Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are among one of the promising technologies for efficient and clean energy. SOFCs offer several advantages over other types of fuel cells under relatively high temperatures (600oC to 800oC). However, the thermal behavior of SOFC stacks at high operating temperatures is a serious issue in SOFC development because it can be associated with detrimental thermal stresses on the life span of the stacks. The thermal behavior of SOFC stacks can be influenced by operating or material properties. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the effects of the thermal conductivity of each component (anode, cathode, and electrolyte) on the thermal behavior of samarium-doped ceria-based SOFCs at intermediate temperatures. Computational fluid dynamics is used to simulate SOFC operation at 600oC. The temperature distributions and gradients of a single cell at 0.7 V under different thermal conductivity values are analyzed and discussed to determine their relationship. Simulations reveal that the influence of thermal conductivity is more remarkable for the anode and electrolyte than for the cathode. Increasing the thermal conductivity of the anode by 50% results in a 23% drop in the maximum thermal gradients. The results for the electrolyte are subtle, with a ~67% reduction in thermal conductivity that only results in an 8% reduction in the maximum temperature gradient. The effect of thermal conductivity on temperature gradient is important because it can be used to predict thermal stress generation.


Background: There is an increasing requirement to assess outcomes, but few measures have been tested for advanced medical illness. We aimed to test the validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Palliative care Outcome Scale (POS), and to analyse predictors of change after the transition to palliative care. Methods: Phase 1: multicentre, mixed method study comprising cognitive and qualitative interviews with patients and staff, cultural refinement and adaption. Phase 2: consecutive cancer patients on admission to 8 inpatient hospices and 7 home-based teams were asked to complete the POS, the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL and the FACIT-Sp (T0), to assess internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity. After 6 days (T1) patients and staff completed the POS to assess responsiveness to change (T1-T0), and agreement between self-assessed POS and POS completed by the staff. Finally, we asked hospices an assessment 24–48 h after T1 to assess its reliability (test re-test analysis). Results: Phase I: 209 completed POS questionnaires and 29 cognitive interviews were assessed, revisions made and one item substituted. Phase II: 295 consecutive patients admitted to 15 PCTs were approached, 175 (59.3 %) were eligible, and 150 (85.7 %) consented. Consent was limited by the severity of illness in 40 % patients. We found good convergent validity, with strong and moderate correlations (r ranged 0.5–0.8) between similar items from the POS, the QLQ-C15-PAL and the FACIT-Sp. As hypothesised, the physical function subscale of QLQ-C15-PAL was not correlated with any POS item (r ranged -0.16–0.02). We found acceptable to good test re-test reliability in both versions for 6 items. We found significant clinical improvements during the first week of palliative care in 7/10 items assessed-pain, other symptoms, patient and family anxiety, information, feeling at peace and wasted time. Conclusions: Both the patient self-assessed and professional POS versions are valid and with an acceptable internal consistency. POS detected significant clinical improvements during palliative care, at a time when patients are usually expected to deteriorate. These results suggest that there is room for substantial improvement in the management of patients with advanced disease, across all key domains-symptoms, psychological, information, social and spiritual.


Solutions to many partial differential equations satisfy certain bounds or constraints. For example, the density and pressure are positive for equations of fluid dynamics, and in the relativistic case the fluid velocity is upper bounded by the speed of light, etc. As widely realized, it is crucial to develop bound-preserving numerical methods that preserve such intrinsic constraints. Exploring provably bound-preserving schemes has attracted much attention and is actively studied in recent years. This is however still a challenging task for many systems especially those involving nonlinear constraints. Based on some key insights from geometry, we systematically propose an innovative and general framework, referred to as geometric quasilinearization (GQL), which paves a new effective way for studying bound-preserving problems with nonlinear constraints. The essential idea of GQL is to equivalently transfer all nonlinear constraints into linear ones, through properly introducing some free auxiliary variables. We establish the fundamental principle and general theory of GQL via the geometric properties of convex regions, and propose three simple effective methods for constructing GQL. We apply the GQL approach to a variety of partial differential equations, and demonstrate its effectiveness and remarkable advantages for studying bound-preserving schemes, by diverse challenging examples and applications which cannot be easily handled by direct or traditional approaches.


Global warming is widely predicted to reduce the biomass production of top predators, or even result in species loss. Several exceptions to this expectation have been identified, however, and it is vital that we understand the underlying mechanisms if we are to improve our ability to predict future trends. Here, we used a natural warming experiment in Iceland and quantitative theoretical predictions to investigate the success of brown trout as top predators across a stream temperature gradient (4–25 °C). Brown trout are at the northern limit of their geographic distribution in this system, with ambient stream temperatures below their optimum for maximal growth, and above it in the warmest streams. A five‐month mark‐recapture study revealed that population abundance, biomass, growth rate, and production of trout all increased with stream temperature. We identified two mechanisms that contributed to these responses: (1) trout became more selective in their diet as stream temperature increased, feeding higher in the food web and increasing in trophic position; and (2) trophic transfer through the food web was more efficient in the warmer streams. We found little evidence to support a third potential mechanism: that external subsidies would play a more important role in the diet of trout with increasing stream temperature. Resource availability was also amplified through the trophic levels with warming, as predicted by metabolic theory in nutrient‐replete systems. These results highlight circumstances in which top predators can thrive in warmer environments and contribute to our knowledge of warming impacts on natural communities and ecosystem functioning.


Located in the centre of the Pannonian basin, one of the hottest basins in Europe withhighaverage heat flow values, Hungary has long been famous for hot water springs and frequent cave occurrences. The Molnar Janos Cave, an active thermokarstic cave, belonging to the Buda Hills karst system, lies beneatha highly populated district of Budapest. Its large passages are almost completely filled by lukewarm water. Only the upper part of its largest known chamber rises above the water level, whichoffers an excellent site to examine recent cave generation processes. However, hitherto, no dry subsurface gateway existed towards this chamber; it was only accessible underwater. In this paper, we present the results of various geophysical investigations including GPR, magnetic and seismic methods, carried out in a close cooperation between geophysicists and speleologists. The aim of the measurements was to determine the precise position of the hall relative to a nearby drift. Based upon the successful seismic survey and first break analysis, a precise and efficient boring could be designed to realise the connection. Finally, a passage between the two cavities has been established and, thus, the chamber of the cave is now accessible to the whole scientific community.


Cyclic AMP signals encode information required to differentially regulate a wide variety of cellular responses; yet it is not well understood how information is encrypted within these signals. An emerging concept is that compartmentalization underlies specificity within the cAMP signaling pathway. This concept is based on a series of observations indicating that cAMP levels are distinct in different regions of the cell. One such observation is that cAMP production at the plasma membrane increases pulmonary microvascular endothelial barrier integrity, whereas cAMP production in the cytosol disrupts barrier integrity. To better understand how cAMP signals might be compartmentalized, we have developed mathematical models in which cellular geometry as well as total adenylyl cyclase and phosphodiesterase activities were constrained to approximate values measured in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells. These simulations suggest that the subcellular localizations of adenylyl cyclase and phosphodiesterase activities are by themselves insufficient to generate physiologically relevant cAMP gradients. Thus, the assembly of adenylyl cyclase, phosphodiesterase, and protein kinase A onto protein scaffolds is by itself unlikely to ensure signal specificity. Rather, our simulations suggest that reductions in the effective cAMP diffusion coefficient may facilitate the formation of substantial cAMP gradients. We conclude that reductions in the effective rate of cAMP diffusion due to buffers, structural impediments, and local changes in viscosity greatly facilitate the ability of signaling complexes to impart specificity within the cAMP signaling pathway.


Economic efficiency analysis of semiconductor fabrication facilities (fabs) involves tradeoffs among cost, yield, and cycle time. Due to the disparate units involved, direct evaluation and comparison is difficult. This article employs data envelopment analysis (DEA) to determine relative efficiencies among fabs over time on the basis of empirical data, whereby cycle time performance is transformed into monetary value according to an estimated price decline rate. Two alternative DEA models are formulated to evaluate the influence of cycle time and other performance attributes. The results show that cycle time and yield follow increasing returns to scale, just as do cost and resource utilization. Statistical analyses are performed to investigate the DEA results, leading to specific improvement directions and opportunities for relatively inefficient fabs. Note to Practitioners-Speed of manufacturing is an important metric of factory performance, yet it has long been a challenge to integrate its value into overall performance evaluation. However, for many semiconductor products, a predictable rate of decline in selling prices makes it possible to transform time value into monetary value. This study employs a novel method to incorporate a speed metric into economic efficiency evaluation and thereby provide a guideline for improving fab efficiency in manufacturing practice. Furthermore, this study integrates factory productivity and cycle time into a relative efficiency analysis model that jointly evaluates the impact of these two factors in manufacturing performance. In particular, we validate this approach with data from ten leading wafer fabs obtained by the Competitive Semiconductor Manufacturing Program and we discuss managerial implications.


Selection of navel rotor spinning machine, which influences various quality parameters of the final yarn, is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. Different statistical methods have been used in the past to address such kinds of problems. In this work, a suitable navel for denim fabrics was selected by combining two popular MCDM approaches namely, technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solutions (TOPSIS) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Ten navels were considered and their performances were evaluated on the basis of seven quality parameters of the produced rotor yarns (50 tex). Relative importance of the yarn quality parameters was evaluated by using AHP method, keeping in mind the requirements of denim fabric. The final ranking of navels was elicited in accordance with the relative closeness value determined by TOPSIS method.


