of cations and dissolved organic molecules from the cave formations (speleothems). Coupled with the metabolic activities of heterotrophic microorganisms colonising such layer (biofilm), this phenomenon may lead to the corrosion of the mineral surfaces. In this review, we investigate the formation of biofilms, especially of diatom-dominated ones, as a consequence of artificial lighting and its impacts on speleothems. Whenever light reaches the subterranean habitat (both artificially and naturally) a relative high number of species of diatoms may indeed colonise it. Cave entrances, artificially illuminated walls and speleothems inside the cave are generally the preferred substrates. This review focuses on the diatom flora colonising subterranean habitats, summarizing the information contained in all the scientific papers published from 1900 up to date. In this review we provide a complete checklist of the diatom taxa recorded in subterranean habitats, including a total of 363 taxa, belonging to 82 genera. The most frequent and abundant species recorded in caves and other low light subterranean habitats are generally aerophilic and cosmopolitan. These are, in order of frequency: Hantzschia amphioxys , Diadesmis contenta , Orthoseira roeseana , Luticola nivalis , Pinnularia borealis , Diadesmis biceps and Luticola mutica . Due to the peculiarity of the subterranean habitats, the record of rare or new species is relatively common. The most important environmental factors driving species composition and morphological modifications observed in subterranean populations are analysed throughout the text and tables. In addition, suggestions to prevent and remove the corrosive biofilms in view of an environmentally sustainable cave management are discussed.


Proceeds of crime laws are designed to interfere with persons' property rights and interests for good reasons, but human rights laws prohibit interferences that are disproportionate. Courts in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong are starting to develop a body of law to provide guidance in this area. While the UK courts are more advanced than the Hong Kong courts, the guidance that has emerged is still preliminary and judges are far from unanimous on both methodological and substantive points. The chapter argues that judges should adopt a two-step methodological approach that applies the broad and natural meaning of the legislative scheme at the first step and invokes proportionality only at the second stage to address disproportionate outcomes on a case-by-case basis. It further argues that courts should adopt an individualised approach to proportionality based on the application of three principles. Disproportionality in restraint or confiscation cases will normally be seen if the legal measure in question is unable to serve its objective, exceeds its objective in a systemic and detrimental manner, or has effects that are grossly out of proportion to its objective. Courts will be able to achieve a greater degree of coherence if these three principles are properly adapted and followed.


In this paper, an Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation has been developed for 3D FEM simulations of quasi-stationary metal forming processes (such as drawing, rolling, extrusion ...). In such a formulation, the mesh is updated independently from the material motion, allowing the mesh to be continuously optimized. It is however difficult in 3D to relocate mesh nodes such that the movement of the material domain boundaries can be followed. In general, it is achieved by setting the normal component of the mesh velocity equal to the normal component of the material velocity for each boundary node. This initial choice was found unsatisfactory for processes with dominant tangential velocity. For such cases, a new procedure has been implemented in the FORGE3 (R) software [1]. The surface nodes are projected onto the intermediate surface computed at the end of the Lagrangian virtual updating stage. Different strategies are developed to project the nodes, according to the topological entities they belong to (vertices, edges, plane or curved surfaces). A comparison for wire and bar drawing processes is provided between a standard Updated Lagrangian formulation [1] and the present ALE formulation, showing very similar results (geometry shape, drawing stress, strain rates ...).


Access to biological engineering has become a critical point of modern science development through polymerase chain reaction (PCR). One of the main components in this process is DNA polymerase, which copies the main template DNA. However, there is a lack of studies on the production of DNA polymerase from indigenous thermophilic bacteria in Indonesia. To examine this process, DNA polymerase I gene (DNA pol I) from Geobacillus thermoleovorans (isolated from Batu Kuwung, Banten, Indonesia) was transformed into Escherichia coli. The gene was cloned by the cut and ligation method using NcoI and BamHI restriction enzymes, which were ligated with a pET23d vector. The recombinant gene was overexpressed in E. coli BL21 and identified by using SDS-PAGE of 10% acrylamide gel, showing that the protein molecular weight was approximately 100 kDa. This study successfully amplified the gene of interest, indicated by a high local similarity between the sequencing results and theoretical gene and positive intercellular protein expression. The results confirm that the study successfully cloned and synthesized recombinant DNA pol I of Geobacillus thermoleovorans from Batu Kuwung, Serang, Banten.


Widespread concern over transmission capacity requires theoretical support to infer inadequacy from observed trends indicating reductions in the ratio of transmission to generation capacity over time. If integrated utilities had been regulated with allowed returns exceeding capital costs, transmission-generation ratios would have been excessive, and observed trends might be a correction. However, numerous commentators claim that post-restructuring transmission rates have been too low, with NIMBY also discouraging investment. We model the possibility that inadequate separation between generation and transmission may result in reduced investment, in order to preserve incumbent market power in generation. However, consideration of transmission price caps and coordinated generation investment support other analyses that conclude that vertical separation itself may be a culprit.


Motivation Privacy-preserving substring matching is an important task for sensitive biological/biomedical sequence database searches. It enables a user to obtain only a substring match while his/her query is concealed to a server. The previous approach for this task is based on a linear-time algorithm in terms of alphabet size |Σ|. Therefore, a more efficient method is needed to deal with strings with large alphabet size such as a protein sequence, time-series data, and a clinical document. Results We present a novel algorithm that can search a string in logarithmic time of |Σ|. In our algorithm, named secure wavelet matrix (sWM), we use an additively homomorphic encryption to build an efficient data structure called a wavelet matrix. In an experiment using a simulated string of length 10,000 whose alphabet size ranges from 4 to 1024, the run time of the sWM was an order of magnitude faster than that of the previous method. We also tested the sWM on all sequences of one protein family in Pfam (9,826 residues in total) and clinical texts written in a natural language (77,712 letters in total). By using a laptop computer for the user and a desktop PC for the server, we found that its run time was ≈ 2.5 s (user) and ≈ 6.7 s (server) for the protein sequences and ≈ 10 s (user) and ≈ 60 s (server) for the clinical texts. Availability https://github.com/cBioLab/sWM


Dreaming is a very creative state of mind. Lucid dreamers – who can become aware in their dreams that they are dreaming – have an advantage of directly tapping into the creative potentials of the dreaming mind. This study explored the relationship between lucid dreaming and creativity. Twenty lucid dreamers were asked to accomplish a creative generation task once in a lucid dream and once while awake. Their performance was compared to a control group of 20 non-lucid dreamers who did the task once (i.e. awake). While according to the present findings, the lucid dream state did not appear to be more advantageous for creativity than waking imagination, lucid dreamers performed better on a creative task than non-lucid dreamers, which supports the notion of existing relationship between the ability for lucid dreaming and creativity. Future studies should explore the directionality of this relationship and make further comparisons of creative performance in wakefulness and the lucid dream state.


The lack of safe water creates a tremendous burden of diarrheal disease and other debilitating, life-threatening illnesses for people in the developing world. Point-of-use (POU) water treatment technology has emerged as an approach that empowers people and communities without access to safe water to improve water quality by treating it in the home. Several POU technologies are available, but, except for boiling, none have achieved sustained, large-scale use. Sustained use is essential if household water treatment technology (HWT) is to provide continued protection, but it is difficult to achieve. The most effective, widely promoted and used POU HWTs are critically examined according to specified criteria for performance and sustainability. Ceramic and biosand household water filters are identified as most effective according to the evaluation criteria applied and as having the greatest potential to become widely used and sustainable for improving household water quality to reduce waterborne disease and death.


With the increasing availability of diachronic corpora, machine-aided identification of linguistic items that have undergone significant change is set to become an important task. This importance is heightened further if, as Hilpert and Gries (2009:386) have argued, approaching linguistic change in a data-driven manner can reveal otherwise unnoticed phenomena. Key to this endeavour is being able to tell apart relevant change from noise and random variation. This non-trivial task differs in important ways from the much more widely investigated comparison of linguistic features between two (usually contemporary) corpora and has to date not received the attention it should perhaps be afforded.
In this short presentation, we will be focussing on identifying relevant frequency changes, but, as will be demonstrated, changes in frequency often also provide leads to others kinds of change such as change of linguistic form or semantic change. After outlining a number of methods for identifying relevant change, the implementation of one particular approach, based on a simple chi-square test for goodness of fit, is discussed in more detail. Since in this context chi-square assigns high scores also 'if only one of the frequencies is significantly different to the others' (Baker 2011: 70), which may be undesirable, a simple coefficient of variance (i.e. the standard deviation as a percentage of the mean) can be used to rank (or filter) results further. Practical challenges that arise in the application of this approach and how they might be overcome will be discussed, as well as sample results.
The implementation presented is concerned with the identification of relevant change in units of formulaic language (also referred to as multi-word units or multi-word expressions) which adds some extra challenges of its own. Other types of linguistic items of which the frequency can be measured should, however, be equally amendable to this method. Examples are based on data taken from the Swiss Text Corpus (Bickel et al 2009), a 20-million word reference corpus of written German spanning the period from 1900 to 2000.

References:
Baker, P. (2011). Times May Change, But We Will Always Have Money: Diachronic Variation in Recent British English. Journal of English Linguistics, 39(1), 65-88.
Bickel, H., Gasser, M., Hacki Buhofer, A., Hofer, L., & Schon, Ch. (2009). Schweizer Text Korpus - theoretische Grundlagen, Korpusdesign und Abfragemoglichkeiten. Linguistik Online, 39(3), 5-31.
Hilpert, M., & Gries, S. T. (2009). Assessing frequency changes in multistage diachronic corpora: Applications for historical corpus linguistics and the study of language acquisition. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 24(4), 385-401.


