Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) are aiming to alleviate restrictions in airspace and airport capacity in low-visibility conditions. EVS relies on weather-penetrating forward-looking sensors that augment the naturally existing visual cues in the environment and provide a real-time image of prominent topographical objects that may be identified by the pilot. The basic idea behind this technology is to allow VMC operations under IMC. The recently released final rule of the FAA for Enhanced Flight Vision Systems (EFVS) clearly acknowledges the operational benefits of such a technology by stating the following: "Use of an EFVS with a Head-Up-Display (HUD) may improve the level of safety by improving position awareness, providing visual cues to maintain a stabilized approach, and minimizing missed approach situations".
An obvious method for showing the image information is to "overlay" it onto the head-up-display as transparent raster image. Due to its simplicity this method has been applied in several enhanced vision projects in the past. In
the US American SE-Vision program, which was finished with several emonstration flights on a Boeing 727 in 2005, a transparent inset method has been investigated, too. Beside several project partners, such as the FAA,
Rockwell-Collins and Max-Viz, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) had participated. Max-Viz provided a bi-FLIR camera, consisting of a long wave IR-sensor (LWIR, 8-13 micron) and a short wave IR-sensor (SWIR, 1-3
micron). The LWIR "sees" the thermal contrast between the concrete of the runway and the surrounding grass area, and the SIWR image captures runway lamps at the runway border and some other visual navigation aids like VASI or PAPI systems at the left or right side of the runway. DLR should demonstrate a more intelligent way of overlaying the information from this two IR-cameras, to reduce cluttering of the HUD and to provide a much better "look through", so that pilots can recognize clearly the outside-world shortly before the finally touchdown.
The applied method consists of the following steps: A separate analysis process extracts hypothesis on the location of the runway structure for both image sources. This extraction process itself is driven by some structure grouping algorithm based on image features, such as contour lines, contour blobs and so on. For each detected runway structure a hypothesis on the aircraft position relative to the runway is computed. Thereafter a fusion process, which is carried in parallel to the image analysis processes, combines these hypotheses from the different image sources over time and space, so that finally, after two or three seconds of consistent data, a valid relative aircraft position relative to the runway is available.


Cholera, a disease with a long history, continues to devastate populations around the world. Due to the route of transmission of Vibrio cholerae, the bacterial pathogen that causes the disease, cholera only seems to affect developing countries, giving rise to a health disparity. For developed countries with adequate water and sewage treatment systems, the threat of cholera is irrelevant. Meanwhile, developing countries which have underlying vulnerabilities of poverty and lack basic access to clean water and proper sanitation are disproportionately affected. There are many factors that put different populations at risk for cholera outbreaks. Epidemiological studies of cholera outbreaks show that the combination of poverty with the effects of conflict or natural disaster produces the most vulnerable population of refugees or internally displaced persons (IDP). Not only are these populations more susceptible to the risk of cholera outbreak, but they are more vulnerable to its devastating effects. Refugee and IDP camps experience higher attack rates and case fatality rates (CFR) due to the scarcity of resources (Brown, Jacquier, Bachy, Bitar, & Legros, 2002). Cholera outbreaks in displaced populations present a public health hazard in an emergency context. If these outbreaks are not properly managed, they can develop into epidemics and pandemics. Thus, it is important to implement a swift and effective strategy to manage cholera outbreaks in refugee and IDP camps. To do this there are two main objectives: control transmission of the disease and emergency medical relief. Control of transmission must be accomplished through short- and long-term solutions: a supply of adequate water and sanitation combined with a public health campaign to promote knowledge and proper practices. Emergency medical relief would consist of establishment of cholera treatment centers (CTC) that would provide urgent intervention to efficiently diagnose and treat cases of cholera to reduce fatality rates.


Women being left behind in the countryside by husbands who migrate to work has been a common phenomenon in China. On the other hand, over time, rural women's participation in migration has increased precipitously, many doing so after their children are older, and those of a younger generation tend to start migrant work soon after finishing school. Although these women may no longer be left behind physically, their work, mobility, circularity, and frequency of return continue to be governed by deep-rooted gender ideology that defines their role primarily as caregivers. Through the biographical stories of two rural women in Anhui, this article shows that traditional gender norms persist across generations. Yingyue is of an older generation and provided care to her husband, children, and later grandchildren when she was left behind, when she participated in migration, and when she returned to her village. Shuang is 30 years younger and aspires to urban lifestyle such as living in apartments and using daycare for her young children. Yet, like Yingyue, Shuang's priority is caregiving. Her decisions, which are in tandem with her parents-in-law, highlight how Chinese families stick together as a safety net. Her desire to earn wages, an activity much constrained by her caregiving responsibility to two young children, illustrates a strong connection between income-generation ability and identity among women of the younger generation. These two stories underscore the importance of examining how women are left behind not only physically but in their access to opportunities such as education and income-generating activity.


Individuals differ in their motives and strategies to cooperate in social dilemmas. These differences are reflected by an individual's social value orientation: proselfs are strategic and motivated to maximize self-interest, while prosocials are more trusting and value fairness. We hypothesize that, when deciding whether or not to cooperate with a random member of a defined group, proselfs, more than prosocials, adapt their decisions based on past experiences: they 'learn' instrumentally to form a base-line expectation of reciprocity. We conducted an fMRI experiment where participants (19 proselfs, 19 prosocials) played 120 sequential prisoner's dilemmas against randomly selected, anonymous and returning partners who cooperated 60% of the time. Results indicate that cooperation levels increased over time, but that the rate of learning was steeper for proselfs than for prosocials. At the neural level, caudate and precuneus activation were more pronounced for proselfs relative to prosocials, indicating a stronger reliance on instrumental learning and self-referencing to update their trust in the cooperative strategy.


: Data on placental transfer is lacking for the recent HIV integrase inhibitors, bictegravir and cabotegravir, although their future use in pregnancy is to be expected. The objective of this study was to determine their transplacental pharmacokinetics.Maternal-to-fetal transfer was investigated using the open-circuit ex-vivo dually perfused human cotyledon model.Cabotegravir or bictegravir was added to a maternal perfusate containing 2 g/l of human albumin and antipyrine, a marker to validate the cotyledon's viability, and cotyledons were dually perfused for up to 90 min.For cabotegravir, in five experiments, the median (IQR 25-75) cabotegravir concentrations in the maternal and in the fetal compartments were, respectively, 550 ng/ml (344-788) and 48 ng/ml (37-54), with a maternal-to-fetal ratio of 10% (5-16) and a clearance index (in comparison with antipyrine transfer) of 22% (19-28). The median cotyledon accumulation index was 10% (2-21).For bictegravir, in six experiments, the median (IQR 25-75) bictegravir concentrations in the maternal and in the fetal compartments were, respectively, 1650 ng/ml (1455-1960) and 126 ng/ml (112-142), with a maternal-to-fetal ratio of 7% (6-9.5) and a clearance index (in comparison with antipyrine transfer) of 21% (17-29). The median cotyledon accumulation index was 4% (3-5).Placental transfer of cabotegravir and bictegravir were low. This may not only limit the potential for fetal toxicities but also be a limit to their usefulness at the time of labor and delivery to reduce the risk of vertical HIV transmission. The safety and efficacy of these new integrase inhibitors in pregnancy requires more investigation.


The aim of this paper is to provide a guide to the clinical application of the functional computed tomography (CT) techniques fractional flow reserve (CT FFR) and myocardial perfusion (CTP) in patients presenting for the evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD). Both techniques have recently been introduced to complement coronary CT angiography (CTA) with physiological information. Evidence supporting their diagnostic accuracy accumulates at a fast pace, and both techniques are moving from research tools to clinical applications for specific subgroups of patients. As a consequence, the question that now emerges is how to optimally implement these techniques in the daily clinical workflow to maximize the benefit to patients. Given the inherent differences between both techniques in their underlying physical principles and methodology, as well as the types of pathophysiological information they provide, these techniques are not interchangeable. Rather, within the broad spectrum of patients presenting for CAD evaluation, both CT FFR and CTP may have their own optimized application where the highest benefit at the lowest risk and cost may be achieved. Therefore, we will review the physical principles and available clinical evidence of each technique, and propose how this information can be applied to the individual patient. Moreover, as techniques continue to mature, the combination of coronary CTA with CT FFR and/or CTP likely will become a powerful and accessible diagnostic tool for the detailed characterization of atherosclerotic disease providing a potentially more precise and personalized approach to patients with suspected CAD.


Objective: To assess refractive and biometric changes 1 week after discontinuation of lens wear in subjects who had been wearing orthokeratology (OK) contact lenses for 2 years. Methods: Twenty-nine subjects aged 6 to 12 years and with myopia of −0.75 to −4.00 diopters (D) and astigmatism of ⩽1.00 D participated in the study. Measurements of axial length and anterior chamber depth (Zeiss IOLMaster), corneal power and shape, and cycloplegic refraction were taken 1 week after discontinuation and compared with those at baseline and after 24 months of lens wear. Results: A hyperopic shift was found at 24 months relative to baseline in spherical equivalent refractive error (+1.86±1.01 D), followed by a myopic shift at 1 week relative to 24 months (−1.93±0.92 D) (both P<0.001). Longer axial lengths were found at 24 months and 1 week in comparison to baseline (0.47±0.18 and 0.51±0.18 mm, respectively) (both P<0.001). The increase in axial length at 1 week relative to 24 months was statistically significant (0.04±0.06 mm; P=0.006). Anterior chamber depth did not change significantly over time (P=0.31). Significant differences were found between 24 months and 1 week relative to baseline and between 1-week and 24-month visits in mean corneal power (−1.68±0.80, −0.44±0.32, and 1.23±0.70 D, respectively) (all P⩽0.001). Refractive change at 1 week in comparison to 24 months strongly correlated with changes in corneal power (r=−0.88; P<0.001) but not with axial length changes (r=−0.09; P=0.66). Corneal shape changed significantly between the baseline and 1-week visits (0.15±0.10 D; P<0.001). Corneal shape changed from a prolate to a more oblate corneal shape at the 24-month and 1-week visits in comparison to baseline (both P⩽0.02) but did not change significantly between 24 months and 1 week (P=0.06). Conclusions: The effects of long-term OK on ocular biometry and refraction are still present after 1-week discontinuation of lens wear. Refractive change after discontinuation of long-term OK is primarily attributed to the recovery of corneal shape and not to an increase in the axial length.


