The in vivo roles of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte (G)-CSF were studied in factor-deficient gene-targeted knockout mice infected with the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Previous results showed that G-CSF−/− mice had an underlying selective deficiency in granulopoiesis, but GM-CSF−/− mice had little disturbance in resting hematopoiesis. Nevertheless, in this study it is revealed that 3 days after intraperitoneal infection with 2 × 105 Listeria, GM-CSF−/− mice harbored 50-fold more organisms in their spleen and liver than similarly infected wild-type mice. This was accompanied by a severe depletion of bone marrow hematopoietic cells and a deficient inflammatory response in their peritoneal cavity. Thus, GM-CSF is essential for emergency, but not resting, hematopoiesis. In contrast, G-CSF−/− mice were markedly susceptible to low doses (2 × 104) of Listeria intraperitoneally. After infection, the acute (1 day) granulocyte infiltration to the peritoneal cavity was normal compared with wild type, but the more prolonged monocyte response was deficient, reflecting a continued decrease in bone marrow cellularity and hematopoiesis over 3 days, which was not observed in infected wild-type mice. It is thus apparent that G-CSF deficiency affects monocytopoiesis as well as granulopoiesis during infection.


Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD) stands as a consensus response to the persistent fact of vulnerable software, yet few performance indicators have been proposed to measure its efficacy at the broadest scales. In this article, we seek to fill that gap. We begin by deriving a model of all possible CVD histories from first principles, organizing those histories into a partial ordering based on a set of desired criteria. We then compute a baseline expectation for the frequency of each desired criteria and propose a new set of performance indicators to measure the efficacy of CVD practices based on the differentiation of skill and luck in observation data. As a proof of concept, we apply these indicators to a variety of longitudinal observations of CVD practice and find evidence of significant skill to be prevalent. We conclude with reflections on how this model and its accompanying performance indicators could be used by various stakeholders (vendors, system owners, coordinators, and governments) to interpret the quality of their CVD practices.


A generic and effective approach to "switch on" and enhance the two‐photon fluorescence (TPF) emission of quenched TPF molecules, i.e., fluorene derivatives, is reported in terms of molecular recognition with a decoupling medium. Such a medium, in this case Bombyx mori silk, can recognize TPF molecules and inhibit the aggregation of the TPF molecules. The designed TPF molecules are 2,7‐bis[2‐(4‐nitrophenyl)ethenyl]‐9,9‐dibutylfluorene (4NF) and 2,7‐bis[2‐(4‐nitrophenyl)ethenyl]‐9,9‐dioctylfluorene (8NF), which exhibit suppressed TPF emission owing to molecular‐stacking‐led aggregation in the solid form. Due to the specific recognition between –NO2 in the quenched fluorescent molecules and –NH groups in silk fibroin molecules, the aggregated molecules of 4NF/8NF molecules are decoupled. This decoupling gives rise to a significant increase in TPF quantum yields. The mechanism is further confirmed by replacing the terminal group –NO2 in 8NF with –CH3 (in 2,7‐bis[2‐(4‐methylphenyl)ethenyl]‐9,9‐dioctylfluorene; 8MF) to eliminate the possibility of molecular recognition. As predicted, in the case of 8MF the switching‐on effect is eliminated. Completely new TPF silk fibers can additionally be applied in real‐time 3D high‐resolution TPF scaffold bioimaging.


This special issue on Neurosensory Ecology was inspired by a Discussion Meeting organised by The Journal of Experimental Biology that explored aspects of sensory physiology, behaviour and ecology that are not often considered together. The review articles herein highlight how different organisms sense their world in special ways that enable them to exploit adaptive ecological and behavioural niches. Many of these sensory systems and abilities are not shared by humans. The rationale behind this selection of topics was to provide interested readers with a very catholic view of neurosensation, ranging from some of the first sensory cells that emerge in a developing organism to the molecular evolution of ion channels that are used to transduce signals in the environment. The goal was to be wide-ranging in the number and type of senses discussed, as well as in how various senses contribute to shortand long-term changes in behaviour. The organisms highlighted in this volume cover a huge range: from developing molluscs in their egg capsules to nocturnal bees who forage at night, frogs detecting substrate-borne vibrations, and polar bears in their Arctic habitat. The senses discussed and reviewed in this issue are truly global. For example, to navigate great stretches of open ocean, turtles make use of the earth's magnetic field, while sea birds use their olfactory system to detect miniscule concentrations of airborne chemicals. At the other end of the spectrum, we explore how primary sensory receptors encode and relay information about an animal's environment and consider the 'costs of sensation' and why organisms are willing to absorb this cost. Insights into the evolution of sensory systems are provided by the opsin genes of butterflies and Na channels of electric fish, and we examine how the need to detect and evade predators is shared by crickets and cuttlefish but accomplished in very different ways. Finally, we look at how sensory performance changes as animals age. Thus, this special issue celebrates a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding neurosensory ecology. We hope that these articles prove interesting and illuminating to experts and non-experts alike and that the research questions addressed by our contributing authors provide fertile ground for young scientists entering this exciting field of study. We would like to extend our warmest thanks to all of the authors of this special issue. We also thank the editors and staff at The Journal of Experimental Biology for their support while putting this issue together.


Successful intra-temporomandibular joint gene transfer is a prerequisite for gene therapy to induce mandibular condylar growth. This study was carried out to investigate the expression of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) based vector-mediated enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP) in the mandibular condyle. The transduction efficiencies for primary chondrocytes using different hybrids of rAAV vectors were identified by fluorescence microscopy and FACS. Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with either rAAV(2/2)-eGFP construct or saline into both mandibular condyles. The spatial and temporal transgene expression was detected by in situ hybridization, RT-PCR and real-time PCR. Our result showed that rAAVs were capable of infecting rat chondrocytes. rAAV(2/2) was the best serotype to infect chondrocytes in vitro. By in situ hybridization, eGFP expression was clearly detected in the deeper layer of mandibular condyle as early as 7 days after injection. By real-time PCR, the transgene expression reached a peak at 21 days. This study was the first report to explore that rAAV-mediated genes could be transferred to mandibular condyle in vivo. Our results strongly suggest that rAAV(2/2) mediated gene delivery is a promising approach to deliver candidate genes for future regulating mandibular condylar growth.


This research concerns the application of the Probability Density Function (PDF) on Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of turbulent reacting flows in a wide range of open flame configurations spanning between the premixed and non-premixed regime. The aim is to validate the applicability of the PDF model on a wide range of flames without any special treatment. Additionally, the a-posteriori Chemical Exposive Mode Analysis (CEMA) has been applied to the results in order to examine the flame structure and identify locations of extinction, re-ignition, etc. Four different series of flames are studied, each one of them belonging to a completely different combustion regime. The F1-F3 premixed turbulent flames is the first family of flames where the PDF method is applied. The LES-PDF model is shown to accurately predict the flow field and the scalar field even on a very coarse grid. The simulations were performed on a personal computer, so the computational power was severely restricted. Nevertheless, the PDF model was able to give accurate predictions, so one of the flames was chosen for a further sensitivity analysis. A large number of modelling parameters were studied and the results show little sensitivity to them in contrast to RANS-PDF approaches in premixed flames. Finally, the model is able to capture large scale quenching at qualitatively the correct extinction speed. The Cambridge-Sandia series of swirling stratified flames was also examined. It encompasses a wide range of flames with various combinations of swirl and stratification ratio levels. Four distinct cases were selected and tested. For the most simple flames (SwB1 and SwB5), the model gives excellent prediction for both the flow field and the scalar distribution. The introduction of i the additional fields improves slightly the results, especially at locations further away from the nozzle exit. For the flames which exhibit more complex flow fields and complex characteristics (SwB6 and SwB11), the model gives reasonable results, given the complexity of the flow field. The introduction of differential diffusion and heat losses towards the ceramic cap was studied independently on the SwB11 flame and was found to have counteracting effects. Therefore, their combination was tested and was found to give a significant improvement. The next series of flames is the Sydney Swirl flames. The SM1 and SM2 flames are two complex swirling flames with a difficult flow field to capture. The field is composed of recirculating zones and vortex break-down bubble areas. The SM2 has not been tested in the literature and this work is the first modelling approach. The flow field simulation results are reasonable, given the complexity of the flame. The biggest discrepancies are observed close to the nozzle exit. The Chemical Explosive Mode Analysis is also performed to give information about the flame structure. The flame is divided into three distinct zones with the second one being a very large quenching region. The CEMA analysis explains why the flame does not quench, but re-ignites further down. Finally, the Delft III premixed flame is studied, a difficult flame to model as it shows quenching with large extinction pockets despite the moderately low Reynolds number. The major flow characteristics were accurately captured by the simulation and the introduction of the additional stochastic fields improves the results close to the nozzle exit. Contrary to most researchers that model the pilot flow as a single heat source close to the nozzle exit, in this work the pilot flow is modelled as a separate flow stream, something that increased the complexity of the simulations due to the extremely thin pilot rim which was comparable to the cell size. Nevertheless, the model was able to accurately capture the localized extinction throughout the flame and the application of the Chemical Explosive Mode Analysis gave further insight into the structure of the flame.


