Advancement in transmission technology based on fiber optic such as multiplexing
technique is an attractive research area for future development of high capacity and
high speed optical communication system. Typical electrical based multiplexing such
as electrical time division multiplexing (ETDM) and duty cycle division multiplexing
(DCDM) have difficulty to fulfil the requirements of modern fiber optic communication
with practical solution. Multi slot amplitude coding (MSAC) is the latest multiplexing
technique that has been proposed as an alternative to ETDM and DCDM. The results
show that the spectral width is reduced by around 25%, not less than 55% improvement
of chromatic dispersion (CD) tolerance, 0.6 dB better receiver sensitivity, and 1.5 dB better
optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) compared to DCDM for 30 Gbit/s transmission
capacity. The spectral width for 3 × 10 Gbit/s, 4 × 10 Gbit/s and 5 × 10 Gbit/s MSAC is
60 GHz, which indicates improvement of spectral efficiency. This advantage is not possible
to be achieved through ETDM technique. In addition, 10 GHz clock signal can be
extracted from the MSAC signal which is important for recovery circuit at receiver since
it is similar to symbol rate.


Abstract A prominent large negative δ13Corg excursion and a coeval notable spike in mercury (Hg)/total organic carbon ratio are observed in the middle–upper Permian Gohan Formation in central Korea, located in the eastern Sino-Korean block (SKB), which may represent the Capitanian mass extinction event. The SKB was separated from the South China block by the eastern Palaeo-Tethys Ocean. This finding from the SKB supports the widespread Hg loading to the environment emitted from the Emeishan volcanic eruptions in SW China. This study demonstrates that the Hg cycle was globally perturbed in association with global carbon cycle perturbation that occurred during the Capitanian Extinction.


The main objective of this study is to examine the level and determinants of technical efficiency of smallholder Teff producers in Ethiopia using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), with appropriate production function, trans-log by LR test. Secondary data from Ethiopian socio-economic survey were used for the analysis. The result of Maximum likelihood Estimate (MLE) shows that area, fertilizer and fragmentation of land are major factors that influence productivity, and output elasticity has positive response on area, labour and fertilizer inputs. The average estimated technical efficiency of small holder farmers ranges from 0.13 to 0.92%, with mean efficiency of 73%. This implies that Teff productivity can be increased by 27% at existing level of technology. The result also shows there is inefficiency in production of Teff since discrepancy ratio gamma, γ is high and about 0.85. The study also identified that agro-ecology zones, age, extension, seed type, other income are the major socio economic factors influencing efficiency. Finally, the study recommends that policy geared towards the enhancement of productive efficiency of smallholder, through the appropriate consideration of inputs, socio economic factors and other facilities are important to address problem of food insecurity in Ethiopia.

 Key words: Teff, technical efficiency, stochastic frontier, agro-ecological zone, maximum likelihood estimate, Ethiopia.


Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid that possesses potential as an agent to treat opiate and cocaine addiction. The primary metabolite arises via O-demethylation at the 12-position to yield 12-hydroxyibogamine. In this report, evidence is presented that the O-demethylation of ibogaine observed in human hepatic microsomes is catalyzed primarily by the polymorphically expressed cytochrome P-4502D6 (CYP2D6). An enzyme kinetic examination of ibogaine O-demethylase activity in pooled human liver microsomes suggested that two (or more) enzymes are involved in this reaction: one with a low KMapp (1.1 microM) and the other with a high KMapp (>200 microM). The low KMapp activity comprised >95% of total intrinsic clearance. Human liver microsomes from three individual donors demonstrated similar enzyme kinetic parameters (mean KMapp = 0.55 +/- 0.09 microM and 310 +/- 10 microM for low and high KM activities, respectively). However, a fourth human microsome sample that appeared to be a phenotypic CYP2D6 poor metabolizer possessed only the high KMapp activity. In hepatic microsomes from a panel of human donors, the low KMapp ibogaine O-demethylase activity correlated with CYP2D6-catalyzed bufuralol 1'-hydroxylase activity but not with other P450 isoform-specific activities. Quinidine, a CYP2D6-specific inhibitor, inhibited ibogaine O-demethylase (IC50 = 0.2 microM), whereas other P450 isoform-specific inhibitors did not inhibit this activity. Also, of a battery of recombinant heterologously expressed human P450 isoforms, only rCYP2D6 possessed significant ibogaine O-demethylase activity. Thus, it is concluded that ibogaine O-demethylase is catalyzed by CYP2D6 and that this isoform is the predominant enzyme of ibogaine O-demethylation in humans. The potential pharmacological implications of these findings are discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To inventory the functioning and the results of obstetrics in the West-Frisian islands in 1995 and 1996.

DESIGN
Retrospective.

METHOD
With enquiry forms information was gathered from the six GP practices in the West Frisian islands concerning the course and results of every pregnancy with a delivery between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 1996. Of emergency transfers during labour and in the postpartum period the time span between moment of applying for a transport and arrival at the hospital ashore was noted. Results were compared with those for the total province of Friesland and the national Dutch results.

RESULTS
Of the 253 women 23 (9%) had a primary indication for hospital delivery under care of a gynaecologist. During pregnancy 52 patients (21%) were directed for hospital delivery. 23 (9%) of the 178 patients awaiting the home delivery were referred during labour and 155 women (61%) delivered at home. After delivery 3 patients were admitted. The median time span in emergency transfers was 77.5 min (range: 60-105) with transport by boat and 65 min (55-120) with transport by heli. The island people delivered at home in 61% compared with 37% in Friesland in 1996 and 31% in the Netherlands in 1993, had a hospital delivery under care of a gynaecologist in 39% compared with 56% in Friesland and 58% in the Netherlands in 1996, had a caesarean section in 6% compared with 10% in Friesland and the Netherlands in 1996. There were two foetal mortalities and one neonatal mortality.

CONCLUSION
In comparison with the national data the island obstetrics is characterized by a higher home delivery rate, less specialist involvement and a lower caesarean section rate.


This chapter reviews the empirical literature on the expansion of educational institutions and the human capital stock of the United States over the past two and a half centuries. Using evidence on literacy, numeracy, and years of education, it details the remarkable growth of the American human capital stock and discusses trends in racial and gender gaps in educational attainment. The chapter then outlines the development of the educational institutions that facilitated the growth of the human capital stock, discussing the political and social forces shaping the expansion of schools. This overview includes an emphasis on the consequences of the uniquely public and decentralized nature of American schools. Finally, the chapter examines the literature on the decision to attend those schools, considering the roles of the private returns to education, health, family characteristics, and compulsory schooling laws.


This report forms an integral part of of the environmental geological mapping project of the south-central Leeds area, undertaken on behalf of the Department of the Environment and described in the BGS Technical Report WA/92/1 by Lake, et al., 1992. The current report describes the classification of the deposits encountered in the south-central Leeds area in terms of engineering geological units (units of similar engineering characteristics), and the assessment of these units with respect to their geotechnical properties and anticipated engineering behaviour. Classificatiojn and assessment was based on the creation of a geotechnical database containing geotechnical data extracted from site investigation reports, and subsequent statistical analysis of the dataset. The report concludes with a section highlighting the engineering geological implications for planning and development in the area. Summary geotechnical data for all the geological deposits encountered are presented in tabular form in Appendix 1.


This study aimed to explore the underlying basis of the communication difficulties in children (between 5.0 and 7.11 years) with high functioning pervasive developmental disorder (HFPDD) (n=26), compared to children with specific language impairment (SLI) (n=26), and children with no history of developmental difficulty (NDD) (n=26). The study looked at: whether different profiles could be obtained for the groups on comprehensive batteries of communication, cognitive processing and theory of mind; which areas measured were best correlated; and which measures best differentiated the groups. Comprehensive communication and theory of mind batteries were devised and conducted. Cognitive processing was measured using the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) (Naglieri and Das, 1997). Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, the Kruskal-Wallis test, Bonferroni t tests, frequency distributions, Pearson correlation coefficients and discriminant function analyses. Kappa coefficients and analysis of variance measures were carried out on 23% of the rated data in order to establish inter-rater agreement and acceptable levels of agreement were reached. On the communication assessment, the HFPDD group experienced the most difficulty on the measures of understanding abstract vocabulary, understanding conversation, pronoun alternation, higher level semantics, narrative ability and pragmatic ability. In contrast, the SLI group experienced the most difficulty on the measures of expressive grammar and narrative clarity. On the cognitive processing assessment, the HFPDD group experienced marked difficulty in the areas of planning and attention, while the SLI group experienced significant difficulty in the areas of successive processing and less marked but still significant difficulty in the area of planning. Within the HFPDD group, a group with simultaneous processing markedly stronger than successive processing, a group with successive processing markedly stronger than simultaneous processing, and a group with simultaneous and successive processing occurring at a similar level, were identified. The HFPDD group experienced significant difficulty on all the measures of theory of mind, although a limited number of HFPDD subjects did not experience difficulty. The SLI group experienced significant difficulty on the two theory of mind measures that were more verbally loaded. Strong correlations were found between receptive language, expressive semantics, narrative ability, pragmatic ability, planning, attention and theory of mind; and between expressive grammar and successive processing. Pragmatic ability, narrative ability, planning, and certain of the theory of mind measures best appeared to discriminate the groups. A combined model of language, cognitive and theory of mind processing is proposed to explain the differences between the HFPDD and SLI groups.


ASIA probably has suffered more from human-induced soil erosion than any other continent. As one of the first to describe the impacts of erosion on early civilizations, Walter Lowermilk noted the extensive damage in the eastern Mediterranean, Iran, and China ( 30 ). He emphasized the loss in soil productivity that had reduced the human carrying capacity a thousand or more years ago.

