Seaweed is a strategic commodity in Indonesia. The most cultivated species of seaweed in Indonesia is Eucheuma cottonii . To increase added value, Eucheuma cottonii is processed into various products, including Alkali Treated Cottonii (ATC). ATC is a semi-finished product with high value-added and can be used in both the food and non-food industries. The quality of ATC is strongly influenced by the quality of the seaweed used, which itself is strongly determined by the seed and harvest time of the seaweed. This research aimed to analyze the effect of the seed type and harvest time of seaweed on the quality of the ATC produced. The study was carried out in two stages. The first stage involved cultivating seaweed from different seaweed seeds (Lampung culture and Sumenep culture) and different harvesting times (40, 45, 50 days). The seaweed cultivation was carried out in the waters of Sumenep Regency, East Java, Indonesia. The second stage was to produce ATC from seaweed that had been harvested according to the relevant treatments. This research used a completely randomized design comprising two factors (seaweed seed and harvest time). The quality of seaweed was measured based on the parameters of water content, ash content, sulfate content, and gel strength. The data obtained were processed statistically using ANOVA. The results of the research show that the type of seaweed seed significantly affected the water content, sulfate content, and gel strength but did not significantly affect the ash content. The results also showed that the harvest time significantly affected the water content and gel strength but did not significantly affect the ash content and sulfate content. The best quality seaweed was obtained from the Sumenep type of culture seeds with a harvest time of 40 days after planting. The ATC produced was characterized by an ash content of 13.27%, water level of 13.79%, sulfate content of 1.17%, and gel strength of 1,372.74 gf/cm 2 .


As a reflective practitioner of higher education, Margaret Farren seeks to contribute to a knowledge base of professional practice by using a living educational theory form of action research in her approach to teaching and learning. She focuses her research on the Masters program in e-learning at Dublin City University where professional educators from a variety of private and public institutions seek to transform their pedagogy and their students' learning experiences through the application of the latest interactive technology. In this article, Farren demonstrates how an action-research approach to pedagogy that includes a commitment to both a web of betweenness and living educational theory can provide opportunities for educators to inquire into their educational influences, establish living standards of judgement, and take responsibility for their own learning.


The Incident Management Information Sharing (IMIS) Internet of Things (IoT) Pilot established the following objectives. • Apply Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) principles and practices for collaborative development to existing standards and technology in order to prototype an IoT approach to sensor use for incident management. • Employ an agile methodology for collaborative development of system designs, specifications, software and hardware components of an IoT-inspired IMIS sensor capability. • Development of profiles and extensions of existing Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) and other distributed computing standards to provide a basis for future IMIS sensor and observation interoperability. • Prototype capabilities documented in engineering reports and demonstrated in a realistic incident management scenario. These principles continued through the IoT Pilot Extension, with additional objectives of: • Integration into the existing Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) Apex development program process as part of Spiral 1; • Defining steps to begin the integration of existing incident management infrastructure, e.g., pulling in National Institute of Emergency Management (NIEM) message feeds; and • Demonstration and experimentation in a 'realistic' incident environment using two physically separate sites–an incident site within an active first responder training facility (Fairfax County Lorton site), and a command center (DHS S&T Vermont Avenue facility). The initial Pilot activity has been documented in three OGC public engineering reports. The present report describes and documents the additional activities and innovations undertaken in the Extension.


In this piece, I write about the obliviousness to race in which many whites are insulated. In this spirit, I have attempted to poke holes at the innocence claimed in my previous state of oblivion (a not uncommon state for white teachers). I claim no authority on the real and horrendous suffering, humiliation, and degrading realities that racialized people often feel on a daily basis. My goal here is to help open up conversations by offering my own confession of obliviousness and to challenge other white teachers to confront the inequitable and oppressive systems they are functioning in. I offer a few suggestions for places to begin or continue this journey of awareness.


The pentameric ligand gated ion channel super family plays a central role in fast synaptic communication between neurons and at the neuromuscular junction. Extensive studies on the prototypic pLGIC, the Torpedo nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) have revealed an exquisite lipid sensitivity, with the nAChR adopting a novel uncoupled conformation in membranes lacking activating anionic and neutral lipids. The lipid-exposed transmembrane a-helix, M4, in each homologous subunit likely acts as a lipid sensor. One model proposes that activating lipids promote M4 "binding" to the adjacent a-helices, M1 and M3, to enhance interactions between the M4 C-terminus and the Cys-loop of the agonist-binding domain, with such interactions promoting coupling between the agonist site and channel gate. The first part of my thesis indirectly tests this hypothesis by exploring the effects of membrane hydrophobic thickness on nAChR function. Specifically, I tested the hypothesis that thicker membranes, which should promote alignment of M4 parallel to M1/M3 and thus helix-helix interactions, favor a coupled conformation. Although I found that the nAChR is uncoupled in all membranes tested, regardless of hydrophobic thickness, thicker membranes promote transitions from uncoupled to ultimately the desensitized state over the minutes to hours time frame. In contrast to anionic lipids, which influence function primarily via a conformational selection mechanism, membrane hydrophobic thickness influences function via a kinetic mechanism thick membranes lower the activation energy between uncoupled and coupled conformations to promote conformational transitions. In the second part of my thesis, I used the two prokaryotic homologs, GLIC and ELIC, to explore how amino acid interactions at the interface between M4 and M1/M3 influence channel activity. Alanine scanning mutagenesis of this interface shows that disruption of almost any interaction in GLIC leads to a loss of folding and/or function, while


The method of empirical orthogonal functions is commonly used in tomography to select a set of basis vectors to represent variations in the sound‐speed profile. In this method, historical profiles are used to estimate a profile covariance matrix, and the eigenvectors corresponding to the largest eigenvalues of the covariance matrix are taken for the basis vectors. These basis vectors are the most efficient parametrization of the variations in the profile. They are NOT, however, the parametrization which leads to the most accurate post‐measurement estimate of the profile, because, in a tomographic experiment, all profile variations cannot be measured with the same accuracy. In this paper, the set of basis vectors, which will yield the least error in the post‐measurement estimate of the profile, are derived taking into account measurement resolution and measurement noise. These improved empirical orthogonal functions are applied to several canonical problems in ocean acoustic tomography, and the resulting e...


Background and objectives High mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear protein present in all cells. HMGB1 is passively released extracellularly during cell death and, similarly, HMGB1 can be actively secreted from activated cells. Extracellular HMGB1 mediates multiple inflammatory processes. High levels of extracellular HMGB1 have been demonstrated in synovial joints of arthritis patients, intraarticular injection of HMGB1 causes synovitis in mice and neutralisation of HMGB1 by peptide inhibitors or polyclonal antibodies ameliorates experimental arthritis. In this study, we investigated and compared the effects of an HMGB1 peptide inhibitor and a mouse monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting HMGB1 in an experimental model of arthritis and in acute autoimmune hepatitis. Defining a mAb or peptide inhibitor with ameliorative effects will forward the development of HMGB1 blockade suitable for clinical trials. Methods Collagen induced arthritis (CIA) was induced in DBA/1 mice. Arthritis severity was evaluated by clinical grading of inflammation. Mice with established arthritis were treated every other day with mAb 2G7 or irrIgG and monitored for 7 days. Autoimmune hepatitis was induced by ConcavalinA injection in C57/bl6 mice pretreated with Abox, mAb 2G7 or PBS. After 8 h, sera and liver biopsies were collected. Serum ALT levels, along with HTX staining of liver biopsies were assessed. Liver myeloid peroxidase (MPO) were measured as an indication of neutrophil infiltration. Pro-inflammatory mediator levels were quantified by ELISA. HMGB1 levels were evaluated by ELISA and immunohistochemistry. Results mAb 2G7 treatment significantly ameliorated inflammation in CIA mice and also reduced destruction, as assessed by histological analysis. In mice with autoimmune hepatitis, we recorded an upregulated HMGB1 expression damaged liver lobules. Abox treatment minimised liver damage and mAb 2G7 reduced neutrophil infiltration. Reduced interferon γ and CXCL1 levels were demonstrated in both Abox and mAb 2G7 treated mice. Conclusion By these studies, we have for the first time defined a mAb targeting HMGB1 that effectively reduces inflammation and destruction during CIA. Beneficial effects of this mAb were also demonstrated in a model of autoimmune hepatitis. Furthermore, we could confirm the inhibitory effects of the peptide inhibitor A box, previously demonstrated in CIA, in experimental autoimmune hepatitis. Hence, our current work with humanisation of mAb 2G7 and assessements of its therapeutic effects can be performed in the autoimmune hepatitis model. This allows us to rapidly screen multiple humanised mAb clones and also avoids xenoreactivity effects. Hence, we have facilitated the development of HMGB1 blockade for clinical use.


In recent years, large volumes of data are transferred between a computer system and various subsystems through digital logic circuits and interconnected wires. And there always exist potential errors when data are transferred due to electrical noise, device malfunction, or even timing errors. In general, parity checking circuits are usually employed for detection of single-bit errors. However, it is not sufficient to enhance system reliability and availability for efficient error detection and necessary to detect and further correct errors up to a certain level within the affordable cost. To handle a large number of information bits, the associated circuits become quite complex and irregular on the other the CA's circuit structure having simple, regular and modular propertiesis amenable for VLSI implementation.The purpose of this paper is investigateen coding and decodingof bit error correction methods using the properties of CA. The results show that these schemesarepossible to correct errors by the easy and fast analysis of syndrome.


