasians; one study found that West Indian and African women also had lower folic acid uptake. A synthesis of results from three of the studies, in a meta-analysis, shows that Caucasians are almost three times more likely to take folic acid before conception than non-Caucasians. CONCLUSION: From the limited evidence available, U.K. women of non-Caucasian ethnicity appear to have less knowledge and a lower uptake of folic acid supplementation than Caucasians during the periconceptional period. Implementing targeted, innovative education campaigns together with a mandatory fortification policy, including the fortification of ethnic minority foods, will be required for maximum prevention of folic acid–preventable NTDs across different ethnic groups. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 97:444–451, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Introduction: Social anxiety is a common experience. For some it is a debilitating,
chronic difficulty, which becomes problematic during childhood and can have
devastating effects. Talking therapies are useful for many, particularly in reducing
anxiety. However, many people never access treatment and for those that do,
therapies do not tend to improve their quality of life, particularly their social worlds.
Do we need to look beyond clinical recovery measures when assessing therapeutic
outcomes? There has been no research that has explored personal recovery in
social anxiety. This thesis seeks to understand whether people with problematic
social anxiety experience personal recovery and if so, how.
Methods: A participatory action research (PAR) approach was used to develop the
project. People with problematic social anxiety advised on study design, data
collection, analysis and dissemination of the findings. 8 narratives of living with
problematic social anxiety were collected to explore how people negotiate social
anxiety and what this can tell us about personal recovery. A narrative analysis was
then carried out, drawing upon Frank's (1995, 2012) dialogical narratives analysis of
illness stories and Adame and Hornstein's (2006) typology of emotional distress
narratives.
Findings: The participants' stories of living with problematic social anxiety
highlighted the variety of ways that people make sense of this difficulty. The types of
stories told were reminiscent of Frank's (1995, 2010) illness narratives, as people
told stories of restitution, chaos and quest. People drew upon traditional, counter and
alternative mental health narratives to negotiate social anxiety, reminding us of the
multiple ways people can find to overcome emotional distress.
Discussion: The PAR study showed how people struggling with a mental health
difficulty can be at the centre of research which strives to better understand their
struggles and improve talking therapies. The study reminds us that the "social"
aspects of social anxiety need to be better acknowledged within therapies so that we
do not only focus on reducing anxiety but help people improve their relationships and
quality of life.


The sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter SGLT1 undergoes a series of voltage- and ligand-induced conformational changes that underlie the cotransport mechanism. In this study we describe how the binding of external Na changes the conformation of the sugar-binding domain, exposing residues that are involved in sugar recognition to the external environment. We constructed 15 individual Cys mutants in the four transmembrane helices (TMHs) that form the sugar binding and translocation domain. Each mutant was functionally characterized for transport kinetics and substrate specificity. Identification of interactions between mutated residues and hydroxyls on the pyranose ring was assessed by comparing the affinities of deoxy sugars to those of glucose. We determined conformation-dependent accessibility to the mutated residues by both a traditional substituted cysteine accessibility method (SCAM) and a new fluorescence binding assay. These data were integrated to orient the helices and construct a framework of residues that comprise the external sugar binding site. We present evidence that R499, Q457, and T460 play a direct role in sugar recognition and that five other residues are indirectly involved in transport. Arranging the four TMHs to account for Na-dependent accessibility and potential for sugar interaction allows us to propose a testable model for the SGLT1 sugar binding site.


This paper presents a view-guided solution for the task of point cloud completion. Unlike most existing methods directly inferring the missing points using shape priors, we address this task by introducing ViPC (view-guided point cloud completion) that takes the missing crucial global structure information from an extra single-view image. By leveraging a framework that sequentially performs effective cross-modality and cross-level fusions, our method achieves significantly superior results over typical existing solutions on a new large-scale dataset we collect for the view-guided point cloud completion task.


Many signals of wind turbine faults are non-stationary and have highly complex time-frequency characteristics. Traditional time-frequency analysis method, such as Windowed Fourier Transform method, has no noticeable effect in handing non-stationary signals. Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) is a new signal processing method for analyzing the non-stationary mechanical signals. Based on Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), the Intrinsic Mode Function (IMF) in HHT can reflect the intrinsic physical characteristics of original data. Moreover, it is a good way to identify the faults involving a breakdown change. First, the principles and advantages of the HHT are presented in detail in this paper. Then, three typical faults of wind turbine rotor, such as rotor imbalance, aerodynamic asymmetry due to blade surface roughness and yaw misalignment are discussed by the HHT. Last, reasonable conclusions are drawn by the comparison between this method and the Wavelet Transform (WT) method with the help of simulation fault signals. The results show the effectiveness of HHT method for diagnosing those faults of wind turbine rotor.


