The mitotic chromosomes of 51 citrus accessions from the Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Mandioca e Fruticultura Tropical, Cruz das Almas, BA, Brazil, were analyzed. The sample included representatives of 20 Citrus species, one of Poncirus and seven hybrids. All accessions showed 2n = 18 without any evidence of numerical variation. The most clearly variable karyotype feature was the number and position of secondary constrictions (SECs). In 19 accessions the SECs were not identified, mainly due to the degree of chromatin condensation. In the remainder they varied in number from one to three per karyotype. They were found in the proximal region of one of the three largest chromosome pairs, in the terminal/subterminal region of a smaller chromosome or, more seldom, terminally in a larger chromosome. Only in a few cases were such constrictions observed simultaneously in both homologues of the same chromosome pair. The high variability of this karyotype feature may be due to the activation of this region in the previous interphase but may also indicate a high structural variability and heterozygosity of citrus germplasms


A new evidence-based guideline, Recommendations for HIV Prevention with Adults and Adolescents with HIV in the United States, 2014, is now available online at http://stacks.cdc.gov/ view/cdc/26062. This guideline was developed by CDC, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and five nongovernmental organizations: the American Academy of HIV Medicine, the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, the National Minority AIDS Council, and the Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services. The recommendations are intended to advance the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States: prevent new HIV infections, increase the proportion of persons with HIV who are aware of their infection, prevent HIV-related illness and death, and reduce HIV-related health disparities (1). The guideline updates and expands on the Recommendations for Incorporating HIV Prevention into the Medical Care of Persons Living with HIV (2) published in 2003 by CDC, HRSA, NIH, and the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. This updated guideline is a comprehensive compilation of new and longstanding federal recommendations about biomedical, behavioral, and structural interventions to reduce the risk for HIV transmission from persons with HIV by reducing their infectiousness and their risk for exposing others to HIV. The guideline is directed to three main audiences: clinical providers, nonclinical providers, and staff members of health departments and HIV planning groups. It is published with three companion summaries that list the subset of recommendations for each of these three audiences (3–5). The guideline might also interest persons with HIV; partners of persons with HIV; specialists in HIV planning, service delivery, policy, and legislation; and managers of medical assistance programs, health insurance plans, and health systems that serve persons with HIV. A companion resource library web site (available at http://www. cdc.gov/hiv/prevention/programs/pwp) includes dozens of practical decision-support tools, training aids, fact sheets, and other materials that can support implementation of these recommendations.


The paper outlines basic features of revenue recognition practice under IFRS and US GAAP. The revenues usually represent the greatest single item reported in the financial statements. The current guidance on revenue recognition suffers from some weaknesses and inconsistencies. Finding the solution to these problems is a subject of joint IASB's and FASB's Revenue Recognition Project. The main aim of Revenue Recognition Project is to remove inconsistency and to create a comprehensive standard on revenue recognition that would apply to all possible revenue-generating transactions. Unfortunately, there exist some conflicts regarding the measurement of revenue. The advantages and disadvantages of fair value and allocated customer consideration amount model are analysed from the point of users' information need usefulness. Background for this evaluation is derived from the empirical experiment.


As computers become increasingly mobile, users demand more functionality, longer battery-life, and better performance from mobile devices. In response, chipset fabricators are focusing on elegant architectures to provide solutions that are both low-power and high-performance. Since these architectures rely on unique x86 extensions rather than fast clock speeds and large caches, careful thought must be placed into effective optimization strategies for not only user applications, but also the kernel itself, as the typical default optimizations used by modern compilers do not often take advantage of these specialized features. Focusing on the Intel Diamondville platform, this paper presents a genetic algorithm that evolves the compiler flags needed to build a Linux kernel that exhibits reduced response times.


The diagnosis of colloid cysts of the third ventricle using computed tomography (CT) rarely causes problems. The typical well-rounded, hyperdense mass in the anterior part of the third ventricle is usually well shown, along with the associated lateral ventricular dilatation. However, it is also well recognized that these cysts may be isodense, and this can on occasion lead to diagnostic difficulty. Rarely have hypodense colloid cysts been reported. We describe two patients in whom the low density of the tumors led, initially, to a failure to identify them on the CT scan. Although this is an atypical appearance, it is important to be aware of it, as colloid cysts which are surgically curable have a definite morbidity and mortality if untreated.


A Likely Conformation At several stages of protein synthesis, guanosine triphosphate hydrolyzing enzymes (GTPases) interact with the ribosome, and GTP hydrolysis is coupled to progression of synthesis. Voorhees et al. (p. 835) have determined a 3.2-resolution structure of the GTPase, elongation factor Tu, which delivers amino-acyl transfer RNA (tRNA) to the ribosome. The GTPase and tRNA were bound to the ribosome and were stalled in an active conformation by a GTP analog. The structure revealed that activation of the enzyme only required small changes in conformation to move a catalytic histidine into the correct position for hydrolysis. A similar mechanism likely applies to the activation of other translational GTPases. The ribosome stabilizes the active conformation of the guanosine triphosphatase elongation factor Tu to facilitate delivery of transfer RNA. Protein synthesis requires several guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) factors, including elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), which delivers aminoacyl–transfer RNAs (tRNAs) to the ribosome. To understand how the ribosome triggers GTP hydrolysis in translational GTPases, we have determined the crystal structure of EF-Tu and aminoacyl-tRNA bound to the ribosome with a GTP analog, to 3.2 angstrom resolution. EF-Tu is in its active conformation, the switch I loop is ordered, and the catalytic histidine is coordinating the nucleophilic water in position for inline attack on the γ-phosphate of GTP. This activated conformation is due to a critical and conserved interaction of the histidine with A2662 of the sarcin-ricin loop of the 23S ribosomal RNA. The structure suggests a universal mechanism for GTPase activation and hydrolysis in translational GTPases on the ribosome.


The purpose of this study was to establish the dynamics and kinetics of the aromatic hydrocarbons breakdown in aqueous environment. The investigated compounds were: benzene, toluene, m-xylene, p-xylene and styrene. These substances even in low concentrations threaten surface waters taken for municipal purposes because of their toxicity and also mutagenic and tumorigenic properties. The study was carried out under model conditions simulating the environment of river water moderately contaminated and laboratory water ecosystem. The obtained results indicate that the concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons, river microflora adapted to the environment of aromatic hydrocarbons as well as decreased temperature affected the process of the aromatic hydrocarbons' degradation. Due to the significant evaporation, the studied compounds are present in river water only for a short period of time. The half-times calculated in accordance with the kinetic equation of 1st order amounted to 1.1- 8.7 days; the contribution of evaporation was on average 28%. When the microflora had been adapted to the presence of these compounds, the process of degradation was as rule more rapid for both investigated temperatures (20 degrees C and 8 degrees C) and for most of the series. This process was slowed down by temperature fall to about 8 degrees C, but only in the range of low concentrations (1-32 mg/l). This regularity was not observed for higher concentrations up to 146 mg/l. The mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons at concentrations of 3.14-37.11 mg/l, exposed for 20 days to water ecosystem under dynamic conditions was reduced up to 99%. The investigated aromatic hydrocarbons were not absorbed by Elodea canadesis and Physa fortinalis and were weakly condensed in Lebistes reticulatis (cumulation coefficients-0.5-22.8). In the case of bottom sediments, it was stated that these compounds were not cumulated. The investigated concentrations of aromatic hydrocarbons didn't have a positive or negative effect on the aquatic biocenosis settled in the ecosystem.


In today's dynamic business environment, competition is no longer between firms, but
between supply chains. The supply chain dependency leads the business focused on supply chain performance. Considering the importance given to the third industrial master plan by the Malaysia government, current supply chain environment accentuated the need of supply chain technology adoption to facilitate supply chain management. To explain the concerns, this study examined the impact of supply chain
capabilities namely, relational capability, information technology capability, and
organizational culture capability on supply chain operational performance and supply
chain technology adoption. This study also examines the successive impact of supply
chain technology adoption on supply chain operational performance and investigates
whether supply chain technology adoption mediates supply chain capabilities and
performance relationship under study. In order to achieve the research objectives, a two-step approach namely quantitative research method and a triangulation research approach are necessitated. 201 survey questionnaires were distributed to respondents in Malaysian textile and apparel organizations. 121 usable responses representing 60% response rate were empirically tested through structural equation modeling by using SPSS and SmartPLS. Research findings revealed that relational capability,
organizational culture capability, and supply chain technology adoption contributed to firm's supply chain operational performance, whereas, information technology capability was insignificant. The findings further revealed that supply chain capabilities have a positive influence to supply chain technology adoption. The findings also revealed a significant mediation effect of supply chain technology
adoption in the model under study. A triangulation research approach was employed
through face-to-face interviews with four industry practitioners to get their in-depth
experiences and perceptions on the model under study. ATLAS.ti results showed that developed model had achieved agreement of industry experts with the suggestion of two emerging terms (human support and work experience) as moderators for future study on the model. Limitations and recommendations for future study are discussed.


