Manufacturing Execution Systems (MESs) are those systems that exist between the plant floor and the business systems of the front office. There is work in progress to support this application space but tends to become impeded by the complexity of the dynamics of the plant. Model-Integrated Computing (MIC) is a software/system integration technology that provides the ability to build IS solutions to complex problems at low cost. The MIC approach and the MGA tools have been applied to the domain of constraint management in Saturn Manufacturing via the research, development, and deployment of Saturn Site Production Flow (SSPF). Constraint management involves identifying bottlenecks in the manufacturing process and then focusing plant resources on removing that bottleneck (constraint) which in turn provides an improved throughput for the plant. Through the use of SSPF in conjunction with strong business processes, 10% throughput improvement in Saturn plants has been achieved. General Motors (GM) is under going a globalization process that involves the use of common processes and systems throughout the whole corporation. To achieve globalization will involve rapid consistent deployment along with business process understanding and attendant training. To understand the magnitude of this problem one must understand that all these 400 plants have, to some degree, different processes, systems, and plant cultures. There is some degree of common (which is strategic) and some degree of difference (which represents the degree of local practice). These differences must be taken into account in achieving a common set of processes, practices, and systems although the focus is to support and deploy the common strategic business practices. In this paper we will discuss how MIC could be used to address these issues.


Do elections improve a country's prospects for democratization? The theory of democratization by elections proposes that reiterated multiparty elections foster gradual institutional changes leading to progress toward democracy. Edgell et al. provide the most systematic evidence for this theory, but substantial disagreements remain among scholars studying the effects of authoritarian elections on democratization. In this study, I reassess the relationship between elections and democratization. In doing so, I account for the temporal structure of democratic qualities that are highly persistent. When I control for the dynamics of democratic qualities by adding a lag (or lags) of the dependent variable, the democratizing effects of repeated elections disappear; indeed, most evidence indicates a negative relationship between elections and democratization. This finding calls into question the causal role of elections in the process of democratization and demonstrates the importance of modeling the persistent nature of democracy in exploring the effect of a variable on democratization.


The International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH) was developed as a means for measuring the impact of illness and its consequences, although there was much delay before the classifications became at all well known. After giving an outline of how the ICIDH came into being, this article considers the basis of different types of health problem and of the potential of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the ICIDH to reveal useful information on such problems. The ICIDH is based on a tripartite distinction between impairment, disability and handicap. It can be used as a resource at four different levels--for enlightenment about the nature of disablement problems and how they might relate to policies and services; as three detailed classification schemes to facilitate structuring of data about impairment, disability and handicap respectively; as a framework which provides an agenda for appraisal and assessment; and for facilitating management functions, perhaps especially the evaluation of care. Philosophical and ideological criticisms of the ICIDH are discussed, and means for applying what has proved to be the most controversial component or dimension, the handicap code, are illustrated. At the root of many difficulties is people's failure to appreciate that the same pieces of information can be used to illuminate complementary aspects of problems when the data are regarded from different perspectives. Further experience along the lines currently being undertaken should not only resolve many of the difficulties, but should also encourage more widespread adoption of the approach underlying the ICIDH.


Unmarried fatherhood after assisted conception, where the sperm of the would-be father was not used in the conception, was novel when it was introduced in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. It created a tie between a man and a child where 'nature' had not provided one, and where there was no formal relationship with the mother. But how narrowly should the provision that created fatherhood of this sort be construed? Where unmarried partners separate before a treatment programme ends should the child be fatherless?


The author examined 198 patients with chronic ischemic heart disease among whom 78 had attacks of cardiac fibrillation. Atrial VCG and ECG were recorded in all patients. It is established that there are two main types of changes in the atrial myocardium, hemodynamic and arrhythmic, which may lead to the development of cardiac fibrillation. The appearance of VCG changes of the second type in patients with sinus rhythm indicates that there is danger of the development of cardiac fibrillation.


Survey researchers have dedicated increasing attention toward understanding how social networks influence individual-level outcomes like attitudes, political participation, and other forms of collective action. This work implicitly assumes that errors in individuals' self-reported attitudes and behaviors are unrelated to the composition of their social networks. We evaluate this assumption, developing a theory explaining how social networks influence the survey response by shaping the social desirability of various behaviors and attitudes. We apply our theory to the study of political participation, examining evidence from three observational datasets and an experiment conducted on a national sample. We demonstrate that non-voting respondents' tendency to falsely report having voted is driven by political participation levels among their close friends and family. We show that this tendency can artificially inflate estimates of social influence. This study therefore suggests that survey researchers must account for social influence on the survey response to avoid biasing their conclusions.


The research aims at discussing the strategy to improve the existence of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) in Rejang Lebong regency. The research used sociological approach to comprehend the meaning of events and interaction of people in certain circumstances. The results were: Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) was quite exist in assisting the education advance. It can be noticed by the work programs. The students were competitive and their achievements reached regional and national level. In conclusion, the strategy used to improve the existence of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah, such as using POAC strategy (planning  organizing, actuating), as well as controling improved the existence of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) in Rejang Lebong regency.
Keywords : Strategy, Existence, Madrasah Ibtidaiyah


Education, to make maximum use of its human and physical resources, needs to establish social space-generating capacity to meet its goals. The most important problem, according to experts' opinions, which has damaged the effectiveness of schools, is the lack of a competitive environment schools. Therefore, it is required to draw up a framework to increase competition among schools. To establish such structure, several factors which facilitate implementation are required. Therefore, using the theoretical framework and experiences of countries, facilitating factors in applying the self-organized teams were extracted. Attitudes of teachers and administrators in relation to these factors should be investigated to measure the preparedness of education to apply these factors. This article with considering KAP research, which is focused on preparedness (knowledge), attitudes and behavior, attempts to concentrate on the establishing teachers' level of preparedness and achieving self-organized teams. For this purpose, using a questionnaire, attitudes of elementary school principals in Tehran were evaluated. The results show preparedness and a positive attitude of principals and teachers about the desired factors.


Horizon Scan reports provide brief summaries of information regarding new and emerging health technologies; these technologies are identified through the CADTH Horizon Scanning Service as topics of potential interest to health care decision-makers in Canada. This report is not an endorsement or assessment of any test or technology.
This Horizon Scan summarizes the available information regarding the emerging technology of liquid biopsy–based, multi-cancer early detection tests for cancer screening. This Horizon Scan focuses specifically on the Galleri (GRAIL Inc.) and CancerSEEK (Exact Sciences) tests, which are further along in the development cycle and are being assessed in different international clinical studies.
Multi-cancer early detection technologies aim to provide a new approach to complement traditional cancer screening programs. These tests examine genetic signals within blood samples with next-generation sequencing and computational algorithms to assess the presence and type of different cancers. Research to date has focused on describing results from training and validation studies that have provided initial estimates of test performance and modelling studies estimating the potential impact on cancer incidence.
This Horizon Scan also highlights some issues for health care decision-makers to consider about the technology relating to real-world test performance, the potential benefits and harms of screening with multi-cancer early detection tests, and the disruptiveness to health systems they could pose. Ongoing review of clinical trials and the emerging evidence base can help inform health systems in Canada about their potential role within cancer-control initiatives.


We analyze the interaction between bank rescues, financial fragility and sovereign debt discounts. We construct a model that contains balance sheet constrained financial intermediaries financing both capital expenditure of intermediate goods producers and government deficits. The financial intermediaries face the risk of a (partial) default of the government on its debt obligations. We analyse the impact of a financial crisis, first under full government credibility and then with an endogenous sovereign debt discount. The introduction of the default possibility does not have any impact IF all government debt is short term. Interest rates on debt reflect higher default probabilities, but because all debt is short term, bank balance sheets are unaffected and no further negative effects arise through the endogenous sovereign debt channel. But once long term government debt is introduced, the possibility of capital losses on bank balance sheets arises. Then outcomes significantly deteriorate compared to the short term debt only case. Higher interest rates on new debt lead to capital losses on banks' holding of existing long term government debt. The associated increase in credit tightness leads to a negative amplification effect, significantly increasing output losses and declines in investment after a financial crisis. This causes potentially conflicting macroeconomic effects of a debt financed recapitalization of banks. We investigate the case where the government announces a bank recapitalization to occur 4 quarters after announcement. Under the parameter values chosen, the positive effects from an anticipated capital injection dominate the effects of the associated increase in sovereign default risk.


Professor Sambursky presents a lucid and absorbing survey of the scientific ideas of the Greeks, showing how they constructed their world-view. He establishes what the Greeks thought and how much they knew, why they thought as they did, and why they did not learn more.Originally published in 1987.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


The gap between the rich and the rest is growing. Tax havens are at the heart of the inequality crisis, enabling corporations and wealthy individuals to dodge paying their fair share of tax. This prevents states from funding vital public services and combating poverty and inequality, with especially damaging effects for developing countries. The UK heads the world's biggest financial secrecy network, spanning its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and centred on the City of London – but this in fact provides an unparalleled opportunity to help end the era of tax havens. As the UK Prime Minister prepares to host the anti-corruption summit in May, this briefing paper outlines how tax havens fuel the inequality crisis which leaves poor countries without the funds they need, the UK's role in the global tax haven system, and what the government can do about it.


