Thus far, the negative effects of Nodularia spumigena blooms on aquatic organisms have been mainly attributed to the production of the hepatotoxic nodularin (NOD). In the current work, the accumulation of other N. spumigena metabolites in blue mussels and crustaceans, and their effect on Thamnocephalus platyurus and Artemia franciscana, were examined. The liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analyses provided evidence that both blue mussels collected after a cyanobacterial bloom in the Baltic Sea and the crustaceans exposed under laboratory conditions to N. spumigena extract accumulated the cyclic anabaenopeptins (APs). In the crustaceans, the linear peptides, spumigins (SPUs) and aeruginosins (AERs), were additionally detected. Exposure of T. platyurus and A. franciscana to N. spumigena extract confirmed the negative effect of nodularin on the organisms. However, high numbers of dead crustaceans were also recorded in the nodularin-free fraction, which contained protease inhibitors classified to spumigins and aeruginosins. These findings indicate that cyanobacterial toxicity to aquatic organisms is a complex phenomenon and the induced effects can be attributed to diverse metabolites, not only to the known hepatotoxins.


In June of 1988, as the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union met in Moscow to inaugurate the Treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF Treaty), their joint act of ratification ended more than a sixteen year hiatus in codified superpower arms control. It also brought to a close an extraordinary episode in American constitutional history: an unprecedented executive-legislative confrontation over the very nature of the treaty power.


A programming language is usually taught by starting with a small kernel that is continuously extended to the full set of language features. Unfortunately, the existence of advanced language features might confuse students if they accidentally use them and get incomprehensible error messages. To avoid these problems, one should group the language features into different levels so that beginners start with a simple level and advance to higher levels with more features if they become more experienced. In order to support such a concept for arbitrary programming languages, we present a parser generator system, called Levels, for level-based programming languages. With a level-based language, one can stepwise increase the language level in order to match the experience of the students. Furthermore, one can implement level-specific semantic analyses in order to provide comprehensible error messages. Our Levels system generates level-specific parsers from a unified syntax description and provides an infrastructure to implement level-specific semantic analyses as well as program editors to develop level-specific programs.


While a substantial amount of research has been devoted to showing what social capital does, research explaining social capital itself lags behind. The literature has a long tradition of examining the effect of social capital on local economic growth and development. In this paper we examine whether local economic development can explain the variation in social capital across various geographical clusters in the state of Georgia. We begin by devising a measurement tool, a Human Development Index (HDI), to measure community development. Our social capital measure includes associational memberships, voluntary activities, and philanthropy obtained from the Georgia Social Capital Survey. The findings show that even after accounting for various demographic and economic characteristics, the HDI explains the variation in a number of social capital levels (especially those measured by associational involvement) across various geographical clusters in the state of Georgia.


Morphine and palliative care To the Editor: My experience as a registrar at the Calvary Hospital in Sydney, a public hospital specializing in palliative care, has reinforced the clinical impression that chroniccancer pain isamenableto goodcontrol in most cases. Opiates represent a very important part of the therapeutic armamentarium, yet often they are incorrectly or underutilized both in the hospital and community setting. Several commonly held but incorrectbeliefs about the opiatesseemto be partially responsible. The practicalaspectsof symptom control in terminalcancer are well documented,':' and when moderateto severe chronic pain dictates the need foi strong analgesia, unsoundbeliefs shouldnot act as a constraint to opiate use. One such belief is that "PRN" regimens achieve satisfactory pain control, but the requirement that pain be experienced before the next dose is given is both unnecessary and cruel. The principles of good management include the use of the right opiate, the relating of dose frequency to duration of action and drug half-life, the adequate prophylaxis or control of side-effects and the regular review of patient status and treatment effectiveness. Morphine is, for many reasons, the opiate of choice in mostcases.':' The belief that the side-effects of morphine make it too dangerous for regular, long-term use is incorrect in the vast majority of cases. Morphinehas an excellent record of safety in clinical use.':' Perhaps the greatest fear is that of inducing respiratory depression. Where it occurs, tolerance develops rapidly but, if dosage is increased gradually and titrated carefully against clinical response, it can be completely avoided. When pain limits respiration, adequate pain control often improves respiratory function. Tolerance also develops rapidly to the side-effects of drowsiness but, as with respiratory depression, may be completely avoided. With morphine, provided dosage is increased as stated, there appears to be no upper limit to the dose permissible: safe dosages as highas 1000 mgfour-hourly have been reported.' Methadone is not as safe. Its potentially very long half-life often substantially exceeds its duration Of action in severe pain; this may lead to delayed cumulative toxicity if used regularly in effective doses. Nausea is another commonly anticipated side-effect. Morphine mixtures usually contain alcohol and chloroform water, and the deletion of these seems to reduce its incidence and severity. Where nausea persists and obstruction has been ruled out, antiemetics often enable oral treatment to continue; their prophylactic use for several days at the commencement of oral opiates often prevents the problem occurring, and is recommended. Naturally the possibility of a metabolic disturbance linked causally to nausea must be borne in mind. Constipation can be completely prevented by the regular use of aperients from thejirst day of regularopiate use. No patient should have to suffer this easily avoided but much feared side-effect. Perhaps the most stubbornly held constraining belief relates to the fear of addiction. It seems almost too obvious to need stating that this is an irrelevant issue in this context apart from which,for reasons not well understood, addictionisa very rare outcomeof medically indicated opiate use.' The fear that ever spiralling dosages will be needed to stabilize a given level of pain is largely unfounded. Tolerance can and often does develop to the pain-relieving effects of the opiates, but not in an unchecked way. It plateaususually within three monthsof commencement, and subsequent dosages required may fall from that level. This plateau phenomenon prevents tolerance from becoming a bar to success. 3 The abolition of chroniccancer pain greatly improves the patient's quality of life, and is worth striving for. It is difficult to overestimate the satisfaction derived by all concerned when this isachieved. It shouldbe remembered that the opiates, and more specifically morphine, are a valuable part of the treatment approach. Unsound beliefs should not limit their use. M. D. Gliksman, BMed(Hons) Schoolof Public Health and Tropical Medicine The University of Sydney. NSW 2006 I. Coates GT. The "FIVO" regime; fixed interval, variable dose morphine analgesia in the control of cancer pain. 1984, revised edition. published by the author, Sydney. 2. Coates GT. Palliative care the modern concept. Med J Ausl 1982; 2: 503-504. 3. Twycross RG. The reliefof pain. In: SaundersCM, ed. The management of terminaldisease. London: Edward Arnold, 1978: 65-92. 4. Coates GT. The management of cancer pain a practicalapproach. Med J Ausl 1985; 142: 30-35. 5. Jaffe JH. Orug addiction and drug abuse. In: Gilman A, Goodman-Gilman A, Goodman LO,eds.Goodman and Gilman's pharmacological basis of therapeutics, 6th edn. New York: Macmillan, 1980: 535-584.


A challenge of life‐history theory is to explain why animal body size does not continue to increase, given various advantages of larger size. In birds, body size of nestlings and the number of nestlings produced (brood size) have occasionally been shown to be constrained by higher predation on larger nestlings and those from larger broods. Parasites also are known to have strong effects on life‐history traits in birds, but whether parasitism can be a driver for stabilizing selection on nestling body size or brood size is unknown. We studied patterns of first‐year survival in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in western Nebraska in relation to brood size and nestling body mass in nests under natural conditions and in those in which hematophagous ectoparasites had been removed by fumigation. Birds from parasitized nests showed highest first‐year survival at the most common, intermediate brood‐size and nestling‐mass categories, but cliff swallows from nonparasitized nests had highest survival at the heaviest nestling masses and no relationship with brood size. A survival analysis suggested stabilizing selection on brood size and nestling mass in the presence (but not in the absence) of parasites. Parasites apparently favour intermediate offspring size and number in cliff swallows and produce the observed distributions of these traits, although the mechanisms are unclear. Our results emphasize the importance of parasites in life‐history evolution.


Summary:  As man has moved rapidly from the hunter–gatherer environment to the living conditions of the industrialized countries, the incidences of some cancers have increased alarmingly. Recent increases are usually attributed to dietary changes or to altered exposures to putative carcinogens associated with the modern lifestyle. However, the changes in cancer incidence parallel similar increases in non‐neoplastic chronic inflammatory disorders (inflammatory bowel disease, allergies, and autoimmunity), and the epidemiology is often strikingly similar. This parallel is worth exploring, because the increases in chronic inflammatory disorders are at least partly explained by immunoregulatory defects resulting from diminished exposure to microorganisms that co‐evolved with mammals and developed a role in driving immunoregulatory circuits (the hygiene hypothesis). Dysregulated chronic inflammation can drive oncogenesis and also provides growth and angiogenic factors that enhance the subsequent proliferation and spread of tumor cells. Thus, a modern failure to downregulate inappropriate inflammation could underlie increases in some cancers in parallel with the increases in chronic inflammatory disorders. This possibility is supported by recent work showing that in some circumstances regulatory T cells protect against cancer, rather than aggravating it, as previously assumed. A greater understanding of these interactions might pave the way to improved microbe‐based immunotherapies.