Based on previous research by Lee and Drummond (2007), this research has examined the influence of the type of therapist instructions (reliving and distancing) on the processing of distressing memories. Furthermore, this research examined whether the type of the trauma also influences the way the memory is being processed. The research has been conducted by and among university students. A detailed protocol - based on the original Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR; Shapiro, 1989) protocol-was used. Participants (13 males and 23 females, mean age 22.4 year) were asked to recall a distressing memory, after which the content of the memory was desensitized by either reliving or distancing instructions. Results show no difference in effectiveness between reliving and distancing conditions. Furthermore, no differences were found between the conditions powerlessness and guilt/shame. Partly based on the used measures it can be concluded that the manipulation of the conditions failed. For future research it is recommended that the protocol be expanded and the conditions of the type of trauma be adjusted. Furthermore it is recommended to add a control condition to the research, in order to determine whether bilateral stimuli are effective and whether they influence the effectiveness of therapist instructions.


Psychiatric reactions to disasters have not received sufficient attention because it is widely accepted that human beings can endure any kind of extreme stress. A disaster is the consequence of an extraordinary event that destroys goods, kills people, produces physical or psychological harm but, above all, which overcomes the coping possibilities of the social group. Reactions to stress occur in stages, each one characterised by a specific psychological mechanisms: pre-impact, alarm, impact, recoil, post-impact and reconciliation. The reactions can be acute or chronic, among them the post-traumatic stress disorder. Symptoms include flashbacks, difficulties in remembering, avoidance of stimuli, blunting of responses, high arousal level and obsessive ruminations. Biological, psychological and social factors play a role in the pathogenesis of these disorders. Language: es


This thesis explores computation as a communicative device between the physical and the digital, establishing a conversation between a material assembly and a digital model as a tool to inform the logic of the assembly's internal organization. In this research, the material assembly, which is defined as a material whose properties derive from the programming of raw matter to form unique internal structures, manifests through the technique of knitting, a material practice defined by pattern as rule-based code. A key contribution of this research is the development of a framework to help designers better understand how the topology of a knit structure can align with formal and structural motivations of tension activated architectural forms. This was accomplished through the identification of the knit pattern as code. Whereas traditionally the pattern is a static visual representation, in this research it is both the physical sequence of stitches and the dynamic properties of each stitch within a digital model. The dynamic properties of the physical material communicate through the knit pattern to the digital model, which explores the possibilities of form within the constraints of the material to remap the pattern's code and thereby re-informing the physical. This new framework may help designers create and evaluate material assemblies to better satisfy the local and global needs of form, structure, and aesthetics. The play between the physical and the digital is recursive, experimental, and interpretative – each informs the other while never truly resulting in the same output. Thesis Advisor: Lawrence Sass, Title: Associate Professor Department of Architecture, MIT


Thymus: This is a part of the immune system that is located in the anterior mediastinum. It is more prominent in children and often extends from 4th costal cartilage to the lower poles of the thyroid gland. It shrinks during adulthood and is slowly replaced by the fat tissue. The thymus plays an important role in the production and maturation of T-lymphocytes that protect the body from various infections.


Abstract A high‐fibre diet and one rich in fruit and vegetables have long been associated with lower risk of chronic disease. There are several possible mechanisms underpinning these associations, but one likely important factor is the production of bioactive molecules from plant‐based foods by the bacteria in the colon. This links to our growing understanding of the role of the gut microbiome in promoting health. Polyphenolic‐rich plant foods have been associated with potential health effects in many studies, but the bioavailability of polyphenol compounds, as eaten, is often very low. Most of the ingested molecules enter the large intestine where they are catabolised to smaller phenolic acids that may be the key bioactive effectors. Dietary fibres, present in plant foods, are also fermented by the bacteria to short‐chain fatty acids, compounds associated with several beneficial effects on cell turnover, metabolism and eating behaviour. Polyphenols and fibre are often eaten together, but there is a lack of research investigating the interaction between these two groups of key substrates for the colonic bacteria. In a project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Diet and Health Research Industry Club, we are investigating whether combining different fibres and polyphenol sources can enhance the production of bioactive phenolic acids to promote health. This could lead to improved dietary recommendations and to new products with enhanced potential health‐promoting actions.


The basil extract composition was determined by the GC-MS method and 38 different components were identified. The major components of the basil extract were estragol (86.72%), trans-α-bergamotene (2.91%), eucalyptol (2.67%), trans-ocimene (1.04%), linalool (0.72%), methyl-eugenol (0.71%), etc. The antifungal potential of the basil extract was tested against Fusarium oxysporum, F. proliferatum, F. subglutinans , and F. verticillioides isolated from cakes, using the agar plate method. Extract concentrations of 0.35 and 0.70% (v/v) significantly inhibited the growth of F. proliferatum (33.37 and 44.30%, respectively) and F. subglutinans (24.74 and 29.27%, respectively) whereas other investigated Fusarium species exhibited much lower sensitivity. The basil extract completely inhibited the growth of investigated Fusarium spp. at the concentration of 1.50% (v/v). Higher concentrations (0.35 and 0.70% (v/v)) reduced growth of aerial mycelium in all tested species. Strong medium pigmentation in the case of F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides was observed. The microscopic examination of the samples confirmed the presence of hyphae deformations with a frequent occurrence of fragmentations, thickenings and diminished sporulation. In addition to the basic, sensory, role the extract of basil has in the food product, it exerted significant antifungal properties, depending on its concentration. Key words : Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) extract, components, antifungal activity, Fusarium spp.


Rationalizability is a central solution concept of game theory. Economic models often have many rationalizable outcomes, motivating economists to use refinements of rationalizability, including equilibrium refinements. In this paper we try to achieve a general understanding of when this multiplicity occurs and how one should deal with it. Assuming that the set of possible payoff functions and belief structures is sufficiently rich, we establish a revealing structure of the correspondence of beliefs to sets of rationalizable outcomes. We show that, for any rationalizable action a of any type, we can perturb the beliefs of the type in such a way that a is uniquely rationalizable for the new type. This unique outcome will be robust to further small changes. When multiplicity occurs, then we are in a "knife-edge" case, where the unique rationalizable outcome changes, sandwiched between open sets of types where each of the rationalizable actions is uniquely rationalizable. As an immediate application of this result, we characterize, for any refinement of rationalizability, the predictions that are robust to small misspecifications of interim beliefs. These are only those predictions that are true for all rationalizable strategies, that is, the predictions that could have been made without the refinement. Copyright The Econometric Society 2007.


Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) are a rich family of two-dimensional materials displaying a multitude of different quantum ground states. In particular, d3 TMDCs are paradigmatic materials hosting a variety of symmetry broken states, including charge density waves, superconductivity, and magnetism. Among this family, NbSe2 is one of the best-studied superconducting materials down to the monolayer limit. Despite its superconducting nature, a variety of results point toward strong electronic repulsions in NbSe2. Here, we control the strength of the interactions experimentally via quantum confinement and use low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) to demonstrate that NbSe2 is in close proximity to a correlated insulating state. This reveals the coexistence of competing interactions in NbSe2, creating a transition from a superconducting to an insulating quantum correlated state by confinement-controlled interactions. Our results demonstrate the dramatic role of interactions in NbSe2, establishing NbSe2 as a correlated superconductor with competing interactions.


We examine the factors behind young alumni donations to a selective liberal arts college. Coming from a wealthier background and having less financial need increases giving, but there is no definitive pattern to the effect of differing financial aid on giving. Alumni who majored in economics or government, studied abroad, were 4-year athletes, were members of the Greek system, or had higher GPA's, contribute more. Students with closer connections to the institution as alumni (living closer, marrying a fellow alum, or through employment) are larger contributors. International and minority American graduates donate less. Giving is higher in key reunion years. A better academic ranking or higher endowment per student leads to lower giving, while athletic team success has little effect. These findings can assist college administrators in their solicitation of donations from alumni and in determination of which programs to protect or enhance during times of budget cutbacks.


An experimental study was conducted to investigate the film cooling effectiveness of a few configurations of short injection holes: single row, double row and both of the preceding cases with an upstream ramp placed at two different locations. In order to perform the above study, a wind-tunnel facility was assembled to facilitate in the successful culmination of the experiments. The focus of the study was to determine the cooling provided by the short injection holes at a variety of blowing ratios and whether adding an extra row of holes, upstream of the first row would make a difference. For the second part, a ramp was placed upstream of the single and double row configuration to help improve cooling . All of the experiments were performed in a low speed wind-tunnel with a mainstream velocity of 8 m/s and a turbulence insity of 3.3%. Higher blowing ratios were ineffective in improving film-cooling effectiveness due to jet lift-off. Two rows of holes increased the cooling effectiveness by 200%, when compared to single row configurations at the same blowing ratio without ramps. Upstream ramps provided significant improvement in the near hole region of the injection holes.


This work seeks to analyze the determining factors in the creation of academic spin offs in the Instituto Tecnologico of Costa Rica (ITCR), a public university of Costa Rica, by using the methodology proposed by O'Shea et al., (2008): attributes of the entrepreneur, organizational resources, institutional and environmental determinants. The results reveal that in the ITCR the main strengths are its mission, culture, and history characterized by the service offered to the production sector; nevertheless, it needs to enhance aspects like the quality of research and secure external funds for said research, as well as external legal aspects that offer the appropriate conditions for the creation of academic spin offs and the generation of risk capital; all this, in keeping with the paradigm of the entrepreneurial university. This article contributes to explain the process of creating spin offs in a Latin American public university and it is useful for the public and private academic sector in charge of promoting greater closeness between the University and Society.


