During the lifetime of the Prophet Muḥammad and the expansion of the young Islamic empire immediately after his death, a number of land tracts were distributed to his Companions and Family members. One of them was a fertile farm called Yanbuʿ, located northwest of Medina. Having acquired the land, the Prophet's cousin, son-and-law, caliph-to-be ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib discovered a spring that he named Bughaybigha, which fed what was to become a much-coveted date-palm orchard. He immediately turned it into a charitable endowment to be managed by his heirs. But when ʿAlī was killed in a struggle for the caliphate, chaos and confusion ensued—one feature of which was a generations-long battle over the land. For the next one hundred fifty years, Umayyad and ʿAbbāsid rulers episodically wrested the land from ʿAlī's descendants each time the latter succeeded in securing its return. At one point in the midst of the political contestation, the affair ended up in court. There, the case turned on the judge's creative interpretation of and choice between conflicting procedural rules. The outcome was a split decision that gave only a partial win to the caliph and a partial win to the ʿAlid descendant who had been cultivating the land. Judicial discretion and procedure, it turns out, was instrumental to resolving hotly contested issues of Islamic law, land, and legitimate rule. In fact, the case vividly displays how judges like the one at the center of this case helped construct Islamic law through their interpretive approaches to such issues that lay at the heart of disputes like Bughaybigha.


Information systems development is a very important activity that is performed continuously in Information Systems departments. We can say that quality is a complex measurement of a product or service that people demands. However, quality is a measurement that is composed by a set of aspects. Quality measurement can be performed in concrete or abstract form. Software quality is a very important issue that developers must address properly, but a lot has to do with abstract aspects of it nonetheless. We proposed an approach that could reduce the abstractness of software quality measurement. In order to prove it, we conducted a study with encouraging results. We found that end-user participation in the evaluation IS quality can be improved.


The co-occurrence of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Intellectual Disability (ID) is a sparsely covered area in the literature. This case series looks to describe the common presentations of these two disorders, both commonly presenting with self-harm, impulsivity, and intense anger. Additionally, three treatment courses of individuals with co-occurring ID and BPD will be described, illustrating the commonalities as well as the modifications of BPD treatment for individuals and in adapting ID supports for those with BPD.


Recent studies have pointed towards non-industrial private forest landowners being underserved. This article presents data collected on the Tennessee Northern Cumberland Plateau in 2005 by the University of Tennessee to assess landowner use of information sources and employs an econometric model to assess landowner characteristics and how they affect what sources of information landowners are most likely to use. Results reveal that landowners have mostly used friends, family, and neighbors as information sources. Multinomial logistic regression results reveal that landowners may be motivated to actively manage their forestland but are not necessarily interested in Extension information.


When what was to become the Asian financial crisis of 1997 broke out in Thailand, few analysts predicted that this crisis would spread to South Korea. Korea, after all, had risen from poverty to become one of the "Asian miracle economies". However, the crisis did not spare Korea, and the Korean government was forced to negotiate a bailout from the International Monetary Fund in late 1997. In 1998, the Korean economy went into the deepest recession recorded in that country since the Korean War. Many of the underlying problems were homegrown. Huge amounts of debt had been amassed by Korea's large industrial conglomerates (the chaebol), and often the funds had been invested in undertakings that were not earning satisfactory rates of return. By the end of 1998, a number of smaller conglomerates had failed and one of the top five (Daewoo) was in serious trouble and eventually would fail.* In this study, author Edward M. Graham examines how this situation arose, tracing its roots to the aggressive industrial policy begun by Korean strongman president Park Chung-hee during the late 1960s. Graham notes that a major failing of Korea during the "miracle-economy" years was that the financial sector in Korea remained underdeveloped and thus never was able to develop a counterweight to the economic and political power that, over time, the chaebol acquired. The crisis of 1997 can be seen as the culminating event of that asymmetry that was created by Korean industrial policy, i.e., very powerful industrial groups that operated without the countervailing power of financial institutions. Graham then looks at the efforts at reform since 1997, including reform of the financial sector and the chaebol themselves. He concludes that, while much progress has been made, the reform has been uneven and is far from complete.


In the work described in this thesis, electrochemical sensors are designed and investigated for their potential use in the detection of metal ions in aqueous solutions. Firstly, the use of carbon-based nanomaterials commonly used in the construction of electrochemical sensors; multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene, were characterised using a potassium ferricyanide probe. The carbon nanomaterials were constructed using pencil style electrodes which were modified via drop-casting. Both carbon nanomaterials were used in their pristine form, simply cast from a DMF suspension. It was found that the electrode modified with sonicated MWCNTs possessed a greater electroactive surface area (0.377 cm2) and larger rate constant for electron transfer (2.579 × 10-3 cm s-1) than the electrode modified with graphene (0.092 cm2 and 8.160 × 10-4 cm s-1) therefore the MWCNTs modified electrode was further investigated for its use in the detection of Cr(VI). The electrode modified simply with pristine MWCNTs gave a limit of detection of 1.95 × 10-4 M with reasonable selectivity in the detection of Cr(VI) using cyclic voltammetry. To further enhance the sensitivity of detection, various alterations were made to the construction of the electrode including the use of gold nanoparticles to modify oxidised MWCNTs. A lower limit of detection of Cr(VI) (1.20 × 10-6 M) was achieved at this modified electrode using constant potential amperometry and a rotating disk electrode, which is close to the mandatory limits set by the EPA (9.61 × 10-7 M). The detection of Cu(II) was also studied in this thesis. The construction of this sensor involved the modification of an electrode with a ligand, diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) via its incorporation into a Nafion film. The electrochemical detection of Cu(II) at this sensor was based on its complexation to DDC and the cycling of Cu(II) to Cu(I). The detection mechanism was investigated using UV-vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The limit of detection achieved in this preliminary sensor study was 5.40 × 10-5 M which is close to the mandatory limit set by the EPA of 3.20 × 10-5 M.


The goat, popularly called as poor man's cow plays a vital role in rural economy of Indian sub-continent. Among various reproductive techniques, oestrus synchronization is a highly useful reproductive managemental tool to augment fertility and fecundity in goats. This book, a part of MVSc thesis explores the possibilities of uses of FGA, MAP intra-vaginal sponges and CIDR device for the induction of oestrus and subsequent fertility after natural mating or A.I. with frozen semen in goats. Further all recent research works on oestrus synchronization and other assisted reproductive techniques in goats have been included. Data on hormonal variations at synchronized oestrus in goats is included. This book would be highly useful to the researchers, teachers and students who are involved in goat reproduction and industrialists of small ruminant industry.


We present a hybrid algorithm for adapting a set of speaker-independent hidden Markov models (HMMs) to a new speaker based on a combination of maximum a posteriori (MAP) parameter transformation and adaptation. The algorithm is developed by first transforming clusters of HMM parameters through a class of transformation functions. Then, the transformed HMM parameters are further smoothed via Bayesian adaptation. The proposed transformation/adaptation process can be iterated for any given amount of adaptation data, and it converges rapidly in terms of likelihood improvement. The algorithm also gives a better speech recognition performance than that obtained using transformation or adaptation alone for almost any practical amount of adaptation data.


Many studies have described the response of the facultative anaerobe, Escherichia coli, to anaerobic conditions, yet they all investigated free-living (planktonic) cells because attempts to cultivate anaerobic E. coli biofilm were mostly unsuccessful. We challenged these findings and cultivated E. coli strain MG1655 biofilm under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, characterizing the mature biofilm architecture and global gene expression profile. We used RNA sequencing technology to compare stationary phase planktonic cells with mature biofilm, cultured with and without oxygen. Our results suggest that gene expression patterns significantly differ between biofilm and planktonic cultures cultivated under the same oxygenic conditions. The anaerobic E. coli biofilms were slow growing and patchy compared to aerobic biofilms, yet some features were unchanged like the production of extracellular polymeric substances. A closer inspection of the mRNA data revealed that essential cell processes were attenuated in anaerobic biofilms, including protein synthesis, information transfer, cell structure, regulation and transport. Our results suggest that lack of oxygen imposes severe stress on mature biofilms thus limiting the cells' activity. We further propose that E. coli does not favor growing in anaerobic biofilms and when forced to do so, the cells prevail by attenuating their activity in order to survive.


The Sri Lanka Reader is a sweeping introduction to the epic history of the island nation located just off the southern tip of India. The island's recorded history of more than two and a half millennia encompasses waves of immigration from the South Asian subcontinent, the formation of Sinhala Buddhist and Tamil Hindu civilizations, the arrival of Arab Muslim traders, and European colonization by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and finally the British. Selected texts depict perceptions of the country's multiple linguistic and religious communities, as well as its political travails after independence in 1948, especially the ethnic violence that recurred from the 1950s until 2009, when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were defeated by the Sri Lankan government's armed forces. This wide-ranging anthology covers the aboriginal Veddhas, the earliest known inhabitants of the island; the Kings of Kandy, Sri Lanka's last indigenous dynasty; twenty-first-century women who leave the island to work as housemaids in the Middle East; the forty thousand Sri Lankans killed by the tsunami in December 2004; and, through cutting-edge journalism and heart-wrenching poetry, the protracted violence that has scarred the country's contemporary political history. Along with fifty-four images of paintings, sculptures, and architecture, The Sri Lanka Reader includes more than ninety classic and contemporary texts written by Sri Lankans and foreigners.


