Communication and play skills are important aspects of development yet are largely uncharted in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This exploratory study examined whether changes in pragmatic skills and problem-solving skills were observed in children with ADHD pre- and post-participation in a play-based intervention conducted by occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists. The study also investigated whether the presence of language difficulties affected the children's play outcomes. Fourteen children with ADHD (5;0–10;7 years) participated in a 7-week, pilot intervention to address play and social skill deficits. Pre- and post-intervention testing included: (a) the assessment of play and problem-solving skills via standardized testing, and (b) pragmatic skills via parent report. The children's language skills were also screened and compared with their play scores. Play skills significantly improved post-intervention. No significant differences were observed for pragmatic skills while prediction skills, an aspect of problem-solving, significantly improved pre- and post-play-based intervention. Fifty percent of children failed the language screener, yet separate paired t-tests identified significant play improvements irrespective of the presence or absence of language difficulty. Two independent t-tests revealed significant differences in play scores between these groups at pre- but not post-intervention. While play and predicting skills significantly improved post-play-based intervention, other aspects of problem-solving and pragmatics did not. Reasons for the lack of change in these areas are discussed. The presence of language difficulties did not appear to affect the play outcomes of children with ADHD following a play-based intervention. A larger scale experimental trial investigating the play and language skills of children with ADHD is warranted, as is future collaborative research between occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists in the assessment and management of children with ADHD.


The intermittency of wind generation and the potential need for adequate transmission expansion are the major concerns in wind generation integration to power system. One solution being considered is to build on-site energy storage with the wind farms. The idea of building such a composite system is not only to minimize the real-time variation of the composite system output, but also to optimize the transmission upgrades needed for delivery of the wind generation. A novel probabilistic reliability assessment method is proposed in this paper for determining the adequate size of on-site energy storage and the transmission upgrades needed in connecting wind generation with the power system. The practical applications of the proposed model are illustrated using the IEEE Reliability Test System (IEEE-RTS).


Temporal orienting of attention plays an important role in our day-to-day lives and can use timing information from exogenous or endogenous sources. Yet, it is unclear what neural mechanisms give rise to temporal attention, and it is debated whether both exogenous and endogenous forms of temporal attention share a common neural source. Here, older adult nonmusicians (N = 47, 24 female) were randomized to undergo 8 weeks of either rhythm training, which places demands on exogenous temporal attention, or word search training as a control. The goal was to assess (1) the neural basis of exogenous temporal attention and (2) whether training-induced improvements in exogenous temporal attention can transfer to enhanced endogenous temporal attention abilities, thereby providing support for a common neural mechanism of temporal attention. Before and after training, exogenous temporal attention was assessed using a rhythmic synchronization paradigm, whereas endogenous temporal attention was evaluated via a temporally cued visual discrimination task. Results showed that rhythm training improved performance on the exogenous temporal attention task, which was associated with increased intertrial coherence within the δ (1-4 Hz) band as assessed by EEG recordings. Source localization revealed increased δ-band intertrial coherence arose from a sensorimotor network, including premotor cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, postcentral gyrus, and the inferior parietal lobule. Despite these improvements in exogenous temporal attention, such benefits were not transferred to endogenous attentional ability. These results support the notion that exogenous and endogenous temporal attention uses independent neural sources, with exogenous temporal attention relying on the precise timing of δ band oscillations within a sensorimotor network. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Allocating attention to specific points in time is known as temporal attention, and may arise from external (exogenous) or internal (endogenous) sources. Despite its importance to our daily lives, it is unclear how the brain gives rise to temporal attention and whether exogenous- or endogenous-based sources for temporal attention rely on shared brain regions. Here, we demonstrate that musical rhythm training improves exogenous temporal attention, which was associated with more consistent timing of neural activity in sensory and motor processing brain regions. However, these benefits did not extend to endogenous temporal attention, indicating that temporal attention relies on different brain regions depending on the source of timing information.


U.S. Naval Postgraduate School (NPS)
Center on Contemporary Conflict (CCC)
Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering WMD (PASCC)
Grant No. N00244-15-1-0034


Intense competition drives the need for dynamic integration of dispersed and heterogeneous manufacturing services. This paper proposes a kind of semantic-based service integration architecture for networked manufacturing. A unique property of this architecture is that it provides the unified interface encapsulation approach and semantic analyzing method to realize dynamic and loose coupling integration. Some key technologies are introduced to demonstrate how the proposed integration architecture can be used to establish a collaborative environment, wherein manufacturing services are semantic modeled, semantic analyzed, and dynamically integrated on-demand.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the contribution of mild to moderate hypertension to progressive loss of renal function by analysis of renal function data from the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial.

DESIGN
The cohort of men with mild to moderate hypertension (baseline diastolic blood pressure > or = 90 mm Hg), randomized to a special intervention (SI) group or usual care (UC) group, were examined for change in renal function based on individual reciprocal creatinine slopes over an average of 7 years' follow-up as the outcome measure. Contribution of blood pressure control during follow-up, age, race, and blood pressure at entry were assessed.

PARTICIPANTS
The cohort of 5524 (463 black, 5061 nonblack) hypertensive men receiving no therapy at entry provided the data for the present analysis.

RESULTS
Blood pressure control was similar for black and white participants, but significant decline in reciprocal creatinine slope was found for black men (mean slope, -0.0090 +/- 0.0013 dL/mg/y) compared with white men (+0.0018 +/- 0.0004 dL/mg/y) (P < .001 for difference between blacks and whites). Decline in renal function was also greater among individuals with elevated systolic (P < .001) as well as diastolic blood pressure (P < .001), and older individuals (P < .001). No difference between the SI and UC groups was seen in reciprocal creatinine slopes, but in both groups combined, treatment that maintained diastolic blood pressure below an average value of 95 mm Hg was associated with stable or improving renal function, whereas participants whose blood pressure remained 95 mm Hg or greater continued to decline at -0.0013 +/- 0.0009 dL/mg/y (P = .007 for difference). Separate examination of the subset of black men (n = 463) failed to show such a difference.

CONCLUSIONS
Effective blood pressure control was associated with stable or improving renal function in nonblacks but not in blacks. These findings emphasize the importance of blood pressure control to maintain adequate renal function in hypertensive white men and raise important questions about the relationship of pressure reduction and renal function change in blacks.


This paper aims to analize the financial deepening on Indonesia economy. The focusof analysize is to identifiying effect of interest rate, exchange rate and Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) to financial deepening on Indonesian economy for 1980-2007. Methodeof analysize is linier regression model. The result of analysize is Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) and interest rate have significant effect to financial deepening on Indonesian economy.


Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a solid lubricant with low friction coefficient. However, it lacks durability as a thin coating. Prior studies have shown that a polydopamine (PDA) underlayer enhances the coating durability. In this study, 100, 200, and 300 µL of aqueous silica nanoparticle (NP) dispersions were added to a 15 mL PDA deposition solution. Stainless steel substrates were coated with PDA + silica in the mixed dispersions and then coated with PTFE layers to form thin PDA + silica/PTFE coatings. The coatings were tested in ball-on-flat linear reciprocating motion under dry contact conditions. The durability of the PDA/PTFE coating was improved by 70% when 100 µL of aqueous silica NP dispersion was added. The significant improvement in the durability was attributed to the increased adhesion of the PTFE coating to the PDA underlayer, the fragmented wear debris, and the enhanced counterface transfer film. These samples also showed enhanced resistance under linearly increasing load scratch testing with lower coefficient of friction (COF) and higher delamination resistance when compared to samples without silica.


The book is in two parts. The first, 'Fundamentals of New Testament Exegesis', outlines methods of approaching a text. The second, 'New Testament Exegesis in Practice', shows how those methods may be applied to ten particular texts. Stenger's purpose is to enable the student to leam 'the art of reading well', in Nietzsche's sense of preserving the distance which separates an ancient text from the modern reader. The


The computation of shortest paths as a basic task in robotics can be accomplished by graph-searching algorithms. Attempts have been made to accelerate a part of these algorithms-the computation of potential vectors-using fine-grained parallel hardware. As shown in this paper, the complexity of digital path-planning circuits can be enormously reduced, if distances are encoded by hardware time delays.