In this paper, we consider the case of a high-speed mobile receiver operating in an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system. We present an iterative algorithm for estimating multipath complex gains with intersubcarrier interference (ICI) mitigation (using comb-type pilots). Each complex gain variation is approximated by a polynomial representation within several OFDM symbols. Assuming knowledge of delay-related information, polynomial coefficients are obtained from time-averaged gain values, which are estimated using the least-square (LS) criterion. The channel matrix is easily computed, and the ICI is reduced by using successive interference suppression (SIS) during data symbol detection. The algorithm's performance is further enhanced by an iterative procedure, performing channel estimation and ICI mitigation at each iteration. Theoretical analysis and simulation results for a Rayleigh fading channel show that the proposed algorithm has low computational complexity and good performance in the presence of high normalized Doppler spread.


The Simulation Problem Analysis and Research Kernel (SPARK) uses graph-theoretic techniques to match equations to variables and build computational graphs, yielding solution sequences indicated by needed data flow. Additionally, the problem graph is decomposed into strongly connected components, thus reducing the size of simultaneous equation sets, and small cut sets are determined, thereby reducing the number of iteration variables needed to solve each equation set. The improvement in computational efficiency produced by this graph theoretic preprocessing depends on the nature of the problem. The paper explores the improvement one might expect in practice in three ways. First, two problems chosen to span the range of performance are studied and some of the factors determining the performance are identified and discussed. The problem selected to exhibit a large improvement consists of a set of sparsely coupled non-linear equations. The problem selected to represent the other end of the performance spectrum is a set of equations obtained by discretizing Laplace's equation in two dimensions, e.g. a heat conduction problem. Execution time versus problem size is compared to that obtained with sparse matrix implementations of the same problems. Then, to see if the results of these somewhat contrived limiting cases extend to actual problems in building simulation, a detailed control system model of a sixzone VAV HVAC system is simulated with and without the use of cut set reduction. Execution times are compared between the reduced and non-reduced SPARK models, and with those from an HVACSIM+ model of the same system.


Many farmers and livestock owners throughout the world depend on traditional health care practices to keep their animal healthy. EVM provides valuable alternatives to modern medicines and complements towestern style veterinary medicines. This tradition of veterinary medicine exist in India since Mahabharata,acupuncture and herbal medicine in China and Tibetan veterinary medicine. These traditions have written records that go back thousands of years. It is observed that women preferred traditional remedies and were more knowledge than men about household medicines for routine diseases. Men were found of greater knowledge on surgical conditions like bone fracture, snake bite, dysentery, diorrhoea, etc. than woman. In some parts of India animal rearing communities like Dhangar and Kurumas have more knowledge about ethno-veterinary remedies than other groups. Similarly tribal farmers who live in forested area have abundant knowledge of medicinal plants on traditional treatments. Livestock are suffered from two types of parasitic diseases, a) Endoparasites and b) Ectoparasites. Endo-parasites further classified into Round worms, Tape worms and Flukes. The transmission of above parasites in cattle through ingestion of eggs or infective larvae, mites and contaminated pasture and drinking water. To avoid infection and control severity of disease, livestock deworming is only simple way. Documentation of deworming plants was carried out in Bhor region and other regions. Local or tribal people use Daucuscarota L. (Root), Azadirachtaindica A. Juss (Leaves) , Punicagranatum L.(Bark), Carica papaya L. (Seeds) and Areca catechu L. ( Fruit powder). Some of them are very effective in animal health care by appropriate doses are presented in this paper. Key words : Deworming, herbal remedies.


Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) have been established as the most populous class of TeV γ-ray emitters. Since launch, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has identified five high-energy (100 MeV < E < 100 GeV) γ-ray sources as PWNe and detected a large number of PWN candidates, all powered by young and energetic pulsars. The wealth of multi-wavelength data available and the new results provided by Fermi-LAT give us an opportunity to find new PWNe and to explore the radiative processes taking place in known ones. The TeV γ-ray unidentified (UNID) sources are the best candidates for finding new PWNe. Using 45 months of Fermi-LAT data for energies above 10 GeV, an analysis was performed near the position of 58 TeV PWNe and UNIDs within 5° of the Galactic plane to establish new constraints on PWN properties and find new clues on the nature of UNIDs. Of the 58 sources, 30 were detected, and this work provides their γ-ray fluxes for energies above 10 GeV. The spectral energy distributions and upper limits, in the multi-wavelength context, also provide new information on the source nature and can help distinguish between emission scenarios, i.e., between classification as a pulsar candidate or as a PWN candidate. Six new GeV PWN candidates are described in detail and compared with existing models. A population study of GeV PWN candidates as a function of the pulsar/PWN system characteristics is presented.


Smart systems in telemedicine frequently use intelligent sensor devices at large scale. Practitioners can monitor non-stop the vital parameters of hundreds of patients in real-time. The most important pillars of remote patient monitoring services are communication and data processing. Large scale data processing is done mainly using work
flows. Some work
flows are working in real-time, more complex ones are running for days or even for weeks on parallel and distributed infrastructures such as HPC systems and cloud. In HPC environment high number of failures can arise during health care smart systems work
ow enactment, so the use of fault tolerance techniques is unavoidable. The most frequently used fault tolerance technique is checkpointing. The effectiveness of the checkpointing method depends on the checkpointing interval. In this work we give a brief overview of the different checkpointing techniques and propose two new provenance based checkpointing algorithms which uses the information stored in the work
ow structure to dynamically change the frequency of checkpointing and can be efficiently used for dynamic health care smart systems.


Computer graphics cameras lack the finite depth of field (DOF) present in real world ones. This results in all objects being rendered sharp regardless of their depth, reducing the realism of the scene. On top of that, real-world DOF provides a depth cue, that helps the human visual system decode the elements of a scene. Several methods have been proposed to render images with finite DOF, but these have always implied an important trade-off between speed and accuracy. We introduce a novel anisotropic diffusion partial differential equation (PDE) that is applied to the 2D image of the scene rendered with a pin-hole camera. In this PDE, the amount of blurring on the 2D image depends on the depth information of the 3D scene, present in the Z-buffer. This equation is well posed, has existence and uniqueness results, and it is a good approximation of the optical phenomenon, without the visual artifacts and depth inconsistencies present in other approaches. Because both inputs to our algorithm are present at the graphics card at every moment, we can run the processing entirely in the GPU. This fact, coupled with the particular numerical scheme chosen for our PDE, allows for real-time rendering using a programmable graphics card.


We have been developing exoskeletal robots for human motion support. The exoskeletal robots enable physically weak people such as elderly people to take care of themselves. In this paper, we introduce an effective control method of a 1DOF exoskeletal robot for human elbow motion support. Multiple fuzzy-neuro controllers have been applied to control both the angular position and impedance of the exoskeltal robot system in any elbow angle based on force signals and biological signals that reflect the human subject's intention. Skin surface electromyogram (EMG) signals and the generated wrist force by the human subject during the elbow motion have been used as input information of the controller. The proposed system is able to adapt itself to the physiological condition of any human subject because of the adaptation ability of the fuzzy-neuro controllers. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed control method of the exoskeletal robot.


Pakistan is a developing with 148 universities and degree awarding institutions including public and private sector. The enrolment as given in the National Educational Policy 2009 was up to 5% only. It reflects greater demands of higher/tertiary education and calls for alternative strategic measures for addressing the issue. An innovative approach was necessary to address the issue of access. Therefore, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur –a formal mode university took an innovative initiative to become a dual mode university by establishing an Institute of Distance Education (IDE) in 2011. The institute offered along with others, an M.Phill programme in ten disciplines through distance education mode in semester fall 2011. More than eight hundred applications were received by potential learners against 275 seats. However, after test and interview 189 students were enrolled in M.Phill programme in Applied Psychology, Arabic, Education, English, Media Studies, Islamic Studies, Pakistan Studies, History, Persian, and Urdu. In the beginning, the Institute organized an orientation workshop for learners to guide them studying in distance education system. The programme was offered under semester system and the semester was broke up into two halves –mid-term and final term. The respective departments provided learning materials to students whereas the IDE provided instructional booklet. Submission of two assignments was compulsory for the entire semester; one before mid-term and second before final-term workshop/ examination for each of the courses. Similarly, students' presence in workshops for 24 hours (12 during mid-term and 12 during final-term workshop) for one 3-credit hour course was mandatory. Students' support services were provided through Skype conference, social media and mobile phones. Students necessarily had to give presentations and submit their assignments after checking their similarity index by using turnitin software. At the end of the course work the instructors rated performance of learners' to be good. Learner's appeared to be enthusiastic for continuing their studies. The experience appeared to be a milestone in promoting higher education and feasible for replication at larger scale in Pakistan. The process and procedures; achievements; and problems, issues and challenges were discussed paper to be presented during the conference. The detailed experience will be shared during the conference.


The rate-limiting, hormonally regulated step in the bioactivation of vitamin D is the 1alpha-hydroxylation of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which occurs in the kidney and other tissues and is catalyzed by the mitochondrial cytochrome P450 enzyme, P450c1alpha. After many years of effort, the cDNA and gene encoding this enzyme were cloned from mouse, rat, and human tissue in late 1997. The human gene encoding the 1alpha-hydroxylase is 5 kb in length, located on chromosome 12, and comprises nine exons and eight introns; its intron/exon organization is very similar to that of the other four mitochondrial P450 enzymes cloned to date. Mutations in P450c1alpha cause 1alpha-hydroxylase deficiency, also known as vitamin D-dependent rickets type 1, a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by rickets and impaired growth due to failure of renal synthesis of 1,25(OH)2D. To date, 31 patients have been studied and 20 distinct mutations in the gene identified, including 13 mis-sense mutations, none of which encode a protein with significant enzyme activity. Recent studies in animals demonstrate that regulation of P450c1alpha gene expression by parathyroid hormone (PTH), low calcium diet, low phosphorus diet, and 1,25(OH)2D occurs at the level of its mRNA. Transcriptional activity of the mouse and human P450c1alpha gene promoters can be stimulated by PTH, cAMP, and forskolin and suppressed by 1,25(OH)2D.


