Drought is a major constraint to common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production in East Africa, where irrigation for the crop is very uncommon. The objective of this study was to identify drought tolerant lines and phenotypic traits underlying drought tolerance among 128 F5 recombinant inbred lines (RILs), derived from intra gene pool population, between drought tolerant BRB 191 (source of bc-3) and SEQ 1027. The population was evaluated with eight experimental checks that included BAT 477, CAL 96, DAB 441, DAB 494, and Diacol Calima, NABE 4, SCR 9 and SEQ 1003. A total of 20 phenological, morphological and physiological shoot traits were evaluated, under drought and non-stress conditions, in the field for 2 years (2014 and 2015) at Kawanda in Uganda. New sources of drought tolerance, and previously identified sources of drought tolerance in common bean (BAT 477, DAB 441 and DAB 494), were confirmed based on their superior geometric means and low drought susceptibility. Drought stress in the field significantly affected all measured traits, except harvest index and stem dry weight reduction (P<0.001). Drought significantly reduced yield, yield components and pod harvest index (P<0.01). However, chlorophyll content, canopy temperature, stem dry mass reduction, and 100 seed weight remained stable under season by genotype by water regime treatment interactions (S x G x T). The stability of these traits highlighted their usefulness in selecting for drought tolerance across different environments. Furthermore, pod partitioning index (PPI), harvest index (HI), chlorophyll content and stem dry weight reduction also remained stable under G x T effects. Significant correlations (P<0.001) were maintained between HI and PPI with seed yield under drought stress in field conditions, indicating that photosynthate remobilisation increases yield under drought stress conditions. Key words: Phaseolus vulgaris , photosynthate remobilisation


Clumped isotope geochemistry builds upon conventional light-element gas-source stable-isotope mass spectrometry. For carbon dioxide liberated from carbonate minerals, as well as measuring cardinal masses 44, 45, and 46 to deduce 13C/12C and 18O/16O ratios, mass 47 (largely 13C18O16O) provides information about the temperature of carbonate formation. The 'clumping' of 13C-18O-16O or deviation (Δ47) in its abundance from a stochastic distribution (attained at high temperature) of this isotopologue has a temperature sensitivity of about 0.004 per ml per °C, at low temperatures. With care, Δ47 can be measured to a precision of±0.01‰, implying a resolution, at Earth-surface conditions, of about ±2 °C. Furthermore, Δ47 is independent of the 18O/16O ratio of the water from which inorganic or biogenic carbonate minerals precipitate. Accordingly, palaeotemperatures can be deduced without knowledge of the past 18O/16O (as δ18O) of the water; indeed, this value is also derived when all three isotopic ratios (m/e 47/44, 46/44, and 45/44) are measured. The technique is finding wide application in palaeoceanography, even to older parts of the geological record (to approximately 500 Ma), and is particularly important in the terrestrial realm for palaeosols and lake carbonates. As phosphatic bones also contain a few percent carbonate, they can also be analysed. One surprising result is that the Δ47 data from some dinosaur bones indicate their warm-bloodedness. The systematics of clumping in non-carbonates such as oxygen (17O-18O and 18O-18O) and the isotopologues of methane, the latter also being temperature-dependent, indicate the expanding field will find wide application in atmospheric, biological, and earth sciences.


Bene fi ting from their rapid readout, highly fl exible devices and low-cost portable systems, optomagnetic biosensors have drawn increased attention in recent years as bioassay technologies for small molecules, biomarkers, DNA, and bacteria. Herein, an optomagnetic bioassay strategy suitable for point-of-care diagnostics, utilizing functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (100 nm) with Brownian relaxation behavior is optimized in order to obtain higher detection sensitivity for DNA molecules and bacteria. Presence of target DNA sequences or bacteria changes the dynamic behavior of the magnetic nanoparticles (binding to the target) and thus the optomagnetic response of the sample, which is measured by an optomagnetic setup including a 405 nm laser and a photodetector. The limit of detection is mainly set by the lowest measurable concentration of magnetic nanoparticles. Herein, as new results compared to previous work, we systematically optimize the concentration of 100 nm magnetic nanoparticles to increase the assay sensitivity and lower the limit of detection. To enable biplex detection, we perform this optimization in the presence of larger 250 nm magnetic nanoparticles that do not interact with the target. We show that the optimization and lowering of the 100 nm magnetic nanoparticle concentration result in a limit of detection of 780 fM of DNA coils formed by rolling circle ampli fi cation (size of about 1 m m) and 10 5 CFU per mL Salmonella (for immunoassay). These values are 15 times lower than those reported previously for this readout principle. Finally, we show that the 250 nm magnetic nanoparticles can serve as a second detection label for qualitative biplex detection of DNA coils formed by rolling circle ampli fi cation from V. cholerae and E. coli DNA coils using 100 nm and 250 nm magnetic detection nanoparticles, respectively.


The overexpression of the Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) is observed in 15% of breast cancers and associated with poor prognosis in terms of overall survival. Trastuzumab is an anti-HER2 targeted therapy, leading to a specific inhibition of the molecular mechanisms triggered by this receptor. In an adjuvant setting, trastuzumab and radiotherapy have each proved their oncologic efficacy in the management of the breast tumours presenting this molecular profile. However, both treatments expose to an increased risk of toxicities, particularly cardiovascular ones. Moreover, the radiosensitizing effect of trastuzumab has been proved in vitro and in vivo. Hence, in clinical practice, the benefit/risk ratio of a concurrent treatment remains to be defined. This literature review has for purposes to describe the rationale making conceivable the administration of trastuzumab concurrently with locoregional breast radiotherapy, and to remind the results of the clinical studies having assessed this therapeutic association.


A three-dimensional (3D) flower-like Cu2−xSe film with a hexagonal nanosheet hierarchical structure has been synthesized for the first time from a 3D flower-like CuO film precursor through a facile sacrificing template method at room temperature. The product was characterized and its formation mechanism was explored using a series of control experiments combined with crystal structure analysis. The optical property and photodegradation activities of the Cu2−xSe film on three dye solutions were studied. Notably, its antibacterial activities were explored for the first time . The results show that the 3D flower-like Cu2−xSe is assembled from numerous hexagonal nanosheets with thicknesses of about 50 nm. The flower-like Cu2−xSe displays excellent antibacterial activities against both Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). For the first time, the experimental results confirm that the antibacterial rate depends on the Cu(II) ion concentration which is closely related to the Cu2−xSe quantity and incubation time.


Describing and illustrating pottery techniques is very difficult and in spite of all that technologists are inclined to tell us to the contrary about learning crafts, the only way to learn pottery thoroughly is from a potter. However, the instructions and diagrams in this book are both clear and concise and anyone with a slight knowledge of the craft would certainly have his, or her, interest stimulated by the ideas, both for shape and decoration. There is enough enthusiasm in it to make one anxious to tryout some of the suggestions at the first opportunity, and the photographs at the end of the book should stimulate the students' interest and might even encourage a visit to the nearest museum. With all that is good in the book there are, I feel, several omissions. In the stimulating chapter on slab built pottery there is no description of rolling out clay for slab work and this can be a tricky operation that can make or mar a pot. Also, in the chapter on glaze there are, unfortunately, no diagrams with the description of how to apply glazes to pottery and I doubt if anyone inexperienced could follow the written instructions alone, with any degree of confidence. Earlier in the same chapter there is a clear description of the materials that make up glaze which, I feel, is complicated by the introduction of the chemical symbol R 0 without defining what it means. Glaze theory can be an alarming hurdle to the student largely because chemical formulae are frequently used to distinguish the various materials in its make up, and the confusion can be aggravated if these are not explained.


Embedded systems often have limited amounts of available memory, thus encouraging the development of compact programs. This paper presents a link-time program compactor for the embedded MIPS architecture. The application of several important data flow and control flow analyses and the related program transformations at link-time are discussed and evaluated for a collection of typical embedded applications compiled against the uClibc library targeted at the embedded market. With the presented link-time compactor, code size reductions of up to 27% are obtained, and speedups of up to 17%.


This study explores the market demand for conference interpreting in South Korea by exploring the signals that users perceive as important for professional conference interpreting services. The findings were derived from a questionnaire-based survey of 109 participants with experience of conference interpreting services. The results indicate that interpreting quality, interpreting experience, and certification of the interpreter are important signals, suggesting that users are aware of the importance of quality. Furthermore, interpreting is primarily used as a communicative act. On the other hand, the low ratings for academic degrees in interpreting reveals the presence of information asymmetry, which negatively affects the elements that users perceive as important for the professionalization of interpreting. The study also addresses the service aspect of conference interpreting, shedding light on the 'interpreting as a service' approach based on an end-to-end service concept in both practice and training. The findings suggest a future direction both in terms of market development and interpreter training, thereby contributing to the advancement of interpreting as a profession.


Endothelial dysfunction (ED) and low-grade inflammation (LGI) have a role in the development of CVD. The two studies reported here explored the effects of dietary proteins and carbohydrates on markers of ED and LGI in overweight/obese individuals with untreated elevated blood pressure. In the first study, fifty-two participants consumed a protein mix or maltodextrin (3× 20 g/d) for 4 weeks. Fasting levels and 12 h postprandial responses of markers of ED (soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM), soluble endothelial selectin and von Willebrand factor) and markers of LGI (serum amyloid A, C-reactive protein and sICAM) were evaluated before and after intervention. Biomarkers were also combined into mean Z-scores of ED and LGI. The second study compared 4 h postprandial responses of ED and LGI markers in forty-eight participants after ingestion of 0·6 g/kg pea protein, milk protein and egg-white protein. In addition, postprandial responses after maltodextrin intake were compared with a protein mix and sucrose. The first study showed significantly lower fasting ED Z-scores and sICAM after 4 weeks on the high-protein diet (P≤ 0·02). The postprandial studies found no clear differences of ED and LGI between test meals. However, postprandial sVCAM decreased more after the protein mix compared with maltodextrin in both studies (P≤ 0·04). In conclusion, dietary protein is beneficial for fasting ED, but not for fasting LGI, after 4 weeks of supplementation. On the basis of Z-scores, postprandial ED and LGI were not differentially affected by protein sources or carbohydrates.