Type 1 fimbriated (mannose-specific) Escherichia coli cells bind to mannose residues on human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN); this leads to phagocytosis of the bacteria. To identify the mannose-containing receptors on the PMN, the cells were surface labeled with 125I and lysed in 0.5% Nonidet P-40, and the lysate was fractionated by affinity chromatography on a column of Sepharose-bound fimbriae. Analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography of the material eluted from the column with 500 mM methyl-alpha-mannoside revealed two radioactive bands of Mr 70,000 to 80,000 (gp70-80) and 100,000 (gp100). Another weak band of Mr 150,000 (gp150) was observed after prolonged exposure of the gel. Upon blotting of the glycoproteins separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and overlaying of the blots with concanavalin A, gp150 appeared as the major band. Membrane preparations of the PMN were enriched in gp70-80, gp100, and gp150, in comparison with the cell homogenates, further suggesting that these glycoproteins are surface components. Fractionation of the membrane preparations on the immobilized fimbriae followed by concanavalin A overlay of blots of the methyl-alpha-mannoside-eluted material revealed that gp150 was the major component in this fraction. The eluted fraction, obtained from a cell lysate (4.4 micrograms/ml), inhibited by 70% the agglutination of yeasts by the intact bacteria. Our results suggest that the three surface glycoproteins isolated by us serve as receptors for mannose-specific E. coli on PMN and may be involved in the lectin-mediated phagocytosis of the bacteria.


This chapter documents a strategy for the development and deployment of educational content on Ebola prevention and treatment targeted at low-literate learners speaking diverse languages. During the outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone, Njala University partnered with Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to create educational animations on Ebola. Drawing on an international network of collaborators, these animations were then placed into multiple languages for Sierra Leone. Njala University in turn acted as the central hub for engaging local partner groups to deploy this content throughout Sierra Leone. This chapter describes the development process, which occurred during the outbreaks and the ICT tools now available to the global health community. The educational animations created during the 2014 Ebola outbreak are now available in multiple languages for Sierra Leone, as well as other West African countries, along with a highly scalable deployment pathway that can be rapidly operationalized during future outbreaks or modeled for other outbreak or health crisis situations. Viral Education via Mobile Phone: Virtual International Networks and Ebola Prevention in Sierra Leone


Throughout the last decades, new developments in cellular and molecular immunology have led to a better insight in the biological nature of MM. Ever since, MM has also been regarded as a tool for studying basic concepts of the terminal B cell differentiation. The first aim of our research work, was to clarify the intraclonal maturation of the tumor clone by examining the existence of myeloma precursor cells at the genetic level. We found that myeloma patients have monoclonal B cells in the peripheral blood and bone marrow which are more immature as the malignant plasma cells and have passed through the stage of antigen selection in the germinal centre. The detection of these myeloma-related cells in the circulation implicates that these cells must be equipped with the appropriate surface receptors that allow transendothelial migration. Once entered in the marrow compartment, the myeloma cells anchor to the stromal environment where they receive the appropriate signals to proliferate and differentiate. We demonstrated that the bone marrow plasma cells express several adhesion molecules that have the potential to interact with stromal elements. We found that myeloma cell lines can bind to fibronectin (FN) and moreover are able to produce FN themselves. Functional assays revealed that FN plays only a minor role in myeloma cell binding to intact stroma, indicating the existence of other and/or multiple adhesive mechanisms. The growth of myeloma cells in the marrow compartment is not only dependent on adhesive interactions but also included the action of locally produced soluble factors. Although IL-6 has been identified as the major growth factor of myeloma cells, maintenance of tumor growth in vivo depends on one or more additional stroma-derived factors. We could establish a unique human myeloma cell line (MM5.1) that grows only in the presence of cultured human bone marrow stroma or stromal conditioned medium and not when cultured with exogeneous IL-6 alone. More recently a stroma-independent variant (MM5.2) of this line was obtained. We found that the growth of MM5.1 cells is mediated by signaling via the gp-130 transducer chain and involves IL-6 acting with a cofactor. The nature of this stromal cofactor is currently under investigation. Both variants of the cell line are also used to study differential expression of genes that are involved in clonal progression towards stroma-independency and extramedullary growth, as can be observed in patients with end stage disease.


Low temperatures slow down plant growth and development and generate physiological damages on plants. Metabolism of largely produced and consumed common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plants decelerates at temperatures below 15 °C. This study was carried out at Van Yuzuncu Yil University in Van province of Turkey with limited vegetation period due to its cold climate in winter. In this study, the bean plants were subjected to low temperature stress and catalase (CAT), super oxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzyme activities, malondialdehyde (MDA), chlorophylla, chlorophyll-b and total chlorophyll, K, Ca, and Mg ion contents of low temperature stress-tolerant Yakutiye and Ç30 and low temperature stress-sensitive Zulbiye and Ç13 bean genotypes were measured on 25, 30, 35 and 40 days of low temperature stress. Four bean seeds were sown in 2-liter pots filled with 2:1 peat:perlite mixture as to have 2 plants in each pot. The pots were irrigated with Hoagland nutrient solution. Low temperature stress plants were sown on 15 of March with low outdoor temperatures. In control group, been seeds were sown on 25 of April and plant samples were taken in again 5-day intervals in 4 periods (25, 30, 35 and 40 days of growth). Significant differences were observed in enzyme activities, chlorophyll contents and ion contents of low temperature-tolerant and sensitive bean genotypes in 4 measurement periods.


This paper describes how a new type of solid state microelectrode based on nanostructured palladium-hydride (PdH) can be used to monitor pH variations during carbonation of calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2). The experiments described were carried out under conditions similar to those typical of common porous substrates such as cement and lime mortars. In these tests PdH microelectrodes were employed to record pH transients during the carbonation within a humid fibrous mesh that simulated the porous substrate. To control the carbonation rate, experiments were carried out at different carbon dioxide partial pressures (pCO2) and in each case the experimental results were compared to theoretical calculations obtained using PHREEQC (pH-REdox-EQuilibrium) software. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystals deposited on the fibrous mesh were used to evaluate characteristics of the solid phases precipitated during the reaction. Results demonstrate that these pH microsensors can operate reliably in very alkaline environments (pH>12) such as those produced by the dissolution of Ca(OH)2.


Message-passing algorithms have emerged as powerful techniques for approximate inference in graphical models. When these algorithms converge, they can be shown to find local (or sometimes even global) optima of variational formulations to the inference problem. But many of the most popular algorithms are not guaranteed to converge. This has lead to recent interest in convergent message-passing algorithms. In this paper, we present a unified view of convergent message-passing algorithms. We present a simple derivation of an abstract algorithm, tree-consistency bound optimization (TCBO) that is provably convergent in both its sum and max product forms. We then show that many of the existing convergent algorithms are instances of our TCBO algorithm, and obtain novel convergent algorithms "for free" by exchanging maximizations and summations in existing algorithms. In particular, we show that Wainwright's non-convergent sum-product algorithm for tree based variational bounds, is actually convergent with the right update order for the case where trees are monotonic chains.


The color of composited pigments in digital painting is generally computed one of two ways: either alpha blending in RGB, or the Kubelka-Munk equation (KM). The former fails to reproduce paint like appearances, while the latter is difficult to use. We present a data-driven pigment model that reproduces arbitrary compositing behavior by interpolating sparse samples in a high dimensional space. The input is an of a color chart, which provides the composition samples. We propose two different prediction algorithms, one doing simple interpolation using radial basis functions (RBF), and another that trains a parametric model based on the KM equation to compute novel values. We show that RBF is able to reproduce arbitrary compositing behaviors, even non-paint-like such as additive blending, while KM compositing is more robust to acquisition noise and can generalize results over a broader range of values.


The VISTA near infrared survey of the Magellanic System (VMC) will provide deep YJKs photometry reaching stars in the oldest turn-off point throughout the Magellanic Clouds (MCs). As part of the preparation for the survey, we aim to access the accuracy in the star formation history (SFH) that can be expected from VMC data, in particular for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). To this aim, we first simulate VMC images containing not only the LMC stellar populations but also the foreground Milky Way (MW) stars and background galaxies. The simulations cover the whole range of density of LMC field stars. We then perform aperture photometry over these simulated images, access the expected levels of photometric errors and incompleteness, and apply the classical technique of SFH-recovery based on the reconstruction of colour-magnitude diagrams (CMD) via the minimisation of a chi-squared-like statistics. We verify that the foreground MW stars are accurately recovered by the minimisation algorithms, whereas the background galaxies can be largely eliminated from the CMD analysis due to their particular colours and morphologies. We then evaluate the expected errors in the recovered star formation rate as a function of stellar age, SFR(t), starting from models with a known age–metallicity relation (AMR). It turns out that, for a given sky area, the random errors for ages older than ∼0.4 Gyr seem to be independent of the crowding. This can be explained by a counterbalancing effect between the loss of stars from a decrease in the completeness and the gain of stars from an increase in the stellar density. For a spatial resolution of ∼0. 1d eg 2 , the random errors in SFR(t) will be below 20% for this wide range of ages. On the other hand, due to the lower stellar statistics for stars younger than ∼0.4 Gyr, the outer LMC regions will require larger areas to achieve the same level of accuracy in the SFR(t). If we consider the AMR as unknown, the SFHrecovery algorithm is able to accurately recover the input AMR, at the price of an increase of random errors in the SFR(t) by a factor of about 2.5. Experiments of SFH-recovery performed for varying distance modulus and reddening indicate that these parameters can be determined with (relative) accuracies of Δ(m−M)0 ∼ 0.02 mag and ΔEB−V ∼ 0.01 mag, for each individual field over the LMC. The propagation of these errors in the SFR(t) implies systematic errors below 30%. This level of accuracy in the SFR(t) can reveal significant imprints in the dynamical evolution of this unique and nearby stellar system, as well as possible signatures of the past interaction between the MCs and the MW.