Composting is a waste management procedure leading to the degradation of organic substances into stable end-products that can be used as fertilizer. However, one of the major public health concerns is the emissions of bioaerosols from the composting sites. Bioaerosol dispersion across composting facilities, due to operational activities, may have significant effects on human health due to the fact that they can penetrate into the human respiratory system leading to various toxic, allergenic and infectious diseases. Therefore, in this study emissions of bioaerosols from composting sites were characterized utilizing molecular techniques in order to investigate the microbial diversity and the extent of dispersal across facilities. Bioaerosols emissions were evaluated during different seasons at a UK composting site and for the warm season at two sites in Lahore (Pakistan) to assess the impact of seasonal meteorological factors on the composition and abundance of bioaerosols. Maximum abundance was found onsite with the minimum upwind. Maximum abundances of total bacteria (5.52 x 10¹o copies/m³) and Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula (8.7 x 10 8 copies/m³) obtained during summer suggested a positive influence of temperature on microbial abundances. Minimum abundance of bioaerosols was obtained during the winter season. Further, microbial community composition analysis indicated differences in the bacterial and fungal populations between the compost and bioaerosols obtained from different locations of the composting sites. Emissions of bioaerosols were also investigated in laboratory scale composting experiments at different temperatures and moisture levels to gain further insights into the impact of atmospheric factors on the fate of bioaerosols. Higher temperatures led to the increased abundances of total bacteria and Aspergillus fumigatus but had a negative effect on the abundance of Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula . The findings of the study have indicated that seasonal variations along with other parameters impact on the dispersion and diversity of bioaerosols which is an important consideration in the re-evaluation of the risk assessment policy regarding composting facilities.


Protein 4.1N (4.1N) is a member of the protein 4.1 family and is essential for the regulation of cell adhesion, motility and signaling. Previous studies have suggested that 4.1N may serve a tumor suppressor role. However, the molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In the current study, the role of 4.1N in the downregulation of hypoxia-induced factor 1α (HIF-1α) under hypoxic conditions and therefore the suppression of hypoxia induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was investigated. The data were obtained from overexpressed and knockdown 4.1N epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cell lines. It was identified that 4.1N was capable of regulating the sub-cellular localization and expression levels of HIF-1α, by which 4.1N served a dominant role in the suppression of hypoxia-induced EMT and associated genes. Collectively, the data of the current study identified 4.1N as an inhibitor of hypoxia-induced tumor progression in EOC cells and highlighted its potential role in EOC therapy.


A study was conducted to determine the content and accumulation of oxalic acid in tissues of three edible species of the genus Xanthosoma : X. caracu , X. atrovirens and X. violaceum . Oxalic acid determinations were performed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Significant differences were found among the species and tissues studied. Oxalate content was higher in leaf blade and petiole tissues and lower in the pulp of the cormels or rhizomes. Oxalate content in the rhizomes was lowest in X. violaceum and highest in X. caracu . Accumulation in different tissues was progressive and simultaneous with tissue development. No evidence of acid translocation was detected. Postharvest storage of rhizomes resulted in progressive reduction in oxalate content. In all samples analyzed throughout the study the oxalate content of cormels never exceeded 3% of their dry weight.


The paper addresses the problem of approximating the detector distribution used in target detection embedded in a disturbance composed of a low rank Gaussian noise and a white Gaussian noise. In this context, it is interesting to use an adaptive version of the Low Rank Normalized Matched Filter (LR-ANMF) detector, which is a function of the estimated projector onto the low rank noise subspace. We will show that the traditional approximation of the LR-ANMF detector distribution is not always the better one. In this paper, we propose to perform its limits when the number of secondary data K and the data dimension m both tend to infinity at the same rate m/K → c∈2 (0;∞). Then, we give the theoretical distributions of these limits in the large dimensional regime and approximate the LR-ANMF detector distribution by them. The comparison of empirical and theoretical distributions on a jamming application shows the interest of our approach.


The data on therapeutical efficacy of the new antiepileptic drug trileptal (oxcarbazepine) and results of the own observations of 38 patients with partial epilepsy who received trileptal as mono- or polytherapy are presented. The high efficacy and good tolerability of the drug has been shown. The seizure control has been obtained in 84% of patients.


Using the example of Amazon's Kindle 2 launch, this exploratory case study research investigates an emerging mobile business model in the eBook market that closely connects an innovative device with access to content. Reflecting on the business model and innovation literature, the paper points to the potential of an emerging mobile business model that relies on radical innovations to change industry structures combined with high uncertainty. Based on the case study of Kindle 2, the study reveals the need to align innovative products and services with a company's overall brand strategy to avoid dilution. Finally, it suggests that a mobile business model based on a proprietary approach can be successful in the short run, its long run success depends on the ability to react to new market requirements and competitors. The paper concludes with a reflection of how business models need to be dynamically re-adjusted in such a fast moving field.


The aim is to investigate how a strategic flexibility approach can be used for the planning of information systems as support for knowledge work, i.e. knowledge management systems (KMS). The result of a case study of an intranet project is presented, discussing systems that cover the perspectives of strategic flexibility and illustrating the application of the concept. A concluding discussion argues for this approach to knowledge management as a key activity in balancing change and stability in the organization.


With this poster proposal I present an ongoing longitudinal study with engineering students taking a (science) foundation course. The aim of the research is to explore the reasons why students decided to take the foundation course going beyond the rather obvious one, "because they did not have the necessary qualification for direct entry". Secondly, I wish to explore students' mathematical progression into first year engineering and ultimately the usefulness of the foundation course in that respect. I took a case study methodology to collect data in the form of interviews with students; analyses were qualitative. Initial findings indicate that students expressed a variety of reasons for taking the foundation course, and that students' mathematical progression is not linear.


Samples originating from the UG-2 of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa, contain varying amounts of chromite. Most laboratories, including the Pretoria University's Facility, use the current Powder Diffraction File (PDF) maintained by the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD), for the qualitative data interpretation. The chromites that show the closest fit to that of UG-2 chromite, do not resemble its chemical composition. In this paper the new powder diffraction data is presented for the UG-2 chromite with an average composition of: (Fe2+0.55Mg0.43Ti0.02)(Cr1.14Fe3+0.23Al0.63)O4.


Intense multiphoton electron emission is observed from sharp (∼ 20 nm radius) metallic tips illuminated with weak 100 pJ, 7-fs light pulses. Local field enhancement, evidenced by concurrent nonlinear light generation, confines the emission to the tip apex. Electrons are emitted from a highly excited nonequilibrium carrier distribution, resulting in a marked change of the absolute electron flux and its dependence on optical power with the tip bias voltage. The strong optical nonlinearity of the electron emission allows us to image the local optical field near a metallic nanostructure with a spatial resolution of few tens of nanometers in a novel tip-enhanced electron emission microscope.


Until recently, there has been little evidence substantiating the belief that mental stress provokes myocardial infarction and stroke, and aggravates atherosclerosis. However, recent advances in methodology for demonstrating effects of stress are now beginning to build a foundation of evidence that supports those beliefs. In monkeys, social stress doubles coronary atherosclerosis, and increases coronary spasm, and treatment with oestrogen, which improves endothelial function, reduces coronary spasm in relation to stress. In human beings, mental stress provokes myocardial ischaemia, and haemodynamic responses to mental stress predict progression of left ventricular enlargement, and progression of carotid atherosclerosis. These findings suggest that it may not be safe to withhold treatment of high office pressures in patients with white coat hypertension. There is now some evidence that stress management in the form of individualized cognitive behavioural interventions reduces blood pressure. Further work is needed to determine whether it is safe to withhold treatment in white-coat syndrome, and whether stress management can reduce atherosclerosis and ischaemic events.


The author follows tea drinking practices from their arrival in Japan to the time of Rikyu, considering at each stage the relevant historical changes and their significance for the Way of Tea. Shortly after its arrival during the Heian era (794-1185), tea was celebrated by Japanese poets, who attributed the same spiritual qualities to the beverage as had their Chinese contemporaries. During the medieval era, however, tea began to take on a distinctively Japanese character. Eisai (1141-1215), the founder of the Rinzai sect of Japanese Zen Buddhism, accentuated the medicinal aspect of tea and saw it as a means of salvation in a spiritually degenerate age (mappo).


Microsoft StreamInsight is a platform for developing and deploying streaming applications. StreamInsight embraces a temporal stream model to unify and further enrich query language features, handle imperfections in event delivery and define consistency guarantees on the output. With its extensibility framework, StreamInsight enables developers to integrate their domain expertise within the query pipeline as user defined functions, operators and aggregates. Also, the Microsoft SQL Server Spatial Library delivers comprehensive spatial support that enables organizations to seamlessly consume, use, and extend location-based data. This paper covers two approaches to support spatio-temporal stream processing in StreamInsight. First, the paper describes the ongoing effort at Microsoft SQL Server to bring together the temporal aspect of StreamInsight and the spatial support of the SQL Spatial Library, through the extensibility framework, to deliver an end-to-end solution for location-aware and geospatial data streaming applications. Second, the paper provides the future vision for supporting spatial attributes natively within the pipeline of the stream query processor.


