Shape-adaptive texture coding is often being perceived as a means to achieve increased coding efficiency, e.g. due to a better representation of correlation properties along the boundary between two objects which should lead to a higher transform gain. However, if data rates demand a lossy encoding of contours, an improvement in transform gain becomes questionable. This paper investigates the potential coding gain which may result from shape-adaptive texture coding using DCT basis functions under the constraint of both lossless and lossy shape coding. For this purpose, a 1D texture model is derived which reflects synthetical as well as "natural" borders between objects.


Intelligent controllers are studied for vibration reduction of a vehicle consisting in a semiactive suspension system with a magnetorheological(MR) damper. The vehicle is modeled with seven degrees of freedom as a full vehicle model. The semiactive suspension system consists of a linear spring and an MR damper. MR damper is modeled using Bouc-Wen hysteresis phenomenon and applied to a full vehicle model. Fuzzy Logic based controllers are designed to determine the MR damper voltage. Fuzzy Logic and Self-Tuning Fuzzy Logic controllers are applied to the semiactive suspension system. Results of the system are investigated by simulation studies in MATLAB-Simulink environment. The performance of the semiactive suspension system is analyzed with and without control. Simulation results showed that both Fuzzy Logic and Self-Tuning Fuzzy Logic controllers perform better compared to uncontrolled case. Furthermore, Self-Tuning Fuzzy Logic controller displayed a greater improvement in vibration reduction performance compared to Fuzzy Logic controller.


Introduction Physician and patient preferences (particularly for the route of administration; RoA) are central to uptake and adherence of biologic therapy in IBD. While patients reportedly prefer subcutaneous (SC) administration [1], there remains a significant cohort who select intravenous (IV) therapy if offered. This cohort study was conducted to elicit psychosocial factors associated with the route of biologic administration. Method Patients offered a free choice of RoA, with quiescent disease were identified from our electronic database: optimised, stable dose of biologic and no use of corticosteroids, for ≥3 months; normal B12, ferritin and vitD serum level; faecal calprotectin <250 mcg/g. The following questionnaires were then applied at their next infusion or clinic visit: Patient Health (PHQ-9); Generalised Anxiety (GAD-7); Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC); Cognitive and Behavoural Responses to Symptoms (CBSRQ-41); Work and Social Adjustment (WSAS); IBD control-8 (IBDC) [2]. Results 24 patients were on adalimumab (SC group; 13F, 36.0±12.3 years, 5UC), with 25 on Remicade (IV group: 17F, 38.5±13.4 years (IV group). There were no significant differences in demographics, or numbers of patients reporting PHQ-9 or GAD-7 scores>10 (moderate symptoms), but 11 (22%) exceeded this cut-off. MHLC responses were identical, while SC patients report lower IBDC (7 vs 9, p<0.05) and more unhelpful responses in the CBRSQ-41 (total score 79.8 vs 66.7, p<0.01) as well as in the symptom focus, embarrassment avoidance and catastrophisation domains (p vs IV<0.0005,<0.05 and<0.0005 respectively). Abstract PTH-097 Figure 1 Conclusion SC patients were significantly more unhelpfully focused on symptoms ("I think a great deal about my symptoms") and catastrophising ("I will never feel right again") as well as reporting engaging in behaviours to avoid embarrassment. Despite quiescent disease, 'unhelpful' higher CBRSQ scores correlated with worse disease-related QOL (p<0.001, figure 1), suggesting an unmet need for patient support in SC. It will be valuable to determine if these differences exist at the start of treatment, or whether they arise during the course of therapy. References . Vavricka SR, et al. Inflamm Bowel Dis2012:18:523–530 . Bodger K, et al. Gut2015;63:1092–1102 Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The demographic potential, especially in the peripheral and remote areas, Has been deteriorating. Negative natural increase, low or negative migration balances, unfavourable values of the feminisation index and growing relation of the number of people at post-working age to the number of people at working age have been threatening rural development. The aim of the research was to show spatial concentrations of municipalities (LAU 2 level) with a similar level of demographic potential. The study was carried out for 2169 municipalities (LAU 2 level), including rural and semi-urban (urban-rural, including small towns) ones. It was based on the data from the Statistics Poland. The municipalities were are ranked by the level of demographic potential (by 4 variables) and put into 5 groups by the potential level using the taxonomic development measure of Hellwig. The results were presented in maps using cartogram method. The most favourable and promising situation according to demographic potential is observed in central and southern Poland, especially in semi-urban and suburban areas of large cities. The worst demographic potential level and at the same time the least favourable demographic forecasts concern mostly the Eastern Poland, already known as problem area. The spiral of negative conditions accelerates, causing more disadvantages, making young people looking for new places to work and live, deepening current demographic problems and leading to socio-economic development pathologies.


Black is viewed as the color of evil and death in virtually all cultures. With this association in mind, we were interested in whether a cue as subtle as the color of a person's clothing might have a significant impact on his or her behavior. To test this possibility, we examined whether professional football and ice hockey teams that wear black uniforms are more aggressive than those that wear nonblack uniforms. An analysis of the penalty records of the National Football League and the National Hockey League indicate that teams with black uniforms in both sports ranked near the top of their leagues in penalties throughout the period of study. On those occasions when a team switched from nonblack to black uniforms, the switch was accompanied by an immediate increase in penalties. The results of two laboratory experiments indicate that this finding can be attributed to both social perception and self-perception processes--that is, to the biased judgments of referees and to the increased aggressiveness of the players themselves. Our discussion focuses on the theoretical implications of these data for an understanding of the variable, or "situated," nature of the self.


Abstract. In this paper, we report the first systematic comparison of 12-year modeled dust extinction profiles vs. Raman lidar measurements. We use the BSC-DREAM8b model, one of the most widely used dust regional models in the Mediterranean, and Potenza EARLINET lidar profiles for Saharan dust cases, the largest one-site database of dust extinction profiles. A total of 310 dust cases were compared for the May 2000–July 2012 period. The model reconstructs the measured layers well: profiles are correlated within 5% of significance for 60% of the cases and the dust layer center of mass as measured by lidar and modeled by BSC-DREAM8b differ on average 0.3 ± 1.0 km. Events with a dust optical depth lower than 0.1 account for 70% of uncorrelated profiles. Although there is good agreement in terms of profile shape and the order of magnitude of extinction values, the model overestimates the occurrence of dust layer top above 10 km. Comparison with extinction profiles measured by the Raman lidar shows that BSC-DREAM8b typically underestimates the dust extinction coefficient, in particular below 3 km. Lowest model–observation differences (below 17%) correspond to a lidar ratio at 532 nm and Angstrom exponent at 355/532 nm of 60 ± 13 and 0.1 ± 0.6 sr, respectively. These are in agreement with values typically observed and modeled for pure desert dust. However, the highest differences (higher than 85%) are typically related to greater Angstrom values (0.5 ± 0.6), denoting smaller particles. All these aspects indicate that the level of agreement decreases with an increase in mixing/modification processes.


Sequence analysis of the glyA control region of Escherichia coli identified two regions with homology to the consensus binding sequence for MetR, a lysR family regulatory protein. Gel shift assays and DNase I protection assays verified that both sites bind MetR. Homocysteine, a coregulator for MetR, increased MetR binding to the glyA control region. The MetR binding sites were cloned into the pBend2 vector. Although the DNA did not show any significant intrinsic bend, MetR binding resulted in a bending angle of about 33 degrees. MetR-induced bending was independent of homocysteine. To verify that the MetR binding sites play a functional role in glyA expression, site-directed mutagenesis was used to alter the two binding sites in a lambda glyA-lacZ gene fusion phage. Changing the binding sites toward the consensus MetR binding sequence caused an increase in glyA-lacZ expression. Changing either binding site away from the consensus sequence caused a decrease in expression, suggesting that both sites are required for normal glyA regulation.


The subject of the present thesis is a theoretical investigation of magnetism and its crystal structure dependence by means of electronic-structure calculations from first principles. The theoretical treatment is based on density functional theory and the so called linear muffin-tin orbital method is used in its full-potential version as well as in an atomic sphere approximation.A detailed theoretical investigation of the magnetic and structural properties of all the binary alloys between the 3d elements Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu is performed. Alloying effects are treated by a mean field approximation called the coherent potential approximation. Theory is able to reproduce experiments regarding both magnetic and structural properties and gives an understanding of the physics behind the formation of magnetic moments and the correlation between magnetism and structural stabilily.The magnetic anisotropy energy of especially the magnetic 3d elements Fe, Co, and Ni in their cubic ground structures and in tetragonal and trigonal structures are calculated and from this also different magnetostriction coefficients have been studied. The correlation between the orbital moment anisotropy and the total energy anisotropy is studied both by means of numerical experiments and by perturbation theory. Different theoreticalapproaches have been tested and compared.Further, the magnetic anisotropy has been studied for some intermetallic compounds, for which the anisotropy is rather large, such as MnX (X=As, Sb, Bi), VAu4, FePt.Together with experimental physicists and chemists the (Fe1-yXy)3P (X=Mn, Co) have been extensively studied regarding magnetic configurations and site preference of the different metallic elements.