In the absence of an easily available source of reliable up-to-date data on foreign land deals in Tanzania, many reports have been published that attempt to provide an overview of these deals. While providing this overview is challenging due to the dynamic and non-transparent nature of the 'land grab' phenomenon itself, it has become even more debatable due to certain questionable methods of using and quoting existing data. This leads to several flaws including the "virtual survival" of cancelled land deals "on paper". The consequences are an unnecessarily blurred picture of the land deal situation in Tanzania, and thus an inadequate basis for related political decisions or social actions and a misleading starting point for new research projects. In this paper we illustrate some of the flaws in the use of data so far and give an updated and carefully grounded overview of foreign land deals in Tanzania as of December 2012. Our compilation illustrates that, unlike in the past few years, biofuel projects are no longer the priority of foreign investors. Instead, they are focusing on the production of food crops such as rice, sugar and oil, as well as forestry plantations. The overview does not claim to be complete, but it does provide a traceable set of data, which can serve as a basis for further research as well as for much needed policy debates and decisions.


The use of Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC) is widely accepted in the tunnelling industry. The generally accepted method to determine the material parameters of FRC is the standard 3-point beam test. The effect of age can be relevant for tunnels, because these structures are usually designed for life cycles over 100 years. In this paper the test results of FRC specimens with different fibres using different testing methods (beam and square panel) at different ages will be presented. FRC changes its properties over time in case of both fibre types. The post crack capacity of steel FRC increases in beam tests, while it decreases in panel tests, which yields the conclusion that steel fibres work better at smaller crack width. This changes only a small amount over time. The energy absorption measured from panel tests reduces in case of steel fibre, but stays at a constant level for synthetic fibre.


reference in clinical EEG. The book has expanded from 17 to 23 chapters. The new chapters deal with the use of computers in EEG and evoked potentials, long-term monitoring, fundamentals of electrocorticography, intraoperative monitoring, and a succinct description of the laboratory evaluation of sleep disorders. The chapters are written by recognized authorities and are a reflection of the state of the art in the different fields.


A theoretical basis for the regularity of supercontinent cycles is lacking. Here we show that periodic supercontinent cycles are unlikely if thermal instabilities originating at the core-mantle boundary are of sufficient strength. We couple multiple mobile continents with vigorous mantle convection in a spherical geometry. Regular supercontinent cycles lasting 400 ± 50 m.y. occur in idealized models with three continents and a mantle heated purely from within by radioactive decay. In a model incorporating six continents and strong mantle plumes, this regularity is broken and supercontinents form only sporadically. Our results suggest that periodic supercontinent cycles are unlikely to occur in realistic Earth models.


Death during sport or physical activity is a tragic and unexpected event. However, with appropriate evidence-based policies in place, death can often be prevented. The top causes of sudden death in sport and physical activity are sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), exertional heat stroke (EHS), head injuries, and exertional sickling. Studies1–3 suggest that more than 90% of sudden deaths in sport are attributable to these 4 causes, with SCA accounting for about 75% of sudden death during sport participation. Although sudden death from the aforementioned causes is not 100% preventable, the implementation of evidence-based safety policies such as emergency planning and access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs), heat acclimatization, instruction on proper tackling techniques (such as the "Heads Up Football" educational program), and sickle cell trait (SCT) screening in targeted populations can dramatically reduce overall risk. American football presents a unique risk profile for head injuries, EHS, and exertional sickling, which have driven many of the policy changes, but best practices for sport safety and emergency planning are relevant across all sports.


The objective of the research presented in this paper is to identify the relations and strength of the relationships between the elements of two models – the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence model. For that purpose, a framework which indicates the relationships between the mentioned models has been developed. The hypothesis to be tested is whether the EFQM Excellence model may be used as an indicator of BSC implementation success. Hypothesis testing is based on data from a sample of 150 Serbian organisations. The results suggest that there are strong positive correlations between the BSC perspectives and the EFQM Excellence model criteria. Since the regression coefficients for the relationships between the BSC perspectives and the EFQM criteria are significant, with high positive values, the research results indicate a strong justification of the developed framework.


DNA photoproducts with (6-4) pyrimidine-pyrimidone adducts formed by ultraviolet radiation are implicated in mutagenesis and cancer, particularly skin cancer. The crystal structure of the Fab fragment of the murine 64M-2 antibody specific to DNA T(6-4)T photoproducts is determined as a complex with dT(6-4)T, a (6-4) pyrimidine-pyrimidone photodimer of dTpT, at 2.4 A resolution to a crystallographic R-factor of 0.199 and an R(free) value of 0.279. The 64M-2 Fab molecule is in an extended arrangement with an elbow angle of 174 degrees, and its five complementarity-determining regions, except L2, are involved in the ligand binding. The bound dT(6-4)T ligand adopting a ring structure with (6-4) linked 5' thymine-3' pyrimidone bases is fully accommodated in an antigen-binding pocket of about 15 Ax10 A. The 5'-thymine and 3'-pyrimidone bases are in half-chair and planar conformations, respectively, and are nearly perpendicular to each other. The 5'-thymine base is hydrogen-bonded to Arg95H and Ser96H, and is in van der Waals contact with Tyr100iH. The 3'-pyrimidone base is hydrogen-bonded to His35H, and is in contact with Trp33H. Three water molecules are located at the interface between the bases and the Fab residues. Hydrogen bonds involving these water molecules also contribute to Fab recognition of the dT(6-4)T bases. The sugar-phosphate backbone connecting the bases is surrounded by residues His27dL, Tyr32L, Ser92L, Trp33H, and Ser58H, but is not hydrogen-bonded to these residues.


Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is an invasive alien species indigenous to North America. Ragweed is a big threat to agriculture and has a serious impact on human health. The most important area with ragweed occurrence within Europe is Pannonian Plain in Central Europe. This research introduces for the first time the unique, direct broad-scale survey of A. artemisiifolia in relation to real-life occurrence and infestation in the field. To understand the distribution of ragweed in the territory the geospatial analysis was applied to create 2D map in ArcGIS environment. The field survey was undertaken during summer 2014 in the Žitný ostrov (Slovakia). The investigation revealed that spatial occurrence of A. artemisiifolia is not homogeneous and there is also striking territorial heterogeneity of infestation rate. Ragweed was observed at 80 (47.2%) out of 169 sites. The infestation of arable land (mostly stubbles) varied from weak infestation, 24 sites (1-30 plants*10 m-2) to heavy infestation, 26 sites (˃80 plants*10 m-2). The research on associated plant communities was also carried out. Stubble field's vegetation was found to be highly species poor, on an average only 2.5 species*10 m-2. Among 40 recorded species the most frequent (noticed at 25% sites) were Datura stramonium, Chenopodium album, and Mercurialis annua. This broad-scale survey provides an overview and useful information on considerations needed to make decisions about ragweed control and potential future expansion. The presented study offers also inventory of ragweed frequency over the large area.


APHASIA is a relatively rare condition. As a rule it develops in persons beyond middle age, as a result of hemorrhages, tumors or other conditions in the brain. Aphasia in children is rare; therefore, 1 unusual case is here recorded. C. A. P., a 12 year old white girl, was admitted to the Columbia hospital after having been sick for only two or three days. Her complaints were general malaise, headaches and fever; previous to this illness she had always been in good health. At admission her temperature was 102 F. The spinal fluid had a cloudy appearance and a cell count of 100. It contained globulin, but not sugar, and there were meningococci present. The blood contained 75 Gm. of hemoglobin per hundred cubic centimeters and 20,000 white blood cells, with 90 per cent neutrophilic polymorphonuclear cells and 10 per cent lymphocytes. The sedimentation rate was 20 mm. after


Background Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1/AIDS and Schistosoma mansoni are widely spread in sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia and the co-infection is also prevalent, occurs commonly. Schistosoma mansoni infection has been suggested to be a risk factor for HIV transmission and progression. This study aims to assess the prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma mansoni infection and associated risk factors among individuals with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at Chuahit Health Center, West Dembia, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2019. Two hundred sixty-six study subjects were included in the study by using a systemic and convenient sampling technique. Pretested structured questionnaire was employed to collect data. Single stool samples were collected and examined for S. mansoni eggs. Finger prick and venous blood samples were collected for HIV-1 screening and viral load count. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Independent t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to compare the mean of egg counts with HIV status and viral load counts, respectively. A P-value of less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results The overall prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni infection was 41 (15.4%) and 162.24 egg per gram of faeces (EPG), respectively. Prevalence of S. mansoni was higher in seronegative study participants though the difference is statistically insignificant. Higher intensity of infection was observed among seropositive study participants with high viral load counts (>1000 copies/mL). Conclusion Relatively higher prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni infection were found. Study participants' occupation was identified as potential risk factor to S. mansoni infection. Further studies are needed to know the impact of HIV on the prevalence and intensity of S. mansoni infection in the study area.


