The "idea of private law" has occupied a prominent place in tort theorizing over the past twenty years. To American ears, the idea has a libertarian ring, implying a realm of private freedom beyond the reach of public power. But the idea of "private law" pursued in recent tort theory is different. This strand of tort theory takes an essentially formal view of "private law" as a type of adjudication through which one member of civil society invokes the public power of the state to call another member of civil society to account for breach of an obligation, owed by the latter to the former. In a number of recent, elegant essays, Arthur Ripstein has advanced a particular version of this view, a version distinguished in important part by its enlistment of the political philosophy of John Rawls in support of this project. Ripstein's recent Tort Law in a Liberal State is a further contribution to this project, summarizing Professor Ripstein's view and arguing for both the interpretive and the philosophical plausibility of his project.Personal Inviolability and Private Law, JOURNAL OF TORT LAW: Vol. 1: Iss. 2, Article 4 (2006) raises objections to both aspects of Ripstein's project, and briefly explains why "public law" conceptions of tort are at least as plausible as "private law" ones, both philosophically and interpretively. Interpretively, Professor Ripstein's conception is open to three serious objections. First, by placing the calling of one member of civil society to account by another at the center of their view, "private law" theorists threaten to place the remedial cart before the substantive horse. Prior to the late nineteenth century, tort law had an intensely remedial cast and was not unified around general principles of liability. Our modern law of torts comes into existence with (and by the recognition of) tort as a freestanding law of primary obligation. By placing such great weight both on Kant's property-centered account of private law and on "private law" theory's heavily remedial conception of tort, Professor Ripstein's conception cuts against the fundamental thrust of modern tort law. That thrust is to make obligation central and to treat right and remedy as separable. Ripstein, by contrast, places enormous weight on remedy and takes right and remedy to be indivisible.Second, Tort Law in a Liberal State is, in important part, a brief for the fault principle. Professor Ripstein is right to distinguish between "harm-based" torts such as liability for accidental injury, negligently inflicted and "right-based" torts such as trespass, but wrong to claim that "harm-based" liability in tort is always fault-based. This claim leads Professor Ripstein both to a distorted account of tort law's various strict liabilities and to a fundamental mischaracterization of much of the conduct subject to liability in tort. Professor Ripstein's recasting of strict liabilities as fault ones commits him to the unfortunate idea that there is something intrinsically wrong with valuable, productive activities, blamelessly conducted. Both the recasting of particular strict liabilities in fault terms, and the righteous condemnation of risk to which this recasting leads, are mistaken. Rylands' conduct in the famous case of Rylands v. Fletcher was not wrongful; Atlantic Cement's conduct in Boomer was not wrongful; and Lake Erie's conduct in Vincent was not wrongful. In all of these cases, defendant's only "fault" lay in (unreasonably) failing to make reparation for harm (reasonably) inflicted. More generally and more importantly, risk, like pollution, is not wrongful in itself, and harm is a matter of moral concern even when it issues from blameless conduct. Strict liability is a morally significant and instructive form of liability because it registers the perception that serious harm must sometimes be repaired, even though it has been faultlessly inflicted.Third and last, it is an interpretive mistake to insist that "public" and "private" forms of tort and accident law express fundamentally different values and moral conceptions. "Public law" schemes frequently complement or perfect "private law" ones, and threads of political morality tie private and public accident law institutions together. Zoning law's relation to nuisance is only one of many cases in point. Professor Ripstein's philosophical claims are likewise open to objection. For starters, Professor Ripstein's attachment to the form of "private law" transforms Kant's preoccupation with the inviolability of persons into a preoccupation with the formal purity of legal institutions. This is a path to avoid. An accident law faithful to the power of Kant's philosophy must give pride of place to the inviolability of our persons, not to the inviolability of our legal forms. That latter path leads to endowing legal rules with the intrinsic value held only by persons. Second, Ripstein's assertion that Rawls' theory of justice commits him to the particular institutional form of "private law" is unpersuasive. Famously and explicitly, Rawls' theory leaves open the choice between capitalism and market socialism. The most natural and plausible reading of his theory of justice shows that it also leaves open the far more modest institutional choice between "private" and "public" law institutions. Equal freedom and reciprocity of right among free and equal citizens does not require the particular institutional form that goes by the name of "private law." The final part of Personal Inviolability and "Private Law" briefly suggests that some form of enterprise liability constructed around a conception of commutative justice may, in fact, express the independence, equality and inviolability of democratic citizens more adequately than a "private law" constructed around a conception of corrective justice. As far as the law of accidents is concerned, the choice of appropriate institutional form depends as much on the properties of the social world in which accidents arise as it does on the formal characteristics of the available legal institutions. In our characteristically modern social world - where the costs of accidents can be dispersed across the activities responsible for them - "public" law forms of accident law may do a better job than "private" law ones of securing justice among free and equal persons. Free and equal citizens have ample reason not to place their rights against one another at the mercy of a "private law" negligence lottery, and to seek surer reparation for serious injury through some form of enterprise liability.


Electricity is one of the most important commodities for both consumers and producers, and it is subject to sharp variations in supply and demand, sometimes within a single day. But it is also one of the most difficult commodities on which to trade derivatives, because electricity is virtually unstorable. This has given rise to contracts such as the "swing option," which sets minimum and maximum values for both the amount of power to be purchased in each period and also the cumulative amount of electricity purchased over the life of the contract. A swing option thus entails complex timing options with regard to fulfillment of the required minimum cumulative quantity purchased, and price-related options that let the holder buy more when the market price is above the option's strike price, all constrained by the limits on maximum instantaneous and cumulative consumption. In this article, Keppo describes the decision process and presents a swing option valuation model based on simple electricity forwards and options. The use of the approach is illustrated with a couple of examples based on Nord Pool electricity prices.


T91/12Cr2MoWVTiB was bonded by transient liquid phase bonding process with different pressures, one commercial FeNiCrSiB was used as the interlayer. The microstructure and components distribution of the bonded joints were examined by optical microscope and scanning electron microscopic techniques. Furthermore, the properties of the joints were also tested. The results indicate that with the increase of the pressure – from 2 MPa to 6 MPa – the microstructures and mechanical properties were improved, and more similar to those base alloys. A theoretical study also revealed that the isothermal solidification complication time can be shorter, because the maximum liquid width was reduced with the existence of pressure.


In recent years scientific workflows have been used for conducting data-intensive and long running simulations. Such simulation workflows have processed and produced different types of data whose quality has a strong influence on the final outcome of simulations. Therefore being able to monitor and analyze quality of this data during workflow execution is of paramount importance, as detection of quality problems will enable us to control the execution of simulations efficiently. Unfortunately, existing scientific workflow execution systems do not support the monitoring and analysis of quality of data for multi-scale or multi-domain simulations. In this paper, we examine how quality of data can be comprehensively measured within workflows and how the measured quality can be used to control and adapt running workflows. We present a quality of data measurement process and describe a quality of data monitoring and analysis framework that integrates this measurement process into a workflow management system.


The electrode device for rheoperiodontography is described. It enables a reliable fixing of a contact element on the mucosa and keeps dry mucosal surface under an elastic tip around the contact element, thereby providing more clear and consistent rheographic indices in any patient when using the technique. 28 patients suffering from dental plexalgia have been examined. The device is useful in neurology, neurostomatology, stomatology, and other similar fields for functional diagnosis of different diseases.


Less optimized therapeutic effects constrain the use of doxorubicin as the main agent of chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer, resistance and side effects. Therefore we need a combination of more than one chemopreventive agent which has different molecular targets to solve that problem. The aims of this study is to prove the inhibitory effect of ethanolic extract of rhizome of Curcuma xanthorrhiza (ECx), fruit of Brucea javanica (EBj), leave of Ficus septica (EFs) and doxorubicin (Dox) alone and its combination on migration and invasion of a highly metastatic 4T1 breast cancer cell line. Cytotoxic activity of single and combination treatment was evaluated by MTT assay, followed by an experiment of apoptosis induction by using flow cytometry. The inhibitory effect on migration was observed by the scratch wound-healing assay. Furthermore, the observation of the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) was analyzed by gelatin zymography. The results showed that ECx, EBj, EFs, and Dox has cytotoxic activity on 4T1 cells with the value of IC 50 respectively 49.7±1.53mg/mL, 59.9±1.79mg/mL, 15.2±2.12mg/mL and 1.2±0.23mM. Furthermore, combination of ECx-EBj-Dox and ECx-EBj-EFs revealed synergistic effect on 4T1 cells and decrease cell viability through the induction of apoptosis and necrosis. Based on wound healing assay, 24 hours incubation of this combination inhibited 4T1 cells migration compared to single treatment. Gelatin zymography analysis showed that this combination also inhibited the activity of MMP-9 greater than a single use. Curcuma xanthorrhiza , Brucea javanica , and Ficus septica may have potential to be developed as a combination with or without doxorubicin for metastatic breast cancer treatment.


