A practical1The author's views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Gazprom Marketing & Trading Limited or any of its affiliates. problem for energy companies is instituting a consistent framework across its supply and trading activities to deliver on all-important P&L and at-Risk reporting requirements. With a focus on storage assets and wider natural gas market exposures, we present a gas storage valuation methodology, which uniquely uses a flexible multifactor Levy process setting that allows for consistent valuation and risk management reporting across a general derivative book. Our approach is capable of replicating the complex covariance structure of the natural gas forward curve and capturing time spread volatility, a key driver of extrinsic storage value, while being simultaneously capable of accurately calibrating to market traded options. We begin by extending a single factor Mean Reverting Variance Gamma process to an arbitrary number of dimensions and, by way of specific examples, show how the traditional Principal Component Analysis based view of gas forward curve dynamics can be incorporated into a primarily market based valuation. We develop in the process an innovative implied moments based calibration technique, which allows for efficient calibration of general multifactor forward curve models to delivery period options common in energy and commodity markets. Furthermore, to accommodate the forward curve and traded options market consistency, we propose an appropriate joint market based calibration and historical estimation methodology. Through a formal model specification analysis, we provide evidence that the multifactor Levy models we propose provide a better joint fit to NBP natural gas options-forward market data, relative to comparative benchmark models. Finally, we develop a novel multidimensional fast Fourier transform based storage valuation algorithm and provide empirical evidence that the multifactor Levy model suite is better specified to more accurately capture extrinsic value.


Hierarchical porous hollow carbon microstructures (HPHCMs) have been successfully prepared from the cheap and abundant natural resource of oil palm shells, which are a well-known host material for the sulfur electrode in Li–S batteries. In this preparation, the hollow tracheids are chemically isolated from oil palm shells, further heat-treated at 400 °C for carbonization and then calcined at 800 °C with KOH/K2CO3 for activation. In Li–S batteries, the as-prepared HPHCMs are loaded with 60 wt% sulfur to form the cathode material, which delivers an initial specific capacity of 1105 mA h g−1 and a high capacity retention of 74%, even after 100 cycles. Thus, this investigation provides a facile method for preparing hierarchical porous hollow carbon microstructures from plant tracheids, which can be applied excellently as electrode materials.


IN NOVEMBER 1944, arrangements were made with the surgeons of the First and Ninth United States Armies to send patients with blast injury to a designated general hospital specializing in neuropsychiatry in the Advance Section, Communications Zone, European Theater of Operations. It was hoped that a concentration of this clinical material might lead to a better understanding of the problem of blast injury. As a consequence, all patients with conditions diagnosed as blast injury, concussion, concussion neurosis, and the like, anywhere in forward echelons, as well as those with disturbances thought to warrant such a diagnosis by the admission section of this hospital, were examined. Approximately 130 such patients were seen in November and December 1944, but clinical data on these cases were lost during the Battle of the Belgian Bulge, when the hospital had to be abandoned because of enemy action. Operations were resumed in January 1945, and this


Introduction: Hospital discharge especially for those patients with complex needs requires good coordination between hospital and community services. Communication with patients, families and community healthcare teams is vital on discharge. Failure to enlist appropriate community services on discharge home may leave patients vulnerable to adverse outcomes and readmission. Our hospital actively manages discharge procedures through our hospital planning committee. A survey of nurses in our hospital on discharge processes identified a lack of knowledge of relevant community services and also time wasted searching for contact details and other discharge information. A hospital project on readmissions highlighted inadequate discharge communication as an area for improvement. Practice change: "Discharge Planning & Resource" folders were introduced to all wards. Existing hospital discharge procedures, referrals forms for community services and patient information leaflets were reviewed, updated and collated. The contact details of local health-centres, public health nurses and nursing homes were gathered. An electoral listing of streets in our catchment area matched to their community health-centre was assembled. All this information was arranged in standardised folders. The roll-out of the folders was accompanied by ward based education on the discharge process. Aim: Achieving a safe, timely and person-centred discharge from hospital to home is our ultimate goal. The aim of this project was to introduce a standardised "go-to" discharge planning resource on each ward. The objective was to aid effective communication and onward referrals to relevant community services at discharge. Targeted population: This project focused on the medical and surgical wards in the hospital. Nurses were seen as key staff in terms of communication with community supports at the time of discharge. Discharge coordinators and ward nurses worked together identifying the essential information for discharge planning. The multidisciplinary discharge planning committee could to sustain and update the information folders. Highlights: A standardised "Discharge Planning & Resource" folder for the hospital was developed and successfully introduced to all wards. This folder is colour coded in a standardised fashion aiding staff moving between wards. The procedures for discharge to home, nursing home, hospice care or rehabilitation beds are available in one "go-to" resource. Information on arranging oxygen, looking after nephrostomy tubes and other patient information are available to staff in the one place. Criteria and referral forms for the different support services at discharge are now all available. There is a high level of staff satisfaction and increased knowledge about discharge processes. This simple initiative could easily be replicated elsewhere. Conclusions & Discussion: Communication is fundamental to successful and safe discharge. A single "go-to" resource for discharge planning information can aid staff in organising timely discharges and communicating with community services. Education, training and availability of adequate information are essential for improving discharge processes from hospital.  Lessons learned: Simple low-cost strategies can have significant positive effects Hospital staff may not be aware of all community services Lack of communication can be due to lack of contact details rather than lack of desire Improving hospital discharge processes has potential to improve quality-of-lives for patients


The present study set out to investigate the adjustment of Former Soviet Union (FSU) children living in Israel as well as their veteran-Israeli peers. The sample consisted of 145 children (70 veteran-Israelis and 75 FSU) between the ages of 4.0 and 6.5 years old (M = 5.54, SD = .48) and their parents. Mothers and fathers reported about the children's problem behavior and on their own parenting behavior. Analyses revealed that FSU children exhibited more externalizing and peer problems than did their veteran-Israeli peers. No significant differences, however, were found for internalizing problems. Furthermore, FSU mothers and fathers reported significantly lower levels of authoritarian parenting behavior than did their veteran-Israeli counterparts. Finally, ethnicity was found to moderate links between parenting and children's problem behavior for mothers but not for fathers. Specifically, for the veteran-Israeli group, the more authoritarian mothers were, the more externalizing and peer problems their children exhibited. However, for the FSU families, the more authoritarian mothers were, the more internalizing problems suffered by their children. These findings suggest that authoritarian parenting may be reflected differently in distinct cultures and cultural conditions, and they highlight the importance of considering both mothers and fathers, as they may go through different acculturation processes.


this paper represents a short review from different scientific sources on mass movement processes in Tashkent Province. We can see that Tashkent Province is one of the most areas, which is prone to all of the natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, debris flows, rockfalls, and avalanches). The considered region located in high mountainous area and presence of a considerable quantity of precipitation leads sectors covered with loess rocks to be more vulnerable to mass movements. Most effective triggering factors of mass movement processes in this area mainly rainfall and seismic activities. Sometimes the synchronous development of these two factors can create the huge losses. The presence of a big water reservoir, settlements and recreational zones in this area increase the efficiency of the region in terms of prevention of natural hazards. Nowadays the main attention paid to Mingchukur landslide and its impact to a water reservoir. Therefore, for obtaining accurate data for inaccessible areas and for analyzing datasets reasonable is the using of Remote Sensing technology.


Nanoceria was produced by an aqueous precipitation technique in the presence of an organic stabilizer. The stable suspensions were diafiltered to remove reaction byproducts. Particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy with images used to size the particles, and selected-area electron diffraction was used to determine the lattice structure and the lattice constant. For all particles studied, the electron diffraction data were consistent with that of CeO2 and not Ce2O3, as predicted by some researchers for very small particles sizes. At particle diameters of ∼1 nm, the lattice expansion approached 7%. In agreement with earlier researchers, we interpret this effect as due to the formation of substantial amounts of Ce3+ with corresponding oxygen vacancies, but within the fluorite lattice structure of CeO2. Even at a particle size of 1 nm, there was a measurable oxygen storage capacity, consistent with a still-reducible CeO2 structure, rather than the fully oxidized Ce2O3.


The scaling effect correction of retrieved parameters is an essential and difficult issue in analysis and application of remote sensing information. Based on fractal theory, this paper developed a scaling transfer model to correct the scaling effect of the leaf area index (LAI) estimated from coarse spatial resolution image. As the key parameter of the proposed model, the information fractal dimension (D) of the up-scaling pixel was calculated by establishing the double logarithmic linear relationship between D-2 and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) standard deviation (σNDVI) of the up-scaling pixel. Based on the calculated D and the fractal relationship between the exact LAI and the approximated LAI estimated from the coarse resolution pixel, a LAI scaling transfer model was established. Finally, the model accuracy in correcting the scaling effect was discussed. Results indicated that the D increases with increasing σNDVI, and the D-2 was highly linearly correlated with σNDVI on the double logarithmic coordinate axis. The scaling transfer model corrected the scaling effect of LAI with a maximum value of root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.011. The maximum absolute correction error (ACE) and relative correction error (RCE) were only 0.108% and 8.56%, respectively. The spatial heterogeneity was the primary cause resulting in the scaling effect and the key influencing factor of correction effect. The results indicated that the developed method based on fractal theory could effectively correct the scaling effect of LAI estimated from the heterogeneous pixels.


