Interview in five sessions, May-July 1998, with Barry C. Barish, Linde Professor of Physics emeritus and director of LIGO [Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory] 1994-2005.

Recalls undergraduate education, Berkeley; graduate work on Lawrence Radiation Laboratory cyclotron; postdoc work on bevatron. Meets Alvin Tollestrup, comes to Caltech as postdoc, 1963. At Brookhaven National Laboratory. At Stanford Linear Accelerator Center with Henry Kendall, Richard Taylor, and Jerome Friedman. With Frank Sciulli, proposes neutrino experiment for Fermilab; work on tau leptons at SLAC. Move to Cornell.

Discusses history of magnetic monopoles and his work on monopoles at Caltech in 1980s. Discusses history of SSC [Superconducting Super Collider]; problems with Standard Model of Particle Physics; Aspen conferences to plan SSC; selection of Texas site. Involvement of Samuel C. C. Ting. Devises SSC experiment, with W. J. Willis. SSC's defeat in Congress (1993). Discusses his work in Italy on monopoles, in Gran Sasso tunnel. MACRO [Monopole Astrophysics Cosmic Ray Observatory] detector.

Discusses history of LIGO. Bar detector experiments of Joseph Weber. Initial meetings at Caltech. Hiring of Ronald W. P. Drever. Rochus E. (Robbie) Vogt as head, 1987. Disastrous technical review and project review, 1992-93. He takes project over from Vogt in February 1994. Discusses problems he encountered and lack of evolution between 1989 and 1994. Discusses LIGO's technical difficulties and evolution of its organizational structure. LIGO Laboratory and LIGO (construction) Project. Establishment of LIGO Scientific Collaboration.

Comments on Caltech; disinclination to serve on committees, enjoyment of teaching. Recollections of Richard Feynman. Influence of Tollestrup and Taylor.


The visibility of pavement markings is an important aspect of a safe transportation system as the markings convey vital roadway warnings and guidance information to the traveling public. Therefore, it is beneficial to maintain acceptable visibility levels of markings on pavements under all weather and lighting conditions. To ensure the intended in-service visibility level is adequately maintained, the reflectivity must be monitored and quantified accordingly. Historically, visibility or retroreflectivity of in-service pavement markings has been measured with handheld devices and visual inspections. However, visual surveys are considered subjective and the handheld measurements are tedious and potentially hazardous. Consequently, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has focused on the use of a non-contact technology capable of assessing pavement markings continuously at highway speeds with improved safety and efficiency. The use of mobile technology for measuring reflectivity has allowed FDOT to develop and, subsequently, implement a Pavement Marking Management System (PMMS) to improve the safety and nighttime visibility of its roadways. Implementation of such a system provides an efficient and less subjective methodology to identify conditions that are detrimental to roadway safety, and strategize mitigating solutions including the selection of appropriate materials and application techniques. The system will ultimately result in an effective use of state funds while ensuring the safety of the traveling public. This paper presents a description of the Florida Pavement Markings Management System and its subsequent implementation including FDOT's effort to ensure the quality, consistency, repeatability, and accessibility of statewide pavement marking retroreflectivity data.


Values of kcat. and Km for the hydrolysis of cellotetraose, cellotriose, beta-cellobiosyl fluoride and various beta-aryl cellobiosides by endoglucanase A (CenA) from Cellulomonas fimi indicate that specific binding interactions between the reducing-end glucose residues of cellotetraose and cellotriose and the enzyme at the transition state provide enormous stabilization, endowing glucose with the "effective leaving group ability' of 2,4-dinitrophenol. As has been seen with several other inverting glycosidases, CenA hydrolyses the "wrong' anomer of its glycosyl fluoride substrate, alpha-cellobiosyl fluoride, according to non-Michaelian kinetics. This indicates that CenA carries out this hydrolysis by a mechanism involving binding of two substrate molecules in the active site (Hehre, Brewer and Genghof (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 5942-5950] in contrast with that reported for cellobiohydrolase II, another family-6 enzyme [Konstantinidis, Marsden and Sinnott (1993) Biochem. J. 291, 833-838]. The pH profiles for wild-type CenA indicate that kcat. for CenA depends on the presence of both a protonated group and a deprotonated group for full activity, consistent with the presence of an acid and a base catalyst at the active site. By contrast, the profile for the Asp252Ala mutant of CenA shows a dependence only on a base-catalytic group, thereby confirming the role of Asp-252 as an acid catalyst. These results show that hydrolysis by CenA occurs by a typical inverting mechanism involving both acid and base catalysis, as first proposed by Koshland. It also suggests that endoglucanases from family 6 may function by fundamentally different mechanisms for exoglucanases in this family.


A Tn5 insertion in the ftsK gene of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae B728a impaired brown spot lesion formation on Phaseolus vulgaris, the ability to grow within bean leaves, and swarming ability on semisolid agar. Plasmids containing the ftsK gene were sufficient to complement the original Tn5 mutant for lesion formation and swarming and partially restored in planta growth.


ABSTRACT Psychopathy attracts considerable interdisciplinary interest. The idea of a group of people with abnormal morality and interpersonal relations raises important philosophical, legal and clinical issues. However, before engaging these issues, we ought to examine whether this category is scientifically grounded. We frame the issue in terms of the question whether 'psychopathy' designates a natural kind according to the cluster approaches. We argue that currently there is no sufficient evidence for an affirmative answer to this question. Furthermore, we examine three ways of dealing with the category of psychopathy. We could eliminate the category, revise it, or subscribe to a more encompassing account of kinds, which could capture psychopathy as it is currently conceptualised. We argue that while a revision of the category of psychopathy is to be expected with empirical and theoretical advancements, we also emphasise its role in clinical and forensic research, which makes it an important pragmatic kind.


The production of bacterial cellulose (BC) from Gluconacetobacter xylinus could be improved by the Taguchi method. Both the initial pH and glucose concentration are the important factors to affect the production of the BC. The optimum combination of these factors and levels is the G. xylinus ATCC 23768, YPD as the basic growth medium, initial pH=4.5, glucose concentration = 5% (w/v), acetic acid concentration= 1.5% (v/v) and liquid height=7.2 cm. After the modified of factors and the levels, the maximum BC concentration and wet film thickness could be increased 37.5% to 0.557 g-dry cellulose/L and 39.0% to 3.92 mm, respectively.


This dissertation consists of three essays examining the behavior of informed traders in financial markets and how they affect asset pricing. It examines informed traders' role in shaping securities prices in three ways. It examines whether on a macro and micro basis insider traders move prices to a different degree than non-insiders. In addition, it uses econometric methods to determine what exchange generates permanent price trends in UK shares. Lastly, it looks at another side effect of fragmentation – how a 'best execution' mandate and related market structure changes affect transactions costs in liquid UK, French, and German shares.These studies expand on current literature in various ways – extant insider trading literature has either primarily focused on daily price movement and volume or had consisted of case studies, the conclusions of which may be idiosyncratic and therefore unrepresentative of typical insider behavior. The new phenomenon of multilateral trading facilities (also known as electronic communications networks) and the proliferation of algorithmic or computer-mediated trading had not been examined in price discovery papers, due to their relative novelty. In addition, despite a bevy of literature offering informed insight into the impact of the European Union's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), there has been a dearth of empirical studies assessing its impact on European securities markets. Chapters 2 and 3 examine MiFID and computerized trading from two different perspectives: that of which trades lead to permanent prices, and that of transactions costs.The conclusions drawn in this dissertation will be of interest to regulators, market operators, and traders, as they offer insight into the impact of market structure and how it impacts informed traders who participate in them.


In this study, we investigated the efficacy of the Bethesda system (TBS) for reporting thyroid cytopathology in determining the risk of malignancy for indeterminate cases. These cases comprised atypia or follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS), follicular neoplasia or suspicious for follicular neoplasia (FN/SFN) and suspicious for malignancy (SM) categories. AUS/FLUS cases were further subcategorized according to their patterns, and the malignancy rate for each subcategory was calculated.


Purpose/Hypothesis: Knee osteoarthritis (Coats, Zioupos, & Aspden) is a degenerative joint disease that negatively impacts the quality of life. About 9.3 million people in the U.S. population are affected. It has been suggested via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies that bone marrow edema (i.e., indicative of bone stress response) and joint structure changes may be the main contributing factors of pain in OA. Frontal plane lower extremity (LE) alignment has been a topic of much interest regarding development of OA in the knee joint. It is hypothesized that varus alignment increases forces through the medial compartment of the knee, thereby leading to bone stress response and initiation of OA. The purpose was to investigate the effects of locomotion-induced shock loading and LE alignment on tibiofemoral bone stress response in older adults without knee OA. Number of Subjects: Five male and five female subjects with no medical diagnosis of knee OA (57.9 ± 3.9 years; 84.2 ± 12.7 kg; 1.7 ± 0.1 m) participated. Materials/Methods: Each subject underwent a clinical biomechanical testing session and an MRI assessment session. During the clinical biomechanical testing, static LE alignment was obtained by measuring the angle between the long axes of femur and tibia. Dynamic LE alignment, in particular the peak frontal plane LE angle during loading response of fast walking, was obtained using a 3-dimensional motion capturing system. During the MRI assessment session, a chemical-shift-encoded water-fat MRI protocol was applied to the dominant knee. MRI data was obtained before fast walking and immediately following a 30-minute fast walking session. Bone stress response was determined by quantifying the bone water content within the weight-bearing regions of iii the medial and lateral compartments. Paired t-tests were used to compare bone water content before and after fast walking. Pearson correlation coefficient analyses were used to determine the associations between LE alignment and changes in water content after fast walking. Results: The paired t-tests revealed no change in water content after fast walking within medial femur (p = 0.671), lateral femur (p =0.174), medial tibia (p = 0.461), and lateral tibia (p = 0.190). Pearson correlation coefficient analyses revealed a significant moderate correlation between increased bone water content of the medial femur and increased static varus alignment (R = 0.688, p =0.027). Additionally, a trend with moderate correlation was observed between increased bone water content of the medial tibia and increased static varus alignment (R = 0.437, p = 0.206). No association was found between changes in bone water content and dynamic alignment (p Conclusions: This is the first study assessing the acute effects of locomotion on bone stress response in older adults without knee OA. Although there was no significant change in bone water content post locomotion, a greater varus alignment was associated with increased water content in the medial…