Likewise, Eric Eckholm's well-documented account of environmental degradation cites erosion losses in deteriorating mountain areas as a major contributor to a chronic reduction in food production in developing countries (10. Eckholm said that mountainous Nepal may have the world's most acute erosion problem, caused primarily by deforestation to provide cropland and timber.

Soil erosion is a natural process that can be accelerated by human activity. Once accelerated, erosion can threaten food production potential. Of all the human-induced land degradation problems, the permanent loss of soil productivity due to erosion is the worst on a global scale. Degradation of vegetation, salinization, loss of soil organic matter and fertility, crusting, and compaction usually are reversible. Pesticide pollution frequently is reversible, although it may require several years. Heavy metal and nuclear waste contamination may not be reversible …


This report covers the twelfth of a series of tests conducted to compare different lateral control devices with particular reference to their effectiveness at high angles of attack. The present wind tunnel tests were made with two sizes of upper-surface ailerons on rectangular Clark Y wing models equipped with full span split flaps. The tests showed the effect of the upper-surface ailerons and of the split flaps on the general performance characteristics of the wings, and on the lateral controllability and stability characteristics. The results are compared with those for plain wings with ordinary ailerons of similar sizes.


C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) are carbohydrate binding pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) which play a central role in host recognition of pathogenic microorganisms. Signaling through CLRs displayed on antigen presenting cells dictates important innate and adaptive immune responses. Several pathogens have evolved mechanisms to exploit the receptors or signaling pathways of the CLR system to gain entry or propagate in host cells. CLR responses to high priority pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), HIV, Ebola, and others are described and considered potential avenues for therapeutic intervention. Mtb and HIV are the leading causes of death due to infectious disease and have a synergistic relationship that further promotes aggressive disease in co-infected persons. Immune recognition through CLRs and other PRRs are important determinants of disease outcomes for both TB and HIV. Investigations of CLR responses to Mtb and HIV, to date, have primarily focused on single infection outcomes and do not account for the potential effects of co-infection. This review will focus on CLRs recognition of Mtb and HIV motifs. We will describe their respective roles in protective immunity and immune evasion or exploitation, as well as their potential as genetic determinants of disease susceptibility, and as avenues for development of therapeutic interventions. The potential convergence of CLR-driven responses of the innate and adaptive immune systems in the setting of Mtb and HIV co-infection will further be discussed relevant to disease pathogenesis and development of clinical interventions.


Background: For policy questions where substantial empirical background information exists, conventional frequentist policy analysis is hard to justify. Bayesian analysis quantitatively incorporates prior knowledge, but is not often used in applied policy analysis. Methods: We combined 2000–2016 data from the Fatal Analysis Reporting System with priors based on past empirical studies and policy documents to study the impact of mandatory seat belt laws on traffic fatalities. We used a Bayesian data augmentation approach to combine information from prior studies with difference-in-differences analyses of recent law changes to provide updated evidence on the impact that upgrading to primary enforcement of seat belt laws has on fatalities. Results: After incorporating the evidence from past studies, we find limited evidence to support the hypothesis that recent policy upgrades affect fatality rates. We estimate that upgrading to primary enforcement reduced fatality rates by 0.37 deaths per billion vehicle miles traveled (95% posterior interval -0.90, 0.16), or a rate ratio of 0.96 (95% posterior interval 0.91, 1.02), and increased the proportion of decedents reported as wearing seat belts by 7 percentage points (95% posterior interval 5, 8), or a risk ratio of 1.18 (95% posterior interval 1.13, 1.24). Conclusions: Bayesian methods can provide credible estimates of future policy impacts, especially for policy questions that occur in dynamic environments, such as traffic safety.


The continuous increment of organic pollution in surface water has brought new challenges to conventional drinking water treatment processes. Attached growth membrane bioreactor (aMBR) has been reported as an attractive technical solution, effective in removing biodegradable organic fractions. While the recalcitrant such as synthetic organic matters (SOM), natural organic matters (NOM) and the other non-biodegradable components were remain untreated. This study investigated the possibility of combining UV/O3 process as a recirculation phase into aMBR system. Improving the biodegradability of recalcitrant in a MBR permeate by UV/O3 process and then send back to be treated in a MBR system. The aMBR system combined with UV, O3 and UV/O3 system were tested and analyzed, respectively. Results indicated that aMBR + UV/O3 process has much higher removal performance than aMBR + UV or aMBR + O3. FEEM analysis and differential FDOM results indicated that UV/O3 was able to largely remove recalcitrant and improve biodegradability of aMBR permeate. UV/O3 synergy provided higher contribution to recalcitrant removal than simple addition of UV and O3. This study indicated that UV/O3 has potential to be used as a recirculation phase in aMBR system for treating polluted surface water.


In the study the microstructure and tribological behavior of a new magnesium matrix composite reinforced with glassy carbon particles (GCp) were presented. In the composite, obtained by powder sintering, the magnesium alloy AZ91 was applied as a matrix with 20wt% of particles of diameter approx. 100 m. The particle-matrix bonding was characterized by SEM with EDS, TEM with SADP, and nanoidentation tests. The main interest focused on the influence of GCp on the wear behavior of the composite. In the experiment sliding velocities of 0.06, 0.09 and 0.14 m/s, and loads of 2.3, 5 and 9.3 N were applied. The glassy carbon particle microstructure after sliding and the debris were characterized with SEM and EDS. The sliding wear test revealed that glassy carbon particles decreased the coefficient of friction for low load and sliding velocity. The mass lost of composite was very low and no destructive processes of the steel counterface were observed. During the sliding process, a mixture of oxidized AZ91E alloy and dispersed glassy carbon is formed between the composite and the steel counter.


This paper presents a method for analysing an aspect of interaction that can help us understand how users can feel that they are part of a work. I argue that interaction can be a form of depiction, causing the user to imagine both her perceptual actions and her manipulation of the work as being fictional as well as actual. This produces an ontological fusion between the actual and the fictional. In brief analyses of three interactive works, I suggest how this framework can enable a better understanding of some aspects of interactive art and literature.


Background: Culture, poverty and maternal health risk occasioned by paucity of necessary maternal health infrastructures are detrimental factors to the health of both mother and child in Nigeria pluralistic society. While cultural tendencies perpetuate seemingly negative practices, culture contours and lack of political will act as the primary cause for high mortality rates among mothers and babies in their first five year of life. Objectives: The main reasons are low utilization of quality of maternal healthcare services, negative opinion of important referents, social, cultural, physical and economic barriers such as patriarchy, long distances, high transport and other indirect costs. Therefore, an epistemological understanding of healthcare consumption and process of care depends on these factors: the genetic, social, environment and culture. Others are poverty, bad hygienic conditions, limited access to treatment and underdevelopment of infrastructures. Methodology: The review examined the existing level of maternal and child mortality/morbidity within the extant literature and statistics. Conclusion: It is therefore suggested that government should make available functional primary health care facilities including maternity centres equipped with up to date infrastructures which would be funded equitably to encourage patronage and easy access to both rural and urban residents. Effort should be made to retain trained professionals.


Liquid ammonia (LNH3) has a number of properties similar to water, such as the ability to dissolve a diverse range of chemical compounds and, based on the variety of chemical reactions in this non-aqueous solvent, speculation has arisen about the possibility of life processes in liquid ammonia.
"Life" is difficult to define, but the general consensus is that it is comprised of a variety of individual process that could be regarded as "processes of life", some of which can be modelled within the laboratory. This project is primarily concerned with looking at some of these life processes and attempting to model them in liquid ammonia. This may give rise to the notion that life in liquid ammonia is plausible which could be of great interest to those searching for extra-terrestrial life as ammonia is found in our solar system and very likely in many other parts of the vast universe.
One of life's fundamental processes is compartmentalisation, which is the aggregation of molecules into a protective cellular microenvironment, allowing life to survive and develop. Simple cell models in water and some other solvents have been studied widely allowing for a greater understanding of how the cell membrane works and they also have many commercial applications such as acting as drug delivery systems and as detergents. In this project, the aggregation of a variety of surfactants in liquid ammonia has been studied using a range of detection techniques. The common ionic surfactants, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were found not to aggregate in liquid ammonia, as evidenced by their conductance profiles. The reduced dielectric constant of liquid ammonia (er = 16) compared with that of water (er = 80) does not sufficiently decrease the repulsion between adjacent ionic head groups that naturally repel one another, and so micelle formation is not favoured. However, non-ionic, fully fluorinated fatty acid amides have been shown to aggregate into micelles in liquid ammonia using 19F NMR as a detection method. The aggregation of fluorinated amides in liquid ammonia was found to follow trends observed for hydrocarbon surfactants in water, such as the relationship between critical micelle concentration (cmc) and hydrophobic tail length. Additionally, the magnitude of 19F NMR shifts seem to suggest that the monomeric surfactant is surrounded by a relatively polar ammonia environment whereas those molecules in the aggregated micelle are surrounded by the neighbouring fluorine atoms from the adjacent hydrophobic chains, as would be expected deep in a micelle core. There is also some evidence of micelle catalysis in liquid ammonia.
Another major contributor to life"s processes are enzymes, which are nature"s catalysts made up of proteins which fold up into a unique structure because of their interactions with water. Although their natural habitat is generally an aqueous environment, within an organism for example, enzyme catalysis in non-aqueous environments, such as organic media, has been widely studied and they have many applications in industrial processes. Enzyme catalysis has never been reported in pure, anhydrous, ammonia. This part of the project explores the extent at which lipases can catalyse the ammonolysis of triglycerides in liquid ammonia. Immobilized forms of Lipase B from Candida antarctica (CALB) were found to catalyse the ammonolysis of a variety of triglycerides in liquid ammonia and appear to be more selective towards larger molecules. The rates of triester conversion to diester for short-medium chain triglycerides were increased moderately with added lipase, whereas the subsequent ammonolysis of diester and monoester from triacetin showed no significant enhancement by the lipase. Conversely, for the longer chain triglyceride, triolein, a significant increase in conversion to oleamide was observed with the addition of the lipase. In addition to the positive implications for the "life in ammonia" proposal, the lipase catalysed ammonolysis of triglycerides in liquid ammonia may have potential industrial applications. Triglycerides are abundant in nature, as fats and oils, and so are very cheap to acquire and the products of their ammonolysis, fatty acid amides, have many applications such as lubricating agents in the plastic industry and even medical uses. Oleamide, which is structurally related to the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide, is currently being examined for its sleep inducing effects.
In addition to the preliminary studies of life-type processes in liquid ammonia, some general reactions have been explored, in particular the ammonolysis of esters and its catalysis by the ammonium cation.
Small scale glassware can be used for the safe study of liquid ammonia at room temperature under approximately 10 bar pressure. Reactions in liquid ammonia have been previously studied generally by using a simple sampling method and analysing by GC or HPLC. Additionally, in this project, a variety of analytical techniques in liquid ammonia have also been developed such as the use of conductance, UV-vis and liquid ammonia NMR.