A new species of Limnophilinae (Diptera: Limoniidae), Dicranophragma (Brachylimnophila) relictum Mederos sp. nov., is described. This is the third species of this genus recorded from the Iberian Peninsula. This new species was discovered in a cave in the Sant Llorenc del Munt i Serra de l'Obac Natural Park, Barcelona Province (Catalonia) and it is the first record of a species of this genus from a hypogeous environment. The absence of suitable ecological conditions for the survival of this new species, particularly in the vicinity of the cave, suggests that this population of D. relictum Mederos sp. nov. is isolated. Dicranophragma relictum Mederos sp. nov. is characterized by the following features: a general grey-to-greenish-grey coloration on its thorax and a dark-grey abdomen; wings more than four times longer than wide; pale-brown-to-yellowish tinted wings, with brown veins and a well-marked stigma; in the male genitalia the upper part of the aedeagus is acute when viewed laterally and is longer than the lower part. A key is provided for separating the three species of Dicranophragma known to be present in the Iberian Peninsula.


This paper will present a case study of an Uncertainty Analysis recently performed for the Kashagan Field. This is the first full scale uncertainty work performed on the field since it came online in September 2016. The paper will describe unique challenges given Kashagan peculiarities and describe methods and approaches taken to address those.
 A multi-scenario modeling workflow has been utilized to fully explore subsurface uncertainties in the decision space. First, uncertainties that were believed to have an impact on field performance based on the available data and learnings from previous studies were identified and ranked. Then, so-called categorical parameters were combined by grouping geologically relatable parameters into several scenarios with differentiating behaviors which were checked by performing screening simulation runs. This was followed by Design of Experiment (DoE) runs (Placket-Burman and Latin Hypercube), proxy modeling and Monte-Carlo analysis to aid selection of high, mid, and low models.
 More than 400 simulation runs were generated resulting in a wide range of outcomes for key performance indicators, enabling the selection of high, mid, and low model realizations to evaluate future field development decisions. The approach of combining categorical parameters into multiple scenarios followed by DoE runs offered several advantages including full sampling of the uncertainty space and clearer link between geologic input and dynamic output. It also allowed to get maximum information using the lowest number of simulation runs. Communication techniques such as plumbing diagrams representing geologic scenarios were effective in discussion of study results amongst experts.


Mullite has low thermal conductivity, advanced volume stability at high temperature, and is suit to prepare lightweight refractories. The micropored mullite aggregates has been produced by using industrial alumina and natural silica as starting materials, adding some burning-out materials, then fired at 1350°C for 6h. The influences on the bulk density, pore size distribution and microstructure of microporous mullite of adding these burning-out materials, such as carbon black, coke, and anthracite have been investigated. The conclusions are that the influences on the bulk density and microstructure of micropored mullite aggregates are significant. These three burning-out materials have a similar effect for the pore size distribution. The microporous mullite aggregates has the smallest bulk density and more uniform microstructure by using anthracite as the burning-out material.


Abstract This study analyses the links between family policy institutions and poverty in households with pre-school children in 21 old and new welfare democracies. New institutional information which enables a separation of different family policy dimensions is combined with micro data from the Luxembourg Income Study. Through statistical multilevel modelling, individual- and country-level data are combined in a simultaneous analysis of their relationships to child poverty risks. The results show that family policy transfers are related to lower child poverty risks at the micro level. However, the mechanisms by which such transfers reduce poverty vary by type of family support. Support to dual-earner families operates by enabling both parents to work and raise market income, while support to more traditional family structures in some instances has a more direct effect on poverty risks. The analysis also renders support to the hypothesis that dual-earner transfers also alleviate poverty most effectively among single-mother households.


The inverted pendulum is a classic problem in dynamics and control theory and is widely used as a benchmark for testing control algorithms. It is unstable without control. The process is non linear and unstable with one input signal and several output signals. It is hence obvious that feedback of the state of the pendulum is needed to stabilize the pendulum. The aim of the study is to stabilize the pendulum such that the position of the carriage on the track is controlled quickly and accurately. The problem involves an arm, able to move horizontally in angular motion, and a pendulum, hinged to the arm at the bottom of its length such that the pendulum can move in the same plane as the arm. The conventional PID controller can be used for virtually any process condition. This makes elimination the offset of the proportional mode possible and still provides fast response. In this paper, we have modelled the system and studied conventional controller and LQR controller. It is observed that the LQR method works better compared to conventional controller.


This paper presents a method to improve three-phase brushless DC (BLDC) motor design for easier application of inductive sense start-up algorithms. Using the experimental results of motor start-up, a failure analysis of the successful and unsuccessful motors identifies the root cause of failure. The unsuccessful motors had smaller inductance difference when energized by a positive test current than when energized by a negative test current. Finite-element method (FEM) analysis then is used to examine the effect of the stator geometry on the sensitivity of the inductance to the permanent magnet polarity. A modified stator design is obtained through FEM study. The performance improvement is verified by current rise simulation.


The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA, 1997) states that students with disabilities should be served in the least restrictive environmental possible. This legislation has caused an increased interest in obtaining more information on how to serve children in the most natural environment. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions and practices of classroom-based intervention by school speech-language pathologists in Kansas. One hundred twenty-seven questionnaires were sent to speech-language pathologists. Forty-two questionnaires were returned from 34 respondents who indicated they use classroom-based intervention (YES) and eight respondents who do not use classroom-based intervention (NO). The respondents who have used classroom-based intervention (YES) indicated that they perceive it to be appropriately used in serving students with language disorders, but not with those with articulation/phonology, voice, or fluency disorders. The YES respondents indicated that they would like to continue using classroom-based intervention while the NO respondents indicated that they would like to begin using it as a service delivery model. One-teach, one-drift was the model selected most often to provide classroom-based intervention by the YES respondents. The YES respondents listed the attitude and time of the classroom teacher to be key factors in providing successful classroom-based intervention. They also indicated that the classroom teacher and lack of planning time are factors limiting the effectiveness of classroom-based intervention. This study revealed a positive trend in the perceptions and practices of classroom-based intervention across the state of Kansas.


1 The effect of inflammation on the excitability and the level of substance P (SP) in cat mechanoreceptive C and Aδ dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were studied in vivo using intracellular recording and immunocytochemical techniques. 2 Following injections of carrageenan (Carg) into the cat hindpaw, the percentage of C neurons exhibiting spontaneous activity increased from 7.2 to 20.7 % and the percentage of Aδ neurons increased from 6.9 to 18.6 %. In contrast to most cells from normal cats, which fired regularly below 10 Hz, many cells from Carg‐treated cats fired at higher frequencies or in bursts. 3 Inflammation (Carg treatment) also depolarized membrane potentials, increased membrane input resistance, caused the disappearance of inward rectifying currents and lowered the mean current thresholds of tibial nerve‐evoked responses in DRG neurons. 4 With inflammation, the percentage of C or Aδ neurons responding to low threshold mechanoreceptive stimuli increased (C neurons: normal, 13 %; inflamed, 41 %; Aδ neurons: normal, 13 %; inflamed, 39 %), while the percentage of C or Aδ neurons responding to high threshold mechanoreceptive stimuli remained unchanged. 5 Some receptive field (RF)‐responsive cells were injected with Lucifer Yellow and their SP immunoreactivity was determined. Following Carg treatment, substantially higher percentages of RF‐responsive cells were SP positive (C neurons: normal, 35.7 %; inflamed, 60 %; Aδ neurons: normal, 18.2 %; inflamed, 66.7 %). 6 These combined increases in the excitability of DRG neurons and SP‐containing RF‐responsive neurons could lead to sensitization of sensory neurons, thus contributing to the development of hyperalgesia.


The PERSEE breadboard, developed by a consortium including CNES, IAS, LESIA, OCA, ONERA and TAS since 2005, is a nulling demonstrator that couples an infrared nulling interferometer with a formation flying simulator able to introduce realistic disturbances in the set-up. The general idea is to prove that an adequate optical design can considerably relax the constraints applying at the spacecrafts level of a future interferometric space mission like Darwin/TPF or one of its precursors. The breadboard is now fully operational and the measurements sequences are managed from a remote control room using automatic procedures. A set of excellent results were obtained in 2011. The measured polychromatic nulling depth with non polarized light is 8.8 10-6 stabilized at 9 10-8 in the 1.65-2.45 μm spectral band (37 % bandwidth) during 100 s. This result was extended to a 7h duration thanks to an automatic calibration process. The various contributors are identified and the nulling budget is now well mastered. We also proved that harmonic disturbances in the 1-100 Hz up to several ten's of nm rms can be very efficiently corrected by a Linear Quadratic Control (LQG) if a sufficient flux is available. These results are important contributions to the feasibility of a future space based nulling interferometer.


Gelsolin and CapG are actin regulatory proteins that remodel the cytoskeleton in response to phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) and Ca2+ during agonist stimulation. A physiologically relevant rise in Ca2+ increases their affinity for PIP2 and can promote significant interactions with PIP2 in activated cells. This may impact divergent PIP2- dependent signaling processes at the level of substrate availability. We found that CapG overexpression enhances PDGF-stimulated phospholipase Cγ (PLCγ) activity (Sun, H.-q., K. Kwiatkowska, D.C. Wooten, and H.L. Yin. 1995. J. Cell Biol. 129:147–156). In this paper, we examined the ability of gelsolin and CapG to compete with another PLC for PIP2 in live cells, in semiintact cells, and in vitro. We found that CapG and gelsolin overexpression profoundly inhibited bradykinin-stimulated PLCβ. Inhibition occurred at or after the G protein activation step because overexpression also reduced the response to direct G protein activation with NaF. Bradykinin responsiveness was restored after cytosolic proteins, including gelsolin, leaked out of the overexpressing cells. Conversely, exogenous gelsolin added to permeabilized cells inhibited response in a dose-dependent manner. The washout and addback experiments clearly establish that excess gelsolin is the primary cause of PLC inhibition in cells. In vitro experiments showed that gelsolin and CapG stimulated as well as inhibited PLCβ, and only gelsolin domains containing PIP2-binding sites were effective. Inhibition was mitigated by increasing PIP2 concentration in a manner consistent with competition between gelsolin and PLCβ for PIP2. Gelsolin and CapG also had biphasic effects on tyrosine kinase– phosphorylated PLCγ, although they inhibited PLCγ less than PLCβ. Our findings indicate that as PIP2 level and availability change during signaling, cross talk between PIP2-regulated proteins provides a selective mechanism for positive as well as negative regulation of the signal transduction cascade.