The purpose of this study is to analyze, using GIS, the relationship between hydrodynamic characteristics during high intensity flood periods and geomorphological controls on channel and valley morphology of the Carpathian and Subcarpathian Prahova River. In order to acquire Prahova River's topographic information, on its channel and valley from Predeal (upstream) to Campina (downstream), in August 2006 a GIS ground-based survey was used. The survey consisted of 192 topo-bathymetrical cross-section profiles over 55 Km distance (river length) covering the Carpathian and Subcarpathian reaches.


We consider data sources connected to a software defined network (SDN) with heterogeneous link access rates. Deadline-driven data transfer requests are made to a centralized network controller that schedules pacing rates of sources and meeting the request deadline has a pre-assigned value. The goal of the scheduler is to maximize the aggregate value. We design a scheduler (RL-Agent) based on Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG). We compare our approach with three heuristics: (i) P_FAIR, which shares the bottleneck capacity in proportion to the access rates, (ii) V_D_Ratio, which prioritizes flows with high value-to-demand ratio, and (iii) V_B_EDF, which prioritizes flows with high value-to-deadline ratio. For equally valued requests and homogeneous access rates, P_FAIR is the same as an idealized TCP algorithm, while V_B_EDF and V_D_Ratio reduce to the Earliest Deadline First (EDF) and the Shortest Job First (SJF) algorithms, respectively. In this scenario, we show that RL-Agent performs significantly better than P_FAIR and V_D_Ratio and matches and in over-loaded scenarios out-performs V_B_EDF. When access rates are heterogeneous, we show that the RL-Agent performs as well as V_B_EDF even though the RL-Agent has no knowledge of the heterogeneity to start with. For the value maximization problems, we show that the RL-Agent out-performs the heuristics for both homogeneous and heterogeneous access networks. For the general case of heterogeneity with different values, the RL-Agent performs the best despite having no prior knowledge of the heterogeneity and the values, whereas the heuristics have full knowledge of the heterogeneity and V_D_Ratio and V_B_EDF have partial knowledge of the values through the ratios of value to demand and value to deadline, respectively.


Thymomas are neoplasias that begin in the thymus and develop in the anterior mediastinum. They are commonly associated with a variety of systemic and autoimmune disorders, such as pure red cell aplasia, hypogammaglobulinaemia, pancytopaenia, collagen diseases, and, most commonly, myasthenia gravis. The presence of inter-current infections, especially diarrhoea and pneumonia, in the presence of lymphocyte B depletion and hypogammaglobulinaemia is known as Good's syndrome and may affect up to 5% of patients with thymoma. While anaemia is present in 50%–86% of patients with Good's syndrome, only 41.9% of cases present pure red cell aplasia. Concomitance of these two conditions has only been rarely studied. We report on the case of a 55-year-old man diagnosed with advanced thymoma, who, during the progression of his disease, developed signs and symptoms suggesting Good's syndrome and pure red cell aplasia. We also performed a brief review of the literature concerning this association, its clinical characteristics, and treatment.


To study the effects of different tempering temperatures on the expansion and fracturing of a warhead and the subsequent formation of fragments, this paper has selected 50SiMnVB steel which was tempered separately at 450 ℃ and 650 ℃ as the objects for study. Images of the expansion and fracture processes of the cylindrical shell were captured by using high speed photographic technology. In addition, this paper used the AUTODYN-3D finite element software to numerically simulate the expansion and fracture processes of 50SiMnVB steel. The formation of fragments was studied through the use of Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Metallographic Analysis. It was found that, with the increasing of the tempering temperature, the structure, composition and shape of 50SiMnVB steel's microstructure changed constantly. Observations made include; an increase in strength and toughness together with an increase in plastic deformation and a further change in fracture mode from tensile-shear factor to that of shear factor. With the increasing of the tempering temperature, the time needed for fracture generation and detonation product leakage on the outer surface of the 50SiMnVB shell was delayed under detonation loading. The expansion distance of the 50SiMnVB shell under the tempering temperature, 650 ℃ is increased by 23.95% when compared with the other test cylinder under the tempering temperature of 450 ℃ , and the expansion velocity is increased by 11.0%.


The paper presents the results of a research based on the evaluation culture approach and particularly on the social corporate responsibility of universities and their duty to account for the quality of their mission, researches, teaching and dissemination of knowledge. Metrics and international rankings have been developed to measure value and performance of the universities; as a consequence, the academic world must express appropriate means in order to improve its position in quality evaluation rankings. The research project focuses on "La Sapienza" University of Rome and especially on international rankings and metrics used to measure its degree of information literacy. The indicators that would take advantage of a program devoted to digital competences are here listed and analyzed to underline: a) the instructional plan, based on the cooperation between researchers-professors and librarians; connectivism as a pedagogical concept; the flipped classroom methodology; the necessity of taking into due account visual competencies and social networks; Educational Digital Objects as Web didactic materials; b) the educational plan meant to enhance visual competences, given the relevance of virtual and augmented reality for university education. The best Visual Literacy standards are selected to empower iconic and visual reading and to envision effective goals, learning units, methodology and quality. The evaluation must then be considered as one of the principal results of the research itself: it must be based on competencies and quality, and the 13 indicators suggested to measure the educational program – feedback and other metrics included – will be of great use to help the University to highlight its quality standards.


