ABSTRACT Optogenetic switches permit accurate control of gene expression upon light stimulation. These synthetic switches have become a powerful tool for gene regulation, allowing modulation of customized phenotypes, overcoming the obstacles of chemical inducers, and replacing their use by an inexpensive resource: light. In this work, we implemented FUN-LOV, an optogenetic switch based on the photon-regulated interaction of WC-1 and VVD, two LOV (light-oxygen-voltage) blue-light photoreceptors from the fungus Neurospora crassa. When tested in yeast, FUN-LOV yields light-controlled gene expression with exquisite temporal resolution and a broad dynamic range of over 1,300-fold, as measured by a luciferase reporter. We also tested the FUN-LOV switch for heterologous protein expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where Western blot analysis confirmed strong induction upon light stimulation, surpassing by 2.5 times the levels achieved with a classic GAL4/galactose chemical-inducible system. Additionally, we utilized FUN-LOV to control the ability of yeast cells to flocculate. Light-controlled expression of the flocculin-encoding gene FLO1, by the FUN-LOV switch, yielded flocculation in light (FIL), whereas the light-controlled expression of the corepressor TUP1 provided flocculation in darkness (FID). Altogether, the results reveal the potential of the FUN-LOV optogenetic switch to control two biotechnologically relevant phenotypes such as heterologous protein expression and flocculation, paving the road for the engineering of new yeast strains for industrial applications. Importantly, FUN-LOV's ability to accurately manipulate gene expression, with a high temporal dynamic range, can be exploited in the analysis of diverse biological processes in various organisms. IMPORTANCE Optogenetic switches are molecular devices which allow the control of different cellular processes by light, such as gene expression, providing a versatile alternative to chemical inducers. Here, we report a novel optogenetic switch (FUN-LOV) based on the LOV domain interaction of two blue-light photoreceptors (WC-1 and VVD) from the fungus N. crassa. In yeast cells, FUN-LOV allowed tight regulation of gene expression, with low background in darkness and a highly dynamic and potent control by light. We used FUN-LOV to optogenetically manipulate, in yeast, two biotechnologically relevant phenotypes, heterologous protein expression and flocculation, resulting in strains with potential industrial applications. Importantly, FUN-LOV can be implemented in diverse biological platforms to orthogonally control a multitude of cellular processes. IMPORTANCE Optogenetic switches are molecular devices which allow the control of different cellular processes by light, such as gene expression, providing a versatile alternative to chemical inducers. Here, we report a novel optogenetic switch (FUN-LOV) based on the LOV domain interaction of two blue-light photoreceptors (WC-1 and VVD) from the fungus N. crassa. In yeast cells, FUN-LOV allowed tight regulation of gene expression, with low background in darkness and a highly dynamic and potent control by light. We used FUN-LOV to optogenetically manipulate, in yeast, two biotechnologically relevant phenotypes, heterologous protein expression and flocculation, resulting in strains with potential industrial applications. Importantly, FUN-LOV can be implemented in diverse biological platforms to orthogonally control a multitude of cellular processes.


The theory of a linearization method using active post-distortion (APD) is explained for low-frequency and high-frequency applications. The low-frequency cancellation is explained in power series format and the high-frequency cancellation is explained in Volterra series format. The method is utilized for a cellular band (869-894 MHz) CDMA low-noise amplifier (LNA), which is implemented in 0.25-mum CMOS process. The LNA achieves 1.2 dB NF, 16.2 dB power gain, and +8 dBm IIP3 while consuming 12 mA current from 2.6 V supply voltage. It shows 13.5 dB of IM3 product reduction with 0.15 dB NF penalty in comparison with an LNA which does not use the APD method


It is generally accepted that the inactive P420 form of cytochrome P450 (CYP) involves the protonation of the native cysteine thiolate to form a neutral thiol heme ligand. On the other hand, it has also been suggested that recruitment of a histidine to replace the native cysteine thiolate ligand might underlie the P450 → P420 transition. Here, we discuss resonance Raman investigations of the H93G myoglobin (Mb) mutant in the presence of tetrahydrothiophene (THT) or cyclopentathiol (CPSH), and on pressure-induced cytochrome P420cam (CYP101), that show a histidine becomes the heme ligand upon CO binding. The Raman mode near 220 cm⁻¹, normally associated with the Fe-histidine vibration in heme proteins, is not observed in either reduced P420cam or the reduced H93G Mb samples, indicating that histidine is not the ligand in the reduced state. The absence of a mode near 220 cm⁻¹ is also inconsistent with a generalization of the suggestion that the 221 cm⁻¹ Raman mode, observed in the P420-CO photoproduct of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), arises from a thiol-bound ferrous heme. This leads us to assign the 218 cm⁻¹ mode observed in the 10 ns P420cam-CO photoproduct Raman spectrum to a Fe-histidine vibration, in analogy to many other histidine-bound heme systems. Additionally, the inverse correlation plots of the νFe-His and νCO frequencies for the CO adducts of P420cam and the H93G analogs provide supporting evidence that histidine is the heme ligand in the P420-CO-bound state. We conclude that, when CO binds to the ferrous P420 state, a histidine ligand is recruited as the heme ligand. The common existence of an HXC-Fe motif in many CYP systems allows the C → H ligand switch to occur with only minor conformational changes. One suggested conformation of P420-CO involves the addition of another turn in the proximal L helix so that, when the protonated Cys ligand is dissociated from the heme, it can become part of the helix, and the heme is ligated by the His residue from the adjoining loop region. In other systems, such as iNOS and CYP3A4 (where the HXC-Fe motif is not found), a somewhat larger conformational change would be necessary to recuit a nearby histidine.


The theory developed in II is extended to cover the case of a superconductor, and a formula is derived relating the r. f. resistivity to the superconducting penetration depth and other parameters of the metal. It is shown how the penetration depth may be deduced directly from measurements of the skin reactance, and a method of measuring reactance is described, based essentially on the variation of the velocity of propagation along a transmission line due to the reactance of the conductors. For technical reasons it is not convenient to measure the reactance absolutely, but a simple extension of the technique described in I enables the change in reactance to be accurately measured when superconductivity is destroyed by a magnetic field. The method has been applied to mercury and tin. In the former case the results are in agreement with Shoenberg's direct measurements, and confirm that the penetration depth at 0° K is of the order of 7 x 10–6 cm. The theory developed at the beginning of the paper is used to deduce the variation of penetration depth with temperature from the resistivity measurements of I, and it is shown that agreement with other determinations and with the reactance measurements is fairly good, but not perfect. Some of the assumptions used in developing the theory are critically discussed, and a qualitative account is given to show how Heisenberg's theory of superconductivity offers an explanation of some of the salient features of superconductivity and inparticular indicates the relation between superconducting and normal electrons.


In my two previous communications to the Society on the Devon Red Rocks I have recognized the insufficiency of the evidence then available for drawing a clear and well-defined boundary-line between the Keuper and the Bunter in the country lying west of Sidmouth; and now that the Permian age of the lower breccia-series has been definitely recognized by the Director-General of the Geological Survey in his Presidential Address of last February, this may be said to be the only remaining dubious point of importance in our new classification of the Red Rocks of Devonshire, and their correlation with the Permian and Trias of the Midlands and the Severn country. The difficulty I found in drawing the basement-line of the Keuper in my 1888 paper seems to have been felt by Mr. Strahan in the Cheshire area, for, after discussing the evidence on both sides, he seems inclined to think that there are about as good reasons for drawing the basement-line of the Keuper at the bottom of the 'Waterstones' (as I did in Devon four years ago) as for drawing it at the base of the 'Lower Keuper Sandstones' of Prof. Hull. Briefly, these seem to resolve themselves into two :— (1) overlap in places of the Waterstone series; (2)lithological similarity of the Keuper basement-beds to the mottled, current-bedded soft sandstones of the Upper Bunter—a similarity which, as I showed in my paper of last year, is even stronger than he has made it out to be in Cheshire, for


According to the rule of non-sinusoidal oscillation of continuous casting mold, a mathematical model was established to study the effects of oscillation parameters on the consumption rate of mold flux. The results indicated that the mold flux consumption rate is remarkably affected by the non-sinusoidal factor. This proves that the non-sinusoidal oscillation of mold contributes to increase the flux consumption. Moreover, the amplitude and frequency of mold oscillation have effects on mold flux consumption rate. The non-sinusoidal oscillation parameters must be optimized.


When an ice core sample is analysed for its aeolian dust content, it is melted and the particles detected are suspended in water. Consequently, dust measurement techniques employed in the ice core community differ from those used for in-situ studies of airborne dust. Methods commonly used to classify insolubles suspended in a liquid are either based on the particles' interaction with light or on the detection of resistive pulses by means of Coulter counting. Data sets obtained with Coulter counters are widely accepted as references and other techniques are judged against their ability to reproduce these.
Unfortunately, optically acquired ice core dust records were found to differ. By analyzing two sections of the NEEM dust record, two different evaluation procedures are discussed before a third protocol is proposed. It is found that relative changes in the archived dust load can be reproduced, while the simultaneous attainment of absolute concentrations or changes in the grain size frequency histograms in high resolution remains difficult.