We have decided to use the delta-opioid receptor (372 residues) as a model system to develop methods for the total chemical synthesis of G protein-coupled receptors. The most important feature of this receptor from a chemical synthesis perspective is the wealth of cysteines spread throughout its sequence, which are required for native chemical ligation. A total of 13 cysteines are located in the the delta-opioid receptor polypetide chain in both loop and putative transmembrane (TM) regions. We envisioned a synthesis of the polypeptide that would make use of peptide-alpha-thioesters ranging from 37 to 63 residues in length. Here, we report data from an exploratory synthesis of such a set of peptide-alpha-thioesters. For all seven peptides, the crude material approximately 30 residues into the synthesis was sufficiently homogeneous to make isolation and purification straightforward. Extension of the peptides to between 40 and 50 residues in length generally produced a significant decrease in the quality of the crude products, although in most cases, we judged that high purity peptides could probably be isolated. By 60 residues, however, the crude peptide product mixtures are probably too heterogeneous to purify to homogeneity by reversed-phase HPLC. In general, delta-opioid receptor peptides with a single predicted TM domain were sufficiently soluble to handle postcleavage and to analyze by reversed-phase HPLC, whereas 1.5 TM domains rendered the peptides too hydrophobic to handle or analyze by standard protocols. Given the challenges of chain assembly, handling, and purification of these peptides, a synthetic strategy that uses approximately 12 or 13 shorter peptide segments of 20-40 residues each is probably a more feasible approach.


In this article we introduce the queer Bengali auteur Rituparno Ghosh (1961–2013), who had a significant role in reviving the Bengali film industry that was going through a dark phase for a little more than a decade. As an iconic feminist film-maker and queer cultural figure, Ghosh has been an influential icon within Bengal and more widely in India and the diasporas. In seeking to examine his vast oeuvre of work we focus on its various elements. First, we examine Ghosh's feminist position, and how he shocked his middle-class audience through his transgressive discourses. Second, we investigate the influence and inspiration he received from figures such as Satyajit Ray and Rabindranath Tagore. We argue that Tagore's sensibility and philosophy imbued all his films. In doing this he was also uncritically referencing the other great Bengali film-maker Satyajit Ray. Third, an examination of Ghosh is incomplete without referencing his uninhibited performance of queerness both in his films and in the public domain. Over here we look at his final queer film trilogy but also the impact he left on Calcutta's LGBT community. Finally, this article ends by focusing on Ghosh's legacy on other Bengali film-makers.


Since the introduction of the Crystallographic Information File (CIF), the crystallographic community has produced a wide variety of tools and applications to handle CIFs. Many changes have been made to existing programs to input and output CIF data sets, and occasionally changes may have been made to internal crystallographic calculations to provide a better fit to the view of the data expressed by the standard CIF dictionaries. However, for most crystallographers with an involvement in programming, there is an understandable tendency to invest the minimum amount of effort needed to accommodate the new format. Their primary interest is in the understanding and discovery of the underlying physical model of a crystal structure. This chapter reviews several general-purpose tools that have been developed for CIF to check, edit, extract or manipulate arbitrary data items, with little in the way of crystallographic computation. They are of interest to the end user who wishes to visualize a structure in three dimensions or submit an article to a journal but who does not want to be concerned about the details of CIF. They also include several utilities that are helpful for manipulating the contents of CIFs without the need to write a large and complex program. The programmer with an interest in writing complete and robust CIF applications should look at the comprehensive libraries described in Chapters 5.4 to 5.6. Many of the programs described in this chapter operate purely at the syntactic level; they require no knowledge of the scientific meaning of the data items being manipulated. Others have some bearing on the semantics of the file contents, either explicitly through information about data types and interrelationships carried in external CIF dictionaries, or implicitly through the user's choice and deliberate manipulation of items based on an understanding of what they signify. Nevertheless, most utilities described here are characterized by an ability to handle CIFs of any content and provenance. The best example of a program able to handle arbitrary CIFs at a purely syntactic level is Star Base (Spadaccini & Hall, 1994), described in Chapter 5.2. It should be noted that not all the programs described here are fully compliant with the specification of Chapter 2.2, and others have implementation restrictions or known bugs. Many, especially the older programs, are no longer actively supported and need to be handled with care. However, they are included here for the record, and because they may provide useful ideas and suggestions to future developers in an area that can still accommodate a wider range of tools for different uses.


Summary Objectives: To summarize the recent literature and research and present a selection of the best papers published in 2016 in the field of Health Information Management (HIM). Methods: A systematic review of the literature for the IMIA Yearbook HIM section was performed by the two section editors with the help of a medical librarian. We searched bibliographic databases for HIM-related papers were searched using both MeSH headings and key words in titles and abstracts. A shortlist of candidate best papers was first selected by section editors before being peer-reviewed by independent external reviewers. Results: The five papers selected as 'Best Papers' illustrate a variety of themes, include authors from a variety of countries, and were published in some of the best journals in the field. The themes of the five best papers include health information exchange, personal health records, patient engagement, data quality, and e-quality measures. Conclusions: The discipline of Health Information Management is increasingly becoming allied with the field of Biomedical Informatics in that both disciplines have interests in common. Traditional HIM areas of expertise (in the pre-electronic health record world), such as coding and privacy and security of health information, are necessary for the electronic exchange and secondary use of health information. With the changes in healthcare delivery brought by the use of electronic health records, addressing issues of information governance is essential. This synopsis discusses these key issues at the intersection of HIM and informatics, examines the potential challenges, and points the way for best practices, future research, and public policy considerations and directions.


The impact of agricultural practices and the excess application of nitrogen can negatively impact the environment and cause human health problems. In Spain, the liquid manure applied in areas of intensive agriculture is creating groundwater nitrate pollution problems. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic profitability of agroforestry practices in North East Spain. Therefore, it deals with an alternative land use that has attracted attention in recent years, considering its potential to reduce the negative impact of modern agriculture that combines concurrent forestry and agricultural production in the same area. Specifically, silvoarable practices, such as alley cropping (AC), edge row planting and riparian buffer (RB) strips were compared to conventional agricultural land use. Considering the current agricultural policy framework in Spain, which does not favour these practices, our results showed the economic profitability of alley-cropping practices in comparison to conventional barley production of 25 to 64 € ha-1 yr-1. However, AC systems presented negative results compared to the traditional wheat crop (-122 to -63 € ha-1 yr-1). The results for RB strips were strongly influenced by the high initial costs, both in irrigated and non-irrigated scenarios. Economic results were negative (between -137 and -85 € ha-1 yr-1) compared to the conventional crops, barley and corn. These figures could be greatly increased with a policy framework that promotes these practices based on the fundamental ecosystem services they provide. Moreover, these practices allow an economic diversification that could prove to be beneficial for the majority of farmers.


This paper proposes to apply nanoimprint and soft lithography to the manufacture of large area planar chiral photonic meta-materials. Both dielectric and metallic chiral structures in nanometre order were replicated by nanoimprint lithography (NIL). To carry out the NIL, a nanofabrication process for imprint templates with chiral features was developed. For the dielectric chiral structures, a single layer of thick hydrogen silsequioxane (HSQ) was used, and for metallic chiral ones a bi-layer PMMA/HSQ technique was employed. The polarization conversion capabilities of planar chiral structures (PCS) imprinted in dielectric materials have been experimentally observed. This indicates that the developed nanoimprint processes in this work have the prospect of manufacturing planar photonic meta-media in high volume at low cost. A hybrid lithography combing nanoimprint and soft lithography is proposed for the constructions of chiral cavities inside dielectric materials.


Abstract Copper(II) oxide (CuO) in powder form was evaporated thermally on the front surface of an n-Si (1 0 0) single crystal using a vacuum coating unit. Structural investigation of the deposited CuO film was made using X-ray difraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) techniques. It was determined from the obtained results that the copper oxide films exhibited single-phase CuO properties in a monoclinic crystal structure. Transmittance measurement of the CuO film was performed by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Band gap energy of the film was determined as 1.74 eV under indirect band gap assumption. Current-voltage (I-V) measurements of the CuO/n-Si heterojunctions were performed under illumination and in the dark to reveal the photovoltaic and electrical properties of the produced samples. From the I-V measurements, it was revealed that the CuO/n-Si heterojunctions produced by thermal evaporation exibit excellent rectifying properties in dark and photovoltaic properties under illumination. Conversion efficiencies of the CuO/n-Si solar cells are comparable to those of CuO/n-Si produced by other methods described in the literature.