BACKGROUND
Neuromuscular blockers used to prevent shivering during therapeutic hypothermia in comatose patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are associated with adverse events.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the influence of a nurse-implemented protocol on use of neuromuscular blockers in patients treated with 24-hour therapeutic hypothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

METHODS
A before and after study was done in a 24-bed cardiac arrest center. During the before period, paralysis was maintained by continuous infusion of vecuronium during therapeutic hypothermia. During the after period, a nurse-implemented protocol was used to strictly control use of neuromuscular blockers. The primary outcome measure was duration of infusion of neuromuscular blockers; secondary end points included rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia and intensive care unit mortality.

RESULTS
Among the 22 patients in the before group and the 23 patients in the after group, most were men (78%) with a median age of 66 years. Baseline characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. Median duration of sedation was 36 hours, shorter in the after group (34 hours) than in the before group (38 hours; P = .02). Median duration of infusion of neuromuscular blockers was significantly shorter in the after group (6 hours) than in the before group (33 hours; P < .001). Ventilator-associated pneumonia occurred more frequently in the before group (45%) than in the after group (13%; P = .02). Overall intensive care unit mortality rate was 58%, similar in both groups (P = .44).

CONCLUSION
Use of a nurse-implemented protocol to reduce use of neuromuscular blockers is feasible.


Taking as its point of departure the improvised jazz-text collaboration between Ornette Coleman and Jacques Derrida at the 1997 Paris La Villette jazz festival, this article critiques the dominant positioning of Western law and jazz as that which is either completely devoid of improvisation (law) or founded solely upon such (jazz). By reading Derrida's texts on law and justice in tandem with his views on invention, the impromptu nature of improvisation is confronted and its relation to both jazz and law is interrogated. In his work on law and invention, Derrida probes the problematic relation between the singular and the general in order to challenge the supposed uniqueness of invention, along with the universality, which is said to propel occidental law. These observations, when applied to the critical study of improvisation, disrupt the prevailing understanding of the "extempore" and illustrate how improvisation so defined can be neither total in jazz nor totally absent in law. Instead, the singular (extempore) event exists solely as aporia in both fields. This unpacking of the aporetic nature of singularity reveals not only the inevitability of legal invention, but also the necessity of the "jazz form". Beyond this, however, and perhaps shedding some light on Derrida's participation in the "improvised" event described above, there exists an openly responsive dimension to the both jazz and law. This dimension, although never complete or absolute, glances towards the singular other and keeps alive the possibility of creativity, ethics, democracy and justice in Western law and society.


This guide is designed to help students research topics and themes related to Shakespeare's Othello. It includes guidance on citation in accordance with MLA style.


Part 1 of the workshop was a quick survey, with examples, of the range of educational videos produced by academics and students along with a consideration of their pedagogic functions.

Part 2 was hands on and participants worked in pairs developing a script and visual storyboard for their own video idea and providing critical support to their partner's ideas.

Part 3 was a general discussion of these designs, how they had been refined or simplified and how they might be used in teaching and learning.

Participants learned about the range of videos used in education and how they might be used in teaching. They learned about the range of multimedia that can be used in videos that makes them different from lectures, books, supervisions etc. And they developed an understanding of how they could develop a workflow and a division of labour with technical experts in making a video.


Bertha's warning to Walther that her narrative not be taken for a Mdrchen provides a clue to an "intrinsic" Freudian psychological reading of "Eckbert," a work which, like a dream or a fairy tale, has a "latent" as well as a "manifest" level. Bertha's narration is interspersed with compulsive confessions that point to her own repressed awareness of the symbolic meaning of her acts. On its latent level, her story is that of a narcissistic child's failure to attain the norm of productive social adaptation explicitly prescribed for her in the world of the work. Only in the fantastic "Waldeinsamkeit" does she approximate, briefly, "normal" socialization. Her theft of the jewels and killing of the two animals, in the context of her psychosocial and sexual development, is her definitive rejection of what they represent–the possibility of a productive life as wife and mother. The incestuous marriage symbolizes the fruitless union of two narcissistic characters who in the other love only themselves. Approached on a level other than that of logical causality, the story appears to have an inner coherence not previously appreciated.


This third and culminating volume in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' series on Edward Weston examines his role in the modernist movement. Comparative illustrations of work by Picasso, Brancusi, O'Keeffe, Pollock and other artists are included to provide a deeper understanding of these influences. Following an introduction by Theodore Stebbins, three sections of photographs with accompanying essays demonstrate the entire range of Weston's work: still lifes, work from the Mexican period, his landmark work with shells and peppers, small-format portraiture and fragmentary nudes, the classic 1930s series of nudes and dunes, and his late, abstract landscapes. This catalogue features many previously unpublished photographs from the Lane Collection. Vintage prints - all printed by Weston himself - were used to create the tritone reproduction throughout the book.


The authors submit an experimental model for bacterial translocation (administering OF-1 mice Zymosan intra-peritoneally at a dose of 1 mg/kg weight). The existence is confirmed of this new mechanism of infection (0% of translocation in control groups, as against 80% in the trial group -p < 0.001). The bacteria in the translocated organs coincide with those present in the fecal flora of the experimental animal. This study is the point of departure for subsequent research to study the physiopathological mechanisms of the phenomenon, which will enable us subsequently to reach better preventive and/or therapeutic decisions.


The actual problem of modern pedagogical science is the development of professional competence of a teacher. The new conditions for the development of society and the implementation of the activities of educational organizations, particularly higher education institutions, show the need to study the organization of professional development courses in society. The organization of educational space in a higher education institution requires not only logistical equipment of the educational process, but also the development of information competence of teachers. The modern teacher is a part of the digital educational space for the solution of problems, both education and education of students. Corporate courses for advanced training of teachers of higher education are able today to provide the educational process with trained personnel for work in the modern digital educational space of Moscow. Researches, conducted by local educational specialists proof the importance of raising teacher`s motivation for self-development and implementation of new forms of teaching. The authors present the guideline for arranging refresher courses for Moscow digital pedagogy. It is suggested to add 2 modules to the traditional course: Module aimed to arrange such digital courses on the basis of an educational institution and Module dedicated to interconnection and cooperation with parents of the students. The modern educational space is based on digital technologies that all teachers of different levels of education should possess. For this purpose integration of efforts of experts in the field of IT-technologies and teachers of higher school is necessary.


The phylogenetic relationships of species are fundamental to any biological investigation, including all evolutionary studies. Accurate inferences of sister group relationships provide the researcher with an historical framework within which the attributes or geographic origin of species (or supraspecific groups) evolved. Taken out of this phylogenetic context, interpretations of evolutionary processes or origins, geographic distributions, or speciation rates and mechanisms, are subject to nothing less than a biological experiment without controls. Cypriniformes is the most diverse clade of freshwater fishes with estimates of diversity of nearly 3,500 species. These fishes display an amazing array of morphological, ecological, behavioral, and geographic diversity and offer a tremendous opportunity to enhance our understanding of the biotic and abiotic factors associated with diversification and adaptation to environments. Given the nearly global distribution of these fishes, they serve as an important model group for a plethora of biological investigations, including indicator species for future cli- matic changes. The occurrence of the zebrafish, Danio rerio, in this order makes this clade a critical component in understanding and predicting the relationship between mutagenesis and phenotypic expressions in vertebrates, including humans. With the tremendous diversity in Cypriniformes, our understanding of their phylogenetic relationships has not proceeded at an acceptable rate, despite a plethora of morphological and more recent mo- lecular studies. Most studies are pre-Hennigian in origin or include relatively small numbers of taxa. Given that analyses of small numbers of taxa for molecular characters can be compromised by peculiarities of long-branch attraction and nodal-density effect, it is critical that significant progress in our understanding of the relationships of these important fishes occurs with increasing sampling of species to mitigate these potential problems. The recent Cypriniformes Tree of Life initiative is an effort to achieve this goal with morphological and molecular (mitochondrial and nuclear) data. In this early synthesis of our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of these fishes, all types of data have contributed historically to improving our understanding, but not all analyses are complementary in taxon sampling, thus precluding direct understanding of the impact of taxon sampling on achieving accurate phylogenetic inferences. However, recent molecular studies do provide some insight and in some instances taxon sampling can be implicated as a variable that can influence sister group relationships. Other instances may also exist but without inclusion of more taxa for both mitochondrial and nuclear genes, one cannot distinguish between inferences being dictated by taxon sampling or the origins of the molecular data.