On 19 January 2012, a large D3 avalanche (approximately 103 t) was recorded with an infrasound array ideally situated for observing the avalanche velocity. The avalanche crossed Highway 21 in Central Idaho during the largest avalanche cycle in the 15 years of recorded history and deposited approximately 8 m of snow on the roadway. Possible source locations along the avalanche path were estimated at 0.5 s intervals and were used to calculate the avalanche velocity during the 64 s event. Approximately 10 s prior to the main avalanche signal, a small infrasound signal originated from the direction of the start zone. We infer this to be the initial snow pack failure, a precursory signal to the impending avalanche. The avalanche accelerated to a maximum velocity of 35.9 ± 7.6m s−1 within 30 s before impacting the highway. We present a new technique to obtain high spatial and temporal resolution velocity estimates not previously demonstrated with infrasound for avalanches and other mass wasting events.


1Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga – Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia; 2Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga – Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia Background: Treatment of children with HIV infection has increased rapidly by increasing the life span of HIV patients from baby to adult. Improving the quality-of-life (QoL) in children living with HIV is a priority of HIV management in children and caregivers of children living with HIV have important roles. Caregiver stigma, caregiver burden, and caregiver coping affect caregivers in treating children living with HIV. Objective: Analyzing the association of caregiver stigma, caregiver burden, and caregiver coping on QoL of Indonesian children living with HIV. Methods: Participants in this study were caregivers of Indonesian children living with HIV. Participants were measured for caregiver stigma, caregiver burden, caregiver coping, and QoL of Indonesian children living with HIV. The instrument used in measuring caregiver stigma was people living with HIV/AIDS and caregiver questionnaire, caregiver burden used Zarit Burden questionnaire, caregiver coping used F-COPES questionnaire, and QoL used PedsQL for children aged 2–18 years old. Measurement data were analyzed using logistic regression and independent t tests with P<0.05. Results: Indonesian children living with HIV in this study had an average age of 7.7±3.68 years and average participant age of 40.2±11.26 years. All participants stated that Indonesian children living with HIV tend to keep their health status confidential. Most QoL of Indonesian children living with HIV was good (71.7%), caregiver stigma value was 21.7±2.06, and caregiver burden level was moderate, of 50.9%. However, there was no significant association between caregiver stigma (β=0.064; P=0.548) and burden level (β=0.058; P=0.593) on QoL. On the other hand, caregiver coping value was 77.2±7.30, and there was a significant association of caregiver coping on QoL (β=−0.196; P=0.049). Conclusion: There is an association of caregiver coping on QoL of Indonesian children living with HIV, in which the higher the caregiver coping, the lower the QoL. Meanwhile, there is no significant association of caregiver stigma and burden on QoL of Indonesian children living with HIV.


Introduction: Despite the proven survival benefits, ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) therapy has still some drawbacks. It is clearly known that inappropriate shocks increase mortality however, randomized controlled trials showed us that appropriate shocks might also increase mortality. Left untreated, ventricular arrhythmias are known to be fatal and in this case ICD shock therapy is life-saving so it is appropriate to assess the effects of ATP (Antitachycardial Pacing) therapy and shock separately. The aim of our study is to determine the effects of inappropriate and appropriate shocks in a population of ICD implanted patients.Patients and Methods: We retrospectively screened ICD implanted patients between January 2003 and December 2013 in our department. Additionally, patients were called by telephone and parameters such as survival and rehospitalization were updated. During the retrospective follow-up, the occurrence of inappropriate-appropriate ICD shocks and mortality causes were noted. Characteristics of patients suffering from shocks were also investigated. Results: A total of 260 ICD implanted patients were included in the study. 40 of them experienced inappropriate shocks (defined as at least one inappropriate shock, not any appropriate shocks). 69 patients experienced appropriate shocks (defined as at least one appropriate shock, not inoppropriate shocks). Retrospective mean follow up period was 49 months, minimum follow up period was 6 months. Among 40 patients experiencing inappropriate shocks 13 deaths (32.5%) occured (p=0.039). Among 69 patients experiencing appropriate shocks 24 deaths (34.8%) occured (p=0.001).Conclusion: In a large cohort of ICD patients, inappropriate and appropriate shocks were common. The most important finding was the association between appropriate shocks and mortality.


The Lajas Research and Development Center evaluated different methods of forced molting among medium weight, brown-egg-producing hens of the Hisex strain that had been laying 10 months. Second year production, efficiency of feed utilization, egg weight and initial and final body weights did not differ (P = .05) among the four treatments. The group in which molting was forced by removing drinking water 2 days and feed 12 consecutive days (T-4) had the poorest results, but very similar to those of group in which 25,000 p/m zinc oxide was fed 6 days (T-2). The control group (T-1), that was constantly fed a laying diet, had an efficient production, almost as good as that of T-3, in which molting was forced by removing water 1 day and feed 6 days. All groups gained weight (about 0.33 kg/year) even though feed was restricted to the amount locally recommended for light weight WL hens: 114 g (4 oz) per day. Therefore, this amount is ample for sustaining efficient production among medium size, brown-egg-producing hens kept under a tropical environment.


Facial scanning has become ubiquitous in digital media, but so far most efforts have focused on reconstructing the skin. Eye reconstruction, on the other hand, has received only little attention, and the current state-of-the-art method is cumbersome for the actor, time-consuming, and requires carefully setup and calibrated hardware. These constraints currently make eye capture impractical for general use. We present the first approach for high-quality lightweight eye capture, which leverages a database of pre-captured eyes to guide the reconstruction of new eyes from much less constrained inputs, such as traditional single-shot face scanners or even a single photo from the internet. This is accomplished with a new parametric model of the eye built from the database, and a novel image-based model fitting algorithm. Our method provides both automatic reconstructions of real eyes, as well as artistic control over the parameters to generate user-specific eyes.


The ongoing advancements in deep learning, and exemplary results obtained for different problems using spatio-temporal satellite images, have made deep neural networks quite popular for analysing Earth Observation data. The deep learning models have the capability to learn complex features from the dataset available, and specific to the problem at hand. In this research, the aim is to classify field parcels in images from the Sentinel-2A satellite and identify the corresponding crops using a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). To obtain a good classification network, the mandatory requirement is clean and reliably labelled data, which is a challenging task in real world applications. What if the labels are not reliable due to manual errors or due to the complexity of annotating data? The purpose of this project is to design a pipeline to verify the reliability of the data with minimum supervision and then, use the clean data to train the network for the classification problem at hand. Experiments on different crop types (Wheat, Maize, and Legumes) have shown excellent results in distinguishing a variety from others. The pixellevel classifier model not only allows training of the model with limited available data but also gives an advantage of further analysing the crop area on a sub-parcel level. The proposed approach for detection and classification of vegetation types creates a new possibility in handling Big Data in the domain of Earth Observation with a multitude of potential applications in the areas of precision and smart agriculture, pre-emptive forest management, health monitoring, and damage assessment. The presented pipeline shows the significance of data verification and provides an efficient way to create models by optimizing the efforts, and the time of both engineers and experts.


This paper presents a model for optimal asset maintenance inspection services. The model is designed to support through-life service in the form of multiple nested inspections and maintenance to meet defined asset availability and capability requirements, as well as achieving successful through-life technology insertions. The inspections and maintenance activities are assumed to be performed at more than one level, but nested and aimed at different types of defects or subsystems over a fixed period of time (the designed asset life). This practice is common in many industries, particularly in the defense industry. The impact of technological insertions is reflected through changes in the failure behavior of the asset. We use the delay time concept to model the failure mechanism of the asset, and the arrivals of defects are assumed to follow Poisson processes. The decision variables are the inspection intervals, while the objective function can be expressed in terms of cost, downtime, or reliability. The model is demonstrated through a numerical example. The model can be used for optimizing two-level inspection intervals with technological insertions.


Returning to preinjury level of sports participation is a primary goal of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Indeed, surgical success is often judged on return-to-sport rates. While timeframes of 6–12 months postsurgery are typically expected, in reality, fewer than two-thirds of individuals return-to-sport within the first year post-ACLR.1 Conservatively managed individuals have similar clinical outcomes—future knee function relies on optimal rehabilitation, irrespective of surgery.2 Although consensus for the most effective rehabilitation approach is lacking, contemporary treatment programmes worship at the altar of accelerated return-to-sport.

Although the finish line for ACL rehabilitation is often defined as resuming sporting pursuits, consequences of ACL injury, including the high reinjury and contralateral injury risk, extend for many years, possibly a lifetime. Radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) is inevitable for 50–60% of individuals ≥10 years post-ACL injury and reconstruction.3 Given that typical ACL injured patients are young, this early-onset OA often engenders considerable morbidity and impact on healthcare resources. Could our short-sighted fixation on a fast-tracked return-to-sport be linked to these alarming premature OA rates?

Post-traumatic …


Recent occurrence of moss Buxbaumia viridis (Bryophyta, Buxbaumiaceae) in the Kłodzko region (Central and Eastern Sudetes, SW Poland) A rare epixylous moss, Buxbaumia viridis (Moug. ex Lam. & DC.) Brid. ex Moug. & Nestl., was searched at historical localities in the Kłodzko region, especially in Bialskie and Bystrzyckie Mts. The species was rediscovered at two localities in the upper part of the valley of Jedlnik stream on the east slope of Iwinka Mt. in Puszcza Śnieżnej Białki Nature Reserve. This paper presents data on autecology of B. viridis at one of the rediscovered localities as well as shows its current distribution in the Kłodzko region.