Sir .—In the March issue of AJDC, Ramsay et al 1 reported that nine of 19 infants required ductus ligation because of initial treatment failure or relapse after indomethacin administration for a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Their treatment regimen with indomethacin consisted of an initial dose of 0.2 mg/kg followed by two doses of 0.1 mg/kg at 12- and 24-hour intervals. Ramsay et al speculated that the success rate of the treatment could be improved by increasing the amount of the first and/or subsequent indomethacin doses. We would like to report our experience with indomethacin given in three doses of 0.2 mg/kg every eight hours. In our unit, PDA is suspected if an infant has consistent clinical signs or cannot be weaned from the ventilator and after the primary cause for administration of mechanical ventilation has resolved. The diagnosis is always confirmed with contrast echocardiography 2 or echo-Doppler cardiography. The


Mo-Ti3SiC2 layered composite was successfully prepared by spark plasma sintering at 1573 K for 20 min under a pressure of 50 MPa in vacuum. The Mo and Ti3SiC2 layers were metallurgically bound together without noticeable superficial defects and micro-cracks at the interface. The fabricated Mo-Ti3SiC2 layered composite was annealed at 1273 K under vacuum for 5, 10, 20 and 40 h to study the composite's thermal stability. Three intermediate layers, Mo2C, MoSi2 and Ti5Si3Cx, were formed at the interface. Experimental results showed that the Mo-Ti3SiC2 layered composite prepared in this study has good interfacial stability at elevated temperature.


We have applied the first Born approximation (FBA) to the calculation of single electron loss cross sections for various ions and atoms containing from one to seven electrons. Screened hydrogenic wave functions were used for the states of the electron ejected from the projectile and Hartree-Fock elastic and incoherent scattering factors were used to describe the target. The effect of the target atom on the scaling of projectile ionization cross sections with respect to the projectile nuclear charge was explored in the case of hydrogen-like ions. We also have examined scaling of the cross section with respect to the target nuclear charge for electron loss by Fe +25 in collision with neutral atoms ranging from H to Fe. These results were compared to those of the binary encounter approximation (BEA) and to the FBA for the case of ionization by completely stripped target ions. We have also calculated electron loss cross sections for the ions 0 +i (i=3-7) and N+i 0 =0-6) in collision with He targets in the energy range of ti0.1 to 100 MeV/nucleon. We found these results to be in excellent agreement with the available data near the peak of the ionization cross section.


Despite the fact that many problematic areas in the English translations of the Qurān have been thoroughly investigated, no substantial work has so far been devoted to critically evaluating the translation of the Divine Names, which pose paramount challenges for all translators. Critical and evaluative studies of Qurān translations seem to avoid investigating and assessing the Divine Names, which are the most sensitive and delicate Qurānic terms. This study critically and comparatively investigates how accurate and consistent are the English renderings of these Divine Names; al-Asmā al-Ḥusnā, The Most Beautiful Names (MBNs) which are recurring terms in the Qurānic text. The complexity of meanings and morphological features of these Divine Names is evidently reflected in so many cases of inaccuracy as well as inconsistency in their English translations, particularly in the renderings of the near-synonymous root-sharing Names. Translators of the Qurān have unjustifiably used different corresponding terms for the very same Divine Name when it appears on more than one occasion, and sometimes in similar Qurānic contexts. Most Qurān translators have also inaccurately used the very same English corresponding terms to translate two, if not three, near-synonymous Divine Names, whether they share the same linguistic root or otherwise. For the purpose of this evaluative study, hundreds of occurrences of the root-sharing Divine Names in five well-known English translations, namely Pickthall (1930), A. Y. Ali (1936/1986), Arberry (1955), Hilali-Khan (1985) and Abdel-Haleem (2004), have been collected, analysed and critically and comparatively evaluated. The comparative evaluation of the English renderings of the Divine Names has revealed that all the five translations not only fall short in their attempts to distinguish between the near-synonymous Names, particularly the root-sharing ones, but prove unsuccessful in rendering them accurately and consistently. The study has also revealed that the translation of Arberry shows much better quality, in terms of accuracy and consistency, in rendering the root-sharing Divine Names than other translations do. In addition to critically revealing shortcomings, inaccuracies and inconsistencies of the renderings of the Divine Names, the study suggests the use of translation technology solutions (or computer-assisted tools), such as translation memory and bilingual concordances, to improve the quality and consistency of future Qurān translations in general, and the renderings of the recurring Divine Names in particular.


The 30+ year development of random signal radar (RSR) is described in this paper. Conventional methods of implementing RSRs are summarized: correlation, spectrum analysis, and anti-correlation. Some typical RSR systems are introduced; for example: noise frequency modulation continuous wave radar; and random binary phase-coded continuous wave radar, and their merits and demerits are also pointed out. Finally, the development trends of RSR is analyzed.


Plant Phenotyping data management following the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Resusable) is highly challenging because of its heterogenity. Thus, simply integrating and consolidating data within a single dataset like a phenotyping network is already a complicated task which is even more complex when trying to link different datasets together. To adress this problem, the Minimal Information About Plant Phenotyping Experiment standard construction has been initiated four years ago, with the help of experts from European infrastructures and institutes like Elixir, Emphasis, INRA, WUR, iBet, IPK, EBI and IPG PAS. It adresses the need of data publication and reuse through a checklist that formalize and document the minimal metadata necessary to ensure long term FAIRness of field or greenhouse datasets, including high througputs phenotyping ones. This list has been implemented in several databases like GnpIS or eDale, in a file format, ISA Tab, in a web service, the Breeding API and an RDF implementation is under construction. We will review those implementations, show its current adoption state and detail the plans for the future evolutions of the standard. (Resume d'auteur)


To the Editor.— Choosing an appropriate control group is difficult in the experimental design of studies of patients with schizophrenia. Many investigators choose to match patient and control groups with respect to education as well as age and gender. The dilemma posed by the decision to match for education is highlighted by the recent report by Goldberg et al 1 In pairs of identical twins discordant for schizophrenia with the same genotype and socioeconomic background of origin, the 16 ill twins completed an average of almost 2 years less education than their unaffected cotwins (mean for affected twins, 13.8 years; mean for unaffected twins, 15.6 years). This difference reflects the discrepancy between educational potential and actual attainment in individuals with schizophrenia, presumably a consequence of the disease process. The twin data offer additional supportive evidence for the hypothesized downward drift in social class associated with schizophrenia. 2,3 To the extent


Rodents are polytocous mammals, and male and female fetuses can develop in utero contiguous to fetuses of the same or opposite sex. This paper describes experiments demonstrating that random intrauterine positioning of male and female fetuses results in within-sex variation in phenotype in mice and rats. This phenomenon provides a clear example of the degree to which the intrauterine environment can bias development in terms of effects on morphology, physiology and behaviour. I propose that individual differences in reproductively-related characteristics based on prior intrauterine position may play a role both in the regulation of population size in rodents and in the reproductive success of individuals as changes in population size occur.


Between 30th June and 1st July 2015 and 9th to the 10th February 2016, Oxford Archaeology East carried out an archaeological evaluation and monitoring at Watford Health Campus, Wiggenhall Road, Watford, Hertfordshire (TQ 10878 95475). Two phases of archaeological evaluation along the proposed route of an access road and adjacent infrastructure and a subsequent phase of monitoring of ground works in areas not covered by the archaeological trenching was conducted.
The first evaluation phase consisted of 4 x 50m trenches in Area A, on Sports Pitches, to the east of Wiggenhall Road. These trenches revealed truncated natural chalk and alluvium deposits directly overlain by made ground comprised of modern dumping events and a large modern rubbish pit. These modern deposits contained modern pottery sherds, brick, glass and metal. No archaeological remains were encountered due to the truncation of the natural land surface and levelling of the ground associated with the creation of the sports ground.
The second phase of evaluation consisted of 2 x 15m trenches in Area C, on waste land, which was the site of a former power station, to the west of Wiggenhall Road. These trenches revealed deep set concrete footings of buildings associated with the power station and areas of dumping associated with waste materials from the former power station and later industrial units, which fronted onto the south side of Cardiff Road. No archaeological or natural remains were encountered due to either the truncation of, or make up of the site, during the construction and later demolition of the power station.
The archaeological monitoring visits, in area D, were carried out on two occasions and as with the evaluation, the site had been subject to truncation or modern build up, no archaeological remains were observed.
The evaluation and monitoring at Watford Health Campus has demonstrated that no archaeological deposits or artefacts of significance are present on this site.


Detailed measurements of momentum distributions of emitted electrons have allowed the investigation of the thermal limit of the transverse emittance from metal photocathodes. Furthermore, recent developments in material design and growth have resulted in photocathodes that can deliver high quantum efficiency and are sufficiently robust to use in high electric field gradient photoinjectors and free electron lasers. The growth process usually produces photoemissive material layers with rough surface profiles that lead to transverse accelerating fields and possible work function variations, resulting in emittance growth. To better understand the effects of temperature, density of states, and surface roughness on the properties of emitted electrons, we have developed realistic three-dimensional models for photocathode materials with grated surface structures. They include general modeling of electron excitation due to photon absorption, charge transport, and emission from flat and rough metallic surfaces. The...


Using a new observational technique, the NGIMS (Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer) instrument on the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft has the unique capability to measure horizontal thermospheric winds. Measured along the orbit track from periapsis (∼150 km) to ∼200 km, these are the first in situ observations of thermospheric winds at Mars. Significantly, this also means that simulated winds from a global circulation model can be compared to in situ observations from this part of the Martian atmosphere for the first time. In this study, observations from five NGIMS neutral wind campaigns have been compared to simulations from the Mars Global Ionosphere‐Thermosphere Model (M‐GITM), a ground to exosphere 3‐D general circulation model. By comparing NGIMS neutral wind observations to model simulations, the processes driving the winds and their variations in the upper atmosphere are examined. These comparisons show that for certain observational periods, the M‐GITM simulated winds can generally replicate the magnitude and/or direction of the NGIMS wind observations, while in others, significant differences occur. In general, wind observations from NGIMS campaigns with large orbit‐to‐orbit variability are not well replicated by M‐GITM, while campaigns with higher observed wind speeds are better captured by the model. Additionally, using these data‐model comparisons, the relative role of normal solar forcing and corresponding differential heating in driving thermospheric winds at Mars is found to be variable, likely acting as the primary driver under some conditions and secondary to other physical processes under others.