The isotype switch defect in CD40 mice is corrected by wild-type (WT) CD40 transgene, but not by a mutant CD40 transgene that does not bind tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factors (TRAF) 2 and 3. To define the individual roles of TRAF2 and TRAF3 in CD40 activation of B cells, we introduced mutant CD40 transgenes that selectively lack the ability to bind TRAF2 (DTR2), TRAF3 (DTR3) or both (DTR2,3) into B cells of CD40 mice. Serum IgG1 and IgE levels, IgG1 antibody response to sub-optimal doses of the T cell-dependent antigen keyhole limpet hemocyanin, germinal center formation, CD40-mediated proliferation, isotype switching and activation of the non-canonical NF-kB pathway were partially diminished in DTR2 and DTR3 mice and virtually absent in DTR2,3 mice. These results suggest that TRAF2 and TRAF3 can each independently mediate class switch recombination (CSR) driven by CD40, but both are required for optimal CD40-driven isotype


Exoplanets can be detected from a time series of stellar spectra by looking for small, periodic shifts in the absorption features that are consistent with Doppler shifts caused by the presence of an exoplanet, or multiple exoplanets, in the system. While hundreds of large exoplanets have already been discovered with the Doppler technique (also called radial velocity), our goal is to improve the measurement precision so that many Earth-like planets can be detected. The smaller mass and longer period of true Earth analogues require the ability to detect a reflex velocity of ~10 cm/s over long time periods. Currently, typical astronomical spectrographs calibrate using either Iodine absorptive cells or Thorium Argon lamps and achieve ~10 m/s precision, with the most stable spectrographs pushing down to ~2 m/s. High velocity precision is currently achieved at HARPS by controlling the thermal and pressure environment of the spectrograph. These environmental controls increase the cost of the spectrograph, and it is not feasible to simply retrofit existing spectrometers. We propose a fiber-fed high precision spectrograph design that combines the existing ~5000-6000 A Iodine calibration system with a high-precision Laser Frequency Comb (LFC) system from ~6000-7000 A that just meets the redward side of the Iodine lines. The scientific motivation for such a system includes: a 1000 A span in the red is currently achievable with LFC systems, combining the two calibration methods increases the wavelength range by a factor of two, and moving redward decreases the "noise" from starspots. The proposed LFC system design employs a fiber laser, tunable serial Fabry-Perot cavity filters to match the resolution of the LFC system to that of standard astronomical spectrographs, and terminal ultrasonic vibration of the multimode fiber for a stable point spread function.


Contemporary politics is in disarray. In Europe and North America, are we witnessing the termination of the "third-way" "depoliticisation" of politics as coterminous with the demise of neoliberalism? Or, the revelation of the brutal truth of this conjecture? Emerging from these specific socio-political constellations appears, at first sight, to be forms of both left and right populism, in which borders are given primacy ahead of markets, and ethnocentrism at the expense of global trade. Do these movements suggest that new forms of collective action are possible, in ways that were actively prevented by neoliberalism's construction of the individual-as-entrepreneur? Or, are these new political conditions going to produce novel forms of isolation as our current political common sense is replaced with new forms of subjectivity, social relations and cultural norms?
The simple suggestion that neoliberalism atomises society to individual "entrepreneurs", so that we are incapable of building collective action might be too short-sighted. For example, the seeds for the kinds of cultural siloing we are witnessing now have been sown in the liberal emphasis upon an often depoliticized program of recognition, at the expense of structural change, and also the neoliberal use of difference as part of a cosmopolitanism "asset". Moreover, insofar as recognition based politics has been co-opted into both liberal and neoliberal political modes of governance in the form of identity politics, the notion that emphasizing concrete and situated standpoints is inimical to, and corrective to the injustices of universalizing liberalism is to misunderstand the problematics of liberalism, and its relationship with power. Most pertinently, the depoliticisation of culture actively obscures the ways in which liberalism and neoliberalism rely upon massive local and global inequalities, both material and normative, that are occluded by the removal of such difference from the realm of the political.
It in this context that we think that there is a significant need to reconsider the construction of collective freedoms, in order to think beyond the political constellations of both neoliberalism and populism, and to consider ways in which we can actively engage in the reconfiguration of structural power. Freedom under neoliberalism is constructed around the belief in the (demonstrably false) freedom of the market – for individuals to be able to make rational, free choices – and not through the construction of commonality. These conditions, created in part by the focus on identity politics, allow us to ignore how political action can, and should, be directed at structural change, specifically, at the achievement of universal emancipation. Undergirding this research is a conviction that equally distributed freedom should be the express aim of any political action, not the construction of privileged spaces of closely guarded freedoms divorced from constructive collectivity.


Galaxies are arranged in interconnected walls and filaments forming a cosmic web encompassing huge, nearly empty, regions between the structures. Many statistical methods have been proposed in the past in order to describe the galaxy distribution and discriminate the different cosmological models. We present in this paper preliminary results relative to the use of new statistical tools using the 3D a trous algorithm, the 3D ridgelet transform and the 3D beamlet transform. We show that such multiscale methods produce a new way to measure in a coherent and statistically reliable way the degree of clustering, filamentarity, sheetedness, and voidedness of a dataset.


The pursuit to uncover the driving forces behind cross-country income gaps has divided economists into two major camps: One emphasizes institutions, while the other stresses non-institutional forces such as geography. Each school of thought has its own theoretical foundation and empirical support, but they share an implicit hypothesis—the forces driving economic development remain the same regardless of a country's stage of development. Such hypothesis implies a theory that the process of development in human history is a continuous improvement in income levels, driven by the same forces, and that structural changes do not dictate the influences of geography and institutions on national income. This paper tests this theory and found it not supported by the data. Specifically, non-institutional factors predominantly explain the cross-country income variations among agrarian countries, while institutional factors largely account for the income differences across industrialized economies. In addition, we find evidence of developmental trap in which noninstitutional forces explain a country's lack of industrialization, while institutions do not. The finding that institutions cannot account for the absence/presence of industrialization lends support to views held by many prominent historians who have cast serious doubts on the notion that institutional changes caused the British Industrial Revolution.


BACKGROUND
Total brain volume is an integrated measure of health and may be an independent indicator of mortality risk independent of any one clinical or subclinical disease state. We investigate the association of brain volume to total and cause-specific mortality in a large nondemented stroke-free community-based cohort.

METHODS
The analysis includes 3,543 men and women (born 1907-1935) participating in the Age, Gene, Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study. Participants with a known brain-related high risk for mortality (cognitive impairment or stroke) were excluded from these analyses. Quantitative estimates of total brain volume, white matter, white matter lesions, total gray matter (GM; cortical GM and subcortical GM separately), and focal cerebral vascular disease were generated from brain magnetic resonance imaging. Brain atrophy was expressed as brain tissue volume divided by total intracranial volume, yielding a percentage. Mean follow-up duration was 7.2 (0-10) years, with 647 deaths. Cox regression was used to analyze the association of mortality to brain atrophy, adjusting for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, and cerebral vascular disease.

RESULTS
Reduced risk of mortality was significantly associated with higher total brain volume (hazard ratio, 95% confidence interval = 0.71, 0.65-0.78), white matter (0.85, 0.78-0.93), total GM (0.74, 0.68-0.81), and cortical GM (0.78, 0.70-0.87). Overall, the associations were similar for cardiovascular and noncardiovascular-related deaths.

CONCLUSIONS
Independent of multiple risk factors and cerebral vascular damage, global brain volume predicts mortality in a large nondemented stroke-free community-dwelling older cohort. Total brain volume may be an integrated measure reflecting a range of health and with further investigation could be a useful clinical tool when assessing risk for mortality.


This paper presents a numerical study of the oil-water two phase flow in hydrocyclone. Oil-water two phase separation was simulated by using Reynolds Stress Model and Mixer model of multi-phase models. The oil-water separation process, oil-phase volume fraction distribution, and trajectory about the water-oil two phase liquid flowing within hydrocyclone were obtained. The study show that the separation of water-oil two phases is mainly in the swirl-chamber and cone section in hydrocyclone, however, the cylindrical section plays an inessential role in stabilizing the flow field during separation process.


At a time when humans and devices are generating more information than ever, activities such as data mining and machine learning become crucial. These activities enable us to understand and interpret the information we have and predict, or better prepare ourselves for, future events. However, activities such as data mining cannot be performed without a layer of data management to clean, integrate, process and make available the necessary datasets. To that extent, large and costly data flow processes such as Extract-Transform-Load are necessary to extract from disparate information sources to generate ready-for-analyses datasets. These datasets are generally in the form of multi-dimensional cubes from which different data views can be extracted for the purpose of different analyses. The process of creating a multi-dimensional cube from integrated data sources is significant. In this research, we present a methodology to generate these cubes automatically or in some cases, close to automatic, requiring very little user interaction. A construct called a StarGraph acts as a canonical model for our system, to which imported data sources are transformed. An ontology-driven process controls the integration of StarGraph schemas and simple OLAP style functions generate the cubes or datasets. An extensive evaluation is carried out using a large number of agri data sources with user-defined case studies to identify sources for integration and the types of analyses required for the final data cubes.


Objective: The use of helmets that do not comply with safety standards is common in California. The objective of this study was to describe the use of these nonstandard helmets among San Francisco Bay–area (SFBA) motorcyclists and to identify personal and motorcycle characteristics that are associated with the use of nonstandard helmets. Methods: A survey of 860 SFBA motorcyclists was conducted. Log-binomial regression was used to estimate risk ratios to compare probabilities of nonstandard helmet use. Results: Fifteen percent of motorcyclists reported wearing a nonstandard helmet sometimes or often. BMW riders had the lowest use of nonstandard helmet (5%) and Harley-Davidson riders had the highest use (51%). Among non-Harley-Davidsons, riders of cruiser-style motorcycles were 3.1 times as likely to wear a nonstandard helmet as riders of motorcycles of other styles. African American riders were more than twice as likely to use nonstandard helmets compared to riders with other self-reported race. Discussion: Behavioral countermeasures are needed to improve motorcycle helmet choice in California. This study identified riders of Harley-Davidsons and riders of cruiser-style motorcycles of other brands as potential targets of interventions.


