Graph Structure Learning (GSL) has recently garnered considerable attention due to its ability to optimize both the parameters of Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) and the computation graph structure simultaneously. Despite the proliferation of GSL methods developed in recent years, there is no standard experimental setting or fair comparison for performance evaluation, which creates a great obstacle to understanding the progress in this field. To fill this gap, we systematically analyze the performance of GSL in different scenarios and develop a comprehensive Graph Structure Learning Benchmark (GSLB) curated from 20 diverse graph datasets and 16 distinct GSL algorithms. Specifically, GSLB systematically investigates the characteristics of GSL in terms of three dimensions: effectiveness, robustness, and complexity. We comprehensively evaluate state-of-the-art GSL algorithms in node- and graph-level tasks, and analyze their performance in robust learning and model complexity. Further, to facilitate reproducible research, we have developed an easy-to-use library for training, evaluating, and visualizing different GSL methods. Empirical results of our extensive experiments demonstrate the ability of GSL and reveal its potential benefits on various downstream tasks, offering insights and opportunities for future research. The code of GSLB is available at: https://github.com/GSL-Benchmark/GSLB.


A Variscan,deep-crustal-level (eclogite-facies),continental basement massif in western Poland, the Snieznik complex, was tectonically exhumed. Crustal-penetrating mylonite zones record three main kinematic events: early top-to-the-north-directed thrusting, right-slip transpression-tension, and late top-to-the-south and -east normal faulting. Thrusting resulted in extreme crustal thickening and associated eclogite-facies metamorphism. Right-slip movements produced retrogressive crystal-plastic simple-shear zones. Normal faults flank Carboniferous to Early Permian terrigenous sedimentary basins, documenting tectonic and erosional denudation of the Snieznik complex during lithospheric extension. Sm/Nd isotopic dates previously reported for the in situ eclogite-facies metamorphic mineral assemblages are 341, 337, and 329 Ma (Brueckner et al., 1991). 40 Ar/ 39 Ar isotopic dates for metamorphic hornblende (338, 333, and 332 Ma), muscovite (329 and 329 Ma), and biotite (328 Ma) reflect times of cooling through the ∼500, 350, and 300 °C isotherms, respectively. These nearly concordant mineral dates document rapid cooling from ∼850 °C (eclogue-facies temperatures) to ∼300 °C. Rapid denudation of these deep-crustal rocks (∼19-22 kbar pressures, >70 km depth) is attributed to processes, similar to those of metamorphic-core complexes, that operated during lithospheric delamination and gravitational collapse. The sequence of late Paleozoic (Alleghanian) crustal thickening followed by right-slip transpression-tension followed by normal faulting recognized in the U.S. Appalachians implies that this tectonic pattern may exist throughout the Afleghanian-Variscan belt.


Using a previously developed reliable and valid treatment‐related mortality (TRM) definition, our objective was to describe the proportion of children newly diagnosed with cancer experiencing TRM and to identify risk factors for TRM in a population‐based cohort. We included children with cancer <19 years diagnosed and treated in Ontario who were diagnosed between 2003 and 2012. Children with cancer were identified using data in a provincial registry. Cumulative incidence of TRM was calculated where progressive disease death was considered a competing event. Among the 5179 children included, 179 had TRM, 478 died of progressive disease, and 4522 were still alive. At 5 years, the cumulative incidence of TRM among the entire cohort was 3.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.3–4.5%). When compared to brain tumor patients, leukemia and lymphoma patients had a significantly higher risk of TRM (hazard ratio (HR) 2.5, 95% CI: 1.6–4.0; P < 0.0001). Infants were at significantly higher risk of TRM across diagnostic groups. Other factors associated with higher risks of TRM were metastatic disease (P < 0.0001), diagnosis prior to 1 January 2008 (P = 0.001), hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) (P < 0.0001), and relapse (P < 0.0001). The 5‐year cumulative incidence of TRM was 3.9% among newly diagnosed children with cancer. Infants were at higher risk of TRM across diagnostic groups. Other risk factors for TRM were leukemia or lymphoma, metastatic disease, earlier diagnosis year, HSCT, and relapse. Future work should further refine prognostic factors by specific cancer diagnosis to best understand when and how to intervene to improve outcomes.


Although mental health court has been found to increase quality of life and functioning, it is unknown whether community stability indicators predict program completion and delay re-arrest for homeless versus non-homeless mental health court participants. Self-reported quality of life and social support, chart diagnosis, and administrative housing, services and criminal justice data were collected for 589 Bronx Mental Health Court participants for 12 months following diversion. Individuals who were homeless (n = 89) versus housed (n = 500) during the 12 months prior to diversion were compared to determine predictors of court graduation and re-arrest. Homeless status did not predict graduation or re-arrest, and quality of life, social support, functioning and housing type were not predictive of re-arrest. Housing instability negatively affected outcomes for both homeless and non-homeless individuals. An increase in functioning and a slight improvement in social support were predictive of successful graduation for homeless individuals, whereas a large increase in social support and lower functioning had a negative impact. In contrast, positive life satisfaction was predictive of successful graduation in non-homeless participants. Those who did not complete mental health court, whether homeless or not, were more likely to be re-arrested, particularly for felony and drug-related offenses than those who graduated. Mental health court was generally beneficial to mental health court participants. However, for those previously homeless, functioning and social support may play a unique and interconnected role in court graduations, whereas general life satisfaction may be a better indicator for program completion for non-homeless individuals.


Abstract The article presents the description of technological trials and the results of three methods of machining carbon fiber reinforced composites panels. It also reviews the literature concerned heat affected zone in composites and its influence on material properties. As a part of the research, the cutting method using diamond coated saw was tested, as well as the milling method with two different types of carbide milling cutters. The processing of the panels was done using 4-axis CNC machine with special adapter for cutting discs in Composite Testing Laboratory (Center for Composite Technologies, Warsaw Institute of Aviation). The methods were compared in terms of machined edge quality and panel temperature during the processes. For this purpose, thermocouples were mounted into panels. Records from thermocouples were included. Edge quality and surface roughness have been checked by microscopic observation. Additionally, samples machined by each evaluated processing method were tested using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The method was used to determine the glass transition temperature of the tested material. The article conclusions contain a comparison of three processing methods in terms of cutting quality, process temperature, processing method productivity as well as DSC tests results.


Abstract Motivation Both single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and DNA sequencing (scDNA-seq) have been applied for cell-level genomic profiling. For mutation profiling, the latter seems more natural. However, the task is highly challenging due to the limited input materials from only two copies of DNA molecules, while whole-genome amplification generates biases and other technical noises. ScRNA-seq starts with a higher input amount, so generally has better data quality. There exists various methods for mutation detection from DNA sequencing, it is not clear whether these methods work for scRNA-seq data. Results Mutation detection methods developed for either bulk-cell sequencing data or scDNA-seq data do not work well for the scRNA-seq data, as they produce substantial numbers of false positives. We develop a novel and robust statistical method—called SCmut—to identify specific cells that harbor mutations discovered in bulk-cell data. Statistically SCmut controls the false positives using the 2D local false discovery rate method. We apply SCmut to several scRNA-seq datasets. In scRNA-seq breast cancer datasets SCmut identifies a number of highly confident cell-level mutations that are recurrent in many cells and consistent in different samples. In a scRNA-seq glioblastoma dataset, we discover a recurrent cell-level mutation in the PDGFRA gene that is highly correlated with a well-known in-frame deletion in the gene. To conclude, this study contributes a novel method to discover cell-level mutation information from scRNA-seq that can facilitate investigation of cell-to-cell heterogeneity. Availability and implementation The source codes and bioinformatics pipeline of SCmut are available at https://github.com/nghiavtr/SCmut. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


Dimensional analysis (DA) is a fundamental method in the engineering and physical sciences for analytically reducing the number of experimental variables affecting a given phenomenon prior to experimentation. Two powerful advantages associated with the method relative to standard design of experiment (DOE) approaches are (a) a priori dimension reduction and (b) scalability of results. The latter advantage permits the experimenter to effectively extrapolate results to similar experimental systems of differing scale. Unfortunately, DA experiments are underused because very few statisticians are familiar with them. In this article, we first provide an overview of DA and give basic recommendations for designing DA experiments. Next, we consider various risks associated with the DA approach, the foremost among them is the possibility that the analyst might omit a key explanatory variable, leading to an incorrect DA model. When this happens, the DA model will fail and experimentation will be largely wasted. To protect against this possibility, we develop a robust-DA design approach that combines the best of the standard empirical DOE approach with our suggested design strategy. Results are illustrated with some straightforward applications of DA. A Matlab code for computing robust-DA designs is available as supplementary material online.


In The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics, sociologist Arthur Frank uses narratology to typologize the stories people tell about illness. Next to teleological stories of survival, which "reassure the listener that however bad things look, a happy ending is possible", Frank discusses "the chaos narrative" in which "events are told as the storyteller experiences life: without sequence or discernible causality" 97. While the storytellers discussed by Frank mostly suffer from physical ailments and traumas, I would argue that the chaotic mode of telling also characterizes texts that explore other kinds of traumas, including those related to displacement and shaming experienced by several generations of Koreans and Americans of Korean descent. Drawing on affect studies, I analyze Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's DICTEE 1982 alongside two essays, by Grace M. Cho and Hosu Kim published in The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social 2007, all of which use the collage form to challenge the expectation that "in life as in story, one event [leads] to another" Frank 97. The speech act is foregrounded in all three texts; it is de-naturalized, deformed, shown as a recitation of prescribed language, and repeatedly interrupted. Nonetheless, as Frank suggests, "the physical act becomes the ethical act" because "to tell one's life is to assume responsibility for that life." It also allows others to "begin to speak through that story" xx–xxi.