This paper presents a new non-parametric methodology for the description of the evolution of the asset cycle in the stock market. It uses the empirical distribution of the data; in particular the structures of the tails of return distributions to build Boom-Bust Indicators (BBI) that describe whether a given market is a bull or a bear. These indicators, for three different time horizons, perform better than the usual binary sequence of financial crises because they measure both direction and intensity, they have stronger variability than a binary variable, they are strongly associated to the original data and keep some of its underlying characteristics such as serial auto correlation, and they identify at least the same bull and bear markets as other methodologies. There is no evidence that favors one of the BBI specifications above the others.


The major histocompatibility complex of the rat (RT1 complex) encodes two sets of class II molecules referred to as RT1.B and RT1.D. The complete structure of the RT1.D alpha u chain of the diabetes prone BB rat was determined by the isolation and characterization of a full size cDNA. Comparisons of the nucleotide and protein sequences of RT1.D alpha with the analogous molecules, H-2 I-E alpha and HLA DR alpha, revealed that these alpha chains have been highly conserved during evolution. Southern blot analysis indicated an association of the RT1 haplotypes, 'u' and 'l', with Bam H1 DNA bands of 9.8 kb and 11.7 kb, respectively. The BB rat develops insulin dependent diabetes as an autoimmune abnormality. Accumulating evidence suggests a cellular mediated etiology and the involvement of class II molecules. The steady state levels of RT1.D alpha mRNA were measured in splenic lymphocytes of diabetes prone BB rats and age matched histocompatible normal nondiabetic WF rats by a RNase protection assay. Compared to WF rats, elevated transcripts of RT1.D alpha were found in lymphocytes of young BB rats (approximately 4x and approximately 2.5x greater at 20-40 and 40-75 d, respectively). In lymphocytes of older diabetic and nondiabetic BB rats (greater than 75 d) the levels of RT1.D alpha mRNA were lower than in the young BB rats and were found at the WF control levels. The increased steady state RT1.D alpha mRNA levels in the young BB rats may reflect differences in the proportion of splenic lymphocytes expressing this gene (activated lymphocytes), and thus differences in splenic lymphocyte populations. The steady state RT1.D alpha mRNA levels in lymphocytes of the normal rats were found to be relatively similar at all ages examined. The increased class II gene transcripts found in lymphocytes of young BB rats indicates that they possess a highly activated immune system.


The stop watch is used to measure the time required for a certain event. This is different from normal clocks in many ways, one of which is the accuracy of time. The stop watch requires much more accuracy than the normal clocks. In this paper, an ATmega8535 microcontroller was used to control the stop watch, by which perfect accuracy can be ensured. For compiling the C code and for loading the compiled .hex file into the microcontroller, AVR studio and PonyProg were used respectively. The stop watch is also different from traditional stop watches, as it contains two different timing modes namely 'Split timing' and 'Lap timing'. Keywords—Stop Watch, Microcontroller, Split timing, Lap timing, LCD. Fig. 1 Block diagram of the stop watch system


Abstract : Successful management of incidents that threaten an organization's cyber security is a complex endeavor. Frequently an organization's primary focus on the response aspects of security incidents results in its failure to manage incidents beyond simply reacting to threatening events. The metrics presented in this document are intended to provide a baseline or benchmark of incident management practices. The incident management functions provided in a series of questions and indicators define the actual benchmark. The questions explore different aspects of incident management activities for protecting, defending, and sustaining an organization's computing environment in addition to conducting appropriate response actions. This benchmark can be used by an organization to assess how its current incident management capability is defined, managed, measured, and improved. This will help assure the system owners, data owners, and operators that their incident management services are being delivered with a high standard of quality and success, and within acceptable levels of risk.


Objective Audible nasal emission is a common speech distortion observed in persons with cleft palate. This study examined the validity and reliability of perceptual judgments of audible nasal emission using interval scaling and magnitude estimation techniques. Participants Speech samples were collected from six adolescents with repaired cleft palate, all of whom demonstrated audible nasal emission. A total of 31 adults performed rating tasks in which they judged the severity of audible nasal emission in speech samples. Measures Occurrences of audible nasal emission in speech samples were identified using visual and auditory inspection. Using an acoustic modification technique, samples were digitally modified to amplify perceived occurrences of audible nasal emission to create three stimulus conditions. The original recording of the speech samples served as a control condition. The severity of audible nasal emission in the samples was judged by multiple listeners using interval scaling and magnitude estimation without a modulus. Statistical analysis included analysis of variance, regression, and curve-fitting methods. Results Magnitude-estimation ratings demonstrated stronger evidence of validity and reliability than interval scaling. A curvilinear relationship was found between the sets of ratings. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that audible nasal emission may be a prothetic or ratio-level perceptual continua. Listeners should consider using magnitude estimation or other ratio-based methods for perceptual judgments of audible nasal emission.


An x-y active alignment system based on Risley beam steerers is described. The demonstrator features a quadrant detector which detects the misalignment error between the center of a spot of light and the center of the quadrant detector. This misalignment error is then used by a new algorithm to calculate the rotational displacement required for the two Risley beam steerers to steer the spot of light to the center of the quadrant detector. The experimental results indicate that any spot misaligned by up to 160 /spl mu/m on the quadrant detector will be systematically centered by the demonstrator system.<<ETX>>


Central American arc volcanism shows strong regional trends in lava chemistry that result from differing slab contributions to arc melting. However, the mechanism that transfers slab-derived trace elements into the mantle wedge remains largely unknown. By using a dynamic model for mantle flow and fluid release, we model the fate of three different slab-fluid sources: sediment, ocean crust, and serpentinized mantle. In the open subarc system, sediments lose almost all their highly fluid mobile elements by ∼50 km depth, so other fluid sources are necessary to explain the slab signal in arc-lava compositions. The well-documented transition from lavas with a strong geochemical slab signature (i.e., high Ba/La ratios) found in Nicaragua to lavas with a weaker slab signature (i.e., low Ba/La ratios) erupted in Costa Rica seems easiest to produce by a higher fraction of serpentine-hosted fluids released from the deeply faulted, highly serpentinized lithosphere subducting beneath Nicaragua than from the less deeply faulted, thicker, amphibolitic oceanic-crust and oceanic-plateau lithosphere subducting beneath Costa Rica.


Though it is generally accepted that information asymmetry has an impact on capital structure policy, the nature of the information asymmetry is not well understood. Recent theoretical works and empirical evidences suggest that financing choice depends upon the information asymmetry about investment risk of the particular use of funds (Halov & Heider, 2012) (Rao, Mohanty, & Baxamusa, 2015). Consistent with this view, we analyzed the data gathered among 199 companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during 2009-2016 by The Multiple Linear Regressions in order to test research's hypotheses have been applied. We also examined the influence of Petrochemical industry on that relationship. The findings show that equity is used to fund projects with greater information asymmetry about their risk such as intangible assets and capital expenditure, while debt is used to fund investments with lower information asymmetry about their risk such as liquidity enhancement. We also found that the membership in petrochemical industry has no effect on the intangible assets and cash holding's financing method, but concerning with capital expenditure and working capital the impact is significantly negative.


An analysis is presented for the mass and vacancy fluxes within the reacting phases and at the interface for a diffusion-driven phase transformation between disordered binary solid solutions. As decided by the intrinsic diffusion coefficients and the initial and interface concentrations for each phase, vacancies must either be created or annihilated in the bulk phases but also at their interface. A general analysis is formulated for the growth or recession of a phase in terms of the Kirkendall reference frame, and this result is compared to the analysis based on the reference frame centered on the number of moles. Specific example calculations demonstrate the various possibilities for vacancy creation/annihilation and for the growth/recession of phases .


: Several nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID), although not all, inhibit proteoglycan synthesis by normal articular cartilage in vitro; the inhibitory effect is much more marked in osteoarthritic cartilage. For salicylates, in vivo data support the in vitro findings; degeneration of articular cartilage in animal models is accelerated by oral administration of aspirin. While it has been suggested that NSAID may be "chondroprotective," no clinical studies exist to support the view that NSAID favorably influence progression of joint degeneration in man, nor do well designed controlled studies show that NSAID are superior to a pure analgesic, e.g., acetaminophen, in treatment of symptoms of osteoarthritis.


In this paper, targeting efficient authentication and key agreement in an IoT environment, we propose an Elliptic Curve Cryptography-(ECC) based lightweight authentication protocol called BCmECC which relies on a public blockchain to validate the users' public key to provide desired security. We evaluate the security of the proposed protocol heuristically and validate it formally, which demonstratse the high level of the security. For the formal verification we used the widely accepted formal methods, i.e., BAN logic and the Scyther tool. In this paper we also analyse the security of recently proposed blockchain-based authentication protocols and show that this protocol does not provide the desired security against known session-specific temporary information attacks in which the adversary has access to the session's ephemeral values and aims to retrieve the shared session key. In addition, the protocol lacks forward secrecy, in which an adversary with access to the server's long-term secret key can retrieve the previous session keys, assuming that the adversary has already eavesdropped the transferred messages over a public channel in the target session. The proposed attacks are very efficient and their success probability is '1', while the time complexity of each attack could be negligible. Besides, we show that BCmECC is secure against such attacks.