Synthetic hGHRH was incubated with dispersed pituitary cells from 14 human fetuses at 14-23 weeks of fetal age. After at least three days following plating the cells on an extracellular matrix in serum-containing medium, 3 h incubation with hGHRH in serum-free medium induced a significant increase in GH secretion into the medium at concentrations of hGHRH of 0.01 nmol/l or higher. After 24 h exposure to 0.5 nmol/l hGHRH, subsequent incubation with 0.5 nmol/l hGHRH for 3 h induced significantly lower GH secretion into the medium compared to the GH secretion by cells exposed previously to medium alone. In contrast, when the subsequent exposure to hGHRH was at 10-fold higher concentrations than the concentration present in the initial exposure, GH secretion into the medium did not significantly decrease compared to previously untreated cells. These results suggest that desensitization (down-regulation) of GHRH receptors on somatotropes may be involved in the mechanism by which prior GHRH exposure inhibits GH secretion in response to subsequent GHRH administration. Such desensitization seems to occur in the human fetus but is incomplete. The desensitization may be overcome by increasing the GHRH concentrations with subsequent exposure, suggesting that cellular GH depletion is not responsible for the decreased responsiveness observed.


Purpose: We investigated the prognostic effect of incorporating metabolic assessment by 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) into a conventional staging system in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Experimental Design: Seventy-six consecutive patients with pathologically proven SCLC were enrolled. All patients underwent standard treatment after pretreatment 18F-FDG-PET/CT scanning. The mean values of maximal standardized uptake values (meanSUVmax) of the malignant lesions upon 18F-FDG-PET/CT were calculated. The Cox proportional hazards model was used with performance status, lactate dehydrogenase, stage, and meanSUVmax. Results: Patients with high meanSUVmax were significantly related with the established poor prognostic factors, such as higher lactate dehydrogenase (P = 0.04) and extensive disease (ED; P = 0.01). Furthermore, in multivariate analysis, patients with high meanSUVmax were associated with poor survival outcomes compared with patients with low meanSUVmax [adjusted hazard ratio, 3.74; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.67-8.37; P = 0.001, for death and adjusted hazard ratio, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.21-4.17; P = 0.01 for recurrence/progression]. In subgroup analysis, limited disease (LD) with high meanSUVmax showed significantly shorter overall survival than LD with low meanSUVmax [high versus low meanSUVmax, 20.1 months (95% CI, 7.9-23.2) versus 35.3 months (95% CI, 27.6-42.9); P = 0.02]. ED with high meanSUVmax had significantly shorter overall survival than ED with low meanSUVmax [high versus low meanSUVmax, 9.5 months (95% CI, 4.9-13.9) versus 17.7 months (95% CI, 12.0-20.1); P = 0.007]. These findings were replicated in progression-free survival analysis. Conclusions: In SCLC, tumor metabolic activity as assessed by FDG-PET is a significant prognostic factor and identifies subgroups of patients at higher risk of death in both LD and ED SCLC.


Stroke is a cerebrovascular disease that results in decreased blood flow. Although Panax notoginseng (PN), a Chinese herbal medicine, has been proven to promote stroke recovery, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was induced in rats with thrombi generated by thread and subsequently treated with PN. After that, staining with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride was employed to evaluate the infarcted area, and electron microscopy was used to assess ultrastructural changes of the neurovascular unit. RNA-Seq was performed to determine the differential expressed genes (DEGs) which were then verified by qPCR. In total, 817 DEGs were identified to be related to the therapeutic effect of PN on stroke recovery. Further analysis by Gene Oncology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes revealed that most of these genes were involved in the biological function of nerves and blood vessels through the regulation of neuroactive live receptor interactions of PI3K-Akt, Rap1, cAMP, and cGMP-PKG signaling, which included in the 18 pathways identified in our research, of which, 9 were reported firstly that related to PN's neuroprotective effect. This research sheds light on the potential molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of PN on stroke recovery.


The medium for the biosynthesis of exoproteases with the thrombolytic action in monocultures and mixed cultures of actinomycetes was optimized in several steps using the method of complete and fractional factor experiments. When Actinomyces rimosus was cultivated on the selected medium, the productivity of the mycelium rose, the fibrinolytic activity increased three-fold, and the caseinolytic activity became 2.2 times greater. During mixed cultivation of A. rimosus and A. violaceus on this medium, fibrinolysis increased six times comparing with the A. rimosus monoculture growth on the original medium while caseinolysis became only 3.7 times greater, which increased the specificity for fibrin twice.


Background: Arrhythmias are common in the first hours after myocardial infarction. Electrolytes imbalance often contribute to the development of cardiac arrhythmias. Aims of the study to show the correlation between serum potassium and calcium and development of post myocardial infarction ventricular fibrillation and to assess the effect of different age groups and gender in the development of this arrhythmia. Methods: Ninety-three patients, 66(70.96%) males and 27 (29%) females were studied. The mean age was 57.13±11.86 years. Patients included were those who were admitted to the cardiac care units with acute myocardial infarction in 4 hospitals in Basra (southern of Iraq), blood samples for Potassium and Calcium were taken upon admission. Results: Forty (43%) patients had developed primary ventricular fibrillation. The incidence of primary ventricular fibrillation was greater among patients with serum Potassium ≤3.5mmol/L and >4.5mmol/L (p value=0.002). Age was not associated with increased frequency of primary ventricular fibrillation in patients with abnormal serum Potassium, but the incidence of primary ventricular fibrillation as caused by abnormal serum Potassium level was higher among females. No increase in primary ventricular fibrillation was found in patients with abnormal serum Calcium. Conclusion: The incidence of post myocardial ischemic primary ventricular fibrillation was very common in patients with serum Potassium ≤3.5mmo/L and >4.5mmol/L.


The emergence of the sharing economy has fueled the development of collaborative consumption (CC) schemes around the world. The promise of non-ownership particularly in the peer-to-peer environment makes it attractive for a plethora of users to engage in practices such as carsharing and the rental of private holiday accommodations or tool supply from their peers. Yet while financial and environmental benefits for both users and providers do exist, providers of private goods may be reluctant in many cases to offer their belongings for sharing. This study thus draws on social exchange theory to examine the key role of generalized, barterand money-balanced reciprocity as a pivotal scheme characteristic that predicts the intention of providers to participate in peer-to-peer CC schemes. As such, the findings from two empirical studies provide evidence that consumers are most eager to provide their personal assets against a reciprocal compensation where perceived risk functions as a mediator of the explained effect. Market mediation is also used to show that CC schemes are more attractive to consumers when facilitated by a non-profit market intermediary (vs. a for-profit intermediary), emphasizing the propensity of consumers to escape the market while sharing. A mechanism in which system trust mediates the proposed relationships is therefore suggested.


In recent years, India has been considered as one of the Earthquake prone Studies are carried out to examine the seismic behaviour of the structure when hit by an Earthquake. Only few of the researchers have researched regarding the effects of vertical irregularities in a Structural Building considering S study the effects of Vertical Irregularities in a RC Building with and without Soil Structure Interaction. The structure was modelled and Analysed by Response Spectrum Analysis using E Software. The structure analysed has been already constructed in Earthquake prone area which falls under seismic zone


OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of pleural fluid adenosine deaminase in patients with tuberculous pleural effusion while keeping pleural biopsy as a gold standard. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 114 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Pleural tap was done and 20 ml of pleural fluid was sent to laboratory for ADA level and at the same time Abram9s pleural biopsy was done from the same site. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 40.28±16.31 years. Gender distribution showed 62 patients (54.4%) were male while 52 patients (45.6%) were female. Pleural fluid adenosine deaminase (ADA) showed sensitivity (86.36%), specificity (61.54%), diagnostic accuracy (80.70%), positive predictive value (88.37%) and negative predictive value (82.42%) confirmed by pleural biopsy as a gold standard. CONCLUSION: It is concluded from this study that although Biopsy is the gold standard in diagnosing tuberculosis pleural effusion. ADA is cheap, readily available and non-invasive test that shows good diagnostic accuracy in tuberculosis pleural effusion.


The mineral components of the sediments that accumulate in an archaeological site constitute a potentially rich source of information on the diagenesis, and in turn the archaeology of the site. This detailed three-dimensional study of the mineral assemblages in mainly the Mousterian sediments of Hayonim Cave incorporates more than 2100 infrared analyses performed on-site during the excavation, as well as diverse analyses in the laboratory. Three major mineral assemblages are identified: the calcite-dahllite (CD) assemblage, the assemblage comprising mainly montgomeryite, leucophosphite and siliceous aggregates (LMVS), and a highly altered sediment in which the clays have broken down and silica was released. The boundaries between these assemblages were mapped in detail. The overall picture is one of extreme heterogeneity with sharp variations occurring over distances of a few centimetres. The relation between the CD and LMVS assemblages shows that it is a product of post-depositional diagenesis, whereas the altered clay assemblage formed beneath an erosional unconformity. The CD and LMVS assemblages were derived primarily from an accumulation several metres thick of ash deposits produced by humans. Ash is thus shown to be a major component of the sediments of this cave. The distribution of the CD assemblage reflects to a large extent the locations of two active springs/seepages in the cave. The distribution of the CD assemblage also faithfully maps the distribution of bones in the cave, showing that their distribution is a function of preservational conditions and not human activities (Stineret al ., 2001). The conditions that produced the erosional unconformity, also resulted in severe alteration of the clays and other mineral components of these sediments. The erosion process and the fact that the thickness of this altered zone decreases towards the centre of the cave, indicates that the diagenetic driving force was probably climatic. The three-dimensional distributions of the mineral assemblages have a direct bearing on the dating of the cave by thermoluminescence and electron spin resonance.