Revised! HS-189, a 5-page fact sheet by William M. Stall, describes effective weed management practices for Cole or Brassica Leafy Vegetables in Florida and provides a table of listing herbicides available to growers for chemical weed control of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, mustard, turnips and kale. This publication updates the 2003 table to reflect current recommendations. Published by the UF Department of Horticultural Sciences, October 2006.
HS189/WG028: Weed Control in Cole or Brassica Leafy Vegetables (Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Collard, Mustard, Turnip, and Kale) (ufl.edu)


Because economic and social opportunities are unevenly distributed across England, the places in which children and young people are born and grow up can have significant influences on both their current well-being and their future life chances. Data now available confirms the expected finding that the level of child well-being found in an area tends to reflect its overall level of disadvantage. However, there are a number of exceptions to this general rule – local areas where child well-being is either significantly better or worse than would be expected given the levels of advantage which exist there. Some of the possible explanations for these exceptions are considered, using additional data available from the mapping of children's services, particularly in relation to the provision of child and adolescent mental health services. It is argued that continued analysis of these different streams of data as they develop and mature over the coming years had an important role to play in assisting policy-makers, service providers and local people, working collaboratively, to promote the well-being of disadvantaged children and young people.


The competitiveness and productivity of Irish agriculture has been at the forefront of debate in recent times given successive and impending changes to agricultural policy. This paper examines the trend in total factor productivity in Irish agriculture over the recent past and explores the effects of specific variables on relative efficiency levels. The findings of this research have shown that productivity growth was highest in the Cattle Rearing sector followed by the Dairy, Cattle Finishing, Sheep and Cereals sectors during the period 1996 to 2006. The research has also shown that efficiency levels are, in general, positively correlated with extension use soil quality, the overall size of the farm, the level of intensification and the level of specialisation. The use of artificial insemination was also positively correlated with efficiency in the Dairy sector


A core part of all numerical models used for flexible riser analysis is the structural component representing the main body of the riser as a slender beam. Loads acting on this structural element are self-weight, buoyant and hydrodynamic forces, internal pressure and others. A structural finite element for an inextensible riser with a point-wise enforcement of the inextensibility constrain is presented. In particular, the inextensibility constraint is applied only at the nodes of the meshed arc length parameter. Among the virtues of the proposed approach is the flexibility in the application of boundary conditions and the easy incorporation of dissipative forces. Several attributes of the proposed finite element scheme are analysed and computation times for the solution of some simplified examples are discussed. Future developments aim at the appropriate implementation of material and geometric parameters for the beam model, i.e. flexural and torsional rigidity.


In this paper, we designed and implemented a dependable SIP-based clustered architecture for VoIP and multimedia applications, and also proposed an efficient OpenAIS-based SIP load balancing strategy (OSLB) that can balance proxy serverspsila load and achieve fast failover by reducing the number of failed calls when one of the dispatchers or one of the SIP proxy servers crashes. Experimental results show that our OSLB is comparable to an existing work, SIP load balancer, in terms of load balance metric (1.05 vs. 1.04). However, our OSLB reduces the number of failed calls by 86% when a proxy server failed compared to the SIP load balancer. This work, which is part of an EPON project, has been realized in an industry standard ATCA-based platform to provide high availability carrier-grade services, and is currently under a field trial in an ISP.


Abstract The paper provides an overview of the functions of emojis in everyday written communication – either used to complement or to replace text. The first chapter presents the current research literature on this topic and addresses the differences between unicode emojis and the former ASCII-signs. Then we discuss a question hotly debated by the public: May emojis be considered the basis of a new universal language? After having shown on both the lexical and the grammatical level that this cannot be the case we move on to the question whether, within our alphabetic system of writing, emojis may be used as additional graphic signs. The last chapter offers some examples of WhatsApp messages containing emojis in the various functions discussed before (as allographs and ideograms, for instance). Furthermore, a frequency analysis based on the Swiss WhatsApp corpus shows the distribution of emojis in these data.


This review aims to highlight the key areas in which changes to the epigenome have played an important role in the evolution and development of our species. Firstly, there will be a brief introduction into the topic of epigenetics to outline the current understanding of the subject and inform the reader of the basic mechanisms and functions of the epigenome. This will lead on to more focussed detail on the role played by epigenetic changes in the rapid evolution of our species and emergence from our ancestor species, as well as the Human Accelerated Regions that played a role in this. The discussion highlights how epigenetics has helped and hindered our species' development via changes to the epigenome in more modern times, discussing case examples of documented instances where it is shown that epigenetics has played a role in the evolution of humanity.


Abstract Apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)] is the distinctive glycoprotein of lipoprotein Lp(a), which is disulfide linked to the apo B100 of a low density lipoprotein particle. Apo(a) possesses a high degree of sequence homology with plasminogen, the precursor of plasmin, a fibrinolytic and pericellular proteolytic enzyme. Apo(a) exists in several isoforms defined by a variable number of copies of plasminogenlike kringle 4 and single copies of kringle 5, and the protease region including the backbone positions for the catalytic triad (Ser, His, Asp). A lysinebinding site that is similar to that of plasminogen kringle 4 is present in apo(a) kringle IV type 10. These kringle motifs share some amino acid residues (Asp55, Asp57, Phe64, Tyr62, Trp72, Arg71) that are key components of their lysinebinding site. The spatial conformation and the function of this site in plasminogen kringle 4 and in apo(a) kringle IV-10 seem to be identical as indicated by (i) the ability of apo(a) to compete with plasminogen for binding to fibrin, and (ii) the neutralisation of the lysinebinding function of these kringles by a monoclonal antibody that recognises key components of the lysinebinding site. In contrast, the lysinebinding site of plasminogen kringle 1 contains a Tyr residue at positions 64 and 72 and is not recognised by this antibody. Plasminogen bound to fibrin is specifically recognised and cleaved by the tissuetype plasminogen activator at Arg561-Val562, and is thereby transformed into plasmin. A SerIle substitution at the activation cleavage site is present in apo(a). Reinstallation of the ArgVal peptide bond does not ensure cleavage of apo(a) by plasminogen activators. These data suggest that the stringent specificity of tissuetype plasminogen activator for plasminogen requires molecular interactions with structures located remotely from the activation disulfide loop. These structures ensure second site interactions that are most probably absent in apo(a).


This paper focuses on various textual elements in prose writing (footnotes, titles, and prefaces) such as they determine, and are determined by, the textual spacing of the page. Far from functioning in the way that the typographical, syntactical spaces between words do, or from replicating the pauses punctuating words in speech, such spacing is singularly and irreducibly textual. Functioning like non-phonetic marks such as parentheses, or expressing relations of hierarchy (as between footnote and text), textual spacing's manifold functions belie their pristine blankness. I look at this textual spacing of the preface, title, and footnote, as its orthodox and deviational modes of functioning come to light in certain of Derrida's readings. A second phase of analysis focuses on the unconventional spatial organization of certain of Derrida's own texts—on his juxtaposition of cited texts in a determinate spatial configuration, and his composing of a book comprising two columns facing one another. To make sense of such gestures in the face of the derision they can occasion, I have recourse not, as one might, to French modernist art's ostentatious engagement and display of its own material conditions, but to the conventional exploitation of textual space as analyzed in the first section devoted to the spacing of footnotes, prefaces, and so on. I conclude Derrida's gestures to continue the tradition in which prose writing has innovatively availed of textual space to institute such conventional textual components as footnotes, prefaces, and titles—components integral to the apparatus of "the book" that gives material form to or "realizes" the logos. Derrida's gestures are thus to be judged, not on the basis of the bemusement we might feel at an instance and mode of textual spacing that falls under no familiar convention, but only vis-a-vis their deconstruction of the text as an exhaustible totality of sense, and their visually attesting to the intertextuality interwoven in any text's composition.


Conventional wisdom holds that citizenship is not a consumer good and that the goods that the state confers upon its constituents - e.g., economic and social rights, access to its publicly provided goods, political voice and identity - are not for sale. In fact the relationships between states and actual or potential citizens is ideally conceptualized as standing in stark contrast to a seller-buyer relationship. The ideal type of state-citizen relationship is based in an entirely political sphere disconnected from the market. In accordance with this ideal conceptualization of the state-citizen relationship, the state is depicted as the legal guardian of citizenship entrusted with authority to determine who its members are and to exercise its powers in a manner that is compatible with the underlying normative values shared by its political members. It has an obligation to reinforce and represent the politically pronounced collective will. Being a citizen, according to this view, translates into being a member of a political community, participating in its deliberative process and as such bearing rights vis a vis the state and being entitled to the benefits it confers. This ideal depiction of the relationship between the state and its actual or potential citizens is not, however, fully aligned with current reality where we are witness to gradual erosion of various dimensions of state-citizen relationship and an infiltration of market logic into this interaction. States seemingly desert their role as trustees of citizenship and assume a market player position, recruiting human capital and investments by putting their real and political assets up for grabs. They engage in the sale and barter of various aspects of membership in their polities and at times even in the sale or barter of full-fledged citizenship. Individuals as well, shop for citizenship, residency, work and other permits as well as for additional goods that states provide. We argue that in order to fully account for this process of market infiltration into the realm of citizenship both on a descriptive and a normative level, one needs to widen the perspective through which state-citizen interaction is viewed. The ideal depiction of a distinct separation between the political sphere and the market realm fails to take into account the fact that the state-citizen relationship does not stand in a vacuum. Rather, it is part of a greater market order plagued with democratic and political deficits. In this decentralized order states themselves inevitably participate and function as market players vis a vis other states. They compete for capital and human resources by offering their public goods and political participation for sale. This market thus conflates monetary and political currency, and puts a price tag on political membership. At the same time, individuals and corporations compete for state-provided membership, rights, and public goods. Competition does not only change the strategic positions of states and citizens in pursuing their goals. It percolates into the interaction between states and their subjects (their current citizenry as well as potential constituents) altering traditional roles of both states and citizens; it changes the kinds and quantities of public goods and entitlements being offered, it alters modes of democratic participation, schemes of distribution as well as the meanings and values underlying the state-citizen interaction. The purpose of this Article is twofold: first, on a descriptive level we wish to uncover existing manifestations of the market infiltration into the state-citizen interaction. We will discuss how globalization reshapes this interaction's phenomenology as well as the strategic goals of both states and citizens. Second, on the normative plane we explore and evaluate the marketization and fragmentation of the state-citizen relationship in light of central normative criteria--efficiency, distributive justice, autonomy identity and political participation. Part A will focus on the descriptive dimension and unravel real world practices where state-citizen relationships are being marketized in full or in part. These examples of selling citizenship a-la carte will demonstrate the infiltration of the market into the political sphere and how market forces shape both the identity of the polity, and the formation of the collective will. Against the backdrop of these markets for citizenship induced by state competition, part B will turn to the normative discussion evaluating the desirability of markets for citizenship.


