The spring-mass-capacitor structure in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) is a typical macromodel, its response and stability under step voltage is presented in this paper. Energy method is used to analyze the dynamic behavior of mass block where its velocity is zero and accelerometer is zero, respectively. The condition of stability under step voltage is the initial stiffness ratio must less than 0.25, and finally the relation of energy loss and oscillating behavior of block is analyzed. The conclusion is useful to analyze the response of structure and helpful to design a MEMS system composing of spring-mass-capacitor structure.


biology in histopathology. Chichester: Wiley, 1994:1231-49. 4 Trere D, Migaldi M, Trentini GP. Higher reproducibility of morphometric analysis over the counting method for interphase AgNOR quantification. Anal Cell Pathol 1995; in press. 5 Trere D. Critical analysis of the methods commonly employed in the assessment of cell proliferation: advantages of the NOR silverstaining technique in routine cyto-histopathology. Anal Cell Pathol 1993;5:191-201. 6 Derenzini M, Sirri V, Trere D. Nucleolar organizer regions in tumor cells. J Cancer 1994; 7:71-7.


An association between breast cancer (BC) and thyroid autoimmunity (TA) has been frequently observed and several small-scale studies correlated the presence of thyroid peroxidase (TPO) autoantibodies (TPOAb) with an improved BC
outcome. The presence of an immune response to shared thyroid/breast antigens has been hypothesized: both tissues express the sodium iodide symporter (NIS) and have a peroxidase activity: TPO in thyroid and lactoperoxidase (LPO) in breast. I have identified 3 possibilities: i) BC patients with TPOAb may also have autoantibodies to NIS (NISAb) ii) BC may express TPO iii) TPOAb may cross-react
with LPO in BC. This thesis aimed to identify the TA/BC shared antigen(s) and also investigated the prognostic role of TPOAb in a large cohort of BC patients.
The presence of NISAb was investigated by flow cytometry using CHO cells stably transfected with human NIS. No positive response was obtained in 42 patients with
BC and/or TA, therefore NIS is unlikely to be an antigen.
TPO transcripts (RT-PCR, QPCR, LongRange PCR) and protein (western blot, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence) were detected in BC tissues but at levels 104 times less than in thyroid tissue. TPO was also expressed in adipose
tissue and different cancers. Some potentially BC specific TPO isoforms were identified.
The observational large-scale study conducted on 1974 women affected with BC did not reveal any evidence for a significant impact of TPOAb and/or thyroid function on BC prognosis.
In conclusion, BC and thyroid tissues share similar properties and could be common targets of TA, with TPO being the most likely common antigen; further studies are needed to clarify the role of tissue-specific TPO isoforms. The roles of TPOAb and thyroid function on BC prognosis have to be reconsidered, maybe focusing on different TA aspects (e.g. goitre, different autoantibodies).


Dr Oestereich, an architect and town-planner, graduate of Aachen Technical University, Germany, after a period of collaboration with prominent architects' offices and consultancy agencies in Paris, London, Berlin, Lusaka and Mettmann (Germany), has acted since 1973 as a freelance planner and consultant on human settlement matters with German and international development agencies on projects concerning town planning, slum upgrading and local government matters in many countries of Africa and Asia; as Guest Lecturer at the DPU/University College, London, and the Institute for Regional and City Planning of the Technical University Berlin and also as a Delegate of Habitat International Coalition at various international conferences. His publications include Elendsquartiere und Wachstumspole (Misery-Quarters and Growth-Poles), Cologne, 1980; as well as Ländliche Entwicklung und Selbsthilfeforderung (Rural Development and Assistance to Self-Help), Munich, 1989; and numerous articles published in various professional periodicals and scientific compilations. Since 1983, Dr Oestereich is Co-editor of TRIALOG, a bilingual German-English journal on planning and building in the South. He is also a member of the World Society for Ekistics (WSE). The text that follows is a slightly edited and revised version of a paper presented at the WSE Symposion "Defining Success of the City in the 21st Century," Berlin, 24-28 October, 2001.


Recent studies have shown that the risk conferred by the high-risk DQAl*03-DQBl*0302 (DQ8) haplotype is modified by the DRB1*O4 allele that is also carried by this haplotype. However, many of these studies suffer from lack of sufficient numbers of DQ-matched control subjects, which are necessary because there is a strong linkage disequilibrium between genes in the HLA complex. In the present study, using a large material of IDDM patients and DQ-matched control subjects, we have addressed the contribution of DR4 subtypes to IDDM susceptibility. Our data, together with recent data from others, clearly demonstrate that some DR4-DQ8 haplotypes are associated with disease susceptibility, while others are associated with protection, depending on the DRB1*O4 allele carried by the same haplotype. In particular, our data demonstrate that DRBl*0401 confers a higher risk than DRBl*0404. Based on combined available data on the genetic susceptibility encoded by various DR4-DQ8 haplotypes and the amino acid composition of the involved DRβ*04 chains as well as the ligand motifs for these DR4 subtypes, we have developed a unifying hypothesis explaining the different risks associated with different DR4-DQ8 haplotypes. We suggest that disease susceptibility is mainly conferred by DQ8 while DR4 subtypes confer different degrees of protection. Some DR4 subtypes (i.e., DRB1*0405, 0402, and 0401) confer little or no protection, while others (i.e., DRB 1*0404, 0403, and 0406) cause an increasing degree of protection, possibly by binding a common protective peptide. Features of a protective peptide that fit such a model are briefly discussed.


The rise of the platform economy has been the subject of celebration and critique. Platform companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Postmates have been rightfully celebrated as positively disruptive, introducing much–needed competition in industries that have been otherwise over–mature and stagnant. However, some of the leading new platforms have had such meteoric success that their growing market dominance and technical capacity raise questions about new forms of anti-competitive practices, and negative impacts on consumer and employee welfare.
In this Essay, we develop a framework for considering the market power of platform companies that use digital technology to connect a multi-sided network of individual users. Specifically, we use the example of Uber as a lens to identify eight questions that are important for assessing platform power. These questions address the way a range of issues play out in the platform context, including more traditional competition concerns around innovation, regulatory arbitrage, barriers to entry, and price setting through platforms' use of the network form to coordinate transactions, the use of digital pricing, and the use of pricing bots. These questions also focus on new concerns about power derived from data collection and use; the use of data to expand into other markets; and the implications of market power for consumer choice about personal privacy.
Together, these questions provide policymakers a framework to consider whether and how questions of market power (and competition more generally) may pose complexity or require analytic adjustments—and how the development of platforms implicates both new opportunities for, and challenges to, consumer and employee welfare in the digital context.


IntroductionRecord linkage has existed for decades, regarded as an activity where an entity is ascertained across different data sources. Initially medically driven to determine further outcomes. Developments in technology led to cheaper computing and storage, which ushered capture of information beyond the primary entities such as carer's details.
Objectives and ApproachAdministrative datasets that capture an event involving a child would more often than not, capture information about their parents or carers including relationship to the primary entity within the record.
The main objective was to exploit the connections across the entities captured in a record and have that as an additional layer of information that may contribute to context. All entities extracted from one record were clearly defined as related. Information was considered true at the point of capture. Then record linkage for all the individual entities extracted were performed.
ResultsFamily structures evolve and a family structure during birth may change by the time the child attends school where carer information was recorded during enrolment.
Each data source inevitably becomes a "source of truth" and understanding the different aspects of a dataset affects its credibility. Authority for collection dictates if the recording of the event is mandatory or optional and directly influences the coverage. The process of data capture and storage is also important; manual vs digital input and if any validation was present.
Application of family connection to specific types of research will dictate the relevant "source of truth". If one is to use family connections in the context of hereditary diseases, pregnancy outcomes would be more suitable than a birth registry.
Conclusion/ImplicationsFamily unit as defined in the traditional sense have changed and all variations are reflected in the data.
Assessing the impact of social connections to ones health may now be possible. Extracting these connections from administrative datasets can serve as additional intelligence that may inform if not shape longitudinal studies.


Objective: To determine the effect of intravitreal injection of Avastin for
 Neovascular age related macular degeneration.
Methods: 76 Patients were selected by sampling. Visual acuity was evaluated by
 Snellen chart at a distance of 6 meters with good light and single eye. Accordingly,
 logarithm of Minimum Angle of Resolution (MAR) was recorded. Avastin (1.25
 mg) in 0.05 ml of liquid was injected with a sterile syringe and needle. Second and
 third injections were repeated one month after the first injection.
Results: The results of Visual acuity (VA) in the patients (In log MAR): Mean ± SD
 of visual acuity (VA) in patients before the study was 0.906 ± 0.080, One month
 after injection was 0.818 ± 0.097, 3 months after injection was 0.6 ± 0.126 and 6
 months after injection was 0.488 ± 0.164.
Conclusion: Intravitreal avastin (1.25 mg) is well tolerated and associated with
 improvement in VA and decreased retinal thickness by OCT and also reducing
 angiographic leakage in most of the patients. Decreasing BFVs in all retrobulbar
 arteries, suggests that avastin exerts a short‐term regional effect.