Cotton gins use air to move seed cotton, lint, cottonseed, and trash through conveying pipes. In gins, pneumatic conveying systems are the principal means of moving material from one processing stage to another throughout the entire ginning plant. Further, material drying or moisture restoration can be accomplished by heating or humidifying the conveying air. Pneumatic systems are a critical and fundamental component of cotton ginning. Cotton gins use large quantities of air for pneumatic conveying. It is common for a gin to use 4,248 m3 (150,000 ft3) or more of air per minute in its various material conveying systems. Because the density of dry standard air is approximately 1.2 kg/m3 (0.075 lb/ft3), a typical gin using 4,248 m3/min (150,000 ft3/min) of air moves 305,860 kg (675,000 lb) of air per hour. This mass of air per hour is approximately 1.5 times the total mass of material handled per hour. Typically, more than 60 to 65% of the total electrical power consumed by a cotton gin is attributed to moving material pneumatically. Properly taking air measurements, determining air flow requirements, sizing conveying pipes, sizing fans to generate required air flow rates, and accounting for specific machinery air requirements are essential to maximizing machine utilization, minimizing energy costs, and decreasing system downtime. This update of the Cotton Ginners Handbook provides current technical information on cotton gin pneumatic systems. It draws heavily on previous versions of the Cotton Ginners Handbook (Stedronsky 1964; McCaskill et al., 1977; Baker et al., 1994) and the knowledge and experience of current and past instructors of the Air Systems classes from the National Cotton Ginners' Association Gin Schools.


Deductive verification of concurrent programs under weak memory has thus far been limited to simple programs over a monolithic state space. For scalabiility, we also require modular techniques with verifiable library abstractions. We address this challenge in the context of RC11 RAR, a subset of the C11 memory model that admits relaxed and release-acquire accesses, but disallows, so-called, load-buffering cycles. We develop a simple framework for specifying abstract objects that precisely characterises the observability guarantees of abstract method calls. Our framework is integrated with an operational semantics that enables verification of client programs that execute abstract method calls from a library it uses. We implement such abstractions in RC11 RAR by developing a (contextual) refinement framework for abstract objects. Our framework has been mechanised in Isabelle/HOL.


Department of Geriatrics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, People's Republic of China Purpose: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an important comorbidity of lung cancer, PH in lung cancer patients is gradually gaining interest because of its apparent high prevalence, but the impact of PH on the outcomes of lung cancer remains uncertain and had rarely been discussed. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence, determinants and prognosis value of elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Patients and Methods: In this retrospective study, subjects with a new and pathological confirmed diagnosis of lung cancer were enrolled. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography before received treatment. Pulmonary artery systolic pressure was measured by transthoracic echocardiography. Lung cancer subtypes were categorized by WHO classification of lung tumors. Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated by using Cox regression models. Results: Among 612 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, 19.8% coexisted with PH. After adjustment for age, symptom, coagulation disorders, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, histological type, clinical stage, PASP ≥35mmHg was significantly associated with the decreased overall survival (OS) of NSCLC (P= 0.028). Moreover, PASP ≥45mmHg was an independent predictor for perioperative death. Independent factors of comorbid elevated PASP were age, the presence of intrapulmonary metastasis and coagulation disorders. Conclusion: These findings suggest that PASP is an independent prognostic risk factor for NSCLC patients. Main determinants of elevated PASP are age, the presence of intrapulmonary metastasis and coagulation disorders.


In contrast to many of the other societies examined in this book, Taiwan has, over the last decade, been dismantling its authoritarian political structure. This process has had a major impact on judicial decision-making. In this chapter, I examine this impact with an account of the Council of Grand Justices, the de facto constitutional court in Taiwan.1 I first provide a description of the constitution in Taiwan and the role of the Council, and then contrast the approach of the Council to constitutional issues before and after the democratisation process. Finally, I seek to place this development in a theoretical context. I cast doubt on whether Jayasuriya's 'East Asian judicial condition' model (Jayasuriya's 'Introduction', this volume) can be applied to Taiwan. I also reject an analysis based on the ideal of 'judicial independence'. I offer instead, an interpretation of the Taiwan experience based on an understanding of the relationship between judges and the 'political-legal community' with whom they interact.2


We study the impact of communication on behavior in a two-stage coordination game with asymmetric payoffs. We test experimentally whether individuals can avoid a head-to-head confrontation by means of coordinated strategies. In particular we analyze whether and how quickly a conflict-avoidance take-turn strategy can emerge. First, our results show that players learn to solve the conflict by choosing opposite options at both stages of the game. Second, many adopt a take-turn strategy to sustain coordination over time and alleviate the inequality induced by the asymmetry of payoffs. Third, communication increases the likelihood of conflict resolution even when a single pair member has the right to communicate. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)


 Abstract — Currently, the reduction of energy consumption, through the use of abundant and recyclable natural materials, for better thermal insulation represents an important area of research. To this end, the use of bio-sourced materials has been identified as one of the green sectors with a very high economic development potential for the future. Because of its role in reducing the consumption of fossil-based raw materials, it contributes significantly to the storage of atmospheric carbon, limits greenhouse gas emissions and creates new economic opportunities. This study constitutes a contribution to the elaboration and the experimental characterization of the thermal behavior of a sawdust-reduced mortar matrix. We have taken into account the influence of the size of the grain fibers of sawdust, hence the use of three different ranges and also different percentage in the different confections. The intended practical application consists of producing a light weight compound at a lower cost to ensure a better thermal and acoustic behavior compared to that existing in the field, in addition to the desired resistances. Improving energy performance, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector, is amongst the objectives to be achieved. The results are very encouraging and highlight the value of the proposed design of organic-source mortar panels which have specific mechanical properties acceptable for their use, low densities, lower cost of manufacture and labor, and above all a positive impact on the environment.


Prediction of aboveground biomass, particularly at large spatial scales, is necessary for estimating global-scale carbon sequestration. Since biomass can be measured only by sacrificing trees, total biomass on plots is never observed. Rather, allometric equations are used to convert individual tree diameter to individual biomass, perhaps with noise. The values for all trees on a plot are then summed to obtain a derived total biomass for the plot. Then, with derived total biomasses for a collection of plots, regression models, using appropriate environmental covariates, are employed to attempt explanation and prediction. Not surprisingly, when out-of-sample validation is examined, such a model will predict total biomass well for holdout data because it is obtained using exactly the same derived approach. Apart from the somewhat circular nature of the regression approach, it also fails to employ the actual observed plot level response data. At each plot, we observe a random number of trees, each with an associated diameter, producing a sample of diameters. A model based on this random number of tree diameters provides understanding of how environmental regressors explain abundance of individuals, which in turn explains individual diameters. We incorporate density dependence because the distribution of tree diameters over a plot of fixed size depends upon the number of trees on the plot. After fitting this model, we can obtain predictive distributions for individuallevel biomass and plot-level total biomass. We show that predictive distributions for plot-level biomass obtained from a density-dependent model for diameters will be much different from predictive distributions using the regression approach. Moreover, they can be more informative for capturing uncertainty than those obtained from modeling derived plot-level biomass directly. We develop a density-dependent diameter distribution model and illustrate with data from the national Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database. We also describe how to scale predictions to larger spatial regions. Our predictions agree (in magnitude) with available wisdom on mean and variation in biomass at the hectare scale.


Nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles were prepared by the simple approach of co-precipitation method using nickel carbonate as precursor. Novel electrically conducting composite materials consisting of nickel oxide nanoparticles dispersed in a polyaniline (PANI) are prepared by an in-situ polymerization method in the presence of different weight percentage of NiO (5, 10, 15 and 20%) at room temperature using ammonium persulphate (NH4)2S2O8 as an oxidant in acidic medium. The synthesized PANI/NiO nanocomposites have been characterized by means of XRD, FTIR, UV-VIS, TEM and VSM for structural and magnetic investigation. NiO has single phase cubic structure with average crystallite size of 23nm and is intercalated to form a core shell of PANI due to which nanocomposites show the peaks of NiO as well as PANI. PANI/NiO nanocomposites showed semiconducting as well as ferromagnetic nature. It was also observed that the conductivity of the PANI/NiO nanocomposites decreased and the magnetization increased with the increase in weight percentage of NiO in PANI. We studied first time the effect of NiO on transport properties of PANI/NiO nanocomposites in terms of transport parameters such as electrical conductivity (), charge localization length (-1), most probable hopping distance (R) and charge hopping energy (w) using variable range hoping (VRH) of charge model as described by Ziller to conducting polymers. Copyright © 2013 VBRI press.


Several numerical computation algorithms exhibit dependences that lead to a wavefront in the computation. Depending on the data distribution chosen, pipelining communication and computation can be the only way to avoid a sequential execution of the parallel code. The computation grain has to be wisely chosen to obtain at the same time a maximum parallelism and a small communication overhead. On the other hand, when the size of data exceeds the memory capacity of the target platform, data have to be stored on disk. The concept of out-of-core computation aims at minimizing the impact of the I/O needed to compute on such data. It has been applied successfully on several linear algebra applications. In this paper we apply out-of-core techniques to wavefront algorithms. The originality of our approach is to overlap computation, communication, and I/O. An original strategy is proposed using several memory blocks accessed in a cyclic manner. The resulting pipeline algorithm achieves a saturation of the disk resource which is the bottleneck in out-of-core algorithms.


