Immigration is often discussed in the framework of political economy and security studies. When discussed in the context of national identity, immigration is invariably depicted as a "challenge" or an "obstacle" for a nation-state. However, I argue that the impact of immigration on nation-building is contingent upon state policies toward ethnic diversity, something I call an "ethnicity regime." Depending on the ethnicity regime in place, immigration can be a resource and a key instrument in support of new nationalist projects. I argue that this may have already been the case in Russia since the end of the Cold War. In Russia, mass immigration is aiding Russia's transformation from a multiethnic state to an assimilationist one.


In an era of continuing Local Government austerity and enhanced urban financialisation, Local Government in England is increasingly reliant upon decentralised methods of urban finance (typically based on 'new economic growth' extracted from non-residential property development) to fund public services, economic development and urban regeneration. Opportunities for greater territorial governance and economic development often frame fiscal decentralisation, yet, critical appraisals of this agenda are less common. Reflecting upon this issue, this paper critically appraises the underlying method of 'localist' finance in England, the Business Rate Retention Scheme. In doing so, it describes a picture of geographical variegation in England, one that suggests that the Business Rate Retention Scheme could lead to splintered urban development, based on the necessity (and underlying viability) for new development. The paper concludes that a minority of 'premium locations', characterised by buoyant property market characteristics, could outperform more numerous 'stranded' and 'redundant locations'. The result is that those areas most in need of investment, that exhibit some kind of market failure and geographical disadvantage, could be less able to generate new development in order to fund the Business Rate Retention Scheme. Under these conditions, rather than correcting incidences of spatial inequality, fiscal decentralisation could further polarise uneven development.


We describe an extension of the description logic underlying OWL-DL, SHOIN, with a number of expressive means that we believe will make it more useful in practice. Roughly speaking, we extend SHOIN with all expressive means that were suggested to us by ontology developers as useful additions to OWL-DL, and which, additionally, do not affect its decidability and practicability. We consider complex role inclusion axioms of the form R o S ⊑ R or S o R ⊑ R to express propagation of one property along another one, which have proven useful in medical terminologies. Furthermore, we extend SHOIN with reflexive, antisymmetric, and irreflexive roles, disjoint roles, a universal role, and constructs ∃R. Self, allowing, for instance, the definition of concepts such as a "narcist". Finally, we consider negated role assertions in Aboxes and qualified number restrictions. The resulting logic is called SROIQ. We present a rather elegant tableau-based reasoning algorithm: it combines the use of automata to keep track of universal value restrictions with the techniques developed for SHOIQ. The logic SROIQ has been adopted as the logical basis for the next iteration of OWL, OWL 1.1.


ABS TRACT Ligneous mucosal disease is a rare, destructive condition of plasminogen deficiency characterized by generalized membranous gingival enlargement leading to rapid tooth loss. We report a case of long-standing, generalized ligneous periodontitis with an eleven years of follow-up. The patient did not have any extra oral lesions although she had been suffering from plasminogen deficiency. Treatment approaches had no benefit. An abnormal healing process is the main pathogenetic mechanism; still, intensive periodontal health care is essential for the patients who suffer from ligneous mucosal disease. This report describes a ligneous periodontitis case with a history of ligneous conjunctivitis and its clinical and histopathologic findings, therapeutic approaches and eleven years of follow-up.


We report a joint experimental and theoretical study characterising the hydrogen bond (HB) redistribution in mixtures of two different protic ionic liquids (PILs) sharing the same cation: triethylammonium-methanesulfonate ([TEA][OMs]) and triethylammonium-trifluoromethanesulfonate ([TEA][OTf]). The mixing behaviour deviates strongly from ideality, exhibiting large negative energies of mixing. In the PIL, the [TEA] cation acts as a HB donor, being able to donate a single HB. Both, the [OMs] and the [OTf] anions can act as HB acceptors, which can accept multiple HBs via their respective SO3-groups. We use a combination of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, calorimetry, and 1H-NMR chemical shift measurements to determine the difference in HB strength between the two species to be about 13 kJ mol-1, favouring the [TEA]-[OMs] interaction. Based on our MD simulations we are able to formulate a lattice model, discriminating between HB and nonspecific intermolecular interactions. We demonstrate that, due to the ordered structure of the PILs, mostly the HB interactions contribute to the mixing energy. This allows to us to connect the equilibrium of HBs to each of the two anion species with the mixing energies by a simple relation, which is obeyed by both, MD-simulation as well as experimental calorimetry and 1H-NMR chemical shift data.


A standard worry about Hume's account of justice is that it leaves those who are most vulnerable outside the circumstances of justice. An equally standard reply is that those who are so vulnerable as to fall outside the scope of justice need not thereby fall outside the scope of morality altogether, because on Hume's account we will often have duties of humanity to treat vulnerable creatures decently. It is not clear that this reply is adequate, for given the apparent priority of justice over natural virtues like those of humanity, it is not clear that duties of humanity provide enough protection for the weak. This paper identifies another problem with Hume's reply: if those who are extremely vulnerable are nonetheless rational and fully capable of autonomous judgment about how to live, then Hume's theory still delivers the wrong sorts of protections for them. In particular, it is very plausible to suppose that it would be immoral to engage in paternalistic interference with the decisions of such weak but rational agents about how to live, as long as they are not thereby harming or wronging anyone else. Treating such rational but vulnerable agents paternalistically seems unjust, but Hume's account cannot vindicate this intuition. Indeed, Hume not only cannot explain why such paternalism is unjust, he seems forced to conclude that we will often be obligated by duties of humanity to engage in such paternalism. For Hume seems committed to the unpalatable conclusion that morality speaks unambiguously in favour of paternalistic interference in such cases as long as we can be reasonably sure that the intended beneficiaries really will be made better off. In this paper, I develop and press this new objection from paternalism against Hume's account of the circumstances of justice.


Over the last years, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has remarkably expanded the potential scope of trademark rights. Under the EU Trademark Directive, a trademark owner may only prevent third-party uses of the mark if such uses are made (i) in the course of trade, (ii) in relation to goods or services, and (iii) for the purpose of distinguishing the goods or services, that is, as a trade mark. The latter requirement had been traditionally understood by the CJEU as referring to the function to guarantee to consumers the identity of the origin of the goods or services (function of origin). Nonetheless, the CJEU case law has evolved to accept a very broad view of the use as a mark requirement so as to include referential, comparative and decorative uses when such uses may somehow affect the origin function. In yet a further step, the CJEU has come to understand that a use as a mark exists not only where the mark is used in connection to the function of origin, but also when it is used in relation to any other trademark function. Thus, in some cases, a trademark owner is entitled to prevent a third-party use even where such use is not capable of affecting the origin function, if it is liable to affect others functions of the mark, such as those of quality, communication, investment or advertising. This working paper provides an analysis of this evolution in the CJEU case law. In a further, more elaborated, version of the paper I intend enrich the analysis by comparing that European trend with US case law examples of broadening the scope of trademark rights.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and malignant tumors. Preoperative portal vein embolization (PVE) is currently the most accepted treatment before major hepatic resection for HCC in patients with liver fibrosis or cirrhosis and associated insufficient future liver remnant (FLR). In the last decade, associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) technique has been described to obtain an increase of volume regarding PVE and a decrease of drop out. The initial excessive morbidity and mortality of this technique have decreased drastically due to a better selection of patients, the learning curve and the use of less aggressive variations of the original technique in the first stage. For both techniques a complete preoperative assessment of the FLR is the most important issue and only patients with and adequate FLR should be resected. ALPPS could be a feasible technique in very selected patients with HCC and cirrhosis. As long as it is performed in an experienced center could be used as a first choice technique versus PVE or could be used as a rescue technique in case of PVE failure.


Life cycle analysis (LCA) is often too expensive in terms of time that is required to carry out the analysis and in terms of the data required from a multitude of outside sources. Here it is shown that LCA data of assemblies, subassemblies, machine elements and other standard used parts and engineering materials can be represented in such a manner that subsequent LCAs on complex products can be carried out with a largely reduced effort and additional data acquisition. The method is based on analysing relationships (empirical and theoretical) between characteristics of the groups of assemblies and the life cycle inventory (LCI). The data is statistically analysed to test the significance of the relationships. The main feature of this method is the modelling of the life cycle inventory information as a function of the characteristics of the assembly. The LCI data can be then used as input data for the environmental impact analysis (EIA) according to existing methods (e.g. EDIP, EcoIndicator, etc.). The method is briefly illustrated with a case study on an electric motor.


From the point of view of approximate symmetry, the modified Korteweg-de Vries–Burgers (mKdV–Burgers) equation with weak dissipation is investigated. The symmetry of a system of the corresponding partial differential equations which approximate the perturbed mKdV–Burgers equation is constructed and the corresponding general approximate symmetry reduction is derived; thereby infinite series solutions and general formulae can be obtained. The obtained result shows that the zero-order similarity solution to the mKdV–Burgers equation satisfies the Painlevé II equation. Also, at the level of travelling wave reduction, the general solution formulae are given for any travelling wave solution of an unperturbed mKdV equation. As an illustrative example, when the zero-order tanh profile solution is chosen as an initial approximate solution, physically approximate similarity solutions are obtained recursively under the appropriate choice of parameters occurring during computation.