Congenital tracheal stenosis (CTS) is a rare disease associated with high mortality and morbidity, especially if it is associated with intracardiac anomalies or vascular rings. Heliox, a ''carrier gas'' with low density, has been used in pediatric intensive care units for treating acute respiratory failure due to obstructive airway disease. Here we report a 3100-g, 39-week newborn with long-segment CTS complicated with a pulmonary artery sling and tetralogy of Fallot, to whom heliox was given as the rescue therapy during near-complete airway obstruction and cardiopulmonary failure. Although this patient finally died from failure of corrective surgery, our experience with heliox has suggested that its effects in improving oxygenation and eliminating CO 2 can be a rescue strategy in a mechanically ventilated infant with severe airway obstruction.


Background: This cross-sectional observational study was undertaken to identify the epidemiological characteristics of patients with gynecological malignancies in India, in relation to gynecological cancer risk. Methods: In the gynecology out-patient clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata, India, the patients with suggestive symptoms of gynecological malignancies were screened. One hundred thirteen patients with histopathologically confirmed gynecological malignancies were interviewed. Results: More than two-thirds of the cases (69.0%) occurred in the age range of 35-64 years and the same proportion of patients was from rural areas. Almost all the patients were "ever-married" (96.5%). More than half (54.9%) were illiterate/just literate. Nearly two-thirds (64.6%) were parity 3 or higher. Among the 18 patients with history of multiple sexual partners of the husband, 94.4% (17) were suffering from cervical malignancy, along with all the 3 patients with history of STD syndromes (sexually transmitted diseases) of their husbands. No one had given a history of condom use by her husband. Most of the patients (91.1%) used old / reused cloth pieces during menstruation. Conclusions: There is a need to increase awareness among women and the broader community about different epidemiological factors that may be responsible for increased risk of gynecological malignancies.


SUMMARY The σS (RpoS) subunit of RNA polymerase is the master regulator of the general stress response in Escherichia coli and related bacteria. While rapidly growing cells contain very little σS, exposure to many different stress conditions results in rapid and strong σS induction. Consequently, transcription of numerous σS-dependent genes is activated, many of which encode gene products with stress-protective functions. Multiple signal integration in the control of the cellular σS level is achieved by rpoS transcriptional and translational control as well as by regulated σS proteolysis, with various stress conditions differentially affecting these levels of σS control. Thus, a reduced growth rate results in increased rpoS transcription whereas high osmolarity, low temperature, acidic pH, and some late-log-phase signals stimulate the translation of already present rpoS mRNA. In addition, carbon starvation, high osmolarity, acidic pH, and high temperature result in stabilization of σS, which, under nonstress conditions, is degraded with a half-life of one to several minutes. Important cis-regulatory determinants as well as trans-acting regulatory factors involved at all levels of σS regulation have been identified. rpoS translation is controlled by several proteins (Hfq and HU) and small regulatory RNAs that probably affect the secondary structure of rpoS mRNA. For σS proteolysis, the response regulator RssB is essential. RssB is a specific direct σS recognition factor, whose affinity for σS is modulated by phosphorylation of its receiver domain. RssB delivers σS to the ClpXP protease, where σS is unfolded and completely degraded. This review summarizes our current knowledge about the molecular functions and interactions of these components and tries to establish a framework for further research on the mode of multiple signal input into this complex regulatory system.


Word-Of-Mouth (WOM) has been recognized as an important marketing information channel for the last half century. The explosion of internet use and digital social media has made WOM a timely topic in research and practice. Information specificity, giver expertise, and the strength of the social tie between giver and receiver have been identified as influencing the effectiveness of WOM. The effects and interaction of these three components are reported. In this experiment, the greatest influence on likelihood to purchase came from nonspecific information from a non-expert with a close tie to the receiver.


Determining how much of the sensory information carried by a neural code contributes to behavioral performance is key to understand sensory function and neural information flow. However, there are as yet no analytical tools to compute this information that lies at the intersection between sensory coding and behavioral readout. Here we develop a novel measure, termed the information-theoretic intersection information $I_{II}(S;R;C)$, that quantifies how much of the sensory information carried by a neural response R is used for behavior during perceptual discrimination tasks. Building on the Partial Information Decomposition framework, we define $I_{II}(S;R;C)$ as the part of the mutual information between the stimulus S and the response R that also informs the consequent behavioral choice C. We compute $I_{II}(S;R;C)$ in the analysis of two experimental cortical datasets, to show how this measure can be used to compare quantitatively the contributions of spike timing and spike rates to task performance, and to identify brain areas or neural populations that specifically transform sensory information into choice.


In this paper we study statistical consistency of partial losses suitable for learning structured output predictors from examples containing missing labels. We provide sufficient conditions on data generating distribution which admit to prove that the expected risk of the structured predictor learned by minimizing the partial loss converges to the optimal Bayes risk defined by an associated complete loss. We define a concept of surrogate classification calibrated partial losses which are easier to optimize yet their minimization preserves the statistical consistency. We give some concrete examples of surrogate partial losses which are classification calibrated. In particular, we show that the ramp-loss which is in the core of many existing algorithms is classification calibrated.


A petrographic study of 157 samples from the Early to Middle Eocene deep‐marine sandy systems, Ainsa–Jaca basin, Spanish Pyrenees, shows that each system has a characteristic petrofacies. Three main petrofacies are recognized. Petrofacies 1 sandstones comprise mainly siliciclastic grains (≥80%), subordinate terrigenous carbonate grains and negligible intrabasinal grains. Petrofacies 2 hybrid arenites are characterized by significant amounts (≥10%) of intrabasinal carbonate grains. Petrofacies 3 calcilithites contain relatively abundant (≥10%) extrabasinal carbonate grains. On the basis of these petrofacies, a revised correlation of the sandy systems is proposed between the more proximal Ainsa basin, and the more distal Jaca basin sediments, now separated by the Boltaña anticline, across which it is impossible to actually trace out individual beds or sandstone packages between both basins. The arenite composition in the Ainsa and Jaca basins is interpreted as being controlled mainly by synsedimentary tectonic processes that led to changes in sediment sources during basin evolution.


We present an approach to accelerate multi-view stereo (MVS) by prioritizing computation on image patches that are likely to produce accurate 3D surface reconstructions. Our key insight is that the accuracy of the surface reconstruction from a given image patch can be predicted significantly faster than performing the actual stereo matching. The intuition is that non-specular, fronto-parallel, in-focus patches are more likely to produce accurate surface reconstructions than highly specular, slanted, blurry patches - and that these properties can be reliably predicted from the image itself. By prioritizing stereo matching on a subset of patches that are highly reconstructable and also cover the 3D surface, we are able to accelerate MVS with minimal reduction in accuracy and completeness. To predict the reconstructability score of an image patch from a single view, we train an image-to-reconstructability neural network: the I2RNet. This reconstructability score enables us to efficiently identify image patches that are likely to provide the most accurate surface estimates before performing stereo matching. We demonstrate that the I2RNet, when trained on the ScanNet dataset, generalizes to the DTU and Tanks & Temples MVS datasets. By using our I2RNet with an existing MVS implementation, we show that our method can achieve more than a 30× speed-up over the baseline with only an minimal loss in completeness.


Mission simulation involves automated simulation of complete aircraft flights or flight segments in order to assess over-all metrics like block fuel, flight times and total emissions. This contribution presents a fully automated mission simulation environment that may be used in flight trajectory as well as aircraft or engine design optimisation loops. To this end, the environment covers the complete process, from integration of a flight dynamics model for the given aircraft configuration to simulation and assessment of all metrics of interest. The aircraft is usually represented by a point-mass, which is guided along 3D trajectories by means of generic autopilot guidance control laws based on the Total Heading and Total Energy Control
Systems (THCS and TECS). These control structures elegantly accommodate all speed and path-related autopilot modes, control priorities, performance and protection limits and do not require aircraft-specific gain tuning. This paper discusses the mission simulation environment, the implementation of TECS / THCS herein,
as well as example applications on dissimilar aircraft and missions types.


ABSTRACT Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), caused by enterovirus, is a threat to public health worldwide. To date, enterovirus 71 (EV71) has been one of the major causative agents of HFMD in the Pacific-Asia region, and outbreaks with EV71 cause millions of infections. However, no drug is currently available for clinical therapeutics. In our previous works, we developed a set of protease inhibitors (PIs) targeting the EV71 3C protease (3Cpro). Among these are NK-1.8k and NK-1.9k, which have various active groups and high potencies and selectivities. In the study described here, we determined the structures of the PI NK-1.8k in complex with wild-type (WT) and drug-resistant EV71 3Cpro. Comparison of these structures with the structure of unliganded EV71 3Cpro and its complex with AG7088 indicated that the mutation of N69 to a serine residue destabilized the S2 pocket. Thus, the mutation influenced the cleavage activity of EV71 3Cpro and the inhibitory activity of NK-1.8k in an in vitro protease assay and highlighted that site 69 is an additional key site for PI design. More information for the optimization of the P1′ to P4 groups of PIs was also obtained from these structures. Together with the results of our previous works, these in-depth results elucidate the inhibitory mechanism of PIs and shed light to develop PIs for the clinical treatment of infections caused by EV71 and other enteroviruses.