The aim of the study is to examine whether physicians adhere to the urgency classification as determined by the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale. A retrospective-archive study was conducted in a tertiary hospital from January 2011 to December 2015. For each patient, we examined the relation between the urgency rating set by the triage nurse and the waiting time for the physician. Additionally, we explored the relationships between waiting times for physicians and several subgroups: patient arrival time, season of the year, assigned care area, and first consultant to examine the patient, using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) analysis. There were 392,687 unique visits during the study period. The distribution of the classification was heterogeneous: 7,133 (1.8%) patients were classified as Priority (P) P1; 17,318 as P2 (4.4%); 148,657 as P3 (37.8%); 113,502 as P4 (28.9%); and 106,077 as P5 (27%). Median and interquartile ranges for time from triage until physician assessment, by triage group, were: P1, 0.7 minutes (0.2-24); P2, 35 minutes (13-76); P3, 44 minutes (21-88); P4, 45 minutes (20-87); and P5, 46 minutes (22-88). Percentages of visits that met the evaluation time goals, by triage classification, were: P1, 61%; P2, 27%; P3, 37%; P4, 61%; and P5, 85%. ANOVA test for the four subgroups revealed statistically significant differences (P<.001). In conclusion, the standard goals for time to physician evaluation are not being met, and there is little difference in time to evaluation between the P3, P4, and P5 classifications. Initiation of system-wide changes in physician workflow and awareness may improve physician adherence to triage classification, shorten time lags, and improve patient evaluation. Further research may allow for better understanding of the factors influencing triage adherence and reinforce teamwork among Emergency Department triage nurses and physicians.


Field measurements were combined with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images to evaluate the use of radar for estimating biomass changes and mapping of aquatic vegetation in the lower Amazon. Field campaigns were conducted concomitant to the acquisition of Radarsat and JERS-1 images at five different stages of the hydrological cycle. The temporal variability of the SAR data for aquatic vegetation shows a dynamic range of 5 dB, however this is due dominantly to the significant differences ( p <0.05) between the low water season when vegetation is small and just emerging and other seasons when vegetation is fully developed. The spatial variability of the above-water biomass is detectable with radar data. Significant correlation ( p <0.05) exist between backscattering coefficients and both above-water dry biomass and height of the plants. The logarithmic relationship between backscattering coefficients and biomass suggests that (1) at low biomass, high transmissivity of the microwave radiation through the vegetation canopy occurs and the backscattering is a result of quasi-specular reflection of both C and L bands and a minor contribution of canopy volume scattering from C band; (2) at intermediate levels of biomass, moderate changes in backscattering values occur and the saturation point of backscattering is reached; and (3) at high biomass, the transmissivity of C and L band radiation is equally attenuated and backscattering approaches similar values for both. A combination of Radarsat and JERS-1 images from high and low water periods were classified using a segmentation algorithm and had an accuracy higher than 97% for vegetated areas of the floodplain. Although further research is needed to better understand the saturation points for Radarsat and JERS-1 data, these findings clearly show that C and L bands can accurately map aquatic vegetation of the Amazon floodplain.


With the proliferation in recent years of electronically stored information and the skyrocketing cost of retaining large amounts of data, issues of preservation have played an increasing role in litigation. Companies and individuals that anticipate that they will be involved in litigation in the future may be obligated to preserve relevant evidence even before litigation is initiated. Because litigation has not yet commenced, they cannot seek clarification regarding their obligations from a court or negotiate them with an adverse party. Statutory or common law preservation duties play a large role in guiding potential litigants in this area. The federal courts have recognized a federal common law duty of preservation that arises before a claim is filed and assert an inherent power to sanction the breach of that duty. This article seeks to clarify the authority of federal courts to create federal common law in this area by examining different approaches that bear on whether or how courts should regulate pre-litigation preservation duties. In Part I, this article looks to the case law to see how courts have exercised their asserted power to regulate pre-litigation preservation and how they have justified that exercise. Courts have generally relied on their inherent authority to regulate their proceedings. However, rather than clarifying the federal courts' authority, such reliance only begs the question of what source of power grants courts this inherent authority to regulate pre-litigation conduct. Part II, therefore, examines possible sources for the courts' authority to create a pre-litigation duty to preserve evidence and to sanction breach of that duty. This article concludes that there are a number of possible sources that might grant courts this power, including the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the constitutional structure, or Article III of the Constitution. Continuing under the assumption that the federal courts have the power to create common law in this area, Part III examines whether in imposing a preservation duty federal courts should create a federal standard or should apply the preservation law of the state in which they sit. With regard to federal courts exercising diversity jurisdiction, federal courts run afoul of the Erie doctrine when they apply federal common law in this area. Furthermore, policy concerns suggest that even federal courts exercising federal-question jurisdiction should apply state preservation law as a matter of federal common law. Such an approach would create the most predictability for parties unsure about the forum of future litigation. The last section of this article, Part IV, considers whether common lawmaking is the appropriate device through which federal preservation law should be developed, or whether litigants would be better served if the Supreme Court promulgated Federal Rules governing the matter. Given the questionable application of federal, as opposed to state, common law in this area, a uniform federal standard is better achieved through the Rules Enabling Act process. However, the most effective reform would probably be realized through the promulgation of a model preservation law to guide states toward uniformity. This article points out a major source of error in federal litigation and suggests that federal preservation law should track that of the states. If uniform federal law on the matter is truly necessary, in most cases the federal courts act beyond their competence in creating a federal standard. The rulemaking process is better suited for such an endeavor.


The downfall of many supervised learning algorithms, such as neural networks, is the inherent need for a large amount of training data. Although there is a lot of buzz about big data, there is still the problem of doing classification from a small dataset. Other methods such as support vector machines, although capable of dealing with few samples, are inherently binary classifiers, and are in need of learning strategies such as One vs All in the case of multi-classification. In the presence of a large number of classes this can become problematic. In this paper we present, a novel approach to supervised learning through the method of clustering. Unlike traditional methods such as K-Means, Gravitational Clustering does not require the initial number of clusters, and automatically builds the clusters, individual samples can be arbitrarily weighted and it requires only few samples while staying resilient to over-fitting.


The size distribution and the total density of clusters of a one-dimensional pure deposit can be expressed analytically from the Ising model. For a codeposit, the alloying effect and the presence of broken bonds at the cluster edges lead to inhomogeneities of the chemical composition of the clusters. We investigate the influence of codeposition on the size distribution of clusters in the case of an alloy that forms an ideal solution. We obtain the exact solution for the size distribution of clusters while the complete characterization of the system results from coupled analytical formulae in the grand-canonical ensemble. The results of this analytical model are successfully compared with those obtained by Monte Carlo simulations.


Fattening up proteins Many eukaryotic proteins are modified by the attachment of lipids, and these modifications can alter how proteins interact with cellular membranes. Rana et al. present x-ray crystal structures of an integral membrane enzyme that appends a fatty acyl chain onto a cysteine residue of target proteins. The enzyme active site is situated at the membrane surface, thus explaining the enzyme's preference for substrates that are already membrane-associated. The structure of a fatty acid-like inhibitor bound within a hydrophobic cavity elucidates the mechanism for the enzyme's acyl chain specificity. Science, this issue p. eaao6326 A lipid-binding cavity determines acyl chain length for a membrane-bound acyltransferase. INTRODUCTION Hundreds of cellular proteins are modified by posttranslational S-acylation of cysteines, commonly known as protein palmitoylation. Unlike other lipid attachments, which are thought to be permanent, palmitoylation can be reversed by cellular thioesterases, enabling dynamic modulation of the local hydrophobicity of substrate proteins. In humans, palmitoylation is catalyzed by 23 members of the DHHC family of integral membrane enzymes, which contain a signature Asp-His-His-Cys (DHHC) motif. DHHC enzymes use acyl–coenzyme A (CoA) (predominantly palmitoyl-CoA) to generate an acyl-enzyme intermediate from which the acyl chain is subsequently transferred to a substrate. With a recent systems-level analysis suggesting that more than 10% of the proteome is palmitoylated, the complexity of protein palmitoylation approaches that of protein phosphorylation and ubiquitylation. Nonetheless, fundamental aspects of DHHC enzymes, including their mechanism of catalysis and acyl-CoA binding and recognition, have been challenging to analyze without detailed structural information. RATIONALE To obtain insights into the structural mechanism of DHHC enzymes, we solved the crystal structures of two DHHC family members: human DHHC20 and a catalytically inactive mutant of zebrafish DHHC15. We also purified and solved the structure of human DHHC20 conjugated to an irreversible inhibitor that mimics the acylated enzyme intermediate. We carried out structure-guided mutagenesis experiments to test residues important for enzyme function and to engineer mutant enzymes with altered acyl-CoA selectivity. RESULTS The four transmembrane helices of hDHHC20 and zfDHHS15 form a tepee-like structure with the active site, contained in the highly conserved cytosolic DHHC cysteine-rich domain, at the membrane-cytosol interface. The cysteine-rich domain binds two zinc (Zn2+) ions that impart structural stability, but do not actively coordinate the nucleophilic cysteine. The C-terminal domain has an unanticipated amphipathic helix and a hydrophobic loop that together form a supporting structure for the transmembrane domain. The transmembrane domain forms a cavity where the acyl chain of acyl-CoA is inserted. Cavity-lining residues are determinants of fatty acyl recognition and chain-length selectivity. Our structures enabled us to engineer mutants of human DHHC20 with altered acyl chain–length selectivities. CONCLUSION By elucidating the location of the active site at the membrane-aqueous interface, our structures readily explain why candidate cysteines for palmitoylation are proximal to the membrane. The active site has a catalytic triad-like arrangement of aspartic acid and histidine residues that activate the nucleophilic cysteine. The C-terminal domain has conserved motifs that form critical interactions with the active site and the rest of the protein. The structures reported here set the stage for the development of structure-based small molecule probes and tools such as orthogonal DHHC enzyme–fatty acyl–CoA pairs that will likely help investigate the enzyme-substrate network of this biologically and biomedically important family of enzymes. Molecular view of DHHC palmitoyltransferases. Human DHHC20 palmitoyltransferase (yellow) shown localized in the Golgi body membrane (green stacks). The Zn2+ ions are shown as gray spheres and the acyl chain of the palmitoyl group in white sticks. A hypothetical substrate (blue) approaches the palmitoyltransferase from the left and, after palmitoylation, is localized to the Golgi body membrane through anchoring of the palmitoyl group, now transferred to the substrate. Image credit: J. Swan, National Institutes of Health DHHC (Asp-His-His-Cys) palmitoyltransferases are eukaryotic integral membrane enzymes that catalyze protein palmitoylation, which is important in a range of physiological processes, including small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) signaling, cell adhesion, and neuronal receptor scaffolding. We present crystal structures of two DHHC palmitoyltransferases and a covalent intermediate mimic. The active site resides at the membrane-cytosol interface, which allows the enzyme to catalyze thioester-exchange chemistry by using fatty acyl–coenzyme A and explains why membrane-proximal cysteines are candidates for palmitoylation. The acyl chain binds in a cavity formed by the transmembrane domain. We propose a mechanism for acyl chain–length selectivity in DHHC enzymes on the basis of cavity mutants with preferences for shorter and longer acyl chains.