Abstract. The research objective was to compare the nutritive value and some functional properties of duck leg muscles from different flocks. A total of 80 drakes out of three conservative flocks (cross-breeds Pekin type – SB, Miniduck – K2, Pekin originated from Danish Pekin duck – P8) and one maternal breeding strain (P66) aged seven weeks, were used for comparison. The content of protein, lipids, moisture, essential amino acids, fatty acids and cholesterol were estimated. The investigation of functional properties has covered: the determination of the colour parameters – L*, a* b*, colour difference between individual flocks, total haem pigments' content, sensory evaluation of raw muscles' colour intensity in 10 point scale; pH 24 ; water holding capacity; cooking loss and shear force. Comparing the basic chemical and amino acid composition, cholesterol content and profile of fatty acids, it could be concluded that the P66 leg muscles coming from a selected breeding strain, are the most favourable from the nutritional point of view. It is evident too, that muscles from all the examined flocks have been characterized by a high nutritional value. Taking into consideration the functional properties, it was concluded that the muscles from the investigated flocks varied in colour and analysed traits. The ducks of K2 had the best functional properties. The advantages of K2 in comparison to the other ducks are: darker colour typical of waterfowl meat, lower cooking loss, higher water holding capacity and lower shear force.


Author(s): Lee, Geuntak | Advisor(s): McKittrick, Joanna; Olevsky, Eugene A. | Abstract: Spark plasma sintering (SPS) has clear advantages of fast densification and lower grain growth compared with other powder consolidation techniques such as hot pressing (HP). Many researchers studied intrinsic electric current effects during the SPS process, yet the results of these studies are still controversial due to the complexity of the SPS technology. In this study, we investigate various consolidation methods with and without electric current assistance to achieve the deconvolution of the electric current effects from the temperature effects. The spatial distribution of the electric current passing through the powder during SPS is modeled using the finite element method. The porosity-interparticle neck area geometrical relationship is utilized to estimate the electric current density inside the powder volume subjected to SPS. For the first time, by taking into account the explicit influence of the electric current effect on the SPS densification mechanisms, the governing equations describing hot pressing are modified to enable an SPS-specific constitutive analysis. The densification mechanisms of various ceramic (ZrN) and metallic (W and Mo) powders are determined by the inverse regression of the new SPS constitutive equations and by utilizing the experimental results on powder consolidation with and without the participation of the electric current effect.We show that the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique can be a useful tool to demonstrate the densification mechanism of the powders during the sintering. The grain size and grain growth factors are incorporated into the sintering constitutive equation too to elucidate the grain growth effect on the material behavior governing parameters.Additionally, the known but controversial intrinsic electric current effects such as surface cleaning and retardation of the grain growth are analyzed for the consolidation of the Mo nanopowders using SPS. Finally, an energy efficient and fast consolidation technique utilizing the highly concentrated electric current flow through a conductive powder by manipulating the electric current trajectory is developed.


The purpose of this study was to determine preferences for assessment and treatment strategies used by pediatric physical therapists (PTs) for balance dysfunction in children. Sixty-seven percent (566 of 843) of a random sample of PTs, stratified by region of the United States, who belonged to the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association in 1994, and who had agreed to receive outside mailings, returned a mail survey. The respondents were either currently practicing physical therapy or had practiced within the last five years at the time of the survey. In the questionnaire, two case studies were presented, a child with mild balance dysfunction and a child with moderate balance dysfunction. Therapists rated from listed choices: 1) assessments and treatment techniques they would use for these two children, 2) frequency of treatment, and 3) philosophy of therapy. Respondents indicated that they would: 1) most often use nonstandardized balance assessments, 2) use a combination of functional and more traditional treatment activities, 3) adjust frequency of treatment based on treatment setting and the child's severity of dysfunction, and 4) most often identify with the neurodevelopmental (NDT) philosophy of treatment. No relationships were found between geographical region and treatment philosophy. A significant relationship was found between treatment philosophy and years of pediatric PT experience. PTs with more experience indicated a preference for the NDT philosophy as compared with a motor learning philosophy (x2 =15.4, p < 0.05). These results can be used to understand pediatric PTs' current practice related to assessment and treatment of balance dysfunction in children and to design studies that compare the effectiveness of traditional assessment and treatment strategies for balance deficits with newly proposed strategies.


Background: Multi-drug Resistant (MDR) pathogen Carbapenem-Resistance Klebsiella pneumonia (CR-Kp) associated Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP) is a serious infectious disease and tigecycline with high or conventional dose, is one of the last resort potential antibiotics for its treatment.

Objective: The major objective of this study was to evaluate the key role of adverse events in preferring the better dosing option of tigecycline.

Methods: Total 45 middle-aged MDR-CR-Kp associated VAP patients and treated with high (200 mg/day) and conventional dose (100 mg/day) of tigecycline (intravenous) distributed into two groups. Group-wise microbiological eradication rate, secondary infection rate, 30 days mortality rate and dose-related adverse events were analyzed and compared, accordingly.

Result: After 5 days, highest microbiological eradication was observed in HD-group (79.17%) than CD-group (47.62%) with low rate of secondary infections (8.33% versus 33.33%). The 30 days mortality rate was relatively higher in HD-group (45.83% versus 38.10%). Severity and frequency of high-dose associated adverse events were higher in HD-group at all parameters than CD-group (elevation of ALT: 33.33%/23.81%; AST: 41.67%/28.57%; bilirubin: 37.50%/19.05%; reduction of blood pH: 45.83%/9.52%, respectively).

Conclusion: High dose of tigecycline showed relatively higher therapeutic response in MDR-CR-Kp associated VAP treatment than conventional dose but, with increased rate of adverse events, which questioned its practice.


Random key predistribution security schemes are well suited for use in sensor networks due to their low overhead. However, the security of a network using predistributed keys can be compromised by cloning attacks. In this attack, an adversary breaks into a sensor node, reprograms it, and inserts several copies of the node back into the sensor network. Cloning gives the adversary an easy way to build an army of malicious nodes that can cripple the sensor network. In this paper, we propose an algorithm that a sensor network can use to detect the presence of clones. Keys that are present on the cloned nodes are detected by looking at how often they are used to authenticate nodes in the network. Simulations verify that the proposed method accurately detects the presence of clones in the system and supports their removal. We quantify the extent of false positives and false negatives in the clone detection process.


For many countries, despite their adoption of quotas, women's political participation remains low. Costa Rica, however, presents a success story in terms of increasing women's descriptive representation and, as a country which has tried a variety of quota systems, it represents a unique case study. This article looks at the processes which have influenced the evolution of the Costa Rican experience, and the struggle to achieve effective quota law highlights the importance of clear, unambiguous legislation that leaves no loopholes for those resisting its implementation. However, there is also a cautionary note that although quotas can be effective in increasing numbers, the quest by women's organisations to seek transformation can be co‐opted by others leading perhaps to undesired outcomes. The quota system can ensure a higher presence of women but it does not necessarily enhance democracy or social justice, or promote women's interests within the public agenda.


New models of magnetic data are presented that provide insight into the early stages of rifting and breakup between Morocco and Nova Scotia. The margins, which began forming during the Late Triassic rifting and Middle Jurassic separation of the North American and African plates, display considerable variability in deeper crustal structure, faulting style, and basin geometry along their length. The central and northeastern portions of the Nova Scotia margin show characteristics of a magma-poor margin, with a high degree of crustal thinning and a complex ocean-continent transition zone with little direct evidence of volcanism. In contrast, the margin to the southwest of Nova Scotia has clearly recognized characteristics of a volcanic-style rifted margin, including seaward-dipping reflector (SDR) sequences that are interpreted as rift-related volcanic flows overlying basement. These SDRs are coincident with a strong linear magnetic anomaly, the East Coast Magnetic Anomaly (ECMA), which shares many characteristics with the West African Coast Magnetic Anomaly (WACMA). Both magnetic anomalies change character and diminish in amplitude northward along the margins. The new models show the expected decrease in magnetic source material towards the northeastern end of the margin and suggest that modest amounts of igneous material, emplaced at or near the edge of the thinned continental crust, will satisfy the observed anomalies in this magma-poor section of the margin. These new interpretations and supporting evidence indicate volcanism was a factor along much of the margin during early rifting between Nova Scotia and Morocco. Resume : De nouveaux modeles de donnees magnetiques sont presentes; ils donnent des apercus des premieres etapes de distension et de rupture entre le Maroc et la Nouvelle-Ecosse. Les bordures ont commence ase former durant la distension


The commercial viability of wind-driven embedded renewable generation (ERG) projects is sensitive to connection costs. These costs vary with the voltage level at which the ERG is connected; generally the higher the voltage, the higher the cost. Windfarm developers of ERG therefore prefer to connect at lower voltages. However, because distribution networks are normally limited by permissible voltage fluctuations rather than by thermal considerations, network operators prefer to connect ERG at higher voltages where their overall impact on voltage profiles is minimal. This conflict of objectives between ERG developers and network operators is usually settled through simple deterministic load flow studies, usually based on one critical case representing conditions of minimum load and maximum ERG output. Such studies only consider extreme events and do not take into account the likelihood of these events occurring. However, new European standards describe voltage characteristics in statistical terms. Although these standards are not intended for use in assessing the level of penetration of ERG, they point to statistical and probabilistic approaches as the way forward in such assessments. This is particularly important for wind generation because of its stochastic output. Two simple wind speed models based on the Markov modelling technique are presented, which may be used to evaluate the impact of windfarms. The models give satisfactory results when applied to the evaluation of voltage profiles in distribution networks. The probability density function of voltage can be obtained and used in assessing the level of ERG that might be accepted on an existing network. A 281-node generic distribution system model based on a real network is used to illustrate the application of the proposed models.