Word similarity is often measured to enhance system performance in the information retrieval field and other related areas. This paper reports on an experimental comparison of values for word similarity measures that were computed based on 50 intentionally selected words from a Reuters corpus. There were three targets, including (1) co-occurrence-based similarity measures (for which a co-occurrence frequency is counted as the number of documents or sentences), (2) context-based distributional similarity measures obtained from a latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), and Word2Vec algorithm, and (3) similarity measures computed from the tf-idf weights of each word according to a vector space model (VSM). Here, a Pearson correlation coefficient for a pair of VSM-based similarity measures and co-occurrence-based similarity measures according to the number of documents was highest. Group-average agglomerative hierarchical clustering was also applied to similarity matrices computed by individual measures. An evaluation of the cluster sets according to an answer set revealed that VSMand LDA-based similarity measures performed best.


Abstract. Bayesian source reconstruction is a powerful tool for determining atmospheric releases. It can be used, amongst other applications, to identify a point source releasing radioactive particles into the atmosphere. This is relevant for applications such as emergency response in case of a nuclear accident, or Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban treaty verification. The method involves solving an inverse problem using environmental radioactivity observations and atmospheric transport models. The Bayesian approach has the advantage of providing credible intervals on the inferred source parameters in a natural way. However, it requires the specification of the inference input errors, such as the observation error and model error. The latter is particularly hard to provide as there is no straightforward way to determine the atmospheric transport and dispersion model error. Here, the importance of model error is illustrated for Bayesian source reconstruction using a recent and unique case where radionuclides were detected on several continents. A numerical weather prediction ensemble is used to create an ensemble of atmospheric transport and dispersion simulations, and a method is proposed to determine the model error.


Households constitute one of the most widespread forms of organisation yet their nature as an information system is essentially unstudied and thus ill-defined. As individuals and householders we have all experienced the phenomenon and frustration of 'losing' information without necessarily knowing how we came to lose it. Preliminary findings from the Household Information Practices Study reveal that losing information is a process that is complex, multi-faceted and an inherent part of household life. A preliminary model explaining how we lose information is offered consisting of nine contributing dimensions or factors.


Abstract: Ovarian stromal tumors range from fibroma to thecoma, depending on the degree of luteinization of tumor cells. They occur in peri- and postmenopausal women and are most commonly unilateral. The mitotic rate is the main feature helping predict the behavior of these tumors: while usual fibromas and thecomas are virtually amitotic, mitotic rate of 4 or more mitotic figures per 10 high-power fields is used as a cutoff to diagnose a fibrosarcoma. Fibrosarcomas, in addition to an increased mitotic rate, are also hypercellular and exhibit significant cytologic atypia; some may show tumor cell necrosis and could be adherent to adjacent pelvic organs, causing difficulty at surgery. Fibrosarcomas pursue a malignant clinical course, with local recurrence and metastases, usually to the lungs. Tumors with increased cellularity and mitotic counts of 3 or fewer mitoses per 10 high-power fields are termed cellular fibromas and have a somewhat increased likelihood of local recurrence after a long period of time, especially if they were adherent to pelvic organs or were ruptured at surgery. Ovarian stromal tumors may present a diagnostic difficulty when they undergo torsion with infarction and cystic change, which may render their histologic recognition problematic. Thorough sampling, along with immunohistochemistry for α-inhibin and calretinin, may help in making the correct diagnosis. Fibromas may be associated with several clinical and genetic syndromes, most notably Meigs syndrome, consisting of ascites and pleural effusions which resolve after tumor removal, and a hereditary Gorlin syndrome, consisting of multiple basal cell carcinomas, cysts of the jaw, and other neoplasms, including ovarian fibromas.


An artificial neural network (ANN) based transfer learning model is built for quality of transmission (QoT) prediction in optical systems feasible with different modulation formats. Knowledge learned from one optical system can be transferred to a similar optical system by adjusting weights in ANN hidden layers with a few additional training samples, where highly related information from both systems is integrated and redundant information is discarded. Homogeneous and heterogeneous ANN structures are implemented to achieve accurate $Q$-factor-based QoT prediction with low root-mean-square error. The transfer learning accuracy under different modulation formats, transmission distances, and fiber types is evaluated. Using transfer learning, the number of retraining samples is reduced from 1000 to as low as 20, and the training time is reduced by up to four times.


GARCH models are commonly used as latent processes in econometrics, Þnancial economics and macroeconomics. Yet no exact likelihood analysis of these models has been provided so far. In this paper we outline the issues and suggest a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm which allows the calculation of a classical estimator via the simulated EM algorithm or a Bayesian solution in O(T ) computational operations, where T denotes the sample size. We assess the performance of our proposed algorithm in the context of both artiÞcial examples and an empirical application to 26 UK sectorial stock returns, and compare it to existing approximate solutions.


Introduction The world is still struggling against the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in 2022. The pandemic has been facilitated by the intermittent emergence of variant strains, which has been explained and classified mainly by the patterns of point mutations of the spike (S) gene. However, the profiles of insertions/deletions (indels) in SARS-CoV-2 genomes during the pandemic remain largely unevaluated yet. Methods In this study, we first screened for the genome regions of polymorphic indel sites by performing multiple sequence alignment; then, NCBI BLAST search and GISAID database search were performed to comprehensively investigate the indel profiles at the polymorphic indel hotspot and elucidate the emergence and spread of the indels in time and geographical distribution. Results A polymorphic indel hotspot was identified in the N-terminal domain of the S gene at approximately 22,200 nucleotide position, corresponding to 210–215 amino acid positions of SARS-CoV-2 S protein. This polymorphic hotspot was comprised of adjacent 3-base deletion (5′-ATT-3′; Spike_N211del) and 9-base insertion (5'-AGCCAGAAG-3′; Spike_ins214EPE). By performing NCBI BLAST search and GISAID database search, we identified several types of tandem repeats of the 9-base insertion, creating an 18-base insertion (Spike_ins214EPEEPE, Spike_ins214EPDEPE). The results of the searches suggested that the two-cycle tandem repeats of the 9-base insertion were created in November 2021 in Central Europe, whereas the emergence of the original one-cycle 9-base insertion (Spike_ins214EPE) would date back to the middle of 2020 and was away from the Central Europe. The identified 18-base insertions based on 2-cycle tandem repeat of the 9-base insertion were collected between November 2021 and April 2022, suggesting that these mutations could not survive and have been already eliminated. Discussion The GISAID database search implied that this polymorphic indel hotspot to be with one of the highest tolerability for incorporating indels in SARS-CoV-2 S gene. In summary, the present study identified a variable number of tandem repeat of 9-base insertion in the N-terminal domain of SARS-CoV-2 S gene, and the repeat could have occurred at different time from the insertion of the original 9-base insertion.


Modern mobile terminal devices are multi-functional terminal devices with options such as: Internet access, using of applications, e-mail communication, messaging, data storage and using of multimedia files. The value of such data is often invaluable and vulnerability is often very high. Given the high use of smartphones and a variety of operating systems that they use (iOS, Android, Windows Phone ...), the logical is the fact that these devices are frequent targets of malicious attacks. Research of this paper will focus on defining forms of security threats and possible attacks on smartphones and a brief description of possibilities for protecting smartphones. There will be displayed features of operating systems and specified the security aspects and specifics which carry some of the modern operating systems of mobile terminal devices.


The objectives of this paper were to identify and describe husbandry practices, herd structure, owners' trait preferences, breeding practices, and production constraints of camel in the two major camel rearing pastoral communities, viz. Afar and Somali, to generate baseline information that would help to plan possible breed improvement strategies and options for the different camel populations. The study sites were selected purposively while households from each of the sites randomly. Data were collected using formal questionnaires and focus group discussion. Results showed that average camel population per household was higher in Mille (28.06±2.27), Gode (27.51±2.02), and Moyale (24.07±2.13) districts. Female camel populations with age of >1 year contributes 78-83% of the total camel herd population in all the study districts. Higher number of female animals in the herd in the arid environment means providing continuous supply of milk and allows a rapid recovery of herd numbers after a disease outbreak or drought occurrence. This shows that pastoralists breeding objectives are in relation to the arid environment and female population in the herd. Most of the pastoral communities utilize a single breeding male camel per 40-50 female camels and this will affect productivity and heterogeneity of camel population. With regard to trait preference, all pastoral communities ranked milk yield as the first trait of choice, except Liben district in which adaptation trait was the primary preference. Growth trait ranked second in Mille, Gode, Liben, and Jijiga pastoral communities where as adaptation trait ranked second in Amibara and Shinille pastoral communities. The major camel production constraints were feed, diseases, and lack of water in that order and the major cause of the constraints was the recurrent drought occurred during the past 2-3 decades in the two regions. Therefore, in planning and implementation of the breeding strategies for small holder camel population breeding program, besides improving some of the traditional practices, the indigenous knowledge of the pastoralists and trait of choice should be considered in order to effectively increase the productivity and satisfy the need of the society.