Abstract Infrastructure has gone from being yesterday's news to a focal point of development cooperation, particularly in Africa. While the list of development challenges that infrastructure is assumed to improve keeps expanding, projects are simultaneously criticised for not yielding the expected broader development effects. What is it about infrastructure that holds such high promises of development? Has this changed between the post-independence period of large infrastructure investments in Africa and the investment boom currently underway – and if so, how? In this article, I examine the differences between how infrastructure investments are understood and implemented in this most recent turn, as compared to some decades ago. I find a similar development focus between the two periods, with a strong concentration around economic growth. Moreover, little has changed in project focus, despite a more diverse set of actors on board with the 'infrastructure-induced development' narrative. I use inter-boom processes to explain why the challenges related to weak capacities in domestic construction sectors have continued. The analysis further shows how infrastructure investment has taken centre stage because it manages to satisfy the interests of a range of different actors.


The pathology of inflammatory bowel diseases is driven by the inflammatory signaling pathways associated with mucosal epithelial damage. Myeloid cells are known to play an essential role in mediating epithelial inflammatory responses during injury. However, the precise role of these cells in stimulating intestinal inflammation and the subsequent tissue damage is unclear. In this article, we show that expression of integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in myeloid cells is critical for the epithelial inflammatory signaling during colitis induced by dextran sodium sulfate. Myeloid ILK (M-ILK) deficiency significantly ameliorates the pathology of experimental colitis. In response to dextran sodium sulfate, colonic infiltration of neutrophils and inflammatory cytokine production are impaired in M-ILK–deficient mice, and activation of epithelial NF-κB and PI3K signaling pathways are restricted by the M-ILK deficiency. In contrast, reduced epithelial damage in M-ILK–deficient mice is correlated with elevated levels of epithelial Stat3 activation and proliferation. Moreover, M-ILK–dependent inflammatory signaling in the mucosal epithelium can be therapeutically targeted by the pharmacological inhibition of ILK during experimental colitis. Collectively, these findings identify M-ILK as a critical regulator of epithelial inflammatory signaling pathways during colitis and, as a consequence, targeting M-ILK could provide therapeutic benefit.


Introduction Most CKD patients experience cardiovascular issues before commencing renal replacement therapy. An accuracy prediction model is helpful for physicians to assess cardiovascular prognoses in each individual, and to provide insights on how to outline individualized lines of therapy. Method This study enrolled 1138 participants with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD). Following a proportion of 7:3, patients were randomly assigned to training and validation cohorts. The relevant predictors of cardiovascular events were screened using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the calibration curve with 1000 bootstraps resamples were used to assess the nomogram's performance. Tests on the discrimination of the prediction model used Kaplan-Meier (KM) curve. Results After screening all the predictors by lasso regression, the five remaining ones (albumin, estimated glomerular filtration rate, etiology of CKD, cardiovascular disease history, and age) were used to construct the prediction model. The AUC of 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year was 0.81 (95% CI = 0.75-0.87), 0.80 (95% CI = 0.75-0.86), and 0.80 (95% CI = 0.73-0.86), respectively. The calibration curve and the KM curve showed good prediction features, and the external validation also had a good prediction performance (AUC of 1-, 2-, and 3-years were 0.77, 0.84, and 0.82, respectively). Conclusion We successfully developed a novel nomogram that has decent prediction performance and can be used for assessing the probability of cardiovascular events in patients with NDD-CKD, displaying valuable potential for clinical application.


exhaustive mathematical analysis would help him. In the final chapter, particularly in the parts dealing with learning, it is evident that assumptions have frequently to be made in order to start off the chain of mathematical reasoning. The validity of such assumptions can be tested only indirectly as a rule. The book is beautifully printed and contains a great deal of information and instruction for students with a mathematical bent. It should aid them not only in analysing their own experimental findings but also in appraising the published work of others.


The paper presents an analysis of the stability of pose estimation. The investigated pose estimation technique is based on orientations of three edge segments and provides the rotation part of object pose. The specific emphasis of the analysis is on determining how the stability varies with view point relative to an object. The stability investigation propagates the uncertainty in edge segment orientations to the resulting effect on the pose parameters. It is shown that there is a very strong variation in noise sensitivity over the range of viewpoints and that exactly what viewpoints offer highest robustness towards noise can be determined in advance. Experiments on real images verify the theoretical results and show that, dependent on viewpoint, pose parameter variance varies from 0.05 to 20 (degrees squared).


The general solution of the particle momentum equation for unsteady Stokes flows is obtained analytically. The method used to obtain the solution consists of applying a fractional-differential operator to the first-order integro-differential equation of motion in order to transform the original equation into a second-order non-homogeneous equation, and then solving this last equation by the method of variation of parameters. The fractional differential operator consists of a three-time-scale linear operator that stretches the order of the Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative associated with the history term in the equation of motion. In order to illustrate the application of the general solution to particular background flow fields, the particle velocity is calculated for three specific flow configurations. These flow configurations correspond to the gravitationally induced motion of a particle through an otherwise quiescent fluid, the motion of a particle caused by a background velocity field that accelerates linearly in time, and the motion of a particle in a fluid that undergoes an impulsive acceleration. The analytical solutions for these three specific cases are analysed and compared to other solutions found in the literature.


Introduction: Exacerbations of COPD (ECOPD) are characterized by a burst of inflammation. The inflammasome is an intracellular sensing mechanism that leads to activation of caspase-1 and processing of pro IL-1β and pro IL-18 into their mature forms.

Aim: To investigate if the inflammasome pathway is activated in ECOPD patients.

Methods: We studied 10 COPD patients hospitalized because of ECOPD, 7 of whom were revaluated 3 months after discharge (sECOPD), 13 patients with clinically stable COPD (SCOPD), 8 smokers with normal lung function (S) and 11 non smokers (NS). We determined: (1) in serum: caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, IL-1Ra, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-a; (2) in circulating monocytes and lymphocytes: intracellular activity of caspase-1 (basally and after stimulation with inflammasome ligands: ATP, Nigericine and Cigarette Smoke Medium); and (3) in whole blood: caspase-1 and NLRP3 mRNA.

Results: Table 1 shows main results (mean ± SD).

View this table:

Table 1

Conclusions: The inflammasome pathway participates in the inflammatory burst that characterizes ECOPD.


OBJECTIVE
To establish normative data of maternal serum chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) during the second trimester in an Asian population.

METHODS
We measured the maternal serum hCG levels in 17,955 normal singleton pregnancies between 15 and 21 weeks of gestation. The gestation age was estimated by measurement of fetal biparietal distance (BPD) in all cases. Median values of hCG at various gestational weeks were calculated and the values of hCG were converted to multiple of median (MoM). The incidences of low MoM value and high MoM value were also calculated.

RESULTS
The mean and median values of hCG were 57,153 mIU/ml and 50,120 mIU/ml, respectively, at 15 weeks of gestation and then decreased to 30,898 mIU/ml and 26,226 mIU/ml, respectively, at 21 weeks. We found 8.6% and 9.4% of normal singleton pregnancies have hCG MoM values >2.0 MoM and <0.5 MoM, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Our report provides a normal reference data of second trimester maternal hCG levels by ultrasound dating in an Asian population.


Four novel 1,8-naphthalimide (NC) and mono-substituted dibenzofulvene (DBF) based structures have been designed and successfully synthesized. Two luminogens were substituted by a thiophene bridge (DT1NC and DT2NC), while the other two luminogens were substituted by a phenyl bridge (DP1NC and DP2NC) between the NC and DBF units. This minor structural modification crafts striking changes in the photophysical behavior. DT1NC and DT2NC displayed aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE) behavior. They also showed orange and red emission (575 nm and 602 nm), respectively, with large bathochromic shifts (35 nm and 112 nm) and high quantum yields (84.10% and 65.65%) in the aggregated state because of ladder type J-aggregation. DP1NC exhibited weak AIEE behavior in the blue region, while DP2NC showed an AIE inactive nature because of the strong C–H⋯π intermolecular interactions. All the luminogens showed positive solvatochromism caused by intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). The DT2NC and DP2NC luminogens were substituted with two bromine atoms at the 2,7 positions of the DBF moiety, but unexpectedly only DT2NC showed a strong heavy atom effect. Theoretical and experimental HOMO and LUMO energy levels were estimated by density functional theory and cyclic voltammetry, respectively. All luminogens displayed excellent thermal stabilities and good morphological behavior.


Two years after the Fukushima disaster: Japan's future, policy and energy industry
In 2011, Japan was hit by an unprecedented disaster – an earthquake and a tsunami that led to one of the biggest nuclear accidents in world's history. This paper analyses Japan's energy situation before and after the event, focusing on whether or not – and if, how – this tragedy changed the country's energy policy. To achieve this aim, the author focuses on Japan's energy profile, energy mix and characterises the country's accessibility to natural resources including natural gas, oil and hard coal. The article also discusses the country's electric energy production, warehousing and transmission infrastructure. It provides a detailed analysis of legal regulations and competencies of relevant ministries, as well as governmental policies, strategies and aims. Another significant issue raised is the inclusion of renewable energy sources in Japan's future energy mix. The paper also takes into consideration the Japanese public's reaction to the Fukushima disaster and traces the changing attitude of the Japanese to nuclear energy. The conclusions describe possible future energy scenarios and their consequences for the country's energy and economic security.