An exposure assessment to nitrofuran residues was performed for three human populations (adults, teenagers and children), based on residue analyses of foods of animal origin (liver, honey, eggs and aquaculture) covering the 2-year period 2009–2010. The occurrence of nitrofuran metabolites in food on the Irish market was determined for the selected period using the data from Ireland's National Food Residue Database (NFRD) and from results obtained from the analysis of retail samples (aquaculture and honey). Laboratory analyses of residues were performed by methods validated in accordance with Commission Decision 2002/657/EC regarding performance of the analytical method and interpretation of results. Semicarbazide (SEM) was the contaminant most frequently identified and its content ranged from 0.09 to 1.27 μg kg−1. SEM is currently used as a marker of nitrofuran abuse, but it may also occur from other sources. The presence of nitrofuran metabolite 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ) was detected in two aquaculture samples (prawns) at 1.63 and 1.14 μg kg−1, but such a low number of positive cases did not present sufficient data for a full AOZ exposure assessment. Therefore, the evaluation of exposure was focused on SEM-containing food groups only. Exposure assessments were completed using a probabilistic approach that generated 10 iterations. The results of both the upper- and lower-bound exposure assessments demonstrate that SEM exposure for Irish adults, teenagers and children from selected food commodities are well below EFSA-estimated safe levels.


Abstract:This essay unpacks the narrative of Detroit as "America's great comeback story" by suggesting that the narration of the city as an authentically American frontier of opportunity is rooted in what Aileen Moreton-Robinson calls "the white possessive." In so doing, the essay emerges from and extends work that poses whiteness and property as co-constructions within the settler colonial state. I argue that tourism narratives of exploration and discovery, in which a majority black city is imagined as open, empty, and ready for exploration and settlement by adventurous explorers and urban pioneers, represent the possessive logics of whiteness. By analyzing the ways in which Detroit has been chronicled in travel narratives of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries such as the chronicles of urban explorers and the state-funded "Pure Michigan" tourism campaign, I show how the mythology of the frontier and its reliance on white possession as the defining narrative of place is redeployed in the attempt to (re)claim Detroit by the State of Michigan, corporate elites, and creative class workers.


Employing appropriate and up to date Business models in Organizations is so important due to the fact that it is the strategy which shows the main logic of a corporation in creating values in organiza-tions. It is important to the extent that not employing an appropriate and up to date business model will prevent the organizations fulfilling their aims, even if they employ high technology or diverse resources. In fact, economical value of a technology is unknown until corporations employ an appro-priate form of business model. It can be said that, those corporations employing more appropriate business models for a technology achieve more value than the corporations discovering that technolo-gy. A good business model is the basis of each successful organization, no difference the investment is new or it's an already established one. Due to the importance of this issue, in this study, we try to identify the main reasons for not being up to date or not developing business models in organizations. We do this by reflecting upon the results of credible and up to date researches in the area of different business models and obstacles or challenges facing different organizations. In line with what was said above, we employed library research, extracting updating obstacles in business models, ques-tionnaire and field research for data collection process. Determining reliability and validity of the questionnaire, we distributed it among 198 corporations of management counseling in Tehran prov-ince. This research follows positivism paradigm and is practical, quantitative, and inductive. The results lead to the discovery of 35 cases of the main reasons of not being up to date and developed in using business models. As there was no basis for categorizing variables and formerly defined catego-ries, in order to maximize the correlation between variables and factors, calculating the factorial ratio and determining the intended factors, we employed factorial design. Using this statistical technique, the variables were categorized in 4 kinds of obstacles: strategic, information, management, and sys-tem. At the end these are ranked using fuzzy Topsis technique. The results of ranking show the im-portance order of obstacles as follows: Informational factors, Systematic factors, managerial factors & strategic factors. Research paper Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Salamzadeh, Y. Rezai, M. (2017). "Business Models and Innovation Obstacles in Iran: A New Framework", Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 108–139.


This brief considers the problem of fault detection (FD) for a class of nonlinear networked control systems (NCSs) in which the sensors and actuators of the plant exchange information with a remote controller via a shared communication medium. Under the model utilized here, the communication cannot transfer all the information that sensors or controllers send. The choice of sensors and actuators that are active is designed to achieve the reachability and observability of the NCS. A novel method is proposed for the FD of a nonlinear NCS by first identifying a pair of communication sequences that preserve reachability and observability and then designing an observer-based FD based on those sequences. An example is given to show the potential of the proposed techniques.


Proposes a method to extend the registration range of a vision-based augmented reality system. We propose to use natural feature points contained in images captured by a pair of stereo cameras in conjunction with pre-defined fixed fiducial markers. The system also incorporates an inertial sensor to achieve a robust registration method which can handle user's fast head rotation and movement. The system first uses pre-defined fiducial markers to estimate a projection matrix between real and virtual coordinate systems. At the same time, the system picks up and tracks a set of natural feature points from the initial image. As a user moves around in an AR environment, the initial markers fall out from the camera frame and natural features are then used to recover the projection matrix. Experiments evaluating the feasibility, of the method are carried out and show the potential benefits of the method.


Obsolescence is a serious threat for built property. As an often used demolition motive, obsolescence can be regarded as the last phase of the life span of buildings. From a sustainable viewpoint, life cycle extension is necessary to minimize waste. But there are more considerations to carefully maintain the existing stock. Knowledge about the prevention, the diagnosis and the treatment of obsolescence is therefor of growing importance. In previous research publications we combined the available knowledge about obsolescence in a conceptual model for further research on and appliance in the decision making about demolition. Since evidence based theoretical research references on obsolescence are scarce rare, the model has inevitably an explorative character. As the next step in our research, this paper describes the outcomes of a series of case studies to test and further develop the model.


This article first recalls our previous research on the original approach on productive labour, which goes from Petty to Genovesi (1767). That approach, being mainly empirical, divided jobs into more or less productive. The other most important approaches came later: Quesnay founded productive labour on surplus, Condillac on utility, Smith on exchange value. All of them gave the concept a more rigorous, but also more rigid shape: jobs were divided into productive or unproductive once and for all. Moreover social utility and productive nature of labour became separated qualities. Smith's concern was to fight the waste of the aristocrats, which fed unproductive labour and subtracted resources from investment and productive labour. But for Smith public services and intellectual labour are unproductive because their product is not material. So, he puts the seeds of the dissolution of his own theory. The following decades witness a confrontation between the physiocratic and the Smithian approach. In the end the latter prevails, but its inconsistencies emerge.


Dating and Causes of some eustatic Shifts of Sealevel SUBJECTIVE NAMING The geological timetable is a thing of shreds and patches, the product of the shifting views of the nineteenth century about the proper subdivision of geological time. Usage is not uniform. Logically the Pleistocene ("most recent") period includes both Recent time and Quaternary time, which covers the so-called Glacial period. Geology has been developed by men living in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. For those leaders of thought the Glacial period is of the past. For a geologically minded penguin of Antarctica the Glacial period is here and now. The truly objective philosopher must agree with the penguin: the earth as a whole is something like halfway through the Glacial period. Land ice now mantles 15,000,000 square kilometers, as against 30,000,000 square kilometers, or 6 per cent, of the earth9s surface when the ice-caps were last at . . .


BACKGROUND
It has been suggested that clinicians should be looking at new ways to enhance their patients' self-care. Patient education is one strategy that primary providers may use.

OBJECTIVE
This study investigates the format in which patients would like to pursue their health education within the chiropractic clinic.

METHODS
An exploratory study of chiropractic patients was undertaken to investigate patients' preferred health education formats, their commitment to pursuing health objectives, and their literacy level. Purposive sampling of 9 Australian chiropractic clinics was undertaken. Convenience sampling of patients attending these clinics resulted in 102 patients participating. Participants completed a questionnaire. A research assistant was available to clarify any questions. Data were collected and collated. A Likert scale was used to capture responses to questions ascertaining patient opinions.

RESULTS
Patients considered health the most important of the life objectives listed; however, they preferred spending time with family to undertaking health- and fitness-promoting activity. More chiropractic patients opted for health information brochures than health promotion classes, personally supervised self-care programs, or practitioner-supervised self-care contracts. Patient literacy levels varied within and between clinics.

CONCLUSIONS
Brochures may provide a definitive health information tool for chiropractors who limit their clinical role to primary contact and a helpful adjunct to patient education for chiropractors committed to a primary care role. However, care should be taken to select brochures consistent with the patients' literacy level. Tips for selecting and preparing suitable brochures are provided. The discrepancy between how greatly patients value health and how they prefer spending their time may have implications for successful behavior change. Brochures may not alone constitute adequate practitioner involvement.


Developed countries regard preschool education as an important starting point and foundation for elite training. In recent years, preschool education has also attracted a growing attention in developing countries like China. Considering the significance of the teaching quality of preschool teachers to lifelong academic achievement, this paper designs a teaching quality evaluation model for preschool teachers based on deep learning. Firstly, a progressive system with a hierarchical structure was developed for the relevant evaluation indices. Then, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation of each index layer and evaluation criterion was determined by the principle of fuzzy relationship synthesis. Finally, an evaluation prediction model was established based on extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm and technology services' ResNet (TS-ResNet), and proved effective and accurate through experiments. The research results provide a reference for the application of the proposed model in other evaluation prediction scenarios.