ABSTRACT The smooth hammerhead shark, Sphyrna zygaena, occurs in warm temperate waters around the northern North Island of New Zealand. Commercial fishing records and research trawl survey data were used to determine their distribution. Highest catch rates were recorded in relatively sheltered bays and coastlines along the northeast coast of North Island. Neonate and juvenile sharks use shallow coastal waters and large harbours and estuaries as nursery areas up to an age of two years and total length of 150 cm. Five sharks were electronically tagged but two apparently died and three (137–160 cm total length) returned useful data. Two tagged sharks remained in or near the Bay of Islands for 6–55 days after tagging, moving extensively through the bay. A third shark moved about 155 km southeast in 250 days. That shark spent 70 days mostly shallower than 10 m (94% of time) with occasional dives to 40 m. Thereafter, it oscillated between the surface and depths of 60−80 m, with most time (55%) being spent at 40−60 m. Maximum recorded depth was 144 m.


The joining of defect-free AlN stripes is observed to trigger the generation of a large density of threading dislocations in the vicinity of the coalescence point. The AlN structure was grown by pulsed lateral epitaxy on shallow-grooved sapphire substrates. In the precoalescence stage, the dislocation density in the lateral epitaxial region ( ) are generated at the coalescence point as a result of relaxation of compressive stress that develops due to temperature gradients during growth. They bend toward the surface during the postcoalescence growth stage, leading to a high density of pure-edge threading dislocations in the lateral growth regions. Some threading dislocations form loops on prismatic planes in the crystal and the basal segments are observed to glide in the [0001] direction under the electron beam in the microscope.


INTRODUCTION
Cannabis sativa L. is a well-recognized medicinal plant. Cannabis regulations in Argentina are insufficient to solve the problem of patient access to full-spectrum cannabis-based products. So, the market of artisanal products with unknown quality and dosage of cannabinoids is increasing, and so is the local demand and need for analyzing these products. However, much of the latest validated methodologies for cannabinoid quantification include expensive instrumentation that is not always available in laboratories of health institutions in Argentina.

METHOD
The aim of this work was to develop and validate a simple and rapid HPLC-UV method for the identification and quantification of principal cannabinoids in cannabis resins, inflorescences, and medicinal oils using standard HPLC equipment. The cannabinoids selected for validation were cannabidiol acid (CBDA), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (9-THC), cannabichromene (CBC), and tetrahydrocannabinol acid (THCA). A method for the simultaneous identification and quantification of these 7 main cannabinoids was developed and then validated. Some data parameters were comparable to other reports with more sophisticated analytical instruments for the analysis of cannabis. The assessed limits of detection and the limits of quantitation ranged from 0.9 to 3.66 µg/mL and 2.78 to 11.09 µg/mL, respectively. The concentration-response relationship of the method indicated a linear relationship between the concentration and peak area with R2 values of >0.99 for all 7 cannabinoids.

RESULT
The relative standard deviation (RSD%) varied from 2.34 to 4.82 for intraday repeatability and from 1.16 to 3.15 for interday repeatability. The percentage of recovery values was between 94 to 115% (resins) and 80 to 103% (inflorescence extract). The cannabis industry is growing rapidly, and there is a need for reliable testing methods to ensure the safety and efficacy of cannabis products. In addition, current methods for cannabinoid analysis are often time-consuming and expensive, while the HPLC-UV method herein reported is a simple, rapid, accurate, and cost-effective alternative for the analysis of cannabinoids in cannabis resins, inflorescences, and medicinal oils.

CONCLUSION
This method will be proposed to be included in the Cannabis sativa L. monograph of the Argentine Pharmacopoeia.


In this volume of Leys Lectures, the third collection of Wayne Leys Memorial Lectures, six distinguished essayists demonstrate the relevance of ethics to contemporary concerns by constructively exploring major ethical issues deeply embedded in our society.The essays, written by noted scholars Tom Regan, Carol C. Gould, James Rachels, James P. Sterba, Louis P. Pojman, and David L. Norton, focus on issues of feminism, the exploitation of animals, economic injustice, racial prejudice, naive moral relativism, and the failure of public education.Tom Regan and Louis P. Pojman both address the issue of animal rights. Regan directs his attention to an ethic-of-care feminism, which contends that the ideology of male superioritynot only to women but to all creaturesmust be destroyed. By means of a "consistency argument," he extends ethic-of-care feminism to the treatment of animals, insisting that we must not permit to be done to animals "in the name of science" what we would not allow to be done to human beings. Pojman, on the other hand, addresses the question of animal rights through a critical analysis of seven theories of the moral status of animals, arguing that while animals have no natural "rights" since they are unable to enter into contracts, they do deserve to be treated kindly. In his view, much animal research could be abandoned without significant loss.What rethinking of democracy in terms of freedom and equality is required by economic justice? Carol C. Gould offers an answer to this question by arguing that economic justice requires that workers control the production process as well as the distribution process. Such justice would provide the basis of "positive freedom" as self-development without ignoring the importance of the absence of constraints.Taking racial prejudice as his paradigm, James Rachels explores the deeper meaning of prejudice and what equality of treatment involves. Noting the subtlety of prejudicial reasoning, he examines how stereotypes, unconscious bias, and the human tendency toward rationalization make it difficult even for people of good will to prevent prejudice from influencing their actions.James P. Sterba invites the reader to consider a different and more general problem of how to persuade people to act for moral reasons. To accomplish this aim he shows morality to be a requirement of rationality and "the welfare liberal ideal" (the right to welfare and the right to equal opportunity) to be a fusion of the practical ends of five idealsliberty, fairness, common good, androgyny, and equality.For David L. Norton, one of our most pressing problems is the failure of our educational system. The system fails to enable students to make wise "life-shaping" choices involving vocation, marriage, children, and friendship. In order to make good choices, human beings must live and work in an environment that provides experiences that authenticate "personal truths" indispensable to worthy living. These personal truths include direct acquaintance with vocational alternatives and participation in actual service to others.Collectively, these essays bring into sharp focus the urgent moral issues confronting our society and the need for ongoing discussion and examination of these issues in order to gain deeper understanding of and possible solutions to the problems they present."


This letter deals with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data classification in an unsupervised way. Many models have been proposed to fit SAR data (K, Weibull, Log-normal, etc.), but none of them are flexible enough to model all kinds of surfaces (particularly when there are urban areas present in the image). Our main contribution is the application of a statistical model G0 in a classification process which is shown to be able to model areas with different degrees of heterogeneity. The quality of the classification obtained by mixing this model and a Markovian segmentation is high. We use an iterative conditional estimation method to estimate the parameters of the proposed model.


Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are susceptible to chronic respiratory infection with a number of bacterial pathogens. The Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria are problematic CF pathogens because (i) they are very resistant to antibiotics, making respiratory infection difficult to treat and eradicate; (ii) infection with these bacteria is associated with high mortality in CF; (iii) they may spread from one CF patient to another, leading to considerable problems for both patients and carers; and (iv) B. cepacia complex bacteria are difficult to identify and nine new species have now been found to constitute isolates originally identified as 'B. cepacia' based on their phenotypic properties. Here we review the changes that have occurred in the taxonomy of the B. cepacia complex and the pathogenic factors these bacteria possess. While the taxonomy of the B.cepacia complex has advanced considerably with the development of accurate methods for their identification, the pathogenic mechanisms employed by these CF pathogens are only just beginning to be explored at the molecular level. Several virulence factors have been defined for B. cenocepacia (the dominant CF pathogen within the complex); however, knowledge of the disease mechanisms employed by other B. cepacia complex species is limited. The recent determination of the complete genome sequences for several of the B. cepacia complex species should greatly enhance our ability to study these problematic CF pathogens.


The aerobic dive limit (ADL), dive duration associated with the onset of post-dive blood lac- tate elevation, has been widely used in the interpretation of diving physiology and diving behavior. How- ever, its physiological basis is incompletely understood, and in most studies, ADLs are simply calculated with an O2 store/O2 consumption formula. To better understand the ADL, research has been conducted on emperor penguins diving at an isolated dive hole. This work has revealed that O2 stores are greater than previously estimated, and that the rate of depletion of those O2 stores appears to be regulated pri- marily through a diving bradycardia and the efficiency of swimming. Blood and respiratory O2 stores are not depleted at the 5.6 min ADL determined by post-dive blood lactate measurements. It is hypothesized that muscle, isolated from the circulation during a dive, is the primary source of lactate accumulation. To predict this 5.6 min ADL for these shallow dives at the isolated dive hole with the classic O2 store/O2 consumption formula, an O2 consumption rate of 2 × the predicted metabolic rate of a penguin at rest is required. In contrast, if the formula is used to calculate an ADL that is defined as the time for all consum- able O2 stores to be depleted, then a 23.1 min dive, in which final venous partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) was 6 mm Hg (0.8 kPa), represents such a maximum limit and demonstrates that an O2 consumption rate of about 0.5 × the predicted rate of an emperor penguin at rest is required in the formula.


