Glycosylation of therapeutic recombinant proteins is of importance due to its potential impact on solubility, bioactivity, pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity of glycoprotein pharmaceuticals. Detailed characterization of glycans present on recombinant glycoprotein remains an important challenge in the development and production of biotherapeutics. Analytical strategies for characterization of N- and O- glycosylation and monosaccharides analysis will be presented. These include comparison of HILIC-FLR, MALDI-TOF MS and CE-LIF for N-glycan analysis, choice of a method for quantitative and non-selective release of O-linked glycans, and selection of a method for monosaccharide composition analysis. With few exceptions (e.g., deoxyribose), monosaccharides have this chemical formula: (CH2O)x, where conventionally x ≥ 3. Monosaccharides are often classified by the amount x of carbon atoms they contain: triose (3), tetrose (4), pentose (5), hexose (6), heptose (7), and so on. Glucose, used as an energy source and for the synthesis of starch, glycogen and cellulose, may be a hexose. Ribose and deoxyribose (in RNA and DNA respectively) are pentose sugars. Samples of heptoses include the ketoses, mannoheptulose and sedoheptulose. Monosaccharides with eight or more carbons are rarely observed as they're quite unstable. In aqueous solutions monosaccharides exist as rings if they need quite four carbons. Two monosaccharides with equivalent molecular graphs (same chain length and same carbonyl position) should be distinct stereoisomers, whose molecules differ in spatial orientation. This happens as long as the molecule contains a stereogenic center, specifically an atom that's chiral (connected to four distinct molecular sub-structures). Those four bonds can have any of two configurations in space distinguished by their handedness. During a simple open-chain monosaccharide, every carbon is chiral except the primary and therefore the last atoms of the chain, and (in ketoses) the carbon with the keto group. For instance, the triketose H(CHOH)(C=O)(CHOH)H (glycerone, dihydroxyacetone) has no stereogenic center, and thus exists as one stereoisomer. the opposite triose, the aldose H(C=O)(CHOH)2H (glyceraldehyde), has one chiral carbon — the central one, number 2 — which is bonded to groups −H, −OH, −C(OH)H2, and −(C=O)H. Therefore, it exists as two stereoisomers whose molecules are mirror images of every other (like a left and a right glove). Monosaccharides with four or more carbons may contain multiple chiral carbons, in order that they typically have quite two stereoisomers. The amount of distinct stereoisomers with an equivalent diagram is bounded by 2c, where c is that the total number of chiral carbons. The Fischer projection may be a systematic way of drawing the skeletal formula of an acyclic monosaccharide in order that the handedness of every chiral carbon is well specified. Each stereoisomer of an easy open-chain monosaccharide are often identified by the positions (right or left) within the Fischer diagram of the chiral hydroxyls (the hydroxyls attached to the chiral carbons). Most stereoisomers are themselves chiral (distinct from their mirror images). Within the Fischer projection, two mirror-image isomers differ by having the positions of all chiral hydroxyls reversed right-to-left. Mirror-image isomers are chemically identical in non-chiral environments, but usually have very different biochemical properties and occurrences in nature. While most stereoisomers are often arranged in pairs of mirror-image forms, there are some non-chiral stereoisomers that are just like their mirror images, in spite of getting chiral centers. This happens whenever the molecular graph is symmetrical, as within the 3-ketopentoses H(CHOH)2(CO)(CHOH)2H, and therefore the two halves are mirror images of every other. Therein case, mirroring is like a half-turn rotation. For this reason, there are only three distinct 3-ketopentose stereoisomers, albeit the molecule has two chiral carbons. Distinct stereoisomers that aren't mirror-images of every other usually have different chemical properties, even in non-chiral environments. Therefore, each mirror pair and every non-chiral stereoisomer could also be given a selected monosaccharide name. For instance, there are 16 distinct aldohexose stereoisomers, but the name "glucose" means a selected pair of mirror-image aldohexoses. Within the Fischer projection, one among the 2 glucose isomers has the hydroxyl at left on C3, and at right C4 and C5; while the opposite isomer has the reversed pattern. These Specific monosaccharide names have conventional three-letter abbreviations, like "Glu" for glucose and "Thr" for threose. Generally, a monosaccharide with an asymmetrical carbons has 2n stereoisomers. The amount of chain stereoisomers for an aldose monosaccharide is larger by one than that of a ketose monosaccharide of an equivalent length. Every ketose will have 2(n−3) stereoisomers where n > 2 is that the number of carbons. Every aldose will have 2(n−2) stereoisomers where n > 2 is that the number of carbons. These also are mentioned as epimers which have the various arrangement of −OH and −H groups at the asymmetric or chiral carbon atoms (this doesn't apply to those carbons having the carbonyl functional group). Like many chiral molecules, the 2 stereoisomers of glyceraldehyde will gradually rotate the polarization direction of linearly polarized light because it passes through it, even in solution. The 2 stereoisomers are identified with the prefixes d- and l-, consistent with the sense of rotation: d-glyceraldehyde is dextrorotatory (rotates the polarization axis clockwise), while l-glyceraldehyde is levorotatory (rotates it counterclockwise). The d- and l- prefixes also are used with other monosaccharides, to differentiate two particular stereoisomers that are mirror-images of every other. For this purpose, one considers the chiral carbon that's furthest far away from the C=O group. Its four bonds must hook up with −H, −OH, −C(OH)H, and therefore the remainder of the molecule. If the molecule are often rotated in space in order that the directions of these four groups match those of the analog groups in d-glyceraldehyde's C2, then the isomer receives the d- prefix. Otherwise, it receives the l- prefix. Within the Fischer projection, the d- and l- prefixes specifies the configuration at the atom that's second from bottom: d- if the hydroxyl is on the proper side, and l- if it's on the left side. Note that the d- and l- prefixes don't indicate the direction of rotation of polarized light, which may be a combined effect of the arrangement in the least chiral centers. However, the 2 enantiomers will always rotate the sunshine in opposite directions, by an equivalent amount. cf. d/l system. In this seminar, I will discuss appropriate glycoanalysis methods which allowed detecting changes in glycosylation parameters. A case study will be presented that highlights glycoanalysis techniques useful for gaining understanding of the relationship between process inputs (raw materials) and product quality attributes. The findings confirm that the glycosylation profile of therapeutic antibodies needs to be monitored through development to ensure consistency, efficacy, and safety of therapeutic products.


Background Papillary Thyroid Carcinomas (PTCs) are generally indolent tumors. However, a small but significant percentage of PTCs behaves aggressively, progressing to a diffuse metastatic spreading and leading to patient's death. The lack of reliable markers for predicting the metastatic behavior of these tumors prevents a correct risk based stratification of the disease, thus contributing to the issue of patients' overtreatment. In this study we aimed at identifying genetic features associated with the development of distant metastasis in PTCs. Results We showed that DM PTCs are characterized by a moderate degree of copy number alterations but display low level of microsatellite instability and a low mutational burden. We identified duplication of Chr1q, duplication of Chr5p harboring the TERT genomic locus and mutations of TERT promoter as distinctive features of DM PTCs. These three genetic variables defined a signature (THYT1) that was significantly associated with a metastatic behavior and a shortened survival. We analyzed the THYT1 signature in PTCs fine needle aspirate biopsies (FNAB) and we demonstrating the applicability of this signature as a molecular marker in the pre-operative diagnostic setting of PTCs. Materials and Methods A consecutive series of 2,937 thyroid malignancies, diagnosed at the Arcispedale S. Maria Nuova - IRCCS, Italy between 1978 and 2015 were searched to retrieve those who developed distant metastasis (DM, n = 50). We performed a deep profiling to explore the genomic landscape of these tumors. Conclusions Overall our data identify the first genetic signature that independently predicts metastasis and negative outcome of PTCs, and lay the basis for the possible application of the THYT1 as prognostic marker to improve risk-based stratification and management of PTC patients.


This paper proposes a formalization of Hyman P. Minsky's theory of financial instability. The model includes private-sector borrowing, capacity utilization, and the stock of private-sector debt. The model is based on self-reinforcing borrowing and output dynamics that repeatedly come to a sudden stop, with discontinuous downward jumps in the three variables. The paper treats as endogenous the instantaneous probability of a jump and the size distribution of jump vectors. Formally, the model comprises three ordinary differential equations and a compound Poisson process, with jumps drawn from a heavy-tailed stable distribution. The paper shows it can be stated in three equations in the jump differentials and the usual differentials. A section sketches a nonlinear mechanism that can bound the system. The paper analyzes the dynamics of a simplified version of the main model and a more-SFC model with feedbacks from debt to borrowing and capacity utilization via debt-service effects. The paper reports (1) eigenvalues for the linear parts of both the simplified analytical model and a numerical example of the more-SFC model, (2) a phase diagram for the analytical model, and, (3) analytical stability conditions for the more-SFC model. The model replicates the upward instability and abrupt crises of Minsky's theory.


Fifty patients from a longitudinal study on 178 cases of Alzheimer's disease were examined at postmortem. The clinical features, CT-scans and neuropathological findings of five patients, with verified Alzheimer's disease, who had bilateral basal ganglia mineralization (BGM; 2 male, 3 female; age 78-91 years) were compared with the data of five age- and sex-matched Alzheimer patients without BGM and of five control subjects. Persecutory and other delusions (4 patients), persistent depression (2), parkinsonism (4), myoclonus (1) and epileptic seizures (1) were observed more frequently in the patients with BGM than was expected. The BGM-group had significantly lower counts of large neurons in the pallidum internum than the demented patients without BGM or the control group. We did not find other differences between the dementia groups regarding the CT-scans, or plaque, tangle and neuron counts in neocortex and brainstem. We suggest that the combined effects of Alzheimer pathology and BGM might lead to an increased manifestation of psychotic and motor disturbances.