Given that Miranda's warnings are nearly identically reproduced in international criminal procedure, logic suggests that the rights of questioned suspects are equally valuable — and equally valued — in both realms. But history has its own logic, and Miranda's history in the United States includes a steady erosion of its ability to safeguard the rights of suspects. This is particularly true with respect to the limitations placed on Miranda's custodial trigger and the lessening of the requirements for an effective waiver. Recent efforts to eviscerate Miranda through these two channels, including Berghuis v. Thompkins (2010) and Howes v. Fields (2012), provide a stark contrast to the more rights-protective dictates of international criminal justice. As a result, "international Miranda" is now more faithful to both the text and intent of the Miranda opinion than current domestic practice.


The LSE Companion to Health Policy covers a wide range of conceptual and practical issues from a number of different perspectives introducing the reader to, and summarising, the vast literature that analyses the complexities of health policy. The Companion also assesses the current state of the art.


This research investigates the halophytic potentials of morning glory (Ipomea Asarifolia) for phytodesalination of brackish water. Approximately 100 g of morning glory were placed in a plastic trough containing 10 litres of brackish water (salinity 7.69 ppt) in three replicates and studied daily for 6 days. The treatment means of the electrical conductivity (EC), pH, total dissolved solids (TDS) and salinity were calculated. Results showed that maximum reductions of most of the water parameter were observed after 3 days of the research and a phytodesalination rates of +0.026 ppt/g/day for EC, +10.27 ppt/g/day for TDS and +0.051 ppt/g/day for salinity were recorded. The morning glory started showing signs of nutrient starvation and desalination rate after 3 days declined. ANOVA shows that there was no significant difference between the control and morning glory treatment means at a 95 percent confidence level for pH, EC, TDS and salinity. This research can be optimised by continuously removing spent morning glory and re-introducing fresh ones in 3 days intervals until desalination is complete. An optimised phytodesalination method using morning glory can be useful in developing a cost-effective management technique for reducing salt loading in freshwater streams.


Being capable of serving multiple users with the same radio resource, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) can provide desirable performance enhancements in a fair and spectral efficient manner. In this paper, we investigate the resource allocation (RA) and cluster formation (CF) aspects of NOMA for downlink (DL) uplink (UL) decoupled (DUDe) heterogeneous networks (HetNets). A non-ideal NOMA scheme is considered with power disparity and sensitivity constraints (PDSCs), delay tolerance, and residual interference after cancellation. Taking the PDSCs into account, we analytically show that using the DL decoding order limits UL-NOMA performance by that of OMA, while employing an inverse order result in a performance gain that is mainly determined by the channel gain disparity of users. Thereafter, a generic CF method is proposed for any type of user graph, which iteratively forms clusters using Blossom algorithm. Finally, highly non-convex RA problem is converted into a convex form by employing geometric programming (GP) where power and bandwidth are optimized to maximize network sumrate and max-min fairness objectives.


The nature of suborbital space flight activities inherently involves multiple regimes of regulation and international agreements. It also traverses established spheres and governing bodies, from land to air to space, giving rise to a complex system of inter-regulation. This article addresses these legal implications with regard to commercial suborbital space flight as a whole, not merely for entertainment purposes. In particular, the analysis seeks to clarify convoluted legal issues of air launched suborbital flights over traditional rocket launches. Beginning with a comparative analysis of relevant international law, treaties, and State obligations this article highlights the pertinent air and space treaties applicable to commercial suborbital flights. The analysis is highlighted by a practical regulatory comparison of five State Parties to the air and space law regimes, namely, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom (on behalf of the Isle of Man), the Netherlands (on behalf of the former Dutch Antilles), and Sweden. These States were particularly selected due to the national and industry interest in conducting commercial human space flight from these jurisdictions for tourism and other commercial purposes.


Music is a powerful stimulus and has been found to influence cardiovascular activity, including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and heart rate variability. Previous research has used complex pieces of music which render it difficult to determine whether changes in a particular musical parameter are associated with the observed variations in cardiovascular activity. This study uses simple musical stimuli to overcome this issue, with the aim to investigate the effect of sudden changes in tempo on autonomic control of the heart. Heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity are measured in four experimental conditions. The musical background and health status of all participants are ascertained to explore individual differences in cardiovascular responses. Preliminary findings demonstrate that heart rate during the four conditions is mediated by prior exposure, gender and age at which an individual starts formal music training. Relationship between music and physiology is complex. This study concludes that more controlled and simple musical stimuli can be used to examine the impact of music on autonomic control of the heart.


MYC and BCL2 translocations in B-cell lymphomas are defined as "double-hit" associated with poor prognosis in adult patients. Such double-hit events are extremely rare in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL), especially in pediatric patients or young adults. This study is to investigate the clinical manifestation of de novo MYCyBCL2 double-hit BCP-ALL in young patients. Two pediatric and one young adult patients were identified after a retrospective data review and all without previous history of lymphoma. There were two females and one male aged 15, 18, and 24, respectively. All patients had an unremarkable medical history before presenting with extensive bone marrow and central nervous system involvement at diagnosis. Flow cytometry immunophenotypic analysis showed an immature B-cell immunophenotype (CD10+, CD19+, TdT+, surface Ig-) and immunohistochemistry showed high expression of MYC and BCL2 in all cases. All patients showed complex karyotypes associated with 8q24 abnormalities in the form of t(8;9)(q24;p13) or t(8;14)(q24;q32) and t(14;18)(q32;q21) and fluorescence in situ hybridization confirmed MYC and BCL2 rearrangements. Two patients died of refractory disease or disease progression 7 and 13 months after initial diagnosis, respectively, and the third patient was treated with protocol AALL0232 under the Children's Oncology Group study, achieved complete remission and remained in remission for 53 months at last follow-up. Our study showed that De novo MYCyBCL2 double-hit BCP-ALL is a rare disease that also occurs in pediatric and young adult patients and associated with complex karyotypes and poor prognosis. Younger patients may benefit from intensified chemotherapy.


In this paper we report the discovery of a new class of active galactic nucleus in which although the nucleus is viewed directly, no broad emission lines are present. The results are based on a survey for AGN in which a sample of about 800 quasars and emission line galaxies were monitored yearly for 25 years. Among the emission line galaxies was the expected population of Seyfert 2 galaxies with only narrow forbidden lines in emission, and no broad lines. However, from the long term monitoring programme it was clear that some 10% of these were strongly variable with strong continuum emission. It is argued that these objects can only be Seyfert 1 galaxies in which the nucleus is viewed directly, but in which broad emission lines are completely absent. We compare these observations with other cases from the literature where the broad line region is reported to be weak or variable, and investigate the possibility that the absence of the broad line component is due to reddening. We conclude that this does not account for the observations, and that in these AGN the broad line region is absent. We also tentatively identify more luminous quasars from our sample where the broad emission lines also appear to be absent. The consequences of this for AGN models are discussed, and a case is made that we are seeing AGN in a transition stage between the fuel supply from a surrounding star cluster being cut off, and the nucleus becoming dormant.


For an actual crack growth in structures subjected to the applied stress from the various directions, it is important to study about the fatigue crack propagation behavior under mixed-mode condition. In particular under the condition, crack surfaces tend to contact when the load is applied because of the compressive residual stress distributed near the crack and the zigzag crack surface morphology. In this study, using slant cracks with compressive residual stress induced in mode I fatigue crack propagation under the stress ratio of R= –1 and 0, stress intensity factors (KI)est and (KII)est were evaluated from the measured crack opening and sliding displacements. As a result, the stress intensity factor (KII)est for the crack made under the stress ratio of R= –1 with the slant angle of 45 deg. was decreased owing to the crack surface contact, while (KI)est showed relatively large values in spite of compressive residual stress.


This paper presents the strength, compressibility a nd microstructural behaviour of lime-slag treated C oode Island Silt (CIS). The microstructure was investigated using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), while strength and compressibility properties of the trea ted CIS were measured using Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and Oedometer Consolidation tests. Bulk untreated CIS is sampled from an excavation site in Melbourne CBD, while hydrated lime and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) are used as binders. Results of UCS tes ts on CIS treated with fixed lime and varying slag contents showed an increase in unconfined compressive strength with i ncreasing slag contents and curing periods. The role of lime in th e activation of slag is also seen to have an upper limit whereby excess proportions fail to provide significant additional benefit. Oedometer consolidation test results of tr eated CIS showed an increase in apparent pre-consolidation pressure and decrease in void ratio with an increase in slag co ntent. This is due to the formation of more crystalline cementitious products , which accelerate the cementation effect between l ime-slag and clay particles. XRD analyses of lime-slag treated clay s howed the existence of numerous reaction products s uch as Calcium Hydrate (CH) and Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C-S-H) which facilitates the strength increment. Slag was f ound to be very active in promoting the pozzolanic reaction with li me, as evidenced from the presence of crystalline r eticular cementitious product (C-S-H) in the SEM images.


Brittle fractures cut through greenschist facies metavolcanic rocks at Delfini on Syros, Greece. An equation for one-dimensional transport by advection along a single fracture and transverse diffusion outwards from this fracture was used to calculate time-averaged fluid velocities and the duration of fluid flow along the brittle fractures. These quartz and carbonate filled fractures are surrounded by symmetrical dark reaction halos. These reaction halos were formed by diffusion of CO2 outwards from the fracture in a hydrous fluid which caused carbonation of the country rock. Changes in concentration of relatively mobile elements (for example K, Na, Cs, Ba, Pb and Sr) occurred. However, little to no changes in most of the major elements and less mobile trace elements were observed. This implies that carbonation was largely isochemical with respect to most non-volatile components. The Sr/Ca ratio was used to model time-averaged fluid velocities and the duration of fluid flow along the fractures. Fluid flow along narrower fractures with discernibly tapering haloes was found to be rapid (10−6 – 10−5 ms−1) and short lived (0.1–400 years). These are time-averaged values and can therefore alternatively record a series of even shorter and faster pulses, perhaps associated with fracture propagation and associated seismicity. Within the widest fractures with constant halo widths (ca. 60 cm) fluid flow was slower (10−8 to 10−6 ms−1) and longer lived (100–15000 years). We suspect that the constant width of these haloes reflects a steady state having been reached at which halo width was controlled by the relative rates of fluid flow along the fracture and in the surrounding rock.