Several alternative techniques have been proposed in the literature in order to avoid the CPU-intensive numerical integration of the thermochemical equations in the simulation of combustion processes. The present paper introduces a new approach, which is based on two artificial neural-network (ANN) paradigms, namely the self-organizing map (SOM) and the multilayer perceptron (MLP). The SOM is first employed for the automatic partitioning of the thermochemical space into subdomains. Then, a specialized MLP is trained in order to fit the thermochemical points belonging to a given subdomain. The presented strategy is tested on a partially stirred reactor (PaSR) with a reduced methane-air mechanism, and encouraging results are reported. The relatively modest CPU-time and memory requirements of the method make the SOM-MLP approach a promising technique for the inclusion of large chemical mechanisms in the context of complex applications, such as the multidimensional simulation of combustion.


Benchmark ab initio energies for BEGDB and WATER27 data sets have been re-examined at the MP2 and CCSD(T) levels with both conventional and explicitly correlated (F12) approaches. The basis set convergence of both conventional and explicitly correlated methods has been investigated in detail, both with and without counterpoise corrections. For the MP2 and CCSD-MP2 contributions, rapid basis set convergence observed with explicitly correlated methods is compared to conventional methods. However, conventional, orbital-based calculations are preferred for the calculation of the (T) term, since it does not benefit from F12. CCSD(F12*) converges somewhat faster with the basis set than CCSD-F12b for the CCSD-MP2 term. The performance of various DFT methods is also evaluated for the BEGDB data set, and results show that Head-Gordon's ωB97X-V and ωB97M-V functionals outperform all other DFT functionals. Counterpoise-corrected DSD-PBEP86 and raw DSD-PBEPBE-NL also perform well and are close to MP2 results. In the WATER27 data set, the anionic (deprotonated) water clusters exhibit unacceptably slow basis set convergence with the regular cc-pVnZ-F12 basis sets, which have only diffuse s and p functions. To overcome this, we have constructed modified basis sets, denoted aug-cc-pVnZ-F12 or aVnZ-F12, which have been augmented with diffuse functions on the higher angular momenta. The calculated final dissociation energies of BEGDB and WATER27 data sets are available in the Supporting Information. Our best calculated dissociation energies can be reproduced through n-body expansion, provided one pushes to the basis set and electron correlation limit for the two-body term; for the three-body term, post-MP2 contributions (particularly CCSD-MP2) are important for capturing the three-body dispersion effects. Terms beyond four-body can be adequately captured at the MP2-F12 level.


The LINC transmitter provides linear amplification using nonlinear but power efficient amplifiers. The signal component separator (SCS) is a crucial function of LINC. This paper presents a 200 MHz IF SCS chip implemented in a 0.8 /spl mu/m BiCMOS process using a novel design based on translinear circuits. The experimental LINC transmitter, built with the chip and nonlinear amplifiers, had output spurious levels around -55 dBc for both a NADC signal and a PHS signal. This implies a high degree of linearity.


Abstract Receptor tyrosine kinases (PTKs) play key roles in the pathogenesis of numerous human diseases, including cancer, and therefore PTK inhibitors are currently under intense investigation as potential drug candidates. PTK inhibitor screening data are, however, poorly comparable because of the different assay technologies used. Here we report a comparison of ELISA-based assays for screening epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitory compound libraries to study interassay variations. All assays were based on the same protocol, except for the source of EGFR-TK enzymes. In the first protocol, the enzyme was isolated from A431 cells without affinity purification. In the second protocol, commercial EGFR-TK (Sigma) isolated from A431 cells by affinity-purification was employed. In the third protocol, an enzyme preparation obtained from a recombinant (Baculovirus transfected Sf9 cells) expression system was used. All assays employed the synthetic peptide substrate poly-(Glu, Tyr)1:4 and an ELISA-based system to detect phosphorylated tyrosine residues by a monoclonal antibody. We observed significant differences in both the activity of the enzymes and in the EGFR-TK inhibitory effect of our reference compound PD153035. The differences were significant in case of A431 cell lysate compared to affinity purified EGFR-TKs derived from either A431cells or Baculovirus transfected Sf9 cells, whereas the latter two showed comparable results. Our data suggest that differences in terms of interassay variation are not related to the source of the enzyme but to its purity; changes in the mode of detection can markedly influence the reproducibility of results. In conclusion, normalization of the EGFR activity used for inhibitor screening and standardization of detection methods enable safe comparison of data.


Deep neural networks have been demonstrated to be vulnerable to adversarial attacks, where small perturbations intentionally added to the original inputs can fool the classifier. In this paper, we propose a defense method, Featurized Bidirectional Generative Adversarial Networks (FBGAN), to extract the semantic features of the input and filter the non-semantic perturbation. FBGAN is pre-trained on the clean dataset in an unsupervised manner, adversarially learning a bidirectional mapping between the high-dimensional data space and the low-dimensional semantic space; also mutual information is applied to disentangle the semantically meaningful features. After the bidirectional mapping, the adversarial data can be reconstructed to denoised data, which could be fed into any pre-trained classifier. We empirically show the quality of reconstruction images and the effectiveness of defense.


The purpose of this scientific research is to reveal the theoretical foundations of modern land management and determine its tasks. The patterns of land management, its tasks and principles are formulated in the conditions of modern agrarian reform. The system of interconnected forecasting and design of land management development is proposed. The methodological and theoretical basis of research is a dialectical method and a systematic approach to the cognition of economic phenomena and processes. According to this method, all objects are viewed not in isolation, but in a reciprocal relationship and in the process of constant development. In the course of the research, monographic, abstract-logical methods, a system approach, comparative analysis, and expert assessments were used. The scientific research is based on the development of domestic scientists, the experience of land management in the Republic of Belarus, land-cadastral data, normative and reference literature. As a result of the research, it was established that in the conditions of the agrarian reform carried out in the Republic of Belarus land management is an effective mechanism for implementing state policy in the field of land management, regulation of land relations, organization of use and protection of land. Modern land management, based on the state strategy of land reforms, should have a concept of its development based on the laws, which were set in the work, as well as successful solve these problems. For the successful solving of the problems, it is important to revive the previously existing system of forecast and project of land management development in an improved form.


BACKGROUND: Since its establishment, clinical engineering in healthcare facilities has evolved rapidly owing to increased employment of highly trained staff. Clinical engineering department represents a factor critical for successful healthcare management.OBJECTIVE: This study developed an integrated evaluation method for services rendered by clinical engineering departments using two questionnaires supplied to governmental hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.METHODS: One questionnaire is evaluation for the end user (medical department staff), while the other is evaluation questionnaire for the clinical engineering department staff.RESULTS: The overall evaluation of administrative, training, technical skills for clinical engineering department staff by medical department staff was very good with mean 4.07±1.09, 3.98±0.74 and 3.8±1.14, respectively. Hospital size affects the technical and training skills for the clinical engineering department's staff, with a p-value less than 0.05 at 95% confidence interval. This also affects maintenance management system. Professional role for medical department staff had no effect on their satisfaction on the services provided by clinical engineering department.CONCLUSION: The procedure, standards and basic requirements which established by Saudi Arabia ministry of health for Clinical engineering department services were applied on all hospital, but the maintenance management system should be fixed regardless of hospital size.


Understanding the possible extent of the future attacks is the key to successfully protecting against them. Designers of protection mechanisms need to keep in mind the potential ferocity and sophistication of viruses that are just around the corner. That is why we think that the potential destructive capabilities of fast spreading worms like the Warhol worm, Flash worm and Curious Yellow need to be explored to the maximum extent possible. While re-visiting some techniques of viruses from the past, we can come across some that utilize cryptographic tools in their malicious activity. That alarming property, combined with the speed of the so-called "superworms", is explored in the present work. Suggestions for countermeasures and future work are given.


This article describes the roots of cosmopolitanism in Oriental Worldview, especially in the Indian and Chinese worldview. The Idea of cosmopolitanism is important to understand today. It is seen as an alternative solution for various conflicts with religious and cultural motives as background. Oriental civilizations developed the idea of cosmopolitanism through various philosophical teachings, such as Vedanta and Buddhism. Both of them are inherently meditative and cosmopolitan. They focus on insight on reality as it is, not really as it is conceptualized by religion, philosophy or science. This insight deconstructs also the normal understanding of self-identity and stimulates the rise of cosmopolitan awareness, various theoritical refelctions on cosmopolitanism will be useless.


The germ cell lineage in Xenopus is specified by the inheritance of germ plasm, which originates within a distinct "mitochondrial cloud" (MC) in previtellogenic oocytes. Germ plasm contains localized RNAs implicated in germ cell development, including Xcat2 and Xdazl. To understand the mechanism of the early pathway through which RNAs localize to the MC, we applied live confocal imaging and photobleaching analysis to oocytes microinjected with fluorescent Xcat2 and Xdazl RNA constructs. These RNAs dispersed evenly throughout the cytoplasm through diffusion and then became progressively immobilized and formed aggregates in the MC. Entrapment in the MC was not prevented by microtubule disruption and did not require localization to germinal granules. Immobilized RNA constructs codistributed and showed coordinated movement with densely packed endoplasmic reticulum (ER) concentrated in the MC, as revealed with Dil16(3) labeling and immunofluorescence analysis. Vg1RBP/Vera protein, which has been implicated in linking late pathway RNAs to vegetal ER, was shown to bind specifically both wild-type Xcat2 3' untranslated region and localization-defective constructs. We found endogenous Vg1RBP/Vera and Vg1RBP/Vera-green fluorescent protein to be largely excluded from the MC but subsequently to codistribute with Xcat2 and ER at the vegetal cortex. We conclude that germ line RNAs localize into the MC through a diffusion/entrapment mechanism involving Vg1RBP/Vera-independent association with ER.