Increasing use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) superscalar processors in industrial, embedded, and real-time systems necessitates the development of error detection mechanisms for such systems. This shows an error detection scheme called committed instructions counting (CIC) to increase error detection in such systems. The scheme uses internal performance monitoring features and an external watchdog processor (WDP). The performance monitoring features enable counting the number of committed instructions in a program. The scheme is experimentally evaluated on a 32-bit Pentium/spl reg/ processor using software implemented fault injection (SWIFI). A total of 8181 errors were injected into the Pentium/spl reg/ processor. The results show that the error detection coverage varies between to 90.92% and 98.41%, for different workloads.


The traffic situation of the future goes towards flexibility of train configurations and increasing speed. There is a need for the ability to adjust the number of passenger cars as well as the energy consumption for trains to run efficiently, leading to multiple pantographs and short pantograph distances. Limitations due to this were studied on an existing catenary system. A model of the pantograph catenary system was developed in a finite element program. To verify the correctness of the model, comparison with full scale experiments was done. Results from the simulations indicates that trailing pantographs suffers from high dynamic effects within the section overlap. Effects of changes in design of the section overlap was studied. The results show that it is possible to get lower dynamic effects in the section overlap, even lower than within an ordinary span.


Integrative medicine and health (IMH) content and pedagogy for health professional education best practices are not established. Physician assistant (PA), physical therapy (PT), and occupational therapy (OT) students' knowledge and self-perception of integrative health, lifestyle behavior change, and professional well-being were assessed pre- and post- participation in IMH online modules. Students demonstrated significant increases in knowledge and self-perception scores from pre- to post-test. Pre- and post-test knowledge score means varied by discipline. Pre-test self-perception score means did not vary across disciplines, while the post-test self-perception score mean was significantly higher for PA students compared to other disciplines. Online integration of IMH content does not require significant curricular revisions and is a promising pedagogy for increasing PA, PT, and OT students' understanding of the IMH approach.


Background: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a disease that primarily affects bone but can be associated with a clinical spectrum that ranges from a solitary bone lesion with a favorable natural history to a multisystem, life-threatening disease process. Aim: We analyzed our single institutional experience of managing children with LCH. Settings and Design: A total of 40 children of LCH, managed in tertiary cancer center in South India in the period from 2001 to 2005, were evaluated retrospectively. Materials and Methods: Clinicopathological features, laboratory findings, treatment modalities and long-term outcome were analyzed. Results: Children were aged between 2 months and 12 years, with a mean of 3 years. Majority of the children were below 5 years of age. Group B constituted a bulk of children. Disseminated cases were less (five patients). Liver function dysfunction was seen in four (10%) children. Pulmonary interstitial infiltrates were seen in two (5%) cases. Diabetes insipidus manifested in three patients. There was one death. Conclusion: A better understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of LCH will result in more directed and efficacious treatment regimens.


The rising of distributed energy resource (DER) e.g. rooftop PV solar system, wind system and energy storage system, and load demand response bring both opportunities and challenges to the power grid. Coordinating decentralised DERs is important. The purpose of transactive energy (TE) system is to coordinate DERs at the distribution level and encourage consumers and prosumers to participate in electricity market by providing economic incentives. TE system enables customers and prosumers to sell the surplus energy to their neighbours. This thesis represents research on TE system in aspects of structure, technology, economics and participants. The impact of TE system in Australia's electrical standard and electricity business mode is also explored. Moreover, based on research findings, a TE system model for Australia is proposed. The key findings of this project are:

• TE System is a method to relieve electricity congestion.
• The power flow (distribution level) and transaction in TE system are bidirectional.
• TE system is customer-oriented and offers more choices to customers/prosumers.
• The new distribution system operator (DSO) plays a key role in coordinating DERs and end-users.
• Undertaking a TE system demonstration project in Australia is suggested.


The availability of large music repositories calls for new ways of automatically organizing and accessing them. While artist-based listings or title indexes may help in locating a specific piece of music, a more intuitive, genre-based organization is required to allow users to browse an archive and explore its contents. So far, however, these organizations following musical styles have to be designed manually. With the SOM-enhanced JukeBox (SOMeJB) we propose an approach to automatically create an organization of music archives following their perceived sound similarity. More specifically, characteristics of frequency spectra are extracted and transformed according to psychoacoustic models. The resulting psychoacoustic Rhythm Patterns are further organized using the Growing Hierarchical Self-Organizing Map, an unsupervised neural network. On top of this advanced visualizations including Islands of Music (IoM) and Weather Charts offer an interface for interactive exploration of large music repositories.


We investigate the limitations of thermonuclear X-ray bursts as a distance indicator for the weakly magnetized accreting neutron star 4U 1728-34. We measured the unabsorbed peak flux of 81 bursts in public data from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The distribution of peak fluxes was bimodal: 66 bursts exhibited photospheric radius expansion (presumably reaching the local Eddington limit) and were distributed about a mean bolometric flux of 9.2 × 10-8 ergs cm-2 s-1, while the remaining (non-radius expansion) bursts reached 4.5 × 10-8 ergs cm-2 s-1, on average. The peak fluxes of the radius expansion bursts were not constant, exhibiting a standard deviation of 9.4% and a total variation of 46%. These bursts showed significant correlations between their peak flux and the X-ray colors of the persistent emission immediately prior to the burst. We also found evidence for quasi-periodic variation of the peak fluxes of radius expansion bursts, with a timescale of ≃40 days. The persistent flux observed with RXTE/ASM over 5.8 yr exhibited quasi-periodic variability on a similar timescale. We suggest that these variations may have a common origin in reflection from a warped accretion disk. Once the systematic variation of the peak burst fluxes is subtracted, the residual scatter is only ≃3%, roughly consistent with the measurement uncertainties. The narrowness of this distribution strongly suggests that (1) the radiation from the neutron star atmosphere during radius expansion episodes is nearly spherically symmetric and (2) the radius expansion bursts reach a common peak flux that may be interpreted as a standard candle intensity. Adopting the minimum peak flux for the radius expansion bursts as the Eddington flux limit, we derive a distance for the source of 4.4-4.8 kpc (assuming RNS = 10 km), with the uncertainty arising from the probable range of the neutron star mass MNS = 1.4-2 M☉.


Canine leproid granuloma syndrome (CLGS) has not been officially reported in New Zealand. The seminal report describing this syndrome is in the Australian Veterinary Journal, 1998, where the results of a questionnaire circulated amongst veterinary pathologists and practitioners in Australia were reported. It included one response of a case seen in New Zealand, but no details of that case were given, despite CLGS being described in the literature as "common in New Zealand". By injudicious use of references, the international literature has propagated the idea that the condition, including molecular identification, was confirmed in New Zealand, yet none of the articles cited actually confirmed that. An outbreak of skin granulomas in a group of approximately 35 working dogs was investigated, in which skin samples were sent to the Mycobacterium reference laboratory, Victoria, Australia, for PCR testing and molecular characterisation. Results of the clinical presentation, histological features and molecular studies conformed to the published details of CLGS. In particular, the nucleotide sequence of the internal transcribed spacer region, amplified from the mycobacterial DNA present in the clinical specimen provided, was identical to GenBank® Accession Number EF611177. That sequence is representative of the causative agent of CLGS in cases from Australia, the United States of America and Brazil. Although acid-fast organisms are occasionally seen in skin granulomas in dogs in New Zealand, this is the first confirmed identification of CLGS in this country. This is also the first report of an outbreak situation amongst a group of dogs.


The recognition of curved objects is a challenging problem in computer vision. The identification of the shape should be possible in the presence of occlusion and noise. This implies that shape analysis ought to be local, enabling partial matching techniques in recognition phase. A match between an object and the model is carried out on intermediate representation level quantities that are referred as features. The best match occurs when the hypothetical object model configuration represents the scene world as accurate as possible. The accuracy can be measured quantitatively by the matching errors.