We describe a generic infrastructure for time evolution simulations in numerical relativity using multiple grid patches. After a motivation of this approach, we discuss the relative advantages of global and patch-local tensor bases. We describe both our multi-patch infrastructure and our time evolution scheme, and comment on adaptive time integrators and parallelization. We also describe various patch system topologies that provide spherical outer and/or multiple inner boundaries. We employ penalty inter-patch boundary conditions, and we demonstrate the stability and accuracy of our three-dimensional implementation. We solve both a scalar wave equation on a stationary rotating black hole background and the full Einstein equations. For the scalar wave equation, we compare the effects of global and patch-local tensor bases, different finite differencing operators and the effect of artificial dissipation onto stability and accuracy. We show that multi-patch systems can directly compete with the so-called fixed mesh refinement approach; however, one can also combine both. For the Einstein equations, we show that using multiple grid patches with penalty boundary conditions leads to a robustly stable system. We also show long-term stable and accurate evolutions of a one-dimensional nonlinear gauge wave. Finally, we evolve weak gravitational waves in three dimensions and extract accurate waveforms, taking advantage of the spherical shape of our grid lines.


This paper provides evidence on the relative importance of productivity and other firm-level characteristics in affecting firms' internationalisation choices. By using detailed qualitative and quantitative information for a large sample of both large and small-medium sized Italian companies we identify firms engaged in international activities through exports and/or horizontal FDIs and estimate different measures of Total Factor Productivity (TFP). This allows us to provide further empirical support to the theoretical prediction of a productivity ranking among domestic firms, exporters, and multinational firms (MNEs). We then estimate multinomial logit models with both TFP and other firm-level characteristics (size, innovative activity, age, ICT adoption, labour composition, group membership, and location in an industrial district) as regressors in order to shed some light on the interplay of all these variables in affecting firms' globalisation choices. We find that i) productivity remains an important driver of globalisation choices although the inclusion of additional firm-level characteristics (notably size, innovative activity, and labour composition) lowers its impact; ii) the other covariates appear to have a direct effect (i.e: not through productivity) on globalisation. These findings support the idea that old and new theories highlight different – only partially overlapping – factors affecting firms' choice to expand their activities abroad.


As an aid to methods of designing conventional optical systems incorporating gradient-index elements, it is useful to know particular index functions that lead to simple solutions of the differential ray equations. This paper deals with the problem of finding such functions systematically. To make it well defined, certain criteria are first specified that objectively determine whether or not a given solution is to be called "simple." After that only "separable" systems are admitted, i.e., those whose index functions are such that there exists at least one choice of coordinate system for which the Hamilton–Jacobi equation is separable. The generic forms of particular index distributions that lead to simple solutions (in the sense already defined) may then be specified. The method is illustrated by five explicit examples. The paper concludes with some remarks on (i) the finite ray equations and (ii) the point characteristic.


While long-range enhancers and their target promoters are frequently contained within a TAD, many developmentally important genes have their promoter and enhancers within different TADs. Hypotheses about molecular mechanisms enabling such cross-TAD interactions remain to be assessed. To test these hypotheses, we use Optical Reconstruction of Chromatin Architecture (ORCA) to characterize the conformations of the Pitx1 locus on thousands of single chromosomes in developing mouse limbs. Our data supports a model in which neighboring boundaries are stacked with each other as a result of loop-extrusion, bringing boundary-proximal cis-elements into contact. This stacking interaction also explains the appearance of architectural stripes in the population average maps (e.g. Hi-C data). Through molecular dynamics simulations, we further propose that increasing boundary strengths facilitates the formation of the stacked boundary conformation, counter-intuitively facilitating border bypass. This work provides a revised view of the TAD borders' function, both facilitating as well as preventing cis-regulatory interactions, and introduces a framework to distinguish border-crossing from border-respecting enhancer-promoter pairs.


A study was conducted as a preliminary phase in a classroom-based research project investigating how teachers and students construct understandings of literacy assessment during the first year of secondary school. The study was designed to provide information about teachers' perceptions of assessment to assist primary and secondary teachers and administrators to plan literacy assessment programs and tasks that are responsive to the needs of their students. Another aim was to provide information about concerns raised by teachers in using criteria-based assessment. A survey was developed, using open and closed questions, and sent to 100 state high schools in Queensland, Australia. Data from the 120 returned surveys were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Findings are presented in the following areas: teachers' perceptions of literacy assessment in Year 8; teachers' perceptions of Year 8 students' problems with literacy assessment; and teachers' perceptions of what students need to know and understand about assessment in Year 8. The implications of these findings for teaching and assessing literacy in primary and secondary schools are outlined, and issues in using criteria-based assessment are discussed. (Contains 20 references; appended is a sample poetry assignment with criteria fOr assessment). (Author/NKA) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************


Consumption of broccoli has long been considered to play a role in a healthy diet. Broccoli accumulates significant amounts of the phytonutrient glucoraphanin (4-methylsulfinylbutyl glucosinolate), which is metabolized in vivo to the biologically active sulforaphane. The preponderance of evidence available from in vitro, animal, and human studies supports the association of sulforaphane with phase II enzyme induction. This has provided impetus for developing varieties of broccoli, both sprouts and whole heads, that are rich in glucoraphanin. The cancer-preventive properties of cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli, have been studied for decades. However, evidence of broccoli directly affecting cancer incidence or progression is ambiguous, in part because of the presence of substantial polymorphisms in enzymes that metabolize sulforaphane. Since broccoli sulforaphane is one of the most potent inducers of phase II enzymes, exploration into broccoli's impact on other areas of human health, such as cardiovascular health and upper airway immunity, has been suggested. This review provides an update on evidence supporting phase II enzyme induction by sulforaphanes, with implications for breeding broccoli varieties with enhanced amounts of glucoraphanin. Early-stage human studies of consumption of broccoli with enhanced glucoraphanin are also discussed.


The theory is given for calculating the free-space oscillating pressures associated with a rotating propeller, at any point in space. Because of its complexity this analysis is convenient only for use in the critical region near the propeller tips where the assumptions used by Gutin to simplify his final equations are not valid. Good agreement was found between analytical and experimental results in the tip Mach number range 0.45 to two, three, four, five, six, on eight-blade propellers and for a range of tip clearances from 0.04 to 0.30 times the propeller diameter. If the power coefficient, tip Mach number, and the tip clearance are known for a given propeller, the designer may determine from these charts the average maximum free-space oscillating pressure in the critical region near the plane of rotation. A section of the report is devoted to the fuselage response to these oscillating pressures and indicates some of the factors to be considered in solving the problems of fuselage vibration and noise.


The presence of blooms of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi in the Bering Sea shelf has been studied using satellite imagery in order to ascertain whether its first reported appearance in 1997 is really a new phenomenon for the area. Examination for Emiliania huxleyi blooms in Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery dating from 1978 to 1996 was performed and the relationship between the presence of Emiliania huxleyi and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the El Niño Southern Oscillation was investigated. No evidence of the presence of this species was found in CZCS or AVHRR imagery between 1978 and 1995. AVHRR images reveal that a small coccolithophore bloom was present in summer 1996. Although the blooms of 1997 were unprecedented in extension and intensity, it appears that the Bering Sea ecosystem did not respond as abruptly to atmospheric anomalies as initially reported.


In this paper we investigate the transmission capacity of wireless networks when packet retransmissions are allowed. We consider networks modeled as a homogeneous Poisson point process operating under different medium access control schemes, namely unslotted and slotted ALOHA, and CSMA with carrier sensing at the transmitter and with carrier sensing at the receiver. For these scenarios, we derive analytical expressions to compute the maximum number of retransmissions attempts that leads to the optimal transmission capacity. Numerical results based on our formulation show that CSMA with carrier sensing at the receiver (asynchronous transmissions) reaches the highest maximum transmission capacity when traffic intensity is low, while slotted ALOHA (synchronous transmissions) is the best choice when traffic intensity is high.


OBJECT Intervertebral cage settling during bone remodeling after lumbar lateral interbody fusion (LIF) is a common occurrence during the normal healing process. Progression of this settling with endplate collapse is defined as subsidence. The purposes of this study were to 1) assess the rate of subsidence after minimally invasive (MIS) LIF by CT, 2) distinguish between early cage subsidence (ECS) and delayed cage subsidence (DCS), 3) propose a descriptive method for classifying the types of subsidence, and 4) discuss techniques for mitigating the risk of subsidence after MIS LIF. METHODS A total of 128 consecutive patients (with 178 treated levels in total) underwent MIS LIF performed by a single surgeon. The subsidence was deemed to be ECS if it was evident on postoperative Day 2 CT images and was therefore the result of an intraoperative vertebral endplate injury and deemed DCS if it was detected on subsequent CT scans (≥ 6 months postoperatively). Endplate breaches were categorized as caudal (superior endplate) and/or cranial (inferior endplate), and as ipsilateral, contralateral, or bilateral with respect to the side of cage insertion. Subsidence seen in CT images (radiographic subsidence) was measured from the vertebral endplate to the caudal or cranial margin of the cage (in millimeters). Patient-reported outcome measures included visual analog scale, Oswestry Disability Index, and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey physical and mental component summary scores. RESULTS Four patients had ECS in a total of 4 levels. The radiographic subsidence (DCS) rates were 10% (13 of 128 patients) and 8% (14 of 178 levels), with 3% of patients (4 of 128) exhibiting clinical subsidence. In the DCS levels, 3 types of subsidence were evident on coronal and sagittal CT scans: Type 1, caudal contralateral, in 14% (2 of 14), Type 2, caudal bilateral with anterior cage tilt, in 64% (9 of 14), and Type 3, both endplates bilaterally, in 21% (3 of 14). The mean subsidence in the DCS levels was 3.2 mm. There was no significant difference between the numbers of patients in the subsidence (DCS) and no-subsidence groups who received clinical benefit from the surgical procedure, based on the minimum clinically important difference (p > 0.05). There was a significant difference between the fusion rates at 6 months (p = 0.0195); however, by 12 months, the difference was not significant (p = 0.2049). CONCLUSIONS The authors distinguished between ECS and DCS. Radiographic subsidence (DCS) was categorized using descriptors for the location and severity of the subsidence. Neither interbody fusion rates nor clinical outcomes were affected by radiographic subsidence. To protect patients from subsidence after MIS LIF, the surgeon needs to take care with the caudal endplate during cage insertion. If a caudal bilateral (Type 2) endplate breach is detected, supplemental posterior fixation to arrest progression and facilitate fusion is recommended.