Symptoms of virus and viroid infections have been observed during the last ten years in stone fruit crops, however, no relative incidences of virus and viroid diseases have been reported on stone fruit crops in western Anatolia, Turkey. Large-scale surveys were conducted from June to August between the years 2004 and 2006 in the main stone fruit growing orchards and mother blocks of western Anatolia to determine the seven most important virus and two important viroid affecting Prunus species. The results of serological (ELISA) and molecular (PCR and tissue-printing molecular hybridization) tests demonstrated the occurrence of Plum pox virus (PPV), Prune dwarf virus (PDV), Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV), Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple mosaic virus (ApMV), Apricot latent virus (ApLV), Plum bark necrosis stem pitting-associated virus (PBNSPaV), Peach latent mosaic viroid (PLMVd), and Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) in tested 1732 specimens of stone fruits. The overall infection level with these graft-transmissible agents was 30%. The results showed that PDV is predominant in stone fruit crops. To our knowledge, PBNSPaV was reported for the first time in western Anatolia. The results obtained in this study illustrate a need for certification or clean stock program to prevent the occurrence and the spread of graft transmissible agents in western Anatolia.


Hydrogen can be recovered by fermentation of organic material rich in carbohydrates, but much of the organic matter remains in the form of acetate and butyrate. An alternative to methane production from this organic matter is the direct generation of electricity in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Electricity generation using a single-chambered MFC was examined using acetate or butyrate. Power generated with acetate (800 mg/L) (506 mW/m2 or 12.7 mW/ L) was up to 66% higher than that fed with butyrate (1000 mg/L) (305 mW/m2 or 7.6 mW/L), demonstrating that acetate is a preferred aqueous substrate for electricity generation in MFCs. Power output as a function of substrate concentration was well described by saturation kinetics, although maximum power densities varied with the circuit load. Maximum power densities and half-saturation constants were Pmax ) 661 mW/m2 and Ks ) 141 mg/L for acetate (218 Ω) and Pmax ) 349 mW/m2 and Ks ) 93 mg/L for butyrate (1000 Ω). Similar open circuit potentials were obtained in using acetate (798 mV) or butyrate (795 mV). Current densities measured for stable power output were higher for acetate (2.2 A/m2) than those measured in MFCs using butyrate (0.77 A/m2). Cyclic voltammograms suggested that the main mechanism of power production in these batch tests was by direct transfer of electrons to the electrode by bacteria growing on the electrode and not by bacteria-produced mediators. Coulombic efficiencies and overall energy recovery were 10-31 and 3-7% for acetate and 8-15 and 2-5% for butyrate, indicating substantial electron and energy losses to processes other than electricity generation. These results demonstrate that electricity generation is possible from soluble fermentation end products such as acetate and butyrate, but energy recoveries should be increased to improve the overall process performance.


Abstract. The spatial distribution of the air-sea flux of carbon dioxide is a poor indicator of the underlying ocean circulation and of ocean carbon storage. The weak dependence on circulation arises because mixing-driven changes in solubility-driven and biologically-driven air-sea fluxes largely cancel out. This cancellation occurs because mixing driven increases in the poleward residual mean circulation result in more transport of both remineralized nutrients and heat from low to high latitudes. By contrast, increasing vertical mixing decreases the storage associated with both the biological and solubility pumps, as it decreases remineralized carbon storage in the deep ocean and warms the ocean as a whole.


The biological oxidation of ferrous iron in high acid mine drainage was studied both in the batch experiment and in the fluidized bed reactor with the Amberlite IRA-938 as a support medium. From the batch experiment, the effects of initial ferrous iron and dissolved oxygen concentrations on the specific rate of ferrous iron oxidation could be expressed by Monod type equation. The fluidized bed reactor achieved the ferrous iron oxidation of over 90% within the flow rate region of 0.75 1/hr to 4.5 1/hr. The ferrous iron oxidation in the fluidized bed reactor was ot so much influenced by the change in the water temperature. The fluidized bed reactor should be operated under the condition that the influent pH is not more than 2.0 because of the clogging by the ferric hydroxide. Based on the experimental results obtained, a mathematical model which describes the behaviour of ferrous iron concentration in the fluidized bed reactor was proposed. This mathematical model well predicted the effluent concentration of ferrous iron from the fluidized bed reactor at both steady and unsteady states.


ABSTRACT The onset of ill-health and frailty in later life, within the context of the policy of ageing-in-place, is increasingly being responded to through the provision of home care. In the philosophy of ageing-in-place, the home provides for continuity of living environment, maintenance of independence in the community and social inclusion. The provision of assistance to remain at home assumes continuity in the living environment and independence in the organisation of daily life and social contact. This paper explores the changes that occur as a result of becoming a care recipient within the home and concludes that the transition into receiving care is characterised by discontinuity and upheaval which tends to reinforce social exclusion. We draw on the rites of passage framework, which highlights social processes of separation, liminality and reconnection, in analysing this transition to enhance understanding of the experience and gain insights to improve the policy and practice of home care. Separation from independent living leads to a state of liminality. The final stage in the rites of passage framework draws attention to reconnections, but reconnection is not inevitable. Reconnection is, however, an appropriate goal for the care sector when supporting frail or disabled older people through the transition into becoming a home-care recipient.


The IZMEM model provides high-latitude ionospheric plasma convection patterns in both hemispheres as a function of the IMF orientation. Model electric potentials are compared with electric field measurements from the DE2, FAST and DMSP satellites along high-latitude passes of the Northern and Southern hemispheres during IMF Bz 0). It has been shown that the IZMEM model electric potentials are in good agreement with measurements along the satellite passes, which makes the IZMEM global spatial convection patterns for these plausible. For small IMF magnitude ionospheric convection patterns generally consist of two cells with a positive potential cell on the dawn-side and a negative potential cell on the dusk-side. For IMF By 0) a positive (negative) potential cell becomes dominant in the northern hemisphere, and oppositely in the southern hemisphere. During Bz > 0 the convection pattern changes from the standard two-cell pattern to a more complicated one. IZMEM shows two additional convection cells in the dayside polar cap, positive (negative) potential cell is present duskward (dawnward) of the noon-midnight meridian, and may cause three-cell or four-cell convection pattern depending on By/Bz ratio.


Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is being routinely applied in life sciences and clinical practice, where the interpretation of the resulting massive data has become a critical challenge. Computational workflows, such as the Broad GATK, have been established to take raw sequencing data and produce processed data for downstream analyses. Consequently, results of these computationally demanding workflows, consisting of e.g. sequence alignment and variant calling, are increasingly being provided for customers by sequencing and bioinformatics facilities. However, downstream variant analysis, whole-genome level in particular, has been lacking a multi-purpose tool, which could take advantage of rapidly growing genomic information and integrate genetic variant, sequence, genomic annotation and regulatory (e.g. ENCODE) data interactively and in a visual fashion. Here we introduce a highly efficient and user-friendly software, BasePlayer (http://baseplayer.fi), for biological discovery in large-scale NGS data. BasePlayer enables tightly integrated comparative variant analysis and visualization of thousands of NGS data samples and millions of variants, with numerous applications in disease, regulatory and population genomics. Although BasePlayer has been designed primarily for whole-genome and exome sequencing data, it is well-suited to various study settings, diseases and organisms by supporting standard and upcoming file formats. BasePlayer transforms an ordinary desktop computer into a large-scale genomic research platform, enabling also a non-technical user to perform complex comparative variant analyses, population frequency filtering and genome level annotations under intuitive, scalable and highly-responsive user interface to facilitate everyday genetic research as well as the search of novel discoveries.


Models with dust reference fields in relational formalism have proved useful in understanding the construction of gauge-invariant perturbation theory to arbitrary orders in the canonical framework. These reference fields modify the dynamical equations for perturbation equations. However, important questions remain open on the relation with conventional perturbation theories of inflaton coupled to gravity and of multi-fluid systems, and on understanding modifications in terms of physical degrees of freedom. These gaps are filled in this manuscript for Brown-Kuchař and Gaussian dust models, both of which involve three scalar physical degrees of freedom. We establish a relationship of these models with conventional inflationary and multi-fluid system of inflation and ordinary dust by introducing a set of gauge invariant variables on the reduced phase space of the dust reference models. We find the modifications due to dust clocks to Bardeen equation in the longitudinal gauge and Mukhanov-Sasaki equation in the spatially-flat gauge, in terms of physical degrees of freedom. This results in a closed system of equations for all the degrees of freedom needed to explore the evolution of the scalar perturbations. Our analysis shows for the first time that even for two-fluid systems, there is a natural choice of the set of gauge invariant variables for each chosen gauge which not only offers a direct physical interpretation but also results in simplifications to the dynamical equations.


The Cell BE processor provides both scalable computation power and flexibility, and it is already being adopted for many computational intensive applications. Despite of its merits, it also presents many challenges, as it is now widely known that is very difficult to program the Cell BE in an efficient manner. Hence, the creation of an efficient software development framework is becoming the key challenge for this computational platform. We propose a novel software toolkit, called Cellflow, which enables developers to quickly build multi-task applications for Cell-based platform. We support programmers from the initial stage of their work, through a development-time software infrastructure, to the final stage of the application development, proposing a safe and easy-to-use explicit parallel programming model. Experimental results show that in Cellflow we reduced to minimum the abstraction gap between the optimization and development phases.