We analyze locked and unlocked mobile device usage of 1 960 Android smartphones. Based on approximately 10TB of mobile device data logs collected by the Device Analyzer project, we derive 6.9 million usage sessions using a screen power state machine based approach. From these session we examine the number of interactions per day, the average interaction duration as well as the total daily device usage time. Findings indicate that on average users interact with their devices 117 minutes a day, separated over 57 interactions -- while unlocking their device only 43% of the time (e. g. to check for notifications).


The problems of causality, modeling, and control for chaotic, high-dimensional dynamical systems are formulated in the language of information theory. The central quantity of interest is the Shannon entropy, which measures the amount of information in the states of the system. Within this framework, causality is quantified by the information flux among the variables of interest in the dynamical system. Reduced-order modeling is posed as a problem related to the conservation of information in which models aim at preserving the maximum amount of relevant information from the original system. Similarly, control theory is cast in information-theoretic terms by envisioning the tandem sensor-actuator as a device reducing the unknown information of the state to be controlled. The new formulation is used to address three problems about the causality, modeling, and control of turbulence, which stands as a primary example of a chaotic, high-dimensional dynamical system. The applications include the causality of the energy transfer in the turbulent cascade, subgrid-scale modeling for large-eddy simulation, and flow control for drag reduction in wall-bounded turbulence.


The article presents results of the experimental and theoretical research of bearing capacity determination for fixings, used for bearing and supporting brackets in facade systems with the base from sandwich panel. The experiment included the consideration of several types of brackets fixing: using self-tapping screws and threaded rods, taking into account the variation in the thickness of the bearing steel plates. The required values of the research were critical longitudinal force for the pull-out from the base, deformations of the base, which lead to the disruption of sandwich-panel structural integrity. In addition, full-sized samples of the bearing bracket (the most loaded element of the facade system), installed on sandwich panel, were tested for the longitudinal (wind) and shearing (self-weight of cladding and system) load with different types of fixing. As a result, the article gives recommendations for the joints design of facade system brackets fixing to the base from sandwich panel, developed on the results of tests and theoretical studies.


The diversity of symbionts (commensals, mutualists or parasites) that share the same host species may depend on opportunities and constraints on host exploitation associated with host phenotype or environment. Various host traits may differently influence host accessibility and within-host population growth of each symbiont species, or they may determine the outcome of within-host interactions among coexisting species. In turn, phenotypic diversity of a host species may promote divergent exploitation strategies among its symbiotic organisms. We studied the distribution of two feather mite species, Proctophyllodes sylviae and Trouessartia bifurcata, among blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla wintering in southern Spain during six winters. The host population included migratory and sedentary individuals, which were unequally distributed between two habitat types (forests and shrublands). Visual mite counts showed that both mite species often coexisted on sedentary blackcaps, but were seldom found together on migratory blackcaps. Regardless of host habitat, Proctophyllodes were highly abundant and Trouessartia were scarce on migratory blackcaps, but the abundance of both mite species converged in intermediate levels on sedentary blackcaps. Coexistence may come at a cost for Proctophyllodes, whose load decreased when Trouessartia was present on the host (the opposite was not true). Proctophyllodes load was positively correlated with host wing length (wings were longer in migratory blackcaps), while Trouessartia load was positively correlated to uropygial gland size (sedentary blackcaps had bigger glands), which might render migratory and sedentary blackcaps better hosts for Proctophyllodes and Trouessartia, respectively. Our results draw a complex scenario for mite co-existence in the same host species, where different mite species apparently take advantage of, or are constrained by, divergent host phenotypic traits. This expands our understanding of bird–mite interactions, which are usually viewed as less dynamic in relation to variation in host phenotype, and emphasizes the role of host phenotypic divergence in the diversification of symbiotic organisms.


Public equity is an important source of risk capital, especially in China. The Chinese government has occasionally suspended IPOs, exposing firms already approved to IPO to indeterminate listing delays. The temporary bar on going public increases uncertainty about access to public markets for affected firms. We show that suspension-induced delay reduces corporate innovation activity both during the delay and for years after listing. Negative effects on tangible investment and positive effects on leverage are temporary, consistent with financial constraints during the suspensions being resolved after listing. Our results suggest that predictable, well-functioning IPO markets are important for firm value creation. They demonstrate that corporate innovation is cumulative and is negatively affected by policy uncertainty. This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.


Some environmental issues in Indonesia are remaining problems that cannot be resolved. One among the environmental concern is a growing interest in the Watershed (DAS) area management. Various attempts had been made to manage the areas but has not resulted in optimal outcomes so far. The aim of this study is to determine the implementation of environmental management in Indonesia, especially in Citarum Watershed area. Through this research, it is expected in the future inadequate supervisory system that had been developed within the community can be converted into better management, such as integrated management of watersheds with the culture of everyday life. This research uses a mixed method approach consist of quantitative and qualitative analysis. The data is obtained from the modification approach of previous research on Kutai National Park combined with an interview with experts from government and academics. Furthermore, the data is analyzed using AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) and ANP (Analytical Network Process) Superdecision software Ver. 2.6. The study resulted that the strategy of environmental management should be changed into civil-military based management. To be able to map out a strategized effort the military involvement is required at the stage of planning, implementation, coordination, and supervision.


The investigation of methods to support the ever increasing demand for data transfer has continued for years; one such method suggested within the field of optical communication, is space division multiplexing (SDM) [1]. Simultaneously the field of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) is being investigated due to attractive features such as high device density and low operating power [2]. For PICs it is necessary with a toolbox of devices and one such of importance to the processing of on chip SDM is the mode converter. Several schemes have been used to realize such devices [3] [4]. In this paper we present the possibility of employing topology optimization (TO) to design a device that allows for reversible conversion between the transverse electric fundamental even (TE0) mode and the second higher order odd mode (TE2). Topology optimization is an iterative inverse design process, where repeated finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations are made in accordance with a sensitivity analysis. This is done using a software package which has been developed in house, and which has shown to deliver low loss designs with a controllable bandwidth in addition to small device footprints [5]. The design is made for fabrication in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and previous work has shown excellent concordance between simulations and experimental results when employing 3D TO [6].


Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a short-range radio-communication technology that involves the generation and transmission of signals which spread over a large frequency range. Since UWB signals occupy a wide bandwidth, they will overlap with the frequency bands that have been allocated to various radio-communication services. There are studies conducted by the International Telecommunication Union Radio-communication Sector (ITU-R) as well as other international organisations such as the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) which indicated that there is a potential interference being caused by UWB devices into the fixed-satellite service (FSS) in the downlink (space-to-Earth) direction. This paper provides aggregate interference assessments from UWB devices into the FSS receiver. These analyses determine the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) density limits and the required separation distances for UWB devices to avoid interference to the FSS receiver. Results of the research are compared with the studies conducted by the ITU-R and CEPT. Finally, new EIRP density limits are proposed for the UWB devices, in order to adequately protect the FSS receiver in the satellite downlink bands of 3.4–4.2 GHz, 4.5–4.8 GHz and 7.25–7.75 GHz.


Food additives are widely used by the food industry to increase the product shelf life and/or attribute as well as enhance certain characteristics of particular foods, which are often lost during processing. With the advent of modern life, more and more additives have been employed by the food industry. Despite their wide use, they are substances that may cause adverse reactions like any other drug. This study aimed to contextualize through a review of the literature, the scientific evidence on the risks entailed by the consumption of food additives, special regards to sodium benzoate. This additive is a sodium salt, which is commonly used as a chemical preservative in foods, and it is found mainly in industrialized drinks/beverages. Sodium benzoate is considered safe by major regulatory agencies, but there is still controversy over its effects on human health.

 Key words: Industrialized foods, preservatives, toxicity, sodium benzoate.


The Police Technical Assistance Program (PTAP), a federal model, was adopted to support the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT)'s safety mission. Several activities were included in this initiative: conducting assessments, providing technical support on the revision of the New Jersey crash report form, and development of a knowledge-based training curriculum that was designed to target and reduce specified reporting errors. The final results of the project were global acceptance of the revised crash report form by municipal police officers, a significant increase in national (MMUCC) compliance levels of the crash report form, and significant reduction of errors on reports currently being submitted for inclusion in the state sponsored crash data base system.


Chitosan was used for active packaging of ethylene absorber that can change the head space of food packaging to extend the shelf life. The purpose of this study was to develop active packaging from chitosan and KMnO4 and apply the active film to package tomatoes. Active film was prepared by mixing chitosan 6 g, 140 mL of acetic acid 1%, 60 mL of aquadest, 2 mL sorbitol, and KMnO4 with concentration of 3 g, 5 g, and 7 g. After 5 days of storage, the film used to wrap the tomatoes was sweated. The best formulation to absorb the ethylene was made from 7 g of KMnO4 since it could inhibit tomatoes from shortly ripening compared to other formulations. The fruits were packed at room temperature had a high hardness as much as 17,79 mm/50mg/5s compared to the control of 3,47 mm/50mg/5s, while at the refrigerator, the tomato had lower hardness value of the 2,72 mm/50mg/5s compared to the control of 4,29 mm/50mg/5s. Addition of KMnO4 on the film could maintain the value °Hue either for all treated sample and control in the range of the yellow to red.