Drugs blocking the potassium current IKr, either as an intended pharmacologic effect (eg antiarrhythmics dofetilide and almokalant) or as an unwanted side-effect (eg antihistamine astemizole, propulsive drug cisapride, antidepressive drugs and macrolide antibiotics) are potential human teratogens. It is the contention of this paper that the existing repeat dose regimen used in teratology studies to fulfil regulatory requirements, does not properly identify the teratogenic risk of these drugs. Results from conventional studies for dofetilide and almokalant showed high rates of postimplantation embryonic death with few malformed fetuses. For astemizole and cisapride only embryonic death was seen. These latter results were not considered important because they occurred either in the presence of maternal toxicity and/or at high doses. Subsequent studies have shown that IKr-blockers are highly teratogenic when administered on single gestational days (GD) during a sensitive period of rat pregnancy (GD 10-14) when they induce a high incidence of stage-specific malformations. This teratogenic activity of astemizole and cisapride was missed in the original teratology studies. Mechanistically IKr-blockers cause bradycardia and arrhythmia of the embryonic heart and while an embryo may be able to survive a single day exposure to a teratogenic dose, repeat dosing often leads to death of the embryo. With this review we suggest that new drugs identified at the preclinical stage of development as having IKr-blocking properties, should undergo more comprehensive teratology testing including single GD dosing and studies using embryo culture. This would further help identify and characterise their teratogenic potential.


Abstract. The statistical occurrence of decametre-scale ionospheric irregularities, average line-of-sight (LOS) Doppler velocity, and Doppler spectral width in the sub-auroral, auroral, and polar cap ionosphere ( - 57° L to - 88° L ) has been investigated using echoes recorded with the Tasman International Geospace Environment Radar (TIGER), a SuperDARN radar located on Bruny Island, Tasmania (147.2° E, 43.4° S geographic; - 54.6 ° L ). Results are shown for routine soundings made on the magnetic meridian beam 4 and the near zonal beam 15 during the sunspot maximum interval December 1999 to November 2000. Most echoes were observed in the nightside ionosphere, typically via 1.5-hop propagation near dusk and then via 0.5-hop propagation during pre-midnight to dawn. Peak occurrence rates on beam 4 were often > 60% near magnetic midnight and ~ - 70 ° L . They increased and shifted equatorward and toward pre-midnight with increasing Kp (i.e. Bz southward). The occurrence rates remained very high for Kp > 4, de-spite enhanced D-region absorption due to particle precipitation. Average occurrence rates on beam 4 exhibited a relatively weak seasonal variation, consistent with known longitudinal variations in auroral zone magnetic activity (Basu, 1975). The average echo power was greatest between 23 and 07 MLT. Two populations of echoes were identified on both beams, those with low spectral width and a mode value of ~ 9 ms -1 (bin size of 2 ms -1 ) concentrated in the auroral and sub-auroral ionosphere (population A), and those with high spectral width and a mode value of ~ 70 ms -1 concentrated in the polar cap ionosphere (population B). The occurrence of population A echoes maximised post-midnight because of TIGER's lower latitude, but the subset of the population A echoes observed near dusk had characteristics reminiscent of "dusk scatter" (Ruohoniemi et al., 1988). There was a dusk "bite out" of large spectral widths between ~ 15 and 21 MLT and poleward of - 67 ° L , and a pre-dawn enhancement of large spectral widths between ~  03 and 07 MLT, centred on ~ - 61 ° L . The average LOS Doppler velocities revealed that frequent westward jets of plasma flow occurred equatorward of, but overlapping, the diffuse auroral oval in the pre-midnight sector. Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; electric fields and currents, ionospheric irregularities)


Somatostatin (SRIF), originally described as a hypothalamic hormone that inhibits the release of growth hormone was subsequently shown to inhibit the secretion of multiple pituitary hormones. Five genes encoding six different SRIF receptors (sst1, 2A, 2B, 3, 4 and 5) have been cloned and mRNAs for all five are expressed in the anterior pituitary. We used double immunostaining to determine which cells in the anterior pituitary bear sst2A and sst5 receptors. Our results show that these two receptors are widely distributed in the pituitary gland and are both present in a large percentage of GH cells. In addition, sst5 occurs in a small population of corticotrophs and a large percentage of lactotrophs whereas sst2A is found in only a few lactotrophs but a large number of corticotrophs. The sst2A receptor is also expressed in about a third of the gonadotrophs and thyrotrophs. Interestingly, sst2A and sst5 receptors colocalize in a small percentage of cells, most likely somatotrophs demonstrating that the same cells can contain multiple sst receptor subtypes. These results indicate that sst subtype specific analogs are likely to be useful for the selective regulation of individual pituitary hormones.