This case study is designed to examine the feasibility and possible implementation of the use of modified steel shipping container units, as temporary relief housing for victims of natural disasters. In this study we will analyze an on-going shipping container project being constructed in Santa Rosa, CA as well as use previously constructed research on this type of construction. The point of this research is to develop and analyze areas in which shipping container projects like this one could be more expeditious and more cost efficient in the future. In short, my findings proved modular shipping container home construction, as a form of natural disaster relief housing, is faster, cheaper and just as safe as traditional ground up construction.


The effects of colchicine on ADP-induced aggregation and on the phosphorylation of tubulin-like protein from human blood platelets were studied. Colchicine at 2mM concentration completely inhibits ADP-induced aggregation after 8min incubation. Under the same inhibitory conditions, phosphorylation of tubulin-like materials in intact platelets was also impaired whereas the endogenous kinase activity of tubulin, isolated through polymerization--depolymerization cycles, was not affected. It was also shown that, under conditions of maximal inhibition of both aggregation and tubulin phosphorylation, colchicine does not penetrate into the cells. The results obtained suggest that the effect of colchicine on platelet aggregation might be mainly, although not exclusively, due to a non-specific effect of the alkaloid on the plasma membrane, rather than to a direct action of the drug on the microtubular protein subunits.


Although lying is often studied in relation to malicious factors like crime, delinquency, and lie-detection, there may be people who lie without any antagonistic intentions. In those cases, other factors like age, self-regulation, and impression management may be at play. Some studies suggest that teenagers and children may be more likely to lie than adults because of a lower maturity or because of desires for autonomy rather than malicious intent (Dykstra et al., 2020; Levine et al., 2013). Other researchers propose that some may lie because of low levels of self-control or ego depletion (Fan et al., 2016; Welsh et al., 2014). It is also suggested that both self-regulation and ego depletion may be influenced by certain mental illnesses, which may then indirectly influence lying (Barnett, 2019; Jarrett, 2016; Remster, 2014). Furthermore, some studies propose that impression management may be a motive for deceptive behavior, especially among people with low self-esteem or social anxiety (Cantarero et al., 2018; Myers, 2011; Walczyk et al., 2016). People may also attempt to use exaggeration to impress others and foster better relationships (DePaulo et al., 2004). Thus, lying may not always be influenced by an intent to harm, but by age, low levels of self-control, and the desire to impress people. Future research on the non-malicious influencers of lying could provide insight into better treatment options for those who lie without malicious intent.


Community nursing in Western Germany has received little attention from nurse historians. The period from 1950 to 1980 can be seen as a major shift from the single nurse's independent work to more teamwork. So far, changes during this period have not been analysed from the perspective of individual nurses. To illuminate this period of change, primary historical sources including archives and contemporaneous reports and journals were analysed. In addition an oral history approach was used to get an awareness of individual nurses' experiences. For this purpose interviews with five community nurses were conducted. Changes during the analysed period were perceived from different angles by the nurses. The analysis of the journal texts written by nurses and the interviews revealed the following categories: independence and freedom, working together, bureaucracy. Not all nurses were happy to lose the independence in their work. The new teamwork was not always welcomed although some nurses recognised the advantages of supporting each other. Increasing bureaucracy was a topic raised in the interviews but not in the journals. It can be concluded that the oral history approach is a suitable method to give individual nurses a voice.


Research indicates that those participating in sport consume alcohol more frequently and at higher quantities than their non-sporting peers. The highest levels of alcohol consumption have been found in university student sportspeople; however, the reasons for such elevated alcohol use are unclear and there has been little research in this area outside US institutions. Moreover, research seems to be predominantly problem-focused and may therefore be unlikely to afford a wider understanding of the role alcohol plays in the lives of many sportspeople. There is a particular paucity of research examining the positive social and psychological outcomes of alcohol consumption in sport participants. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between social cohesion, identity, self-reported happiness and student sportspeople's drinking. Questionnaires containing validated measures for alcohol consumption, happiness, importance of sporting identity and drinking for team cohesion were used to collect data from 243 university sportspeople (females =145, 60%). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that age, happiness and team cohesion were significant predictors of alcohol consumption, whereas sporting identity did not contribute significantly to the regression model. Further mediation analyses found that the relationship between happiness and alcohol consumption was mediated by team cohesion.


Arborists frequently use handsaws while climbing, and a recent accident highlighted the danger of cutting one's rope with a handsaw. There do not appear to be any robust tests describing the ability of handsaws to cut ropes. The following study attached handsaw blades to a pendulum, which swung into a rope, bringing the blade and rope, which was under tension, into contact. The percent of the rope's diameter cut by the blade was measured, as well as the percent loss in the rope's strength after it was cut. Type of blade was a more important factor than type of rope with respect to the percent cut and percent strength loss, and there was a nearly one-to-one relationship between those response variables. The results of this study are discussed in the context of a climber's safety.


Abstract By exploring the process through which a distinctive Taiwanese national cuisine was formed, particularly after 2000, this paper reveals that ethnic politics can play a crucial role in the framing of national cuisine, involving issues of social hierarchy and the dilemma of tradition and modernization. Through state banquets, local food festivals, and other means of promoting ethnic cuisines, local Taiwanese dishes and ethnic cuisines have become viable commodities in the marketplace, while the government has played an active role as a market agent in this process. Nevertheless, although traditional ethnic cuisines have been articulated as important symbols of ethnicity, the symbolic power of tradition has its limits. As social hierarchy is a crucial aspect in ethnic politics, and the degree of modernization has been shaped as the criterion of a higher social class, "tradition or modernization" becomes a choice between ethnicity and social status. The production and contestation of the hierarchies of ethnic cuisines in Taiwan thus involve not only the hierarchy of ethnic groups but also the forces of modernization and Westernization.


This paper describes the result of low-temperature direct bonding of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) by Au-Au surface-activated bonding (SAB). Flip-chip mountable VCSELs (250 μm × 250 μm × 100 μm thick) with anode and cathode on the same side of each chip were used for the experiments. After organic contaminants on the Au surfaces of the VCSELs and silicon substrates were removed by surface activation with argon radio-frequency plasma, Au-Au bonding was carried out by contact in ambient air with applied static pressure for 30 s. The die-shear strength and light intensity-current-voltage (L-I-V) curves were measured to evaluate the mechanical and optoelectronic characteristics of bonded VCSELs. The high die-shear strength of over 50 gf (54 MPa: shear force divided by the total electrode pad area) was achieved at a relatively low bonding temperature of 150°C and a contact load of 500 gf. The L-I-V measurements showed that the bonded VCSELs at the bonding temperature of 150°C functioned normally without degradation.


We present the first detailed kinematic analysis of the proper motions (PMs) of stars in the Magellanic Bridge, from both the Gaia Data Release 2 catalog and from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys data. For the Gaia data, we identify and select two populations of stars in the Bridge region, young main-sequence (MS) and red giant stars. The spatial locations of the stars are compared against the known H i gas structure, finding a correlation between the MS stars and the H i gas. In the HST fields our signal comes mainly from an older MS and turnoff population, and the PM baselines range between ∼4 and 13 yr. The PMs of these different populations are found to be consistent with each other, as well as across the two telescopes. When the absolute motion of the Small Magellanic Cloud is subtracted out, the residual Bridge motions display a general pattern of pointing away from the Small Magellanic Cloud toward the Large Magellanic Cloud. We compare in detail the kinematics of the stellar samples against numerical simulations of the interactions between the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, and find general agreement between the kinematics of the observed populations and a simulation in which the Clouds have undergone a recent direct collision.