This article discusses and compares the effectiveness of the compound and dual technique-based inline strategy used to upgrade existing steel pipe-based water supply systems. Basically, these techniques are based on splitting the single inline short section, used in the conventional technique, into a couple of two sub-short sections made of two distinct plastic material types: high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE) and (LDPE). The 1D unconventional water hammer solver based on the method of characteristics was used for numerical computations. Results evidenced that the specific setup of the compound technique based on (HDPE-LDPE) sub-short sections (where the former sub-short section is attached to the hydraulic parts, while the latter is attached to the main steel pipe) is the most prominent configuration providing an acceptable trade-off between attenuation of pressure head surge, and limitation of excessive wave oscillation period spreading. Furthermore, this compound technique setup allowed more important pressure head peak (or crest) attenuation as compared with the dual technique based on (LDPE-LDPE) sub-short sections; while inducing about similar values of wave oscillation period spreading.


Abstract. The exchanges of carbon, water and energy between the atmosphere and the Amazon basin have global implications for the current and future climate. Here, the global atmospheric inversion system of the Monitoring of Atmospheric Composition and Climate (MACC) service is used to study the seasonal and interannual variations of biogenic CO2 fluxes in Amazonia during the period 2002–2010. The system assimilated surface measurements of atmospheric CO2 mole fractions made at more than 100 sites over the globe into an atmospheric transport model. The present study adds measurements from four surface stations located in tropical South America, a region poorly covered by CO2 observations. The estimates of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) optimized by the inversion are compared to an independent estimate of NEE upscaled from eddy-covariance flux measurements in Amazonia. They are also qualitatively evaluated against reports on the seasonal and interannual variations of the land sink in South America from the scientific literature. We attempt at assessing the impact on NEE of the strong droughts in 2005 and 2010 (due to severe and longer-than-usual dry seasons) and the extreme rainfall conditions registered in 2009. The spatial variations of the seasonal and interannual variability of optimized NEE are also investigated. While the inversion supports the assumption of strong spatial heterogeneity of these variations, the results reveal critical limitations of the coarse-resolution transport model, the surface observation network in South America during the recent years and the present knowledge of modelling uncertainties in South America that prevent our inversion from capturing the seasonal patterns of fluxes across Amazonia. However, some patterns from the inversion seem consistent with the anomaly of moisture conditions in 2009.


The objective of this paper is to study the tidally locked 3:2 spin–orbit resonance of Mercury around the Sun. In order to achieve this goal, the effective potential energy that determines the spinning motion of an ellipsoidal planet around its axis is considered. By studying the rotational potential energy of an ellipsoidal planet orbiting a spherical star on an elliptic orbit with fixed eccentricity and semi-major axis, it is shown that the system presents an infinite number of metastable equilibrium configurations. These states correspond to local minima of the rotational potential energy averaged over an orbit, where the ratio between the rotational period of the planet around its axis and the revolution period around the star is fixed. The configurations in which this ratio is an integer or an half integer are of particular interest. Among these configurations, the deepest minimum in the average potential energy corresponds to a situation where the rotational and orbital motion of the planet are synchronous, and the system is tidally locked. The next-to-the deepest minimum corresponds to the case in which the planet rotates three times around its axis in the time that it needs to complete two orbits around the Sun. The latter is indeed the case that describes Mercury's motion. The method discussed in this work allows one to identify the integer and half-integer ratios that correspond to spin–orbit resonances and to describe the motion of the planet in the resonant orbit.


In many applications, video sequences must be transmitted constant bit rate channels (CBR). Therefore, rate control has to be used to regulate the variable bit rate of coded stream. In this paper, we propose an effective bit-rate control algorithm in H.264/AVC for CBR transmission. Our algorithm jointly decides mode and quantization using rate distortion optimization (RDO) technique. And to reduce computational complexity, the proposed algorithm uses modified version of rate and distortion model calculated from the histogram of DCT coefficients. Since the proposed algorithm induces the rate and distortion model from the current macroblock instead of the previous coded frame or macroblock, it can effectively prevents the fluctuation of the output bits especially when scene change occurs, while keeping the quality in same level. And it can not only achieve the improvement of the rate control but also meet the target bit rate more accurately.


Abstract A combination of microscopy and chemistry is used to characterize high molecular weight components of plant material which contributed to Carboniferous coals and coal-bearing strata. Material was selected from coals, paper coals, coal balls, oil-shales and shales and included cuticles from stems and leaves, periderm from stems and rooting systems, spore walls, algal cell walls and 'resin' rodlets. Chemical analyses were undertaken using Curie-point pyrolysis-gas chromatography (-mass spectrometry) (Py-GC-(MS)) and 13C solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to ensure a detailed understanding of the plant material which was analysed chemically. This study has emphasized those plants, plant tissues and organs which are known to have been dominant or major contributors to Carboniferous coals and coal-bearing sequences: arborescent lycophyte periderm (Diaphorodendron stems and Stigmaria rhizomorphs); pteridosperm cuticles (medullosan (e.g. Alethopteris) and Karinopteris), lycophyte stem cuticle (Eskdalia) and arborescent lycophyte spores (megaspores and microspores). Several algal cell walls (Tetraedron, Tasmanites and Gloeocapsomorpha) and the 'resin' rodlets derived from medullosan pteridosperm petioles have also been analysed. Results show that all of these elements (except resins) contain (or are dominated by) highly resistant, highly aliphatic macromolecules which have the potential to yield, upon catagenesis, n-alkanes which are found in crude oils. Resins potentially contribute cyclic hydrocarbons to crude oils. Combining all this evidence it is concluded that Carboniferous coals are oil prone and that explanations for the absence of oil-pools derived from such coals must be sought in geological or exploration factors and not in the nature of the coals themselves. A review of coal-forming floras through time, and of suggested terrestrially sourced oils and their parent coals, leads us to conclude that high molecular weight components of higher plant materials have potentially made a major contribution to oils sourced from coals and coal-bearing strata over a long period of geological time (Devonian onwards). Cell walls of freshwater algae have made a comparable contribution since the Ordovician. The oil-generating potential of each coal or organic-rich sediment will depend upon a combination of depositional environment and the floristic and chemical composition of the source vegetation and its component plants and plant parts.


Bob Hardage, the current SEG president, was in mid-career as a researcher with Phillips Petroleum when TLE began publication in 1982. He was one of its first authors from industry (the 1983 article "A new direction in exploration seismology is down"). He has subsequently worked for a service company and in academia, has served on several executive committees (including two years as SEG editor) and as chairman of the Technical Program Committee (twice), has continued to write regularly for TLE and served as a guest editor for a special section, and will be the first person to serve as immediate past president when SEG switches to its new governance structure after the upcoming annual meeting. This wide-ranging career and Society experience make him well qualified to comment on the past, present, and future of TLE and SEG. He did so via an interview with Dean Clark, TLE Editor.


Common-mode signaling is effectively used to create a backchannel communication path over the existing pair of wires for a self-contained adaptive differential high-speed link transceiver cell. A transceiver chip was designed in 0.13 /spl mu/m CMOS to demonstrate the feasibility of simultaneous differential and common-mode signaling. The design uses a three-level return-to-null signaling scheme with simultaneous voltage and timing reference extraction, to minimize the hardware costs and achieve robust operation for sending update information from receiver to the transmitter. The measured results indicate that this backchannel achieves reliable communication without noticeable impact on the forward link for bandwidths up to 50MHz and swings of 20-100mV.


Dynamic control of the direction of radiation of the light emanating from a subwavelength slit carved out of a thin metal film is experimentally demonstrated. This is achieved by selective excitation of the individual guided modes in the slit by setting the phase of three coherent laser beams. By changing the voltage across a piezoelement, we obtain unprecedented directional steering, without relying on any mechanical alignment of optical elements. The angular range over which this maximum can be swept is determined by the intensity setting of one of the incident beams. Through simulations, we show that this method can also be applied to steer the radiation from a square hole in two independent directions. Our method can be applied to create a directional nanoemitter which can selectively address one or more detectors, or as an optical switch in photonic circuits.


In this work, the properties (sheet-resistance, temperature coefficient and piezoresistance / gauge factor) and stability of thick-film resistors with low firing temperatures (525...650°C) are studied. To this end, two low-melting lead borosilicate glass composition have been chosen, together with RuO2 as a conductive filler. The effect on the properties and stability of composition and firing temperature is studied. The stability of the materials is quantified during high-temperature storage (annealing) at 250°C. These results show that reasonable resistive and piezoresistive properties, as well as stability, can be obtained even using lower processing temperatures compatible with deposition onto steel, titanium, aluminium and glass substrates.


Background: Giardia and Cryptosporidium are both enteric pathogens causing diarrhea with no reliable method for their diagnosis. The aim of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a rapid immunochromatographic (IC) ImmunoCard STAT! Crypt/Giardia assay (Meridian Bioscience, Inc.) in comparison to composite reference standard (CRS) of both wet mount microscopy and ELISA copro-antigen assay in the diagnosis of both pathogens. Methods and Findings: One hundred twenty two children were children with diarrhea were checked for infection by Giardia and Cryptosporidium using wet mount microscopy, ELISA copro-antigen assay and the rapid IC test. The rapid assay had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPP) and diagnostic accuracy (DA) of 89, 100, 100, 94% and 96% for Giardia and 78, 100, 100, 98 and 98% for Cryptosporidium in reference to CRS. Conclusions: The rapid IC assay proved to be simple, time-saving and objective; it can be used as a rapid screening test for giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis or integrated with other diagnostic modalities to confirm diagnosis.