In this study, conventional furnace annealing (CFA) is used as the post-treated process, the effects of annealing temperatures on the crystallization and microstructure of (Ba0.7Sr0.3)(Ti0.9 Zr0.1)O3 (BSTZ) thin films will be developed, and the further influences on the electrical properties of BSTZ thin films are also investigated. A previous study made in our laboratory had shown that the dielectric constant and leakage current density of BSTZ thin film with 640 nm thickness are 192 and 10-6 A/cm2 under the frequency of 100 KHz, respectively. However, the maximum dielectric constant and minimum leakage current density of BSTZ thin films under CFA process are 420 (annealed at 800oC) and 10-8 A/cm2 (700oC), respectively. Besides, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and the SEM morphology show that crystalline features and grain size of BSTZ thin films increase with the increase of CFA-treated temperatures. These experiment results suggest that a strong correlation exhibits that the physical properties will influence the dielectric properties and nucleation features of BSTZ thin films.


A longitudinal biomicroscopic study of lenses and fundi of over 2,000 Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mice) which have cataracts as an autosomal recessive trait has been correlated with histologic development of cataracts. By selective breeding, early-onset cataracts (Type I), which are frequently associated with abnormal closure of the fetal fissure and hyaloid vascular abnormalities, have been separated from later-onset (Type II) cataracts, which are more heterogeneous. Type I cataracts occur in syndactylous deer mice, develop rapidly, and histologically may show backward migration of disrupted lens bow cells before lens opacity is apparent biomicroscopically. Posterior subcapsular cataracts then develop and spread centrally and inferonasally to the equatorial area and then to the entire equator. The nucleus opacifies in either a "shell" pattern or as isolated dots. Anterior cortical opacification progresses to mature cataract. Histologically, abnormal migration and proliferation of lens epithelium and enlargement and vacuolar degeneration of the basal (posterior) process of cortical lens fibers are early changes in Type I cataracts. Disruption of the lens bow with failure of differentiation and inward turning of lens epithelium to become lens fibers occurs concurrently. Type II cataracts may follow the developmental pattern of Type I but are rarely associated with severe hyaloid vascular abnormalities and progress more slowly. About 6% of animals develop diabetes, which is not associated with the cataract-webbed trait.


BACKGROUND
The role of gammadelta T cells during an immune response is still elusive and has been proposed to play a first line of defense along with other cells of the innate immune system, such as macrophages and natural killer cells, before alphabeta T-cell activation occurs. Innate cellular immune response plays a major role in xenograft rejection. We investigated the response of human gammadelta T cells to unmodified and human FasL (hFasL)-expressing xenogenic porcine endothelial cells.

METHODS
A 51Cr release assay was used to study the xenoreactivity of human gammadelta T-cell clones against porcine endothelial cells. Stable transfectants of porcine endothelial cells expressing hFasL were established and analyzed for their effectiveness in controlling this response.

RESULTS
Of the gammadelta T-cell clones tested, 38.9% were cytotoxic for porcine endothelial target cells. This cytotoxic response of human gammadelta T-cell clones was significantly inhibited by a monoclonal antibody against human CD3. Incubation of gammadelta T-cell clones with concanamycin A, an inhibitor of the perforin/granzyme B pathway, caused inhibition of lysis of porcine endothelial cells. Inhibition was not observed upon incubation with either anti-FasL or anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha monoclonal antibodies. Expression of hFasL on porcine endothelial cells significantly reduced lysis by human gammadelta T cells.

CONCLUSION
These results imply that human gammadelta T cells may represent an important obstacle to xenotransplantation. Specific strategies targeted at this subset of T cells could be important in controlling innate cellular response to xenografts and facilitate graft survival.


Nonlinear algebraic equations (NAEs) occur routinely in many scientific and engineering problems. The process of solving these NAEs involves many challenges, from finding a suitable initial guess to choosing an appropriate convergence criterion. In practice, Newton's method is the most widely used robust, general-purpose method for solving systems of NAEs. Many variants of Newton's method exist. However, it is generally impossible to know a priori which variant of Newton's method will be effective for a given problem. Moreover, the user usually has little control over many aspects of a software library for solving NAEs. For example, the user may not be able to specify easily a particular linear system solver for the Newton direction. This paper describes a problem-solving environment (PSE) called pythNon for solving systems of NAEs. In pythNon, users have direct and convenient access to many aspects of the solution process not ordinarily available in publicly available numerical software libraries. Consequently, the framework provided by pythNon facilitates a much wider exploration of strategies for solving NAEs than is otherwise presently possible. We give some examples to show how pythNon can be used.


IZA DP No. 15989 MARCH 2023 Pay-As-They-Get-In: Attitudes Towards Migrants and Pension Systems* We study whether a better knowledge of the functioning of pay-as-you-go pension systems and recent demographic trends in the hosting country affects natives' attitudes towards immigration. In two online experiments in Italy and Spain, we randomly treated participants with a video explaining how, in pay-as-you-go pension systems, the payment of current pensions depends on the contributions paid by current workers. The video also explains that the ratio between the number of pensioners and the number of workers in their countries will grow substantially in the future. We find that the treatment improves participants' knowledge about how a pay-as-you-go system works and the future demographic trends in their country. However, we find that only treated participants who do not support populist and anti-immigrant parties display more positive attitudes towards migrants, even though the treatment increases knowledge of pension systems and demographic trends for all participants. JEL Classification: C90, D83, H55, J15, F22


The computed tomographic (CT) scan appearance of parenchymal central nervous system (CNS) infection in 12 immunosuppressed patients was unlike that of the usual bacterial abscess in immunologically intact hosts. The lesions were poorly circum scribed and of low density. Contrast enhancement was minimal and did not assume a " ring" configuration. These CT scan findings heralded a poor prognosis. Compared to the neuropathologic findings, the CT scan generally. underestimated the extent of involvement. Three other compromised patients were better able to localize the infec tion. This successful defense was manifested on their CT scans as the more typical " ring" pattern of contrast enhancement. Patients with this CT scan appearance of their CNS infection had a better prognosis.


A review of patients that were treated jointly by the plastic and the orthopedic surgery teams from 2011 to 2015 to evaluate the timing of definitive reconstruction of extremity defects was undertaken. The cohort consists of 81 patients, of which 4 presented with either a high-risk lesion or an advanced squamous cell carcinoma and of which the remaining 77 patients presented with different types of extremity sarcomas. In 58 cases, immediate-definitive reconstruction was performed, while in 23 cases the definitive procedure was delayed. Immediate definitive reconstruction, concurrent with ablative procedures, was offered whenever possible. In 16 cases, delayed reconstruction was due to diagnostic uncertainty (uncertain diagnosis per se or non-established negative margins). In 6 cases, delayed reconstruction was performed because of infection, in 1 case a bleeding disorder necessitated workup and in another, the intraoperative histology necessitated a plan-change, wound temporization and preparation of an arteriovenous fistula for microsurgical reconstruction. Indications for delayed reconstruction can be related to systemic conditions, donor or recipient site issues (infection, suspicion of margin-problems or tumor "not in continuity"). Although frozen sections have an overall diagnostic accuracy of 90%, changes in management were related to the inadequacy of frozen material, sampling errors resulting from heterogeneity or non-appositional growth of malignancy. A high rate (28%) of delayed reconstruction corresponds with new data reaffirming an old paradigm (radically excised margins "make a difference"), and with objectives dictated by customized, personalized, multimodal approaches. Wound temporization was offered whenever definitive reconstruction couldn't be performed immediately. Limb sparing, with the utilization of temporary spacers or distractors, mega-prostheses, or trials of re-implanting formerly tumorous bone autografts, which have been sterilized to eliminate malignant cells – may all necessitate temporary coverage or staged repair. Authors' clinical experience was evaluated in the context whether the rationale behind immediate versus delayed reconstruction was optimal.