With thermal modification, changes in properties of wood, such as the presence of VOC and water-soluble carbohydrates, may occur. Thermal modifications under saturated steam conditions (160 °C or 170 °C) and superheated steam conditions (170, 185, and 212 °C) were investigated by analysing the presence of water-soluble 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF), furfural, and carbohydrates in heat-treated wood. The influence of thermal modifications on Scots pine, Norway spruce, and silver birch was also studied. Furfurals were analysed using HPLC at 280 nm, while monosaccharides and water-soluble carbohydrates were determined by GC-FID as their acetylated alditiols and, after methanolysis, as their trimethylsilylated methyl-glycosides, respectively. The amount of furfurals was larger in boards thermally modified under saturated steam conditions than those treated under superheated steam conditions. Generally, more of HMF than furfural was found in the thermally modified boards. In process water, in which saturated steam conditions had been used, furfural and only traces of HMF were found. Higher content of water-soluble carbohydrates was found in boards treated in saturated steam rather than in superheated steam. After modification in saturated steam, substantial parts of the water-soluble carbohydrates were due to monosaccharides, but only traces of monosaccharides were found in boards treated under superheated steam conditions.


Skeleton Learning (SL) is the task for learning an undirected graph from the input data that captures their dependency relations. SL plays a pivotal role in causal learning and has attracted growing attention in the research community lately. Due to the high time complexity, anytime SL has emerged which learns a skeleton incrementally and improves it overtime. In this paper, we first propose and advocate the reliability requirement for anytime SL to be practically useful. Reliability requires the intermediately learned skeleton to have precision and persistency. We also present REAL, a novel Reliable and Efficient Anytime Learning algorithm of skeleton. Specifically, we point out that the commonly existing Functional Dependency (FD) among variables could make the learned skeleton violate faithfulness assumption, thus we propose a theory to resolve such incompatibility. Based on this, REAL conducts SL on a reduced set of variables with guaranteed correctness thus drastically improves efficiency. Furthermore, it employs a novel edge-insertion and best-first strategy in anytime fashion for skeleton growing to achieve high reliability and efficiency. We prove that the skeleton learned by REAL converges to the correct skeleton under standard assumptions. Thorough experiments were conducted on both benchmark and real-world datasets demonstrate that REAL significantly outperforms the other state-of-the-art algorithms.


The panel of serologic markers for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is rapidly expanding. Although anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) and atypical perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (P-ANCA) remain the most widely investigated, an increasing amount of experimental data is available on newly discovered antibodies directed against various microbial antigens. The role of the assessment of various antibodies in the current IBD diagnostic algorithm is often questionable due to their limited sensitivity. In contrast, the association of serologic markers with disease behavior and phenotype is becoming increasingly well-established. An increasing number of observations confirms that patients with Crohn's disease expressing multiple serologic markers at high titers are more likely to have complicated small bowel disease (e.g. stricture and/or perforation) and are at higher risk for surgery than those without, or with low titers of antibodies. Creating homogenous disease sub-groups based on serologic response may help develop more standardized therapeutic approaches and may help in a better understanding of the pathomechanism of IBD. Further prospective clinical studies are needed to establish the clinical role of serologic tests in IBD.


We are pleased to announce that submissions are open for the 2012 International ELearning Awards Business Division, presented by the International E-Learning Association (IELA). The Entry Submission Page is posted on the IELA site and the deadline for submission isMarch 1, 2012! Submissions for our Academic categories will be accepted beginning in March 2012 with a deadline of June 1, 2012. We are currently accepting only entries in the Business division.


Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an emerging, multi-elemental and green technique, particularly suitable for the direct analysis of solid samples. In this study, thirty-two superficial sediments collected from Cienfuegos Bay in 2011–2013 were analyzed by LIBS without requiring sample digestion. Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na and Ti emission lines were detected in all samples. The full LIBS spectra of the samples were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Most samples showed a similar emission signal pattern, whereas two samples collected in 2012 and another two in 2013 showed anomalously higher emission signals for Na, Mg and Ca, Mg, respectively. In three of the sediments, the impact of external factors on the ecosystem is the presumable cause of the observed anomalies. The combination of LIBS with multivariate data analysis demonstrated a high capacity for the fast detection of anomalous metal compositions in marine sediments.


Ceramic composites of barium strontium titanate and other non-ferroelectric oxides have been fabricated for use in phased array antennas. These composites have shown superior electronic properties at low and microwave frequencies in that they have reduced dielectric constants, low loss tangents and high tunabilities. However, minimal work (other than X-ray powder diffraction) has been reported on the correlation of these electronic properties to the site substitutions and the sample topography. Raman and FTIR spectroscopy has been used to study the structural properties related to the additions of both strontium to the barium titanate crystal structure as well as the effect of the additions of oxide III on Ba/sub 1-x/Sr/sub x/TiO/sub 3/ (1-x=0.00, 0.15, 0.30, 0.40, 0.45, 0.50, 0.55, 0.6, 0.7, 0.80, and 1.0). The optical properties of the ceramic composites have been correlated to the electrical properties of the materials such as the Curie temperatures and these results are discussed in detail.


Temperature surveys were made at the combustion-chamber outlets of a British Rolls-Royce Nene II engine. The highest mean nozzle-vane and mean gas temperatures were found to occur at a radius approximately 75% of the nozzle-vane length from the inner ring of the nozzle-vane assembly. Variations in engine speed, jet-nozzle area, simulated altitude, and simulated flight speed altered the temperature level but did not materially affect the pattern of radial temperature distribution.


Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory disease characterized by aching and stiffness in the girdles, which affects typically people over 50 years old and could overlap with giant cell arteritis (GCA) in about 15-20% of cases. Although the diagnosis of PMR is usually considered straightforward, clinicians facing this disease should be aware of its atypical manifestations, which can hamper the correct identification of PMR and, conversely, should be aware of other diseases which may present with polymyalgic features. The aim of this review is to synthetize current knowledge about clinical presentations of PMR, the differential diagnoses, the relationship with cancer, the clues to the presence of a concomitant GCA, the role of ultrasonography at the onset and in the follow-up and, finally, treatment approaches. Besides evidence from the literature, this review will highlight some "tips&tricks" useful in everyday clinical practice. The awareness of the different presentations and pitfalls of PMR could improve patients' management and avoid complications consequent upon unrecognized diseases or, conversely, overtreatment.


Objective: Many cancer patients suffered from mental disorders. This research was to investigate the effect of comprehensive nursing intervention on patients with breast cancer.
Method: Patients were accepted routine nursing in control group (group C), and comprehensive nursing intervention in intervention group (group I). At the end of the operation and in the following two months after operation, the levels of depression, anxiety, life quality, and sleep quality were evaluated, and the expressions of Lactic Dehydrogenase (LDH), α-fetoprotein (AFP) and Carcino-Embryonic Antigen (CEA) were also detected. The rates of recurrence and metastasis were assessed during 3-year follow-up.
Results: The levels of depression and anxiety of patients in group I were much higher than group C (P<0.05). Life and sleep qualities in both groups were improved, while the quality in group I was significantly better than group C (P<0.05). The expressions of LDH, CEA and AFP of patients in both groups were reduced, while the reduction in group I was more significant than group C (P<0.05). After 3-year follow-up, the recurrence and metastasis rates in group I were significantly lower than group C (P=0.044, P<0.05).
Conclusions: Comprehensive nursing intervention contributed to the improvement of life quality, sleep quality and mental health, and was helpful to improve the therapeutic effect of breast cancer.


Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to be a threat to the health of many humans across the world as they confront coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Previous promising in vitro data that emerged after the SARS-CoV outbreak in 2003, along with the emergent need for pharmacologic management strategies in the fight against COVID-19, prompted interest in the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine across the globe. Unfortunately, the in vitro activity of these drugs did not necessarily correlate with most in vivo studies, which showed no consistent efficacy. Safety is also a major concern, with these agents having a known risk of QT prolongation and proarrhythmic effects. In addition, clinical practice guidelines provide no clear consensus on the role of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for the management of COVID-19. The United States Food and Drug Administration has declared that the potential benefits of these agents no longer outweigh the possible risks, and unless new emerging information suggests a more favorable risk:benefit ratio, neither chloroquine nor hydroxychloroquine should be recommended for COVID-19 treatment or prevention at this time.


The role of top predators in structuring ecosystems is receiving substantial attention from ecologists. Ripple et al. (2011) recently posed a tentatively supported hypothesis that wolves (Canis lupus) may help restore populations of the U.S. federally Threatened Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), a specialist predator on snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), through 2 possible mechanisms: a) decreases in the numbers of coyotes (C. latrans), which may compete with lynx for hares as prey and may also kill lynx; or b) decreases in ungulates that might compete with hares for food. These speculative opinions are not supported by current data, either across the range or in the extended example of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) that Ripple et al. provide. The coyote hypothesis lacks the required quantification of coyote numbers and predation rates on hares, both in YNP and across the range of lynx. The browse competition hypothesis ignores substantial differences in browse and habitat preferences between elk (Cervus elaphus) or livestock and hares that prevent competition for food. Our previous work in YNP (Hodges et al. 2009) showed scattered and very low densities of snowshoe hares, with distributions driven by the substantial fire-related habitat changes YNP has experienced over the past century. Although I applaud their interest in lynx conservation, the unsupported speculations of Ripple et al. do not advance our ability to manage lynx or hares, nor do they present plausible directions for conservation research. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.


This paper presents a new process for integration of high-Q RF power inductors above low resistivity silicon substrates. The process uses the SU8 resin as a dielectric layer. The aim of using the SU8 is to form thick dielectric layer that can enhance the performance of the inductors. The flexibility of the process enables the possibility to realize complex shaped planar inductors with various dielectric and metal thicknesses to meet the requirements of the application. Q values of 55 at 5 GHz has been demonstrated for an inductance value of 0.8 nH using a 60 µm thick SU8 layer and 30 µm thick copper ribbons.


Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays an important role in the growth and development of emerging economies. And it has been considered a powerful mechanism to achieve rapid economic growth in the developing countries. However Arab countries have been performing poorly in attracting FDI inflows relative to other developing countries since the early 1990s. This study examines the impacts of special host country factors namely political risk, corruption, and infrastructure on the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Yemen between 2003 and 2007. Results indicate that high levels of political risk and corruption lead to low levels of FDI inflows into Yemen. With political risk being significantly and negatively correlated to the FDI inflows. The findings also show that infrastructure variable with three proxies (road length, operating telephone line, and electric power generation capacity) are insignificantly and positively correlated with FDI.


SIMD accelerators are ubiquitous in microprocessors from different computing domains. Their high compute power and hardware simplicity improve overall performance in an energy efficient manner. Moreover, their replicated functional units and simple control mechanism make them amenable to scaling to higher vector lengths. However, code generation for these accelerators has been a challenge from the days of their inception. Compilers generate vector code conservatively to ensure correctness. As a result they lose significant vectorization opportunities and fail to extract maximum benefits out of SIMD accelerators.
This thesis proposes to vectorize the program binary at runtime in a speculative manner, in addition to the compile time static vectorization. There are different environments that support runtime profiling and optimization support required for dynamic vectorization, one of most prominent ones being: 1) Dynamic Binary Translators and Optimizers (DBTO) and 2) Hardware/Software (HW/SW) Co-designed Processors. HW/SW co-designed environment provides several advantages over DBTOs like transparent incorporations of new hardware features, binary compatibility, etc. Therefore, we use HW/SW co-designed environment to assess the potential of speculative dynamic vectorization.
Furthermore, we analyze vector code generation for wider vector units and find out that even though SIMD accelerators are amenable to scaling from the hardware point of view, vector code generation at higher vector length is even more challenging. The two major factors impeding vectorization for wider SIMD units are: 1) Reduced dynamic instruction stream coverage for vectorization and 2) Large number of permutation instructions. To solve the first problem we propose Variable Length Vectorization that iteratively vectorizes for multiple vector lengths to improve dynamic instruction stream coverage. Secondly, to reduce the number of permutation instructions we propose Selective Writing that selectively writes to different parts of a vector register and avoids permutations.
Finally, we tackle the problem of leakage energy in SIMD accelerators. Since SIMD accelerators consume significant amount of real estate on the chip, they become the principle source of leakage if not utilized judiciously. Power gating is one of the most widely used techniques to reduce leakage energy of functional units. However, power gating has its own energy and performance overhead associated with it. We propose to selectively devectorize the vector code when higher SIMD lanes are used intermittently. This selective devectorization keeps the higher SIMD lanes idle and power gated for maximum duration. Therefore, resulting in overall leakage energy reduction.


In this paper, the mechanical structure of an underactuated end-effector manipulator for apple-picking is presented. The structure is consisted of three identical fingers which are driven by one motor. Each finger is formed by three joints which are connected with connecting bar and gears. With operation of grasp and twist executed by the driven fingers, apple-picking action completed. Mathematical model of the mechanical structure is proposed. Kinematics simulation & optimization software which have a Human-Computer Interaction interface is developed with Visual Basic visualization platform. Parameters which affect enveloping space mostly are analyzed. With processing and analyzing data which get from the software, a set of optimum structure parameters are obtained. A sample machine of the Endeffector Manipulator which is used for testing purpose is designed according to the optimum structure parameters.


Sub-surface or through-the-earth communication using electromagnetic fields - and specifically magnetic induction equipment - plays a key role in search and rescue systems used in the mining industry and, increasingly, by cavers and pot-holers. Similar equipment is used
for radio-location, sub-surface surveying and geophysical measurements.

The use of fast desktop computers allows a mathematical model of the propagation to be investigated in detail, demonstrating the preferred orientation of the antennas and the existence of an optimum frequency that is dependent on depth and other parameters. Computer simulations demonstrate a reduction in accuracy of radiolocation at skin depth distances, and methods of correcting this inaccuracy are introduced.

The transmitter and receiver antennas for portable induction loop systems are usually aircored loops or magnetic-cored solenoids, tuned to resonance. However, the preferred antenna often depends on the intended use of the communication system, with untuned antennas having
an advantage in some situations. The use of toroid (anapole) structures and rotating magnets as transmitters is discussed briefly. A figure of merit - the specific aperture - is introduced as an aid to antenna design.

Internal (amplifier) noise can be reduced by noise-matching, although special account has to be taken of the inductive antenna. Internal noise is often swamped by external (atmospheric) noise, for which several mitigation strategies are discussed. Differing up-link and down-link
noise performance may dictate different antennas. External noise is frequently characterised by the atmospheric noise temperature ratio, but data derived using the standard electric field antenna cannot be applied to a study of magnetic noise.

The design of a wide-band low-frequency channel sounder is described, with which it is intended to perform a detailed channel evaluation using a binary sounding sequence. A simple method of calculating the inverse of such a sequence is introduced, for which cross-correlation with the inverse sequence at the receiver results in a system identification signal that is used to maintain synchronism with the transmitter. The extreme wideband nature of the system results in a low efficiency, which is countered by using signal-averaging techniques at the receiver.
Preliminary results are reported, in which the sounder was used to capture background noise.


High-speed gas sampling experiments to measure the intermediate products formed during fuel decomposition remain challenging yet important experimental objectives. This article presents new speciation data on two important fuel reference compounds, n-heptane and n-butanol, at practical thermodynamic conditions of 700 K and 9 atm, for stoichiometric fuel-to-oxygen ratios and a dilution of 5.64 (molar ratio of inert gases to O(2)), and at two blend ratios, 80%-20% and 50%-50% by mole of n-heptane and n-butanol, respectively. When compared against 100% n-heptane ignition results, the experimental data show that n-butanol slows the reactivity of n-heptane. In addition, speciation results of n-butanol concentrations show that n-heptane causes n-butanol to react at temperatures where n-butanol in isolation would not be considered reactive. The chemical kinetic mechanism developed for this work accurately predicts the trends observed for species such as carbon monoxide, methane, propane, 1-butene, and others. However, the mechanism predicts a higher amount of n-heptane consumed at the first stage of ignition compared to the experimental data. Consequently, many of the species concentration predictions show a sharp rise at the first stage of ignition, a trend that is not observed experimentally. An important discovery is that the presence of n-butanol reduces the measured concentrations of the large linear alkenes, including heptenes, hexenes, and pentenes, showing that the addition of n-butanol affects the fundamental chemical pathways of n-heptane during ignition.


It is known that the failure of cable terminations causes power outages and impairs system quality and continuity. Besides, serious economic losses on both the distribution and consumer sides occur. In this study, the dielectric behavior of the cable and the faults caused by the defects in the cable termination under overvoltage has been examined. As test samples, 12 kV XLPE insulated cable is used and they were aged at three (3*U0) and five (5*U0) times the rated voltage. After each aging cycle, dielectric parameters of the cable were measured by an OMIRCRON CPC100/CPTD1 device, and the partial discharge (PD) was measured by an OMICRON MPD600 device. In the measurements, it was observed that the cable was broken down at different aging cycle numbers as a result of defects in the cable termination due to weak workmanship. As a result of the measurements, it is concluded that defects in the cable termination give information about the increase in the probability of failure and the decrease of the cable lifetime. Consequently, it is concluded that fine workmanship and timely maintenance of cable terminations prevent the system from unwanted power outages and economic losses.


Fracture mechanics theory and seismological observations suggest that slip-rate is constantly changing during earthquake rupture, including dramatic acceleration from static conditions to high velocity sliding followed by deceleration and arrest. This slip history is partly determined by a complex frictional evolution, including overcoming peak friction, rapid weakening, and re-strengthening (or healing). Recent experimental developments have allowed friction evolution measurements under realistic slip histories reaching high co-seismic slip-rates of meters per second. Theoretical work has focused on describing the observed steady-state weakening at these high-velocities, but the transient behavior has only been fit by direct parameterizations without state variable dependence, needed to simulate arbitrary slip-histories. Commonly used forms of rate-state friction (RSF) are based on low-velocity, step-change experiments and have been shown to not fit the entire frictional evolution using a single set of realistic parameters. Their logarithmic form precludes zero fault slip-rate, assuming it is never truly static, thus does not capture slip initiation phenomena that might contribute to nucleation behavior. Inverting high slip-rate and friction data from different types of experiments, we show that RSF can work by using parameter ranges far from typical low-velocity values. In comparison, we introduce "bristle-state" friction (BSF) models, developed by control-system engineers to predict the transient frictional evolution during arbitrary stressing, especially reversals through static conditions. Although BSF models were also designed for low-velocities, we show that their form provides advantages for fitting frictional evolution measurements under high slip-rate, long-displacement, non-trivial slip histories, especially during the initial strengthening stage.


In our present generation of mammoth discount chains, wholesale membership outlets, and internet buying, it has been increasingly difficult for the pioneer - older, more established retail chains - to continue to operate, the latest casualty being Montgomery Ward. What was once known as America's Store, the venerable F.W. Woolworth Company, has disappeared from downtowns and shopping centers as shopping trends and merchandising have changed. This story of one of the five founders of the Woolworth Company, Earle Perry Charlton, chronicles his life (both personal and professional) and what it was like to establish a new type of business in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Starting with meager savings and little capital of his own, he established a chain of fifty-three E.P. Charlton five & ten cent stores that was based in Fall River, Massachusetts, and stretched across Canada and the west coast of the United States from Seattle to San Diego, before joining with four other friendly competitors in 1912 to form what was to become the F. W. Woolworth Company.