Ability to detect collisions is vital for future robots that interact with humans in complex visual environments. Lobula giant movement detectors (LGMD) and directional selective neurons (DSNs) are two types of identified neurons found in the visual pathways of insects such as locusts. Recent modeling studies showed that the LGMD or grouped DSNs could each be tuned for collision recognition. In both biological and artificial vision systems, however, which one should play the collision recognition role and the way the two types of specialized visual neurons could be functioning together are not clear. In this modeling study, we compared the competence of the LGMD and the DSNs, and also investigate the cooperation of the two neural vision systems for collision recognition via artificial evolution. We implemented three types of collision recognition neural subsystems - the LGMD, the DSNs and a hybrid system which combines the LGMD and the DSNs subsystems together, in each individual agent. A switch gene determines which of the three redundant neural subsystems plays the collision recognition role. We found that, in both robotics and driving environments, the LGMD was able to build up its ability for collision recognition quickly and robustly therefore reducing the chance of other types of neural networks to play the same role. The results suggest that the LGMD neural network could be the ideal model to be realized in hardware for collision recognition.


Many large coal mining operations in Australia rely heavily on the rail network to transport coal from mines to coal terminals at ports for shipment. Over the last few years, due to the fast growing demand, the coal rail network is becoming one of the worst industrial bottlenecks in Australia. As a result, this provides great incentives for pursuing better optimisation and control strategies for the operation of the whole rail transportation system under network and terminal capacity constraints. This PhD research aims to achieve a significant efficiency improvement in a coal rail network on the basis of the development of standard modelling approaches and generic solution techniques. Generally, the train scheduling problem can be modelled as a Blocking Parallel- Machine Job-Shop Scheduling (BPMJSS) problem. In a BPMJSS model for train scheduling, trains and sections respectively are synonymous with jobs and machines and an operation is regarded as the movement/traversal of a train across a section. To begin, an improved shifting bottleneck procedure algorithm combined with metaheuristics has been developed to efficiently solve the Parallel-Machine Job- Shop Scheduling (PMJSS) problems without the blocking conditions. Due to the lack of buffer space, the real-life train scheduling should consider blocking or hold-while-wait constraints, which means that a track section cannot release and must hold a train until the next section on the routing becomes available. As a consequence, the problem has been considered as BPMJSS with the blocking conditions. To develop efficient solution techniques for BPMJSS, extensive studies on the nonclassical scheduling problems regarding the various buffer conditions (i.e. blocking, no-wait, limited-buffer, unlimited-buffer and combined-buffer) have been done. In this procedure, an alternative graph as an extension of the classical disjunctive graph is developed and specially designed for the non-classical scheduling problems such as the blocking flow-shop scheduling (BFSS), no-wait flow-shop scheduling (NWFSS), and blocking job-shop scheduling (BJSS) problems. By exploring the blocking characteristics based on the alternative graph, a new algorithm called the topological-sequence algorithm is developed for solving the non-classical scheduling problems. To indicate the preeminence of the proposed algorithm, we compare it with two known algorithms (i.e. Recursive Procedure and Directed Graph) in the literature. Moreover, we define a new type of non-classical scheduling problem, called combined-buffer flow-shop scheduling (CBFSS), which covers four extreme cases: the classical FSS (FSS) with infinite buffer, the blocking FSS (BFSS) with no buffer, the no-wait FSS (NWFSS) and the limited-buffer FSS (LBFSS). After exploring the structural properties of CBFSS, we propose an innovative constructive algorithm named the LK algorithm to construct the feasible CBFSS schedule. Detailed numerical illustrations for the various cases are presented and analysed. By adjusting only the attributes in the data input, the proposed LK algorithm is generic and enables the construction of the feasible schedules for many types of non-classical scheduling problems with different buffer constraints. Inspired by the shifting bottleneck procedure algorithm for PMJSS and characteristic analysis based on the alternative graph for non-classical scheduling problems, a new constructive algorithm called the Feasibility Satisfaction Procedure (FSP) is proposed to obtain the feasible BPMJSS solution. A real-world train scheduling case is used for illustrating and comparing the PMJSS and BPMJSS models. Some real-life applications including considering the train length, upgrading the track sections, accelerating a tardy train and changing the bottleneck sections are discussed. Furthermore, the BPMJSS model is generalised to be a No-Wait Blocking Parallel- Machine Job-Shop Scheduling (NWBPMJSS) problem for scheduling the trains with priorities, in which prioritised trains such as express passenger trains are considered simultaneously with non-prioritised trains such as freight trains. In this case, no-wait conditions, which are more restrictive constraints than blocking constraints, arise when considering the prioritised trains that should traverse continuously without any interruption or any unplanned pauses because of the high cost of waiting during travel. In comparison, non-prioritised trains are allowed to enter the next section immediately if possible or to remain in a section until the next section on the routing becomes available. Based on the FSP algorithm, a more generic algorithm called the SE algorithm is developed to solve a class of train scheduling problems in terms of different conditions in train scheduling environments. To construct the feasible train schedule, the proposed SE algorithm consists of many individual modules including the feasibility-satisfaction procedure, time-determination procedure, tune-up procedure and conflict-resolve procedure algorithms. To find a good train schedule, a two-stage hybrid heuristic algorithm called the SE-BIH algorithm is developed by combining the constructive heuristic (i.e. the SE algorithm) and the local-search heuristic (i.e. the Best-Insertion- Heuristic algorithm). To optimise the train schedule, a three-stage algorithm called the SE-BIH-TS algorithm is developed by combining the tabu search (TS) metaheuristic with the SE-BIH algorithm. Finally, a case study is performed for a complex real-world coal rail network under network and terminal capacity constraints. The computational results validate that the proposed methodology would be very promising because it can be applied as a fundamental tool for modelling and solving many real-world scheduling problems.


One-fifth of irrigated agriculture is adversely affected by soil salinity. Hence, developing salt-tolerant crops is essential for sustaining food production. Progress in breeding for salt-tolerant crops has been hampered by the lack of understanding of the molecular basis of salt tolerance and lack of availability of genes that confer salt tolerance. Genetic evidence suggests that perception of salt stress leads to a cytosolic calcium-signal that activates the calcium sensor protein SOS3. SOS3 binds to and activates a ser/thr protein kinase SOS2. The activated SOS2 kinase regulates activities of SOS1, a plasma membrane Na + /H + antiporter, and NHX1, a tonoplast Na + /H + anti-porter. This results in Na + efflux and vacuolar compartmentation. A putative osmosensory histidine kinase (AtHKI)-MAPK cascade probably regulates osmotic homeostasis and ROS scavenging. Osmotic stress and ABA (abscisic acid)-mediated regulation of LEA (late-embryogenesis-abundant)-type proteins also play important roles in plant salt tolerance. Genetic engineering of ion transporters and their regulators, and of the CBF (C-repeat-binding factor) regulons, holds promise for future development of salt-tolerant crops.


The purpose of this study was to search for factors correlated with the absence of reinduction of a clinical ventricular tachycardia (VT) by stimulation in patients under anti-arrhythmic treatment. Repeated stimulations were performed in 41 patients with spontaneous VT and sustained, monomorphous ventricular arrhythmia induced by stimulation. The stimulation included 1 or 2 extrastimuli delivered into the right ventricle in sinus rhythm, then in imposed ventricular rhythm (600-400 ms). At least 4 anti-arrhythmic drugs were tested. In 16 patients (group I) of mean age 51 +/- 11 years VT was no longer reinducible under anti-arrhythmic treatment. In 25 patients (group II) of mean age 57 +/- 12 years no anti-arrhythmic drug was able to prevent VT induction. The characteristics of spontaneous and induced VT and of isotopic left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were compared in both groups. The absence of reinduction of VT was obtained more easily in patients with: spontaneous, frequently unsustained VT; VT requiring 2 ventricular extrastimuli delivered in imposed rhythm to be induced; rapid initial induced VT (cycle 233 +/- ms vs 297 +/- 63 ms); less advanced underlying heart disease (LVEF 38 +/- 18 vs 27 +/- 13%). The subsequent history of the patients showed that the absence of reinduction of VT was correlated with a low risk of recurrence of VT (12.5 vs 48%) and with a lower risk of mortality (6% vs 32%) than in patients whose VT was always inducible under anti-arrhythmic treatment.


This article develops a theory of relational authority in the most unpromising setting of international relations. Relational authority locates legitimacy in a social contract between a ruler, who provides a social order of value to the ruled, and the ruled, who comply with the ruler's commands necessary to the production of that order. International politics are nearly universally assumed to be an anarchy devoid of authority. Through the lens of relational authority, however, one sees that relations between states are better described as a rich variety of hierarchies in which dominant states legitimately rule over greater or lesser domains of policy in subordinate states. After contrasting alternative approaches to authority, the article identifies international hierarchies and summarizes a suite of measures that capture variations between the United States and other states. The article then deduces a set of international behaviors that follows from relational authority and demonstrates that (a) the United States is more likely to join international disputes in which its subordinates are involved and (b) subordinates acknowledge the authority of the dominant state by engaging in actions of symbolic obeisance, of which the most costly and salient form is following the United States into war.