Nowadays a lot of research is done on bubbles in champagne and beer. However research on the bubbles in the main ingredient of both beverages, namely water,
is lagging behind. In this study daily conditions for carbonated water and their in uence on the bubbles is examined.
The influence of temperature, shaking method, shaking time and resting time is related to the number of bubbles formed, their rising velocity and their growth
rate. The major outcome of this study is that the existing theory is not compatible with the found results. Carbonated water being opened unshaken at water temper-
atures between 15 and 35 �C shows larger radius growth rates than predicted by theory. The velocity with which the bubbles rises is in agreement with the theory.
The range of water temperatures on his own does not lead to the overspilling of a bottle. Yet if the bottle in addition is shaken overspill is accomplished. Shaking using a vibrational generator at 10


Blast crisis, closely resembling acute leukemia, is the usual terminal event in chronic myeloid leukemia. Using physical ("fingerprint") and cultural (colony-forming) methods, we have demonstrated distinctive patterns in the stable phase of chronic myeloid leukemia and in blast crisis. An unusual fingerprint alteration preceding the onset of the terminal phase is noted, and cell culture perturbation is evident at different stages of the disease. Our findings indicate that the application of these methods to the study of hemopoietic disorders is valid, and suggest that the use of such techniques may allow a better understanding of the complex cellular events occurring in the course of chronic myeloid leukemia.


radiolabeled primary lymph nodes. Surg Oncol Clin North Am 1996;5:33–41. 6. Shoaib T, Soutar DS, Prosser JE, et al. A suggested method for sentinel node biopsy in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Head Neck 1999;21:728–733. 7. Alex JC, Sasaki CT, Krag DN, et al. Sentinel lymph node radiolocation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Laryngoscope 2000;110:198–203. 8. Sánchez-Fernández JM, Santaolalla F, Sánchez del Rey A, et al. Preliminary study of the lymphatic drainage system of the nose and paranasal sinuses and its role in detection of sentinel metastatic nodes. Acta Otolaryngol (Stockh) 2005; 125:566–570. 9. Ambrosch P, Brink U. Detection of nodal micrometastases in head and neck cancer by serial sectioning and immunostaining. Oncology 1996;10:1221–1226. 10. Hamakawa H, Takemura K, Sumida T, et al. Histological study on pN upgrading of oral cancer. Virchow Arch 2000; 437:116–121. 11. Barrera JE, Miller ME, Said S, et al. Detection of occult cervical micrometastasis in patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer. Laryngoscope 2003;113: 892–896.


The cerebellum plays a critical role for sensorimotor control and learning. However, dysmetria or delays in movements' onsets consequent to damages in cerebellum cannot be cured completely at the moment. Neuroprosthesis is an emerging technology that can potentially substitute such motor control module in the brain. A pre-requisite for this to become practical is the capability to simulate the cerebellum model in real-time, with low timing distortion for proper interfacing with the biological system. In this paper, we present a frame-based network-on-chip (NoC) hardware architecture for implementing a bio-realistic cerebellum model with ~ 100 000 neurons, which has been used for studying timing control or passage-of-time (POT) encoding mediated by the cerebellum. The simulation results verify that our implementation reproduces the POT representation by the cerebellum properly. Furthermore, our field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based system demonstrates excellent computational speed that it can complete 1sec real world activities within 25.6 ms. It is also highly scalable such that it can maintain approximately the same computational speed even if the neuron number increases by one order of magnitude. Our design is shown to outperform three alternative approaches previously used for implementing spiking neural network model. Finally, we show a hardware electronic setup and illustrate how the silicon cerebellum can be adapted as a potential neuroprosthetic platform for future biological or clinical application.


Background Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and widespread aggregates of the protein alpha-synuclein (α-syn). Increasing evidence points to inflammation as a chief mediator; however, the role of α-syn in triggering and sustaining inflammation remains unclear. In models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS) and neurotoxin models of PD, the chemokine CX3CL1 (fractalkine) and its receptor (CX3CR1) have important roles in modulating neuroinflammation. Methods To examine the role of fractalkine signaling in α-syn-induced-neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, we used an in vivo mouse model in which human α-syn is overexpressed by an adeno associated viral vector serotype 2 (AAV2) and in vitro phagocytosis and protein internalization assays with primary microglia treated with aggregated α-syn. Results We observed that loss of CX3CR1 expression led to a reduced inflammatory response, with reduced IgG deposition and expression of MHCII 4 weeks post-transduction. Six months post transduction, AAV2 mediated overexpression of α-syn leads to loss of dopaminergic neurons, and this loss was not exacerbated in animals with deletion of CX3CR1. To determine the mechanism by which CX3CR1affects inflammatory responses in α-syn-induced inflammation, phagocytosis was assessed using a fluorescent microsphere assay as well as by microglial uptake of aggregated α-syn. CX3CR1-/- microglia showed reduced uptake of fluorescent beads and aggregated α-syn. Conclusion Our results suggest that one mechanism by which CX3CR1-/- attenuates inflammation is at the level of phagocytosis of aggregated α-syn by microglia. These data implicate fractalkine signaling as a potential therapeutic target for regulating inflammatory response in α-syn models PD.


Figure rotation substantially increases the fraction of stochastic orbits in triaxial systems. This increase is most dramatic in systems with shallow cusps showing that it is not a direct consequence of scattering by a central density cusp or black hole. In a recent study of stationary triaxial potentials (Valluri & Merritt 1998) it was found that the most important elements that define the structure of phase space are the two dimensional resonant tori. The increase in the fraction of stochastic orbits in models with figure rotation is a direct consequence of the destabilization of these resonant tori. The presence of a large fraction of stochastic orbits in a triaxial bulge will result in the evolution of its shape from triaxial to axisymmetric. The timescales for evolution can be as short as a few crossing times in the bulges of galaxies and evolution is accelerated by figure rotation. This suggests that low luminosity ellipticals and the bulges of early type spirals are likely to be predominantly axisymmetric.


The purpose of this study was gingival border tightness assessment of class II composite resin restorations, after the use of 4 different material insertion methods. Material and method The study included 20 human posterior (PM and M3) whole teeth, which were removed from various reasons; limited proximal-occlusal cavities, standardized from the location and size standpoints, were prepared on both proximal faces. The restorations were done using the same material, that is Filtek Supreme XT (from 3M ESPE), and the Adper Easy One Bond Self-Etch Adhesive (from 3M ESPE), the specimens being distinguished depending on the material insertion method employed and classified in 4 study groups: group A: bulk technique, group B: horizontal layering technique, group C: oblique layering technique and group D: centripetal buildup technique. The specimens underwent a 10% methylene blue staining process, subsequent to restoration edge sealing using nail polish. Stain penetration assessment was done after 4 distance setting procedures; the results were then statistically processed by means of the χ 2 test, employed to determine the existing correlations between the technique used and the percolation achieved. Results The first (A – bulk) method had strong correlations with the 3 rd degree percolation and with type 2 + 3 percolations. Method C showed correlations with 0 and 0 +1 percolations. Conclusions None of these insertion methods provided perfect sealing of the gingival border; however


The constant evolution of Restorative Odontology is creating a benchmark. The case reports represent the func‑ tional recuperation of a tooth, through the use of a dental fragment obtained from an extracted tooth, a technique known as 'Biological Restoration'. The highly satisfactory results obtained permitted to conclude that this technique can be considered as an alternative to all others and can be carried out successfully, quickly, and inexpensively.


Using concepts associated with effectively maintained inequality theory and horizontal stratification, the authors ask whether the private-public dividing line is a "threshold of consequence" for early-career market entry. To address this empirically, the authors use a novel LinkedIn data set to analyze job pathways for the graduating class of 2016 from the top 25 private and top 25 public universities in the United States. In line with past qualitative research, the authors find evidence that elite private graduates enter high-status industries in greater proportion than their public university counterparts. They also tend to get jobs at more prestigious and higher paying firms and to attain more prestigious job titles. On the basis of the evidence, the authors call for more closely analyzing the layers of advantage that may accumulate to elite graduates during key transitional moments, such as during the postgraduation job search. The authors also shed additional light on how the private-public divide is a threshold of consequence for university graduates.


Blood Pressure (BP) is one of the four primary vital signs indicating the status of the body's vital (life-sustaining) functions. BP is difficult to continuously monitor using a sphygmomanometer (i.e. a blood pressure cuff), especially in everyday-setting. However, other health signals which can be easily and continuously acquired, such as photoplethysmography (PPG), show some similarities with the Aortic Pressure waveform. Based on these similarities, in recent years several methods were proposed to predict BP from the PPG signal. Building on these results, we propose an advanced personalized data-driven approach that uses a three-layer deep neural network to estimate BP based on PPG signals. Different from previous work, the proposed model analyzes the PPG signal in time-domain and automatically extracts the most critical features for this specific application, then uses a variation of recurrent neural networks (RNN) called Long-Short-Term-Memory (LSTM) to map the extracted features to the BP value associated with that time window. Experimental results on two separate standard hospital datasets, yielded absolute errors mean and absolute error standard deviation for systolic and diastolic BP values outperforming prior works.


Analysis of future food security typically focuses on managing gradual trends such as population growth, natural resource depletion, and environmental degradation. However, several risks threaten to cause large and abrupt declines in food security. For example, nuclear war, volcanic eruptions, and asteroid impact events can block sunlight, causing abrupt global cooling. In extreme but entirely possible cases, these events could make agriculture infeasible worldwide for several years, creating a food supply catastrophe of historic proportions. This paper describes alternative foods that use non-solar energy inputs as a solution for these catastrophes. For example, trees can be used to grow mushrooms; natural gas can feed certain edible bacteria. Alternative foods are already in production today, but would need to be dramatically scaled up to become the primary food source during a global food supply catastrophe. Scale-up would require extensive depletion of natural resources and difficult social coordination. For these reasons, large-scale use of alternative foods should be considered only for desperate circumstances of food supply catastrophes. During a catastrophe, alternative foods may be the only solution capable of preventing massive famine and maintaining human civilization. Furthermore, elements of alternative foods may be applicable to non-catastrophe times, such growing mushrooms on logging residues. Society should include alternative foods as part of its contingency planning for food supply catastrophes and possibly during normal times as well.