Instance segmentation on 3D point clouds (3DIS) is a longstanding challenge in computer vision, where state-of-the-art methods are mainly based on full supervision. As annotating ground truth dense instance masks is tedious and expensive, solving 3DIS with weak supervision has become more practical. In this paper, we propose GaPro, a new instance segmentation for 3D point clouds using axis-aligned 3D bounding box supervision. Our two-step approach involves generating pseudo labels from box annotations and training a 3DIS network with the resulting labels. Additionally, we employ the self-training strategy to improve the performance of our method further. We devise an effective Gaussian Process to generate pseudo instance masks from the bounding boxes and resolve ambiguities when they overlap, resulting in pseudo instance masks with their uncertainty values. Our experiments show that GaPro outperforms previous weakly supervised 3D instance segmentation methods and has competitive performance compared to state-of-the-art fully supervised ones. Furthermore, we demonstrate the robustness of our approach, where we can adapt various state-of-the-art fully supervised methods to the weak supervision task by using our pseudo labels for training. The source code and trained models are available at https://github.com/VinAIResearch/GaPro.


As Covid-19 spreads around the world, international actors, including the United Nations, have called for a stop to armed conflict to facilitate efforts to fight the pandemic. At the same time, coronavirus may also trigger and intensify armed conflict due to its negative economic consequences and by offering windows of opportunity to opposition movements to attack distracted and weakened incumbents. We use real-time data on the spread of Covid-19, governmental lockdown policies, and battle events to study the causal short-term effect of the pandemic on armed conflict. Our results suggest that both the spread of Covid-19 and lockdown policies exhibit a global Null effect with considerable regional heterogeneity. Most importantly, governmental lockdowns have increased armed conflict in the Middle East. In contrast, reported combat has decreased in Southeast Asia and the Caucasus as the pandemic has spread.


Diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease have been listed as risk factors for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since the first report of the disease in January 2020. However, this report did not mention chronic kidney disease (CKD) nor did it provide information on the relevance of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or albuminuria. As the disease spread across the globe, information on larger populations with greater granularity on risk factors emerged. The recently published OpenSAFELY project analysed factors associated with COVID-19 death in 17 million patients. The picture that arose differs significantly from initial reports. For example, hypertension is not an independent risk factor for COVID-19 death [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.89], but renal disease very much is. Dialysis (aHR 3.69), organ transplantation (aHR 3.53) and CKD (aHR 2.52 for patients with eGFR<30 mL/min/1.73 m) represent three of the four comorbidities associated with the highest mortality risk from COVID-19. The risk associated with CKD Stages 4 and 5 is higher than the risk associated with diabetes mellitus (aHR range 1.31–1.95, depending upon glycaemic control) or chronic heart disease (aHR 1.17). In another recent publication, the Global Burden of Disease collaboration identified that worldwide, CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for severe COVID-19. Moreover, the distribution of risk factors for COVID-19 mortality appears to be different in patients with CKD when compared with the general population. The high prevalence of CKD in combination with the elevated risk of mortality from COVID-19 in CKD necessitates urgent action for this group of patients. This article defines essential action points (summarized in Box 1), among which is advocating the inclusion of CKD patients in clinical trials testing the efficacy of drugs and vaccines to prevent severe COVID-19.


In the past decades, distributed systems have been widely applied to real-time applications, most of which have fault-tolerance requirements to assure high reliability. Due to the stringent space constraints of real-time systems, the issue of schedulability becomes a major concern in the design of fault-tolerant and real-time distributed systems. Most existing real-time and fault-tolerant scheduling algorithms, which are based on the primary-backup scheme for periodic real-time tasks, introduce unnecessary redundancies by aggressively using active-backup copies. To solve this problem, we propose two novel fault-tolerant techniques, which are seamlessly integrated with fixed-priority-based scheduling algorithms. These techniques leverage redundancies to enhance schedulability in fault-tolerant and real-time distributed systems. Our fault-tolerant techniques make use of the primary-backup scheme to tolerate permanent hardware failures. The first technique (referred to as Tercos) terminates the execution of active-backup copies, when corresponding primary copies are successfully completed. Tercos is designed to reduce scheduling lengths in fault-free scenarios to enhance schedulability by virtue of executing portions of active-backup copies in passive forms. The second technique (referred to as Debus) uses a deferred-active-backup scheme to further minimize schedule lengths to improve the schedulability performance. Debus schedules active-backup copies as late as possible, while terminating active-backup copies when their primary copies are completed. Experimental results show that, compared with existing algorithms in literature, Tercos can significantly improve schedulability by up to 17.0% (with an average of 9.7%). Furthermore, empirical results reveal that Debus can enhance schedulability over Tercos by up to 12% (with an average of 7.8%).


Nowadays, many E-Learning systems are currently available on the Web with various types of learning resources. Website becomes one of important communication lines between teacher and student. For teachers to prepare their courses, searching and collecting learning resources will be necessary in the primary step. Imagine in database scope, there are many courses that concerned with database in many levels, for example: introduction to database, database system principles, advanced topics in database systems, and database system implementation. Each courses are different in difficulty level but they are shared the same basic concept. For teachers who prepare these database courses, it is possible that they will use or refer to the same materials. The question is what is the effective way to share their materials or pedagogical resources? And for their own courses, how to representation these courses with several types of resources?


Framing empirical research analyzes the construction (frame building) and influence (frame effects) of the frames with which different social agents interpret and communicate reality. Based on Entman's (2004; 2008) and Kuypers' (2008; 2009) contributions, this paper proposes and applies a qualitative methodology for the analysis of frame building in political discourse. It is located, therefore, on the strategic and methodological lines of framing research in political communication (Bartolomé; Rodríguez & Sádaba, 2012). As Kinder and Sanders state, frames are "invented and employed by political elites, often with an eye on advancing their own interests or ideologies, and intended to make favorable interpretations prevail" (Kinder & Sanders, 1990, p. 74). The paper includes a theoretical framework that reviews the evolution of framing literature in Communication, focusing especially on empirical studies. The contributions adopted for the elaboration of the methodology and the application process are explained in detail. The context of the case study, Bush's discourse about the War on Terror on his trip to Europe in February 2005, is revised. Finally, the results obtained and the conclusions are detailed.


A study of anaerobic removal of adsorbable organic halide (AOX) from kraft bleaching wastes has been conducted, using bottle bioassay techniques. The anaerobic cultures were fed either acetate or hydrogen and were able to remove from 40 to 65% of the AOX. The removal mechanism and the role of an adapted anaerobic consortium has been investigated with results indicating some biological removal, but significant amounts of sorption or degradation that does not seem to require microbial activity. Significant inhibition of methanogenic activity has also been found in some of the tests.


The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of the database and its usefulness in describing clinical nurse specialist (CNS) practice, providing the CNS with clinical information about specific patients, and identifying patterns and trends about the care for the specialty patient population during a 3-month pilot period. The pilot revealed that the database, which included elements of clinical encounters between the CNS and patients, was useful in organizing clinical information about patients and the specialty population and in describing the nature of the CNS practice. It provided a quantitative description of the process of CNS functioning that, when combined with data about actions and outcomes, will allow relations to be drawn. The organizing framework of the database may be replicated by CNSs who are interested in describing the nature of their clinical practice.


This paper highlights the sensitivity of technical efficiency estimates to estimation approaches using empirical data. Firm specific technical efficiency and mean technical efficiency are estimated using the non parametric Data Envelope Analysis (DEA) and the parametric Corrected Ordinary Least Squares (COLS) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) approaches. Mean technical efficiency is found to be sensitive to the choice of estimation technique. Analysis of variance and Tukey's test suggests significant differences in means between efficiency scores from different methods. In general the DEA and SFA frontiers resulted in higher mean technical efficiency estimates than the COLS production frontier. The efficiency estimates of the DEA have the smallest variability when compared with the SFA and COLS. There exists a strong positive correlation between the efficiency estimates based on the three methods.


Based on an original dataset linking patent data and biographical information for a large sample of US immigrant inventors with Indian names and surnames, specialized in ICT technologies, we investigate the rate and determinants of return migration. For each individual in the dataset, we both estimate the year of entry in the United States, the likely entry channel (work or education), and the permanence spell up to either the return to India or right truncation. By means of survival analysis, we then provide exploratory estimates of the probability of return migration as a function of the conditions at migration (age, education, patenting record, migration motives, and migration cohort) as well as of some activities undertaken while abroad (education and patenting). We find both evidence of negative self-selection with respect to educational achievements in the US and of positive self-selection with respect to patenting propensity. Based on the analysis of time-dependence of the return hazard ratios, return work migrants appear to be negatively self-selected with respect to unobservable skills acquired abroad, while evidence for education migrants is less conclusive.