Wetlands are vital habitats for a variety of organisms and ecosystem services, but the health of these valuable habitats is declining worldwide. The Rallidae species that rely on these habitats are typically elusive, cryptic and difficult to monitor accurately, especially in dense wetland vegetation. To date, invasive survey techniques such as rope dragging have largely been applied in surveying species within these genera. A survey of palustrine wetland habitat using camera traps was implemented to ascertain the efficacy of this non-invasive monitoring technique for surveying elusive wetland avian species. The survey yielded a total of 445 independent sightings across 15 target wetland species, including four Rallidae species. Our results clearly display that camera trapping as a non-invasive survey technique can effectively determine the presence and monitor arguably the most cryptic and elusive of the Rallidae genera within southern Africa. In addition, data sets produced through this survey technique are unique in that robust data are collected incorporating numerous aspects of species biology and behaviour. Our study further demonstrated the ability of camera trapping to produce accurate, reliable and rapid species inventories within palustrine wetland habitats.


The integration of social networking concepts into Internet of Things systems is a burgeoning topic of research that promises to support novel and more powerful applications. In this paper we present the social approach that the COSMOS project introduces in order to achieve enhanced services like discovery, recommendation and sharing between Things enriched with social properties. We investigate how typical notions and modes of interactions of social networking can be extended to the networks of Things, providing a Social Internet of Things platform, and we discuss two main components supporting the socialization of Things: Social Monitoring and Social Analysis. The first one involves all the main tools and techniques needed for the monitoring of the social properties of the Things, whereas Social Analysis is used for the extraction of their complex social characteristics, as well as models and patterns regarding their behavior and relations between them.


Scientific research can lead to breakthroughs that revolutionise society by solving long-standing problems. However, investment of public funds into research requires the ability to clearly demonstrate beneficial returns, accountability, and good management. At the same time, with the amount of scholarly literature rapidly expanding, recognising key research that presents the most important contributions to science is becoming increasingly difficult and time-consuming. This creates a need for effective and appropriate research evaluation methods. However, the question of how to evaluate the quality of research outcomes is very difficult to answer and despite decades of research, there is still no standard solution to this problem.

Given this growing need for research evaluation, it is increasingly important to understand how research should be evaluated, and whether the existing methods meet this need. However, the current solutions, which are predominantly based on counting the number of interactions in the scholarly communication network, are insufficient for a number of reasons. In particular, they struggle in capturing many aspects of the academic culture and often significantly lag behind current developments.

This work focuses on the evaluation of research publications and aims at creating new methods which utilise publication content. It studies the concept of research publication quality, methods assessing the performance of new research publication evaluation methods, analyses and extends the existing methods, and, most importantly, presents a new class of metrics which are based on publication manuscripts. By bridging the fields of research evaluation and text- and data-mining, this work provides tools for analysing the outcomes of research, and for relieving information overload in scholarly publishing.


During recent years, oversampled filter banks with perfect reconstruction (PR) have become very popular as they provide increased design freedom for the filters, allow higher attenuation in the stop-band and also provide a very good noise immunity. The goal of this thesis is to design oversampled filter banks with builtin error correction capabilities as presented in [16] and extend the error correction scheme for multiple impulse errors. We intend to compare the performance of traditional channel coding with critically sampled filter banks (Modified DFT filter banks [6]) versus joint source channel coding using oversampled filter banks. The set up is tested on memoryless channels that corrupt the bits during the transmission causing impulse errors [14] for a speech-like input signal (AR1 process). We anticipate that the redundancy introduced by oversampled filter banks not only provides reliable communication like channel codes but also leads to the improvement in the quality of the reconstructed signal.


We describe a method for calibrating a stereo pair of cameras using general or planar motions. The method consists of upgrading a 3D projective representation to affine and to Euclidean without any knowledge, neither about the motion parameters nor about the 3D layout. We investigate the algebraic properties relating projective representation to the plane at infinity and to the intrinsic camera parameters when the camera pair is considered as a moving rigid body. We show that all the computations can be carried out using standard linear resolutions techniques. An error analysis reveals the relative importance of the various steps of the calibration process: projective-to-affine and affine-to-metric upgrades. Extensive experiments performed with calibrated and natural data confirm the error analysis as well as the sensitivity study performed with simulated data.


The test-ornament of Brachiopods is found in three main phases—smooth, ribbed, and spinous. These three phases are in this anagenetic sequence to one another:—in relation to its nearest allies, a costate species of a given series is more advanced than a smooth one of that series, and a spinose one still further than a costate. There are catagenetic developments also in reverse order:—in certain Productids the costate stage follows on a spinose: in Acanthothyris there are certain cases of the spinose ontogenetic stage being followed by a smooth. If, however, the catagenetic phases be put aside for the present, it may be said that the state of external ornament—smooth, costate, spinose—indicates the position of a brachiopod as more or less advanced than its fellows. The present paper is concerned only with two cases of the development of the ribbed stage. The passage of the smooth into the ribbed stage is not acquired in the same way : there are various methods by which similar looking ribbed forms have been evolved from similar looking smooth forms. This has a most important bearing on their classification. if the phylogenetie history of similar ribbed forms is demonstrably different, it is, according to modern opinion, a technical error to place them in the same genus, even if their interior organization be similar. if a given smooth form can have developed into one of the ribbed forms but not into the other, it is a technical error to unite it with the costate form into


Macrophages accumulate in blood vessels during hypertension. However, their contribution to vessel remodeling is unknown. In the present study, we examined the polarization state of macrophages (M1/M2) in aortas of mice during hypertension and investigated whether antagonism of chemokine receptors involved in macrophage accumulation reduces vessel remodeling and blood pressure (BP). Mice treated with ANG II (0.7 mg·kg(-1)·day(-1), 14 days) had elevated systolic BP (158 ± 3 mmHg) compared with saline-treated animals (122 ± 3 mmHg). Flow cytometry revealed that ANG II infusion increased numbers of CD45(+)CD11b(+)Ly6C(hi) monocytes and CD45(+)CD11b(+)F4/80(+) macrophages by 10- and 2-fold, respectively. The majority of macrophages were positive for the M2 marker CD206 but negative for the M1 marker inducible nitric oxide synthase. Expression of other M2 genes (arginase-1, Fc receptor-like S scavenger receptor, and receptor-1) was elevated in aortas from ANG II-treated mice, whereas M1 genes [TNF and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2] were unaltered. A PCR array to identify chemokine receptor targets for intervention revealed chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 2 (CCR2) to be upregulated in aortas from ANG II-treated mice, while flow cytometry identified Ly6C(hi) monocytes as the main CCR2-expressing cell type. Intervention with a CCR2 antagonist (INCB3344; 30 mg·kg(-1)·day(-1)), 7 days after the commencement of ANG II infusion, reduced aortic macrophage numbers. INCB334 also reduced aortic collagen deposition, elastin loss, and BP in ANG II-treated mice. Thus, ANG II-dependent hypertension in mice is associated with Ly6C(hi) monocyte and M2 macrophage accumulation in the aorta. Inhibition of macrophage accumulation with a CCR2 antagonist prevents ANG II-induced vessel fibrosis and elevated BP, highlighting this as a promising approach for the future treatment of vessel remodeling/stiffening in hypertension.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To reduce the likelihood of preventable readmissions, the aim was to investigate how older people (with their family members) managed their chronic health conditions at home following hospital discharge. The objectives explored older people and their family members' perspectives on how discharge plans assisted self-management of their chronic conditions, their recognition of deterioration and when to seek treatment/re-attend hospital.

BACKGROUND
Chronic conditions have challenged older adults' self-management, particularly after hospital discharge and can impact on preventable readmission. Few studies have examined patients' and their family members' perspectives on the management of their conditions at home after hospitalisation.

DESIGN
A qualitative exploratory design known as Interpretive Description was utilised.

METHODS
Purposeful sampling involved 27 community-dwelling older adults; nineteen were discharged patients with one or more chronic health conditions. Eight nominated family members were also recruited to enhance understanding of the older persons' self-management at home. Interviews were undertaken and thematic data analysis followed the COREQ guidelines.

RESULTS
Five themes emerged: (1) Post-Discharge Advice; (2) Managing at Home; (3) Recognition and Response to Deterioration; (4) Community Care and Support; and (5) The "Burden" on Others of Post-Discharge Care.