Due to the logistic and technical difficulties associated with experimental work in high latitudes, long-term mea- surements of CO2 and CH4 fluxes from arctic ecosystems are still rare, and published trace gas balances often rely on measurements from one or few growing seasons. The inter-annual variability of environmental conditions such as temperature, precipitation, snow cover, and timing of snow melt can be high in the Arctic, especially for regions which are influenced by both continental and maritime climates, such as the Siberian arctic lowlands. For these ecosystems, we must also expect a great inter-annual variability in the balance of trace gases. Multi-annual data sets are needed to investigate this variability and its drivers. Here we present multi-annual late summer CO2 and CH4 flux data from the Lena River Delta in the Siberian Arctic (72˚N, 126˚E). The study site Samoylov Island is characterized by polygonal lowland tundra, a vegetation dominated by mosses and sedges, a soil complex of Glacic, Turbic and Histic Cryosols, and an active layer depth of on average 0.5 m. Seasonal flux measurements were carried out with the eddy covariance technique during the 13-year period 2002 - 2014. Within this period, CO2 flux data overlaps during 37 days (20 July - 25 August) for 12 years, and CH4 flux data overlaps during 25 days (28 July - 21 August) for 9 years. Cumulative net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) during the late summer overlap period is fairly consistent for 9 out of 12 years with a CO2 uptake of 1.9 ± 0.1 mol m−2 . Three years show a clearly smaller uptake of <1.5 mol m−2 . A correlation analysis reveals a quadratic relationship between air tem- perature and NEE, which suggests the existence of a temperature optimum where the balance of photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration leads to maximum CO2 net uptake. Both photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration probably benefit initially from higher temperatures, however, in the highest temperature range ecosystem respiration outbal- ances photosynthesis. Median CH4 fluxes during the overlap period ranged between 36 and 64 µmol m−2 hr−1 and were found to be positively linearly correlated to the date of thaw and soil temperature at 10 cm depth in wet polygon centers. This suggests that (i) higher soil temperatures enhance CH4 production more than CH4 oxidation, and (ii) a long thaw period may allow a stronger accumulation of CH4 in soil pore space by methanogens and thus enhance transport processes which bypass oxidation (ebullition, plant-mediated transport). The obtained results indicate that the Siberian polygonal tundra will emit more greenhouse gases in a warming climate - at least on the short term. On the longer term, an adaptation of the vegetation or effects of higher evapotranspiration on the hy- drology may counteract these effects. Our findings can be used to evaluate and train deterministic climate-carbon cycle models for the circumpolar permafrost regions.


Soft proofing technology is the development of new technologies in recent years, application is becoming more widely. As the use of display image simulating hard copy image, display settings, ambient light conditions and the observe conditions will affect the impact of soft proofing. 68 pairs of test images own the average value of different color originated from four typical images by transfer functions. In the image manipulation progress, each original image was altered in two aspects: lightness, chroma respectively .Using EIZO CG19 display to show in different ambient light conditions. A visual evaluation experiment was carried out aiming at test images by a psychophysical experiment, testing and analyzing color difference resolution influence of display image under different ambient light conditions, optimal lighting conditions and ranges of the soft proofing viewing environment was determined.


This study was aimed to obtain baseline information on the knowledge, awareness, and practice (KAP) towards intestinal parasitic (IP) infection among university students in Selangor, Malaysia. Questionnaire surveys were circulated among 150 university students via online to assess social demographics, knowledge, awareness, and practice of parasitic infection. The simple questions with yes-no and listings were used in this survey. Total correspondents were 60 university students from various fields of study from Selangor. Total participation of male and female students was 28.30%, and 71.10%, bachelor students (51.67%), followed by diploma students (45%) and both master and PhD students at 1.67%. Assessment on knowledge indicated that 56.67% of students knew about IP, and 8.3% had an idea on the protozoan parasites, which can be transmitted via unclean environment or contaminate food. However, the students showed a higher level of awareness for IP infection but failed to know that food handlers can spread IP infection. Lastly, for the assessment for practice, generally, all responded positively, despite not knowing that poor hygiene is causative for IP infection. KAP among university students a lacuna still prevails, which can aid them to be susceptible for parasitic infection.


In order to design actionable SARS-CoV-2 strategies, we extended the SEIRS model to support stratified isolation levels for healthy <60 and vulnerable individuals. At first, we forced isolation levels to be uniform, showing that daily deaths curves of all metropolitan areas in the analysis can be fitted using homogeneous Ro=3.3. In the process, we established the possibility that an extremely short infectiousness period of 2 days coupled with 5 days exposure may be responsible for the multiple deaths valleys observed during the weeks following lockdowns. Regardless of the infectiousness period, we realized that is possible to infer non-uniform isolation levels for healthy <60 and vulnerable by forcing the model to match the <60 to >60 age serology ratio reported in seroprevalence studies. Since the serology ratio is more robust than absolute values, we argue immunity level estimations made in this way (Madrid 43%; Catalonia 24%; Brussels 73%; and Stockholm 65%) are closer to reality. In locations where we did not find reliable serology, we performed immunity estimations assuming Spain serology ratio (Paris: 24%; London: 34%). We predict that, with the exception of Brussels, no location can return to normal life without having a second wave (albeit in Stockholm a smaller one). For locations far from the herd immunity threshold (HIT) we searched what isolation values allow to return to normal life in 90 days minimizing final deaths, shockingly all found isolations for healthy <60 were negative (i.e. coronavirus parties minimize final deaths). Then, assuming an ideal 1-day long vaccination campaign with a 77% efficacy vaccine, we compared predicted final deaths of those 90-day strategies for all possible vaccination dates with a 180-day long vaccine waiting strategy that imposes 0.40 mandatory isolation to healthy <60 and results in 0.65 isolation to vulnerable. We found that 180-day of mandatory isolations to healthy <60 (i.e. schools and workplaces closed) produces more final deaths if the vaccination date is later than (Madrid: March 7 2021; Catalonia: Dec 26 2020; Paris: Jan 12 2021; London: Jan 25 2021). We conclude that our 2-stratum SEIRS model is suitable to predict SARS-CoV-2 epidemic behavior and can be used to minimize covid-19 disease and isolations related damages.


Over the past two decades, the use of biomass as a resource for biofuels and bioenergy has garnered much interest. The reduction in green house gas emissions of renewable fuels as compared to conventional fossil fuels, coupled with the sustainability of these technological approaches, has fostered increased research into this field. Switchgrass is a perennial grass native to North America, and as a feedstock for biofuels it has garnered much interest because of its high productivity, adaptability and potential ease of integration into existing agricultural operations. In order to maximize the use of switchgrass as an energy crop, the chemical constituents as well as the chemical processes involved in its conversion to biofuels need to be understood. The goal of this paper is to review the published work on the chemistry of switchgrass as it pertains to biofuel production including elemental composition, chemical composition, biopolymer constituents and their structure. In addition, the impacts of these chemical constituents on the biological conversion to ethanol and pyrolysis oils are summarized.


Abstract Appalled by the increasing brutality and emboldened by the collapse of ideological barriers, international law now intends to cross the rubicon and reach out for criminals hiding behind the veil of sovereignty. It aims to sensitize the world against gross human rights violations through the threat of legal action. The rapid entry of the Rome Statute on July 1, 2002 heralds a new era in international politics. It opens new avenues for the international community to monitor human rights violations within states and bring the delinquent individuals to trial. One of the main reasons for the court to come into existence after the end of the Cold War is that many crimes committed against humanity have been ignored by states either due to 'military necessity' or under the national sovereignty and territorial integrity clause. The ICC does involve a certain sacrifice of sovereignty because it envisages asserting itself when a state refuses or fails to use its national criminal justice apparatus to deal with the perpetrator of crimes against humanity. This paper argues that the ICC challenges the exclusivity of sovereign states. ICC imposes certain restrictions and limits on state authority and competes with the state in the exercise of authority.


BACKGROUND: It is the collective responsibility of coaches, referees, and parents to identify the signs and symptoms of a concussion, assess a player's acute medical condition, and report their observations. Increasing concussion awareness and empowerment of these entities is critical to ensure that concussions are properly managed, risk is reduced, and effects are mitigated. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review was to provide youth soccer organizations and relevant parties with the most relevant, factual evidence-based smartphone applications for recognizing the signs and symptoms of concussions in youth sports. METHODS: An evidencebased standard for concussion symptoms and identification was identified from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's HEADS UP to Youth Sports website. This baseline info was used to evaluate smartphone application's degree of complete and accurate information about the signs and symptoms of concussion. A keyword search on Apple's 'App Store' was performed to identify sideline concussion evaluation applications. Seven criteria were developed to evaluate the applications for meeting security and performance standards. RESULTS: The 'concussion' keyword search yielded forty-seven (47) smartphone applications for review and evaluation. These applications were screened against the seven criteria: eight met all criteria. A detailed review of each of the eight applications was performed, noting strengths and weaknesses. Four of the eight applications were deemed "recommended". CONCLUSION: The four applications that met the objective were recommended for download by youth sport parents, referees, coaches and players: Concussion Smart (v 1.2), Concussion Coach (v 1.0.1), Concussion Management (v 1.0), and Concussion Awareness (v 1.0.0).