This paper aims to report on diverse cultural and societal beliefs and taboos in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to touch on and develop a better understanding thereof concerning the inter-relationship between people, religion and language within the Saudi Arabia cultural context. Given the Saudi Arabians' religious and cultural background as a source of controlling taboo (behaviour and) linguistic expressions, in this paper, it is assumed that identifying the function of linguistic taboos and who is responsible for promoting them is of significance to identify the socio-cultural implications of linguistic expression of taboos. Investigating linguistic taboos, social taboos and religious taboos has ended into having people with a view on taboos as being of a confining function to the social progress of Saudi Arabia and of acting as a stumbling block in the face of Saudi Arabia progressive and globalized world. This paper has identified different taboos as stemming from different cultural opinions and background, but not religious per se. Religion has been identified as one of the critical aspects that have shade on the Saudi socio-cultural activities, particularly those associated with prejudices. That said, this paper stresses the need to explain and sensitise people about common taboos to help minimise prejudices and thus change points of view among many people who are used to many restrictions for a wrong belief that links such restrictions with religion as alleged source thereof. This paper tends to pinpoint Saudi media and Saudi government as being responsible for promoting certain cultural values and beliefs (and thus taboos), and coiling people and modifying their culture for political purposes. This paper advances the existing knowledge base by its findings and conclusions. It is recommended that Saudi Arabia start with educating people about multiple socio-culturally related-taboos, particularly those pertinent to sexually transmitted diseases and sexual problems.


epidural for postoperative analgesia on the ward. A sensory level at TI and a motor lesion to C6 followed an episode of unrecordable blood pressure. A second patient became paralysed following an intra-operative epidural for a hip replacement. The third had suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest following local anaesthetic toxicity while the fourth developed paraplegia after induced hypotension for a middle ear operation. In all these patients low blood pressure was the causative factor. Djurberg's case report makes no mention of the patient's pre-operative blood pressure and without this knowledge it is impossible to say if the episodes of hypotension which were associated with epidural top-ups were of a mild, moderate, or severe nature, or, indeed, if the stated intra-operative systolic blood pressure of 135 mmHg was low or normal for this patient. Repeated incidents of hypotension could certainly compromise blood flow to the spinal cord and predispose to ischaemic injury.


During the 1920s and 1930s, fascist movements and groups flourished all around the world. Relying on Robert Paxton's postulate that the emergence of a fascist movement is an inherent part of modern societies with mass politics, this article examines the probable existence of such a fascist movement in the Hebrew society in Palestine of the time. After a short introduction of concepts of generic fascism and a review of the current state of research into the subject, the article discusses some aspects and characteristics of generic fascism which are specifically significant to this case study.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. OBJECTIVES: Critically ill children frequently receive plasma and platelet transfusions. We sought to determine evidence-based recommendations, and when evidence was insufficient, we developed expert-based consensus statements about decision-making for plasma and platelet transfusions in critically ill pediatric patients. DESIGN: Systematic review and consensus conference series involving multidisciplinary international experts in hemostasis, and plasma/platelet transfusion in critically ill infants and children (Transfusion and Anemia EXpertise Initiative—Control/Avoidance of Bleeding [TAXI-CAB]). SETTING: Not applicable. PATIENTS: Children admitted to a PICU at risk of bleeding and receipt of plasma and/or platelet transfusions. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A panel of 29 experts in methodology, transfusion, and implementation science from five countries and nine pediatric subspecialties completed a systematic review and participated in a virtual consensus conference series to develop recommendations. The search included MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases, from inception to December 2020, using a combination of subject heading terms and text words for concepts of plasma and platelet transfusion in critically ill children. Four graded recommendations and 49 consensus expert statements were developed using modified Research and Development/UCLA and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methodology. We focused on eight subpopulations of critical illness (1, severe trauma, intracranial hemorrhage, or traumatic brain injury; 2, cardiopulmonary bypass surgery; 3, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; 4, oncologic diagnosis or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; 5, acute liver failure or liver transplantation; 6, noncardiac surgery; 7, invasive procedures outside the operating room; 8, sepsis and/or disseminated intravascular coagulation) as well as laboratory assays and selection/processing of plasma and platelet components. In total, we came to consensus on four recommendations, five good practice statements, and 44 consensus-based statements. These results were further developed into consensus-based clinical decision trees for plasma and platelet transfusion in critically ill pediatric patients. CONCLUSIONS: The TAXI-CAB program provides expert-based consensus for pediatric intensivists for the administration of plasma and/or platelet transfusions in critically ill pediatric patients. There is a pressing need for primary research to provide more evidence to guide practitioners.


Evidences have suggested that andrographolide (AP) attenuates gastric mucosal injury; however its mechanism has not yet been established. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the gastroprotective mechanism of andrographolide isolated from Andrographis paniculata. Andrographolide was evaluated against cold restraint (CRU), aspirin (AS), alcohol (AL) and pyloric ligation (PL) induced gastric ulcer models in rats. Potential anti-ulcer activity of andrographolide was observed against CRU (62.5%),AS (57.81%),AL(72.41%) and PL(60.00%) induced ulcermodels. The standard drug omeprazole (10mg/kg, p.o.) showed 77.40%protection against CRU, 57.08%againstAS and 69.42%against PLmodel. Sucralfate, another standard drug (500 mg/kg, p.o.) showed 62.72%protection inAL induced ulcer model. andrographolide significantly reduced free acidity (50.42%), total acidity (24.43%) and upregulatedmucin secretion by 34.24% respectively. Further, andrographolide inhibited H+ K+-ATPase activity in vitro with IC50 of 71.435 µg/ml respectively as compared to the IC50 value of omeprazole (30.24 µg/ml) confirming their anti-secretory activity. Conclusively, the anti-secretory mechanism of andrographolide mediated apparently through inhibition of H+K+-ATPase with corresponding decrease in plasma gastrin level, which is a novel property in our finding. Andrographolide was found to possess anti-ulcerogenic activity which might be due to its anti-secretory activity and subsequent strengthening of the defensive mechanism.


Proton beam therapy allows irradiating tumor volumes with reduced side effects on normal tissues with respect to conventional x-ray radiotherapy. Biological effects such as cell killing after proton beam irradiations depend on the proton kinetic energy, which is intrinsically related to early DNA damage induction. As such, DNA damage estimation based on Monte Carlo simulations is a research topic of worldwide interest. Such simulation is a mean of investigating the mechanisms of DNA strand break formations. However, past modellings considering chemical processes and DNA structures require long calculation times. Particle and heavy ion transport system (PHITS) is one of the general-purpose Monte Carlo codes that can simulate track structure of protons, meanwhile cannot handle radical dynamics simulation in liquid water. It also includes a simple model enabling the efficient estimation of DNA damage yields only from the spatial distribution of ionizations and excitations without DNA geometry, which was originally developed for electron track-structure simulations. In this study, we investigated the potential application of the model to protons without any modification. The yields of single-strand breaks, double-strand breaks (DSBs) and the complex DSBs were assessed as functions of the proton kinetic energy. The PHITS-based estimation showed that the DSB yields increased as the linear energy transfer (LET) increased, and reproduced the experimental and simulated yields of various DNA damage types induced by protons with LET up to about 30 keV μm−1. These results suggest that the current DNA damage model implemented in PHITS is sufficient for estimating DNA lesion yields induced after protons irradiation except at very low energies (below 1 MeV). This model contributes to evaluating early biological impacts in radiation therapy.


The effect of processing on potential changes of antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS), total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoids (FLAV) of feijoa pulp during storage was investigated. In addition, possible modifications in the phenolic composition of the pulp. The pulp was subjected to refrigeration (control, 5 °C), pasteurization (85 °C/5 min) and irradiation (2.0 kGy). TPC, FLAV, DPPH and ABTS were measured during 28 days, whereas the identification and quantification of phenolic compounds were conducted after processing. The results were submitted to principal component analysis (SAS 9.4). Pasteurization preserved TPC, DPPH and ABTS for 21 days, while in the irradiated samples and control, the values were decreased and FLAV were maintained at high levels. The profile of phenolic compounds was different for each sample with six compounds being identified.


Purpose Research evidence has identified practices across the care continuum which can improve the chronic condition of stroke; however, challenges remain to implementing this evidence. The two research projects presented evaluated whether facilitation can increase evidence-informed stroke care. Theory The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework was used to design and evaluate the facilitation strategies. Methods Project one evaluated the effect of a knowledge network, centralised around a knowledge broker, on increasing the awareness and application of evidence across the health care system. Project two used an interactive workshop to help family practitioners contextualise best practice recommendations for the secondary prevention of stroke. The research projects were conducted in primarily rural areas of Canada, and used mixed methods for evaluation. Results and Conclusions The results indicate that the knowledge broker/network intervention effectively increased the awareness of evidence, and stimulated improvements in stroke care through increased communication networks. The workshop increased practitioner knowledge and support for health system changes necessary for integrated stroke care. The evaluation identified health-system barriers which affect implementation. Discussion These findings identify the need and methods for improving communication, which if implemented can reduce health system barriers to improving integrated stroke care.


Prostacyclin receptor (IP-receptor) agonists display anti-inflammatory and antiviral activity in cell-based assays and in preclinical models of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In this study, we have extended these observations by demonstrating that IP-receptor activation also can enhance the ability of glucocorticoids to induce genes with anti-inflammatory activity. BEAS-2B bronchial epithelial cells stably transfected with a glucocorticoid response element (GRE) luciferase reporter were activated in a concentration-dependent manner by the glucocorticoid dexamethasone. An IP-receptor agonist, taprostene, increased cAMP in these cells and augmented luciferase expression at all concentrations of dexamethasone examined. Analysis of the concentration-response relationship that described this effect showed that taprostene increased the magnitude of transcription without affecting the potency of dexamethasone and was, thus, steroid-sparing in this simple system. RO3244794, an IP-receptor antagonist, and oligonucleotides that selectively silenced the IP-receptor gene, PTGIR, abolished these effects of taprostene. Infection of BEAS-2B GRE reporter cells with an adenovirus vector encoding a highly selective inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) also prevented taprostene from enhancing GRE-dependent transcription. In BEAS-2B cells and primary cultures of human airway epithelial cells, taprostene and dexamethasone interacted either additively or cooperatively in the expression of three glucocorticoid-inducible genes (GILZ, MKP-1, and p57kip2) that have anti-inflammatory potential. Collectively, these data show that IP-receptor agonists can augment the ability of glucocorticoids to induce anti-inflammatory genes in human airway epithelial cells by activating a cAMP/PKA-dependent mechanism. This observation may have clinical relevance in the treatment of airway inflammatory diseases that are either refractory or respond suboptimally to glucocorticoids.