This paper investigated the longitudinal study skills trajectories of college students with and without ADHD. Data were drawn from a large federally funded multi-site study, known as the Trajectories Related to ADHD in College (TRAC) project. A total of 456 first year college students started the project and were assessed annually across four years in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Data from years 1-3 were available for the current study, which used ADHD group status, service utilization, and race/ethnicity to predict differences in study skills at baseline and change-over-time. Latent growth curve modeling was used to map out the trajectories of study skills, as measured by comprehension monitoring strategies (CMS), which is comprised of three subscales of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI). It was expected that students with ADHD would have worse CMS scores than non-ADHD comparison students, that service use would predict CMS scores, and that there would be differences in both CMS scores and service utilization as a function of dichotomized race/ethnicity. Results revealed that students with ADHD had worse educational skills at baseline and change-over-time. ADHD group status moderated the relationship between service utilization and CMS, such that increases in service utilization predicted increased trajectories of CMS scores for students with ADHD only. No differences in service utilization or CMS scores at baseline or change-over-time were observed as a function of race/ethnicity. Implications for college services and ADHD treatment programs were discussed.


Adapting the transmission rate of video telephony Internet applications in order to guarantee the maximal communication quality is still an open and extremely challenging problem. The congestion control algorithm, which is the algorithm responsible for adjusting the transmission rate according to the network conditions, should typically be able to reach the largest possible rate, in order to achieve a high video quality, at the minimum possible delay, in order to guarantee a good interactivity. At the same time, it should also guarantee a fair share of the network resources when competing with other communication protocols, in particular loss-based congestion protocols. These two objectives actually conflict with each other: whereas, in order to achieve the largest rate with the minimum delay, the delay-based congestion control should be extremely sensitive to delay variations, it should also be ideally immune to delay variations to have perfect coexistence with loss-based protocols. In order to achieve this double objective we propose a learning-based adaptive controller that tunes the delay sensitivity of an underlying delay-based congestion control according to the estimated network conditions. We first define a simple low-dimensional model for the network response. We then formulate a bayesian bandit problem for the selection of the delay sensitivity of the congestion control algorithm. By solving the bandit problem using an optimal learning method we are able to maximize effectively the long term utility provided to the user. Finally, we provide simulation results to demonstrate the operation of the proposed method and its effective ability to adapt to different network scenarios in order to maximize the communication quality.


Diagonal preconditioning has been a staple technique in optimization and machine learning. It often reduces the condition number of the design or Hessian matrix it is applied to, thereby speeding up convergence. However, rigorous analyses of how well various diagonal preconditioning procedures improve the condition number of the preconditioned matrix and how that translates into improvements in optimization are rare. In this paper, we first provide an analysis of a popular diagonal preconditioning technique based on column standard deviation and its effect on the condition number using random matrix theory. Then we identify a class of design matrices whose condition numbers can be reduced significantly by this procedure. We then study the problem of optimal diagonal preconditioning to improve the condition number of any full-rank matrix and provide a bisection algorithm and a potential reduction algorithm with $O(\log(\frac{1}{\epsilon}))$ iteration complexity, where each iteration consists of an SDP feasibility problem and a Newton update using the Nesterov-Todd direction, respectively. Finally, we extend the optimal diagonal preconditioning algorithm to an adaptive setting and compare its empirical performance at reducing the condition number and speeding up convergence for regression and classification problems with that of another adaptive preconditioning technique, namely batch normalization, that is essential in training machine learning models.


In recent years, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending has been gaining popularity amongst borrowers and individual investors. This can mainly be attributed to the easy and quick access to loans and the higher possible returns. However, the risk involved in these investments is considerable, and for most investors, being nonprofessionals, this increases the complexity and the importance of investment decisions. In this study, we focus on generating optimal investment decisions to lenders for selecting loans. We treat the loan selection process in P2P lending as a portfolio optimization problem, with the aim being to select a set of loans that provide a required return while minimizing risk. In the process, we use internal rate of return as the measure of return. As the starting point of the model, we use machine-learning algorithms to predict the default probabilities and calculate expected values for the loans based on historical data. Afterwards, we calculate the distance between loans using (i) default probabilities and, as a novel step, (ii) expected value. In the calculations, we utilize kernel functions to obtain similarity weights of loans as the input of the optimization models. Two optimization models are tested and compared on data from the popular P2P platform Lending Club. The results show that using the expected-value framework yields higher return.


Large amounts of lipopolysaccharides released in blood after death of Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for endotoxinemia and endotoxic shock. Endotoxin is eliminated from the body via different routes including the lungs. One of the mechanisms of lipopolysaccharides transport to the lungs, which respond with acute distress syndrome, is their transfer by polymorphonuclear leukocytes.


Mouse P388 leukemic cells inoculated into the right forefootpad metastasized primarily to the right axillary lymph node. No significant metastasis to other lymph nodes or organs was detected on Day 12 after the inoculation of 106 P388 cells in the forefootpad, except that a lesser extent of metastasis was observed in some cases in the right inguinal lymph node, liver, and spleen. A quantitative estimation of metastasis in the axillary lymph node was accomplished by transferring the lymph node i.p. to the recipient mice (bioassay method). The metastasis of P388 cells to the axillary lymph node occurred linearly depending on the elapse of time after inoculation. In studying the chemotherapeutic effect on lymph node metas tasis, two experimental models were established. Model 1, 106 P388 cells were inoculated into the right forefootpad, and drug was administered thereafter. The right axillary lymph node was removed on Day 8, and the extent of inhibition of lymph node metastasis was estimated by the bioassay method. In Model 2, P388 cells were inoculated, and the right forelimb including original tumor was amputated on Day 6 when the metastasis had already been established. The drug was given thereafter, and the extent of inhibition of metastasis was estimated on Day 12 by the bioassay method. In this experimental system, a lipophilic derivative /NT-behen-oyl-1-/3-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine was more effective than its parent compound 1-/8-o-arabinofuranosylcytosine; however, 5-fluorouracil was found to be more potent than its lipophilic derivative ftorafur for the inhibition of lymph node metastasis, suggesting an existence of various pharmacokinetic factors for the inhibition of lymph node metastasis.


Platelet-derived growth factor B-chain (PDGF-B)- and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)-mediated accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins contributes to many progressive renal diseases. In vivo, specific antagonism of either PDGF-B or TGF-beta in experimental mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis resulted in an almost complete inhibition of matrix protein accumulation, which suggests an interaction between signaling pathways of these two growth factors. Because nothing is known on the nature of this possible interaction, PDGF-B was antagonized in the rat anti-Thy 1.1 model of glomerulonephritis by use of specific aptamers and its effects on the TGF-beta system were investigated. Antagonism of PDGF-B led to a significant reduction of glomerular matrix accumulation compared with scrambled aptamer-treated nephritic controls. PDGF-B antagonism had no effect on the overexpression of glomerular TGF-beta mRNA, TGF-beta protein, or the expression of TGF-beta receptor type I and II mRNA. By immunohistology, it was possible to detect overexpression of the cytoplasmic TGF-beta signaling molecules Smad2 (agonistic) and Smad7 (antagonistic) in glomeruli of nephritic control rats which peaked on day 7 after disease induction, i.e., the peak of mesangial cell proliferation in this model. However, immunohistology and Western blot analysis again revealed no difference in the glomerular expression of both Smad proteins between PDGF-B antagonized and nonantagonized nephritic animals. In addition, no difference in the glomerular expression of phosphorylated Smad2 (P-Smad2) was detected between the differently treated nephritic groups. These observations suggest that the effects of PDGF-B antagonism are independent of TGF-beta in mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritides.


OBJECTIVE
Quadrigeminal cistern arachnoid cysts (QACs) are congenital lesions that can cause pineal region compression and obstructive hydrocephalus when sufficiently large. Management of these cysts is controversial and rates of reintervention are high. Given the limited data on the management of QACs, the authors retrospectively reviewed 20 years of cases managed at their institution and performed a literature review on this topic.

METHODS
The authors performed a retrospective analysis of patients treated for QAC at their institution between 2001 and 2021. They also performed a literature review of studies published between 1980 and 2021 that reported at least 5 patients treated for QACs. Patient characteristics, radiographic findings, management course, and postoperative follow-up data were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS
A total of 12 patients treated for a QAC at the authors' institution met the inclusion criteria for analysis. Median age was 9 months, mean cyst size was 5.1 cm, and 83% of patients had hydrocephalus. Initial treatment was endoscopic fenestration in 92% of these patients, 27% of whom had an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) performed concurrently. Reintervention was required in 42% of patients. Cases that required reintervention had a statistically significant lower median age at the initial intervention (5 months) than the cases that did not require reintervention (24.33 months; p = 0.018). There were no major complications. At a mean follow-up of 5.42 years, 83% of patients had improvement or resolution of their symptoms. A literature review revealed 7 studies that met the inclusion criteria, totaling 108 patients with a mean age of 8.8 years. Eighty-seven percent of patients had hydrocephalus at presentation. Ninety-two percent of patients were initially treated with endoscopic fenestration, 44% of whom underwent concurrent ETV. Complications occurred in 17.6% of cases, and reintervention was required in 30.6% of cases. The most frequent reason for reintervention was untreated or unresolved hydrocephalus after the initial procedure.

CONCLUSIONS
Endoscopic fenestration is the most common treatment for QACs. While generally safe and effective, there is a high rate of reintervention after initial treatment of QACs, which may be associated with a younger age at the first intervention. Additionally, identifying patients who require initial treatment of hydrocephalus is critically important, as the literature suggests that untreated hydrocephalus is a common cause of reintervention.