Since time immemorial, education has been an important instrument for social and economic transformation. Currently, higher education in India is undergoing a great transformation in terms of access, equity and quality. This transition is strongly influenced by the rapid evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) around the world. The introduction of ICT in higher education has profound implications for the whole educational process, especially when it comes to solving key problems of access, equity, management, efficiency, pedagogy and quality. At the same time, the optimal use of opportunities arising from the diffusion of ICT in the higher education system is a major challenge for higher education institutions. In this context, the paper addresses the opportunities and challenges of integrating ICTs into various aspects of higher education in the current scenario and will seek to determine the concept, uses and benefits of ICTs in higher education. as well as identifying the role of ICT in higher education. The paper will attempt to situate the different challenges / obstacles to the implementation of ICT in higher education.
Keywords:  ICT, Higher Education, Role, Barriers


Medieval literature of the Low Countries shows a strong dependence on the international literary tradition. Epic literature in the Dutch language for the greater part consists of translations and adaptations of French romance. Lyrical poetry on the other hand hardly ever is translated. This especially holds for secular songs and poems. Meanwhile the poets show that they are constantly aware of French, Latin and German traditions. Several of the key figures of Dutch poetry seem to be more influenced by the international lyrical tradition than by any native literature of the Low Countries. A 'national' Dutch lyrical tradition does not exist in the Middle Ages: the lyrical tradition of the Low Countries can only be understood in a European perspective.


Metro or transit maps, are schematic representations of transit networks to facilitate effective route‐finding. These maps are often advertised on a web page or pamphlet highlighting routes from source to destination stations. To visually support such route‐finding, designers often distort the layout by embedding symbolic shapes (e.g., circular routes) in order to guide readers' attention (e.g., Moscow map and Japan railway map). However, manually producing such maps is labor‐intensive and the effect of shapes remains unclear. In this paper, we propose an approach to generalize such mixed metro maps that take user‐defined shapes as an input. In this mixed design, lines that are used to approximate the shapes are arranged symbolically, while the remaining lines follow classical layout convention. A three‐step algorithm, including (1) detecting and selecting routes for shape approximation, (2) shape and layout deformation, and (3) aligning lines on a grid, is integrated to guarantee good visual quality. Our contribution lies in the definition of the mixed metro map problem and the formulation of design criteria so that the problem can be resolved systematically using the optimization paradigm. Finally, we evaluate the performance of our approach and perform a user study to test if the embedded shapes are recognizable or reduce the map quality.


2 Abstract: Different digital watermarking (WM) techniques for still images have been studied in the last many years. Recently, a lot of new WM schemes have been suggested for other types of digital multimedia data, such as text, audio and video. The technology which is implemented in our work for the invisible video watermark will work according to the video frame using the Least Significant Bit (LSB) algorithm. This technique has been realized using VHDL. The system simulated on the ModelSim. The simulation results have been demonstrated. Watermark is successfully extracted at the output of extraction model.


The BGP MULTI_EXIT_DISC (MED) attribute provides a mechanism for BGP
speakers to convey to an adjacent AS the optimal entry point into the
local AS. While BGP MEDs function correctly in many scenarios, a
number of issues may arise when utilizing MEDs in dynamic or complex
topologies. This document discusses implementation and deployment
considerations regarding BGP MEDs and provides information with which
implementers and network operators should be familiar. This memo
provides information for the Internet community.


Since its introduction by Jao and De Feo in 2011, the supersingular isogeny Diffie-Hellman (SIDH) key exchange protocol has positioned itself as a promising candidate for post-quantum cryptography. One salient feature of the SIDH protocol is that it requires exceptionally short key sizes. However, the latency associated to SIDH is higher than the ones reported for other post-quantum cryptosystem proposals. Aiming to accelerate the SIDH runtime performance, we present in this work several algorithmic optimizations targeting both elliptic-curve and field arithmetic operations. We introduce in the context of the SIDH protocol a more efficient approach for calculating the elliptic curve operation $P+[k]Q$ . Our strategy achieves a factor 1.4 speedup compared with the popular variable-three-point ladder algorithm regularly used in the SIDH shared secret phase. Moreover, profiting from pre-computation techniques our algorithm yields a factor 1.7 acceleration for the computation of this operation in the SIDH key generation phase. We also present an optimized evaluation of the point tripling formula, and discuss several algorithmic and implementation techniques that lead to faster field arithmetic computations. A software implementation of the above improvements on an Intel Skylake Core i7-6700 processor gives a factor 1.33 speedup against the state-of-the-art software implementation of the SIDH protocol reported by Costello-Longa-Naehrig in CRYPTO 2016.


Objectives: To determine the incidence and distribution of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) in relation to Bemisia tabaci populations in Central, Eastern, Nyanza and Western provinces of Kenya and investigate the ability of 4 cassava pests to transmit cassava brown streak virus (CBSV). Methodology and results: A multistage sampling survey was conducted from November 2006 to April 2007 to determine CBSD incidence and distribution in relation to B. tabaci populations in major non-coastal cassava growing areas of Kenya. In a separate study, adults of test insects were allowed 48 hours acquisition feeding period on CBSV infected cassava plants in cages before being transferred to uninfected plants. CBSD was present at high incidences in western Kenya (38-93%) but was not detected in Central and Eastern provinces. Large B. tabaci populations observed in western Kenya were significantly and positively correlated to CBSD incidence indicating a considerable contribution of the whiteflies to the spread of CBSD. Transmission of CBSV by B. tabaci occurred at 27.8%, a confirmation and additional evidence that this whitefly species is a vector of CBSV. Conclusion and application: This report provides evidence that CBSD is no longer restricted in distribution to the coastal lowlands of Kenya. The study further confirms that CBSD is spread by B. tabaci and therefore its control should be included in the overall management of CBSD. These findings increase the understanding of CBSD epidemiology.


We describe a variety of machine-learning techniques that are being applied to social multiuser human--robot interaction using a robot bartender in our scenario. We first present a data-driven approach to social state recognition based on supervised learning. We then describe an approach to social skills execution—that is, action selection for generating socially appropriate robot behavior—which is based on reinforcement learning, using a data-driven simulation of multiple users to train execution policies for social skills. Next, we describe how these components for social state recognition and skills execution have been integrated into an end-to-end robot bartender system, and we discuss the results of a user evaluation. Finally, we present an alternative unsupervised learning framework that combines social state recognition and social skills execution based on hierarchical Dirichlet processes and an infinite POMDP interaction manager. The models make use of data from both human--human interactions collected in a number of German bars and human--robot interactions recorded in the evaluation of an initial version of the system.


Asymmetry of waking electroencephalography (EEG) alpha power in frontal regions has been correlated with waking emotional reactivity and the emotional content of dream reports. Little is known regarding alpha asymmetry during sleep. The present study was performed to compare alpha power and alpha power asymmetry in various brain regions across states of sleep and wakefulness. Waking and sleep EEG were recorded in a group of patients undergoing polysomnographic evaluation for possible sleep disorders. Alpha EEG asymmetry in frontal and temporal regions was significantly correlated in waking versus sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. These results suggest that patterns of frontal alpha asymmetry are stable across sleep and waking and may be related to emotional reactivity during dreaming. During sleep, alpha power was highest during slow-wave sleep and lowest during REM sleep. Implications of these data for understanding the functional significance of alpha power during waking and sleeping are considered.


The functional role of INa in initiation and conduction of cardiac true pacemaker activity remains uncertain. Therefore the goal of this work was to study the effects of Na+ substitution of action potentials parameters of the sinoatrial area cells. Transmembrane action potentials were recorded with 15 to 40 MOmega glass microelectrodes filled with 2.5 M KCl. The final preparations was about 5 x 3 mm in size, contained a portion sinoatrial node and the adjacent fragment of tissue of the right branch of the sinoatrial ring bundle and crista terminalis. All strips were allowed to beat spontaneously. We have registered that Na+ replacement of 50% in external solution causes an almost two-fold monotonous decrease of dV/dtmax and overshoot values of primary (3.2 V/s, n = 15), latent pacemaker (17 V/s, n = 16) and "conducting"-like cells (130 V/s, n = 16, control, 35 C) as compared with the control. Finally (at 30 min exposure) action potential frequency is slowed dowb by 20-30%. True pacemaker cells decreased action potential amplitude from 65 to 9 mV for 20-30 min 50% Na solution exposure. It should be noted that the cells of the "conducting"-like type demonstrated the generation block of action potential 30% Na exposure. At the same time dV/dtmax monotonously decreased from 3.1 to 1.5 V/s (true pacemaker) 16 vs 7 V/s (latent) and from 130 to 1.8 v/s ("conducting"). In our opinion, these facts deserve particular attention because it has been reported earlier that tetrodotoxin (20 mcM) addition in to the control solution caused the decrease of dV/dt from 100 to 4 V/s in latent pacemaker, whereas action potential amplitude is decreased by only some mV and the rate of beating by 1.5 times. As for true pacemaker cells, the TTX does not influence them.