To evaluate the hydroformablility of tubular components in the tube hydroforming (THF) process, the conventional method is to measure the deformed square or circle grids printed on the surface of the tubular parts. However, the reliability of those measured data is affected greatly by the grid size and its measurement method on the curved surface. It is well-known that material hardness varies under different plastic deformation conditions, especially before and after the forming process. And it is more convenient to obtain the Vickers' hardness values and distribution around the burst area of deformed components. This paper mainly presents an effective and reliable approach to evaluate the hydroformability of tubular components using micro-hardness measurement. At first, the Vickers' hardness values and distribution around the burst area of the deformed components were obtained. The plastic strain, together with its distribution in such an area could then be derived by the measured micro-hardness through the developed equations. As a result, it was found to be more suitable to evaluate the hydroformability of tubes using this approach instead of the traditional grids measurement.


The relation between the stellar mass (M⋆) and the star formation rate (SFR) characterizes how the instantaneous star formation is determined by the galaxy past star formation history and by the growth of the dark matter structures. We deconstruct the M⋆-SFR plane by measuring the specific SFR functions in several stellar mass bins from z = 0.2 out to z = 1.4 (specific SFR = SFR/M⋆, noted sSFR). Our analysis is primary based on a 24 μm selected catalogue combining the COSMOS and GOODS surveys. We estimate the SFR by combining mid- and far-infrared data for 20500 galaxies. The sSFR functions are derived in four stellar mass bins within the range 9.5 < log (M⋆ /M⊙) < 11.5. First, we demonstrate the importance of taking into account selection effects when studying the M⋆-SFR relation. Secondly, we find a mass-dependent evolution of the median sSFR with redshift varying as sSFR ∝ (1 + z)^b, with b increasing from b = 2.88^(±0.12) to b = 3.78^(± 0.60) between M⋆ = 10^(9.75) M⊙ and M⋆ = 10^(11.1) M⊙, respectively. At low masses, this evolution is consistent with the cosmological accretion rate and predictions from semi-analytical models (SAM). This agreement breaks down for more massive galaxies showing the need for a more comprehensive description of the star formation history in massive galaxies. Third, we obtain that the shape of the sSFR function is invariant with time at z< 1.4 but depends on the mass. We observe a broadening of the sSFR function ranging from 0.28 dex at M⋆ = 10^(9.75) M⊙ to 0.46 dex at M⋆ = 10^(11.1) M⊙. Such increase in the intrinsic scatter of the M⋆-SFR relation suggests an increasing diversity ofstar formation histories (SFHs) as the stellar mass increases. Finally, we find a gradual decline of the sSFR with stellar mass as log _(10)(sSFR) ∝ −0.17M⋆. We discuss the numerous physical processes, as gas exhaustion in hot gas halos or secular evolution, which can gradually reduce the sSFR and increase the SFH diversity.


Smart cities are becoming a vibrant application domain for a number of science fields. As such, service providers and stakeholders are beginning to integrate co-creation aspects into current implementations to shape the future smart city solutions. In this context, holistic solutions are required to test such aspects in real city-scale Internet of Things (IoT) deployments, considering the complex city ecosystems. In this paper, we discuss OrganiCity's implementation of an experimentation-as-a-service (EaaS) framework, presenting a toolset that allows developing, deploying, and evaluating smart city solutions in a one-stop shop manner. This is the first time such an integrated toolset is offered in the context of a large-scale IoT infrastructure, which spans across multiple European cities. We discuss the design and implementation of the toolset, presenting our view on what EaaS should provide, and how it is implemented. We present initial feedback from 25 experimenter teams that have utilized this toolset in the OrganiCity project, along with a discussion on two detailed actual use cases to validate our approach. Learnings from all experiments are discussed as well as architectural considerations for platform scaling. Our feedback from experimenters indicates that EaaS is a viable and useful approach.


Web services composition allows a software designer for combining atomic services, for instance taken from a marketplace, in a complex business process fulfilling a desired functional goal. Moreover, among a large number of possible compositions, the designer may want to consider only those which satisfy specific non-functional requirements. In our work we consider verification of security properties and evaluation quantitative security metrics in a single framework. The main focus of this article is the verification of a composition with several security metrics at once. We provide a general solution for the problem and show how such verification can be made more efficient in specific cases (e.g., when a metric is an abstraction of another one). We employ a mathematical structure called c-semirings granting the generality of our approach.


Hardly a month goes by when there is not news of another defendant who, after a lengthy incarceration, is exonerated based on DNA evidence. Investigation into exonerations reveals that uncorroborated jailhouse informant testimony and the concealment of exculpatory evidence required to be disclosed to the accused under Brady v. Maryland and prevailing ethical rules are major contributing causes of wrongful convictions. When combined, false jailhouse informant testimony and the prosecutor's obligations under Brady sidetrack procedural justice whenever they occur and, when the accused is factually innocent, lead to the denial of substantive justice by convicting the innocent. In this article, the author explores these causes of wrongful convictions, their legal, ethical, and societal ramifications, and offers a number of pragmatic measures that prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges can take immediately to respond to the injustice of false jailhouse informant (snitch) testimony and Brady violations.The author begins with a short discussion of the problem of wrongful convictions and the roles that false snitch testimony and prosecutorial misconduct play in convicting the innocent. In order to shape effective remedies to prevent wrongful convictions, it is necessary to understand the scope of the problem and the nature of causes of wrongful convictions. The author then outlines a number of realistic measures that head prosecutors, trial and appellate judges, and defense lawyer should take to prevent false snitch testimony and Brady violations. The author's goal in outlining these practical, low cost or no-cost recommendations to counter the prejudicial effects of snitch testimony and Brady violations is to generate interest by the countless good prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges who could prevent wrongful convictions through their daily work.


We explored the effects of weather on the timing and reproduction of the Mediterranean Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus brookei and the Lanner Falcon F. biarmicus feldeggii living on the Mediterranean island of Sicily. We found that the start date of incubation has changed during 1979–2019 and analysed whether incubation timing affected the productivity of both populations and whether the change of incubation date and the quality of breeding sites depended on climatic conditions. Overall spring temperature and rainfall increased on Sicily and the incubation date of the Peregrine and the Lanner Falcon has shifted to be about one week later over the time period 1979 to 2019. Linear mixed modelling showed the influence of winter conditions and random effects (climate sector of island, year of study) on incubation date in both species. The increase in February rainfall has delayed incubation in the Peregrine Falcon, while we could not identify a specific monthly effect delaying incubation in the Lanner Falcon. In both species, the shift in incubation date has resulted in a decrease in productivity (number of fledglings). Weather conditions in late spring predicted the quality of the breeding site of Lanner Falcons but not of Peregrines. The breeding phenology of both falcons shows a common response to weather conditions on Sicily, however the Lanner Falcon seems more sensitive than the Peregrine to the changing climate. Climate effects add to other anthropogenic impacts negatively affecting the future survival of this insular population, which is the largest in Europe.


Critics of seventeenth-century literature have long accepted that John Dryden was influenced by early-modern scepticism, but no consensus has been reached about which of the many varieties of sceptical ideas from this period inform his work. The early theory that Dryden displayed a predisposition to newly-revived ancient Greek scepticism was persuasively challenged by the claim that he was sceptical only insofar as his early critical writings show strong parallels with the sceptical method of the New Scientists. Subsequent to this, a small number of scholars have formulated new ways of interpreting scepticism in Dryden's poems and plays which are based on the use of literary strategies at the local or textual level rather than on demonstrable affinities with any one philosophically sceptical worldview. Though insightful, the work of these critics remains incomplete, and often considers Dryden in relation to writers who followed him in the eighteenth century when the intellectual climate had significantly changed.

Expanding upon this research, this thesis argues that Dryden's scepticism can be identified with a number of sceptical impulses which emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. With reference to Dryden's contemporaries, it concentrates on rereading largely canonical texts from across his career in the immediate historical context of their writing, demonstrating, as its primary theme, that Dryden's scepticism was informed by the political and philosophical concerns of the late seventeenth century, and, as its secondary theme, that the nature of Dryden's sceptical insight was bound up with the demands of genre and his ever-changing role as public poet.

The thesis begins with an expositional chapter on existing critical responses to Dryden's scepticism. This clarifies the degree to which scepticism was the product of historical and political forces at play in Dryden's work. The second chapter, which focuses on the early part of the 1660s, argues that Dryden's interest in scepticism ostensibly reflects a belief about the value of the scientific mode of speculative inquiry in developing new ideas about literary creation, but that this was underlined by a sense of anxiety about the outcome of post-Restoration Stuart policy. The third chapter, dealing primarily with Dryden's plays, shows that Dryden expresses political anxiety through parallels of his own devising at a time when questions were being asked of the Stuart monarchy, and when political theories of a largely secular kind were beginning to receive serious consideration. The primary theoretical focus of this chapter is the reception of Thomas Hobbes in the late seventeenth century, and the importance of Hobbes's contract theory in Dryden's own political formulations. The fourth chapter evaluates Dryden's religious writings, and finds that Dryden embraces sceptical paradox as a legitimate method of theological argument until his conversion to Catholicism when he adopts a position closer to the fideism of early sixteenth-century sceptics. The fifth chapter explores how sceptical comment in his translations of Lucretius exemplify a new phase in Dryden's career, one in which he begins to renounce his role as a public poet. The subject of renouncing the public role is continued in the sixth chapter, which addresses Dryden's translations from Juvenal and Persius; keeping in mind the tightening of censorship laws, which forced Dryden and writers like him to seek the subterfuge of classical voices in this period, the sixth chapter also shows how the satirical complaints of Juvenal and Persius allowed the poet to express his own discontents about the social and cultural values of Britain after the Revolution of 1688.