Catechin, tannic and gallic acids belong to the most abundant nutritional plant polyphenols capable of modulating physiology of gut bacteria. The described modulation patterns vary from prebiotic/protective to anti-biofilm/antibacterial. Adequate interpretation of observed effects requires investigation of contributing factors. Apparently, applied dose and composition of the cultivation medium might be both essential for switching between planktonic and biofilm lifestyles. The aim of the present study was to study the effects of broad concentration range of catechin, tannic and gallic acids on pharmacodynamical parameters and biofilm formation in Escherichia coli BW25113 in minimal media M9 supplemented with glucose and LB broth. Here we showed the distinct modes of mass biofilm formation (BF) in Escherichia coli BW25113 in LB broth and M9 supplemented with glucose in the presence of polyphenols. BF was inhibited by 4 mg/ml catechin, tannic and gallic acids in LB, while in M9 tannic acid induced BF which correlated with no minimal biofilm prevention concentration (MBPC) found for tannic acid, while for gallic acid MBPC was 4 mg/ml. In both media minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for tannic and gallic acids were 1 and 4 mg/ml, respectively, while minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) was only found for gallic acid (4 mg/ml) in LB broth. In certain cases, the amount of cells undergoing biofilm formation was altered. Calculation of specific biofilm formation revealed absence of inhibiting effects for gallic acid, however stimulation by tannic acid was still present in both media.


Measurements of krill gut pigment content, evacuation rates and digestive efficiency were obtained during January 1993 in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, between the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) and the Polar Front Zone (PFZ). These \Yere combined with net and acoustically derived abundance and biomass data to estimate the in situ grazing of Euphausia superba on the phytoplankton assemblages. Individual ingestion rates of krill were 1.5 to 3 times higher than rates previously obtained with in vitro incubations. Gut pigment levels and evacuation rates varied in the range of 0.01 to 10 pg chlorophyll a equivalents (chl a equiv.) ind:' and 0.10 to 0.31 h-', respectively. Pigment losses to non-fluorescing products during digestion were very high, in the range of 67 to 90'): of the total pigment ingested, indicating that some of the gut pigment levels previously obtained w~thou t correction foldigestive losses may have been underestimated by up to an order of magn~tude . Krill population ~ m p a c t on the phytoplankton stock exhibited a large variability, in the range of 0.0014 to 2.68% of total Integrated chlorophyll a and 0.023 to 50.8% of primary production consumed per day. The largest variations in impact levels were associated with the method used to estimate krill abundance and biomass, with net derived estimates being much lower (by as much as 2 orders of magnitude) than those obtained from acoustic data. Daily carbon rations obtained from our measurements of pigment ingestion rates are among the lowest recorded for E. superba during the summer season and, with 1 exception, ranged between 0.15 and 1.68% of body carbon per day. A daily ration of -13% body carbon was recorded only at 1 station in the MIZ which exhibited a dense phytoplankton bloom of -3 5 1-19 chl 1-' On the basis of the energetic requirements of the sununer krill population, it is suggested that throughout the PFZ and the MIZ E. superba must consume a much larger proportion of heterotrophic carbon than prev~ously supposed. Gut content analysis suggests that this is achieved by predation on inesoand microzooplankton.


In this study, Al-0.80Mg-0.85Si alloy was modified with the addition of 0.3 wt.-% zirconium and the variation of microstructural features and mechanical properties were investigated. In order to produce the billets, vertical direct chill casting method was used and billets were homogenized at 580 °C for 6 h. Homogenized billets were subjected to aging practice following three stages: (i) solution annealing at 550 °C for 3 h, (ii) quenching in water, (iii) aging at 180 °C between 0 and 20 h. The hardness measurements were performed for the alloys following the aging process. It was observed that peak hardness value of Al-0.80Mg-0.85Si alloy increased with the addition of zirconium. This finding was very useful to obtain aging parameters for the extruded hollow profiles which are commonly used in automotive industry. Standard tensile tests were applied to aged profiles at room temperature and the results showed that modified alloy had higher mechanical properties compared to the non-modified alloy.


Nigeria's emergence from recession remains slow: real GDP grew by 1.9 percent in 2018. While this was above the 0.8 percent growth of 2017, it was below the population growth rate, government projections and pre-recession levels. The oil and gas sector reverted to contraction from the second quarter of the year and the non-oil economy was thus the main driver of growth in 2018. While agriculture slowed down significantly due to conflict and weather events, whose effects were not counteracted by direct interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), non-oil, non-agricultural growth, which remained negative up to the third quarter of 2017 strengthened through 2018 - but remained weak – with services (primarily ICT) resuming as the key driver. As the oil sector is not labor-intensive, and the non-oil economy was still relatively weak, nearly a quarter of the work force was unemployed in 2018; and another 20 percent under-employed. With 3.9 million net entrants into the labor force (now 90.5 million people) during 2018 (up to September) (4.5 percent growth), but virtually no growth in the stock of jobs, unemployment rose by 2.7 percentage points since end-2017, and more than doubled compared to the pre-recession levels (9.9 percent in Q3 of 2015).


Yellow Livestrong wristbands were taken off across America early last year when Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey that he had doped during the seven Tour de France races he won. But the foreign cycling world, which always viewed Armstrong with suspicion, had already moved on. The bellwether events of the year were Chris Froome's victory in the Tour and the ousting of Pat McQuaid as director of the Union Cycliste Internationale. Even without Armstrong, the Tour will roll on-its gigantic entourage includes more than 200 racers, 450 journalists, 260 cameramen, 2,400 support vehicles carrying 4,500 people, and a sevenmile-long publicity caravan. It remains one of the most-watched annual sporting events on television and a global commercial juggernaut. In Selling the Yellow Jersey, Eric Reed examines the Tour's development in France as well as the event's global athletic, cultural, and commercial influences. The race is the crown jewel of French cycling, and at first the newspapers that owned the Tour were loath to open up their monopoly on coverage to state-owned television. However, the opportunity for huge payoffs prevailed, and France tapped into global networks of spectatorship, media, business, athletes, and exchanges of expertise and personnel. In the process, the Tour helped endow world cycling with a particularly French character, culture, and structure, while providing proof that globalization was not merely a form of Americanization, imposed on a victimized world. Selling the Yellow Jersey explores the behind-the-scenes growth of the Tour, while simultaneously chronicling France's role as a dynamic force in the global arena.


Navigating the ubiquitous conflict, competition, and complex group dynamics of the peer group is a pivotal developmental task of childhood. Difficulty negotiating these challenges represents a substantial source of risk for psychopathology. Evolutionary developmental psychology offers a unique perspective with the potential to reorganize the way we think about the role of peer relationships in shaping how children cope with the everyday challenges of establishing a social niche. To address this gap, we utilize the ethological reformulation of the emotional security theory as a guide to developing an evolutionary framework for advancing an understanding of the defense strategies children use to manage antagonistic peer relationships and protect themselves from interpersonal threat (Davies and Sturge-Apple, 2007). In this way, we hope to illustrate the value of an evolutionary developmental lens in generating unique theoretical insight and novel research directions into the role of peer relationships in the development of psychopathology.


the 1960s. Access was given to the employees' roll although employment details during the war were virtually non-existent. We think that the information gathering process when taken together with the records of the coroner and the histopathology review was as detailed as any other similar study in existence. As the "non-exposed" group was classified as such by history it is obvious to most readers that we are unable to state how they acquired excessive amounts of amphibole fibres within their lung tissues. If these eight cases with high amphibole concentrations are deducted the rate of mesothelioma becomes 1-6 million a year which is similar to the generally estimated background rate. Greenberg seems to be unaware that high aspect ratio amphibole fibres have been found in the pleura.' By contrast with animal studies, which rely on the administration of enormous doses and overload of the respiratory defences, human studies have been remarkably consistent in showing a strong association between amphibole exposure and mesothelioma whereas for chrysotile it has been weak or non-existent.2 Even in chrysotile miners and millers, in whom there have been few mesotheliomas, the evidence indicates that they were related to tremolite rather than chrysotile exposure.34 To the best of our knowledge the forthcoming review of chrysotile by the International Programme on Chemical Safety will not present any new evidence although it might give a different opinion. Other reviews conclude that amphiboles have a much greater potency than chrysotile for producing mesothelioma.5 6 A T EDWARDS Royal Halifax Infirmary, Halifax, Yorkshire D WHITAKER Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, Perth, Western Australia K BROWNE Formerly Medical Adviser to Cape Industries, Leicester House, North Creake, Norfolk F D POOLEY School of Engineering, Division ofMaterials and Minerals, University of Wales, Cardiff A R GIBBS Department of Histopathology and Environmental Lung Disease Research Group, Llandough Hospital, Penarth, South Glamorgan


When there is noise in a covariance matrix, portfolio optimization tends to produce portfolios for which the risk forecasts are underestimates of the true risk. In this paper, we take a closer look at the connection between estimation error and the underestimation of the risk of optimized portfolios. We pay special attention to the case in which returns have a known factor structure. There, the bias in optimization can be reduced dramatically by using a covariance matrix based on a factor model, rather than one computed from historical asset covariances. Moreover, our analysis reveals that for many active portfolios, the bias in factor-model forecasts is less than previously thought. Lastly, we discuss the role of constraints in mitigating risk forecasting bias.


The aim of this study was determination of the inactivation rate of Salmonella Senftenberg W775 and Salmonella Typhimurium in cattle and swine slurry stored under laboratory conditions at 4 and 20˚C. Salmonella bacilli underwent constant, gradual elimination from the slurry during its storage. This process occurred more efficiently in samples stored at 20˚C than at 4˚C. At both studied temperatures elimination of bacteria was faster in swine slurry than in cattle. Shorter survivability in research material, in both temperature variants and kinds of slurry, showed Salmonella Typhimurium.