It is well known that stator winding faults such the inter-turn short circuit are the most frequent source of breakdowns in induction motors. Early detection of any small inter-turn short circuit during motor operation would eliminate some subsequent damage to adjacent coils and stator core, reducing then the repair cost. To achieve this purpose, the present paper proposes a new method, called Park-Hilbert (P-H), to detect stator faults in induction motors using a combination between the Hilbert transform and the Extended Park's Vector Approach. The P-H approach is based on the spectral analysis, via the FFT, of the PSVMP-H that represents the Park's Square Vector Modulus computed starting from the amplitudes of the three-phase current's analytical signals obtained by Hilbert Transform. The theoretical bases of the P-H method are presented, and the experimental tests which are carried out on a special 3kW three-phase induction motor confirm the efficiency of the proposed method and corroborate that this fault doesn't have new specific spectral signatures, but it causes important increases on the amplitudes of all harmonics that were present in the PSVMP-H spectrum, even those related to other faults.


One of the salient developments in North America's direct selling industry is the increasing diversity in both distributor and clientele base. It has been frequently noted that direct selling organizations comprised of certain ethnic minorities have been exceptional in terms of stability and growth in contrast to the industry's reputation for a high turnover rate. Focusing on direct selling organizations led by ethnic entrepreneurs of Chinese immigrants, the current study employs structural ritualization theory and the concept of structural reproduction and considers organizational and leadership practices that are adapted by the immigrant entrepreneurs from their culture and pre-immigration experience. Utilizing participation observation, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions (along with document analysis), this study re-visits the time-honored issues of immigrant economic adaptation in a contemporary, multicultural context. Implications for future research, industry, and public policy based on our findings are also briefly discussed.


It is often incorrectly assumed that the number of microstates \Omega (E,V,N,...) available to an isolated system can have arbitrary dependence on the extensive variables E,V,N, .... However, this is not the case for natural systems which can reach thermodynamic equilibrium since restrictions exist arising from the underlying equilibrium axioms of independence and \it{a priori} equal probability of microstate, and the fundamental constants of Nature. Here we derive a concise formula specifying the condition on \Omega which must be met for real systems. Models which do not respect this condition will present inconsistencies when treated under equilibrium thermodynamic formalism. This has relevance to a number of recent models in which negative heat capacity and violation of fundamental thermodynamic law have been reported. Natural quantum systems obey the axioms and abide by the fundamental constants, and thus natural systems, in the absence of infinite range forces, can, in principle, attain thermodynamic equilibrium.


Recently, a camera or an image sensor receiver based optical wireless communications (OWC) techniques have attracted particular interest in areas such as the internet of things, indoor localization, motion capture, and intelligent transportation systems. As a supplementary technique of high-speed OWC based on photo-detectors, communications hinging on image sensors as receivers do not need much modification to the current infrastructure, such that the implementation complexity and cost are quite low. Therefore, in this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of optical camera communication (OCC) techniques, and their use in localization, navigation, and motion capture. This survey is distinguishable from the existing reviews on this topic by covering multiple aspects of OCC and its various applications. The first part of the paper focuses on the standardization, channel characterization, modulation, coding, and synchronization of OCC systems while the second part of the article presents the literature on OCC based localization, navigation, and motion capture. Finally, in the last part of the paper, we present the challenges and future research directions of OCC.


Entrepreneurs are cultural creatures and culture affects how they conceive their opportunities and how they determine and pursue their interests. Understanding entrepreneurship in any particular context thus requires attention to be paid to prevailing cultural beliefs as well as the formal and informal institutions that affect economic behaviour. This paper adopts the important but seldom used approach of focusing upon the tales of entrepreneurship prevalent in a given culture. The authors argue that to get a sense of the economic culture in a particular context, it is crucial to focus on what a culture's success and failure stories tell about how to get ahead. Arguably, this approach is particularly important if the goal is to understand entrepreneurship amongst subaltern/marginalized groups. Using fiction from the former Soviet bloc, where a one-dimensional form of entrepreneurship flourished even within the command economy, and literature from anglophone Africa and the British Caribbean where black entrepreneurship had to contend with brutal colonial rule and post-colonial corruption, this paper highlights how entrepreneurs were influenced by culture in these contexts, and explores the origins of these cultural factors.


Information searching in web environment is habitually tedious and challenging task. Rapid growth of web information infrastructure has led to the rapid publication of information on web environment. Too many information publish on web cause information overload problem that preclude the success of information searching. Thus, reduce the search satisfaction. This study has identified that user knowledge lead to user search behaviour and user search behaviour lead to search satisfaction. This paper discusses the investigation empirically through the search log analysis and questionnaire. The respondents were among the students at a local university in Malaysia. The findings support that the user search behaviour has a mediator effect on the relationship between the user knowledge and search satisfaction.


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We present a benchmarking study of adsorption energies on transition metal surfaces computed with select functionals across different density functional theory codes. In addition to gradient corrected functionals, we evaluate the accuracies of representative metaGGAs, including MS2, SCAN, and $\mathrm{SCAN}+\text{rVV10}$, as well as a short-range screened hybrid functional, HSE06. The study shows that the challenge of finding a functional that can simultaneously capture both covalent and noncovalent molecule-surface interactions persists, with no single functional in the benchmarking study with average errors $l0.2$ eV. We find that HSE06 on average does not improve the accuracy compared to PBE for the surface chemistry of transition metals. The BEEF-vdW dispersion-corrected generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and the MS2 metaGGA yield the lowest errors in both chemisorption and dispersion energies, demonstrating that moving up the Jacob's ladder of functionals to screened hybrids does not necessarily improve the description of transition metal surface chemistry.


Many computational models of visual attention use image features and machine learning techniques to predict eye fixation locations as saliency maps. Recently, the success of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) for object recognition has opened a new avenue for computational models of visual attention due to the tight link between visual attention and object recognition. In this paper, we show that using features from DCNNs for object recognition we can make predictions that enrich the information provided by saliency models. Namely, we can estimate the reliability of a saliency model from the raw image, which serves as a meta-saliency measure that may be used to select the best saliency algorithm for an image. Analogously, the consistency of the eye fixations among subjects, i.e. the agreement between the eye fixation locations of different subjects, can also be predicted and used by a designer to assess whether subjects reach a consensus about salient image locations.


Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a global concern. Although several countries have tracked the incidence of STIs acquired during travel to foreign countries, the United States lags behind in this practice. Nevertheless, there is evidence from the US and several countries that women engage in sexual risk behaviors during travel whether domestic or foreign, thereby placing themselves at risk for contracting STIs. Guidelines for assessment, prevention, and travel-related supplies and resources are discussed.


WMNs comprise nodes that are able to receive and forward the data to other destinations in the networks. Consequently, WMNs are able to dynamically self-organize and self-configure [5]. Each node itself creates and maintains the connectivity with its neighbors. The availability of ad-hoc mode on popular IEEE 802.11 allows low-cost implementation of WMNs. Nevertheless, WMNs have two major drawbacks: interference and scalability as discussed in [6]. (D1) Interference : The independent behaviour and arbitrary deployment of nodes in WMNs can create an extremely high interference environment, which leads to degradation in the quality of wireless connections. For instance, the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) mechanism of IEEE 802.11 (CSMA/CA) has long delays and low resource utilization in dense networks [7]. Recent advancements in physical (PHY) and medium control access (MAC) layers, such as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and multiple channels MAC, can overcome this challenge. The deployment of some solutions are unable in practice because of specific requirements of hardware. Moreover, some implementations such as multiple channel MAC requires high synchronization, which is difficult in WMNs [8]. (D2) Scalability: Multi-hop communication are able to improve coverage and band-width availability in wireless networks [9]. However, it has scalability issues as discussed in [10, 11]. It means that the performance of networks deteriorates significantly when the size of networks grows. PHY layer may experience an extremely noisy medium, thus causing throughput degradation at MAC layer. Moreover, the noisy environment increases the packet loss rate, which impacts significantly to network and transport layers. The existing solutions at PHY or MAC layer can solve the interference problem mentioned in D1. Meanwhile, the scalability of WMNs could be tackled by routing solutions [11]. Routing algorithms are responsible for computing routes so as to convey data through multiple hops until reaching the destinations. As shown in [11], the shortest-path routes, which are the default solutions of conventional routing algorithms, usually have more interference. The solution, subsequently, is finding other routes that have less interference. These routes could be optimal or sub-optimal with given objectives and arguments. The arguments of routing problems comprise of network-oriented metrics and User-oriented metrics. Network-oriented metrics, also called as Quality of Service (QoS) metrics, are derived from the network directly such as bandwidth, delay, jitter, etc. Meanwhile, User-oriented metrics, also called as Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics, are based on users' experience such as mean opinion score (MOS). They represent the level of satisfaction of a users. The good perception of users is the major objective of video streaming services. Most of existing routing algorithms give routing decisions based on single or combination of network-oriented metrics. For example, the routing algorithms in [12, 13, 14] determine routes based on the bandwidth and congestion. Nevertheless, network-oriented metrics may not be well-correlated to users' experience [15, 16, 17, 18]. In other words, users may not be satisfied even with optimal network-oriented metric routes. As a result, it is necessary to develop routing algorithms that take user-oriented metrics into account. This thesis addresses the routing of video streaming over WMNs and proposes novel routing algorithms. These routing algorithms give routing decisions based on the perception of users. To do that, the proposed solution has to address two challenges as follows :(M1) estimate users' perception in real-time and (M2) find optimal or sub-optimal routes efficiently.