This study aimed to investigate the relationship between oxidative stress and endothelium-dependent vasodilation in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Thirty-seven patients with CRF underwent evaluation of endothelium-dependent vasodilation and endothelium-independent vasodilation by means of forearm blood flow measurements with venous occlusion plethysmography during local intra-arterial infusions of methacholine (evaluating endothelium-dependent vasodilation) and sodium nitroprusside (evaluating endothelium-independent vasodilation). Lag phase of lipoprotein fraction to oxidation, total antioxidative activity, diene conjugates, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, lipid hydroperoxide, reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized GSH (GSSG), and the GSH redox ratio (GSSG/GSH) were all measured as markers of oxidative stress. Two groups of healthy subjects (61 and 37 subjects, respectively) were used as controls. In one group, oxidative stress markers were measured, whereas endothelium-dependent vasodilation and endothelium-independent vasodilation were assessed in the other group. Compared with controls, the patients with renal insufficiency had an impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation, a shorter lag phase of lipoprotein fraction, and higher levels of diene conjugates, lipid hydroperoxide, and GSSG levels. The GSSG/GSH ratio was lower in patients with CRF. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation was positively correlated with total antioxidative activity (r = 0.41, P = 0.016), GSH (r = 0.44, P < 0.0098), and lag phase of LDL (r = 0.35, P = 0.036) and negatively correlated with GSSG (r = -0.40, P < 0.018), GSSG/GSH (r = -0.47, P = 0.0057), and diene conjugates (r = -0.53 P < 0.0015) in patients with CRF. These results show that an impaired endothelium vasodilation function and oxidative stress are related to each other in patients with CRF.


The Florida Department of Transportation has developed a completely new process for how the State of Florida plans transportation projects and accomplishes environmental review and consideration of sociocultural effects. The new process for transportation decision making was developed by FDOT working in conjunction with federal and state agencies to develop an entirely new process that efficiently meets statutory requirements and delivers projects which respect and protect Florida's resources. The new process is called "Efficient Transportation Decision Making" or the ETDM Process. The objectives of the multi-agency working group that developed this process were outlined by Congress in Section 1309 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21): • Provide early and continuous involvement of agencies and the public in the review process. • Integrate environmental review and permitting processes. • Establish coordinated time schedules for agency action. • Establish effective dispute resolution mechanisms. • Provide access to information through use of technology. FDOT assembled 23 federal and state agencies at the initial "summit" in February 2000 to ask for their support and commitment to develop this process. Summit participants developed a "vision statement" for the new process. Their agencies then participated in a series of multi-agency meetings to identify the elements of a process that would improve efficiency (early involvement, easy access to good data, continuous agency and community involvement, teamwork, a method to screen projects early, and an effective method for handling disputes). Early agency involvement is provided through two "screening" events, which occur early in project planning and before significant engineering work proceeds. These events are the "Planning Screen" and the "Programming Screen." Agency input received early in planning may identify the need for wildlife crossings, community-expressed concerns or other needs for reconfiguration of a project to avoid or minimize adverse effects. This early awareness improves the project cost estimates, which can affect project priorities. Coordination is achieved through Environmental Technical Advisory Teams (ETATs) which are formed for each of the seven FDOT districts. ETAT members review project information and provide input about technical scopes of work required for project development. These focused scopes of work are expected to improve the quality of information considered and will allow the FDOT to address key issues of concern. All coordination is achieved using the Environmental Screening Tool (EST). This is an Internet-accessible interactive database system with GIS which allows ETAT members and the public to view project plans and the effects on resources. Stakeholder input is documented in the EST and visible to all parties involved in transportation decision making. The EST is described more fully in a companion paper. A key provision in the ETDM Process is that disputed projects do not advance to the FDOT Work Program until dispute resolution has occurred. A methodology for resolving disputes is built into the new process and focuses problem resolution at the local level where consultation among ETAT members is expected to resolve most disputes prior to elevation within agencies.


We consider the challenge of tracking and estimating the size of a single submerged target in a high reverberant underwater environment using a single active acoustic transceiver. This problem is common for a multitude of applications, ranging from the security and safety needs of tracking submerged vehicles and scuba divers, to environmental research and management implications such as the monitoring of pelagic fauna. Considering that the target can be either slow (e.g., a scuba diver) or fast moving (e.g., a shark), we avoid continuous signaling, and rely on the emission of wideband pulses whose reflection pattern are evaluated and reshaped in a time-distance matrix. As opposed to common approaches that track targets through template matching or by using tracking filters, we avoid making difficult assumptions about the target's reflection patterns or motion type, and instead perform probabilistic tracking using a constraint Viterbi algorithm, whereby detection is determined based on maximum likelihood criterion. In this process, we use the expectation-maximization approach to manage stationary reflections through distribution analysis, which otherwise may be misidentified as targets. Based on the tracked path, we then evaluate the target's size. To test our approach, we performed extensive simulations as well as eight sea experiments in different environmental settings to track both a scuba diver and a sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus). The simulation results show a tracking performance that is close to the Cramér–Rao lower bound, and the experiment results show a good tradeoff between detection rate and false alarm rate for a low signal-to-clutter ratio of 5 dB, and average tracking error of 1.5 and 6.5 m in the detections of a scuba diver and sandbar shark, respectively. For reproducibility, we share our sea experiment data.


Repairing violations of integrity constraints in databases can be seen as an interleaving diagnostic/repair process. In this paper we introduce a new approach on repairing constraint violations by adopting existing techniques from model–based diagnosis. Violations of integrity constraints observed in an inconsistent database state are diagnosed and repair actions are deduced from diagnoses. By interleaving diagnosing violations and performing repair actions, transactions are computed which restore the consistency of the database.


A new technique for determining the complex electric field of an ultrashort light pulse is analyzed and experimentally demonstrated. It is based on the measurement of the spectrally resolved intensity autocorrelation and an iterative procedure of data deconvolution. This method is shown to be convenient and reliable.


: Two new species of Calicotyle (Monocotylidae: Calicotylinae) are described from elasmobranchs in the western Gulf of California. Calicotyle californiensis n. sp. is described from a single specimen collected from a gray smoothhound shark (Mustelus californicus, Carcharhiniformes: Triakidae). It is distinguished from its congeners by the combination of having vaginal pores opening within the intercecal space, distal regions of the vaginae twisting, proximal regions of the vaginae fusing medially to form a kidney bean-shaped structure, and a relatively long male copulatory organ recurving 3 times and passing between the distal penis bulb and the seminal vesicle. Calicotyle urobati n. sp. is described from 16 specimens collected from at least the cloaca and rectum of the round rays Urobatis halleri and Urobatis maculatus (Rajiformes: Urolophidae). It is distinguished from its congeners by the combination of having vaginal pores opening outside the intercecal space and proximal regions of the vaginae terminating at the level of the ceca. Members of Calicotyle have not been reported previously from the eastern Pacific Ocean or from these hosts. In the past, species of Calicotyle have been distinguished based primarily on the shape and length of the male copulatory organ and hamuli. Divisions of the vaginae and the positions of the vaginal pores are also useful in distinguishing members of the genus.


Schools play a pivotal role in the formation of identities and in the political socialization of youth. This study explores the social representations of European integration in French and English school textbooks and shows how the social representations are discursively used to construct national and European identities. By analysing the history and civics textbooks of major educational publishers, this study aims to demonstrate how European integration is understood, made familiar and concretized in the school textbooks of the two influential but different European countries. The findings suggest some shared and some diverse patterns in the way the two European countries portray and construct the political project of European integration. These representations, constructed around French Europe in French textbooks and ambivalent Europe in English textbooks, share the images of a strong European economy and a French-led political Europe. However, they position themselves differently with respect to the United States, motivation for the European unification process and the significance of common values and heritage. In both countries textbooks draw upon memories that are important for group identity. While the French textbooks make European integration meaningful in reference to a shared post-war collective memory and to a cultural memory based on a more ancient idea of Europe, shared values and heritage, the English textbooks anchor it more strongly to domestic policy.


With the current Vietnamese teaching context, it can be challenging for teachers to assess students in large classes. Rubric, which makes assessment quick and efficient, is a promising way to solve this problem. Not only is rubric helpful to teachers, but students can be greatly benefited from it as well. The study was conducted from January to May, 2017 in Can Tho, to examine the two main aspects including (1) students' perceptions toward using Analytic Rubric for their self-assessment, and (2) some problems students encounter when they use the rubrics to assess themselves. The study involved 98 students from a high school in Vietnam. The research follows a descriptive approach with a thirty-four-item questionnaire of the five-point Likert scale to figure out the students' perceptions toward the use of Analytic rubric for their self-assessment. The data results from the questionnaires were treated via SPSS 20.0. The result showed that the students had positive perceptions toward the use of Analytic Rubric for their self-assessment. The study also revealed students' problems in using Analytic Rubric although the students did not have a clear perception towards the drawbacks of the rubric.