Abstract Historically, the banking multiplier has been in a range of 4 to 100, with 25% to 1% reserve ratios at most layers of the banking system encompassing the majority of its range in recent centuries. Here it is shown that multipliers over 1 000 can occur from a new mechanism in banking. This new multiplier uses a default insurance note to insure an outstanding loan in order to return the value of the insured amount into capital. The economic impact of this invention is calculably greater than the original invention of reserve banking. The consequence of this lending invention is to render the existing money multiplier equations of reserve banking obsolete where it occurs. The equations describing this new multiplier do not converge. Each set of parameters for reserve percentage, nesting depth, etc. creates a unique logarithmic curve rather than approaching a limit. Thus it is necessary to show the behavior of this new equation by numerical methods. Understanding this new multiplier and associated issues is necessary for economic analyses of the Global Financial Crisis.


This paper focuses on Italy's Fascist ossuaries of the First World War. It is intended to show how a methodology that uses images and texts can expose the political purposes that underpinned the creation of the ossuaries, to contribute to the literature on the commemoration of fallen soldiers, and to advance the study of war monuments as expressions of political forces. The paper also represents an attempt to bridge between different approaches to the study of war monuments that have emerged in history and in visual studies. It examines Italian ossuaries of the Great War as both objects and symbols, or as aesthetic configurations and carriers of political meanings. Physical characteristics, such as those associated with context, space and style, are shown to express elements of Fascist ideology relating, for instance, to hierarchy, victory and power.


Purpose
The purpose of this study is to describe university students' motivations for using Facebook as an informal learning tool and explore the key barriers that may inhibit learning on the social media platform.

Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach was adopted in this study. Participants were 82 university students who participated in "e-Tutor" – an informal learning activity, conducted through Facebook. Focus group interviews were conducted, and students' interactions on Facebook were also analysed to understand their motives for using the social media platform for learning. The uses and gratifications theory was used to explore student motivations for participating in the learning activity.

Findings
Results suggest that students perceived Facebook as a potential tool for learning and identified multiple motivating factors for their participation that included information seeking, convenience, connectedness, entertainment and reward seeking. Results also show that time constraints, social anxiety and cultural issues may inhibit learners' active participation on social media platforms such as Facebook.

Originality/value
This study outlines an approach to use readily available and low-cost technological tools in learning design and provides some insights for teachers to design ubiquitous and personalised learning environments for students using such technologies, particularly social media. Specifically, Facebook offered a way to engage students in informal learning which can supplement students' formal learning trajectories at university. While the uses and gratifications students sought through Facebook had an overall positive effect on their participation in e-Tutor activity, certain barriers can impede student active participation in learning environments on social media sites such as Facebook.


Now that we understand the difference between sigma and \(\pi\) electrons, we remember that the \(\pi\) bond is made up of loosely held electrons that form a diffuse cloud which can be easily distorted. This can be illustrated by comparing two types of double bonds, one polar and one nonpolar. The C=C double bond on the left below is nonpolar. Therefore the \(\pi\) electrons occupy a relatively symmetric molecular orbital that's evenly distributed (shared) over the two carbon atoms. The C=O double bond, on the other hand, is polar due to the higher electronegativity of oxygen. The \(\pi\) cloud is distorted in a way that results in higher electron density around oxygen compared to carbon. Both atoms still share electrons, but the electrons spend more time around oxygen. The drawing on the right tries to illustrate that concept.


Image reconstruction in positron emission tomography (PET) is computationally challenging due to Poisson noise, constraints and potentially non-smooth priors-let alone the sheer size of the problem. An algorithm that can cope well with the first three of the aforementioned challenges is the primal-dual hybrid gradient algorithm (PDHG) studied by Chambolle and Pock in 2011. However, PDHG updates all variables in parallel and is therefore computationally demanding on the large problem sizes encountered with modern PET scanners where the number of dual variables easily exceeds 100 million. In this work, we numerically study the usage of SPDHG-a stochastic extension of PDHG-but is still guaranteed to converge to a solution of the deterministic optimization problem with similar rates as PDHG. Numerical results on a clinical data set show that by introducing randomization into PDHG, similar results as the deterministic algorithm can be achieved using only around 10 % of operator evaluations. Thus, making significant progress towards the feasibility of sophisticated mathematical models in a clinical setting.


Climate warming is expected to increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme events in the mid to long term. Here, we combine a model of forest management with inter-country input-output tables to estimate the economic effect on the EU-28 and USA economies of changes in the output of the forestry and logging sectors due to extreme forest disturbance events. Given our model results, we estimate that the impact on the EU-28 economy will be equivalent to the value of wood damaged multiplied 3.32 fold [3.00-3.44]. We find that the economic cost of a global pan-European extreme event (a pulse of 450 M m3) could be 120.4 billion Euros in the EU-28 and and 1.7 billion in the USA (i.e. 0.926 and 0.015% of their respective GDPs). Finally, we explore how to design incentives to increase the economic resilience of the response of forestry and logging companies to expected future climate change. Using a heterogeneous companies model, we show that payments to landowners to conserve forest increase economic resilience.


To what extent investments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have contributed to productivity growth in Cameroon? This paper explores the relationship between productivity and investment in ICT in Cameroon at firms' level in 2004. Using cross-section data and applying a Cobb-Douglas function, the studies reveals that investment in ICT has no impact on productivity, as the estimated coefficient of ICT investment on productivity is not significant. Also, ICT investment has no impact on labor productivity and labor intensity. These findings differ from results obtained by Shymal Chowdhury (2002) according to which ICT investment has negative and significant impact on labor productivity in East Africa. In Cameroon labor remains the key factor of value added growth. This seems to be realistic as the country has an important workforce that tends to slow down salaries. Since labor is the abundant factor, it is profitable for firms to increase their production by recruiting more units of labor. If ICT investment contributes to rapid globalization of economies, it does not contribute to productivity growth in Cameroon.


Antigenic and genomic properties of non-serotype 6 bovine rotaviruses isolated in Thailand and Japan were studied by cross-neutralization tests, nucleotide sequence determination of the VP7 gene, and RNA-RNA hybridization. Two Thai strains (61A and A44) were serologically related to a Japanese isolate KK3 which has been assigned to serotype 10. In contrast, strain A5 was found to be antigenically similar to human strain 69M with serotype 8 specificity, although strain A5 showed a one-way cross-reaction with serotype 6 strain NCDV. VP7 sequence analysis confirmed these results. High degrees of similarity in nucleotide and amino acid sequences (92.5 to 98.2% and 96.3 to 97.9%, respectively) were found among the VP7 genes of the four serotype 10 bovine strains (61A, A44, KK3 and B223). The VP7 amino acid sequence of strain A5 was similar to those of serotype 8 human strains (91.7% and 94.8% for strains B37 and 69M, respectively). In RNA-RNA hybridization experiments, a high level of overall relatedness was found among the three serotype 10 bovine strains (61A, A44 and KK3), and strains A5 and NCDV were also moderately related to the three serotype 10 viruses. All the bovine rotaviruses tested in this study, regardless of their serotype specificity, exhibited a moderate genetic-relatedness to strain 69M of serotype 8, and, to a lesser extent, to serotype 2 human rotavirus strains.


Background: Theories of the development of psychotic symptoms have suggested that metacognitive beliefs might play a part. However, studies offering supporting evidence have failed to distinguish between metacognitive beliefs about the consequences of having certain thoughts, and metacognitive beliefs about one's own cognitive skills. Aims: To distinguish metacognitive beliefs and investigate the extent of their association with psychotic-like experiences. Method: Participants were 60 healthy adults recruited primarily from two university campuses. Three measures of metacognition were administered: (i) Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30); (ii) Metacognitive Assessment Inventory; and (iii) Koriat General Questions Test; and two schizotypy questionnaires: O-Life and SPQ-B and data were analysed using an exploratory principal components analysis of the metacognition measures. Results: Three principal components were identified: (i) Beliefs about thoughts; (ii) Cognitive confidence; and (iii) Beliefs about cognitive regulation. Only the "beliefs about thoughts" component was significantly associated with the "psychotic-like experiences" factor, extracted from the measures of schizotypy. Conclusions: The finding supports theories suggesting that psychotic symptoms may be caused in part by negative metacognitive beliefs about thoughts. However, metacognition is a complex construct that is currently poorly understood.


In France, a physician is considered liable for a medical error only if the appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic means were not used. The urologist who evaluates a patient is responsible for the diagnosis of renal carcinoma and for assessing the spread of the disease and deciding whether surgery is indicated. The urologist coordinates the various investigations and interprets results in the light of each individual patient's characteristics. In most renal carcinomas, only simple imaging techniques are needed: renal ultrasonography and an intravenous urogram or a CT scan. Further techniques may be required to assess disease spread according to the French Urology Association's Oncology Committee, only abdominal ultrasonography and a chest film are "absolutely required", the other imaging techniques being "desirable" or "optional".


A common issue in low temperature measurements of enhancement-mode metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) field-effect transistors (FETs) in the low electron density regime is the high contact resistance dominating the device impedance. In that case a voltage bias applied across the source and drain contact of a Hall bar MOSFET will mostly fall across the contacts (and not across the channel) and therefore magneto-transport measurements become challenging. However, from a physical point of view, the study of MOSFET nanostructures in the low electron density regime is very interesting (impurity limited mobility [1], carrier interactions [2,3] and spin-dependent transport [4]) and it is therefore important to come up with solutions [5,6] that work around the problem of a high contact resistance in such devices (c.f. Fig. 1 (a)).