The ensuing thesis, which consists of five chapters and an introduction, deals with the history of the emirate of Aleppo during the years 1002-1094. Within this period the emirate suffered the collapse of the Hamdanid dynasty (founded by Sayf al-Dawla, 945-967), the submission for the first time to a direct Fatimid rule, the establishment of the Mirdasid dynasty, and 'Uqaylid occupation and finally passed under direct Saljuq control. Although, previous to the Saljuq conquest, the emirate was influenced by the policies of both the Fatimid caliphate and the Byzantine empire, most of that time it was ruled by the Mirdasid dynasty. Salih b. Mirdas was the founder of this dynasty and after his death three of his sons, Nasr, Thimal and 'Atiyya succeeded each other in ruling the emirate. Mahmud b. Nasr usurped the ralership from his uncle 'Atiyya and it was during their struggle for power that some of the Turcomans entered the emirate. When he became Amir, Muhmud employed some of the Turcomans in his service, defended Aleppo when the Sultan Alp-Arslan campaigned against it and although his sons Nasr and afterwards S?biq succeeded him, the real power lay in the hands of the Turcomans. The Mirdasid dynasty was tribal, emanating from the Arabic tribe of Kilab which had migrated to northern Syria in the wake of the Islamic conquest of the seventh century. The structure of the tribe, its customs and the general behaviour of its tribesmen characterised this dynasty and contributed both to its establishment and collapse. On the other hand the collapse was a direct result of the capture of Aleppo by Muslim b. Quraysh, Amir of the tribe of 'Uqayl and ruler of al-Mosul. His reign, however, was short-lived and the Saljuq conquest followed rapidly. This conquest took place during the sultanate of Malik Shah who appointed Aq-Sunqur as governor and caused profound political, religious and social changes. The political instability did not end with the appointment of Aq Sunqur whose clash with Tutush, brother of Malik Shah, and struggle for supremacy was the cause of his death. The rural population of the emirate participated in the political life and this was clearly illustrated by the part played by the Ahdath organisation. Islam, Christianity and Judaism were the religions professed by the population and this has been touched upon in the last chapter of the thesis. The principal sources upon which this thesis is based have been enumerated and described in the introduction.


Recently we demonstrated that increased chloride reabsorption in Henle's loop is a major contributor to the blunted furosemide response observed during prostaglandin synthesis inhibition. Because antidiuretic hormone (ADH) modulates chloride reabsorption in the loop and because prostaglandin synthesis inhibition potentiates ADH-mediated water reabsorption, ADH may be necessary for the attenuated furosemide response observed during prostaglandin synthesis inhibition. If such were the case, then prostaglandin synthesis inhibition should have no effect on furosemide's chloruretic response in the absence of ADH. To test this hypothesis, the effect of indomethacin on furosemide chloruresis was determined in homozygous (ADH-deficient) Brattleboro rats and in homozygous Brattleboro rats receiving ADH (2.4 mU/hr) over a short period of time. Furosemide-induced chloruresis was not different (P was not significant) between indomethacin-treated homozygous Brattleboro rats and homozygous Brattleboro rats receiving the indomethacin vehicle (fractional excretion of chloride: 6.28% +/- 1.08% vs. 6.24% +/- 0.98%). However, in ADH-infused Brattleboro rats, furosemide chloruresis was lower in indomethacin-treated rat groups than in vehicle-treated rat groups (fractional excretion of chloride: 3.09% +/- 0.62% vs. 6.61% +/- 0.88%; P less than 0.02) and lower than in indomethacin-treated ADH-deficient Brattleboro rats as well (P less than 0.05). Mean arterial pressure, inulin clearance, and renal blood flow were not different between any groups. Urinary prostaglandin excretion rates were not different between ADH-deficient Brattleboro rats and ADH-treated Brattleboro rats during furosemide administration and were markedly reduced by indomethacin in both circumstances. Thus, ADH is necessary for the blunted furosemide response observed during prostaglandin synthesis inhibition.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The paper presents an improved impressed diagnostic pulse-voltage method to estimate the rotor position of a switched-reluctance motor (SRM) with an external rotor. The fundamental method of impressed diagnostic pulse voltage is to impress pulse voltage at the inactive phases of a SRM that has an external rotor. Because the variations of inductance are dependent on the rotor position, and because the characteristic current values produced from the pulse voltage are dependent on the inductance, the rotor position can be inferred by observing the characteristic-current value. If the inductance of the SRM does not vary obviously, noise in the characteristic-current signal may cause failure of the sensorless-position-estimation method. Therefore, an improved impressed diagnostic pulse-voltage method is presented to increase the variations of characteristic current and estimate rotor position. First, the structure, characteristics, operational principles and mathematical model of the SRM with an external rotor are introduced. Then the improved impressed diagnostic pulse-voltage method is utilised to implement the sensorless position estimation for commutation control.


Centrality descriptors are widely used to rank nodes according to specific concept(s) of importance. Despite the large number of centrality measures available nowadays, it is still poorly understood how to identify the node which can be considered as the 'centre' of a complex network. In fact, this problem corresponds to finding the median of a complex network. The median is a non-parametric—or better, distribution-free—and robust estimator of the location parameter of a probability distribution. In this work, we present the statistical and most natural generalization of the concept of median to the realm of complex networks, discussing its advantages for defining the centre of the system and percentiles around that centre. To this aim, we introduce a new statistical data depth and we apply it to networks embedded in a geometric space induced by different metrics. The application of our framework to empirical networks allows us to identify central nodes which are socially or biologically relevant.


This paper addresses the issue of the practical implementation of Model Predictive Controllers (MPC) to processes with short sampling times. Given an explicit solution to an MPC problem, the main idea is to approximate the optimal control law defined over state space regions by a single polynomial of pre-specified degree which, when applied as a state-feedback, guarantees closed-loop stability, constraint satisfaction, and a bounded performance decay. It is shown how to search for such a polynomial by solving a single linear program.


Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID) bonding is a promising bonding technique, particularly for high-temperature applications. Based on intermetallics as the bonding medium, the bonds are stable at temperatures far above the processing temperature which is in the range of normal solder temperatures. This work confirms experimentally this high-temperature stability through shear strength testing as function of temperature (room temperature to 300 °C) for three different SLID systems: Cu-Sn, Au-Sn and Au-In. All three systems remain solid within the tested temperature range, as expected, but they show remarkably different temperature dependence of mechanical strength: Au-Sn SLID bonds show strongly decreasing shear strength with temperature (but at 300 °C it is still well above the MIL-STD requirement); Cu-Sn SLID bonds show only small changes; whereas Au-In SLID bonds show increased shear strength at 300 °C, accompanied with a change in fracture mode from brittle to ductile. All three behaviours can be explained from the phase diagrams with the actual phases in use.


Product dissection has been used successfully in a variety of ways to actively engage students in their learning; however, using product dissection in the classroom does have drawbacks: products, tools, and their upkeep can be costly, workspace and storage space can be difficult to obtain, and even the best crafted dissection assignments can end in chaos. Recent cyberinfrastructure initiatives seek to create ubiquitous, comprehensive, interactive, and functionally complete digital environments for research communities that consist of people, data, information, tools, and instruments. With product dissection as our unifying theme, we are applying cyberinfrastructure tools and technologies to undergraduate engineering education and assessing the impact of these tools on student learning. Specifically, the project combines product dissection activities at three universities with two digital design repositories CAD modeling and animation, video, and MediaWiki technology to enable cyberinfrastructure-based product dissection activities. Lessons learned from these efforts are presented from the students' perspectives as well as that of the faculties in both engineering and computer science. The implications for implementing the developments on a national scale are discussed along with ongoing research.


Through a CRISPR screen to identify mitochondrial genes necessary for the growth of AML cells, we identified the mitochondrial outer membrane protein MTCH2 (Mitochondrial Carrier Homolog 2). In AML, knockdown of MTCH2 decreased growth, reduced engraftment potential of stem cells and induced differentiation. Inhibiting MTCH2 in AML cells increased nuclear pyruvate and pyruvate dehydrogenase that induced histone acetylation and subsequently promoted the differentiation of AML cells. Thus, we have defined a new mechanism by which mitochondria and metabolism regulate AML stem cells and gene expression.


AZ31 alloy sheets were produced by twin-roll casting (TRC) and sequential hot rolling. Uniaxial tensile tests were used to evaluate the deformation properties of the AZ31 alloy at a strain rate of 7×10-4s-1 and a temperature range from room temperature to 400°C. The microstructure evolution and fracture behaviour were observed by optical microscopy and scanning electronic microscope. The results show that the elongation of the AZ31 alloy increases with increasing temperature at a strain rate of 7×10-4s-1. The AZ31 alloy begins to exhibit superplasticity at 300°C. The elongation of 497.8% is achieved at 400°C. The deformation of the AZ31 alloy at low temperature is controlled by dislocation motion, and with increasing temperature (above 300°C), grain boundary sliding (GBS) begins to play a dominant role during superplastic deformation.


Although event-based software integration is one of the most prevalent approaches to loose integration, no consistent model for describing it exists. As a result, there is no uniform way to discuss event-based integration, compare approaches and implementations, specify new event-based approaches, or match user requirements with the capabilities of event-based integration products. We attempt to address these shortcomings by specifying a generic framework for event-based integration, the EBI framework, that provides a flexible, object-oriented model for discussing and comparing event-based integration approaches. The EBI framework can model dynamic and static specification, composition and decomposition, and can be instantiated to describe the features of most common event-based integration approaches. We demonstrate how to use the framework as a reference model by comparing and contrasting three popular integration mechanisms: FIELD, Polylith, and CORBA.


In this article, I focus on primary entanglements as the co-materialization of the verbal and visual in contemporary literary handwriting. As we will see, this is a special kind of writing. It is a writing meant to be seen and engaged with as matter. It tends to be non-linear and almost completely illegible. We find such literary handwriting in the work of the French-Canadian book artist Louise Paille who copies or overwrites. Her artistic method is that she copies by hand complete literary works into second-hand books: textbooks, atlases, medical books, or books of literature. Once these literary works have been copied they are no longer (completely) legible, as are the books they have been written into. In this way, I show, by using the method of overwriting, Paille makes literary texts present and absent at once. On the one hand, overwriting literary texts by hand, she makes them materially and visually present as patterns of handwriting; she creates these texts anew as visual patterns. Paille forges a writing to be looked at rather than a writing to be read. Another way of putting this is to say that Paille is creating texts anew as opaque webs, rather than as 'see-through' texts: she is weaving text, through a handwriting that cannot be read, as a visual surface that is 'just' a surface, rather than a medium for reading. So, on the other hand, this means that literary texts disappear as text in Paille's work: they appear as visual artwork to disappear as a matter for reading. How should we read this remove of literature? What does the illegible signal in Paille's project Livres-livres (1993-2004) – books handwritten and transfigured within books – that came into fruition in an age of digitization and information overload? Using Vilem Flusser's philosophical work on writing alongside Paille, I show how handwriting morphs into visual rhythms and intensity patterns in Livres-livres: rhythms of lines, ink, and colour, and patterns of interferences that record the interlacing of written and printed text. I then argue that these rhythms and patterns materialize as scores for a diffractive reading of a most radical kind. We are not simply reading one text through another, the one tangled in the other. We are reading this entwinement itself as an intra-medial event.