Pend Oreille, a carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb sulfide deposit, is the only base metal mine recently in production within the historically prolific Kootenay arc belt. The deposit consists of two spatially and lithologically distinct types of stratabound, carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb mineralization: Josephine and Yellowhead. The Yellowhead-type sulfide mineralization, the focus of this study, consists of en échelon tabular to lensoidal pyrite-sphalerite–rich orebodies hosted by the middle Cambrian to Early Ordovician Metaline Formation. The Yellowhead-type mineralization is characterized by carbonate replacement and open-space filling textures, indicating diagenetic and epigenetic origin. As with most low-temperature deposits not directly associated with igneous activity, the timing of sulfide mineralization has traditionally been difficult to constrain using radiometric methods.
 In this study, we present a new Re-Os age of 512 ± 17 Ma from the Yellowhead mineralization. Combining this age date with the Cambrian-Ordovician fossil record of the host Metaline Formation and detailed textural analysis of the mineralization, we conclude that the Yellowhead sulfide mineralization is largely diagenetic in origin. Such an origin for the Yellowhead mineralization is similar to that of Irish-type deposits worldwide. For explorationists, the presence of Irish-type deposits in the United States portion of the Kootenay arc opens the possibility of discovering similar mineralization in the Canadian extension of the Kootenay arc.


The biosynthesis of the antibiotic GE2270 in the producing microorganism Planobispora rosea was investigated by adding labelled amino acid precursors. Efficient incorporation of glycine and serine was observed, leading to specific enrichments of selected positions of the thiazole, oxazoline and pyridine rings. Furthermore, efficient enrichment of the C-, N- and O-methyl groups was detected. These results indicate that GE2270 is made through a biosynthetic route similar to that determined for other thiazolylpeptides. At the same time, the result point to an efficient route for the conversion of glycine into serine and methyl equivalents in Planobispora rosea.


Osteocalcin (OCN), the most abundant non-collagenous protein in the bone matrix, is reported to be a bone-derived endocrine hormone with wide-ranging effects on many aspects of physiology, including glucose metabolism and male fertility. Many of these observations were made using an OCN-deficient mouse allele (Osc-) in which the 2 OCN-encoding genes in mice, Bglap and Bglap2, were deleted in ES cells by homologous recombination. Here we describe mice with a new Bglap and Bglap2 double knockout (dko) allele (Bglap/2p.Pro25fs17Ter) that was generated by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing. Mice homozygous for this new allele do not express full length Bglap or Bglap2 mRNA and have no immunodetectable OCN in their plasma. FTIR imaging of cortical and trabecular bone in these homozygous knockout animals finds alterations in the crystal size and maturity of the bone mineral, hydroxyapatite, compared to wild-type littermates; however, μCT and 3-point bending tests do not find differences from wild-type littermates with respect to bone mass and strength. In contrast to the previously reported OCN-deficient mice with the Osc- allele, blood glucose levels and male fertility in the OCN-deficient mice with Bglap/2pPro25fs17Ter allele did not have significant differences from wild-type littermates. We cannot explain the absence of endocrine effects in mice with this new knockout allele. Potential explanations include effects of each mutated allele on the transcription of neighboring genes, and differences in genetic background and environment. So that our findings can be confirmed and extended by other interested investigators, we are donating this new Bglap and Bglap2 double knockout strain to The Jackson Laboratory for academic distribution. Author Summary Cells that make and maintain bone express proteins that function locally or systemically. The former proteins, such as type 1 collagen, affect the material properties of the skeleton while the latter proteins, such as fibroblast growth factor 23, enable the skeleton to communicate with other organ systems. Mutations that affect the functions of most bone cell expressed proteins cause diseases that have similar features in humans and other mammals, such as mice; for example, brittle bone diseases for type 1 collagen mutations and hypophosphatemic rickets for fibroblast growth factor 23 mutations. Our study focuses on another bone cell expressed protein, osteocalcin, which has been suggested to function locally to affect bone strength and systemically as hormone. Studies using osteocalcin knockout mice led other investigators to suggest endocrine roles for osteocalcin in regulating blood glucose levels, male fertility, muscle mass, brain development, behavior and cognition. We therefore decided to generate a new strain of osteocalcin knockout mice that could also be used to investigate these non-skeletal effects. To our surprise the osteocalcin knockout mice we created do not significantly differ from wild-type mice for the 3 phenotypes we examined: bone strength, blood glucose levels, and male fertility. Our data are consistent with findings from osteocalcin knockout rats, but inconsistent with data from the original osteocalcin knockout mice. Because we do not know why our new strain of osteocalcin knockout mice fails to recapitulate phenotypes previously reported for another knockout mouse stain, we have donated our mice to a public repository so that they can be easily obtained and studied in other academic laboratories.