How the visual cortex responds to specific stimuli is strongly influenced by visual experience during development. Monocular deprivation, for example, changes the likelihood of neurons in the visual cortex to respond to input from the deprived eye and reduces its visual acuity. Because these functional changes are accompanied by extensive reorganization of neurite morphology and dendritic spine turnover, genes regulating neuronal morphology are likely to be involved in visual plasticity. In recent years, Notch1 has been shown to mediate contact inhibition of neurite outgrowth in postmitotic neurons and implicated in the pathogenesis of various degenerative diseases of the CNS. Here, we provide the first evidence for the involvement of neuronal Notch1 signaling in synaptic morphology and plasticity in the visual cortex. By making use of the Cre/Lox system, we expressed an active form of Notch1 in cortical pyramidal neurons several weeks after birth. We show that neuronal Notch1 signals reduce dendritic spine and filopodia densities in a cell-autonomous manner and limit long-term potentiation in the visual cortex. After monocular deprivation, these effects of Notch1 activity predominantly affect responses to visual stimuli with higher spatial frequencies. This results in an enhanced effect of monocular deprivation on visual acuity.


At present, probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) has been widely used in many fields such as the design and manufacture of nuclear power plants, and PSA has gradually developed into an important tool for safety evaluation and decision-making. With the increasing peak-to-valley difference between power grid loads, the peak-shaving situation of the power system is becoming more and more severe. Due to the increase in the proportion of nuclear power in the power grid, the power system has an increasing demand for nuclear power units to participate in power grid peak-shaving. The nuclear power plant technical specifications and the nuclear power plant final safety analysis report in the nuclear safety regulations have clear requirements for the operating conditions of the nuclear power plant. As a power generation device with special safety requirements, the safest and most economical operation mode of nuclear power plants is to operate at rated load. The Chinese government and nuclear safety regulatory authorities attach great importance to nuclear power safety, and nuclear safety must be foolproof. From the perspective of probabilistic safety analysis, this paper analyzes the impact of Fangjiashan Nuclear Power Plant's (FSJ NPP) participation in peak-shaving by using the load-following operation mode, and gives reasonable suggestions.


Existing position-based routing algorithms, where packets are forwarded in the geographic direction of the destination, normally require that the forwarding node should know the positions of all neighbors in its transmission range. This information on direct neighbors is gained by observing beacon messages that each node sends out periodically. Several beaconless greedy routing schemes have been proposed recently. However, none of the existing beaconless schemes guarantee the delivery of packets. Moreover, they incur communication overhead by sending excessive control messages or by broadcasting data packets. In this paper, we describe how existing localized position based routing schemes that guarantee delivery can be made beaconless, while preserving the same routes. In our guaranteed delivery beaconless routing scheme, the next hop is selected through the use of control RTS/CTS messages and biased timeouts. In greedy mode, the neighbor closest to destination responds first. In recovery mode, nodes closer to the source will select shorter timeouts, so that other neighbors, overhearing CTS packets, can eliminate their own CTS packets if they realize that their link to the source is not part of Gabriel graph. Nodes also cancel their packets after receiving data message sent by source to the selected neighbor. We analyze the behavior of our scheme on our simulation environment assuming ideal MAC, following GOAFR+ and GFG routing schemes. Our results demonstrate low communication overhead in addition to guaranteed delivery.


Anyone who has visited the Red House in Aldeburgh will have been struck by the range and quality of art collected by Benjamin Britten and, in particular, by Peter Pears. A Musical Eye is illustrated with more than 200 works from the Britten-Pears collection and considers more widely the importance of art and design in their lives and work. There is also a comprehensive checklist of over 300 paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures in the collection with details including size, medium, date and purchase price. The book is edited by former Britten-Pears Foundation Curator Judith LeGrove, who also explains how the collection evolved and provides a checklist of key works. Colin Matthews, who worked with Britten and is now BPF's Director of Music, provides an introduction, while the current Curator at The Red House, Caroline Harding, uses correspondence in the BPF archive to explore the patronage by Britten and Pears of a wide range of artists. Julian Potter writes on the friendship between his mother, the artist Mary Potter, and Britten. Broadening the scope of the visual arts, architectural historian Alan Powers considers the buildings commissioned or modified by Britten and Bloomsbury; Britten's work for film; Sidney Nolan's artistic responses to Britten's music; and the designs for Britten's stage works, most notably by John Piper.


White grubs (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) are polyphagous pests with a wide host range including several commercially important crops. Surveys conducted in different parts of the country covering six states (Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh) during 2015-18 revealed the occurrence of white grubs on major fruit crops like mango, grapes, pomegranate, guava, apple, peach and plum in considerable proportions. Though white grub adults and larvae are known to be pests of fruit crops, they were considered as minor pests. However, the survey results indicate that in the recent past, white grubs are causing considerable damage ranging from 15-40% in different fruit crops and diversity of species occurring also has widened. While young plantations of guava and pomegranate suffered root damage resulting in death of 10–25% plants, other crops were defoliated by adult beetles. White grubs encountered during these surveys mainly belonged to 11 species under six genera viz., Holotrichia, Anomola, Maladera, Schizonycha, Adoretus and Popillia. Emergence of white grubs, once considered to be minor or sporadic pests of fruit crops, necessitates regular surveillance and documentation to implement timely management practices.


Ataxia telangiectasia is a familial disorder characterized by ataxia, telangiectasia, and recurrent sinopulmonary infections. 1-3 Retardation of growth is a common feature. Many patients have, in addition, immunologic deficiencies 4 and some have endocrine disturbance. Sexual infantilism, absence of ovaries, bilateral dysgerminomata, hypoplastic adrenals, unspecified cytomegalic changes of the anterior hypophysis, and an unusual form of diabetes mellitus are among the endocrine disturbances reported. 3,5-7 The present study was undertaken to extend previous endocrine observations, to evaluate growth hormone release, and to determine if any measurable endocrine disturbances could be responsible for the growth retardation. Report of Cases Case1 and Case 2.—A boy 4 years, 10 months of age (case 1) and his 6-year-old sister (case 2) had all the typical findings of advanced ataxia telangiectasia (Table 1). Telangiectasis of the eyes, face, head, neck, and trunk; cafe au lait markings, truncal ataxia, and deficiency in fine motor coordination


INTRODUCTION
Prior research on bilateral-stream Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) displays reveals that participants often perceive left visual field (LVF) targets significantly sooner than right visual field (RVF) targets (Matthews, Welch, Festa & Clement, 2013). The hastened perception of LVF targets occurs for temporal order judgments (TOJs) but not simultaneity judgments (SJs) on the same stimuli. This demonstrates task-specific neural events for time perception. Here, we investigated the extent to which task-specific neural events govern time discrimination by evaluating whether training differentially affects the precision of SJs and TOJs.

METHOD
Twenty Denison University undergraduates viewed bilateral-stream RSVP displays containing two targets, one in each lateral hemifield, shown either simultaneously or at various asynchronies. Half the participants judged the targets' temporal order (TOJ task), and half judged whether the targets appeared simultaneously or not (SJ task). Retinal stimulation remained identical across the SJ and TOJ tasks. Each participant completed two daily training sessions. Collectively, the participants completed 24,000 trials (600 trials per day * 2 days * 10 participants per task * 2 tasks). We assessed temporal precision using standard signal detection procedures to determine d'.

RESULTS
On each task and each day, the precision of SJs and TOJs increased significantly with target-asynchrony magnitude (logarithmic trends, p's≤0.05), demonstrating significant stimulus-control over the participants' responses. At each target asynchrony, mean TOJ precision increased significantly (p's≤0.05) from day 1 to day 2. The practice-based improvement observed on TOJs significantly exceeded that observed on SJs (p's=3.04E-05), which exhibited non-significant precision decreases on day 2.

CONCLUSION
In principle, precision on SJs and TOJs could depend on a shared computation, namely, the difference between two arrival times. Despite this, our perceptual learning data suggest a dissociation between the neural events mediating SJ and TOJ precision even when stimulation remains identical across tasks. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the research question: How does the application of response-based practice theory to the responses of female identifying youth inform professionals who support them? Four female identifying youth aged 12 to 13 completed an open-ended questionnaire that invited them to report the social messages they receive about female gender stereotypes, together with how they respond to these messages. A thematic analysis was used to analyze and group both the social messages the participants receive and their responses to these messages. The latent themes identified about the social messages the youth receive include subordination, strength, beauty, body appearance, and behaviour. The semantic subthemes identified about the social messages the youth receive include, need, not, and be. The latent themes identified about how participants respond to social messages include expose, withstand, repel, abstain, and approve. The findings indicate the youth are active responders, who employ a variety of actions to resist the social messages they perceive as unjust. A discussion of the findings brings attention to the significance of using a response-based practice lens to understand the influence of social messages, and the myriad ways youth can respond to these messages. Implications for supporting youth who are navigating social messages of gendered expectations are presented.