Multiple-choice laboratory tests were achieved to compare feeding preference of Diabrotica speciosa ( Ger. ) to leaves of broccoli (Brassica oleraceae L. var. italica) from natural, conventional and organic farming systems. Natural farming systems included incorporation of the elephant grass Pennisetum purpureum Schumacher cv. Napier (50 ton/ha), Bokashi compost (1.5 ton/ha) and spray of EM 4 (Natural 1), or the incorporation of the Bokashi compost (1.5 ton /ha) and spray of EM 4 (Natural 2), and in the conventional, NPK + borax were incorporated in the planting + dressing N and organic compost (1 kg/ plant) was incorporated in the organic system. Organic compost was prepared using crop residues of corn (Zea mays L.), soybean [Glycine max (L.) Mer.], and cattle manure. Leaf discs were collected and placed in cages in multiple-choice tests. Beetles preferred mostly broccoli leaves from conventional farming system than leaves from Natural (1 and 2) and Organic farming systems. Feeding on leaves from Natural 1, Natural 2 and Organic farming system were 68, 67 and 57% of the feeding on leaves from Conventional farming system.


The foundation of School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS) 50 years ago was not the beginning, but was the continuance of the inwardness of predecessor in title of the University's previously active institutes. There were valuable workshop of social sciences as the names of contemporary teachers and students have indicated. Weighty scientific researches had been started by the regional problematic from the beginning of the 20th century. The country-wide village-researcher front has evolved from it and our University has joined to it. The aims and inwardness has appeared in wide social layers as it has been a part of our University's courses and has made and were now used source of sociographic literature. The methods and approaches of former village-researcher workshop are still modern and would be exemplar for the regional-researches in our days. The village-seminar course had started again by the SESS in 2006. The aim of the course is not only to discuss about traditions of village-researches and theoretic questions but also to do practical investigations in the present-day villages.


Baclofen, a commonly prescribed muscle relaxant, is primarily excreted via the kidneys; toxicity is a potentially serious adverse outcome in patients with decreased kidney function. We describe a patient with end-stage kidney disease receiving hemodialysis who developed neurotoxicity and hemodynamic instability after receiving baclofen for muscle spasms. In this case, prompt recognition of baclofen toxicity and urgent hemodialysis were effective in reversing this toxicity. This case is used to examine the pharmacokinetics and pathophysiology of baclofen toxicity and discuss appropriate diagnosis and management of baclofen toxicity. We recommend reducing the baclofen dose in patients who have moderately reduced kidney function (estimated glomerular filtration rate, 30-60mL/min/1.73m2) and avoiding use in patients with severely reduced kidney function (estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30mL/min/1.73m2) or on renal replacement therapy.


ABSTRACT Several organizations have been formed to promote the industrial heritage debate as a reaction to the common undervaluing of our industrial past and its importance to world cultural heritage. Some of these organizations proposed 2015 to be the European year of technical and industrial heritage and aim to increase awareness of this subject. Turkey's industrial heritage sites reflect a nationwide struggle that paralleled the modernization of the Republic; however, recent regeneration projects threaten what remains of this cultural history. This paper questions the various projects and works undertaken at Karabük industrial heritage site that have led to its gradual destruction and produced a code for gentrification. Karabük serves as a case study and helps to provide a context for this city and elsewhere in Turkey.


The lateral rectus is one of the seven extraocular muscles. These muscles control every movement of the eye; usually, one muscle moves the eye in one direction, and the combination of all of them allows the eye to move in every direction. Extraocular muscles include four rectus muscles (medial, lateral, superior an inferior rectus), two oblique muscles (superior and inferior) and levator palpebrae superioris.


OBJECTIVES
The current case-control study was aimed to determine the prevalence and the clinical significance of inherited thrombophilia - factor V Leiden and G20210A prothrombin polymorphisms - in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).

METHODS
100 patients with APS (77 with primary APS and 23 with systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE]-APS), and 100 patients with first lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and 200 healthy individuals as a control groups were analysed. Patients and control group were tested for factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A gene polymorphism.

RESULTS
Factor V Leiden variant was found in 1% of APS patients, in 3% of healthy individuals (p=0.49), and 16% of patients with first DVT (p<0.0005). Prothrombin gene polymorphism was found in 6% of APS patients and in 2.5% of healthy subjects (p=0.21), and 13% of patients with DVT (p=0.14). In primary APS patients, factor V Leiden was present in 1.3% (1/77) and prothrombin gene polymorphism in 6.5% (5/77). No patient with SLE-APS had factor V Leiden and prothrombin gene variant was present in only one patient (4.3%). Patients with prothrombin polymorphism had higher prevalence of venous thrombosis, with no statistical significance (80% vs. 47.9%, p=0.35). There were no differences in the prevalence of recurrent thrombosis before or after APS diagnosis in patients with or without prothrombin gene polymorphism.

CONCLUSIONS
Factor V Leiden and G20210A prothrombin variant seem to play no role in either the development of APS or in the type of involved vessel, with no increased risk of re-thrombosis during follow-up.


The generation of information on the web is increasing exponentially. The main need of web users is to access subject relevant and well-defined meaningful information. Semantic Web will bring structure to the meaningful content of Web pages, creating an environment where software agents roaming from page to page can readily carry out sophisticated tasks for users [2]. Semantic web is an extension of the current Web in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. It is evident that, understanding level of a machine and human beings are different. The traditional web matches word by word and provides the result. But semantic web (SW) understands the meaning of each word, analyzes domain and defines the relationship among different words.


Introduction: The application of orthodontic expansion force induces bone formation at the midpalatal suture because of cell proliferation and differentiation. Expansion forces may stimulate the production of osteoinductive cytokines, such as transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1), in the progenitor cells. Objectives: This study determined the role of TGFβ1 in the early stage of midpalatal suture cartilage expansion. Methods: A orthodontic appliance was placed between the right and left upper molars of 4-weekold rats. The initial expansion force was 50 g. Animals in the control and experimental groups were sacrified on days 0, 2, and 5 and 6 µmm thick sections were prepared for an in situ hybridization technique. Results: Two days after the application of force, prechondroblastic and undifferentiated mesenchymal cells distributed along the inner side of the cartilaginous tissue had high levels of TGFβ1 transcription. On day 5, the TGFβ1 transcription was found in osteocytes and osteoblastic cells on the surface of newly formed bone. Immunohistochemistry using Osteocalcin-Pro (OC-Pro) confirmed osteoblastic activity. Conclusions: Results suggest that the expansion of midpalatal suture cartilage induces differentiation of osteochondroprogenitor cells into osteoblasts after stimulation by cytokine production.


Abstract Background: The Cystic Fibrosis European Network, coordinated from within the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, is the provider of the European cystic fibrosis external quality assessment (EQA) scheme. The network aimed to seek feedback from laboratories that participated in the cystic fibrosis scheme in order to improve services offered. In this study we analysed responses to an on-line customer satisfaction survey conducted between September and November 2009. Methods: The survey was sent to 213 laboratories that participated in the cystic fibrosis EQA scheme of 2008; 69 laboratories (32%) responded. Scores for importance and satisfaction were obtained from a five-point Likert scale for 24 attributes. A score of one corresponded to very dissatisfied/very unimportant and five corresponded to very satisfied/very important. Means were calculated and placed in a two-dimensional grid (importance-satisfaction analysis). Means were subtracted from each other to obtain gap values (gap-analysis). Results: No attribute had a mean score below 3.63. The overall mean of satisfaction was 4.35. Opportunities for improvement enclosed clarity, usefulness and completeness of the general report and individual comments, and user-friendliness of the electronic datasheet. Conclusions: This type of customer satisfaction survey was a valuable instrument to identify opportunities to improve the cystic fibrosis EQA scheme. It should be conducted on a regular basis to reveal new opportunities in the future and to assess effectiveness of actions taken. Moreover, it could be a model for other EQA providers seeking feedback from participants. Overall, the customer satisfaction survey provided a powerful quality of care improvement tool.


The purpose of this paper is to focus on the social vulnerability of slum residents in times of disaster and to consider the possibilities of self-empowerment by the cultivation of "actual abilities" through theater workshops. The author has focused on the Nang Loeng Community, occupying an urban slum in Bangkok, and with the cooperation of a Japanese theater company, has carried out a four-day theater workshop for elementary school students in the name of an "evacuation drill." Interviews and questionnaires were conducted to the residents and participants to examine the possibilities of adopting this method in the community. It was found that, in order to utilize theater workshops for self-empowerment, there is a need to investigate concrete means of improving the living environment and solving family discord, as well as a necessity to consider the possibilities of social participation through bottom-up discussions.