Background Endothelial cells dysfunction is one of the hallmark pathogenic features of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Paeoniflorin (PF) is a monoterpene glycoside with endothelial protection, vasodilation, antifibrotic, anti–inflammatory and antioxidative properties. However, the effects of PF on PAH remain unknown. Methods Here, we investigated the efficacy of PF in the SU5416/hypoxia (SuHx) rat model of PAH. Human pulmonary arterial endothelial cells (HPAECs) were exposed to 1% O2 with or without PF treatment. Results Hemodynamics analysis showed that prophylactic treatment with PF (300 mg/kg i.g. daily for 21 days) significantly inhibited chronic hypoxia/SU5416-induced elevations of right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) and right ventricular hypertrophy index in rats. Meanwhile, PF significantly reduced pulmonary vascular remodeling, as well as alleviated collagen deposition in lungs and right ventricles in SuHx rats. Additionally, PF inhibited SuHx–induced down-regulation of endothelial marker (vascular endothelial cadherin) and up-regulation of mesenchymal markers (fibronectin and vimentin) in lung, suggesting that PF could inhibit SuHx–induced endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in lung. Further in vitro studies confirmed that PF treatment suppressed hypoxia-induced EndMT in HPAECs, which was abolished by the knockdown of bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2) in HPAECs. Conclusion Taken together, our findings suggest that PF ameliorates BMPR2 down-regulation-mediated EndMT and thereafter alleviates SuHx–induced PAH in rats.


Organizations, especially business organizations conduct job evaluation to establish and qualify differences in employee contribution across jobs. These differences provide a foundation for employee compensation decisions. The research revealed that compensation, organization structure, nature of tasks and the . qualification of the employees playa greater role in affecting job evaluation in CARE Kenya. From the findings the assessment of each factor affecting job evaluation is based on the job being performed competently. Majority of the respondent also strongly agreed that evaluation is conducted in relation to the overall structure and accountability involved, demands made on the job, as well as skills and experience required for competent performance. 'l Knowledge and experience, availability of human and financial resources, the diversity of functions performed by the position and accountability are other factors which were found to have a great influence on the process of job evaluation at CARE Kenya. As the management styles involve building teams and networks of relationships and motivating others, there should be consultation among the top management about the validity and viability of the evaluation scheme, so that any amendment should be done before full implementation of the scheme. Proper staff recruitment training and development should be enhanced in NGOs to enhance self-confidence of the employees thus improving the level of performance. This will create efficient employee understanding and harmony during the evaluation process. However, this work is not by itself conclusive and further research is recommended. First, there is a need to carry out a research among other International NGO's in the country to give more representative results and to reduce any potential bias in the results. A further research on comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of job evaluation system in NGO and Government related corporations in Kenya should be conducted.


The discourse concerning Islam, and in particular the translation of the Quran, has had a profound impact on Western views of Muslim women. Most Quran translations are stained with mistranslations, resulting from translators adopting the literal approach for religious reasons that we will explore. This has an impact on many aspects of meaning, but especially the representation of women. It should be noted that this article is not influenced by the views of feminist groups who focus on seeking new interpretations of the Quran. Instead, it pinpoints the genuine interpretation lost in translation. This article endeavors to identify the translational mistakes, and their influence on the image of women, through a comparison with the original text in terms of linguistic and paralinguistic features found in the Quran. The article adopts the interpretive approach in the form of a multiple-case study to clarify the mistranslated cases and to provide genuine interpretation as understood within the original context, without either addition or omission. The article concludes that many Quran translations instantiate a fertile ground, contributing to the creation of a negative image of Muslim women in the eyes of the West. This is attributed to the translator's lack of knowledge of Quranic scholarship, i.e., the paralinguistic issues and the excessive use of the literal approach that fails to capture the intended meaning of the original text.


Boundary control strategy is developed to analyze the vibration problem of the offshore ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) system as well as to constrain the bottom tension and top motion. To provide an accurate dynamic behavior for the OTEC system, this distributed parameter system is modeled and formulated with a governing equation and boundary conditions (PDE-ODEs model). Two robust adaptive boundary controllers are designed and disposed at the endpoints of the system, and the stability of the controlled system under unknown disturbances is achieved. After selecting the relevant parameters appropriately, the offset of the offshore OTEC system can be suppressed to equilibrium position. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control is illustrated by simulation.