To determine the basis for the formation of excentric cleavage products of beta-carotene (beta-C) after incubation with human gastric mucosal homogenates, we have studied the effect of lipoxygenase in beta-C metabolism. beta-C was incubated with human gastric mucosal homogenates, soybean lipoxygenase with linoleic acid, or the lipoxygenase primary product, 13(S)-hydroperoxycis,trans-9,11-octadecadienoic acid (13-LOOH). The beta-C metabolites, beta-apo-14', -12', -10', and -8'-carotenals, beta-apo-13-carotenone, retinoic acid, and retinal were detected and quantified by HPLC after a 30-min incubation with 1.8 microM beta-C. The products from the lipoxygenase plus linoleic acid incubation and from the lipoxygenase primary product, 13-LOOH, with beta-C were exactly the same as the products from a human gastric mucosal homogenate incubation. Significantly larger amounts of the same beta-C metabolites were formed when beta-C was incubated with gastric mucosal homogenates and lipoxygenase together. Furthermore, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), a specific lipoxygenase inhibitor, was found to significantly inhibit the formation of beta-apo-carotenoids and retinoids produced by gastric mucosal homogenates incubated with beta-C. The similarity of the beta-C metabolites when beta-C was incubated with human gastric mucosal homogenate, lipoxygenase plus linoleic acid, or 13-LOOH and the inhibition of beta-C metabolite production by NDGA in gastric tissue incubation with beta-C suggest that lipoxygenase is involved in beta-C metabolism in gastric mucosa. The activity of 13-LOOH in our hands would indicate that an enzyme-linked process is occurring in gastric tissue producing fatty acid hydroperoxides, and that the hydroperoxide, or a radical species derived from it, is able to carry out the oxidation of beta-C independently of the enzyme.


I n 1979, the Committee on Food and Nutrition of the American Diabetes Association published a special report titled "Principles of Nutrition and Dietary Recommendations for Individuals With Diabetes Mellitus." Publication of the report was prompted by new and emerging information regarding effects of diet on blood glucose concentration in diabetic people and by information relating aberrations of blood lipid levels, particularly cholesterol, with atherosclerosis in the general population. Since 1979, much new information has been generated in the field of nutrition for management of diabetes. Questions have arisen as to the optimal carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake; the use of fiber; the role of the glycemic index and its relation to food exchanges; and the value of eicosapentanoic acid or fish oil. The 1980s also witnessed a transformation in the approach to nutrition education. Health care should be provided by a team of professionals, with each member of the team contributing a particular area of expertise. Ever-growing recognition of the needs of minority populations has dictated closer inspection of these requirements and a need to formulate new and more relevant approaches. This report updates the original principles and recommendations, based on information accumulated since 1979, and the evolving patterns of nutritional management. Nutritional recommendations for people with diabetes are similar to those of the American Heart Association, the National Cancer Institute (American Cancer Society), the Nutritional Committee for Recommendations for Children With Diabetes of the Amer-


We present a model of unsupervised phonological lexicon discovery—the problem of simultaneously learning phoneme-like and word-like units from acoustic input. Our model builds on earlier models of unsupervised phone-like unit discovery from acoustic data (Lee and Glass, 2012), and unsupervised symbolic lexicon discovery using the Adaptor Grammar framework (Johnson et al., 2006), integrating these earlier approaches using a probabilistic model of phonological variation. We show that the model is competitive with state-of-the-art spoken term discovery systems, and present analyses exploring the model's behavior and the kinds of linguistic structures it learns.


Buddhism has nothing in principle against either human enhancement or lifespan extending technologies. Everything depends on motivation. In the case of human enhancement technologies in general, the argument that enhancing humans is unethical because it commits an unnatural act is found wanting because it relies on the untenable premise that the natural and the ethical are identical. However, Somparn Promta's argument to the effect that in Buddhism there is no unnatural act is criticized because the argument conflates two different senses of "natural", one being natural law and the other presupposed in the premise that the ethical and the natural are identical. Then the paper moves on to discuss the central idea in Buddhism concerning the emptiness of all things. Since there can be no essence or core of identity of anything, person or non-person, any argument based on there being a subsisting person whose body is to be enhanced or whose life is to be extended is based on an untenable premise. Finally the paper discusses Steven Horrobin's recent attempt to base the value of the extended lifespan on the ability to enjoy more pleasures. This is also found wanting because the extended life will contain not only pleasures but also pain and boredom. Moreover, the value of life, either extended or not, lies more on how well it is lived rather than how much pleasures the subject can consume.


In this article, we analyse the determinants of firm-level profit margins in Indian manufacturing. The model we estimate is rich in its dynamic characterization allowing as it does for lagged terms, trend movements, business cycle effects and a structural break in 1991. We hypothesize that the reforms undertaken by the government in 1991 constitute a structural break that influences a firm's independence to react to other firms as well as the extent of competition faced by these firms. Inserting this into the standard industrial organization model of profits, we obtain a dynamic market model. Estimating this model for 1980-1998, we find that the 1991 reforms did have a significant impact on profit margins in Indian industry. The reforms have worked through their impact on a firm's behavioural variables - advertising, Research and Development (R&D), capital-output ratios and managerial remuneration - though the precise variables that were significant varied from sector to sector. We find that relatively inefficient firms make significantly lower profits than others both before and after the liberalization as expected.


PURPOSE
To evaluate patient-reported quality of vision before and after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
This study involved 140 patients who underwent LASIK surgery at Baptist Eye Clinic, Kyoto, Japan. Each patient was asked to respond to the Refractive Status and Vision Profile (RSVP) questionnaire prior to surgery and at 6-months and 5.5-years postoperative. In each patient, we defined the eye with better uncorrected visual acuity (VA) or with less refractive error as the better eye, and the other eye as the worse eye.

RESULTS
Even in the worse eyes, the percentage of eyes with an uncorrected VA of decimal 0.5 or greater was 93.5% at 6-months and 88.6% at 5.5-ears postoperative. The mean preoperative total RSVP score was 37.1, yet that score significantly improved at 6-months postoperative (p< 0 .001) and remained the same throughout the 5.5-year follow-up period. CCONCLUSION The patient-reported quality of vi-ion post LASIK surgery was improved and remained improved throughout the 5.5-year follow-up period.


This paper presents a novel parallelization and quantitative characterization of various optimization strategies for data-parallel computation on a graphics processing unit (GPU) using NVIDIA's new GPU programming framework, Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA). CUDA is an easy-to-use development framework that has drawn the attention of many different application areas looking for dramatic speed-ups in their code. However, the performance tradeoffs in CUDA are not yet fully understood, especially for data-parallel applications. Consequently, we study two fundamental mathematical operations that are common in many data-parallel applications: convolution and accumulation. Specifically, we profile and optimize the performance of these operations on a 128-core NVIDIA GPU. We then characterize the impact of these operations on a video-based motion-tracking algorithm called vector coherence mapping, which consists of a series of convolutions and dynamically weighted accumulations, and present a comparison of different implementations and their respective performance profiles.


This study was conducted to evaluate the yield, nutrient characteristics, ruminal solubility, degradability and disappearance of spent mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) substrates for ruminants. The annual yield of spent Agaricus bisporus substrates was measured to be about 210,000 tons (M/T) in South Korea. The surface soil-removed spent substrates had nutritional characteristics of high crude ash (375 g/kg) and Ca (32 g/kg), medium protein (134 g/kg CP), and high fiber (384 g/kg NDF on a DM basis). Compared with initial mushroom substrates, spent mushroom substrates had twice higher (p<0.0001) CP content and 22.0% lower (p<0.0001) NDF content on an organic matter basis. Compared with raw rice straw, spent rice straw had much higher (p<0.05) predicted ruminal degradabilities and disappearances of DM and CP and a little lower (p<0.05) predicted degradability and disappearance of NDF. In


Background: Women with high body mass indices are at risk of lower breastfeeding rates but the drivers of successful breastfeeding in this population are unclear. Research Aim: We aimed to (a) explore the barriers and enablers to breastfeeding among women with high body mass indices and (b) map specific behaviors suitable for intervention across the antenatal to postpartum periods. Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional qualitative study. We conducted semi-structured interviews with women with high body mass indices who successfully breastfed for 6 months or more (n =20), partners (n = 22), and healthcare professionals (n =19) in Ireland during 2018. Interviews were audio recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Data were inductively coded using reflexive thematic analysis and deductively mapped within the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation–Behavior model. Results: The three themes developed were knowledge, support, and self-efficacy. Knowledge supported a participant's psychological and physical capability to engage in breastfeeding. Support was related to the social and physical opportunity to enable performance of breastfeeding behaviors. Self-efficacy influenced reflective and automatic motivation to perform breastfeeding behaviors. A multifactorial intervention design is needed to support successful breastfeeding. Conclusion: The barriers and enablers identified for participants with high body mass indices were similar to those for the broader population; however, the physicality and associated social bias of high body mass indices mean that additional support is warranted. Antenatal and postpartum breastfeeding services need a multifaceted, inclusive, and high-quality program to provide the necessary support to women with higher body mass indices.


Several techniques have been proposed for symbolic enumeration and analysis of the state space of reactive systems with nondeterministic temporal parameters taking values within a dense domain. In a large part of these techniques, the state space is covered by collecting states within equivalence classes each comprised of a discrete logical location and a dense variety of clock valuations encoded as a difference bounds matrix (DBM). The reachability relation among such classes enables qualitative verification of properties pertaining the ordering of events along critical runs and the satisfaction of stimulus/response deadlines. However, up to now, no results have been proposed which extend state class enumeration so as to combine the verification of the possibility of critical behaviors with a quantitative evaluation of their probability. In this paper, we extend the concept of equivalence classes based on DBM encoding with a density function which provides a measure for the probability associated with individual states collected in the class itself. To this end, we extend the formalism of time Petri nets by associating the static firing interval of each transition with a probability density function. We then expound how this probabilistic information determines a probability for the states collected within a class and how this probability evolves in the enumeration of the reachability relation among state classes. This opens the way to characterizing the possibility of critical behaviors with a quantitative measure of probability.