: A theoretical proposition that the cell mosaics possess translation symmetry has been experimentally confirmed by scanning electron microscopy of the common frog embryonic ectoderm. This symmetry is a manifestation of the tissues modular structure and it provides new data for quantitative estimation of composition and structure of tissue morphofunctional element as well as for diagnostics and prediction of tissue development.


Metabolic remodeling plays an important role in the pathophysiology of heart failure (HF). We sought to characterize metabolic remodeling and implicated signaling pathways in two rat models of early systolic dysfunction (MOD), and overt systolic HF (SHF). Tandem mass tag-labeled shotgun proteomics, phospho-(p)-proteomics, and non-targeted metabolomics analyses were performed in left ventricular myocardium tissue from Sham, MOD, and SHF using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, n = 3 biological samples per group. Mitochondrial proteins were predominantly down-regulated in MOD (125) and SHF (328) vs. Sham. Of these, 82% (103/125) and 66% (218/328) were involved in metabolism and respiration. Oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation, Krebs cycle, branched-chain amino acids, and amino acid (glutamine and tryptophan) degradation were highly enriched metabolic pathways that decreased in SHF > MOD. Glycogen and glucose degradation increased predominantly in MOD, whereas glycolysis and pyruvate metabolism decreased predominantly in SHF. PKA signaling at the endoplasmic reticulum–mt interface was attenuated in MOD, whereas overall PKA and AMPK cellular signaling were attenuated in SHF vs. Sham. In conclusion, metabolic remodeling plays an important role in myocardial remodeling. PKA and AMPK signaling crosstalk governs metabolic remodeling in progression to SHF.


Recently M. Mustata and V. Srinivas related a natural conjecture about the Frobenius action on the cohomology of the structure sheaf after reduction to characteristic $p > 0$ with another conjecture connecting multiplier ideals and test ideals. We generalize this relation to the case of singular ambient varieties. Additionally, we connect these results to a conjecture relating $F$-injective and Du Bois singularities. Finally, using an unpublished result of Gabber, we also show that $F$-injective and Du Bois singularities have a common definition in terms of smooth hypercovers.


In Mathur, G. N.; Chawla, A. S. (Eds.). Water for sustainable development - towards innovative solutions: proceedings of the XII World Water Congress, New Delhi, India, 22-25 November 2005. Vol. 3. New Delhi, India: Central Board of Irrigation and Power; Montpellier, France: International Water Resources Association (IWRA).


Purpose
This study aims to use the novel approach of applying the behavioural reasoning theory (BRT) to understand the relative influence of reason for and reason against the adoption of mobile learning applications (M-learning apps) among information technology (IT) and information technology enabled services (ITeS) employees.

Design/methodology/approach
This study surveys 680 employees of IT and ITeS companies in India to examine the adoption of M-learning apps for learning using the BRT and the primary data analysis was done using the partial least squares-structural equation modelling technique.

Findings
It is found that the context-specific adoption factors for M-learning apps are hedonic motivation, self-efficacy, learning autonomy, ubiquitous and relative advantage, whereas the reasons against adoption of the M-learning apps are traditional barrier, usage barrier and image barrier. It is also found that values of openness to change positively affect the reasons for adoption and do not significantly affect reasons against adoption of M-learning. Values of openness to change affect the attitude towards M-learning apps and attitude affects the adoption intention of M-learning apps for learning.

Research/limitations/implications
This cross-sectional study was conducted only in the Indian IT/ITeS firms and future research can be conducted in other sectors and countries to generalize the results.

Practical implications
This research uniquely highlights the adoption factors both for and against, which should be considered while developing marketing strategies for M-learning apps' adoption. It is imperative for training managers to consider these factors during the selection of M-learning apps and for designers while designing the M-learning apps.

Originality/value
This study provides new insights towards the use of mobile apps for learning with the employees' perspective using the BRT theory and it highlights the reason for adoption and reason against adoption of M-learning apps.


Research on English late medieval economic history has neglected the evidence of tithes as indicators of agrarian output. In this article, methods used by historians of continental Europe have been developed and applied to the Durham Priory accounting material in order to create the first series of tithe-based production indicators for medieval England. The data are manipulated, and presented, to provide insight into long- and short-term trends in aggregate levels of arable production. The series of indicators are then used to examine the evidence for falling output in the late middle ages in the light of our understanding of demographic, economic, and climatic factors.


Falling is associated with psychosocial sequelae that may influence functional performance and fall risk. Exercise can improve psychosocial factors. To address the research questions (1) Do psychosocial variables differ among persons with and without falls? and (2) Among persons who fall, can exercise improve psychosocial variables? we evaluated psychosocial and functional performance variables in older persons with and without recent falls. A pretest and posttest design with a nonequivalent control group was used. Community-residing elderly individuals participated, 66 had falls in the past year (fallers) and 77 had no falls (nonfallers). Participants completed measures of self-esteem, depression, psychological impact, and functional performance at baseline and 6 weeks. Baseline descriptive characteristics for fallers and nonfallers were similar. Fallers then completed a 6-week exercise program. Exercise benefited fallers' self-esteem, depression, mobility, social role, social activity, and anxiety. Nearly 40% of fallers were clinically depressed before exercise and 24% were depressed after (p = 0.04). Psychosocial variables correlated significantly with quality of functional performance (p < 0.019). Among fallers, moderate exercise produced a significant improvement in psychosocial variables and functional performance (p < 0.045).


—Channel estimation is an important part in a coherent detection of MIMO system. This paper proposes tracking of fast time varying channel coefficients for a MIMO system using particle filter algorithm. As the system is highly mobile, MIMO channel is fast time-varying, non-linear and non-Gaussian, particle filter is the best candidate to track the swiftly varying channel coefficient. Even though there exist Kalman filter, the BLUE (Best Linear Unbiased Estimator), it is not suitable for non-linear and non-Gaussian problems. Moreover Kalman filter variants namely EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) and UKF (Unscented Kalman Filter) are limited to Gaussian noise.


Malaysia is the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil. The production figure in 1995 was 7.6 million tonnes and it is anticipated that by the year 2000, the country's production can easily attain 8.8 million tonnes. Palm oil and its products which are exported are in refined, bleached and deodorized forms. This means that thee present refining process in Malaysia causes the destruction of most of the minor components (carotenoids, sterol,tocopherol and tocotrienols) in the crude oil. Membrane applications and research in the edible oil industry are well documented in recent years. Separation of minor components from crude palm by membranes is a new technique. At UTM, research has been initiated to study the possibilities of using membranes to separate carotene from crude palm oil. Preliminary laboratory studies have been conducted by using carotene rich palm olein as the raw sample. A static test cell with effective tested diameter of 22 mm and feed volume of 30ml was used. Two types of new class of solvent stable membranes were determined by using commercial extraction solvents such as hexane and methanol. Optimum operating parameters and conditions which effects the separation performance such as pressure and flux rates have been studied. Initial laboratory investigations have shown encouraging results with 50% separation of the carotene.


Extreme large‐scale North American cold events are associated with strong undulations in the tropospheric jet stream which bring cold polar air southward over the continent. Here we propose that these jet undulations are associated with the North American part of the Circumglobal Teleconnection Pattern—a pair of zonally oriented waves of zonal wave number 5 which are in zonal quadrature with each other. While the Pacific/North American pattern is associated with the first circumglobal wave pattern, North American extreme cold events are associated with the second pattern. The 300 hPa meridional wind and surface temperature anomalies associated with the Circumglobal North American wave packet are similar to those associated with the strongest eastern U.S. cold events. Both types of events are associated with a wave packet propagating all the way from Asia across the Pacific and across North America, with cold temperature anomalies spreading southeastward from Canada over the continent.


Purpose To evaluate the resolution rate of lacrimal sac massage and the efficacy of primary probing among different age groups of patients with CNLDO in Thai population. Patients and Methods Retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients younger than 10 years of age who had been diagnosed with CNLDO, from January 1st, 2011, to October 31st, 2021. Patients were divided into two groups. The conservative treatment group comprised patients who had received Crigler's maneuver and topical antibiotic when indicated; the intervention group comprised patients who had received probing. Results There were 469 patients in the conservative treatment group and 108 patients in the probing group. In the conservative treatment group; the patients were categorized into five groups according to age: 0 to <6 months, 6 to <12 months, 12 to <18 months, 18 to <24 months, and ≥24 months. The resolution rates for these age groups were 99.25%, 96.23%, 64.71%, 50%, and 62.07%, respectively. The rate of spontaneous resolution was significantly associated with patient age (p <0.01). In the intervention group; the patients were categorized into four age groups according to age: 0 to <12 months, 12 to <24 months, 24 to <36 months, and ≥36 months. The success rates of primary probing for these age groups were 92.86%, 89.29%, 85.71%, and 94.12%, respectively. The success rate of primary probing was not significantly associated with patient age (p >0.05). Conclusion The Crigler's maneuver is a safe and highly effective procedure for the management of CNLDO in patients of multiple ages, particularly patients less than 12 months of age. According to the high spontaneous resolution rate and the low rate of complications, the clinicians may delay surgical intervention when desired.