Partial characterizations of digestive proteases were studied in three life stages of spotted rose snapper: early (EJ), middle (MJ) and late juvenile (LJ) with corresponding average weights of 21.3 ± 2.6 g (3 months after hatching, MAH), 190 ± 4.4 g (7 MAH), and 400 ± 11.5 g (12 MAH). At sampling points, the digestive tract was dissected into the stomach (St), pyloric caeca (PC), and the intestine in three sections (proximal (PI), middle (MI) and distal intestine (DI)). The effect of pH and temperature and specific inhibitors were evaluated for acid and alkaline proteases. Total acid and alkaline protease activity showed a tendency to increase with juvenile life stage of fish while trypsin activity decreased. Differences were found in acid and alkaline protease activities at different pH and temperatures during juvenile stages. Pepstatin A inhibited total activity in the stomach extract in all juvenile stages. Activity in total alkaline protease inhibition was significantly higher in EJ using TLCK, PMSF, SBTI, Phen and Ovo than in MJ and LJ, while no significant differences were found with TPCK inhibition. Therefore increases in protease activities with fish growth through juvenile stages in which a substitution or diversification in the type of alkaline enzymes exist. These results lead a better comprehension of changes in digestive potential of Lutjanidae fish.


From a climate change vulnerability perspective, Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable countries in the world, with adverse effects being apparent for many different sectors of the economy, including forestry. Bangladesh forests are being considered as an important stock of tree biomass and hence organic carbon, although storage quantity varies from one forest type to another. This variation is due to differences in species composition, the spatial distribution of forest types, and responses of forests to environmental changes. The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the trend of organic carbon storage in different forest types in Bangladesh, as well as the potential of different trees to sequester and store organic carbon, and to examine the consequences of climate change for this organic carbon storage. Among the different forest types of Bangladesh, Sundarbans (natural Mangrove forests), Hill forests, and Village forests (forests around village households) store a substantial quantity of organic carbon. Organic carbon storage in Sundarbans is low per tree, but high per unit area due to high stem density. These trees are highly sensitive to abiotic stresses, such as the uneven distribution of rainfall, salinity, and droughts. By comparison, in Hill forests most of the trees are slow growing at a high density and are therefore more tolerant to abiotic stresses. Hill forests also store more organic carbon per tree and per unit area. Village forests are a mixture of slow-growing, high-density trees and fast-growing, low-density trees. Some trees in Village forests are highly sensitive to abiotic stress, while some are highly tolerant to abiotic stress. Low rainfall and high temperature are threatening both Hill forests and Village forests. Climate change may reduce organic carbon storage in all forests types as it will create favorable conditions for vines, climbers, and other low-biomass plants, thereby suppressing the growth of slow-growing, high-density trees.


A systematic approach to understanding the basics of Voice over IP Understand the basics of PSTN services and IP signaling protocols, including SS7 Learn how VoIP can run the same applications as the existing telephony system, but in a more cost-efficient and scalable manner Delve into such VoIP topics as jitter, latency, packet loss, codecs, quality of service tools, and mean opinion scores Learn about the functional components involved in using Cisco gateways to deploy VoIP networksVoice over IP (VoIP), which integrates voice and data transmission, is quickly becoming an important factor in network communications. It promises lower operational costs, greater flexibility, and a variety of enhanced applications. Voice over IP Fundamentals provides a thorough introduction to this new technology to help experts in both the data and telephone industries plan for the new networks.You will learn how the telephony infrastructure was built and how it works today, the major concepts concerning voice and data networking, transmission of voice over data, and IP signaling protocols used to interwork with current telephony systems. The authors cover various benefits and applications of VoIP and how to ensure good voice quality in your network.This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.


In the Indonesian Citrus Variety Improvement Programme all varieties are being cleaned up by shoot-tip grafting (STG) without preliminary heat treatment. Amongst mandarins, 80% of regrafted plants originating from STG are negative for citrus tristeza virus (CTV) by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), whereas the corresponding figure for sweet oranges is only 60%. Of the sweet oranges showing positive for CTV by ELlSA 31% eventually show stem-pitting. Although some plants without stem-pitting give a high optical density (OD) readings by ELlSA there is a significant difference in mean OD between those plants with stem-pitting and those without. The average time of recording for stem-pitting is 18 months after STG. There appears to be varietal differences in the ability of STG to separate out stem-pitting strains. Severe stem-pitting is commonly seen on many sweet orange cultivars but never in mandarins, with the exception of the cultivar Siem. This cultivar closely resembles Som Khe Wan in Thailand where it also shows stem-pitting and it is suggested that this cultivar is not a mandarin species. Very severe stem-pitting is occasionally also seen on pommelo, and has been seen on the main rootstock Japanese Citroen. All these strains are being characterized on a range of citrus species. In 1937 Toxopeus reported an incompatibility of sweet orange on sour orange rootstock in Java (16) but it was not until 1951 that Terra suggested that this could be due to citrus tristeza virus (CTV) (15), with confirmation that the virus was present by inoculation of Mexican lime seedlings (16). In more recent years the focus of attention on citrus diseases in Indonesia has been on citrus veinphloem degeneration (CVPD), more widely known as greening disease, and other systemic diseases have been ignored. Whilst the yield effects of CTV in Indonesia, where rootstock use is now limited to rough lemon and Japanese Citroen, has yet to be determined, it is clear that CTV is endemic in Indonesia (9). ELISA was first used for CTV detection in Indonesia in 1983 and is now in routine use in the indexing activities supporting the Indonesian Citrus Variety Improvement Programme (10). Tristeza reactions are broadly classified in three categories, i.e., phloem necrosis at bark union in sweet orange on sour orange rootstocks, stem-pitting and seedling yellows (7). Numerous strains have been described for various citrusgrowing regions (18). In some countries, such as Brazil (3), Japan (6, 8), California (13), Florida (20) and India (I), attempts have been made to solve CTV problems by using cross-protection with protective mild strains. In this paper we report on the use of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for CTV detection in regrafted (RG) plants originating from shoot-tip grafting (STG), and observations of stem-pitting on field trees of sweet oranges used as STG sources and on RG plants originating from those trees. MATERIALS AND METHODS Citrus extracts (1110 wlv) were prepared from leaf-vein samples of RG plants, with negative controls being healthy Madam Vinous sweet orange seedlings and positive controls being potted plants of sweet orange showing severe stem-pitting. The method used was the double antibody sandwich ELlSA method, developed by BarJoseph et . al. (2), available as a kit (Plantest ELISA, Sanofi, France). Results were read using an ELISA plate reader (Minireader 11, Dynatech, USA), with a positive result being indicated by an optical density (OD) of more than twice that of healthy controls.


As the trends driven by Moore's law come to an end, increased heterogeneity at all levels of computing is required to deliver the computing performance needed for emerging applications, leading to the proliferation of various application- or domain-specific accelerators. This in turn demands more memory bandwidth, as heterogeneous computing with accelerators consumes data at a much higher rate than traditional homogeneous computing, limiting the computing performance. To tackle this challenge, this article presents a conceptual near-memory acceleration architecture; demonstrates its practicality and plausibility using a recent experimental platform from IBM, as well as its potential impact on performance and energy efficiency; and discusses the need for adopting a high-level synthesis approach for such a near-memory acceleration architecture. Subsequently, this article concludes with future research directions for broad adoption of near-memory acceleration.


Primary processing of oil-containing material involves pre-treatment processes, oil recovery processes and the extraction and valorisation of valuable compounds from waste streams.
Pre-treatment processes, e.g. thermal, enzymatic, electrical and radio frequency, have an important effect on the oil recovery, quality of oil, extraction possibility and quality of valuable compounds from waste streams. Apart from these methods, dehulling, i.e. the separation of the coats from the seeds, can be regarded as a first and indispensable step. To extract and market proteins at an industrial scale, as long as water extraction remains in the domain of research and development, it will be necessary to dehull the seeds before oil extraction in order to extract the proteins and improve the valorisation of these crops.
The state-of-the-art of the recovery of (residual) oil from olive, rapeseed and sunflower by-products is reported. The three crops are described with regard to structure, by-products from the oil production and the applied extraction methods. Alternatives for hexane extraction, such as water, iso-propyl alcohol, gas-assisted extraction or supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, could improve the potential of the different oil-bearing crops.
The extraction of amino acids and/or protein fractions, which forms the main fraction in the press cakes is described. Also, the possibilities of the production of levulinic acid from the lignocellulosic parts of the crops are investigated.


The issue of empire has once again become a major political question in American foreign policy discourse. But whereas in the 1960s the discussion was one that mainly concerned the radical left, over the past few years the debate has largely been conducted within neo-conservative circles. The discussion is one that should be taken seriously-in part because of its intrinsically interesting character and in part because of what it tells us about the Bush grand strategy. In the end, though, the issue of whether or not there is-or is not- an American empire, is perhaps of less importance than the fact that most Americans deny that such an empire exists. This has consequences both for the conduct of American foreign policy and for its successful execution.


Developing Management Information Systems (MIS) is a complex undertaking involving a broad range of issues. This complexity contributes both to the length of this document, and to the order in which the material is presented. Chapter 1 provides a basic introduction to information issues. Chapter 2 describes the accounting system for a microfinance institution. Since most information tracked in an MIS is financial, accounting procedures, particularly the chart of accounts, are fundamental to a well-functioning MIS. This material comes early in the handbook because much of the material to follow depends on a clear understanding of accounting issues. Chapter 3 gives guidance on designing useful reports for decision-makers, and an accompanying pamphlet presents sample formats for the most important reports for monitoring performance. Reports contain information presented according to certain established definitions. Chapter 4 therefore provides a detailed overview of indicators, and their definitions. The last chapter describes the steps in developing, and implementing an MIS, a process in which the reader applies the material presented in earlier chapters. There are also several useful annexes. Annex 1, written with managers in mind, introduces technical information on MIS software and technology. Annex 2 describes the accounts in a sample chart of accounts, emphasizing those specific to microfinance institutions. Annex 3 describes useful publications for institutions developing an MIS. Finally, annex 4 provides information on internationally available MIS software packages.