Abstract Most studies that investigate auditory influence on visual design scenarios disregard the inherent temporal nature of sonic entities. This article addresses problems posed in the interaction of multiple data types—e.g. the visual representation of musical data—and the ways in which one type of information may shape another in simultaneous generations. The author's proposed method for analogy takes advantage of the structural organization behind several rhythmic sequences to generate visual geometric patterns in which the temporal characteristics of the former affect the spatial features of the latter. The structural analysis of auditory rhythms shows that similar cyclical organizations also exist in their geometric correspondents.


Author(s): Saada, Edwin A. | Advisor(s): Hill, Kent L | Abstract: African trypanosomes are devastating human and animal pathogens transmitted by tsetse flies between mammalian hosts. The trypanosome surface forms a critical host interface that is essential for sensing and adapting to diverse host environments. However, trypanosome surface protein composition and diversity remain largely unknown. In the following works, we identify the trypanosome cell and flagellar surface proteomes using surface labelling, affinity purification, and proteomic analyses of both insect-stage and mammalian bloodstream-stage Trypanosoma brucei. We identify a substantial number of novel proteins with unknown functionalities, indicating that the surface proteomes are larger and more diverse than previously anticipated. We demonstrate stage-specificity for a number of proteins, suggesting that the parasite surface undergoes fine-tuning in order to adapt to specific, but diverse, host environments. Similar analyses were performed on the trypanosome flagellum, an essential and multifunctional organelle involved in motility, morphogenesis, and host-parasite interactions. Previous attempts to characterize flagellar composition were limited by the inability to purify intact flagellum. Using a combination of genetic and mechanical approaches in conjunction with surface labeling and affinity purification, we conducted independent analyses of the flagellum surface and matrix fractions. We identified a broad spectrum of proteins with predicted signaling functionalities, indicating that the flagellum is a diverse and dynamic host-parasite interface that is well-suited for host-parasite signaling.In procyclic, or insect-stage, parasites, we reported identification of several receptor-type adenylate cyclases (ACs) that are specifically upregulated in procyclic T. brucei. Previously studied ACs were constitutively expressed or confined to bloodstream stage parasites. Using gene-specific tags, we find that ACs are glycosylated surface-exposed proteins that dimerize and possess catalytic activity. Notably, while some ACs were found to be distributed along the flagellum length, others specifically localized to the flagellum tip. Differential localization suggests that the membrane is organized into specific subdomains, suggesting a specific-role for cAMP signaling in procyclic-stage parasites. Functional analyses of ACs were done in the context of socio-microbiological analyses. There are sophisticated systems for cell-cell communication that enable microbes to act as a group. In their native environment, T. brucei lives on host tissue surfaces, and in vitro cultivation on surfaces causes the parasites to actively assemble into densely packed communities, from which they coordinately migrate outwards in radial projections across the surface. This behavior is termed social motility (SoMo) due to analogies with bacterial systems. Functional analyses revealed that flagellar ACs cooperate with cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase to regulate trypanosomal social behaviors. This supports the hypothesis that ACs transduce extracellular signals and are involved in stage-specific signaling pathways. Experiments using cAMP analogues suggest that the phenotype is specific to cAMP, and not due to downstream metabolic byproducts. Notably, knockdown of only some ACs impacts social motility, indicating segregation of AC functions. There are several possibilities for why only some ACs are involved in social motility. One of the most intriguing explanations has to do with the differential localization. Some ACs localize along the flagellum length, while others are specific to the tip. Such localization is novel, and this protein family is the first known example of transmembrane proteins in T. brucei, and one of the first in any system, to localize exclusively to the flagellar tip. Despite the importance of flagellar protein trafficking, flagellar targeting signals are virtually unknown. In these works, we investigate whether flagellar subdomain localization impacts AC functionality. Using protein truncations, chimeras, and point mutants, we identify an intracellular segment and specific residues required for flagellum and flagellum subdomain targeting. Strikingly, the social motility defect of a flagellum-tip AC mutant can be rescued by redirection of another AC from along the length to the flagellum tip. These results demonstrate the importance of protein targeting to specific subdomains within the flagellum, and implicates cAMP signaling at the flagellum tip as a key regulator of cell-cell communication required for social behavior. These combined works identify and define the cell surface and flagellar proteomes, with in depth characterization and analysis of a group of novel cAMP signaling proteins. Through usage of the social motility assay, these works identify the first known regulators of trypanosomal social behavior, and the first direct evidence of cAMP functionalities in procyclic-stage parasites. Furthermore, signaling functionality is tied to differential localization of ACs to specific flagellar subdomains. Our works thus advance understanding of principles that govern protein targeting to flagellum subdomains and provides insight into T. brucei signaling mechanisms, both of which are poorly understood but fundamentally important features of flagellar and trypanosomal biology.


Background: The use of intradomicile residual insecticide on a large scale is a proven and efficacious intervention against malaria mosquito vectors. The objective of the study was determined the bio-efficacy and resistance of fenitrothion insecticide against the mosquito An. (Nyssorhynchus.) albimanus Wiedemann. Methods: This study included seven communities located in different endemic regions where fenitrothion is used to control An. (Nys.) albimanus populations. The test of bio-efficacy and susceptibility were conducted following the WHO standard bioassay methodology.Results: The average percent mortality of An. (Nys.) albimanus exposed to fenitrothion in the seven communities tested were 96% and 92% for the first two months. This bio-efficacy was maintained until the fifth month with 81% mortality in communities with high IRS coverage. Anopheles (Nys.) albimanus was susceptible to the organophosphate insecticides fenitrothion and malathion, as well as to carbamate Propoxur but resistant to pirimiphos-methyl and chlorpyrifos.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that fenitrothion maintains an elevated insecticide residuality and toxic effect on different types of surfaces until the fifth month post-application. Furthermore, An. (Nys.) albimanus remains highly susceptible to this insecticide, providing a high degree of protection against mosquito bites inside households, and interrupting malaria transmission in places with high IRS coverage and where the mosquito is still susceptible to fenitrothion application.


(1) There is no single measurement of adequacy in dialysis available now, and there likely never will be. (2) With present knowledge, it is rational to model patients for removal of both small and middle molecules. Minimum weekly clearances for urea and for a middle molecule the size of Vitamin B12 should be 120 and 30 liters per week per 1.73 m2 respectively. (3) In prescribing a dialysis treatment, a Kt/v urea greater than 1 should be targeted, a value of under 0.8 is unacceptable. (4) Attention to the nutritional status of the patient is important, and one should strive for a PCR of 1.1 to 1.3 g/kg/day. (5) Studies on living cells (for example, platelets) and systems (for example, CNS function) are valuable if there is doubt as to the patient's status. (6) Assessments of treatment stresses and quality of life should be used in monitoring dialysis patients. (7) In clinical trials of different treatment methods, it is important to equate findings to solute clearance profiles and to include studies on functions of cells or systems and to measure the impact of the treatment upon quality of life.


Prior research on institutional investors' role in corporate governance draws a distinction between engaged and disengaged pension funds. The aim of this study was to shed more light on how pension fund practitioners talk about engagement and disengagement. Using insights from 35 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and round-table discussions with pension fund trustees, executives, investment officers and financial intermediaries, we identify different types of vocabularies and temporal perspectives used to account for different stances towards engagement. We highlight a tension between a seemingly causal relationship between accounts and future behaviour and argue that these 'accounts', 'vocabularies' and 'uses of the past' in themselves need to be treated as an object of study because they may represent not simply the individual motivations but rather the expressions of extant norms in the broader social context of financial markets. An important policy implication is that perceived realities of investment are unlikely to cause a change in pension fund behaviour because participants seem to decouple their view of the world from their impact on the world.


Motivation: Analysis of next-generation sequencing data often results in a list of genomic regions. These may include differentially methylated CpGs/regions, transcription factor binding sites, interacting chromatin regions, or GWAS-associated SNPs, among others. A common analysis step is to annotate such genomic regions to genomic annotations (promoters, exons, enhancers, etc.). Existing tools are limited by requiring an artificial one-to-one region-to-annotation mapping, by a lack of visualization options to clearly and easily summarize annotations, by the time it takes to annotate regions, or by some combination thereof.
Results: We have developed the annotatr R package to easily and quickly summarize, and visualize the association of genomic regions with genomic annotations. The annotatr package reports all intersections of regions and annotations, giving a better understanding of the genomic context of the regions. A variety of visualization functions are implemented in annotatr to easily plot numerical or categorical data associated with the regions across the annotations, providing insight into how characteristics of the regions differ across the annotations. We also demonstrate that annotatr is up to 11x faster than the comparable R package, ChIPpeakAnno. Overall, annotatr facilitates easy and fast genomic annotation of genomic regions, enabling a richer biological interpretation of experiments.
Availability: http://www.github.com/rcavalcante/annotatr/


The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of ownership structure on derivatives' use policy. Using data for 262 French non-financial listed firms, the results show that the two decisions of whether to use derivatives or not and the extent of derivatives use are not affected by the same variables. CEO ownership has a negative effect on the decision to use derivatives, whereas CEO tenure length influences negatively the extent of derivative use. CEO age impacts positively both decisions, whereas firms that grant stock options to their CEOs do not rely too much on derivatives. However, the presence of outside blockholders seems not to affect the firms' hedging policy.