Most research in network programmability has stressed the flexibility engendered by increasing the ability of users to configure network elements for their own purposes, without addressing the larger issues of how such advanced control systems can coexist both with each other and with more conventional ones. The Tempest framework presented here extends beyond the provision of simple network programmability to address these larger issues. In particular, we show how network programmability can be achieved without jeopardizing the integrity of the network as a whole, how network programmability fits in with existing networks, and how programmability can be offered at different levels of granularity. Our approach is based on the Tempest's ability to dynamically create virtual private networks over a switched transport architecture (e.g., an ATM network). Each VPN is assigned a set of network resources which can be controlled using either a well-known control system or a control system tailored to the specific needs of a distributed application. The first level of programmability in the Tempest is fairly coarse-grained: an entire virtual network can be programmed by a third party. At a finer level of granularity the Tempest allows user supplied code to be injected into parts of an operational virtual network, thus allowing application specific customization of network control. The article shows how the Tempest framework allows these new approaches to coexist with more conventional solutions.


Large-scale sensor-based decision support systems are being widely deployed. Assessing the trustworthiness of sensor data and the owners of this data is critical for quality assurance of decision making in these systems. Trust evaluation frameworks use data provenance along with the sensed data values to compute the trustworthiness of each data item. However, in a sizeable multi-hop sensor network, provenance information requires a large and variable number of bits in each packet, which, in turn, results in high energy dissipation with extended period of radio communication, making trust systems unusable. We propose an energy-efficient provenance transmission and construction scheme, which we refer to as Probabilistic Provenance Flow (PPF). To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first approach to make the Probabilistic Packet Marking (PPM) approach of IP traceback feasible for sensor networks. We propose two bit-efficient complementary provenance encoding and construction methods, and combine them to handle topological changes in the network. Our TOSSIM simulations demonstrate that PPF requires at least 33% fewer packets and consumes 30% less energy than PPM-based approaches to construct provenance, yet still provides high accuracy in trust score calculation. 1


SIR,—On page 313 of the GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, Dec. III. Vol. V. 1888, I stated that I was "disposed to unite both Ichthyosaurus Zetlandicus and I. longifrons with I. aeutirostris. Since that passage was written Prof. Karl von Zittel has been good enough to send me a figure of an entire skull of an Ichthyosaurus from the Upper Lias of Curcy, evidently belonging to I. longifrons, which I consider inseparable from I. Zetlandicus. This specimen differs, however, from I. aeutirostris in its perfectly straight rostrum; and we have, therefore, a character which (if not merely sexual) will afford a valid distinction between the two forms. If I. quadriscissus of Quenstedt be identical with I. aeutirostris, the name I. Zetlandicus, as earlier than I. longifrons, should be adopted for the straight-beaked form.


Place Names Can Provide Valuable Insight Into a variety of fascinating aspects of geography, history, languages, cultures, and customs of a particular region. Ontario, with its extensive overlay of place names with connections to the British Isles, differs markedly in place-name characteristics from Canada's other regions, especially those which have been historically imprinted with the French language and culture.In this, the first wide-ranging review of Ontario's physical and cultural place names, Alan Rayburn has selected 2,285 from the province's 57,000 official toponyms including all 815 municipalities, as well as unincorporated places with populations exceeding 75, and a large selection of the more prominent lakes, rivers, islands, points, hills, mountains, and highways.Rayburn sets the record straight on the origin of many names including that of Toronto, which does not mean 'place of meeting, ' but reflects the transfer of the Mohawk description of fish weirs in The Narrows between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching.He points out that Kitchener would still be Berlin but for the First World War, and Fort William and Port Arthur might have become Lakehead in 1970 if the ballot had not been rigged in favour of Thunder Bay.Rayburn also deals with an impressive array of names of Aboriginal origin including Niagara, Muskoka, Penetanguishene, Temagami, Nipigon, Oshawa, and Wawa. He explains that Batawa does not fall into this category: it would be a case of 'putting the shoe on the wrong foot' as Rayburn expresses it. Diplomatically he reveals the correct origin of Bastard Township.An informative and entertaining overview of the mosaic of Ontario's toponymy, Place Names ofOntario will rank among the finest of North American place name studies and will appeal to academic and general readers alike.


In India, Karnataka is more urbanized and is supported with an extensive healthcare system assisted with welltrained
qualified personnel. In the year 2002, Karnataka Drugs Logistics and Warehousing Society were launched to supply free drugs to all health facilities under government administration. The existing system has proved
advantageous over the previous system that was functioning under Government Medical Stores. Aim: The objective of this study is to assess the public pharmaceutical procurement and distribution system that is followed at the rural primary health centers in Udupi district, Karnataka; processes followed to achieve accessibility to essential drugs. Methods: Retrospective data was collected during the period 2012-13 to 2014-15 from a cross-sectional study conducted in Udupi district, Karnataka. The collected data is related to the supply system adopted for public procurement and distribution of essential pharmaceuticals in the district to ensure
accessibility and availability of essential medicines. The data was collected from a set of sampled primary health
centers located in the rural area across Udupi district. Results and Discussion:An explosive increase in population,
demographic changes, higher incidence, and prevalence of diseases has contributed to a steep growth in health
care expenditure and level of complexity. In order to match the increasing demand rate, tremendous developments
in the field of public health care have been achieved over the decades to provide "good health" to all. However,
the system facades a lot of defies in the pharmaceutical segment dealing with drug selection, usage, regulations,
uninterrupted access (physically and financially), availability, affordability, information flow, data standardization and coordination between the main players and activities in the system. A holistic approach in drug management is not addressed effectively in the state and thus leading to incongruous usage of pharmaceuticals in the public
healthcare sector. Conclusion: Overall, it can be observed that there are several areas that can improved within
the public pharmaceutical supply system to improve the accessibility to essential drugs at the primary healthcare
level. Incorporation of standardized strategic methodology with Information and Communication Technology interventions in processes dealing with pharmaceutical purchasing, selection, quantification, distribution, management of human resource, and inventory management will drive the system towards achieving "Good Health to all.


The Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory (CHL) is a USDA Forest Service (FS) Experimental Forest, located in western North Carolina, in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Established in 1934, CHL has long‐term data records that include climate, streamflow, stream and atmospheric chemistry, and vegetation in several small, experimentally‐manipulated and reference watersheds. In addition to these long‐term data, additional data associated with specific projects have been collected and are available through publications and electronic archives. Notably, CHL was a member of the National Science Foundation‐funded Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) program from 1980–2020, which resulted in significant scientific advances and rich data sets on the five core LTER research areas: primary productivity, population studies, movement of organic matter, movement of inorganic matter, and disturbance patterns. Here we provide a brief site description and history of the CHL, including descriptions of gauged watersheds and data archives.


The spread of mortgage securitization and a decline in business-cycle volatility have reduced the traditional risks of holding commercial real estate. These secular factors, in turn, have contributed to record property valuations. Investors seem willing to pay higher prices for the same cash flows because they believe they can borrow at lower rates and count on stable cash flow from commercial rentals in a climate of comparative certainty. The result has been a sharp compression of the risk premium on commercial real estate. No doubt, this phenomenon will in part prove to be cyclical. However, the evidence suggests that, long term, the commercial real estate risk premium will remain below its historical average.


Chronometric attention in the Late Glacial of Western Europe is turning from the dating of archaeological cultures to studying how the continent was re-populated at the end of the last ice age. We present results from a survey of all available radiocarbon determinations (the S2AGES database) which show that when calibrated, and compared to the GRIP stratotype of climatic events, the data can be interpreted as five population events in the 15ka prior to the onset of the Holocene. The fine-grained climate record provides an opportunity to study the impact of environmental factors on a human dispersal process that not only shaped subsequent European prehistory, but also the genetic makeup of modern Europeans. The population events have implications for archaeologists and molecular geneticists concerning the timing, direction, speed and scale of processes in Western European demographic history. The results also bear on the role of climatic forcing on the expansion and contraction of human populations and in particular the correlation of ice core and terrestrial records for the onset of warming in the North Atlantic.


Kombucha is a slightly sweet, slightly acidic tea beverage consumed worldwide, but historically in China, Russia, and Germany. Kombucha is prepared by fermenting sweetened black tea preparations with a symbiotic culture of yeasts and bacteria. Potential health effects have created an increased interest in Kombucha. Yet, only a few research studies have shown that Kombucha has in vitro antimicrobial activity and enhances sleep and pain thresholds in rats. Furthermore, Kombucha consumption has proven to be harmful in several documented instances.