Nation and Migration provides a way to understand recent migration events in Europe that have attracted the world's attention. The emergence of the nations in the West promised homogenization, but instead the imagined national communities have everywhere become places of heterogeneity, and modern nation states have been haunted by the specter of minorities. This study analyses experiences relating to migration in twenty-three European countries. It is based on data from the International Social Survey Programme, a global cross-national collaborative exercise. In the authors' view, a critical test for Europe is its ability to find adequate responses to the challenges of globalization.
 The book provides a detailed overview of how citizens in Europe are coping with a xenophobia fueled by their own sense of insecurity. The authors reconstruct the competing social reactions to migration in the forms of integration, assimilation, and segregation. Hungary receives special attention: the data show that people living there are far less closed and xenophobic than they might seem through the prism of a media-instigated moral panic.


New quick-response and high-efficiency control of an induction motor, which is quite different from that of the field-oriented control is proposed. The most obvious differences between the two are as follows. 1) The proposed scheme is based on limit cycle control of both flux and torque using optimum PWM output voltage; a switching table is employed for selecting the optimum inverter output voltage vectors so as to attain as fast a torque response, as low an inverter switching frequency, and as low harmonic losses as possible. 2) The efficiency optimization in the steady-state operation is also considered; it can be achieved by controlling the amplitude of the flux in accordance with the torque command. To verify the feasibility of this scheme, experimentation, simulation, and comparison with field-oriented control are carried out. The results prove the excellent characteristics for torque response and efficiency, which confirm the validity of this control scheme.


A fire due to endotracheal tube (ET) ignition is a catastrophic event that may occur during laser surgery of the upper airway, regardless of the wavelength utilized. Although methods exist that permit laser surgery without an ET, this is frequently not feasible. The current investigation was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of a double‐cuffed stainless steel ET, first in the laboratory and subsequently in a clinical setting. Bench testing was performed using CO2, (both standard and milliwatt) and KTP/532 lasers. Only the distal polyvinyl chloride cuffed end of the tube was potentially ignitable, however, the appropriate use of saline to fill the cuffs allowed only for cuff perforation without ignition. Canine testing was performed in 10 animals: 4 dogs were intubated from 3 to 4.5 hours with the laser resistant stainless steel endotracheal tube (LRSS‐ET) (Laser‐Flex Tracheal Tube; Mallinckrodt Anesthesia Products, St. Louis, MO) and 2 with an aluminum tape wrapped red rubber ET. Visual and histological examination were performed in both groups at 3 and 7 days. Four dogs underwent CO2, laser laryngeal surgery with visual and histological examination performed at 7 days postoperatively. No untoward effects could be demonstrated due to the LRSS‐ET. A clinical study was then performed in 24 patients who underwent laser surgery of the upper aerodigestive tract with either a CO2 or KTP/532 laser. In all cases ventilation was adequate, the shaft of the LRSS‐ET proved impervious to the laser, and the distal end of the tube protected the tracheobronchial tree safely. It is concluded that the LRSS‐ET is effective and safe in both CO2 and KTP‐532 laser surgery of the upper airway when ET intubation is deemed necessary.


This study gives an insight into the source of organic carbon and nitrogen in the Godavari river and its tributaries, the yield of organic carbon from the catchment, seasonal variability in their concentration and the ultimate flux of organic and inorganic carbon into the Bay of Bengal. Particulate organic carbon/particulate organic nitrogen (POC/PON or C/N) ratios revealed that the dominant source of organic matter in the high season is from the soil (C/N = 8–14), while in the rest of the seasons, the river-derived (in situ) phytoplankton is the major source (C/N = l–8). Amount of organic materials carried from the lower catchment and flood plains to the oceans during the high season are 3 to 91 times higher than in the moderate and low seasons. Large-scale erosion and deforestation in the catchment has led to higher net yield of organic carbon in the Godavari catchment when compared to other major world rivers. The total flux of POC, and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from the Godavari river to the Bay of Bengal is estimated as 756 · 10 and 2520 · 10 g yr , respectively. About 22% of POC is lost in the main channel because of oxidation of labile organic matter, entrapment of organic material behind dams/sedimentation along flood plains and river channel; the DIC fluxes as a function of alkalinity are conservative throughout the river channel. Finally, the C/N ratios ( 12) of the ultimate fluxes of particulate organic carbon suggest the dominance of refractory/ stable soil organic matter that could eventually get buried in the coastal sediments on a geological time scale.


In metal forming processes in the tool-workpiece contact area occur high pressure, surface expansion and elevated temperature. It makes ideal circumstances for braking of the lubricant film that causes a direct contact between metallic surfaces. Such a contact usually leads to buildups creation on the tool surface. These phenomena mainly result product surface damage. Damages can also refer to tool surface since the hardness of buildups can be comparable with the tool hardness. The cause of this investigation was finding the answer of the question what was the reason of extreme hardness of buildups created during bulk metal forming processes of 1H18N9T austenitic stainless steel. The studies were conducted using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). On the basis of analysis structural and electron diffraction pattern it was suggested that simultaneously to very well known strengthening mechanism like grain refinement, the additional mechanism can not be excluded. Based mostly on the electron diffraction pattern (appearance of forbidden reflexes for FCC) it is suggested that this additional mechanism could be the marthensitic transformation caused by very high plastic deformation.


SUMMARY The physiological basis of the aerobic dive limit (ADL), the dive duration associated with the onset of post-dive blood lactate elevation, is hypothesized to be depletion of the muscle oxygen (O2) store. A dual wavelength near-infrared spectrophotometer was developed and used to measure myoglobin (Mb) O2 saturation levels in the locomotory muscle during dives of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri). Two distinct patterns of muscle O2 depletion were observed. Type A dives had a monotonic decline, and, in dives near the ADL, the muscle O2 store was almost completely depleted. This pattern of Mb desaturation was consistent with lack of muscle blood flow and supports the hypothesis that the onset of post-dive blood lactate accumulation is secondary to muscle O2 depletion during dives. The mean type A Mb desaturation rate allowed for calculation of a mean muscle O2 consumption of 12.4 ml O2 kg–1 muscle min–1, based on a Mb concentration of 6.4 g 100 g–1 muscle. Type B desaturation patterns demonstrated a more gradual decline, often reaching a mid-dive plateau in Mb desaturation. This mid-dive plateau suggests maintenance of some muscle perfusion during these dives. At the end of type B dives, Mb desaturation rate increased and, in dives beyond the ADL, Mb saturation often reached near 0%. Thus, although different physiological strategies may be used during emperor penguin diving, both Mb desaturation patterns support the hypothesis that the onset of post-dive lactate accumulation is secondary to muscle O2 store depletion.


Data engineers are often asked to detect and resolve inconsistencies within data sets. For some data sources with problems, there is no option to ask for corrections or updates, and the processing steps must do their best with the values in hand. Such circumstances arise in processing survey data, in constructing knowledge bases or data warehouses [1] and in using some public or open data sets. The goal of data cleaning, sometimes called data editing or integrity checking, is to improve the accuracy of each data record and by extension the quality of the data set as a whole. Generally, this is accomplished through deterministic processes that recode specific data points according to static rules based entirely on data from within the individual record. This traditional method works well for many purposes. However, when high levels of inconsistency exist within an individual respondent's data, classification scoring may provide better results. Classification scoring is a two-stage process that makes use of information from more than the individual data record. In the first stage, population data is used to define a model, and in the second stage the model is applied to the individual record. The author and colleagues turned to a classification scoring method to resolve inconsistencies in a key value from a recent health survey. Drawing records from a pool of about 11,000 survey respondents for use in training, we defined a model and used it to classify the vital status of the survey subject, since in the case of proxy surveys, the subject of the study may be a different person from the respondent. The scoring model was tested on the next several months' receipts and then applied on a flow basis during the remainder of data collection to the scanned and interpreted forms for a total of 18,841 unique survey subjects. Classification results were confirmed through external means to further validate the approach. This paper provides methodology and algorithmic details and suggests when this type of cleaning process may be useful.


This study surveyed resident perceptions of competent cross-cultural doctor-patient communication as a step toward developing an integrative primary care cross-cultural curriculum. Respondents were 57 first-, second- and third-year residents in family medicine (FM) and internal medicine (IM) who completed a questionnaire assessing cross-cultural attitudes and skills relevant to clinical practice. As a group, residents endorsed the relevance of culturally competent communication to patient care, perceived themselves to be fairly competent in the use of culturally competent communication techniques, used such techniques frequently, and generally found them to be quite helpful. FM residents rated culturally competent communication as significantly more relevant, themselves as more competent, and culturally competent communication techniques as more helpful than did IM residents. Over half the residents in both specialties tended to identify as serious cross-cultural problems those that focused on perceived patient shortcomings.


To orient DMIN students to the library research process including helping them to understand the value of the library's interlibrary loan service and the library's policies regarding interlibrary loan. Theology Resources


This paper deals with model based fault diagnosis of discrete event systems (DES). A methodology for building DES models using interpreted Petri nets (IPN) is presented; then the fault diagnosis problem is stated and the diagnosability property is defined. An algorithm for determining the current k - th post failure state of a partially measurable DES is proposed.