The life of a concrete structure exposed to deicing compounds or seawater is often been limited by chloride induced corrosion of the steel reinforcement. A complete assessment of the potential benefits afforded by new candidate rebar alloys must address both the lateral and radial corrosion propagation behavior in comparison to conventional steel as well as other factors that might affect the risk of corrosion‐induced concrete cracking. The radial (depth) and lateral (length) corrosion propagation behavior of 18% Cr + 2.8% Mo (S31653) stainless steel, 21% Cr (S32101) duplex stainless steel, and 9% Cr steel compared to plain ASTM A615 carbon steel were characterized in saturated Ca(OH)2 solution. Radial pit growth was found to be Ohmically controlled for all materials but repassivation occurred more readily at high applied potentials for 18% Cr + 2.8% Mo and 21% Cr stainless steels. Conversely, pit growth on plain steel propagated at all applied anodic potentials and did not repassivate until deactivation by cathodic polarization. Stainless steel also showed the highest resistance to lateral corrosion propagation from an active site during microelectrode array testing. 21% Cr duplex stainless and 9% Cr steel showed similar radial propagation behavior and corrosion morphology, which was intermediate to that of plain steel and S31653 stainless steel. Based on an existing concrete cracking model, it is expected that 9–21% Cr and 18% Cr + 2.8% Mo corrosion resistant rebar materials would require a greater depth of corrosion attack than carbon steel before damaging concrete via corrosion product formation.


Background: Pulmonary contusion is the most common pulmonary parenchymal injury in blunt chest trauma and may constitute a life-threatening thoracic injury. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of high-frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) therapy in patients with pulmonary contusion. Methods: Patients with lung contusion either received HFCWO therapy using the Vest system (Vest group; n = 18) or received conventional chest physiotherapy (non-Vest group; n = 23). The physiological parameters of the patients, length of stay in hospital and ICU, and the duration of mechanical ventilation were compared between the two groups. Variables, including pulmonary contusion score, percentage of patients receiving mechanical ventilation therapy, and PaO2/FiO2 ratio, were also analyzed. Results: The pulmonary contusion score was higher in the Vest group (p < 0.01), and mechanical ventilation was used more frequently in the Vest group (p = 0.027). Improvement in the PaO2/FiO2 ratio over the first 48 h did not differ between the Vest and Non-Vest groups. No significant differences in the physiological parameters, hospital and ICU stays, and duration of mechanical ventilation were observed between the two groups. Conclusions: The therapeutic effect of the Vest system in patients with pulmonary contusion was similar to that of conventional chest physiotherapy. Therefore, the Vest system could be considered as an airway clearance technique in the management of patients with pulmonary contusion.


MILLER, JANE E. The Connections Between Self-Monitoring and Theory of Mind. Department of Psychology, March 2015. ADVISOR: DEBONO, KENNETH Previous research on the personality characteristic of self-monitoring has shown that high self-monitors constantly adjust their behavior to fit their environment while low self-monitors follow internal cues to keep their attitudes and behaviors consistent with one another. Theory of Mind is a person's ability to connect unobservable mental and emotional states to one's self and others, while understanding that other people may have different thoughts, attitudes and beliefs than one's self that guides their behaviors. The current research examined a possible connection between self-monitoring and theory of mind. Participants completed a self-monitoring scale and two tasks evaluating their theory of mind. Participants who were high self-monitors had more correct answers on theory of mind tasks than participants who were low self-monitors. Low self-monitors showed more theory of mind deficits than high self-monitors, suggesting that high self-monitors have more intact theory of minds. The research therefore provides evidence of a previously unknown connection between selfmonitoring and theory of mind, that may be an explanation for individual differences in self-monitoring. Self-Monitoring and Theory of Mind 2


Abstract The sieving characteristics of bovine serum albumin (BSA) deposits formed during microfiltration were studied using polydisperse dextrans with gel permeation chromatography. The actual sieving coefficients for the BSA deposit were calculated from observed sieving data using a stagnant film model to account for bulk mass transfer effects. The data confirm that the protein deposit is compressible, with the sieving coefficients decreasing with increasing applied pressure. The sieving coefficients and hydraulic permeability were both maximum at the BSA isoelectric point. The sieving coefficients decreased with increasing ionic strength at pH above and below the isoelectric point and were also a function of the ionic composition (Na+ vs Ca2+) of the solvent. These results, in combination with independent measurements of the hydraulic permeability, were used to obtain insights into the pore structure of these BSA deposits. The data suggest that the BSA deposit has a bimodal pore size distribution, with the effective size of these pores determined by the intermolecular electrostatic interactions between BSA molecules in the deposit in combination with conformational changes in the individual BSA molecules.


The determination of quark masses has been transformed in the past few years by accurate results from realistic lattice QCD. This has meant a range of new methods for both b and c quarks which I will describe along with results from continuum techniques. The recent improvement in Lattice QCD actions along with the generation of gluon configurations including sea quarks on fine lattices has given us viable methods for handling heavy quarks with relativistic actions. This has allowed us for the first time to connect the heavy and light sectors through accurate determination of ratios of quark masses, such as m_c/m_s. Such ratios enable us to leverage the accuracy of c and b mass determinations into accurate s and light quark masses. The comparison of quark masses from different methods and formalisms provides a strong test of QCD and the masses themselves are needed in calculations for the cross-sections of various processes at LHC, for example H to bb.


The measurement of treatment integrity is critical to evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of evidence-based programs (EBPs) designed to improve the developmental outcomes of young children at risk of emotional/behavioral disorders. Unfortunately, the science of treatment integrity measurement lags behind the development and evaluation of EBP for young, high-risk children. This article describes the development and preliminary psychometric properties of the BEST in CLASS Adherence and Competence Scale (BiCACS), designed to measure the adherence and competence of delivery of the BEST in CLASS prevention program. Independent observers coded videotaped (n = 116) and live (n = 289) observations of teachers delivering the BEST in CLASS program. The BiCACS showed good interrater reliability and analyses provided some support for the validity of the measure. Implications for future research and integrity measurement work are discussed.


The aim of this paper is to develop a game-theoretic framework to study the impact of player personnel changes on offensive productivity in American football. We develop a new model, the improvement in passing model, which is used to determine the optimal proportion of run and pass plays that a team should call. The model determines the optimal run/pass balance in terms of parameters that reflect a recent change (generally, in our case, an increase) in efficacy of a team's passing offense. The model assumes a residual positive effect on the team's running game occurs as a result of the improved passing attack. Several conclusions are drawn, most surprisingly that improvements in a team's expected gains via the passing game imply that the team should, in fact, run more frequently to optimize their overall offensive productivity. We conclude with an example studying the 2009 acquisition of Jay Cutler by the Chicago Bears.


This paper is intended to give some workable suggestions on the emergency management of future potential earthquake disasters in China regarding of the frequent earthquakes in recent years. Based on the case study of the successful early warning and emergency management in the 3.11 Japan earthquake, some suggestions were proposed. Through the way of comparative study, conclusions were brought up for its valuable experience aiming at the following up work in our country.


Our previous studies have shown accumulation of GM2 ganglioside during ethanol-induced neurodegeneration in the developing brain, and GM2 elevation has also been reported in other brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. Using GM2/GD2 synthase KO mice lacking GM2/GD2 and downstream gangliosides, the current study explored the significance of GM2 elevation in WT mice. Immunohistochemical studies indicated that ethanol-induced acute neurodegeneration in postnatal day 7 (P7) WT mice was associated with GM2 accumulation in the late endosomes/lysosomes of both phagocytic microglia and increased glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes. However, in KO mice, although ethanol induced robust neurodegeneration and accumulation of GD3 and GM3 in the late endosomes/lysosomes of phagocytic microglia, it did not increase the number of GFAP-positive astrocytes, and the accumulation of GD3/GM3 in astrocytes was minimal. Not only ethanol, but also DMSO, induced GM2 elevation in activated microglia and astrocytes along with neurodegeneration in P7 WT mice, while lipopolysaccharide, which did not induce significant neurodegeneration, caused GM2 accumulation mainly in lysosomes of activated astrocytes. Thus, GM2 elevation is associated with activation of microglia and astrocytes in the injured developing brain, and GM2, GD2, or other downstream gangliosides may regulate astroglial responses in ethanol-induced neurodegeneration.


A 32-year-old female patient with a primary adenohypophyseal neoplasm that rapidly progressed to a fatal outcome is presented. The time interval between her admission to the hospital and her death was 3 months. Despite dopamine agonist therapy, local invasion as well as frontal and spinal cord metastases at Th 10-12 region developed, and four surgical resections were performed. The serum prolactin levels were high. Both the primary pituitary tumour and all the metastatic tumours had the same histological findings and immunohistochemical reactions. Each was composed of pleomorphic chromophobic cells with enlarged nuclei. Mitoses and necroses were frequent. Immunostains revealed prolactin in the tumour cells. A literature review revealed that in most of the pituitary carcinomas as in our case hyperprolactinaemia did not respond to medical therapy and the histopathological appearance of the tumour has not correlated with the aggressive behaviour of the tumour. It may therefore be considered that at least some of the cases with metastases in prolactin secreting pituitary carcinomas could be the result of hyperprolactinaemia itself.


In open railway access markets, a train service provider (TSP) negotiates with an infrastructure provider (IP) for track access rights. This negotiation has been modeled by a multiagent system in which the IP and the TSP are represented by separate software agents. One of the tasks of the IP agent is to generate feasible (and preferably optimal) track access rights, subject to the constraints submitted by the TSP agent. This paper formulates an IP-TSP transaction and proposes a branch-and-bound algorithm for the IP agent to identify the optimal track access rights. Empirical simulation results show that the model is able to emulate rational agent behaviors. The simulation results also show good consistency between the timetables that were attained from the proposed methods and those that were derived by the scheduling principles adopted in practice.