Plants have been used for medicine to support human health in many regions in the world by researchers since ancient times. Plants and soil organisms have been found to have very high therapeutic potential as they produce many natural products. Evolving drug resistance towards nearly all anti-infection drugs, lead to the fast development of new drugs. Many natural products or secondary metabolites have been used for animal and human health. Recently, many new secondary metabolites from actinomycetes have been isolated and reported as important compounds with different activities like anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-androgenic and anticancer agents, etc. In this study isolation of actinomycetes was carried out on actinomycetes isolation agar media (AIA). Characterization and biochemical tests were performed and followed by fermentation and solvent extraction by four solvents for example- Benzene, pet ether, ethyl acetate, chloroform. GCMS was performed for identification of compounds present in culture broth. Major compounds present were Octanal,Pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione,hexahydro-3-(2-methylpropyl), Dibutyl phthalate, N-hexadecanoic acid, 1-nonadecene, Heptadecane, Octadecanoic acid, 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecene, Dihydroergotamine, Hexadecanoic acid, 2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl) ethyl ester, Octadecanoic acid, 2,3-dihydroxypropyl ester, 13-docosenamide, and 4-tert-butylcalix[4]arene. Crude obtained was checked for their antimicrobial activity and inhibition zones (IZ) were noted on Mullar Hinton agar (MHA) media against indicator organisms like Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC-3160) (IZ=Ben-18 mm, E.A-25 mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 1688) (IZ=Ben-11 mm, Chl-14 mm, E.A-24 mm), Klebsiella pneumonia (MTCC-432) (IZ=Ben-19 mm, Chl-20 mm, E.A-34 mm), Proteus vulgaris (MTCC-7306) (IZ=Benzene-10 mm, E.A-30 mm), Bacillus subtilis (MTCC-441). Identification of compounds was carried out by NIST 14 library.


In support vector machines (SVMs), kernel functions are used to compute dot product in a higher dimensional feature space. The performance of classification depends on the chosen kernel. The radial basis function (RBF) kernel is a most popular kernel that succeeded in many tasks. In order to obtain a more flexible kernel function, a family of RBF kernels is proposed. Multi-scale RBF kernels are combined by including weights. This new kernel is proved to be a Mercer's kernel. Then, the evolutionary strategies (ESs) are used to adjust the weights and the widths of the RBF kernels. The training accuracy, the bound of generalization error, and subsets cross-validation are used to be objective functions in the evolutionary process. The experimental results show that the proposed kernel allows better discrimination in the feature space. Moreover, subsets cross-validation is a good objective function and yields the effective results on benchmarks.


OBJECTIVE
This study examined patterns, determinants, and costs of seeking care for mild to moderate psychiatric distress in order to determine optimal approaches for expanding mental health care in rural Haiti.

METHODS
A cross-sectional, zone-stratified household survey of 408 adults was conducted in Haiti's Central Plateau. Multivariable logistic regression models were built to assess determinants of first-choice and lifetime health service use by provider type.

RESULTS
Thirty-two percent of respondents endorsed God as their first choice for care if suffering from mental distress, and 29% of respondents endorsed clinics and hospitals as their first choice. Forty-seven percent of respondents chose potential providers on the basis of anticipated efficacy. Suicidal individuals were 7.6 times (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.4-42.0) as likely to prefer community-based providers (herbal healer, church priest or pastor, or Vodou priest) over hospitals or clinics. Depression severity was associated with increased odds (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=1.8, CI=1.5-2.3) of ever having been to an herbal healer. Having a household member with mental health problems was associated with increased odds of ever having been to church pastors or priests (AOR=5.8, CI=2.8-12.0) and decreased odds of ever having been to hospitals or clinics (AOR=.3, CI=.1-.8). Median actual service costs were US $1 for hospitals or clinics, $6 for herbal healers, and $120 for Vodou priests.

CONCLUSIONS
Three out of four rural Haitians said they would seek community resources over clinical care if suffering from mental distress. Therefore, isolated clinical interventions may have limited impact because of less frequent use. Efforts to expand mental health care should consider differential provider costs when selecting community resources for task shifting.


In this paper we present a full architecture to deploy efficiently a grid in a private cloud approach. We first give details about the resources constraints acquisition. We use Rich Internet Application (RIA) to access and/or modify the resources in a very user-friendly interface. Then, using the previous information, we explain how we can compute a dynamic deployment plan, that can be used either to build an optimal grid of computers or to give information to its scheduler. This plan is computed using pddl solver with various logical constraints obtained from the IT users through the RIA.


Areas of decreased infaunal abundances in soft substrates adjacent to offshore hardbottom reefs may be evidence of trophic linkages between the two communities. While predation may influence infaunal abundance patterns, other processes such as bioturbation may also be important by reducing infaunal abundances directly, or through an interaction with predation. In this study, the potential influence ofbioturbation on an infaunal community is assessed in the sand habitat adjacent to an offshore hardbottom reef in southern Onslow Bay off the coast of North Carolina. Transect sampling at five distances away from the reef indicated that holothurian, Holothuria princeps, density is inversely correlated with infaunal densities. Laboratory experiments and field measurements of bioturbation rates suggest that H. princeps is the dominant bioturbator in the system, capable of completely turning over sediment immediately adjacent to the reef in as little as 6 d. Caging studies indicate that bioturbation does not differentially affect infaunal guilds based on mobility mode, but has an overall negative effect on gastropod and amphipod abundance, and infaunal rank abundances. This study suggests that bioturbation is of sufficient magnitude to influence infaunal abundances close to the reef, and may work concurrently with predation to produce observed infaunal abundance patterns.


Government of India has come out with an ambitious target of 100 GW of using solar energy alone by the year 2022. To reach this target, innovative ideas are required to use the solar energy more effectively. For solar electricity generation, mainly two types of technologies are presently in use, namely, solar PV and solar thermal. Being a tropical country, India has large solar PV and solar thermal energy. More research is required on economic aspects to make the solar thermal competitive to solar PV. Towards this direction, in our present study we have simulated a solar thermal power plant using Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) technology and normalized with 1 MW solar thermal power plant at Gurgaon near New Delhi. Through simulation, we have extended our study and computed the electricity generation possible at different locations of India. For this purpose with 1? × 1?spacing, computations have been carried out at 296 locations. The work is further extended for more detailed study at two representative states, namely, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. In these two states, closer data points with 0.25? × 0.25? spacing have been considered at 273 locations for Gujarat and 197 locations for Tamil Nadu. Our results indicate a large potential of electricity generation using solar thermal energy in southern states of India, namely, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, southern and western part of Andhra Pradesh and eastern part of Maharashtra. Good potential has also been observed in eastern parts of Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh and eastern part of Rajasthan. The annual potential ranges from 1800 MWh to as much as 2600 MWh. Major parts of northern states, for example Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir have medium range potential. Here, the annual potential ranges from 1000 to 1500 MWh. Poor range of potential is observed towards eastern parts of India and north eastern states. Here, the electricity generation potential ranges from 600 to 1200 MWh. Our results are useful to solar thermal developer and decision managers.


In all primary initial teacher education programs, there is an underlying assumption that teacher education students (TES) who successfully complete all the requisite coursework and practicums should be ready to teach all subject areas in the primary school curriculum, including mathematics. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that performance or course achievement during the teacher education program is not directly correlated with classroom readiness. Therefore, it is important to determine TES' self-perceptions of readiness to teach primary school mathematics, which is currently lacking in the research literature. A summary of current research literature in primary mathematics education is provided in this article, together with an argument for further research on TES' self-perceptions of readiness. Such literature is presented through the lens of and intersection between content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and overall knowledge and readiness to teach.


Importance
US hospitals are required to publicly post their prices for specified shoppable services online. However, the extent to which a hospital's prices posted online correlate with the prices they give to a telephone caller is unknown.

Objective
To compare hospitals' online cash prices for vaginal childbirth and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with prices offered to secret shopper callers requesting price estimates by telephone.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This cross-sectional study included cash online prices from each hospital's website for vaginal childbirth and brain MRI collected from representative US hospitals between August and October 2022. Thereafter, again between August and October 2022, simulated secret shopper patients called each hospital requesting their lowest cash price for these procedures.

Main Outcomes and Measures
We calculated the difference between each hospital's online and phone prices for vaginal childbirth and brain MRI, and the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the online and phone prices for each procedure, among hospitals able to provide both prices.

Results
A total of 60 representative US hospitals (20 top-ranked, 20 safety-net, and 20 non-top-ranked, non-safety-net hospitals) were included in the analysis. For vaginal childbirth, 63% (12 of 19) of top-ranked hospitals, 30% (6 of 20) of safety-net hospitals, and 21% (4 of 19) of non-top-ranked, non-safety-net hospitals provided both online and telephone prices. For brain MRI, 85% (17 of 20) of top-ranked hospitals, 50% (10 of 20) of safety-net hospitals, and 100% (20 of 20) of non-top-ranked, non-safety-net hospitals provided prices both online and via telephone. Online prices and telephone prices for both procedures varied widely. For example, online prices for vaginal childbirth posted by top-ranked hospitals ranged from $0 to $55 221 (mean, $23 040), from $4361 to $14 377 (mean $10 925) for safety-net hospitals, and from $1183 to $30 299 (mean $15 861) for non-top-ranked, non-safety-net hospitals. Among the 22 hospitals providing prices both online and by telephone for vaginal childbirth, prices were within 25% of each other for 45% (10) of hospitals, while 41% (9) of hospitals had differences of 50% or more (Pearson r = 0.118). Among the 47 hospitals providing both online and phone prices for brain MRI, prices were within 25% of each other for 66% (31) of hospitals), while 26% (n = 12) had differences of 50% or more (Pearson r = -0.169). Among hospitals that provided prices both online and via telephone, there was a complete match between the online and telephone prices for vaginal childbirth in 14% (3 of 22) of hospitals and for brain MRI in 19% (9 of 47) of hospitals.