The diagnostic procedures that are recently included in the basic standards for glaucoma is OCT and other digital devices (HRT, SLP and others). The study is prospective-retrospective and longitudinal, encompassing 100 patients suspected for glaucoma, which were proceeded to the University Eye Clinic for investigation.
All the patients were completely check-up in the beginning of the study _and after 6 months. The diagnosis of glaucoma is determined based upon the presence of:increased IOP, glaucomatous disc and a confirmed defect in the field of vision or OCT results. The protocol included visual acuity, IOP, gonioscopy, funduscopy,visual fields, OCT, anamnesis and history of the disease, checkup for risk factors.
The aims of the study were: to investigate to correlation between diagnostic findings of OCT and visual fields in new diagnosed glaucoma patients, to correlate the meaning
of visual field and OCT in the diagnosis of glaucoma, to correlate the values of AT total, AT superior and AT inferior to correlate the finding of VF and OCT with
visual acuity, to correlate the findings of OCT and IOP , to correlate the C/D ratio with OCT and visual field findings. Conclusions: average thickness of the retinal nerve fiber layer at glaucoma patients is negatively correlated with the values of intraocular pressure; the relationship between VA and total average thickness in OCT showed significant negative correlation in eyes with glaucoma. Considering the wide variability of structure-visual acuity relationship in glaucoma patients, the clinicians should take this variables into account to predict the visual acuity in advanced glaucoma patients; the mean deviation in visual field testing did not showed correlation with average thickness.
The AT total did not show significant correlation with the mean deviation which shows that in the first stadiums of glaucomatous damage there is no predictable values from RNFLT and MD comparing.
Keywords: Glaucoma, OCT, Visual field, Average thickness


Objective: The primary objective of this study is to describe the effectiveness of a topical treatment protocol for provoked vestibulodynia. The protocol is a 5-7 day trial of 5% lidocaine ointment, followed by a one to two week trial of 0.25% mg desoximetasone and 2% mupirocin ointments in those patients not responding to the lidocaine. As part of the treatment, patients also receive focused training regarding pain site identification and application of the ointments.
Methods: A retrospective chart review found 124 patients diagnosed with provoked vestibulodynia between August 2006 and January 2009 who were treated according to the treatment protocol. Extracted from the medical records was reported symptom improvement immediately following treatment and after a minimum 6 months follow-up.
Results: The majority of these patients had secondary provoked vestibulodynia with 56.5% reporting symptom(s) duration of greater than 1 year. The rate of positive response to the treatment protocol was 91%. The rate of positive response (90%) continued over a minimum six-month follow-up period, with 96.4% of the positive responders reporting persistent pain relief.
Conclusions: Topical overnight 5% lidocaine ointment alone or 5% lidocaine ointment followed by 0.25% mg desoximetasone and 2% mupirocin ointments alleviated symptoms of provoked vestibulodynia over a minimum 6 month follow-up in 90% of the subjects. Accurate patient identification of painful vestibular sites at the periurethral and posterior vestibular areas as well as patient education as to how to apply the ointments is critical component of this therapy.


The Peer Education and Support Program (PESP) is the consumer participation program at the Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) in Victoria. PESP is a diverse group of people who have experienced homelessness who are trained and supported to undertake a range of activities to improve the response to homelessness, educate and raise awareness about homelessness and promote consumer input into homelessness policy and service design and delivery.


We consider the problem of learning sparse polymatrix games from observations of strategic interactions. We show that a polynomial time method based on $\ell_{1,2}$-group regularized logistic regression recovers a game, whose Nash equilibria are the $\epsilon$-Nash equilibria of the game from which the data was generated (true game), in $\mathcal{O}(m^4 d^4 \log (pd))$ samples of strategy profiles --- where $m$ is the maximum number of pure strategies of a player, $p$ is the number of players, and $d$ is the maximum degree of the game graph. Under slightly more stringent separability conditions on the payoff matrices of the true game, we show that our method learns a game with the exact same Nash equilibria as the true game. We also show that $\Omega(d \log (pm))$ samples are necessary for any method to consistently recover a game, with the same Nash-equilibria as the true game, from observations of strategic interactions. We verify our theoretical results through simulation experiments.


We solve Einstein equations coupled to a complex scalar field with infinitely large self-interaction, degenerate fermions, and a negative cosmological constant in (2 + 1) dimensions. Exact solutions for static boson-fermion stars are found when circular symmetry is assumed. We find that the minimum binding energy of boson-fermion star takes a negative value if the value of the cosmological constant is sufficiently small. PACS number(s): 04.20.Jb, 04.40.Dg Typeset using REVTEX ∗e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com 1


The opening and expansion of global markets has created and exacerbated resource curses, the phenomenon in which natural resource abundance creates governance problems. Yet international legal scholarship has been slow to recognize the relationship between freer trade and the financing of internal conflicts. While legal academics have long debated law's role in addressing conflict generally, few have systematically addressed the intersection of trade regulation and prevention or abatement of internal conflict. This article looks closely at a recent regulatory effort to address the global trade in so-called blood diamonds which are a particularly destructive example of a resource curse. As many are seeking an appropriate model for resource curses generally, I develop a case study of blood diamonds and the Kimberley Process, an international commodity tracking regime. This article investigates both the scope of the Kimberley Process's regulatory reach as well as the mechanisms by which those regulations are promulgated and enforced. This article focuses on the unique coalition of NGOs, corporations, and states and the unusual international arrangement upon which they agreed. Evidence from the evolution of that institution suggests that although designers may indeed seek to maximize their own interests - the legalization elements of that international institution such as the obligations the regime creates, the precision with which those obligations are defined, and the possible delegation of interpretive and enforcement efforts determine whether an institution can regulate effectively and when it may move beyond the designers' original interests. In accumulating and assessing this evidence, this article contends that although skeptics may correctly identify the Kimberley Process's initial alignment with state and corporate interests, this lightly legalized regime provides an opportunity for substantial progress on human rights. Although the Kimberley Process might appear as an attempt to whitewash state and corporate abuses, over time, the institution can, though need not necessarily, evolve over time to address both the rebel induced and state inflicted human rights violations related to the diamond trade. In so doing, this article acknowledges the importance and potential stickiness of initial design choices and that institutional evolution in favor of issue expansion and greater enforcement is merely feasible rather than inevitable. Thus, this article demonstrates some of the possibilities and limitations of looking to the Kimberley Process as a model for resource curses, and more generally for other areas in which NGOs seek to align state, corporate, and human rights interests.


"Honey Money" shows how men and women can do better in the workplace and life by boosting their attractiveness. Why are some people a success at everything? Why do doors open for them wherever they go? The answer, Catherine Hakim shows, is the power of erotic capital: a magic combination of attractiveness and charisma that is at the heart of how we work, live and conduct our relationships. She reveals why erotic capital is just as influential as how rich, clever or well-connected you are in life - often more so. And how reading this book can help you boost your potential. "Should be read out to young girls because it states that you can be a feminist, you can be strong and independent and clever, and you can wear a nice frock and high heels while you do this". (Bryony Gordon", "Daily Telegraph").


In this present era, the development of mobile technology runs very fast along with the human's needed to obtain information that the higher and infinite. Technology of Wideband Code Division Multiple Access is an access technology that was developed as a standard of third-generation (3G) mobile telephone technology. Technology of WCDMA use chip rate of 3.84 Mbps that allows customers to obtain the use of high speeds data transfer for each user. With these technologies are expected to be obtained of good quality also for voice services. Measuring the quality of calls for service WCDMA system can be done by looking at some network Quality of Service parameters. Low QoS value is caused by some disturbance that occurred on the network, one that is drop call. Analysis of the drop call can be done through observation of statistical data. In addition, to find out the actual situation of liver location drop call can be made through the analysis of drive test data.
Process of voice services analysis is done by making the simulation program using Matlab 7.8. The simulation consists of three main parts: analysis of statistical data drop call, analysis of drop call data simulation, and analysis of drive test data simulation. Several parameters used in the process of drop call data analysis, among others, drop call is caused missing neighbor, soft handover, IRAT / hard handover, congestion, out of synchronization, other factors, and establish the call. For the simulation of drive test data, the parameters used, among others, and then BLER (Block Error Rate), RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), CPICH RSCP (Common Pilot Channel Received Signal Code Power), CPICH Ec / No (Common Pilot Channel Ec / No) , SQI (Speech Quality Index), and TxPo (Transmitter Power).
The results show a base station will require optimization if the value of Speech Drop Rate exceeds 2%. From some BTS PT. Indosat have been analized, mostly located in SDR value is not high, except in the BTS 3G Candi_Asri in sector 1, JlKartini in sector 1, and Tanah_Putih in sector 2 that is equal to 2.3375%, 2.3983% and 9.3993%. The cause of the drop call largely due to the missing neighbor, and the failure of soft handover on the BTS. Analysis of drive test results showed most of the factors that affect the poor quality of voice service calls because of interference.
Keywords: WCDMA, voice, quality, drop call, drive test


Flight timetabling can greatly impact an airline's operating profit, yet data-driven or model-based solutions to support it remain limited. Timetabling optimization is significantly complicated by two factors. First, it exhibits strong interdependencies with subsequent fleet assignment decisions of the airlines. Second, flights' departure and arrival times are important determinants of passenger connection opportunities, of the attractiveness of each (nonstop or connecting) itinerary, and, in turn, of passengers' booking decisions. Because of these complicating factors, most existing approaches rely on incremental timetabling. This paper introduces an original integrated optimization approach to comprehensive flight timetabling and fleet assignment under endogenous passenger choice. Passenger choice is captured by a discrete-choice generalized attraction model. The resulting optimization model is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program. This paper also proposes an original multiphase solution approach, which effectively combines several heuristics, to optimize the network-wide timetable of a major airline within a realistic computational budget. Using case study data from Alaska Airlines, computational results suggest that the combination of this paper's model formulation and solution approaches can result in significant profit improvements as compared with the most advanced incremental approaches to flight timetabling. Additional computational experiments based on several extensions also demonstrate the benefits of this modeling and computational framework to support various types of strategic airline decision making in the context of frequency planning, revenue management, and postmerger integration.