An analysis is carried out to investigate the steady two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer flow of a Casson fluid over an exponentially stretching surface in the presence of thermal radiation and chemical reaction. Velocity, thermal and solutal slips are considered instead of no-slip conditions at the boundary. Stretching velocity, wall temperature and wall concentration are considered in the exponential forms. The non-linear partial differential equations are converted into a system of non-linear ordinary differential equations by similarity transformations. The resultant non-linear ordinary differential equations are solved numerically by fourth order Runge-Kutta method along with shooting technique. The influence of various parameters on the fluid velocity, temperature, concentration, wall skin friction coefficient, the heat transfer coefficient and the Sherwood number have been computed and the results are presented graphically and discussed quantitatively. Comparisons with previously published works are performed on various special cases and are found to be in excellent agreement.


The first catalytic enantioselective desymmetrization of 1,3-diazido-2-propanol via an intramolecular interception of alkyl azides by Cu-carbenoids has been realized. A wide range of 1,3-diazidoisopropyl diazo(aryl)acetates were converted to cyclic α-imino esters in the presence of bisoxazoline ligand (S,S)-Ph-Box with good to excellent yields, and the enantiomeric excess was up to 97%.


A new signal processing method is presented for the suppression of intermittent clutter echoes in radar wind profilers. This clutter type is a significant problem during the seasonal bird migration and often results in large discrepancies between profiler wind measurements and independent reference data. The technique presented makes use of a discrete Gabor frame expansion of the coherently averaged time series data in combination with a statistical filtering approach to exploit the different signal characteristics between signal and clutter. The rationale of this algorithm is outlined and the mathematical methods used are presented in due detail. A first test using data obtained with an operational 482 MHz wind profiler indicates that the method outperforms the previously used clutter suppression algorithm.


The article by summarizing developments sociology, philosophy, political science, kratolohiyi legitimacy of the essence, defines its characteristics and functions. Evaluated the use of this knowledge when disclosing the nature of judicial legitimacy.


In this paper we introduce a new approach to estimating a differentiated product demand system that allows for error in market shares as measures of choice probabilities. In particular, our approach allows for products with zero sales in the data, which is a frequent phenomenon that arises in product differentiated markets but lies outside the scope of existing demand estimation techniques. Although we find that error in market shares generally undermine the standard point identification of discrete choice models of demand, we exploit shape restrictions on demand implied by discrete choice to generate a system of moment inequalities that partially identify demand parameters. These moment inequalities are fully robust to the variability in market shares yet are also adaptive to the information revealed by market shares in a way that allows for informative inferences. In addition, we construct a profiling approach for parameter inference with moment inequalities, making it feasible to study models with a large number of parameters (as typically required in demand applications) by focusing attention on a profile of the parameters, such as the price coefficient. We use our approach to study consumer demand from scanner data using the Dominick's Finer Foods database, and find that even for the baseline logit model, demand elasticities nearly double when the full error in market shares is taken into account.


Multimorbidity has become highly prevalent around the globe and been associated with adverse health outcomes and cost of care. The built environment has become an important dimension in response to obesity and associated chronic diseases by addressing population sedentariness and low physical activity. Objective The aim of the following study was to examine whether there was an increased risk for multimorbidity for those living in less walkable neighbourhoods. It was hypothesised that participants residing in less walkable neighbourhoods would have a higher risk for multimorbidity. Setting City of Toronto and 14 neighbouring regions/municipalities within Ontario, Canada. Participants Study participants who had completed the Canadian Community Health Survey between the year 2000 and 2012, between 20 and 64 and 65 and 95 years of age, residing within a neighbourhood captured in the Walkability Index, and who were not multimorbid at the time of interview, were selected. Intervention The Walkability Index was the key exposure in the study, which is divided into quintiles (1—least, 5—most walkable neighbourhoods). Participants were retrospectively allocated to one of five quintiles based on their area of residency (at the time of interview) and followed for a maximum of 16 years. Primary outcome measure Becoming multimorbid with two chronic conditions. Secondary outcome measure Becoming multimorbid with three chronic conditions. Results Risk for multimorbidity (two chronic conditions) was highest in least compared with most walkable neighbourhoods with an HR of 1.14 (95% CI: 1.02 to 1.28, p=0.0230). While results showed an overall gradient response between decreased walkability and increased risk for multimorbidity, they were not statistically significant across all quintiles or in the older-adult cohort (65–95 years of age). Conclusion Study results seem to suggest that low neighbourhood walkability may be a risk factor for multimorbidity over time. More studies are needed to examine whether neighbourhood walkability is a potential solution for multimorbidity prevention at the population level.


In this paper we examine some general features of the time-dependent dynamics of drop deformation and breakup at low Reynolds numbers. The first aspect of our study is a detailed numerical investigation of the 'end-pinching' behaviour reported in a previous experimental study. The numerics illustrate the effects of viscosity ratio and initial drop shape on the relaxation and/or breakup of highly elongated droplets in an otherwise quiescent fluid. In addition, the numerical procedure is used to study the simultaneous development of capillary-wave instabilities at the fluid-fluid interface of a very long, cylindrically shaped droplet with bulbous ends. Initially small disturbances evolve to finite amplitude and produce very regular drop breakup. The formation of satellite droplets, a nonlinear phenomenon, is also observed.


Gaussian convolution and its discrete analogue, Gauss transform, have many science and engineering applications, such as mathematical statistics, thermodynamics and machine learning, and are widely applied to computer vision and image processing tasks. Due to its computational expense (quadratic and exponential complexities with respect to the number of points and dimensionality, respectively) and rapid spreading of high quality data (bit depth/dynamic range), accurate approximation has become important in practice compared with conventional fast methods, such as recursive or box kernel methods. In this paper, we propose a novel approximation method for fast Gaussian convolution of two-dimensional uniform point sets, such as 2D images. Our method employs L1 distance metric for Gaussian function and domain splitting approach to achieve fast computation (linear computational complexity) while preserving high accuracy. Our numerical experiments show the advantages over conventional methods in terms of speed and precision. We also introduce a novel and effective joint image filtering approach based on the proposed method, and demonstrate its capability on edge-aware smoothing and detail enhancement. The experiments show that filters based on the proposed L1 Gauss transform give higher quality of the result and are faster than the original filters that use box kernel for Gaussian convolution approximation.


We evaluate six crustal amplification models based on National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) B/C crustal profiles proposed for use in western North America (WNA) and often used in other active crustal regions where crustal properties are unknown. One of the models is based on an interpolation of generic rock velocity profiles previously proposed for WNA and central and eastern North America (CENA), in conjunction with material densities based on an updated velocity–density relationship. A second model is based on the velocity profile used to develop amplification factors for the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA)‐West2 project. A third model is based on a near‐surface velocity profile developed from the NGA‐West2 site database. A fourth model is based on velocity and density profiles originally proposed for use in CENA but recently used to represent crustal properties in California. We propose two alternatives to this latter model that more closely represent WNA crustal properties. We adopt a value of site attenuation ( κ ) for each model that is either recommended by the author of the model or proposed by us. Stochastic simulation is used to evaluate the Fourier amplification factors and their impact on response spectra associated with each model. Based on this evaluation, we conclude that among the available models evaluated in this study the NEHRP B/C amplification model of Boore (2016) best represents median crustal amplification in WNA, although the amplification models based on the crustal profiles of Kamai et al. (2013, 2016, unpublished manuscript, see [Data and Resources][1]) and Yenier and Atkinson (2015), the latter adjusted to WNA crustal properties, can be used to represent epistemic uncertainty.

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In this paper, we propose a simple and accurate new model for determining the noise correlation matrix of FETs for mixer applications. Using this nonlinear noise model and by a judicious choice of the terminations value present at each frequency, it is shown that the noise figure of FET mixers can be greatly improved HP EEsof and IEMN are investigating incorporating the model into HP EEsof's products so as to widely increase its availability.


Intraoperative "floppy-iris" syndrome is a novel entity that was initially described in 2005 by Chang and Campbell who encountered it during cataract surgery. The manifestations include a triad of the following intraoperative findings: (a) flaccid iris stroma leading to fluttering and bellowing of the iris, (b) prolapse of the iris through the surgical incisions, and (c) progressive pupil constriction. IFIS has been associated with increased surgical difficulty and, as a result, with increased morbidity including retinal detachment and loss of vision. Since the initial publication of IFIS in 2005, there have been several reports of a possible association between the use of tamsulosin for symptomatic prostate hyperplasia and IFIS. Consequently, in 2005 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an alert recommending ophthalmic examination prior to treatment with tamsulosin. In this review we present evidence of the association between tamsulosin and IFIS. We conducted a Medline search using the key words tamsulosin or alpha-blockers and retrieved English written reports and data on the prevalence of treatment with alpha-blockers in general and specifically tamsulosin among patients undergoing cataract surgery, the prevalence of IFIS among treated versus non-treated patients, and the resulting surgical complications. Of the 19 publications on this topic only 7 were patient series providing data on IFIS and treatment with tamsulosin. The prevalence of men receiving tamsulosin for BPH among the patients operated for cataract was 1-3%, the occurrence of IFIS was reported in 2-3% of the patients, and 57-100% of the patients receiving tamsulosin had at least one manifestation of IFIS. The occurrence of IFIS among men receiving other alpha-blockers or in non-treated patients was rare. An association between preoperative treatment with tamsulosin and IFIS is probable. This observation warrants further research to establish causality. Meanwhile, it seems prudent to perform an ophthalmic examination prior to prescribing tamsulosin.