Following the prominent success of CH3NH3PbI3 in photovoltaics and other optoelectronic applications, focus has been placed on better understanding perovskite crystallization from precursor and intermediate phases in order to facilitate improved crystallinity often desirable for advancing optoelectronic properties. Understanding of stability and degradation is also of critical importance as these materials seek commercial applications. In this study, we investigate the evolution of perovskites formed from targeted precursor chemistries by correlating in situ temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and mass spectral analysis of the evolved species. This suite of analyses reveals important precursor composition-induced variations in the processes underpinning perovskite formation and degradation. The addition of Cl− leads to widely different precursor evolution and perovskite formation kinetics, and results in significant changes to the degradation mechanism, including suppression of crystalline PbI2 formation and modification of the thermal stability of the perovskite phase. This work highlights the role of perovskite precursor chemistry in both its formation and degradation.


Erlendur Haraldsson, a prolific researcher who made a number of major contributions in various areas of parapsychology and survival research, died in Reykjavik on November 22, 2020 at the age of 89. Born near Reykjavik, Erlendur studied philosophy in college, but his interest in understanding more about the world began before that. When he was 15, he had an experience during a heavy storm when the sun suddenly shone through the clouds and lit up pebbles on the banks of the nearby shore. As the light reflected off the pebbles, Erlendur sensed being filled with light himself in a way that was immense and beyond words. In an interview with Michael Tymn (2015), he said that a vivid trace of that feeling stayed with him forever and that after that, he never doubted that there was a superior reality. Following college, he worked for three years, mostly as a journalist, before returning to school to study psychology, eventually earning a PhD under Hans Bender in Freiburg. After that, he spent a year working at J. B. Rhine's parapsychology center in Durham, North Carolina, followed by an internship in clinical psychology at the University of Virginia, where he met Ian Stevenson. He and Stevenson studied an Icelandic medium together, introducing Erlendur to the topic of mediumship which he would return to in subsequent decades. Following his internship, he entered the field with a bang. Karlis Osis, the director of research of the American Society for Psychical Research, invited Erlendur to join him in a large study of deathbed visions. They surveyed hundreds of doctors and nurses in both the United States and India about events they had witnessed in their patients. What resulted was a landmark study, one that exemplified the best the field has to offer—detailed statistical analysis along with compelling individual reports. One striking example involved a two-and-a-half year old boy whose mother had died six months before. The respondent wrote, "He was lying there very quiet. He just sat himself up, and he put his arms out and said, 'Mama,' and fell back [dead]" (Osis and Haraldsson, 1977, p. 53).  Osis and Haraldsson found that the data did not support known medical or psychological causes of hallucinations. Likewise, the influences of religious or other cultural factors could not be used to explain away the phenomena.


CD4+ T cells lacking the mTORC1 activator Rheb fail to secrete IFN-γ under Th1 polarizing conditions. We hypothesized that this phenotype is due to defects in regulation of the canonical Th1 transcription factor T-bet at the level of protein phosphorylation downstream of mTORC1. To test this hypothesis, we employed targeted mass-spectrometry proteomic analysis–multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry. We used this method to detect and quantify predicted phosphopeptides derived from T-bet. By analyzing activated murine wild-type and Rheb-deficient CD4+ T cells, as well as murine CD4+ T cells activated in the presence of rapamycin, a pharmacologic inhibitor of mTORC1, we were able to identify six T-bet phosphorylation sites. Five of these are novel, and four sites are consistently dephosphorylated in both Rheb-deficient CD4+ T cells and T cells treated with rapamycin, suggesting mTORC1 signaling controls their phosphorylation. Alanine mutagenesis of each of the six phosphorylation sites was tested for the ability to impair IFN-γ expression. Single phosphorylation site mutants still support induction of IFN-γ expression; however, simultaneous mutation of three of the mTORC1-dependent sites results in significantly reduced IFN-γ expression. The reduced activity of the triple mutant T-bet is associated with its failure to recruit chromatin remodeling complexes to the Ifng gene promoter. These results establish a novel mechanism by which mTORC1 regulates Th1 differentiation, through control of T-bet phosphorylation.


A Vapour Jet Refrigeration System (VJRS) is an alternative to the conventional mechanically driven vapour-compression refrigeration system. The VJRS utilises a supersonic ejector as a thermal compressor and has the potential significantly to reduce energy consumption in air conditioning systems. Experimental investigations and analysis of large supersonic jet ejectors such as those used for steam jet refrigeration, has been carried out in past literature. In the present study the performance characteristics of small VJRS ejectors using R12 as the working fluid (ie ejectors with throat diameters of several millimetres only) have been investigated using experimental, analytical and C F D (computational fluid dynamics) techniques. In practice ejector performance may be affected by the choking phenomena in the secondary stream, superheating of vapour leaving the evaporator and generator, nozzle and diffuser efficiency. The present author developed a model for a small, single-fluid VJRS ejector using the theory of secondary vapour choking which was introduced by Munday and Bagster (1977). This theory was employed by the present researcher to design and test a small R12 ejector. Results of a computer simulation that models secondary choking in the converging part of the ejector and the effects of superheat conditions on the ejector performance are presented. In the present work further developed has been carried out to examine the optimum nozzle position when the ejectors operated at fully developed choked conditions. It has been confirmed that for the small ejectors the choking phenomenon plays an important role in ejector performance. It was also recognised that the nozzle position is a very important factor of the ejector geometry for small VJRS ejectors. In the secondary choking theory, ejector performance may be taken to be a function of the "effective area" available to the secondary fluid within the mixing chamber of the ejector. The present study involved experimental investigation of how this effective area is influenced by operating conditions such as evaporator temperature and nozzle position. In the present investigation the geometry of the converging part of the ejector has also been studied and the shock pressure recovery process examined in the constant area mixing tube. The present author has developed a CFD simulation of the ejector using the PHOENICS-BFC code based on the finite volumetric technique. Comparisons have been made between the predictions of the entrainment ratio using the one-dimensional, constant area analysis, CFD results and experimental results. In the present study analysis of two-fluid VJRS ejectors carried out based on the one-dimensional analysis, constant area method. It was found that using an appropriate fluid-pair, the entrainment ratio is likely to be substantially better than for the single fluid VJRS.


The prospect of generic principles of biological organization being uncovered through the increasingly broad use of the concepts of 'self-assembly' and 'self-organization' in biology will only be fulfilled if students of different levels of biological organization use the same terms with the same meanings. We consider the different ways the terms 'self-assembly' and 'self-organization' have been used, from studies of molecules to studies of animal societies. By linking 'self-assembly' and 'self-organization' with division of labour, we not only put forward a distinction between the underlying concepts but we are also able to relate them to the question: Why has a certain structure been favoured by natural selection? Using the particularly instructive case of social resilience in ant colonies, we demonstrate that the principle of self-organizing self-assembly may apply to higher levels of biological organization than previously considered. We predict that at the level of interactions among organisms within the most advanced animal societies, specialization through learning has a crucial role to play in re-assembly processes. This review may also help important commonalities and differences to be recognized between ordering mechanisms up to the social level and those further up the biological hierarchy, at the level of ecological communities.


Central to debates about the construction of masculinity in sociology is the influence of culture and what constitutes acceptable displays of masculinity. This article adopts a novel approach in examining this question. It adopts a summative content analysis, combined with a semiotic analysis, of 1,100 Facebook photographs, in order to explore the underlying meanings within the photos and the performances of masculinity. Facebook photographs from 44, straight, White, male, early emerging adults attending the same university are used as a representation of an individual's ideal self. These are then analyzed in order to determine the behaviors endorsed by peer culture. It was found that the sample overwhelmingly adopted inclusive behaviors (including homosocial tactility, dancing, and kissing each other), and inclusive masculinity theory was utilized to contextualize participants' constructions of masculinity. Thus, this research shows that emerging adult males at this university construct their masculine identities away from previous orthodox archetypes. It is argued that the reducing importance of gendered behavior patterns may represent an adoption of what are perceived as wider cultural norms and act as a symbol of adulthood to these early emerging adults.


Introduction: Orthostatic headache is very suggestive of intracranial hypotension. It has a good prognosis as it usually responds to conservative treatment or epidural blood patches. Case report: A 36-year-old female presented with severe and prolonged orthostatic headache starting after a seizure. No stigma of intracranial hypotension was detected on brain MRI, and intracranial pressure was within normal range. No imaging evidence of a fistula was found. She was refractory to symptomatic treatment including five epidural blood patches. Progressive improvement occurred simultaneously to the introduction of vitamin A supplementation. Discussion: A series of six similar patients is discussed, in which five patients remained severely symptomatic and workdisabled at an average follow-up of four years. It is proposed that the pathophysiological mechanism producing orthostatic headache might not be dependent on intracranial hypotension and could respond to vitamin A.


H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC) employs classical bi-directional encoded (B) frames that depend only on intra-coded (I) and predictive encoded (P) frames. In contrast, H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) employs hierarchical B frames that depend on other B frames. A fundamental question is how many priority levels single-layer H.264 video encodings require when the encoded frames are statistically multiplexed in transport networks. We conduct extensive simulation experiments with a modular statistical multiplexing structure to uncover the impact of priority levels for a wide range of multiplexing policies. For the bufferless statistical multiplexing of both H.264/AVC and SVC we find that prioritizing the frames according to the number of dependent frames can increase the number of supported streams up to approximately 8%. In contrast, for buffered statistical multiplexing with a relatively small buffer size, frame prioritization does generally not increase the number of supported streams.