: The authors discuss mechanisms of action of immunocorrectors the targets of which are various populations of antigen-presenting lymphoid cells and approaches to application of modulators with different mechanisms of action in disease. To assess a long-term effect of the drug which produces an oscillatory effect (activation/suppression) on T and B cell activity, competitive relations between T and B cells should be tested and taken into account. Common practice of immunocorrection on the basis of T cell activity without consideration of the functional state of other lymphoid sets, especially B cells, deteriorates efficacy of immunocorrection. It is necessary to know the time of T- and B-cell activation and suppression to schedule combined use of drugs with different mechanisms of action.


Abstract The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) provides one example of successful invaders in novel environments. However, little attention has been devoted to exploring the factors regulating zebra mussel density and population size structure at the local scale. We tested effects of physicochemical factors and fish predation on the density of zebra mussels at several sites and between years in a natural lake. Water depth and roach (Rutilus rutilus) density were the most important variables affecting local zebra mussel density. Substrate was also an important factor but affected Dreissena density only at the shallowest depth examined (2 m), which also supported a large population of the mussels. Mean shell length of Dreissena increased with water depth. Our results indicate that predation pressure, intraspecific competition, and food limitation might be responsible for variation in zebra mussel density and population size structure in space and time and that fish predation might have strong top-down effects on zebra mussel populations.


Champaner‐Pavagadh, like many other heritage sites in India, is both an historic and ethnographic landscape. It possesses a unique status as a medieval city—Champaner—frozen in time, more or less protected by its sudden abandonment 450 years ago. At the same time, it is a living sacred site—Pavagadh Hill—visited annually by millions, with a resident population. Efforts are underway to declare the hill and the remains of the medieval city at its foot an archaeological park, which will ensure protection and conservation of cultural and natural resources. The challenge in designing the site as an archaeological park lies in articulating the pastoral image conjured up by the term in a manner that does not belie complex issues of land ownership, varied use, and ecological integrity of the site. Working landscapes—farms, flower fields, orchards, and nurseries—can be employed as a landscape‐design typology to ensure sustainability and to preserve and frame sightlines to monuments. Garden archaeology is necessary to uncover the symbiotic relationship between buildings and gardens of medieval Champaner.


We construct all the unitary cubic curvature gravity theories built on the contractions of the Riemann tensor in D-dimensional (anti)-de Sitter spacetimes. Our construction is based on finding the equivalent quadratic action for the general cubic curvature theory and imposing ghost and tachyon freedom, which greatly simplifies the highly complicated problem of finding the propagator of cubic curvature theories in constant curvature backgrounds. To carry out the procedure we have also classified all the unitary quadratic models. We use our general results to study the recently found cubic curvature theories using different techniques and the string generated cubic curvature gravity model. We also study the scattering in critical gravity and give its cubic curvature extensions.


The Fairfax ASAP, one of 35 federally funded alcohol countermeasure projects designed to attack the problem of drunken drivers on the highways, was implemented at the community level in January 1972. This report summarizes the results of data obtained to measure the project's impact on the selected ultimate performance indicators at the end of the fourth year of project operations, 1975. Data for 1975 indicate a significant change in trends of several ultimate performance measures in the Fairfax ASAP area. There was a significant decrease in the number of personal injuries, personal injury crashes, fatal injuries, fatal injury crashes and property damage crashes from what would have been predicted by linear regression analysis based upon trends established over the past ten years. These changes are significant at the 95% confidence level. No such change was evident in the control community, Henrico County, in any of the performance categories except property damage crashes. (The reduction in property damage crashes in both Fairfax and Henrico was likely the result of a change in accident reporting criteria, and probably does not reflect a change in the incidence of property damage accidents.) While another performance indicator, the average blood alcohol concentration of drivers in the ASAP area showed little change during the 1972-1974 period, the mean BAC for 1975 was the lowest in recent years. The mean BAC for fatally injured drivers was .126% in 1975, compared to the previous six year low of .148% in 1973. The average number of fatally injured drivers with positive BAC's during the operational period of the ASAP (1972-1975) was virtually identical to the pre-ASAP average. The average BAC levels for drivers arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI) but not involved in crashes declined from .19% in 1972 to 16% in 1975. While this decline might be attributable to a reduction in the "pool" of intoxicated drivers, it should be noted that the presumptive limit for drunk driving was changed from .15% to .10% in 1972. Therefore, intuitively, the average BAC should be lower since the pool of drivers subject to arrest for DWI was increased on the lower end of the BAC scale. An analysis of BAC distributions in quarter 16 versus those in quarter i confirms that a statistically significant change occurred. BAC levels were significantly lower in quarter 16 than in quarter 1. In terms of the cost benefit analysis, the actual societal costs resulting from accidents in Fairfax during 1975 were significantly lower than the projected costs based on pre ASAP trends.


Adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) are a very attractive cell source for regenerative and reconstructive medicine. Although ADSCs have already been used in cardiovascular disease and cosmetic surgery, they have not yet been used in gastroenterological surgery. In this study, we clarified the utility of the combined application of ADSCs and resected intraperitoneal fatty tissues as a sealant for the pelvic dead space that sometimes causes severe and fatal complications in colorectal and gynecological surgeries. In pelvic dead space model mice, mouse ADSCs efficiently maintained transplanted intraperitoneal fatty tissues without any incidence of adhesion to surrounding organs. In vivo and in vitro analyses revealed that transplanted ADSCs differentiated into endothelial cells by expressing the angiogenic factors vascular endothelial growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor. Mouse and human ADSCs contained a CD45−CD34+ subset possessing high colony formation and sphere formation abilities. In addition, the CD45−CD34+ subset consisted of two characteristic subsets: the CD34+CD90+ angiogenic subset and the CD34+CD90− adipogenic subset. Grafts of human ADSCs with fat transplanted into mice were efficiently maintained for more than 12 months without volume reductions. A comparative study of graft maintenance efficacy between cultured human ADSCs and freshly isolated ADSCs indicated that the cultivation of ADSCs decreased their graft maintenance ability. These findings suggested that the angiogenic and adipogenic subsets act in coordination with each other and are essential for efficient graft maintenance.


Objectives. To explore the effect of inorganic forms of magnesium (magnesium nitrate, magnesium sulfate, magnesium chloride) on the course of experimental ischemic stroke (II). Material and methods. The experimental ischemic stroke caused by the occlusion of two carotid arteries in Wistar rats was studied. Animals were divided into 6 case (n=168) and 2 control groups (n=56). In case groups, magnesium was injected 1h before the occlusion of both carotid arteries and 1-2h after the brain ischemia. Control groups received physiological solution in the same periods. Results. Magnesium nitrate, regardless of the period of injection, had the significant positive effect on the dynamics of neurological lesions and mortality of animals. Conclusions. Magnesium nitrate meets the majority of criteria required for ideal pharmacological drugs: it is inexpensive, easy available, easy injectable and does not cause any serious adverse effects.


Methods to evaluate the adhesion of thin evaporated films to their substrate were devised. One was to pull down and the other to twist off a rod whose bottom was cemented with epoxy to the film. The critical force or torque to strip off the film from the substrate was taken as a measure of the adhesion. It was important to maintain adequate temperature and humidity [16 °C (61°F) and below 60 percent] during the cementing and measurement, to assure the high adhesion of the cement and the reproducibility of the result. The adhesion of thin films of aluminum, silver, and copper to substrates of mild steel and glass was studied, along with the adhesion of epoxy and other cements. It was found that the critical force and torque were proportional not to the 3rd power as expected but rather to the 2.5 ∼ 2.9th power of the rod diameter. In the case of thin films, the dispersion of the measured values was very large. The dispersion and also the ratio of tensile to shear adhesive strength increased rapidly with the decrease in adhesion. This is contrary to the effects of the small dispersion, the independence of the dispersion, and the ratio on the adhesion in the case of cement itself. Also mentioned is an experiment on the fracture of brittle substrates such as silicon wafers which sometimes happened during the measurement.