CONCLUSION
Older people sought a clear plan for self-management at home prior to discharge. This plan should contain potential signs of deterioration and guidance on future action. We found that support given to older people from family and friends was critical to prevent readmission. In addition, their local General Practitioner and Pharmacist played an essential part in the support of their care. For some, social support services were also important. Nurse telephone follow-up in the week following discharge was mostly absent. However, this strategy would be strongly recommended.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
To mitigate against preventable readmission, we recommend the above strategies to assist the older person at home with self-management of their chronic conditions.


The large number of sensors in the field, and the usage of IoT based equipment generate big collections of data, some of them being useful to address maintenance policies, replacement requirements, calibration, research on new data analysis models etc. Both industrial and social systems are increasing in complexity due to new technologies applied to information processing. Recent developments in embedding and integration offered new opportunities to collect, filter, analyse, and interpret huge collections of data generated by large populations of sensor, special devices, or people, and named "Big Data". This work emphasizes on conceptual issues and methodological aspects related to data registration, filtering, smoothing, analysing in order to predict important indicators of the quality of life. The systems reliability engineering field is revisited taking into account both data sources and the new methodologies used for reliability data. Software reliability of applications for smart cities is also addressed. The following frameworks are considered: Systems of Systems (SoS), Big Data, System Operating/Environmental (SOE) data, and Smart cities reliability. The SoS reliability engineering depends on its nature: virtual - based on resource sharing, collaborative - based on agreements, acknowledged - based on collaborative management through a well defined interface, and directed SoS - based on centralized management. The SoS reliability is estimated differently depending on the specific architecture and particular reliability requirements. When the reliability is considered in context Big data, both technologies are considered: batch processing (based on analytics on "data at rest") or stream processing (analytics on "data in motion"). The adequacy of existing reliability models to the Big data reliability concerns, taking into account the 'curse of dimensionality" is considered in the last section.


Objective: The aim of this research was to assess the relationship between mitral annular calcification (MAC) and whole blood viscosity (WBV). Subjects and Methods: A total of 184 patients with MAC and 133 patients without MAC were enrolled in the study. The WBV was calculated with a confirmed formulation using the hematocrit and total plasma protein at a low shear rate (LSR) and high shear rate (HSR). Early diastolic mitral annular velocity (Ea) and late diastolic mitral annular velocity (Aa) were measured using pulse Doppler tissue echocardiography. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between WBV and mitral annular motion velocities. The effects of different variables on the occurrence of MAC were assessed in univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: In patients with MAC, WBV values were significantly higher at HSR (18.04 ± 0.84 vs. 17.25 ± 0.96 208 s-1, p < 0.001) and at LSR (78.0 ± 14.2 vs. 61.9 ± 17.1 0.5 s-1, p < 0.001). The WBV at HSR and LSR were significantly correlated with Ea (r = -0.477, p < 0.001; r = -0.385, p < 0.001, respectively) and Aa (r = -0.544, p < 0.001; r = -0.323, p < 0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that WBV of both shear rates was an independent predictor of MAC. Using the ROC curve, a cut-off value of 70.1 for WBV at LSR had a sensitivity of 83.7% and a specificity of 73.7% (AUC 0.785, p < 0.001) and a WBV cut-off value of 17.5 at HSR had a sensitivity of 79.6% and a specificity of 71.4% (AUC 0.761, p < 0.001) for the prediction of MAC. Conclusion: Patients with MAC had significantly higher WBV, which independently predicted the presence of MAC. WBV had an inverse correlation with mitral annular motion velocities, indicating that a higher WBV may lead to greater limitation in annular motion and, thus, more calcification.


BACKGROUND
The significance of the stenotic lesions of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in Asian patients with striatocapsular small, deep infarctions (SSDIs) remains undetermined.

OBJECTIVES
To investigate the frequency of stenotic lesions of the MCA in patients with SSDIs and to evaluate clinical and radiological features in those same patients.

SETTING
Acute stroke registry of a university hospital.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
One hundred two Korean patients with acute symptomatic SSDIs underwent cerebral angiography or magnetic resonance angiography and echocardiography. We divided these patients into 2 groups-patients with and without MCA occlusive lesions. The clinical and magnetic resonance image features were compared between these 2 groups.

RESULTS
Thirty-seven patients (36%) had an ipsilateral proximal MCA lesion, whereas 65 patients (64%) showed no MCA abnormality on cerebral angiography or magnetic resonance angiography. Among 65 patients without an MCA lesion, 18 had an embolic source; the remaining 37 patients had no demonstrable embolic source. There were significant differences in the temporal profile and magnetic resonance imaging findings between the groups. Although the type of lacunar syndrome and the volume of infarcts did not differ between the groups, the unstable temporal profile and magnetic resonance imaging findings of multiple small infarcts in the symptomatic hemisphere were frequently observed in patients with MCA lesions.

CONCLUSIONS
The proximal MCA lesion was a common cause of SSDIs in Korean patients. Depending on the existence of an MCA lesion, the clinical course and magnetic resonance imaging feature of the patients with SSDIs were different.


The ability to generalize to unseen domains is crucial for machine learning systems deployed in the real world, especially when we only have data from limited training domains. In this paper, we propose a simple and effective regularization method based on the nuclear norm of the learned features for domain generalization. Intuitively, the proposed regularizer mitigates the impacts of environmental features and encourages learning domain-invariant features. Theoretically, we provide insights into why nuclear norm regularization is more effective compared to ERM and alternative regularization methods. Empirically, we conduct extensive experiments on both synthetic and real datasets. We show that nuclear norm regularization achieves strong performance compared to baselines in a wide range of domain generalization tasks. Moreover, our regularizer is broadly applicable with various methods such as ERM and SWAD with consistently improved performance, e.g., 1.7% and 0.9% test accuracy improvements respectively on the DomainBed benchmark.


Recent attention-based end-to-end speech synthesis from text systems have achieved human-level performance. However, many approaches cause a sequence-to-sequence model to generate only averaged results of the input text, making it difficult to control the duration of utterance. In this study, we present a novel mechanism for phonemic-level duration control (PDC) in a nearly end-to-end manner in order to solve this problem. We used a teacher attention alignment generated by an annotation speech analyzer program. Our method is inspired by the idea that the duration of a phoneme is highly related to its phonemic features. These phonemic features are saved on the attention alignment by adding duration embedding to it. This enables the model to learn and control the phonemic and rhythmic features of speech. We also show that providing alignment information as a teacher loss term improves training speed and notably, makes the model better at controlling the speed of dramatic change in phonemic-level duration with subjective demonstration. As a result, we show that our PDC speech synthesis with alignment loss outperforms other baseline methods without losing the ability to control the duration of phonemes in extremely adjusted environments with faster convergence.


Atlas 5251 is a wrought, non-heat-treatable, aluminum-magnesium alloy (5xxx series). Alloy 5251, registered in 1972, is essentially the same as the old N4 alloy and is produced primarily in Europe for a variety of common alloy applications. It offers properties similar to those of alloy 5052 for the same temper. This datasheet provides information on composition, physical properties, elasticity, and tensile properties. It also includes information on corrosion resistance as well as heat treating, machining, and joining. Filing Code: Al-484. Producer or source: Atlas Steels.


Background Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in Australia. The impact of stroke on the Australia Indigenous people is, however, unclear. Aim This study describes hospital-based stroke incidence and case fatality in the Northern Territory population in Australia. Methods Retrospective study of Northern Territory residents with a first-ever stroke episode and case fatality among Northern Territory residents in 1999–2011. Results The rate ratio of age-adjusted stroke incidence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations was 2·8 for men and 2·7 for women, similar to those reported elsewhere in Australia. The rate ratio increased to 3·8 (95% confidence interval: 3·4–4·3) after adjusting for multiple risk factors. There was no change in annual incidence between 1999 and 2011 for either non-Indigenous (incidence rate ratio per year 1·01, 95% confidence interval: 1·00–1·03) or Indigenous people (incidence rate ratio: 1·00, 95% confidence interval: 0·98–1·02), although incidence did increase for non-Indigenous people in the 15–39 year age group (incidence rate ratio:1·09, 95% confidence interval:1·02–1·17) and for Indigenous people in the 40–64 year age group (incidence rate ratio:1·03, 95% confidence interva 1·00–1·06). The case fatality rate decreased from 22% in 1999 to 12% in 2011. In-hospital deaths were more common among; older and Indigenous people, for those with other chronic diseases, and from haemorrhagic stroke compared with ischemic stroke. Conclusions In the Northern Territory, as elsewhere in Australia, Indigenous Australians are more likely than other Australians to suffer a stroke. Lack of falling in incidence in the Northern Territory population highlights the importance for ongoing comprehensive primary and acute care in reducing risk factors and managing stroke patients.