Under Japan fs prewar capital stock system of joint-stock companies, rather than paying the full face value of a share in one lump sum, shareholders paid for stocks in multiple installments. This system was transplanted from industrialized Western nations during the Meiji Era to make it easier for investors to buy company shares and to promote capital concentrations. Company directors determined the amount of supplementary installments on part-paid stocks and when these installments were paid. The Commercial Code and Corporate articles of association specified sanctions for nonpayment, giving companies the backing needed to call in supplementary installments. Supplementary installments functioned as a last resort for corporate fund-raising in times of financial distress and played a role in corporate cash management and investment. Studies of historical documents such as financial statements and company histories show that in the early 1930s of the Great Depression, in a time of tight financial markets, many companies raised funds through supplementary installments, applying these funds to make investments and repay debts. As part of our study, we construct a new corporate financial data set with data on supplementary installments encompassing 174 firms, based on the Mitsubishi Economic Research Institute fs Honpo Jigyo-Seiseki Bunseki (Performance analysis of Japanese companies) and Toyo Keizai fs Kabushiki Gaisha Nenkan ( Company Year Book) and estimate cross-sectional investment functions for the fiscal year of 1932. Regression results suggest that while corporate investments were subject to liquidity and debt constraints, supplementary installments stabilized corporate cash management and promoted corporate investment activities.


In the Portage Lake lava series of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, 3 overlapping amygdule mineral zones - prehnite, epidote, and quartz zones, respectively - can be distinguished. Higher stratigraphic horizons typically lie within the prehnite zone and lower horizons within the epidote and quartz zones. Zone boundaries cross stratigraphic horizons, indicating that the amygdule minerals were deposited after many successive flows were extruded. Temperature control of the over-all distribution is likely. Mineralogy of flow tops of the Keweenawan series throughout the Lake Superior basin is like that of Keweenaw Peninsula, indicating that the mineral zones have regional extent. Cu concentrations are commonly near the boundary of the quartz zone, but may lie well within the quartz zone where quartz is not abundant. Most barren areas and unsuccessful mines lie either well outside the quartz zone, or where quartz or prehnite or both are plentiful. Detailed mineral mapping of mines on the Kearsarge amygdaloid shows that quartz is a prominent mineral only in the deeper portions of the mined area and that major concentrations of Cu lie near the boundary of the quartz zone. In the Kearsarge amygdaloid deposition temperatures of quartz and calcite, determined by inclusion thermometry, reach a maximum of about 360 degrees C.; this indicates a temperature gradient of greater than 2 degrees C. per 100 ft. at the time of deposition, in contrast to a gradient of 0.6 degrees C. per 100 ft. at the present time - indicating that fluids of hydrothermal character, rising along the flow top, deposited the amygdule minerals, one of which is native Cu. The chemical constituents of epidote, prehnite, and quartz, and the wide distribution and post-extrusion age of these minerals is compatible with formation by regional hydrothermal rearrangement and alteration of materials of the lavas as shown by chemical analyses of the altered rocks of the Kearsarge flow top. Pumpellyitization of parts of the flow top, caused by calcium oxide- and carbon dioxide-bearing waters, provided material to alter other parts of the top to albite basalt. Both alteration processes freed chemicals that formed amygdule minerals. A slightly greater volume of pumpellyitized rock than albitized rock is needed to provide the chemicals required for region-wide formation of amygdule minerals. The suggestion is made that pumpellyitization at depth is more extensive than in the ground now opened by mining and that the chemicals freed were transported regionally upward by hydrothermal solutions. Cu distribution seems related to the zonal amygdule mineral pattern resulting from this alteration and may itself have been freed from the lavas at depth during alteration to pumpellyite.


The demand for efficient systems that facilitate searching in multimedia databases and collections is vastly increasing. Application domains include criminology, musicology, trademark registration, medicine and image or video retrieval on the web. This thesis discusses content-based retrieval techniques that can be applied on these databases. The most important operation to support is query-by-example: retrieve items that are to some extent similar to a given query. In chapter 2 we study vantage indexing, a generic indexing approach not limited to a specific domain, because it only requires a (preferably metric) way of calculating a distance between the objects. With vantage indexing, objects are no longer compared directly, but it is investigated how similar their resemblance is to a set of reference objects: the vantage objects. We present a new way of selecting vantage objects, and demonstrate experimentally the scalability of the approach and the improvement in retrieval performance over existing methods. In many applications, it is possible to represent the objects by graphs. In chapter 3 we propose an indexing strategy for these scenarios. The assumption is that the graph's topology can be used to describe the underlying object. This topology is stored the laplacian matrix, and the sorted set of eigenvalues (spectrum) of this matrix is used as an indexing signature. To account for partial similarity, the difference in spectra of many subgraphs is considered as well. Both theory and experimental work support the claim that similarity in laplacian spectrum predicts similarity between the original objects. The proposed representation outperforms existing methods in various application domains. A possible limitation of the approach presented in chapter 3 is that two graphs with the same topology share the same representation, while the underlying objects may be different. In chapter 4, we enrich the graph representation therefore by storing additional object properties. We develop a complex-valued analogue of the laplacian matrix, a Hermitian matrix, and use its eigenvector associated to the second smallest eigenvalue as indexing signature. This eigenvector is known to be informative about the graph, and can be reused to partition the graph into meaningful subgraphs, resulting in less subgraphs to compare for partial similarity. We provide a successful instance of this framework within the context of 3D object retrieval. In chapter 5, we claim that good retrieval results are not only relevant to the query, they should in fact reflect the diversity of the relevant objects that are present in the collection as well. Given an initial result set for a user query (image search), we propose to cluster the retrieved images based on their visual characteristics and to show the most important objects from each cluster. We first dynamically determine appropriate weights of visual features for a specific query. These weights are used in a dynamic ranking function that is deployed in a clustering technique to obtain a diverse ranking based on cluster representatives. We provide three lightweight and efficient clustering algorithms, and show that the algorithmic output coincides consistently with the results of a user study .


Deep learning has become the method of choice to tackle real-world problems in different domains, partly because of its ability to learn from data and achieve impressive performance on a wide range of applications. However, its success usually relies on two assumptions: (i) vast troves of labeled datasets are required for accurate model fitting, and (ii) training and testing data are independent and identically distributed. Its performance on unseen target domains, thus, is not guaranteed, especially when encountering out-of-distribution data at the adaptation stage. The performance drop on data in a target domain is a critical problem in deploying deep neural networks that are successfully trained on data in a source domain. Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) is proposed to counter this, by leveraging both labeled source domain data and unlabeled target domain data to carry out various tasks in the target domain. UDA has yielded promising results on natural image processing, video analysis, natural language processing, time-series data analysis, medical image analysis, etc. In this review, as a rapidly evolving topic, we provide a systematic comparison of its methods and applications. In addition, the connection of UDA with its closely related tasks, e.g., domain generalization and out-of-distribution detection, has also been discussed. Furthermore, deficiencies in current methods and possible promising directions are highlighted.


BACKGROUND
The decentralization of school health care policy in The Netherlands was followed by an increase in diversity, which was most often not evidence-based. This study aims to clarify the use of scientific knowledge in school health care policy-making processes: multi-actor processes in networks, trying to solve certain problems.

METHODS
Case-study design in four Municipal Health Service regions, using documents and half-structured interviews as data sources.

RESULTS
Scientific knowledge is used by only 42% of the actors in 58% of decision-making rounds in policy-making processes. 'Recent' regional data on health indicators are used more often than 'established' (inter)national knowledge of theoretical models. Mainly school health professionals use knowledge as a resource to influence the policy process. Other actors (e.g. managers and municipalities) use formal power, money or 'initiative' as their main resources. Powerful actors put forward less scientific knowledge than actors in dependent positions. Individual actors with a combined scientific and political frame of reference put forward knowledge most frequently, especially in complex networks with many actors, more than one powerful actor, more than one arena, more than one dominant resource and more than one dominant frame of reference.

CONCLUSION
The use of scientific knowledge in school health care policy-making processes can and must be improved. Liaison officers can bridge the gap between doctors and policymakers, especially in complex policy networks. They combine a scientific and a political frame of reference and act upon scientific knowledge as a resource in their efforts to influence the policy-making process.


The phosphors YBO3:Eu with different morphology was successfully realized by mild hydrothermal process with different reaction condition. Highly spherical shape, uniform size and non-agglomeration of YBO3:Eu phosphors particle was obtained at 260°C,which is about 850°C lower than that by solid state reactions. The result of XRD showed that all samples were single phase with vaterite type structure. From IR and NMR spectra, it could be concluded that YBO3 contains mainly BO4 tetrahedra which is in favor for absorption VUV excitation. Monitoring by 598nm emission, the main excitation peak at about 247nm was observed in the excitation spectrum of spherical Y0.95Eu0.05BO3. Correspondingly, under 247nm excitation, the main peak at about 598nm was observed. The photoluminescence intensity (5D0→7F1 transition of Eu3+) of spherical shape of Y0.95Eu0.05BO3 was 1.5 times in comparison with which prepared by solid-state reactions. The best photoluminescence intensity was obtained when the concentration of Eu3+ is at 20 at. %. It indicated that hydrothermal method have a potential in the preparing various particles phosphors for application in displays and lamps.