Seismic hazard assessment, such as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM), relies on estimates of fault slip rate based on geology and/or geodetic observations such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), including the Global Positioning System. Geodetic fault slip rates may be estimated within a 3D spherical block model, in which the crust is divided into microplates bounded by mapped faults; fault slip rates are determined by the relative rotations of adjacent microplates. Uncertainty in selecting appropriate block-bounding faults and in forming closed microplates has limited the interpretability of block models for seismic hazard modeling. By introducing an automated block closure algorithm and regularizing the resulting densely spaced block model with total variation regularization, I develop the densest and most complete block model of the western continental United States to date. The model includes 853 blocks bounded by 1017 geologically identified fault sections from the USGS NSHM Fault Sections database. Microplate rotations and fault slip rates are constrained by 4979 GNSS velocities and 1243 geologic slip rates. I identify a regularized solution that fits the GNSS velocity field with a root mean square misfit of 1.9 mm/yr and reproduces 57% of geologic slip rates within reported geologic uncertainty and model sensitivity, consistent with other geodetic-based models in this Focus Section. This block model includes slip on faults that are not included in the USGS NSHM Fault sections database (but are required to form closed blocks) for an estimate of "off-fault" deformation of 3.62×1019  N·m/yr, 56% of the total calculated moment accumulation rate in the model.


Soluble organic matter derived from exotic Pinus species has been shown to form stronger complexes with iron (Fe) than that derived from most native Australian species. It has also been proposed that the establishment of exotic Pinus plantations in coastal southeast Queensland may have enhanced the solubility of Fe in soils by increasing the amount of organically complexed Fe, but this remains inconclusive. In this study we test whether the concentration and speciation of Fe in soil water from Pinus plantations differs significantly from soil water from native vegetation areas. Both Fe redox speciation and the interaction between Fe and dissolved organic matter (DOM) were considered; Fe – DOM interaction was assessed using the Stockholm Humic Model. Iron concentrations (mainly Fe2+) were greatest in the soil waters with the greatest DOM content collected from sandy podosols (Podzols), where they are largely controlled by redox potential. Iron concentrations were small in soil waters from clay and iron oxide‐rich soils, in spite of similar redox potentials. This condition is related to stronger sorption on to the reactive clay and iron oxide mineral surfaces in these soils, which reduces the amount of DOM available for electron shuttling and microbial metabolism, restricting reductive dissolution of Fe. Vegetation type had no significant influence on the concentration and speciation of iron in soil waters, although DOM from Pinus sites had greater acidic functional group site densities than DOM from native vegetation sites. This is because Fe is mainly in the ferrous form, even in samples from the relatively well‐drained podosols. However, modelling suggests that Pinus DOM can significantly increase the amount of truly dissolved ferric iron remaining in solution in oxic conditions. Therefore, the input of ferrous iron together with Pinus DOM to surface waters may reduce precipitation of hydrous ferric oxides (ferrihydrite) and increase the flux of dissolved Fe out of the catchment. Such inputs of iron are most probably derived from podosols planted with Pinus.


This study investigates empty vehicle redistribution algorithms for personal rapid transit and autonomous taxi services. The focus is on passenger service and operator cost. A new redistribution algorithm is presented in this study: index-based redistribution (IBR). IBR is a proactive method, meaning it takes into account both current demand and anticipated future demand, in contrast to reactive methods, which act based on current demand only. From information on currently waiting for passengers, predicted near-future demand and projected arrival of vehicles, IBR calculates an index for each vehicle station, and redistribution is done based on this index. Seven different algorithm combinations are evaluated using a test case in Paris Saclay, France (20 stations and 100 vehicles). A combination of simple nearest neighbours and IBR is shown to be promising. Its results outperform the other methods tested in peak and off-peak demand, in terms of average and maximum passenger waiting times as well as station queue length. The effect of vehicle fleet size on generalised cost is analysed. Waiting times, mileage and fleet size are taken into account while assessing this generalised cost.


We assessed the impact of preprocedural high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) on the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (p-PCI). We retrospectively studied 1452 patients with STEMI undergoing p-PCI. Baseline clinical characteristics, CIN incidence, and other inhospital clinical outcomes were compared among hsCRP quartiles; 212 (14.6%) patients developed CIN. The overall inhospital mortality rate was 4.5% (65 patients). Univariate analysis revealed CIN incidence was significantly associated with hsCRP, with 7.44% for quartile Q1 (<3.00 mg/L), 12.6% for Q2 (3.00-5.90 mg/L), 16.9% for Q3 (5.91-11.4 mg/L), and 21.49% for Q4 (>11.4 mg/L; P < .001). Patients with a higher hsCRP experienced a higher rate of inhospital complications. After adjusting for potential confounders, hsCRP >6.50 mg/L was significantly associated with the occurrence of CIN. Preprocedural hsCRP levels are significantly related to the incidence of CIN in patients with STEMI undergoing p-PCI.


This paper uses a longitudinal case study of the infusion of new infrared sensor technology at NASA to illustrate limitations of current conceptual models of the innovation process in large bureaucratic organizations. Based on in-depth interviews with key participants, supplemented by a review of project reports, contract archives, publications and press coverage, the paper constructs a detailed process history of the multi-decade "innovation pathway" taken by the new sensor as it was matured from initial demonstration of the relevant scientific phenomena (conceptualization) through implementation on an earth observation satellite (actualization). This case illustrates that maturity is not always a monotonically increasing attribute of the technology, as assumed in current practice; it also explains how informal mechanisms (e.g., personal relationships) can serve as important enablers of transitions among different phases of the formal technology development process. Implications of these findings are discussed and a strategy for a more targeted follow-on study is outlined.


The present numerical study is conducted to investigate MHD mixed convection flow and heat transfer characteristics in a double-lid driven cavity with a heat-generating solid square block. The cavity horizontal walls are adiabatic while both the vertical lids are maintained at a uniform temperature Tc and velocity V0. The present study simulates a reasonable system such as air-cooled electronic equipment with a heat component or an oven with heater. Emphasis is sited on the influences of the position of the block in the cavity. The transport governing equations are solved employing the finite element formulation based on the Galerkin method of weighted residuals. The computation is carried out for a wide range of relevant parameters such as location of the block and Richardson number. Results are presented for the effect of aforesaid parameters on the contours of streamline and isotherm. Besides, the heat transfer rate in terms of the average Nusselt number and temperature of the fluid and block center are offered for the mentioned parametric values. The obtained results demonstrate that the flow and thermal field are strongly influenced by the abovementioned parameters.


Most newspapers today are struggling to survive in an increasingly fragmented and digital media environment. How have their owners or corporate parents shaped or adapted their business practices to in order to thrive? This question guides the overall approach to this study. The focus is on one newspaper, the Dallas Morning News. In particular, how has the News used corporate messages to respond to the changing media landscape? This study employs forms of rhetorical and discourse analysis to determine the effectiveness of the News' corporate messages during a 10-year period in order to answer this question. This study finds that the News used inconsistent and ineffective corporate communications throughout this tumultuous period.


PURPOSE
Hypothyroidism frequently occurs after treatment for pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma, but race has not been investigated as a risk factor for this delayed toxicity. The aim of this study was to determine whether race is an independent risk factor for hypothyroidism in survivors of pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
To identify differences between black and white patients in the development of hypothyroidism after treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, we conducted a retrospective study of consecutively treated pediatric patients with newly diagnosed Hodgkin's lymphoma treated at St Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, TN) from January 1980 through December 2002. Clinical or biochemical hypothyroidism was defined by an above normal thyroxine-stimulating hormone concentration or by the need for thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

RESULTS
The 461 patients (388 white patients, 73 black patients) where followed for a median of 11.3 years (range, 1.8 to 24.9 years). Hypothyroidism developed in 196 (43%) of 461 patients after a median of 2.9 years (range, 0.7 to 11.3 years) after diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Hypothyroidism developed in 47% of white patients but in only 21% of black patients (hazard ratio = 2.7; 95% CI, 1.6 to 4.6). After adjusting for other risk factors for hypothyroidism (thyroid radiation dose, sex, and nodular sclerosis histology), the risk of hypothyroidism in white patients was 2.5 times (95% CI, 1.5 to 4.3 times) the risk in black patients (P < .001).

CONCLUSION
White patients have a higher risk of hypothyroidism after neck irradiation for pediatric Hodgkin's lymphoma than black patients.


Background and the purpose of the study: Taxol, a natural antitumor agent, was first isolated from the extract of the bark of Taxus brevifolia Nutt., which is potentially a limited source for Taxol. In the search of an alternative source, optimum and cost benefit extracting solvents, various solvents with different percentage were utilized to extract Taxol from needles of Taxus baccata. Methods: One g of the dried needles of Taxus baccata, collected from Torkaman and Noor cities of Iran, was extracted with pure ethanol or acetone and 50% and 20% of ethanol or acetone in water. Solvents were evaporated to dryness and the residues were dissolved in 5 ml of methanol and filtered. To one ml of the filtrate was added 50 µl of cinamyl acetate as the internal standard and 20 µl of the resulting solution was subjected to the HPLC to determine the extraction efficiencies of tested solvents. Five μl of filtrate was also subjected to the LC-MS using water/acetonitrile (10/90) as mobile phase and applying positive electrospray ionization (ESI) to identify the authenticity of Taxol. Results: Results of this study indicated that Taxol extraction efficiency was enhanced as the percentage of ethanol or acetone was increased. HPLC analysis showed that Taxol could be quantified by UV detection using standard curve. The standard curve covering the concentration ranges of 7.8 – 500 µg/ml was linear (r 2 = 0.9992) and CV% ranged from 0.52 to 15.36. LC-MS analysis using ESI in positive-ion mode confirmed the authenticity of Taxol (m/z 854; M+H), as well as some adduct ions such as M+Na (m/z 876), M+K (m/z 892) and M+CH3CN+H2O (m/z 913). Conclusions: The results suggest that 100% acetone is the best solvent for the extraction of Taxol from Taxus baccata needles.