The use of an individual's neural response to stimuli (the event-related potential or ERP) has potential as a biometric because it is highly resistant to fraud relative to other conventional authentication systems. P300 is an ERP in human electroencephalography (EEG) that occurs in response to an oddball stimulus when an individual is actively engaged in a target detection task. Because P300 is consistently detectable from almost every subject, it is considered a potential signal for biometric applications. This paper presents a feasibility study of using topological plots of P300 as a biometric in subject authentication. The variation in latency and location of P300 response of 24 participants performing the P300Speller task were studied. Data sets from four participants were used for algorithm training; data from the other 20 participants were used as imposters for algorithm validation. The result showed that the algorithm was able to correctly identify three out of these four participants. Validation test also proved that the algorithm was able to reject 95% of the imposters for those three authenticated participants.


This thesis investigates the usage of floating frames in boats. A floating frame is a transverse frame fittedto the longitudinal stiffener flanges without contact with the shell plating, as opposed to the traditionalfixed frame which is welded to the shell plating with the stiffeners most commonly fitted through cut outsin the frame.To study the floating frame structure in a bigger perspective a finite element analysis is performed on amid ship compartment of an existing 60 m high speed catamaran ferry. The analysis is performed on amodel with scantlings as the original craft but with introduced floating frames. Stresses are analysed withrespect to maximum allowable stress as given in the DNV-rules for HAZ.High stresses are found in the bottom of the frames due to the reduced bending stiffness without effectiveflange from the shell plating. A large deformation in the shell plating relative the transverse frames isfound, creating high stresses in the stiffener webs. This deformation is induced by a large verticaldeformation of the frames.It is concluded that the transverse frames requires an increased stiffness to achieve acceptable stress levels.Possible solutions to increase stiffness are discussed, further studies are required to achieve an acceptablestructure.A design criterion for stiffeners in floating frame constructions is evaluated. The criterion considers theinteraction between a concentrated contact force and a bending moment with the purpose of simplifyingthe design process of stiffeners. The criterion is a combination of design methods from DNV HSLC andEurocode 9.The design criterion is found to give conservative results, although not unreasonably conservative. Thecriterion is suitable for the design of smaller work boats where the scantlings traditionally are not veryoptimized.


Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) has received much attention as a non-invasive alternative to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, primarily for investigation of choledocholithiasis, but also for evaluation of less common biliary anomalies. We present a case of haemobilia causing acute pancreatitis after percutaneous liver biopsy in which the diagnosis could be made clearly by MRCP, thus avoiding endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and sphincterotomy.


Implementation of the Cross-entropy (CE) method to solve reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) problems was investigated. The emphasis of this implementation method was to solve independently both the reliability and optimization sub-problems within the RBDO problem; therefore, the main aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Cross-entropy method in terms of efficiency and accuracy to solve RBDO problems. A numerical approach was followed in which the implementation and preparation of the CE algorithm for the numerical modelling and simulations were performed on the high level language, MATLAB (R2014a and R2013b). The CE algorithm was prepared for reliability analysis and further developed to account for optimization problems. The CE method was initially validated on an academic RBDO problem within an analytical solution and the necessary parameter study of the CE algorithm was conducted. In the meantime, the efficiency and accuracy of the CE method were evaluated in comparison with existing reliability and optimization methods. Finally, the developed algorithm was examined and evaluated on an RBDO problem of a practical design of a laterally loaded monopile foundation for offshore wind turbines. The CE method showed efficient performance on RBDO problems. Moreover, the method gave both efficient (less simulation time) and accurate results by comparing it to analytical solutions and existing reliability as well as optimization methods. Some recommendations and future works were also pointed out and discussed.


Background. Physical performances and cognition are positively related in cognitively healthy people. The aim of this study was to examine whether physical performances are related to specific cognitive functioning in older people with mild to severe cognitive impairment. Methods. This cross-sectional study included 134 people with a mild to severe cognitive impairment (mean age 82 years). Multiple linear regression was performed, after controlling for covariates and the level of global cognition, with the performances on mobility, strength, aerobic fitness, and balance as predictors and working memory and episodic memory as dependent variables. Results. The full models explain 49–57% of the variance in working memory and 40–43% of episodic memory. Strength, aerobic fitness, and balance are significantly associated with working memory, explaining 3–7% of its variance, irrespective of the severity of the cognitive impairment. Physical performance is not related to episodic memory in older people with mild to severe cognitive impairment. Conclusions. Physical performance is associated with working memory in older people with cognitive impairment. Future studies should investigate whether physical exercise for increased physical performance can improve cognitive functioning. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov NTR1482.


Analysis of N7-guanine adducts derived from 1,3-butadiene (BD) was conducted with use of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in combination with stable isotope methods. The N7-guanine adducts were shown to undergo spontaneous depurination from DNA in vitro in both calf-thymus DNA and TK6-cell DNA. A comparison was made between BD-derived N7-guanine adduct concentrations both in liver DNA and urine of rats and mice exposed to BD. This has provided insight into the exposure of the animals to 1,2-epoxy-3-butene (BDO), 1,2,3,4-diepoxybutane (BDO2), and 1,2-dihydroxy-3,4-epoxybutane (BDO-diol), the three oxidative metabolites of BD thought to be responsible for BD-mediated carcinogenesis. The liver DNA of mice contained more of the two N7-guanine adducts of BDO--N7-2-hydroxy-3-butenyl-1-guanine (2HB1G) and N7-1-hydroxy-3-butenyl-2-guanine (1HB2G)--than the amounts in rats during the 10-day BD exposure and the 6 days after exposure that were monitored. An excess of 1HB2G over 2HB1G by a factor of approximately 10 in the rat liver and a factor of approximately 5 in the mouse liver was also observed. This regioselective difference was apparent during both the 10-day exposure and the 6 days after exposure. The half-lives of 2HB1G and 1HB2G were estimated as 4.3 days and 3.5 days, respectively, in the DNA of BD-exposed mice and rats. Higher amounts of 2HB1G and 1HB2G appeared in rat urine compared with mouse urine after the 10-day exposure to 1,250 ppm BD. Analysis of liver DNA for N7-guanine adducts derived from BDO2 revealed the presence of two diastereomeric forms of N7-(2,3,4-trihydroxybutyl)-1-guanine (THBG). One of the diastereomers [(+/-)-THBG] was formed by reaction of DNA with (+/-)-BDO2 or BDO-diol, and the other diastereomer (meso-THBG) was formed by reaction of DNA with meso-BDO2 or BDO-diol. There was more (+/-)-THBG and meso-THBG in liver DNA of mice compared with amounts in rats during the 10 days of BD exposure and the 6 days after exposure. A twofold excess of (+/-)-THBG over meso-THBG in rat liver was found at all of the time points monitored. After 10 days of exposure to BD, (+/-)-THBG in mouse liver was also present in an almost twofold excess over meso-THBG. At 6 days after exposure to BD, however, (+/-)-THBG and meso-THBG were present in almost equal amounts in mouse liver. Furthermore, amounts of the two THBG diastereomers in mouse liver 6 days after exposure to BD were almost fivefold greater than amounts in rat liver. The half-lives of (+/-)-THBG and meso-THBG appeared to be longer in mouse liver (4.1 days and 5.5 days, respectively) than in rat liver (3.6 days and 4.0 days, respectively). Higher amounts of (+/-)-THBG were excreted in rat urine compared with mouse urine. It is noteworthy that each of the N7-guanine adducts derived from BD was present in higher concentrations in the liver DNA of mice exposed to 1,250 ppm BD than in the liver DNA of rats exposed to the same dose. Conversely, each of the adducts was present in higher concentrations in the urine of rats compared with the urine of mice after exposure to 1,250 ppm BD.


BACKGROUND
The prenatal period has been suggested to be important for future cancer risk. Conditions in utero are also important for the development of the kidney, and birth weight, a marker of fetal nutrition and growth, is linearly correlated with the number of nephrons and the structural and functional unit of the kidney. An association between birth weight and renal cell cancer, the major form of kidney cancer, is biologically plausible, but has never been studied.