At the gliovascular interface, reciprocal inductive influences between brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMVEC) and astrocytes occur. Most of the knowledge in this area of research is derived from in vitro eo-culture models in which astrocytes are cultured on a stiff, two-dimensional (2D) surface. Three-dimensional (3D) culture models closely mimic the in lJZVO cellular architecture and they bridge the gap between 2D culture models and animal models. Hence, an in vitro 3D eo-culture model was developed and characterised, to study the interactions between BMVEC and astrocytes. In this model, human astrocytes (HA) were seeded inside a collagen type--I gel while human immortalised cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (hCMEC/D3) were cultured on the gel surface. Both cell types were of human origin to improve the translatability of findings to humans in vivo. Additional important features of the model are the culture of endothelial cells on a soft matrix, and the simulation of the geometric relationship that exists in vivo i.e., the interaction of astrocytes with BMVEC from their ab luminal side. To determine the effect of the 3D environment on the HA, the proliferation rate and expression of four molecules namely, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GF AP), aquaporin-4 (AQP4), endothelin-l (Et-l) and endothelin receptor type-B (EDNRB), were compared between 3D and 2D cultured HA. The decreased expression of AQP4 and EDNRB and the much-decreased proliferation rate of 3D HA suggested their reduced reactivity and a similarity to their in lJiVO counterparts. However, 3D HA did not differ from the 2D HA in their ability to release soluble factors that induce barrier properties on BMVEC, as observed by similar levels of three expression markers of barrier phenotype on hCMEC/D3 cells namely, zonula occludens-l, claudin-5, and P-glycoprotein and similar paracellular permeability coefficients to fluorescent-dextrans (70 kDa). Using the developed model, the effect of endothelial cells on the AQP4 expression in HA was investigated. While the localisation of astrocytic AQP4 did not change, its total, cellular expression levels were decreased as analysed by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. The results could not be explained by physical-contact and therefore may be mediated by soluble factors released by the endothelial cells. Further investigation showed that Et-l, at least by itself, is not the mediator of this effect. The endothelial-astrocyte physical contact points were too few, as revealed by transmission electron microscopy, to study its effect on the localisation of AQP4 in HA. The developed 3D co-culture model is usable and amenable to various analytical techniques such as fluorescence microscopy, electron microscopy, flow cytometry, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The two-step collagenase digestion method developed in this study further broadens the model's utility to standard molecular and cellular biology techniques. The model has some advantages as well as limitations compared to the existing 2D and 3D co-culture models. The model may be used as an in vitro BBB model to study the transcytosis of nanoparticles, leukocytes, and possibly pathogens across the endothelial barrier and their interactions with astrocytes. In addition, the alterations in phenotype of astrocytes and endothelium in situ, in response to the soluble factors released by the other cell type can be studied. Further work is needed to validate some of the supposed unique features of the model. With the proposed modifications, it can be made physiologically more relevant, and the usability can be widened.


: Lamb predation in Patagonia, Argentina, is considered by ranchers as the cause of one of their greatest losses and limits sheep production. Patagonian red fox (Dusicyon culpaeus) is the main predator and the magnitude of the problem reflects its distribution and abundance. Since 1979, the Bariloche Experimental Station of the Instituto Nacional de Technologia Agropecuaria (INTA) has performed 8 studies, totaling 1,717 lamb necropsies, with the purpose of determining the relative importance of predation and other causes of lamb mortality. This paper analyzes the causes of lamb mortality, with special reference to red fox and carnivorous bird predation. Red fox predation pattern is also discussed, based on the analysis of 157 cases of red fox kills.


In the last few decades, the relationship between the mental workload and electrophysiological measurements are being studied. The aim of this study is to measure the electrophysiological responses of the autonomic and central nervous system to the increased mental workload. In this concept, backwards counting paradigm is used to increase the mental workload while the brain electrical activity (EEG), hearth rate variability (HRV) and electrodermal activity has been measured synchronously. During the increased mental workload, EEG alpha band suppression and increased EDA were observed. On the other hand, hearth rate variability has not been changed with respect to paradigm.


The increasing complexity and impacts of fire seasons in the United States have prompted efforts to improve early warning systems for wildland fire management. Outlooks of potential fire activity at lead‐times of several weeks can help in wildland fire resource allocation as well as complement short‐term meteorological forecasts for ongoing fire events. Here, we describe an experimental system for developing downscaled ensemble‐based subseasonal forecasts for the contiguous US using NCEP's operational Climate Forecast System version 2 model. These forecasts are used to calculate forecasted fire danger indices from the United States (US) National Fire Danger Rating System in addition to forecasts of evaporative demand. We further illustrate the skill of subseasonal forecasts on weekly timescales using hindcasts from 2011 to 2021. Results show that while forecast skill degrades with time, statistically significant week 3 correlative skill was found for 76% and 30% of the contiguous US for Energy Release Component and evaporative demand, respectively. These results highlight the potential value of experimental subseasonal forecasts in complementing existing information streams in weekly‐to‐monthly fire business decision making for suppression‐based decisions and geographic reallocation of resources during the fire season, as well for proactive fire management actions outside of the core fire season.


The authors discuss methodologies and tools that allow a system to be analyzed using Petri nets or queuing models. Models at this level contain tokens rather than values, and the function of blocks remains undefined. Such analysis is performed early in the design process to evaluate overall system performance. Different methodologies and tools are available to allow design analysis and verification at interpreted levels through hardware design language (HDL) descriptions. Tokens are replaced with specific values for the representation of signals. The methodology presented allows the designer to create uninterpreted models in an environment already capable of interpreted modeling, the VHSIC hardware description language (VHDL). Uninterpreted modeling in an HDL is the first step in the creation of a continuous single-path design environment.<<ETX>>


BACKGROUND
Although reward processing is considered an important part of affective functioning, few studies have investigated reward-related decisions or responses in young people with affective disorders. Depression is postulated to involve decreased activity in reward-related affective systems.

METHODS
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined behavioral and neural responses to reward in young people with depressive disorders using a reward decision-making task. The task involved choices about possible rewards involving varying magnitude and probability of reward. The study design allowed the separation of decision/anticipation and outcome phases of reward processing. Participants were 9-17 years old and had diagnoses of major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders, or no history of psychiatric disorder.

RESULTS
Participants with MDD exhibited less neural response than control participants in reward-related brain areas during both phases of the task. Group differences did not appear to be a function of anxiety. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated with activation in reward-related brain areas.

CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that depression involves altered reward processing and underscore the need for further investigation of relations among development, affective disorders, and reward processing.


Development of functional tissues often requires spatially controlled growth of cells over 2D surfaces or 3D substrates to maintain their distinct cellular functions; particularly it is essential for culturing anchorage-dependent cells. In this regard, development of new surfaces/substrates with superior surface properties that could control the cell behavior is of great important and extremely necessary for functional tissue engineering as well as to study how the cells spatially recognize and interact with synthetic material systems. Surface patterning is an approach to modify the surface of biomaterials, either chemically or topographically. Both the approaches are well demonstrated in manipulating cell behaviors such as shape, size, orientation, migration, proliferation, and differentiation. In this article, we review various commonly employed methodologies for use in patterning of biomaterial surfaces/substrates and their suitability in controlling cell behaviors. Copyright © 2010 VBRI press.


The effects of protein removal on the physicochemical properties of waxy maize flours were investigated. Protein removal caused significant reduction in the P and S contents of starches. Starch granules had a smoother surface and low protein content (<6 g/kg) compared with the flours. Both flours and starches had a typical A-type X-ray diffraction pattern, with a crystallinity range of 29.8–32.2% and 27.7–30.6%, respectively. Flours had higher swelling power and solubility, and lower light transmittance than starches. The gelatinization enthalpy and onset temperature of starches were higher compared with those of their counterpart flours. The retrogradation of flours was significantly greater compared with that of starches. Protein removal increased the peak viscosity, trough viscosity, final viscosity, and breakdown, whereas it decreased the setback and pasting temperature. Genotypic differences in those maize were related to the physicochemical characteristics of the flours and starches.


When transmitting video over a heterogeneous network, it is required to satisfy the different constraints due to the preferences and equipment selections of different users. Scalable video coding is one of the solutions to serve this problem. More than one video parameters include spatial frame size, temporal frame rate, and visual quality resolution are utilized to provide better scalability in scalable video coding scheme. It is difficult to find the relationship between the various video parameter settings and user preferences. In this paper, we propose a quality-of-experience video adaptor applied on scalable video applications. This adaptor adjusts video parameters for each user appropriately and achieves a better visual quality by using negligible computation. The simulated results show the accuracy of adaptation points can match the user's preference from 78% to 93% by using proposed scheme. This solution provides not only a practical way in video adaptor design, but also an efficient scheme to achieve better subjective view.


The inquiry into asylum support for children and young people received written submissions and heard oral evidence from over 200 individuals and organisations, including local authorities, safeguarding boards and academics. The panel considered perspectives from health, poverty, housing, well-being and asylum support experts, and heard directly from families with experience of living on asylum support. The evidence shows that the current asylum support system is in urgent need of reform if it is to have regard to the safety and wellbeing of children and meet its obligations to promote children's best interests. Change is required so that all children can have a good childhood and the best possible start to life.


This paper presents a new space vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM) technique for the control of a six-phase voltage source inverter (VSI)-fed dual stator induction machines (DSIM). A DSIM is an induction machine which has two sets of three-phase stator windings spatially shifted by 30 electrical degrees and fed by two three-phase VSIs. Despite their advantage of power segmentation, these machines are characterized by large zero sequence harmonic currents, and in particular those of order 6 k plusmn 1, which are due to the mutual cancellation between the two stator windings. The proposed SVPWM scheme, while easy to implement digitally, reduces significantly these extra stator harmonic currents. Experimental results, collected from a 15 kW prototype machine controlled by a digital signal processor, are presented and discussed.