Background: The number of elderly people in need of help with the activities of daily living in the EU is rapidly increasing, while the number of young workers is decreasing. Elderly care will, therefore, also have to be provided by intelligent computer systems. Methods: A prototype elderly-care system, developed at the Jožef Stefan Institute, mostly as part of the Confidence project, is presented. The prototype detects falls and behavior changes in the elderly. It learns from experience and is based on intelligent interpretation of movement patterns. Three sets of tests were performed to evaluate its properties on various subjects when engaged in normal activities, falling and imitations of several health problems under medical supervision. The key novelty was in locationbased sensors and advanced intelligent methods. Results: The prototype using the Ubisense sensor system, which detects the locations of tags worn on the body, correctly recognized 96 % of falls, significantly outperforming simple accelerometer- based systems. In addition, it recognized up to 99 % of abnormal behavior. Conclusions: Experimental results showed that an intelligent system coupled with advanced location sensors can achieve the level of performance needed in real life. The system offers significantly better performance than commercially available solutions, and once the price of sensors decreases, its widespread application seems likely.


Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain, but its regulation of BDNF release is not fully understood. To further understand the regulation of BDNF release, the microglial cell line, C8‐D1A (microglia, in short), were cultured as a model. The levels of BDNF were determined by enzyme‐linked immunoassay. Apoptotic microglia were assessed by flow cytometry. The protease‐activated receptor 2 (PAR2) was activated by tryptase. Exposure to corticotripin releasing hormone (CRH) induced BDNF release from microglia. Apoptosis was evident in microglia after activation by CRH. Tryptase‐induced PAR2 activation reduced the frequency of apoptosis of microglia, but enhanced the BDNF levels in the culture medium, which was partially blocked by PAR2 antagonists. We conclude that PAR2 agonists can promote the BDNF release from microglia; the PAR2 antagonists may be a potential therapeutic target to attenuate the BDNF‐related neuropathic pain.


We investigate the neural correlates of visual working memory using electroencephalography (EEG). Our objective is to develop a cognitive Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) able to monitor visual working memory load in real-time. A system with these properties would eventually have different applications, such as training, rehabilitation, or safety while operating dangerous machinery. The BCI performances were evaluated using cross-validation. With an appropriately chosen classification threshold, it is possible to detect high working memory load with a sensitivity of 68% and a specificity of 72%. However, it is well known that some subjects are BCI illiterate, meaning that up to 30% of the users have too high signal variability to use EEG-based BCI systems. If we analyse each subject individually, it is possible to detect high working memory load with a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 81% (accuracy = 81%) for a typical good subject. Changes due to visual working memory load were observed in frontal, parietal, and occipital regions.


Food consumption pattern has been suspected as a factor that cause hypertension, whereas other than that it may also induced by another life style. Farmers ' hypertension prevalence is growing up in rural areas. This fact shows that the activity of farm as heavy as how farmers facing their problem in daily live. The aim of the study is explaining how the food consumption pattern of farmers induced hypertension meanwhile they are living in the rural areas, as the firsthand customer of the fresh product from farming and agroindustry. An observational analytic study by using asymmetry association of lambda was conducted to prove the correlation between hypertensive pattern consumption and prevalence hypertension of farmers. One hundred respondents (from Mayang and Ledokombo districts) were given food frequency questionnaire. The results showed the food pattern with high level of cholesterol, dairy milk and the product of it and using high mono sodium glutamate, were having a significant level of p value (< 0,05). It means there are strong correlation between them to hypertension prevalence.


The corpus of research presented in this thesis applies a process-oriented perspective to understanding the interplay between marital conflict, parent-child relations and children's adjustment Specifically, this thesis focuses on the conceptually important question concerning the relative impact of parent-child warmth versus hostility on children's appraisals of the interparental and parent-child relationship, and how children's appraisals mediate the influence of parent-child relations on children's adjustment in the context of a discordant interparental relationship. Using data from a sample of over 500 children, parents and teachers living in the United Kingdom, a set of interlocking studies were conducted. First, two studies addressed the direction of effects between marital conflict and parent-child warmth and hostility, and between parent-child warmth and hostility and children's internalising symptoms and externalising problems. In addition, differences according to parent and child gender, and parent and child reports of interparental and parent-child relations were identified. This provided a necessary first step to confirm the orienting influence of marital conflict on the quality of parent-child relations, and to identify the influence of parent-child relations on children's adjustment, whilst also considering the theoretically plausible alternative that children's behaviour influences parents' expressions of warmth and hostility within parent-child relations, which, in turn, may influence the level of interparental conflict. Following on from this, a third study examined the mediating role of parent-child warmth and hostility in accounting for the relationship between interparental conflict and children's long-term internalising symptoms and externalising problems. This study examined the relative influence of parental hostile and rejecting behaviour versus warm and responsive behaviour on children's adjustment considered in the context of marital conflict. Finally, an integrative model examined whether the affective quality of parent-child relations determines children's appraisals of parent-child insecurity and children's perceptions of threat and self-blame derived from exposure to interparental conflict, and in turn, how these appraisals of marital and parent-child relations determine changes in children's symptoms of psychological and behavioural distress. Collectively, the studies contained within this thesis are among the very first to systematically consider the direction of effects between interparental conflict, parent- child warmth and hostility and children's adjustment and serve as a primer for researchers interested in factors that may reduce children's maladjustment in response to a discordant marital relationship.


Audiovisual translation (AVT) has been exhaustively studied from various perspectives such as Cross-cultural Studies or Reception Studies. More recently, attention has been paid to its value in teaching foreign languages. However, in spite of the numerous descriptive papers on the didactic potential of AVT, relatively few are based on empirical research and even fewer when referring to the teaching of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Thus, this case study aims to contribute to this field by taking the pulse of the didactic opportunities that AVT, in particular subtitling, offers in ESP and to provide a sample of activities that enhance the development of the skill of listening comprehension by the use of materials which are real and attractive to students


The Copper Basin district, Yavapai County, contains a "porphyry Cu" type Cu-Mo deposit in which the bulk of ore mineralization appears to have been controlled by pipe structures. Mineralization is associated with a composite stock of presumed Laramide age which has intruded older Precambrian metamorphosed sediments and intrusive rocks. The Laramide stock is thought to have an elongated "beet" shape with a restricted orifice at depth. Its intrusive units range in composition from diorite to aplite, but mineralization appears to be most closely associated with quartz monzonite and quartz monzonite porphyry units. Mineral deposits of the district have a rough zonal arrangement with Cu-Mo mineralization in the center surrounded by an aureole of Pb-Zn-Ag occurrences. Mineralized breccia pipes are roughly cylindrical, near vertical structures ranging in diameter from 50 to 600 ft. A composite pile is composed of a central core of heterogeneous, rotated, angular to rounded rock fragments surrounded by a zone of nonrotated crackle breccia. The fragments are cemented by quartz and may be mineralized with pyrite, chalcopyrite, and molybdenite. The pipes are thought to have been conduits through which late magmatic fluids, collecting near the restricted root of the stock, passed upward. An individual pipe was initiated by passage of fluid upward along a vertical line such as an intersection of faults or fractures. From this channel, fluid worked into the adjacent fractured rocks and corroded fragments that were eventually loosened and moved in the conduit, gradually enlarging the pipe. Quartz later precipitated, filling all of the open space and choking the conduit. Successive flexures of the stock or recurrent movement on regional faults fractured this quartz in some of the pipes, and later hydrothermal solutions tended to follow these conduits, both because of their location on deep-seated structures and because the fractured quartz provided relatively high permeability. Hydrothermal solutions, preceding and accompanying ore deposition, spread outward from the pipes and formed overlapping aureoles of alteration. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, and molybdenite were deposited along fracture surfaces throughout a large area in Copper Basin, but higher grade mineralization was generally confined to fractured pipe structures.


PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to analyze the long-term survival of implants and implant-retained prostheses in patients after ablative surgery of oral cancer with or without adjunctive radiation therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Between 1997 and 2008, 66 patients who had undergone ablative tumor surgery in the oral cavity were treated with dental implants (n = 262). Thirty-four patients received radiation therapy in daily fractions of 2 Gy administered on 18 to 30 days. Implants were inserted in the maxilla (49; 18.7%) or mandible (213; 81.3%), in non-irradiated residual (65; 24.8%) or grafted bone (44; 16.8%) and in irradiated residual (15.6%) or grafted bone (39; 14.9%). Seventeen fixed protheses and 53 removable dentures (34 bar attachments, 9 telescopic and 10 ball retained dentures) were inserted.

RESULTS
Mean follow-up after implant insertion was 47.99 (±34.31) months (range 12-140 months). The overall 1-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates of all implants were 96.6%, 96.6%, and 86.9%, respectively. Fourteen implants were lost in nine patients (5.3% of all implants); eight implants were primary losses, and five secondary losses because of an operation of tumor recurrence. There was no significantly lower implant survival for implants inserted into irradiated bone (p = .302), bone and/or soft-tissue grafts (p = .436), and maxilla or mandible (p = .563). All prosthetic restorations in patients without tumor recurrence could be maintained during the observation period.

CONCLUSIONS
Implant survival is not significantly influenced by radiation therapy, grafts (bone and/or soft tissue), or location (maxilla or mandible). However, implants placed in irradiated bone exhibit a higher failure rate during the healing period than those placed in non-irradiated bone. No superstructure was particularly favorable. Osseointegrated implants can be used successfully in patients with prior history of ablative surgery with and without additional radiation therapy.


The U.S. federal judiciary has frequently displayed a dismissive attitude toward "fashion," while simultaneously recognizing the great economic importance of clothing. As fashion was, from the formation of the United States until at least the late 1960s, associated primarily with the female sex, while judges during this time period were almost exclusively male, one naturally wonders whether the power dynamics of gender shaped the development of the law pertaining to fashion. There is good reason to believe that this has indeed been the case.