In this paper, a new biometric password multi-server authentication scheme with smart card is proposed. To the best knowledge of us, this is the first biometric password authentication scheme which can be used in the multi-server environment and the distributed network. This scheme combines the advantages of password and biometrics, which can strengthen the protocol's securities and has properties as mutual authentication, key agreement. Henceforth, it is more secure than the schemes in existence. This scheme can be proven secure in the random oracle model.


Deguelin, a constituent of the bark of the African plant Mundulea sericea (Leguminosae), exhibits antiproliferative and anticarcinogenic activities through a mechanism that is not well understood. Because various steps in carcinogenesis are regulated by NF-kappaB, we postulated that the activity of deguelin is mediated through this transcription factor. We found that deguelin suppressed NF-kappaB activation induced by carcinogens, tumor promoters, growth factors, and inflammatory stimuli. This suppression was not cell-type specific, because NF-kappaB activation was suppressed in both lymphoid and epithelial cells. Moreover, constitutive NF-kappaB activation was also blocked by deguelin. The suppression of TNF-induced NF-kappaB activation by deguelin occurred through the inhibition of the activation of IkappaBalpha kinase, leading to sequential suppression of IkappaBalpha phosphorylation, IkappaBalpha degradation, p65 phosphorylation, p65 nuclear translocation, and NF-kappaB-dependent reporter gene expression. Deguelin also suppressed the NF-kappaB reporter activity induced by TNFR1, TNFR-associated death domain, TNFR-associated factor 2, and IkappaBalpha kinase, but not that induced by p65. The inhibition of NF-kappaB activation thereby led to the down-regulation of gene products involved in cell survival, proliferation, and invasion. Suppression of these gene products by deguelin enhanced the apoptosis induced by TNF and chemotherapeutic agents and suppressed TNF-induced cellular invasion. Our results demonstrate that deguelin inhibits the NF-kappaB activation pathway, which may explain its role in the suppression of carcinogenesis and cellular proliferation.


This paper derives confidence intervals (CI) and time-uniform confidence sequences (CS) for the classical problem of estimating an unknown mean from bounded observations. We present a general approach for deriving concentration bounds, that can be seen as a generalization and improvement of the celebrated Chernoff method. At its heart, it is based on a class of composite nonnegative martingales, with strong connections to testing by betting and the method of mixtures. We show how to extend these ideas to sampling without replacement, another heavily studied problem. In all cases, our bounds are adaptive to the unknown variance, and empirically vastly outperform existing approaches based on Hoeffding or empirical Bernstein inequalities and their recent supermartingale generalizations by Howard et al. [2021]. In short, we establish a new state-of-the-art for four fundamental problems: CSs and CIs for bounded means, when sampling with and without replacement.


together with uterine contractions and signs of fetal irritability. Relief was achieved with a pethidine injection. The relationship of the heparin injection to the uterine contraction was noticed but we decided to continue the treatment. After the second dose of heparin six hours later the patient immediately had the same abdominal pain, which was again relieved by pethidine. At this point we became sure that the uterine contractions were due to the heparin injections. Heparin was stopped, no other anticoagulants were given, and the patient was treated conservatively.


The financialization view is that increased trading in commodity futures markets is associated with increases in the growth rate and volatility of commodity spot prices. This view gained credence because in the 2000s trading volume increased sharply and many commodity prices rose and became more volatile. Using a large panel dataset we constructed, which includes commodities with and without futures markets, we find no empirical link between increased futures market trading and changes in price behavior. Our data sheds light on the economic role of futures markets. The conventional view is that futures markets provide one-way insurance by allowing outsiders, traders with no direct interest in a commodity, to insure insiders, traders with a direct interest. The data are not consistent with the conventional view and we argue that they point to an alternative mutual insurance view, in which all participants insure each other. We formalize this view in a model and show that it is consistent with key features of the data.


Cancer-specific metabolic alterations hyperactivate the kinase activity of the mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) for overcoming stressful environments. Rapalogs, which allosterically inhibit mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1), have been approved as anticancer agents. However, the immunosuppressive side effect of these compounds results in the promotion of tumor metastasis, thereby limiting their therapeutic efficacy. We first report a nonrapalog inhibitor, WRX606, identified by a hybrid strategy of in silico and in cell selections. Our studies showed that WRX606 formed a ternary complex with FK506-binding protein-12 (FKBP12) and FKBP-rapamycin-binding (FRB) domain of mTOR, resulting in the allosteric inhibition of mTORC1. WRX606 inhibited the phosphorylation of not only the ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) but also eIF4E-binding protein-1 (4E-BP1). Hence, WRX606 efficiently suppressed tumor growth in mice without promotion of metastasis. These results suggest that WRX606 is a potent lead compound for developing anticancer drugs discovered by in silico and in cell methods.


This study proposes a novel sol-gel method of fabricating the two-dimensional flakes polycrystalline zinc oxide (ZnO). Apply zinc acetate dehydrate in glycerol and hydrolyzed to get the precursor zinc alkoxide particles at 160°C, and self-assemble into flakes ZnO nanostructures, and then got higer crystallinity polycrystalline ZnO after calcination for one hour at 500°C. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to observe the morphology of the flakes. Its size got to a few μm2. Analyze the crystal structure and crystallinity by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). After calcination for one hour at 500°C, we can determine it is the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO. And TGA/DSC to observe the loss and phase change of the solution. The Study has successfully synthesized ZnO polycrystalline flakes by sol-gel method.


Crested macaque (Macaca nigra), one of the seven endemic primates in Sulawesi is the most endangered macaque species that has been categorized as critically endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, almost nothing is known about the reproductive biology in associated with the behavioral during pregnancy. The data is important to support a management and breeding programs such as pregnancy diagnostic and conservation program in this species. The research aimed was to study the behavior of the crested macaques during pregnancy. Observations were performed on the 10 adult females of the group of Rambo 1 (R1) which has been habituated at Tangkoko-Batuangus Nature Reserve, North Sulawesi. Behavioral data were collected using focal animal sampling and recorded using instantanaeous sampling on females during menstrual cycling, pregnancy, and after parturition (lactation). During five months observations, a total of 393.63 observation hours were recorded. The results showed that daily activities of the M. nigra during menstrual cycling were dominated by feeding (26.60%), foraging (15.95%), and locomotion (16.16%). Daily activities during pregnancy was dominated by feeding (27.03%), foraging (16.37%), and resting (13.45%), whereas after parturition (lactation) period is dominated by resting (26.12%), foraging (19.51%), and feeding (14.98%). The resting was the most activity in the end of pregnancy and few day after parturition. The diets were collected successfully composed of the fruits (34 species), arthropods (3 species, 2 families, 4 orders), fungi (4 genus), and plants (5 species). Climate was influenced on the composition of the diet, especially on fruit and arthropods. In conclusion, the activity budgets were different during menstrual cycling, pregnancy, and lactation, especially feeding, foraging, locomotion, and resting.


The author is professor of Botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; senior science advisor of the University of Wisconsin System; and president of the Association for Women in Science, Washington, DC. The era of generous and stable federal funding of science, long taken for granted, is over. In order to stave off encroaching and damaging cuts in funding, many science and technology (S&T) leaders have strongly urged us to learn to communicate with the public and become more engaged in the political process. Although the scientific community has by and large realized that business is not as usual, our response has been spotty. We remain reluctant. Yet it is a forgone conclusion that we must become truly engaged with the fundamental issues and the politics of budget allocation. In recent years, professional scientific societies have become more involved in the political process and have had some successes (witness the FY 1996 NIH appropriation for the full year and at a higher level than that for FY 1995), but much remains to be done by scientists as individuals, and we must apply the know-how gained in 1996 to future budget allocations. In a recent address, Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala used a telling metaphor that, in my view, constitutes a call for greater intervention by the scientific community. She said that the "activist scientist is something rarer than the spotted owl." Scientists often cite time pressures as the reason for their disengagement as citizens, but that explanation is too simplistic. More likely the problem is rooted in a limited understanding of, and general disaffection with, the political and legislative process, combined with the false perception that such activities are inappropriate for scientists or have no immediate and direct effect on one's own life. In fact, individual activism (such as letter-writing or e-mail campaigns) is not uncommon, even among scientists and academics, if the issue seems to have personal impact and urgency. Instead of taking a defensive posture, we as independent individuals must wear the "scientist citizen" hat with confidence and purpose. To my own surprise, I have found the role to be both educational and rewarding. As a member of the Board of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, I have been introduced to science activism. Yes, it takes time and discipline, but knowing that my actions supported my colleagues and, more important, the next generation of scientists has been gratifying. I will continue to wear this hat and encourage all of you to give it a try. The public know that they are the benefactors, but we must reassure them that they also have been and will continue to be the beneficiaries of public investment in S&T. The favorable attitudes of an enthusiastic public will ultimately result in legislative support. It behooves us to rethink the norms of science culture and give, in our own personal ways, a few minutes each week or month to support this enterprise. In the interests of science, we must accept the necessity of playing by Washington's rules and speaking the Washington language. A two-prong approach is needed. At the "macro" level, we must establish a real relationship with our elected officials. We must let them hear from us on a regular basis, not just at crisis times, and help them to rationalize and articulate economic leadership that results from S&T investment. We must show that we can be an important constituency. Good examples of how one can effectively play in this arena are already emerging: Several professional societies provide "do-it-yourself kits" containing model letters and information about how to get an appointment, whom to talk to, and what questions to ask, along with examples of effective communication that is factual and devoid of rhetoric. Some are going farther than what I suggest here. In a recent commentary in The Scientist,* Eugene Garfield advocated "the establishment of a formal lobbying organization." At the "micro" level, each of us must pitch in to create broad enthusiasm through dialogue and help the public to appreciate and acknowledge that a robust S&T enterprise is key to the quality of all our lives. Our best tool is our own deep personal commitment to and excitement about science. The stakes are high. If not now, when? If not us, who? Clearly, the responsibility is ours alone. If necessity is the mother of invention, and if scientists are unresponsive to professional evolution, then is it not time to invent a new species of scientist? I submit that we need both activist scientists and science activists.