Phosphorus flux from agricultural landscapes to surface waters may cause eutrophication. In the northeastern United States, P transport largely depends on P sorption of soils in variable source areas or in land treatment systems. Soil redox fluctuation commonly occurs in these areas. Nevertheless, the effect of soil redox on P sorption has been variable in the literature. This study investigated P sorption of an organic-rich northeastern glaciated silt loam (Langford) under air-dried, field-wet, and reduced conditions using batch P sorption experiments. Additionally, the influence of farm wastewater on soil P sorption was studied. Major results indicated that soil reduction increased the maximum amount of P that can be sorbed (S max ) and decreased the aqueous P concentration at which P sorption and desorption are equal (EPC 0 ), both determined from a modified Langmuir isotherm model. The slightly reduced fleld-wet soils had no significant difference in S max due to limited soil reduction. Using the diluted wastewater as the sorption solution matrices instead of 0.01 mol L -1 KCl solution, the soils generally exhibited greater S max and lower EPC 0 except for the EPC 0 of a reduced surface soil, implying more complex P sorption in the field. Identified P sorption mechanisms include phosphate precipitation, ligand exchange with organic matter, and adsorption onto Fe hydroxides. Transformation of Fe compounds during soil reduction is primarily responsible for the changes in soil P sorption.


The process of monitoring the events occurring in a computer system or network and analyzing them for sign of intrusions is known as intrusion detection systems (IDS).In this paper an overview of types of attacks, IDS components, and classifications of IDS is briefly given. Two approaches from the classification of IDS are also presented. They are anomalybased detection and misuse-based detection. Anomaly-based detection approach is extremely powerful and novel tool which identifies anomalies as deviations from "normal" behavior and automatically detects any deviation from it. Misuse-based detection approach explicitly defines the attack behavior and classifies all events matching these specifications as attack. Data processing techniques for intrusion detection systems are also presented.


The tasks of a medical doctor employed by annuity insurance institutions, e.g. those of the Federal State, are complex. The doctors work in administration, in medical expert offices, and rehabilitation centres. Their tasks thus comprise the compilation of expert reports, consultation services for the administration, and modern rehabilitation diagnostics and therapy in specialised hospitals. In this context, thorough knowledge and understanding of general medicine as well as an open mind for comprehensive concepts are required. Education and training in social medicine or community health care are still far from perfect, and community medicine is not sufficiently developed as part of medical studies. Consequently, these areas must be strengthened


In this work we present a maximum likelihood (ML) approach to high-resolution estimation of the shifts of a spectral signal. This spectral signal arises in application of optically-based resonant biosensors, where high-resolution in the estimation of signal shift is synonymous with high-sensitivity to biological interactions. The underlying signal is nonuniformly sampled and exhibits Poisson noise statistics. Shift estimation accuracies orders of magnitude finer than the sample spacing are sought. The ML-based formulation leads to a solution approach different from typical resonance shift estimation methods based on polynomial fitting and peak (or null) estimation and tracking.


Secret keys connecting users to the system is the heart of cryptographic systems. With the recent wars, several cryptographic systems that use alpha-numeric passwords have been known to be vulnerable to many attacks. Image based password systems were introduced to add more complexity and security. This paper employs human uniqueness of narrative skills on an image-based password system with focus on theme in the password generation process. To generate the secret password, a specially designed computer game was used. We used narrative constructs composed of cartoon image sequences to generate user-specific secret key. The durability of generated passwords and the authentication process while assessing the reconstruction process by a potential hacker was verified. Under imposed psychological duress, users failed retrieving the password sequence suggesting the reliability as an anti-coercive attack cybersecurity tool. A set of experiments were used to analyze user behavior behind the image-based password system. EEG measurements demonstrated increased activity of α rhythms in F3 and FC5 channel bins and augmented levels of β rhythms in F3 and O1 channels, suggesting users added personalization to authentication more than in alpha-numeric password-based logins.


Analytic modeling and analog computer simulation techniques are presented to determine the power train transient responses excited by clutch-actuated gear shifts. A method to describe the dynamics of a transmission arrangement having several clutches and interconnected planetary gear sets is considered in detail. Simulation model testing is directed toward optimizing system design parameters and evaluating power train component capability and vehicle shift-feel. Data reduction techniques applied to model responses of torque and speed will yield appropriate spectrums representative of simulated work cycle.


Perovskite-type Nd1-xSrxCoO3-y catalysts with various Sr mole fraction were prepared and investigated for the effect of Sr substitution on their catalytic activities in the oxidation of carbon monoxide. Utilizing the static and flow methods, kinetic studies have been carried out between 373 and 523 K. The initial reaction was investigated by the static reactor system using a differential photoacoustic cell, and for the study of reaction stage showing a constant catalytic activity after an initial stage characterized by high reaction rates, the flow reactor system using on-line gas chromatography was employed. The catalytic activity increased with increasing amounts of Sr substitution for Nd in NdCoO3 compounds, and it also increased with higher reaction temperature within the range of 373-523 K. Kinetic data obtained in an initial reaction stage by CO2 photoacoustic spectroscopy showed that the reaction partial orders to CO and O2 were 0.8-0.9 and 0, respectively. In the reaction stage showing a constant catalytic activity after an initial stage, the oxidation was found to be first order with respect to CO and 0.5 order with respect to O2. The concentration of oxygen vacancy in the solid catalyst was shown to be the controlling factor for the oxidation of carbon monoxide. According to the experimental results, the mechanisms of the CO oxidation processes are discussed, and it is believed that O2 adsorbs on the oxygen vacancies (Vo x ) formed by Sr substitution while CO adsorbs on the lattice oxygens during the reaction process.


Calcium signals occur in specific spatio-temporal patterns in response to various stimuli and are coordinated with, for example, hormonal signals, for physiological and developmental adaptations. Quantification of calcium together with other signalling molecules is required for correlative analyses and to decipher downstream calcium-decoding mechanisms. Simultaneous in vivo imaging of calcium and abscisic acid has been performed here to investigate the interdependence of the respective signalling processes in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. Advanced ratiometric genetically encoded calcium indicators have been generated and in vivo calcium calibration protocols were established to determine absolute calcium concentration changes in response to auxin and ATP. In roots, abscisic acid induced long-term basal calcium concentration increases, while auxin triggered rapid signals in the elongation zone. The advanced ratiometric calcium indicator R-GECO1-mTurquoise exhibited an increased calcium signal resolution compared to commonly used Förster resonance energy transfer-based indicators. Quantitative calcium measurements in Arabidopsis root tips using R-GECO1-mTurquoise revealed detailed maps of absolute calcium concentration changes in response to auxin and ATP. Calcium calibration protocols using R-GECO1-mTurquoise enabled high-resolution quantitative imaging of resting cytosolic calcium concentrations and their dynamic changes that revealed distinct hormonal and ATP responses in roots.


This paper reviews efforts in a new direction of the EEG research, the direction of EEG emulated control circuits. Those devices are used in brain computer interface (BCI) research. BCI was introduced 1973 as a challenge of using EEG signals to control objects external to the human body. In 1988 an EEG-emulated switch was used in a brain machine interface (BMI) for control of a mobile robot. The same year a closed loop CNV paradigm was used in a BMI to control a buzzer. In 2005 a CNV flip-flop was introduced which opened the direction of EEG-emulated control circuits. The CNV flip-flop was used for BMI control of a robotic arm in 2009, and for control of two robotic arms in 2011. In 2015 an EEG demultiplexer was introduced. The EEG emulated demultiplexer demonstrated control of a robotic arm to avoid an obstacle. The concept of an EEG emulated modem was also introduced. This review is a contribution toward investigation in this new direction of EEG research.


Aim Deregulation of FOXM1 has been documented in various cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of FOXM1 in ovarian cancer tumorigenesis and paclitaxel resistance. Experimental Design Expression of FOXM1 was examined in 119 clinical samples by immunohistochemistry and correlated with clinicopathological parameters. Effects of FOXM1 knockdown on ovarian cancer cell migration, invasion and mitotic catastrophe were also studied. qPCR and ChIP-qPCR were used to establish KIF2C as a novel FOXM1 target gene implicated in chemoresistance. Results High nuclear FOXM1 expression in ovarian cancer patient samples was significantly associated with advanced stages (P = 0.035), shorter overall (P = 0.019) and disease-free (P = 0.014) survival. Multivariate analysis confirmed FOXM1 expression as an independent prognostic factor for ovarian cancer. FOXM1 knockdown significantly inhibited migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells and enhanced paclitaxel-mediated cell death and mitotic catastrophe in a p53-independent manner. Bioinformatics analysis suggested a number of potential transcription targets of FOXM1. One of the potential targets, KIF2C, exhibited similar expression pattern to FOXM1 in chemosensitive and chemoresistant cells in response to paclitaxel treatment. FOXM1 could be detected at the promoter of KIF2C and FOXM1 silencing significantly down-regulated KIF2C. Conclusion Our findings suggest that FOXM1 is associated with poor patient outcome and contributes to paclitaxel resistance by blocking mitotic catastrophe. KIF2C is identified as a novel FOXM1 transcriptional target that may be implicated in the acquisition of chemoresistance. FOXM1 should be further investigated as a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for ovarian cancer.


Genetics is one of the hard to learn biological concepts owing to its connectedness to Latin / Greek origin. Hence, the need for its proper structuring for easy comprehension by the students. The effectiveness of text structure on students' proper understanding had been widely reported in literature, hence, this study investigated score levels, text structures and senior secondary school students' achievement in genetics. Specifically, the study assessed the: (i) variation in the achievement of students taught using different text structures (ii) interaction effects of text structures and score levels on senior school students' achievement in genetics among others. A quasi-experimental design of pretest, posttest, non-equivalent, and non-randomized control group was adopted. A total of 239 students purposively selected took part in the study. ANCOVA was used to analysed the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. Findings indicated that there was (i) a statistically significant difference in the achievement of students exposed to different text structure i.e., F (2, 238) = 15.11 at p < 0.05; (ii) no statistically significant difference in the interaction effects of text structure and score level. The implication of the finding is that the two structured texts were useful for improving senior school students' achievement in genetics. It was therefore, recommended that biology teachers should consider logical prose and concept maps in structuring their instructional materials.