ABSTRACT Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to all forms of communication that can be used to support people with little or no functional speech. The present study was part of a broader European project that aimed at gathering information about the service provision in AAC in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. One hundred and fifty-three professionals in special education completed an electronically distributed questionnaire comprising 19 questions that were divided into three sections: background information, participants' AAC practices, and AAC specific training. The findings from the analysis revealed that most of the participants have used systems of AAC at some point in their professional lives. Some participants reported not using AAC systems due to a lack of knowledge, but most of them specified that they did not stop using them once they had started. We found that participants rely on a variety of AAC systems with the most used being communicative apps and software, along with printed communication tables and self-created instruments. Data suggest that professionals use low-tech self-created materials, and this may be related to the fact even though most of the participants received some type of short training they reported that it was insufficient.


Background—Cardiac electromechanical dyssynchrony causes regional disparities in workload, oxygen consumption, and myocardial perfusion within the left ventricle. We hypothesized that such dyssynchrony also induces region-specific alterations in the myocardial transcriptome that are corrected by cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Methods and Results—Adult dogs underwent left bundle branch ablation and right atrial pacing at 200 bpm for either 6 weeks (dyssynchronous heart failure, n=12) or 3 weeks, followed by 3 weeks of resynchronization by biventricular pacing at the same pacing rate (CRT, n=10). Control animals without left bundle branch block were not paced (n=13). At 6 weeks, RNA was isolated from the anterior and lateral left ventricular (LV) walls and hybridized onto canine-specific 44K microarrays. Echocardiographically, CRT led to a significant decrease in the dyssynchrony index, while dyssynchronous heart failure and CRT animals had a comparable degree of LV dysfunction. In dyssynchronous heart failure, changes in gene expression were primarily observed in the anterior LV, resulting in increased regional heterogeneity of gene expression within the LV. Dyssynchrony-induced expression changes in 1050 transcripts were reversed by CRT to levels of nonpaced hearts (false discovery rate <5%). CRT remodeled transcripts with metabolic and cell signaling function and greatly reduced regional heterogeneity of gene expression as compared with dyssynchronous heart failure. Conclusions—Our results demonstrate a profound effect of electromechanical dyssynchrony on the regional cardiac transcriptome, causing gene expression changes primarily in the anterior LV wall. CRT corrected the alterations in gene expression in the anterior wall, supporting a global effect of biventricular pacing on the ventricular transcriptome that extends beyond the pacing site in the lateral wall.


Background: The synthetic DNA-based immunomodulator MGN1703 is a member of the new dSLIM® family of TLR-9 agonists, comprising covalently closed dumbbell-like DNA molecules which consist entirely of natural DNA with two single-stranded CG-containing loops separated by a double-stranded stem. MGN1703 exerts its function by activating the innate and both arms of the adaptive immune system. MGN1703 has already shown a good safety profile and benefit for patients compared to placebo in maintenance therapy of metastatic colorectal carcinoma (mCRC) after fist-line induction therapy in a phase 2 clinical trial (MGN1703-C02, IMPACT). Methods: Following preclinical studies in mice and monkeys, a human clinical program was performed, including a phase 1 trial (MGN1703-C01), on a variety of solid tumors, and the double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase 2 IMPACT trial with mCRC patients. Additionally, a single dose crossover, placebo-controlled phase 1 cardiac safety trial, MGN1703-C04, was conducted to assess cardiac and general safety, pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) in healthy volunteers (HV). Fourteen HV were randomized and 13 subjects completed the study receiving a subcutaneous dose of 60 mg MGN1703 during one treatment period and a single dose of placebo during the other. Results: After single dose administration of MGN1703 standard PK parameters were determined in the MGN1703-C04 trial: mean Tmax (14h), AUC0-t (5000 ng•hr/mL) and shape of the curve of MGN1703 concentration in serum. These were similar to single dose data obtained from cancer patients, where a mean Tmax of 10h and a mean AUC0-t of 5340 ng•hr/mL have been observed. Notably, multiple doses resulted in similar levels in serum of cancer patients, without accumulation of MGN1703. PD was mainly evaluated by analyzing levels of the chemokine IP-10 in serum of the HV as an equivalent of innate immune activation. Elevated IP-10 levels in the serum of HV were shown peaking at 24-48 hours after dosing with MGN1703. This is clearly in line with expected time frame of immune activation subsequent to MGN1703 appearance in the serum of the HV. Timing and levels of IP-10 elevation are in keeping with data from the peripheral blood of cancer patients, where in addition to IP-10 also the subsequent activation of innate immune cells – especially the up-regulation of CD169 on monocytes – as a consequence of MGN1703 administration was observed. Conclusions: The data show obvious similarities between healthy volunteers and cancer patients with respect to PK and PD and also confirm the appearance of the appropriate immunomodulatory signature downstream of MGN1703 appearance. This supports the twice weekly application scheme of current immunotherapy studies with MGN1703, e.g. the ongoing phase 3 IMPALA trial in mCRC patients. Further data will allow for evaluation of a possible association with clinical parameters in cancer patients. Citation Format: Manuel Schmidt, Kerstin Kapp, Detlef Oswald, Matthias Schroff, Burghardt Wittig, Alfredo Zurlo. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the immunotherapeutic TLR-9 agonist MGN1703 – conclusions by comparison of data from clinical trials with healthy volunteers and cancer patients. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A035.


In light of compelling empirical evidence, school connectedness is a strong protective factor, negatively associated with a range of students' risky and violent behaviours, and a powerful predictor of student psychological wellbeing and academic achievement. In contrast, prevalence of interpersonal aggression and peer victimization are major threats to student engagement and positive school climate. This study argues that teachers' approach to school discipline is an important determinant of students' connectedness to school as well as of quality of their interpersonal dynamics, and explores how student perceptions of positive and negative discipline strategies predict their feelings of school connectedness as well as rates of involvement in bullying and victimization. Elementary students (N = 2303, grades 47) from 18 participating schools in a single school district responded to self-report measures of connectedness, bullying, victimization, and discipline practices as a part of a larger project on School Climate and Bullying. Results of Hierarchical Linear Regression analyses indicated that discipline practices accounted for 43% of variance in school connectedness, 8% of the variance in bullying and 15% of the variance in victimization, after controlling for sex, grade and school differences. Greater school connectedness was most strongly predicted by restorative discipline and fairness, whereas higher reports of bullying and victimization were predicted by low fairness, use of punitive discipline or perceived lack of discipline by students. Overall, these findings provide new evidence concerning the role of school discipline, and suggest important implications for teachers and educational professionals.


Molander, B., and Garvill, J. Effects of first stage variations of stimulus meaningfulness and response meaningfulness in the A-B, B-C, A-C paradigm. Unea Psychological Reports, No. 85, 1975. - With CVC-syllables as low meaningfulness material and common nouns as high meaningfulness material, two levels of stimulus meaningfulness and two levels of response meaningfulness were corrbined to form the four first stage conditions HH, LH, HL and LL in the A-B, B-C, A-C paradigm. The results of the experiment, which was performed according to standard PA learning procedures, indicated that stimulus meaningfulness as well as response meaningfulness contributed to the mediation effects in stage three. The mediation effects, however, seemed to be directly related to first stage performance rather than to meaningfulness per se. The results also suggested that intra-pair and intralist similarity may be important acquisition variables in studies on mediation.


To provide hormone evidence on reproductive seasonality and maturity of the Yangtze finless porpoise, the authors monitored the monthly variations of serum reproductive hormones of a male Yangtze finless porpoise in captivity via radioimmunoassay from 1997 to 2003. It was demonstrated that the immature animal had a serum T level of 28–101 ng dL−1 (65 ± 52 ng dL−1), reached puberty with the serum T concentration ranging between 250 and 590 ng dL−1 (390 ± 130 ng dL−1), and attained reproductive maturity when the serum T level went beyond 1120 ± 180 ng dL−1 in the breeding season. The body length growth of the animal showed a pattern similar to the serum T variations during its adolescent period from the age of 4 to 6 years. Moreover, the serum T concentration of the male porpoise exhibited significant seasonal variations, indicating that its breeding season may start as early as March and end as late as September.


Sonography of the cecum has come of age largely as a consequence of the successful evolution of appendiceal sonography as a useful tool in the evaluation of patients with right lower-quadrant pain. At some medical centers, graded-compression sonography (GCS) has become the initial imaging study of choice in the assessment of these individuals. The cecum serves as a helpful anatomic landmark for localization of the appendix in these examinations-providing a sonographic starting point in the search for the appendix. During GCS, primary pathology within the cecum itself can become evident, including a variety of processes, such as infectious, inflammatory, or neoplastic disorders, whose presentations commonly mimic that of appendicitis. The accurate diagnosis of cecal abnormalities and their differentiation from acute appendicitis play valuable roles in the management of affected patients because the options for further workup and subsequent treatment vary greatly according to the diagnosis at hand. Additionally, the compressed cecum often becomes an acoustic window into the right lower quadrant, revealing pathology apart from the appendix within the right iliac fossa. The purpose of this pictorial essay is to highlight the importance and value of performing a careful evaluation of the cecum during GCS of patients with suspected appendicitis and to review the differential diagnosis and imaging findings of primary cecal abnormalities whose clinical presentations can mimic that of acute appendicitis.