Karadağ A., Avcı N., Kasapoğlu K.N., ÖzÇelik B. (2016): Effect of microwave technology on some quality parameters and sensory attributes of black tea. Czech J. Food Sci., 34: 397–405. Although the quality of black tea mainly depends on the constituents and conditions of raw material, the manufacturing process also plays a significant role in obtaining high quality tea products. In this study, microwave technology is used for black tea production in withering and drying steps to increase its quality characteristics. Total polyphenols, theaflavin (TF), total thearubigins (TR), liquor brightness, and total colour were measured by spectrophotometric methods. Total antioxidant activity was determined by the DPPH method. Microwaved black teas showed higher amounts of quality constituents with similar phenolic contents and antioxidant activities compared to commercial Turkish teas. The plucking season was also found to have an effect on these constituents of black teas. Generally, microvawed black teas have higher spectrophotometric brightness and lower total colour values. The analytical and sensory results showed that using a microwave dryer during the black tea process is highly acceptable in respect to these quality parameters when compared with other commercial black teas obtained from the markets in Turkey and other countries.


Thermo-stabilized lignin fibers from pH-fractionated softwood kraft lignin were carbonized to various temperatures during thermomechanical analysis (TMA) under static and increasing load and different rates of heating. The aim was to optimize the carbonization process to obtain suitable carbon fiber material with good mechanical strength potential (high tensile strength and high E-modulus). The carbon fibers were therefore mainly evaluated of mechanical strength in Dia-Stron uniaxial tensile testing.In addition, chemical composition, in terms of functional groups, and elemental (atomic) composition was studied in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and in energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. The structure of carbon fibers was imaged in scanning electron microscope (SEM) and light microscopy. Thermogravimetrical analysis was performed on thermo-stabilized lignin fibers to evaluate the loss of mass and to calculate the stress-changes and diameter-changes that occur during carbonization.The TMA-analysis of the deformation showed, for thermo-stabilized lignin fibers, a characteristic behavior of contraction during carbonization. Carbonization temperatures above 1000°C seemed most efficient in terms of E-modulus and tensile strength whereas rate of heating did not matter considerably. The E-modulus for the fibers was improved significantly by slowly increasing the load during the carbonization. The tensile strength remained however unchanged.The FTIR-analysis indicated that many functional groups, mainly oxygen containing, dissociate from the lignin polymers during carbonization. The EDS supported this by showing that the oxygen content decreased. Accordingly, the relative carbon content increased passively to around 90% at 1000°C. Aromatic structures in the carbon fibers are thought to contribute to the mechanical strength and are likely formed during the carbonization. However, the FTIR result showed no evident signs that aromatic structures had been formed, possible due to some difficulties with the KBr-method.In the SEM and light microscopy imaging one could observe that porous formations on the surface of the fibers increased as the temperature increased in the carbonization. These formations may have affected the mechanical strength of the carbon fibers, mainly tensile strength.The carbonization process was optimized in the sense that any heating rate can be used. No restriction in production speed exists. The carbonization should be run to at least 1000°C to achieve maximum mechanical strength, both in E-modulus and tensile strength. To improve the E-modulus further, a slowly increasing load can be applied to the lignin fibers during carbonization. The earlier the force is applied, to counteract the lignin fiber contraction that occurs (namely around 300°C), the better. However, in terms of mechanical performance, the lignin carbon fibers are still far from practical use in the industry.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Melanoma is the leading cause of death from skin disease due, in large part, to its propensity to metastasize. If recognized and treated early, melanoma is curable, but as the disease progresses its propensity to metastasize make it difficult to treat. Since, melanoma is a highly malignant cancer with a potent capacity to metastasize distantly, an approach that decreases its metastatic ability or the ability of cancer cell migration may facilitate the development of an effective strategy for its treatment and/or prevention. Dietary phytochemicals offer promising new options for the development of more effective strategies for the prevention of cancer cell invasion, migration, or metastasis, and thus can be utilized as complementary and alternative medicine. Therefore, we examined the effect of green tea catechins on human melanoma cancer cell migration and the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects using melanoma cell lines, A375 and Hs294, as in vitro model. Using an in vitro cell migration assay, we found that overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), its metabolite prostaglandin (PG) E2, and PGE2 receptors promote the migration of cells. Treatment of A375 and Hs294 cells with equimolar concentration of various tea catechins, it was found that (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) was most potent in inhibition of cell migration compared to (−)-epicatechin, (−)-gallocatechin, (−)-epigallocatechin and (−)-epicatechin gallate. EGCG resulted in concentration-dependent inhibition of migration of these cells, which was associated with a reduction in the levels of COX-2, PGE2 and PGE2 receptors (EP2 and EP4). Treatment of cells with celecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor, or transient transfection of cells with COX-2 small interfering RNA, also inhibited cell migration. Treatment of the cells with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), an inducer of COX-2 or PGE2, enhanced cell migration whereas EGCG significantly inhibited TPA- or PGE2-promoted cell migration. EGCG reduced the basal levels as well as PGE2-stimulated expression levels of EP2 and EP4. Treatment of the cells with the EP4 agonist stimulated cell migration and EGCG blocked EP4 agonist-induced cell migration activity. Moreover, EGCG inhibited the activation of NF-κB, an upstream regulator of COX-2, in A375 cells, and treatment of cells with caffeic acid phenethyl ester, an inhibitor of NF-κB, inhibited cell migration. Together, these results indicate for the first time that EGCG inhibit melanoma cell migration, an essential step in invasion and metastasis, by inhibition of COX-2, PGE2 and PGE2 receptors. Further efforts are needed to develop EGCG as a pharmacologically safe agent alone, or in combination with other anti-metastatic drugs, for the treatment of metastatic melanoma in humans.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4604. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4604


For further investigations in the field of artificial photosynthesis, a model compound, 1, has been developed to mimic the electron-transfer steps from the manganese cluster to P680+ in photosystem II. In this model compound the photosensitizer ruthenium(II)-trisbipyridyl was linked to a manganese(II) ion through a bridging ligand. Photoexcitation of 1 in the presence of the electron acceptor methyl viologen (MV2+) lead to electron transfer from the Ru moiety to MV2+. Laser flash photolysis experiments at different concentrations of 1 were performed in order to follow the subsequent reduction of the photooxidized Ru(III) species. A kinetic model, taking different parallel reactions into account, could explain the experimental data. It was shown that the major part of the photooxidized Ru(III) created was reduced again by intramolecular electron transfer from the attached Mn(II), with a rate constant of 1.8 × 105 s-1. However, Mn(II) was partially dissociated from 1, giving a fraction of Ru(III) without Mn(II) attached. In these complexes electron transfer could occur only after a rate-limiting reassociation of Mn(II), with a rate constant 2.9 × 109 M-1 s-1. In the analysis of the data, the fraction of dissociated Mn(II) could be determined independently at each concentration of 1, utilizing the fact that bound Mn(II) quenched the excited state, probably by energy transfer. (Less)


Although bacteriophage T4 late promoters are selectively recognized by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase bearing a single protein encoded by T4 gene 55 (gp55), efficient transcription at these promoters requires enhancement by the three T4 DNA polymerase accessory proteins, bound to distal "mobile enhancer" sites. Two principles are shown to govern this transcriptional enhancement: (i) Promoter recognition and communication between the enhancer and the promoter require separate phage-coded proteins. Only RNA polymerase that has the T4 gene 33 protein (gp33) bound to it is subject to enhancement by the three DNA replication proteins. (ii) Transcriptional enhancement in this prokaryotic system is promoter-specific. Promoter specificity is generated by a direct competition of phage T4 gp33 and gp55 with the E. coli promoter recognition protein, sigma 70, for binding to the E. coli RNA polymerase core. Thus, polymerase that contains sigma 70 is competent to transcribe T4 early and middle genes, but lacks the ability to be enhanced by the DNA replication proteins, while polymerase that contains gp55 and gp33 is capable of enhancement via gp33, but its activity is restricted to T4 late promoters by gp55.


abdominal wounds dehisced, should have previously had a caesarean section. May I endorse the author's views on the strength of thc transvcrsc incision (I'fanncnstcil incision), and depart from tradition by suggesting that this incision be employed particularly in instances where there has been a previous vertical scar. Although this has the demerits of an occasional difficult dissection in freeing the rectus sheath from the underlying muscles and in separating any adhesions between bowel or omentum and the anterior abdominal wall, it will heal far better and the resultant scar (in the form of an inverted T), should have a barely visible transverse element. It would be very interesting to survey the patients in this series five years after their sections. I feel sure there would also be a significant number of ventral hernias in association with the vertical incision, while the Pfannensteil incision would remain intact.I am, etc., STUART L. STANTON Institute of Urology, London W.C.2


The authors bring together and extend three strands of existing research: the propensity of democracies to ally with each other, the effects of alliances being institutionalized, and the causal impact of democracy in promoting investment. This literature is applied to corporate alliances, predicting the probability that announced alliance contracts will be completed by the participants. The authors find that democratic political regimes generate rules that create corporate shareholder democracy and that the latter promotes the institutionalization of corporate alliances. Corporate democracy and alliance institutionalization will both, controlling for transaction costs, increase the probability that corporate alliances will be completed. The findings suggest a positive association among democratic corporate governance, the willingness of corporate alliance partners to accept institutionalized ties, and the creation of an environment conducive to commercial investment commitments through alliances. Overall, corporations appear to respond to some of the same alliance incentives as sovereign states.