Addressing environmental management problems at catchment scales requires an integrated modelling approach, in which key bio-physical and socio-economic drivers, processes and impacts are all considered. Development of Decision Support Systems (DSSs) for environmental management is rapidly progressing. This paper describes the integration of physical, ecological, and socio-economic components in a Bayesian Decision Network (BDN) and its implementation in the Interactive Component Modelling System (ICMS) software to build a prototype DSS for salinity management in the Little River catchment in the upper Macquarie River basin, NSW Australia. Salinity is a major environmental problem in the country. This integrated model implemented in a DSS has been developed to co-ordinate the various disciplines involved in salinity problems, integrate data and information available, and allow the investigation of the potential outcomes arising from implementing salinity management options at the catchment scale. The analysis of the trade-offs presented in this study shows that there is no single or ultimate solution to salinity management problems for the catchment, but the Little River catchment BDN decision support system, as a decision toolbox, does clarify the impacts of management options. It assists users to reach their own conclusions on the basis of their improved understanding of the system and of the trade-offs among various outcomes arising from implementing salinity management scenarios.


In recent years, fluorescence spectrometry was widely used in quantitative determination of DNA. In this paper, a convenient synthesis of a new fluorescent 2-(2'- Chloro phenyl)- 5- (2'- hydroxyl phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (HOXD) was realized. Experimental data showed that fluorescence of HOXD could be quenched by DNA and the decreased fluorescence intensity of HOXD resulting from fluorescence quenching is proportional to DNA concentrations suggesting that HOXD could be used as a new fluorescent probe for quantitative determination of DNA. Optimal experimental conditions for DNA analysis were also studied in the paper.


Teachers are central to student learning. Without improving teacher practice, it will be difficult for schools to meet the goals of the Common Core State Standards and the 21st Century learning competencies we are faced with in our rapidly changing educational environment. School reform initiatives often focus on school structures and programs, but give less attention to helping teachers develop the capacity for effective collaborative practice. Most recently, a growing body of literature has emerged on the benefits of teacher collaboration as a key ingredient in school improvement, especially in underperforming schools. Collaborative reform initiatives have resulted in a variety of outcomes including: improving teacher relationships, building capacity, strengthening teacher efficacy and increasing achievement of students from diverse backgrounds. However, we know less about the effects of teacher collaboration in schools that are not underperforming, but where rapid change is taking place. This study was about the nature of relationships that exist between teachers who regularly engage in weekly collaboration. The purpose of this case study was to better understand the nature of how relationships among elementary teachers in grade level teams developed. The two teams (Team A and Team B) compared in this study developed relationships differently, as one team had stronger relationships while the other experienced challenges in relationship development. Interviews and observations were conducted to compare and contrast the teams regarding their characteristics and belief systems, how they use their collaborative time, and the structures and cultures that shape their work. Team A developed differently from Team B by spending more time on relationship building. The implications of this research provide information to assist leaders in supporting collaborative efforts in schools


Meteorological conditions play an important role in agricultural practice and agricultural DSS usually takes weather data as a critical data source. A meteorological data service system was designed and implemented to provide better performance for Chinese users. Based on the service system, a web application providing online weather data retrieval and downloading was also developed. The service system was practically used in a decision support system for eucalypt management, and proved to be very feasible as an online weather data source for agricultural decision support system. Base on this service system, it is expected that agricultural researchers and decision support systems can easily obtain weather data and further improve their agricultural decision making process.


Habitat loss and invasive predators increasingly threaten global biodiversity. Here we use a landscape-scale experimental approach to explore the individual and synergistic effects of logging and an invasive predator, the red fox Vulpes vulpes on two common native arboreal vertebrates (a predator and prey species) in south-eastern Australia. We used site occupancy methods to evaluate different models evaluating the effects of site specific forest logging disturbance, lethal fox baiting and forest structural elements for explaining variation in site occupancy of a large monitor lizard Varanus varius, and a marsupial prey, the common ringtail possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus across a complex forest landscape. Site occupancy of ringtail possum was influenced by habitat resources and the structural complexity of forest, which indirectly mediated predation risk. Presence of fox baiting had no direct effect on the ringtail site occupancy. In contrast, access to prey resources and fox baiting appeared to best explain site occupancy variation in monitor lizards across the landscape. While these species are affected primarily by separate disturbances, synergistic interactions between the processes may intensify their effects. Our results demonstrate that species susceptibility to disturbance processes are highly idiosyncratic. This approach makes efficient use of integrated modelling to aid conservation management at both local and landscape levels.


ABSTRACT Zhang, B.; Hou, J.; Huo, L., and Yao, K., 2020. Nonlinear evolution of waves based on radar wave measurements and the mNLS equation. In: Zheng, C.W.; Wang, Q.; Zhan, C., and Yang, S.B. (eds.), Air-Sea Interaction and Coastal Environments of the Maritime and Polar Silk Roads. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 99, pp. 324–331. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Radar wave measurement is the only means of obtaining highly accurate wave information that can be carried by ship, reflecting the real-time and actual wave conditions of a ship's current navigation area. The nonlinear evolution of waves can simultaneously be effectively described by a model based on the mNLS equation. The purpose of this paper is to combine a radar wave measurement system with the mNLS equation by selecting the radar wave spectrum with application conditions of ε ≤ 0.3 and Δf/f0 ≤ 0.2 to construct initial conditions and simulate the nonlinear evolution of waves.


The link between livestock production, manure management, and human health has received much public attention in recent years. Composting is often promoted as a means of sanitizing manure to ensure that pathogenic bacteria are not spread to a wider environment during land application. In a two-year study (1998 and 1999) in southern Alberta, we examined the fate of coliform bacteria during windrow composting of cattle (Bos taurus) manure from feedlot pens bedded with cereal straw or wood chips. Numbers of total coliforms (TC) and Escherichia coli declined as the composting period progressed. In 1998, TC levels (mean of both bedding types) were log10 7.86 cells g(-1) dry wt. for raw manure on Day 0, log10 3.38 cells g(-1) by Day 7, and log10 1.69 cells g(-1) by Day 14. More than 99.9% of TC and E. coli was eliminated in the first 7 d when average windrow temperatures ranged from 33.5 to 41.5 degrees C. The type of bedding did not influence the numbers of TC or E. coli. Dessication probably played a minor role in coliform elimination, since water loss was low (< 0.07 kg kg(-1)) in the first 7 d of composting. However, total aerobic heterotroph populations remained high (> 7.0 log10 CFU g(-1) dry wt., where CFU is colony forming units) throughout the composting period, possibly causing an antagonistic effect. Land application of compost, with its nondetectable levels of E. coli compared with raw manure, should minimize environmental risk in areas of intensive livestock production.


It has been a constant feature of French policy towards black Africa that political and strategic factors have been more significant than economic considerations in determining this policy. It is in this sense that reference to continuity has become almost a cliche of surveys of French African policy. At the same time the idea that 'the exercise of power in Africa was vital if French status in Europe was to be maintained'1 has also been a constant feature of French policy towards Africa. In the modern period this policy is sometimes traced back to De Gaulle and the beginning of the Fifth Republic but it actually dates back even further, to the early 1950s when France began to lay the framework for its post-war African policy. A key actor in the formulation of this policy was the Minister for Overseas France at the time, Francois Mitterrand. Forty years later, in the early 1990s, Mitterrand is once again a key actor in French relations with Africa. Today however he is no longer a force for, but rather an obstacle to, much-needed change. It will be the intention of this article to survey French African policy at the present time, paying particular attention to those features of the situation which, despite the rapidly changing international situation that has rendered many of the premisses on which French African policy is traditionally based obsolete, nonetheless continue to constitute major obstacles to change. In this survey the significance of both external and internal political constraints, whether of an institutional nature or relating to the role of particular individuals, will be considered.


Abstract Disturbances, such as fire and grazing, play important roles in determining grassland plant community composition and soil microbial dynamics, as well as regulating the flows of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) between the two groups of organisms. In a mixed grassland of the southern Great Plains, we tested the hypotheses that spring-season fire would increase the absolute biomass and relative proportion of C4 grasses in the plant community, and decrease soil microbial biomass N, thereby increasing microbial C∶N ratios. We also tested the hypothesis that clipping (to simulate grazing) would reduce effects of fire, with a greater reduction of fire effect corresponding to an increased frequency of clipping. Contrary to our hypothesis, C4 grasses showed no significant treatment responses. Treatment effects were limited to C3 grasses, and clipping was more important than fire in terms of effects on plant community composition. However, because of its greater capacity to reduce aboveground litter, fire had the greater impact on soil microbial C. Contrary to the hypothesized outcome, no significant effects of disturbance on soil microbial N were observed. This suggests that control of N cycling in this ecosystem is primarily microbial in nature, though dependent on inputs of plant C via litter. Interactions between fire and clipping were observed in litter mass, highlighting the importance of litter inputs for plant–soil nutrient feedbacks.


In order to analyze the influences of axial compression ratio and loading speed to the dynamic response and failure mode of RC columns subjected to blast loading, the collapse test for 6 reinforced concrete column models were conducted. Results show that there are three kinds of failure types: shear failure, flexural failure, flexural-shear failure. It tends to failure in shear mode when compression ratio is 0, and tends to failure in flexural or in flexural-shear mode when compression ratio is 0.5 and 0.25 respectively. The peak value of the exerted load and end moment will increase with the increasing of axial compression ratio in the first stage (approximately when compression ratio is less than 0.25) and then will decrease. The peak value of extra axial forces will decrease with the increasing of axial compression ratio.