Renewable energy is needed to preserve a sustainable environment. One particular form of renewable energy (solar energy) is one of the most important and cost-effective solutions to the energy crisis. In this study, efficient solar energy management using ZigBee technology shall be discussed. The system informs the user when solar panels produce excess power before supplying it to the surrounding users, thus making the supplier a prosumer instead of a consumer. GSM which is used to monitor energy usage overcomes some security issues such as tempering. In the case of any problem, the user will receive a message on a GSM module. The smart grid is also vulnerable to different security threats, which are also discussed in this paper. Using Proteus software for simulation reveals that such a system is practical, and with further research and experimental setups it could be improved.


The profession of teaching is inherently stressful. Resilience, or the ability to adapt and develop competence despite exposure to disruptive change, has been shown to be beneficial for teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine if personal resilience is a predictor of professional development engagement and career satisfaction of agriscience teachers. A census of agriscience teachers in four purposefully selected states was taken. Data were collected using the TailoredDesign Method, using multiple points of contact with multiple modes to minimize survey error. The overall response rate was 72.5% (n = 892). The linear combination of independent variables in a stepwise backwards regression model explained 13.7% of the variance of professional development engagement and 21.4% of the variance of career satisfaction. These findings suggested that increasing the resilience of agriscience teachers, specifically in the areas of positive: world and focused, could lead to increased engagement in professional development and career satisfaction, which has been shown to be a factor that increases teacher efficacy. Additional research is needed to explore how to increase the resilience of agriscience teachers and the relationship between teacher resilience and student outcome variables.


In this paper we present our experiences teaching EPICS (engineering projects in community service) at Butler University, a small, private university, from within the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering. The EPICS program began at Purdue University in 1995. The idea behind EPICS is to have undergraduate students earn college credit for working on long-term, multi-semester projects to benefit charity and non-profit organizations. The projects are student-driven, under faculty supervision. There are many good reasons for having an EPICS program in an undergraduate computer science major. It is excellent for leveraging knowledge from other areas of computer science such as databases, networks, operating systems, and of course software engineering. The students are highly motivated because the project is real: there are real clients who use the software, making the software lifecycle come to life. Students practice teamwork, project management, professionalism, and communication skills. In our paper, we share feedback from our students on what EPICS means to them. At Butler, EPICS has been a success. Our EPICS program started in the fall 2001 semester. We now have two ongoing projects: Spanish-in-action (SIA), with Spanish middle school teachers from Crispus Attuchs Middle School in Indianapolis as clients, and social assets and vulnerabilities indicators (SAVI), with the POLIS Center at IUPUI as the client. We describe both projects in some detail in our paper. EPICS currently counts towards both the computer science major and the software engineering major as an elective at Butler. Our department has about 50 students and 4 full-time faculty, and each semester we have roughly 15 students enrolled in EPICS. We elaborate on how EPICS fits into our curriculum and provide details on how we deliver this course in our paper


The fear of incompatibility issues between legacy IPv4 systems and new IPv6 implementations can delay the migration towards a full IPv6 native Internet. Network engineers need to ensure that heterogeneous IPv6 devices behaves consistently to the IPv6 specifications and correctly enterprise in a multi-vendor environment. This paper analyzes IPv6 conformance testing, a set of rigorous test methodologies that allows to throughout verify the quality of IPv6 devices during their entire life cycle, and can give confidence to the customers. We analyze the TAHI IPv6 conformance and interoperability test suite and present our conformance test results for the latest versions of IPv6 host implementations.


The United Nation's secretary-general from 1953 to 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld, whose spiritual beliefs influenced his political activity, was searching for universality and solidarity as written in the charter of the UN. While in office, Hammarskjöld was able to unite personal belief and political rationale. This is the main reason he became a respected and true international civil servant. Hammarskjöld was neither a pure idealist nor a pure realist. This article examines the moral but not moralistic life and legacy of Hammarskjöld, who united mystics and realistic political engagement. In doing so it draws on the lessons learned from a "practical mystical" and international civil servant. This is chiefly done by using the English School approach of international relations theory while at same time pointing out the impact of positive mimesis. By devoting his private life to God, Hammarskjöld was able to devote his political life to the UN.


Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is the key regulator of cell growth and proliferation. Alterations in the mTOR signaling pathway can lead to neoplastic transformation and progression. The inhibition of mTOR blocks the progression of the cell cycle from G1 to S phase, leading to cell growth arrest and apoptosis. Thus, mTOR is a promising target for the treatment of human malignancies. Rapamycin and its analogues, including temsirolimus, everolimus, and AP23573, block the mTOR signaling pathway and induce a cellular state akin to starvation, with significant antitumor activity in a variety of malignancies, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Current data from ongoing clinical trials suggest that mTOR-targeted therapy with rapamycin derivatives is well tolerated with significant clinical activity in patients with advanced-stage RCC. Specifically, temsirolimus as monotherapy has demonstrated improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with poor-risk advanced-stage RCC. Everolimus has also demonstrated promising antitumor activity in patients with metastatic RCC. However, optimal dose, treatment schedule, selection of patients, and appropriate combination strategies with other novel agents need to be defined for mTOR-targeted therapies in the treatment of advanced-stage RCC.


Aortic dissection is a critical but rare complication of Turner syndrome. This report describes a case of chronic aortic dissection in a patient with Turner syndrome. A 54-year-old woman, suffering from mild back pain for 1 month, was referred to our hospital with a diagnosis of Stanford type A chronic aortic dissection and a bicuspid aortic valve with moderate regurgitation. Computed tomography revealed aortic dissection, involving all arch branches, extending from the ascending to the abdominal aorta. The true lumen of the brachial artery was nearly obstructed by the thrombosed false lumen. Elective aortic arch repair and aortic valve replacement were successfully performed. The patient was diagnosed with 45, XO Turner syndrome after surgery. Taking aortopathy of Turner syndrome into consideration, surveillance of the residual aorta was performed. No rapidly progressive dilatation of the residual aorta was detected during the 6 years' follow-up.


This thesis presents a comprehensive static model for a capillary type thermal massflow sensor for gases. Using such a sensor, a meter is constructed which measures gas mass flow by means of a bypass arrangement which ensures a constant flow ratio between the sensor and the meters' mam flow element.

The model equations are derived using steady state heat transfer theory for both a simplified one-dimensional and a multi-region two-dimensional case Consideration of a two-dimensional model allows for the analysis of additional model parameters such as gas conductivity and heat loss. However for such a model, the use of analytical methods to obtain a system solution is precluded due to the complexity of the system, and hence a numerical discretisation method, namely the finite difference scheme, is employed to compute the temperature field for the multiregional system. Heating coils are used to heat the sensor tube and are included in a bridge arrangement. The mass flow rate, as indicated by the instrument, is calculated as a function of the bridge voltage as detected by the coils, which also function as thermal sensors.

A reduced model is developed by omitting negligible model terms Such a model may be then used as a design tool for the simulation and optimisation of the performance of the flow meter.

Actual test rig results are used to validate the model and both sets of results correlate well for low mass flow rates However, there remains a noticeable difference between the two for the non-linear sections of the output curve and the reason for this remains to be ascertained. Nevertheless, the model has proved beneficial in showing the effect of parameter changes and the sensor's susceptibility to ambient temperature changes.

Recommendations for future development and improvement are listed.


Title of Document: MASS SPECTROMETRIC ANALYSIS OF CYTOPLASMIC RIBOSOMAL PROTEINS IN DRUG RESISTANT AND DRUG SUSCEPTIBLE HUMAN CELL LINES Faith A. Hays, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Directed By: Professor Catherine Fenselau Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry This study examines changes in cytoplasmic ribosomes that accompany drug resistance in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Differences in ribosomal protein composition between drug susceptible and drug resistant cell lines were examined. Ribosomes were isolated from mitoxantrone susceptible and mitoxantrone resistant MCF-7 cells. The acid extracted ribosomal proteins were subjected to optimized 2DGE using a "zoom" strip (pI 7-11) for the first dimension separation. Further optimization of 2DGE included the use of a 15mM DTT wick at the cathode end of the focusing tray, decreasing the protein loading amount and using large format gels for the second dimension. Forty-nine ribosomal proteins were identified in the drug susceptible cell line. Two novel protein isoforms of the proteins RPS3 and one novel isoform of RPS10 were identified in the drug resistant cell line. Methods for the extraction and detection of ribosomal proteins from the 2D gel were developed. The method of Mirza et.al. was modified and used to extract ribosomal proteins from the gel. The detection of these proteins was optimized by the use of 50% ACN/1.0% TFA to solubilize the MALDI matrix. In addition, the extracted protein solution was mixed 1:1 with 5% Triton X100. Intact molecular weights were determined for 41 ribosomal proteins using high performance MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The average number of ribosomes per cell was determined for the drug susceptible, as well as the drug resistant cell line, and found to be unchanged. MASS SPECTROMETRIC ANALYSIS OF CYTOPLASMIC RIBOSOMAL PROTEINS IN DRUG RESISTANT AND DRUG SUSCEPTIBLE CELL LINES


With the fast development of Internet,the biological information databases via web are growing at a rapid rate.But how to take full use of these resources is a big problem to researchers,the efficiency of custom browsing and querying mechanism is too low,this article provides an actual application to provide uniform transparent access based on Mediator/Wrapper to biological databases which distribute on Web.