To investigate the delivery of microwave energy by a catheter located inside the heart for the purpose of ablating small abnormal regions producing cardiac arrhythmias, a numerical model was developed. This model is based on the finite element method and can solve both the electromagnetic field and the temperature distribution resulting from the radiated power for axisymmetrical geometries. The antenna, which is fed by a coaxial cable with a 2.4 mm diameter, is constituted by a monopole which is terminated by a metallic cylindrical cap. The heart model can be either homogeneous or constituted of coaxial cylindrical shells with different electrical and thermal conductivities representing the intracavitary blood masses, the heart, and the torso. Experimental measurements obtained in an homogeneous tissue equivalent medium, such as the reflection coefficient of the antenna at different frequencies and for different monopole lengths, the radial and axial steady-state temperature profiles, end the time course of the temperature rise, were all in close agreement with the values computed with the model, accurate modeling is a useful prerequisite for the design of antennas, and these results confirm the validity of the catheter-heart model for the investigation and the development of microwave catheters.


After over 30 years of theorizing, the use of angiogenesis inhibitors as anticancer therapy has finally moved from the realm of research to reality. Normal adult vasculature is generally quiescent in nature, with endothelial cells dividing approximately every 10 years. In contrast, the growth of tumors requires constant vascular growth and remodeling in order for solid tumors to grow beyond 1-2 mm(3) in size. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors are key regulators of the process of angiogenesis, which makes them attractive therapeutic targets. A multitude of VEGF-targeted inhibitory agents are currently being investigated for the treatment of cancer. This review article focuses on recent developments in the use of angiogenesis inhibitors for the treatment of breast, lung, and colorectal cancers.


The paper summarizes the experience of teaching Computer Science at the Faculty of Management and Economics at Tomas Bata University in Zlín. Furthermore, the implementation of a knowledge management system in education at the Faculty of Military Technology at the University of Defence in Brno is mentioned. The methodology, an overview of subject areas, application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in instruction and its organization are also presented herein. The results of some research activities in the field of Informatics instruction are introduced; and options for future development of the courses are proposed. The introduction of new approaches and methods into teaching with the use of ICT is


Summary A series of homologues of α-asarone (1), containing variable size and functionality on the side chain attached to the aromatic ring, has been subjected to a study of structure-activity relationship. For most of the prepared derivatives, either with a carbonyl (8a-8e), a hydroxy group (9a-9e), or with a conjugated double bond (10a-10d), significant effects on serum lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL-cho-lesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides were displayed. The results showed an enhancement of the hypocholesterolemic activity as the length of the chain is decreased. Theoretical conformational and electrostatic potential analyses of 1 and olefins 10 suggest unfavorable steric interactions in the bulky superior side-chain homologues as the deactivating biological effect.


The current study evaluated the prognostic significance of the monoallelic deletion of the whole locus of the immunoglobulin heavy‐chain (w_del(IGH)) gene compared to translocations t(4;14) and t(14;16) among newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients. We retrospectively analyzed clinical (age, gender, and staging) and laboratory data at diagnosis and the overall survival (OS) of 255 newly diagnosed MM patients carrying w_del(IGH) or translocations t(4;14) or t(14;16). Bone marrow samples were examined by morphological and sequential interphase fluorescense in situ hybridization analyses. Among 255 patients, 117 (45.8%) had w_del(IGH), 99 (38.8%) had t(4;14), and 39 (15.3%) had t(14;16). Mean age was 61.6 ± 11.6 years. Groups did not differ significantly in age, gender, or lactate dehydrogenase levels. Patients in the w_del(IGH) group presented more frequently at International Staging System stage I than at stage II/III. Patients in the w_del(IGH) group had significantly fewer additional chromosomal aberrations (1.58) than the other two groups (2.3 and 2.13 in the del(IGH), t(14;16) and t(4;14) groups, respectively, P < 0.0001). Furthermore, the w_del(IGH) group had significantly longer estimated median OS (9.47 years) compared to those with translocations t(14;16) (3.02 years, P = 0.002) or t(4;14) (4.18 years, P = 0.001), respectively. These findings suggest a potential prognostic significance of monoallelic deletion of IGH among these patients. Additional studies are needed to better understand the nature and mechanism of this prognostic factor.


In Europe, hymen 'repair' is controversial because it is often seen as a concession to immigrant groups that do not respect women's sexual autonomy. But how is hymen 'repair' viewed in societies in which the norm is that women should not have premarital sex? And why do women want hymen 'repair'? Hymen 'repair' is also controversial in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries because it is seen as undermining social mores about women and premarital sex. However, some Islamic leaders have defended the procedure. Women request hymen 'repairs' for a variety of reasons. Some have been sexually abused and may desire the surgery to overcome trauma. Some have had consensual sex and may fear sanctions, while others may see the surgery as a covert act of rebellion against the virginity rule. Still others may choose it to please their future husband. Hymen 'repair' is extensively discussed in MENA countries and in Europe. Feminists in MENA countries are divided over whether the surgery promotes sexual autonomy while, in the European debate, an important issue is whether the choice itself is an autonomous one that doctors should respect. Inspired by a relational approach to autonomy, I see the women involved as individuals with culturally informed identities and interests who may feel pressure to get the surgery yet are still capable of autonomy. I argue for a policy to stimulate debate in communities about the virginity norm and to make hymen 'repair' available to women. However, it should be combined with an attitude of sympathetic distrust, recognising that hymen 'repair' harms women's dignity and authenticity.


When we look beyond lesson planning and curricula - those explicit facets that comprise so much of our discussion about education - we remember that teaching is an inherently social activity, shaped by a rich array of implicit habits, comportments, and ways of communicating. This is as true in the United States as it is in Japan, where Akiko Hayashi and Joseph Tobin have long studied early education from a cross-cultural perspective. Taking readers inside the classrooms of Japanese preschools, Teaching Embodied explores the everyday, implicit behaviors that form a crucially important - but grossly understudied-aspect of educational practice. Hayashi and Tobin embed themselves in the classrooms of three different teachers at three different schools to examine how teachers act, think, and talk. Drawing on extended interviews, their own real-time observations, and hours of video footage, they focus on how teachers embody their lessons: how they use their hands to gesture, comfort, or discipline; how they direct their posture, gaze, or physical location to indicate degrees of attention; and how they use the tone of their voice to communicate empathy, frustration, disapproval, or enthusiasm. Comparing teachers across schools and over time, they offer an illuminating analysis of the gestures that comprise a total body language, something that, while hardly ever explicitly discussed, the teachers all share to a remarkable degree. Showcasing the tremendous importance of - and dearth of attention to - this body language, they offer a powerful new inroad into educational study and practice and a deeper understanding of how teaching actually works, no matter what culture or country it is being practiced in.


The flagellated protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis is an obligate human genitourinary parasite and the most frequent cause of sexually transmitted disease worldwide. Most clinical isolates of T. vaginalis are persistently infected with one or more double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses from the genus Trichomonasvirus, family Totiviridae, which appear to influence not only protozoan biology but also human disease. Here we describe the three-dimensional structure of Trichomonas vaginalis virus 1 (TVV1) virions, as determined by electron cryomicroscopy and icosahedral image reconstruction. The structure reveals a T 1 capsid comprising 120 subunits, 60 in each of two nonequivalent positions, designated A and B, as previously observed for fungal Totiviridae family members. The putative protomer is identified as an asymmetric AB dimer consistent with either decamer or tetramer assembly intermediates. The capsid surface is notable for raised plateaus around the icosahedral 5-fold axes, with canyons connecting the 2and 3-fold axes. Capsid-spanning channels at the 5-fold axes are unusually wide and may facilitate release of the viral genome, promoting dsRNA-dependent immunoinflammatory responses, as recently shown upon the exposure of human cervicovaginal epithelial cells to either TVV-infected T. vaginalis or purified TVV1 virions. Despite extensive sequence divergence, conservative features of the capsid reveal a helix-rich fold probably derived from an ancestor shared with fungal Totiviridae family members. Also notable are mass spectrometry results assessing the virion proteins as a complement to structure determination, which suggest that translation of the TVV1 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase in fusion with its capsid protein involves 2, and not 1, ribosomal frameshifting, an uncommonly found mechanism to date. IMPORTANCE Trichomonas vaginalis causes ~250 million new cases of sexually transmitted disease each year worldwide and is associated with serious complications, including premature birth and increased transmission of other pathogens, including HIV. It is an extracellular parasite that, in turn, commonly hosts infections with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses, trichomonasviruses, which appear to exacerbate disease through signaling of immunoinflammatory responses by human epithelial cells. Here we report the first three-dimensional structure of a trichomonasvirus, which is also the first such structure of any protozoan dsRNA virus; show that it has unusually wide channels at the capsid vertices, with potential for releasing the viral genome and promoting dsRNA-dependent responses by human cells; and provide evidence that it uses 2 ribosomal frameshifting, an uncommon mechanism, to translate its RNA polymerase in fusion with its capsid protein. These findings provide both mechanistic and translational insights concerning the role of trichomonasviruses in aggravating disease attributable to T. vagi-


In his first book, The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche observes that Greek tragedy gathered people together as a community in the sight of their gods, and argues that modernity can be rescued from 'nihilism' only through the revival of such a festival. This is commonly thought to be a view which did not survive the termination of Nietzsche's early Wagnerianism, but Julian Young argues, on the basis of an examination of all of Nietzsche's published works, that his religious communitarianism in fact persists through all his writings. What follows, it is argued, is that the mature Nietzsche is neither an 'atheist', an 'individualist', nor an 'immoralist': he is a German philosopher belonging to a German tradition of conservative communitarianism - though to claim him as a proto-Nazi is radically mistaken. This important reassessment will be of interest to all Nietzsche scholars and to a wide range of readers in German philosophy.