Leukotriene B(4) (LTB(4)) is a lipid mediator with potent chemoattractant properties and that is rapidly generated from activated innate immune cells such as neutrophils, macrophages, and mast cells. Elevated levels of LTB(4) have been reported in various allergic diseases and these levels have been related to disease activity and response to treatment. Recent studies using LTB(4) receptor-1 (BLT1) antagonists or BLT1-deficient mice have revealed that ligation of BLT1 by LTB(4) is important for the activation and recruitment of inflammatory cells including neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes/macrophages, mast cells, dendritic cells, and more recently, effector T cells to inflamed tissues in various inflammatory diseases. The LTB(4)/BLT1 pathway appears to play an important role in the pathogenesis of severe persistent asthma, aspirin- and exercise-induced asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis together with other mediators including cysteinyl leukotrienes, cytokines, and chemokines. LTB(4) production is in general resistant to corticosteroid treatment. In fact, corticosteroids can upregulate BLT1 expression on corticosteroid-resistant inflammatory cells such as neutrophils, monocytes, and effector memory CD8+ T cells. As a result, this corticosteroid-resistant LTB(4)/BLT1 pathway may contribute to the development of inflammation in allergic diseases that do not respond to the introduction of corticosteroids. Inhibition of this pathway has potential therapeutic benefit in various allergic diseases that have involvement of corticosteroid-insensitivity.


The book focuses on the specific roles the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government have played in the development of environmental policy and how their roles fit into the traditional policy-makin9 cycle. It explores the relationships between science and environmental policy, concentrating on the conflicts which arise when policy-makers come to realize that political and scientific goals often differ. It covers the controversy over cost-benefit analysis in writing and enforcing environmental laws, and studies the status of public policy in the specific areas of public lands, water pollution, energy, and toxic and hazardous wastes.


Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, can be detected using retinal thicknesses from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans of the macula. We calculate the desired thickness maps as the distance between the inner-limiting membrane (ILM) and retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) of the retina. To delineate these two layers, we use a set of two deformable open surfaces that are driven by intensity contrast, while preserving their shape and topology properties, i.e. local surface smoothness and inter-surface distance smoothness. To evaluate our method, qualified graders manually segmented 30 random sections from 20 OCT image stacks, in triplicate; we make comparisons with obtained ground-truth and the clinically tested Heidelberg Spectralis segmentation. We show the superiority of our method with respect to accuracy and average execution time (~7 secs), validating it as a clinical tool.


Young generation intercourse nowadays is very apprehensive. Both girls and boys are smoking, going to the night club, drinking some alcohol and having sexual intercourse without married.
Sexual intercourse causes pregnancy for girls. Whereas, unwanted pregnancy causes someone to choose abortion. The abortion that did without any preparation well has impact not only physically but also mentally or called by post abortion syndrome. Post abortion syndrome is a syndrome after abortion that indicated with lack of ability emotion process especially in felling guilty, felling fury, and to repress it. Post abortion syndrome can't be losing from the abortion subject but some peoples able to raise it until they can activate as before pregnancy. The purpose of the research is how to describe post abortion syndrome that had been around by female student who did an abortion before married and how the subject able to raise post abortion
syndrome that had been around.
Researcher use qualitative research with case study method. The subject amount two persons with characteristic a female student who did made in-abortion, not married yet, and be based on observation to be presume in post traumatic stress disorder. Data collection method that used is to reduction the interview result. The data validity that used is triangulation with close friend.
Abortion subject who had been around post abortion syndrome signed by some symptoms appropriate with defined in DSM IV about post traumatic stress disorder: the people who fell in traumatic phenomena that is about doing the abortion and fell ill because of it; a permanent traumatic phenomena that had been around anymore that is one or twice dreams about child and avoid many places, many peoples who have relation with abortion that they have did; not indicate permanent symptom and raise consciousness (did not find before traumatic); they have internal pressure more than a month, the disorder causes in social function, the activities one of the subject that is having smoke habit, going to the night club, drinking some alcohols and
getting less achievement index cumulative (IPK). Post abortion syndrome happened the subject didn't ready not only physically but also mentally, and they pressure by someone to do the abortion. Post abortion syndrome can be lose, but the subject doing many ways to cope with post
abortion syndrome in order to the first condition by doing seeking social support for emotional reasons, to reconstruct cognitive with positive reappraisal, doing the escape avoidance, and have active coping.


Trainee teachers' self-awareness and their developing professional identity are of crucial importance as they enter complex school environments in a role which makes intense demands of them, both personally and professionally. To enable a smooth transition into school life, trainee teachers need to be able to critically reflect on their strengths, core values and performance. This study researched the impact of three workshops covering professional identity, teaching values and psychological models during the teacher training year. A mixed methods approach was employed: a questionnaire ascertained feedback on each workshop attended (October; February and May (N=38, 35, 31 respectively) and a final group interview (N=12) followed-up the workshops undertaken. Key findings indicated: the teacher 'daily diary' was extremely useful, reassurance of work-life balance beneficial, psychology shared very helpful (e.g. Maslow's work; Erskine's relational needs; Rogers' core conditions). Key factors regularly used by trainee teachers were: using their planner, making time for others and trying to incorporate a work-life balance. The main conclusions reveal the essential requirement of trainee teachers being able to self-reflect, to organise their time and to have the capability to develop strategies to address the challenges they meet during their time in school.


In the study area the Black Reef Quartzite Formation lies unconformably at the base of the early Proterozoic Transvaal Sequence of South Africa. The Formation comprises a succession of interbedded siliceous quartzites and shales with erratically-developed basal grits and conglomerates in the area of the Carletonville and West Rand goldfields. Outcrops are restricted to the topographic ridge formed by the Rand Anticline. The pre-Transvaal palaeosurface comprises a variety of rock-types. This heterolithic palaeosurface is a result of extensional tectonism which caused the development of horst, graben and half-gra ben structures. A thickness study revealed that the thickness of the Formation is very inconsistent and that zones of maximum thickness generally correlate with linear depressions in the palaeosurface. This study also showed that during Black Reef times the palaeorelief of the study area was low. The typical lithofacies association of the Formation, as determined by Markov analysis, comprises a basal pebbly quartzite unit overlain by a succession of alternating mudstone and quartzite units. In the study area the Formation mostly has a uni-, biand polymodal palaeocurrent distribution. On the Rand Anticline the modes of the unimodal distribution are towards the north, but in the remainder of the study area the modes lie within the second and third azimuth quadrants. For the biand polymodal distributions there are no general dominant modes. The orientations of oscillation ripple crests show a general, well-defined east-west trend for most of the study area. 'The pebble size and composition of the conglomerates vary significantly throughout the study area. A petrographic study revealed that the quartzites in the Black Reef succession are generally texturally very mature. It is considered that the basal strata are characteristically bedload deposits, possibly the detritus of a braided stream system. The strata overlying these are characteristic of a tidal flat deposit, signifying a transgression. The sedimentary makeup of the coastal system, in which the upper strata of the Black Reef Quartzite Formation was deposited, probably consisted of estuarine, lagoon bay, tidal inlet, tidal flat and marsh environments. The transgression resulted in a rise in base level causing a decrease in sediment flux, bringing about clear-water conditions for the precipitation of the overlying carbonates of the Malmani Subgroup. The cause of the transgression was probably post-graben thermal subsidence in a three:siage tectonic model. The proposed thermal subsidence basin led to the opening of a linear, shallow epeiric sea that transgressed over the partly-pediplaned palaeosurface.


This research shows that the wine market in California is segmented by age. Wine consumption behavior differs between the generation X consumer and those that are not generation X. They purchase different types of wine at different locations. There are different attitudes toward wine between the two groups. Generation X consumers are more concerned with the quality and image attributes of wine.


Toxic pollution of soils is a major environmental problem in the Czech Republic. Most contemporary remediation approaches do not provide acceptable solutions. For environmental clean-up, the use of specially selected and engineered plants capable of effective restoration and stabilization of contaminated sites is an emerging technology called phytoremediation. Aspen (Populus spp.) trees represent optimal plants for absorption, accumulation, storage, and degradation of environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticide residues, and other waste products. The first aim of this study was to verify possibilities of micropropagating selected elite European aspen (Populus tremula) and hybrid aspen (Populus tremula × Populus tremuloides) mature trees growing in polluted areas. The primary cultures were established from 24 years old trees from provenance plots. Dormant buds were sampled from selected trees in spring. After sterilization of dormant buds, the shoot tips were extirpated and put on nutrient media. MS medium with a higher concentration of BAP (1.0 mg/l) and IBA (0.1 mg/l) showed to be suitable for induction of organogenesis. MS medium with lower concentration of BAP (0.2 mg/l) and higher concentration of glutamine (100 mg/l) in agar medium was used for multiplication. A high number of adventitious shoots (20–30) was produced per multi-apex culture. The losses during rooting and acclimatization were minimal, around 2%. Currently, the plantlets grow on the outside bed of the experimental nursery. Twenty-five clones were established in the gene bank. Secondly, standardization of the efficient transformation of hybrid aspen was investigated with the aim to facilitate production of transformed hybrid aspen with valuable genes for increased capability of phytoremediation in the near future. Four gene constructs of Agrobacterium tumefaciens comprising different promoters (bearing two genes, NPTII coding resistance to kanamycin, and GUS coding glucuronidase synthesis allowing histochemical and fluorometrical identification) were used for transformations of aspen hybrid stem segments. A promoter suitable for transformations was selected on the basis of GUS activity assay. The highest activity was estimated in transformants with construct 148 controlled by promoter CAMV 35S.