In the digital age that is increasingly sophisticated, that have an impact on all aspects of our daily lives, one of them is on the filing system on the experience the more effective and efficient, which previously used the closet as storage media, we can now utilize electronics as the storage media archives. Application of the method of filing electronically in an institution is required to support the activities of archiving that achieved effectiveness and efficiency in the management, as well as being able to secure the archives that have important information or value for its users. In the implementation of an electronic archive, type of media used all kinds such as E-mail, DVD 's, microfilm and other electronic media. To support the activities of the application required a good infrastructure and facilities for monitoring and maintenance so that the planned goals are achieved. It also needed a system that is appropriate for the application that is executed is supported by personnel competent in the field of archiving, as well as having the skills and capabilities that support the implementation of electronic filing.


To gain insight into the process of retronasal olfaction, flavor release from skimmed milk and full fat milk (containing 3.75% fat) was investigated using a model mouth system with a screw plunger. Large differences were determined in the quantity of flavor released using two different methods : with screw plunger movement, which represents "retronasal" flavor release, and without the screw plunger, which represents "orthonasal" flavor release. The screw plunger motion accelerated the release of diacetyl and 2-heptanone in both skimmed and full fat milk. The amount of diacetyl released was not influenced by the fat content of the milk in either case (with or without screw plunger operation), while the amount of 2-heptanone released was lower in full fat milk both with and without screw plunger motion. The influence of fat content on the amount of flavor released was explained by the lipophilicity of the flavor components, and mass transfer also contributed to release of the hydrophilic flavor compound.


This paper proposes a new corner detection method based on the Hessian matrix. The proposed method can detect features of a pattern or input image using eigenvalue and eigenvector of images. The Hessian matrix has information of ellipse with intensity variance, and corner can be detected by using the eigen-value and eigen-vector analysis and decided weight value. In order to evaluate the proposed algorithm, experiments are performed in many type images. As the result of the test image, it shows the better performance than that of conventional Harris, SUSAN, and symmetric corner detectors.


Powerful computers together with sophisticated programs for geometric modeling and graphical rendering allow to create interesting and artistic displays in novel ways. Computers can play a role in the definition of new shapes, e.g., through the use of abstract geometrical generator nmctions, as well as in the realization of these shapes, e.g., by drawing exact blueprints or by milling parts. On the other hand, "sculptures" described in the computer need not be physically realized but can be enjoyed in their virtual form on a computer display screen or in an ingressive virtual world. Emerging technologies will make it possible to touch these sculptures and to interact with them in cyberspace.


This paper explores steps towards induced stress enhancement of a new improved design of a 6-axis single-mass piezoelectric motion sensor. The detailed numerical analysis was based on a previously developed and validated finite element model for the new design. The experimental data, reported in literature for a design with a similar geometry, has been used in the validation. Using the same dimensions' range, we detail the new improved design geometry. The analysis of the induced stress in response to x, y and z-accelerations shows that the new design offers better performances. In response to x-axis and z-axis accelerations, evaluated induced stress values are 2 and 2.5 orders of magnitude higher than those measured on the reported design, respectively.


Sign language translation as a kind of technology with profound social significance has attracted growing researchers' interest in recent years. However, the existing sign language translation methods need to read all the videos before starting the translation, which leads to a high inference latency and also limits their application in real-life scenarios. To solve this problem, we propose SimulSLT, the first end-to-end simultaneous sign language translation model, which can translate sign language videos into target text concurrently. SimulSLT is composed of a text decoder, a boundary predictor, and a masked encoder. We 1) use the wait-k strategy for simultaneous translation. 2) design a novel boundary predictor based on the integrate-and-fire module to output the gloss boundary, which is used to model the correspondence between the sign language video and the gloss. 3) propose an innovative re-encode method to help the model obtain more abundant contextual information, which allows the existing video features to interact fully. The experimental results conducted on the RWTH-PHOENIX-Weather 2014T dataset show that SimulSLT achieves BLEU scores that exceed the latest end-to-end non-simultaneous sign language translation model while maintaining low latency, which proves the effectiveness of our method.


This issue's Applications column revisits location-based applications and how far we've come since the original mobile device location-detection research started about 10 years ago. The authors discuss a number of popular location-based services and the speed at which such services have become available and commonplace. They also raise some issues about further technical challenges in privacy that result from such widespread use.


Formation of irregularities on the inner surface of pipes is a common phenomenon that leads to corrosion and affects the functionality in the processing industries. Ultrasonic is known as one of the non-destructive means to address the formation of irregularities inside pipes. In this study, an ultrasonic measurement system is developed to detect the presence of internal irregularities in a pipe. An ultrasonic sensor EFC16T/R-2 with a frequency of 40 kHz was mounted outside the test pipe with a circular ring sensor unit. Different conditions of the inner pipe surface had caused fluctuations of the ultrasonic signal. The results show a low output voltage in the range of 2.1333 to 3.1334 V when no irregularities were detected. A higher output voltage was observed in the range of 5.4677 to 8.8667 V when irregularities occurred. The reconstructed images of irregularities had matched the actual condition of the pipe. Some images showed a slight inaccuracy of the position of the irregularities caused by the instability of the ultrasonic signals. Overall, the developed ultrasonic tomography is suitable as a tool for monitoring irregularities in a pipe.


Dual system models postulate two distinct neural mechanisms for the processing of inflected words: irregular forms (e.g. 'went') are assumed to be directly accessed as whole word representations, whereas regularly inflected items (e.g. 'played') might undergo rule-based decomposition (Pinker & Ullman, 2002). Irregular verb stems incorrectly carrying a regular inflectional suffix have been reported to elicit a left anterior negativity (LAN), commonly interpreted as indexing violation of morphosyntactic regularities, and thus indicating rule application associated with the regular inflection (e.g. Penke et al., 1997). In the first electrophysiological study on Swedish regular/irregular verb morphology, we recorded brain responses to correct versus incorrect past tense verbs visually presented in sentences. Irregular verb stems incorrectly inflected with the regular suffix generated an increased left-lateralized negativity, interpreted as a LAN for misapplication of the morphological inflection rule. No negativity was observed for regular verb stems incorrectly containing a stem vowel change on analogy to irregular verb patterns. These findings are in line with previous results suggesting that a rule-based processing route is available for regularly inflected items. Alternatively, the observed waveforms might be interpreted in terms of a decreased negativity for correct irregular verbs. Such verbs would then be directly accessed in the lexicon while the other conditions would involve morphological analysis, eliciting increased left-lateralized negativities, including incorrect regular verbs where rule-based processing might have been triggered by regularities in the stem vowel change. From this perspective, LAN might signal morphological rule application instead of detection of rule violation (Krott & Lebib, 2013).


We describe a machine learning approach for predicting sponsored search ad relevance. Our baseline model incorporates basic features of text overlap and we then extend the model to learn from past user clicks on advertisements. We present a novel approach using translation models to learn user click propensity from sparse click logs.
 Our relevance predictions are then applied to multiple sponsored search applications in both offline editorial evaluations and live online user tests. The predicted relevance score is used to improve the quality of the search page in three areas: filtering low quality ads, more accurate ranking for ads, and optimized page placement of ads to reduce prominent placement of low relevance ads. We show significant gains across all three tasks.


The effect of intraperitoneal administration of an aqueous solution of tannic acid was examined after different intervals of time. The results showed a gradual and progressive destruction of the liver cells and transformation of its architecture. The histological signs of liver damage appeared 2 hrs after the intoxication. Mild necrosis at periphery was noted even after 1 hour. After 2 hrs hepatocytes were swollen and sinusoids were contracted. These changes became more pronounced after 12 hrs and by 24 hrs extensive centrolobular and perilobular necroses and severe hydropic degeneration of liver cells were observed. Nuclear volume increased at the very first stage of necrosis but after 48 hrs binucleate and multinucleate cells were also visible. The nucleolus was hypertropied and divided into two or more portions after 1 hour. Connective tissue was degnerated after 24 hrs. Hepatic fibrosis was observed after five days of treatment. In all the present experiments vascular lesions and bile duct hyperplasia were the common phenomena.


Presently available techniques for splicing optical fibers are reviewed. Methods for aligning fibers for splicing include the use of tubes, grooved substrates and precision pins. After the fibers are aligned, they are either held together by adhesives or fixtures, or they are welded by melting and fusing the ends together. In the case of cables with a large number of fibers, multi-fiber splicing considerations will impact heavily on cable design. Several multi-fiber splicing techniques achieve losses of only a few tenths dB indicating that early efforts directed at obtaining small transverse offsets and low loss have been successful. In order to obtain low splice loss in practical fiber optic systems, close attention will need to be directed toward fiber manufacturing tolerances. Indeed, mismatch in fiber parameters due to manufacturing variations may turn out to be a significant source of splice loss, thereby causing splicing requirements to impact on fiber design and fiber manufacturing. Future investigators will undoubtedly focus on the long term environmental stability of splices to determine which materials and methods provide practical fiber splices with adequate service life in the field.