The object of this paper was to examine skills shortage in South Africa specifically to unearth the myriad arguments around the subject but more importantly to unveil what has consistently lacked in the narratives of previous authors on the subject. In this regard, this paper has provided interesting insights into the attempts by countries such as New Zealand and Australia in stemming the tide of the scourge. The authors chose literature review as the main source of data collection. The paper also dishes what the authors consider as possible remedies to the scourge, while it advises that the problem of skills shortage is not the exclusive preserve of government. Further, the authors acknowledge that although the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) and its learnership programmes have experienced a huge amount of criticism, skills development is and will remain a dynamic and evolving process for addressing skills shortage as a long term strategy. There is no doubt that this paper has value in that it draws attention to the various issues associated with skills shortage especially in South Africa. Although the problem of skills shortage has been previously identified, it should be noted that it presents a significant problem in any society, and therefore demands regular attention. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n6p63


Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) show diverse effects on cancer cells. The explanation to why some cancer cells seem to be sensitive of PUFAs and some do not is, however, still a debated topic. Autophagy is a disease preventive process that can protect cells from cellular stress situations. In this study, we investigate whether DHA can induce the autophagic process and whether differences in regulation of autophagy can explain why some cancer cells are sensitive to DHA and some are not. We find that autophagy is not induced in DHA exposed cancer cells that have constitutively elevated levels of AKT. Because of the inability to induce autophagy, these cells are severely growth inhibited, and perhaps apoptotic, when exposed to DHA. Cancer cells with normal AKT regulation are, on contrary, able to induce autophagy and survive DHA-induced stress. Furthermore, DHA induces a network of alterations in gene expression. We have initiated experiments where some of the early response genes are expressed in an inducible manner to start to uncover their individual role in the network.


this paper analyses the interaction between building structure and ground that was subjected to mining exploitation. the issues relating to the influence of the enforced horizontal strains of the ground surface on the foundation framework were formulated as a quasi-static contact problem with friction and unilateral constraints. the incremental discrete task resulting from fem was solved by iterative method. obtained displacements, contact stresses and internal forces in the framework, were compared to similar available in the literature. all necessary calculation were carried out using msc marc.


In order to satisfy the flexibility requirements of the fire fighting in some particular circumstances, a self-swinging control system with valve-controlled cylinder of the liquamatic fire water monitor was designed. The self-swinging control system was composed of water hydraulic cylinder, water hydraulic valve, water channel connection plate and mechanical feedback device. This controlled system was driven by the pressure water from the monitor body. The water hydraulic cylinder drives the monitor head to swing side by side, consequently, the cover areas of the jet water from the monitor head was increased. At the same time, the modeling and simulation analysis was carried out for the self-swinging control system using the AMESim software, the simulation results show that the self-swinging control system can self-swing in a particular frequency, and the frequency is increasing with the water pressure increasing.


Small and medium enterprises play a significant role in economic and industrial development in the developed and developing countries. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the key factors in the effective of growth enterprises. The statistical population of this study according to assessment of Agri-Bank of the Semnan Province includes the managers of enterprises in agricultural sector of Semnan Province who were evaluated as successful enterprises (1932 agricultural units). For determining the sample 125 persons were selected by using Cochran's formula through stratified random sampling. The main tool for collecting data was questionnaire. The results indicated that 6.4% of agricultural growth enterprises were fully successful, 79.2% were successful, and 13.6% were rather successful. According to the results, there was a significant difference between the achievement levels of growth enterprises in different educational groups with confidence level of 95%. In addition, regression analysis showed that seven variables of initial capital, current production value, years of activity, number of personnel, firm size, investment amount, and business history altogether explained 47.7% of variance in the growth enterprises.


The effect of photoperiod on multiplication of commercial strawberry cultivars was investigated at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) Station in Cameron Highlands. Two strawberry cultivars, Camarosa and Camaroga, were grown under a plastic rain-shelter supplemented with three levels of photoperiod, 12 (normal day length of Cameron Highland), 15 and 17 h. The result showed that photoperiod, cultivars, photoperiod × cultivars had significantly affected on a number of runners per plant and increased the length of runner and number of plantlets per runner and per plant. 15 h long-day were found to be very efficient in multiplying the strawberry plant under which the number of plantlets per plant had significantly increased to about 19.79 as compared to about 7.4 under the 12 h photoperiod. The result also showed that cultivar Camaroga was capable to produce a significant number of about 17.31 plantlets per plant compared to about 13.06 in Camarosa. The analysis of photoperiod × cultivar interaction indicated that the highest number of about 22.06 plantlets per plant was obtained from Camaroga, grown under the 17 h photoperiod. This study indicated that propagating performance in Camaroga is better than Camarosa under Cameron Highland climatic condition. fertilized through the fertigation system. and control the standard practice applied in factorial randomized completed block (RCBD).


Evidence suggests a causal role for trauma in psychosis, particularly for childhood victimization. However, the establishment of underlying trauma-related mechanisms would strengthen the causal argument. In a sample of people with relapsing psychosis (n = 228), we tested hypothesized mechanisms specifically related to impaired affect regulation, intrusive trauma memory, beliefs, and depression. The majority of participants (74.1%) reported victimization trauma, and a fifth (21.5%) met symptomatic criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. We found a specific link between childhood sexual abuse and auditory hallucinations (adjusted OR = 2.21, SE = 0.74, P = .018). This relationship was mediated by posttraumatic avoidance and numbing (OR = 1.48, SE = 0.19, P = .038) and hyperarousal (OR = 1.44, SE = 0.18, P = .045), but not intrusive trauma memory, negative beliefs or depression. In contrast, childhood emotional abuse was specifically associated with delusions, both persecutory (adjusted OR = 2.21, SE = 0.68, P = .009) and referential (adjusted OR = 2.43, SE = 0.74, P = .004). The link with persecutory delusions was mediated by negative-other beliefs (OR = 1.36, SE = 0.14, P = .024), but not posttraumatic stress symptoms, negative-self beliefs, or depression. There was no evidence of mediation for referential delusions. No relationships were identified between childhood physical abuse and psychosis. The findings underline the role of cognitive-affective processes in the relationship between trauma and symptoms, and the importance of assessing and treating victimization and its psychological consequences in people with psychosis.


What do we mean by uttering aesthetic judgements, such as: "This is beautiful"? Are we merely expressing our enthusiasm, or do we rather describe objects as having properties that are mind-independent and objective? Can aesthetic judgments be true or false, and if so, does their respective truth value apply universally and absolutely, or does it need to be modified in some way? This book is dedicated to the task of answering these kinds of questions with respect to the meaning of aesthetic judgements, which also requires providing a metaphysical analysis of aesthetic properties. The book thus sets out to give a detailed account of both aesthetic judgements and aesthetic properties and defends this "combined approach" against various objections. The theory combines elements of a double-speech-act-theory, according to which voicing aesthetic statements involves performing two speech-acts simultaneously – an assertive act and an expressive act – with a response-dispositional characterization of aesthetic properties.


INTRODUCTION
Dental avulsion is a commonly reported traumatic injury causing pain, aesthetic, functional, psychological and mental impairment. Since parents are in the immediate vicinity of children in such situations, their knowledge regarding the same is of great importance.

AIM
The aim of present study was to assess the level of parental knowledge and their attitude towards dental avulsion and its emergency management.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A 10-stemmed questionnaire was prepared for this study which was modified form of questionnaire used by Raphael and Gregory. The questionnaire consisted of two parts and was provided in both English and Hindi languages. Parents had to mark one option provided to them in multiple choice questions, which they found to be right. A written consent according to ethical guidelines was taken by all the participants before filling up the questionnaire. The survey consisted of 550 parents who accompanied their children aged between 6 to 13 years in the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Peoples Dental Academy, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Chi- square test was applied to evaluate the associations in this study.

RESULTS
Statistically it was observed that 34.5% of male participants exhibited more knowledge regarding the necessity of reimplantation of avulsed tooth in comparison to female participants. Also parents with higher educational background have showed positive response toward knowledge and attitude of emergency treatment of avulsed permanent tooth. About 25.6% of higher secondary level, 20.9% of undergraduate level, 10.9% of elementary school level and 0.4% of illiterate participants responded that reimplantation of avulsed permanent tooth is possible.

CONCLUSION
It was concluded from the study that regardless of the age, education level or other factors, parental knowledge of tooth avulsion management was found to be very low in our society. Parents who participated in this study reported having insufficient knowledge about dental trauma and unskilled to provide emergency care to their child.


The study by Hulse' on children with congenital hypothyroidism provides useful retrospective data and prompts us to compare his findings with our own study in the northern region.2 In a subgroup of 43 children we found a similar intelligence quotient (IQ) distribution (mean (SD) Weschler intelligence scales for children-revised (WISC-R) 82-4 (17-7)) and an association between IQ and social class. There was a trend to delayed diagnosis, however, in the lower social classes and lower IQ scores in those with severe bone age delay. The lower mean IQ scores in this and in Hulse's study compared with that of Macfaul3 could be the result of a difference in the social class distribution and in the degree of thyroid deficiency but it could also be due to the different tests used: WISC-R can give values about six points lower than those of the WISC test.4 We have also studied 43 adults with congenital hypothyroidism. Their IQ score was mean (SD) 92-2 (15-1) (Weschler adult intelligence scales test), but we found an 10 gain of mean 10-6 (5.4) in 16 of these adults who had been tested 10 years apart. This confirms that the IQ score of some patients may continue to increase with age even allowing for IQ test differences. Coordination problems identified by using standardised motor assessment were common both in adults and children. We used the Bruinink's-Oseretsky test battery2 in the children and we recommend this test for prospective studies of children diagnosed by screening. Hulse' showed inappropriate treatment in some patients. In our study, 50% of the children were on doses of thyroxine higher and 20% on doses lower than recommended. Interestingly, although many had abnormal serum thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormone values, few had any symptoms. presumably as a result of the protective effects of reverse triiodothyronine and triiodothyronine.5 Some of those with high serum thyroxine values, however, had bone ages advanced by two years or more. This emphasises the need to observe treatment recommendations in patients diagnosed early in order to avoid complications such as craniostenosis, and to ensure optimal subsequent clinical progress.