Esophageal cancer is the sixth most common cancer in male causing death worldwide. It is usually diag- nosed at advanced stage with high postoperative recurrence and systemic metastasis, which leads to poor prog- nosis. The potential inhibitory effect of herbal medicines on metastasis of esophageal cancer has drawn research- ers' great attention. In the present study, the anti-invasion activities of Andrographis paniculata (AP) have been evaluated in two esophageal cancer cell lines, EC-109 and KYSE-520, as well as human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1). The anti-tumor and anti-metastatic activities of AP were also evaluated in human esophageal xen- ograft-bearing mouse models. Our results demonstrated for the first time that aqueous extract of AP inhibited the motility and invasion of esophageal cancer cells, which is the initial step of metastasis, without cytotoxicity. Anoikis resistance has also been reversed in AP-treated cancer cells. Besides, the expression of metastasis-related gene TM4SF3 in EC-109 cells was significantly decreased in AP extract-treated cells in a concentration-dependent man- ner. Furthermore, the anti-tumor and anti-metastatic efficacies in subcutaneous and intraperitoneal esophageal xenograft-bearing mice were demonstrated after oral administration of AP aqueous extract for 3 weeks. Last but not least, the active component, isoandrographolide, responsible for the anti-migratory activity was firstly revealed here. In conclusion, the AP aqueous extract exerted inhibitory activities on the migration and anoikis resistance of esophageal cancer cells EC-109 and KYSE-520, as well as suppressed the proliferation and motility of endothelial cells. Combining the mentioned effects may account for the anti-tumor and anti-metastasis effects of AP aqueous extract in xenograft-bearing mice. The findings in the present study further enhance the understanding of the thera - peutic mechanisms of the herb AP, which may lead to clinical applications.


Eusocial insect colonies divide behaviors among specialist groups called castes. In some species, caste identity is determined by the interaction of endogenous (e.g. genomic) and exogenous (e.g. juvenile hormone from nurses) signals during larval development, suggesting epigenetic mechanisms underlie plastic traits tied to caste identity. Previous work demonstrated a link between patterns of histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) and caste-specific gene expression in Major and Minor workers of the ant Camponotus floridanus, and we hypothesized caste-specific behaviors such as foraging may be similarly regulated by histone acetylation. To test this hypothesis, we fed mature (~30d old) Majors and Minors with histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), and CBP-dependent histone acetyl transferase inhibitors (HATi). We observed foraging enhancement after HDACi, and foraging suppression after HATi in Minors. Curiously, we did not observe increased foraging in HDACi treated mature (~30d) Majors. However, HDACi injections in callow (0-1d old) Majors succeeded in causing stable reprogramming of foraging behavior, indicating a critical period, or 'window' of epigenetic sensitivity to HDACi exists in young majors. To address this possibility, we injected Majors with HDACi in a time course and observed juvenile (d0-d5) Majors are susceptible to reprogramming, whereas mature (d10) Majors are not. To assess innate differences in the brain between castes, we conducted an RNA-seq study in untreated Major and Minor workers 0, 5, and 10 days old, and detected caste-specific patterns of juvenile hormone and ecdysone signaling. Finally, to characterize the transcriptional and epigenetic effects of reprogramming, we conducted RNA-seq in HDACi treated Major brains, and detected consistent upregulation of members of the neuron restrictive silencing factor (NRSF/ REST) repressive complex (e.g. CoREST, RPD3, ttk). Notably, the top downregulated gene after HDACi is juvenile hormone esterase ( JHe), which antagonizes JH signaling and inhibits foraging behavior in many eusocial insects. Thus, our results suggest REST/CoREST mediated repression of JHe may be a significant source of stable changes to foraging in behaviorally reprogrammed Majors. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Biology First Advisor Shelley L. Berger


Clinical trials for over 15 years have addressed the therapeutic utility of treating elderly hypertensives. Many early trials showed no treatment effects. Because of the recent publication of new information, a review of available evidence concerning this issue was undertaken. Eight randomized clinical trials were assessed regarding trial design. The studies varied according to generalizability, diagnostic criteria, choice of therapy, outcome measures assessed, evaluation of compliance, methods of analysis, duration of follow-up, determination of side effects, and ability to exclude a type 2 error. While many of the earlier studies found no treatment effects, they lacked methodologic rigor; more recent studies demonstrated positive treatment effects. Pooling of results from similar trials supports a notable treatment effect in the prevention of stroke. There is also evidence that the elderly are not more susceptible to side effects of antihypertensive drugs, as is generally believed. The best evidence suggests the hypertensive elderly should be treated.


Detection thresholds for temporal gaps between markers of dissimilar frequency are usually elevated with respect to thresholds for gaps between markers of similar frequency. Because gaps between markers of dissimilar frequency represent both a spectrally based perceptual discontinuity as well as a temporal discontinuity, it is not clear what factors underlie the threshold elevation. This study sought to examine the effects of perceptual dissimilarities on gap detection. The first experiment measured gap detection for configurations of narrow-band gap markers comprised of pure tones, frequency-modulated tones, and amplitude-modulated tones. The results showed that gap thresholds for frequency-disparate pure-tone markers were elevated with respect to isofrequency tonal markers, but that perceptual discontinuities between markers restricted to the same frequency region did not uniformly elevate threshold. The second experiment measured gap detection for configurations of markers where the leading and trailing markers could differ along the dimensions of bandwidth, duration, and pitch. The results showed that, in most cases, gap detection deteriorated when the bandwidth of the two markers differed, even when the spectral content of the narrower-band marker was completely subsumed by the spectral content of the wider-band marker. This finding suggests that gap detection is sensitive to spectral dissimilarity between markers in addition to spectral discontinuity. The effects of marker duration depended on the marker bandwidth. Pitch differences across spectrally similar markers had no effect.


This book, first published in 2007, is an introductory textbook on quantum field theory in gravitational backgrounds intended for undergraduate and beginning graduate students in the fields of theoretical astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, and string theory. The book covers the basic (but essential) material of quantization of fields in an expanding universe and quantum fluctuations in inflationary spacetime. It also contains a detailed explanation of the Casimir, Unruh, and Hawking effects, and introduces the method of effective action used for calculating the back-reaction of quantum systems on a classical external gravitational field. The broad scope of the material covered will provide the reader with a thorough perspective of the subject. Every major result is derived from first principles and thoroughly explained. The book is self-contained and assumes only a basic knowledge of general relativity. Exercises with detailed solutions are provided throughout the book.


The concern over Shariah compliant transactions is firmly entrenched in activities and operation of Islamic financial institutions (IFI). As a business entity established within the ambit of Shariah, IFI is expected to be guided by values, principles, objectives and rulings of the Shariah. However ensuring effective Shariah compliance is not a straightforward matter. As financial markets are increasingly becoming sophisticated, heightened product innovations and engineering in Islamic finance entails the genuine concern over the need to strengthen Shariah compliance throughout the product life cycle. This inevitably means while a product may be deemed Shariah compliant prior to its launch (ex-ante), IFI must also be cognizant of the need to ensure the entire ex-post process including contract execution, utilization of fund, investment activities, audit and governance process are all in place. This paper focuses on the framework of dealing with Shariah non-compliant transactions in Islamic finance. The framework delineate the concept of illegitimate income and its sources from Islamic perspective insofar to develop a cohesive approach in dealing with diverse non-compliance situations based on established principles of Shariah. Although it is not expected for IFI to deliberately involve in illegitimate activities, any incident of non-compliance needs to be immediately addressed, rectified and reported. This is not only to ensure the purity of the income earned but more importantly for IFI to put in place adequate systems and controls to ensure such non-compliance with Shariah rules and principles can be averted.


Research into literacy development continues to be essential, especially considering the alarmingly high levels of functional illiteracy observed in various contemporary contexts. The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate associations between adolescents' literacy levels and their text messaging, reading, and writing habits. Previous studies have consistently shown positive relationships between literacy attainment and traditional forms of reading and writing, while the research results into the associations between the new-literacy practice of texting and literacy have been decidedly mixed and inconclusive. Uniquely for this area of research, this study distinguished between the potential influences of different types of reading and writing (i.e., texting versus more complex, traditional forms) on literacy development. Consistent with the general trends observed in previous research, the present study found that text messaging practices were not significantly associated with literacy levels in the adolescent sample under investigation; reading, in the traditional sense, exhibited more positive associations with literacy attainment than all the other practices considered. These findings, similarly to previous research, suggest that the type of reading occurring while texting is substantially different, in terms of its associations with literacy development, from more traditional forms of reading. Yet recent large-scale survey data indicate that while the amount of time spent by young people on new-literacy practices such as texting is rising rapidly, the amount of time spent reading (and writing), in the traditional sense, remains low. In addition to the limited reading quantity, the complexity level of the traditional forms of reading that are occurring in adolescence is often significantly lower than the advanced standard required for post-secondary studies or many careers. Rather than focusing on potential technological solutions, increasing the quantity and complexity level of more traditional forms of reading in adolescence appears to be a more prudent strategy for enhancing functional literacy in society.


PURPOSE
To assess the degree and regional pattern of first-pass brain enhancement using dynamic MR imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ultrafast MR imaging (1.06-second acquisition time per image) was performed in 19 healthy subjects following a bolus IV injection of a gadolinium contrast agent; 36 patients with suspected pathology were studied using the same protocol.