This literature review is focused on findings concerning the pharmacological effects of Dioscorea phytosaponins (DPSs) on female organism. Expediency and prospects of developing DPS preparations for the treatment of mnestic and metabolic disorders accompanying climacteric syndrome are assessed.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between expenditure inequality and expenditure polarization in Indonesia during the post-reformation era in 2002–2012. It also explores the various dimensions of regional groups; and finds out in which dimension did the expenditure inequality and polarization occur in Indonesia during the period.

Design/methodology/approach
Gini index was employed to measure expenditure inequality and a number of developed polarization measurement was applied to investigate the linkage between inequality and polarization at national levels. It also applied a polarization index based on inequality decomposition to investigate how the polarization occurs in the regional dimension. It covered several groups of regional dimensions; those are rural and urban areas; eastern and western regions, as well as natural resource-rich provinces and non-natural resource-rich provinces.

Findings
This study found that expenditure inequality and polarization in Indonesia have moved in line, showing an increasing trend during the observation period. In the regional context, the greatest rise was in the region with low initial levels of expenditure inequality and polarization. The trends in each of the regional dimension showed a convergent pattern. It also showed that a significant portion of total polarization was attributed to expenditure differences between urban and rural areas rather than the other groups of regions.

Research limitations/implications
The similar upward movement of expenditure inequality and polarization indicates that not only the differences between groups of expenditure are getting larger, but also the identification of the within groups expenditure are getting stronger. Since the high degree of inequality and polarization are closely related to conflict among groups of communities, this finding is a strong message to the policymaker that the development process in Indonesia during 2002–2012 tended to encourage the creation of social instability.

Practical implications
This study provides an evaluation for further development of social economy in Indonesia.

Originality/value
This paper attempts to give an overview of the relationship between expenditure inequality and polarization in Indonesia during 2002–2012. It also tries to reveal in which regional dimension, expenditure inequality and polarization occurred in Indonesia during the mentioned period. The issues have not been examined in previous empirical studies in Indonesia.


A series of copper(II) complexes with positive reduction potential have been synthesized by an in situ fashion by the reaction of a Knoevenagel condensate, salicylidenebenzoylacetone (salbenz) with 4-X-anilines and copper(II) chloride. The electronic spectra of these complexes in acetonitrile show d–d bands around 540 nm with high molar extinction coefficient (ε~1600-1800 cm-1) due to lowering of symmetry around metal center, and MLCT band around 400 nm. The EPR spectral features with four g(( lines having g(( >2.0 >g⊥, and a broadening of g⊥ component suggest a lowered site symmetry around Cu(II) monomer. The cyclic voltammetric studies of Cu(II) complexes in CH3CN shows a positive reduction potential (Epc = 492-451 mV) with moderately high peak to peak separation (∆Ep=126-163mV). All these results are comparable with the results of natural blue copper proteins even in the absence of S-coordination, and suggest that they can mimic the functional properties of blue copper proteins. These complexes on interaction with herring sperm DNA, the intense intraligand (IL) π-π* transition around 300 nm is found to be hypochromic with a slight red shift. The hypochromism and moderate binding constant are indicative of binding of the complexes with DNA with an affinity less than the classical intercalators, due to the possible substitution of the two chlorides with the DNA base pairs and relatively bulky structure of ligand molecule. Additional evidence of DNA-Cu(II) complex interaction was obtained by CD studies. The experimental results reveal that these complexes may serve as a model for blue copper proteins and as a tool for probing the structure of DNA.


Application of next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) has recently become increasingly common in the field of clinical oncology in several countries around the world. In Japan also, a system for applying NGS to routine clinical practice is gradually being established. During this process, we introduced in Japan the tumor-profiling MSK-IMPACT (Memorial Sloan Kettering-Integrated Mutation Profiling of Actionable Cancer Targets) assay. We present here our initial experience with the use of MSK-IMPACT in 68 patients selected from two institutions in Japan between June 2016 and October 2017. MSK-IMPACT sequencing was successful and yielded results in specimens obtained from 64 of the 68 patients, representing an overall assay success rate of 94.1%. The top three cancer types tested were endometrial cancer (17.2%), pancreatic cancer (15.6%), and colorectal cancer (12.5%). Evaluation of the clinical actionability of the genetic alterations revealed that 25.0% of patients (n=16) harbored at least one actionable alteration. However, enrolling the patients in a genomically matched clinical trial was difficult, mainly because most clinical trials are limited to tumors arising from a specific organ/site. Although tumor profiling by NGS and administration of genomically matched therapy is a promising strategy, because of its high cost, we need to consider how we can fit it into the Japanese medical system. Towards this end, we believe that it is important to share our initial experience for furthering precision medicine in Japan.


This poster was prepared for the 2008 SUNY Potsdam Learning and Research Fair in partial fulfillment of Religion, Magic and Witchcrart, Anthropology 309, taught by Dr. Susan Stebbins.


In explosion-structure interaction problems, an accurate prediction of blast loading remains a hard challenge. The reflected overpressures around a complex structure, such as a building with an apse and an atrium are almost always unpredictable so that experiments and numerical simulations may be the only possibilities to evaluate the threat of an industrial explosion. Well instrumented blast experimental studies are first carried out at small scale on a rigid specimen with a variable incidence angle. The main objective is to observe and quantify the regular and irregular reflections and the diffractions of a blast wave on a real structure. In parallel, numerical simulations are performed with a home-made eulerian CFD code. The comparison with experimental results permits to discuss the capabilities and limitations of numerical blast predictions.


By means of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), five (groups of) epitopes were identified on particles of beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV). Epitopes 1 and 2, which were located on the opposite extremities of virus particles, are discontinuous (SDS-labile) epitopes which were destroyed when the particles were treated with trypsin. Epitope 3 is a continuous (SDS-stable) epitope located at the same extremity as epitope 2. It was not destroyed when the particles were treated with trypsin and was present on an Escherichia coli-expressed fusion protein containing amino acids (aa) 1 to 103 of the BNYVV coat protein. The continuous epitope 4, which was located along the entire length of the particles, was found to be present on a fusion protein containing aa 104 to 188 of the BNYVV coat protein but not on trypsin-treated virus particles. In Western blots, these treated particles yielded two slightly smaller coat proteins which failed to react with MAbs specific for epitope 4 but did react with polyclonal antisera and MAbs specific for epitope 3. BNYVV coat protein has a trypsin cleavage site on the carboxyl side of arginine in position 182, so it is therefore suggested that epitope 4 is located on the exposed C terminus, which is composed of aa 183 to 188. Epitope 5 was also located along the entire length of the particles but in a more uneven distribution than epitope 4. This may be because it is a discontinuous epitope that is very sensitive to subtle changes in protein conformation.


dipped into the urine. When 5 ml. of this was applied to a 3-in.x3-in. (7.5-cm.X7.5cm.) doubled piece of towel, a much reduced colour was observed on testing, and after an hour several skilled observers recorded a negative or doubtful reaction. The cellulose napkin, when used in the same manner, gave a definite positive even after two hours. These findings were consistent on four separate occasions. Quantitative estimation suggested some instability on the towel napkins associated with urine of high pH, but results varied and difficulty with turbidity from traces of detergent left from washing were experienced. However, it was found that the quantity of urine taken up by a Phenistix was much less from towel-type napkins than from cellulose or by direct dipping, as shown by the increase in weight. Average of 10 tests: dipping 29.4 mg., cellulose 39.5 mg., and towel 16.5 mg. We suggest that this reduced uptake may be responsible for a lowering of sensitivity when Phenistix is used to detect phenylpyruvic acid on towelling napkins, especially when the urine has been given time to spread over a larger area from the original point of application. Perhaps the use of cellulose napkins would increase the detection rate of phenylketonuria to an acceptable level, as they appear to provide a more favourable material for an adequate transfer of urine to Phenistix. -We are, etc., D. A. BAXTER. M. E. YORK-MOORE. Royal Eastern Counties Hospital, Colchester, Essex.


We comment on the implications of the recently measured CP asymmetry in B → ΦKS decay. The data disfavor the Standard Model at 2.7 σ and -if the trend persists in the future with higher statistics require the existence of CP violation beyond that in the CKM matrix. In particular, the b → ss̄s decay amplitude would require new contributions of comparable size to the Standard Model ones with an order one phase. While not every model can deliver such a large amount of CP and flavor violation, those with substantial FCNC couplings to the Z can reproduce the experimental findings.


A novel sensor (AHP5) comprising a thioacetohydrazone-bridged bispillar[5]arene was developed and shown to fluorescently sense cyanide ions. The sensor manifested a response specific to cyanide over other common anions (SCN−, AcO−, HSO4−, H2PO4−, I−, Br−, ClO4−, Cl−, and F−) in DMSO/H2O (9 : 1, v/v) solution. Upon treatment with cyanide, AHP5 exhibited a significant fluorescence response accompanied by marked changes in its fluorescence spectra. Furthermore, competitive anions had no obvious influence on the probing behavior. Notably, investigation of the recognition mechanism indicated that AHP5 recognized CN− through a deprotonation procedure accompanied by the breaking of intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Furthermore, the sensor was successfully applied to the detection of cyanide in cyanide-containing water samples.