Shells of three different chestnut cultivars named as 'Marigoule', 'Maraval' and '52112' ('Vakit Kestanesi') were tested for their antifungal activities against Penicillium roqueforti, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus parasiticus. Ethanol extracts were obtained by soxhlet extraction and antifungal activities were determined with three point inoculation method and an automated quantitative assay by absorbance measurement at 595 nm on a microplate reader. Results of the two methods demonstrated that ethanol extracts of 'Marigoule' and 'Maraval' retarded the growth of Aspergillus niger but did not inhibit it completely. None of the three extracts inhibited Penicillium roqueforti according to microplate assay; but on the contrary stimulatory effects of '52112' on the mentioned mould were determined. Contradictory results were obtained from two methods concerning the antifungal effect of three extracts, so further studies are needed for the factors causing variations between two methods and the composition of the chestnut shell extracts to determine the antifungal activity more accurately.


The present work aimed to determine the oral microbiotic composition of snakes from Sao Jose do Rio Preto city, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Ten snake species, comprising the families Boidae, Colubridae, Elapidae and Viperidae, were submitted to microbiological examination of their oral cavity, which indicated positivity for all buccal samples. Gram-negative bacilli, gram-negative cocci bacilli, gram-positive bacilli and gram-positive cocci were isolated from the snakes. Among isolated bacterium species, the occurrence of coagulase-negative staphylococci in the buccal cavity of Crotalus durissus (Viperiade), Eunectes murinus (Boidae), Mastigodryas bifossatus (Colubridae) and Bacillus subtilis, common to oral cavity of Bothrops alternatus (Viperidae) and Phalotris mertensi (Colubridae), was detected. It was observed higher diversity of isolated bacteria from the oral cavity of Micrurus frontalis (Elapidae) and Philodryas nattereri (Colubridae), as well as the prevalence of gram-positive baccillus and gram-positive cocci. The composition of the oral microbiota of the studied snakes, with or without inoculating fangs, is diverse and also related to the formation of abscesses at the bite site in the victims of the ophidian accidents, and to pathogenic processes in the snakes that host these microorganisms.


Three‐dimensional geometries of silicate‐hosted magnetic inclusions from the Harcus intrusion, South Australia have been determined using focused‐ion‐beam nanotomography (FIB‐nt). By developing an effective workflow, the geometries were reconstructed for magnetic particles in a plagioclase (162) and a pyroxene (282), respectively. For each inclusion, micromagnetic modeling using Micromagnetic Earth Related Rapid Interpreted Language Laboratory provided averaged hysteresis loops and backfield remanence curves of 20 equidistributed field directions together with average Ms, Mrs, Hc, and Hcr. The micromagnetic structures within each silicate are single‐domain (SD), single‐vortex (SV), multivortex (MV) and multidomain states. They have been analyzed using domain‐state diagnostic plots, such as the Day plot and the Néel plot. SD particles can be subdivided into groups with dominant uniaxial anisotropy (Mrs/Ms ∼0.5 and 10 < Hc < 100 mT) and mixed uniaxial/multiaxial anisotropy (Mrs/Ms ∼0.7 and 10 < Hc < 30 mT). Most SV particles lie on a trend with 0 < Mrs/Ms < 0.1 and 0 < Hc < 10 mT, while others display a broad range of intermediate Mrs/Ms and Hc values. SV and MV states do not plot on systematic grain‐size trends. Instead, the multicomponent mixture of domain states within each silicate spans the entire range of natural variability seen in bulk samples. This questions the interpretation of bulk average hysteresis parameters in terms of grain size alone. FIB‐nt combined with large‐scale micromagnetic simulations provides a more complete characterization of silicate‐hosted carriers of stable magnetic remanence. This approach will improve the understanding of single‐crystal paleomagnetism and enable primary paleomagnetic data to be extracted from ancient rocks.


In this study, morphology control of ZnO was performed by a wet chemical processing without templates at room temperature. In special, the effect of aging time and pH of this wet processing on ZnO morphologies was in detail investigated. As a result, products composed of a single phase of ZnO with a unique morphology like a hollow tube were obtained. Then, it was found that an aging process played an important role on controlling morphology of ZnO during this wet chemical process. Furthermore, it was found that this hollow-tubular ZnO had a high transparency.


The human chromosome 22 displays an unusual concentration of medically relevant genes, especially gene(s) involved in malignancies of the central nervous system. A full genomic and transcriptional characterization of this autosome will no doubt make a strong impact on the understanding of some of the processes which lead to the development of these tumours.


The nucleotide sequence of tobacco chloroplast 4.5S ribosomal RNA has been determined to be: OHG-A-A-G-G-U-C-A-C-G-G-C-G-A-G-A-C-G-A-G-C-C-G-U-U-U-A-U-C-A-U-U-A-C-G-A-U-A-G-G-U-G-U-C-A-A-G-U-G-G-A-A-G-U-G-C-A-G-U-G-A-U-G-U-A-U-G-C-(G-A)-C-U-G-A-G-G-C-A-U-C-C-U-A-A-C-A-G-A-C-C-G-G-U-A-G-A-C-U-U-G-A-A-COH. The 4.5S RNA is 103 nucleotides long and its 5'-terminus is not phosphorylated.


National museum institutions in Bohemia were formed in two distinct areas: art and sciences. Although the Picture Gallery of the Society of Patriotic Friends and the Patriotic Museum, established in 1796 and 1818 respectively, were the creations of enlightened aristocrats as elitist institutions to improve local taste and civilization, they became crucial in shaping Czech nationalism since the 1830s. As a consequence, historical and archaeological collections began to be built. As Czech society increasingly started to participate in the modernization and industrialization process of late nineteenth century Austria, applied and decorative arts emerged as the unique marks of a distinctively modern Czech national identity. Two museums originally devoted to industrial production illustrate this development, the Naprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures and the Museum of Decorative Arts. Historical identity inseparable of the idea of building a Czechoslovak nation after 1918, began to emerge at the Vitkov Hill monument, which was revitalized after 1989 as a major site of historical exhibitions.


In this research, a novel fault-location algorithm for transmission lines including the unified power-flow controller (UPFC) is proposed. Since this method does not utilize model of the UPFC, the errors resulting from the fault interval model of the UPFC are avoided. In addition, the new technique does not require proposing a selector to select fault section with respect to the UPFC location. This method uses synchronous data gathered from both ends of the transmission line and takes advantage of the distributed parameter line model in time domain. One quadratic equation is obtained, assuming that the fault is located on the left-hand side of the UPFC. The same procedure is applied for the assumed fault on the right-hand side of the UPFC and another quadratic equation is achieved. These two equations are used to derive an optimization problem that the location of fault is calculated by solving this problem. A 300-km/500-kV transmission line, including a UPFC simulated in MATLAB/Simulink, has been used to evaluate the performance of the new method. The obtained results show the accuracy of the proposed algorithm.


Best evidence topic reports (BETs) summarise the evidence pertaining to particular clinical questions. They are not systematic reviews, but rather contain the best (highest level) evidence that can be practically obtained by busy practising clinicians. The search strategies used to find the best evidence are reported in detail in order to allow clinicians to update searches whenever necessary. The BETS published below were first reported at the Critical Appraisal Journal Club at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.' Each BET has been constructed in the four stages that have been described elsewhere.2 The four topics covered in this issue of the journal are: * Nebulised ipratropium bromide bronchiolitis * Gag reflex and intubation * Bell's palsy and prednisolone * Glue or sutures for facial lacerations in children


Background: Multiple choice questions (MCQs) play a pivotal role in various types of assessment in medical schools, due to the ease with which these can be administered and evaluated. Although primarily employed for assessment, the direct role of MCQ-assisted teaching learning (MATeL) may be explored among teachers and students as an aid to learning.

Aims and Objectives: The present study endeavors to evaluate how MATeL helps students improve their performance and to explore the correlation between MCQ and short answer questions (SAQ) performance of students on a given topic of instruction in physiology.

Materials and Methods: For MATeL topics, a total of 25 MCQs, based on five specific learning objectives, were discussed with 94 students of the 1st year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery course, and in-depth evaluation of each of the correct choices was done during the lectures. For the non-MATeL topics, the students were advised to read up the topic before the lecture which was followed by an exhaustive discussion on the same. At the end of the lecture series, a formative written assessment was carried, and the MCQ and SAQ scores were analyzed for each of the students. Results: Mean scores for both SAQs and MCQs was significantly higher in MATeL than the non-MATeL topics (SAQs 5.31 vs. 4.36, t = 2.5; MCQs 7.18 vs. 6.68, t = 5.23). There was a good correlation between total MCQ and total SAQ scores for the students (r = 0.34, P < 0.05, 95% confidence interval: 0.15-0.51). For the non-MATeL topics, SAQ scores correlated with the MCQ scores but not for the MATeL topics. Students show improved scores in their formative written assessment when the lectures are assisted with use of MCQs, than when MCQs are not employed before and during the lecture.

Conclusions: MCQs may form a vital component during teaching when delivering important concepts, and their use may not be restricted to the traditional role during the assessment.


Abstract
Four gibbons were inoculated subcutaneously with larvae of Dirofilaria immitis and studied for periods of time up to 14 months. Approximately 2 months following inoculation, skin test reactions converted to positive, eosinophil counts rose, and serological tests were positive for Dirofilaria-reactive antibody. Generally, these laboratory manifestations of infection persisted for the remainder of the study, but microfilaremia was never detected. Both live and dead heartworms were found in the heart and lungs of the infected animals. The pulmonary lesions associated with the infection closely resembled those reported in dogs.