Due to Plasticity induced Transformation in metastable β-Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al (wt.%) alloy (PiTTi) upon deformation, a noticeable improvement in mechanical properties is observed. Among the main factors controlling such effect are the β grain size and its composition. Such phase transforms into martensite upon quenching. Its martensite start temperature (Ms) varies in accordance with its composition. Following Ghosh and Olson's theory, a thermodynamics based model to predict the compositional dependence of the Ms temperature is developed, and successfully validated for Ti-X (X = Fe, Cr, Mo, V, Nb, Zr and Al) binary alloys. The model has been used to design new alloys displaying a tailored PiTTi effect.


From the literature survey it is clear that reinforced brickwork pocket type retaining walls are a well established form of construction in the USA, however, only a small number have been built in the UK. This is surprising since coat studies have consistently indicated that pocket type construction la more economical than fair-faced concrete walls. The available and forthcoming design guidance on reinforced brickwork is reviewed.

The main aim of this research was to Investigate the structural performance of pocket type walls in relation to the requirement of the Draft Code for Reinforced Masonry.
Reported within are the method and results of an experimental research programme. In all six walls and fifteen beams were tested. The parameters examined were brick type, percentage of reinforcement, slenderness and shear span ratio. Flexural failure occurred in all the walls and in the medlum-1ightly reinforced beams whilst only the heavily reinforced beams failed in shear. The experimental results were predicted accurately when analysed using the flexural design equations in the Draft
Code. However the Code requirements for shear appear to be unduly conservative.

Concurrent with the experimental work a finite element program was developed to analyse pocket type walls. In spite of the many assumptions made in the modelling of material properties there was good agreement between analytical and experimental results.

Subsequently a parametric survey was undertaken. The variables selected for examination were slenderness, pocket spacing, panel thickness percentage of reinforcement and arching action in the panels. Both rectangular and flanged sections were investigated.
The results indicated that the Draft Code gave good predictions when flexural failure of the stem occurred. But when panel failure developed neither yield line analysis nor arching theory was able to predict collapse. Guidance is given on the sizing of panels.

It is concluded that pocket type walls, when designed to the
requirements of the Draft Code, perform adequately at
serviceability and ultimate design loads for pocket spacings up to 1.0m. Further experimental work is necessary to establish whether the guidance given in the Code is applicable to walls with pocket spacings greater than 1.0m.


Presents an algorithm for the visualization of vector field topology based on Clifford algebra. It allows the detection of higher-order singularities. This is accomplished by first analysing the possible critical points and then choosing a suitable polynomial approximation, because conventional methods based on piecewise linear or bilinear approximation do not allow higher-order critical points and destroy the topology in such cases. The algorithm is still very fast, because of using linear approximation outside the areas with several critical points.


We study the accelerated expansion of the Universe through its consequences on a congruence of geodesics. We make use of the Raychaudhuri equation which describes the evolution of the expansion rate for a congruence of timelike or null geodesics. In particular, we focus on the space-time geometry contribution to this equation. By straightforward calculation from the metric of a Robertson-Walker cosmological model, it follows that in an accelerated expanding Universe the space-time contribution to the Raychaudhuri equation is positive for the fundamental congruence, favoring a non-focusing of the congruence of geodesics. However, the accelerated expansion of the present Universe does not imply a tendency of the fundamental congruence to diverge. It is shown that this is in fact the case for certain congruences of timelike geodesics without vorticity. Therefore, the focusing of geodesics remains feasible in an accelerated expanding Universe. Furthermore, a negative contribution to the Raychaudhuri equation from space-time geometry which is usually interpreted as the manifestation of the attractive character of gravity is restored in an accelerated expanding Robertson-Walker space-time at high speeds.


The Cybersecurity Ambassador Program provides professional skills training for emerging cybersecurity professionals remotely. The goal is to reach out to underrepresented populations who may use Federal Work-Study (FWS) or grant sponsored internships to participate. Cybersecurity Ambassadors (CAs) develop skills that will serve them well as cybersecurity workers prepared to do research, lead multidisciplinary, technical teams, and educate stakeholders and community members. CAP also reinforces leadership skills so that the next generation of cybersecurity professionals becomes a sustainable source of management talent for the program and profession. The remote curriculum innovatively builds non-technical professional skills (communications, teamwork, leadership) for cybersecurity research through student-led applied research and creating community-focused workshops. These student-produced workshops are in phishing, identity and privacy cyber safety, social media safety, and everyday home cyber safety. The CAs tailor the program to a particularly vulnerable population such as older adults, students, veterans, or similar people that make up most workshop participants. At this time, the data shows that this pedagogical approach to curriculum development, grounded in the Ground Truth Expertise Development Model (GTEDM), is a unique methodology. This curriculum teaches cybersecurity interns with key non-technical but critical KSAs for cybersecurity professional development has proved to be a factor in accelerated hiring for program participants.