A review of publications containing results of experiments on the interaction of microorganisms with clay minerals is presented. Bacteria are shown to be involved in all processes related to the transformation of clay minerals: formation of clays from metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, formation of clays from solutions, reversible transitions of different types of clay minerals, and consolidation of clay minerals into sedimentary rocks. Integration of these results allows to conclude that bacteria reproduced all possible abiotic reactions associated with the clay minerals, these reactions proceed much faster with the bacteria being involved. Thus, bacteria act as a living catalyst in the geochemical cycle of clay minerals. The ecological role of bacteria can be considered as a repetition of a chemical process of the abiotic world, but with the use of organic catalytic innovation.


Extremes and multifractals in hydrology: results, validations and prospects. The methods of forecasting extremes are probably at a turning point. The predetermination of the extremes based on more or less sophisticated methods of probability law fitting remain sensitive to sampling uncertainties and errors deriving from the choice of probability law. For floods, hydrologists have developed methods of extrapolation by going beyond the (limited) streamflow time series to include historical data, geomorphological data, paleohydrological data, to include the regional context or by integrating knowledge of the rain rate stream-flow relation (e.g. the Gradex method or simulation methods). Thanks to the development of multifractals, new statistical physics techniques, are now available which permit - over wide ranges of scale - to easily handle extreme variability, intermittency and long range correlations in the hydrometeorological fields. For example, it has been shown that nonlinear cascade interactions over large ranges of scale generally lead to power law probability distributions, very rich in extremes. These developments have stimulated several national (in the framework of RIO2 and PNRH) and international (e.g. DSIG or PUB) projects to which the authors have contributed. It is timely to discuss where we stand.


Encouraging teachers to incorporate challenging tasks into mathematics instruction is frequently implored by mathematics educators, due to its potential impact on student learning and persistence. However, there is evidence that teaching with such tasks is pedagogically demanding, particularly for less expert teachers. To support a developing dialogue around the experience of teaching with challenging tasks, I document my experience of teaching 84 lessons involving challenging tasks to three grades of year 1 and 2 students as part of a research project. Adopting a 'practitioner inquiry' lens, I analyse my reflective journal to reveal five themes: classroom management, maintaining and managing cognitive demand, time management, tensions between discussion objectives and tensions in task design. Implications for teacher professional learning are discussed.


This article deals with some possibilities of the use of time-series analysis for quarterly statistical estimations of macroeconomic aggregates. It is a case of estimations of aggregates of gross domestic product creation and use. Beyond all doubt, their meaning from the point of view of conception and strategy is great. The contemporary standard of these data reporting (either separately or as major measures within national accounts system) in the Czech Republic and, mostly, in further economics under transition starts above all from yearly values of measures. The core of method of their assembling is given by exhaustive surveys. The aim of quarterly statistical estimates of GDP (as well as additional indicators both in vertical and horizontal direction within national accounts system is to provide reliable estimations of quarterly values of corresponding aggregates as soon as possible. This paper deals with statistical macroeconomic model based on indirect methods using short-term surveys. The basic task of indirect methods of quarterly estimations of aggregates of national accounts is, on the one hand, to provide some synthetic information related to just past quarter as soon as possible and, on the other hand, to enable the prediction of corresponding aggregates for 1 - 2 quarters keeping reasonable measure of accuracy and reliability of these predictions.


: To test whether angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor can counteract nitrate tolerance, 15 men (mean age 65 [55-69] years) were studied. They all had an at least 75% stenosis of a main coronary artery branch, proven by coronary angiography no longer than 6 months previously. Each patient underwent six ergometric tests (two each per day on alternate days) at constant exercise level and duration: the sum of S-T segment depressions was measured during the recovery and exercise minutes. The initial ergometry test was done without medication, when the S-T segment sum was 1.15 +/- 0.20 mV. After 25 mg captopril (2nd ergometry period) this sum fell to 0.80 +/- 0.18 mV. Two hours after application of a nitrate plaster the S-T segment sum was 0.55 +/- 0.12 mV (3rd ergometry period). Adding 25 mg captopril a further reduction to 0.35 +/- 0.10 was achieved (4th ergometry period). Subsequently, continuous nitrate application brought about nitrate tolerance. The 5th ergometry period then produced a sum of S-T segment depressions of 0.85 +/- 0.18 mV. Renewed captopril administration reduced this value to 0.50 +/- 0.13 mV (57% of the initial value). The effect of captopril in nitrate tolerance is apparently due to an addition of the anti-ischaemic action of the ACE inhibitor (31%) and the residual effect of the nitrate (26%).


This Article details the history of the federal school lands grant program in Nevada-the first federal initiative to support public education in the new state. After providing a brief overview of federal land management history in the West, the Article presents the story of school lands in Nevada-tracing its birth in Congress and at the Nevada Constitutional Convention in 1864; analyzing the changes made by state constitutional amendments and court decisions; exploring Congress's attempts to adapt the program to Nevada's needs in the form of the two-million-acre grant of 1880 and the 30,000-acre exchange of 1926; and documenting government abuse and misuse of the Nevada school lands program in the twentieth century. Tracing the history of the school lands grants in Nevada reveals several recurrent themes in federal land law development and the history of the West. First, federal land management policies seldom functioned as intended-due in large part to the pressures of local self-interest. A second and more pervasive reason for the theory/practice disconnect stems from Congress's lack of understanding about the arid American West. Lastly, problems that plagued the school lands grants, as with many national initiatives, implicated the mechanics-and not necessarily the philosophy-of Congress's initiative.


A feature of policy-making today is its dependence on scientific advice to deliver public policies that are robust, credible, and effective. This paper discusses how policy-making profits from scientific advice in areas where science and technology are significant. Particular attention is given to issues holding a high level of uncertainty, either because of inherent variability, because science is incomplete or controversial, or because data are inadequate to support a definitive answer. First, we analyse the social context that characterises the relationship between science and policy-making, with a focus on the decrease of public confidence in politicians and scientists. Second, we compare three different sets of guidelines on the collection and use of expertise in policy-making (issued by the UK, Canada and the European Commission, respectively) and identify two different approaches to scientific advice in policy-making. Third, based on a set of cross-national and multi-disciplinary case studies, we look at how the relationship between science and policy-making works in practice and propose a set of recommendations towards the establishment of a more robust and effective policy-making process.


The synergy between climate and land use land cover change is expected to influence species distribution at local and regional scales in tropical regions. However, robust quantification of species responses and species-specific dispersal rates is lacking for most of Sub-Saharan Africa. This project aims to model range-shift gaps for 84 endangered or critically endangered plant species due to environmental change in Madagascar.
To achieve this deforestation and forest degradation rates were quantified from Landsat imagery using sub-pixel analysis in two intervals (i.e, 1994-2002 and 2002-2014). Next, intensity analysis was used to determine processes of LULCC at eco-regional scale, while morphological spatial pattern analysis was applied for the determination of protected areas connectivity. Furthermore, species distribution models were constructed using hierarchical Bayesian modelling approach that included corridor connectivity and uncertainties in the derived predictions of species distribution under current and future scenarios. Finally, six spatial indices that quantified vulnerabilities, species range-shifts and displacement were derived from these predictions.
The results showed differentiation in rates of deforestation and forest degradation across eco-regions. On average plant species' range were predicted to shift by approximately 300 km under future scenarios with and without connectivity. Corridor connectivity will facilitate more species upward displacements under low emission scenarios compared to high emission scenarios. Eastern humid forest were identified as 'range shift hotspots' and will be characterised by substantial species' range contractions in future scenarios.
Biodiveristy in the region will experience novel threats from climate and land use cover change. Conservationist need to adapt on-going intervention programmes to prepare for the potential risks of species extinctions due to environmental change through the integration of spatial conservation planning concepts in policy formulation.


On a Zeppelin Nitrous acid (HONO) is an important atmospheric trace gas that acts as a precursor of tropospheric hydroxyl-radicals (OH), which is responsible for the self-cleansing capacity of the atmosphere and which also controls the concentrations of greenhouse gases, such as methane and ozone. How HONO is made is a mystery. Flying onboard a Zeppelin over the Po Valley in Northern Italy, Li et al. (p. 292) discovered HONO in the undisturbed morning troposphere, indicating that HONO must be produced there, rather than mixed from the surface. The high HONO concentrations are likely to have been formed by a light-dependent gas-phase source that probably consumed OH or HO2 radicals, which hints that the impact of HONO on the abundance of OH in the entire troposphere may be substantially overestimated. The tropospheric production of HONO from a light-dependent gas-phase source raises questions about its impact on OH. Gaseous nitrous acid (HONO) is an important precursor of tropospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH). OH is responsible for atmospheric self-cleansing and controls the concentrations of greenhouse gases like methane and ozone. Due to lack of measurements, vertical distributions of HONO and its sources in the troposphere remain unclear. Here, we present a set of observations of HONO and its budget made onboard a Zeppelin airship. In a sunlit layer separated from Earth's surface processes by temperature inversion, we found high HONO concentrations providing evidence for a strong gas-phase source of HONO consuming nitrogen oxides and potentially hydrogen oxide radicals. The observed properties of this production process suggest that the generally assumed impact of HONO on the abundance of OH in the troposphere is substantially overestimated.