We compared the entropy of K-Pop songs with the entropy of American Pop songs. The results show that K-Pop songs tend to have lower entropy in respect of chords, tones, and rhythms, but have higher entropy in phrase. This implies that the uncertainty of K-Pop song is lower than that of American Pop songs.


Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at a crucial point in its development: stable enough to be used in production systems, and increasingly pervasive in our lives. What does that mean for its safety? In his book Normal Accidents, the sociologist Charles Perrow proposed a framework to analyze new technologies and the risks they entail. He showed that major accidents are nearly unavoidable in complex systems with tightly coupled components if they are run long enough. In this essay, we apply and extend Perrow's framework to AI to assess its potential risks. Today's AI systems are already highly complex, and their complexity is steadily increasing. As they become more ubiquitous, different algorithms will interact directly, leading to tightly coupled systems whose capacity to cause harm we will be unable to predict. We argue that under the current paradigm, Perrow's normal accidents apply to AI systems and it is only a matter of time before one occurs.
This article appears in the AI & Society track.


Fe-doped La1−xFexTiO3+δ (x = 0.05, 0.1, and 0.3, 0.4) ceramic samples are prepared via a traditional solid-state reaction route. The low temperature (77 K ≤ T ≤ 360 K) dielectric properties of the samples have been systematically investigated in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 1 MHz. It is clearly observed that extraordinarily high low-frequency dielectric constants appear at room temperature in La0.6Fe0.4TiO3+δ, which is ∼1000 times larger than that of La0.95Fe0.05TiO3+δ. Interestingly, the dielectric characteristics of the samples have obvious light dependence at room temperature within the measured frequency range. The results have demonstrated that visible light improves the dielectric properties of the ceramics by means of I–V and complex impedance analysis.


Perhaps surprisingly there are as yet no guidelines for managing acute renal colic in primary care. A group of Durham general practitioners and specialists endeavour to remedy the deficiency

Acute renal colic is a common, often recurrent condition with an annual incidence of 1-2 cases per 1000 and a lifetime risk of 10-20% for men and 3-5% for women.1–3 Patients usually present with acute pain and pose management challenges for the general practitioner, who may be uncertain whether immediate hospital admission is needed and, if not, how and when patients should be followed up.4 In many patients sent to hospital the pain remits on the way to hospital, or soon after admission, in response to the analgesia given by the general practitioner, making the admission perhaps unnecessary.5 The majority of those calling NHS Direct with acute renal colic are advised to contact their general practitioners "urgently"; a small number are referred to the accident and emergency services; and some are advised how to treat themselves.6

#### Summary points

There is uncertainty about the immediate management of patients presenting with acute renal colic in primary care, and whether this can be overcome by adopting a pre-established integrated pathway of care across the primary-secondary care interface

Intramuscular diclofenac 75 mg is recommended as first line of treatment when the diagnosis is clear and there are no signs of complications

If the severe pain does not remit within an hour the patient should be admitted to hospital

All patients, whether managed at home or in hospital, should be offered fast track urological investigation with follow up

Opaque radiography and ultrasound are being augmented by the use of spiral computed tomography in some centres in certain situations

We aimed to develop, by evidence based consensus, a management plan for patients with …


The quasicontinuum (QC) technique, in which the atomic lattice of a solid is coarse-grained by overlaying it with a finite-element mesh, has been employed previously to treat the quasistatic evolution of defects in materials at zero temperature. It is extended here to nonzero temperature. A coarse-grained Hamiltonian is derived for the nodes of the mesh, which behave as quasiparticles whose interactions are mediated by the underlying (non-nodal) atoms constrained to move in unison with the nodes. Coarse-grained thermophysical properties are computed by means of the Monte Carlo (MC) method. This dynamically constrained QC MC procedure is applied to a simple model: A pure single crystal of two-dimensional Lennard-Jonesium. The coarse-grained isotropic stress (τc) is compared with the "exact" τ computed by the usual atomistic MC procedure for several thermodynamic states. The observed linear dependence of the error in τc on the degree of coarse-graining is rationalized by an analytical treatment of the model within the local harmonic approximation.The quasicontinuum (QC) technique, in which the atomic lattice of a solid is coarse-grained by overlaying it with a finite-element mesh, has been employed previously to treat the quasistatic evolution of defects in materials at zero temperature. It is extended here to nonzero temperature. A coarse-grained Hamiltonian is derived for the nodes of the mesh, which behave as quasiparticles whose interactions are mediated by the underlying (non-nodal) atoms constrained to move in unison with the nodes. Coarse-grained thermophysical properties are computed by means of the Monte Carlo (MC) method. This dynamically constrained QC MC procedure is applied to a simple model: A pure single crystal of two-dimensional Lennard-Jonesium. The coarse-grained isotropic stress (τc) is compared with the "exact" τ computed by the usual atomistic MC procedure for several thermodynamic states. The observed linear dependence of the error in τc on the degree of coarse-graining is rationalized by an analytical treatment of the model...


Because difference of formation model affects the potential distribution on the metal casing, the resistivity logging response can be obtained through casing by measuring the potentials on the metal casing. In fact, the logging responses are the comprehension effects of complex formation with Crude oil and metal casing, so that in the coefficients of transmission line equation (TLE), we should consider the effects of formation with Crude oil model in radial-direction. In the following, for the formation with Crude oil taking on nine --layer in axial-direction, and step in radial-direction, the resistivity logging responses through casing are researched and discussed, and given the recurrence formula with Crude oil to compute potential. Draw the curve of the resistivity logging response through casing of nine-layer formations with Crude oil. The conductivity of formation is computed is very approximating to that of formation with Crude oil model. The computing examples also show that this method has a fast computing speed (the run time of computing example is less than 1s). For analysis the logging response of nine-layers and block formations with Crude oil, and the design of logging instruments, the research is important significance and useful.


Geologic mapping and geochronological analysis in southwest (Kailas area) and southeast (Zedong area) Tibet reveal two major episodes of Tertiary crustal shortening along the classic Indus-Tsangpo suture in the Yalu River valley. The older event occurred between ca. 30 and 24 Ma during movement along the north-dipping Gangdese thrust. The development of this thrust caused extensive denudation of the Gangdese batholith in its hanging wall and underthrusting of the Xigaze forearc strata in its footwall. Examination of timing of major tectonic events in central Asia suggests that the initiation of the Gangdese thrust was approximately coeval with the late Oligocene initiation and development of north-south shortening in the eastern Kunlun Shan of northern Tibet, the Nan Shan at the northeastern end of the Altyn Tagh fault, the western Kunlun Shan at the southwestern end of the Altyn Tagh fault, and finally the Tian Shan (north of the Tarim basin). Such regionally synchronous initiation of crustal shortening in and around the plateau may have been related to changes in convergence rate and direction between the Eurasian plate and the Indian and Pacific plates. The younger thrusting event along the Yalu River valley occurred between 19 and 10 Ma along the south-dipping Great Counter thrust system, equivalent to the locally named Renbu-Zedong thrust in southeastern Tibet, the Backthrust system in south- central Tibet, and the South Kailas thrust in southwest Tibet. The coeval development of the Great Counter thrust and the North Himalayan granite-gneiss dome belt is consistent with their development being related to thermal weakening of the north Himalayan and south Tibetan crust, due perhaps to thermal relaxation of an already thickened crust created by the early phase of collision between India and Asia or frictional heating along major thrusts, such as the Main Central thrust, beneath the Himalaya.


Sign language recognition and translation has been an active research field in the recent years with most approaches using deep neural networks to extract information from sign language data. This work investigates the mostly disregarded approach of using human keypoint estimation from image and video data with OpenPose in combination with transformer network architecture. Firstly, it was shown that it is possible to recognize individual signs (4.5% word error rate (WER)). Continuous sign language recognition though was more error prone (77.3% WER) and sign language translation was not possible using the proposed methods, which might be due to low accuracy scores of human keypoint estimation by OpenPose and accompanying loss of information or insufficient capacities of the used transformer model. Results may improve with the use of datasets containing higher repetition rates of individual signs or focusing more precisely on keypoint extraction of hands.