CORONARY heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. During the past decade, medical and governmental leaders have proclaimed repeatedly that we are having an epidemic increase in death rate from this disease. Within the past few months an editorial in Circulation stated, "Cardiologists must be 'unreasonable men,' if they are to find a way to slow the rapidly increasing incidence of coronary heart disease." 1 The preface to the proceedings of a recent postgraduate course sponsored by the American College of Cardiology indicates that the rate of deaths from myocardial infarction continues unabated. 2 The introduction to Medical World News Cardiovascular Review 1973 contains a similar statement. A recent national television program, "The Killers: 'Heart Disease—20th Century Epidemic' " indicated that prevention was not working and medicine had failed to stop the rising death rate from coronary artery disease. The vital statistics of the United States


BACKGROUND
A randomised controlled trial of substance misuse indicated that many patients who use methadone have respiratory symptoms and/or are prescribed respiratory medications. There is little research in this area.

AIMS
To determine the prevalence of respiratory disease and prescriptions among drug misusers.

METHODS
This historical cohort study of drug misusers and matched controls analysed routinely collected primary care data. The prevalence of common chronic respiratory diseases, class and number of respiratory medications were examined.

RESULTS
The cohort of 18,570 patients (9,285 per group) was mostly male (64%, n=11,890) and aged 31-59 years (76%, n=14,060). After adjusting for age, gender, deprivation and smoking status, the results showed that more drug misusers than controls had a diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (17.1% vs. 10.9%; adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.46 to 1.77, and 2.4% vs. 0.8%; OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.42 to 2.44, respectively) and were prescribed more chronic respiratory medications: short-acting β(2)-agonists (16.4% vs. 7.9%; OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.80 to 2.22), long-acting β(2)-agonists (1% vs. 0.4%; OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.89), and inhaled corticosteroids (10.6% vs. 7.6%; OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.33 to 1.67). All differences were statistically significant (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Drug misusers have a significantly higher prevalence of respiratory diseases and respiratory prescriptions than matched controls. Further work is needed to determine the reasons for this.


Software platforms such as the Java Virtual Machine or the CLR. NET virtual machine have their own ecosystem of a core programming language or instruction set, libraries, and developer community. Programming languages can target multiple software platforms to increase interoperability or to boost performance. Introducing a new compiler backend for a language is the first step towards targeting a new platform, translating the language to the platform's language or instruction set. Programs written in modern languages generally make extensive use of APIs, based on the runtime system of the software platform, introducing additional portability concerns. They may use APIs that are implemented by platform-specific libraries. Libraries may perform platform-specific operations, make direct native calls, or make assumptions about performance characteristics of operations or about the file system. This paper proposes to use aspect weaving to invasively adapt programs and libraries to address such portability concerns, and identifies four classes of aspects for this purpose. We evaluate this approach through a case study where we retarget the Stratego program transformation language towards the Java Virtual Machine.


Mapping facies variations is a fundamental element in the study of reservoir characteristics. From identifying a pay zone to estimating the reservoir capacity, a hydrocarbon field's development plan depends to a great extent on a reliable model of lithofacies and fluid content variations throughout the reservoir. The starting point usually is creating 1D facies models based on core samples and drilling reports at each well location. Sparse well locations and the inherent heterogeneity in the reservoir properties make it essential to incorporate the resultant 1D models into a 3D model of facies distribution that includes information about the probability of their occurrence. New techniques using machine learning (ML) to build 3D lithofluid facies (LFF) models can incorporate the prediction of different lithofacies regarding their potential hydrocarbon content, along with the uncertainties of the prediction. We have applied a fuzzy inference system, as an expert-oriented approach, and two separate ML algorithms, to different seismic and elastic attributes to model the LFF classes within the Heidrun oil and gas field. The results, compared with the test wells, show that ML methods could successfully predict the distribution of gas and oil sands within the field, in very good agreement with the known fluid contact intervals. Moreover, the predictions of shale and brine sands vary depending on the method but also are consistent with our knowledge of this field. Comparison between the results confirms the higher reliability of ML methods. Importantly, ML methods provide a better way of investigating and quantifying the uncertainty of the predictions. Implementing ML algorithms in reservoir characterization reduces the risk of drilling unnecessary wells due to false discoveries and can lead to more economical development of hydrocarbon resources.


Heterogeneous catalysts are greatly preferred for green chemistry in many industrial processes and, in the past decade, promising results have been achieved in order to improve the catalytic activity of metal organic frameworks (MOFs). Accordingly, porphyrins make the design of new coordination polymers with better properties possible, taking into account the important functions they develop in nature. In this sense, porphyrin-based MOFs are becoming very relevant in heterogeneous catalysis. Thus, the aim of this work was to obtain metalloporphyrinic MOFs exhibiting catalytic activity. Studying the effect of dimensionality on the MOF properties (including thermal stability and catalytic activity), in this work, we study two catalysts with different dimensionalities, 3D [Ni5(H2TCPP)2O(H2O)4]·nS (1) and 0D [Cu(H4TCPP)]·6DMF (2) (where H6TCPP is meso-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin, DMF is N,N-dimethylformamide and S is the solvent). The structural features of both compounds, combined with their high thermal stability and accessible networks, are responsible for their excellent behaviour as heterogeneous catalysts. It is worth mentioning that a significant reduction in reaction time compared to other reported catalysts has been observed. The recyclability of one of the herein studied porphyrin-based MOFs is outstanding. Further structural and thermal characterization has been carried out by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetry (TG), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).


Rowland, Neil E., Annie Morien, Mircea Garcea, and Melvin J. Fregly. Aging and fluid homeostasis in rats. Am. J. Physiol. 273 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 42): R1441–R1450, 1997.—The capacity of aging rats to defend body fluid homeostasis in response to a variety of dipsogenic and natriorexigenic stimuli was assessed. Male and female rats of both the Fischer 344 (FR) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) strains were used and tested at target ages of ,5, 10, 15, and 20 mo in both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. There were no consistent age-related declines in water intake in response to water deprivation or acute administration of hypertonic NaCl; angiotensin (ANG) I, II, III; or isoproterenol. Likewise, there were no major impairments in either urinary excretion of the hypertonic NaCl load or excretion of water or hypotonic NaCl loads, although the latter were excreted more slowly in the older cohorts. The preference/ aversion functions for NaCl solutions differed between SD and FR rats, but did not change with age except in male FR rats that lost their aversion to dilute NaCl at 20 mo of age. Intake of hypotonic NaCl solution after acute sodium depletion (furosemide treatment) showed a partial decline with age, and the older rats sustained larger estimated sodium deficits after a 6-h repletion period. A more complete agerelated decline was observed in the intake of hypertonic NaCl stimulated by chronic dietary administration of a kininase II inhibitor (ramipril). Male rats of 15–20 mo of age showed no ramipril-induced sodium appetite. Brain ANG II receptor density, determined by autoradiography, declined by almost 50% in the paraventricular nucleus at 20 mo of age and declined slightly in the organum vasculosum laminae terminalis but did not decline in either the supraoptic nucleus or subfornical organ. Thus the major deficits in fluid intake in aging rats are related to salt appetite; the mechanism was not identified definitively.


Live workflow monitoring and the resulting user interaction in industrial settings faces a number of challenges. A formal workflow may be unknown or implicit, data may be sparse and certain isolated actions may be undetectable given current visual feature extraction technology. This paper attempts to address these problems by inducing a structural workflow model from multiple expert demonstrations. When interacting with a naive user, this workflow is combined with spatial and temporal information, under a Bayesian framework, to give appropriate feedback and instruction. Structural information is captured by translating a Markov chain of actions into a simple place/transition petri-net. This novel petri-net structure maintains a continuous record of the current workbench configuration and allows multiple sub-sequences to be monitored without resorting to second order processes. This allows the user to switch between multiple sub-tasks, while still receiving informative feedback from the system. As this model captures the complete workflow, human inspection of safety critical processes and expert annotation of user instructions can be made. Activity classification and user instruction results show a significant on-line performance improvement when compared to the existing Hidden Markov Model or pLSA based state of the art. Further analysis reveals that the majority of our model's classification errors are caused by small de-synchronisation events rather than significant workflow deviations. We conclude with a discussion of the generalisability of the induced place/transition petri-net to other activity recognition tasks and summarise the developments of this model.


The online image and message board known as 4chan is as paradoxical as it is popular. Boasting an estimated 18 million unique monthly visitors and generating one million posts per day, the site is a locus of obscenity and bigotry, a wellspring of popular internet culture, and the birthplace of the distributed hacktivist collective known as Anonymous. In contrast to other forms of social media, no registration is required to participate on 4chan, and maintaining a persistent identity is both difficult and discouraged. Although many deride 4chan as puerile or nihilistic, I propose that a nascent form of political expression can be discerned within the site's subculture. Specifically, I explore how participants on 4chan use carnivalesque humour and memetic communication to oster a collective identity and articulate a political orientation towards the internet-summed up by the phrase "the internet is serious business"-while remaining committed to an ethic of radical anonymity. In doing so, I recast participation on 4chan as a political act, albeit one that falls outside of a normative or rational framework.