In the process of standard ideological and political teaching management, teaching quality management, teacher management, student management and education environment management etc are all very important links. In order to establish and perfect the management system of ideological and political teaching in school, management utility should be developed. And the system optimizing should be comprehensively enhanced in teaching. We are to construct a management system on the basis of ZigBee through wireless sensor, RMON (remote monitoring) of ideological instruction teaching supervision, multimedia teaching and classroom environment management etc. will be designed through coordinating with Go-Ahead technology. The corresponding hardware and software facilities will be designed and developed. The role of wireless sensors in teaching management will be reflected through the image of flow image. Standardized teaching management would be genuinely realized with its advantages of convenience, utility, high efficiency, and energy conservation.


Bluetooth is very popular to be used in mobile handsets for short range data transfers. Evolution of Bluetooth headsets has added to its popularity and made it an essential part of wireless body area networks (WBAN) and wireless personal area networks (WPAN) notably the cellular phones. Human body is the integral part of such applications and affects their performance due to its lossy nature. This paper investigates the effects of human body and the surrounding objects on the Bluetooth link budget of a mobile handset antenna and Bluetooth headset antenna. A thorough analysis is carried out to demonstrate the importance of surface waves in the on-body Bluetooth link.


In this work, we present some applications of random matrix theory for the training of deep neural networks. Recently, random matrix theory (RMT) has been applied to the overfitting problem in deep learning. Specifically, it has been shown that the spectrum of the weight layers of a deep neural network (DNN) can be studied and understood using techniques from RMT. In this work, these RMT techniques will be used to determine which and how many singular values should be removed from the weight layers of a DNN during training, via singular value decomposition (SVD), so as to reduce overfitting and increase accuracy. We show the results on a simple DNN model trained on MNIST. In general, these techniques may be applied to any fully connected layer of a pretrained DNN to reduce the number of parameters in the layer while preserving and sometimes increasing the accuracy of the DNN.


Abstract. Although coastal regions only amount to 7 % of the global oceans, their
contribution to the global oceanic air–sea CO2 exchange is
proportionally larger, with fluxes in some estuaries being similar in
magnitude to terrestrial surface fluxes of CO2. Across a heterogeneous surface consisting of a coastal marginal sea with
estuarine properties and varied land mosaics, the surface fluxes of
CO2 from both marine areas and terrestrial surfaces were investigated
in this study together with their impact in atmospheric CO2
concentrations by the usage of a high-resolution modelling framework. The
simulated terrestrial fluxes across the study region of Denmark experienced
an east–west gradient corresponding to the distribution of the land cover
classification, their biological activity and the urbanised areas. Annually,
the Danish terrestrial surface had an uptake of approximately
−7000 GgC yr−1. While the marine fluxes from the North Sea and the
Danish inner waters were smaller annually, with about −1800 and
1300 GgC yr−1, their sizes are comparable to annual terrestrial fluxes
from individual land cover classifications in the study region and hence are not
negligible. The contribution of terrestrial surfaces fluxes was easily
detectable in both simulated and measured concentrations of atmospheric
CO2 at the only tall tower site in the study region. Although, the
tower is positioned next to Roskilde Fjord, the local marine impact was not
distinguishable in the simulated concentrations. But the regional impact from
the Danish inner waters and the Baltic Sea increased the atmospheric
concentration by up to 0.5 ppm during the winter months.


EnglishThe Gargas cave has been the subject of a research programme since 2004. This article focuses on the chronological and anthropobiological framework of the human remains found in the Gravettian habitat levels of the Lower Gallery. These remains are: - a well-preserved fragment of a child mandible (GPA-11-Wb-646) found in the GPA sector, in Room I, close to the Great Wall of Hands. The coronoid process is missing, the lateral face of the condylar process is eroded, the gonial angle is broken, and the superficial external cortical bone of the lower margin of the symphyeal region is desquamated on ca. 20 mm. The age-at-death is estimated between 1 and 3 years, based on the degree of mineralization and eruption of the teeth. The mandible was found in the upper third of a Gravettian level. Its archaeological context consisted mainly of an accumulation of faunal remains (centimetric to decimetric fragments and small burnt elements, some of them with anthropogenic traces), and some elements of lithic industry (tools and debitage products in flint and quartzite), used pebbles and coloring materials; - a fragment of a child left clavicle (GPA-11-Wb-610). The bone is preserved on 47 mm, from the lateral third of the insertion for the deltoid muscle to the middle of the M. pectoralis major attachment site. The breaks are smooth and the bone surface displays many impacts, probably due to carnivorous activity. The age-at-death it estimated to 1 to 7 years; - an immature clavicle fragment (uncertain determination) (GPA-11-Wb); in any case, this small fragment does not correspond to the previous left clavicle; - a small (36.0 mm length and 20.0 mm width) neurocranial fragment (GPO 05-K9a) found in the GPO area (corresponding to the former entrance). This fragment belongs to an adult or a subadult; - a first upper right deciduous incisor (GPO-07- K13b-1550). The crown is very worn and preserved only on 2 to 3 mm. Three quarters of the root appear resorbed, indicating an age between 6 to 7 years old; - a 42 mm long body fragment of a rib (GDI-2011 deblais) with grey sediment covering one extremity, and with some red linear traces on the surfaces. This bone was found in the GDI sector, within the dumps of previous excavations. The very ovoid and fairly thick section (7 by 11 mm) makes uncertain the attribution to the human species; - a fragment of an adult left femoral diaphysis, preserved over 242 millimeters, found in the Cartailhac-Breuil collection of the "Institut de Paleontologie Humaine". The bone is broken proximally below the lesser trochanter and distally at the junction between the second and last third of the diaphysis. This human remain, discovered during the excavations of E. Cartailhac and H. Breuil between 1911 and 1913, was reported by Hugo Obermaier in his book L'Homme fossile and attributed to the "Aurignacien superieur" (Gravettian), without further information. At least three subjects are represented in this skeletal assemblage: a young child (the mandible), an adult individual (the femur), and an older child (the deciduous tooth with resorbed root): only the first two individuals were concerned by mortuary practices that have to be discussed in following studies. The first five human remains were discovered in situ within the Gravetian sedimentary unit, which corresponds to a palimpsest of occupations. From a chrono-cultural point of view, and on the basis of a typo-technological analysis of the lithic industry (Noailles burins, Gravette and Vachons points) and bone industry (Isturitz-type assegai points and herbivore ribs decorated with notches), Gargas settlement is attributed to the Noaillian. The mandible and the femur were directly dated (AMS C14 radiocarbon date). The results are respectively 24,930 ±220 BP (29500-28532 cal. BP) and 24,880 ±140 BP (29310-28593 cal. BP). These dates are compared with the chronological sequence obtained from C14 dates on the faunal remains. Considering the distribution and significant concentration of dates, two main periods of occupations can be identified: the first one is between 31,500 and 30,000 cal. years BP, the second between 29,500 and 28,500 cal. years BP. The direct dates of the human remains place them in the final phase of the occupation of the cave. The presence of human remains in the Gravettian occupation levels of Gargas, at the foot of the decorated walls, brings new perspectives for studies on the relationship between mortuary practices, settlement and art. We were able to highlight in Room I, where two thirds of the handprints are concentrated, the interpenetration of a "domestic" and a "symbolic" space. The taphonomical context of the human remains, isolated and without anatomical connection, sometimes covered with a thin calcite layer, suggests surface deposits that have undergone post-depositional mechanical disturbances altering the original disposition and thus making difficult to interpret their funeral context. francaisLa grotte de Gargas fait l'objet d'un programme de recherche depuis 2004. Cet article precise le cadre chronologique et stratigraphique des vestiges humains trouves dans la couche d'habitat gravettien de la Galerie inferieure. Ils correspondent a une mandibule d'enfant (entre 1 et 3 ans), une clavicule gauche d'enfant (entre 1 et 7 ans), un fragment de neurocrâne, une dent monoradicule deciduale, un fragment de clavicule (sujet immature), un fragment de cote, et a une diaphyse de femur (sujet adulte). Les cinq premiers ont ete decouverts in situ, le sixieme dans les remblais des fouilles anciennes ; le fragment de femur avait ete trouve lors des fouilles d'E. Cartailhac et d'H. Breuil, en 1911 et 1913. Au moins trois sujets semblent etre representes dans cet assemblage : un jeune enfant (mandibule), un sujet adulte (femur), et un enfant plus âge (dent deciduale a la racine resorbee) : seuls les deux premiers pourraient s'integrer dans un contexte funeraire lato sensu qu'il s'agira de preciser dans les annees a venir. La mandibule et le femur ont fait l'objet d'analyses 14C AMS directes. Les resultats sont respectivement 24 930 ± 220 BP (29500 28532 cal. BP) et 24 880 ± 140 BP (29 310-28 593 cal. BP). Puis, ces datations sont mises en perspective par rapport a celles obtenues sur les vestiges de faune consommee dans l'habitat. Si l'on considere la distribution et la concentration significative des dates, on peut definir deux sequences principales d'occupation : la premiere se situe entre 31 500 et 30 000 cal. BP, la seconde entre 29 500 et 28 500 cal. BP. Les dates des restes humains se placent dans la phase finale des occupations de la grotte.