Modeling color print reproduction is difficult, mainly because of light scattering, causing optical dot gain. Most available models are based on macroscopic color measurements, the average value over an area that is large relative to the halftone dot size. The aim of this study is to go beyond the macroscopic approach, to study color print reproduction on a micro-scale level. An experimental imaging system, combining the accuracy of color measurement instruments with a high spatial resolution, opens up new possibilities to study and model color print reproduction. The main focus is to study how the reflectance values of the printed dots and the paper between them vary with the dot area fraction. A previously proposed expansion of the Murray-Davies model is further developed to handle color prints, predicting tristimulus values. The color of the halftone dots and the paper between them is derived from 3D color histograms in CIEXYZ color space. The prediction errors of the model were found to be equivalent, or better, to that of the Yule-Nielsen model using an optimal n-factor. However, unlike Yule-Nielsen, the expanded Murray-Davies model takes into account the varying reflectance of the ink and paper, and preserves the linear additivity of reflectance, thus providing a better physical description of optical dot gain in color reproduction.


We study a superreplication problem of European options with gamma constraints in mathematical finance. The initially unbounded control problem is set back to a problem involving a viscosity PDE solution with a set of bounded controls. Then a numerical approach is introduced, unconditionally stable with respect to the mesh steps. A generalized finite difference scheme is used since basic finite differences cannot work in our case. Numerical tests illustrate the validity of our approach.


Twenty volunteers were inoculated with various doses of human serum containing Phlebotomus fever virus (Sicilian type) to determine their clinical and serologic responses as well as the human infectious dose50 of the virus. All infected subjects developed fever which varied in duration from 6 to 74 hours. The most common symptoms during sandfly fever were headache, anorexia, myalgia, photophobia, low back and retro-orbital pain. Infected individuals developed a marked leukopenia characterized by an initial lymphopenia followed by protracted neutropenia. Little complement fixing antibody was detected in convalescent sera but most subjects developed significant rises in hemagglutination inhibiting antibodies. All infected subjects developed specific neutralizing antibodies with titers ranging from 1:40 to 1:2,560. Of the three serologic tests performed, the plaque reduction neutralization method appears to be the most sensitive test for detecting antibodies to Phlebotomus fever viruses.


The Industry Foundation Classes are a prevalent open standard to exchange Building Information Models. In such a model, geometric representations are provided for individual building elements along with semantic information, including a significant amount of properties related togeometry and explicit topological relationships. These relationships and quantities introduce redundancies and often inconsistencies as well. Moreover, they introduce complexity in down-stream processing. Combining multiple aspect models into a single model has non-trivial consequences for the connectivity graphs. Programmatic mutations are complicated because of the relationships that need to be updated as a result of changes.In order to alleviate these issues, this paper provides a theoretical frameworkand implementation for both validating and inferring semantic and topological con-structs from the geometric representations, rooted on Egenhofer spatial predicates and extended with the IFC modelling tolerance. Combining these two concepts, wall connectivity is equivalent to the intersection of the wall representation boundaries, where a boundary is not a surface, but rather a hollow solid with a thickness derived from the modelling tolerance.The algorithms presented in this paper are implemented in fully open source software based on the IfcOpenShell software library and the CGAL computational geometry library using Nef polyhedra. We provide a formalization of space boundaries, spatial containment and wall connectivity relationships. The validation and inference rules are applied to a public set of building models. We conclude that exported models have geometric flaws and that several relationships can indeed be inferred by means of generic geometric intersection logic.


The effects of stimulating the cerebellar surface on abnormal segmental reflexes were examined in monkeys rendered spastic by either bilateral or unilateral decortication of areas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. Rectified, integrated electromyographic (EMG) activity from the biceps and triceps as well as the torque were recorded and averaged during successive flexion-extension movements of the arm produced by a displacement controlled torque motor. Two movement paradigms were employed. The first consisted of a ramp and hold paradigm with an initial rapid flexion of the forearm, a subsequent two second period during which the arm position was held constant, and a rapid extension returning the limb to the initial position. In the second paradigm, the forearm was modulated sinusoidally at several different frequencies. Cerebellar stimulating electrodes were placed over the paravermal region bilaterally. Different frequencies (10 to 300 HZ) and different charge densities (1.5 to 10 microC/cm2) were used in each animal. In each experimental trial short periods of cerebellar stimulation (10 to 30 minutes) were interspersed between control periods. As observed in some types of clinical spasticity, flexion or extension of the extremity was capable of evoking coactivation of the biceps and triceps. Cerebellar surface stimulation reduced the amplitude of the phasic and tonic stretch reflexes recorded from the triceps during flexion and decreased the abnormal triceps response during passive shortening. The biceps response to stretch was increased by cerebellar stimulation and its abnormal response to flexion was decreased. These combined effects modified the organization of the segmental reflexes, producing a more normal reciprocal relationships of the EMG activity in the biceps and triceps. Evaluation of many different combinations of stimulus parameters revealed that not only the magnitude of the passive reflex but also the nature of the effect was dependent on stimulus parameters. Although these studies demonstrate an improvement in the abnormal reflexes present in spastic primates, they emphasize the complexities of the response evoked by cerebellar stimulation and the importance of stimulus parameters in the modifications produced by this technique.


Sometimes we need help and never have the best idea where to start. Here is a guide that may be able to assist one in their college search.


In this study, effects of different plant-based flours and frozen storage on some properties of fish meatballs were evaluated. Some physical, chemical, and sensorial properties of raw and fried meatballs were determined. The lowest pH value was in raw sample with pepper seed flour, and the thiobarbituric acid values were low in sample with control, wheat, barley, oat, and pepper seed flours. Oat decreased moisture, whereas wheat, barley, and rye decreased more the oil content of fried meatballs. Wheat, rye, and seed flours increased a values of fried samples. Control, wheat, oat, and seed flours had high levels of b values. Thiobarbutiric acid and total volatile basic nitrogen values increased, whereas yield and moisture, appearance and odour scores of samples decreased during storage. However, they had acceptable levels. As the results, it was seen that wheat and pepper seed flours could be used in comparison with the other seed flours to enhance the quality of fish meatballs.


Inhalation injury remains one of the most challenging injuries for burn care providers. Long-term complications of smoke inhalation have rarely been reported in literature and these may be an unusual cause of bronchiectasis. In this letter to editor, we discuss the occurrence of radiological and clinical evidence of bronchiectasis syndrome three years after acute exposure to fire smoke in a Caucasian nonsmoker asthmatic patient. At the age of 40, he was diagnosed with mild persistent eosinophilic asthma and nasal polyposis and started ICS/LABA (inhaled steroids and long acting beta2-agonist receptor) therapy. Nasal polypectomy was performed three years after asthma onset without any histologic evidence of vasculitis. Family history for pulmonary disease was unremarkable. At the age of 41, in the follow-up of previous papillary thyroid cancer, he underwent a chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), which excluded any pulmonary or bronchial abnormalities. One year later he aided during a house fire where he was exposed to fire burn over 15-minute and he inhaled large amounts of smoke without wearing adequate protective equipment. At the end of the intervention, he did not complain of physical injuries, therefore he didn't seek referral to any physician. Three years later he presented to pneumological visit for worsening of respiratory symptoms, complaining about productive cough, worsening of dyspnoea, wheezing and chest tightness. Chest auscultation revealed inspiratory and expiratory wheezes. Lung function tests showed a mild restrictive ventilatory defect and a mild reduction of DLCO (Diffusion Lung CO), that were not present in previous tests. Chest x-ray showed bilateral opacities. On the hypothesis of asthma exacerbation with pneumonia, the patient was treated with oral corticosteroids and antibiotic therapy, with improvement of symptoms. For diagnostic purposes he repeated a chest HRCT that showed the presence of bilateral, large and saccular bronchiectasis with mucoid impact (Fig. 1). Moreover, it confirmed the presence of left basal pneumonia. To identify the bronchiectasis aetiology, several tests were performed. Blood analysis showed high eosinophil cell count (Eos 1.22 £ 10^3/mmc), normal immunoglobulin levels (except for total IgE 218 UI/ml), negative autoimmunity screening (in particular Anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) and Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies (ANCA)). No specific IgE for Aspergillus fumigatus were identified. Sweat test was also performed, with a negative result. Bronchoscopy with broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) and transbronchial biopsies showed non-specific lymphocytic, histiocytic and eosinophilic inflammation, with negative microbiologic findings (including bacterial, mycobacterial and fungal culture, bacterial and virus PCR assays, and galactomannan on BAL). Several sputum cultures were also performed, always with negative results for bacteria, fungi and mycobacteria. In summary, the extensive diagnostic workup excluded immune deficiency, rheumatologic diseases (in particular eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis), cystic fibrosis, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, chronic bacterial or mycobacterial infections. In subsequent years the patient reported several episodes of bronchiectasis exacerbation for which he underwent several courses of antibiotic therapy. Radiological follow-up by chest HRCT confirmed the persistence of saccular bronchiectasis (Fig. 1), which remained stable overtime. There are no standardised criteria for inhalation injury diagnosis, which is usually based on clinical history and findings, with the help of instrumental tests (i.e. HRCT, carboxyhaemoglobin measurement and fiberoptic bronchoscopy). Many of the airway consequences of smoke inhalation result from an inflammatory response and they depend on the duration and the magnitude of the exposure, the presence of particulate matter and individual host factors. Many products of combustion, such as halogen acids, formaldehyde, and unsaturated aldehydes act as respiratory irritants. Long-term complications have been poorly studied and include bronchiectasis, bronchiolitis obliterans, endobronchial polyposis, tracheal and main bronchial stenosis. These complications have been mainly described as chronic consequences of an acute pulmonary manifestation (i.e. endobronchial steam burns, pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS). It is worth noting that our patient developed clinically significant BE three years after acute smoke exposure, apparently without acute pulmonary manifestations. Few cases like the one presented have been described in the literature. Putman et al. analysed