To the Editor.— Liebowitz et al, 1 in the July 1984 issue of theArchives, published preliminary results of a double-blind trial of phenelzine, imipramine, and placebo, based on a sample of 60 patients. They indicated that the study was still under way and that final results would be based on 120 patients. In 1978, the same group published similar partial analyses of a study of imipramine and behavior therapy in phobias, 2 later updated in the full sample. 3,4 I am writing to question whether this practice is a good research method and to encourage further discussion. There are two objections to violating the code of not analyzing and publishing clinical trials when they are partially completed. The first is that knowledge of the results might prejudice blindness and evaluation of the remaining cases in the study. This must be a risk in the present case, in which there


Apexcardiography was employed to make a noninvasive assessment of left ventricular diastolic function in 80 patients with extensive myocardial infarction. In half the patients, there were impairments in cardiac diastole as manifested by its altered phase structure and some changed parameters indirectly indicating a rise in left ventricular end diastolic pressure and a fall in myocardial relation rates and diastolic compliance. Prior 10-day administration of tocopherol and nicotinamide to 45 patients caused a decrease in the severity of diastolic abnormalities in those in whom the latter had been abnormal. The use of membrane protectors resulted in lower incidence of complications and improved outcome of the disease.


Glycoprotein mRNA (G mRNA) of vesicular stomatitis virus is synthesized in the cytosol fraction of infected HeLa cells. Shortly after synthesis, this mRNA associates with 40S ribosomal subunits and subsequently forms 80S monosomes in the cytosol fraction. The bulk of labeled G mRNA is then found in polysomes associated with the membrane, without first appearing in the subunit or monomer pool of the membrane-bound fraction. Inhibition of the initiation of protein synthesis by pactamycin or muconomycin A blocks entry of newly synthesized G m RNA into membrane-bound polysomes. Under these circumstances, labeled G mRNA accumulates into the cytosol. Inhibition of the elongation of protein synthesis by cucloheximide, however, allows entry of 60 percent of newly synthesized G mRNA into membrane-bound polysomes. Furthermore, prelabeled G mRNA associated with membrane-bound polysomes is released from the membrane fraction in vivo by pactamycin or mucomycon A and in vitro by 1mM puromycin - 0.5 M KCI. This release is not due to nonspecific effects of the drugs. These results demonstrate that association of G mRNA with membrane-bound polysomes is dependent upon polysome formation and initiation of protein synthesis. Therefore, direct association of the 3' end of G mRNA with the membrane does not appear to be the initial event in the formation of membrane-bound polysomes.


Experience with 2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-ethyl-N-(a,a,a-trifluoro-m-tolyl)-anthranilate (etofenamate; active principle of Rheumon Gel) in the treatment of traumatic injury to the ankle joint is reported. In testing the effect of the product, volumetric measurements were carried out using an apparatus that permits highly accurate assessment by a simple and rapid method of measurement. The studies were carried out as a double blind trial. The result of the study shows that compared with placebo gel the increase in volume due to haematoma is reduced statistically significantly more rapidly under treatment with etofenamate. No localized or generalized side effects were observed.


Construction projects are often very complex and dynamic by their nature, and it is a well-known fact that such systems exist on the edge of chaos. The paper's objective is to study construction projects poised on the edge of chaos and to explore the forces that may turn projects chaotic in the sense that the project crosses this dangerous edge. The prime aim is to understand how the phase transition may take place and to propose an approach for understanding this risk and keeping it under control in project management. The paper explores this understanding of the construction project further by proposing a way of analyzing its complexity and dynamics along the four characteristics: the project's complexity, the project's internal and external setting and the project organization. The aim is not only to reach a deeper understanding of projects' nature, but also to outline a tool for analyzing and comparing projects' risk of turning chaotic. However, before addressing this main theme, the phenomenon of chaos in a project is introduced through a literature review and illustrated with empirical project cases. Complexity was identified as an IGLC championship at the IGLC-9 conference in Singapore in 2001 and was included in the theory championship at the IGLC-10 in Gramado, Brazil in 2002. The paper is contribution under this championship.


Background and Aim: Quality of services in hospitals should be continuously evaluated in terms of structure, process, and outcome. The purpose of this study was to compare patient satisfaction, physical space and medical equipment between governmental and privative hospitals in Qom, Iran. Material and Method: In this descriptive-analytcal study, 500 patients from selected Qom hospitals were recruited based on stratified random sampling. Data were collected by patient satisfaction form and assessment check lists of physical atmosphere and medical equipments. Data were analyzed by SPSS, version 11.5. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests. Results: Patient satisfaction in inpatient and emergency wards of governmental hospitals were, respectively %69 and %71/14. Patient satisfaction in inpatient and emergency wards of privative hospitals were %80 and %78, respectively. General and emergency wards of governmental hospitals were somewhat equipped with medical equipments. Physical atmosphere, in terms of facilities and the building, was acceptable in general and relatively acceptable in emergency wards of governmental hospitals. This atmosphere were relatively acceptable for both general and emergency wards of privative hospitals. Conclusion: Satisfaction among patients were relatively good. It is possible to improve satisfaction through increasing the visiting time, improving quality of lavatories, and modifying personnel interactions with the patients. Also, promoting medical equipments and physical space can improve the situation according to organizational goals.


The effects of dye coating duration on the performance of inverted bulk heterojunction organic solar cells based on a blend of poly [2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEHPPV) as donor and (6,6)-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as acceptor with a structure of FTO/Eosin-Y coated ZnO nanorod arrays/MEHPPV:PCBM/Au utilizing ZnO nanorod arrays as electron collecting layer and gold as a hole collecting electrode were investigated. ZnO nanorod arrays were grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates which were pre-coated with ZnO nanoparticles using a low temperature chemical solution method. The ZnO nanorods-coated FTO substrates were immersed in the Eosin-Y dye solution at 60 oC for 15, 60 and 120 min. The power conversion efficiency of the solar cell increased with dye coating duration and reached an optimum value at dye coating duration of 60 min. The device with dye coating duration of 60 min exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency of 5.05 x 10-4 % with short circuit current density of 9.95 μA/cm2, open circuit voltage of 0.18 V and fill factor of 28%.


Tradeoffs between monetary wealth and fatal safety risks are summarized in the value of a statistical life (VSL), a measure that is widely used for the evaluation of public policies in medicine, the environment, and transportation safety. This paper demonstrates the widespread use of this concept and summarizes the major issues, both theoretical and empirical, that must be confronted in order to provide a credible estimate of a VSL. The paper concludes with an application of these issues to a particular study of speed limits and highway safety.


Three fluorenone-derived two-photon fluorescent probes (TK) targeting the lysosomes (TK-Lyso) and mitochondria (TK-Mito1 and TK-Mito2) were synthesized by introducing different diphenylamine moieties into the fluorenone core. The TK dyes showed high biocompatibility and long-term retention, low cytotoxicity, large Stokes shift and good fluorescence quantum yield. The results of the present work disclose a class of organic dyes with potential wide applications as specific and efficient probes for lysosomes and mitochondria in the study of various biological processes.


BACKGROUND
A program for banking, characterizing, and distributing placental blood, also called umbilical-cord blood, for transplantation provided grafts for 562 patients between August 24, 1992, and January 30, 1998. We evaluated this experience.

METHODS
Placental blood was stored under liquid nitrogen and selected for specific patients on the basis of HLA type and leukocyte content. Patients were prepared for the transplantation of allogeneic hematopoietic cells in the placental blood and received prophylaxis against graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) according to routine procedures at each center.

RESULTS
Outcomes at 100 days after transplantation were known for all 562 patients, and outcomes at 1 year for 94 percent of eligible recipients. The cumulative rates of engraftment among the recipients, according to actuarial analysis, were 81 percent by day 42 for neutrophils (median time to engraftment, 28 days) and 85 percent by day 180 for platelets (median, day 90). The speed of myeloid engraftment was associated primarily with the leukocyte content of the graft, whereas transplantation-related events were associated with the patient's underlying disease and age, the number of leukocytes in the graft, the degree of HLA disparity, and the transplantation center. After engraftment, age, HLA disparity, and center were the primary predictors of outcome. Severe acute GVHD (grade III or IV) occurred in 23 percent of patients, and chronic GVHD occurred in 25 percent. The rate of relapse among recipients with leukemia was 9 percent within the first 100 days, 17 percent within 6 months, and 26 percent by 1 year. These rates were associated with the severity of GVHD, type of leukemia, and stage of the disease.

CONCLUSIONS
Placental blood is a useful source of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells for bone marrow reconstitution.


Danchong is drawn patterns or paintings on wooden buildings to protect the structures from being weathered and decorate them. Five basic colors of Wu Xing and compound colors of them are used, and patterns are drawn under certain rules. It is found from most Korean palaces and temples. The purpose of this workshop is to understand danchong, try to regenerate some of its patterns using geometric constructions, and finally apply generated patterns to cover faces of Platonic solids.


Financial market prediction is a critically important research topic in financial data mining because of its potential commerce application and attractive profits. Previous studies in financial market prediction mainly focus on financial and economic indicators. Web information, as an information repository, has been used in customer relationship management and recommendation, but it is rarely considered to be useful in financial market prediction. In this paper, a combined web mining and sentiment analysis method is proposed to forecast financial markets using web information. In the proposed method, a spider is firstly employed to crawl tweets from Twitter. Secondly, Opinion Finder is offered to mining the online sentiments hidden in tweets. Thirdly, some new sentiment indicators are suggested and a stochastic time effective function (STEF) is introduced to integrate everyday sentiments. Fourthly, support vector regressions (SVRs) are used to model the relationship between online sentiments and financial market prices. Finally, the selective model can be serviced for financial market prediction. To validate the proposed method, Standard and Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500) is used for evaluation. The empirical results show that our proposed forecasting method outperforms the traditional forecasting methods, and meanwhile, the proposed method can also capture individual behavior in financial market quickly and easily. These findings imply that the proposed method is a promising approach for financial market prediction.