The larvicide activity of the experimental preparation SAN 402 I WDC containing B. Thuringiensis var. Israelensis and that of Abate 500 E (44 % temephos) were tested on the larvae of Aedes aegypti. The studies were performed on the following media: distilled water, pure and buffered at pH 9, 7 and 4 and pond water whether or not free from materials in suspension. The activity of both preparations is not influenced by the composition of the media, exception made for the presence of materials in suspension. The persistance varies according to the kind of the media and the concentration level. It is in general rather low. Both preparations behave rather similar, the microbial insecticide however is more influenced by the presence of materials in suspension.


Recent deep-learning-based compression methods have achieved superior performance compared with traditional approaches. However, deep learning models have proven to be vulnerable to backdoor attacks, where some specific trigger patterns added to the input can lead to malicious behavior of the models. In this paper, we present a novel backdoor attack with multiple triggers against learned image compression models. Motivated by the widely used discrete cosine transform (DCT) in existing compression systems and standards, we propose a frequency-based trigger injection model that adds triggers in the DCT domain. In particular, we design several attack objectives for various attacking scenarios, including: 1) attacking compression quality in terms of bit-rate and reconstruction quality; 2) attacking task-driven measures, such as downstream face recognition and semantic segmentation. Moreover, a novel simple dynamic loss is designed to balance the influence of different loss terms adaptively, which helps achieve more efficient training. Extensive experiments show that with our trained trigger injection models and simple modification of encoder parameters (of the compression model), the proposed attack can successfully inject several backdoors with corresponding triggers in a single image compression model.


PHYS 5305 Monte Carlo Simulation Method and its Application (3 semester credit hours) An introductory course on the method of Monte Carlo simulation of physical events. This course covers the generation of 0-1 random number, simulation of arbitrary distributions, modeling, simulation and statistical analysis of experimental activities in physics research and engineering studies. As a comparison the concepts and applications of the Neural Networks will be discussed. Prerequisites: Background knowledge in probability and statistics and in a programming language or instructor consent required. (3-0) T


This article describes an axial transient vibration and axial excitation response of a polygonal mirror scanner rotor driven by a flat-type brushless dc motor and supported by a passive thrust magnetic bearing and a radial air bearing. From results of experimental investigations, the following characteristics of the vibration have been deduced: (1) Repulsive magnetic force was induced between the rotor magnet and stator coils of the dc motor under current passage. The force caused axial static displacement and axial transient vibration. (2) Because the stiffness of the thrust magnetic bearing was small, large axial vibration took place due to the axial excitation. (3) Two types of damper were introduced to suppress the axial transient vibration and the axial excitation response; one was an eddy-current damper and the other was an air damper. It was demonstrated that the air damper was effective for reducing the axial vibration.


Modern Code Review (MCR) has been widely used by open source and proprietary software projects. Inspecting code changes consumes reviewers much time and effort since they need to comprehend patches, and many reviewers are often assigned to review many code changes. Note that a code change might be eventually abandoned, which causes waste of time and effort. Thus, a tool that predicts early on whether a code change will be merged can help developers prioritize changes to inspect, accomplish more things given tight schedule, and not waste reviewing effort on low quality changes. In this paper, moti-vated by the above needs, we build a merged code change prediction tool. Our approach first extracts 34 features from code changes, which are grouped into 5 dimensions: code, file history, owner experience, collaboration network, and text. And then we leverage machine learning techniques such as random forest to build a prediction model. To evaluate the performance of our approach, we conduct experiments on three open source projects (i.e., Eclipse, LibreOffice, and OpenStack), containing a total of 166,215 code changes. Across three datasets, our approach statistically significantly improves random guess classifiers and by: Sven Apel two prediction models proposed by Jeong et al. (2009) and Gousios et al. (2014) in terms of several evaluation metrics. Besides, we also study the important features which distinguish merged code changes from abandoned ones. multiple programming keywords include: "else", "for", and


We empirically discovered that the space of human actions has a linguistic structure. This is a sensory-motor space consisting of the evolution of joint angles of the human body in movement. The space of human activity has its own phonemes, morphemes, and sentences. We present a Human Activity Language (HAL) for symbolic non-arbitrary representation of sensory and motor information of human activity. This language was learned from large amounts of motion capture data.
Kinetology, the phonology of human movement, finds basic primitives for human motion (segmentation) and associates them with symbols (symbolization). This way, kinetology provides a symbolic representation for human movement that allows synthesis, analysis, and symbolic manipulation. We introduce a kinetological system and propose five basic principles on which such a system should be based: compactness, view-invariance, reproducibility, selectivity, and reconstructivity. We demonstrate the kinetological properties of our sensory-motor primitives. Further evaluation is accomplished with experiments on compression and decompression of motion data.
The morphology of a human action relates to the inference of essential parts of movement (morpho-kinetology) and its structure (morpho-syntax). To learn morphemes and their structure, we present a grammatical inference methodology and introduce a parallel learning algorithm to induce a grammar system representing a single action. The algorithm infers components of the grammar system as a subset of essential actuators, a CFG grammar for the language of each component representing the motion pattern performed in a single actuator, and synchronization rules modeling coordination among actuators.
The syntax of human activities involves the construction of sentences using action morphemes. A sentence may range from a single action morpheme (nuclear syntax) to a sequence of sets of morphemes. A single morpheme is decomposed into analogs of lexical categories: nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. The sets of morphemes represent simultaneous actions (parallel syntax) and a sequence of movements is related to the concatenation of activities (sequential syntax).
We demonstrate this linguistic framework on real motion capture data from a large scale database containing around 200 different actions corresponding to English verbs associated with voluntary meaningful observable movement.


There is a huge demand for high-quality longitudinal educational research in Germany. In particular, there is a clear need for both analytical and methodological progress in order to understand educational pathways through the life course and how they lead to different outcomes. This paper identifies the theoretical and methodological challenges of studying education across the life course and describes the structure of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) in Germany.


The aim of this study was to reconsider the biological characteristics of epithelioid malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (E-MpM) in the light of new concepts about epithelial mesenchymal transition and mesenchymal epithelial reverse transition (EMT/MErT) and the role of epigenetic reprogramming in this context. To this end we profiled surgical specimens and derived cells cultures by a number of complementary approaches i.e. immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, in situ hybridization, biochemistry, pluripotent stem cell arrays, treatments with cytokines, growth factors and specific inhibitors. The analyses of the surgical specimens showed that i) EZH2 is expressed throughout the spectrum of MpM, ii) that E-MpM (including the high-grade undifferentiated form) are characterised by c-MYC and miRNA 17-5p expression, and iii) that progression to sarcomatoid MpM is dictated by EMT regulators. They also showed that E-MpM expressed c-MET and are enriched in E- and P-cadherins- and VEGFR2-expressing CSCs, thus strongly supporting a role for MErT reprogramming in endowing E-MpM tumour cells with stemness and plasticity, and hence with a drug resistant phenotype. The cell culture-based experiments confirmed the stemness traits and plasticity of E-MpM, and support the view that EZH2 is a druggable target in this tumor.


ABSTRACT Malignant neoplasms (cancer) are the second main cause of death after cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Europe and have a significant impact on the healthcare systems of the European Union (EU). Improving our public policy making on pricing and reimbursement mechanism is economic is essential to help evaluate the impact of public health policies and prioritize the allocation of future research and care funds. The economic cost of cancer was estimated for all the 27 countries of the EU as well as the proportion of total cancer costs due to the four main forms of cancer: lung, colorectal, female breast, and prostate. Differential pricing and reimbursement mechanisms were analysed against outcomes. Total costs comprised healthcare costs (e.g., primary care, hospital care), unpaid care costs by family and friends and lost earnings due to morbidity (absence from work) and premature mortality. The same methodological approach was used across all countries. Cancer was estimated to cost the EU e117 billion annually (e234 per EU citizen), with healthcare accounting for 36% of costs (e84 per EU citizen) and representing over 58 million hospital bed days. Lost earnings due to premature mortality and morbidity represented 36% and 8% of costs, respectively, while unpaid care accounted for the remaining 20%. Germany represented 26% of the total EU costs and there was considerable variation on the economic burden per person across the 27 countries. Lung cancer represented 16% of the overall cancer costs, followed by colorectal cancer (11%), breast cancer (10%) and prostate cancer (5%). The EU has a very heterogenous pricing and reimbursement patterns for cancer care, that have little policy coherence with outcomes. Our work suggests that cancer care and onco-economics cannot be seen as a Community activity and significant divergences will continue leading to greater inequity and, potentially, poorer outcomes in cancer. Disclosure: R. Sullivan: RS has received speaker fees from Janssen, Novartis, Esai and Pfizer, and unrestricted educational grants from Pfizer and Novartis. All fees support the Institute of Cancer Policy.


Soluble forms of decay-accelerating factor (DAF) (CD55), the receptor for echovirus 7, were synthesized in the yeast Pichia pastoris. Purified recombinant protein containing SCR domains 2, 3, and 4, but lacking the serine/threonine rich region, was shown to block infection of susceptible cells by echovirus 7. In contrast to the situation with poliovirus and its receptor, the neutralization of echovirus 7 by soluble DAF was completely reversible and did not lead to the formation of 135S A-particles. Binding of virus to susceptible cells, by contrast, did lead to the formation of A particles, mainly from virus that had been internalized. The data suggest that a secondary factor(s) may contribute to A-particle formation and uncoating of echovirus 7.