Recent advances in shopper insights reveal that consumers rarely "shop" the entire store. On average, shoppers' paths only cover about one-third of the areas in a grocery store and hence are unexposed to the majority of products in the store. Given that shoppers typically use physical products in the store as an external memory cue, encouraging shoppers to travel more of the store may increase unplanned spending. Estimating the direct effect of in-store travel distance on unplanned spending, however, is complicated due to the difficulty of collecting in-store path data and the endogeneity of in-store travel distance. To address both issues, we collect a novel dataset using in-store RFID tracking that measures in-store travel distance accurately, and develop an instrumental variable approach to account for endogeneity. Our estimates suggest that the elasticity of unplanned spending on travel distance is 1.57, which is 57% higher than the uncorrected OLS estimate. Further, we apply our estimates to assess the effectiveness of two strategies that encourage longer shopping paths. We find that changing the locations of three destination categories can increase unplanned spending by 7.2%, while strategically promoting three product categories via mobile promotion may increase unplanned spending by 16.1%.


Background and aims: At present, modern advances in health care, serious deficiencies have been identified in the quality of care and patients' safety. One way to handle these challenges is the establishment of a clinical risk management (CRM) system. This approach would improve the quality of healthcare and help ensure the safety of patients, visitors, and employees, as well as reduce the costs associated with the healthcare system. The aim of this study was to assess the existence of the requirements of CRM in the hospitals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 clinical staff members from three teaching hospitals affiliated with the Kerman University of Medical Sciences in southeast Iran in 2014. The proportionate simple random sampling technique was used. Two tools were used for data collection, i.e., a structured observation checklist and a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Among the six domains of CRM, the highest mean belonged to domain the monitoring of analysis, evaluation and risk control (3.18±0.72).; the lowest mean belonged to domain the staff's knowledge, recognition and understanding of CRM (2.93±0.66). The findings indicated that implementing and developing domains of CRM ranged from poor to moderate. Almost all of study settings were implementing most measures of CRM. Despite these initiatives, there were no incident report forms in patients' files; electronic systems, such as Patient Safety Information Systems (PSIS); or the Patient Safety Reporting System (PSRS). Conclusion: Despite the establishment of clinical governance and accreditation approaches, the status of CRM is not appropriate. Health care in southeast Iran is not moving enough towards high quality and safe practice. Health care should move toward quality improvement and safe practice through the effective integration of CRM in organizational process. The organizational leaders must facilitate this process by creating necessary institutional infrastructures and strategic planning, management systems, and reinforcement of teamwork and professional communication to build positive attitudes among care providers towards strategies accreditation and clinical governance.


This paper argues that there is a complex socio-economic, spatial and political trend towards increasing unevenness among Russian cities against the shortage of researches about Russian urbanized space. In addition to this Russia experiences a lack of studies taking into account that, in modern globalized world, cities are considered as a power machine stimulating the country's development. The urban researches on Russian cities mainly are focusing on Moscow and Saint Petersburg, or on some regional capitals and cities hosting mega-events such as Vladivostok and Sochi. As a matter of fact, a considerable part of Russian cities have lost themselves in the new market conditions since the general vector of urban development has changed after the USSR breakup. Great transformations have occurred in both inter and intra urban levels. The disparity of country's development has increased: European Russia and Northern regions with rich oil and gas deposits are becoming more affluent, while Far East and Siberian regions are undergoing population loss and resources outflows. In spite of contemporary Russian policy is mainly focused on the national and regional issues, world economy is more and more aware that cities are the growth poles for a whole country. Therefore an updated development policy demands a re-scaling at the urban level and requires a precise analysis of urban condition and dynamics. The paper aims to classify the whole Russian urban system on the base of some socio-economic characteristics: demographic dynamics, housing quality, economic performance at two temporal thresholds. The adopted method, the Neural Network Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), is able to single out groups of cities with high internal resemblance. The paper starts with a brief overview of the urban networks formation during soviet period, its transformation after the breakup of the USSR and the consequences of these two processes for the contemporary cities. The second section explains the data which will be used for the analysis and describes the used SOM algorithm. The subsequent section presents the analysis of the results describing spatial urban patterns in terms of quantities and geographical characteristics. The conclusions discuss the nature of those patterns. Due to SOM implementation it has been possible to identify twenty five groups of cities, with similar socio-economic trends during the last decade, where each group is characterized by an appropriate profile (a codebook). Moreover the empirical results have allowed sketching a new urban hierarchy in Russia, outlining four layers: 'urban engine', 'strong cities'; 'potential cities' and 'weak cities'. The outcomes will allow the definition of appropriate urban development strategies.


A novel multi-focal camera vision system for autonomous ground vehicles is presented. The camera platform is pivotable in pitch and yaw axis to provide a wide field of view. Camera configuration of yaw axis can be changed while retaining camera calibration for later reuse. But different configurations are likely to result in different system dynamics, which implies the need for a motion controller capable of adapting to distinct configurations. This paper presents a brief description of the platform design. Furthermore the design of the adaptive platform control law is presented together with experimental results to demonstrate the validity of the approach.


The Stationers' Company is one of Britain's most important cultural institutions. Founded in 1403, it oversaw the regulation of the London's book trades for several centuries. From the mid-16th century to the end of the 17th, the Company maintained a near-national monopoly over the technology and craft of printing; during that same period, almost every important English printer and publisher belonged to it, and the vast majority of books published in England were printed and sold by its members. It played a crucial role in the development and implementation of modern Anglo-American copyright law, establishing in the 1550s a 'Register' for the recording of publishing rights that was still being used in the early decades of the 20th century. Six centuries on, the Company continues to retain strong ties to the printing, publishing, and allied industries.
 The Company was — and remains — one of the dozens of livery companies that historically regulated London's crafts and trades. Its national powers, granted to it by the crown in 1557, were exceptional but not unique, and effectively lapsed in 1695. It had oversight of training, labor, wages, and prices, and regularly arbitrated members' disputes; it also provided vital welfare and social functions for its members and their families. During the early modern period, it was frequently cited in state decrees and legislation that sought to regulate the publication of printed material, but it was never the active censoring body that subsequent scholarship has often claimed. Despite weakening powers from the late 17th century, the Company flourished into the Victorian era, in large part due to its distinctive publishing venture, the English Stock, whose interests it fiercely defended. In 1937 it formally incorporated newspaper makers into its ranks, becoming the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. The Company's hall, which houses its archive, is located off Ludgate Hill in central London.


Arylamine organic dyes with donor (D), p-bridge (p) and acceptor (A) moieties for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) have received great attention in the last decade because of their high molar absorption coefficient, low cost and structural variety. In the early stages, the efficiency of DSCs with arylamine organic dyes with D–p–A character was far behind that of DSCs with ruthenium(II) complexes partly due to the lack of information about the relationship between the chemical structures and the photovoltaic performance. However, exciting progress has been recently made, and power conversion efficiencies over 10% were obtained for DSCs with arylamine organic dyes. It is thus that the recent research and development in the field of arylamine organic dyes employing an iodide/triiodide redox couple or polypyridyl cobalt redox shuttles as the electrolytes for either DSCs or solid-state DSCs has been summarized. The cell performance of the arylamine organic dyes are compared, providing a comprehensive overview of arylamine organic dyes, demonstrating the advantages/disadvantages of each class, and pointing out the field that needs to reinforce the research direction in the further application of DSCs.


Integration technology advancement has impacted the System-on-Chip (SoC) in which heterogeneous cores are supported on a single chip. Based on the huge amount of supported heterogeneous cores, efficient communication between the associated processors has to be considered at all levels of the system design to ensure global interconnection. This can be achieved through a design-friendly, flexible, scalable, and high-performance interconnection architecture. It is noteworthy that the interconnections between multiple cores on a chip present a considerable influence on the performance and communication of the chip design regarding the throughput, end-to-end delay, and packets loss ratio. Although hierarchical architectures have addressed the majority of the associated challenges of the traditional interconnection techniques, the main limiting factor is scalability. Network-on-Chip (NoC) has been presented as a scalable and well-structured alternative solution that is capable of addressing communication issues in the on-chip systems. In this context, several NoC topologies have been presented to support various routing techniques and attend to different chip architectural requirements. This book chapter reviews some of the existing NoC topologies and their associated characteristics. Also, application mapping algorithms and some key challenges of NoC are considered.


Objective: To establish the effectiveness of walking alone and walking compared to other non-pharmacological management methods to improve disability, quality of life, or function in adults with chronic low back pain. Data sources: A systematic search of the following databases was undertaken: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Pedro, SportDiscus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The following keywords were used: 'back pain' or 'low back pain' or 'chronic low back pain' and 'walk*' or 'ambulation' or 'treadmill*' or 'pedometer*' or 'acceleromet*' or 'recreational' and 'disability' or 'quality of life' or 'function*'. Review methods: Primary research studies with an intervention focus that investigated walking as the primary intervention compared to no intervention or any other non-pharmacological method in adults with chronic low back pain (duration >3 months). Results: Seven randomised controlled trials involving 869 participants were included in the review. There was no evidence that walking was more effective than other management methods such as usual care, specific strength exercises, medical exercise therapy, or supervised exercise classes. One study found over-ground walking to be superior to treadmill walking, and another found internet-mediated walking to be more beneficial than non-internet-mediated walking in the short term. Conclusion: There is low quality evidence to suggest that walking is as effective as other non-pharmacological management methods at improving disability, function, and quality of life in adults with chronic low back pain.