Despite education's fundamental role in human capital formation and growth, there is no research that examines the effect of the Great Recession (or any other recession) on schools. Our paper begins to fill this gap. Exploiting detailed data on school finance indicators and an analysis of trend shifts, we examine how the Great Recession affected school funding in New York State. While we find no evidence of effects on either total revenue or expenditure, there were important compositional changes to both. There is strong evidence of substitution of funds on the revenue side — the infusion of funds from the federal stimulus occurred simultaneously with statistically and economically significant cuts in state and local financing, especially the former. On the expenditure side, instructional expenditure was maintained, while other categories such as transportation, student activities, and utilities suffered. Important heterogeneities in experiences are also observed by poverty level, metropolitan area, school district size, and urban status. Affluent districts were hurt the most; the New York City metro area, especially Nassau County, sustained the largest losses in terms of both revenue and expenditure. Our findings promise to facilitate an understanding of how recessions affect schools and of the role policy can play in mitigating the consequences.


In recent years, the use of population pharmacokinetic approach has greatly improved the scope and efficiency for obtaining information on which improved therapeutic dosing regimens can be based. Structural and variability models can be fitted to the data to obtain population as well as individual estimates of the pharmacokinetics. This approach is especially useful where there are very limited amounts of data per individual as occurs in critical care settings or pediatric population where intensive blood sampling is logistically difficult, unsafe, or unethical. Profound pathophysiologic and metabolic changes including multi-organ system failure as a result of overwhelming inflammatory response accompanied by severe sepsis and septic shock may result in a very complex drug disposition pattern in these patients. Midazolam is a sedative agent with a short duration of action. Nonetheless, cases of prolonged sedation after discontinuation of midazolam have been reported
 in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. Similarly, neonatal sepsis is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in neonatal intensive care units. Hitherto, there has been no data on the pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in very premature Malaysian neonates, despite the widespread use of this antibiotic in the country. Dosing practices have relied solely on literature data from Caucasian infants. Accordingly, the general aims of this thesis were, firstly, to determine the pharmacokinetic profile of midazolam in adult septic patients with various degrees of severity in sepsis syndrome; and secondly, to examine the pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in premature Malaysian infants so that improved dosage regimens might be developed. The first study involved prospectively collected data from 55 critically ill, adult, septic patients receiving midazolam by continuous intravenous infusion for the induction and maintenance of sedation in a general ICU. A 6-compartment model best described
 the pharmacokinetics of midazolam and its major metabolites. Serum and urine concentrations of midazolam, 1-hydroxymidazolam and 1-hydroxymidazolam glucuronide were estimated by a newly developed and validated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry assay method. Population and individual estimates of clearance and distribution volume and factors which affected the variability of these parameters were estimated. The imprecision and bias of the model were estimated and the predictive performance of the population model was evaluated by standard methods. Body weight, which reflects the severity of fluid retention, coagulation and renal function status, as well as the need for noradrenaline administration were important factors in explaining the between-subject variability of the pharmacokinetic parameters of midazolam and its metabolites. Typical population parameter estimates of clearance were: midazolam to other sites, 3.55 L/h; midazolam to 1-hydroxymidazolam, 3.77 L/h;
 1-hydroxymidazolam, 16.2 L/h and 1-hydroxymidazolam glucuronide, 13.4 L/h. The central and peripheral distribution volumes were 15.1 L/70-kg and 67.2 L/70-kg respectively while the inter-compartmental clearance was 34.4 L/h. The bioavailability of midazolam was 0.8 as per previously reported data and the absorption rate constant was 0.97 h-1. A large between-subject variability and residual unexplained variability were observed. There was no appreciable model misspecification or bias. In the second study, data were collected retrospectively from the routine therapeutic drug monitoring records of 116 premature, newborn infants. Vancomycin concentrations were estimated by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. A one-compartment infusion model with first-order elimination best described the serum vancomycin concentration data (n=835 points). Typical population parameter estimates of clearance and volume of distribution for a 1-kg premature neonate with a postmenstrual age of 30 weeks
 were 0.043 L/h and 0.52 L, respectively. The estimated population vancomycin elimination half-life was 8.5 h. There was a 20% reduction in clearance for small-for-gestational age infants, compared to appropriate-for-gestational age infants. The between-occasion variability for clearance was 16.7%. The predictive capability of the final model as assessed by visual inspective checks and non-parametric bootstrapping was found to be satisfactory. Improved dosage regimens based on AUC24/MIC≥400 values were formulated by incorporating body size, postmenstrual and small-for-gestational age using Monte Carlo simulations with the model estimated pharmacokinetic parameters. In conclusion, the research reported in this thesis has established that a multi-compartment model could be successfully used to estimate the pharmacokinetic responses of midazolam and its metabolites simultaneously in sera and urine in critically ill patients with various degrees of sepsis syndrome severity. Factors that
 influenced the pharmacokinetic parameters of midazolam in these patients were identified, but the variability in the pharmacokinetic parameters remained high. In addition, the population pharmacokinetic parameters of vancomycin in very premature infants were determined, and improved dosing regimens of vancomycin for these infants were successfully formulated using retrospective data obtained from routine therapeutic drug monitoring. The predictive performance of these two population pharmacokinetic models was evaluated and no model misspecification or bias was detected.


Lysosomal storage diseases represent a group of about 50 genetic disorders. The deficiencies of lysosomal and non-lysosomal proteins cause an accumulation of compounds which are normally degraded within the lysosome. There are currently no therapeutic options to cure patients suffering from a lysosomal storage disease. Due to their progressive nature there is considerable morbidity and mortality. Thus, an early treatment to maintain major systemic functions is of utmost importance. While so far only symptomatic therapies are in use, the newly available enzyme replacement therapies offer a real causal approach for selected storage diseases. Many of these disorders are characterised by pathognomonic eye findings. Therefore, the ophthalmological examination provides the opportunity for an early and non-invasive diagnosis and a chance to initiate early treatment. This review is intended to give a survey of the most common lysosomal storage diseases, particularly with regard to ophthalmological changes as well as illustrate new therapeutic options.


The current study describes the impact of trauma on the perceptual thinking processes of participants who have sustained repeated criminal victimisation in South Africa. Fifteen adult males, (mean age 40.73 years) participated voluntarily in this descriptive study. The Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) is the psychometric instrument used to describe the participants and Exner's Comprehensive System (CS) is the method of interpretation employed. The Perceptual Thinking Index (PTI) is the cluster of variables selected to describe each participant's level of reality testing and perceptual functioning. Together with this, the D and Adjusted D Score variables are discussed to describe the participants' overall and current coping capacities. From the research findings yielded in this study, it appears that the majority of these participants (73%) can be described as experiencing problems in terms of their perceptual thinking processes. They are also unable to appropriately engage in accurate reality testing. The results of the research study may serve as an incentive for further studies of this nature as according to the RIM, participants with this level of impaired reality testing generally present with psychotic features. However, these research results were found in participants who present with an absence of a psychotic or any schizophrenic type disorder diagnoses. Other researchers who used the RIM to assess trauma victims have found results similar to this. Furthermore, participants who present with this level of impaired reality testing, generally experience severe problems in coping with basic psychological aspects of daily functioning. This however, does not appear to be the case with this sample group, which was one of the motivating factors for conducting this research. A concluding suggestion is made for possible research into investigating how, and at what expense, other psychological features of functioning are employed, in order to manage in a seemingly welladaptive manner.


Long intriguing to me has been the concept of using "optimal stress" to provoke recovery – a manifestation of the hormetic (or biphasic) dose response in action, whereby an environmental agent (a stressor) generally thought to be toxic or inhibitory at a high dose will prove to be therapeutic or stimulatory at a lower dose. In fact, the term "hormesis" derives from the Greek "hormo," which means, literally, "to excite or stimulate." Although a controversial topic and often marginalized in the toxicological literature (which has historically embraced a linear "no-threshold" doseresponse model whereby toxins are thought to be toxic at whatever their dose and to become ever more toxic at ever higher doses), hormesis is now slowly gaining acceptance in some scientific circles, largely through the extraordinary research efforts [1-3], an avant-garde Professor of Toxicology at the University of Massachusetts. Over time, Calabrese has come to believe that there is not always a simple linear relationship between the dose of a stressor and the clinical response. Rather, his contention is that a biphasic response ("cost" at a high dose but "benefit" at a lower dose) is an almost universal biological phenomenon – whatever the stressor, whatever the biological system, whatever the endpoint being measured. More specifically, Calabrese hypothesizes that a hormetic dose response is the manifestation of a system's adaptation to stress, a "modest overcompensation" in the face of threatened disruption to its homeostatic balance. Along these same lines, the noted 16th century Swiss physician is credited with having written that the difference between a poison and a medication is the dosage thereof. So a poison is not always toxic, and nor is a medication always therapeutic [4]. What this means is that if a depressed patient on 20 mg of fluoxetine is responding, but only suboptimally, perhaps – counterintuitively – 10 mg of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) will be the more optimal dose and not ever higher doses. And whereas mild to moderate exercise will stimulate and energize the body, excessive or prolonged exercise may ultimately deplete the body of its nutrient and energetic reserves, thereby doing more harm than good. Stressful input, therefore, is inherently neither bad (poison) nor good (medication). By way of a further example, it has been found that depriving oneself of half a night's sleep once a week (preferably the second half of the night) can provoke a rapid, even if short-lived, restabilization of mood and recovery from depression [5]. As another example, intermittent fasting (for example, 36 h water fast once a week) can so significantly reduce the total body burden that mental clarity and focus can be improved dramatically and a sense of overall well-being restored [6]. In fact, superimposing an acute injury on top of a chronic one is sometimes exactly what the body needs in order to heal [7]. Is not this situation of "controlled damage" a manifestation of the hormetic effect? More specifically, consider the practice of wound debridement, which is used to accelerate healing. Not only does debridement prevent infection by removing foreign material and damaged tissue from the site of the wound but also it promotes healing by mildly aggravating the area, which will in turn activate the body's innate ability to self-heal in the face of challenge. Another example of causing physical irritation or injury to provoke recovery is the practice of prolotherapy, a highly effective treatment for chronic weakness and pain in such vulnerable areas as the lower back, the shoulder, the hip, the knee. This technique involves injecting a mildly irritating solution (for example, a relatively innocuous substance like dextrose, a local anesthetic like lidocaine, and water) into the affected ligament or tendon in order to induce a mild inflammatory reaction, which will then activate the body's healing cascade, resulting ultimately in overall strengthening of the damaged connective tissue and alleviation of the pain. Actually, prolotherapy is believed by many holistic practitioners to be significantly more effective than cortisone injections because these latter treatments, although sometimes able to provide immediate short-term relief of pain, will cause destruction of tissue and exacerbation of pain because of their catabolic effect over the long run. Just as with the body, where a condition might not heal until it is made acute, so too with the mind. Indeed, I have come to appreciate that the therapeutic provision of "optimal stress" – against the backdrop of an empathically attuned and authentically engaged therapy relationship – is sometimes the magic ingredient needed to overcome the seemingly intractable resistance to change so frequently encountered in many psychiatric patients [8-10]. In essence, manageable stress can "optimize" by provoking "heightened functionality," a result of the body's "adaptive upregulation." The hormetic dose response will probably remain a controversial – and be experienced by many as a divisive – issue in toxicology for a long time to come because it challenges the time-honored view of the linear nothreshold dose-response model of mainstream toxicology. But with ever mounting evidence that many environmental stressors do indeed elicit a biphasic dose response, it behooves the scientific and medical communities to become more knowledgeable about the concept so that they can appreciate both that "a little bit of a bad thing can be good" and that "more of a good thing is not necessarily better."