Two independent samples of students enrolled in a typical introduction to Information Systems course at a Midwestern university were surveyed in 1996 and 2006 to determine if business student computing efficacy changed over this ten-year period. Two computer self-efficacy (CSE) scales were administered to each sample and demographic data collected. The initial analysis of this research in progress data suggests that while students in 2006 report significantly more computer experience, use computers much more frequently, and take significantly more core courses that require computer use, this experience has not translated into significantly higher CSE scores. The implications of these preliminary findings for Information Systems educators are discussed.


Ten dimensions of a core culture of evaluative inquiry are identified as themes that emerge from and cut across the diverse articles in this volume. Crosscultural evaluation emerges as involving mixed methods; integrated epistemologies; politically and institutionally supporting indigenous peoples and cultures; framing cross-cultural intersections, interactions, and integration through an understanding and appreciation of complex ecologies; personal, relational, and institutional reflexivity; and transparent praxis at every level and throughout every aspect of evaluation. Enhancing the capacity of evaluators outside the industrialized world has been important, appropriate, and effective despite major challenges and resource limitations. However, evaluation capacity-building has focused at the nation-state level. Such a focus is important and necessary but inadequate to deal with global issues. Th e major problems the world faces today and into the future are global in nature. Building on the impressive developments in international and cross-cultural evaluation documented in this special issue of CJPE, the next step and the way forward is to treat the global system as the evaluand and to develop evaluators capable of undertaking transcultural global systems change evaluations. Th e implications of this new focus are discussed.


There are different kinds of arthritis, widely spread among the population, that make them a clinical problem with social, psychological and economic burden. Different education programs have been developed in order to improve patients' disease management, medication compliance and from there patients' quality of life. Objective: To develop and implement a community pharmacy-based educational program for patients with arthritis. Improvements in pain, medication compliance, decrease in general practitioner's visits and hospitalizations are expected. Methods: Prospective, randomized, controlled trial. The sample consisted of 43 individuals, with different stages of arthritis (aged 15 - 71), attending pharmacies – intervention group; and 43 individuals – control group. A 4-month education was conducted on the following topics: what causes arthritis and what are the factors that can intensify it; pain management and physical activities; self-management and prevention; pharmacotherapy and possible adverse drug reactions. Patient's health-related quality of life was assessed in the beginning and at the end of the survey. Results: Parameters assessed during the four stages of the program were: frequency of severe pain, frequency of general practitioner's visits, frequency of urgent medical aid calls, compliance with therapy, satisfaction with pharmacy services. Improvement in patients' health-related quality of life was observed and also: decrease in the severity of patients' pain, decrease in the physician's visits, and increase in satisfaction overall care. Conclusions: Positive results from the educational approach in pharmacy conditions were demonstrated. These consequences have a potential to increase arthritis patient's quality of life.


We study the optimal division of cells into different service areas served under different coordinated transmission modes, i.e. combinations of base stations simultaneously transmitting, in order to avoid the adverse effect of inter-cell interference and to maximize the system capacity. We focus on the general case where the traffic load is inhomogeneous and give a complete characterization of the optimum for two-cell and three-cell systems in terms of a set of necessary conditions. An example of a three-cell system with a traffic load having a gradient in an arbitrary direction is numerically worked out


In this paper, a facial feature matched one-bit transform is proposed to detect facial features and at the same time the facial orientation for face recognition. First of all the face region is segmented based on skin color. The segmented face image is then converted to a binary image with a novel facial feature matched one-bit transform that uses a kernel that is obtained by least squares. At first, eye and mouth clusters are obtained using a k-means based approach in predefined regions of the constructed binary image, and the image of the face is obtained. Then, feature vectors are extracted using discrete wavelet transform and discrete cosine transform and classification is achieved using support vector machines.


Minimum Shift Keying (MSK) has been long proven to be a successful modulation format in wireless communication [1]. Although the concept of applying MSK in optical transmission systems was studied as early as the 1990s, it has recently aroused a renewed interest in the research community owing to its unique characteristics such as compact spectrum, continuous phase and also its less comparative complexity in achievement compared to other advanced modulation formats. In this thesis the author built an MSK transmission simulation platform using programming software in the name of SIMULINK™ and VPItransmissionMaker™ and investigated the gaps in current MSK research over the past few years. The contributions are: • A range of various MSK transmitters and receivers proposed by different researchers were systematically summarized and evaluated. • A novel MSK modulation format DC33 MSK is proposed. • The resistance of various MSK formats in the presence of imperfections of transmitters and receivers were analysed. • The performance of novel MSK formats in long haul transmission including residual dispersion, dispersion mapping and effects of nonlinear noise were analysed. It was found that the novel DC33 MSK format is not only less complex to generate than the conventional linear MSK signal, but also has many advantages over linear MSK signals in terms of receiver sensitivity, resistance to transmitter and receiver noises and residual dispersion. The findings in this thesis show that DC33 MSK is a good candidate for future optical transmission systems being a good compromise between spectral efficiency, robustness and complexity.


BACKGROUND
Immunotherapy, especially the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors, has revolutionized the management of several different cancer types in recent years. However, for most types of cancer, only a minority of patients experience a durable response. Furthermore, administration of immunotherapy can result in serious adverse reactions. Thus, for the most efficient and effective use of immunotherapy, accurate predictive biomarkers that have undergone analytical and clinical validation are necessary.

CONTENT
Among the most widely investigated predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy are programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), microsatellite instability/defective mismatch repair (MSI/dMMR), and tumor mutational burden (TMB). MSI/dMMR is approved for clinical use irrespective of the tumor type, whereas PD-L1 is approved only for use in certain cancer types (e.g., for predicting response to first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer). Although not yet approved for clinical use, TMB has been shown to predict response to several different forms of immunotherapy and across multiple cancer types. Less widely investigated predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy include tumor-infiltrating CD8+ lymphocytes and specific gene signatures. Despite being widely investigated, assays for MSI/dMMR, PD-L1, and TMB lack standardization and are still evolving. An urgent focus of future research should be the optimization and standardization of method for determining these biomarkers.

SUMMARY
Biomarkers for predicting response to immunotherapy are paving the way for personalized treatment for patients with diverse cancer types. However, standardization of the available biomarker assays is an urgent requirement.


Abstract Electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA) is applicable to rat-e-earth elements (REE) in minerals with relatively high REE concentrations (e.g. hundreds of parts per million). However, given that each of the 14 REE has at least 12 X-ray lines in the L spectrum, finding peak-free regions for background measurement can be problematical. Also, measured peak intensities are liable to require correction for interferences. Hitherto, little attention has been paid to the optimisation of background offsets and the implications of the wide variation in REE distribution patterns in different minerals. The 'Virtual WDS' program, which enables complex multi-element spectra to be synthesised, has been used to refine the conditions used for different REE distributions. Choices include whether to use the Lβ1 rather than the Lα1 line, background offsets, and counting times for comparable relative precision. Correction factors for interferences affecting peak and background measurements have also been derived.


Developing a model of patient values in medical decision making: A qualitative inquiry into insulin initiation in type 2 diabetes
Background: Shared decision making (SDM) is a medical decision making model where at least two parties (for example, patient and doctor) share information and values in order to build consensus on the preferred treatment to implement. Patient values are the most mentioned element in definitions of SDM. However, there is no agreed definition of patient values in both SDM and the larger field of medical decision making. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a model of patient values using insulin initiation in type 2 diabetes as an exemplar.
Methods: The study design was a qualitative study based on an interpretive descriptive approach. Data was collected from both healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients. The conceptual frameworks used were the Ottawa Decision Support Framework and Schwartz's theory of values. Purposive sampling was used to recruit HCPs involved in insulin initiation and patients who were deciding about insulin. Participants were recruited from the three main healthcare settings in Malaysia (public health clinics, public university-based primary care clinics, and private clinics). An interview topic guide was developed based on the conceptual frameworks and expert opinion. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted between January 2011 and June 2012. Interviews were stopped when data saturation was achieved. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and managed with Nvivo9 software. Data was analysed using thematic analysis and Strauss' method of coding. A process of open, selective and axial coding was used to develop the model of patient values.
Results: Forty-one HCPs were interviewed (30-66 years old; females, n=31). The sample was diverse in terms of professional background (general practitioners, medical
officers, family medicine specialists, government policy makers, diabetes nurse educators, endocrinologists and pharmacists), healthcare settings (public, private) and ethnicity (Malays, Chinese, Indians, other ethnicities). Twenty-one patients were interviewed (28-67 years old; males, n=12) from diverse healthcare settings and ethnic backgrounds.
Based on HCP interviews, barriers and facilitators to insulin initiation included patient barriers (e.g. injection-related barriers, insulin-related barriers, social factors, emotional barriers), HCP barriers (e.g. lack of HCP motivation and confidence, lack of training, conflicting advice between HCPs), and system-related barriers. These factors provided the psychosocial and cultural context in which patient values were explored.
Based on patient interviews, the types of patient values during insulin initiation were identified. Three categories of values emerged: (1) positive and negative insulin-specific beliefs, (2) personal life goals (e.g. health, career, finance) and philosophies (e.g. avoiding suffering, fatalism, not being a burden), and (3) socio-cultural values (e.g. religious teachings, cultural practices) and family background. A model of patient values was then developed based on the three categories.
Conclusions: When supporting patients in decision making, HCPs need to address more than just treatment-specific beliefs. A deeper understanding of patients' life priorities and socio-cultural background are essential, as these also influence decisions about treatments. The proposed model of patient values helps to clarify the definition of patient values in SDM and can be used to systematically explore patient values during consultations.