The objective of this study was to compare the receipt of preventive health services for children with and without special health care needs and to identify predictors of these health services for children with special health care needs using nationally representative data. Data from the 2002 and 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys were analyzed. A total of 18 279 children aged 3 to 17 years were included in our study. The Child Preventive Health Supplement was used to identify caregiver recall of specific health screening measures and anticipatory guidance during the previous 12 months. Odds ratios were calculated for predictive factors of preventive services for children with special health care needs


ABSTRACT The molecular mechanisms of K+ homeostasis are only poorly understood for protozoan parasites. Trypanosoma brucei subsp. parasites, the causative agents of human sleeping sickness and nagana, are strictly extracellular and need to actively concentrate K+ from their hosts' body fluids. The T. brucei genome contains two putative K+ channel genes, yet the trypanosomes are insensitive to K+ antagonists and K+ channel-blocking agents, and they do not spontaneously depolarize in response to high extracellular K+ concentrations. However, the trypanosomes are extremely sensitive to K+ ionophores such as valinomycin. Surprisingly, T. brucei possesses a member of the Trk/HKT superfamily of monovalent cation permeases which so far had only been known from bacteria, archaea, fungi, and plants. The protein was named TbHKT1 and functions as a Na+-independent K+ transporter when expressed in Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or Xenopus laevis oocytes. In trypanosomes, TbHKT1 is expressed in both the mammalian bloodstream stage and the Tsetse fly midgut stage; however, RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated silencing of TbHKT1 expression did not produce a growth phenotype in either stage. The presence of HKT genes in trypanosomatids adds a further piece to the enigmatic phylogeny of the Trk/HKT superfamily of K+ transporters. Parsimonial analysis suggests that the transporters were present in the first eukaryotes but subsequently lost in several of the major eukaryotic lineages, in at least four independent events.


We present a static magnetic solution in Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet gravity without a cosmological constant. This solution yields an asymptotically AdS-5-dimensional spacetime with a longitudinal magnetic field generated by a static magnetic brane. We also generalize this solution to the case of a spinning magnetic brane with two rotation parameters and find that the spinning magnetic brane has a net electric charge proportional to the magnitude of rotation parameters. We also find that these solutions present naked singularities. Finally, we use the counterterm method in the Gauss-Bonnet gravity and compute the conserved quantities of these spacetimes.


Multiple types of analysis and examinations are applied to analyze the causes of rupture for a sucker rod made of 20CrMo alloy. Based on the results from macro- and micro-fracture analysis, chemical composition analysis, mechanics test and metallographic examination, the generation of cracks can be attributed to the irregularity and impurity in the coating of sucker rod; the stress fatigue from pulling and pressing and the stress corrosion. There is severe banded segregation, non-metal impurity and un-dissolved ferrite in the interior of the rod, meanwhile the poor heat treatment causes the property differences between the surface and core structures of the rod, thus reduces the overall properties of fatigue- and corrosion-resistance. Stress corrosion makes pits from cracks; the expansion of such corrosion pits reduces the size of effective loading area; and the failure to endure service load due to the reduction of loading area finally causes sudden rupture of the rod.


The ceilings of the pavilions of the Court of Lions in the Alhambra (Granada, Spain) are masterpieces of the Nasrid woodwork. Made in pinewood by the 'ataurejado' technique they display a highly unusual decoration in elevensided or hendecagonal rosettes. The geometric explanation of the patterns given in the present paper considers the domes as a near miss polyhedron with eleven-sided faces or as a snub cube. It implies the cupolas of the pavilions can be considered as two early examples of (parts of) those polyhedra.


Abstract. A method designed to track the life cycle of contrail-cirrus using satellite data with high temporal and spatial resolution, from its formation to the final dissolution of the aviation-induced cirrus cloud is presented. The method follows the evolution of contrails from their linear stage until they are undistinguishable from natural cirrus clouds. Therefore, the study of the effect of aircraft-induced clouds in the atmosphere is no longer restricted to linear contrails and can include contrail-cirrus. The method takes advantage of the high spatial resolution of polar orbiting satellites and the high temporal resolution of geostationary satellites to identify the pixels that belong to an aviation induced cloud. The high spatial resolution data of the MODIS sensor is used for contrail detection, and the high temporal resolution of the SEVIRI sensor in the Rapid Scan mode is used for contrail tracking. An example is included in which the method is applied to the study of a long lived contrail over the bay of Biscay.


The thermal spike model which takes into account both ionization and nuclear energy loss processes of the projectile as distinct electronic and atomic heat sources is used to describe transient processes induced by ions in silicon. The time and space dependencies of the lattice and electron temperatures near the projectile trajectory are calculated. The contribution of the rise in temperature on defect formation and annealing is considered.


The protein tertiary structure largely determines its interaction with other molecules. Despite its importance in various structure-related tasks, fully-supervised data are often time-consuming and costly to obtain. Existing pre-training models mostly focus on amino-acid sequences or multiple sequence alignments, while the structural information is not yet exploited. In this paper, we propose a self-supervised pre-training model for learning structure embeddings from protein tertiary structures. Native protein structures are perturbed with random noise, and the pre-training model aims at estimating gradients over perturbed 3D structures. Specifically, we adopt SE(3)-invariant features as model inputs and reconstruct gradients over 3D coordinates with SE(3)-equivariance preserved. Such paradigm avoids the usage of sophisticated SE(3)-equivariant models, and dramatically improves the computational efficiency of pre-training models. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our pre-training model on two downstream tasks, protein structure quality assessment (QA) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) site prediction. Hierarchical structure embeddings are extracted to enhance corresponding prediction models. Extensive experiments indicate that such structure embeddings consistently improve the prediction accuracy for both downstream tasks.


Recent advances in functional genomics allow us to estimate the expression of several thousands of genes in the mammalian genome. Techniques such as microarrays, expressed tag sequencing (EST), serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE), subtractive cloning and differential display (DD), and two-dimensional electrophoresis gel have been extensively used to screen and analyze parallel gene expression. Some pathological processes, for example, tumorigenesis and solid tumour growth, in which the former is derived from a single-cell and the latter has a mixed-cell problem, present new challenges to the limit of these functional genomic techniques. To fully understand the functions of cells in tumorigenesis or in heterogeneous solid tumour masses, it is essential for scientists and physicians to develop a strategy to identify genomic expression profiles for a single-cell or for small numbers of cells. In this article, we review recently developed methods that enable functional genomic analysis at the single-cell or multicell level. In addition, the paper will review different techniques of single-cell genomic expression at the level of DNA, mRNA, protein and post-translational modifications.


The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-delivered intervention (CDI) to reduce heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems in college students in two randomized clinical trials. In Experiment 1, we randomized 144 students to either the CDI or an assessment-only control group with follow-ups at 1 and 12 months. In Experiment 2, we randomized 82 students to either the CDI or a delayed-assessment control group with follow-up at 1 month. In Experiment 1, participants in both groups significantly reduced their drinking at both follow-ups. Compared to the control group, the CDI group reduced their drinking significantly more at 1 and 12 months on three drinking measures at α < .05. Using a more conservative, Bonferroni-adjusted criterion yielded one significant difference in a measure of heavier drinking at the 1 month follow-up. The mean between-groups effect sizes were d = .34 and .36 at 1 and 12 months, respectively. Experiment 2. Compared to the delayed assessment control group, the CDI group significantly reduced (by the Bonferroni-adjusted criterion) their drinking on all consumption measures. These results support the effectiveness of the CDI with heavy drinking college students when used in a clinical setting. In addition, the significant reductions in typical drinking in the control group in Experiment 1 and not in Experiment 2 combined with comparable baseline characteristics suggests that the control group in Experiment 1 demonstrated assessment reactivity.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Airway mucus gel layer serves as a key delivery barrier that limits the performance of inhaled drug delivery nanoparticles. Conventional nanoparticles are readily trapped by the airway mucus and rapidly cleared from the lung via mucus clearance mechanisms. These nanoparticles cannot distribute throughout the lung airways, long-reside in the lung and/or reach the airway epithelium. To address this challenge, strategies to enhance particle penetration through the airway mucus have been developed and proof-of-concept has been established using mucus model systems.. Areas covered: In this review, we first overview the biochemical and biophysical characteristics that render the airway mucus a challenging delivery barrier. We then introduce strategies to improve particle penetration through the airway mucus. Specifically, we walk through two classes of approaches, including modification of physicochemical properties of nanoparticles and modulation of barrier properties of airway mucus. Expert opinion: State-of-the-art strategies to overcome the airway mucus barrier have been introduced and experimentally validated. However, data should be interpreted in the comprehensive context of therapeutic delivery from the site of administration to the final destination to determine clinically-relevant approaches. Further, safety should be carefully monitored, particularly when it comes to mucus-altering strategies that may perturb physiological functions of airway mucus.


In the present study, we intended to synthesize novel derivatives against Proviral Integration site of Moloney murine leukaemia virus 1 kinase, a biomarker over expressed in numerous malignancies. A novel series of derivatives containing dithiocarbamate moiety as a side chain at the second position of 2-amino benzothiazole nucleus were synthesized and characterized by spectral analysis. From the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide Assay performed, compounds 4a, 4c and 4h of the series emerged as potent anticancer agents against SK-OV-3 cell lines with half-maximal inhibitory concentration value of 34.52±0.5 μM, 34.28±0.06 μM and 29.17±0.66 μM, respectively (p<0.05) compared to standard drug doxorubicin's half-maximal inhibitory concentration value 17.07±0.05 μM. From the anti-mitotic activity studies all the compounds showed good to moderate activity with half-maximal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 1.88±0.66 to 20.91±0.34 μM, (p<0.05). The evaluation of in silico absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity and molecular descriptors, proved that the synthesized compounds posses drug like properties and are safer to the normal cells. From the molecular docking studies, compounds 4a, 4c, 4h showed good binding affinity with PIM 1 Kinase protein and retained required amino acid interaction similar to the co-crystal. Hence, this study proves 2 amino benzothiazole dithiocarbamate derivatives can be used as encouraging leads as PIM 1 Kinase inhibitors).