Data and information are fundamental pieces for effective evidence-based policy making and provision of public services. In recent years, some private firms have been collecting large amounts of data, which, were they available to governments, could greatly improve their capacity to take better policy decisions and to increase social welfare. Business-to-Government (B2G) data sharing can result in substantial benefits for society. It can save costs to governments by allowing them to benefit from the use of data collected by businesses without having to collect the same data again. Moreover, it can support the production of new and innovative outputs based on the shared data by different users. Finally, the data available to government may give only an incomplete or even biased picture, while aggregating complementary datasets shared by different parties (including businesses) may result in improved policies with strong social welfare benefits. The examples assembled by the High Level Expert Group on B2G data sharing show that most of the current B2G data transactions remain one-off experimental pilot projects that do not seem to be sustainable over time. Overall, the volume of B2G operations still seems to be relatively small and clearly sub-optimal from a social welfare perspective. The market does not seem to scale compared to the economic potential for welfare gains in society. There are likely to be significant potential economic benefits from additional B2G data sharing operations. These could be enabled by measures that would seek to improve their governance conditions to contribute to increase the overall number of transactions. To design such measures, it is important to understand the nature of the current barriers for B2G data sharing operations. In this paper, we focus on the more important barriers from an economic perspective: (a) monopolistic data markets, (b) high transaction costs and perceived risks in data sharing and (c) a lack of incentives for private firms to contribute to the production of public benefits. The following reflections are mainly conceptual, since there is currently little quantitative empirical evidence on the different aspects of B2G transactions. Monopolistic data markets. Some firms -like big tech companies for instance- may be in a privileged position as the exclusive providers of the type of data that a public body seeks to access. This position enables the firms to charge a high price for the data beyond a reasonable rate of return on costs. While a monopolistic market is still a functioning market, the resulting price may lead to some governments not being able or willing to purchase the data and therefore may cause social welfare losses. Nonetheless, monopolistic pricing may still be justified from an innovation perspective: it strengthens incentives to invest in more and better data collection systems and thereby increases the supply of data in the long run. In some cases, the data seller may be in a position to price-discriminate between commercial buyers and a public body, charging a lower price to the latter since the data would not be used for commercial purposes. High transaction costs and perceived risks. An important barrier for data sharing comes from the ex-ante costs related to finding a suitable data sharing partner, negotiating a contractual arrangement, re-formatting and cleaning the data, among others. Potentially interested public bodies may not be aware of available datasets or may not be in a position to handle them or understand their advantages and disadvantages. There may also be ex-post risks related to uncertainties in the quality and/or usefulness of the data, the technical implementation of the data sharing deal, ensuring compliance with the agreed conditions, the risk of data leaks to unauthorized third-parties and exposure of personal and confidential data. Lack of incentives. Firms may be reluctant to share data with governments because it might have a negative impact on them. This could be due to suspicions that the data delivered might be used to implement market regulations and to enforce competition rules that could negatively affect firms' profits. Moreover, if firms share data with government under preferential conditions, they may have difficulties justifying the foregone profit to shareholders, since the benefits generated by better policies or public services fuelled by the private data will occur to society as a whole and are often difficult to express in monetary terms. Finally, firms might be afraid of entering into a competitive disadvantage if they provide data to public bodies – perhaps under preferential conditions – and their competitors do not. Several mechanisms could be designed to solve the barriers that may be holding back B2G data sharing initiatives. One would be to provide stronger incentives for the data supplier firm to engage in this type of transactions. These incentives can be direct, i.e., monetary, or indirect, i.e., reputational (e.g. as part of corporate social responsibility programmes). Another way would be to ascertain the data transfer by making the transaction mandatory, with a fair cost compensation. An intermediate way would be based on solutions that seek to facilitate voluntary B2G operations without mandating them, for example by reducing the transaction costs and perceived risks for the provider data supplier, e.g. by setting up trusted data intermediary platforms, or appropriate contractual provisions. A possible EU governance framework for B2G data sharing operations could cover these options.


The potential spread of HPAI between commercial broiler farms in Georgia (USA) was mathematically modeled in order to evaluate the impact of different biosecurity measures in reducing the risk of disease spread. Compliance to standard biosecurity protocols by broiler growers in the state was investigated in a survey. Scenarios of biosecurity adoption were defined based on the results of the survey for two different areas of the state with different density of poultry farms, and which are facing different disease risks. Additional scenarios evaluated the impact of increasing attention to biosecurity. Off farm spread of virus for the different scenarios was estimated stochastically for periods of one day, and then modeled through days using geographical information to explicitly account for the effect of density on secondary spread. Results showed that in case of introduction of HPAI viruses in the state immediate detection is crucial, as the epidemic would start growing exponentially in the same day detection of mortality by the grower in the first affected farm is expected to occur (fifth day). The adoption of biosecurity measures was shown to delay the phase of exponential growth for the epidemic and slow spread, increasing the chances of outbreak control. Farms in North Georgia are under higher risk of disease spread due to higher farm density. The current level of biosecurity compliance in that region, where disease awareness among growers is higher in response to an ongoing outbreak of infectious laryngotracheitis, represents a small reduction in the risk of disease spread when compared to the frequency of biosecurity adoption in the South. Measures to prevent contamination spread through vehicles have the highest potential to reduce the current risk of disease outbreaks in the state. Index words: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Biosecurity, Infectious Disease Model, Broiler, Poultry Stochastic Risk Model of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Spread and Impact of Biosecurity Protocols


The occurrence of sepsis after cardiac surgery is a rare event; however, its occurrence showed catastrophic clinical outcomes. The high morbidity and mortality revealed the need to improve treatment, aiming at patients' better clinical outcome. Patients that develop sepsis, regardless of the infectious focus and the subjacent disease, present high morbidity and mortality, which vary from 17% to 65%. The main predictors of infections in the postoperative period are: body mass index ≥40kg/ m2, haemodialysis in the preoperative period, pre-op cardiogenic shock, age ≥80 years, pre-op treatment with immunosuppressive agents, diabetes mellitus, ECC time ≥200 minutes, mechanical circulatory support, three or more revascularized vessels. From January 2015 to December 2015, we studied 675 adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy was prescribed and given according to our protocol, from the induction of anaesthesia to the first postoperative day. Sepsis in the postoperative period was defined as evidence on infection associated with two or more criteria of systemic inflammatory response syndrome: body temperature >38°C or <36°C, leukocytes >12,000 cells/mm3, positive blood cultures, respiratory rate >20/min, heart rate >100/min.


Identification of expanded clones engaged in immune and autoimmune responses is still imperfect, since they are often diluted by irrelevant cells expressing diverse specificities. To efficiently characterize T cell receptors expressed by clonally expanded lymphocytes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory conditions, we developed an assay system, termed sequence enrichment nuclease assay (SENA). Key elements of SENA are the efficiency of heat-denatured DNA strand reassociation, which increases exponentially with concentration, and the elimination of unhybridized sequences by single-strand-specific DNase. T cell clonal expansions were identified primarily in synovial fluids, but also in peripheral blood of RA patients. Synovial fluids had more prominent expansions in the CD8 than the CD4 subset, whereas clonal expansions in the CD4 subset predominated among peripheral blood lymphocytes. Dominant clones exhibited diverse sequences with no clear conservation of junctional motifs, although the same amino acid sequence was identified in two patients. In most instances, dominant clones in the blood were discordant to those in the corresponding synovial fluid, suggesting local stimulation or preferential sequestration of T cells displaying particular specifities.


Wide-area protection system (WAPS) is widely studied for the purpose of improving the performance of conventional backup protection. In this paper, the system architecture of WAPS is proposed and its key technologies are discussed in view of engineering projects. So a mixed structurecentralized-distributed structure which is more suitable for WAPS in limited power grid region, is obtained based on the advantages of the centralized structure and distributed structure. Furthermore, regional distance protection algorithm was taken as an example to illustrate the functions of the constituent units. Faulted components can be detected based on multi-source imformation fuse in the algorithm. And the algorithm cannot only improved the selectivity, the rapidity, and the reliability of relaying protecti on but also has high fault tolerant capability. A simulation of 220 kV grid systems in Easter Hubei province showed the effectiveness of the wide-area protection system presented by this paper.


An increase of the number of vehicles which is not followed by the number of roads can lead to the increase of congestion, especially in big cities. Regulation of law no 22 Year 2009 explains that there are seven types of vehicles prioritized on the road. This research aims to build a Smart Traffic Light as a solution with the goal of making the prioritized vehicle journey smooth when crossing the road with Smart Traffic Light. The proposed system is "Smart Traffic Light on IoT and mBaaS (Mobile Backend As a Service) using High Priority Vehicles Method". The Smart Traffic Light has three important parts, including: (1) Smart Traffic Application; (2) Smart Traffic Controller; and (3) mBaaS. Prioritized vehicle drivers cross the road using the Smart Traffic Application when they are in an emergency situation. Smart Traffic Application and Smart Traffic Controller communicate using mBaaS. Smart Traffic Application has a vehicle track search facility as well as identification of traffic light location. A few meters before crossing, Smart Traffic Application will send the location to mBaaS and continue to be read by Smart Traffic Controller using internet. If it meets the criteria of High Priority Vehicle, then Traffic Light will be changed to green in the same path. The results show that when testing the data rate from Smart Traffic Application to Smart Traffic Controller, it takes no later than 8.15 seconds and 1.2 seconds (the fastest) with the average data transmission time of 3.39 seconds. Smart Traffic Light is able to identify the direction of the vehicle before passing through the Smart Traffic Application.