Women have always played an important role in Computer Science findings, but their importance has always been overshadowed by men. Nowadays, men outnumber women by 3 times on computing occupations in the US, but still women prove to be essential on the development of technological fields. This work intends to place women at the forefront of computer science's history. In order to demonstrate that their work was essential for the development of current technologies, a broad historical overview is given. This overview is chronologically and thematically structured in several periods, from the early computer machines (before 1900) to our current digital society (after 2010). Finally, an outlook on the role of women in computing is given. A detailed discussion of individual contributions by women would go beyond the scope of this work. Nor can a sociological analysis of the reasons for the gender gap be provided. Nevertheless, the work wants to be more than a mere quantitative enumeration of women's contributions to computer sciences. The essay wants to plea for the integration of these women in the literature, i.e., in the historiography of computer sciences, which requires to reconsider the self-image of this discipline.


Objectives: The principal objective of this research is to fabricate, characterize and in vitro evaluation of floating gastroretentive Dicyclomine Hydrochloride beads. Methods: In this study, Ionotropic gelation technology was used to float gastro retentive Dicyclomine Hydrochloride beads. Subsequently, the floating properties, entrapment efficiency, in vitro release of beads were all determined during the characterization process. Results: The results showed concluded that formulation B11 have shown higher total floating time and lesser floating lag time values and a better drug release profile. Conclusion: Six formulations B3, B6, B9, B10, B11, and B12, met all of the requirements and features necessary for a successful floating formulation. For the preparations, all of the evaluation tests were completed. With changes in the ratio of sodium alginate and Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose and the number of effervescent agents in the formulations, the formulations' drug release pattern and floating capabilities were shown to be varied. The experiment and the results reveal that Dicyclomine Hydrochloride floating beads enhance stomach residence and bioavailability while decreasing the dosage and dosage interval.


Axial dispersion of a tracer in a two-dimensional gas-liquid flow is studied computationally using a finite-volume/front-tracking method. The effects of Peclet number, capillary number, and segment size are examined. At low Peclet numbers, the axial dispersion is mainly controlled by the convection through the liquid films between the bubbles and channel walls. In this regime, the computational results are found to be in a very good agreement with the existing model due to Pedersen and Horvath [Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam. 20, 181 (1981)]. At high Peclet numbers, the axial dispersion is mainly controlled by the molecular diffusion, with some convective enhancement. In this regime, a new model is proposed and found to agree well with the computational results. These Peclet number regimes are shown to persist for different slug lengths. The axial dispersion is found to depend weakly on the capillary number in the diffusion-controlled regime. Finally, computational simulations are performed for the cases of six b...


Hydraulic fracturing technologies play a major role in the global energy supply and affect oil pricing. The current oil price fluctuations within 40 to 55 USD per barrel have caused diminished economical margins for hydraulic fracturing projects. Hence, successful decision making the for execution of hydraulic fracturing projects requires a higher level of integration of technical, commercial, and uncertainty analyses. However, the complexity of hydraulic fracturing modeling, and the sensitivity and the effects of uncertainty of reservoir heterogeneity on well performance renders the integration of such studies rather impractical. The impact of reservoir heterogeneity on hydraulic fracturing performance has been quantified by the introduction of Heterogeneity Impact Factor (HIF) and formulas have been developed to forecast well performance using HIF. These advances provide a platform for introducing a practical approach for introducing the Risk of Commercial Failure (RCF) due to reservoir heterogeneity in hydraulic fracturing projects. This paper defines such a parameter and the methodology to calculate it in a time-efficient manner. The proposed approach has been exercised on a real project in which a RCF of 20% is computed. The analysis also covers the sensitivity on Capital Expenditure (CAPEX), Operational Expenditure (OPEX), gas price, HIF and discount rate.


This paper examines the long-standing debate on the regulation of foreign takeovers, and the protection of public interests by the government in relation to them, in light of societal uncertainty present in the UK. This uncertainty is being generated by two developments: Brexit and the rise of Artificial Intelligence. This paper argues that the task of regulating foreign takeovers should be viewed as one of balancing three objectives: the promotion of economic growth, the protection of public interest, and the management of social considerations resulting from these takeovers. Furthermore, it is argued that the current Public Interest Test should be restated for clarity and specificity. Finally, the creation of an independent body to administer the Public Interest Test and to negotiate social considerations that arise in relation to foreign takeovers is discussed, evaluated and endorsed. For full text, please click  here


Photoresponsive monolayers of hydrophilically substituted azobenzenes have been prepared by reaction on aminosilane monolayers on silicon surfaces. Grafting densities in the 0.2-1.0 molecule/nm(2) range were determined by X-ray reflectometry. The monolayers exhibit reversible photoisomerization, switching from a more hydrophilic trans state to a less hydrophilic cis state upon UV irradiation, in contrast with the usual behavior of most azobenzene monolayers that switch from a less to a more hydrophilic state. This indicates that the wettability is not dominated by the change in the dipole moment of the azobenzene moiety but originates from variations in the composition of the outer surface of the monolayers resulting from the reorientation of the substituent groups. The light-driven change in the water contact angle correlates linearly with the grafting density but remains small. However, the wettability contrast can be increased by forcing the molecules to stand in an improved vertical orientation, either by densifying the underlying aminosilane monolayer or by filling the voids left at the bottom of the layer of grafted azobenzene molecules.


The primary purpose of this work was the examination of the surface and the strength of ATZ ceramic after hydrothermal treatment. Hydrothermal treatment of ATZ ceramic leads to changes of roughness and phase composition on the surface. The phase composition and the microstructure on the surface and within the peripheral zone were determined after applying a stepwise broad ion beam polishing technique and quantitative phase analysis. With this technique a penetration depth of the phase transformation of less than 14 µm was observed. Investigations of the cross sectional area by means of FESEM have shown a transformation zone of about 9 µm. Both methods lead to comparable results with a very small, morphologically changed peripheral layer. The study of the strength after ageing with different thickness of the samples showed that for a thickness of 2.0 mm there is no negative influence on mechanical behaviour. In consideration of this fact no significant change of tribological properties is expected.


Lasers are widely used in most of the fields in dentistry for many years and they have recently gained popularity in orthodontic practice. Most common procedures with laser applications in orthodontics could be summarized as acceleration of tooth movement, pain reduction after force application, bone regeneration in the median palatal suture area during maxillary expansion or consolidation phase after distraction osteogenesis, enamel etching during bonding procedure, reduction of enamel decalcification, debonding of ceramic brackets, soft tissue applications such as gingival recontouring and attachment placement for impacted teeth. In this review, biostimulation effect or low level laser therapy in orthodontics will be exclusively evaluated.


Optical wavelength converters are very important devices in optical Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Systems. Among numerous wavelength technologies Four-Wave Mixing (FWM) in optical fibers is attractive because it offers strict transparency to amplitude, frequency and phase. They also have the ability to convert multiple wavelengths simultaneously and to invert optical spectra. Four-wave mixing conversion efficiency depends upon fiber nonlinearity. The effects of fiber nonlinearity play a decisive role in the design and performance of modem optical communication links. So it is important to measure the nonlinear promising technique for determining fiber nonlinearity (γ). This paper investigates a way of estimating fiber nonlinearity through four-wave mixing process.


Many human genes are associated with dispersed arrays of transcriptional enhancers that regulate their expression in time and space. Studies in invertebrate model systems have suggested that these elements function as discrete and independent regulatory units, but the in vivo combinatorial properties of vertebrate enhancers remain poorly understood. To explore the modularity and regulatory autonomy of human developmental enhancers, we experimentally concatenated up to four enhancers from different genes and used a transgenic mouse assay to compare the in vivo activity of these compound elements with that of the single modules. In all of the six different combinations of elements tested, the reporter gene activity patterns were additive without signs of interference between the individual modules, indicating that regulatory specificity was maintained despite the presence of closely-positioned heterologous enhancers. Even in cases where two elements drove expression in close anatomical proximity, such as within neighboring subregions of the developing limb bud, the compound patterns did not show signs of cross-inhibition between individual elements or novel expression sites. These data indicate that human developmental enhancers are highly modular and functionally autonomous and suggest that genomic enhancer shuffling may have contributed to the evolution of complex gene expression patterns in vertebrates


Nuclease-resistant, cytoplasmically resident molecular beacons were used to specifically label beta-actin mRNA in living and motile chicken embryonic fibroblasts. beta-actin mRNA signals were most abundant in active lamellipodia, which are protrusions that cells extend to adhere to surfaces. Time-lapse images show that the immediate sources of beta-actin mRNA for nascent lamellipodia are adjacent older protrusions. During the development of this method, we observed that conventional molecular beacons are rapidly sequestered in cell nuclei, leaving little time for them to find and bind to their cytoplasmic mRNA targets. By linking molecular beacons to a protein that tends to stay within the cytoplasm, nuclear sequestration was prevented, enabling cytoplasmic mRNAs to be detected and imaged. Probing beta-actin mRNA with these cytoplasmically resident molecular beacons did not affect the motility of the fibroblasts. Furthermore, mRNAs bound to these probes undergo translation within the cell. The use of cytoplasmically resident molecular beacons will enable further studies of the mechanism of beta-actin mRNA localization, and will be useful for understanding the dynamics of mRNA distribution in other living cells.


From a broad philosophical framework, this paper addresses the relation between freedom and economic performance. It argues for the thesis that, although a liberal system does not guarantee absolute harmony, is the only "convenient" and morally valid for a modern society. The core of this argument is the acceptance of the permanent uncertainty about the great results of the world and the inability of a central entity to control them.