Since the beginning of the 21st century five new coronaviruses inducing respiratory diseases in humans have been reported. These emergences has promoted research on coronaviruses in wildlife. We started the first eco-epidemiological study to screen the presence of coronaviruses circulating in mice and rats of four Canary Islands. Between 2015 and 2019, we obtained fecal samples of three rodent species (150 Mus musculus, 109 Rattus rattus and 1 Rattus norvegicus) captured in urban and rural areas. Fecal samples were analyzed by nRT-PCR and the resulting sequences were compared to known diversity using Bayesian phylogenetic methods. We only found coronavirus RNA in house mice from El Hierro (10.53%), Tenerife (7.02%) and Lanzarote (5.26%) islands. All coronaviruses detected belong to the species Murine coronavirus belonging to the genus Betacoronavirus and subgenus Embecovirus, being all positive house mice captured in anthropogenic environment. The phylogenetic analysis shows that murine coronaviruses from the Canary Islands are related to European murine coronaviruses. Albeit data are still scarce in the region, the most probable origin of M. coronavirus present in the Canary Islands is continental Europe. According to temporal Bayesian phylogenetics, the differentiation between Canary and continental viruses seems to be quite recent. Moreover, murine coronaviruses from El Hierro, Tenerife and Lanzarote islands tend to segregate in different clades. This enlightens the potential role of rodents or other possibly invasive species in disseminating infectious diseases to remote places through exchanges with the continent. It is important to consider these aspects in the sanitary control of islands, for health and biodiversity preservation concerns.


Cardiovascular disease is on the rise in the United States and the cost of CVD is continuing to rise to an estimated at $800 billion by 2030. Serum troponin level is one lab value that is used in early detection and evaluation of cardiovascular disease. Research to date focuses on utilizing troponins as a diagnostic tool to evaluate morbidity and predict mortality. The implication for practice includes how the results of this project can be used in practice. There remains a gap in the literature regarding how serum troponins are utilized after a patient has developed myocardial injury. The purpose of this qualitative study is to evaluate the clinician's preference of troponin monitoring after a myocardial infarction. The ACE Star Model of the Cycle of Knowledge Transformation was used as a guide in developing this project. A descriptive four question open-ended qualitative questionnaire was created to evaluate cardiac clinician preference on troponin monitoring. Ten out of 23 possible clinicians answered the questionnaire. The questionnaire showed a high level of agreement amongst clinicians as to the practices of trending troponins. All clinicians agreed that the high sensitivity troponin (hsTrop) should be utilized. In utilization of troponins as an advanced practice clinician, the recommendation is to trend troponins per hospital policy, but also to become familiar in recognizing how elevated troponins can change the plan of care. Further research on the subject of trending troponins after myocardial infarction is still needed.


This dissertation is a study of the lives and writings of five of the most competent nineteenth-century historians of the Gulf States: Albert James Pickett, of Alabama; John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne, of Mississippi; John Wesley Monette, of Mississippi; Charles Etienne Arthur Gayarre, of Louisiana; and Henderson King Yoakum, of Texas. One chapter is devoted to each historian. The first part of each chapter is a biography in which emphasis is placed upon public service, professional activities, and minor writings. The second portion of each chapter is an examination of the historian's major work, with stress on sources, method, style, and problems of publication. Also, an attempt is made to indicate the reception accorded the historian's work from its first appearance to the present time.


The production of prompt photons providing high photon time densities is a promising avenue to reach ultrahigh coincidence time resolution (CTR) in time-of-flight positron emission tomography. Detectors producing prompt photons are receiving high interest experimentally, ignited by past exploratory theoretical studies that have anchored some guiding principles. Here, we aim to consolidate and extend the foundations for the analytical modeling of prompt generating detectors. We extend the current models to a larger range of prompt emission kinetics where more stringent requirements on the prompt photon yield rapidly emerge as a limiting factor. Lower bound and estimator evaluations are investigated with different underlying models, notably by merging or keeping separate the prompt and scintillation photon populations. We further show the potential benefits of knowing the proportion of prompt photons within a detection set to improve the CTR by mitigating the detrimental effect of population (prompt versus scintillation) mixing. Taking into account the fluctuations on the average number of detected prompt photons in the model reveals a limited influence when prompt photons are accompanied by fast scintillation (e.g., LSO:Ce:Ca) but a more significant effect when accompanied by slower scintillation (e.g., bismuth germanate). Establishing performance characteristics and limitations of prompt generating detectors is paramount to gauging and targeting the best possible timing capabilities they can offer.


Network on Chip (NoC) has been proposed as a good solution to achieve better performance and higher efficiency in today's complex systems on chip. Routing in the NoC is a most important challenge. Final performance of NoC largely depends on the underlying routing scheme. In this paper we evaluate three most efficient routing algorithm namely XY, odd-even and DyAD in 2Dmesh network by different size of network. According to results, deterministic algorithm in low traffic in any network size in our simulation has better performance in delay than adaptive routing. But in throughput, with develop of network size, adaptive routing has better performance than deterministic routing.


The role played by WebQuests and their impact on teachers' training is the aim of this piece of writing. WebQuests are a permanent item we have been dealing with, since 1999, in teachers' training courses and workshops. Here we describe the history and the experience we have on this subject. As a matter of fact, Setubal Higher School of Education and its Competence Centre have been developing pre-service and in-service teachers' training workshops and courses where WebQuests have continuously been present as the main content. We try to present the breaking and turning point of our experience towards the integration of that methodology in our training sessions, the kind of audience we've been working with, and some reflection on the role of WebQuests in teaching practice.


(Hendrickson, 1994, n.p., pp. xxxix + 279, ISBN 0913573-90-6) ? First of all. as the sub-title indicates, an attempt is made to take us back to the creative voice of Jesus. What is the original meaning of the parables in the setting of his ministry, not as interpreted by the evangelists? In order to answer this question, Professor Hedrick makes use of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, which he claims to represent early Christian tradition independent of the canonical gospels. In fact, through Thomas we are in touch with pre-synoptic traditions about Jesus before


For area reasons, NMOS transistors are preferred over PMOS for the pull-up path in gate drivers. Bootstrapping has to ensure sufficient NMOS gate overdrive. Especially in high-current gate drivers with large transistors, the bootstrap capacitor is too large for integration. This paper proposes three options of fully integrated bootstrap circuits. The key idea is that the main bootstrap capacitor is supported by a second bootstrap capacitor, which is charged to a higher voltage and ensures high charge allocation when the driver turns on. A capacitor sizing guideline and the overall driver implementation including a suitable charge pump for permanent driver activation is provided. A linear regulator is used for bootstrap supply and it also compensates the voltage drop of the bootstrap diode. Measurements from a testchip in 180 nm high-voltage BiCMOS confirm the benefit of high-voltage charge storing. The fully integrated bootstrap circuit with two stacked 75.8 pF and 18.9 pF capacitors results in an expected voltage dip of lower than 1 V. Both bootstrap capacitors require 70% less area compared to a conventional bootstrap circuit. Besides drivers, the proposed bootstrap can also be directly applied to power stages to achieve fully integrated switched mode power supplies or class-D output stages.


Have you considered how the many things assisting you with your research—digital recorders, computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) or even Google Scholar—may also be silently shaping scholarly practices? In this paper, we interrogate the networked, digital landscape of everyday qualitative research practices by unraveling several examples taken from recent empirical studies in educational and social science. Our disentangling and decoding of the digital materialities of qualitative inquiry involves "interviewing" several digital objects—a recording device, a digital camera, an iPod, and a software program—that were recruited at different stages of several contemporary research projects. We deploy Adams and Thompson's (2011) heuristics for interviewing nonhuman or "thingly" research participants, and apply these to the digital things of qualitative research practices. We suggest that these digital entities—"coded materialities" — participate as co-researchers that transform, extend and support but also deform, disrupt and circumscribe research practice and knowledge construction, and inevitably introduce new tensions and contradictions. Counterpointing two approaches to describing our enacted and pre-objective material worlds—Actor Network Theory and phenomenology, we usher into view some of the hidden and coded materialities of research practice, and glimpse unexpected realities enacted. Such immersive entanglements ultimately raise new questions about the posthumanist fluencies demanded in social science research practice. One such fluency is reckoning with how our agency as researchers is increasing shared, distributed and supported by digital technologies. Our entanglements with coded materialities introduce new ethical tensions and responsibilities into research practice. Second, new fluencies may also be called into play as the researcher's work is subject to both deskilling and up-skilling as various technologies sit alongside researchers as co-researchers. Third, when data is viewed as lively, relational and mobile, new enactments of data are possible. Learning to work with these complex data circulations is another posthuman research digital fluency. Fourth, the scale, mobility, and spatial arrangements of the research process are being radically reconfigured as increasingly public and fragmented; these new arrangements bring both tensions and opportunities to be. Finally, with data being frozen and thawed in the fluidity of digitized research spaces, researchers must be attentive to how and what data is being included and excluded. We conclude by suggesting that researchers "build in" opportunities to regularly query the digital tools of their trade.


The impact of moderate infection with Wuchereria bancrofti (Cobbold) (25 mf/50 microliters blood) on the biological activities of Culex pipiens L. were investigated. Data revealed that W. bancrofti parasites did not interfere significantly with the oviposition rate (81.97%, 80.228% in non-infected and infected mosquitoes, respectively), fecundity (73.56 +/- 4.56 and 74.23 +/- 5.05 eggs/female) duration of the gonotrophic cycle (6.34 +/- 0.29 and 6.05 +/- 0.26 days), or egg hatchability (88.06% and 90.07%) of infected mosquitoes. Furthermore adult survival to the extrinsic incubation period of infected females (91.8%), did not vary from that of non-infected ones (78.87%). It is suggested that the lack of variations is due to the relatively low level of microfilariae (mf) to which mosquitoes are generally exposed, as revealed by parasite burden. It is concluded that in Egypt the relationship of W. bancrofti to Cx. pipiens is that of a commensal rather than a parasite.