A simple atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) is used to investigate the transient response of the stratosphere–troposphere system to externally imposed pulses of lower-tropospheric planetary wave activity. The atmospheric GCM is a dry, hydrostatic, global primitive-equations model, whose circulation includes an active polar vortex and a tropospheric jet maintained by baroclinic eddies. Planetary wave activity pulses are generated by a perturbation of the solid lower boundary that grow and decay over a period of 10 days. The planetary wave pulses propagate upward and break in the stratosphere. Subsequently, a zonal-mean circulation anomaly propagates downward, often into the troposphere, at lags of 30–100 days. The evolution of the response is found to be dependent on the state of the stratosphere– troposphere system at the time the pulse is generated. In particular, on the basis of a large ensemble of these simulations, it is found that the length of time the signal takes to propagate downward from the stratosphere is controlled by initial anomalies in the zonal-mean circulation and in the zonal-mean wave drag. Criteria based on these anomaly patterns can be used, therefore, to predict the long-term surface response of the stratosphere–troposphere system to a planetary wave pulse up to 90 days after the pulse is generated. In an independent test, it is verified that the initial states that most strongly satisfy these criteria respond in the expected way to the lower-tropospheric wave activity pulse.


The Nigerian Pension Scheme has passed through several legislative reforms since 1951, the extant pension scheme being the Uniform Contributory Pension Scheme, which is regulated by the Pension Reform Act, 2014 ("PRA, 2014"), which repealed the Pension Reform Act, 2004 ("PRA, 2004"). The PRA, 2014makes it mandatory for employers and employees in both the public and private sectors to contribute towards the retirement benefits of employee, and also makes provision for voluntary contribution by the employee to augment the employee's savings for retirement. The PRA, 2014 also addressed the sundry issues bedeviling the Nigerian pension system under the previous pension regimes, one of which, was the tax regime under the Nigerian pension scheme.
This thesis examines the various reforms that have taken place in the Nigerian pension system, especially in the area of taxation, the taxability of pensions (including cross-border taxation) under the PRA, 2014, and the extent to which the measures provided under the PRA, 2014 towards achieving the objectives of the Nigerian contributory pension scheme, especially in relation to taxation, has impacted in the Nigerian pension scheme, as well as the Nigerian economy.

This thesis finds that ordinarily, pension contributions, including the incomes earned thereon, are tax exempt. Under the penultimate regime (PRA, 2004 era), voluntary contributions of employees were taxed when withdrawn within 5 years from the date the voluntary contribution was made; however, it is only the 'income earned' from the voluntary contributions that is taxed under the PRA, 2014. Furthermore, the provision for tax under the PRA, 2014 is essentially aimed at discouraging employees from making withdrawals from the pension funds at short intervals of lodgment, given the objective of the scheme - which is to provide employees with a means of securing a good standard of living upon retirement; and to curb the use of the pension to avoid tax payment in Nigeria. Although the PRA, 2014 has reasonably impacted on the Nigerian pension system by ensuring that the major objectives of the pension scheme in Nigeria are achieved, there is still need for improvement in the area of tax administration.

In the course of this research, reference will be made to some statutes, case laws (including foreign case laws), as well as text books and articles from renowned authors.


Low-frequency noise, i.e., 1/f noise severely limits the low-frequency performance of magnetoresistive sensors for applications as ultrasensitive magnetic sensors. The combination of a flux concentrator and chopping system has been proposed to mitigate the effect of 1/f noise and improve the field sensitivity. This paper reports a high-efficiency chopping system for magnetoresistive sensors. A simple reluctance analysis allows us to estimate the chopping efficiency and optimize the design, and finite-element simulations confirm the operation. Experimental results based on the optimized design using an anisotropic magnetoresistance sensor validate the concept. The sensitivity of the sensor with the chopper at OFF and ON positions is determined to be 0.009 and 0.067%/Oe, respectively, which yields a high sensitivity chopping efficiency, namely 72%.


We consider a directed network in which every edge possesses a latency function specifying the time needed to traverse the edge given its congestion. Selfish, noncooperative agents constitute the network traffic and wish to travel from a source s to a sink t as quickly as possible. Since the route chosen by one network user affects the congestion (and hence the latency) experienced by others, we model the problem as a noncooperative game. Assuming each agent controls only a negligible portion of the overall traffic, Nash equilibria in this noncooperative game correspond to s-t flows in which all flow paths have equal latency. We give optimal inapproximability results and approximation algorithms for several network design problems of this type. For example, we prove that for networks with n nodes and continuous, nondecreasing latency functions, there is no approximation algorithm for this problem with approximation ratio less than n/2 (unless P = NP). We also prove this hardness result to be best possible by exhibiting an n/2-approximation algorithm. For networks in which the latency of each edge is a linear function of the congestion, we prove that there is no (4/3 - /spl epsi/)-approximation algorithm for the problem (for any /spl epsi/ > 0, unless P = NP); the existence of a 4/3-approximation algorithm follows easily from existing work, proving this hardness result sharp.


To recognize and treat panic attacks or a panic disorder are still an important function of the family doctor. For a one-time panic attack, specific counseling is normally sufficient. A panic disorder should be treated early with drugs and/or with psychotherapy and, in particular, with behavioral therapy. It is also recommended that a psychiatric specialist or a neurologist be consulted and to coordinate the differential diagnostics and therapeutic procedure with the specialist.


One of the options for a low-pressure gas distribution system is the use of ductile PVC pipes and joints. The long-term performance of ductile PVC pipes has been reported in a number of previous studies. In this paper the long-term performance of the socket joints, in which elastomeric (NBR) sealing rings are used, is evaluated. The long-term quality of socket joints in ductile PVC pipeline systems has been determined by various tests on a number of excavated joints, which have been in operation for more than 20 years. Leak tightness determined according to the present specifications did fulfil all requirements. The quality of the rubberrings , established by e.g. tensile testing and hardness tests, was also still at the level of new rubberrings. The socket joints started only to leak at deflections of the pipes far exceeding the deflection levels met in field practice. The compression set of the excavated samples was also rather low and extrapolated to long times will not exceed a maximum required value of 70 % before 50 years. These results once again show that ductile PVC pipe systems for low-pressure gas distribution exhibit an excellent (long-term) performance.


This study utilizes a canine model to quantify changes in articular cartilage 15–18 weeks after a knee joint is subjected to surgical treatment of isolated chondral defects. Clinical and experimental treatment of articular cartilage defects may include implantation of matrix materials or cells, or both. Three cartilage repair methods were evaluated: microfracture, microfracture and implantation of a type‐II collagen matrix, and implantation of an autologous chondrocyte‐seeded collagen matrix. The properties of articular cartilage in other knee joints subjected to harvest of articular cartilage from the trochlear ridge (to obtain cells for the cell‐seeded procedure) were also evaluated. Physical properties (thickness, equilibrium compressive modulus, dynamic compressive stiffness, and streaming potential) and biochemical composition (hydration, glycosaminoglycan content, and DNA content) of the cartilage from sites distant to the surgical treatment were compared with values measured for site‐matched controls in untreated knee joints. No significant differences were seen in joints subjected to any of the three cartilage repair procedures. However, a number of changes were induced by the harvest operation. The largest changes (displaying up to 3‐fold increases) were seen in dynamic stiffness and streaming potential of patellar groove cartilage from joints subjected to the harvest procedure. Whether the changes reported will lead to osteoarthritic degeneration is unknown, but this study provides evidence that the harvest procedure associated with autologous cell transplantation for treatment of chondral defects may result in changes in the articular cartilage in the joint.


One-class classification (OCC) aims to learn an effective data description to enclose all normal training samples and detect anomalies based on the deviation from the data description. Current state-of-the-art OCC models learn a compact normality description by hyper-sphere minimisation, but they often suffer from overfitting the training data, especially when the training set is small or contaminated with anomalous samples. To address this issue, we introduce the interpolated Gaussian descriptor (IGD) method, a novel OCC model that learns a one-class Gaussian anomaly classifier trained with adversarially interpolated training samples. The Gaussian anomaly classifier differentiates the training samples based on their distance to the Gaussian centre and the standard deviation of these distances, offering the model a discriminability w.r.t. the given samples during training. The adversarial interpolation is enforced to consistently learn a smooth Gaussian descriptor, even when the training data is small or contaminated with anomalous samples. This enables our model to learn the data description based on the representative normal samples rather than fringe or anomalous samples, resulting in significantly improved normality description. In extensive experiments on diverse popular benchmarks, including MNIST, Fashion MNIST, CIFAR10, MVTec AD and two medical datasets, IGD achieves better detection accuracy than current state-of-the-art models. IGD also shows better robustness in problems with small or contaminated training sets.


Atom interferometers (AIs) are promising tools for precision measurement with applications ranging from geophysical exploration and tests of the equivalence principle of general relativity to the detection of gravitational waves. Their optimal sensitivity is ultimately limited by their detection noise. We review resonant and near-resonant methods to detect the atom number of the interferometer outputs, and we theoretically analyze the relative influence of various scheme dependent noise sources and the technical challenges affecting the detection. We show that for the typical conditions under which an AI operates, simultaneous fluorescence detection with a charge-coupled device sensor is the optimal imaging scheme. We extract the laser beam parameters such as detuning, intensity, and duration required for reaching the atom shot noise limit.