The research reported here investigates the efficacy of a module in an Advanced Certificate in Education course in promoting conceptual understanding in Astronomy. The research attempted to find out how teachers' understanding of astronomy concepts and processes change after completing this module as well as the reasons for such changes, if any. The conceptual framework applied in the study is based on three constructs which influence learning. A pre- and post-module questionnaire, as well as interviews were the instruments used to collect data from a cohort of students registered for this module. The data revealed that very little conceptual change occurred. Possible reasons for the lack of conceptual change are: Classroom environments and instructional strategies that are not conducive to conceptual change; an emphasis on declarative knowledge with little attention paid to procedural knowledge and lastly, students own epistemological beliefs of what constitutes science knowledge and learning.


Floods are the most common natural disasters worldwide. Much of the growing literature on the impact of floods, especially in developed countries, and to a lesser extent in rural areas of developing countries, concentrates on economic rather than a comprehensive assessment of combined effects on people's livelihoods. Holistic floods impact assessments are often done long after the shock, raising problems of data reliability following long recall periods, although post-disaster needs assessments when carried out earlier can facilitate appropriate disaster recovery, relief and reconstruction activities. We applied the sustainable livelihoods framework as a comprehensive approach to assess the impacts of the Babessi floods in 2012 on livelihoods in rural (north western region) of Cameroon 6 weeks after the floods. Using a structured questionnaire, data was collected from victims before and after the floods, using recall methods. A matched sample of nonvictims randomly selected from the same village as the victims was used to assess vulnerability to the floods by household type. Floods were found to have serious economic, social, human and food security impacts on victims. Both government and nongovernmental support were jointly crucial for household recovery. Comparatively observed high levels of recovery were attributed to the low loss of human lives. The article concludes with the need for comprehensive approaches to floods impact assessments. The need for combining formal and informal instruments in post-disaster management in rural areas is also emphasised.


Abstract Background Pharyngitis due to group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a common pediatric infection. Physicians might diagnose GAS pharyngitis more accurately when given biosurveillance information about GAS activity. The availability of geographic GAS testing data may be able to assist with real-time clinical decision-making for children with throat infections. Methods GAS rapid antigen testing data were obtained from the records of 6086 children at Boston Children's Hospital and 8648 children at Duke University Medical Center. Records included children tested in outpatient, primary care settings. We constructed Bayesian generalized additive models, in which the outcome variable was the binary result of GAS testing, and predictor variables included smoothed functions of patient location data and both cyclic and longitudinal time data. Results We observed a small degree of geographic heterogeneity, but no convincing clusters of high risk. The probability of a positive test declined during the summer months. Conclusions Future work should include geographic data about school catchments to identify whether GAS transmission clusters within schools.


Angiosarcomas (AS) represent a heterogeneous group of malignant vascular tumors occurring not only in different anatomic locations but also in distinct clinical settings, such as radiation or associated chronic lymphedema. Although representing only 1% to 2% of soft tissue sarcomas, vascular sarcomas provide unique insight into the general process of tumor angiogenesis. However, no molecular candidates have been identified to guide a specific therapeutic intervention. By expression profiling, AS show distinct up-regulation of vascular-specific receptor tyrosine kinases, including TIE1, KDR, SNRK, TEK, and FLT1. Full sequencing of these five candidate genes identified 10% of patients harboring KDR mutations. A KDR-positive genotype was associated with strong KDR protein expression and was restricted to the breast anatomic site with or without prior exposure to radiation. Transient transfection of KDR mutants into COS-7 cells showed ligand-independent activation of the kinase, which was inhibited by specific KDR inhibitors. These data provide a basis for the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-directed therapy in the treatment of primary and radiation-induced AS.


"Tadpole nests" are a true biogenic sedimentary structure known only from the Recent. All known occurrences of supposed fossil forms have been disputed and are considered to be interference ripple marks of inorganic rather than of organic origin. Silurian, Carboniferous, and Triassic "tadpole nest"-like structures could not have been produced by tadpoles because frogs did not appear until the Jurassic Period. A new occurrence of Recent "tadpole nests" from New York indicates that tadpoles produce nests with their tails while feeding from bottom sediments and that their delicate nature severely limits their chances of preservation in the fossil record. The term "tadpole holes" (Dionne, 1969) is unnecessary because the term it was meant to replace, "tadpole nests," is correct by definition. Although Benjaminichnus Boekschoten, 1964, was proposed for Recent "tadpole nests" and was also intended for any fossil forms that may some day be found, it is an objective synonym of Batrachiodes Hitchcock, 1858 ( non Lacepede, 1800), an inorganic sedimentary structure (interference ripple marks). We recommend strongly that Recent biogenic sedimentary structures, and other potential trace fossils with known producers, not be given formal taxonomic names. Instead, the taxonomic (or colloquial) name of the organisms responsible for a structure should be used for reference. The possibility of such a structure being found as a trace fossil is insufficient justification for giving it a taxonomic name.


Hybrid sleeve bearing is widely used in high speed principal axis system. Numerical analysis on a spiral oil wedges hybrid sleeve bearing of high speed principal axis is investigated in this paper. The finite differential equations of Reynolds, film thickness and velocity in an oblique coordinate system are obtained. By means of the finite differential method, loading capacity, pressure distribution, and stream of lubricating oil of the hybrid sleeve bearing are computed and analyzed. The results show that spiral oil wedges can produce the flow separation between hot oil and cold oil, and avoid the oil heated repeatedly. With the increase of eccentricity and decrease of spiral angle, the loading capacity of the bearing increases.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs of 22 nucleotides which normally function as negative regulators of target mRNA expression at the posttran-scriptional level. miRNAs play a role for one or more target genes by suppressing in processes as growth, differentiation, proliferation and cell death. Recent evidence has shown that miRNA mutations or mis-expression correlate with various human cancers and indicates that miRNAs can function as tumour suppressors and oncogenes. MicroRNAs have been shown to repress the expression of important cancer-related genes and might prove useful in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In this study, hierarchical microRNA clusters are obtained through microarray expression data in order to analyze the microRNA prostate cancer relationships. Clustering results are evaluated by their biological relevance. It is seen that such approach can be useful in detectitn relationships between microRNAs and diseases.


The development of a low-crosstalk 2x2 digital optical switch is reported. The device is a composite structure composed of four low-drive-voltage Y-branch digital optical switches and an asymmetric X-junction. A minimum crosstalk level of -37 dB was achieved in the TM mode, while in the TE mode the level was -42 dB. The voltage-total-length product is identical to that of a conventional 2x2 digital optical switch operating at a given level of crosstalk


In systems consisting of multiple clusters of processors which employ space sharing for scheduling jobs, such as our Distributed ASCI (Advanced School for Computing Imaging) Supercomputer (DAS), co-allocation, i.e., the simultaneous allocation of processors to single jobs in multiple clusters, may be required. In this paper we study the performance of several scheduling policies for co-allocating unordered requests in multiclusters with a workload derived from the DAS. We find that beside the policy, limiting the total job size significantly improves the performance, and that for a slowdown of jobs due to global communication bounded by 1.25, co-allocation is a viable choice.


Deliverable No. D1.1 of the (FP7-) Project "IRISS – Increasing Resilience in Surveillance Societies". Objective: To investigate societal effects of different surveillance practices from a multi-disciplinary social science and legal perspective. A report addressing and analysing the factors underpinning the development and use of surveillance systems and technologies by both public authorities and private actors, and their implications in fighting crime and terrorism, social and economic costs, protection or infringement of civil liberties, fundamental rights and ethical aspects.


Tropical high mountain plants have different adaptations to survive extreme daily temperature fluctuations and specially freezing night conditions. In winter plant species, survival to low temperatures is related to the ability of the cell to produce specific low molecular weight proteins (antifreezing proteins) and to export them to the apoplast. In order to see if high mountain tropical plants survive to low temperatures through the same mechanism we collected, during a 24 hourperiod, leaves from Senecio niveoaureus growing at 3,300 and 3,600 m.o.s.l, in the Paramo de Palacio, Chingaza, Colombia. Leaf apoplast proteins had MW between 3512 kDa. Electrophoretic patterns were different depending on the altitude and the time of sampling. However the observed variations could not be linked to changes in temperature or to the altitudinal gradient. Antifreeze activity was detected in leaf apoplast of plants at different altitudes. This is the first report of antifreeze activity in a high mountain tropical species.


The paper provides a detailed analysis of a short step interior point algorithm applied to linear control constrained optimal control problems. Using an affine invariant local norm and an inexact Newton corrector, the well-known convergence results from finite dimensional linear programming can be extended to the infinite dimensional setting of optimal control. The present work complements a recent paper of Weiser and Deuflhard, where convergence rates have not been derived. The choice of free parameters, i.e. the corrector accuracy and the number of corrector steps, is discussed.


A distinguished authority tells the spellbinding story of the people and politics behind the development of the Soviet atom bomb. Based on interviews with participants and research in newly opened Soviet archives, the book reveals how the American atomic monopoly affected Stalin's foreign policy, the role of espionage in the evolution of the Soviet bomb, and the relationship between Soviet nuclear scientists and the country's political leaders. 'An indispensable contribution to our knowledge of the modern world.' Robert Conquest, 'London Review of Books' 'A perceptive, highly informative, and altogether excellent book.' Rudolf Peierls, 'New York Review of Books' 'A masterful account of the arms race from the Soviet side.' Gregg Herken, 'Washington Post Book World' 'A superb history that gives fresh insights into the cold war and, even more, into the conditions of intellectual life in Stalin's Russia. This study is a work on the largest scale, one that advances our understanding and is likely to remain definitive for years to come.' Priscilla Johnson McMillan, 'New York Times Book Review' Winner of the 1995 Vucinich Prize given for the best book in the field of Slavic studies and the Shulman Prize for the best book on Soviet and Post-Soviet Foreign Policy, both awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. David Holloway was born in Ireland and taught at Edinburgh University before becoming professor of political science and co-director, Center for International Security and Arms Control, at Stanford University. He is also the author of 'The Soviet Union and the Arms Race'.