Pension underfunding in the public sector has received considerable attention recently and is often cited as the next looming crisis. The majority of recent research has focused on appropriately measuring the underfunding. In this paper, we employ a political economy framework to show that increases in partisan polarization and electoral uncertainty lead to greater underfunding. Using an unbalanced panel of individual pension plans, we find robust empirical evidence that higher legislative turnover rates, more electoral competition, and term limits all lead to more pension underfunding. The political environments of state and local governments play a pivotal role in pension underfunding.


Safe physical human-robot interaction, conservation of energy, and adaptability are the main robotic applications that prompted the development of a number of variable stiffness actuators (VSAs). Implemented in a variety of ways, they use various technologies and feature the most diverse mechanical solutions, all of which share a fundamentally unavoidable nonlinear behavior. The control schemes proposed for these actuators typically aim at independent control of the position of the link and its stiffness. Although effective feedback control schemes using position and force sensors are commonplace in robotics, control of stiffness is at present completely open loop: The stiffness is inferred from the mathematical model of the actuator. We consider here the problem of estimating the nonlinear stiffness of VSA in agonistic-antagonistic configuration. We propose an algorithm based on modulating functions that allow us to avoid the need for numerical derivative and for which the tuning is then very simple. An analysis of the error demonstrates the convergence. Simulations are provided, and the algorithm is validated on experimental data.


The Medication-Related Osteonecrosis of Jaws (MRONJ) diagnosis process and its prevention play a role of great and rising importance, not only on the Quality of Life (QoL) of patients, but also on the decision-making process by the majority of dentists and oral surgeons involved in MRONJ prevention (primary and secondary). The present paper reports the update of the conclusions from the Consensus Conference—held at the Symposium of the Italian Society of Oral Pathology and Medicine (SIPMO) (20 October 2018, Ancona, Italy)—after the newest recommendations (2020) on MRONJ were published by two scientific societies (Italian Societies of Maxillofacial Surgery and Oral Pathology and Medicine, SICMF and SIPMO), written on the inputs of the experts of the Italian Allied Committee on ONJ (IAC-ONJ). The conference focused on the topic of MRONJ, and in particular on the common practices at risk of inappropriateness in MRONJ diagnosis and therapy, as well as on MRONJ prevention and the dental management of patients at risk of MRONJ. It is a matter of cancer and osteometabolic patients that are at risk since being exposed to several drugs with antiresorptive (i.e., bisphosphonates and denosumab) or, more recently, antiangiogenic activities. At the same time, the Conference traced for dentists and oral surgeons some easy applicable indications and procedures to reduce MRONJ onset risk and to diagnose it early. Continuous updating on these issues, so important for the patient community, is recommended.


From abstract: The Wabayuma Peak Wilderness Study Area (AZ-020-037/043), for which a mineral survey was requested by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, encompasses 40,118 acres in northwestern Arizona. Fieldwork was carried out in 1986-88 by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey to appraise the identified (known) resources and assess the mineral resource potential (undiscovered) of the wilderness study area. Within the Wabayuma Peak Wilderness Study Area are 14 private parcels of land totaling 1,315 acres. The Wabayuma Peak Wilderness Study Area, including the 14 private parcels of land, is herein referred to as the "wilderness study area" or the "study area." The Boriana, Antler, and Copper World mines lie near the east boundary of the study area. The Boriana mine was a major tungsten-producing mine of the United States during World War II. The Antler and Copper World mines produced relatively small amounts of copper and zinc prior to 1970.


become the public analyst of the county. So, on the other hand, it is necessary that the medical officer of health should know about drains, the disposal of sewage, and water supply; but that he should undertake the duties of sanitary engineer is most undesirable. If there is any profession on which the medical officer of health might not only be excused from trenching, but perhaps ought to trench, it is that of the veterinary. The diseases of the lower animals are yet so obscure and the relation between their diseases and ours so close, that the opportunities of the medical officer of health ought to be utilised in endeavouring to increase our knowledge in that direction. I will not, however, trespass further on your space, but commend the subject to all who are interested in it.-I am, etc., Canonbie,N.B. JoHN HADDON, M.D.


Electronic reverse auctions (eRAs) are a popular tool used in sourcing and business research. However, the complexity of decisions made during this type of auction is not yet fully understood. The authors use data from a published laboratory experiment that had examined the impact of eRA auction configuration on buyer price and supplier perceptions of opportunism. In the present study, the authors analyzed data from the 11,882 time-interval observations and 2,549 bids submitted by suppliers to explore the factors that affect suppliers' decisions to submit bids in eRAs. The effects of supplier characteristics, bidding history and experience, auction configuration, and timing on the propensity to bid at a specific point in time during the eRA are estimated utilizing continuous time hazard rate analysis techniques. Our results indicate that the supplier's need for cognition and number of prior auction failures, online auction configuration, and the rank status of a supplier's bid at a given point in time all significantly affect the propensity to submit a bid. Also, if suppliers have previously submitted many bids in the online auction, they tend to submit more subsequent bids, suggesting an escalation of commitment dynamic that may underlie the potential for a bidding frenzy.


This paper describes the spacer design for SF(6) gas insulated cables. The maximum electric stress within the cable is calculated by a numerical method, and it is recognized that the breakdown voltage depends linearly on the calculated values. Moreover, the effects of varying the shape of the spacer are made clear in this study for designing an optimum spacer.


Markets and environmental conditions are in a continual state of flux, put growing pressure on corporations, and forcing them to adapt. New technologies are being created, new markets are emerging, and large new corporations are being founded on almost a daily basis. Furthermore, the emerging economies are already producing
corporations which are operating on a global scale. This internationalization of the markets goes hand in hand with the increasingly transnational activities of corporations and thus with the enhanced cooperation between them and their employees and partners, competitors and colleagues from completely different cultures. Corporate culture is influenced by regional,
national and international elements, so that the diversity and complexity of the action space in which a corporation operates are continually on the increase and need to be managed in an active manner at the executive level.


Software developers often need to transfer func-tionality, e.g., a set of commits implementing a new feature or a bug fix, from one branch of a configuration management system to another. That can be a challenging task as the existing configuration management tools lack support for matching high-level semantic functionality with low-level version histories. The developer thus has to either manually identify the exact set of semantically-related commits implementing the functionality of interest or sequentially port a specific subset of the change history, "inheriting" additional, unwanted functionality. In this paper, we tackle this problem by providing automated support for identifying the set of semantically-related commits implementing a particular functionality, which is defined by a set of tests. We refer to our approach, CSLICER, as semantic slicing of version histories. We formally define the semantic slicing problem, provide an algorithm for identifying a set of commits that constitute a slice, and instantiate it in a specific implementation for Java projects managed in Git. We evaluate the correctness and effectiveness of our approach on a set of open-source software repositories. We show that it allows to identify subsets of change histories that maintain the functionality of interest but are substantially smaller than the original ones.


Cilia and extracellular vesicles (EVs) are signaling organelles that play important roles in human health and disease. In C. elegans and mammals, the Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) gene products polycystin-1 and polycystin-2 localize to both cilia and EVs, act in the same genetic pathway, and function in a sensory capacity, suggesting ancient conservation. Hence, the nematode offers an excellent system in which to address central questions regarding the biology of cilia, EVs, and the polycystins. We discovered an unexpected role of the mec-1, mec-5, and mec-9 genes encoding extracellular matrix (ECM) components. We determined that these ECM encoding genes regulate polycystin localization and function, ciliary EV release, cilia length, dendritic morphology, and neuron-glia interactions. Abnormal ECM and fibrosis are observed in ciliopathies such as ADPKD, nephronophthisis, and Bardet-Biedl Syndrome. Our studies reveal multifaceted roles for ECM proteins in the ciliated nervous system of the worm and provide a powerful new in vivo model to study the relationship between ECM, the polycystins, and ciliopathies.


The growing cost of funding healthcare means that budgets must be managed carefully. Clinicians and radiologists are under increasing pressure from payers to economize. At the same time, many specialties face a shortage of trained healthcare professionals. This is creating room for others to step in and manage what was traditionally regarded as another professional's turf.


The Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae) is an insect vector that transmits the bacterial pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) associated with the destructive citrus disease, citrus huanglongbing (HLB). Currently, D. citri is the major target in HLB management, although insecticidal control and disruption of the D. citri–CLas interactions both face numerous challenges. The present study reports the subcellular proteomic profiles of D. citri, encompassing the three main subcellular protein fractions: cytosol, mitochondria and microsomes. After optimization, subcellular proteins of both high and low abundance are obtained by two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE). A total of 1170 spots are detected in the 2‐DE gels of the three subcellular fractions. One hundred and sixty‐four differentially expressed proteins are successfully identified using liquid chromatography‐dual mass spectroscopy. An efficient protocol for subcellular protein fractionation from D. citri is established and a clear protein separation is achieved with the chosen protein fractionation protocol. The identified cytosolic proteins are mainly metabolic enzymes, whereas a large portion of the identified proteins in the mitochondrial and microsomal fractions are involved in ATP biosynthesis and protein metabolism, respectively. Protein–protein interaction networks are predicted for some identified proteins known to be implicated in pathogen–vector interactions, such as actin, tubulin and ATP synthase, as well as insecticide resistance, such as the cytochrome P450 superfamily. The findings should provide useful information to help identify the mechanism responsible for the CLas–D. citri interactions and eventually contribute to D. citri control.