Flash memory is a promising new storage technology. To fully utilize future multi-level cell Flash memories, it is necessary to develop error correction coding schemes attuned to the underlying physical characteristics of Flash. Based on a careful inspection of fine-grained, experimentally-collected error patterns of TLC (three bits per cell) Flash, we propose a mathematical model that captures the intracell variability, which is manifested by certain patterns of bit-errors. Error correction codes are constructed for this model based upon generalized tensor product codes. For fixed levels of redundancy, these codes are shown to exhibit substantially lower bit error rates than existing error correction schemes.


The frequency-temperature behavior of straight crested wave modes in AT- and SC-cut quartz plates are studied using Mindlin first- and third-order plate equations. The first order Mindlin plate theory with shear correction factors was previously found to yield an inaccurate frequency spectra of the modes in the vicinity of the fundamental thickness shear frequency. The third order Mindlin plate equations without correction factors, on the other hand, predict well the frequency spectrum in the same vicinity. In general, the frequency-temperature curves of the fundamental thickness-shear obtained from the first-order Mindlin plate theory are sufficiently different from those of the third-order Mindlin plate theory that they raise concerns. The least accurately predicted mode of vibration is the flexure mode which results in discrepancies in its frequency-temperature behavior. The accuracy of other modes of vibrations depends on the degree of couplings with the flexure mode. Mindlin first-order plate theory with only the shear correction factors is not sufficiently accurate for high frequency crystal vibrations at the fundamental thickness-shear frequency. Correction factors for the flexure and face-shear branches may be needed. Hence, a total of five correction factors may be needed for the first-order plate theory to yield accurate frequency spectra and frequency-temperature curves.


9 This work describes the analysis and characterisation of polyvinylalcohol (PVA)-based hydrogel 10 polymer beads, specifically focussing on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of water within such 11 beads in the absence and presence of three drugs; doxorubicin and irinotecan (already utilised as 12 medicines) and finally, imipramine (for comparison). Using optical microscopy the size of the beads 13 in the presence of increasing amounts of imipramine decreased (121 to 79 µm) as water was 14 displaced, demonstrating the presence of drug-bead interactions. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) 15 permitted determination of the total water content within the beads, ranging from beads alone that 16 contained 96.8 % water, through to beads formulated with irinotecan that contained only 91.7 % 17 water. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was utilised to investigate water present within their 18 hydrogel structures, separated into bound (non-freezing), loosely bound and unbound forms. For 19 imipramine and irinotecan (25 mg/mL) beads there was little impact on the relative ratio of bound, 20 loosely bound and free water within the structure. For doxorubicin and the higher drug loaded 21 irinotecan a distinct decrease in overall water content was seen. This study confirms the ability of 22 TGA and DSC to characterise the differing types of water within the beads and indicates the relative 23 changes in water content in the presence of these three drugs. It is clearly beneficial to characterise 24 states of water in such hydrogel systems to better understand drug loading and release in the context 25 of cancer treatment.


Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS) and a CD4+ T cell-mediated autoimmune disease. The Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway is recognized as the major mechanism that regulates the differentiation and function of T helper (Th) 1 and Th17 cells, which are recognized as pivotal effector cells responsible for the development of EAE. We used baricitinib, a JAK 1/2 inhibitor, to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of inhibiting the JAK/STAT pathway in EAE mice. Our results showed that baricitinib significantly delayed the onset time, decreased the severity of clinical symptoms, shortened the duration of EAE, and alleviated demyelination and immune cell infiltration in the spinal cord. In addition, baricitinib treatment downregulated the proportion of interferon-γ+CD4+ Th1 and interleukin-17+CD4+ Th17 cells, decreased the levels of retinoic acid-related orphan receptor γ t and T-bet mRNA, inhibited lymphocyte proliferation, and decreased the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in the spleen of mice with EAE. Furthermore, our results showed the role of baricitinib in suppressing the phosphorylation of STATs 1, 3, and 4 in the spleen of EAE mice. Therefore, our study demonstrates that baricitinib could potentially alleviate inflammation in mice with EAE and may be a promising candidate for treating MS.


Two hypotheses on repression of nitrification in climax vegetations (i.e. nitrogen immobilization and allelopathy) were investigated. In this study the potential nitrification activities and numbers of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria were established in a nature reserve with a series of natural grasslands with vegetational different stages of succession of plants species. The pastures had not been fertilized for 3, 7, 20 and 46 years, respectively, and the gradual decrease in availability of nutrients had led to pastures dominated by different grass species. In each field soil parameters, potential nitrification activities (PNA) and numbers of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria were determined in the root zone of Holcus lanatus as well as in that of a grass species characteristic of the stage of succession. In the rhizosphere of H. lanatus decreasing PNA and numbers of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria were observed as the period of non fertilization increased. Within each field no significant differences in PNA were observed between the root zones of H. lanatus and those of the dominant grass species. From these results it is concluded that, in these fields, decreasing nitrification was related only to decreasing ammonium availability and not to species composition. No indications were obtained that allelochemicals were involved in the flow nitrification potentials of late stages of succession. The optimum pH of the ammonium-oxidizing community, measured as PNA, decreased as the period of non fertilization increased. It is suggested that impoverishment of the grassland soil with respect to nitrogen availability selects against ammonium-oxidizing bacteria with a relatively high pH optimum.


Dr. Cheryl Qing Li joined University of New Haven in the fall of 2011, where she is a senior lecturer of the Industrial, System & Multidisciplinary Engineering Department. Dr. Li earned her first Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from National University of Singapore in 1997. She served as Assistant Professor and subsequently Associate Professor in Mechatronics Engineering at University of Adelaide, Australia and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore respectively. In 2006, she resigned from her faculty job and came to Connecticut for family reunion. Throughout her academic career in Australia and Singapore, she had developed a very strong interest in learning psychology and educational measurement. She then opted for a second Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, specialized in Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment at University of Connecticut. She earned her second Ph.D. in 2010. Dr. Li has a unique cross-disciplinary educational and research background in Mechatronics Engineering, specialized in Control and Robotics, and Educational Psychology, specialized in Statistical Analysis and Program Evaluation.


Venice—With only days to go before his term as special administrator in charge of Italy's space agency, ASI, comes to an end, engineer Silvano Casini has stirred up a hornets' nest by presenting a 10-year plan for ASI to a parliamentary technology committee in Rome last week. In calling for more international collaboration, Casini's plan flies in the face of recommendations made in February by a government-appointed panel. He drew censure from the research ministry for announcing unapproved proposals without their consent.


Background The supraclavicular brachial plexus block exhibits a good anesthetic and analgesic effect to the upper extremity below the shoulder (mid and lower shaft of humerus, elbow, forearm, hand and fingers) and reduces the need for opioid consumption. Among many medications, dexamethasone and dexmedetomidine had been used as effective adjuvants to the local anesthetics in brachial plexus block.
Aim: To compare the block characteristics with dexamethasone versus dexmedetomidine as adjuvant to bupivacaine hydrochloride in SCBPB.
Patient and methods: 75 patients' average weight were allocated and divided into three equal groups. Combined ultrasound and nerve stimulation – guided SCBPB had been done. Control group received 0.5% bupivacaine alone. Dexmedetomidine group, received 0.5% bupivacaine with dexmedetomidine. In dexamethasone group, patient received 0.5% BPV plus dexamethasone. The sensory block was tested by Hollmen scale, while Motor block was monitored by a modified Bromage Scale, Pain was monitored and evaluated by using the visual analogue score.
Results: A prolonged effect of both sensory and motor block were observed in both dexamethasone group and dexmedtomidine group(more significant in D) than group C. Total dose of analgesic (tramadol in mgs in 24 hours) was obviously reduced in dexamethasone and dexmedetomidine groups than group C.
Conclusion
Dexmedetomidine and dexamethasone both are good adjuvants in peripheral nerve blocks, but Dexamethasone had better effects on sensory and motor block duration in comparison with dexmedetomidine. Time of first analgesic request in dexamethasone group was longer than dexmedetomidine group.


The globalized and liberalized Indian economy is witnessing cut-throat competition. To provide institutional support to healthy and fair competition, there is a requirement of better regulatory and adjudicatory mechanism. To this effect, India has enacted the new competition law which shall replace the earlier law. This is a shift from curbing monopolies to encouraging competition. The design of the new law carves out a very important role for the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The task has been divided in three phases. This article sets out to explain the intricate relationship of competition law and judiciary in India by examining the experience CCI had so far. The article then goes on to examine the role of lawyers. The article then considers the time frame for the implementation of the three phases and provides realistic suggestions to have a successful setting of competition regime in India.


(1) Background: Different authors have established that each type of motivation to sports can favor healthy habits in men and women, being important to promote more self-determined motivations. (2) Methods: The present study was designed to assess selected psychometric properties of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire and study the relationship between motivational climate, physical activity and gender in adolescents. Research was conducted with a sample of 2134 Spanish children (12.5 ± 1.4 years). (3) Results: The final scale was formed of two factors. The fit of factor 1 (ego climate) was 0.867, the fit for factor 2 was 0.851 (task climate) and the overall fit was 0.765. Structural equation modelling identified a negative relationship between ego climate and task climate. This relationship was strong in women. A direct relationship was found between the ego climate and task climate in relation to physical activity in men and women. Nevertheless, this positive relationship was stronger in men. (4) Conclusions: PMCSQ-2 test is a good instrument to measure the motivation towards sports practice. Moreover, it is important to promote adaptive types of motivation in physical education classes in order to generate pleasure for learning and long-term physical activity engagement.