Different preconditioning stimuli can activate divergent signaling pathways. In rats, adenosine-independent pathways (triple 3-min coronary artery occlusion [3CAO3]) and adenosine-dependent pathways (one 15-min coronary artery occlusion [ICAO15]) exist, both ultimately converging at the level of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Furthermore, while 3CAO3, 1CAO15 and exogenous adenosine (ADO) are equally cardioprotective, only 1CAO15 increases interstitial myocardial adenosine levels. Reperfusion Injury Salvage Kinase (RISK) pathway kinases have been implicated in ischemic preconditioning, but not all preconditioning stimuli activate this pathway. Consequently, we evaluated in anesthetized rats the effects of three distinctly different preconditioning stimuli (3CAO3, 1CAO15 or ADO) on infarct size (IS), signaling pathways with a special emphasis on kinases belonging to the RISK pathway (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt-nitric oxide synthase and extracellular signal-related kinase [ERK]) and mitochondrial respiration. All three stimuli increased state-2 respiration (using succinate as complex-II substrate), thereby decreasing the respiratory control index, which was accompanied by a limitation of IS produced by a 60-min coronary artery occlusion (CAO). Nitric oxide synthase inhibition abolished the mitochondrial effects and the cardioprotection by 3CAO3, 1CAO15 or ADO. In contrast, the PI3 kinase inhibitor, wortmannin, blocked protection by 1CAO15, but did not affect protection by 3CAO3 or ADO. Western blotting confirmed that phosphorylation of Akt and ERK were increased by 1CAO15 (which was inhibited by wortmannin), but not by 3CAO3 or ADO. In conclusion, while the three cardioprotective stimuli 3CAO3, 1CAO15 and ADO afford cardioprotection via nitric oxide-mediated modulation of mitochondrial respiration, only the 1CAO15 exerts its protection via activation of kinases belonging to the RISK pathway.


When White House Counsel John Dean infamously told President Richard Milhous Nixon that there was a "cancer on the presidency," and that more hush money would be needed to keep the cover-up of the Watergate break-in secret, Nixon responded without much hesitation that he knew where he could get a million dollars in cash. The President was used to having vast resources at his fingertips because of the millions flowing through his campaign committees. Historians now know that much of the money flowing through those committees was from illegal sources. This essay is a synopsis that illegal money and two of the reforms it inspired: the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This piece will argue that the scale of post-Watergate reforms were justified by the magnitude of quid pro quo corruption in the Nixon White House. This essay will also argue that in 2012, in this post-Citizens United environment, Congress should take a similar approach and embrace both campaign finance reforms as well securities law reforms to ensure the integrity of our democratic processes.


The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Autosub-2was deployed on eight missions ahead of RRS James Clark Ross in the northern Weddell Sea and in the Bransfield Strait, Southern Ocean, to assess avoidance of the research vessel by Antarctic krill Euphausia superba . The AUV was equipped with the same type of scientific echosounder as the research vessel (Simrad EK500 operating at 38 and 120 kHz) and measured the density of krill along transect acoustically (g m −2 wet mass) prior to the ship's arrival. We hypothesised that if krill avoided the ship, perhaps in response to radiated noise, then the ship should detect less krill than the AUV which is known to have much lower noise levels than the ship. We were unable to detect any significant difference between the density of krill detected by the ship or the AUV, either at the transect level or at finer scales within transects. We conclude, therefore, that avoidance by krill of RRS James Clark Ross will not significantly bias acoustic estimates of krill abundance by this vessel. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Cancer cachexia is a common deleterious paraneoplastic syndrome that represents an area of unmet clinical need, partly due to its poorly understood aetiology and complex multifactorial nature. We have interrogated multiple genetically defined larval Drosophila models of tumourigenesis against key features of human cancer cachexia. Our results indicate that cachectic tissue wasting is dependent on the genetic characteristics of the tumour and demonstrate that host malnutrition or tumour burden are not sufficient to drive wasting. We show that JAK/STAT and TNF-α/Egr signalling are elevated in cachectic muscle and promote tissue wasting. Furthermore, we introduce a dual driver system that allows independent genetic manipulation of tumour and host skeletal muscle. Overall, we present a novel Drosophila larval paradigm to study tumour/host tissue crosstalk in vivo, which may contribute to future research in cancer cachexia and impact the design of therapeutic approaches for this pathology.


Commercial sugarcane (Saccharum hybrid) is a highly polyploid and aneuploid grass that stores large amounts of sucrose in its stem. We have measured circadian rhythms of sense and antisense transcription in a commercial cultivar (RB855453) using a custom oligoarray with 14,521 probes that hybridize to sense transcripts (SS) and 7,380 probes that hybridize to antisense transcripts (AS).We estimated that 32% of SS probes and 22% AS probes were rhythmic. This is a higher proportion of rhythmic probes than the usually found in similar experiments in other plant species. Orthologs and inparalogs of Arabidopsis thaliana, sugarcane, rice, maize and sorghum were grouped in ortholog clusters. When ortholog clusters were used to compare probes among different datasets, sugarcane also showed a higher proportion of rhythmic elements than the other species. Thus, it is possible that a higher proportion of transcripts are regulated by the sugarcane circadian clock. Thirty-six percent of the identified AS/SS pairs had significant correlated time courses and 64% had uncorrelated expression patterns. The clustering of transcripts with similar function, the anticipation of daily environmental changes and the temporal compartmentation of metabolic processes were some properties identified in the circadian sugarcane transcriptome. During the day, there was a dominance of transcripts associated with photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism, including sucrose and starch synthesis. During the night, there was dominance of transcripts associated with genetic processing, such as histone regulation and RNA polymerase, ribosome and protein synthesis. Finally, the circadian clock also regulated hormone signalling pathways: a large proportion of auxin and ABA signalling components were regulated by the circadian clock in an unusual biphasic distribution.


PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the structural changes needed for project-based organisations (PBOs) to synthesise their project operations and services following the servitisation strategy. It addresses the question of how PBOs should change their organisational structure fitting with service provision strategy.Design/methodology/approachThis study followed an exploratory research method using a single in-depth case with evidence collected from 51 project managers from five different industry sectors: construction, oil and gas, IT, logistics and health careFindingsCapitalising on organisational design theory, it has been found that successfully extending PBOs' outcomes into a system of both project output and extra services requires an adjustment of organisational structure that creates greater value for both companies and customers. This required adjustment has been divided into five main categories: (1) collaboration cross-project and customers; (2) flexible workflow, (3) decentralised decision-making, (4) wide span of control and (5) project governance. However, the findings indicate that success can only be ensured by particular mutually coordinated organisational designs with a suitable balance of products and servicesPractical implicationsThis study presents vital indicators to PBOs practitioners when deploying servitisation within their operational strategy by adjusting the organisation's design.Social implicationsServitisation could add both economic and social values for a diverse set of project stakeholders. However, the sustainability performance of servitisation in servitised project-based organisations is an outcome of reducing the discrepancy between project operation and service provision activities.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the body of knowledge and proposes a structural alteration process in PBOs to help align project operations and service provision activities. It explains how project-based organisations reconfigure their resources to provide services.


For decades of research on triangulation, Scattered surface area triangulation has achieved some results, but a lot of algorithms extended to three-dimensional space still have some problems.In this paper I analyzes the existing algorithms and propose a idea based on the Combination of the incremental method and divide algorithm ,which directly realize the triangulation of scattered points in space. Through the triangulation of space scattered point ,it's result eventually meet the triangular mesh model of the reconstruction and the mesh is very uniform. The model reproduce the object model intuitively and clearly. This study provide meaning of the reference and guide in such a work


The present study seeks to build on earlier work by identifying the factors associated with the frequency of natural disasters and the resulting mortality. Drawing together the main findings, some observations are made from a policy perspective to focus on key elements of a disaster reduction strategy. Countries that were prone to natural disasters in the previous decade (1970-79) continued to be so in the next two decades. Geophysical factors (e.g. whether landlocked, distance to coast) had an important role in explaining inter-country variation in the occurrence of natural disasters. However, income did not have any effect. Deaths varied with the number of disasters; they also varied with (lagged) deaths in the previous decade, pointing to (presumably) persistent government failures in preventing deaths where the deaths were high; poor countries suffered more deaths, controlling for these and other effects; larger countries suffered more deaths. The pay-off from learning from past experience is high, as reflected in the elasticity of deaths to disasters. Even moderate learning can save a large number of deaths (e.g. through early warning systems, better coordination between governments and communities likely to be affected). Growth acceleration would also help avert deaths through more resources for disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities. A combination of the two-learning from past experience and more resources for disaster prevention and mitigation-would of course result in a massive reduction in deaths from disasters. Attention is drawn to segmented and shallow disaster insurance markets; the Samaritan's dilemma in providing emergency assistance to poor countries that neglect investment in protective measures; need for mainstreaming of disaster prevention and mitigation among multilateral development agencies and governments, as also growth acceleration ; why short-term relief must be combined with rebuilding of livelihoods and reconstruction, and the potential for public-private partnerships; and, above all, the need for building ownership of local communities and preservation of social networks. A challenge for development assistance is to combine growth acceleration with speedy relief and durable reduction in vulnerability to natural disasters.