Conclusions and Relevance
Findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that there was poor correlation between hospitals' self-posted online prices and prices they offered by telephone to secret shoppers. These results demonstrate hospitals' continued problems in knowing and communicating their prices for specific services. The findings also highlight the continued challenges for uninsured patients and others who attempt to comparison shop for health care.


Audiobooks are known to contain a variety of expressive speaking styles that occur as a result of the narrator mimicking a character in a story, or expressing affect. An accurate modeling of this variety is essential for the purposes of speech synthesis from an audiobook. Voice quality differences are important features characterizing these different speaking styles, which are realized on a gradient and are often difficult to predict from the text. The present study uses a parameter characterizing breathy to tense voice qualities using features of the wavelet transform, and a measure for identifying creaky segments in an utterance. Based on these features, a combination of supervised and unsupervised classification is used to detect the regions in an audiobook, where the speaker changes his regular voice quality to a particular voice style. The target voice style candidates are selected based on the agreement of the supervised classifier ensemble output, and evaluated in a listening test.


This study explored motives and identified strategies for service recognition of a sample (714) of Nebraska 4-H organizational andproject volunteer leaders. On average, volunteers sampled were 43 years of age, parents of children in 4-H, and had been involved as a 4-H member more than 7 years. Respondents were predominately motivated by affiliation, and, therefore, identified most strongly with volunteering because of a desire to help others, associate with youth, and to be with their children involved in 4-H. Volunteers preferred to be recognizedfor their service by 4-H members in various forms. No relationship was established between motives to volunteer and preferred forms of recognition.


Breast tumors have the ability to remodel the extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding it to induce a stiffened matrix, which then activates mechanically sensitive signaling cascades that promote tumor progression. In this thesis, I sought to identify mechanosignaling pathways that are turned on by exposing cells to artificially stiffened, rigid matrices. By doing so I aimed to identify stiffness induced cellular responses of normal mammary cells. Previous work from the lab established SLIT2/ROBO1 as a regulator of pubertal branching morphogenesis by controlling proliferation. We show here that this signaling pathway is also responsive to mechanical stimuli from the ECM, where stiffness induces ROBO1 expression as a necessary cellular response to maintain the normal phenotype of adult mammary cells. We began our investigation by dissecting the functional roles of SLIT2/ROBO1 signaling within mammary cells and observed an increase in Rac1 activation that led to significant increases in focal adhesion (FA) size and cellular contractility. The contractile behavior is necessary for cells to sense the mechanical state of their environment and make appropriate behavioral decisions. To determine the consequence of the loss of Robo1 in stiff 3D primary culture, we cultured Robo1+/+ and Robo1-/- primary murine mammary epithelial cells (MMEC) in 3D collagen matrices of low and high stiffness. We found that Robo1+/+ organoids constrained protrusions of cells in high stiffness as compared to organoids in low stiffness collagen gels. In contrast, Robo1-/- organoids created protrusions in both conditions. This data suggests that ROBO1 is necessary for mammary cells to regulate organoid morphology in response to ECM stiffness. We next questioned how this important signaling response is regulated by ECM stiffness by investigating mechanisms of Robo1 mRNA regulation. We identified miR203 to be a mechanically sensitive repressor of Robo1 expression where increased stiffness inhibits miR203 expression. By overexpressing the precursor pre-miR203 in mammary cells and culturing them in 3D collagen matrices, we found that ROBO1 expression is indeed tuned through stiffness regulated miR203 expression. To determine the clinical significance and prevalence of this expression profile, we queried publicly available clinical datasets for repressed miR203 and increased Robo1 expression indicative of a normal cellular response to a stiffened ECM. Normal tissues maintain this expression pattern in 75% of all samples as compared to basal breast tumors that have this profile in only 23% of samples. We further assessed for long-term survivability of patients with the basal breast tumors that contain this expression profile. We observed a significant increase of long-term survival in patients with tumors that have low miR203 and elevated Robo1 expression. Taken together, these results suggest SLIT2/ROBO1 signaling is employed by the cell as a protective response against ECM stiffness induced tumorigenesis.


Viruses are probably the most common cause of infectious disease acquired within indoor environments and have considerable impact on human health, ranging from severe life-threatening illnesses to relatively mild and self-limiting or asymptomatic diseases. In particular, viruses causing gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases spread rapidly in the community and cause considerable morbidity. Increasing numbers of people who have impaired immunity, for whom the consequences of infection can be much more serious, are now cared for in "out of hospital" settings. This review examines the dispersal, persistence and control of some common viruses in the domestic home and in community facilities. There is growing evidence that person-to-person transmission via the hands and contaminated fomites plays a key role in the spread of viral infections and there is a need for wider understanding of the potential for contaminated surfaces to act as unidentified vectors of pathogens in the transmission cycle. Intervention studies have shown that improved standards of education, personal hygiene (particularly handwashing) and targeted environmental hygiene have considerable impact in the control and prevention of infectious organisms.


Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a group of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell clonal disorders characterized by dysplastic morphology of at least one cell lineage and high risk of evolution to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Thus, it could be viewed as a preneoplastic stage prior to development of overt acute myeloid leukemia (AML). A number of studies indicated that oncogene-induced senescence as a crucial cellular response at premalignant stage can protect cells from tumor formation. Senescent cells emerged in premalignant cell population but not in malignant ones. p16 INK4a have been identified as a cellular senescence-associated molecular marker. In present study, we have determined and compared the expression level of p16 INK4a by quantitative RT-PCR and western blot in BM mononuclear cells (BMMNCs)/CD34 + cells among 53 patients of MDS and 12 of AML as well as 11 healthy controls. A significantly upregulated expression level of p16 INK4a in MDS, while an significantly lower p16 INK4a expression level in AML had been detected in comparison with that in healthy controls( p16 INK4a expression level. To further confirm the senescent status, the cells of MDS, AML patients and healthy controls were examined by histochemical assays for the activity of senescence-associated beta galactosidase (SA-β-Gal). A weak blue stain reflecting the SA-β-Gal activity could be found in less than 10% cells from healthy controls after four days' culture. On the contrary, a much stronger blue stain for SA-β-Gal had been detected in about 30–40% cells from MDS, and a little-to-no blue stain in AML cells. The semi-quantitative RT-PCR had demonstrated a similar pattern of SA-β-Gal expression among these three groups. Our preliminary results raise the question whether an accelerated cellular senescence in addition to apoptosis may contribute to the hematopoietic ineffectiveness and dysplastic morphology of cells in MDS, and if it could be of any implications for the progression of the disease.


Computational grids are very large-scale aggregates of communication and computation resources enabling new types of applications and bringing several benefits of economy-of-scale. The first computational grids were established in academic environments during the previous decade, and today are making inroads into the realm of corporate and enterprise computing.
 Very recently, we observe the emergence of cloud computing as a new potential super structure for corporate, enterprise and academic computing. While cloud computing shares the same original vision of grid computing articulated in the 1990s by Foster, Kesselman and others, there are significant differences.
 In this paper, we first briefly outline the architecture, technologies and standards of computational grids. We then point at some of notable examples of academic use of grids and sketch the future of research in grids. In the third section, we draw some architectural lines of cloud computing, hint at the design and technology choices and indicate some future challenges. In conclusion, we claim that academic computing clouds might appear soon, supporting the emergence of Science 2.0 activities, some of which we list shortly.


Bilayers of intrinsic and doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon, deposited on crystalline silicon (c-Si) surfaces, simultaneously provide contact passivation and carrier collection in silicon heterojunction solar cells. Recently, we have shown that the presence of overlaying transparent conductive oxides can significantly affect the c-Si surface potential induced by these amorphous silicon stacks. Specifically, deposition on the hole-collecting bilayers can result in an undesired weakening of contact passivation, thereby lowering the achievable fill factor in a finished device. We test here a variety of organic semiconductors of different doping levels, overlaying hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers and silicon-based hole collectors, to mitigate this effect. We find that these materials enhance the c-Si surface potential, leading to increased implied fill factors. This opens opportunities for improved device performance.


Doubly diastereoselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of chiral non-racemic azomethine ylides to cyclic five- and six-membered α,β-unsaturated N-enoylbornanesultams were carried out. When suitable solvents were used, the fused bicyclic adducts formed were obtained in good diastereoselectivity. Moreover, a change of the absolute configuration of the starting ylide precursor reversed the diastereoselectivity of some such reactions. Cleavage of the chiral auxiliary of the cycloadducts furnished amino alcohols and a β-amino ester. The latter was transformed into a known precursor of an antibacterial compound.