Background and Aims: Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are linked to disease and are potential biomarkers. Vitamin D may modulate miRNA profiles, and vitamin D status has been linked to risk of disease, including cardiovascular disease and cancers. We hypothesise that genotypic variance influences these relationships. We examined the correlations between vitamin D intake and circulating levels of the miRNAs let-7a/b, and the involvement of two common vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms, BsmI and ApaI. Methods: Two hundred participants completed food frequency and supplement questionnaires, and were assayed for circulating let-7b expression by qPCR. Polymorphisms were detected using restriction fragment length polymorphism-PCR. Results: let-7b expression negatively correlated with vitamin D intake (rs = -0.20, p = 0.005). The magnitude and direction of correlation were maintained in the presence of the BsmI restriction site (rs = -0.27, p = 0.0005). However, in the absence of BsmI restriction site, the direction of the correlation was reversed (rs = +0.319, p = 0.0497). These correlations were significantly different (z-score = 2.64, p = 0.0085). The correlation between vitamin D intake and let-7a was only significant in those without the ApaI restriction site. Conclusions: The correlation between vitamin D intake and let-7a/b expression in this cohort varies with VDR genotype. This study highlights the importance of considering underlying genotypic variance in miRNA expression studies and in nutritional epigenetics generally.


Video classifications are usually tailored towards categorizing videos into one or more predefined categories (e.g. genres) using the contexts associated with such categories. This limits their application to only ldquoproduction videosrdquo (i.e. video produced and edited for a viewing audience). We seek to make the classification criteria more flexible by classifying videos using low-level computable features that can be determined for any type of video independent of the context associated with its predetermined genre. The methodology adopted was based on choosing unrestricted computable features for developing a classification scheme. It extracted and analyzed the low-level components (key frames) and computable features (such as dominant color, lighting condition, and color dynamics) from sample videos. It then generated a model SVM classifier that was able to discriminate between tested videos to be classified. It finally, developed an interactive application to automate the extraction and analysis process.


1. The capacity of insulin to enhance the accumulation by muscle of several amino acids was studied. Reports that threonine uptake is enhanced by insulin were not confirmed, despite its enhanced incorporation into protein. Uptake of beta-alanine and gamma-aminobutyric acid also did not respond to the hormone. A stimulation of accumulation of alanine, histidine and ethionine was observed. 2. The capacity of inhibitors of protein synthesis to reveal a stimulation by insulin of accumulation of several amino acids, hitherto considered unresponsive to insulin in the absence of inhibitor, was confirmed. Cycloheximide was as effective as puromycin. However, two of these amino acids, alanine and histidine, here showed response to insulin in the absence of inhibitor. The presence of cycloheximide was found to enhance uptake of cycloleucine, ethionine and threonine; in its presence insulin enhanced uptake of beta-alanine and alpha-methyltyrosine. 3. It is concluded that the influence of inhibitors of protein synthesis on amino acid accumulation and the response of amino acid accumulation to insulin are not adequately explained on the basis of inhibition of protein synthesis allowing amino acids to accumulate more readily. 4. The technical problems of whether linear rates of incorporation of amino acids into protein really indicate more than one cell pool are discussed and safeguards suggested. That initial rates of incorporation of label into protein are likely to be non-linear is shown.


Plasma biomarkers studies are based on the differential expression of proteins between different treatment groups or between diseased and control populations. Most mass spectrometry-based methods of protein quantitation, however, are based on the detection and quantitation of peptides, not intact proteins. For peptide-based protein quantitation to be accurate, the digestion protocols used in proteomic analyses must be both efficient and reproducible. There have been very few studies, however, where plasma denaturation/digestion protocols have been compared using absolute quantitation methods. In this paper, 14 combinations of heat, solvent [acetonitrile, methanol, trifluoroethanol], chaotropic agents [guanidine hydrochloride, urea], and surfactants [sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodium deoxycholate (DOC)] were compared with respect to their effectiveness in improving subsequent tryptic digestion. These digestion protocols were evaluated by quantitating the production of proteotypic tryptic peptides from 45 moderate- to high-abundance plasma proteins, using tandem mass spectrometry in multiple reaction monitoring mode, with a mixture of stable-isotope labeled analogues of these proteotypic peptides as internal standards. When the digestion efficiencies of these 14 methods were compared, we found that both of the surfactants (SDS and DOC) produced an increase in the overall yield of tryptic peptides from these 45 proteins, when compared to the more commonly used urea protocol. SDS, however, can be a serious interference for subsequent mass spectrometry. DOC, on the other hand, can be easily removed from the samples by acid precipitation. Examining the results of a reproducibility study, done with 5 replicate digestions, DOC and SDS with a 9 h digestion time produced the highest average digestion efficiencies (∼80%), with the highest average reproducibility (<5% error, defined as the relative deviation from the mean value). However, because of potential interferences resulting from the use of SDS, we recommend DOC with a 9 h digestion procedure as the optimum protocol.


In response to present‐day ice mass loss on and near the Greenland Ice Sheet, steady crustal uplifts have been observed from the network of Global Positioning System (GPS) stations mounted on bedrock. In addition to the secular uplift trends, the GPS time series also show prominent annual variability. Here we examine the annual changes of the vertical displacements measured at two GPS stations (SRMP and UPVK) near Upernavik Isstrøm in western Greenland. We model elastic loading displacements due to various surface mass loading including three nonice components: atmospheric pressure, ocean bottom pressure, continental water storage, and one ice component, i.e., surface mass balance (SMB). We find that the contribution from atmospheric pressure changes can explain 46% and 78% of the annual amplitude observed in the GPS verticals at SRMP and UPVK, respectively. We also show that removing the predicted loading displacements due to SMB adversely increases the annual variance of the GPS residuals. However, using the GPS data alone, we cannot identify the exact cause(s) of this discrepancy because the annual loading displacements are sensitive to the SMB changes from over 85% of the ice sheet area. Alternatively, by differencing vertical displacements between the two stations, we find a good agreement between the modeled differential SMB loading displacements and the GPS residuals after removing nonice components. Our study highlights the necessity of correcting for nonice loading contributions in the GPS measurements of crustal deformation to infer ice mass changes in Greenland at annual periods.


Insect neuropeptides of the insect kinin class share a common C-terminal pentapeptide sequence F(1)X(1)(2)X(2)(3)W(4)G(5)-NH(2) (X(2)(3) = P, S, A) and regulate such critical physiological processes as water balance and digestive enzyme release. Analogs of the insect kinin class, in which the critical residues of F(1), P(3), and W(4) were replaced with beta(3)-amino acid or their beta(2)-homo-amino acid variants, have been synthesized by the solid phase peptide strategy. The resulting single- and double-replacement analogs were evaluated in an insect diuretic assay and enzyme digestion trials. Analogs modified in the core P(3) position produce a potent and efficacious diuretic response that is not significantly different from that obtained with the endogenous achetakinin peptides. The analogs also demonstrate enhanced resistance to hydrolysis by ACE and NEP, endopeptidases that inactivate the natural insect neuropeptides. This paper describes the first instance of beta-amino acids analogs of an arthropod peptide that demonstrate significant bioactivity and resistance to peptidase degradation.


This paper presents a theory for role-playing simulation games intended to support analysts (and trainees) with generating and testing alternative competing hypotheses on how to influence world conflict situations. Simulated leaders and followers capable of playing these games are implemented in a cognitive modeling framework, called the Performance Moderator Function Server (PMFserv), which covers value systems, personality and cultural factors, emotions, relationships, perception, stress/coping style, and decision making. Of direct interest, as Section I-A explains, is codification and synthesis of best-of-breed social-science models within PMFserv to improve the internal validity of agent implementations. Sections II and III present this for leader profiling instruments and group-membership decision making, respectively. Section IV then offers two real-world case studies (The Third Crusade and SE Asia Today) where agent models are subjected to Turing and correspondence tests under each case study. In sum, substantial effort on game realism, best-of-breed social-science models, and agent validation efforts is essential if analysis and training tools are to help explore cultural issues and alternative ways to influence outcomes. Such exercises, in turn, are likely to improve the state of the science as well.


We study analytically and numerically the existence and orbital stability of the peak-standing-wave solutions for the cubic-quintic nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a point interaction determined by the delta of Dirac. We study the cases of attractive-attractive and attractive-repulsive nonlinearities and we recover some results in the literature. Via a perturbation method and continuation argument we determine the Morse index of some specific self-adjoint operators that arise in the stability study. Orbital instability implications from a spectral instability result are established. In the case of an attractive-attractive case and an focusing interaction we give an approach based in the extension theory of symmetric operators for determining the Morse index.


In rats with experimentally formed arterial hypertension, lipid peroxidation in the plasma, amplification of blood clotting mechanisms with a decrease in anticoagulation and fibrinolysis was noted. Regular forced jogging provided the experimental rats with a positive dynamics of all the indicators considered. Thus, with increased muscular activity, the level of acyl hydroperoxides of plasma decreased in rats with arterial hypertension formed due to the enhancement of its antioxidant activity. In addition, with the increase in muscle activity in experimental rats, normalization of clotting factor activity, indices of general coagulation tests, antithrombin III activity and protein C was achieved. This was accompanied by a normalization of the level of plasminogen, α2-antiplasmin and spontaneous euglobulin lysis time. In rats with formed arterial hypertension with standard physical activity, the initial violations of the measured parameters were completely preserved.