THE EXACT mechanism in the production of acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis is unknown. Although acute pancreatitis was first produced experimentally in 1855, 1 we are today still uncertain of the relative importance of the various factors involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory and necrotizing lesions of the pancreas. That this subject is of direct practical importance to the surgeon will be illustrated in cases to be described. The problem as encountered at the Alexander Blain Hospital is such that during the past five years an average of only 1 patient a year has been treated, with a mortality rate of 40 per cent. The 2 deaths occurred in patients with hemorrhagic pancreatitis. One death occurred five years after cholecystectomy and choledochotomy for stones in the common duct. At autopsy the main pancreatic duct was found to be occluded by a stone impacted in the ampulla of Vater. All the 3


A marked reduction in the training load in the lead-up to major competitions allows athletes to reduce the fatigue induced by intense training and improve competition performance. This tapered training phase is based on the reduction in training volume while maintaining pretaper training intensity and frequency. In parallel to training load reductions, nutritional strategies characterised by lowered energy intakes need to be implemented to match lowered energy expenditure. The Ramadan intermittent fast imposes constrained nutritional practices on Muslim athletes, inducing a shift to a greater reliance on fat oxidation to meet energy needs and a possible increase in protein breakdown. The training load is often reduced during Ramadan to match the absence of energy and fluid intake during daylight, which implies a risk of losing training induced adaptations. Should coaches and athletes decide to reduce the training load during Ramadan, the key role of training intensity in retaining training induced adaptations should be kept in mind. However, experienced elite Muslim athletes are able to maintain their usual training load during this month of intermittent fasting without decrements in measures of fitness and with only minor adverse effects.


This talk presents GSQL, a recent addition to the spectrum of query languages for expressing graph analytics. GSQL is a high-level yet still Turing-complete language whose syntax is inspired by SQL in order to reduce the learning curve for SQL programmers, while simultaneously supporting a Map-Reduce interpretation that is preferred by NoSQL developers and that is conducive to massively parallel evaluation. The talk will also provide some context on the graph query language landscape represented in modern systems. Alin Deutsch is a professor of Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego. His research is motivated by the data management challenges raised by database-powered applications. Alin's interests include query language design and optimization for various data models ranging from text to the relational and post-relational models (with particular emphasis on graph data). He also works on cross-model data integration and on automatic verification of business processes. Alin earned his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania, an MSc degree from the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany) and a BSc degree from the Polytechnic University Bucharest (Romania). He is the recipient of the 2018 ACM PODS Test of Time Award, a Jean D'Alembert Fellowship from the University Paris-Saclay, the Alfred P.Sloan Fellowship, the ACM SIGMOD 2006 Top-3 Best Paper Award, and an NSF CAREER award. 2018 SBC 33rd Brazilian Symposium on Databases (SBBD) August 25-26, 2018 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil


This guide provides access to resources covering Italian language, literature and film at Brown University and beyond. It also provides a pathfinder to primary sources in and about Italy.


Cultural Diversity is an important topos in the European Union. It is part of the Union's self–portrayal, can be found in diverse legal instruments, is the rationale behind numerous legal provisions. At the same time, the concern for cultural diversity gives reason for grave reservations towards the Union. This article intends to assist, on the basis of international law, in distinguishing appearance and reality. The Union will be analysed firstly as a situation of application of the international law of cultural diversity, secondly as regional executive of this international law, and thirdly as its global promoter. It shows that international law and Union law reinforce each other. The former conveys to the Union instruments to pursue European unification which at the same time serve its own implementation. Furthermore, it does not set limits to the European unity since it only protects cultural pluralism but not state–supporting identity, distinctiveness. A prerequisite for this consonance is that the Union's constitutional law allows for political unity without cultural unity and that international law remains mute about important questions on European unification. From an international law perspective, the motto of the Union thus is more illusion than reality; however, the international law perspective does not fully exhaust the problem. The conformity with international law alone cannot dissipate the concern for the future of cultural diversity in the Union.


Co-infections occur when hosts are infected by two or more pathogens, either simultaneous or as a secondary infection. This research aimed to determine the best compositions of vaccine combinations and their protective efficacies against pathogens co-infection. This research was conducted in two stages. Firstly, surveys were conducted in three research areas: infected, high risk of infection, and virus free areas. Samples (three to five fish per pool) were collected from three fish farms per area. The basic antibody titer of fish from each farm was checked before and after vaccination as well as after the virus challenge in combination with the PCR result. The second stage of the research was conducted in the laboratory. Carp and koi fish were used to determine optimal vaccine combination and dosage for oral application. The results of this research showed that combination of KHV: Aeromonas hydrophila vaccines in the ratio of 1:2 and vaccine volume of 3 mL via the oral application gave higher titer antibody and efficacy against KHV and A. hydrophila. In conclusion, the combined vaccine offers an effective means of preventing the diseases, decreasing fish mortality, and simplifying the immunization schedule, which will eventually increase the overall health of farmed fish and benefit fish farmers and service extension officers. This research recommends that further development of the combined vaccines should be carried out, for example, overcoming the technical difficulties in its manufacturing.


Full adder and NAND are the most important parts of digital circuits. Therefore, optimizing the these blocks improves the whole output parameters of digital circuits. In this paper controversial full adder and NAND are designed in CNFET technology and then different parameters of CNFET technology are changed to optimize the speed and power consumption of full adder and NAND. The results of simulation by using HSPICE in .9v are presented. The result of simulation shows the best parameters for better performance of these full adder and NAND in CNFET technology.


The search for new direct bandgap, earth-abundant semiconductors for efficient, high-quality optoelectronic devices, as well as photovoltaic and photocatalytic energy conversion has attracted considerable interest. One methodology for the search is to study ternary and multiternary semiconductors with more elements and more flexible properties. Cation mutation such as binary → ternary → quaternary for ZnS → CuGaS_2 → Cu_2ZnSnS_4 and ZnO → LiGaO_2 → Li_2ZnGeO_4 led to a series of new quaternary chalcogenide and oxide semiconductors with wide applications. Similarly, starting with GaN, ternary nitrides such as ZnSnN_2 and ZnGeN_2 have been designed and synthesized recently. However, quaternary nitride semiconductors have never been reported either theoretically or experimentally. Through a combination of the Materials Genome database with the first-principles calculations, we designed a series of quaternary nitride compounds I–III–Ge_2N_4 (I = Cu, Ag, Li, Na, K; III = Al, Ga, In) following the GaN → ZnGeN_2 → I–III–Ge_2N_4 mutation. Akin to Li_2ZnGeO_4, these quaternary nitrides crystallize in a wurtzite-derived structure as their ground state. The thermodynamic stability analysis shows that while most of them are not stable with respect to phase separation, there are two key exceptions (i.e., LiAlGe_2N_4 and LiGaGe_2N_4), which are stable and can be synthesized without any secondary phases. Interestingly, they are both lattice-matched to GaN and ZnO, and their band gaps are direct and larger than that of GaN, 4.36 and 3.74 eV, respectively. They have valence band edges as low as ZnO and conduction band edges as high as GaN, thereby combining the best of GaN and ZnO in a single material. We predict that flexible and efficient band structure engineering can be achieved through forming GaN/LiAlGe_2N_4/LiGaGe_2N_4 heterostructures, which have tremendous potential for ultraviolet optoelectronics.


The authors argue it is essential to examine the linguistic and communicative practices that are used in the production of introspective data, and thereby make an important contribution to debates about how we may study experience that are relevant to a wide range of disciplines.

The book has three objectives. It offers an account of the way in which contemporary researchers are employing introspection methodologies; it argues for the importance of viewing introspective data as discourse, and illustrates this via discussion of research findings in four substantive chapters; and it outlines new directions for research and theorising on introspection and consciousness which will have implications for a range of psychological and social science disciplines.


In this paper, the effects of underfill on thermomechanical behavior of two types of flip chip packages with different bumping size and stand-off height were investigated under thermal cycling both experimentally and two-dimensional (2-D) finite element simulation. The materials inelasticity, i.e., viscoelasticity of underfill U8437-3 and viscoplasticity of 60 Sn40 Pb solder, were considered in the simulations. The results show that the use of underfill encapsulant increases tremendously (/spl sim/20 times) the thermal fatigue lifetime of SnPb solder joint, weakens the effects of stand-off height on the reliability, and changes the deformation mode of the package. It was found that the thermal fatigue crack occurs in the region with maximum plastic strain range, and the Coffin-Manson type equation could then be used for both packages with and without underfill. Solder joint crack initiation occurred before delamination when using underfill with good adhesion (75 MPa) and the underfill delamination may not be a dominant failure mode in the present study. The interfacial stresses at the underfill/chip interface were calculated to analyze delamination sites, which agree with the results from acoustic image. Moreover, the effects of material models of underfill, i.e., constant elasticity (EC) and temperature dependent elasticity (ET) as well as the viscoelasticity (VE), on the thermomechanical behaviors of flip chip package were also studied in the simulation. The VE model gives comparatively large plastic strain range and large displacements in the shear direction, as well as decreased solders joint lifetime. The ET model gives similar results as the VE model and could be used instead of VE in simulations for the purpose of simplicity.