textabstractEconomic theories, such as the theory of the firm and the evolutionary economics, hold on concepts that explain the acquisition and the transformation of resources by enterprises. These theories describe a process of identification of needs, search for inputs to fulfil them, and transformation of these inputs into services for survival and growth of firms and of industrial sectors, respectively. All of them highlight the importance of learning but they do not detail how learning processes come about. Additionally, there is little attention to small scale enterprises, characterised by the scarcity of initial resources. This paper focuses on business start-ups as dynamic entrepreneurial initiatives that aim to survive and grow in the market. To the explanation of the evolution of business start-ups, it introduces the concept of critical learning episodes. Critical learning episodes are turning points in the start-up history. They are composed by three main subplots: processes of development of meaning (creation of values and culture), processes of development of commitment (networks of the start-up with partners and other actors), and processes of development of method (ways of doing things). To examine these episodes, entrepreneurs were interviewed from 44 business start-ups in South-Eastern Brazil, all enrolled in a business development service designed to promote enterprise development and growth by providing operational and strategic services at lower costs. From these start-ups, 37 are documented in this paper for the most common critical learning episode, entry and permanence in the market (n=70). This type of episode is triggered by three main needs: 1) needing to enter a well-established market; 2) needing to create a new market niche for an innovative product; and 3) needing to outlive the threats to the permanence of the business in that market. Learning strategies applied by the entrepreneurs in response combined cognitive (mainly extrinsic reflection) and behavioural strategies (remarkably practical application and interpersonal/inter-organisational help seeking). These episodes led to the creation of the identity of the firm, to reconfigurations in its network, and to the development of new methods of functioning. A number of new routines were observed in all start-ups. These routines, for instance, included developing combinations of formal and informal business transactions, producing simpler and more marketable products, establishing partnerships for research and development, developing specialised services, broadening the scope of the target market, creating spin-offs, selecting buyers, speeding up the creation of new products, defining tasks among associates, and relying on trust-based relationships with buyers. Comparisons between the initial networks and their configuration by the time of the interviews indicated the embeddedness of these business start0ups in the institutional setting provided by support institutions. To systematise the narratives into plots, the concept of critical learning episodes was a fundamental analytical tool showing that the evolution of business start-ups can be theoretically described in terms of the creation of new meanings, new commitments, and new methods. It also enabled comparisons per sub-category of market and per learning strategy, as well as the description of the evolution of the start-ups networks.


In July 2000, two founders of this new Web-hosting company are contemplating raising $5 million to $15 million in a second-round financing from venture capitalists. The task for the student is to forecast the firmâ¬"s cash receipts and disbursements in an effort to determine the firmâ¬"s â¬Sburn rate,â¬? i.e., the rate of cash consumption and how long the financing will sustain the firm. The new economy setting of this case permits the instructor to extend well-known financial skills and concepts to an industry that attracts high student-interest.


We introduce a new type of diagram called the VV(c)-diagram (the Visibility--Voronoi diagram for clearance c), which is a hybrid between the visibility graph and the Voronoi diagram of polygons in the plane. It evolves from the visibility graph to the Voronoi diagram as the parameter c grows from 0 to ∞. This diagram can be used for planning natural-looking paths for a robot translating amidst polygonal obstacles in the plane. A natural-looking path is short, smooth, and keeps --- where possible --- an amount of clearance c from the obstacles. The VV(c)-diagram contains such paths. We also propose an algorithm that is capable of preprocessing a scene of configuration-space polygonal obstacles and constructs a data structure called the VV(c)-complex. The VV(c)-complex can be used to efficiently plan motion paths for any start and goal configuration and any clearance value c, without having to explicitly construct the VV(c)-diagram for that c-value. The preprocessing time is O(n2 log n), where n is the total number of obstacle vertices, and the data structure can be queried directly for any c-value by merely performing a Dijkstra search. We have implemented a Cgal-based software package for computing the VV(c)-diagram in an exact manner for a given clearance value, and used it to plan natural-looking paths in various applications.


Compressive sensing is a powerful tool to efficiently acquire and reconstruct an image even in diffuse optical tomography (DOT) applications. In this work, a time-resolved DOT system based on structured light illumination, compressive detection, and multiple view acquisition has been proposed and experimentally validated on a biological tis-sue-mimicking phantom. The experimental scheme is based on two digital micromirror devices for illumination and detection modulation, in combination with a time-resolved single element detector. We fully validated the method and demonstrated both the imaging and tomographic capabil-ities of the system, providing state-of-the-art reconstruction quality. multiple to increase the tomographic spatial resolution. Moreover, further data, such as spectral and temporal information, Temporal advantages: (i) better disentan-glement of absorption/scattering properties, (ii)


Experiments have been performed to measure the conductance for backstreaming particles in the throat of the pump limiter ALT-II on TEXTOR under different discharge conditions. The flow inside the throat is analysed by injecting a steady helium flux towards the neutralizer plate and by measuring the helium partial pressure. The amount of helium escaping into the plasma volume has been found to be strongly dependent on the local electron density and electron temperature. At low densities the backstreaming conductance corresponds to the classical value, at medium densities its value is reduced, whereas at the highest densities (>5*1018 m-3) an increasing flow of escaping helium is found. It is shown that a reversal of the plasma flow in the throat of ALT-II can be established by exposing one blade (the other 7 retracted) to high density discharges with additional heating


Summary When several diagnostic tests are available, one can combine them to achieve better diagnostic accuracy. This article considers the optimal linear combination that maximizes the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC); the estimates of the combination's coefficients can be obtained via a nonparametric procedure. However, for estimating the AUC associated with the estimated coefficients, the apparent estimation by re‐substitution is too optimistic. To adjust for the upward bias, several methods are proposed. Among them the cross‐validation approach is especially advocated, and an approximated cross‐validation is developed to reduce the computational cost. Furthermore, these proposed methods can be applied for variable selection to select important diagnostic tests. The proposed methods are examined through simulation studies and applications to three real examples.


Purpose: Preplanned exploratory analyses were performed to identify biomarkers in circulating tumor cells (CTC) predictive of response to the topoisomerase 1 inhibitor etirinotecan pegol (EP). Experimental Design: The BEACON trial treated patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) with EP or treatment of physician's choice (TPC). Blood from 656 of 852 patients (77%) was processed with ApoStream to enrich for CTCs. A multiplex immunofluorescence assay measured expression of candidate response biomarkers [topoisomerase 1 (Top1), topoisomerase 2 (Top2), Ki67, RAD51, ABCG2, γH2AX, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)] in CTCs. Patients were classified as Top1 low (Top1Lo) or Top1 high (Top1Hi) based on median CTC Top1 expression. Correlation of CTC biomarker expression at baseline, cycle 2 day 1 (C2D1), and cycle 4 day 1 with overall survival (OS) was investigated using Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier analyses. Results: Overall, 98% of samples were successfully processed, of which 97% had detectable CTCs (median, 47–63 CTCs/mL; range, 0–2,020 CTCs/mL). Top1, Top2, and TUNEL expression was detected in 52% to 90% of samples; no significant associations with OS were observed in pretreatment samples for either group. EP-treated patients with low C2D1Top1+ CTCs had improved OS compared with those with higher positivity (14.1 months vs. 11.0 months, respectively; HR, 0.7; P = 0.02); this difference was not seen in TPC-treated patients (HR, 1.12; P = 0.48). Patients whose CTCs decreased from Top1Hi to Top1Lo at C2D1 had the greatest OS benefit from EP (HR, 0.57; P = 0.01). Conclusions: CTC Top1 expression following EP treatment may identify patients with MBC most likely to have an OS benefit. Clin Cancer Res; 24(14); 3348–57. ©2018 AACR.


Computer games are widely applied in the field of education. The games can be used for improving learning motivation and effectiveness, especially for the students who encounter difficulties or feel uninteresting in learning. Combined with a quiz database established by nature science specialists, the system uses an online game platform suitable for elementary school students to assist them study nature science. The study will explore the students' achievements in teaching way for natural science. The quasi-experimental method with pre-test and post-test is conducted in two elementary fifth-grade classes. The experimental subjects learn with online game-based learning approach, while the control ones learn with online non-game-based learning approach. Then the researchers examine the differences among demographic characteristics: gender, ability, online game experience, and learning style for each learning approach. The study found that there is no significant difference in these variances. However, students in experimental group have high interest and confidence. There is positive correlation between the number of prompts students used and their achievements. We hope this study can lead teachers in blending information technology with teaching and be a reference for the manufacturers to develop relevant learning systems in the future.