In millimeter and submillimeter-wave radiometric imaging systems, a persistent goal is the increase in the speed of acquisition of the image while maintaining a high sensitivity. Typically, the highest sensitivity is achieved by cryogenically cooling the detectors, specifically in astronomical applications. However, for the purpose of low-cost imaging applications, it is desirable to operate at room temperature. Without cryogenically cooling, the electronic noise introduced by the detectors becomes dominant, making the detectors less sensitive. Resorting to detection architectures containing amplification circuitry might be impractical for implementation in large focal plane arrays (FPAs) fabricated in integrated technologies. This contribution derives the focal plane architecture that maximizes the imaging speed of radiometers operating at room temperature without using any amplification circuitry. It is shown that in such scenario a practical image acquisition speed can still be achieved when a very broad portion of the THz-band is exploited. Ultimately, the imaging speed is maximized when the FPA is undersampled, implying a tradeoff in the size of the optics. The analysis is substantiated by a case study with recently developed wideband leaky lens antenna feeds operating from 200 to 600 GHz.


In cluster randomized trials, the study units usually are not a simple random sample from some clearly defined target population. Instead, the target population tends to be hypothetical or ill‐defined, and the selection of study units tends to be systematic, driven by logistical and practical considerations. As a result, the population average treatment effect (PATE) may be neither well defined nor easily interpretable. In contrast, the sample average treatment effect (SATE) is the mean difference in the counterfactual outcomes for the study units. The sample parameter is easily interpretable and arguably the most relevant when the study units are not sampled from some specific super‐population of interest. Furthermore, in most settings, the sample parameter will be estimated more efficiently than the population parameter. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to propose using targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE) for estimation and inference of the sample effect in trials with and without pair‐matching. We study the asymptotic and finite sample properties of the TMLE for the sample effect and provide a conservative variance estimator. Finite sample simulations illustrate the potential gains in precision and power from selecting the sample effect as the target of inference. This work is motivated by the Sustainable East Africa Research in Community Health (SEARCH) study, a pair‐matched, community randomized trial to estimate the effect of population‐based HIV testing and streamlined ART on the 5‐year cumulative HIV incidence (NCT01864603). The proposed methodology will be used in the primary analysis for the SEARCH trial. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


ABSTRACT This article examines the critical interplay among Indigenous resurgence, settler colonialism, and the politics of environmental justice. Critical questions need to be asked: How are Indigenous political demands for decolonization taken up within the broader scope of impending planetary dystopia? How might 'environmental justice' work to (re)inscribe hegemonies of settler colonial power by foregrounding settler interests? This article takes up these questions vis à vis Standing Rock, paying particular attention to the way that the politics around water become reconfigured through notions of kinship, justice, Indigenous temporalities, and multiple frontlines. I argue that an anti-colonial indictment of environmental justice compels us to (re)imagine decolonial research/ praxis around environmental politics.


An effective voice activity detection (VAD) algorithm is proposed for improving speech recognition performance in noisy environments. The approach is based on the determination of the speech/nonspeech divergence by means of specialized order statistics filters (OSFs) working on the subband log-energies. This algorithm differs from many others in the way the decision rule is formulated. Instead of making the decision based on the current frame, it uses OSFs on the subband log-energies which significantly reduces the error probability when discriminating speech from nonspeech in a noisy signal. Clear improvements in speech/nonspeech discrimination accuracy demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed VAD. It is shown that an increase of the OSF order leads to a better separation of the speech and noise distributions, thus allowing a more effective discrimination and a tradeoff between complexity and performance. The algorithm also incorporates a noise reduction block working in tandem with the VAD and showed to further improve its accuracy. A previous noise reduction block also improves the accuracy in detecting speech and nonspeech. The experimental analysis carried out on the AURORA databases and tasks provides an extensive performance evaluation together with an exhaustive comparison to the standard VADs such as ITU G.729, GSM AMR, and ETSI AFE for distributed speech recognition (DSR), and other recently reported VADs.


Our aim in this study was to determine the frequency of Trigger finger, De quervain tenosynovitis and Dupuytren contracture in patients who underwent Idiopathic carpal tunnel release. The frequencies of trigger finger (TF), De Quervain tenosynovitis (DQ), and Dupuytren contracture (DC) on the same or contralateral extremity were evaluated in 430 patients who underwent surgery with a diagnosis for idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (ICTS) from January 2008 to August 2017. The mean age of patients was 54.6 (range, 40-68), and 348 were female while 82 were male. We identified 42 cases with TF (9.76%), 7 cases with DQ (1.62%), and 10 cases with DC (2.32%). We believe that our data could provide insight for the evaluation of the Turkish population.


Automatic devices that locate and automatically sectionalize faulted branches in MV power distribution systems restrict drastically the extent of disruption caused by long power interruptions when properly positioned. Some algorithms and automatic calculation procedures are proposed for determining the optimum number and location of automatic sectionalizing switching devices. Using these algorithms, the optimal solution can be found for both radial and meshed systems. The procedure is based on Bellmann's optimality principle which, combined with thinning techniques, yields the optimal solution in a few ms for real size problems.


A new modular approach based on Pd-catalyzed C-C bond formation is presented for the assembly of a benzannulated azocine scaffold, the key intermediate in the synthesis of functionalized azadibenzocyclooctynes (aza-DIBOs). The intramolecular ring-closing Heck coupling was investigated by variation of the C-X bond. The reaction rate is limited by the initial oxidative addition step and the regiochemistry strongly depends on the auxiliary phosphine. Under optimized conditions, the 8-endo regioisomer was obtained in 71% yield over two steps (with no protecting group chemistry) or in one pot, inclusive of C-N bond formation. The practical generation of the octyne triple bond of a prototypical N-benzoyl aza-DIBO, without the need for chromatographic purification, is also described. The structural features, including those of the ring-strained cyclic octyne, were elucidated by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallographic analysis. The high reactivity of the N-benzoyl aza-DIBO synthesized is demonstrated in a strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction with an alkyl azide (k=0.38 M(-1)  s(-1)).


This paper proposes a zero voltage switching (ZVS) technique for bidirectional dc/dc converters. The dc/dc unit considered consists of two distinct bidirectional dc/dc cells paralleled at both input and output and whose two input bridges are coupled by means of passive inductive branches. A multiangle phase-shift modulation method is proposed which simultaneously achieves bidirectional power control, power sharing, and ZVS of all the electronic devices over the full power range without the need for auxiliary switches. Simulation and experimental results are reported for a 2.4 kW dc/dc unit consisting of two paralleled 1.2 kW bidirectional dual-bridge series resonant converter cells.