RESULTS
Calculated percent blood volumes were 4.9% for right cortical gray matter, 4.8% for left cortical gray matter, and 2.6% for white matter. Subtraction images were obtained that depicted the first pass "blood pool" pattern of enhancement (gray and white matter) which was significant.

CONCLUSION
Preliminary evidence suggests utility for cerebral "blood pool" imaging, especially if reduced image acquisition times can be achieved.


Structured light method is one of the non-contact measurement methods used for high resolution and high sensitive 3D modeling. In this method, a projector, camera and computer are used. Projector projects patterns that are generated with specific coding strategies onto the object that will be 3D modeled. Camera receives these patterns. By processing the images received by the camera, object is 3D modeled. Light intensity that is emitted from the projector generally not a linear function of the signal input. This causes brightness problems in the patterns projected. Thus, images received from the camera needs to the gamma corrected. In this study, gamma calibration method is proposed to overcome this problem. Test results show that proposed calibration system improves the accuracy and quality of the 3D modeling.


In this paper, a novel architecture of spatial/spectral optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) systems using partial modified prime (PMP) codes together with error-correction codes is proposed. Using PMP codes for channel division can completely eliminate multiple-user interference and suppress phase-induced intensity noise due to the zero cross-correlation property in each code group. Moreover, by applying convolutional codes on the spectral slices of output optical signals, the system performance can be further improved without extra bandwidth. Numerical results show that the proposed system can accommodate 147 simultaneous users and the data rate of each user can achieve 10 Gbps at bit error rate around 10- 9 and spectral width equal to 30 nm. Compared with other conventional spatial/spectral OCDMA systems, the proposed system has lower complexity and better performance.


Learning Bayesian networks is a central problem for pattern recognition, density estimation and classiication. In this paper, we propose a new method for speeding up the computational process of learning Bayesian network structure. This approach uses constraints imposed by the statistics already collected from the data to guide the learning algorithm. This allows us to reduce the number of statistics collected during learning and thus speed up the learning time. We show that our method is capable of learning structure from data more eeciently than traditional approaches. Our technique is of particular importance when the size of the datasets is large or when learning from incomplete data. The basic technique that we introduce is general and can be used to improve learning performance in many settings where suf-cient statistics must be computed. In addition , our technique may be useful for alternate search strategies such as branch and bound algorithms.


Background:
 Post-stroke depression (PSD) is a common occurrence after stroke, with multiple associated co-morbidities, and is often undermanaged. Perceived social support has been shown to be related to the presence of PSD; however, little is known about the relationship of social support and its specific dimensions to baseline PSD severity and depression improvement.

 Methods:
 We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected as part of a PSD cohort study in which depressed and non-depressed patients were matched 1:1 and enrolled at approximately one month post-stroke. PSD presence was assessed by a structured clinical interview, and PSD severity by the total PHQ-9 score. PSD improvement was measured at 12 weeks, and was defined as a PHQ-9 score < 5 or a decrease by at least 50% from baseline. We constructed multivariable regression models to assess the relationships between social support, as measured by the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS) and its subscales, clinical and demographic covariates, and PSD presence, severity, and improvement.

 Results:
 Among 385 ischemic stroke patients (203 non-depressed and 182 depressed), baseline MOS-SSS scores were associated with initial PSD presence (OR: 0.987, 95% CI = [0.976, 0.998]), but were not predictive of PSD improvement at 12 weeks (OR: 0.997, 95% CI = [0. 983, 1.011]). The positive social interaction dimension of social support was a significant contributor to variance in baseline PSD severity in all study participants (semi-partial R2: 8.65E-3, p=0.03), especially in the depressed cohort (semi-partial R2: 2.66E-2, p=0.02).

 Conclusions:
 Self-reported social support was independently associated with the presence and severity of PSD one month post-stroke. However, we did not find a relationship between baseline social support and subsequent depression improvement independent of other clinical and demographic factors. This suggests that depression interventions may be effective even in patients with low initial social support. Positive social interactions, in the form of leisure or recreational activities, may help to prevent or attenuate initial PSD severity.


A range of novel host molecules with various degrees of pre-organisation for the supramolecular complexation of anionic guest species have been synthesized. Both organic core and nanoparticle-based derivatives of the ligands have been prepared and the properties of the new host ligands studied with particular reference to their anion binding behaviour. Two types of calix[4]arene derived cationic hosts for anions with, respectively, 1,3-altemate and cone conformations have been prepared. The affinity of the tetrasubstituted calix[4]arene hosts for a variety of anions has been probed with Ή NMR spectroscopic titration. The ԼՅ-alternate system binds dicarboxylate anions in a ditopic manner while the cone compounds have the highest affinity for bromide anion and are deprotonated by carboxylates. The potentially fluorescent 1,3-altemate calix[4]arene that contains a pyridinium functionality coupled via a methylene spacer to a pyrene group undergoes selective chloride-induced conformational change which results in strong increase in both monomer and excimer emission. Gold nanoparticles protected with 5-[l ,2]dithiolan-3yl-pentanoic acid pyridin-3-ylamide remain stable as colloidal solution in methanol and the UV aborption spectra demonstrate the nanoparticles' response to exposure of a variety of anions by red shift with concomitant decrease in intensity. Titration of the colloidal solution with silver tetrafluoroborate results in an increase in absorption indicating possible interaction of silver cations with the pyridyl nitrogen atoms


Abstract. The rates at which ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) are removed from the atmosphere, which determine the lifetimes of these ODSs, are key factors for determining the rate of ozone layer recovery in the coming decades. We present here a comprehensive uncertainty analysis of future mixing ratios of ODSs, levels of equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC), ozone depletion potentials, and global warming potentials (GWPs), using, among other information, the 2013 WCRP/SPARC (World Climate Research Programme/Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate) assessment of lifetimes of ODSs and their uncertainties. The year EESC returns to pre-1980 levels, a metric commonly used to indicate a level of recovery from ODS-induced ozone depletion, is 2048 for midlatitudes and 2075 for Antarctic conditions based on the lifetimes from the SPARC assessment, which is about 2 and 4 yr, respectively, later than based on the lifetimes from the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) assessment of 2011. However, the uncertainty in this return to 1980 levels is much larger than the shift due to this change in lifetimes. The year EESC returns to pre-1980 levels ranges from 2039 to 2064 (95% confidence interval) for midlatitudes and from 2061 to 2105 for the Antarctic spring. The primary contribution to these ranges comes from the uncertainty in the lifetimes, with smaller contributions from uncertainties in other modeled parameters. The earlier years of the return estimates derived by the uncertainty analysis, i.e., 2039 for midlatitudes and 2061 for Antarctic spring, are comparable to a hypothetical scenario in which emissions of ODSs cease in 2014. The later end of the range, i.e., 2064 for midlatitudes and 2105 for Antarctic spring, can also be obtained by a scenario with an additional emission of about 7 Mt CFC-11 eq. (eq. – equivalent) in 2015, which is the same as about 2 times the projected cumulative anthropogenic emissions of all ODSs from 2014 to 2050, or about 12 times the projected cumulative HCFC emissions from 2014 to 2050.


The vortex of the financial crisis that struck European countries did not impact them as it has primarily affected the Mediterranean periphery. Instead, Greece was the prominent victim, both in terms of duration and size of crisis, with radical changes implemented. The present study explores the determinants of administrative and organizational amendments in the general rural administration during the economic crisis. Data were gathered through a qualitative survey with public officers and stakeholders and were gauged through a Delphi policy framework. The empirical study focuses on implementing crisis management and change management practices in the public sector. The results indicated that public administration was neither prepared to confront the crisis nor the changes that followed. On the other hand, stakeholders claim that despite all the changes that have occurred, the bureaucracy was unaffected and that there is a need for public services to be enhanced. The lessons derived suggest more profound shifts in the administrative practice, culture, implementation of organizational knowledge and tools to deal with crises and changes combined with organizational learning.


A new experience in International Cooperation was launched by Fontys Hogeschool ICT, Netherlands in the form of an Interdisciplinary ICT and Business International Project, involving Bachelor third-year students and teachers from several Higher Education Institutions (HEI) partners. The main project objectives are International cooperation and awareness, demonstrating entrepreneurship behavior and an interdisciplinary vision. This kind of International Cooperation overcomes the problems often found in other mobility actions' applications under the Erasmus+ Programme framework, where high quality standards, rigid schemes of functioning and other selection criteria may hamper the possibilities for recognition and funding. This paper describes the development and implementation of an Interdisciplinary ICT and Business International project, supervised by the authors, aiming to develop innovative Business IT solutions under the central topic "Obesity & healthy lifestyle". The project was developed both in loco and in a remote way, where the initial kick-off was made at Fontys ICT and the closure at the second HEI partner, Portucalense University and involved students from both HEIs with ICT and business backgrounds. The work of the four project student teams is described, the methodology and outcomes assessed and lessons learnt are highlighted. The results of the assessment, conducted to measure both learning outcomes and student satisfaction with and opinions of the project, are included along with a summary of the experience gained by students and teachers while taking part in the project. The paper aims to share implementation and assessment of such a project as an opportunity for HEI's to acknowledge new ways of international cooperation, for entrepreneurship educators to learn from others' experiences, and to contribute to the entrepreneurship education literature.