Abstract : This thesis demonstrates a previously untested capability of the Rotating Modulation Collimator (RMC) to image a point-like neutron source. The encouraging results, achieved using low-energy neutrons, provide motivation for further refinement and continued research with higher-energy neutrons. The detector and the masks on an existing RMC imaging system were exchanged to function with neutrons. The source in this research produced a poly-energetic spectrum of neutrons through the reaction. The source of alpha particles was a 72.7 mCi 239Pu source. The RMC detector was located 250 cm from the bare source and operated for three hours to generate a modulation profile: The number of particles detected at each rotation angle of the masks ? it is unique for each source location. The measured modulation profiles were used in a Maximum-Likelihood-Expectation-Maximization algorithm to reconstruct the images, and a Bootstrap resampling technique was used to determine uncertainty. The reconstructed images exhibited high contrast but low precision. The resampled image locations were widely distributed, but the most frequent value was very accurate. The uncertainty originated from an expectation model that did not account for fast neutron downscatter into the thermal neutron region as well as the fast neutrons streaming through the masks and being detected.


Fast Fourier transform (FFT) has become ubiquitous in many engineering applications. FFT is one of the most employed blocks in many communication and signal processing systems. Efficient algorithms are being designed to improve the architecture of FFT. Higher radix FFT algorithms have the traditional advantage of using less number of computational elements and are more suitable for calculating FFT of long data sequence. Among the different proposed algorithms, the split-radix FFT has shown considerable improvement in terms of reducing hardware complexity of the architecture compared to radix-2 and radix-4 FFT algorithms. Here radix-4, radix-8, and split-radix algorithms have been used in the design of different proposed complex FFT cores. The growing popularity of adopting virtual instrumentation (modular, customizable, software-defined instrumentation) has only became possible due to the use of LabVIEW with a highly interactive process known as graphical system design. The CompactRIO programmable automation controller is an advanced embedded control and data acquisition system designed for applications that require high performance and reliability. The work explains the real-time implementation of 256-point FFT and finding the power spectrum using LabVIEW and CompactRIO. New distributed arithmetic (NEDA) is one of the most used techniques in implementing multiplier-less architectures of many digital systems. In this thesis, four architectures for different FFT cores have been proposed: • Real-time implementation of FFT using CompactRIO • 32-Point Complex FFT Core Using Split-Radix Algorithm • 64-Point Complex FFT Core Using Radix-4 Algorithm • 64-Point Complex FFT Core Using Radix-8 Algorithm The proposed designs have implemented in both FPGA as well as ASIC design flows. 180nm process technology is being used for ASIC implementation. The results show the improvements of proposed designs compared to the other existing architectures.


Previous research has identified a diversity of personal and individual factors that influence household preparedness for earthquakes. However, societal influences on the preparedness process are less well studied. In particular, there is limited understanding of the impact that wider society has on people's interpretation of earthquake and preparedness information, and how this relates to people's decisions about getting prepared for earthquakes. To address this gap, a New Zealand-based project was initiated to investigate how social factors interact with individuals' meaning-making of earthquake information and how this affects subsequent earthquake preparedness behaviour. A range of social factors were identified as being influential on the meaning-making and preparedness process, including community (community participation, sense of community); leadership; responsibility (responsibility for preparing, responsibility for others); social norms; trust; and societal requirements.


Analysis of the chemical disequilibrium provided by the mixing of hydrothermal fluids and seawater in present-day systems indicates that organic synthesis from CO2 or carbonic acid is thermodynamically favoured in the conditions in which hyperthermophilic microorganisms are known to live. These organisms lower the Gibbs free energy of the chemical mixture by synthesizing many of the components of their cells. Primary productivity is enormous in hydrothermal systems because it depends only on catalysis of thermodynamically favourable, exergonic reactions. It follows that hydrothermal systems may be the most favourable environments for life on Earth. This fact makes hydrothermal systems logical candidates for the location of the emergence of life, a speculation that is supported by genetic evidence that modern hyperthermophilic organisms are closer to a common ancestor than any other forms of life. The presence of hydrothermal systems on the early Earth would correspond to the presence of liquid water. Evidence that hydrothermal systems existed early in the history of Mars raises the possibility that life may have emerged on Mars as well. Redox reactions between water and rock establish the potential for organic synthesis in and around hydrothermal systems. Therefore, the single most important parameter for modelling the geochemical emergence of life on the early Earth or Mars is the composition of the rock which hosts the hydrothermal system.


AIM
Metastasis of unknown primary (MUP) is commonly treated with radiation therapy (RT) to the entire mucosal surfaces and bilateral neck nodes (LN). We report outcomes of oropharynx-targeted RT, retropharyngeal nodes (RPN) and bilateral LN in this context.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Single-Institution retrospective study of 68 patients. Forty percent were treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Fifty-six percent received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). The median age was 58 years, 82% were Caucasian, and 75% males. Stage III disease was present in 9%, stage IVA in 75% and IVB in 16%.

RESULTS
At a median follow-up of 3.5 years, the actuarial locoregional control was 95.5%. The emergence of primary developed in 1patient (1.5%) and 2patients (3%) failed in the neck. The median time-to-locoregional failure (LRF) was 18 months. Actuarial long-term RT toxicity was grade 1 xerostomia (68%), dysphagia (35%), neck stiffness (15%) and trismus (6%).

CONCLUSION
RT to the oropharynx, RPN, and bilateral neck provides excellent oncological and functional outcomes in MUP in non-Asian patients. Sparing the mucosal surfaces of the nasopharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx seems reasonable without impacting on survival and locoregional control.


Generation of self organized nanoripple patterns on Si (100) single crystal surface using low energy Ar ion beam erosion has been studied. Ion energy and ion fluence dependence of the ripple pattern is in general agreement with the reported works. However, it is found that at relatively low fluences, the pattern formation depends upon the direction of the projection of the ion beam on Si surface with respect to its crystallographic orientation. Ripple formation is facilitated if the projection of ion beam on the sample surface is along (010) direction as against (011) direction. For higher ion fluence, when the Si surface layer is fully amorphized, pattern formation is independent of the azimuthal direction of the ion beam. Copyright © 2013 VBRI press.


This paper derives unbalanced versions of the test statistics for first-order serial correlation and random individual effects summarized in Sosa-Escudero and Bera (2001, Stata Technical Bulletin Reprints, vol. 10, pp. 307–311), and updates their xttest1 routine. The derived test statistics should be useful for applied researchers faced with the increasing availability of panel information where not every individual or country is observed for the full time span. The test statistics proposed here are based on ordinary least-squares residuals and hence are computationally very simple.


Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome is characterized by arterial or venous thrombosis associated to the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. We report a 32 atrial thrombus. Four months later, being with anticoagulant treatment, he had a deep venous thrombosis. A new echocardiogram did not show the atrial thrombus. The laboratory work-up confirmed an antiphospholipid syndrome. Five months later the patient has not presented new thrombotic episodes and is receiving oral anticoagulants and antiplatelet therapy.


Animated GIFs are increasingly popular in text-based communication. Finding the perfect GIF can make conversations funny, interesting, and engaging, but GIFs also introduce potentials for miscommunication. Through 24 in-depth qualitative interviews, this empirical, exploratory study examines the nuances of communication practices with animated GIFs to better understand why and how GIFs can send unintentional messages. We find participants leverage contexts like source material and interpersonal relationship to find the perfect GIFs for different communication scenarios, while these contexts are also the primary reason for miscommunication and some technical usability issues. This paper concludes with a discussion of the important role that different types of context play in the use and interpretations of GIFs, and argues that nonverbal communication tools should account for complex contexts and common ground that communication media rely on.


A scheme to generate a frequency-locked multicarrier based on a complementary frequency shifter (CFS) with double recirculating frequency-shifting loops has been proposed and analyzed theoretically. The transfer function and output properties of a CFS-based multicarrier generator (CMCG) have been derived. Based on our analysis, 100 carriers have been obtained with acceptable flatness under perfect and imperfect operation conditions. The results show that the proposed CMCG can achieve hundreds of frequency-locked carriers used in various scenarios.


Recent attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the potential rollback of the interpretation of the protections the Act affords transgender people 1 put transgender people at risk of being denied services and coverage for gender-affirming care. This Article provides advocates with alternative legal arguments to help employees bring claims when their employer provides a health benefit plan that discriminates on the basis of gender identity. These arguments can avoid the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's broad preemption scheme and lack of nondiscrimination provisions. This Article proposes that, based on a narrow exception to preemption regarding the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's construction with other federal laws and the case law interpreting that exception, federal nondiscrimination laws — including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act — may and must play a role in regulating discrimination on the basis of gender identity in employee health benefit plans.


While the performance characteristics of access networks and end-user-to-server paths are well-studied, measuring the performance of the Internet's core remains, largely, an uncharted territory. With more content being moved closer to the end-user, server-to-server paths have increased in length and have a significant role in dictating the quality of services offered by content and service providers. In this paper, we present a large-scale study of the effects of routing changes and congestion on the end-to-end latencies of server-to-server paths in the core of the Internet. We exploit the distributed platform of a large content delivery network, composed of thousands of servers around the globe, to assess the performance characteristics of the Internet's core. We conduct measurement campaigns between thousands of server pairs, in both forward and reverse directions, and analyze the performance characteristics of server-to-server paths over both long durations (months) and short durations (hours). Our analyses show that there is a large variation in the frequency of routing changes. While routing changes typically have marginal or no impact on the end-to-end round-trip times (RTTs), 20% of them impact IPv4 (IPv6) paths by at least 26 ms (31 ms). We highlight how dual-stack servers can be utilized to reduce server-to-server latencies by up to 50 ms. Our results indicate that significant daily oscillations in end-to-end RTTs of server-to-server paths is not the norm, but does occur, and, in most cases, contributes about a 20 ms increase in server-to-server path latencies.