CUA University Library resources that pertain to the Catholic University of America 125th anniversary. Topics covered: articles, books, CUA archives, CUA history, CUA notable alumni, CUA presidents, CUA primary resources.


Problem Greater discriminative power to clarify the diagnostic category of learning disabilities is needed. Research identifies many types of learning disabled populations. Studies do not indicate that the six variables used in this project had been combined and used in a project prior to this. Using measures such as Sentence Repeat, Synonyms, Digits Forward/Backwards, Design Copy, Nonsense Words, and Visual Pattern Matching, this project studied the responses of an LD sample to these subtests and their ability to discriminate among a verbally impaired sample, a spatially impaired sample, and a control group. Method Six subtests were developed, which, according to the literature, measured auditory discrimination and memory (Sentence Repeat); auditory and verbal comprehension and general verbal background (Synonyms); immediate auditory memory, attention, concentration, double tracking, and reversal of mental operations (Digits Forward/Backwards); visual perceptual-motor functioning (Design Copy); lexical processing (Nonsense Words); and visual memory and visual-perceptual learning (Visual Pattern Matching). The basic null hypothesis was that there is no linear combination of six variables which significantly discriminates among the three groups. The instrument was subjected to a pilot study before the final data collection took place. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance, multivariate analysis of variance, and discriminant function analysis. Results Two subtests dominated in their ability to discriminate among the groups--Synonyms and Digits Forward/Backwards. Both the verbal and spatial groups were found to have shared deficits, but differed significantly from the control group on most of the measures. The null hypothesis was rejected. Conclusion The 9-12-year-old males in this sample with learning disabilities expressed deficits only in verbally related areas--specifically auditory/verbal comprehension and short-term auditory memory, attention, and concentration. Based on the literature and data gathering experience, it was also revealed that students should not be placed in LD programs based on one test, and a home visit should take place.


Simple diffusion processes on networks have been used to model, analyze and predict diverse phenomena such as spread of diseases, information and memes. More often than not, the underlying network data is noisy and sampled. This prompts the following natural question: how sensitive are the diffusion dynamics and subsequent conclusions to uncertainty in the network structure? In this paper, we consider two popular diffusion models: Independent cascades (IC) model and Linear threshold (LT) model. We study how the expected number of vertices that are influenced/infected, given some initial conditions, are affected by network perturbation. By rigorous analysis under the assumption of a reasonable perturbation model we establish the following main results. (1) For the IC model, we characterize the susceptibility to network perturbation in terms of the critical probability for phase transition of the network. We find the expected number of infections is quite stable, unless the the transmission probability is close to the critical probability. (2) We show that the standard LT model with uniform edge weights is relatively stable under network perturbations. (3) Empirically, the transient behavior, i.e., the time series of the number of infections, in both models appears to be more sensitive to network perturbations. We also study these questions using extensive simulations on diverse real world networks, and find that our theoretical predictions for both models match the empirical observations quite closely.


This exploratory study used components found in social influence theory and social style to examine the school board president's perceptions of the district superintendent's ability to influence the construction of the board agenda and voting decisions made by school boards in 131 randomly chosen school districts. Social influence theory and social style suggest that credibility, social attractiveness, assertiveness, and emotiveness are effective and compelling elements of influence. Results from this study suggest that favorable board decision making for superintendent-recommended action items is closely related to the superintendent's trustworthiness (perceived use of skills and knowledge for the good of the district), expertise (specialized knowledge of the superintendent) and social attractiveness (perceived compatibility with board presidents). Findings also indicate that the attributes of social influence theory and social style are perceived as essential in the superintendent's ability to develop and maintain a cooperative working relationship with board members and the community.


UNLABELLED
Astringency, a tactile sensation felt in the mouth after exposure to various foods, is poorly understood. Our objective was to investigate the mechanism of astringency by determining if it was related to a loss of saliva's ability to lubricate mouth surfaces. We used 2 complementary approaches: (1) instrumentally determining if astringents decrease salivary lubricity and (2) determining if human subjects could perceive these changes. Instrumentally measured friction of saliva-tannin mixtures was greater than that of saliva-water mixtures, but these differences were not detectable by human subjects. Adding alum or acid to saliva did not increase friction measured either instrumentally or by human subjects rubbing the mixture between their thumb and fingers. Thus a loss of salivary lubricity is likely not a central mechanism of astringency.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
If astringency's mechanism can be elucidated, food producers will gain knowledge that will enable them to manufacture, alter, or treat the food in a way to retain its healthful attributes while minimizing the astringency. This knowledge will also benefit sensory scientists interested in the intensity perceptions of the sensations and will allow them to devise improved methods for the assessment of the attribute.


In recent years, mobile operating systems, represented by android and iOS, have become more and more popular in smartphones. However, the energy issue in smartphones, which refers to the poor battery capacity and management schemes, has been the bottle-neck to further advance the development in this area. Generally, mobile applications have to consider both performance and energy consumption. But unfortunately, few works have been focused on this issue. In this paper, we aim at conducting an experimental study on the performance and energy tradeoffs for mobile applications. In particular, we focus on mobile database applications as they are one of the basic applications on mobile operating systems. In detail, we use the android system as the basic mobile platform, and the TPC-H benchmark as the workload, and build a benchmark platform called TPCdroid to conduct performance and energy measurement. In TPCdroid, we control the mobile database performance by changing the processor frequency. The initial experimental results show that lowering frequency is not always helpful for reducing energy consumption. Moreover, we found that the traditional energy reducing technologies based on X86 and magnetic disks are not suitable for mobile database applications running on ARM and flash memory. Finally, we analyse the relationship between performance and energy consumption under different kinds of workloads, which is done by adjusting the parameters reflecting performance and energy consumption for mobile database applications. The results show that the energy consumption has a dynamic connection with the performance in mobile database applications.


Partille municipality is planning an extension of the building Forellen. Green environments in health care have been shown to improve the health of patients, especially in elderly care. This report addresses the possibility of using the leftover space in close connection to a dementia and short-term accommodation to a winter garden and a terrace. The report also analyzes the impact of these green spaces on the residents.
The purpose is to find alternative answers on the issue through the study of nursing homes and green spaces, and that these may be useful for Partille municipality and inspiration for future projects. The goal is to get conclusions in to a report, drawings, and an oral presentation.
The results show that the design of environments can affect human well-being and also be healing both mentally and physically. In this report focused on elderly, particularly dementia patients, in a garden setting.
The results also discuss how the technical design of a roof terrace, a corridor and a winter garden might look like with respect to increased availability and a more demanding installation technology environment.
When planning the corridor the level differences between the connecting rooms must be considered. The corridor must be at least 3 meters wide to fulfill the requirements.
The roof construction in the winter garden varies depending on what kinds of plants are used. The facade is glazed and is supported by a steel construction. The installations must handle both high temperatures as well as low.
The terrace is built on a roof that must be isolated. Different materials can be used to walk on. Both the terraces and the winter gardens passages needs 1.8 meters and the flowerbeds should be elevated so everyone can access.


The induction of antigen-specific unresponsiveness or tolerance is critical for the prevention of autoimmunity and maintenance of immune homeostasis. The presence of regulatory T cells (Treg cells) has been recently demonstrated in animals and in humans. Interestingly, Treg cells may be either quantitatively or qualitatively altered in human autoimmune diseases, for example, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, Type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), suggesting a role in disease pathophysiology. The present review summarises the emerging literature on the developmental origin and function of human Treg cells. The potential clinical application of Treg cells to human autoimmune diseases and to post-transplantation graft-versus-host disease is discussed.


Due to the strong impact of the deregulation of the electricity sector there is a growing need for the correct and timely information from different parts of the system. The introduction of an increasing number of modern intelligent electronic devices enables the interaction between devices in the electric power facility. This enables vertical and horizontal multi-dimensional data exchange. Different generations of different devices with their proprietary communication solutions prevent the establishment of free data and information exchange. Need for standardization of communication within the power system has resulted in the emergence of new standards. The increasing emphasis on ecology and sustainable development lead to a continuous growth of renewable energy sources. With the growing number of distributed energy resources on the power grid there is a need to establish a new model for process information system. This paper gives an overview of new technological solutions and standards that enable more efficient utilization of all available resources. Basic building blocks for the modeling process are presented. Certain specifics of distributed energy resources that affect the modeling process of information system for modern electric power system are presented in this work.


We present CaosDB, a Research Data Management System (RDMS) designed to ensure seamless integration of inhomogeneous data sources and repositories of legacy data in a FAIR way. Its primary purpose is the management of data from biomedical sciences, both from simulations and experiments during the complete research data lifecycle. An RDMS for this domain faces particular challenges: research data arise in huge amounts, from a wide variety of sources, and traverse a highly branched path of further processing. To be accepted by its users, an RDMS must be built around workflows of the scientists and practices and thus support changes in workflow and data structure. Nevertheless, it should encourage and support the development and observation of standards and furthermore facilitate the automation of data acquisition and processing with specialized software. The storage data model of an RDMS must reflect these complexities with appropriate semantics and ontologies while offering simple methods for finding, retrieving, and understanding relevant data. We show how CaosDB responds to these challenges and give an overview of its data model, the CaosDB Server and its easy-to-learn CaosDB Query Language. We briefly discuss the status of the implementation, how we currently use CaosDB, and how we plan to use and extend it.