In this study, we attempted to verify the hypothesis that total metals bound to dust of different particle sizes may reflect pollution levels, but cannot predict its bioavailability and risks in human health assessments. Dust samples were collected using active sampling method; during the dry season months of November, 2014 to March, 2015 at different locations in Akure (7 ̊10ʹN and 5 ̊15ʹE). The samples were sorted into different particle sizes (< 10μm, 10 – 50 μm, >50μm), analyzed for some physicochemical properties and assessed for metals bioavailability using two-step physiological extraction method. The amount of metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn and Mn) released in each particle sizes were determined using Perkin-Elmer 6000 Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) analysis. The results showed that bioavailability of some metals (Cd, Ni, Pb, and Zn) decreases with increasing particle sizes, however, the reverse trend was observed for Mn, Cu and Fe concentrations. This may be attributed to some combination of physicochemical characteristics of the dust and metal speciation. Hence, it was concluded that metal bioaccessibility in dust can best be described by the knowledge of physicochemical characteristics. The exposure dose of the metals showed that cancer risks due to inhalation were very high when compared to other exposure routes (ingestion and dermal contact). The calculated non-cancer (HQ) and cancer risk (HI) for humans in the area showed values higher than unity, indicating possibility of the metals' body burden.


Departing from mainstream economics, surveys rst show that individuals do care about fairness in their demand for redistribution. They also show that the cultural environment in which individuals grow up a¤ects heir preferences about redistribution. Including these two components of the demand for redistribution, we propose in this article a mechanism of cultural transmission of the taste for fairness. Consistently with the process of socialization, the young preferences depend on collective choices through observation and imitation. Observation during childhood of redistributive policies far from what is perceived as fair results then in a lower taste for fairness. As a consequence, the model exhibits a multiplicity of history- dependent steady states which may account for the huge di¤erence of redistribution observed between Europe and the United States.


This paper examines some of the emerging critical civil society debates in relation to the one-state solution being the most appropriate geo-political arrangement for the articulation of freedom, justice and equality in Palestine-Israel. This is done with reference to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions' 2012 statement in support of a bi-national state and the ensuing critiques it attracted from Palestinian supporters of the one-state position. Drawing on these debates which have largely revolved around Jewish Israeli rights to political self-determination in Palestine-Israel, this paper proposes that alternative versions of self-determination as cultural rights for the established Hebrew-speaking national community represent a more inclusive form of self-determination in the eventuality of decolonisation.


Epididymal delta 4-steroid 5 alpha-reductase (cholestenone 5 alpha-reductase), the enzyme that catalyses the conversion of testosterone into the biologically active metabolite dihydrotestosterone (17 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan-3-one), is a membrane-bound enzyme found in both nuclear and microsomal subcellular fractions. In order to characterize epididymal delta 4-steroid 5 alpha-reductase, it was first necessary to solubilize the enzymic activity. Of the various treatments tested, a combination of 0.5% (w/v) Lubrol WX, 0.1 M-sodium citrate and 0.1 M-KCl maintained enzymic activity at control values and solubilized 66% of total epididymal delta 4-steroid 5 alpha-reductase activity in an active and stable form. The sedimentation coefficient of solubilized delta 4-steroid 5 alpha-reductase, as determined in continuous sucrose density gradients, was greater for the microsomal than for the nuclear enzyme (11.6S compared with 10.1S). Although the apparent Km values of the enzyme for testosterone were similar in nuclear and microsomal subcellular fractions (range 1.75 x 10(-7) - 4.52 x 10(-7)M), the apparent Km of the enzyme for NADPH was about 30-fold greater for the microsomal enzyme than for the nuclear enzyme. The apparent Km of the enzyme for either substrate was not significantly altered after solubilization. The relative capacity of steroids to inhibit the enzymic activity, the pH optima and the effects of Ca2+ and Mg2+ were similar for membrane-bound and solubilized delta 4-steroid 5 alpha-reductase in both the nuclear and the microsomal fractions. The results reported demonstrate that epididymal delta 4-steroid 5 alpha-reductase can be solubilized in an active and stable form with no significant changes in the kinetic characteristics of the enzyme after solubilization; furthermore, kinetic and molecular-size differences observed for the nuclear and the microsomal forms of the enzyme suggest that there may exist at least two forms of epididymal delta 4-steroid 5 alpha-reductase.