Accuracy of speech recognition systems decreases when the distance between talker and microphone increases. By the using of microphone arrays and appropriate filtering of received signals, the accuracy of recognizer can be increased. Many different methods have been proposed. These methods can be classified in two main approaches: Systems that perform in two independent stages of array processing and recognition, and systems that use the likelihood acoustic information of recognition stage to calibrate the parameters of array processing stage on an utterance-based manner. In this paper a new approach to microphone array processing is proposed in which the parameters of array processing are adjusted based on phones used in language. Optimized filter parameters are stored and used during recognition phase. Persian language is used to find any improvement in speech recognition accuracy.


Hagiography, writings about saints, was generally a means of venerating a saint's life. An author of hagiography wrote to advance his own salvation as well as to educate his audience on the proper practice of Christianity. Anglo-Saxon hagiography written in the years after the Council of Whitby in 664, however, also showed more support for the Roman tradition as opposed to Celtic Christianity. In an era when Christians in England were divided both culturally and religiously, unification under a single tradition as the one true representative of the faith was essential. This paper is an analysis of four important hagiographical works from the late-seventh and early-eighth centuries; the Lives of Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow by Bede, the Anonymous Life of Ceolfrith, the Life of Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus, and the Life of Cuthbert by Bede. The hagiography covers this transitional period in Anglo-Saxon England when most of the Celtic monks in and around the kingdom of Northumbria resisted the switch to Roman monasticism. The Lives written about Benedict Biscop, Ceolfrith, Wilfrid and Cuthbert reveal how the transition began and progressed in the years after the synod.


The study of smart structures with active devices of sensors and actuators for self-monitoring and self-adaption has been of much recent research interest. Active vibration control is a major application focus and there has been tremendous amount of research work on active vibration control of flexible structures using piezoelectric materials. In this paper, the control mechanism for a flexible cantilever plate structure using surface bonded piezoelectric sensors and actuators has been studied through analytical simulations and experiments. The sensor outputs were used to determine the amount of input to the actuators for controlling the response of the structure in a closed loop. The responses under different control mechanisms were analysed by three dimensional finite element model. The effectiveness of different feedback control methods in altering system characteristics and system responses of the structure was investigated. Experimental investigations on active vibration control were also conducted on a cantilever plate with surface bonded piezoelectric sensors and actuators.


4 pages only and the Retina 10 pages but both are models of succinct writing. The final chapter on The Tears and the Lids is especially useful with some new information on the eyelid during blinking. Professor Fatt indicates in his preface that he has deliberately omitted the electrophysiology of the optic nerve, retina and extra-ocular muscles. This is understandable in the interests of brevity but probably the book could achieve a much wider readership if these were included in any future editions. A most excellent and readable little book which will be obligatory reading for optometric students, those embarking on ocular physiology research and any member of one of the health professions requiring a good introduction to the physiology of the eye.


Interdisciplinary work is one of the most prominent features in the Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) field. However, little research has been carried out in this area. The main aim of this paper is to present some ideas on interdisciplinary application in LSP teaching and research. It likewise seeks to clarify the concept of interdisciplinary work. Following a cognitive approach, some examples of civil engineering terminology are analysed. This highlights practical ways in which interdisciplinary action can be implemented and improved upon from within the LSP sphere.


We present a simple and efficient methodology for the development, tuning, and installation of matrix algorithms such as the hybrid Strassen's and Winograd's fast matrix multiply or their combination with the 3M algorithm for complex matrices (i.e., hybrid: a recursive algorithm as Strassen's until a highly tuned BLAS matrix multiplication allows performance advantages). We investigate how modern Symmetric Multiprocessor (SMP) architectures present old and new challenges that can be addressed by the combination of an algorithm design with careful and natural parallelism exploitation at the function level (optimizations) such as function-call parallelism, function percolation, and function software pipelining.
 We have three contributions: first, we present a performance overview for double- and double-complex-precision matrices for state-of-the-art SMP systems; second, we introduce new algorithm implementations: a variant of the 3M algorithm and two new different schedules of Winograd's matrix multiplication (achieving up to 20% speedup with respect to regular matrix multiplication). About the latter Winograd's algorithms: one is designed to minimize the number of matrix additions and the other to minimize the computation latency of matrix additions; third, we apply software pipelining and threads allocation to all the algorithms and we show how this yields up to 10% further performance improvements.


 Abstract — Brachistinae Föerster, 1862 is a subfamily of the family Braconidae (order Hymenoptera) with about 410 species distributed all around the world. Brachistinae includes the genera, Eubazus Nees von Esenbeck 1814, Foersteria Szépligeti 1896, Chelostes van Achterberg 1990, Triaspis Haliday 1835 and Schizoprymnus Förster 1862. Members of the subfamily live as parasitoids on the families Curculionidae and Apionidae (Coleoptera), which also include very important agricultural pests. In generally, members of the genus Triaspis are poorly known biologically. The genus is represented by 37 species in the West Palearctic region and 118 species worldwide. Adult specimens of Triaspis were collected from as wide a range of habitats as possible at different altitudes in different parts of Turkey between 1982 and 2010. Samples collected from short plants using standard insect sweeping nets were transferred into tubes containing 70% ethanol and labelled following their preparations according to museum techniques. Seven Triaspis species have been reported from Turkey in this study. Five of these species are new to the fauna of Turkey.


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OBJECTIVE
This study was performed to determine the prevalence of oral health conditions unnoticed by doctors and ward staff that may increase risk of incidents and/or accidents in hospitalised patients with moderate-severe dementia.

BACKGROUND DATA DISCUSSING THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE FIELD
Dementia patients may not recognise risks in the mouth, such as tooth mobility or ill-fitting dental prostheses and/or dentures. In addition to the risk of choking, injury by sharp edges of collapsed teeth or prosthodontics could pose risks. However, many previous publications were limited to case reports or series.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ninety-two consecutive hospitalised dementia patients (M: 52, F: 40, median age: 82.5 years, range: 62-99 years, from 2011 to 2014), referred for dentistry for dysphagia rehabilitation, were enrolled in this study. Participants referred for dental treatment with dental problems detected by ward staff were excluded. All participants had a Global Clinical Dementia Rating Score >2. Their dental records were evaluated retrospectively for issues that may cause incidents and/or accidents.

RESULTS
Problems in the mouth, for example tooth stumps, dental caries, and ill-fitting dentures, were detected in 51.1% of participants (47/92). Furthermore, 23.9% (22/92) showed risk factors that could lead to incidents and/or accidents, for example falling out of teeth and/or prosthodontics or injury by sharp edges of teeth and/or prosthodontics.

CONCLUSIONS
Hospitalised moderate-severe dementia patients had a high prevalence of oral health conditions unnoticed by doctors and ward staff that may increase risk of incidents and/or accidents.


The ecology of helminth infections has been investigated in Scottish salmonid fish populations. Examination of 240 brown trout and 49 rainbow trout from 21 locations in Central Scotland indicated that Crepidostomum farionis (Digenea) was the most widely distributed helminth species, followed by Eubothrium crassum (Cestoda), Diphyllobothrium dendriticum and Diphyllobothrium ditremum (Cestoda), Neoechinorhynchus rutili (Acanthocephala), Echinorhynchus truttae (Acanthocephala), Eustrongylides sp (Nematoda), Capillaria salvenlini (Nematoda), Cyathocephalus truncatus (Cestoda), Raphidascaris acus (Nematoda) and cystidicola farionis (Nematoda) in that order. The wide distribution of Crepidostomum farionis may be explained through the variable habits of the definitive host species and possibly interactions with human and avian factors. The frequency distribution of numbers of worms per fish was observed to be overdispersed. Autogenic species were generally the dominant form and responsible for the most of the similarity in patterns of infection within and between localities. No evidence was found to indicate host morbidity due to the helminth infections. An analysis of pairs of associations between species of helminths revealed a significantly positive association between N. rutili and C. farionis. This may be because one species improves either the establishment or survival of the other. In contrast, there was no clear evidence of competition between helminth species. The results of this study were discussed in terms of observed patterns in the helminth communities in fresh water fish host.

The endoparasitic helminth fauna was examined from three sympatric morphs of Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, (small-headed benthic, large-headed benthic and pelagic) from Loch Rannoch, Scotland. Six species of endoparastic helminth were recovered from the fish and the morphs had different patterns of infection. Overall, infections in pelagic charr were heavier than in the large-headed benthic morph, which in turn was heavier than in small-headed benthic even though the benthic morph lives longer than the pelagic.


A large number of individuals live in areas of poor air quality, especially in urban environments. Such residency is linked with the exacerbation of asthma, respiratory morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and increased risk of viral respiratory infections. Recent studies, again particularly in urban areas, suggest a role for air pollution in the development of both asthma and COPD. In cities the major pollutant of concern is particulate matter (PM), which in both Europe and North America arises mostly from traffic, while in Asia biomass combustion also makes an important contribution. No matter the source, PM exposure can give rise to oxidative stress in the airways. Recent advances in understanding the mechanisms implicated in the association of air pollutants and airway disease include epigenetic alteration of genes by combustion-related pollutants and how polymorphisms in genes, involved in antioxidant pathways and airway inflammation, can modify responses to air pollution exposures. Other interesting epidemiological observations related to the increase of host susceptibility include a possible link between chronic PM exposure during childhood and vulnerability to COPD in adulthood, and that infants subjected to higher prenatal levels of air pollution may be at greater risk of developing respiratory conditions. As medical research continues to expand links between air pollution and an increased incidence and/or severity of airway disease, there is an ongoing need for policy initiatives to improve air quality. Furthermore, accessible, easy to interpret, and engaging information systems are needed to help individuals with respiratory conditions to make informed choices about their behaviour, in a way that improves their health as well as the quality of the air they breathe.