Carrot cell wall beta-fructosidase, previously purified and cloned, is encoded by a single, wound- and pathogen-inducible gene. The developmental regulation of the gene was studied by determining the steady-state mRNA levels in different organs during carrot development: cell wall beta-fructosidase mRNA was detected in roots and leaves of young plants but not during tap root development. A genomic clone was isolated and characterized. The transcription start site was determined by primer extension analysis. Inspection of the promoter sequence (1488 bp) revealed the presence of sequences with high homology to cis-acting elements for the regulation of plant genes by wounding and infection. The 5'-regulatory sequence was fused to the reporter gene beta-glucuronidase (GUS) and tested in a transient expression assay with carrot suspension cells and wounded carrot root tissue (aged disks of carrot roots). The expression of the GUS gene in the transfected cells proved that the isolated promoter was functional. In transgenic tobacco plants containing the cell wall beta-fructosidase promoter fused to GUS, the reporter gene was predominantly expressed in the shoot and root meristems of young seedlings. No GUS expression was detected in mature tobacco plants, showing that the development-specific regulation of the cell wall beta-fructosidase promoter seen in carrot was maintained in tobacco plants. In contrast, expression of the GUS reporter gene in transgenic tobacco was not wound inducible. To analyze the functional organization of the cell wall beta-fructosidase promoter, a 5'-deletion series was generated and tested in a transient expression assay in protoplasts of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia. Two regions containing putative silencer elements were identified. A comparison of these regions with known silencer elements identified in both regions one copy of the negative dominant cis-acting element found in a chalcone synthase promoter of petunia.


Many have argued that SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its mRNA sequence, found in all COVID-19 vaccines, are priongenic. The UK's Yellow Card database of COVID-19 vaccine adverse event reports was evaluated for signals consistent with a pending epidemic of COVID vaccine induced prion disease. Adverse event reaction rates from AstraZeneca's vaccine were compared to adverse event rates for Pfizer's COVID vaccines. The vaccines employ different technologies allowing for potential differences in adverse event rates but allowing each to serve as a control group for the other. The analysis showed a highly statistically significant and clinically relevant (2.6-fold) increase in Parkinson's disease, a prion disease, in the AstraZeneca adverse reaction reports compared to the Pfizer vaccine adverse reaction reports (p= 0.000024). These results are consistent with monkey toxicity studies showing infection with SARS-CoV-2 results in Lewy Body formation. The findings suggest that regulatory approval, even under an emergency use authorization, for COVID vaccines was premature and that widespread use should be halted until full long term safety studies evaluating prion toxicity has een complete. Alternative vaccines like the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine should be explored for those desiring immunization against COVID-19.Many have argued that SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its mRNA sequence, found in all COVID-19 vaccines, are priongenic. The UK's Yellow Card database of COVID-19 vaccine adverse event reports was evaluated for signals consistent with a pending epidemic of COVID vaccine induced prion disease. Adverse event reaction rates from AstraZeneca's vaccine were compared to adverse event rates for Pfizer's COVID vaccines. The vaccines employ different technologies allowing for potential differences in adverse event rates but allowing each to serve as a control group for the other. The analysis showed a highly statistically significant and clinically relevant (2.6-fold) increase in Parkinson's disease, a prion disease, in the AstraZeneca adverse reaction reports compared to the Pfizer vaccine adverse reaction reports (p= 0.000024). These results are consistent with monkey toxicity studies showing infection with SARS-CoV-2 results in Lewy Body formation. The findings suggest that regulatory approval, even under an emergency use authorization, for COVID vaccines was premature and that widespread use should be halted until full long term safety studies evaluating prion toxicity has been complete. Alternative vaccines like the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine should be explored for those desiring immunization against COVID-19.


Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is an evidence-based approach in perioperative care allowing patients to recover more quickly after surgery. The ultimate aim of this programme is to optimize organ function pre-operatively and reduce the stress response from major surgery to aid in early recovery We aimed to provide structured and interactive simulation (SIM) training for staff involved in the management of colorectal surgery patients on the ERAS programme. Staff included operating department practitioners (ODPs), surgical staff nurses and anaesthetics senior house officers (SHOs). This was based at a small district general hospital (DGH) in the West Midlands.Staff were given hypothetical post-operative scenarios of commonly encountered surgical problems on the ward. These included hypotensive patients and the management of regional analgesic techniques such as epidurals. Sessions were commenced with a brief and targeted outline of relevant physiology, followed by a series of SIM moulages. A longer period of time was made available at the end of each SIM for debrief.Staff were more confident after SIM sessions in managing the acutely ill ERAS surgical patient. The multi-disciplinary nature of the scenarios was highly commended. Feedback from staff was encouraging, in particular, about how 'real' the scenarios felt. There was also increased awareness about the rationale behind the principles of the ERAS programme and healthcare staff felt it would change their practice. Feedback was measured through a series of pre- and post-SIM questionnaires.Through a series of SIM sessions and theatre shadowing, we aim to create an ERAS team and ERAS unit at the hospital. SIM will play a major role in addressing the learning objectives of junior medical staff, ODPs and nurses. The long-term goal is to safely manage these patients on a dedicated unit. We aim to create a safe environment where invasive monitoring can be used, and treatments such as vasopressors prescribed under the supervision of anaesthetists. This will ultimately improve patient care and help fulfil the core objectives of the ERAS approach.


The most common subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is clear cell RCC (ccRCC). It accounts for 70-80% of all renal malignancies representing the third most common urological cancer after prostate and bladder cancer. The identification of non-invasive biomarkers for the diagnosis and responsiveness to therapy of ccRCC may represent a relevant step-forward in ccRCC management. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether specific miRNAs deregulated in ccRCC tissues present altered levels also in urine specimens. To this end we first assessed that miR-21-5p, miR-210-3p and miR-221-3p resulted upregulated in ccRCC fresh frozen tissues compared to matched normal counterparts. Next, we evidenced that miR-210-3p resulted significantly up-regulated in 38 urine specimens collected from two independent cohorts of ccRCC patients at the time of surgery compared to healthy donors samples. Of note, miR-210-3p levels resulted significantly reduced in follow-up samples. These results point to miR-210-3p as a potential non-invasive biomarker useful not only for diagnosis but also for the assessment of complete resection or response to treatment in ccRCC management.


Global Positioning System (GPS) data from eight sites on the Caribbean plate and five sites on the South American plate were inverted to derive an angular velocity vector describing present-day relative plate motion. Both the Caribbean and South American velocity data fit rigid-plate models to within ±1–2 mm/yr, the GPS velocity uncertainty. The Caribbean plate moves approximately due east relative to South America at a rate of ∼20 mm/yr along most of the plate boundary, significantly faster than the NUVEL-1A model prediction, but with similar azimuth. Pure wrenching is concentrated along the approximately east-striking, seismic, El Pilar fault in Venezuela. In contrast, transpression occurs along the 068°-trending Central Range (Warm Springs) fault in Trinidad, which is aseismic, possibly locked, and oblique to local plate motion.


Background There has been a remarkable growth in approved oral anticancer agents (OAA) in recent years. This situation involves the pharmacist as a key part of the interdisciplinary team ensuring the safety and an adequate knowledge of the treatment with OAA. This may enhance compliance and reduce adverse events. A patient educational surgery was established by a team of a pharmacist and a nurse (PESPN). Purpose To describe the first PESPN patients. To compare the number of calls received by the continuing oncology care unit (COCU) before and after the establishment of PESPN. Materials and methods Prospective observational study from 2010 to present in a tertiary hospital. The authors included all patients initiating OAA. The information tools employed were validated leaflets about each drug, others leaflets related to symptoms management and personalised treatment calendars. Furthermore, The authors checked potential interactions between OAA and other concomitant treatment. Data collected: demographics, family support, KI (Karnofsky index), comorbidities, disease, staging, treatment type, information support, concomitant medicines, interactions prevented, number of phone calls received by the COCU. Results 34 patients. No. (%): women: 20 (60.6%); age (mean 66.5+/-15.2); family support 28 (84.8%); KI 90-100%: 28 (84.8%); comorbidities: 20 (60.6%); disease: breast 14 (42.4%), lung 9 (27.2%), CNS: 8 (24.2%), colon: 2 (6.1%); stageIV: 32(97.0%); metastatic: 23(69.7%), adjuvant: 10 (30.3%); indication for OAA: progression by imaging: 15 (45.5%), first-line treatment: 13 (39.4%), biochemical progression: 3 (9.1%), patient preference: 2 (6.1%), pathological progression: 1(3.0%); OAA: vinorelbine: 11(33.3%), capecitabine: 8 (24.2%), temozolomide: 8 (24.2%), topotecan: 3 (9.1%), erlotinib: 2(6.1%), gefitinib 1(3.0%); information tools: OAA leaflets: 31(93.9%), personalised calendar: 4(12.1%), others 3(9.1%); concomitant medicines: 32 (97.0%)(mean 3.8+/-2.2); complementary medicine: 2 (6.1%); total interactions: 6(18.2%); erlotinib-omeprazole:3(9.1%), erlotinib-acenocoumarol: 1(3.0%), capecitabine- acenocoumarol (3.0%), valproic-temozolomide: 1(3.0%). Phone-calls received by COCU: year 2009:1320 versus year 2010:1087 (17.7% reduction). Conclusions The typical patient profile was a woman with metastatic breast cancer initiating OAA after imaging progression. The treatment most dispensed was vinorelbine and the patients were given information leaflets specifically about the OAA. Almost all patients were on concomitant medicines and potential interactions were prevented. There was a significant reduction in the number of telephone inquiries received by COCU.