This experimental study analyzed the relationships between media type, task type, the learners' experience of spatial presence in media and learning outcomes. Spatial presence is believed to represent the users' focus of attention on and involvement with a media presentation. Some researchers believe that manipulating factors that increase spatial presence will increase learning and performance. Increased interest in media learning presentations raises questions about what types of media can best support learning, and whether design recommendations can be generalized across domains. Undergraduate and graduate college students were assigned to four experimental treatments to test the hypothesis that spatial presence mediates the effects of task type and media type on a learning task that requires critical thinking: writing an art critique. Media types were static and interactive/immersive; task types were guided and unguided. The Witmer and Singer Presence Questionnaire and the Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric were used to measure spatial presence and critical thinking, respectively. Results showed that Task type and Media type did not significantly influence Spatial Presence or Critical Thinking. Scores on Spatial Presence were significantly related to the Critical Thinking scores. The guided task immersive media treatment group had fewer high scores on Critical Thinking which suggests that the task structure and/or media type may have distracted from the main learning task. The results support contemporary theories of spatial presence as a phenomenon of mental processing that monitors intention and goal completion but is not dependent on specific media


Author(s): Romero, Adam P.; Baumle, Amanda; Badgett, M.V. Lee; Gates, Gary J | Abstract: Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this report provides demographic and economic information about same-sex couples and same-sex couples raising children in New Jersey. We compare same-sex "unmarried partners," which the Census Bureau defines as an unmarried couple who "shares living quarters and has a close personal relationship," to different-sex married couples in New Jersey.In many ways, the almost 21,000 same-sex couples living in New Jersey are similar to married couples.2 According to Census 2000, they live throughout the State, are racially and ethnically diverse, have partners that depend upon one another financially, and actively participate in New Jersey's economy. Census data also show that 21% of same-sex couples in New Jersey are raising children. However, same-sex couples with children in New Jersey have fewer economic resources to provide for their families than do their married counterparts: same-couples with children have substantially lower household incomes, on average, and substantiallylower rates of home ownership.


Nanoindentation is a widely used method for determining mechanical properties, such as hardness, and elastic modulus. Nevertheless, in the case of viscous materials, the time dependent response of the material generates a bulge on the unloading curve that leads to incorrect values of the contact stiffness and thus of the mechanical properties. This paper presents methods developed on two viscoplastic materials (indium and indium-tin eutectic) to measure the elastic modulus and the creep exponent. To fix the bulge problem, we propose to realise cyclic indentations in order to obtain unloading and reloading curves. Results show that the lower parts of these two curves are similar because creep behaviour becomes negligible. Thus, the values of the modulus calculated from the initial slope of the reloading curve are constant and in good agreement with the values obtained from standard tensile tests. Furthermore, a method has been developed to measure the creep exponent. It consists of measuring the contact pressure as a function of the strain rate during hold load plateaux. Experiments show that the average value of the creep exponent (3.7 for the indium-tin eutectic and 7.6 for indium) does not depend on the loading conditions and are in good agreement with values obtained from tensile and torsion tests (3.7 and 7.6 respectively).


This report investigates the application of classification techniques to four natural language processing (NLP) tasks. The classification paradigm falls within the family of statistical and machine learning (ML) methods and consists of a framework within which a mechanical 'learner' induces a functional mapping between elements drawn from a particular sample space and a set of designated target classes. It is applicable to a wide range of NLP problems and has met with a great deal of success due to its flexibility and firm theoretical foundations. The first task we investigate, topic classification, is firmly established within the NLP/ML communities as a benchmark application for classification research. Our aim is to arrive at a deeper understanding of how class granularity affects classification accuracy and to assess the impact of representational issues on different classification models. Our second task, content-based spam filtering, is a highly topical application for classification techniques due to the ever-worsening problem of unsolicited email. We assemble a new corpus and formulate a state-of-the-art classifier based on structured language model components. Thirdly, we introduce the problem of anonymisation, which has received little attention to date within the NLP community. We define the task in terms of obfuscating potentially sensitive references to real world entities and present a new publicly-available benchmark corpus. We explore the implications of the subjective nature of the problem and present an interactive model for anonymising large quantities of data based on syntactic analysis and active learning. Finally, we investigate the task of hedge classification, a relatively new application which is currently of growing interest due to the expansion of research into the application of NLP techniques to scientific literature for information extraction. A high level of annotation agreement is obtained using new guidelines and a new benchmark corpus is made publicly available. As part of our investigation, we develop a probabilistic model for training data acquisition within a semi-supervised learning framework which is explored both theoretically and experimentally. Throughout the report, many common themes of fundamental importance to classification for NLP are addressed, including sample representation, performance evaluation, learning model selection, linguistically-motivated feature engineering, corpus construction and real-world application.