Due to the predictable nature of the tides, power generation from tidal streams could play a significant role in addressing future power network challenges by providing an auxiliary frequency balancing service. A requirement of such services is that power output may be rapidly adapted. This can be achieved by several alternative operating strategies applied to individual turbines, to entire farms or to clusters of turbines within a farm. The onset tidal flow speed to an array is sensitive to the net resistance provided by the array and so it is necessary to consider how such strategies would affect power output, net resistance and the flow onset to the farm. Investigations using a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes Actuator Disc (RANS-AD) model and experiments in a shallow channel are conducted to assess the influence of rotor operating point on individual turbine loading and hence aggregate resistance of an array. Arrayand row-specific values for the local thrust coefficient and corresponding disc porosities are chosen to represent three typical operating values of turbine thrust and power. Both studies are assessed separately for turbine array configurations with up to 12 turbines deployed over 3 rows and in bi-directional flow. The results show good agreement with previous experimental and numerical publications. Additionally, similar trends are observed for the variation of the net array thrust coefficient with array layout and operating point for both studies. Application of these array operating points within a simple channel model indicates that the imposed net thrust can be reduced by 12.3% whilst the energy yield reduction over a 12 hour period is almost negligible. Thus, an adaptive operating strategy does not only provide more accurate information of the power output from tidal farms and reduces the environmental footprint of the latter, but also promotes a more flexible array operation which can facilitate a better grid integration of future large-scale tidal stream turbine arrays.


Distributed sensor networks are emerging technology for building applications in control and condition monitoring of equipment and machinery in government and industry. Open sensor interfaces, standard sensor data formats, and messaging standards are needed to enable the integration, access, fusion, use, and delivery of sensor-derived data for these applications. The sensor standards harmonization working group was formed at NIST to address these types of issues. This paper examines some relevant open standards that can help to achieve seamless sensor connections, integration, discovery, access, and usage within and across systems, networks, and enterprises through the Web.


This paper describes a new method of die surface modification by ordinary Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) tool. First, the principle of this method is studied. Secondly, the technology and characteristics of the die steel coating are discussed in detail based on lots of experiments, and the results show that the die steel characteristics are improved evidently by using EDM. At last, the technology is applied to the punch die initially, and it can be drawn that the life of the coated punch die is improved evidently compared with the non-coated punch die through the punching test.


This research examines the extent to which the use of social media by the Egyptian government in its communication with the public enhances online civic engagement. Its importance lies in the fact that several studies highlighted the benefits of the utilization of social media by governments in engaging with the public. This thesis defines civic engagement as the involvement of citizens in online activities that seek to address public issues through the social media platforms of the Egyptian government. It focuses on the five types of online civic engagement behavior as described by Denning (2001), i.e. collection of information, publication of information, dialogue, coordination of action, and lobbying decision makers. This study employs content analysis. Over a period of 15 months, a probability, simple random sample of 491 posts by three Facebook pages of Egyptian ministries and 2287 comments by the public on these Pages was analyzed. It reached four main conclusions. First, the Egyptian ministries use of social media contributes poorly to the strengthening of online civic engagement. Second, a linear, one-way model characterizes the type of communication conducted by the Egyptian ministries. Third, the content of the interaction of the public with the government provides evidence that citizens are active in exploiting the ministries' social media to voice their opinions, lobby decision makers, and raise questions. Finally, though there is marginal interaction between the ministries and the public, citizens are more engaged into dialogue amongst themselves. Thus, this research concludes that social media is an untapped communication resource in the context of its utilization by the Egyptian government. Consequently, this study fills a gap in the literature and could encourage other researchers to tackle that topic from its different aspects.


We propose a new method for guided generation of concept maps from open access online knowledge resources such as Wikies. Based on this method we have implemented a prototype extracting semantic relations from sentences surrounding hyperlinks in the Wikipedia's articles and letting a learner to create customized learning objects in real-time based on collaborative recommendations considering her earlier knowledge. Open source modules enable pedagogically motivated exploration in Wiki spaces, corresponding to an intelligent tutoring system. The method extracted compact noun–verb–noun phrases, suggested for labeling arcs between nodes that were labeled with article titles. On average, 80 percent of these phrases were useful while their length was only 20 percent of the length of the original sentences. Experiments indicate that even simple analysis algorithms can well support user-initiated information retrieval and building intuitive learning objects that follow the learner's needs.


The median voter model (direct democracy) has wide applicability, but it is based on selfish voters i.e. voters who derive utility solely from 'own' payoff. The recent literature has pointed to fairness and concern for others as basic human motives that explain a range of economic phenomena. We examine the implications of introducing fair voters who have a preference for fairness as in Fehr and Schmidt (1999). Within a simple general equilibrium model, we demonstrate the existence of a Condorcet winner for fair voters using the single crossing property of voters' preferences. In a fair voter model, unlike a selfish voter model, poverty can lead to increased redistribution. Mean preserving spreads of income increase equilibrium redistribution. Greater fairness leads to greater redistribution. The introduction of selfish voters in an economy where the median voter is fair can have a large impact on the redistributive outcome. An empirical exercise using OECD data illustrates the potential importance of fairness in explaining redistribution.


Microparticles (MPs) are small membrane vesicles shed from plasma membranes following cell activation or apoptosis. They are released from a variety of cells including endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, platelets, leukocytes, and erythrocytes. MPs are produced in a healthy state, however changes in the number and composition of MPs are associated with many disease states, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), venous thrombosis, diabetes mellitus, rheumatic disease and other inflammatory states. MPs may be used as a marker of dysfunction in many of these disease states. Exercise has been shown to have a positive effect on many of these disease states with MPs a possible biomarker of improvement.
Study 1: This study examined the effect of isocaloric bouts of exercise at 60%, 70% and 80% VO2max on circulating levels of MPs in healthy young men. There was a significant increase in mean numbers of circulating endothelial MPs (EMPs) 6 h following each bout. Compared to baseline circulating platelet MPs (PMPs) did not increase during any of the acute bouts of exercise.
Study 2: This study examined the effect of 14 consecutive days of aerobic exercise on circulating MPs. There was no difference in circulating EMPs before exercise, immediately after exercise and 13 h following exercise on day 1, 3, 7, 10 and 14 of the training program. Circulating EMPs were significantly decreased 13 h following training compared to immediately post training. There were no changes in platelet MP numbers. There was no correlation between aerobic fitness and circulating MP numbers
Study 3: This study examined the effect of 4 weeks of low-volume, short duration high-intensity interval training (LS-HIIT) and cardiac rehabilitation on circulating MPs in individuals with CVD. There were no changes in MP numbers in either group following the exercise intervention. Flow-mediated dilation was significantly higher in the LS-HIIT group than the cardiac rehabilitation group following the exercise intervention
Conclusions: EMPs increase following an acute bout of isocaloric exercise at 60%, 70% and 80% VO2max in healthy young trained men. Aerobic exercise training for 14 consecutive days elicits a significant increase in aerobic fitness. Circulating EMPs decrease 13 h following training. Endothelial function is significantly improved and circulating MPs are unchanged in men and women with CVD following 8 sessions of LS-HIIT. There were no changes in circulating PMP numbers in response to acute or chronic exercise.


Rotterdam is widely acknowledged as the high rise city of the Netherlands. This is also an integral part of the urban planning. The current crisis in combination with a killing vacancy rate stopped the flow of new developments of tall buildings. Will or should tall buildings still play a role in the renewed vision. The main global rational for high rise is land use. Due to a shift of harbor activities towards new areas near the sea, huge areas within the city boundaries will become available. An opportunity, but also a need for rethinking of land use and urban vision. Students (500+) have been elaborating and producing master plans for such an abandoned harbor followed by the development (100+) of new functionality for one of the most important projects within this area, the Europoint towers established in 1974. This project combines feasibility in a broad perspective (architectural, financial, social, sustainable) within the urban situation with the ability of transformation of vacant offices and the issue of dealing with high rise heritage. The obvious limitation may be the student level. However the program and conditions are defined and the results are judged by professional public and private participants, due to the importance of acceptable solutions for all parties involved. The findings are next to numerous designs for the specific case a reflection, based on cross case analysis, on future sustainable area development with a wide range of stakeholders from urban planners to investors, from architects to developers and from clients to neighbors.


The current overall ICT infrastructure mainly the Internet and Telecom networks can be looked upon as an ecosystem, which is the result of the cooperation between a huge number of Autonomous systems (ASes). The interconnection and interdependence between ASes become large and complex as technology advances. This interdependence of ASes or subsystems create vulnerabilities in such a way that problems in one of the interconnected networks affect the normal operation of other networks and even might result in a failure of services across the whole system. The aim of this study is twofold. The first is to discuss about the basic features and trends in the logs of failure data to get some insight about the network's behaviour. In addition to this, the study looks into failure prediction by using the primary failure data to model normal behaviours and predict the system level(critical) failures. Failure log data will be used to model the normal(expected) behaviours of the failures and hence for prediction when there happens a change in the normal behaviour. The report first discusses the conceptual model mainly about some related works as well as a background knowledge on wavelet technique. Then, a simple failure data analysis and brief discussion on the main trend observed during the preliminary study is presented. Lastly, a simple approach for failure prediction using wavelet technique is presented followed by evaluation and discussion of results. The report focuses in using a frequency domain approach which is called wavelet technique. A wavelet based failure prediction approach is proposed which uses some frequencies in the failure log data to characterize the normal operation and hence identify deviations(abnormal behaviours) from the variation in those frequencies when something bad occurs in the network. Once the deviations are identified, a root cause analysis can be conducted for a detail investigation of the problem areas.