In the context of measurement technology, optical methods have a number of unique features. To them belong in particular the non-contact and high speed interaction with the object under test, the largely free scalability of the dimension of the probing tool, the high resolution of the data, the diversity of information channels in the light field, and the flexible adaptability of the comparative standard. On the other hand, the user is also confronted with a bunch of challenges. Here one should mention especially the indirect nature of the measurement. This fact is the origin of a number of serious consequences which make it often difficult for the practitioner to decide for optical metrology. However, the numerous information channels recommend optical principles for the solution of various inspection and measurement problems. A broad variety of techniques is sensitive for the measurement of a particular quantity such as the intensity, the frequency, the phase, the angular spectrum, the polarization state, the angular momentum, the degree of coherence and the time of flight. By applying these methods a wide spectra of quantities can be evaluated. To them belong dimensional, structural, geometrical, colorimetrical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the object under test. More modern principles such as hyper-spectral technologies are designed to measure various modalities with one system. Known under the name of multimodal measurement techniques, these systems are capable of elegantly solving complex medical, structural-mechanical or biological problems. However, the high information density in optical signals is often not only an advantage but a challenge with respect to the correct interpretation of the measured data. This talk starts with a brief summary of the advantages and disadvantages of optical metrology. Afterwards we discuss the various information channels and present examples for their exploitation. Special attention is directed to the correct interpretation of the data.


This a/r/tographic dissertation offers opportunities to interrogate curator identity and curator ways of being in both public and private spaces. Instead of an authoritative or prescriptive look at the curatorial, this dissertation as catalogue allows for uncertainty, for messiness, for vulnerable spaces where readers are invited into an exhibition of disorderly living. Stitched throughout the study are stories of mothering and the difficulties that accompanied the extremely early birth of my daughter. Becoming a mother provoked my curating in unexpected ways and allowed me to reconsider the reasons I collect, display, and perform as a curator. It was through the actual curating of familial material artifacts in the exhibition Dress Stories, I was able to map the journey of my curatorial turns. My engagement with clothing in the inquiry was informed by the work of Sandra Weber and Claudia Mitchell, where dress as a methodology allows for spaces to consider autobiography, identity, and practice. It was not until the exhibition was over, I was able to discover new ways to thread caring, collecting, and cataloging ourselves as curators, artists, researchers, teachers, and mothers. It prompts curators and teachers to consider possibilities for failure, releasing excess, and uncaring as a way to care for self, objects, and others.


In this paper, we consider security-related and energy efficiency issues in multihop wireless networks. We start our work from the observation, known in the literature, that shortest path routing creates congested areas in multihop wireless networks. These areas are critical-they generate both security and energy efficiency issues. We attack these problems and set out routing in outer space, a new routing mechanism that transforms any shortest path routing protocol (or approximated versions of it) into a new protocol that does not create congested areas, does not have the associated security-related issues, and does not encourage selfish positioning. Moreover, the network is more energy efficient than the same network using the original routing protocol (in spite of using more energy globally) and dies more gracefully. We also describe applications of our idea to mobility and to a security protocol for the detection of node replication attacks.


The influence of substrate steps and epitaxial strain on magnetic domain walls in thin films was investigated by means of spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy (Sp-STS). Domain walls in a 2 ML Fe film grown on a W(001) substrate were imaged. The domain wall width is considerably reduced when the wall is located at the step edge. This is explained by the atomic arrangement at the step edges and their influence on the ferromagnetic exchange and magnetic anisotropy. Measurements of the width of domain walls in 4 ML Fe films indicate a reduced exchange constant compared to bulk Fe. This effect is related to the reduced dimensionality but also to the huge strain of 10% in the Fe films.


On the Internet, information is largely in text form, which often includes such errors as spelling mistakes. These errors complicate natural language processing because most NLP applications aren't robust and assume that the input data is noise free. Preprocessing is necessary to deal with these errors and meet the growing need for automatic text processing. One kind of such preprocessing is automatic word spacing. This process decides correct boundaries between words in a sentence containing spacing errors, which are a type of spelling error. Except for some Asian languages such as Chinese and Japanese, most languages have explicit word spacing. In these languages, word spacing is crucial to increase readability and to accurately communicate a text's meaning. Automatic word spacing plays an important role not only as a spell-checker module but also as a preprocessor for a morphological analyzer, which is a fundamental tool for NLP applications. Furthermore, automatic word spacing can serve as a postprocessor for optical-character-recognition systems and speech recognition systems


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Midlatency auditory-evoked potentials, as measures of the anaesthetic state, were evaluated at similar levels of bispectral index in cardiac surgical patients maintained with either propofol or isoflurane anaesthesia.

METHODS
Twenty-four patients were randomly allocated to anaesthesia with propofol (n = 12) or isoflurane (n = 12). Bispectral index was maintained below 60 during surgery. Auditory-evoked potentials were collected before induction of anaesthesia, 10 min after intubation, 30 min after sternotomy, during cardiopulmonary bypass at the time of cross-clamping of the aorta and during stable mild hypothermia, after de-clamping of the aorta, and after the operation.

RESULTS
At the pre-determined time points, bispectral index values showed comparable depth of hypnosis in both groups. The latency of the Nb component of midlatency auditory-evoked potentials was significantly increased in the isoflurane group after intubation (P < 0.001) and that of both the Nb and the Pa components after sternotomy (P < 0.001) compared with the propofol group. No differences between the groups were detected with respect to haemodynamic variables. No patient reported recall of intraoperative events.

CONCLUSION
After intubation and surgical stimulation, when bispectral index was at a constant level, there was a difference in the Nb and Pa components of the midlatency auditory-evoked potentials between the two anaesthetic regimens, indicating a distinction in the state of anaesthesia. Our results suggest that the parallel use of these two electrophysiological methods can show differences in the components of anaesthesia between various anaesthesia methods in cardiac surgical patients.


The security proof of continuous variable (CV) measurement device independent (MDI) quantum key distribution (QKD) cannot be reduced to the analysis of one-mode Gaussian attacks (in particular, independent entangling-cloner attacks). To stress this point, the present work provides a very simple (almost trivial) argument, showing that there are an infinite number of two-mode Gaussian attacks which cannot be reduced to or simulated by one-mode Gaussian attacks. This result further confirms that the security analysis of CV-MDI-QKD must involve a careful minimization over two-mode attacks as originally performed in [S. Pirandola et al., Nature Photon. 9, 397-402 (2015)].


Originating in 1996, Pokémon has become the second most successful game-based franchise in the world and arguably one of the best-known examples of transmedia storytelling in youth media today. Based around creator Satoshi Tajiri's love of insect collecting, Pokémon imagines a world where wild creatures exist to be collected, trained and battle with one another. Such an ideology, simultaneously embracing both the conservation and consumption of nature, is emblematic of the larger challenges Japan has had to negotiate as a nation trying to balance economic development and environmental protection. In this way, this article argues that, when subjected to textual analysis, the Pokémon franchise can function as vernacular theory, interrogating the relationship between environmentalism, materialism and sustainable development, a series of popular youth media texts engaging with issues and subjects that are usually reserved for academia.


With the aid of an ASC-type finishing line (Automatic System Control) and continuous cooling of the rolled stock in water boxes, modern continuous light mills enable thermomechanical (controlled) rolling of SBQ-type rods (Special Bar Quality). During the thermomechanical forming (at different temperatures or cooling rates etc.), one can analyze the quality parameters of roundsection steel bars. In order to obtain better understanding to the forming conditions (temperature, strain and strain rate) and the possibility of cooling (related to its rate and time), an experiment involving continuous and discontinuous testing by means of a Gleeble plastometer was suggested. After its implementation, the attention was focused on the mathematical interpretation of the stressstrain characteristics of the steel and on metallographic observation of microstructural changes. The results achieved are of universal meaning and contribute to the theoretical understanding of controlled forming.


The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a pandemic and is threatening human health globally. Here, we report 14 newly evolved COVID-19 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) alleles those underwent a rapid increase (12 cases) or decrease (2 cases) in their frequency from between 10% and 50% in the last three months. The 14 SNPs are mostly (13/14) located in the coding region and are mainly (9/14) nonsynonymous substitutions. Out of the 14 SNPs, 12 SNPs showed a complete linkage in SNP pairs and clustered into 4 linkage groups, named LG_1 to LG_4. SNPs located in 514 and 27046 are independent events. Analyses in population genetics show that the increases in the new alleles result from genetic differentiation between Europe and America. We found that the mutants in LG_1 are driven by balancing selection and arose rapidly in Europe but not in America. The mutants in LG_2 and LG_3, also driven by balancing selection, arose rapidly in American but not in European strains. Based on analysis of geographic COVID-19 cases worldwide, we found that the mutants in LG_1 positively correlate the fatality rate of COVID-19 while those in LG_2 and LG_3 negatively correlate with the fatality rate. The correlations are statistically significant, suggesting that the virus strains possessing mutants in LG_1 are more aggressive, while those in LG_2 and LG_3 are in opposite. Further analysis revealed that mutants in LG_1 have been identified more frequently in European strains than in American strains, while mutants in LG_2 and LG_3 have been found more frequently in American strains. This may partially explain the higher fatality rates of COVID-19 infection in Italy, England and France, compared with the United States. These findings should be instructive for epidemiological surveys and disease control of COVID-19 in the future.