Top-k queries have gained considerable attention as an effective means for narrowing down the overwhelming amount of data. This paper studies the problem of constructing an indexing structure that efficiently supports top-k queries for varying scoring functions and retrieval sizes. The existing work can be categorized into three classes: list-, layer-, and view-based approaches. This paper focuses on the layer-based approach, pre-materializing tuples into consecutive multiple layers. The layer-based index enables us to return top-k answers efficiently by restricting access to tuples in the k layers. However, we observe that the number of tuples accessed in each layer can be reduced further. For this purpose, we propose a dual-resolution layer structure. Specifically, we iteratively build coarse-level layers using skylines, and divide each coarse-level layer into fine-level sub layers using convex skylines. The dual-resolution layer is able to leverage not only the dominance relationship between coarse-level layers, named for all-dominance, but also a relaxed dominance relationship between fine-level sub layers, named exists-dominance. Our extensive evaluation results demonstrate that our proposed method significantly reduces the number of tuples accessed than the state-of-the-art methods.


Increasingly developers are becoming aware of the importance of software security, as frequent high-profile security incidents emphasize the need for secure code. Faced with this new problem, most developers will use their normal approach: web search. But are the resulting web resources useful and effective at promoting security in practice? Recent research has identified security problems arising from Q&A resources that help with specific secure-programming problems, but the web also contains many general resources that discuss security and secure programming more broadly, and to our knowledge few if any of these have been empirically evaluated. The continuing prevalence of security bugs suggests that this guidance ecosystem is not currently working well enough: either effective guidance is not available, or it is not reaching the developers who need it. This paper takes a first step toward understanding and improving this guidance ecosystem by identifying and analyzing 19 general advice resources. The results identify important gaps in the current ecosystem and provide a basis for future work evaluating existing resources and developing new ones to fill these gaps.


Early web applications were a set of static web pages connected to one another. In contrast, modern applications are full-featured programs that are nearly equivalent to desktop applications in functionality. However, web servers and web browsers, which were initially designed for static web pages, have not updated their protection models to deal with the security consequences of these fullfeatured programs. This mismatch has been the source of several security problems in web applications. This dissertation proposes new protection models for web applications. The design and implementation of prototypes of these protection models in a web server and a web browser are also described. Experiments are used to demonstrate the improvements in security and performance from using these protection models. Finally, this dissertation also describes systematic design methods to support the security of web applications. Protection Models for Web Applications


microRNAs provide a novel layer of regulation for gene expression by interfering with the stability and/or translation of specific target mRNAs. Overall levels of microRNAs are frequently down-regulated in cancer cells, and reducing general microRNA processing increases cancerogenesis in transgenic models, suggesting that at least some microRNAs might act as effectors in tumor suppression. Accordingly, the tumor suppressor p53 up-regulates miR-34a, a microRNA that contributes to apoptosis and acute senescence. Here, we used array hybridization to find that p53 induces two additional, mutually related clusters of microRNAs, leading to the up-regulation of miR-192, miR-194, and miR-215. The same microRNAs were detected at high levels in normal colon tissue but were severely reduced in many colon cancer samples. On the other hand, miR-192 and its cousin miR-215 can each contribute to enhanced CDKN1A/p21 levels, colony suppression, cell cycle arrest, and cell detachment from a solid support. These effects were partially dependent on the presence of wild-type p53. Antagonizing endogenous miR-192 attenuated 5-fluorouracil-induced accumulation of p21. Hence, miR-192 and miR-215 can act as effectors as well as regulators of p53; they seem to suppress cancerogenesis through p21 accumulation and cell cycle arrest.


Abstract Background: Ongoing impairment of the upper limb is common after stroke, despite neurorehabilitation. This impairment has a significant impact on an individual's activity and participation in life roles. It is essential to explore new ways to optimize motor recovery. Objectives: This narrative review describes repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which is a non-invasive electrophysical technique, currently being investigated in the laboratory setting. It considers the role rTMS might play in the future of stroke rehabilitation. Major findings: In the research setting, rTMS can be used to safely increase the excitability of descending motor pathways that innervate the paretic hand. When applied to the primary motor cortex (M1) of the lesioned or non-lesioned hemisphere, rTMS can temporarily improve motor behaviour of the paretic hand. Preliminary research supports the use of rTMS in conjunction with therapy, but repeated sessions are probably required to induce longer lasting changes that have a functionally meaningful effect for the patient. Conclusions: The use of rTMS to improve motor recovery following stroke appears promising, especially to prime the brain for a better response to subsequent therapy. Further research is required before the use of rTMS can move from the laboratory to the clinic.


- In this research a polymeric composites have been prepared using epoxy resin reinforced with fiber glass and two nano fillers silicon oxide SiO 2 particle size around 35 nm and titanium dioxide TiO 2 particle size around (100-150 nm). These composites have been prepared in square slices (25x25) cm and 8mm thickness, by saturating fiber glass mattresses in the liquid epoxy resin with nano fillers and then cutting the product in suitable shapes to conduct the mechanical tests highest properties (tensile strength, elongation, Flexural strength, hardness strength, and impact strength. were (116.1 N/mm 2 , 9.98%, 396 N/mm 2 , 83.8 shore-D and 5.8 J). The aim of this research is to prepare polymeric materials with high mechanical properties that can be used in many industrial applications especially in the manufacture of oil and gas pipe systems and crude oil pipelines.


We examine the balance of surface bonding and hydrogen bonding in the mixed OH + H2O overlayer on Pt(111), Cu(111), and Cu(110) via density functional theory calculations. We find that there is a cooperativity effect between surface bonding and hydrogen bonding that underlies the stability of the mixed phase at metal surfaces. The surface bonding can be considered to be similar to accepting a hydrogen bond, and we can thereby apply general cooperativity rules developed for hydrogen-bonded systems. This provides a simple understanding of why water molecules become more strongly bonded to the surface upon hydrogen bonding to OH and why the OH surface bonding is instead weakened through hydrogen bonding to water. We extend the application of this simple model to other observed cooperativity effects for pure water adsorption systems and H3O+ on metal surfaces.


Linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) are used in many stream ciphers because of their maximal period and good statistical prop- erties. Due to the linearity of the LFSR, its output cannot be directly used as the keystream. Dierent methods have been proposed to intro- duce the nonlinearity to the LFSR output. Irregular clocking is one of the methods to do this but the stream ciphers based on this method, are vulnerable to the side-channel attacks. In addition, the generation rate of the irregular clocked LFSRs is less than the corresponding regular ones. Jumping is a method of irregular clocking for LFSRs which may have non of the mentioned aws but its output period cannot be determined. In this paper, using the jumping LFSRs, some new primitives will be proposed. Structures of the new primitives have the determined lower bound of period and the resistance against the side-channel attacks. In some of the proposed structures, the lower bound of period can be de- termined without knowledge of the jump index. These structures are applicable when the calculation of the jump index is infeasible. The pro- posed structures can be used as primitives to design the software oriented and hardware oriented stream ciphers.


Abstract Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of two compounds belonging to chemical group 20 (aliphatic and aromatic mono‐ and di‐thiols and mono‐, di‐, tri‐, and polysulfides with or without additional oxygenated functional groups). 8‐Mercapto‐p‐menthan‐3‐one [12.038] and p‐menth‐1‐ene‐8‐thiol [12.085] are currently authorised as flavours in food. The FEEDAP Panel concludes that the two compounds are safe for the target species at the proposed maximum use level (0.05 mg/kg complete feed). No safety concern would arise for the consumer from the use of 8‐mercapto‐p‐menthan‐3‐one and p‐menth‐1‐ene‐8‐thiol up to the highest safe level in feedingstuffs for all animal species. Both compounds should be considered as irritants to skin and eyes, and 8‐mercapto‐p‐menthan‐3‐one [12.038] also as irritant to the respiratory tract. No conclusions can be drawn on skin sensitisation potential. No environmental risk is foreseen for these compounds at the maximum proposed use level in feed. Since the two compounds are used as flavourings in food and their function is essentially the same as that in food, no further demonstration of efficacy is necessary.


Coupled groundwater flow and heat transport within hyporheic zones extensively affect water, energy, and solute exchange with surrounding sediments. The local and cumulative implications of this tightly coupled process strongly depend on characteristics of drivers (i.e., discharge and temperature of the water column) and modulators (i.e., hydraulic and thermal properties of the sediment). With this in mind, we perform a systematic numerical analysis of hyporheic responses to understand how the temporal variability of river discharge and temperature affect flow and heat transport within hyporheic zones. We identify typical time series of river discharge and temperature from gauging stations along the headwater region of Mississippi River Basin, which are characterized by different degrees of flow alteration, to drive a physics‐based model of the hyporheic exchange process. Our modeling results indicate that coupled groundwater flow and heat transport significantly affects the dynamic response of hyporheic zones, resulting in substantial differences in exchange rates and characteristic time scales of hyporheic exchange processes. We also find that the hyporheic zone dampens river temperature fluctuations increasingly with higher frequency of temperature fluctuations. This dampening effect depends on the system transport time scale and characteristics of river discharge and temperature variability. Furthermore, our results reveal that the flow alteration reduces the potential of hyporheic zones to act as a temperature buffer and hinders denitrification within hyporheic zones. These results have significant implications for understanding the drivers of local variability in hyporheic exchange and the implications for the development of thermal refugia and ecosystem functioning in hyporheic zones.