To elucidate the role of guanosine in DNA strand breaks caused by low-energy electrons (LEEs), theoretical investigations of the LEE attachment-induced C-O sigma-bonds and N-glycosidic bond breaking of 2'-deoxyguanosine-3',5'-diphosphate (3',5'-dGMP) were performed using the B3LYP/DZP++ approach. The results reveal possible reaction pathways in the gas phase and in aqueous solutions. In the gas phase LEEs could attach to the phosphate group adjacent to the guanosine to form a radical anion. However, the small vertical detachment energy (VDE) of the radical anion of guanosine 3',5'-diphosphate in the gas phase excludes either C-O bond cleavage or N-glycosidic bond breaking. In the presence of the polarizable surroundings, the solvent effects dramatically increase the electron affinities of the 3',5'-dGDP and the VDE of 3',5'-dGDP(-). Furthermore, the solvent-solute interactions greatly reduce the activation barriers of the C-O bond cleavage to 1.06-3.56 kcal mol(-1). These low-energy barriers ensure that either C(5')-O(5') or C(3')-O(3') bond rupture takes place at the guanosine site in DNA single strands. On the other hand, the comparatively high energy barrier of the N-glycosidic bond rupture implies that this reaction pathway is inferior to C-O bond cleavage. Qualitative agreement was found between the theoretical sequence of the bond breaking reaction pathways in the PCM model and the ratio for the corresponding bond breaks observed in the experiment of LEE-induced damage in oligonucleotide tetramer CGTA. This concord suggests that the influence of the surroundings in the thin solid film on the LEE-induced DNA damage resembles that of the solvent.


Background. Field studies carried out at Pawlowice Research Station near Wroclaw in the years 2006–2008. Research aimed at the comparison of the morphology of the internodes of two sorghum hybrids: Sucrosorgo G–1990 (photoperiodically sensitive – headless) and Sucrosorgo 506 (photoperiodically insensitive – headed).  Material and methods. Stem with small and large diameter were collected separately from both hybrids. The effect of the place from which the internodes were collected (lower, middle, upper part of stem) on morphological features was determined. The length, mass and the diameter of stem were specified. The morphological measurement of internodes were identical for whole material and the content of leaves, rind (outer internode part) and pith (inner part) in dry matter was determined. Results. The headed hybrid of sorghum was taller (by 29.7%) and had higher mass (by 40%) but lower diameter (1.83 cm) than the photoperiodically sensitive hybrid. The lower internode was shortest (13.2 cm) while longest one was collected from middle part of stem (19.7 cm). The lowest mass (35.2 g) and the smallest diameter (1.7 cm) has upper internode. Stem with larger diameter had shorter internodes (by 5.0 cm), higher mass (by 36.3 g) and larger diameter (by 0.8 cm). In the lower internodes dry matter content was highest. In the headed hybrid, the percentage of pith was the highest in the lower internode (44.3% – large diameter stem and 45.0% – small diameter stem). In the lower internode of the photoperiodically sensitive hybrid the rind dominated (42.8% dry matter from large diameter stem and 42.5% dry matter from small diameter stem). Conclusion. Pith part content constituted 39.9–42.8% of internode dry mass and depends on place from the internode was collected. The rind dominated in the lower part of the stem.


In this paper I deploy a synthesis of methods I term virtual literacy ethnography to investigate the diverse literacy practices of the project Schome Park. Participants have been engaging over a 15-month period in an innovative out-of-school project centred on use of the (Teen) Second Life three-dimensional virtual world. Some ethical aspects of working with children in virtual worlds are briefly discussed. I analyse evidence from the three main communicative domains of the project: chat logs, wiki and forum, demonstrating the complexity and creativity of student literacy practices. I include in my data selection exemplars that draw on persistently valued literacy texts and demonstrate that attentive examination to literacy practices may be more fruitful than maintaining overly dichotomised boundaries between new literacies and those more established.


Abstract This study examines whether the task-related discussion in problem-solving groups is affected by the number of decision alternatives being considered and/or by the imposition of a decision deadline. Drawing from research on individual decision makers, it was first predicted that the number of alternatives would have an inverse effect on the quantity and quality of group discussion: as the number of alternatives increases, the proportion of information mentioned and the repetition of that information should decrease. Second, it was predicted that a deadline would have a direct effect on quantity: as the deadline gets shorter, a smaller proportion of facts will be mentioned, and mentioned facts will be repeated less often. Results supported the first hypothesis; however, deadlines were found to have a more complex relationship with discussion than was hypothesized. Evidence was also obtained for a "surface evaluation" explanation of how groups narrow the choice set, as was support for the notion that severe deadlines increase the rate of work-related activity within the group. The results are interpreted within an attentional focus framework.


Do governments default on debt denominated in their own currency? We introduce a new measure of sovereign credit risk, the local currency credit spread, defined as the spread of local currency bonds over the synthetic local currency risk-free rate constructed using cross currency swaps. We find that local currency credit spreads are positive and sizable. Compared with credit spreads on foreign currency denominated debt, local currency credit spreads have lower means, lower cross-country correlations, and are less sensitive to global risk factors. Global risk aversion and liquidity factors can explain more time variation in these credit spread differentials than macroeconomic fundamentals.


Most computerized tests are simple applications that make limited use of the technology inherent in computer-delivered examinations. One potentially valuable feature of computer-administered examinations is the ability to play audio files, a function that makes it possible to incorporate sound into computer-based tests. Audio tests allow the potential improvement of measurement in familiar fields and expansion into new fields. This paper addresses some of the characteristics of the audio channel of communication, along with differences between audio and visual forms of communication and differences between speech and nonspeech forms of sound. Then, several specific types of uses for sound in computerized tests are suggested: (1) providing an alternative mode for communicating with the examinee; (2) testing listening skills in traditional areas; (3) testing listening skills in new areas; and (4) incorporating sound into the user interface. Discussion of both experimental and operational audio test is provided. The paper concludes with some cautionary statements and possible research directions. (Contains 29 references.) (Author/SLD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************


Y. Liu Prof. dr. F. Govers (promotor); Prof. dr. J.M. Raaijmakers (promotor); Dr. I. de Bruijn (co-promotor); Wageningen University, 13 June 2016, 170 pp. The fish egg microbiome: diversity and activity against the oomycete pathogen Saprolegnia Emerging oomycete pathogens increasingly threaten biodiversity and food security. This thesis describes the study of the microbiome of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) eggs and analyses of the effects of infections by the oomycete pathogen Saprolegnia on the microbial architecture. A low incidence of Saprolegniosis was correlated with a relatively high abundance and richness of specific commensal Actinobacteria. Among the bacterial community, the isolates Frondihabitans sp. 762G35 (Microbacteriaceae) and Pseudomonas sp. H6 significantly inhibited hyphal attachment of Saprolegnia diclina to live salmon eggs. Chemical profiling showed that these two isolates produce furancarboxylic acid-derived metabolites and a lipopeptide viscosin-like biosurfactant, respectively, which inhibited hyphal growth of S. diclina in vitro. Among the fungal community, the fungal isolates obtained from salmon eggs were closely related to Microdochium lycopodinum/Microdochium phragmitis and Trichoderma viride. Both a quantitative and qualitative difference in the Trichoderma population between Saprolegnia-infected and healthy salmon eggs was observed, which suggested that mycoparasitic Trichoderma species could play a role in Saprolegnia suppression in aquaculture. This research provides a scientific framework for studying the diversity and dynamics of microbial communities to mitigate emerging diseases. The Frondihabitans, Pseudomonas and Trichoderma isolates, and/or their bioactive metabolites, are proposed as effective candidates to control Saprolegniosis.


We present a novel hybrid sound propagation algorithm for interactive applications. Our approach is designed for dynamic scenes and uses a neural network-based learned scattered field representation along with ray tracing to generate specular, diffuse, diffraction, and occlusion effects efficiently. We use geometric deep learning to approximate the acoustic scattering field using spherical harmonics. We use a large 3D dataset for training, and compare its accuracy with the ground truth generated using an accurate wave-based solver. The additional overhead of computing the learned scattered field at runtime is small and we demonstrate its interactive performance by generating plausible sound effects in dynamic scenes with diffraction and occlusion effects. We demonstrate the perceptual benefits of our approach based on an audio-visual user study.


Cell surface expression of the epithelial Na(+) channel ENaC is regulated by the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4. Binding of the WW domains of Nedd4 to the PY region in the carboxy tails of beta and gammaENaC, results in channel ubiquitination and degradation. Kinetic analysis of these interactions has been done using surface plasmon resonance. Synthetic peptides corresponding to the PY regions of beta and gammaENaC were immobilized on a sensor chip and "real-time" kinetics of their binding to recombinant WW proteins was determined. Specificity of the interactions was established by competition experiment, as well as by monitoring effects of a point mutation known to impair Nedd4/ENaC binding. These data provides the first determination of association, dissociation and equilibrium constants for the interactions between WW2 and beta or gammaENaC.