Beer inevitably changes due to an array of staling reactions. A major factor in beer ageing is the involvement of transition metals (iron, copper, manganese) in oxidative reactions. To tackle the flavour stability issue, metal chelation was investigated. Based on previous research, five primary chelators (tannic acid, gallic acid, EDTA, citric acid and phytic acid) were screened using experimental design for their capacity to reduce the content of wort transition metals. The chelating agents were added under varying conditions (mash out temperature, mash pH, grain bill, chelator concentration, addition time) during laboratory scale mashing to assess how they altered complexation and metal load. Fourteen alternative chelators (ferulic acid, tartaric acid, quercetin, chlorogenic acid and ten polyphenolic foodextracts: green tea, pomegranate, grape seed, reishi, cinnamon, curcuma, milk thistle, ginkgo, grapefruit seed and raspberry) were also explored. Metal ions were analysed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and wort oxidative stability by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Mash pH was the most decisive of all tested process variables: acidified mashing (pH 6 to 5) produced worts with more iron, manganese and zinc (230, 320 and 150%, respectively). Addition of effective chelators counteracted this undesirable effect for iron. Green tea extract, tannic acid and, particularly, pomegranate extract all resulted in lower wort iron. Conversely, addition of EDTA, caused iron, manganese and zinc to increase. Pomegranate extract (90% ellagic acid) was the best performing chelator and reduced radical generation in wort (80% reduction by 60 mg/L addition), making it a promising novel compound in the improvement of beer shelf life. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of the Institute of Brewing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institute of Brewing & Distilling. at the end of the article.


Fruits (drupes) of Symphoricarpos orbiculatus ripen in autumn and are dispersed from autumn to spring. Seeds (true seed plus fibrous endocarp) are dormant at maturity, and they have a small, linear embryo that is underdeveloped. In contrast to previous reports, the endocarp and seed coat of S. orbiculatus are permeable to water; thus, seeds do not have physical dormancy. No fresh seeds germinated during 2 wk of incubation over a 15°/6°-35°/20°C range of thermoperiods in light (14-h photoperiod); gibberellic acid and warm or cold stratification alone did not overcome dormancy. One hundred percent of the seeds incubated in a simulated summer → autumn → winter → spring sequence of temperature regimes germinated, whereas none of those subjected to a winter → spring sequence did so. That is, cold stratification is effective in breaking dormancy only after seeds first are exposed to a period of warm temperatures. Likewise, embryos grew at cold temperatures only after seeds were exposed to warm temperatures. Thus, the seeds of S. orbiculatus have nondeep complex morphophysiological dormancy. As a result of dispersal phenology and dormancy-breaking requirements, in nature most seeds that germinate do so the second spring following maturity; a low to moderate percentage of the seeds may germinate the third spring. Seeds can germinate to high percentages under Quercus leaf litter and while buried in soil; they have little or no potential to form a long-lived soil seed bank.


Objective To explore whether the red blood cell count multiplied by hematocrit index (RBCHct) in blood routine parameters can indicate the risk of impaired fasting blood glucose (IFG), and whether it is related to insulin resistance and inflammation. Methods In this cross-sectional study, previous history of diabetes was excluded, and people with normal and impaired IFG were included. We use Spearman analysis to evaluate the correlation between RBCHct index and fasting plasma glucose, insulin resistance homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Binary logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the RBCHct index for assessing the potential risk of IFG, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the RBCHct index for diagnosing insulin resistance and chronic low-grade inflammatory efficacy among those with IFG. Results Correlation analysis showed that the RBCHct index and fasting plasma glucose (r=0.088, P=0.003); HOMA-IR (r=0.199, P<0.001); and hs-CRP (r=0.097, P=0.001) were positively correlated. After adjusting for confounding factors, the risk of IFG in the third and fourth quartiles of the RBCHct index increased to 1.889 and 3.048 times. The area under the ROC curve of the RBCHct index for diagnosis of insulin resistance state (HOMA-IR) was 0.695 (p<0.001), and the area under the ROC curve of the RBCHct index for the diagnosis of chronic low-inflammatory state (hs-CRP) was 0.641 (P=0.010). Conclusion The RBCHct index may be a potential indicator for assessing the risk of prediabetes and is closely related to whether the body is in a state of insulin resistance and inflammation under IFG.


This paper investigates the leakage fault diagnosis problem for a physical Internet-based three-tank system (ITTS). Data from different devices locating at different places communicate with each other via Internet and, due to the limited bandwidth of communication channel, data suffer from delay and/or dropout phenomenon during the transmission. The resulting incomplete signals are utilized for the control and diagnosis purpose, giving rise to a networked control system (NCS). After linearization and discretization of the mathematical model of the three-tank system (TTS), the original nonlinear fault diagnosis problem is converted into a robust leakage fault detection and isolation problem for a linear system with uncertain parameters. The detection problem is then solved by using the robust H_ filter technique and the leakage faults of different tanks are isolated by using the idea of residual contributing degree (RCD). Experimental results are provided to show the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed techniques.


Alex George's A Good American is a positive and uplifting novel about the American Dream. This is the story of the Meisenheimer family, told by James, a third-generation American living in Beatrice, Missouri. It's where his German grandparents - Frederick and Jette - found themselves after journeying across the turbulent Atlantic, fording the flood-swollen Mississippi, and being brought to a sudden halt by the broken waters of the pregnant Jette. A Good American tells of Jette's dogged determination to feed a town sauerkraut and soul food; the loves and losses of her children, Joseph and Rosa; and the precocious voices of James and his brothers, sometimes raised in perfect harmony ...sometimes in discord. But above all, A Good American is about the music in Frederick's heart, a song that began as an aria, was jazzed by ragtime, and became an anthem of love for his adopted country that the family still hears to this day. "There's plenty of storytelling charm on display here, with echoes of John Irving's humane zaniness". (The New York Times). "Epic, lyrical, compelling". (USA Today). "A sweeping, lush intergenerational novel about a family of German-Americans learning to live in 20th-century America". (Oprah.com).


ABSTRACT A stromatolite and algal ridge reef complex 2.1 m thick fringes the east coast of Stocking Island, Exuma Cays, Bahamas. This reef was established on a Pleistocene calcarenite terrace about 4500 yr B.P. Stromatolites, which occur in back-reef and reef-flat zones, are up to 1 m thick and were constructed by cyanobacterial-dominated communities. Study of the growth history of these stromatolites, ranging in scope from facies analyses to details of microfabric construction, presents new perspectives on stromatolite formation. Lithologies identified in eight cores from across the Stocking Island reef complex, together with plots of 13 radiocarbon dates in relation to a Bahamian sea-level curve, indicate that this reef began as an intertidal vermetid gastropod buildup. Subsequent flooding of the Pleistocene terrace allowed the branching coralline alga Neogoniolithon strictum to overgrow the vermetids and eventually form an emergent algal ridge about 1500 years ago. Shifting sands accumulated in the lee of this ridge and excluded most benthic communities and herbivores, thereby promoting growth of cyanobacterial mats that formed stromatolite buildups. With a decrease in wave energy over the last 500 years, possibly due to the growth of offshore patch reefs, the urchin Echinometra lucunter coloni ed the algal ridge. Resultant bioerosion by this urchin destroyed the emergent part of the ridge and is now undercutting the seaward edge of the stromatolite buildups. Lamination in the Stocking Island stromatolites results from early lithificafion processes in cyanobacterial mats, possibly in response to biogeochemical changes in the mats during hiatuses in sediment accretion. These processes, which create partially indurated laminae with a distinct microstructure, involve precipitation of thin micrite crusts, intense microboring along a surface below this crust, micritization of sediment grains, and precipitation of point-contact cement between micritized grains. Introduction of turf algae to the cyanobacterial mat community disrupts formation of the lithified laminae, thereby inhibiting stromatolite development.


The Polycomb group (PcG) complex is involved in the epigenetic control of gene expression profiles. In flowering plants, PcG proteins regulate vegetative and reproductive programs. Epigenetically inherited states established in the gametophyte generation are maintained after fertilization in the sporophyte generation, having a profound influence on seed development. The gametophyte size and phase dominance were dramatically reduced during angiosperm evolution, and have specialized in flowering plants to support the reproductive process. The moss Physcomitrella patens is an ideal organism in which to study epigenetic processes during the gametophyte stage, as it possesses a dominant photosynthetic gametophytic haploid phase and efficient homologous recombination, allowing targeted gene replacement. We show that P. patens PcG protein FIE (PpFIE) accumulates in haploid meristematic cells and in cells that undergo fate transition during dedifferentiation programs in the gametophyte. In the absence of PpFIE, meristems overproliferate and are unable to develop leafy gametophytes or reach the reproductive phase. This aberrant phenotype might result from failure of the PcG complex to repress proliferation and differentiation of three-faced apical stem cells, which are designated to become lateral shoots. The PpFIE phenotype can be partially rescued by FIE of Arabidopsis thaliana, a flowering plant that diverged >450 million years ago from bryophytes. PpFIE can partially complement the A. thaliana fie mutant, illustrating functional conservation of the protein during evolution in regulating the differentiation of meristematic cells in gametophyte development, both in bryophytes and angiosperms. This mechanism was harnessed at the onset of the evolution of alternating generations, facilitating the establishment of sporophytic developmental programs.


Reversible integer wavelet transforms allow both lossless and lossy decoding using a single bitstream. We present a new fully scalable image coder and investigate the lossless and lossy performance of these transforms in the proposed coder. The lossless compression performance of the presented method is comparable to JPEG-LS. The lossy performance is quite competitive with other efficient lossy compression methods.