In spite of the growing focus on human-computer interaction design promoted by researchers and practitioners, there remains a large user population that is generally overlooked: people with physical disabilities. Most of HCI of disabled require wearing extra instruments, the HCI based on the camera is easy, efficient and comfortable. In this paper, we combined the applied and basic research, both drawing from psychological research and contributing new ideas to compare some HCI based on camera. We discuss user and products, and technology, highlighting challenges, open issues, and emerging applications for HCI based on camera of disabled.


Explosive spalling of pieces of concrete from the heated surface is considered to the most dangerous effect of damage of concrete subjected to intense fire attack, especially when it occurs in restricted areas such as underground tunnels. Recent investigations have revealed that the amount of explosive spalling and the extent of cracking can considerably be reduced by use of suitable amount of polypropylene fibres. However, little attention has been given to exactly how the fibres behave in concrete matrix when exposed to fire. A good insight into the behaviour of the fibres when applied in concrete, especially when subjected to fire, can help optimise their use to reduce explosive spalling. This paper deals with a case study, in which an integrated microscopic method was used to assess the effectiveness of the pp-fibres in reducing explosive spalling in concrete elements subjected to fire attack. RCM test was also performed on standard specimens to establish whether the presence of the fibres adversely affect the permeability and durability of the elements.


Objective: In Vietnam, where 58% of prevalent HIV cases are attributed to people who inject drugs, we evaluated whether a multi-level intervention could improve care outcomes and increase survival. Methods: We enrolled 455 HIV-infected males who inject drugs from 32 communes in Thai Nguyen Province. Communes were randomized to a community stigma reduction intervention or standard of care and then within each commune, to an individual enhanced counseling intervention or standard of care, resulting into 4 arms: Arm 1 (standard of care); Arm 2 (community intervention alone); Arm 3 (individual intervention alone); and Arm 4 (community + individual interventions). Follow-up was conducted at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months to assess survival. Results: Overall mortality was 23% (n = 103/455) more than 2 years. There were no losses to follow-up for the mortality endpoint. Survival at 24 months was different across arms: Arm 4 (87%) vs Arm 1 (82%) vs Arm 2 (68%) vs Arm 3 (73%); log-rank test for comparison among arms: P = 0.001. Among those with CD4 cell count <200 cells/mm3 and not on antiretroviral therapy at baseline (n = 162), survival at 24 months was higher in Arm 4 (84%) compared with other arms (Arm 1: 61%; Arm 2: 50%; Arm 3: 53%; P-value = 0.002). Overall, Arm 4 (community + individual interventions) had increased uptake of antiretroviral therapy compared with Arms 1, 2, and 3. Conclusions: This multi-level behavioral intervention seemed to increase survival of HIV-infected participants more than a 2-year period. Relative to the standard of care, the greatest intervention effect was among those with lower CD4 cell counts.


Abstract Both the abundance of alkanes and their extremely low activity have greatly interested several researchers. In this paper, different metal substituted 3×3 octahedral molecular sieves (OMS-1) materials were used to catalyze the functionalization of cyclohexane by using tert-butyl hydroperoxide as oxidant and tert-butyl alcohol as solvent at different temperatures (60, 80, and 100°C). [Fe]-OMS-1 at 80°C exhibits the best activity and selectivity. The solvent t-butyl alcohol (the reduced state of t-butyl hydroperoxide) was first introduced to the reaction system which makes the system simple to study. The effects of catalyst amount and ratio of tert-butyl alcohol to cyclohexane were examined. Variable speed stirring (200–800 rpm) experiments suggest that under conditions reported here that diffusion is not a problem. Studies of the liquid phase after separation from the solid OMS-1 catalysts have shown that metal does not leach into the solution and that heterogeneous catalysis occurs. At 80°C, the conversion of cyclohexane or the total yield of products can reach 13.1% in 40 h. The yields of cyclohexanone, cyclohexanol, and cyclohexyl hydroperoxide were 6.57, 2.83, and 1.38%, respectively, and t-butyl cyclohexyl perether was 2.36%. The reaction conditions are mild, and the catalysts retain their crystallinity after reaction. Moreover, the catalyst can be easily separated from the reaction mixture and used catalysts retain similar catalytic activity over a 40-h time period.


Currently there is a large interest in alternative transport fuels. There are two underlying reasons for this interest: the desire to decrease the environmental impact of transports and the need to compensate for the declining availability of petroleum. In the light of both these factors, the CNG-diesel dual fuelengine is an attractive concept. The primary fuel of the dual fuel engine is methane, which can be derived both from renewables and from fossil sources. Methane from organic waste, commonly referred to as biomethane, can provide a reduction in greenhouse gases unmatched by any other fuel. Furthermore, fossil methane, natural gas, is one of the most abundant fossil fuels.Thedual fuelengine is, from a combustion point of view, a hybridof the diesel and theOtto-engineand it shares characteristics with both.From a market standpoint, the dual fuel technology is highly desirable; however, from a technical point of view it has proven difficult to realize. The aim of this project was to identify limitations to engine operation, investigate these challenges, and ,as much as possible, suggest remedies. Investigations have been made into emissions formation, nozzle-hole coking, impact of varying in-cylinder air motion, behavior and root causes of pre-ignitions, and the potential of advanced injection strategies and unconventional combustion modes. The findings from each of these investigations have been summarized, and recommendations for the development of a Euro 6 compliant dual fuel engine have been formulated. Two key challenges must be researched further for this development to succeed: an aftertreatment system which allows for low exhaust temperatures must be available, and the root cause of pre-ignitions must be found and eliminated.


Abstract In the continual effort to improve product quality and decrease operations costs, computational modeling is increasingly being deployed to determine feasibility of product designs or configurations. Surrogate modeling of these computer experiments via local models, which induce sparsity by only considering short range interactions, can tackle huge analyses of complicated input–output relationships. However, narrowing focus to local scale means that global trends must be relearned over and over again. In this article, we propose a framework for incorporating information from a global sensitivity analysis into the surrogate model as an input rotation and rescaling preprocessing step. We discuss the relationship between several sensitivity analysis methods based on kernel regression before describing how they give rise to a transformation of the input variables. Specifically, we perform an input warping such that the "warped simulator" is equally sensitive to all input directions, freeing local models to focus on local dynamics. Numerical experiments on observational data and benchmark test functions, including a high-dimensional computer simulator from the automotive industry, provide empirical validation.


Regenerative medicine has become a mainstay in recent times, and employing stem cells to treat several degenerative, inflammatory conditions has resulted in very promising outcomes. These forms of cell-based therapies are novel approaches to existing treatment modalities. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are emerging as the most versatile amongst all the existing stem cell technologies as they are multipotent and have shown promise in treating several disease conditions. The mode of action of these cells can be based on cell-cell contact or by paracrine effects. In this study, we compared the concentrations of the cytokines PDGF, IL-8, and VEGF between conditioned and spent media of MSCs to evaluate their potential therapeutic properties for wound healing in inflammatory conditions. We hypothesized that conditioned media contains higher concentrations of wound healing cytokines compared to spent media. We found that while IL-8 and VEGF were present in highest concentrations in conditioned media, PDGF was present in maximal amounts in spent media.


Abstract We demonstrate that mutual gravitational interactions between an asteroid and a planet or another asteroid can play an important role in shaping an asteroid's spin state. We focus on two situations that asteroids may encounter during their lifetimes. The first is the environment after creation from a disrupted parent asteroid, when there may be many asteroid fragments interacting gravitationally with each other before their mutual escape. The other is the interaction between an asteroid and a planet during a hyperbolic flyby. In each case the mutual gravitational interaction can alter the asteroid's spin state. We derive analytical descriptions of the effects and perform numerical simulations to explore the interactions and to give examples. The net effect of many small interactions, taken in isolation, is to cause the asteroid to spin at a faster rate—although this must be balanced against all other effects that influence spin rates. Conversely, the effect of a single, strong interaction can fundamentally change an asteroid's spin state, causing it to tumble and significantly increasing or decreasing its overall angular momentum. We simulate interactions of a sphere of arbitrary mass with Toutatis and find that these types of gravitational interactions can provide partial explanations for the current Toutatis rotational state.


Sertraline is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. The enhancement of serotoninergic transmission is associated with antidepressant activity. In order to determine the pharmacokinetics of sertraline in patients with chronic stable hepatic insufficiency, 10 patients were matched (age, weight, sex) with 10 healthy subjects in an open study. Each participant received a single capsule containing the equivalent of 100 mg sertraline base. Blood samples were taken during 264 h after administration for measurement of plasma concentrations of sertraline. The results confirm that the oral clearance of sertraline is reduced with a 1.7-fold increase in max and a significant prolongation in elimination half-life in hepatically impaired patients


The role of adenosine in matching myocardial oxygen supply to demand by regulating coronary blood flow has been the subject of intensive study. The present experiments were designed to determine the relationship among myocardial oxygen consumption, coronary blood flow, and adenosine production as estimated by pericardial adenosine accumulation under several physiological conditions in the same animal. Conscious chronically instrumented dogs were used to measure changes in coronary blood flow, myocardial oxygen consumption, and pericardial adenosine accumulation during two levels of treadmill exercise, excitement caused by loud noises, and feeding (the presentation and consumption of a meal). The results show significant increases in the adenosine production with all experimental procedures and significant linear correlations between myocardial oxygen consumption and coronary blood flow (r = 0.78), myocardial oxygen consumption and adenosine production (r = 0.73), and adenosine production and coronary blood flow (r = 0.88). These data show that increases in adenosine production by the normally oxygenated myocardium can be the physiological mechanism for matching oxygen supply to increased oxygen demand in the conscious dog.