Background: Vitamin D deficiency is common in CKD and dialysis patients. Studies suggest a physiologic autocrine and/or paracrine role for 1,25(OH)D produced via 1α-hydroxylase in tissues such as vascular smooth muscle, breast, prostate, and bone marrow. Studies have not yet defined the optimal dose and duration of vitamin D necessary to replete and maintain stores in dialysis patients, or whether it is safe or beneficial. Methods: We performed a review of the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and the safety and effectiveness of ergocalciferol oral supplementation (vitamin D2, 50,000 IU monthly) given to hemodialysis patients during dialysis May to October 2005 in St. Louis (latitude 38°). Results: Among the 119-patient cohort present for the entire 6 months, 25(OH)D was (mean ± SD) 16.9 ± 8.5 ng/ml, (91% < 30 ng/ml) and increased to 53.6 ± 16.3 ng/ml (p < 0.001), (95% > 30 ng/ml, and none > 100 ng/ml). Initial versus 6 mo. serum calcium (9.1 ± 0.56 vs. 9.2 ± 0.70), phosphorus (5.25 ± 1.38 vs. 5.11 ± 1.31), Ca × P, and paricalcitol dose (10.3 ± 9.6 vs. 11.3 ± 9.2 mcg/week) were not significantly different. No hypercalcemia could be attributed to supplementation. Mean hemoglobin did not change significantly (11.96 ± 1.4 vs. 11.69 ± 1.4, p = 0.124), but most patients experienced a reduced weekly epoetin dose. Epoetin dose decreased in 64% of patients, and increased in 28%. Conclusions: We conclude that the vast majority of hemodialysis patients are vitamin D-deficient; monthly ergocalciferol 50,000 IU is safe and effective in normalizing serum 25(OH)D levels and may have an epoetin-sparing effect.


Insulin resistance is central to the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. It has been known for some time that down-regulation and reduced kinase activity of the insulin receptor play a role in insulin resistance; however, it has recently emerged that defects in the intracellular responses to insulin are also very important. We studied the molecular basis of insulin resistance in mice in which injection with gold thioglucose led to the development of hyperphagia, obesity and insulin resistance over a 4-month period. We found that the insulin-stimulated activation of MAP kinase was defective in obese, insulin-resistant mice. Similarly, we investigated insulin-stimulated PI3-kinase activation in the isolated soleus muscle of lean and obese mice, and found a marked reduction in the PI3-kinase activation of obese animals. The magnitude of the effect was greater than the reduction in insulin receptor activation, suggesting that impairment of PI3-kinase activation is a very important element in the development of insulin resistance in obese mice. In keeping with this, we found that the defect in PI3-kinase activation developed in young obese mice before the emergence of overt insulin resistance. We investigated different mechanisms by which defects in the components of the insulin signalling cascade could emerge, including down-regulation and abnormal phosphorylation of signal molecules. In adipocytes from young obese mice in which insulin resistance had not yet developed, we found that there were already marked defects in IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation. Increased IRS-1 phosphorylation on serine and threonine residues affects tyrosine phosphorylation. Such a process could contribute to the defective IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation in insulin-resistant animals. We found that brief exposure of 3T3-L1 adipocytes to platelet-derived growth factor led to IRS-1 serine/threonine phosphorylation through a PI3-kinase-dependent pathway, and that this prevented phosphorylation of the tyrosine residues of IRS-1. Such a mechanism, induced by growth factors, TNF-alpha or some other agent, may play an important role in the development of insulin resistance in obese mice.


T. S. Eliot memorably said that separation of the man who suffers from the mind that creates is the root of good poetry. This book argues that this is wrong. Beginning from Virginia Woolf's 'On Being Ill', it demonstrates that modernism is, on the contrary, invested in physical illness as a subject, method, and stylizing force. Experience of physical ailments, from the fleeting to the fatal, the familiar to the unusual, structures the writing of the modernists, both as sufferers and onlookers. Illness reorients the relation to, and appearance of, the world, making it appear newly strange; it determines the character of human interactions and models of behaviour. As a topic, illness requires new ways of writing and thinking, altered ideas of the subject, and a re-examination of the roles of invalids and carers. This book reads the work five authors, who are also known for their illness, hypochondria, or medical work: D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, Dorothy Richardson, and Winifred Holtby. It overturns the assumption that illness is a simple obstacle to creativity and instead argues that it is a subject of careful thought and cultural significance.


Control and comparison of various cleaning methods on restaurants in Sodra RoslagenThe purpose of this report is to find out and analyze the efficiency of cleaning methods in restaurant kitchens. The investigation was carried out through unannounced inspections at 89 restaurants in Sodra Roslagen (municipality of Danderyd, Taby and Vaxholm). ATP-measuring was done on a plate, a knife, a bench surface and a cutting board. The ATP-method measured the amount of food residue on equipment and working surfaces after cleaning, with a luminometer and swabs. Restaurant staffs were asked to describe in detail how and when the last cleaning was carried out on the surface. The results after cleaning were not as good as one would expect. Of the 342 tests that were analyzed only 42% passed, 10 % got caution and 48 % of the tests failed. It seems most difficult to clean the cutting boards sufficiently. Cleaning in a dishwasher gave generally better result than washing by hand. Plain detergent and to rinse with water seem to give the best results for bench surface. Many food businesses in Sodra Roslagen and other communities had insufficient procedures for cleaning and need to improve the methods.Keywords: Cleaning, washing, ATP-measuring, restaurants, control program


Abstract Both Sade and erotic fiction authors create mythologized versions of sexual behavior to appeal to the reader. For Sade, the core of his philosophy is "il faut tout dire" and many modern authors continue this tradition by popularizing alternate sexual preferences. Today's erotica can be seen as facing some of the same problems that plagued Sade's works, but the genre has gained mainstream status by merging erotic scenes into a romantic framework. By tracing the history of erotic fiction, we can see not only Sade's influence on the genre, but how modern works continue to shock and appeal to audiences. Keywords: Sade, erotic fiction, Fifty Shades of Grey, Sleeping Beauty trilogy, Story of O ----- Bibl iography: Deininger, Melissa: The Marquis de Sade and the Resurgence of Erotica in Modern Literature, INSEP, Vol. 4, Issue 1-2016, pp. 64-75. https://doi.org/10.3224/insep.v2i1.25767


RAG endonuclease initiates V(D)J recombination by binding to the recombination signal sequences (RSSs), introducing DNA breaks between two V(D)J gene segments, and mediating their joining. This process is tightly regulated to generate diverse antigen receptor repertoires and prevent aberrant events that could cause genomic translocations/deletions and lymphoid cancer. RAG can track directionally over chromosomal loop domain in which they reside. Tracking is evidenced by cleavage/joining of short cryptic RSSs lying exclusively in convergent orientation to a bona fide RSS. However, the mechanism of RAG tracking and its impacts remain unknown. Here I established an unbiased assay system by utilizing allele-specific barcode and employing high throughput genome-wide translocation sequencing (HTGTS) to quantitatively evaluate RAG-mediated recombination frequency. I found that insertion of one single bona fide RSS is sufficient to initiate RAG tracking in the c-Myc domain and the recombination between the RSS and its cryptic RSSs seems to follow the 12/23 rule to some degree. When ectopically inserted bona fide RSS pair is 0.5kb apart, convergent configuration of the RSS pair is 4.8-fold more frequent than the tandem configuration. When the distance increases to 267kb, the difference increases to 14-fold, suggesting the contribution of RAG tracking over diffusion-based mechanism increases when the distance between RSS pair increases. In addition, the presence of CTCF-binding element promotes recombination by more than 10-fold. Depletion of Wapl, cohesin remover, to disrupt cohesin turnover reduces V(D)J recombination. The distal RSSs are much preferentially affected. The data suggest that RAG tracking may be driven by cohesin sliding along chromatin. Citation Format: Cheng-Sheng Lee, Jiazhi Hu, Frederick W. Alt. Elucidating the mechanism of RAG tracking and its impacts on V(D)J recombination [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; Sept 30-Oct 3, 2018; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2019;7(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B171.


Fish otoliths, commonly called earbones or earstones are often the only identifiable remnants of fish in the archeological or paleontological record. Each species has uniquely-shaped otoliths, which have been found to correlate (through morphometric analysis) with standard measurements of the fish from which they came.  This report outlines the findings of the analysis of the otolith collection comprising samples from 976 specimens of 62 species belonging to 28 families of fish collected by the author.  The analysis compares the sex, length and weight of the individual species with a defined set of otolith measurements, with descriptions of the respective otoliths and correlations between fish length and otolith size. A description is also provided for each species including otolith morphology and micrographs. These specimens represent collections from selected freshwaters in Canada (Ontario), North Atlantic waters, marine waters off British Columbia and the Northwest Territories as well as from marine waters off Florida and  Argentina. All specimens described and measured  have been deposited in the Zoology collection of the Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax.