Now in its second edition, this wide-ranging, seminal text offers an accessible account of the history of graphic design from the nineteenth century to the present day. Organized chronologically, the book makes an important critical contribution to the subject by presenting graphic design and typography as deeply embedded in the fabric of society in every era. This distinctive approach enables Stephen Eskilson to discuss the evolution of graphic design in light of prevailing political, social, military and economic conditions, as well as nationalism and gender. After surveying typography from Gutenburg to Bodoni, he traces the impact of the Industrial Revolution and the influence of Art Nouveau and the Arts and Craft movements on the graphic arts. In the richly contextualised chapters that follow, he chronicles the history of the early twentieth-century modernist design styles, the wartime politicization of American and Soviet regional styles, the Bauhaus, the rise of the International Style in the 1950s1960s, and the post-modern movement of the 1970s1980s right through to the challenges facing the worlds designers today. This second edition has been carefully reviewed and updated to best reflect contemporary scholarship. In addition to 75 new colour images, there is a revised final chapter that includes an up-to-date survey of the wealth of aesthetic, conceptual and technical developments in graphic design over the last few years.


This study investigates control and decision strategy for the failure prone manufacturing process, which is modelled as a two-mode Markovian jump system (MJS). Considering the historical effects on the system, the mode transition rate matrix (MTRM) is time-varying instead of homogeneous. A piecewise homogeneous MJS is thus proposed to characterise this phenomenon, in which the MTRM is homogeneous during certain time intervals but non-homogeneous for the whole time interval. By regarding each homogeneous MTRM as one event, all the MTRMs over the whole time interval will take values in an event set and be governed by a higher-level Markov chain. To ensure such system operates normally with high probability, the decisions including preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance are introduced to adjust the higher-level Markov chain. Motivated by this, a new joint performance, consisting of both cost function for decision making and controller design, is developed. Optimal decisions are obtained by an iterative algorithm whose convergence is proved, as well as an optimal controller is designed. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by simulations.


In this work, the properties of silver-modified LiMn2O4 cathode materials are revisited. We study the influence of calcination atmosphere on the properties of the Ag-coated LiMn2O4 (Ag/LMO) and highlight the silver oxidation. The effect of the heat treatment in vacuum is compared with that in air by the characterization of the structure, specific surface area, Li transport properties and electrochemical performance of Ag/LMO composites. Surface analyses (XPS and Raman spectroscopy) show that the nature of the coating (~3 wt.%) differs with the calcination atmosphere: Ag/LMO(v) calcined in vacuum displays Ag nanospheres and minor AgO content on its surface (specific surface area of 4.1 m2 g−1), while Ag/LMO(a) treated in air is mainly covered by the AgO insulating phase (specific surface area of 0.6 m2 g−1). Electrochemical experiments emphasize that ~3 wt.% Ag coating is effective to minimize the drawbacks of the spinel LiMn2O4 (Mn dissolution, cycling instability, etc.). The Ag/LMO(v) electrode shows high capacity retention, good cyclability at C/2 rate and capacity fade of 0.06% per cycle (in 60 cycles).


Illusion of numerosity can be observed in many of the classical illusions of linear extent by replacing the uninterrupted lines with rows of dots. Using the method of constant stimuli both length and numerosity illusions move in the same direction, whereas using a magnitude-estimation method the two illusions move in opposite directions. Two experiments show that this inversion occurs also in the Müller-Lyer illusion.


The sorption of organic compounds to soil, sediments and dissolved organic matter affects the fate of organic compounds. Given the central role of this process in environmental transport, distribution, and (bio)degradation processes, it needs to be well-understood and represented in risk assessment of chemicals in the environment. In this thesis soil-sorption of various organic compounds was studied in order to improve the scientific basis for representing sorption in risk assessment. Chapters 2 to 5 study the sorption of hydrophobic organic chemicals. They are focused on the development and validation of passive sampling techniques to simplify the determination of freely dissolved concentrations and sorption coefficients. Chapters 6 and 7 explore the sorption of ionizable organic antimicrobial agents in relation to the pore water and soil composition.
The sorption of neutral organic (hydrophobic) compounds has been studied intensively for several decades. Difficult determination of freely dissolved concentrations and the heterogeneity of soil organic material can complicate the measurement and modeling of sorption coefficients for these compounds. In this thesis the simple and sensitive solid phase microextraction (SPME) technique using a poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coated fiber was used. This passive sampling technique can measure (changes in) freely dissolved concentrations in complex matrices such as soil (Chapter 4 and 5), sediment (Chapter 3) and dissolved organic matter solutions (Chapter 2), and should therefore be applied to generate unbiased sorption coefficients. The simplicity and sensitivity of the technique strongly advocates for both generating high quality sorption data for modeling purposes and specific monitoring and risk assessment of contaminated sites.
Contrastingly, there is limited knowledge on the soil sorption of polar ionizable organic compounds such as veterinary pharmaceuticals. Hence, more research is needed on the sorption of these compounds. This thesis has demonstrated that soil properties like organic carbon content, clay content, cation exchange capacity and iron and aluminum oxyhydroxide content (Chapter 7) and pore water properties like pH and ionic strength (chapter 6) significantly influence sorption of these compounds. Modeling the influence of soil properties allows prediction of sorption with limited accuracy. Modeled sorption data should therefore (only) be taken as qualitative indicators of the sorption behavior. Consequently, experimental data are preferred for site-specific risk assessment. Clearly, more research is needed in order to improve our understanding and modeling of the sorption of these compounds.


Rat beta-lipotropin was isolated from 40 anterior pituitaries using high efficiency chromatography columns and sensitive fluorometric methods. The beta-lipotropin was characterized as to molecular weight, amino acid composition, and generation of opioid activity by trypsinization. Other opioid peptides, as well as a precursor to opioid peptides with a molecular weight larger than that of beta-lipotropin, were observed in this tissue.


How can we rethink social transformation in the conditions of post-political neoliberal governmentality? James C. Scott has traced political breakthroughs back to the 'hidden transcripts' which are nourished in partly autonomous zones of everyday conflict and struggle. Richard Day captures a mode of social reconstruction which is detached from revolutionary events and is attached to the creation of alternatives in present tense. Today, such 'ambiances of the new' are crafted by social movements which pursue a 'horizontalist' activism seeking to foster plurality and openness. They cultivate thus particular ethics, affects, habits, mentalities, modes of organisation and spaces, which enable more democratic forms of collective action and help to put together large collective fronts in the interests of the many.


An equivalent current injection (ECI)-based hybrid current-power optimal power flow (OPF) model is proposed in this paper, and the predictor-corrector interior point algorithm (PCIPA) is tailored to fit the OPF for solving nonlinear programming (NLP) problems. The proposed method can further decompose into two subproblems. The computational results of IEEE 9 to 300 buses have shown that the proposed algorithms can enhance the performance in terms of the number of iterations, memory storages, and CPU times.


Caricature emerged as a pictorial genre in early modern Italy and became a potent form of social satire practiced by the period's foremost draftsmen, including the Carracci and Guercino. The deformed and misshapen subjects of caricature drawings coincided with a fascination with monstrosity. Monsters, aberrations, and anomalies reflected a cultural appreciation for the curious. The monster that slowly took shape in scientific literature was first alluded to in comparative physiognomic texts that related human to beast, then made brief appearances in the discourse on medical conditions, and finally became the primary focus of specialty publications. The attention given to physical aberrance led to the birth of teratology, the medical study of abnormal development, and the subsequent publication of several well-known monster histories by Fortunio Liceti and Ulisse Aldrovandi. This essay considers the rise of the monstrous by examining several trends in contemporary scientific discourse: the vogue for comparative physiognomy, the investigation of anatomical abnormalities, the rise of monster literature, and the transmission of monstrosity in popular culture. Scholars have long explored the use of anatomical studies by Renaissance artists. The essay expands on this research to suggest that artists were aware of medical advances that investigated the conditions of healthy as well as diseased bodies. Liceti's and Aldrovandi's histories demonstrate a change in the status of the monster—from freak omen to marvelous creature of nature—revealing the naturalization of the beast in the sciences. Lastly, monster phenomena were disseminated beyond the elite science of scholarly Latin publications through a variety of media, including pamphlets and broadsides in the vernacular. These publications were rich with visual material that begs comparison with caricature drawings.


Reports an error in "Collectives in organizations appear less morally motivated than individuals" by Arthur S. Jago, Tamar A. Kreps and Kristin Laurin (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Advanced Online Publication, Apr 25, 2019, np). In the article "Collectives in Organizations Appear Less Morally Motivated Than Individuals" by Arthur S. Jago, Tamar A. Kreps, and Kristin Laurin, the second affiliation of the first author was omitted from the byline and author note. The byline should appear instead as University of Southern California and University of Washington-Tacoma. The first paragraph of the author note should appear instead as Arthur S. Jago, Department of Management and Organization, University of Southern California, and Milgard School of Business, University of Washington-Tacoma. The third paragraph of the author note should appear instead as the following: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Arthur S. Jago, Milgard School of Business, University of Washington - Tacoma, 1900 Commerce Street DOU 306, Tacoma, WA 98402. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2019-22737-001.) Organizations often benefit from signaling moral values. Across 5 studies, we explore how people attribute moral conviction to different organizational agents. We find that people believe collectives (e.g., groups; entire organizations) have less moral conviction than individuals, even when both agents behave identically (Studies 1 and 2). We test a variety of potential mechanisms for this effect, and find evidence for two parallel pathways: first, people believe collectives have less of a capacity for emotional experience, and therefore are less likely to use emotions when making decisions; and second, people believe collectives are also more self-interested, and therefore more likely to behave out of concern for their reputations rather than morality (Study 3). In examining boundary conditions for this effect, we find that it occurs when people judge generic for-profit companies and government entities, but not family businesses or charities (Study 4). Finally, we demonstrate that, because collectives appear less morally motivated than individuals, people also assume collectives will exhibit less persistence after enacting prosocial initiatives (Study 5). We discuss theoretical, practical, and social implications of these differing attributions of moral conviction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).