BACKGROUND Malignant melanoma is one of the most common forms of cancer in young adults in Norway. Early diagnosis and treatment is of vital importance for the prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS The article is based on articles obtained from Medline and PubMed and from the Norwegian guidelines for the treatment of malignant melanoma. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION The depth of invasion of the melanoma is the most important prognostic factor. The thicker the primary tumour, the less chance there is of patient survival. Patients with a localized tumour should be controlled regularly for up to five years. Primary tumours, local recurrences and metastases should be treated by surgery whenever possible. Radical lymph node dissection should be performed in patients with regional lymph node metastases with the intention of curing the patient. There is no curative chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Dacarbazine has been the most used medication for many years. The treatment is effective for about 10 - 20 % of the patients, but the response does not last for long and the treatment does not prolong survival time. Isolated limb perfusion with melphalan and TNF-alpha (tumour necrosis factor-alpha) gives high response rates in patients with metastatic disease localised in the extremities, but the treatment is only palliative. Radiation therapy has been useful in selected patients postoperatively (e.g. after removed local recurrence) and in palliation of metastatic disease. Several clinical studies with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, vaccines and combinations are ongoing. Of preventive measures, avoiding sunburn is of particular importance.


A key challenge for reinforcement learning is solving long-horizon planning problems. Recent work has leveraged programs to guide reinforcement learning in these settings. However, these approaches impose a high manual burden on the user since they must provide a guiding program for every new task. Partially observed environments further complicate the programming task because the program must implement a strategy that correctly, and ideally optimally, handles every possible configuration of the hidden regions of the environment. We propose a new approach, model predictive program synthesis (MPPS), that uses program synthesis to automatically generate the guiding programs. It trains a generative model to predict the unobserved portions of the world, and then synthesizes a program based on samples from this model in a way that is robust to its uncertainty. In our experiments, we show that our approach significantly outperforms non-program-guided approaches on a set of challenging benchmarks, including a 2D Minecraft-inspired environment where the agent must complete a complex sequence of subtasks to achieve its goal, and achieves a similar performance as using handcrafted programs to guide the agent. Our results demonstrate that our approach can obtain the benefits of program-guided reinforcement learning without requiring the user to provide a new guiding program for every new task.


Many freshwater shrimps (Decapoda, Caridea) have amphidromous life histories, with extended planktonic larval development in the sea. Larvae either are hatched upstream to drift down to the sea or are carried and released there by females. After development, postlarvae (juveniles) must migrate back up to their adult freshwater habitat. An amphidromous life cycle thus involves long distance migrations between marine and fresh waters. Other freshwater shrimps have abbreviated (or direct) larval development (ALD) with a completely freshwater life cycle and without such migrations. The question of which life history pattern (amphidromy versus ALD) is ancestral in freshwater shrimps is discussed in terms of costs, benefits, and phylogeny. Competing hypotheses are presented to explain the unusual distribution of Macrobrachium ohione, an amphidromous shrimp with recently abundant populations located very far (>1500 km) from the sea.


OBJECTIVE
There are three aims of this report. First, to describe how research evidence informed a service development rationale for a new statewide eating disorder service (SEDS) for people aged 15 years and older. Second, to examine the profile of people accessing SEDS in the first 2 years of its operation with respect to the three broad dimensions: illness stage, illness severity, and previous history of treatment. Finally, to examine which patient characteristics resulted in the recommendation of ongoing treatment contact with SEDS.

METHOD
Over a 2-year period (July 2014 to July 2016) 292 people were referred to the service, 171 (59%) who consented to have their data used in research.

RESULTS
Half of the referrals related to anorexia nervosa (AN; 51.2%), with the remainder split between bulimia nervosa (25.3%) and other specified feeding and eating disorders (23.5%); 65.9% had previously received treatment for an eating disorder. The initial information about the service was typically provided by the general practitioner/primary care physician. Compared with any other eating disorder diagnosis, people with AN were three times more likely to be recommended to retain treatment contact with SEDS.

DISCUSSION
Service development informed by research evidence, clinical expertise, and consideration of patients' characteristics, values, and circumstances, allows for a flexible but accountable development strategy.


What constitute the most effective lines of effort is the most vital question confronting every public health administrator. Money is the measure of most effort, and appropriations are limited. In what way shall the appropriation for the health department be expended so as to save the most lives and prevent the most sickness? Are our municipal health departments making the best apportionment of their funds? Are health officials devoting the most effort to that which will best conserve the health of the people? If any city is doing this, it has a model health department. Certainly many cities are not doing it. It is hard to break away from tradition. Most persons think largely in terms of the past. Institutions are of slower growth than knowledge. It is a pity that they cannot be kept in closer alinement. Though it would be sad, indeed, to chase every pseudoscientific will-o'-the-wisp that


Feeding problems are common among autistic children and are linked to negative health consequences. Therefore, understanding feeding problems and factors that influence these behaviors is important for developing supports for children and families. While certain sensory processing patterns are commonly associated with feeding problems, less is known about the link between sensory processing and feeding behaviors in autism, as well as how parent behaviors and feelings during mealtime differ based on child sensory preferences. This research examined two groups of young autistic children who were reported to be picky eaters by their parents: those with and those without oral hypersensitivity. Children with oral hypersensitivity had more difficulty with food acceptance, and their parents reported more negative feelings around feeding their child. However, the two groups of children (oral hypersensitive and not) did not differ in their medical/oral motor symptoms, mealtime behavior, or parent use of strategies at mealtimes. This research supports the need for personalized treatment strategies based on the child's sensory preferences to support both the child and parent in managing mealtimes. Lay abstract Feeding problems are common among autistic children and are linked to negative health consequences. Therefore, understanding feeding problems and factors that influence these behaviors is important for developing supports for children and families. While certain sensory processing patterns are commonly associated with feeding problems, less is known about the link between sensory processing and feeding behaviors in autism, as well as how parent behaviors and feelings during mealtime differ based on child sensory preferences. This research examined two groups of young autistic children who were reported to be picky eaters by their parents: those with and those without oral hypersensitivity. Children with oral hypersensitivity had more difficulty with food acceptance and their parents reported more negative feelings around feeding their child. However, the two groups of children (oral hypersensitive and not) did not differ in their medical/oral motor symptoms, mealtime behavior, or parent use of strategies at mealtimes. This research supports the need for personalized treatment strategies based on the child's sensory preferences to support both the child and parent in managing mealtimes.


The technique for automatic testing of electronic components must be adapted to the requirements for each individual test program. This paper describes the methods employed in instrumenting two test programs. The first involves approximately 75,000 components of four types - resistors, diodes, transistors and capacitors - all being tested for an extended period under environmental and electrical load conditions. The second program, in contrast, describes the parameter measurements which have to be made on small quantities of semiconductor devices under nuclear radiation conditions.


In the past two decades, laterality in sports has become clearly established. In particular, the concept of motoric dominance in sports has been a fertile area for laterality research. The literature is consistent with the view that in certain sporting skills, sporting competitors with specific motoric-dominance patterns enjoy an advantage over other competitors and are overrepresented in some sports. Two theoretical interpretations have been offered to explain this imbalance of motoric-dominance distribution among sporting individuals: hypotheses of "innate superiority" and "strategic advantage." This paper presents an overview the two hypotheses, along with relevant work so far reported and identifies directions for further empirical research. The theoretical and practical implications of research on laterality in human motor performance are discussed.


We develop a critical-state model of fused silica plasticity on the basis of data mined from molecular dynamics (MD) calculations. The MD data is suggestive of an irreversible densification transition in volumetric compression resulting in permanent, or plastic, densification upon unloading. Moreover, this data exhibits dependence on temperature and the rate of deformation. We show that these characteristic behaviors are well-captured by a critical state model of plasticity, where the densification law for glass takes the place of the classical consolidation law of granular media and the locus of constant volume states denotes the critical-state line. A salient feature of the critical-state line of fused silica, as identified from the MD data, that renders its yield behavior anomalous is that it is strongly non-convex, owing to the existence of two well-differentiated phases at low and high pressures. We argue that this strong non-convexity of yield explains the patterning that is observed in molecular dynamics calculations of amorphous solids deforming in shear. We employ an explicit and exact rank-2 envelope construction to upscale the microscopic critical-state model to the macroscale. Remarkably, owing to the equilibrium constraint the resulting effective macroscopic behavior is still characterized by a non-convex critical-state line. Despite this lack of convexity, the effective macroscopic model is stable against microstructure formation and defines well-posed boundary-value problems. We present examples of ballistic impact of silica glass rods by way of the optimal transport meshfree method. We extend the study of the inelastic behavior of silica glass to include the effect of many different temperatures, pressures, and strain rates using MD and maximum entropy atomistics (MXE) calculations. Owing to the temperature dependence of the model, the macroscopic model becomes unstable against adiabatic shear localization. Thus, the material adopts small inter-facial regions where the shear strain is extremely high. We characterize the shear band size, thereby predicting a yield knockdown factor at the macroscale, and compare the results to behavior reported in flyer plate impact experiments.


Nanoporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are intensively investigated with respect to various applications such as in gas storage, in molecular separation and as sensors. In all these applications, the interaction with the guest molecules in the nanopores, as well as the diffusion properties, are crucial. In this topical review, thin MOF films, referred to as surface-mounted MOFs (SURMOFs), are discussed as a well-defined model system for detailed mass transfer studies. The origins of mass transport hindering surface barriers, which often slow down the mass transfer tremendously, and the slow diffusion of large molecules, are investigated by using thin MOF films. Another focus of this topical review is on photoswitchable MOF films. Azobenzene side groups in the MOF structure allow a remote control of the adsorption and diffusion properties. This is employed for demonstrating the remote-controlled release from a nanoporous container as well as for membrane separation where the separation factor can be continuously tuned by light irradiation.