This thesis introduces a new knowledge sourcing strategy model. Four strategies were
developed a grow, transfer, buy and hire strategy. Based on the analyses of the organisational
and knowledge characteristics it is possible for an organisation to create the most optimal
strategy to source new knowledge. To demonstrate the working of this model it was applied to
a real-life case study for the Ministry of Oil of Iraq (MoO). The most optimal (combination)
of knowledge sourcing strategies to acquire knowledge in the contract management and
control domain is presented as a suggestion for the Ministry of Oil of Iraq for the
development of their knowledge base.
This is however the end-result of this thesis. In the preceding chapters it is explained why
knowledge is important in an inter-firm relationship. The most important findings will be
described in the upcoming sections after which the advice for the knowledge sourcing strategy
for the Ministry of Oil of Iraq will be explained in more detail.
Since the world is becoming increasingly complex and knowledge is increasingly dispersed,
organisations ever increasingly have to rely on external organisations to help them develop
and sell their products or services. They develop many inter-firm relationships. Managing
these relationships is a challenge, since an external organisation may not always have the
same goals as your organisation. They may show unwanted behaviour or represent themselves
in an untruthful manner. In both situations the agent may act on his own interest, that is
referred to as agency problems in the agency theory. These agency problems can have large
financial and/or other consequences for the principal.
The concept of knowledge asymmetry is introduced in the first chapter as evolution of the
already known concept of information asymmetry in the agency theory. Information
asymmetry creates the opportunity for the agency problems to occur, since the principal won't
have information on the behaviour, actions or results of the agent. Having information
however is not a guarantee for understanding the behaviour, actions or results of the agent. It
is the interpretation of the information, understanding the information that is critical to
understand the behaviour, actions, and results of the agent and curb the possible agency
problems.
It is knowledge that allows the interpretation and understanding of information. Knowledge is
a transformation of information using experience, skills and attitude, all within the individual
mind. It has to be learned, which is difficult, time consuming, uncertain, and often
accompanied with great costs. Information, in comparison to knowledge, can be purchased,
although not always available, at a certain price.
Understanding that reducing information asymmetry is more easily than resolving the
knowledge asymmetry is valid, based on the previous statements.
Knowledge is in contrast to information a more difficult construct. It is more difficult to
absorb, it can't be transferred, it is bound to an individual. That makes knowledge also
explicitly more costly.
‐ 4 ‐
The difference between information and knowledge will require a completely different
approach for the principal when engaging in an inter-firm relationship. The principal will
need to carefully consider the available and necessary knowledge in the organisation to
effectively manage and control the inter-firm relationship, since sourcing knowledge takes
more time, is uncertain, bound to individuals and sometime unavailable and certainly more
costly than sourcing information.
How knowledge asymmetry affects the performance of the inter-firm relationship is described
in the second chapter. Risk directly influences the performance of the inter-firm relationship,
which can be 'managed' by control or trust. Reducing the knowledge asymmetry between the
principal and the agent positively affects the performance of the relationship, is argued and
formulated in propositions. Reducing the knowledge asymmetry allows the principal to more
accurately assess the risk, reducing the uncertainty that negatively affects the performance of
the inter-firm relationship. A smaller knowledge asymmetry also allows the principal to more
accurately assess the trustworthiness of the agent as well as the processes and behaviour of the
agent. This positively affects the effectiveness of both the control and trust mechanism, which
in turn have a positive effect on the perceived risk.
The last chapter provides an answer to a topic that was introduced in the first section of this
management summary. "If I am in need of knowledge, how can I source it?" Four strategies
are developed, grow, transfer, buy, and hire, which cover all possible sourcing possibilities.
Based on four organisational (absorptive capacity, financial capacity, HR capacity, and risk
attitude) and four knowledge characteristics (core competence, knowledge availability, time
to knowledge, and knowledge time-span). An organisation can identify knowledge gaps, and
for each knowledge gap a knowledge sourcing strategy can be developed. In particular (in this
thesis) for organisations that are in an inter-firm relationship, and find themselves in need for
specific knowledge regarding the management and control of a relationship. The strategies
can be combined in parallel or sequential order to reach the desired knowledge state, and
provide the principal with flexibility regarding the sourcing of knowledge.
The knowledge sourcing strategy model however is not limited to use in inter-firm
relationships. The strength of the model is also in its wide possible appliance. Every
organisation, business unit or individual that has identified a need for knowledge can use the
knowledge sourcing strategy model to source knowledge.
The organisational and knowledge characteristics of the MoO were measured using an online
questionnaire. Based on these results a suggestion for a knowledge sourcing strategy was
formulated. The suggestion is to start with a grow and hire strategy at the same time. Since the
MoO regards the knowledge in the management and control of inter-firm relationships as core
competence, it is suggested to internally grow that knowledge. The financial means to
accommodate that strategy are deemed available by the respondents. The knowledge is
however needed at a short time-span, the MoO is already engaged in the inter-firm
relationships. That why it is suggested to also immediately execute a hire strategy as
knowledge will be almost immediately available (respondents have indicated that they expect
that the knowledge is available at external sources). Since the grow strategy will take time to
provide results, a hire strategy can fill this gap. The hire strategy can, in time, be replaced
‐ 5 ‐
with a buy strategy. This can support the grow strategy, the knowledge will be at close
proximity, and provides more certainty at a lower cost than the hire strategy. A buy strategy
provides a more solid base for the MoO. A buy strategy will take more time to execute, which
is the reason to first execute the hire strategy, given the immediate knowledge need. After the
grow strategy has shown sufficient results, the buy strategy can be phased out, from which
time on the Ministry of Oil is self-sufficient regarding the knowledge in this domain.
In the first chapter the significance of the concept of knowledge asymmetry as evolution from
information asymmetry is reasoned. Consequently the importance to reduce the knowledge
asymmetry in an inter-firm relationship is formulated in propositions. The last section of this
thesis provides a practical model, the knowledge sourcing strategy framework, for any
organisation that wants to source knowledge, and more specifically for those in an inter-firm
relationship that want to reduce the knowledge asymmetry to increase the performance of the
relationship.


A new testing device for cyclic loading of specimens with a novel shape design is presented. The device was applied for investigations of fatigue of metallic specimens under pressurized hydrogen up to 300 bar at temperatures up to 200 °C. Main advantage of the specimen design is the very small amount of medium, here hydrogen, used for testing. This allows experiments with hazardous substances at lower safety level. Additionally no gasket for the load transmission is required. Woehler curves which show the influence of hydrogen on the fatigue behavior of austenitic steel specimens at relevant service conditions in hydrogen powered engines are presented. Material and test conditions are in agreement with the cooperating industry.


This paper addresses the potential impact that distributed energy storage systems have in the distribution networks, in terms of applications and available technologies in the market. Among the several components of the electrical system, the distribution network is the one experiencing the most profound changes, particularly in terms of technological evolution. At this stage, the recent deployment of some new technologies may play a significant role in the distribution networks development, one of them is energy storage. Although the energy storage devices are not bound to a specific technology, but rather on a broad spectrum, they do have in common the potential of influencing (balancing) power variations and in this way to contribute to supplying totally or partially the distribution grid, namely when disturbances and variations take place. This potential is driving this technology into the forefront particularly when the growing usage of variable energy resources and an increasing need of power quality are considered. At a moment in which the impact of variable renewable energy sources is expected to increase in the European Union, distributed storage has the potential to play a key role in stabilizing the network.


Objective To systematically review the literature to assess first trimester ultrasound tests for prediction of TTTS in uncomplicated MCDA twins. Methods Bibliographic databases were searched and an EndnoteX5 database constructed. The title/abstracts were examined and full manuscripts obtained. Study selection criteria included: MC twins, first trimester test, reference standard-development of TTTS, in trials/cohort studies. Quality assessment was based on QUADAS 2. Data were extracted, and test accuracies, with meta-analysis where appropriate, were calculated (using Meta-DiSc, STATA 11, Statsdirect, p < 0.05). Results The search yielded 25,140 citations, of which 33 were thought relevant, and 10 were included. Extractable data was available for 4 tests (CRL discordance/NT discordance/NT >95th percentile/ductus venosus abnormality) in 1451 pregnancies. A "positive test" had a high reliability, but a negative test result did not exclude TTTS (sensitivity of all tests poor- 0.21–0.53). CRL discordance and NT > 95th percentile had specificities of 92% and gave post-test probabilities for a positive test of 31% and 28% respectively (doubling the pre-test probability). CRL discordance greater than 10% (four studies, 646 pregnancies) appeared to perform the best. Conclusion This review suggests that routine first trimester ultrasound (ie CRL and NT) could be utilised in screening for TTTS. NICE guidance recommends scanning MC twins fortnight from 16 weeks, so if the screening test was negative these pregnancies would still receive regular follow up. However, as treatment for TTTS is only offered at regional and sometimes supra-regional centres, early referral could be reserved for women whose pregnancies screen positive on first trimester test.


A number of recent studies have emphasized the potential value of flow cytometry as a "marker" to assess the malignity and therefore to help predict the biologic behavior of neoplasms, including bone tumors. Using propidium iodide and a home-built flow cytometer, the authors have studied the DNA distribution in 95 patients with osteosarcoma and determined the percentage of cells in diploidy, S-phase, tetraploidy, and aneuploidy. Using these values and a derived one, mean DNA concentration, it was possible to demonstrate the extent of the abnormalities observed in this group of neoplasms and show their severity as compared with the normal pattern. When the data are compared against disease-free survival and total survival, correlations were noted that, although weak, suggested that some patterns were predictive of increased risk of metastasis and death. The effect of treatment could also be assessed by evaluating the pattern before and after chemotherapy and correlating these with survival. It seems likely that with some improvement in technology, flow cytometry will be of value in the future in assessing the prognosis for osteosarcoma and predicting whether treatment has been effective.


Despite evidences linking methylation changes in the cancer tissues, little is known about the methylation modification in the peripheral blood. With the current study, we identified differential methylation regions (DMRs) across human genome by collecting the blood samples of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients compared to that of their blood-related family who shared genetic inheritance and environmental influences, and unrelated obese and non-obese controls by accessing publicly available Gene Expression Omnibus data. We performed genome-wide analyses using the reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) method covering about 25% of CpGs for whole human genome of the four groups (n = 5 each). In comparison to the non-obese controls, we observed significant DMRs in CRC for genes involved in tumorigenesis including MLH3, MSH2, MSH6, SEPT9, GNAS; and glucose transporter genes associated with obesity and diabetes including SLC2A1/GLUT1, and SLC2A3/GLUT3 that were reported on methylation being modified in cancer tissues. In addition, we observed significant DMRs in CRC for genes involved in the methylation pathways including PEMT, ALDH1L1, and DNMT3A. CRC and family members shared significant DMRs for genes of tumorigenesis including MSH2, SEPT9, GNAS, SLC2A1/GLUT1 and SLC2A3/GLUT3); and CAMK1, GLUT1/SLC2A1 and GLUT3/SLC2A3 genes involved in glucose and insulin metabolism that played vital role in development of obesity and diabetes. Our study provided evidences that these differentially methylated genes in the blood could potentially serve as candidate biomarkers for CRC diagnostic and may provide further understanding on CRC progression. Further studies are warranted to validate these methylation changes for diagnostic and prevention of CRC.