Through the current public enforcement powers, the Commission has the possibility to request information and perform inspections in order to collect such evidence that can prove an infringement of Article 101 TFEU. However, undertakings involved in cartels, that are willing to inform the Commission of the existence of such activity, should not be deterred from doing so by the high fines which they might face. Voluntary assistance from cartel participants is of great importance since cartels are secret and therefore by their very nature extremely difficult to detect and investigate without the cooperation of at least one of the participants. Immunity and reduction of fines for 'whistle blowers' has been considered justified with regard to the great reduction of cartels that follows. The EU has introduced the Leniency Notice, which aim is to fulfil these goals, and at the same time fulfil the overriding aims of competition law enforcement. The Leniency Notice has been considered necessary as a tool for the Commission to enforce competition law and has proven to be a great success.The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether it may be justified to modify and extend the Leniency Notice further by introducing Leniency Plus. Leniency Plus is a method with the primary objective to detect more cartels. It functions by rewarding cartel participants with additional lenient treatment for disclosing other cartels. Leniency Plus have to be able to fulfil the goals of effective public enforcement of competition law, and at the same time operate under the general principles of EU law, mainly the principles of proportionality, equal treatment, effectiveness and legal certainty. It will be argued that an introduction of Leniency Plus in the Leniency Notice should be welcomed, subject to certain further modifications for it to function in the EU, such as limitations in the number of undertakings eligible for immunity, increase the standard of evidence provided, or to complement it with a negative sanction to enforce disclosure.


The prostate is an androgen-regulated organ, which has led to longstanding interest in the role of androgens in prostate carcinogenesis. Although evidence of a hormonal etiology for prostate cancer is strong, it is almost entirely circumstantial. Much of the problem in proving a causal relationship relates to the continued difficulties in reliably measuring human tissue-specific exposure to endogenous steroid hormones. The international and racial-ethnic variations in prostate cancer incidence, combined with the effects of migration on risk patterns, have suggested that genetic factors play a central role in determining prostate cancer risk. We are developing a polygenic model of prostate carcinogenesis, focused around a series of genes involved in androgen biosynthesis, transport and metabolism. We have begun to develop this model by utilizing sequence variants to study how polymorphic markers in two genes (SRD5A2 and AR) are related to prostate cancer risk within and between racial-ethnic groups. We are now collaborating with the Whitehead Institute/MIT, Center for Genome Research, to screen for single nucleotide polymorphisms in additional genes relevant to the androgen pathway and prostate cell growth. The model when fully developed can potentially provide a basis for targeting populations for screening interventions and for implementing primary preventive strategies.


A "hard to mobilize" patient was defined as one in whom ≥ 1 × 106CD 34, cells/kg cannot be obtained after two consecutive large volume aphereses. Forty-four consecutive Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients who underwent autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant treatment between June 1996 and June 1998 were included in this study. Twenty-one patients (48%) met the definition of "hard to mobilize" (Group I). All the rest of the patients (n=23) were the good mobilizers (Group II). The initial mobilization protocol for most patients was 10 μg/kg of G-CSF alone for both groups. For Group 1. 7/21 (33%) patients were unable to achieve a minimal dose of ≥ 1 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg even after a second mobilization attempt and/or bone marrow (BM) harvest (n=5). Overall. 11/21 (52%) required an additional mobilization and/or BM harvest. Only 3/21 (14%) patients were able to meet the target cell dose of ≥ 2.5×106 CD34+ cells/kg (median of 4 apheresis). In contrast. 87% of Group II achieved the target dose with a median of 2 aphereses. Predictors of poor mobilization were greater than two prior treatment regimens (p=0.038) and the WBC count (24,000/μL) on the first day of apheresis (p=0.053). Nineteen patients in Group I and all Group 11 completed treatment with a median time to engraftment of ANC500/μl of 12 and 11 days, and platelet>20× 103/μl of 31 and 13 days, respectively. Outcome analysis revealed that 6/19 patients in Group I died of relapse within one year from transplant compared with only 2/23 of Group II who died of relapse (p=0.005. log rank test). There were no treatment related deaths in either group. Independent predictive features lor "hard to mobilize" patients are a lack of significant increase in WBC count on the first day of apheresis and the number of prior treatment regimens. Poor mobilization appears to predict a worse outconic after autografting for lymphoma patients.


In this paper a method of combining finite elements and boundary elements is proposed to try to solve opened three-dimension eddy field in electromagnetic detection, which subdivide the opened region into closed inner sub-region and opened outer infinite sub-region by defining a suppositional boundary. Then using Finite Elements Method (FEM) and Boundary Elements Method (BEM) in above two sub-region respectively, the A -Φ and A equations restricted by Coulomb criterion are derived. On suppositional boundary, direct coupling method is adopted to combine the FEM equations and BEM equations; therefore the solution of the entire region can be obtained. At last, the three-dimension magnetic field in cable eccentricity detection is computed, and magnetic field distribution and eddy loss are given out. The results show that the magnetic field has a reasonable distribution, and also that the linear relation between the computed results and the value of eccentricity has good coherence with that between the experiment results and the value of eccentricity.


A field study was conducted during the heating season in nine modern office buildings in the Netherlands. A first objective of the study was to investigate what kind of control Dutch office workers have over temperature in winter (available control), to map how often these controls are used (exercised control) and to identify how much control the office workers perceive to have over temperature in winter (perceived control). A second objective was to objectify the amount of control over temperature in winter with thermostat effectiveness measurements. The third objective was to investigate how available control and exercised control impact the level of control over indoor climate in winter as experienced by office workers (perceived control). The study consisted of (i) a systematic inventory of relevant building and HVAC system characteristics, (ii) a questionnaire among building occupants, and (iii) indoor climate measurements; concerning the latter, to evaluate the effectiveness of controls, dynamic experiments have been performed. These experiments consisted of manual adjustments of thermostats by the researchers. After these interventions, response times and step responses for room temperature were identified to quantify how effective controls were in changing room temperature. The outcomes of the study can be used to improve temperature control in existing and new office buildings.


Location based services inside smart buildings are dependent on scalable localization methods. However, for enterprises, privacy of individual employees is a major concern. In this paper, we present a privacy aware occupancy sensing mechanism for large scale enterprises with multiple floors in multiple buildings of multiple cities. This is achieved through Wi-Fi fingerprint based localization methods implemented on edge devices. We present some preliminary results on occupancy sensing from our pilot study inside the office spaces of IBM India.


We propose a model for learning user preference rankings for the purpose of making product recommendations. The model allows us to learn from pairwise preference statements or from (incomplete) rankings over more than two items. We present two algorithms for performing inference in this model, both with excellent scaling in the number of users and items. The superior predictive performance of the new method is demonstrated on the well-known sushi preference data set. In addition, we show how the model can be used effectively in an active learning setting where we select only a small number of informative items for learning.


Yield stability is important for food security and a sustainable crop production, especially under changing climatic conditions. It is well known that the variability of yields is linked to changes in meteorological conditions. However, little is known about the long-term effects of agronomic management strategies, such as the supply of important nutrients. We analysed the stability of four major European crops grown between 1955 and 2008 at a long-term fertilization experiment located in Germany. Six fertilizer treatments ranged from no fertilization over the omission of individual macronutrients to complete mineral fertilization with all major macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium). Yield stability was estimated for each crop × treatment combination using the relative yield deviation in each year from the corresponding (nonlinear) trend value (relative yield anomalies (RYA)). Stability was lowest for potato, followed by sugar beet and winter wheat and highest for winter rye. Stability was highest when soils had received all nutrients with the standard deviation of RYA being two to three times lower than for unfertilized plots. The omission of nitrogen and potassium was associated with a decrease in yield stability and a decrease in the number of simultaneous positive and negative yield anomalies among treatments. Especially in root crops nutrient supply strongly influenced both annual yield anomalies and changes in anomalies over time. During the second half of the observation period yield stability decreased for sugar beet and increased for winter wheat. Potato yields were more stable during the second period, but only under complete nutrient supply. The critical role of potassium supply for yield stability suggests potential links to changes in the water balance during the last decades. Results demonstrate the need to explicitly consider the response of crops to long-term nutrient supply for understanding and predicting changes in yield stability.


Multimedia game contents is effective and efficient instruction media to support learning for students with development disabilities who have attention and learning difficulties. Many education game programs have developed to enhance learning fluency and learner's interest. These programs also can be applied to students with developmental disabilities successfully. To this, education game program is designed to access all students including students with disabilities. In this study, to assess and suggest education game program accessibility, 6 education game programs were reviewed through teacher's recommendation. Also These programs were rated 5 point likert scale by 30 teachers and special education specialists according UDL(Universal design for Learning) 9 guidelines. The results show that well designed education game program applied efficiently to students with developmental disabilities and it need to consider practices to enhance accessibility. Implications for further studies were suggested.


Transformers for graph data are increasingly widely studied and successful in numerous learning tasks. Graph inductive biases are crucial for Graph Transformers, and previous works incorporate them using message-passing modules and/or positional encodings. However, Graph Transformers that use message-passing inherit known issues of message-passing, and differ significantly from Transformers used in other domains, thus making transfer of research advances more difficult. On the other hand, Graph Transformers without message-passing often perform poorly on smaller datasets, where inductive biases are more crucial. To bridge this gap, we propose the Graph Inductive bias Transformer (GRIT) -- a new Graph Transformer that incorporates graph inductive biases without using message passing. GRIT is based on several architectural changes that are each theoretically and empirically justified, including: learned relative positional encodings initialized with random walk probabilities, a flexible attention mechanism that updates node and node-pair representations, and injection of degree information in each layer. We prove that GRIT is expressive -- it can express shortest path distances and various graph propagation matrices. GRIT achieves state-of-the-art empirical performance across a variety of graph datasets, thus showing the power that Graph Transformers without message-passing can deliver.