Introduction: Historically skeletal muscle strength has been the subject of numerous scientific investigations. Which, besides defining its role in health and disease process also identified neuromuscular mechanisms to modify it. Another interesting point is that in recent decades, authors have suggested that neural mobilization techniques can modify the neuromuscular physiology, however, little is known about its effects on muscle strength. Objective: To systematically investigate the effects of neural mobilization techniques on muscle strength. Methods: A systematic review performed in Google Scholar databases, Latindex, Lilacs, Pubmed and Scielo, through the descriptors: Muscle Strength, Muscle Contraction, Neural Mobilization and Neurodynamics Mobilization. Transverse and longitudinal controlled studies were included. Studies testing the neural mobilization of the muscle contraction force or humans or animals healthy or to peripheral nerve injury. The selected studies were published between the years 2010 and 2014 in national and international journals with Qualis between B1 and B2 according to an evaluation of the top professional development coordination. Results: The screening process resulted in the identification of 70 studies, of which only five not fit the eligibility criteria. Selected manuscripts indicated acute and chronic effects of neural mobilization on muscle strength in healthy volunteers with peripheral nerve damage by leprosy and rats with sciatic neuropathy. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate positive effects of neural mobilization in relation to the recruitment of muscle fibers, increasing strength and maintaining muscle strength in healthy volunteers and the peripheral nervous system injury.


BACKGROUNDPatient age, hemorrhagic presentation, nidal diffuseness, and deep perforating artery supply are important factors when selecting patients with brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) for surgery. OBJECTIVEWe hypothesized that these factors outside of the Spetzler-Martin grading system could be combined into a simple, supplementary grading system that would accurately predict neurologic outcome and refine patient selection. METHODSA consecutive, single-surgeon series of 300 patients with AVMs treated microsurgically was analyzed in terms of change between preoperative and final postoperative modified Rankin Scale scores. Three different multivariable logistic models (full, Spetzler-Martin, and supplementary models) were constructed to test the association of combined predictor variables with the change in modified Rankin Scale score. A simplified supplementary grading system was developed from the data with points assigned according to each variable and added together for a supplementary AVM grade. RESULTSPredictive accuracy was highest for the full multivariable model (receiver operating characteristic curve area, 0.78), followed by the supplementary model (0.73), and least for the Spetzler-Martin model (0.66). Predictive accuracy of the simplified supplementary grade was significantly better than that of the Spetzler-Martin grade (P = .042), with receiver operating characteristic curve areas of 0.73 and 0.65, respectively. CONCLUSIONThis new AVM grading system supplements rather than replaces the well-established Spetzler-Martin grading system and is a better predictor of neurologic outcomes after AVM surgery. The supplementary grading scale has high predictive accuracy on its own and stratifies surgical risk more evenly. The supplementary grading system is easily applicable at the bedside, where it is intended to improve preoperative risk prediction and patient selection for surgery.


The widespread cross subsidization observed in hospital rate structures has become the focus of increasing controversy. This paper shows how this pricing practice can play a critical role in compensating for distortions and inequalities in existing health insurance coverage. The hospital pricing decision is modeled as a problem in public enterprise pricing. Theoretically derived prices are then compared with those charges actually observed in a representative hospital. Cross subsidization among ancillary services, special procedures, and daily accommodations is found to have potentially significant welfare gains. These results suggest that the frequently cited norm of average cost pricing in hospitals may have serious drawbacks.


The strains of Thermus thermophilus that contain the nitrate respiration conjugative element (NCE) replace their aerobic respiratory chain by an anaerobic counterpart made of the Nrc‐NADH dehydrogenase and the Nar‐nitrate reductase in response to nitrate and oxygen depletion. This replacement depends on DnrS and DnrT, two homologues to sensory transcription factors encoded in a bicistronic operon by the NCE. DnrS is an oxygen‐sensitive protein required in vivo to activate transcription on its own dnr promoter and on that of the nar operon, but not required for the expression of the nrc operon. In contrast, DnrT is required for the transcription of these three operons and also for the repression of nqo, the operon that encodes the major respiratory NADH dehydrogenase expressed during aerobic growth. Thermophilic in vitro assays revealed that low DnrT concentrations allows the recruitment of the T. thermophilus RNA polymerase σA holoenzyme to the nrc promoter and its transcription, whereas higher DnrT concentrations are required to repress transcription on the nqo promoter. In conclusion, our data show a complex autoinducible mechanism by which DnrT functions as the transcriptional switch that allows the NCE to take the control of the respiratory metabolism of its host during adaptation to anaerobic growth.


Cooperative games are an important challenge for AI research. One example of this genre of games is the board game Pandemic, characterized by the challenges it presents, including its considerable search space and hidden information, especially when the cooperators are not able to communicate explicitly. The game pushes players to prioritize between short term and long term objectives, which forces them to not only plan their own individual actions but also to cooperate with the other players in order to win the game. In this paper we present a planning agent which uses state-space planning with a domain-specific heuristic, combined with a Monte Carlo sampling approach to predict possible outcomes in the face of hidden information. We performed several experiments with our agent, including a comparison with a baseline version that does not use planning. Our experiments showed that our agent is able to win about a third of the games played in a realistic game setup.


We report on a mathematics education course for primary pre-service teachers (PSTs) in which both mathematical and pedagogical learning is essential. Part of this course is devoted to supporting PSTs in (a) strengthening conceptual understanding of fractions and (b) coming to imagine ways in which fractions can be effectively introduced in primary classrooms. In collaborative group work on fraction activities, PSTs generated solutions that were very different from those of year 3-5 pupils. This was unexpected and led to new insights and learning for the instructors. We draw implications about supporting the PSTs' development of deeper mathematical reasoning in circumstances where prior mathematical learning limits their problem-solving skills and creativity. This work contributes to a larger effort of developing resources that could enhance adults' learning across STEM disciplines.


Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient for crop production, and the manufacture of synthetic N fertilizer has facilitated impressive advances in food production that have assisted in the avoidance of widespread hunger despite a rapidly growing twentieth century global population. However, this nutrient also causes major environmental concerns, including nitrate (NO3−) contamination of groundwater in agricultural regions and hypoxia and dead zones in estuaries. Also, gaseous forms of N contribute to air quality issues. Nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, contributes to climate change, and ammonia (NH3) emissions contribute to fine particulate air pollution, a cause of respiratory diseases (Pinder et al. 2007). Anthropogenic N pollution, therefore, has large social costs, with estimated potential ecosystem and health damages of US$157 billion annually (Sobota et al. 2015). Despite many mitigation efforts, the N loss from agricultural systems continues to be a major concern, and in 2017 the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico reached the greatest extent ever recorded (NOAA 2017). There is a pressing need to improve the management of agricultural N, and the 4R concept has been proposed as a conceptual path toward more efficient N management (Snyder et al. 2009; TFI 2017). This approach promotes field…


INTRODUCTION A core aspect of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) is the time scale they use to operate. Since they use independent time scales, inter-system time-offsets are one of the most significant biases to be taken into account in a multi-constellation solution, and in the framework of interoperability. In [1] a performance analysis is presented considering GPS, Galileo, GLONASS and BeiDou, showing inter-system time-offsets on the order of 10 to 100 ns.

While a multi-system solution enables more satellites in view and possibly a better Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP), it must be taken into account that any additional constellation involves an additional bias. So, if a single-constellation solution involves four unknowns, including the user's spatial coordinates and the receiver time offset, a multi-system solution exploiting measurements from N_GNSS constellations involves 4 + N_GNSS^-1 unknows, where the additional N_GNSS^_1 unknows are the inter-system time offsets to be estimated. This means that in order to get an improvement with respect to a single-system solution, at least two satellites from any additional constellation must be in view.

In general, on-Earth users have enough satellites in view to get an improvement in GDOP thanks to a multi-GNSS solution. However, this is not always true when the user is in a low-visibility environment. In those cases, a multi-GNSS solution would ideally be beneficial, providing more satellites in view. On the other hand, the inter-system time-biases may constitute the bottle neck, and actually make the solution unavailable. Different approaches have been proposed to overcome this issue. The ICG-IGS Joint Trial Project (IGS-IGMA), led by the International Committee on GNSS (ICG) and the International GNSS Service (IGS), includes as long term objectives to "make all performance standard entries for each GNSS openly available" and to "provide a multi-GNSS service performance standard" [2]. The IGS Multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) [3-5] has, among its objectives to provide multi-GNSS products, exploit the IGS monitoring station network, and estimate biases and provide standards. In [6], different methods for the estimation of the inter-system biases are evaluated; the measurement model is constrained assuming the inter-system offset as constant over short time intervals, enabling the solution with only four satellites from mixed constellations. Another possible approach is to provide the users with the inter-system time-offset estimates. [7] describes the implementation of the GPS to Galileo Time Offset (GGTO), which is currently broadcast as part of the Galileo message, with an accuracy of 20 ns (95%, initial service target) [8]. However, as analyzed in [6], [9] and detailed in [10], different receivers have different impacts on the inter-system bias, being on the order of 20 ns and therefore comparable with GGTO [11]. This means that in order to exploit the broadcast estimate, inter-system biases due to the receiver must be calibrated or bounded. Discussion on this still open topic, and different possible approaches to address the receiver biases are presented, for example, in [8], [12], [13]. However, some test results show that in poor visibility conditions some users may benefit using the broadcast value of GGTO, even in presence of the intersystem bias due to the receiver effects [14].
While some users with limited satellite visibility may be able to estimate the inter-system bias and keep that estimate for the epoch when the visibility is poorer, some users may have such limited visibility to find this kind of approach unpractical. For instance, users in the high-altitude Space Service Volume (SSV), such as GEO and HEO satellites. This kind of users would possibly get high benefits from interoperable GNSS. Given the increasing number of applications related to the high-altitude SSV, there is a growing interest in providing those SSV users with PVT solution from GNSS [15-20]. Different approaches have been evaluated, including the opportunity of exploiting GNSS sidelobes signals [21], given that some missions, as for instance [22-23], demonstrated navigation performance in the high altuitude SSV exploiting the GNSS sidelobes that greatly exceed the expected performance [24]. How detailed in [24], these results are given to a combination of factor, including that the actual transmitted GPS power exceed the levels from specifications, even if in different ways in different satellite blocks, in particular [22], and that receiver technology allows to track very weak signals. However, transmissions from the antenna side lobes are totally excluded from performance specifications, in terms of power and errors. Therefore, an analysis of side-lobes measurements was conducted, detailed in [24]. As stated in [25], GPS is a critical infrastructure for space navigation, on which space users rely; however, space users are vulnerable to design changes, if service provider does not specify requirements on those performance. Following these guidelines, the Interface Specification document [26] specifies, for GPS block III, the SSV User-Received Signal Levels. However, only the signals main lobes are considered.