In Africa around 2,500 languages are spoken. Some of these languages have their own indigenous scripts. Accordingly, there is a bulk of printed documents available in libraries, information centers, museums and offices. Digitization of these documents enables to harness already available language technologies to local information needs and developments. This paper presents an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system for converting digitized documents in local languages. An extensive literature survey reveals that this is the first attempt that reports the challenges towards the recognition of indigenous African scripts and a possible solution for Amharic script. Research in the recognition of African indigenous scripts faces major challenges due to (i) the use of large number characters in the writing and (ii) existence of large set of visually similar characters. In this paper, we employ a novel feature extraction scheme using principal component and linear discriminant analysis, followed by a decision directed acyclic graph based support vector machine classifier. Recognition results are presented on real-life degraded documents such as books, magazines and newspapers to demonstrate the performance of the recognizer.


Discover your strengths, produce exponential results, and increase the bottom line Based on solid empirical research, The Handbook for Leaders reveals the keys to becoming an extraordinary leader, showing you how-and why-to focus on your core strengths rather than correcting your weaknesses. This precise, no-nonsense rulebook outlines the essential competencies and guidelines for effective leadership, including: Focus on results Cultivate interpersonal skills Lead organizational change Learn from your mistakes Develop your people Build positive relationships Be open to new ideas Take initiative Fix fatal flaws Take a nonlinear approach Be accountable The Handbook for Leaders shows you how to develop and implement the proficiencies you need to gain the respect and support of your people, enhance productivity and individual performance, and make an enormous contribution to the long-term success of your organization.


Habitat fragmentation strongly affects species distribution and abundance. However, mechanisms underlying fragmentation effects often remain unresolved. Potential mechanisms are (1) reduced dispersal of a species or (2) altered species interactions in fragmented landscapes. We studied if abundance of the spider-hunting and cavity-nesting wasp Trypoxylon figulus Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is affected by fragmentation, and then tested for any effect of larval food (bottom up regulation) and parasitism (top down regulation). Trap nests of T. figulus were studied in 30 agricultural landscapes of the Swiss Plateau. The sites varied in the level of isolation from forest (adjacent, in the open landscape but connected, isolated) and in the amount of woody habitat (from 4 % to 74 %). We recorded wasp abundance (number of occupied reed tubes), determined parasitism of brood cells and analysed the diversity and abundance of spiders that were deposited as larval food. Abundances of T. figulus were negatively related to forest cover in the landscape. In addition, T. figulus abundances were highest at forest edges, reduced by 33.1% in connected sites and by 79.4% in isolated sites. The mean number of spiders per brood cell was lowest in isolated sites. Nevertheless, structural equation modelling revealed that this did not directly determine wasp abundance. Parasitism was neither related to the amount of woody habitat nor to isolation and did not change with host density. Therefore, our study showed that the abundance of T. figulus cannot be fully explained by the studied trophic interactions. Further factors, such as dispersal and habitat preference, seem to play a role in the population dynamics of this widespread secondary carnivore in agricultural landscapes.


Synopsis Streptograptus is a common, diverse and stratigraphically important Telychian graptolite genus. It is characterised by the presence of a centrally‐placed nozzle in the metatheca. Five species groups of Streptograptus are recognised, based upon the presence or absence of thecal characters, the most important of which are (all terms are new): cupulae, which are protuberances at the base of the theca; the platform, a concave depression with a central longitudinal convexity in which the metatheca sits; the distal lobes, extensions of the dorsal metathecal wall; and the apron, secondary fusellar growth over the original metatheca. Pseudostreptograptus thecae lack the central longitudinal convexity to the platform and bear lateral spines/spatulate processes. Isolated material of 12 species, mostly from Osmundsberget, Sweden, is described. Cupulae, the platform and ventral rhabdosome curvature appeared at the beginning of the Telychian, the apron at the beginning of the turriculatus Zone. In the subsequent crispus and sar‐torius zones some new character combinations arose (platforms in proximal thecae only of S. crispus, a species that lacks cupulae), whilst others reached their greatest recorded level of development (central longitudinal convexity and marginal flanges to platform in S. loydelli, apron in S. sartorius).


ABSTRACT Objective: To examine training and match loads undertaken by soccer players competing in the English Premier League. Methods: Using a retrospective design, external (GPS) and internal training loads (sessions ratings of perceived exertion [sRPE-TL]) were examined in 26 players across the competition phase of the 2012–2013 English Premier League season. Within-subject linear mixed-models estimated the mean effects (95% confidence interval [CI]) for load data across 6-week mesocycles and 1-week microcycles. Results: Daily sRPE-TL (95% CI range, 15 to 111 AU) and total distance (95% CI range, 179 to 949 AU) were higher during the early stages (mesocycle 1 and 2) of the competition period. Overall, high-speed activity was similar between mesocycles. Across the training week, load was greater on match day and lower pre match-day (G-1) vs. all other days, respectively (p < 0.001). sRPE-TL (~70–90 AU per day) and total distance (~700–800 m per day) progressively declined over the 3 days before a match (p < 0.001). High-speed distance was greater 3 days (G-3) before a game vs. G-1 (95% CI, 140 to 336 m) while very high-speed distance was greater on G-3 and G-2 than G-1 (95% CI range, 8 to 62 m; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Periodisation of in-season training load is mainly evident across the weekly microcycle reflecting the recovery and preparation for matches.


Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogen whose resurgence coincides with the rising number of AIDS patients. Neutrophils are known to be involved in the clearance of Candida infections; however, the role of macrophages in host defenses against this organism is not well understood. The present study was undertaken to examine an unrecognized interaction between neutrophils and macrophages resulting in enhanced killing of candidae in vitro. Murine peritoneal macrophages exposed to recombinant myeloperoxidase exhibited enhancement of the respiratory burst, increased phagocytosis, and a dose-dependent increase in intracellular killing of Candida species. Radical scavengers reduced the killing, indicating a role of reactive oxygen intermediates in the candidacidal activity observed. These data suggest that at the site of infection, myeloperoxidase released from neutrophils activates macrophages and induces microbicidal activity.


This thesis critically examines and synthesizes Newman's theological views on the nature and aims of a Catholic academy, by comparing his life and work with recent documents of the Catholic Church, including Ex Corde Ecclesiae (1990) and The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium (1997). Its primary original contribution is the systemisation of Newman's educational ideal based on this theological focus and intertextual method. Part one, 'Retrieving the Sources', employs an historico-theological ressourcement. It seeks to rediscover sources for Catholic educational renewal from Newman and the magisterium, even as these are based on a similar return to the sources of Scripture and the classic texts of Christianity. Chapter one introduces the aims, methods, sources, and working definitions. The second and third chapters analyse Newman's specifically educational formation, writings, and praxis, in light of theological concerns. Part two, 'Restoring the Foundations' begins with an examination in chapter four of the Christian humanism Newman developed through a retrieval of the Alexandrian Fathers. His contributions to the tradition included an imaginative rearticulation of the preeminence of Christ and theology in education, and of a Christian hierarchy of educational aims. Chapters five and six consider Newman's relevance to the contemporary concerns of school identity and climate, illustrating the type of `theological prescriptions' advocated by John Paul II. Three appendices provide original syntheses of background information and unpublished material. The concluding chapter brings the most important findings into sharp relief, while suggesting areas for further study. Newman propounded his theological convictions regarding Catholic education with passionate intensity through his literary art and his positive personal influence. They have continuing relevance, despite the differences that separate his world from ours. He offers enduring principles for study, and inspiring stories for re-imagining the Church's mission of restoring all things in Christ, through a courageous and continual renewal of Catholic schools and universities.


Code variants represent alternative implementations of a computation, and are common in high-performance libraries and applications to facilitate selecting the most appropriate implementation for a specific execution context (target architecture and input dataset). Automating code variant selection typically relies on machine learning to construct a model during an offline learning phase that can be quickly queried at runtime once the execution context is known. In this paper, we define a new approach called architecture-adaptive code variant tuning, where the variant selection model is learned on a set of source architectures, and then used to predict variants on a new target architecture without having to repeat the training process. We pose this as a multi-task learning problem, where each source architecture corresponds to a task; we use device features in the construction of the variant selection model. This work explores the effectiveness of multi-task learning and the impact of different strategies for device feature selection. We evaluate our approach on a set of benchmarks and a collection of six NVIDIA GPU architectures from three distinct generations. We achieve performance results that are mostly comparable to the previous approach of tuning for a single GPU architecture without having to repeat the learning phase.


: The OOO "Research-and-Production Association "Diagnostic Systems" has developed a "DC-EIA-HIV-AT/AG-SPECTRUM" screening enzyme immunoassay system designed to detect separately antibodies to certain HIV-1 and HIV-2 proteins, as well as antigen p24. The determination of antibodies of all classes and the marker of early-stage infection antigen p24 with a high (5 pg/ml) sensitivity substantially reduces the number of void results obtained in the use of immunoblots. The developed "DC-EIA-HIV-AT/AG-SPECTRUM" plate system is an effective tool to support positive screening results and may be used at the final stage of laboratory diagnosis of HIV infection.


Mollisia and its allied genera are known to occur worldwide as saprophytes and are easily cultured, but difficult to identify. They are also known as root endophytes, but a lack of morphological characteristics of endophytic isolates makes their identification challenging. To facilitate connecting apothecial morphology with isolates based on sequence data, a new database called MolliBase was designed. The database provides photographs of apothecia, line drawings of apothecial elements, sequences obtained from the culture, and specimen and culture information. Initially, a dataset comprising 51 specimens from Japan is released