Aims. We provide a detailed quantitative analysis of isolated boulder fields situated in three different regions of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: Imhotep, Hapi, and Hatmehit. This is done to supply a useful method for analyzing the morphology of the boulders and to characterize the regions themselves.
Methods. We used OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera images with a spatial scale smaller than 2 m px−1 and analyzed the size-frequency distribution and the cumulative fractional area per boulder population. In addition, we correlated shape parameters, such as circularity and solidity, with both the spatial and the size-frequency distribution of the three populations.
Results. We identified 11 811 boulders in the Imhotep, Hapi, and Hatmehit regions. We found that the Hatmehit and Imhotep areas show power indices in the range of −2.3/−2.7. These values could represent a transition between gravitational events caused by thermal weathering and sublimation, and material formed during collapses that has undergone sublimation. The Hapi area is characterized by a lower power index (−1.2/−1.7), suggesting that those boulders have a different origin. They can be the result of material formed during gravitational events and collapses that has undergone continuous fragmentation. We calculated the cumulative fractional area (CFA) in order to investigate how the area is covered by boulders as a function of their sizes. The Hatmehit and Imhotep regions show a CFA that is well fit by a power law. In contrast, the Hapi area does not show the same trend. We analyzed the fractal distributions, finding that the populations seem to be fractal at all dimensions, except for the Hapi distribution, which shows a possible fractal behavior for small dimensions only. Finally, the average values of the shape parameters reveal solid and roundish boulders in all populations we studied.


Minimal literature exists describing the process for development of a Joint Commission comprehensive spine surgery program within a community hospital health system. Components of a comprehensive program include structured communication across care settings, preoperative education, quality outcomes tracking, and patient follow-up. Organizations obtaining disease-specific certification must have clear knowledge of the planning, time, and overall commitment, essential to developing a successful program. Health systems benefit from disease-specific certification because of their commitment to a higher standard of service. Certification standards establish a framework for organizational structure and management and provide institutions a competitive edge in the marketplace. A framework for the development of a spine surgery program is described to help guide organizations seeking disease-specific certification. In developing a comprehensive program, it is critical to define the program's mission and vision, identify key stakeholders, implement clinical practice guidelines, and evaluate program outcomes.


Music-related sadness and its paradoxical pleasurable aspects have puzzled researchers for decades. Previous studies have highlighted the positive effects of listening to sad music, and the listening strategies that focus on mood-regulation. The present study explored people's attitudes towards sad music by focusing on a representative sample of the Finnish population. 358 participants rated their agreement with 30 statements concerning attitudes towards sad music. The ratings were subjected to factor analysis, resulting in 6 factors explaining 51% of the variance ( RMSEA = 0.049). The factors were labeled AVOIDANCE, AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL, REVIVAL, APPRECIATION, INTERSUBJECTIVE, and AMPLIFICATION, and they were divided into two broad headings, preferential and contextual attitudes towards sad music. Contextual attitudes seemed to be ambiguous in terms of valence, whereas the preferential attitudes were more clearly identified in terms of positive/negative polarity. The results of the survey suggest that listening to sad music elicits a wide variety of responses that are not fully revealed in previous studies.


Using endosonography, esophageal wall thickening is commonly observed in patients with achalasia. Imaging artifacts with the endosonographic appearance of an esophageal tumor in some patients with achalasia suggest that endosonographic images must be interpreted with caution. The endosonographer must be aware of anatomical peculiarities (dilated, tortuous, or "sigmoid" esophagus) and imaging techniques (tangential imaging) that may lead to artifactual imaging, and thereby avoid misinterpretation of results. Failure to recognize such imaging artifacts may lead to an erroneous diagnosis of pseudoachalasia, thereby subjecting patients to unnecessary surgery. Future applications of endoscopic ultrasonography for patients with achalasia may include endosonographically guided therapy. Prospective analyses of EUS-guided therapy are anticipated.


The numerous tactics used to conserve biodiversity include the designation of protected areas, political change, and research and education, the latter involving paradigms such as insular biogeography and the "umbrella species concept." In Namibia lands removed from national park status in 1970 and currently under the jurisdiction of indigenous people now contain one of the few unfenced populations of black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) remaining in Africa. Theory predicts that the protection of umbrella species will ensure the survival of other biota that require(s) less space. To gauge how well biodiversity might be retained by examining the spatial needs of a small population of black rhinos, I used data gathered under various ecological conditions to estimate mean and minimum population sizes of six large herbivores of the Namib Desert ranging in size from giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) to springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) and ostrich (Struthio camelus). My results indicate that annual differences in rainfall, both within and between seasons, resulted in wide fluctuations in herbivore population sizes for all species except rhino. Although other herbivores switched to areas of higher rainfall, rhinos did not. The data suggest that under conditions of extreme environmental variance the space used by rhinos alone was unlikely to assure the existence of populations of other species in excess of 250 individuals. Fifty percent of the species failed to exceed 150 individuals 50% of the time and one third of the species never attained populations in excess of 50 individuals. However, by employing assumptions about the spatial needs of rhino populations numbering up to 100 individuals, the mean minimum population sizes attained by any of four desert herbivores is 535. A future challenge in using rhinos and other large‐bodied species as umbrellas for organisms of either similar or dissimilar trophic levels will be the refinement of estimates of population viability.


PURPOSE
To establish severity banding ranges, bother assessment and key item content in principal patient reported outcomes measures (PROMs) in men seeking therapy for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Data for International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Male LUTS (ICIQ-MLUTS) were derived from a study evaluating 820 men at 26 UK hospitals. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to establish severity bandings.

RESULTS
Classification tree showed that thresholds between mild-moderate and moderate-severe severity bands were 15 and 27 respectively for IPSS, 16 and 26 for ICIQ-MLUTS/severity, and 22 and 81 for ICIQ-MLUTS/bother. Highest area under ROC and lowest Akaike's information criteria of univariate logistic regression indicated that ICIQ-MLUTS/bother was more related to global quality of life (QoL) than were IPSS and ICIQ-MLUTS/severity. The symptoms affecting IPSS-QoL were only fully identified by ICIQ-MLUTS, because two key symptoms (urinary incontinence and post-micturition dribble) are not measured by IPSS. ICIQ-MLUTS demonstrated that bother of some LUTS is disproportionate to severity, and that persisting high bother levels following surgery are more likely due to storage (18-25%) and post-voiding (18-28%) LUTS than voiding LUTS (5-13%). Symptom improvement after surgery is uncertain if baseline IPSS-QoL score was <3.

CONCLUSIONS
The severity threshold scores were measured for the two key LUTS PROMs, and the results indicate suitable categories of symptom severity for use in men referred for urological care. The ICIQ-MLUTS measures all the LUTS affecting QoL, and includes individual symptom bother scores.


The Egyptian pharmaceutical industry serves as a case study for understanding the impact of the global intellectual property regime in this fascinating new addition to the University of Toronto Press Studies in Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy Series. The Illusive Trade-off examines the Egyptian pharmaceutical industry within a broader context of intellectual property policy making and the multilateral agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). Basma Abdelgafar offers a fascinating discussion of Egypt's role in the trade negotiations that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization, and makes the case that predominant perspectives on intellectual property rights are based on the false assumption that the innovation process is discrete and segmented. Abdelgafar contends that, in fact, innovation relies upon diffusion, and that inappropriately strong property rights interfere with this process. She uses the case of Egypt's pharmaceutical industry to argue that we must consider relevant aspects of individual countries' systems of innovation as well as public health, if we are to adequately understand the implication of stronger patent protection for the pharmaceutical industries of developing nations. The Illusive Trade-off is an original and important study crossing the disciplines of political science, law, public policy, and public health.


Abstract: Populations in agricultural landscapes often occur in source‐sink situations: small patches of marginal habitat (sinks) are supported by an immigration flux from larger patches of high‐quality habitat (sources). We sought to demonstrate that this situation occurs for Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) in a riverine, mainly agricultural landscape in the Netherlands. We collected data on occurrence and habitat features in a large number of mostly small marshlands. We used a stochastic model to simulate the population dynamics in a metapopulation with sinks and sources. A statistical analysis of the field data, using regression techniques with occupation probability and abundance index as dependent variables, showed that habitat quality was less favourable in small habitat patches (e.g., ditches with reeds) than in larger patches ( large, heterogeneous marshlands). The spatial cohesion of the landscape also played an important role: abundance of breeding Reed Warblers in regions with low spatial cohesion was low. Local extinctions and recolonizations occurred, and their rates depended on the spatial parameters of the patch. This supports the hypothesis that metapopulation theory is applicable here. The results of the modeling study demonstrated that, besides the trivial dependence of sinks on sources, a larger amount of sink area and increased exchange of individuals increased the stability of source patches. This was shown not only by the larger size of the source population but also by increased resilience after a catastrophe. The area of the sink seemed less important than its distance to the source. The simulation indicated an optimal area of a few hectares (compared to a 10‐ha area of the source) and a maximum distance of 2–5 km from the source. In creating sustainable landscapes, for example, by setting up an ecological network consisting of a limited number of high‐quality patches, these small and seemingly insignificant habitat patches could play an important role and should be taken into consideration.


Frame synchronization is a critical task in digital communications receivers as it enables the accurate decoding and recovery of transmitted information. Information transmitted over a wireless channel is represented as bit stream. The bit stream is typically organized into groups of bits which can be of the same or variable length, known as frames, with frames being demarcated prior to transmission by a known bit sequence. The task of the frame synchronizer in the receiver is then to correctly determine frame boundaries, given that the received bit stream is a possibly corrupted version of the transmitted bit stream due to the error-prone nature of the wireless channel.