Remanufacturing engines don't pass the test without running-in process. And most of them never so much as reaching 85% of the standard index. After a careful analysis, it is believed that mainly be caused by being lake of enough running-in process. Then a cycle running-in criterion with low data is designed to verify the speculation, and it even don't reach 50% of full load level. The results show that remanufacturing engines show a good performance, and they can also reach qualified index. Then, based on the variation of dynamic performance of remanufacturing engines, more engine tests have been done to optimize the running-in criterion. After that, a new running-in criterion established which improves efficiency. Moreover, it is proved effective, too.


ABSTRACT Drawing on identity process theory, this study explores the protective and risk factors of psychological distress and self-harm in a religiously diverse sample of heterosexual and non-heterosexual students in Lebanon. A convenience sample of 209 undergraduate students participated in a cross-sectional survey and completed measures of religiosity, identity threat, psychological distress and self-harm. Results indicated that non-heterosexual participants exhibited higher levels of psychological distress, were more likely to report self-harm, and reported lower levels of religiosity than their heterosexual counterparts. It was shown that religiosity was protective against psychological distress, and that sexual orientation distress predicted self-harm. In order to reduce the risk of psychological distress and self-harm, it will be necessary to challenge stigma towards sexual minorities, to promote engagement with a broader range of social identity categories (other than just religion), and to ensure the availability of effective counselling support to all who need it.


Organizational Performance Measurement has been gaining significant importance in recent times. Some of criteria that determine the performance of the organization are efficiency, quality, quality of work life, productivity and profitability. In order to make any performance measurement method effective it is very important to know perceptions of the employees regarding the criteria involved in the measurement. This paper focuses upon capturing the perceptions of the employees with regard to the criteria involved in the performance measurement using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The study was carried out in a reputed Line Pipe manufacturing firm in India. The results show that quality and quality of work
life had a significant relationship with productivity and productivity had a significant relationship with profitability.


In a time full of financial convulsions with deep repercussions on the world wide economies, crediting is one of the easiest and serious options in finding alternative solutions for economic recovery. Using Crediting as a tool for economic recovery must be supported by all decision-factors, but not in any circumstances. The perspective of economic development in the European Union also requires the observance of medium and long-term desiderates such as coagulated ones in the concept of sustainable development. The way in which crediting derives and its effects on sustainable development represents one of the followed ways in any market economy in order to obtain the desired effects, not only economic, but also social and environmental.


PAY RISES of 3.4 per cent for most nurses and up to 7.8 per cent for 60,000 of the most experienced have been welcomed by nursing unions.


The exponential growth in wireless network faults, vulnerabilities and attacks makes the wireless local area network (WLAN) security management a challenging research area. In this study, a new embedded wireless intrusion detection system (WIDS) is designed and implemented in order to protect a multi-services wireless network. The proposed WIDS must be in small size in order to be integrated in different wireless devices, low cost in order to be placed in many places and has good performance to cover the data rate of the WLAN. All these attributes are achieved by network processor, and Ubicom network processor is used to implement the proposed WIDS. Different implementations of the proposed intrusion detection system are suggested and various searching algorithms are tested on an experimental platform. Finally, the WIDS approach is validated by experimenting with ten different types of attacks. The experimental results obtained from this work indicate that the proposed WIDS can worked efficiently at IEEE 802.11b WLAN network which provides different services to its clients with data rate ranges between 1.08 and 9.24 Mbps, and memory capacity of 250 rules.


INTRODUCTION
Although age-related prevalence rates of female sexual difficulties, i.e., difficulties with sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, or pain have occasionally been studied-with mostly inconsistent results-the age-related prevalence rates of female sexual dysfunctions, i.e., sexual difficulties that are associated with sexual distress, have not. Moreover, the association of age with sexual distress, i.e., distress due to sexual difficulties, has almost completely been neglected in epidemiological research.

AIMS
The aims of the present study were to provide age-related prevalence estimates of sexual difficulties and sexual dysfunctions and to provide proportions of participants reporting sexual distress in heterosexual women.

METHODS
An online survey comprising on sexual difficulties (i.e., low sexual desire, lack of responsive sexual desire, difficulties with lubrication, lack of subjective sexual arousal, absent or delayed orgasm, and dyspareunia) and associated sexual distress that enables us to classify respondents with sexual dysfunctions.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Sexual Functioning Scale.

RESULTS
A total of 15,048 heterosexual women aged 16-74 years living in Flanders (the Nothern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) completed the online survey. This study revealed that all sexual difficulties and all sexual dysfunctions are significantly associated with age in women. Although most sexual difficulties and sexual dysfunctions increase with age, some display a U-shaped association with age. Furthermore, it was found that-except for lubrication difficulties-sexual distress was also significantly associated with age and that sexual distress is more common in younger women.

CONCLUSION
The association between age and sexual difficulties, sexual dysfunctions, and sexual distress in women is complex and deserves more attention from scholars.


Textual specifications and domain models change during development and need to be kept consistent. However, in practice the cost of maintaining consistency is too high. Stakeholders need to be informed about model changes in natural language, software architects need to see the impact of specification changes on their models. Our Requirements Engineering Feedback System (REFS) automates the process of keeping specification and models consistent when the models change. Also, it can assess the impact of specification changes.


ABSTRACT The famous Permian-Triassic boundary section at Guryul Ravine in Kashmir shows repeated strong disturbances in the uppermost 3 m of the section below the main end-Permian mass extinction horizon. Two one-meter-thick disturbed beds, with convoluted bedding and fluid escape structures, are interpreted as seismites. Immediately above, three lenticular, fining-upward, bioclastic grainstone beds, interbedded with argillites, are interpreted as tsunamites. In these beds, hummocky cross-stratification and grading indicate deposition by waning irregular waves at a minimum water depth of 100 m based on physical processes and faunas. Bed grain sizes indicate that the waves needed to move even the coarse sand of the matrix, let alone associated large pebbles up to 20 cm in diameter, range from amplitudes of ∼40 m for wave periods of 10 s (the upper limit for storm waves) to amplitudes of ∼3 m for wave periods of 50 to 1000 s (typical of large open-ocean tsunamis). Fossil and sedimentary evidence suggests lengthy intervals between successive tsunami events, which, together with a lack of geochemical evidence for impact, favors terrestrial causes. Geochemical proxies show that the Guryul Ravine environment remained oxic or suboxic throughout the P–Tr transition, but that anoxia developed regionally at the time of the boundary crisis. This paper is the first to propose seismites and tsunamites at the P-Tr boundary, so the geographic extent of these deposits is unknown, although analogous deposits occur in many sections worldwide from published reports.


The rise of the emergence of microbial resistance of antibiotics, the dangerous side effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and noncompetent medications of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative diseases prompt scientists to search for phytochemicals that could be utilized in the remedy of lethal diseases. Glechoma curviflora (Boiss.) Kuntze (Nepeta curviflora) is a medicinal herb growing in the eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea Basin and is widely consumed as a tea. The leaves of this plant have been traditionally used for the treatment of various infectious diseases. The current research was designed to identify the chemical composition of Glechoma curviflora (Boiss.) essential oil (EO) and to assess its antibacterial, antifungal, and cyclooxygenase inhibitory activities and the biophysical gating effect on AMPA receptors. Twenty phytochemicals were identified from G. curviflora leaves and flowers EO amounting to almost 100% of the total constituents using GC-MS technique, of which 1,6-dimethylspiro[4.5]decane (27.51%) 1, caryophyllene oxide (20.08%) 2, and β-caryophyllene (18.28%) 3 were the main constituents. The biophysical properties' effect from the plant extract on various AMPA-type receptors expressed in Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK293) cells was assessed by exploiting the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Microdilution assay was adopted for assessing the antimicrobial property against eight virulent microbial strains whilst the cyclooxygenase inhibition effect was accomplished utilizing COX inhibitory screening colorimetric assay G. curviflora EO displayed potent activity against P. aeruginosa (MIC = 1.25 μg/mL), S. sonnei (MIC = 3.12 μg/mL), and E. coli (MIC = 1.25 μg/mL), compared with ciprofloxacin (positive control) and potent antibacterial activity against S. aureus, MRSA, S. sonnei, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa compared to Ampicillin (2nd positive control). It also showed anti-Candida (MIC = 6.25 μg/mL) and antimold (MIC = 3.125 μg/mL) activities compared with fluconazole (antifungal positive control). Likewise, our results showed an inhibition and biophysical impact of G. curviflora on all AMPARs subunits.


This paper presents a model-based approach to developing easily configurable and customizable and safe-to-use UCAADS. The acronym UCAADS stands for user-centric automation and assistive devices and systems, which include automation tools used by individuals and care-providing institutions for purposes of improving their quality of life and quality of care. The UCAADS model underlying the development process of such devices incorporates workflow elements with goals, objectives, methods, and selections elements, and is executable. This unique combination enables the device behavior, user actions, and user-device interactions to be specified in terms of a model for requirement capture and design assessment purposes early in the development process. The workflow elements in the device model become its implementation when the required programs and other resources become available. Reusable models, resource components, tools, and runtime environment needed to support this process are provided by UCAADS simulation environment and embedded workflow framework also described in this paper.


Since the discovery of slow slip events along subduction zone interfaces worldwide, dense geodetic and seismic networks have illuminated detailed characteristics of these events and associated tremor. High‐resolution observations of tremor, where the spatial‐temporal evolution is presumed to reflect that of the underlying slow slip events, show highly complex patterns in which the origins remain poorly understood. We present a new, computationally efficient modeling technique that reproduces many features of observed slow slip events, including slow initiation, coalescence of separate events, and rapid back‐propagation of renewed slip over previously slipped regions. Rapid back propagation speeds are explained as a consequence of rate‐ and state‐dependent frictional healing, consistent with analytical solutions developed in support of the simulations.