The following study describes the functional status of the entire chronic hemodialysis ambulatory population in treatment at our center. The patients were evaluated from 3 points of view: ergonomic, phyiatric and psychological, thus going a snapshot picture in time of their status. Based on these three evaluations, the need for rehabilitation intervention was determined and rehabilitation treatment program was elaborated. The ergonomic evaluation determined the maximal sustained workload (MSW) from O2 consumption, minute ventilation, heart rate, subjective perception of fatigue and dyspnea. The phyiatric examination included a thorough musculoskeletal examination, application of a functional ability instruments (Karnofsky + FIM) and then integrated the results with the ergonomic + psychologic testing in order to generate phyiatric prescription. The psychologist had a conversation with all patients and applied 2 instruments for evaluation of health-related quality of life (CBA-H + SIP). The results of these studies indicated a markedly compromised aerobic capacity, which worsened with age in years rather than with years in dialysis. Phyiatric prescription were considered necessary in 78% of the patients with major goals being re-conditioning and joint mobilization in order to diminish the fragility of independence in this population. The psychological arm of the study revealed good adaptation to chronic dialysis in 75% of the population, with however absorption of a passive lifestyle. The remaining 25% of the population showed severe psychological distress and social withdrawal. Psychological support for this population is necessary to identify families at risk for stress and poor adaptability as well as to help motivate patients who require rehabilitation to participate in therapy.


The dentine-pulp complex is a unique, dynamic organ capable of responding to mild and aggressive injurious stimuli. Deep caries or tooth fractures that extend close to the pulp can lead to inflammation and ultimate pulpal necrosis if not managed appropriately. Current therapeutic regimes for such scenarios include the use of vital pulp (capping) treatments, which attempt to stimulate the pulp's auto-repair capacity which is still poorly understood and consequently not exploited to its full potential.
Amongst the possible mechanisms involved in inducing a dentinogenic response in vital pulp therapy, the ability of dental materials in solubilising cell signalling molecules from dentine has been proposed recently. As such, the role of growth factors belonging to TGF-β superfamily in particular has been highlighted during dentine repair and regeneration (Graham et al. 2006).
In recent times clinical practice has moved towards the use of dentine bonding agents and composite restorations even in deep dentinal cavities that extend close to the pulp in the hope of reducing the effects of microleakage, amongst others (Lynch 2008). However, although such treatments appear moderately successful in practice, the justifications for introducing new protocols to improve dental pulp protection and dentine bridge formation are not currently driven by biological knowledge.
This in vitro study investigated the effects of dentine conditioning by several clinically used etching agents/ dentine conditioners (components of adhesive restorative systems) on the solubilisation of bioactive dentine matrix components and dentine regeneration (by assessing the impact on DPSC phenotype and behaviour).
It was found that growth factors (TGF-β1, BMP2 and VEGF) were exposed and released following dentine treatment by EDTA, phosphoric and citric acid. Polyarcrylic acid on the other hand was ineffective in solubilising dentine matrix proteins. Dentine surface conditioning by EDTA, phosphoric and citric acid resulted in an up regulation in the expression of genes associated with osteoblast/odontoblast-like cell differentiation (OPN and ALP) in DPSCs, however surfaces treated with phosphoric acid appeared significantly less supportive of cell growth following 8 days in culture.
These findings provide direction for future research and take crucial steps for informing clinical practice as to the choice of materials and techniques in vital pulp treatments.


Phosphorus (P) deficiency seriously affects plant growth and development and ultimately limits the quality and yield of crops. Here, a new P efficiency-related major quantitative trait locus (QTL) gene, GmEIL4 (encoding an ethylene-insensitive 3-like 1 protein), was cloned at qP2, which was identified by linkage analysis and genome-wide association study (GWAS) across four environments. Overexpressing GmEIL4 significantly improved the P uptake efficiency by increasing the number, length and surface area of lateral roots of hairy roots in transgenic soybeans, while interfering with GmEIL4 resulted in poor root phenotypic characteristics compared with the control plants under low P conditions. Interestingly, we found that GmEIL4 interacted with EIN3-binding F box protein 1 (GmEBF1), which may regulate the root response to low P stress. We conclude that the expression of GmEIL4 was induced by low-P stress and that overexpressing GmEIL4 improved P accumulation by regulating root elongation and architecture. Analysis of allele variation of GmEIL4 in 894 soybean accessions suggested that GmEIL4 is undergoing artificial selection during soybean evolution, which will benefit soybean production. Together, this study further elucidates how plants respond to low P stress by modifying root structure and provides insight into the great potential of GmEIL4 in crop P-efficient breeding. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


This book is a text of the history, technique, and application of nerve blocks. It is written to commemorate the birth and development of regional anesthesia at Bellevue Hospital and, more specifically, to document the contributions of E. A. Rovenstine toward the application of nerve blocking as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool. The reader of this volume is frequently confronted with misprints, miscomposition, and inaccuracies. Apparently, this manuscript has been published without adequate revision, rewrite, or attention to detail. Although currently available texts on this subject are entirely adequate, one would be inclined to accept this book because of the propriety of the author's expressed intentions. However, this reviewer must conclude that this volume will fail its mission because, in quality, it is far below the standards set by the many outstanding persons it is intended to commemorate.


The theory of pricing and hedging of derivative securities is mathematically sophisticated. This book is an introduction to the use of advanced probability theory in financial economics, presenting the necessary mathematics in a precise and rigorous manner. Professor Nielsen concentrates on three main areas: the theory of continuous-time stochastic processes, a notorious barrier to the understanding of probability theory in finance; the general theory of trading, pricing, and hedging in continuous time, using the martingale approach; and a detailed look at the BlackScholes and the Gaussian one-factor models of the term structure of interest rates. His book enables the reader to read the journal literature with confidence, apply the methods to new problems, or to do original research in the field.


The Volta basin lies on the southern part of the West African craton, more precisely on the Leo (or Man) craton. The Dahomeyides chain is thrust onto its eastern fringe. The Volta basin is filled with Neoproterozoic to Cambro- Ordovician sediments. From bottom to top they are: the Boumbouaka Supergroup made of sandstone, micro-conglomerates, siltstones, shales and limestone lenses; the Pendjari or Oti Supergroup composed of a triad made of a diamictite, a cap carbonate and a silexitic complex that passes upwards to siltstones and shales; the Tamale Supergroup representing the molasse of the Dahomeyides chain. The three supergroups were sampled for palaeomagnetic study. The magnetic mineralogical study shows magnetite and hematite as carriers of magnetization. Mean palaeomagnetic directions are calculated on the high temperature components and yield a mean palaeopole, Plon=349.3°, Plat=44.1°, dp=26.6°, dm=33.7°, for formations with ages between 993±62 Ma and 660±9 Ma and a mean palaeopole, Plon=119.5°, Plat=71.2°, dp=19.8°, dm=38.1°, for sites dated between 635 Ma and 600 Ma which are, respectively, the ages of the marinoan glaciations in Volta basin and the Pan-African deformation, responsible of the Dahomeyides chain. The palaeolatitudes of the older formations about 44.9° S and that of the younger sites about 9.1° S show a migration of the West African craton from medium to low latitude during the Neoproterozoic, in conformity with the Snowball Earth hypothesis. KEYWORDS: West African craton, Volta basin, Virtual Geomagnetic Pole, Palaeolatitude, Snowball Earth


Industrial distributed control continues the move toward networks at all levels. At lower levels, control networks provide flexibility, reliability, and low cost, although perhaps the simplest but most important advantage is the reduced volume of wiring. Powered fieldbuses offer particular notable benefits in system wiring simplification. Nevertheless, very few papers are dealing with the potentials and limitations in power distribution through the bus cable. Only a few of the existent fieldbus standards consider this possibility but often simply as an option without enough technical specifications. In fact, nobody talks about it, but power distribution through the bus and conducted noise disturbances are strongly related. This paper points out and analyzes these limitations and proposes a new low-cost fieldbus physical layer that enlarges power distribution capability of the bus and improves system robustness. We show an industrial application on water desalination plants and the very good results obtained owing to the fieldbus. Finally, we present electromagnetic compatibility test results that verify improvements against electrical fast transients on the sensor/actuator connection side as disturbances usually encountered in harsh-environment industrial applications.


This article analyzes the structures the Iberians developed to acquire linguistic mediators during their early imperial expansion into the Atlantic Ocean. It focuses on the specific case of slave-interpreters, indigenous captives that were taught European languages and used as guides and go-betweens during later expeditions to their homelands. Following the diffusion of the slave-interpreter system from the Canary Islands to West Africa and later to the American world, this article underlines the paramount importance of linguistic mediation within the broader Iberian imperial project. Slave-interpreters rapidly became key figures and indispensable for the Iberians' success.  However, the Iberians' dependance on these interpreters was also the source of suspicion and wariness. This pushed the Iberian expeditions leaders to constantly re-think their access to linguistic mediators, and their interactions with them. Through an analysis of contemporary sources, this article chronologically follows the evolution of the slave-interpreter system in the Atlantic throughout the fifteenth century. It focuses on the underlying tensions that shaped, and changed the relationship between the Iberians and their slave-interpreters.


This paper proposes a functional basis for final consonant extrametricality, the asymmetric status of CVC syllables as stress-attracting in non-final position of a word but stress-rejecting in final position. A typological study of phonemic vowel length pattern in 10 languages with this final vs. non-final stress asymmetry and 30 languages in which CVC attracts stress in final position indicates a robust asymmetry between languages differing in their stress system's treatment of final CVC. Languages that asymmetrically allow stress on non-final but not on final CVC all lack phonemic vowel length contrast in final position, whereas those lacking the stress asymmetry often have contrastive length in final vowels. It is claimed that the absence of phonemic length in languages that do not stress final CVC facilitates the nearly universal pattern of phonetic final lengthening, which threatens to obscure the perception of phonemic length. The enhanced lengthening of final vowels in languages with final phonemic vowel length reduces the duration ratio of CVC relative to CV, thereby reducing CVC's perceptual prominence and thus its propensity to attract stress in keeping with Lunden's (2006) proportional duration theory of weight. A phonetic study of two languages differing in the stress-attracting ability of final CVC offers support for the proposed account. Arabic, which displays consonant extrametricality and largely lacks phonemic vowel length in final position, has substantial final vowel lengthening, whereas Kabardian, which stresses final CVC and contrasts vowel length in final position, lacks substantial final lengthening.