The future of health care may change dramatically as entrepreneurs offer solutions that change how we prevent, diagnose, and cure health conditions, using artificial intelligence (AI). This article provides a timely and critical analysis of AI-driven health care startups and identifies emerging business model archetypes that entrepreneurs from around the world are using to bring AI solutions to the marketplace. It identifies areas of value creation for the application of AI in health care and proposes an approach to designing business models for AI health care startups.


Elective lymph node dissection (ELND) for patients with clinically occult metastatic melanoma in regional lymph nodes has the goal of curing metastases with a surgical treatment. This is in contrast to the low probability for surgical cure in patients with clinically detectable lymph node metastases. The rationale for elective node dissection is based on a hypothesis that melanoma metastasizes sequentially via lymph nodes and then to distant sites. A subgroup of melanoma patients with high risk for regional node micrometastases but low risk for distant micrometastases has been identified from prognostic factors analysis of large patient series, as well as surgical results of nonrandomized clinical trials. However, two nonrandomized surgical trials have failed to show a survival benefit for ELND. These studies were largely performed in female patients with extremity melanomas and there were limitations that preclude a definitive conclusion. No randomized trials have been conducted involving melanomas of the trunk or head and neck. Two prospective randomized surgical trials are now being conducted in North America and in Europe. Until the results of these trials are available, physicians are encouraged to enter patients into these ongoing clinical trials or consider ELND in selected patients where the benefit-risk ratio justifies it. Factors to be considered in this decision include intermediate tumor thickness (ie, 1 to 4 mm thickness), anatomic site, histology (ulceration and growth pattern), and the risk of the operation in individual patient settings.


This paper proposes a new visual reasoning formulation that aims at discovering changes between image pairs and their temporal orders. Recognizing scene dynamics and their chronological orders is a fundamental aspect of human cognition. The aforementioned abilities make it possible to follow step-by-step instructions, reason about and analyze events, recognize abnormal dynamics, and restore scenes to their previous states. However, it remains unclear how well current AI systems perform in these capabilities. Although a series of studies have focused on identifying and describing changes from image pairs, they mainly consider those changes that occur synchronously, thus neglecting potential orders within those changes. To address the above issue, we first propose a visual transformation graph structure for conveying order-aware changes. Then, we benchmarked previous methods on our newly generated dataset and identified the issues of existing methods for change order recognition. Finally, we show a significant improvement in order-aware change recognition by introducing a new model that explicitly associates different changes and then identifies changes and their orders in a graph representation.


Mycobacterium smegmatis inactivates rifampin by ribosylating this antibiotic. The gene responsible for this ability was cloned and was shown to confer low-level resistance to this antibiotic (MIC increase, about 12-fold) in related organisms. A 600-bp subclone responsible for ribosylating activity and resistance carried an open reading frame of 429 bp. Targeted disruption of the gene in M. smegmatis resulted in mutants with much increased susceptibility to rifampin (MICs of 1.5 instead of 20 microg/ml) as well as the loss of antibiotic-inactivating ability. Also, disruption of this gene led to a much lower frequency of occurrence of spontaneous high-level rifampin-resistant mutants.


We experimentally obtain cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) in a passively mode-locked fiber laser based on nonlinear polarization rotation. A mode-selective coupler composed of both a single-mode fiber (SMF) and a two-mode fiber (TMF) is incorporated into the cavity to act as a mode converter from LP01 mode to LP11 mode with broad spectral bandwidth. CVBs in different mode-locked states including single-pulse, multi-pulse, and bound pulse are obtained, for the first time to our best knowledge. The ultrafast CVBs with different operation states have potential applications in many fields such as laser beam machining, nanoparticle manipulation, and so on.


We present the largest, most homogeneous catalogue of merging galaxies in the nearby Universe obtained through the Galaxy Zoo project – an interface on the World Wide Web enabling large-scale morphological classification of galaxies through visual inspection of images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The method converts a set of visually inspected classifications for each galaxy into a single parameter (the 'weighted-merger-vote fraction,'fm) which describes our confidence that the system is part of an ongoing merger. We describe how fm is used to create a catalogue of 3003 visually selected pairs of merging galaxies from the SDSS in the redshift range 0.005 < z < 0.1. We use our merger sample and values of fm applied to the SDSS Main Galaxy Spectral sample to estimate that the fraction of volume-limited (Mr < −20.55) major mergers (1/3 < M*1/M*2 < 3) in the nearby Universe is 1–3 ×C per cent, where C∼ 1.5 is a correction factor for spectroscopic incompleteness. Having visually classified the morphologies of the constituent galaxies in our mergers, we find that the spiral-to-elliptical ratio of galaxies in mergers is higher by a factor of ∼2 relative to the global population. In a companion paper, we examine the internal properties of these merging galaxies and conclude that this high spiral-to-elliptical ratio in mergers is due to a longer time-scale over which mergers with spirals are detectable compared to mergers with ellipticals.


While recently reading W. Ross Winterowd's The English Department: A Personal and Institutional History, I was pleasantly surprised to see the following paragraph in the Epilogue, where Winterowd describes the ideal reunification of the creative and pragmatic writing arts: The Utopian writing program would be a huband-spoke operation, a writing center being the hub—a site where writers could congregate, talk about their craft, get help with problems, help others solve problems. The center would be a hub for all writers, from "basic" freshmen to upper-division students to faculty members. Genres would include every conceivable kind of writing: research papers, fictional stories, limericks, scientific reports, theses and dissertations, meditations—the sublime and the outrageous. (228-9).


Ab initio quantum chemical calculations on short-chain model compounds have been used to study the conformation, valence electron density, and chain flexibility of halogen-substituted poly(thionylphosphazenes) (PTPs) [(NSOX)(NPCl&], (X = F or Cl), which are representatives of a new class of inorganic sulfur(vI)-nitrogen-phosphorus polymers. The calculations were carried out at the closedshell Hartree-Fock level of theory using the Gaussian 92 program package. The electronic wave function was described by the 6-31G* basis set. The results show that model compounds adopt a nonplanar transcis conformation in the minimum-energy state. Based on the stable geometries of the short-chain analogues, the polymer will form a 12/5 helix in its extended conformation. Rigid rotor scans and geometry optimizations of selected rotamers were used in order to investigate the torsional mobility of the main chain of the model compounds. The flexibility of the S-N-P and P-N-P bond angles contributes significantly to the chain flexibility. The torsional barriers for rotations around bonds of the PTP backbone range from 1.5 to 3.5 kcal/mol. A change from chlorine to fluorine as a substituent on sulfur leads to lower torsional barriers and wider minima of the rotational potentials and therefore to an increased torsional mobility of the main chain. The increase in chain flexibility is consistent with trends in glass transition temperatures of the corresponding polymers. The electronic structure of the model compounds, including charge density distributions, is briefly discussed. The results indicate strong charge separations along the backbone of the polymer and in the direction of the substituents bonded to the main chain which are consistent with Dewar's island delocalization model.


In this study, trifluoroiodomethane (CF_3I), a non-global-warming gas, has been investigated as a substitute for typical PFC's currently used in wafer patterning and CVD chamber cleaning processes. Dielectric films consisting of plasma enhanced chemically vapor deposited silicon dioxide and silicon nitride were comparatively etched in CF_3I and C_2F_6/O_2 plasma environments. The etch rate of these films was ascertained as a function of applied rf power, etchant gas flow rate, reaction chamber pressure, and CF_3I: O2 ratio. Destruction efficiencies of CF_3I at different processing parameters were evaluated. Depending on the flow rate, rf power, and chamber pressure, utilization efficiency of CF_3I varied from as low as 10% to as high as 68%. CF_4, C_2F_6, COF_2, and CO_2 were the predominant by-products found in the exhaust stream; however, their concentrations were very low compared to the traditional process employing C_2F_6/O_2 mixtures.


This report is a detailed review, synthesis, and analysis of the current "state of the science" concerning the potential for carbon sequestration in grazing lands through improved land management practices in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It aims to provide an up-to-date assessment of the science of C sequestration from improved land management, including the current levels of uncertainty, major gaps in knowledge and data, areas for near term research and development, major determinants of sequestration potential, and current and potential scientific monitoring tools. The report firstly gives an overview of current grazing lands in SSA (Chapter 1) and explores the major determinants of C sequestration in grass/rangeland systems (Chapter 2). It then considers current research work on C impacts of grazing land management systems (Chapter 3). Available measurement techniques are summarized in Chapter 4 and a map based approach is then used in Chapter 5 to estimate present C stocks in grazing lands in SSA. This is followed by Chapter 6 which looks at available modeling techniques and Chapter 7 which presents a model based estimate of C sequestration potential in grass/rangelands in SSA. The final chapter (Chapter 8) provides a synthesis of the report's findings. > Authors of the respective chapters: Eleanor Milne · Stephen Williams · Andre Bationo · Robin Reid · David Swift · Rich Conant · Niall Hanan · Constance Neely · Ermias Aynekulu · Keith D. Shepherd · Niels Batjes · Randall Boone


Abstract Results from animal studies and human cancer patients indicate that a functional cancer immunosurveillance process exists in vivo, acting as an extrinsic tumour suppressor. Initiation of an anti-tumour immune response occurs when the immune system becomes alerted to the growing tumour. This may result in tumour elimination, or alternatively, due to the inherent genetic instability of tumours, to the selection of tumour variants that are resistant to immune attack. Hence, it is counterintuitive to reimmunize with autologous tumour. Ex vivo stimulation and expansion of T-cells in combination with lymphodepleting chemotherapy has been successful, resulting in dramatic tumour regressions, but is patient specific, expensive and time consuming. New and cleverer in vivo approaches to harness a new wave of immune attack must be taken, including enhancing tumour epitopes to increase their immunogenicity, and in vivo targeting of antigen-presenting cells that stimulate cellular immunity. Monoclonal antibodies have recently proved their clinical utility, with ritixumab being approved for treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and herceptin for advanced chemotherapy-refractory breast cancer. These antibodies act alone by directly inducing apoptosis, blocking growth factors and/or stimulating antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity or complement-dependent cytotoxicity. The radiolabelled antibodies bexxar and zevalin have also been approved for treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.