Challenges drive the state-of-the-art of automated medical image analysis. The quantity of public training data that they provide can limit the performance of their solutions. Public access to the training methodology for these solutions remains absent. This study implements the Type Three (T3) challenge format, which allows for training solutions on private data and guarantees reusable training methodologies. With T3, challenge organizers train a codebase provided by the participants on sequestered training data. T3 was implemented in the STOIC2021 challenge, with the goal of predicting from a computed tomography (CT) scan whether subjects had a severe COVID-19 infection, defined as intubation or death within one month. STOIC2021 consisted of a Qualification phase, where participants developed challenge solutions using 2000 publicly available CT scans, and a Final phase, where participants submitted their training methodologies with which solutions were trained on CT scans of 9724 subjects. The organizers successfully trained six of the eight Final phase submissions. The submitted codebases for training and running inference were released publicly. The winning solution obtained an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for discerning between severe and non-severe COVID-19 of 0.815. The Final phase solutions of all finalists improved upon their Qualification phase solutions.


Sephadex gel filtration was used to characterize phosphomonoesterases in two small takes in northern Sweden. Two fractions, here termed phosphatase A and phosphatase B, were found both as free enzymes and associated with seston. The activity of phosphatase A was correlated with the presence of algal biomass. Phosphatase B, on the other hand, was derived from zooplankton. Phosphate served as an effective inhibitor of phosphatase A but had no such effect on phosphatase B. Both fractions had pH optima between 6.5 and 7.0.


Preface. Introduction. DEVELOPMENTS IN ENGINEERING CERAMICS. Elastic and Vibration Properties of Diamond-Like B-C Materials (J. E. Lowther). Towards Simulation-Based Predictive Design of Glasses (Liping Huang and John Kieffer). Dynamic Behavior of Thick Alumina Plates with Tunneled Interfaces (F. Orgaz, T. Gomez del Rio, A.Varela and J.F. Fernandez). Deposition Phase Diagrams for Chemical Vapor Deposition of BCl3-CH4-H2 System (Shanhua Liu, Litong Zhang, Yongsheng Liu, Laifei Cheng, Xiaowei Yin, and Qingfeng Zeng). The Relation between Optical Properties and Lattice Defects of Translucent Aluminum Nitride Ceramics Fabricated by the Novel Annealing Process (Yukihiro Kanechika, Yuriko Kaito, Masanobu Azuma, and Hiroshi Fukushima). Thermodynamic Calculations of ZrC-SiC System for Chemical Vapor Deposition Applications from SiCl4-ZrCl4-CH4-H2 (Qiaomu Liu, Litong Zhang, Yiguang Wang, and Laifei Cheng). Debindering of Non Oxide Ceramics under Protective Atmosphere (Dieter G. Brunner, Gaby Bohm, Friedrich Raether, and Andreas Klimera). Softening of Rare Earth Orthophosphates by Transformation Plasticity: Possible Applications to Fiber-Matrix Interphases in Ceramic Composites (R. S. Hay, G. Fair, E. E. Boakye, P. Mogilevsky, T. A. Parthasarathy, and J. Davis). Influence of Fiber Architecture on Impact Resistance of Uncoated SiC/SiC Composites (Ramakrishna T. Bhatt, Laura M. Cosgriff, and Dennis S. Fox). Oxidation Kinetics and Strength versus Scale Thickness for Hi-NICALONTM-S SiC Fiber (R. S. Hay, G. Fair, E. Urban, J. Morrow, J. Somerson, and M. Wilson). Ceramic Matrix Composites Densification by Active Filler Impregnation Followed by a P.I.P. Process (S. Le Ber, M.-A. Dourges, L. Maille, R. Pailler, and A. Guette). High Potential of Composites with Carbon Fibers and a Self-Sealing Ceramic Matrix in Moist Environments under High Pressures at 600degreeC (L. Quemard, F. Rebillat, F., A. Guette, H. Tawil, and C. Louchet-Pouillerie). Quantification of Higher SiC Fiber Oxidation Rates in Presence of B2O3 under Air (F. Rebillat, E. Garitte, and A. Guette). Overview on the Self-Sealing Process in the SiCf/[Si,C,B]M Composites under Wet Atmosphere at High Temperature (F. Rebillat, X. Martin, E. Garitte, and A. Guette). NDE for Characterizing Oxidation Damage in Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (Don J. Roth, Richard W. Rauser, Nathan S. Jacobson, Russell A. Wincheski, James L. Walker, and Laura A. Cosgriff). Silicon Nitride and Silicon Carbide Components as Enabling Tools in Avionics, Space and Dispersing Technology (Karl E. Berroth). a/bSiAlON Based Composites Incorporated with MoSi2for Electrical Applications (Erhan Ayas, Alpagut Kara, and Ferhat Kara). Microstructure Characteristics and High-Temperature Performance of In-Situ Reinforced -SiAlON Ceramics (Yu Zhou, Feng Ye, and Chunfeng Liu). Synthesis Process and Microstructure for Al2O3/TiC/Ti Functionally Gradient Materials (Enrique Rocha-Rangel, David Hernandez-Silva, Elizabeth Refugio-Garcia, Jose G. Miranda-Hernandez, and Eduardo Terres-Rojas). Brazing of MIEC Ceramics to High Temperature Metals (S. Dabbarh, E. Pfaff, A. Ziombra, and A. Bezold). ADVANCED CERAMIC COATINGS. Thermodynamic Data for Y-O-H(g) from Volatilization Studies (E. Courcot, F. Rebillat, and F. Teyssandier). From the Volatility of Simple Oxides to that of Mixed Oxides: Thermodynamic and Experimental Approaches (E. Courcot, F. Rebillat, and F. Teyssandier). Nanolaminated Oxide Ceramic Coatings in the Y2O3-Al2O3 System (Nadine K. Eils, Peter Mechnich, Martin Schmucker, and Hartmut Keune). Thermochemical Stability of Rare Earth Sesquioxides under a Moist Environment at High Temperature (E. Courcot, F. Rebillat, and F. Teyssandier). Manufacture of P-Type ZNO Thin Film by CO-Sputtering of ZN and LI2CO3 Targets Simultaneously (Yang-Ming Lu, Shu-Yi Tsai, and Shin-Yi Wu). Synthesized Zircon and Zircon Composite from Liquid Chemical Process (Yanxia Lu). ZrO2-Environmental Barrier Coatings for Oxide/Oxide Ceramic Matrix Composites Fabricated by Electron-Beam Physical Vapor Deposition (Peter Mechnich and Wolfgang Braue). GEOPOLYMERS. Development of Geopolymers from Plasma Vitrified Air Pollution Control Residues from Energy from Waste Plants (Ioanna Kourti, D. Amutha Rani, D. Deegan, C. R. Cheeseman, and A. R. Boccaccini). Synthesis of Zeolite-X from Waste Porcelain Using Alkali Fusion (Takaaki Wajima and Yasuyuki Ikegami). The Ageing Process of Alkali Activated Metakaolin (C. H. Ruscher, E. Mielcarek, W. Lutz, A. Ritzmann, and W. M. Kriven). Testing of Geopolymer Mortar Properties for Use as a Repair Material (Wanchai Yodsudjai, Prasert Suwanvitaya, Weerapong Pikulprayong, and Banjerd Taweesappaiboon). Author Index.


Cultivation of microalgae as a source of phytosterol and other lipid compounds has gained more attention for commercial applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food function industries. In this research, native Spirulina maxima SM from Egypt was grown in individual cultures containing various concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S) elements in order to elucidate the effect of its elements on lipid and phytosterols production and to evaluate its antioxidant and antiproliferative activities. The results revealed that the SM was able to grow in different concentrations of testing elements S (from 0.3 to 2.4 mM), P (from 0.3 to 2.4 mM) and N (0.3 to 3.2 mM) with significant differences. A high potential for production of MS biomass, total lipid and phytosterol contents were obtained in individual cultures containing 0.6 mM N, 0.6 mM P and 0.80 mM, respectively. Therefore, these concentrations (combination of S+P+N element) were selected for cultivation of SM at large scale in a column photobioreactor (PBR 300 L) to induce sufficient SM biomass so that, we can obtain an adequate amount of total lipid and phytosterol contents. Phytosterols (PS) of native SM grown in the 300 L PBR were partially purified from unsaponified extracts of SM total lipid followed by its purification by crystallization process. The identification and quantification of PS profile were performed by GC-FID analysis. The results revealed high levels of campsterol, D7-Avena sterol, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and other compounds. These PS compounds showed marked in vitro superoxide, DPPH and .OH radical scavenging activity, which was comparable with the results obtained with standard antioxidants BHA or α-tocopherol. Moreover, SM phytosterols exhibited anti-proliferative activity against three human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, Hep-G2 and HCT-116) with IC50 values less than 11.62 µg/mL as assessed by in vitro MTT colorimetric method. Thus, SM phytosterol may be considered as a potential natural source of promising ingredient in the future for a range of health applications for human, cosmetic industries and in functional food.


In this paper we present the results from the observation of ultra low frequency (ULF) pulsations in the Doppler velocity data from SuperDARN HF radar located at Goose Bay (61.94° N, 23.02° E, geomagnetic). Fourier spectral techniques were used to determine the spectral content of the data and the results show Pc 5 ULF pulsations (with a frequency range of 1 to 4 mHz) where the magnetic field lines were oscillating at discrete frequencies of about 1.3 and 1.9 mHz. These pulsations are classified as field lines resonance (FLR) since the 1.9 mHz component exhibited an enhancement in amplitude with an associated phase change of approximately 180° across a resonance latitude of 71.3°. The spatial and temporal structure of the ULF pulsations was examined by investigating their instantaneous amplitude which was calculated as the amplitude of the analytic signal. The results presented a full field of view which exhibit pulsations activity simultaneously from all beams. This representation shows that the peak amplitude of the 1.9 mHz component was observed over the longitudinal range of 13°. The temporal structure of the pulsations was investigated from the evolution of the 1.9 mHz component and the results showed that the ULF pulsations had a duration of about 1 h. Wavelet analysis was used to investigate solar wind as a probable source of the observed ULF pulsations. The time delay compared well with the solar wind travel time estimates and the results suggest a possible link between the solar wind and the observed pulsations. The sudden change in dynamic pressure also proved to be a possible source of the observed ULF pulsations.