METHODS
We conducted a population-based, case-controlled study in Sweden of men and women aged 20 to 79 years. We collected self-reported information on categories of birth weight from 648 patients with newly diagnosed renal cell cancer and from 900 frequency-matched control subjects. We used unconditional logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) as estimates of the relative risks.

RESULTS
An increased risk of renal cell cancer was observed among men with a birth weight of > or =3500 g (adjusted OR = 1.3, 95% CI, 1.0 to 1.8) compared with men with a birth weight between 3000 and 3499 g, especially in the subgroup without hypertension or diabetes (adjusted OR = 1.8, 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.6). No clear association among men with a birth weight <3000 g or among women was found.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study shows that conditions in utero, reflected by birth weight, might affect the risk of renal cell cancer in adulthood. It is unclear why no association was found among women. Further studies, based on weight from birth certificates, are needed to clarify this relationship.


The Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University offers an Indigenous Tertiary Enabling Course designed to equip Indigenous students for entry into mainstream university degree programs. While the program is highly regarded, it is argued that opportunities offered by incorporating contemporary learning technologies to allow more effective student engagement can deliver more successful outcomes. With this in mind the Centre has undertaken to introduce the use of tablet devices (iPad) and notebook computers (MacBook Air), which will enable a strategic shift towards a more studentcentred, technology, integrated model of student engagement with anticipated enhanced outcomes. The Centre has undertaken to trial the use of online teaching and learning strategies in semester 1, 2014. At this pre-tertiary level, it is anticipated the advantages of a student-centred experience will become evident as the trial moves through the year. This paper describes the current conditions and staff perceptions after the first year of implementation as well as comparing outcomes from the most recent ITEC cohort.


This, the second report on the activities of a team from the British Archaeological Expedition to Iraq in the north Jazira, will present an overview of the results of the first four seasons of fieldwork. A review of settlement change since the first millennium BC will be reserved for a future publication. The first two seasons of survey (autumn 1986 and 1987), which concentrated on the region around Tell al-Hawa, were followed, in autumn 1988, by a season of excavation of three sites within the hinterland: Tulul al-Biyadir, Tell al-Hilwa and Khanijdal. The most recent season, conducted over some four months between September 1989 and February 1990, resulted in a total survey coverage of some 475 sq km. In addition, a single Late Assyrian/Hellenistic/Parthian site (Khirbet 'Aloki) was excavated to investigate the sequence of settlement within the area of putative Neo-Assyrian colonisation. The first interim report (Ball, Tucker and Wilkinson 1989, henceforth, Ball et al. 1989) presented an introduction to the area and the rescue project; this report will focus upon the development of settlement and the influence that early route systems had upon settlement patterns.


The telecommunications industry in Israel has changed significantly in recent years. This paper examines key issues that will arise in Israel as a result of these major changes and argues that the major changes in the telecommunications industry require significant changes in the regulatory structure. The paper first provides background material on the current structure in the various segments of the telecommunications industry in Israel. The paper then discusses the current regulatory environment and makes recommendations regarding the future regulatory structure in Israel and the scope for regulation.


The authors are collaborating with a manufacturer of custom built steel frame modular units which are then transported for rapid erection onsite (volumetric building system). As part of its strategy to develop modular housing, Enemetric, is taking the opportunity to develop intelligent buildings, integrating a wide range of sensors and control systems for optimising energy efficiency and monitoring structural health, while adopting a BIM approach throughout the design process through to construction and lifetime management. Furthermore, combining BIM with real-time monitoring of energy consumption and structural health with simulation techniques (dynamic thermal simulation, on-line structural assessment) a robust and intelligent solution for managing modern buildings can be developed. Enemetric have recently been embracing BIM to improve workflow, in particular cost estimation to enterprise resource planning (ERP) and computer aided manufacture (CAM). By leveraging the existing data generated during the design phases, and projecting it to all other aspects of construction management, less errors are made and productivity is significantly increased. Enemetric may work on several buildings at once, and scheduling and priorities are important for effective workflow. The parametric nature of BIM is also very useful in terms of building management, whereby real-time data collection can be logically associated with individual components of the BIM stored in a local Building Management System, including structural health monitoring and environmental monitoring and control. BIM reuse is further employed in building simulation tools, to apply simulation assisted control strategies, in order to reduce energy consumption, and increase occupant comfort.


Halal today is no longer focused on food and beverages manufacturing but also halal pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, logistics, consumer goods and Muslim friendly hospitality services. Changes in the Muslim lifestyle and spending ability have a positive impact on the growth in the global halal industry market. Advancement in communication technology, availability of online information on Muslim friendly hospitality globally, the increasing awareness on the needs of Muslim travellers including halal food, prayer facilities, Muslim friendly accommodation, Muslim friendly tourism products and activities, and Muslim friendly tour guide are identified as the major factors that attract Muslims to travel. The Muslim friendly hospitality services are Shariah guided requirement for tourism industry players in setting up an assurance system to preserve the integrity of products and services provided for Muslim travellers (Department of Standard Malaysia, MS 2610:2015 Muslim Friendly Hospitality Services_Requirements). From the economic point of view with more than 50 Muslim countries (no less than 1.6 billion Muslims) huge opportunities await those who are willing to meet the demands for Muslim-friendly hospitality products and services. Muslim tourist expenditure growth is estimated to be approximately 4.79% per annum on average from 2012 – 2020 and by the year 2020, growth in Muslim travel is expected to touch 4.8%, significantly higher than the global figure of only 3.8%. It is also revealed that of the Top 20 countries exhibiting the largest growth in tourism expenditure between 2005 –2010, 25% is from Muslim-majority OIC-member countries. Offering tourism products and services that are Shariah-compliant opens them up to this increasingly affluent tourist market that would otherwise not spend their money on them, thus enabling the products and services to be enjoyed by everyone, i.e. both non-Muslims and Muslims. Among the factors that increase the opportunity in Muslim friendly hospitality services in Malaysia covers various sectors such as transportation, tourist arrival points such as airport, accommodation, dining, prayer facilities and ground handling. Realising the great economic gain offered by the industry and the huge potential offered by Muslim friendly tourism hospitality services certain countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand government and related tourism hospitality agencies play a proactive role to enhance products and services which are suitable for Muslim tourist. Steps are taken to enhance the infrastructure in the industry. Hence, in order to do so it is important to know and understand its requirements and the needs of the Muslim travellers particularly. The discussion will be divided into three main parts as follows.

Part I will highlight the growth of the Halal industry in Malaysia as well as globally. This section will further deliberate on the emergence of Muslim friendly hospitality industry in Malaysia as well global market, its contribution to the national GDP, its potentials and factors that support the growth of the industry. This part will also discuss the initiatives taken by the relevant agencies in order to support the growth and sustainability of the Muslim friendly hospitality services in Malaysia.
Part II will highlight the needs of Muslim travellers especially when travelling to non-Islamic countries. This section will discuss the Management responsibility in ensuring their hospitality facilities and services are suitable for Muslim guest. This section will touch on the specific requirements that suit the Muslim travellers including ideal concept of Muslim friendly accommodation, Muslim friendly tourism products selection, Muslim friendly tour guide, Muslim friendly tourism package, prayer facilities, and halal food. This section will also discuss type activities, services and tourism products which are not suitable for Muslim tourist. The discussion will be based on Malaysian experience in managing Muslim friendly hospitality services with a special reference to Malaysian Standard MS 2610:2015 Muslim Friendly Hospitality Services_Requirements. This part will highlight the finding that Muslim friendly hospitality services is doable and manageable even in a non-Islamic country such as Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Australia, and Europe.
Part III will discuss the prospect and challenges of Muslim friendly hospitality services in Malaysia and globally. Among others it will highlight certain global issues that may have hampered the growth of the industry directly and indirectly. The occurrence of such problems does not only happen in a non-Islamic country but also in an Islamic country such as Malaysia. In Malaysia for example certain organization such as hotel prohibits female Muslim workers at wearing hijab or head cover to be stationed at the front office. This scenario suggested that the hotel management had failed to understand the fundamental rights of its Muslim workers. Besides, Islamaphobia is also a threat to the growth of Muslim friendly hospitality services globally. Moreover unavailability of Muslim friendly facilities such as halal food restaurant, inadequate information on Muslim friendly hospitality services, prayer facilities and the like may also influence the growth of the particular industry in many countries. Hence, tourism attraction and availability of tourism products alone are insufficient to attract Muslim tourist to travel.
Key words: Muslim friendly, needs, prospects, challenges