This book reappraises the historical writings of the seventh-century Spanish bishop Isidore of Seville as a coherent and pastorally-informed programme intended to reconcile the population of Spain to their recent conquest by the barbarian Visigoths.


Stochastic optimization has become the workhorse behind many successful machine learning applications, which motivates a lot of theoretical analysis to understand its empirical behavior. As a comparison, there is far less work to study the generalization behavior especially in a non-convex learning setting. In this paper, we study the generalization behavior of stochastic optimization by leveraging the algorithmic stability for learning with β -gradient-dominated objective functions. We develop generalization bounds of the order O (1 / ( nβ )) plus the convergence rate of the optimization algorithm, where n is the sample size. Our stability analysis significantly improves the existing non-convex analysis by removing the bounded gradient assumption and implying better generalization bounds. We achieve this improvement by exploiting the smoothness of loss functions instead of the Lipschitz condition in Charles & Papailiopoulos (2018). We apply our general results to various stochastic optimization algorithms, which show clearly how the variance-reduction techniques improve not only training but also generalization. Furthermore, our discussion explains how interpolation helps generalization for highly expressive models.


Innate immunity represents the sole mechanism of host defense against microbial infections in invertebrates. In mammals and other vertebrates, innate immunity provides the first line of host defense against these infections. Studies over the past few years have shown that Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are crucial molecules in the recognition of various pathogen-associatedmolecular patterns (PAMPs), and therefore represent a class of pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs). Like the TLRs, interleukin-1 receptor superfamily (IL-1Rs) also plays key roles in host responses to infection and inflammation. This chapter describes the current state of knowledge of these two superfamilies of receptors and their ligands, as well as the molecules that mediate the membrane-proximal events of their signaling. The intracellular region of Toll contains two domains (Fig. 1). The first, membraneproximal domain has about 150 residues and bears sequence homology to the intracellular domain of the IL-1 receptor (IL-1R). This domain is known as the TIR domain and is discussed in more detail. Many molecules have been identified in the signaling pathways of the IL-1Rs and TLRs. The chapter focuses on the membrane-proximal events of these pathways. The signal transduction through the TLRs and the IL-1Rs ultimately leads to the activation of the transcription factor NF-kB, the mitogenactivated protein (MAP) kinases (ERK, p38, and JNK) and transcription factors of the AP-1 family. Structural biology is the most important experimental technique for addressing issues regarding the molecular basis of innate immunity.


This article explores academics' learning. Specifically, it focuses on how academics have come to practise differently under the abrupt changes caused by responses to the Coronavirus pandemic. We argue that people's practices—for example, academics' practices of teaching and research—are ordinarily held in place by combinations of arrangements that form practice architectures. Many existing practice architectures enabling and constraining academics' practices were disrupted when the pandemic broke. To meet the imperatives of these changed arrangements, academics have been obliged to recreate their lives, and their practices. We present case stories from four individual academics in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Australia. Building on a view of learning as coming to practice differently and as situated in particular sites, we explore these academics' changed practices—working online from home with teaching, research, and collegial interactions. The changes demonstrate that academics have learned very rapidly how to manage their work and lives under significantly changed conditions. Our observations also suggest that the time of the Novel Coronavirus has led to a renewal of the communitarian character of academic life. In learning to practise academic life and work differently, we have also recovered what we most value in academic life and work: its intrinsically communitarian character.


Typologies are widely used in research on federalism, e.g. to distinguish dual from cooperative or coming-together from holding-together federations. More general, ideal types, archetypes and categories are frequently used in political science research to define concepts and classify cases. As recently as in 2014, Filho et al. pointed out that Cluster Analysis is still hardly used when it comes to developing typologies in political science. Rather, political scientists rely on more intuitive methods or factor analysis. Our paper argues that Cluster Analysis is of great usefulness because it a) focuses on the relationship between cases and not variables and b) draws on empirical data when identifying the clusters. This paper proposes to apply this fruitful approach to the field of federalism to exemplify its major heuristic potential. Furthermore, we emphasize that testing the secondary validity is a crucial step. Our paper provides two original examples from comparative federal politics and public management that illustrate the strength of Cluster Analysis both in testing and generating hypotheses through the establishment of typologies. For both examples, the validity of the Cluster Analysis is tested by checking for correlations between the clusters and the distribution of power. Hence, the typologies established through Cluster Analysis not only define our respective dependent variables related to aspects of intergovernmental coordination within federations and the normative density of evaluation clauses in the Swiss federation, but also offer strong insights in issues of regional autonomy.


This paper aims at understanding the importance of sexuality and the ways in which sexuality is accorded central status in an attempt to understand human relations, pleasure and satisfaction, sexual subject in culture, to reveal varying degrees of trepidation and anxiety about the ambiguities of sexuality i.e androgyny represents the resolution of the anxieties and tensions of sexual difference in favor of complementarity. In terms of class and gender this paper explores the patriarchal and misogynistic frameworks in which gender and sex were constructed in late 19 th century and early 20 th century; and how class and power mean that, that sexual never signifies in social isolation i.e power comes into play in the machinery of production, in families, limited groups and institutions. In terms of traumatic theory, this paper will see at how sexual trauma takes form of a psychological and ontological angst after reaching sexual maturity.


An experimental study of a high-power forward Raman amplifier pumped by a multibeam KrF laser is presented. The active medium is either CH4 at 3-bar pressure or H2 at 1-bar pressure. As many as 56 pump beams confined in a light guide were combined into a single low-divergence Stokes beam. In CH4 a gain of up to 300 and a power-conversion efficiency of 70% was obtained. The maximum Stokes output energy was 8.4 J. The dependence of gain on pump bandwidth was investigated in H2. A gain of 500 and a conversion efficiency of 65% were obtained. The maximum output energy was 5.0 J.


An ensemble of 72 Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model simulations is evaluated to examine the relationship between the track of Hurricane Sandy (2012) and its structural evolution. Initial and boundary conditions are obtained from ECMWF and GEFS ensemble forecasts initialized at 0000 UTC 25 October. The 5-day WRF simulations are initialized at 0000 UTC 27 October, 48 h into the global model forecasts. Tracks and cyclone phase space (CPS) paths from the 72 simulations are partitioned into 6 clusters using regression mixture models; results from the 4 most populous track clusters are examined. The four analyzed clusters vary in mean landfall location from southern New Jersey to Maine. Extratropical transition timing is the clearest difference among clusters; more eastward clusters show later Sandy–midlatitude trough interaction, warm seclusion formation, and extratropical transition completion. However, the intercluster variability is much smaller when examined relative to the landfall time of each simulation. In each cluster, a short-lived warm seclusion forms and contracts through landfall while lower-tropospheric potential vorticity concentrates at small radii. Despite the large-scale similarity among the clusters, relevant intercluster differences in landfall-relative extratropical transition are observed. In the easternmost cluster the Sandy–trough interaction is least intense and the warm seclusion decays the most by landfall. In the second most eastward cluster Sandy retains the most intact warm seclusion at landfall because of a slightly later (relative to landfall) and weaker trough interaction compared to the two most westward clusters. Nevertheless, the remarkably similar large-scale evolution of Sandy among the four clusters indicates the high predictability of Sandy's warm seclusion extratropical transition before landfall.


Employing the neutral Kindleberger definition of a bubble as "an upward price movement over an extended range that then implodes", this paper explores the causes of the "Japanese Bubble" of 1985 to 1990 without precluding the possibility that the bubble was due to perceptions of fundamentals. Survey evidence indicates that at the peak of the bubble in the second half of 1989, the majority of Japanese institutional investors thought that the Nikkei was not overvalued relative to fundamentals. Such a belief was not entirely unfounded. Long-term real interest rates fell sharply between 1985 and 1986, and the view that there was a significant increase in the permanent component of the growth rate was defensible though certainly not undeniable. Invoking the literature on asset prices with heterogeneous beliefs and limitations on short sales, the paper argues that in a period characterized by the arrival of news that is difficult to digest and subject to multiple interpretations, it is the more optimistic assessments of fundamentals that are likely to be reflected in the market equilibrium. At the same time, high prices resulting from the heterogeneity phenomenon are fragile and prone to collapse. From this vantage point it is perhaps not surprising that the Japanese Bubble, as well as the subsequent implosion, appeared when they did. Survey evidence on investor beliefs during the bubble period, as well as the covariation of price and volume, lend some support to the heterogeneity approach.


The key to deriving Eq. (8-6) or (8-7) in Chapter 8 is the creation of nonnested
confidence levels for each sensor as was illustrated in Figure 8.3. Nonnested
confidence levels allow a unique value to be selected for the inherent sensor
detection probability when different signal-to-interference ratios are postulated
and implemented at each confidence level. In fact, the ability to specify and then
implement unique detection probabilities for each confidence level is one of the
considerations that make this voting fusion technique practical. Alternatively, a Venn diagram such as the one in Figure B.1 with nested
confidence levels implies that the detection probabilities at each confidence level
are not independent. Here, the confidence levels A 1 , A 2 , and A 3 of Sensor A , and
the confidence levels in the other sensors are not independent of each other.
Confidence level A 3 is a subset of level A 2 , which is a subset of level A 1 .
Discriminants other than signal-to-interference ratio are used in this case to
differentiate among the confidence levels. For example, target-like features that
are present in the signal can be exploited by algorithms to increase the
confidence that the signal belongs to a bona fide target. This model is more
restrictive and may not depict the way the sensors are actually operating in a
particular application.