The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) response of Al 6061 bulk deposits produced by high-pressure cold spray (HPCS) was investigated and compared to commercial wrought Al 6061-T6 material. Representative tensile coupons were stressed to 25%, 65% and 85% of their respective yield strength and exposed to ASTM B117 salt fog for 90 days. After exposure, the samples were mechanically tested to failure, and subsequently investigated for stress corrosion cracking via optical and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The results were compared to the wrought Al 6061-T6 properties and correlated with the observed microstructures. Wrought samples showed the initiation of stress corrosion cracking, while the cold-sprayed deposits appeared to be unaffected or affected by general corrosion only. Optical microscopy revealed evidence of stress corrosion cracking in the form of intergranular corrosion in the wrought samples, while no significant corrosion was observed in the cold-sprayed deposits. Fractography revealed wrought samples failed due to multiple mechanisms, with predominant cleavage and intergranular failure, but cold-sprayed samples only failed by ductile dimple rupture. The difference in SCC response between the differently processed materials is attributed to the documented benefits of the cold spray process, which includes maintaining fine grain structure of the feedstock powder and high density after consolidation, low oxidation, and work hardening effect.


Large single crystals of a novel lithium cobalt coordination compound, LiCo(NC5H3(CO2)2)2(H2O)2.125 [LiCo(PDC)2] were grown via a hydrothermal reaction in high yield. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) data measured on a large single crystal of LiCo(PDC)2 revealed very interesting anisotropic Li+ ion conductivity. The redox potential for Co3+/Co4+ observed at ca. 200 mV in the cyclic voltammogram was consistent with the electric potential where the ionic conductivity occurred. Detailed structural analysis on a series of stoichiometrically equivalent cobalt coordination compounds, ACo(PDC)2 (A = Na+, K+, and H3O+), indicated that the presence of ion channels as well as a suitable cation size is critical for the anisotropic ionic conductivity.


Abstract
 The macroalgal flora associated with rhodolith beds in the Bay of Islands, northeastern North Island, was investigated as part of the first detailed study of subtidal rhodoliths in New Zealand. The rhodolith beds differed in their physical characteristics and in the dominant rhodolith-forming species present, one bed with clear water and predominantly Lithothamnion crispatum rhodoliths, and the other bed with turbid water, and Sporolithon durum rhodoliths covered by fine sediments. One hundred and three taxa were identified (12 green, 24 brown and 67 red algae), with similar numbers of taxa found in the two seasons sampled. The floral composition at the two beds differed significantly. The flora included range extensions for species previously reported within New Zealand (e.g. Cutleria multifida), new records for the New Zealand region (at family, genus and species levels — e.g. Dumontiaceae, Cutleria, Dictyota, Peyssonnelia spp), and new discoveries (e.g. Halymenia sp., Grateloupia sp., Tsengia sp.). Two species with a partially prostrate growth habit, Caulerpa flexilis and Chondracanthus chapmanii, were present in both beds consolidating rhodoliths and shell debris.


Of the nearly 12,000 highway bridges in Chile, approximately 300 were damaged in this earthquake, including 20 with collapsed spans. Typical failure modes include damage to connections between super- and substructures, unseating of spans in skewed bridges due to in-plane rotation, and unseated spans with some column damage due to permanent ground movement. Unusual failure modes include unseating of spans in straight bridges due to in-plane rotation, plate girder rupture due to longitudinal forces, scour and pier damage due to tsunami action, and collapse of a historic masonry bridge. The most common damage mode was the failure of super-to-substructure connections (shear keys, steel stoppers, and seismic bars), which is the most likely reason for the low incidence of column damage. Whereas the fuse-like behavior of these components is believed to have protected the columns, the lack of adequate seat widths led to the collapse, or imminent collapse, of many superstructures.


This paper presents our experience in coordinating and teaching a novel graduate systems and computing course named "Successful Systems in Production" (SSP). The course targets graduate students of different research interests in Computer Science. The course aims at giving a breadth knowledge on cutting-edge well-known systems in production, and exploring the potential synergies across different areas of research. Having its roots in Distributed Computing, SSP addresses those systems that overlap with other research areas like Computational Systems, Parallel Computing, Databases, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Security, etc. SSP exhibits an agile topic selection model that fits several students' backgrounds in each academic year. The topics focus on the practical aspects of each selected system that is considered "successful", i.e., based on its worldwide impact and technical significance. This is important for graduate students to acquire best practices in industry and academia, necessary to build practical computing systems. In the same vein, the assessment method includes a project that is based on one of the presented systems and also intersects with the student's own research plan. Based on our teaching experience and the excellent feedback of the students, we strongly recommend this graduate course to be taught at other universities.


The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Salazar v. Buono, a case involving a Latin cross placed on federal land in the Mojave Desert by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, fails to squarely address what many would assume to be the central issue in the case. Due to a procedural glitch in the history of the case, Salazar does not decide the merits of whether the Mojave Desert cross, sitting atop Sunrise Peak in a federal park preserve, violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Nonetheless, several of the opinions in Salazar address the issue of whether the land transfer statute enacted to preserve the cross violates the district court's injunction against display of the cross on federal land. Those opinions occasionally pierce through to the merits of the Establishment Clause issue and provide some insight into the possible direction of the Court's future monuments and symbols cases. In this essay I argue that Salazar suggests a move toward accommodation in the Court's Establishment Clause doctrine, although Salazar does little to elucidate the concept of accommodation.


Physical activity and exercise are well known to enhance health and are recommended as part of the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the level of physical activity among older adults with RA is found to be low and little research focuses on physical activity and exercise in older adults with RA. The overall aim of this thesis was to study different aspects of exercise with person-centred guidance in older adults with RA. Methods: A randomised controlled trial was performed to study the effects of exercise on disability, and health and fitness-related outcomes. Seventy-four older adults (>65 years) with RA were randomised to moderateto high intensity exercise with person-centred guidance or light home-exercise for 20 weeks. After the randomised study a qualitative interview study was performed to explore how older adults with RA experience exercise, and aspects that affect the transition to independent exercise. Finally, a long-time follow-up study was performed to evaluate physical activity and physical fitness after four years. Results: The result of the thesis show that exercise with person-centred guidance did not affect disability as assessed with the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index, but positive effects were found on physical fitness, fatigue, and symptoms of depression when compared to controls. The exercise was experienced as manageable and several aspects affecting the transition to independent exercise were described, including development of a personal way to exercise. After four years, there was no significant difference between groups, when change in physical activity level was compared. In conclusion moderateto high intensity exercise is beneficial for older adults with RA and is experienced as manageable and prepares the transition to independent exercise. This thesis supports the recommendation of physical activity as part of routine management of RA in adults above 65 years of age. However, maintaining exercise over several years is challenging.


Syndecan-1 is a heparan sulphate proteoglycan expressed on the cell surface and shed by epithelial lung tumors. We here demonstrate that syndecan-1 is critically involved in lung tumor growth and metastasis in vitro and vivo and investigate the regulatory role of its cellular cleavage fragments. Shedding of syndecan-1 from the cell surface generates a transmembrane C-terminal fragment (tCTF), which can be further processed by γ-secretase into a cytoplasmic fragment (cCTF). Scratch-induced wound closure of cultured lung epithelial A549 tumor cells associates with increased syndecan-1 cleavage and generation of the tCTF. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion into matrigel, integrin upregulation and promigratory signaling are suppressed by silencing of syndecan-1. This is restored by overexpression of syndecan-1 tCTF but not by overexpression of the cCTF. Instead the cCTF suppressed the promigratory function of endogenous syndecan-1. Finally, lung metastasis formation of A549 cells in SCID mice required the presence of either syndecan-1 or its tCTF, whereas the cCTF suppressed the activity of endogenous syndecan -1. Thus, the tCTF of syndecan-1 by itself can mediate critical functions in lung tumor formation and therefore can replace full length syndecan-1 in the situation of increased syndecan-1 shedding during cell migration. However, this activity is limited by further syndecan-1 proteolysis into the cCTF which even generates a cytoplasmic antagonist of endogenous syndecan-1. On the basis of this knowledge we generated a peptide blocking the promigratory activity of syndecan-1which may therefore be useful to suppress lung tumor cell migration.