Multiple-lane approaches (MLAs) controlled by stop signs are becoming increasingly common in Nebraska. Installation of MLAs occurs when a single approach lane can no longer adequately serve the minor road traffic volume, and a signal is unwarranted because Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) warrants are not satisfied (7, FHWA, 2003). A common example of a location at which MLA stop-controlled intersections can occur in Nebraska is the rural intersection of two state or federal highways. Forty such intersections in Nebraska were available for study in this research. Additionally, such intersections are often located in suburban areas of Nebraska municipalities where the local-collector network of a residential development connects to an arterial roadway. The objective of this research was to investigate driver safety and behavior at two-way stop-controlled MLA intersections. The reason for the investigation is to gain a better understanding of potential sight distance limitations due to side-by-side stopped vehicles at stop signs, as described earlier. Below is a summary of recommendations based upon safety study aspects of the project: 1) Results of the before-after comparison group safety studies concerning crash frequency indicated that signalization of MLA-type intersections results in improved safety, however no statistically significant difference was found at the 95 percent confidence level. 2) Results of the before-after comparison group safety study of the conversion of one MLA-type intersection to an SLA configuration showed that the crash frequency was reduced when the approach was changed to a single lane. However, the study of average crash rates indicated that the MLA-type intersection had a statistically significant lower average than the SLA intersection at the 95 percent level of confidence. Also, the reduction of the number of approach lanes from two to one can increase driver delay and user costs. 3) Comparison of 3-year average crash rates at MLA intersections with 2-lane major roads with similar statewide intersection averages indicates that they have a higher than average rate when the roadway design necessitates a horizontal curve along the major road or minor road horizontal alignment in the near proximity of the point of intersection. 4) Comparison of 3-year average crash rates at MLA intersections with 4-lane major roads with similar statewide intersection averages indicates that they have a higher than average rate when in urban areas. Therefore, use of this type of intersection along 4-lane urban roadways should be limited. If MLA-type intersections are determined to be the intersection type of choice: 1) Provide consistent and redundant positive visual guidance to promote the positioning of right-turning drivers in advance of left-turning drivers at MLA-type intersections. Each visual cue issue, recommendation for improvement, explanation of recommendation and official guideline resource is summarized following FIGURES 38 and 39 in TABLE 24. FIGURE 40 shows a plan view of the proposed recommendations. 2) Develop a combined text and iconic STOP AT LINE sign. Several designs should be tested with a pool of Nebraska drivers to determine the most easily interpreted design. Positioning of the sign should follow the guidelines in FIGURE 39 and TABLE 24. 3) Provide better driver information about the new proposed sign and the appropriate stop position at a stop bar location in the Nebraska Driver's Manual. Additional information should be provided on page 40 of the current Nebraska Driver's Manual to better inform drivers about the desired stopping position at a painted stop bar on the pavement of a driving lane. 4) Update an MLA-type intersection using the proposals defined in the research report and conduct a before-after field study. To better understand if the proposed recommendations result in a significant improvement in driver behavior, it is highly recommended that a field study be performed to quantify the improvement, if any.


There have been three waves of scholarship on military coups d'état (or simply "coups")—the unconstitutional replacement of chief executives by military officers—since the 1960s. The first used case studies to explore why the military overthrows governments. One of its central findings was that military uprisings were an integral part of political succession in many countries. A second wave produced the "aggregate studies" that were the first to deploy cross-national databases to identify the measurable features that distinguished more from less coup-prone political systems. These studies revealed, among other things, that coups proliferated in places with a history of instability. The third and current wave of scholarship takes advantage of the development of statistical software for limited dependent variables—then unavailable, now commonplace—to recast the quantitative research on coups.
 Two core findings have survived disconfirmation since the start of the third wave. First, higher income countries have fewer coups, though the effects are small (and become even weaker when models only contain developing countries). Second, "political legacy effects" mean that the probability of a coup declines with time since the last military uprising. Much of the latest wave of research pinpoints factors—like coup proofing, less inequality, or the end of the Cold War—that reduce the probability of a coup. The development of ever more sophisticated statistical techniques to divine the causes of instability, nevertheless, relies on off-the-shelf data sets and coup catalogs whose validity—properly understood as accuracy—is questionable. Only a greater attention to accuracy and complementary methods promise to produce a comprehensive account of why the military topples governments in some, but not in other, places.


The investigation of changes in the earth's surface which have been effected since its occupation by man, or within the historic period, deservedly receives a large amount of attention in the present day. Any facts which will enable us to form an estimate of the time in which geological changes are produced are of the utmost value to science. Hence the importance of Mr. Leonard Horner's investigations in the Delta of the Nile, Mr. Geikie's observations on the coast of the Forth, and similar recent contributions, if based on certain and incontrovertible data, can scarcely be over-estimated. But while the multiplication of such observations is desirable, the elimination of erroneous data forming the bases of important deductions is no less so. And if the pottery raised from such a depth in the Nile sediment as to convince Mr. Horner that it was deposited there 14,000 years ago be Roman pottery, or if the Roman pottery of Mr. Geikie's Forth section be of modern manufacture, it is of as much, if not of more value to science, that such received errors be corrected, than that new truths be added. In August last year I read Mr. Geikie's paper, "On a Rise of the Coast of the Frith of Forth*." Being in Edinburgh at the time, I visited the section which formed the basis of his hypothesis. With his sketch in my hand, I had no difficulty in recognizing the various beds he describes in his paper. But the story that the


In 10 patients without left heart valvular disease and having normal function of the left ventricle, the left ventricular apex cardiogram with its first derivative (dA/dt), left ventricular pressure with its first derivative (dP/dt), aortic pressure, electrocardiogram, and phonocardiogram were reocrded simultaneously during cardiac catheterization. The apex cardiographic tracings were obtained by means of a transducer with infinite time constant and very high resonant frequency and the LV and aortic pressures with catheter tip-manometers. The onset of the systolic rise of apex cardiographic and LV pressures were found to occur almost simultaneously with the upstroke of LV pressure, preceding that of the apex cardiogram by only 2 +/- 4 ms (mean +/- 1 SD). The summit of the systolic upstroke of the apex cardiogram (called E-point) occurred 37 +/- 9 ms after opening of the aortic valve and 41 +/- 9 ms after peak dP/dt. The peak of dA/dt preceded peak dP/dt by 10 +/- 4 ms. The protodiastolic nadir of the apex cardiogram (called-O-point) occurred slightly earlier (19 +/- 16 ms) than the nadir of the LV pressure curve, with considerable variation. In conclusion, this study using external and internal transducers with similar characteristics gives a new definition of the time relation between the externally recorded apex cardiogram and the haemodynamic events within the left heart in human subjects with normal left ventricular function.


Book chapter, forthcoming in Family Law Stories (Carol Sanger, editor; Foundation Press) This essay examines the story behind the 2003 decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that changed the common law definition of marriage to allow same-sex couples to marry. Along with surveying the highly contested quest to obtain marriage equality for same-sex couple, the essay focuses on the arguments and the litigation strategy used by the lawyers for the plaintiff couples, contrasting them with the arguments and strategies used in earlier attempts to obtain recognition for relationships between people of the same sex. In particular, the article contrasts the top-down litigation strategy used in the Goodridge case - in which leaders of a lesbian and gay rights advocacy organization controlled the litigation and the selection of the plaintiffs - with the bottom-up approach that characterizes early gay rights litigation and some recent same-sex marriage cases.


The aim of this paper is to test the trajectory precision of the execution terminal of the industrial robot based on a non-contact laser tracing measurement technique. The target is found in terms of tracing mirror attached in measurement position. This method utilizes the linear motion units and photo detection units to trace the target actively. The measurement of the target coordinates are measured with the laser interferometer linear measurement module and the grating ruler. This system can achieve the trajectory measurement of the planar motion objects without contact in real-time condition and also possesses the high precision. The experimental work and calculation were performed in order to achieve the trajectory precision of the research.


The modulation properties of 1.55-mum InGaAsP/InP microring lasers are investigated using a multimode rate equation model. A detailed study, with respect to Q-factor and extinction ratio calculations, is carried out as a function of different microring's key design and operating parameters. The modulator's performance study shows the possibility for a successful operation at a bit rate of 2.4 Gb/s for radii between 30 and 50 mum and proper values for the bus waveguide reflectivity.


The palm oil sector development can be a driven factor for conflict in some areas. Smallholders are significant stakeholders that affect the palm oil sector's condition and development, including conflict conditions and management. Therefore, conflict management of smallholders palm oil is considered necessary to sustainable business. This paper has investigated the conflict management concept of smallholder palm oil plantation using a sustainable business perspective. Most of the conflict between the company and smallholders happens due to obscure land ownership and negative externalities. However, to prevent the conflict's border impact, the company should have an appropriate method to manage their conflict. Even though the local community does not use violence during the conflict against the company, conflicts may still negatively affect the trust and legitimacy of local communities toward companies. Therefore, we argue that socialization and mediation approaches are successful methods for conflict management. We also argue that integrating social and environmental issues into the core strategies of the company's decision-making process is necessary because conflict is one of the factors used to make sound business and investment decision-making. This study found that conflict management can likely encourage business investment in the company and reduce the company's operational risks and costs.