Clinical indications for allergen immunotherapy (AIT) in respiratory and Hymenoptera venom allergy are well established; however, clinical contraindications to AIT are not always well documented. There are some discrepancies when classifying clinical contraindications for different forms of AIT as 'absolute' or 'relative'. EAACI Task Force on 'Contraindications to AIT' was created to evaluate and review current literature on clinical contraindications, and to update recommendations for both sublingual and subcutaneous AIT for respiratory and venom immunotherapy. An extensive review of the literature was performed on the use of AIT in asthma, autoimmune disorders, malignant neoplasias, cardiovascular diseases, acquired immunodeficiencies and other chronic diseases (including mental disorders), in patients treated with β‐blockers, ACE inhibitors or monoamine oxidase inhibitors, in children under 5 years of age, during pregnancy and in patients with poor compliance. Each topic was addressed by the following three questions: (1) Are there any negative effects of AIT on this concomitant condition/disease? (2) Are more frequent or more severe AIT‐related side‐effects expected? and (3) Is AIT expected to be less efficacious? The evidence, for the evaluation of these clinical conditions as contraindications, was limited, and most of the conclusions were based on case reports. Based on an extended literature research, recommendations for each medical condition assessed are provided. The final decision on the administration of AIT should be based on individual evaluation of any medical condition and a risk/benefit assessment for each patient.


Despite the positive economic growth over the last decade, poverty in Kosovo and Albania remains one of the highest in Europe. Both countries have experienced large migration flows which, together with remittances, seem to have been an effective mechanism for mitigating poverty, which would otherwise be even higher. This thesis investigates the determinants of poverty with a specific focus on the effect of education on poverty in Kosovo and Albania using data from the Kosovar Household Budget Survey 2011 and the Albanian Living Standard Measurement Survey 2012.
The review of studies suggests that there is no single unified theory of poverty. Moreover, there is no underpinning study that would fully inform the modelling approaches in this thesis. The economic theory of consumer behavior, duality theory as well as unitary approach provide the theoretical basis for measurement of household welfare. On the other hand, several theories and studies have been concerned with structural relations that affect poverty. According to human capital theory, education leads to increased income and thus decreases the risk of poverty. Literature also highlights the importance of migration, remittances and fertility in relation to poverty but also emphasizes the importance of education with regards to remittances and fertility. A key contribution of this thesis is
that, it attempts to put all these theories and approaches together to inform the models to be estimated in this thesis. Ordinary Least Squares and Probit estimation techniques are used to model consumption and poverty while quantile regression is used to gain further insights into how the determinants of household welfare change across the welfare distribution. Some of the factors which influence household poverty are expected to be endogenously related to poverty. In this thesis, this issue is addressed by controlling for the effect of the endogenous variables using pre-determined and exogenous indicators. One of the most important factors affecting household welfare is education.
Indicators such as the highest level of education in the household, share of adult members with respective education attainments, and mean years of education of adults are considered in the estimation, in addition to education of the household head (a commonly used education indicator), as they tend to better reflect the impact of education on household poverty.
Considering theoretical and empirical literature on migration, fertility and poverty, it seems
appropriate to expect that poverty, remittances and fertility are simultaneously determined; estimating each of the relationships separately would therefore not be appropriate. Hence, another important contribution of this thesis is that it models the three factors within a simultaneous equations system and thus explores the impact of education on poverty via different channels at the same time. For this purpose, Three-stage Least Squares (3SLS) estimation technique is utilized. An advantage of the 3SLS approach is that endogenous variables are allowed to appear on the right-hand side of the equations.
Findings are largely in accordance with theoretical expectations; education is found to be related to increased consumption and reduced poverty in both Kosovo and Albania, and the effect is higher for higher levels of education attained. The Quantile regression results indicate that the positive effect of increased levels of education on consumption is highest for the poorest households in Kosovo, while the same applies to the richest households in Albania. The results also underline the importance of migration and fertility in terms of household welfare in Kosovo and Albania. The 3SLS estimation results confirm our expectations regarding the joint determination of poverty, fertility and remittances.
Due to some limitations of the Kosovar dataset however, this analysis is performed using the
Albanian dataset only.


Efflorescent crusts at the Eagle Borax spring in Death Valley, California, contain an array of rare Mg and K borate minerals, several of which are only known from one or two other localities. The Mg- and/or K-bearing borates include aristarainite, hydroboracite, kaliborite, mcallisterite, pinnoite, rivadavite, and santite. Ulexite and probertite also occur in the area, although their distribution is different from that of the Mg and K borates. Other evaporite minerals in the spring vicinity include halite, thenardite, eugsterite, gypsum-anhydrite, hexahydrite, and bloedite. Whereas the first five of these minerals are found throughout Death Valley, the last two Mg sulfates are more restricted in occurrence and are indicative of Mg-enriched ground water.Mineral associations observed at the Eagle Borax spring, and at many other borate deposits worldwide, can be explained by the chemical fractionation of borate-precipitating waters during the course of evaporative concentration. The Mg sulfate and Mg borate minerals in the Eagle Borax efflorescent crusts point to the fractionation of Ca by the operation of a chemical divide involving Ca carbonate and Na-Ca borate precipitation in the subsurface sediments. At many other borate mining localities, the occurrence of ulexite in both Na borate (borax-kernite) and Ca borate (ulexite-colemanite) deposits similarly reflects ulexite's coprecipitation with Ca carbonate at an early concentration stage. Such ulexite may perhaps be converted to colemanite by later reaction with the coexisting Ca carbonate--the latter providing the additional Ca (super 2+) ions needed for the conversion. Mg and Ca-Mg borates are the expected late-stage concentration products of waters forming ulexite-colemanite deposits and are therefore most likely to occur in the marginal zones or nearby mud facies of ulexite-colemanite orebodies. Under some circumstances, Mg and Ca-Mg borates might provide a useful prospecting guide for ulexite-colemanite deposits, although the high solubility of Mg borate minerals may prevent their formation in lacustrine settings and certainly inhibits their geologic preservation. The occurrence of Mg borates in borax-kernite deposits is also related to fractionation processes and points to the operation of an Mg borate chemical divide, characterized by Mg borate precipitation ahead of Mg carbonate. All of these considerations imply that Mg is a significant chemical component of many borate-depositing ground waters, even though Mg borate minerals may not be strongly evident in borate orebodies.The Eagle Borax spring borates and other evaporite minerals were studied using spectroscopic and X-ray powder diffraction methods, which were found to be highly complementary. Spectral reflectance measurements provide a sensitive means for detecting borates present in mixtures with other evaporites and can be used to screen samples rapidly for X-ray diffraction analysis. The apparently limited occurrence of Mg and K borate minerals compared to Ca and Na borates may stem partly from the inefficiency of X-ray diffraction methods for delineating the mineralogy of large and complex deposits. Spectral reflectance measurements can be made in the laboratory, in the field, on the mine face, and even remotely. Reflectance data should have an important role in studies of existing deposit mineralogy and related chemical fractionation processes, and perhaps in the discovery of new borate mineral resources.


Continuous monitoring of glucose allows diabetic patients to better maintain blood glucose level by altering insulin dosage or diet according to prevailing glucose values and thus to prevent potential hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. However, current continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) relies mostly on enzyme electrodes or micro‐dialysis probes, which suffer from insufficient stability, susceptibility to corrosion of electrodes, weak or inconsistent correlation, and inevitable interference. A fluorescence‐based glucose sensor in the skin will likely be more stable, have improved sensitivity, and can resolve the issues of electrochemical interference from the tissue. This study develops a fluorescent nanodiamond boronic hydrogel system in porous microneedles for CGM. Fluorescent nanodiamond is one of the most photostable fluorophores with superior biocompatibility. When surface functionalized, the fluorescent nanodiamond can integrate with boronic polymer and form a hydrogel, which can produce fluorescent signals in response to environmental glucose concentration. In this proof‐of‐concept study, the strategy for building a miniatured device with fluorescent nanodiamond hydrogel is developed. The device demonstrates remarkable long‐term photo and signal stability in vivo with both small and large animal models. This study presents a new strategy of fluorescence based CGM toward treatment and control of diabetes.


Numerical weather prediction has traditionally been based on physical models of the atmosphere. Recently, however, the rise of deep learning has created increased interest in purely data-driven medium-range weather forecasting with first studies exploring the feasibility of such an approach. Here, we train a significantly larger model than in previous studies to predict geopotential, temperature and precipitation up to 5 days ahead and achieve comparable skill to a physical model run at similar horizontal resolution. Crucially, we pretrain our models on historical climate model output before fine-tuning them on the reanalysis data. We also analyze how the neural network creates its predictions and find that, with some exceptions, it is compatible with physical reasoning. Our results indicate that, given enough training data, data-driven models can compete with physical models. At the same time, there is likely not enough data to scale this approach to the resolutions of current operational models.