Studies on social and political history are of clear importance in human disciplines, especially since the spotlight has not been fully shed on them in our academic studies, with the importance of those aspects in the history of Turkey and Iran in particular and the history of other countries in general. The study of social and political aspects formed a picture of an independent Turkey and Iran during a sensitive stage in the history of the two countries, and due to their importance, Mustafa Kemal and Reza Shah realized the importance of these aspects, which made them pay great attention to them to reform them. a legislations to limit the influence of this institution. و زانع ديز زيزعلادبع ةبيدن .د.م.أ


Laser-induced micro-plasma dynamics are investigated in laboratory air, ultra-highpure hydrogen gas, and hydrogen-nitrogen gas mixtures. The dissertation focuses on atomic spectroscopy of hydrogen in the visible region. Line-of-sight measurements are analyzed to obtain spatial distributions of electron densities and excitation temperatures. The studies include evaluation of selfabsorption phenomena. The plasma dynamics occur initially well above re-entry speeds and diminish to hypersonic and then supersonic expansions. Expansion velocities are measured that are above three hundred times the speed of sound in standard atmosphere. Optical breakdown is induced by using pulsed laser radiation. Emission spectra are collected by employing a spectrometer equipped with an intensified charge-coupled device. Atomic emission profiles for hydrogen alpha, hydrogen beta and hydrogen gamma lines are utilized to determine plasma characteristics such as electron density and excitation temperature for specific time delays. The duplicating mirror approach is applied for the evaluation of selfabsorption. The extent of self-absorption is investigated for various time delays from plasma generation. The electron density is also determined from singly ionized nitrogen lines and compared with values obtained from the hydrogen lines to further evaluate self-absorption. Experimental records are modeled using computational physics including inversions of integral equations to infer radial distributions from line-of-sight measurements. The presented work contributes to the fundamental understanding of laserinduced breakdown spectroscopy widely utilized for analytical diagnostics of gases, liquids or solids.


This study examines the role of family
structure in the development of different levels of bilinguality. Students from
five different public and private universities responded to an extensive survey
on various aspects of bilinguality. Participants were divided into three
groups: monolinguals, non-fluent bilinguals and fluent bilinguals. In line with
the initial hypothesis, higher levels of bilinguality correlated with having more
bilingual family members. Also further evidence was found for the importance of
the mother, father and sisters in becoming bilingual. Additionally, the
presence of bilingual step-parents and grandparents on acquisition and
maintenance of a second language was examined and fund to be much less influential
than the role of the parents. Finally, the influence of socio-economic status
(SES) on development of bilinguality was measured with no clear effect being
found. The unique contribution of this study is that it attempts to connect the
influence of specific family members to different levels of bilinguality.


Photoluminescence (PL) studies in GaN thin films grown by infrared close space vapor transport (CSVT-IR) in vacuum are presented in this work. The growth of GaN thin films was done on a variety of substrates like silicon, sapphire and fused silica. Room temperature PL spectra of all the GaN films show near band-edge emission (NBE) and a broad blue and green luminescence (BL, GL), which can be seen with the naked eye in a bright room. The sample grown by infrared CSVT on the silicon substrate shows several emission peaks from 2.4 to 3.22 eV with a pronounced red shift with respect to the band gap energy. The sample grown on sapphire shows strong and broad ultraviolet emission peaks (UVL) centered at 3.19 eV and it exhibits a red shift of NBE. The PL spectrum of GaN films deposited on fused silica exhibited a unique and strong blue-green emission peak centered at 2.38 eV. The presence of yellow and green luminescence in all samples is related to native defects in the structure such as dislocations in GaN and/or the presence of amorphous phases. We analyze the material quality that can be obtained by CSVT-IR in vacuum, which is a high yield technique with simple equipment set-up, in terms of the PL results obtained in each case.


The severe lateral vibration and impact of drill string will not only cause the damage of drill string but also have bad effects on the quality of directional drilling operation. It is difficult to control lateral vibration amplitude and impact intensity even with advanced measurement apparatus while drilling. So it is feasible to use a theoretic method to analyze and predict lateral vibration of drill string in order to adjust and optimize drilling parameters in real-time. On the basis of beam-column series and spring-concentrated mass model, a new analytical model is established to realize the control of lateral vibration and impact by controlling some key factors, such as under-gauge stabilizer, initial phase angle and initial deformation, WOB (weight on bit) and ROB (rotation of bit).


The characteristics of the mucous cells located in gills of the fish Cyprinus carpio were investigated. Mucous cells were determined from gill arc, gill body, primary and secondary lamellae. Mostly mucous cells had oval-globular shape throughout all regions. Histochemical analysis of the gill of Cyprinus carpio showed that mucous content included glycogene and/or oxidizable dioles (PAS +), neutral or acid-rich (PAS/AB pH 2.5 +), sialic acid residues (KOH/PAS +) and strong acid sulphated (AF +) glycoproteins (GPs). Except these mucosubstances, carboxyl groups and/or with sulphate esters (AB pH 2.5 +) strong sulphate (AB pH 0.5 +) (AF/AB pH 2.5 +), O-sulphate esters (AB pH 1+) glycoproteins were also determined.


DeLong and Summers' paper covers three principal topics. First, they document the international character of the decline in productivity growth during the past 20 years. Second, they look for macroeconomic causes of the slowdown, particularly the effect of inflation. Third, they present some evidence suggesting that the growth rate rises much more in response to investment in plant and equipment spending than for other types of investment. DeLong and Summers conclude that subsidies or incentives for equipment investment are desirable. I begin by commenting on each of these points and on their conclusion before turning to some related issues.


Lemmatization of the words is an important preprocess for Natural Language Processing (NLP) studies. Especially in language applications (such as part of speech tagging, spell-checking, and document clustering), selection of the right lemma with morphological features can provide better results. In this study, we present a new hybrid approach for Turkish inflected words by using morphological similarity based graph models which is recently getting popular in lemmatization. For this aim, a novel similarity function for Turkish is developed to connect the similar word forms. The proposed model is trained and tested by a double-checked Turkish lemmatization dataset. Then, empirical results are compared with ones of Zemberek which is the most used Turkish lemmatization tool.


The virion nucleic acid of Ebola virus consists of a single-stranded RNA with a molecular weight of approximately 4.0 x 10(6). The virion RNA did not bind to oligodeoxythymidylic acid-cellulose under conditions known to bind RNAs rich in polyadenylic acid and was not infectious under conditions which yielded infectious RNA from Sindbis virus, suggesting that Ebola virus virion nucleic acid is a negative-stranded RNA.


Pro bono publica, literally, for the public good. ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1(a) defines this term as the provision of legal representation without a fee to persons of limited means.! In my remarks I want to explore an implicit dichotomy underlying this definition of pro bono work-namely, the way it sets up a rigid binary opposition between public and private, and also between altruism and self-help. I'm going to take a somewhat provocative position and argue that this understanding of pro bono law is based in outmoded, early twentieth century ideas that do not serve us well today.More specifically, I will argue, drawing on two historical case studies as examples, the core model for pro bono lawyering reflected in Model Rule 6.1 embodies a conception of pro bono lawyering out of a sense of noblesse oblige. That model can be traced to elite lawyers affiliated with leading public interest organizations at the turn of the uventieth century. The Model Rules' adoption of this vision of pro bono lawyering overlooks another model of public interest lawyering from the same period, which involved grassroots efforts by lawyers who were not part of the professional elite. These lawyers took on public interest cases out of a commitment to the same political and social goals as their clients, and did not rigidly distinguish between self and other, public and private, and no fee versus paid services. I question the consequences of our contemporary privileging of the first elitist model for public interest lawyering over the second, and urge us to discard the rigid and anachronistic dichotomies on which our thinking about public interest lawyering rests.


In this paper a methodology for making the comparison and assessment of geographic datasets (CDG) with a semantic approach is presented. It is carried out by means of the processing of conceptual representations, in a particular case with ontologies. It is important to mention that the most of works related to CDG comparison use syntactic approaches for the analysis, according to above we propose to change this focus with semantic approaches. The methodology is composed of four stages. Conceptualization, where by using metadata from the CDGs the application ontology is generated. The enrichment stage consists in populating the ontology with data in order to create an enriched ontology for each CDG to compare. At the comparison stage, a set of algorithms for measuring the similarity between the properties and relationships of the enriched ontologies is developed. Finally, the interpretation and representation stages are in charge of showing the results of the CDGs comparison. As a case study, two Mexican government institutions provided the CDGs in order to make the comparison and assessment.


An 11-year-old male presented to the pediatric emergency department with a one-day history of peri-umbilical pain with nausea, anorexia, and scant vomiting. On examination, he had moderate tenderness in the right upper quadrant with moderate guarding and rebound tenderness. Imaging showed concern for early acute appendicitis. The patient was admitted and underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. Despite the appendectomy, the patient continued to have fevers and abdominal pain. Four days after the initial presentation, the patient decompensated and was diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome. This case is interesting because the patient never met diagnostic criteria for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) prior to his decompensation. If a patient's symptoms continue or worsen despite seemingly appropriate management, the patient must be reassessed for other causes of pathology. Surgeons must have a high index of suspicion for MIS-C in patients with recent COVID-19 diagnoses, and this case demonstrates that MIS-C can present in phases and not all at once.


Transportation safety now becomes governmental focus because frequently happened transportation accident, one of them is sea transportation. That condition make sea transportation company must improve their service performance to give excellent service to their customer, so that customer becomes satisfying and loyal. Problem formulation at this research is about how service performance influence customer loyalty and whether consumer satisfaction moderating the relation of between both the variables. Population at this research is all passenger of PT. Dharma Lautan Utama (DLU) Semarang in 2008 that leaving from Tanjung Emas Harbour, Semarang. Sampling method is purposive convenient sampling. Data analytical method in this research used linear regression analysis. Linear regression result between service performance to customer loyalty indicates that regression coefficient of service performance variable (X1) is 0.997 with positive value and significant, its proven by significant value < 0,05. This result means that service performance influences customer loyalty  with positive direction. So, excelsior service performance from employee  will make customer loyalty. Absolute difference value test result indicates that variable coefficient of consumer satisfaction(X!) has positive value and significant, this result proves that consumer satisfaction is moderating variable in relation between service performance and customer loyalty. The result indicates that positive influence from service performance to customer loyalty would very height when consumer satisfaction is also height.   Keyword: service performance, consumer satisfaction, and customer loyalty