This paper presents a dynamic model for a novel self-drive pipeline robot or "pig," which obtains its power from the kinetic energy of fluid flow in a pipe via a turbine and a reverse-traverse screw mechanism. The new robot is designed to move both against and with the flowing fluid, which makes it different from conventional "pigs", which can only move with the flowing fluid. This bidirectional capability makes it very valuable to many industries, especially the oil and gas industries. Based on the model, the dynamic behavior of the new robot under different conditions has been analyzed in detail. In order to verify the validity of the dynamic model, a prototype machine and pipe-loop test rig was built, and experimental data obtained compared well with the theoretical analyses. Both the theoretical and experimental results validated the practicability of this novel robot structure. Furthermore, detailed analysis has been carried out, and the conclusions that have been drawn provide basic design principles for this new pipeline robot, and will assist in the aim of optimizing details of its design.


Methylphenidate hydrochloride (Ritalin), the drug of choice for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is contraindicated in patients with glaucoma on a theoretical, class-labeling basis. As methylphenidate had been, until recently, primarily prescribed to children, the consideration of prescribing it to patients with glaucoma rarely has arisen. However, as ADHD is being diagnosed and treated in more adults, this is becoming a treatment issue. Moreover, stimulants are being used for the treatment of drug-induced and other sexual dysfunctions on an as-needed basis. 1-3 When used cautiously in conjunction with glaucoma medications and regular ophthalmologic monitoring, methylphenidate and other psychostimulants may be safe in patients with well-controlled, open-angle glaucoma. The following is an example, as well as a practical solution, to this problem. Report of a Case. A 55-year-old male writer with primary open-angle glaucoma was receiving methylphenidate hydrochloride, 25 mg per day, for ADHD. Although his IQ placed him in the gifted


Globular clusters in galaxies have a mutual feedback with the environment, which is tuned by their dynamical evolution. This feed- back may be the explanation of various features of both the globular cluster system and the host galaxy. Relevant examples of these are the radial distribution of globulars and the violent initial activity of galaxies as AGN.


Magnesium and its alloys have many applications for theirs excellent physical and mechanical properties. Due to magnesium's active chemical properties and difficulties in direct painting, a novel environmental protective water based coating was developed, which mainly contains metal flake, silicate, silane and sodium polyphosphate etc. The properties and structure of the coating were investigated by adhesion test, hardness test, heat resistance test, neutral salt spray test and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) et al. Meanwhile, the effect of sodium polyphosphate was also examined by hydrogen evolution test and electrochemical test. Furthermore, the film forming mechanism of the coating was explored by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results showed that the coating had a stepped structure which could achieve extraordinary adhesion, 350°C temperature heat resistance, HV0.50/30 210 hardness and 300 hours anti-corrosion time in salt spray test. In the coating, the addition of sodium polyphosphate could greatly improve the corrosion resistance of the coating because of the barrier film formed by sodium polyphosphate. The mechanism of interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) was preliminary put forward based on the results of FTIR.


Previously we have shown that estradiol and progesterone regulate the levels of secretory component, the external domain of polymeric immunoglobin A (IgA) receptor responsible for transporting IgA from tissues into secretions, at both the mRNA and protein levels in the rodent uterus. In the present study, experiments were designed to determine whether polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) is synthesized locally in the vagina and whether it is under the control of estradiol and progesterone. Polymeric IgR message corresponding in size to that previously reported in the liver and uterus was detected by Northern blot analysis of total RNA from the vagina. Levels of pIgR mRNA and pIgR in the vagina were found to vary with the stage of the cycle. Polymeric IgR mRNA levels were elevated at diestrus, reduced at estrus, and undetectable at proestrus. Immunohistochemical analysis of pIgR in the vagina indicated that the expression of protein correlated with the mRNA levels. When ovariectomized rats were treated with estradiol, progesterone, or a combination of the two for 3 days, pIgR mRNA levels were significantly reduced in estradiol-treated animals relative to saline-treated controls. No significant changes were observed in the pIgR mRNA levels of animals treated with progesterone alone or with a combination of estradiol and progesterone. Polymeric IgR expression analyzed by immunohistochemical staining correlated well with variations in mRNA levels seen following hormone treatment. In situ hybridization localized pIgR in uterine and vaginal epithelial cells. In the uterus, pIgR message was abundant in luminal and glandular epithelial cells at estrus and low at diestrus. In contrast, expression of pIgR mRNA was pronounced in vaginal epithelial cells at diestrus, while very little message could be localized in the epithelium at estrus. These findings demonstrate that pIgR is synthesized locally in the uterus and vagina and is under tissue-specific hormone regulation.


This paper presents the results of a large scale empirical study of coherent dependence clusters. All statements in a coherent dependence cluster depend upon the same set of statements and affect the same set of statements; a coherent cluster's statements have 'coherent' shared backward and forward dependence. We introduce an approximation to efficiently locate coherent clusters and show that it has a minimum precision of 97.76%. Our empirical study also finds that, despite their tight coherence constraints, coherent dependence clusters are in abundance: 23 of the 30 programs studied have coherent clusters that contain at least 10% of the whole program. Studying patterns of clustering in these programs reveals that most programs contain multiple substantial coherent clusters. A series of subsequent case studies uncover that all clusters of significant size map to a logical functionality and correspond to a program structure. For example, we show that for the program acct, the top five coherent clusters all map to specific, yet otherwise non-obvious, functionality. Cluster visualization also brings out subtle deficiencies in program structure and identifies potential refactoring candidates. A study of inter-cluster dependence is used to highlight how coherent clusters are connected to each other, revealing higher-level structures, which can be used in reverse engineering. Finally, studies are presented to illustrate how clusters are not correlated with program faults as they remain stable during most system evolution.


Rhodopsin is the visual pigment responsible for initiating the phototransduction cascade in vertebrate rod photoreceptors. Although well‐characterized in a few model systems, comparative studies of rhodopsin function, particularly for nonmammalian vertebrates are comparatively lacking. Bowerbirds are rare among passerines in possessing a key substitution, D83N, at a site that is otherwise highly conserved among G protein‐coupled receptors. While this substitution is present in some dim‐light adapted vertebrates, often accompanying another unusual substitution, A292S, its functional relevance in birds is uncertain. To investigate functional effects associated with these two substitutions, we use the rhodopsin gene from the great bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis) as a background for site‐directed mutagenesis, in vitro expression and functional characterization. We also mutated these sites in two additional rhodopsins that do not naturally possess N83, chicken and bovine, for comparison. Both sites were found to contribute to spectral blue‐shifts, but had opposing effects on kinetic rates. Substitutions at site 83 were found to primarily affect the kinetics of light‐activated rhodopsin, while substitutions at site 292 had a larger impact on spectral tuning. The contribution of substitutions at site 83 to spectral tuning in particular depended on genetic background, but overall, the effects of substitutions were otherwise surprisingly additive, and the magnitudes of functional shifts were roughly similar across all three genetic backgrounds. By employing a comparative approach with multiple species, our study provides new insight into the joint impact of sites 83 and 292 on rhodopsin structure‐function as well as their evolutionary significance for dim‐light vision across vertebrates.


Institutions (also called normative frameworks) provide an effective mechanism to govern agents in open distributed systems. An institution specifies a set of norms, with respect to the achievement of a goal or goals, that regulate agents' behaviours in terms of permissions, empowerments and obligations. However, in most real circumstances, several institutions probably have to cooperate to govern the same entities simultaneously, which is very likely to give rise to norm conflicts simply if institutions will be designed independently and typically with different goals. In this thesis, we aim: (i) to identify the different ways to combine institutions, (ii) to model those ways formally and computationally by extending an existing model for single institutions, (iii) to detect conflicts in different types of combined institutions automatically, and (iv) to resolve those conflicts via automatic norm revision using an approach based on inductive learning.


We present an evaluation of the impact of a recently proposed synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging technique on feature enhancement and automatic target recognition (ATR) performance. This image formation technique is based on nonquadratic optimization, and the images it produces appear to exhibit enhanced features. We quantify such feature enhancement through a number of criteria. The findings of our analysis indicate that the new feature-enhanced SAR image formation method provides images with higher resolution of scatterers, and better separability of different regions as compared with conventional SAR images. We also provide an ATR-based evaluation. We run recognition experiments using conventional and feature-enhanced SAR images of military targets, with three different classifiers. The first classifier is template based. The second classifier makes a decision through a likelihood test, based on Gaussian models for reflectivities. The third classifier is based on extracted locations of the dominant target scatterers. The experimental results demonstrate that the new feature-enhanced SAR imaging method can improve the recognition performance, especially in scenarios involving reduced data quality or quantity.


Human capital plays an important role in economic growth theory, because economic and social development of the state is closely connected with investments into human capital. Formerly economic efficiency was measured only according to the criteria of physical capital. Scientists – economists of latter century pay great attention to the human capital, its importance and necessity to the modern state and economic growth. The scientists propose that the welfare of a state and an individual is impossible without investments into human being. It is even possible to define education as one of the crucial factors of economic growth. Human capital is a broad concept, which covers plenty of components. But the most important component is description of workforce quality (Fox, Loon, Whitton, Tunny, 2001). Any action, that increases the productivity of labour market, may be considered as the investment into human capital. Whereas great recourses (in the long run) are targeted to the resolution of these questions, in respect of all the parties concerned, the results of such evaluation would enable to balance the policy implemented in the areas of education and rise of qualification. Therefore it is very important to evaluate the efficiency of these investments. But while analyzing, by what means investments into education are evaluated, it is necessary to take into account the social aspects (Gižienė, Vasiliauskaitė, 2007). The aim of the article: to analyze the methods of economic evaluation of human resources, their peculiarities. The subject of research – human resources. The research methods used in the article – systematic analysis and summing-up of scientific literature, statistical data analysis.