Here, the analysis here has been conducted considering only the main lobes of the GNSS signals, considering the minimum performance in terms of main lobe beam-width and minimum radiated transmit power as specified in the performance standard documents, provided by the GNSS service providers and summarized in [27]. Different analyses have been performed to evaluate the availability of GNSS to those users [17], [28]. In this paper, an analysis has been conducted that considers not only the availability in terms of number of satellites in view given a desired received power, as in [28], but also the geometry and the resulting GDOP that a user in the SSV would experience with or without the provision of intersystem time-offset estimates.

The discussion about the user receiver calibration is not further detailed here. For this analysis, it is assumed that the user's receiver has been calibrated, and has a residual bias small enough to satisfy the user's requirements. This analysis have been performed in the framework of the Bobcat-1 project at Ohio University, to analyze a possible application of inter-constellation time-offsets estimates, which is one of the objectives of the Bobcat-1 project. Bobcat-1 is the first CubeSat being developed in the Avionics Engineering Center (AEC) at Ohio University, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) department, in Athens Ohio; Bobcat-1 has been selected for launch through the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative (CLI), and is expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2020. Figure 1 shows the CubeSat under development at Ohio University. The details of the CubeSat and the mission development are not the focus of this paper.

The primary objectives of Bobcat-1 are educational on one side, providing Ohio University graduate and undergraduate students with hands-on experience on a spacecraft, and scientific on the other side. The primary experiment that will be carried out by Bobcat1 is the feasibility and performance study of inter-constellation time-offset estimates from Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Given the growing applications of CubeSat technology, the interest on LEO measurements is growing and different studies have been conducted, as for instance [29]. After the analysis of high altitude SSV performance provided with estimates of inter-system time-offsets, in this paper a discussion is presented on the time-offsets estimate method, outlining methodology, challenges and calibration techniques.


This article analyzes educational video games' usability as a pedagogical support tool in primary early childhood education, particularly in virtual environments of emerging economies. The MIDI-AM series of educational digital games is used as a case study that focuses on learning by playing using technology. The study examines the degree of usability, applicability, and relevance of these serious games as pedagogical tools in educational virtuality, identifying opportunities for improvements and designing a practical methodology to evaluate them as part of the teaching-learning process. A triangulated analysis is carried out with mixed methods, evaluating data generated in a control panel of MIDI-AM applications, focus groups with teachers and parents of local schools, and user satisfaction questionnaires. The results regarding usability and relevance of the applications were primarily positive. However, certain shortcomings in these applications' structure and possible opportunities for improvement within the educational context applicability were also identified.


Deterministic sources of high-fidelity entangled qubit pairs encoded in the dual-rail photonic basis, i.e., presence of a single photon in one of two orthogonal modes, are a key enabling technology of many applications of quantum information processing, including high-rate high-fidelity quantum communications over long distances. The most popular and mature sources of such photonic entanglement, e.g., those that leverage spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) or spontaneous four-wave mixing (sFWM), generate an entangled (so-called, continuous-variable) quantum state that contains contributions from high-order photon terms that lie outside the span of the dual-rail basis, which is detrimental to most applications. One often uses low pump power to mitigate the effects of those high-order terms. However that reduces the pair generation rate, and the source becomes inherently probabilistic. We investigate a cascaded source that performs a linear-optical entanglement swap between two SPDC sources, to generate a heralded photonic entangled state that has a higher fidelity (to the ideal Bell state) compared to a free-running SPDC source. Further, with the Bell swap providing a heralding trigger, we show how to build a multiplexed source, which despite reasonable switching losses and detector loss and noise, yields a Fidelity versus Success Probability trade-off of a high-efficiency source of high-fidelity dual-rail photonic entanglement. We find however that there is a threshold of $1.5$ dB of loss per switch, beyond which multiplexing hurts the Fidelity versus Success Probability trade-off.


In a spontaneous tribute, the entire audience listening to Vodacom's annual financial results in June 2008 rose to its feet to acknowledge the man regarded as the father of cellular in Africa and the architect of a multi-billion rand industry – a standing ovation that left retiring CEO of Vodacom, Alan Knott-Craig, momentarily speechless.

 A maverick civil servant from the government telephone operator, Telkom, Alan masterfully steered a fledgling cellular company to unparalleled financial success, shaping a revolutionary concept into one of the most powerful brands in southern Africa – Vodacom. On Alan's retirement in 2008, Vodacom, valued at R150 billion, had realised fourteen consecutive years of double-digit growth, an operating profit for that year of R12.5 billion, an income of R48 billion and 33 million customers in five African countries. It was an exceptional achievement for a man whose priority was not to build a financial empire, but to empower people through communication.

 Second is Nothing tells the story of Alan Knott-Craig, moving from his unique childhood challenges to his incredible journey to bring cellular to Africa – continually motivated by his father's words, 'First is first and second is nothing'. Bold and courageous – sometimes outrageous – Alan's visionary leadership, foresight and persistence put Vodacom and South Africa on the map of world firsts, ultimately making his dream of a connected Africa come true. But it was a dream for which he came close to paying the ultimate price.


158 Erciyes Med J 2019; 41(2): 158–63 • DOI: 10.14744/etd.2019.39269 ORIGINAL ARTICLE – OPEN ACCESS This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Aylin Köseler , Sehime Gülsün Temel , Mahmut Çerkez Ergören Identification of a Novel Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation within the Human Mitochondrial DNA Control Region in a Population of Aegean Population Objective: Environmental impacts, history as well as established cultural regulations, and many more other factors had shaped broadly diverse structure of human genetic patterns. A control region of human mtDNA has served as a good genetic determination marker in many fields such as evolutionary studies and forensic genetics. The allelic variations of mtDNA have been studied in many populations including Turkish populations. Previous studies in Turkish populations lacked large cohorts. In this study, non-coding hypervariable regions of human mitochondrial DNA with extended population of Turkish individuals from Aegean region have been investigated. Materials and Methods: To detect sequence variants in human mtDNA control region, 100 unrelated Turkish subjects were examined. Results: The outcomes revealed 13 variable sites in hypervariable region I (HVRI) and 20 variable sites in hypervariable region II (HVRII). Polymorphisms within HVRI were detected at the positions of 16173 (C>A) and 16175 (A>G) with the allelic variation frequencies of 53% and 60%, respectively. A novel nucleotide transversion from cytosine to adenine at 16173 position was detected. Only 35% of subjects were aligned with the Cambridge Reference Sequence for the poly-cytosine tract that locates between 303 and 309 nucleotides, whereas 60% of individuals had 8 and 15% of them had 10 cytosine polynucleotides. 263G and 73G polymorphisms were evaluated with higher frequencies for the HVSII region. Conclusion: Overall, results indicate that the determination of genotype distributions and allelic variations frequencies of human mitochondrial genome are significant to characterize admixture populations from different ethnic origins.


The levels of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-m) in serum and urine of 24 seropositive patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with regular gold (sodium aurothiomalate) injections have been investigated. The values obtained were compared with levels from 20 seropositive patients with RA treated only with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and 20 age and sex matched normal controls who had received no medication. A significant increase of urinary beta 2-m levels was found in the gold-treated RA group. No correlation between dose of gold received and the levels of beta 2-m in the urine could be established. There was also no correlation between the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or total lymphocyte count and beta 2-m levels in serum or urine. We conclude that serum and urinary beta 2-m levels appear to be poor indices of joint inflammation, but sequential urinary beta 2-m levels may prove valuable in monitoring the development of renal tubular lesions due to gold therapy.


The objective of this study was to analyze the aggregate agriculture production function for the state of Minas Gerais. The analysis was accomplished in two phases. First, we separate the municipalities in terms of the productive efficiency, using the non-parametric approach of data envelopment analysis. In a second phase, a translog production function was adjusted for the efficient groups and for the inefficient ones, whose parameters were obtained by the ordinary least square method. This article indicates an analytic procedure that can subsidize the estimate of production functions more coherent with the reality, in the sense that relaxes the neoclassical assumptions that the firms are efficient. The results were coherent, once it was possible to separate the relatively inefficient municipal districts, to identify the difference in the partial elasticity of output and the elasticity of substitution between inputs in different groups. The conclusions indicated that is necessary to discriminate the production function in agreement with the level of productive efficiency and to calculate the elasticity of substitution in each point of the sample to test the regularity conditions in the production function.