Sensitivity of the cortex single neurons, hippocamp, thalamus medial nucleus, periventricular and arcuate hypothalamus nuclei to the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) and its structural analog (Pyr-Ser-Leu-NH2) under conditions of their microionophoretic application by means of multichannel microelectrodes was studied and compared in experiments on rats. There was no significant similarity between TRH and its analog effects in all the test brain regions with the exception of the cortex. A significant positive correlation between their influence on the single neuron activity was recorded. However, the sensitivity to the cortex cell analog was less pronounced. The largest amount of TRH irresponsive cells were seen in the thalamus medial nucleus neurons. On the contrary, their sensitivity to the TRH analog was comparatively high.


Transposable elements (TEs) have been implicated in the generation of genetic rearrangements, but their potential to mediate changes in the organization and architecture of host genomes could be even greater than previously thought. Here, we describe the naturally occurring structural and nucleotide variation around two TE insertions in the genome of Drosophila buzzatii. The studied regions correspond to the breakpoints of a widespread chromosomal inversion generated by ectopic recombination between oppositely oriented copies of a TE named Galileo. A detailed molecular analysis by Southern hybridization, PCR amplification, and DNA sequencing of 7.1 kb surrounding the inversion breakpoints in 39 D. buzzatii lines revealed an unprecedented degree of restructuring, consisting of 22 insertions of ten previously undescribed TEs, 13 deletions, 1 duplication, and 1 small inversion. All of these alterations occurred exclusively in inverted chromosomes and appear to have accumulated after the insertion of the Galileo elements, within or close to them. The nucleotide variation at the studied regions is six times lower in inverted than in noninverted chromosomes, suggesting that most of the observed changes originated in only 84,000 years. Galileo elements thus seemed to promote the transformation of these, otherwise normal, chromosomal regions in genetically unstable hotspots and highly efficient traps for transposon insertions. The particular features of two new Galileo copies found indicate that this TE belongs to the Foldback family. Together, our results strengthen the importance of TEs, and especially DNA transposons, as inducers of genome plasticity in evolution.


Accordingto Hamilton's(1964a, b) rule,a cost lyaction will be undertaken if its fitness cost to the actor falls short of the discounted benefit to the recipient,where the discount factor is Wright's index of relatedness between the two. We propose a generalization of this rule,and show that if evolution operates at the level of behavior rules, rather than directly at the level of actions, evolution will select behavior rules that induce a degree of cooperation that may differ from that predicted by Hamilton's rule as applied to actions. In social dilemmas there will be less(more)cooperation than under Hamilton's rule if the actions are strategic substitutes(complements).Ourapproach is based on natural selection, defined in terms of personal(direct)fitness, and applies to a wide range of pair wise interactions.


The persistence of DNA over archaeological and paleontological timescales in diverse environments has led to revolutionary body of paleogenomic research, yet the dynamics of DNA degradation are still poorly understood. We analyzed 185 paleogenomic datasets and compared DNA survival with environmental variables and sample ages. We find cytosine deamination follows a conventional thermal age model, but we find no correlation between DNA fragmentation and sample age over the timespans analyzed, even when controlling for environmental variables. We propose a model for ancient DNA decay wherein fragmentation rapidly reaches a threshold, then subsequently slows. The observed loss of DNA over time is likely due to a bulk diffusion process, highlighting the importance of tissues and environments creating effectively closed systems for DNA preservation.


On practical applications, state-of-the-art SAT solvers dominantly use the conflict-driven clause learning (CDCL) paradigm. An alternative for satisfiable instances is local search solvers, which is more successful on random and hard combinatorial instances. Although there have been attempts to combine these methods in one framework, a tight integration which improves the state of the art on a broad set of application instances has been missing. We present a combination of techniques that achieves such an improvement. Our first contribution is to maximize in a local search fashion the assignment trail in CDCL, by sticking to and extending promising assignments via a technique called target phases. Second, we relax the CDCL framework by again extending promising branches to complete assignments while ignoring conflicts. These assignments are then used as starting point of local search which tries to find improved assignments with fewer unsatisfied clauses. Third, these improved assignments are imported back to the CDCL loop where they are used to determine the value assigned to decision variables. Finally, the conflict frequency of variables in local search can be exploited during variable selection in branching heuristics of CDCL. We implemented these techniques to improve three representative CDCL solvers (Glucose, MapleLcm DistChronoBT, and Kissat). Experiments on benchmarks from the main tracks of the last three SAT Competitions from 2019 to 2021 and an additional benchmark set from spectrum allocation show that the techniques bring significant improvements, particularly and not surprisingly, on satisfiable real-world application instances. We claim that these techniques were essential to the large increase in performance witnessed in the SAT Competition 2020 where Kissat and Relaxed LcmdCbDl NewTech were leading the field followed by CryptoMiniSAT-Ccnr, which also incorporated similar ideas.


Objectives Inflammation is a component in the pathogenesis of critical limb ischemia. We aimed to assess how inflammation affects response to treatment in patients treated for critical limb ischemia using neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocytes ratios (PLR) as markers of inflammation. Methods Patients in a single tertiary cardiovascular center with critical limb ischemia unsuitable for surgical or interventional revascularization were retrospectively identified. Data were collected on medical history for risk factors, previous surgical or endovascular revascularization, and outcome. A standard regimen of low molecular weight heparin, aspirin, statins, iloprost infusions, and a standard pain medication protocol were applied to each patient per hospital protocol. Patients with improvement in ischemic pain and healed ulcers made up the responders group and cases with no worsening pain or ulcer size or progression to minor or major amputations made up the non-responders group. Responders and Non-responders were compared for risk factors including pretreatment NLR and PLR. Results 268 included patients who were not candidates for surgical or endovascular revascularization were identified. Responders had significantly lower pretreatment NLR (4.48 vs 8.47, p < 0.001) and PLR (162.19 vs 225.43, p = 0.001) values. After controlling for associated risk factors NLR ≥ 4.63 (p < 0.001) and PLR ≥ 151.24 (p = 0.016) were independently associated with no response to treatment. Conclusions Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocytes ratio are markers of inflammation that are reduced in patients improving with medical treatment suggesting a decreased state of inflammation before treatment in responding patients.


In this article, we propose novel techniques to predict a user's movie genre preference and rating behavior from her psycholinguistic attributes obtained from the social media interactions. The motivation of this work comes from various psychological studies that demonstrate that psychological attributes such as personality and values can influence one's decision or choice in real life. In this work, we integrate user interactions in Twitter and IMDb to derive interesting relations between human psychological attributes and their movie preferences. In particular, we first predict a user's movie genre preferences from the personality and value scores of the user derived from her tweets. Second, we also develop models to predict user movie rating behavior from her tweets in Twitter and movie genre and storyline preferences from IMDb. We further strengthen the movie rating model by incorporating the user reviews. In the above models, we investigate the role of personality and values independently and combinedly while predicting movie genre preferences and movie rating behaviors. We find that our combined models significantly improve the accuracy than that of a single model that is built by using personality or values independently. We also compare our technique with the traditional movie genre and rating prediction techniques. The experimental results show that our models are effective in recommending movies to users.


Abstract. A spectral analysis of the time series corresponding to the main monthly precipitation regimes of the Iberian Peninsula was performed using two methods, the Multi-Taper Method and Monte Carlo Singular Spectrum Analysis. The Multi-Taper Method gave a preliminary view of the presence of signals in some of the time series. Monte Carlo Singular Spectrum Analysis discriminated between potential oscillations and noise. From the results of the two methods it is concluded that there exist three significant quasi-oscillations at the 95% level of confidence: a 5.0 year quasi-oscillation and a long-term trend in the Atlantic pattern of March, a 3.2 year quasi-oscillation in the Cantabrian pattern of January, and a 4.0 year quasi-oscillation in the Catalonian pattern of February. These quasi-oscillations might be related to climatic variations with similar periodicities over the North Atlantic Ocean. The possible simultaneity of high values of precipitation generated by the significant quasi-oscillations and high sea–level pressures was studied by means of composite maps. It was found that high values of precipitation generated by the oscillations of the Atlantic patterns of January and March exist simultaneously with a specific high pressure structure over the North Atlantic Ocean, that allow cyclonic perturbations to cross the Iberian Peninsula. During the non-wet years, this high pressure structure moves northwards, keeping the track of the low pressure centers to the north, far from the Iberian Peninsula. On the other hand, high values of precipitation generated by the oscillation of the Cantabrian pattern of January exist simultaneously with a high pressure structure over the Galicia region and the Cantabrian Sea, that allow a northerly flow over the region. Also, a positive trend in the NAO index for March has been found, starting in the sixties, which is not evident for other winter months. This trend agrees with the decreasing trend found in the March Atlantic pattern. Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology; precipitation) Oceanography: general (climate and interannual variability)


To aid in developing a global biosurveillance program, it is critical to develop a framework to capture and understand the myriad of data streams and evaluate them in context of surveillance goals.  Toward this goal, Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a new method of evaluating the effectiveness of data stream types through the use of a novel concept called the surveillance window, a technique that integrates operational systems analysis, surveillance system analysis and epidemiological analysis. This study provides a simple, yet elegant methodology for which to ground truth known and emerging data streams for utility in integrated biosurveillance efforts.