The idea of garden is expressed, for the first time in history, by the Mesopotamian civilization as early as the IV millennium BCE as drawings and poetry texts showing a wall fencing one single tree. This is the first representation of the idea of sheltering/protecting a tree by human artifacts and, in its simplest form, brings the idea of the tight relationship between horticulture and urban environment. The "jardinu" of Pantelleria, a drystone wall shaped into an open-top tower encircling a single citrus tree, fully matches both in its founding idea and its physical implementation the elemental idea of the Mesopotamian garden. Such traditional growing system, developed in Pantelleria to cope with water scarcity, is an artifact at the service of households, fully integrated into the urban settlements of the Island and providing a valuable source of fresh fruit to families despite the lack of irrigation water. Currently, as many as 500 of such structures are still active in Pantelleria, standing as the distinguishing landmarks of the island. The simple, albeit expensive, principle of enclosing a tree inside a protective wall has many effects on the surrounding environment and on the eco-physiological behavior of the tree itself. We discuss here this system from the point of view of the interactions between the tree and the enclosing wall, focusing on the ability of the "Pantelleria citrus garden" to affect the water cycle of the tree and to avoid irrigation at all. Our analysis shows beyond simple, easily recognizable effects such as wind protection and the related reductions in transpiration, diurnal thermal dynamics of wall's stones actively affects the water balance of the system. Implications of this analysis suggest that the knowledge behind the empirical building-rules developed over the years for the construction of such structures are expression of the physical principles underlying the environmental dynamics of the "Pantelleria citrus garden".


Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder of childhood. It affects approximately 4% of all children, although estimates vary widely from 3% to 11% or more. Neuroimaging and neurophysiological tests have been increasingly used to understand the relation between brain functionality and ADHD symptoms. QEEG provides a method that can measure the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders. By using spectral analysis is able to find abnormalities of brain functionality and connectivity linked to abnormal ADHD behaviors. The objective of the current work was to study and compare the efficacy & accuracy of QEEG for diagnosis of ADHD children, to assess the spectral characteristic of QEEG findings within cases of ADHD, to detect the presence of specific EEG findings that might help in diagnosis. Methodology The current study was conducted on 60 school aged children range from 6-15 years (60 ADHD children matching DSM-5 criteria) and 20 typically developing children. All cases were subjected to thorough history taking and clinical examination with special attention to neurological examination. Both cases and controls were subjected to QEEG analysis and interpretation. All studied children had undergone assessment with Arabic form of Conners' Parent Rating Scale short form, IQ test, Arabic version of DSM-5. The present study revealed that: Increased levels of slow waves (predominantly theta) , decreased levels of relative Beta LF activity, and increased levels of Theta/Beta LF ratio, in QEEG of ADHD when compared to QEEGs of normal controls. The present study revealed significant differences between ADHD cases & control at all regions of brain; according to average amplitude of power spectrum of all bands (Theta, Beta LF&HF) and Theta/Beta LF ratio. From this study we concluded that children with ADHD have QEEG dysfunctions that underlie their symptomatology. QEEG average of power spectral analysis (theta, beta LF and theta/beta LF ratio) can differentiate between ADHD cases (abnormal power) & normal population (normal power).


The World Wide Web. The Information Superhighway. Cyberspace. Powerful metaphors that have infused our culture with a sense of its own technological prowess and superiority. According to some of its most ardent enthusiasts, in cyberspace we can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone we choose. We slip in and out of virtual identities as easily as we change our clothes. With the knowledge of the ages available to us at the click of a mouse, learning becomes little more than a process of searching and downloading. Using the Internet to spackle over any unfortunate gaps in our knowledge, we become "instant experts" on virtually any topic (Wright 2000). Online, we can "visit" remote places: check the weather on the Ross Ice Shelf, make a virtual pilgrimage up Ireland's Croagh Patrick (MacWilliams 2004), or marvel at the wonders observed through the Hubble Telescope. Not surprisingly, the World Wide Web is replete with religion-from simple congregational websites to fully orbed Wiccan cybercovens, from virtual puja (Dawson and Cowan 2004) to virtual hajj (Bunt 2000), and from Internet libraries designed to "crack" the Sumerian code (Cassidy 2002) to what some observers regard as the online revival of a populist Marian mysticism (Apolito 2005). According to one sociologist, the Internet "is the most portentous development for the future of religion to come out of the twentieth century" (Brasher 2001:17). And indeed, for some, the Internet has even become a metaphor for God (Turkle 1995; Henderson 2000). While both these latter claims may seriously overstate the reality of the situation, that religion and the Internet have become intimately and integrally linked is beyond dispute. In little more than a decade, a powerful set of interrelated mythologies has arisen about "life on the 'net"'-whatever we take that to mean ultimately-that challenges many of our heretofore accepted notions of society, culture, community, and the self (Rheingold 1993; Turkle 1995; Barlow [1996] 2001; for less utopian views, see Kroker and Weinstein 1994; Roszak 1994; Slouka 1995; Stoll 1995; Kroker and Kroker 1996; Wynn and Katz 1997). However useful computer-mediated communications have become, though, in many ways the World Wide Web represents at least as much the triumph of hyperbole and marketing as it does the next step in technological evolution. Often used as though its meaning is entirely transparent, the concept of "cyberspace" has traveled like a meme through the cultural consciousness since its introduction in the mid-1980s (Gibson 1984), an ambitious and ambiguous metonym that encompasses what popularly passes for the experiential totality of the Internet. The question, though, in terms of this Forum, is where do we go when we are online? Where is the "place" in cyberspace? The relentless commercial and enthusiast discourses of the World Wide Web tell us that online activity is a journey, that it takes us somewhere other than where we are. We are "traveling" the Infobahn; we are "exploring" or "navigating" the Internet; we


The complexity of technical systems is constantly increasing. To manage the amount of data several strategies have been followed and a lot of achievements were made especially in artificial intelligence. But still the capabilities of human intelligence are unrivaled. The contribution of this article is an introduction to a decision unit based on psychoanalytical models and a description how the findings can be used in future robotic applications. The neuro-psychoanalytical theories used, cover a comprehensive model of human intelligence and presents structures for all aspects of human decision making. The psychoanalytic-inspired decision unit shows promising prospects that standard planning and control units lack in various respects. Amongst others, scenario and experience-based planning, drive-based intention models, and the 3-tier (neuro-symbolic, thing presentations, word presentations) data processing architecture, are very promising methods. In order to validate the model, a simulation environment was implemented holding various agents with the neuro-psychoanalytical decision unit. This first implementation shows the possibilities of the system and gives a great outlook for future investigations of the capabilities.


Hybrid power system (HPS) is the power system consists of renewable energy sources and traditional energy sources used together to increase system efficiency and reduce operation cost. Energy management is one of the main issues in operating the HPS, which needs to be optimized with respect to the current and future change in generation, demand, and market price, particularly for HPS with strong renewable penetration. Optimal energy management strategies such as dynamic programming (DP) may become significantly suboptimal under strong uncertainty in prediction of renewable generation and utility price. In order to reduce the impact of such uncertainties, a two-scale dynamic programming scheme is proposed in this study to optimize the operational benefit based on multi-scale prediction. The proposed idea is illustrated with a simple HPS which consists of wind turbine and battery storage with grid connection. The system is expected to satisfy certain load demand while minimizing the cost via peak-load shaving. First, a macro-scale dynamic programming (MASDP) is performed for the long term period, based on long term ahead prediction of hourly electricity price and wind energy (speed). The battery state-of-charge (SOC) is thus obtained as the macro-scale reference trajectory. The micro-scale dynamic programming (MISDP) is then applied with a short term interval, based on short term-hour ahead auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) prediction of hourly electricity price and wind energy. The nodal SOC values from the MASDP result are used as the terminal condition for the MISDP. The simulation results show that the proposed method can significantly decrease the operation cost, as compared with the single scale DP method.


ABSTRACTCOVID-19 is compromising all aspects of society, with devastating impacts on health, political, social, economic and educational spheres. A premium is being placed on scientific research as the source of possible solutions, with a situational imperative to carry out investigations at an accelerated rate. There is a major challenge not to neglect ethical standards, in a context where doing so may mean the difference between life and death. In this paper we offer a rubric for considering the ethical challenges in COVID-19 related research, in the form of an ethics toolkit for global research developed at the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with more than 200 global researchers from around the world. This toolkit provides a framework to support confrontation of ethical conflicts through the integrated and iterative analysis of Place, People, Principles and Precedents, throughout the research journey. Two case analyses are offered to exemplify the utility of the toolkit as a flexible and dynamic tool to promote ethical research in the context of COVID-19.


Acceleration factors are calculated for crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules under system voltage stress by comparing the module power during degradation outdoors with that in accelerated testing at three temperatures and 85% relative humidity. A lognormal analysis is applied to the accelerated lifetime test data, considering failure at 80% of the initial module power. Activation energy of 0.73 eV for the rate of failure is determined for the chamber testing at constant relative humidity, and the probability of module failure at an arbitrary temperature is predicted. To obtain statistical data for multiple modules over the course of degradation in situ of the test chamber, dark I-V measurements are obtained and transformed using superposition, which is found to be well suited for rapid and quantitative evaluation of potential-induced degradation. It is determined that shunt resistance measurements alone do not represent the extent of power degradation. This is explained with a two-diode model analysis that shows an increasing second diode recombination current and ideality factor as the degradation in module power progresses. Failure modes of the modules stressed outdoors are examined and compared with those stressed in accelerated tests.