A cloud is a mass of water vapor floating in the atmosphere. It is visible from the ground and can remain at a variable height for some time. Clouds are very important because their interaction with the rest of the atmosphere has a decisive influence on weather, for instance by sunlight occlusion or by bringing rain. Weather denotes atmosphere behavior and is determinant in several human activities, such as agriculture or energy capture. Therefore, cloud detection is an important process about which several methods have been investigated and published in the literature. The aim of this paper is to review some of such proposals and the papers that have been analyzed and discussed can be, in general, classified into three types. The first one is devoted to the analysis and explanation of clouds and their types, and about existing imaging systems. Regarding cloud detection, dealt with in a second part, diverse methods have been analyzed, i.e., those based on the analysis of satellite images and those based on the analysis of images from cameras located on Earth. The last part is devoted to cloud forecast and tracking. Cloud detection from both systems rely on thresholding techniques and a few machine-learning algorithms. To compute the cloud motion vectors for cloud tracking, correlation-based methods are commonly used. A few machine-learning methods are also available in the literature for cloud tracking, and have been discussed in this paper too.


The capacitated facility location problem is a well known problem in combinatorial optimization and operations research. In it, we are given a set of clients and a set of possible facility locations. Each client has a certain demand that needs to be satisfied from open facilities, without exceeding their capacity. Whenever we open a facility we incur in a corresponding opening cost. Whenever demand is served, we incur in an assignment cost; depending on the distance the demand travels. The goal is to open a set of facilities that satisfy all demands while minimizing the total opening and assignment costs. In this thesis, we present two novel LP-based approximation algorithms for the capacitated facility location problem. The first algorithm is based on LP-rounding techniques, and is designed for the special case of the capacitated facility location problem where capacities are uniform and assignment costs are given by a tree metric. The second algorithm follows a primal-dual approach, and works for the general case. For both algorithms, we obtain an approximation guarantee that is linear on the size of the problem. To the best of our knowledge, there are no LP-based algorithms known, for the type of instances that we focus on, that achieve a better performance.


In a Lithium Ion battery pack, it is necessary to balance the pack in order to guarantee that at the end of the charge, all cells are fully charged. This step is necessary, otherwise the available energy stored will decrease continuously charge after charge. There are traditional ways to achieve it: an active balancing dissipative method, or a non-dissipative balancing method (energy converters) with higher level of energy saving. Both ways work to compensate the dispersion of farad efficiency (balancing) but a non-dissipative solution can also compensate dispersion of capacity of the accumulators in series. There are other solutions, which could be named "smart balancing with direct energy use" solutions, because the energy involved in balancing is used instead of being transferred between accumulators. The goal of this presentation is to describe this innovative solution, to explain its main advantages and to show how it works.


In this report, I discuss several new approaches for linking rock physics to the seismic reservoir characterization process. I will first discuss a deterministic rock physics approach and show how we can project the results of rock physics modeling onto a cross-plot of VP/VS ratio versus P-impedance that has been extracted from the results of simultaneous pre-stack seismic inversion. From this cross-plot interpretation we can then project the results directly onto the seismic volume itself. Having identified the hydrocarbon zone using this deterministic approach I will then discuss a statistical clustering and classification approach applied to the data crossplot which will allow us to develop a probabilistic interpretation of the extent of the hydrocarbon anomaly. This approach will go beyond the normal approach using bivariate Gaussian pdf functions and will introduce the concept of mixture-Gaussian pdfs. As with the deterministic method, the pdf classification functions can then be projected onto the seismic volume. I will illustrate the various approaches with examples from a gas sand example in Alberta.


SUMMARY It is possible for animals of very different sizes to use the same patterns of locomotion, i.e. to move in a `dynamically similar fashion'. This will only occur, however, if relevant biomechanical parameters scale with size in such a way that they compensate for the effects of size differences. Here we apply this principle to understanding the effects of size on locomotion within a species: the domestic horse. We predict that, without any factor to compensate for size differences, detectable deviations from dynamically similar locomotion would occur over the size range present in adult horses. We measured relative stride length (RSL) and duty factor (DF) in 21 trotting horses (body mass: 86-714 kg), and interpolated the data to predict RSL and DF at equivalent speeds (Froude numbers: 0.5, 0.75, 1.0). RSL and DF at equal Froude number were not significantly related to body mass. This is consistent with the hypothesis that horses trot in a dynamically similar fashion at equal Froude number. We show that the nonlinear stress-strain relationship of tendon can contribute to reducing deviations from dynamic similarity, `buffering' the effects of variation in body mass, but conclude that this effect is unlikely to explain fully our results. This suggests that a `compensatory distortion' may occur in horses, counteracting the effects of size differences. The approach used here is also applicable to understanding the consequences of size changes within an individual during growth.


Context:Recent studies have highlighted the increased risk of adverse outcomes among older patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). We report on the associations between older age and adverse outcomes in HIV/AIDS antiretroviral programmes across 17 programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods:We included data from nine countries: Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We describe survival probability for progression to death and loss to follow-up for patients initiating ART aged less than 50 years and at least 50 years. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between age (15–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69 and 70–94 years) and adverse outcomes adjusting for confounders identified a priori. Results:Our analysis included 17 561 patients followed for a median of 12 months. The majority (65%) were female and 6672 (38%) were severely immunosuppressed at baseline. Median age at ART initiation was 36.0 years (interquartile range 30.1–42.8); 11.4% of patients were aged at least 50 years. Median gain in CD4 cell count at 6 and 12 months was significantly higher in patients less than 50 years old compared with those at least 50 years (134 vs. 112 cells/&mgr;l at 6 months; 170 vs. 139 cells/&mgr;l at 12 months; both P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, there was a significant increased risk of mortality beyond 3 months after ART initiation in all age groups of at least 40 years of age compared with less than 40 years [40–49 years adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) 1.59, P < 0.001; 50–59 years aHR 1.58, P = 0.002; 60–69 years aHR 2.63, P < 0.001; 70–94 years aHR 3.64, P = 0.004). Conclusion:Older age groups represent an important proportion of the overall treatment cohort in these sub-Saharan Africa programmes, and risk of mortality increased as age increased. Future research should be directed at further understanding the reasons for higher mortality, and defining simple interventions that are feasible in highly under-resourced settings to allow for adapted follow-up and care approaches for older age groups.


Modern narratives about changes in the Italian landscape during the early Middle Ages have often been based on assumptions about changing demography; the loss and replacement of complex Roman economic, political and agricultural systems; and broader changes in climate. Using fossil pollen taken from lake cores in the Rieti basin to reconstruct local ecological conditions, close examinations of two discreet periods offer new insights into the changes from small-scale agriculture to silvo-pastoralism that began during the late sixth and early seventh centuries. The deforestation of the ninth century, accompanied by an increase in cultivation, was the result of a long-term accumulation of territory under monastic control. The fact that these changes in the landscape run counter to the prevailing climatic conditions underscores the success of human management of the environment.


Effects of carrageenan (CAR) treatment on the response of interferon (IFN) production in vivo and in vitro after stimulation with an IFN‐γ inducer, staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), was investigated. The IFN‐γ production in mice stimulated with SEA was impaired after i.v. administration of a 20 mg/kg dose of CAR. Spleen cells (SC) from CAR‐treated mice had decreased ability to produce IFN in vitro after stimulation with the same inducer. SC obtained from mice during the suppressive state inhibited IFN‐γ production when they were co‐cultured with mononuclear cells prepared from spleens of untreated control mice. This suppressor cell activity could be removed from SC by an adherence technique to plastic surface. The SC with suppressor activity were not inactivated by treatments with monoclonal anti‐Thy‐1.2 antibody, anti‐asialo GM1 antisera and anti‐mouse immunoglobulin antisera followed by complement. The suppressive activity was detected in cell‐free culture fluids of macrophage fractions containing suppressor cell activity. These results suggest that the decrease in IFN‐γ production in mice pretreated with CAR may associate with the presence of suppressor cells characterized to the monocytelmacrophage lineage.


Report presents the results of measurements of the longitudinal stability and control characteristics of a large airplane using a mechanical feel device in combination with a booster incorporated in the elevator-control system. Tests were made to investigate the feasibility of eliminating the aerodynamic control forces through use of a booster and of providing control-feel forces mechanically. The feel device consisted of a centering spring which restrained the control stick through a linkage which was changed as a function of the dynamic pressure. Provisions were made for trimming and for manual adjustment of the force gradient. The system was designed to approximate the control-force characteristics that would result with a conventional elevator control with linear hinge-moment characteristics.


The objective here is to understand how the mobility of technical talent might be changing the structural relationship between rich and poor countries. This paper examines the under-researched relationship between India and Japan in the context of globalization, migration, and developmental impact with demographic, immigration, and innovation policy issues as key themes. By focusing on the export of technical talent, I argue that India could tap its overseas 'brain bank' by diversifying IT export markets, create epistemic networks, meet impending skill shortages in Japan, and induce long-term innovative capability. Immigration reforms and freer movement of talent will be critical.