We present an extremely simple Ultra-Resolution Style Transfer framework, termed URST, to flexibly process arbitrary high-resolution images (e.g., 10000x10000 pixels) style transfer for the first time. Most of the existing state-of-the-art methods would fall short due to massive memory cost and small stroke size when processing ultra-high resolution images. URST completely avoids the memory problem caused by ultra-high resolution images by (1) dividing the image into small patches and (2) performing patch-wise style transfer with a novel Thumbnail Instance Normalization (TIN). Specifically, TIN can extract thumbnail features' normalization statistics and apply them to small patches, ensuring the style consistency among different patches.
 Overall, the URST framework has three merits compared to prior arts. (1) We divide input image into small patches and adopt TIN, successfully transferring image style with arbitrary high-resolution. (2) Experiments show that our URST surpasses existing SOTA methods on ultra-high resolution images benefiting from the effectiveness of the proposed stroke perceptual loss in enlarging the stroke size. (3) Our URST can be easily plugged into most existing style transfer methods and directly improve their performance even without training. Code is available at https://git.io/URST.


During the treatment campaigns, carried out in ITREC (Treatment and Remaking Fuel Elements Plant), near the Trisaia locality, Italy, liquid wastes of low and higher activity have been produced and stored in the plant site. A process based on the cementation of liquid wastes by addition to dry cement in a drum was applied to immobilize them in an encapsulated and shielded solid form. It was performed in the SIRTE-MOWA plant (Unit System to prepare, to transfer and to treat radioactive liquid waste in Mobile Waste). Liquid wastes having a Cs-137 specific activity of about 2.77 GBq/l were cemented and stored in about 300 drums, each of them characterised by a mean total activity of around 2100 GBq, of which 555 GBq due to Cs-137. Each conditioning product is composed of a metal drum containing the radioactive solution (about 200 litres), solidified by approximately 400 kg of cement, and a shielding shell made of steel and lead. Dose rates external to the cemented drum containers were measured during and after the drum production process for working staff radioprotection purposes and as a support in the fulfilment of the safety rules and procedures that have to be guaranteed for drums transfer and storage in their final disposal. The paper presents the approach and the results obtained to estimate the doses outside a shielded drum containing an homogeneously mixed radioactive material, by knowing only the geometry of the drum and its radioisotopic content (in terms of activity per each isotope). The ANITA-2000-D activation code package has been used to obtain the decay gamma sources related to each one of the analysed drum containers. Calculations of the dose rates were performed using three different and independent schemes based: a) on the 1D-Sn deterministic approach SCALENEA-1 calculation sequence, b) on the Monte Carlo approach, with the MCNP-4C2 code, and c) on the 2-D Sn deterministic approach, using the DORT code. A cross check between the different calculation schemes and the experimental dose rate measures represent a significant step in the quality assurance process related to the management of radioactive wastes, that could have a positive impact on the public opinion.


: The multiple endpoint mammalian mutagenesis approach developed in our institute screens in the same animal for recessive specific locus alleles at 7 loci, approximately 30 loci coding for dominant cataract mutations, 23 loci controlling protein-charge changes and 12 loci for enzyme-activity alterations. Experiments to screen for the approximately 70 loci in the same offspring of treated male mice were performed with ethylnitrosourea (ENU), procarbazine and X-rays. Mutations were recovered for each genetic endpoint in all treatment groups where a sufficient number of offspring was scored. The observed per locus mutation rate for the different genetic endpoints after spermatogonial treatment with 250 mg/kg ENU was 93.6 X 10(-5) for specific locus mutations, 66.0 X 10(-5) for enzyme-activity mutations, 6.1 X 10(-5) for dominant cataract mutations, and 3.1 X 10(-5) for protein-charge mutations. In all experiments the mutation rates to specific locus and enzyme-activity alleles were higher than the mutation rates to either dominant cataract or protein-charge alleles. The mutations were confirmed by breeding tests.


The rapid and non-destructive monitoring of the canopy leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC) in crops is important for precise nitrogen (N) management. Nowadays, there is an urgent need to identify next-generation bio-physical variable retrieval algorithms that can be incorporated into an operational processing chain for hyperspectral satellite missions. We assessed six retrieval algorithms for estimating LNC from canopy reflectance of winter wheat in eight field experiments. These experiments represented variations in the N application rates, planting densities, ecological sites and cultivars and yielded a total of 821 samples from various places in Jiangsu, China over nine consecutive years. Based on the reflectance spectra and their first derivatives, six methods using different numbers of wavelengths were applied to construct predictive models for estimating wheat LNC, including continuum removal (CR), vegetation indices (VIs), stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR), partial least squares regression (PLSR), artificial neural networks (ANNs), and support vector machines (SVMs). To assess the performance of these six methods, we provided a systematic evaluation of the estimation accuracies using the six metrics that were the coefficients of determination for the calibration (R2C) and validation (R2V) sets, the root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) for the calibration and validation sets, the ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD), the computational efficiency (CE) and the complexity level (CL). The following results were obtained: (1) For the VIs method, SAVI(R1200, R705) produced a more accurate estimation of the LNC than other indices, with R²C, R²V, RMSEP, RPD and CE values of 0.844, 0.795, 0.384, 2.005 and 0.10 min, respectively; (2) For the SMLR, PLSR, ANNs and SVMs methods, the SVMs using the first derivative canopy spectra (SVM-FDS) offered the best accuracy in terms of R²C, R²V, RMSEP, RPD, and CE, at 0.96, 0.78, 0.37, 2.02, and 21.17, respectively; (3) The PLSR-FDS, ANN-OS and SVM-FDS methods yield similar accuracies if the CE and CL are not considered, however, ANNs and SVMs performed better on calibration set than the validation set which indicate that we should take more caution with the two methods for over-fitting. Except PLS method, the performance for most methods did not enhance when the spectrum were operated by the first derivative. Moreover, the evaluation of the robustness demonstrates that SVM method may be better suited than the other methods to cope with potential confounding factors for most varieties, ecological site and growth stage; (4) The prediction accuracy was found to be higher when more wavelengths were used, though at the cost of a lower CE. The findings are of interest to the remote sensing community for the development of improved inversion schemes for hyperspectral applications concerning other types of vegetation. The examples provided in this paper may also serve to illustrate the advantages and shortcomings of empirical hyperspectral models for mapping important vegetation biophysical properties of other crops.


In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two components of the RNA polymerase III (Pol III) general transcription factor TFIIIB are the TATA-binding protein (TBP) and the B-related factor (BRF), so called because its amino-terminal half is homologous to the Pol II transcription factor IIB (TFIIB). We have cloned BRF genes from the yeasts Kluyveromyces lactis and Candida albicans. Despite the large evolutionary distance between these species and S. cerevisiae, the BRF proteins are conserved highly. Although the homology is most pronounced in the amino-terminal half, conserved regions also exist in the carboxy-terminal half that is unique to BRF. By assaying for interactions between BRF and other Pol III transcription factors, we show that it is able to bind to the 135-kD subunit of TFIIIC and also to TBP. Surprisingly, in addition to binding the TFIIB-homologous amino-terminal portion of BRF, TBP also interacts strongly with the carboxy-terminal half. Deleting two conserved regions in the BRF carboxy-terminal region abrogates this interaction. Furthermore, TBP mutations that selectively inhibit Pol III transcription in vivo impair interactions between TBP and the BRF carboxy-terminal domain. Finally, we demonstrate that BRF but not TFIIB binds the Pol III subunit C34 and we define a region of C34 necessary for this interaction. These observations provide insights into the roles performed by BRF in Pol III transcription complex assembly.


Background
Gender pluralist theory was introduced in 2005 as a means of including all sex/gender identities within the realm of plausible identities – it includes unusual, marginalised, and fluid identities as well as those that are normalised and socially accepted. It was developed via an empirical project based in the UK which had contributors who self identified as transsexual men, transsexual women, gender fluid people, cross dressers, intersex people and androgynes. The aim was to find a way of thinking about sex and gender that foregrounded agency and self determination (whether living as male or female, or as another identity), as a basis for positive change. Gender and sex are seen as a spectrum and/or continuum, which includes male and female identities but is not limited to them. Personal choice and autonomy are central tenets of gender pluralism. From a social justice perspective, gender pluralism can be used to develop social models of transgender, gender-variant and intersex health and wellbeing, but the implications of it have not been fully considered. Gender pluralism sits alongside other approaches (degendering and extended ideas of gender) which can be used at the same time to understand sex and gender.

Aim(s)
This paper addresses gender pluralism in the light of recent and current changes to transgender healthcare, wellbeing, and related citizenship rights. It looks at developments such as the emergence of non binary identities, transgender activist moves to challenge the pathologisation of transgender, and changes to legislative and human rights frameworks in Europe that support greater personal choice regarding sex and gender. It also addresses some of the policy changes in healthcare provision and related policy sectors such as education. The paper recognises the differences between intersex and transgender identities, politics and activist agendas and it emphasises the importance of personal choice regarding gender for both these groups. It includes intersex because there are some shared agendas and issues, including in the areas of health citizenship, socially viable identities, and activist strategies. The paper discusses the importance of person-centred healthcare provision where personal choice is recognised, and some of the positive ways in which healthcare professionals and policy makers are responding to calls for change

Main Outcome Measures
The paper draws on six bodies of empirical material: The original UK 1990s study by Monro; three large published pan-European studies carried out by the Fundamental Rights Agency (2013, 2014, and 2016 - the lead author of this paper led the final analysis/report writing for the 2016 study); a qualitative study of non-binary trans identities in Norway (fieldwork conducted by Janneke vd Ros; analysis project underway by Monro and vd Ros); and finally initial findings from a European Commission funded study about Intersex Citizenship in Italy, Switzerland and the UK, led by Monro, with Daniella Crocetti and Tracey Yeadon-Lee (ongoing). The paper will provide an overview of developments in relation to gender pluralism, analysing the utility of the theory, possible ways of extending it, alternative approaches, and specific implications in relation to healthcare.