▪ Abstract: Two cases of women who underwent breast nodule exeresis and drainage are described; in both instances a Penrose drain was used and part of the drain, remaining in the surgical cavity after the surgery, acted as a foreign body. The author discusses the reasons why it can happen, as well as the need to take this possibility into account in the differential diagnosis of clinical findings (e.g., nodules) or mammographic alterations (e.g., gross calcification) in the vicinity of a previous surgery scar. ▪


With the rapid development and the increasing use of wireless devices, spectrum scarcity has become a problem. The higher frequencies have bad propagation characteristics and the lower frequencies have low data rates, therefore the radio spectrum that is available for efficient wireless transmission is a limited resource. One of the proposed solutions for this problem is cognitive relay networks (CRNs), where cognitive radio is combined with a cooperative spectrum sharing system to increase the spectrum utilization. In this thesis, the outage probability performances of underlay CRNs with interference power constraints from the primary network over Weibull fading channels have been investigated for three different scenarios. The maximum transmit power of the secondary network is governed by the maximum interference power that the primary network's receiver can tolerate. The first scenario is a cognitive dual-hop decode-and-forward (DF) relay network over independent non-identically distributed (i.n.i.d.) Weibull fading channels. In the second scenario, the CRN consists of a DF relay plus the direct link transmission with a selection combining receiver at the destination over i.n.i.d. Weibull fading channels. The third CRN considered has multiple DF relays where the best relay selection scheme is employed over independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) Weibull fading channels. The analytical results have been derived using the statistical characteristics of end-to-end signal-to-noise ratios, and have been verified by Monte-Carlo simulations.


Given the rapid growth in health care spending that is often attributed to technological change, many private and public institutions are grappling with how to best assess and adopt new health care technologies. The leading technology adoption criteria proposed in theory and used in practice involve so called "cost-effectiveness" measures. However, little is known about the dynamic efficiency implications of such criteria, in particular how they influence the R&D investments that make technologies available in the first place. We argue that such criteria implicitly concern maximizing consumer surplus, which many times is consistent with maximizing static efficiency after an innovation has been developed. Dynamic efficiency, however, concerns aligning the social costs and benefits of R&D and is therefore determined by how much of the social surplus from the new technology is appropriated as producer surplus. We analyze the relationship between cost-effectiveness measures and the degree of surplus appropriation by innovators driving dynamic efficiency. We illustrate how to estimate the two for the new HIV/AIDS therapies that entered the market after the late 1980's and find that only 5% of the social surplus is appropriated by innovators. We show how this finding can be generalized to other existing cost-effectiveness estimates by deriving how those estimates identify innovator appropriation for a set of studies of over 200 drugs. We find that these studies implicitly support a low degree of appropriation as well. Despite the high annual cost of drugs to patients, very low shares of social surplus may go to innovators, which may imply that cost-effectiveness is too high in a dynamic efficiency sense.


This book presents the state-of-the-art techniques and recent research progress on Ear Biometrics. Among the various physiological traits, the reasons for the ear to gain much attention in recent years are many folds. It has been found to be a reliable biometrics for human verification and identification. Ears are remarkably consistent and unlike face, it does not change shape with different expressions or age, and remain fixed in the middle of the side of the head against a predictable background. The book contains figures, tables and plots to illustrate the techniques in an easy and lucid manner. The book also provides an extensive literature on the subject, where readers have the benefit of receiving all the relevant material at one place in a very comprehensive manner. This book caters students, academics, researchers, practitioners who are interested in the field of Ear Biometrics and its applications in face recognition and security.


Estimation of the bronchodilator response (BDR) with spirometry in preschool children is not feasible due to poor cooperation in this age group. The aim of this study was to assess accuracy of BDR estimated by Rint for asthma diagnosis in preschool children. Material and methods Expiratory Rint was measured in the group of asthmatic (doctor-diagnosed asthma) children (n=23; age=4,8±1,0 ys.; 82% boys) and control group (n= 15; age=4,6±0,7 ys.; 53% boys), before and after salbutamol (400ug using pMDI and spacer) inhalation, using Lung Test System (MES, Poland). BDR was expressed by the Rint change as percentage of predicted value. The predicted values were estimated by equations given by Merkus et al 1 . Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves for BDR were generated to assess diagnostic performance of Rint for diagnosis of asthma. Results There were no significant differences in baseline Rint in asthmatic and control group, 0,92±0,24 versus 0,83±0,25 kPa . L -1 . s (z-score: 0,54±1,14 versus 0,12±1,23) (p=0,29), and in intra-subject measurement variability (coefficient of variation-CV%) 9,8±2,9% versus 10,5±2,7% (p=0,48), respectively. BDR was significantly higher in asthmatic than in control group, 21,4±22,8% versus 6,1±14,9% (p=0,028), respectively. The diagnostic performance of BDR estimated by Rint (area under ROC curve = 0,719±0,084; p=0,009) revealed low sensitivity (56,5%) but high specificity (93,3%) on the level equal 21,6%. Conclusion BDR estimated by expiratory Rint allows to exclude asthma in preschool children with high accuracy. 1 Merkus PJFM, et al. Eur Respir J 2010;36:157–63.


With the recent advance in immunohistochemical and molecular-genetic techniques, all of the components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) have been shown to exist in the vascular tissue of various animal species as well as in humans. The author's group previously reported that angiotensin II (AII) was generated in the mesenteric arteries of several experimental rat models. Vascular AII generation appears to be regulated independently of circulating renin levels, as suggested by the expression of tissue-specific angiotensinogen mRNA. In the light of recent reports that aldosterone may be synthesized in the cultured endothelial cells from bovine aorta, and that 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11 beta-HSD) plays a key role in determining the specificity in mineralocorticoid activity in various mineralocorticoid-responsive tissues, the author wishes to review the studies carried out by colleagues on the production of aldosterone with its precursor steroids and enzyme expression for aldosterone synthesis in the blood vessels as the components of the vascular auto-/paracrine system. The first part of the present paper is summarized as follows: 1) With Northern blotting and RT-PCR of the RNA which was prepared from rat arterial tissue or cultured human arterial smooth muscle cells (SMC), the expression of mineralo- and glucocorticoid receptors was confirmed. 2) The vascular production of aldosterone and corticosterone from the rat mesenteric artery was demonstrated in analyzing the arterial perfusates using a HPLC and GC/MS. Moreover, in this ex vivo experiment, the production of aldosterone in the vasculature was found to be partially controlled by angiotensin II generated locally. 3) It was clearly demonstrated using an RT-PCR method for the first time that aldosterone synthase, cytochrome P450aldo (c 18 or c mo); CYP 11B2 messenger RNA is expressed in the cultured endothelial cells (EC) from human pulmonary artery. From these data, the author would like to propose the concept of a vascular renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system under which paracrinaly produced mineralocorticoid in the vascular EC may easily reach the vascular SMC and in turn act to increase the vascular tone through binding to the receptor there. The second part can be summarized as follows: 1) The expression of 11 beta-HSD in the vasculature was confirmed by bioassay using ex vivo experiment of the isolated rat mesenteric artery perfusion system, immunocytochemical staining methods, in situ hybridization and also by Northern blot analysis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Purpose – In the authors' experience, the biggest issue with pose-based exergames is the difficulty in effectively communicating a three-dimensional pose to a user to facilitate a thorough understanding for accurate pose replication. The purpose of this paper is to examine options for pose presentation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine three methods of presentation and feedback to determine which provides the user with the greatest improvement in performance. An on-body sensor network system was used to measure success rates, and address the challenges and issues that arise throughout the process. Findings – A three-dimensional interface allows for full control of the camera, and after conducting all of the experiments, the importance of this feature became exceedingly apparent. Though other elements of feedback were able to illustrate specific problem areas, the camera rotation improved some success rates by more than double. Research limitations/implications – Refinements of visual feedback methods during training could include determining the ideal position for the camera to view the avatar after the rotation to maximize pose comprehension. Future research could also include working towards providing the participant with more specific instructions, verbally or symbolically. Originality/value – In a traditional setting, such as a yoga class, a physically present moderator would provide coaching to participants who struggled with pose reproduction. However, for obvious reasons, this cannot be implemented in a computer-based training setting. This research begins to examine what is the necessary user interface for activities that are traditionally very closely monitored.


Tomahawk traps are commonly used to sample lizards, and principally small mammals. Prior to this study however, there were no reports of their use in the capture of freshwater Testudines. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the efficiency of tomahawk traps in the capture of freshwater turtles, highlighting an adaptation of the trap to make it float. It was baited with meat and fruit, and seven traps were installed in three ponds on a small island in the Atlantic Forest, six arranged on the bank and a seventh (floating) in the center of the water body. The species that served as models in this study were  Acanthochelys radiolata (Mikan, 1820) and  Rhinoclemmys punctularia  (Daudin, 1801).  Rhinoclemmys punctularia  (semi-aquatic species) was more efficiently captured by tomahawks when compared to A. radiolata (aquatic species). The small size (101.89 – 175 mm of length and 70 – 153 mm width carapace) of these animals was a determining factor for the success of catches by Tomahawks. Therefore, they are another auxiliary method to sample freshwater Testudines, indicated for application together with traditional methods such as active search and capture nets.