Objective: Considering nurses' psychological status, work decision involvement, emotions, anxiety, and motivation, is an important issue for attaining nurses' retention and maintaining their preservation in their work positions. Work motivation is the key that enhances employee performance which is influenced by numerous internal and external factors; job anxiety is the apparent one. The current study is directed to achieve two aims: to assess the work motivation level and self-rated anxiety among nurses and to investigate the relationship between them. Therefore, a descriptive, correlative research design was applied with 300 registered nurses in King Abd El Aziz governmental hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A triple-section questionnaire was used for data collection that involved: First, Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (MWMS) that was developed by Gagne et al. in 2010. Second, Self-Rated Anxiety Sub-scale which was developed by Warr et al. in 1979. Third, sociodemographic questions were included. Results: About three-quarters of Suadi nurses have high work motivation level concerning introjected and identified regulations while more than half of them have a high level of work motivation regarding amotivation and extrinsic regulations. Consequently, most of the participants have high scores in work motivation level. As regards, self-rated anxiety, all study subjects have a certain level of anxiety at work, but the majority of them were with low level. As pertaining the correlation between both study variables, there is a negative correlation between work motivation level and self-rated anxiety and the present study proved that Saudi registered nurses in King Abd El Aziz governmental hospital have high work motivation level scores with low self-rated anxiety scores. Conclusions: The current study confirms that the Saudi nurses in Jeddah have high work motivation level with low anxiety. Furthermore, the study provides evidence of a negative or inverse correlation between work motivation level and self-rated anxiety among Saudi registered nurses in King Abd El Aziz governmental hospital. Nurses should be aware by the importance of motivation in their job and at the same time, be aware of the risks of work-related anxiety. Nurse Managers have to tailor all factors which are surrounding nurses in a hospital environment, organizational structure and culture to be positively motivated and, at the same time, to alleviate any tendency of work-related anxiety. Furthermore, work motivation and anxiety should be involved and integrated into the nursing curriculum in nursing schools. Further researches: A research about the effect of the work motivation educational program on nurse manager's leadership skills, is needed. A study about the correlation between work motivation and other negative or positive variables in work environment among nurses is necessitated. Also, assessment of nurses' work motivation and anxiety using different tools such as value test, emotional inventory and adjustment skills measurement.


Aim: To assess the sample sizes used in studies on diagnostic accuracy in ophthalmology. Design and sources: A survey literature published in 2005. Methods: The frequency of reporting calculations of sample sizes and the samples' sizes were extracted from the published literature. A manual search of five leading clinical journals in ophthalmology with the highest impact (Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology and British Journal of Ophthalmology) was conducted by two independent investigators. Results: A total of 1698 articles were identified, of which 40 studies were on diagnostic accuracy. One study reported that sample size was calculated before initiating the study. Another study reported consideration of sample size without calculation. The mean (SD) sample size of all diagnostic studies was 172.6 (218.9). The median prevalence of the target condition was 50.5%. Conclusion: Only a few studies consider sample size in their methods. Inadequate sample sizes in diagnostic accuracy studies may result in misleading estimates of test accuracy. An improvement over the current standards on the design and reporting of diagnostic studies is warranted.


Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is a rare primary immune disorder characterized by impaired apoptotic homeostasis. The clinical characteristics include lymphoproliferation, autoimmunity (mainly cytopenia), and an increased risk of lymphoma. A distinctive biological feature is accumulation (>2.5%) of an abnormal cell subset composed of TCRαβ+ CD4-CD8- T cells (DNTs). The most common genetic causes of ALPS are monoallelic pathogenic variants in the FAS gene followed by somatic FAS variants, mainly restricted to DNTs. Identification of somatic FAS variants has been typically addressed by Sanger sequencing in isolated DNTs. However, this approach can be costly and technically challenging, and may not be successful in patients with normal DNT counts receiving immunosuppressive treatment. In this study, we identified a novel somatic mutation in FAS (c.718_719insGTCG) by Sanger sequencing on purified CD3+ cells. We then followed the evolutionary dynamics of the variant along time with an NGS-based approach involving deep amplicon sequencing (DAS) at high coverage (20,000-30,000x). Over five years of clinical follow-up, we obtained six blood samples for molecular study from the pre-treatment (DNTs>7%) and treatment (DNTs<2%) periods. DAS enabled detection of the somatic variant in all samples, even the one obtained after five years of immunosuppressive treatment (DNTs: 0.89%). The variant allele frequency (VAF) range was 4%-5% in pre-treatment samples and <1.5% in treatment samples, and there was a strong positive correlation between DNT counts and VAF (Pearson's R: 0.98, p=0.0003). We then explored whether the same approach could be used in a discovery setting. In the last follow-up sample (DNT: 0.89%) we performed somatic variant calling on the FAS exon 9 DAS data from whole blood and purified CD3+ cells using VarScan 2. The c.718_719insGTCG variant was identified in both samples and showed the highest VAF (0.67% blood, 1.58% CD3+ cells) among >400 variants called. In summary, our study illustrates the evolutionary dynamics of a somatic FAS mutation before and during immunosuppressive treatment. The results show that pathogenic somatic FAS variants can be identified with the use of DAS in whole blood of ALPS patients regardless of their DNT counts.


Time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (trARPES) employing a 500 kHz extreme-ultraviolet light source operating at 21.7 eV probe photon energy is reported. Based on a high-power ytterbium laser, optical parametric chirped pulse amplification, and ultraviolet-driven high-harmonic generation, the light source produces an isolated high-harmonic with 110 meV bandwidth and a flux of more than 1011 photons/s on the sample. Combined with a state-of-the-art ARPES chamber, this table-top experiment allows high-repetition rate pump-probe experiments of electron dynamics in occupied and normally unoccupied (excited) states in the entire Brillouin zone and with a temporal system response function below 40 fs.


Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are engineered systems that are built from, and depend upon, the seamless integration of computation and physical components [NSF]. Embedded systems comprising of hardware and software systems are the major enabling technology for these cyber-physical systems. Today, CPSs can be found in security-sensitive areas such as aerospace, automotive, energy, healthcare, manufacturing transportation, entertainment, and consumer appliances. Compared to the traditional information processing systems, due to the tight interactions between cyber and physical components in CPSs and closed-loop control from sensing to actuation, new vulnerabilities are emerging from the boundaries between various layers and domains. In this keynote talk, Prof. Al Faruque will discuss how new vulnerabilities are emerging at the intersection of various components and subsystems and their various hardware, software, and physical layers. Several recent examples from various cyber-physical systems will be presented in this talk. To understand these new vulnerabilities, a very different set of methodologies and tools are needed. Defenses against these vulnerabilities demand also new hardware/software co-design approaches. The talk will highlight recent developments in this regard. The major goal of this talk will be to highlight various research challenges and the need for novel scientific solutions from the larger research community.


This paper investigates conceptually and empirically the novel sense matching task, which requires to recognize whether the senses of two synonymous words match in context. We suggest direct approaches to the problem, which avoid the intermediate step of explicit word sense disambiguation, and demonstrate their appealing advantages and stimulating potential for future research.


What did the Constitution mean at the time it was adopted? How should we interpret today the words used by the Founding Fathers? In ORIGINALISM: A QUARTER-CENTURY OF DEBATE, these questions are explained and dissected by the very people who continue to shape the legal structure of our country. Inside you'll find: *A foreword by Justice Antonin Scalia and speeches by former attorney general Edwin Meese III, Justice William Brennan, Judge Robert H. Bork, and President Ronald Reagan *Transcripts from panel discussions and debates engaging some of the brightest legal minds of our time in frank, open discussions about the original meaning of the Constitution of the United States and its impact on the rule of law in our country *A debate on the original meaning of the Commerce, Spending, and Necessary and Proper Clauses *Concluding thoughts by Theodore Olson, forty-second solicitor general of the United States and a fellow at both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. ORIGINALISM: A QUARTER-CENTURY OF DEBATE is a lively and fascinating discussion of an issue that has occupied the greatest legal minds in America, and one that continues to elicit strong reactions from both those who support and those who oppose the rule of law. Steven G. Calabresi, co-founder of the Federalist Society and professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law, has compiled an impressive collection of speeches, panel discussions, and debates from some of the greatest and most prominent legal experts of the last twenty-five years.


Vegetated landscapes are transformed by both natural and human causes. This is thought to influence river flow regimes. It is argued that restored and reforested landscapes increase stream flow. However, studies done to date have been inconclusive on whether or not trees on restored or reforested landscapes increase stream flow. This study aimed to examine the effects of land cover changes on streamflow of the Malewa River Basin in Kenya. Satellite imagery based spatial change detection using ArcGIS 10.1 and ERDAS IMAGINE software was deployed to estimate the land cover changes. Based on projected land cover change data, a multiple regression technique was used to establish the relationship between land cover and streamflow. The results show that at Gauge 2GB01, area under wetland significantly predicted stream flows (b=0.134, t(488) =1.978, p=0.049), with an overall model (R2=0.018, F(3, 488)=2.976, p=0.031). Area under grassland (b=0.108, t(488)=2.325, p=0.02), shrubland (b=0.112, t(488)=1.976, p=0.049) and amount of rainfall (b=0.533, t(488)=14.048, p=0.000) combined significantly predicted stream flows. Rainfall alone significantly predicted stream flows (b=0.531, t(488)=13.885, p=0.000). Overall, the gains in forest restoration did not specifically influence streamflow except in combination with other vegetation and rainfall. There is need to increase soil cover rather than woody biomass alone in the regulation of stream flows. A systematic response to address the drivers of change in land cover is also needed.