Bearing in mind that the problem of frame synchronization has been studied extensively for wireless communications, where frames have a known, constant length, this thesis examines and seeks to make a contribution to the problem of frame synchronization where frames are of variable, unknown lengths. This is a common occurrence in the transmission of multimedia information and in packet or burst mode communications.

Furthermore, a uniform distribution of data symbols is commonly assumed in frame synchronization works as this simplifies analysis. In many practical situations however, this assumption may not hold true. An example is in bit streams generated in video sequences encoded through discrete cosine transform (DCT) and also in more recent video coding standards (H.264).

In this work, we therefore propose a novel, optimal frame synchronization metric for transmission over a binary symmetric channel (BSC) with a known, unequal source data symbol distribution, and where frames are of unknown, varying lengths. We thus extend prior studies carried out for the additive White Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. We also provide a performance evaluation for the derived metric, using simulations and by exact mathematical analysis. In addition, we provide an exact analysis for the performance evaluation of the commonly used hard correlation (HC) metric, in the case where data symbols have a known, unequal distribution, which hitherto has not been made available in literature. We thus compare the performance of our proposed metric with that of the HC metric.

Finally, the results of our study are applied to the investigation of cross-layer frame synchronization in the transmission of H.264 video over a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) system. We thus demonstrate priori knowledge of the source data distribution can be exploited to enhance frame synchronization performance, for the cases where hard decision decoding is desirable.


FATAL BOTULISM. SIR,-In the interesting annotation (June 3rd, p. 893) attention is drawn to the considerable number of outtreaks, reported as " botulism," that have been observed during the last few years in the United States. It is perhaps deserving of emphasis that in respect of only a very small minority of these outbreaks of associated cases of acute nervous disease has there been any show of attempt to demonstrate, by bacteriological or serological methods, the connexion of the cases with B-. botulinus. And I do not know that in connexion with any one suclh attempt has the demonstration been. so conducted as to satisfy any -competent bacteriologist of its sufficiency. Moreover, there do not appear to have been lately conducted any fresh experiments tending to' slhow that the bacillus called botulinus is really responsible for outbreaks of the kind reported as due to "botulism." Again, no definite clinical criterion appears to be established tlhat distinguishes all cases called " botulism " from all others called "encephalitis lethargica," though t4le former name is reserved for cases occurring in association-usually commensal-and the latter for cases that are apparently dissociated from otlhers in their origins. This, however, is a matter of epidemiology and not of clinical importance. But as the Derby outbreak of August, 1919, clearly shows (Annual Report of the C.M.O., 1919-20, Ministry of Health, pp. 357 et seq.), commensal association is quite compatible witlh the diagnosis of enceplhalitis lethargica. There are many interesting points that call for discussion, but the object of this letter is to point out the need for a revision, at the hands of critical pathologists and bacteriologists, of the statements made and copied from one book to anotlher concerning botulism during recent years. I need lhardly insist that Dickson's demonstration (Monograph No. 8, RocLefeller InstituLte, 1918) of the fact tllat tlle bacillus called botulinu8 will grow on canned tomatoes and beans does not prove that, in a country where canned fruits and vegetables are everywhere consumed, certain types of illness are duie to the toxic products of tllis organism. Nor does Marinesco's investigation of the brains of animals dying or killed after inoculation with this organism or its products help us with regard to the pathology of human cas2s called "botulism," but of no proven association with the bacillus. In fact, the subject is as obscure as when Grisolle wrote, eighty years or more ago, that we did not then possess any satisfactory description of the effects -characteristic of this type of poifioning. All the descriptions, he said, are incomplete and give us only a very slight idea of the physiognomy of tlle disease and of the nature of the changes produced by it. One epidemiological fallacy has dogged the history of botulism ever since Kerner first described it one hundred years ago-the fallacy that commensality in relation to an acute outbreak of disease necessarily implies food poisoning. .But when, during the Christmas holidays, measles breaks out amongst the participants in a children's party, we do not implicate cakes and jellies.-I am, etc., London, W., June 3rd. F. G. CmOKSHANK.


The acquisition of water and regulation of its loss are important to plant 'success' in arid environments. Species existing over a range of environmental conditions should respond physiologically to varying conditions to maximize water use efficiency and avoid low tissue water potentials. Seasonal and diurnal ecophysiological responses of singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla Torr. and Frem.) were investigated along an environmental gradient involving elevation, moisture and temperature in Nevada. The gradient was represented by study sites in black sagebrush (Artemisia nova A. Nels), mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana Nutt.), and mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius Nutt.) communities. Xylem pressure potential, conductance, and transpiration were measured over 2 growing seasons. Xylem pressure potential and leaf conductance ranged from -3.0 to -0.7 MPa and 0.01 to 0.43 cm s-l, respectively, during the study. Carbon isotope discrimination (delta) of needles was determined in August 1990. Differences in delta values were not significant between sites at the lowest and highest elevations but were significant between the driest site (black sage) and the relatively wetter site (mountain mahogany). Leaf conductance was influenced by but not strongly correlated with predawn xylem pressure potentials, relative humidity, and temperature. Generally, there was little difference in water use characteristics of singleleaf pinyon along the environmental gradient in this study. Thus, it appears that singleleaf pinyon's ability to exist over a range of environmental conditions is not a function of variable ecophysiological responses but an opportunistic response to the availability of resources and conditions suitabie for erowth to occur.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Recent studies have argued that there has been substantial gender convergence in alcohol consumption. However, many of these rely on comparisons of different cohorts and do not adjust for age differences in male and female drinking patterns. We aimed to examine (1) whether the gender gap in risky drinking in Australia narrowed between 2001 and 2013, (2) if the evidence for gender convergence (or divergence) was consistent across age groups and (3) how a cohort-focused analysis of gender convergence compared with an age-focused approach.

DESIGN
Repeated cross-sectional data from five waves of the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013). Interaction terms in logistic and linear regression models were used to test for significantly different trends between men and women.

SETTING
Australia.

PARTICIPANTS
Australians aged 14 years and older (n = 125 215) who provided data on alcohol consumption in the National Drug Strategy Household Survey.

MEASUREMENTS
Prevalence of long-term risky drinking (average of 20 g or more per day) and prevalence of risky single occasion drinking (12 or more sessions of 50 g or more).

FINDINGS
Gender differences were large for all age groups except adolescents (14-17-year-olds), with men typically reporting levels of drinking at least twice as high as women across the study period. Overall, there was statistically significant gender convergence in alcohol use measures showing a slight decrease in men's drinking and a slight increase in women's drinking. However, when age-specific analyses were conducted gender convergence was only observed for 50-69-year-olds.

CONCLUSIONS
In Australia, gender convergence in risky drinking since 2001 has been evident only in people aged 50-69 years.


To date there is no systematic exploration of the concept of 'political feasibility'. We believe that feasibility is a central issue for political philosophy, conceptually as well as practically, and that it has been given background status for far too long. Roughly, a state of affairs is feasible if it is one we could actually bring about. But there are many questions to ask about the conditions under which we are justified in thinking that we could bring about a political state of affairs. In this article we bring together several aspects of the concept of feasibility defended in the literature thus far, and build upon them to give an analysis of the notion of political feasibility. We suggest that the notion involves a relation between agents and the pursuit of certain actions and outcomes in certain historical contexts, and that there are two important roles for feasibility to play in political theory, corresponding to two feasibility 'tests': one categorical, the other comparative. We show how the tests operate in the assessment of three different levels of a normative political theory: core normative principles, their institutional implementation and the political reforms leading to them. Focusing on the third level, which has received the least attention in the literature, we proceed to explain how feasibility considerations interact with desirability and epistemic considerations in the articulation of normative political judgments.


The treatment of breast carcinoma has traditionally been relegated to the general surgeon. The gynecologist, in his/her role of treating women's diseases, will likely become more involved in the future. This article describes the experience of one gynecologist in the treatment of carcinoma of the breast involving 234 biopsies which were performed from January 1985 to December 1992. Invasive carcinoma was found in 81 of the cases, and five showed in situ carcinoma.


Background Closely related, ecologically similar species often have adjacent distributions, suggesting competitive exclusion may contribute to the structure of some natural communities. In systems such as island archipelagos, where speciation is often tightly associated with dispersal over oceanic barriers, competitive exclusion may prevent population establishment following inter-island dispersal and subsequent cladogenesis. Methodology/Principal Findings Using a combination of tools, we test the hypothesis that the distributions of shrew (Crocidura) species in the Philippines are the result of competitive exclusion preventing secondary invasion of occupied islands. We first compare ecological niche models between two widespread, allopatric species and find statistical support for their ecological similarity, implying that competition for habitat between these species is possible. We then examine dispersion patterns among sympatric species and find some signal for overdispersion of body size, but not for phylogenetic branch length. Finally, we simulate the process of inter-island colonization under a stochastic model of dispersal lacking ecological forces. Results are dependent on the geographic scope and colonization probability employed. However, some combinations suggest that the number of inter-island dispersal events necessary to populate the archipelago may be much higher than the minimum number of colonization events necessary to explain current estimates of species richness and phylogenetic relationships. If our model is appropriate, these results imply that alternative factors, such as competitive exclusion, may have influenced the process of inter-island colonization and subsequent cladogenesis. Conclusions/Significance We interpret the combined results as providing tenuous evidence that similarity in body size may prevent co-occurrence in Philippine shrews and that competitive exclusion among ecologically similar species, rather than an inability to disperse among islands, may have limited diversification in this group, and, possibly other clades endemic to island archipelagos.