Methods
This is a conceptual and policy-related paper that is informed by a range of qualitative and quantitative studies and by policy analysis. It does not have specific outcome measures.

Results
The results of this paper concern the utility of gender pluralist theory for understanding trans and intersex peoples' healthcare and related aspects of policy and practice.

Conclusion
Gender pluralist theory is shown to be useful in supporting peoples' autonomy, self determination, and possibilities of considering different healthcare options. Utilising a social model of health, gender pluralist approaches locate the social marginalisation and stress that transgender and intersex people face within wider social forces. These include social traditionalism, religion-related prejudice, sexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, body-prejudice, and bigotry from cisgender women who identify as feminist. A further set of barriers to the wellbeing of gender-diverse people concerns material factors, including economic barriers that prevent trans and intersex people from receiving the healthcare that some of them require.

There are tensions concerning gender-binaried approaches to healthcare in relation to the agendas of non binary-identified people, for example those sometimes espoused by trans men and women and by people who identify as having Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD). Gender pluralist theory finds means of addressing these, by emphasising peoples' autonomy to determine their own identities. Healthcare provision remains important in terms of psychological support for people dealing with minority stress and because of the hormone and surgical treatment that some trans and intersex/DSD people need. This needs to be combined with wider public education regarding gender variance and equality.


Background; Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is a common bacterial infection in patients with cirrhosis and ascities with in-hospital mortality rates ranging from 20 to 30%. Early diagnosis and a prompt antibiotic therapy have considerably decreased the mortality rate and this study was done to determine drug resistance pattern among causative organisms of SBP. Material and Methods; All the cases (n = 183) of Cirrhosis of liver with ascities, fulfilling inclusion criteria were recruited from Department of Medicine Akhtar Saeed Trust Hospital Lahore. All selected patients were subjected to ascitic fluid tap, under aseptic measures by inserting a needle of 22 / 18 gauge in the left flank of abdomen. Ten ml of ascitic fluid was aspirated in a heparinised disposable syringe; which was immediately inoculated into blood culture bottle at bedside and send for bacterial culture and causative organisms was tested for their antibiotic drug resistance pattern. Data was entered and analyzed by computer program SPSS-18. Results; Of these 183 study cases, 103 (56.3%) were male patients while 80 (43.7%) were female patients. Mean age of our study cases was 51.73 ± 9.28 years. Previous history of use of antibiotics before 72 hours was noted in 103 (56.3%), anti – HCV was positive in 103 (56.3%) while HBs Ag was positive in 13.7% of our study cases. Among these study cases, E.coli was noted in 135 (73.8%), Staph. Aureus in 17.5% and Klebsiella was noted in 8.7%. Chloramphenicol was resistant in 24 (13.1%), ampicillin was resistant in 143 (78.1%), co – trimoxazole in 61.2%, ciprofloxacin in 55.7%, Ofloxacin in 56.3%, Cefotaxime was resistant in 78.1% and amoxicillin was resistant in 74.9%. Conclusion; High degree of drug resistance was observed among  these strains in our study which points towards well directed efforts of our health policy makers to adopt certain guidelines regarding use of these drugs in our population. Our study results have indicated that E.coli was major causative organisms among patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis having cirrhosis of liver followed by staphylococcus aureus and klebsiella. Keywords; Cirrhosis, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, E. coli. DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/67-07 Publication date: August 31 st 2020


Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common among the adult population and is both a risk factor for and a consequence of cardiovascular (CV) disease. For patients being followed in clinic for CKD, it is unclear the degree to which an interim CV hospitalization (for myocardial infarction, heart failure, or stroke) affects the subsequent risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and all-cause mortality before ESRD. In this study of 2964 patients referred with stage 3 to 5 CKD (glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min 1.73 m2), after adjustment for several factors at baseline, interim CV hospitalization during follow-up significantly increased the subsequent relative risks of ESRD (hazard ratio, 5.32; 95% confidence interval, 3.74–7.57) and all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 4.15; 95% confidence interval, 3.30–5.23) compared with patients who had not had CV hospitalizations. The relative risk for CVrelated death before ESRD (hazard ratio, 12.38; 95% confidence interval, 8.30–18.45) was higher than for non-CV death before ESRD (hazard ratio, 2.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.57–2.87). These findings may have important implications for clinical practice. An interim CV hospitalization identifies a CKD subpopulation at especially high risk of subsequent progression to ESRD, all-cause mortality before ESRD, and notably CV-related death before ESRD. Intensive secondary preventative strategies may be of particular benefit in these patients because evidence-based therapies, such as statins and antiplatelet drugs, are generally underutilized in patients with CKD and yet they have similar risk reduction profiles as they do in the general population. See p 458.


Considerable research on music psychology indicates correlations between musical preferences and individual differences in personality, between the various uses of music and personality traits, and between musical preferences and personal values. However, the association between personal values and the multiple ways in which music is used has not been considered yet. To investigate this issue, 400 participants completed a self-report questionnaire comprising the uses of music, personality traits, and personal values, as well as provided their demographic details. The hierarchical regression analyses revealed that both personality and personal values along with gender contribute differentially to predicting the different ways in which music is used. Overall, these findings suggest that the understanding of the ways in which listeners experience music can be improved by contemplating various individual difference variables.


The phenomenon of antimicrobial resistance is a threat for public health. The aim of this study was firstly to assess the microbiological quality of fresh vegetables and fruits produced in the market gardens of N'Djamena-Chad; and secondly to study the antibiotic resistance profile of isolated strains. In order to achieve these objectives, data were collected through field surveys and the fresh fruits and vegetables harvested. The collected samples were microbiologically characterized using standardized methods. A total number of 180 fresh vegetables and fruits were analyzed. The results obtained on the prevalence of isolated pathogens showed a high microbial diversity (Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas sobria, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus) and a high microbiological contamination of vegetables analysed. Lettuce was the most contaminated sample with about 46.7% of Escherichia coli and 7% Salmonella spp. However, contamination varied according to the site and was closely related to the poor quality of irrigation water. The study determined the biochemical characteristics of each isolate. The antibiotic sensitivity test of the isolates showed that the isolated pathogenic bacteria are all resistant to the antibiotics tested. A significant difference (p = 0.02) was observed between percentages mean of penicillin resistance (67%) and cephalosporins (29%). The consequences of this contamination are health risks for consumers and producers. Practical Applications Awareness on good farming practices for producers of vegetable and fruits is necessary to preserve consumers' health.


Effective teaching is one of the most important factors to improve student achievement. Therefore in this study we attempted to examine how to teach mathematics to students by primary mathematics teachers and elementary teachers. For this purpose, we used a Likert-type scale which was developed by Dede (2006) and adapted to teachers by researcher. It contained sub-factors items measuring teaching that are based on discussion and inquiry, communication, various instructional materials and sources, and using methods and materials for problem solving. During the fall semester in 2005- 2006, the scale was applied to 100 teachers who studied 54 elementary teachers at 8 primary schools and 46 primary mathematics teachers at 25 primary schools in Sivas. Results showed that there was no statistical difference between the means for elementary and primary mathematics teachers for entire scale.


Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives, and in particular the development of OGD portals, have proliferated since the mid-2000s both at central and local government levels in OECD and non OECD countries. Understanding the preconditions that enable the efficient and effective implementation of these initiatives is essential for achieving their overall objectives. This is especially true in terms of the role played by OGD in relation to Open Government policies in general. This paper highlights the main principles, concepts and criteria framing open government data initiatives and the issues challenging their implementation. It underlines the opportunities that OGD and data analytics may offer policy makers, while providing a note of caution on the challenges this agenda poses for the public sector. Finally, the overall analysis of key concepts and issues aims to pave the way for an empirical analysis of OGD initiatives. So far, little has been done to analyse and prove the impact and accrued value of these initiatives. The paper suggests a methodology comprising an analytical framework for OGD initiatives (to be applied to ex post and ex ante analysis of initiatives) and a related set of data to be collected across OECD countries. The application of the analytical framework and the collection of data would enable the acquisition of a solid body of evidence that could ultimately lead to mapping initiatives across OECD countries (i.e. a typography of initiatives) and developing a common set of metrics to consistently assess impact and value creation within and across countries.


Over the years of the emergence of peer-to-peer systems a phenomenon named 'Free Riding' has affected its performance and become a serious threat to be resolved. Free riding phenomenon was first felt in the study of Gnutella. As the number of free riders increases, the performance of the overall system decreases as free riders use resources without giving anything to the system. To solve the problem of free riding we have developed an Extended Point Based Incentive Mechanism (EPBIM) through which the users are given some incentives to share some files into the system. Our scheme attracts the users to share more and more as it gives more points to the users which provide responses for some queries of other users in the system. This scheme is different from other incentive based schemes in the way that it uses some new parameters for incentives like the time user spends in the network, upload speed of the user, how many simultaneous uploads a user is providing, how many query responses a user is giving and query forwarding of other users in the network. Our simulation results show that this scheme reduces the percentage of free riders to a great extent therefore increasing the performance of a peer-to-peer network.