A transcription cofactor alters the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism in the liver to suppress hepatic steatosis. Altering gene expression to prevent fatty liver Fat accumulation in the liver, a condition called hepatic steatosis, can lead to liver dysfunction and hepatocellular carcinoma. The transcription cofactor BTG1 is decreased in hepatocellular carcinoma. Here, Xiao et al. show that the amount of BTG1 was also decreased in mice that are a genetic model of obesity. BTG1 suppressed the transcription of a gene encoding an enzyme involved in fatty acid synthesis, and overexpression of BTG1 in the livers of obese mice resulted in less hepatic steatosis. In addition, mice that overexpressed BTG1 in the liver were protected against diet-induced fatty liver, suggesting that treatments that increase the activity of BTG1 could be developed to prevent hepatic steatosis. Liver steatosis, a condition in which lipid accumulates in liver cells, is a leading cause of many liver diseases. The livers of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, a cancer characterized by liver steatosis, have decreased abundance of the transcription cofactor BTG1 (B cell translocation gene 1). We showed that the livers of db/db mice, which are a genetic model of obesity, had decreased BTG1 mRNA and protein abundance. BTG1 overexpression ameliorated liver steatosis in db/db mice, whereas knockdown of BTG1 induced liver steatosis in wild-type mice. Consistent with these changes, we found that BTG1 decreased triglyceride accumulation in cultured hepatocytes. BTG1 overexpression inhibited the expression of the gene encoding stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1), an enzyme involved in the synthesis of fatty acids, by suppressing the activity of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4). Knockdown of SCD1 prevented liver steatosis in wild-type mice induced by knockdown of BTG1. Conversely, the ability of BTG1 overexpression to ameliorate liver steatosis in db/db mice was negated by ATF4 overexpression. Moreover, BTG1 transgenic mice were resistant to liver steatosis induced by a high-carbohydrate diet. BTG1 abundance was decreased by this diet through a pathway that involved mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1), and cAMP response element–binding protein (CREB). Together, our study identifies a role of BTG1 in regulating hepatic lipid metabolism and specifically in preventing ATF4 and SCD1 from inducing liver steatosis.


Unbundling of the local loop (ULL) has seen quite different "success stories" in the various countries across Europe. Although the obligation for the provision of ULL was implemented in the regulatory framework early and mostly parallel to other means of liberalisation, national implementation has been rather heterogeneous. One question of decisive importance for national regulatory authorities (NRAs) was whether to foster service-based competition in the first phase of liberalisation or to focus on infrastructurebased competition. The different NRAs chose to head down different roads. This paper analyses whether the strategy of NRAs has had any mid-term effect on the economic welfare created in the communications markets. It indicates that infrastructure-based competition has a positive effect on innovation. Moreover, infrastructure-based competition appears to be more important for business customers than for residential clients. On the other hand, service-based competition lowers call prices and appears to be more important to residential markets. The results of this study point out the importance of a balanced approach to both types of policies.


Abstract: Spatial discontinuity often causes poor accuracy when a single model is used for the surface modeling of soil properties in complex geomorphic areas. Here we present a method for adaptive surface modeling of combined secondary variables to improve prediction accuracy during the interpolation of soil properties (ASM-SP). Using various secondary variables and multiple base interpolation models, ASM-SP was used to interpolate soil K+ in a typical complex geomorphic area (Qinghai Lake Basin, China). Five methods, including inverse distance weighting (IDW), ordinary kriging (OK), and OK combined with different secondary variables (e.g., OK-Landuse, OK-Geology, and OK-Soil), were used to validate the proposed method. The mean error (ME), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean relative error (MRE), and accuracy (AC) were used as evaluation indicators. Results showed that: (1) The OK interpolation result is spatially smooth and has a weak bull's-eye effect, and the IDW has a stronger 'bull's-eye' effect, relatively. They both have obvious deficiencies in depicting spatial variability of soil K+. (2) The methods incorporating combinations of different secondary variables (e.g., ASM-SP, OK-Landuse, OK-Geology, and OK-Soil) were associated with lower estimation bias. Compared with IDW, OK, OK-Landuse, OK-Geology, and OK-Soil, the accuracy of ASM-SP increased by 13.63%, 10.85%, 9.98%, 8.32%, and 7.66%, respectively. Furthermore, ASM-SP was more stable, with lower MEs, MAEs, RMSEs, and MREs. (3) ASM-SP presents more details than others in the abrupt boundary, which can render the result consistent with the true secondary variables. In conclusion, ASM-SP can not only consider the nonlinear relationship between secondary variables and soil properties, but can also adaptively combine the advantages of multiple models, which contributes to making the spatial interpolation of soil K+ more reasonable.


The current regulatory framework for the fertilizer sector in Pakistan is based upon a huge subsidy on urea processing and use, control on entry through a monopolistic gas supply and tight regulation on distribution, and promotion of urea at the cost of other nutrients. This setting is not sustainable because it has created a huge burden on the exchequer, inefficiency in fertilizer use, un-competitiveness in international markets, and abnormal profits to the industry without much benefit to farmers. This study first explains the existing regulatory framework and quantifies its impact, and then uses an Equilibrium Displacement Model (EDM) to estimate the impact of policy reform on multi-commodities and multi-stakeholder markets. Simulations of several policy options suggests that, under certain scenarios, the abnormal profit of processors can be squeezed, farmers' profit enhanced, and the burden on exchequer can be reduced without much impact on productivity if free trade is allowed.


With the current widespread use of dolutegravir in low-income countries, the understanding of the impact of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI-) associated mutations on the efficacy of dolutegravir-containing antiretroviral therapy (ART) is of utmost importance. We describe a rare case of a patient with pre-existing M184V/I mutation and virological failure on a dolutegravir/lamivudine/abacavir regimen with the emergence of integrase strand transfer inhibitor resistance mutations. Additional risk factors, which may have triggered the virological failure, included suboptimal adherence and low nadir CD4+ cell count. This case illustrates that dolutegravir-containing triple-therapy should be prescribed with caution to patients with pre-existing M184V/I mutation and poor efficacy of the reverse transcriptase inhibitor backbone. In addition, this case highlights the need for viral load monitoring in patients on dolutegravir-containing regimens in settings with a high prevalence of the M184V/I mutation such as in low-income countries.


The effect of invasive species on local parasite dynamics is often overlooked. The African Clawed Frog Xenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802) (Anura: Pipidae) is a global invader, with established populations on four continents and is a domestic exotic in southern Africa. Despite a century of parasitological surveys, the current study reports seven previously unrecorded nematode species parasitising X. laevis across South Africa. These are adult Capillaria sp. and Falcaustra sp. from the intestine, third stage larvae of Contracaecum sp. encysted in the body cavity, third stage larvae of Paraquimperia sp. and Tanqua sp. from the intestine and two different species of second stage nematode larvae from the lungs and kidneys, respectively. Morphological descriptions, photomicrographs and molecular data of the 18S and 28S rRNA and COI genes are provided to aid future investigations. We propose that these nematodes could well be using X. laevis as a definitive, paratenic and intermediate host, probably involving native fish, piscivorous birds, semi-aquatic reptiles and invertebrates in their life cycles. All recovered nematodes are recorded for the first time herein in association with X. laevis, except for the genus Contracaecum, members of which have previously been recorded from invasive X. laevis from California and Chile. The current study illustrates that X. laevis is an important parasite reservoir in its native range, with implications for its role in the invasive range. The fact that none of these nematodes could be identified to species level underscores the importance of providing morphological descriptions and molecular data when reporting on parasitological surveys, especially those of known invasive species.


In this paper, we investigate a new multi-armed bandit (MAB) online learning model that considers real-world phenomena in many recommender systems: (i) the learning agent cannot pull the arms by itself and thus has to offer rewards to users to incentivize arm-pulling indirectly; and (ii) if users with specific arm preferences are well rewarded, they induce a"self-reinforcing"effect in the sense that they will attract more users of similar arm preferences. Besides addressing the tradeoff of exploration and exploitation, another key feature of this new MAB model is to balance reward and incentivizing payment. The goal of the agent is to maximize the total reward over a fixed time horizon $T$ with a low total payment. Our contributions in this paper are two-fold: (i) We propose a new MAB model with random arm selection that considers the relationship of users' self-reinforcing preferences and incentives; and (ii) We leverage the properties of a multi-color Polya urn with nonlinear feedback model to propose two MAB policies termed"At-Least-$n$ Explore-Then-Commit"and"UCB-List". We prove that both policies achieve $O(log T)$ expected regret with $O(log T)$ expected payment over a time horizon $T$. We conduct numerical simulations to demonstrate and verify the performances of these two policies and study their robustness under various settings.


The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest nutrition assistance program in the United States and is a vital part of the social safety net. The monthly lump-sum benefit distribution schedule has led to higher food expenditures and consumption shortly after the date of benefit receipt, and a diminishing food expenditures and associated food consumption pattern towards the end of the benefit month. This has been found to have adverse effects on beneficiaries' dietary outcomes. In this paper, we investigate food purchasing patterns of SNAP households over the month using data from the National Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS), a newly developed nationally representative survey, and its geographic component. We ask the research question: do SNAP recipients pay more for otherwise similar food at the beginning of the benefit cycle, and substitute less costly food as the month proceeds? We found that the unit cost of food bought declines significantly over the benefit cycle when households make purchases using SNAP benefits. Our results shed light on the optimal policy design of food assistance programs through a better understanding of program participants' food-purchasing behavior.


Negative ethnicity was rife in the context that Jesus told the parable of the so-called Good Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans despised each other hence the parable was told to curb ethnic prejudice and hatred among them. In Kenya, negative ethnicity is rife and it has made ethnic groups to append ethnic tension in their relations. The title of the parable has a problem as it implicitly inspires tenets of negative ethnicity. It tacitly typifies Samaritans as bad except the one who helped the unnamed robbed man. Jesus proved that non-Jews too can discern and fulfil the godly value of being compassionate even to enemies. This paper seeks to examine and confirm the critical point that Jesus was stating, i.e., the neighbour is one whose ethnic origin does not matter to interpret the parable for the Kenyan context. It also aims to read the parable so as to enhance good neighbourliness among Kenyan ethnic groups. Keywords: Jews, Samaritans, Negative Ethnicity, Good neighbourliness, Kenyan Context