Systematic research involving four chimeric gene constructions designed to express the same anti-picloram single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody is described. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation produced at least 25 transgenic tobacco plants with each of these, and the number of T-DNA loci in each plant was determined using kanamycin-resistance segregation assays. The relative amounts of active and total scFv in each plant were evaluated using quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblot technologies, respectively. No significant differences in scFv activity were found among the four groups of single-locus plants, although the 35S/M construct was found to produce significantly more total anti-picloram scFv than the other three constructs. A dose-response bioassay involving T(1) seedlings from several of the highest expressers of active scFv demonstrated resistance to a constant exposure of picloram at 5 x 10(-)(8) M. Other approaches for increasing antibody-based herbicide resistance are discussed, as further improvements are needed before practical application of this technology.


Boolean expressions can be used in programs and specifications to describe the complex logic decisions in mission-critical, safety-critical and Web services applications. We define a topological model (T-model) to represent Boolean expressions and characterize the test data. This paper provides proofs of relevant T-model properties, employs the combinatorial design approach, and proposes a family of strategies and techniques to detect a variety of faults associated with Boolean expressions. We compare our strategies with MC/DC, MUMCUT, MANY-A, MANY-B, MAX-A and MAX-B, and conclude that T-model based approach detects more types of faults than MC/DC, MUMCUT MANY-A and MAX-A, and detects the same types but more instances of faults than MANY-B and MAX-B with much smaller test data set.


This paper deals with data management structures for efficient search for large scale spatio-temporal data. We propose adaptive tree structure (We call the AT Structure), in which either spatio data structure or temporal data structure is selected adaptively depending on the demand of search. This paper describes an outline of the proposed data structure for large scale spatio-temporal data. The concrete data structure and its performance by computer simulation are discussed.


When Jerome was asked by Pope Damasus in 382 c.e . to produce a reliable version of the Latin Gospels and Psalter, he did not interpret this as a request to produce a new translation from the Greek and Hebrew originals. A Latin translation, or, rather, translations (for there were several versions), which later came to be known as the Vetus Latina (the "Old Latin [Bible]"), already existed. Instead, Jerome set out to create a corrected text of this existing Latin Bible, by comparing it to the Greek. Born in 347 in Stridon, in modern-day Slovenia, Jerome was a student of classical rhetoric in Rome. After his conversion to Christianity, he studied for some time in the east, eventually to return to Rome in 382, where he enjoyed the patronage of Pope Damasus. In 385, after falling out with the Roman clergy and the death of Damasus, he took up residence in the Palestine, where he learned Hebrew and redefined himself as a biblical scholar. It was here that he decided to extend his correction project to the entire biblical text. But by 390, he decided that for some Bible books, he might as well start from scratch and translate directly from the original Hebrew. By the time he had finished the project in 404, he had translated most books of the Bible, and this translation formed the basis of the Latin Bible that would be used for most of the Middle Ages.


Many enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation projects fail despite huge investments. To explain such failures, we draw on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm to define various dimensions of information systems (IS) resources. Using resource-picking and capability-building arguments, we examine the relationships between IS resources and ERP capabilities to find out whether they have complementary effects on outcomes. Empirical results from a survey of manufacturing firms that recently implemented ERP systems support the hypothesized model. For IS research, this study further develops the complementary and capability-building roles of IS resources, integrates RBV into our current knowledge of ERP implementation, and provides theoretical explanations for when or under what conditions building ERP capabilities has the highest impact on business process outcomes. For IS practice, it emphasizes the importance of IS resources in building ERP capabilities, provides preliminary measures for IS resource dimensions, and demonstrates their impact on firms' ERP capabilities and consequent business process outcomes.


The lack of teachers' attention and communication and Albanian parents with children and the youth have created the proper ground that in schools to happen constantly serious acts of violence. Recently they have become very worrying because of their high frequency and have created uncertainties. According to this reality some studies are done which testify the high level of violence through bullying behaviour which are qualified by world literature as violent forms. This article aims at bringing a theoretical contribution on bullying phenomenon and to highlight the immediate necessity for scientific knowledge of this phenomenon in Albania. The author aims at clarifying from the theoretical view the characteristic that make behaviour to be qualified as a bullying one. Furthermore, through the description of the phenomenon based on the findings of world literature, it is made clear in what conditions the behaviour happens, which are included and their attitudes. In this commentary the readers through scientific arguments based on a series of studies, understand the immediate consequences that the inclusion of the children has in bullying acts as well as those long-term which accomplish the individual throughout his life as an adult. Furthermore, the author treats the importance that the attitudes of the teachers and of the parents have in the treatment of the phenomenon. In the end the author identifies some measures that must be taken from the school as well as from the family to treat the phenomenon successfully. In her conclusions the author emphasizes that for the changing of the situation the work firstly have to be started with the awareness campaigns for the children and parents. The same of importance she values the support in the constant education of the staff pedagogy, who necessarily have to be included in the modules of training which train not only the phenomenon theoretically to understand its importance but even that helps with concrete strategies in the confront with it. Moreover the author values that it is necessary the interference in the curricula starting from the curricula of the 9th grade school pupils and then continuing with the interference of the curricula in the faculties of education which prepare the future teachers. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n3p542


The crystal structure of the fibrinolytic enzyme tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) shows that the bulky side chain of Y99 hinders access to the active site by partially occluding the S2 site and may be responsible for the low catalytic activity of tPA toward plasminogen. We have tested the role of Y99 by replacing it with Leu, the residue found in more proficient proteases like trypsin and thrombin. The Y99L replacement results in an increase in the kcat/Km for chromogenic substrates due to enhanced diffusion into the active site. The increase is modest (threefold) for substrates specific for tPA that carry Pro or Gly at P2, but reaches 80‐fold for less specific substrates carrying Arg at P2. On the other hand, the Y99L mutation has no effect on the activity of tPA toward the natural substrate plasminogen, that carries Gly at P2, and reduces more than 10‐fold the inhibition of tPA by plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1), that carries Ala at P2. We conclude that the steric hindrance provided by Y99 in the crystal structure affects mostly nonphysiological substrates with bulky residues at P2. In addition, residue Y99 plays an active role in the recognition of PAI‐1, but not plasminogen. Mutations of Y99 could therefore afford a resistance to inhibition by PAI‐1 without compromising the fibrinolytic potency of tPA, a result of potential therapeutic relevance.


In the face of intense global competition and economic instability, the extant reality for
organisations in developing economies is to either adapt, innovate, or die! The purpose of this
project was to empirically test the relationship between organisational culture; innovation and
creativity and organisational adaptation; and test whether innovation and creativity has an
impact on the relationship between organisational culture and organisational adaptation. The
study also sought to explore and advance practical recommendations on how an
organisation's innovative and creative potential can be leveraged through culture to ensure
organisational adaptation. The study proposed that the decline of the organisation under study
was due to its failure to adapt or navigate the environment. Descriptive statistics, Pearson
correlation and Regression analysis were used to address research questions and test the
hypotheses.
Survey results of ART Corporation sample showed that the dominant culture type at ART
Corporation is the Hierarchy culture with a mean score of 3.65, sd 0.43. Overall ART
Corporation has a lower organisational adaptation index with a mean score of 2.50. sd 0.92
Significant relationships were found between Organisational Culture and Innovation culture
(r = 0.56, p<0.00), Organisational culture and creativity and innovation (r=.32 p<0.01); the
Innovation culture construct and innovation and creativity index (r = 0.67; p < 0.00,) however
an inverse relationship was found between innovation and creativity and organisational
adaptation (r = -0.43, p <0.001). A low significant relationship was found between
organisational adaptation and organisational culture r =0.20, p<0.11. After controlling for
mediation the variance explained by organisational culture changed from 4.2% to 14.44%
that is the link with organisational adaptation increased significantly (I²=.38, p<0.01) thus
failing to satisfy the conditions necessary to determine mediation. Secondary analysis with
specific organisational culture dimensions produced significant correlations with the
strongest being dominant characteristics r=0.52, p<0.00. The results indicate that ART
Corporation need to focus on its organisational culture to leverage organisational adaptation.
Future research should focus on exploring other intervening variable that may be possibly
mediating the relationship between organisational adaptation and organisational culture.


In recent years, copy number (CN) variation has emerged as a new and significant source of genetic polymorphisms contributing to the phenotypic diversity of populations. CN variants are defined as genetic loci that, due to duplication and deletion, vary in their number of copies across individuals in a population. CN variants range in size from 50 base pairs to whole chromosomes, can influence gene activity, and are associated with a wide range of phenotypes in diverse organisms, including the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this review, we introduce CN variation, discuss the genetic and molecular mechanisms implicated in its generation, how they can contribute to genetic and phenotypic diversity in fungal populations, and consider how CN variants may influence wine yeast adaptation in fermentation-related processes. In particular, we focus on reviewing recent work investigating the contribution of changes in CN of fermentation-related genes associated with the adaptation and domestication of yeast wine strains and offer notable illustrations of such changes, including the high levels of CN variation among the CUP genes, which confer resistance to copper, and the preferential deletion and duplication of the MALI and MAL3 loci, respectively, which are responsible for metabolizing maltose and sucrose. Based on the available data, we propose that CN variation is a substantial dimension of yeast genetic diversity that occurs largely independent of single nucleotide polymorphisms. As such, CN variation harbors considerable potential for understanding and manipulating yeast strains in the wine fermentation environment and beyond.