Generally, it has been pronounced that the demand for animal products worldwide will drastically increase due to population boom in turn putting pressure on animal production systems. In view of meeting animal protein demand, suggestions have been put forward to the effect that mini-livestock production, which include rabbits should be part of the mainstream animal production strategies. However, it has been noted that commercial rabbit production has been adversely affected by the high cost of feeding and use of traditional feed stuff (grain and soya bean) that have direct competition with humans for food. There has been an unbearable continued increase in the cost of traditional feed resources (soya been, maize, millet, groundnut, fish meal etc.) in the past decade, which in turn has led to exorbitant rabbit feed prices and consequently expensive rabbit meat and their products. This on the backdrop that feeding is a very critical aspect of rabbit production enterprise that influence overall performance (growth, mortality, reproduction, carcass and meat quality) in rabbits. In this aspect, it has been recommended to explore non-classical (alternative or non-traditional or non-conventional) feed resources to depart from exorbitant cost of feeding and the cost related influence of feed resources due to direct competition between rabbits and humans for food, while maintaining improved rabbit productivity. A series of studies have been carried out targeted on some local non-classical feed resources on account of their nutritional values, as energy and protein sources in rabbits' diets. The inferiority and unbalance nutritive quality of some of the non-classical feed resources is a major challenge which restrict their successful use in rabbit production. Initial assessment of some non-classical feed resources has reported low nutritive value that distinctly depress voluntary feed intake and nutrient digestibility which in turn adversely affect weight gain in rabbits. However, some non-classical feed resources tested have shown marked potential as energy and protein substitute sources in rabbits' diets to enhance production. This point to the fact that successful use of non-classical feed resources can mitigate the current high cost and shortage of traditional feedstuffs, and also lessen the potential high competition between rabbits and humans on food. The purpose of this review is to discuss the use of non-classical feed resources and their influence on some performance indicators.


The cloud computing paradigm has become really popular, and its adoption is constantly increasing. Hence, also network activities and security alerts related to cloud services are increasing and are likely to become even more relevant in the upcoming years. In this paper, we propose the first characterization of real security alerts related to cloud activities and generated by a network sensor at the edge of a large network environment over several months. Results show that the characteristics of cloud security alerts differ from those that are not related to cloud activities. Moreover, alerts related to different cloud providers exhibit peculiar and different behaviors that can be identified through temporal analyses. The methods and results proposed in this paper are useful as a basis for the design of novel algorithms for the automatic analysis of cloud security alerts, that can be aimed at forecasting, prioritization, anomaly and state-change detection.


BACKGROUND
Osteoarthritis of the hip or knees is a very disabling condition in both Caucasians and Africans. A lot of medical drugs have been in use with their corresponding side effects, hence the search for newer drugs with fewer side effects.

STUDY DESIGN
A double blind clinical trial comparing the safety and efficacy of nimesulide and diclofenac was carried out in the University College Hospital Ibadan. All patients referred to the outpatients department of the orthopaedic division with osteoarthritis of the hips and knees who met the criteria for inclusion in the study were used for the study.

RESULTS
There were a total number of sixty-seven (67) patients. 70.6% of the nimesulide patients had only mild pain in the involved joint on completion of the eight weeks trial compared to 50% of the diclofenac group. A significant proportion of the patients in the diclofenac group (50% vs 17.6%) had break through pain that warranted the use of at least two tablets of 500mg of paracetamol per week in contrast to the nimesulide group. There was a statistically significant difference in the frequency of side effects between the patients in the diclofenac group and the nimesulide group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION
Nimesulide was found to be more effective in relieving pain in osteoarthritis of the hip and knees and with less side effects than diclofenac.


Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of Sonazoid-enhanced ultrasonography (US) in the diagnosis of hepatic malignancies in comparison with contrast-enhanced CT findings. Methods: A total of 74 patients with 113 hepatic tumors having or highly suspected of having malignancies were enrolled. These hepatic nodules were diagnosed by typical findings of imaging such as contrast-enhanced CT, dynamic MRI or Sonazoid-enhanced US, tumor markers and histological examinations after surgical resection or biopsy. Results: 108 nodules were diagnosed as malignant tumors (hepatocellular carcinoma: n = 90; metastasis: n = 16; intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: n = 2) and the remaining five tumors were diagnosed as benign tumors (dysplastic nodules: n = 5). Sonazoid-enhanced US correctly depicted the presence or absence of tumors in 74 patients, with a sensitivity of 95.4%, an accuracy of 94.7%, and a positive predictive rate of 99%. Contrast-enhanced CT depicted the malignancies with a sensitivity of 85.2%, an accuracy of 82.3%, and a positive predictive rate of 95.8%. There were significant differences between Sonazoid-enhanced US and contrast-enhanced CT for sensitivity and accuracy (both p < 0.05). Conclusion: Sonazoid-enhanced US has a higher sensitivity and accuracy for the diagnosis of hepatic malignancies than contrast-enhanced CT.


Cooperatives in the history of Indonesia are a form of popular business, which aims to support the economic power of the Indonesian people. But unfortunately the reality is that the existence of cooperatives today is like being reluctant to die, not wanting to. This study aims to examine how much cooperatives in Ponorogo Regency are able to withstand the threat of business development with a free market model.This study uses a sample of Cooperatives in the Districts of the City of Ponroogo Regency and KUD in Ponorogo Regency. The number of KUDs as many as 22 and 222 cooperatives registered in Kota Subdistrict. The sample used is KUD in Ponorogo Regency and Cooperatives in the City District of Ponorogo Regency which is still active. The number of questionnaires distributed as many as 100. The number of questionnaires that were returned and can be processed as much as 72. The research method that will be conducted in this study is descriptive analysis. Cooperative management is still done with but the supervisor is not functioning. Mentoring programs and assistance from related agencies have not been received evenly in all cooperatives. In terms of financial management is still carried out in an orderly manner.


Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine and surgery which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders it also deals with dealing with the structure, functions of the eye. Determination of relationship between dose levels and its effects on the living organisms attains great significance in clinical studies. Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology is an open access journal designed for the wide dissemination of research in this field to worldwide audience. New developments in methodology and techniques are important resources for the research community.


Introduction: A sulfated polyglycan, carrageenan, is found in 3 different types Iota, Lambda, and Kappa, all of which differ in their sulfation degree. Diabetes disease affects all the vital body organs in the body by changing the metabolic activity of the body. Some diabetic patients may suffer from burning mouth syndrome which has multiple causative factors and can be diagnosed clinically by a hot, burning feeling in the oral cavity but there is no noticeable lesion. Objective: The present study was designed to determine the effect of topical carrageenan on the symptom of burning mouth syndrome in diabetes patients' type 2 and to determine the effect of topical carrageenan on the levels of salivary interleukin-1beta and Candida species. Results: The results showed no effect of carrageenan on the immunological marker (Interleukin-1) after carrageenan usage. For candida, the results showed a decline in the number of colonies forming units after carrageenan utilization. Regarding Candida, the dramatic decrease in the colony forming unit which was observed in the present study was supported by many previous studies that concerned about antifungal activities of red seaweeds and these activities are suggested to be due to biological activities of red seaweeds (carrageenan). Carrageenan was applied topically for the relief of symptoms of burning mouth syndrome as it has been proved by the previous study that carrageenan has the ability to relieve the pain associated with mucositis. Carrageenan does not exert any effect on IL1 since it was never absorbed from oral mucosa. Conclusion: The effect of carrageenan gel on the burning mouth syndrome may allow utilizing of kappa carrageenan as a good compound to relief pain and hot sensation in burning mouth syndrome.


In Pinkse and Tan (2005) we show the existence of a new effect called the affiliation effect, which can cause equilibrium bids to be decreasing in the number of bidders in first-price auctions with conditionally independent private values. Here we analyze what happens when the number of bidders tends to infinity. We also derive sufficient conditions for the expected winning bid to be increasing in the number of bidders. We further generalize some of the results in Pinkse and Tan (2005) to general affiliated private-values models.


The false perception that the risk operating with bio-refineries, as opposed to traditional petroleum refineries is lower has led to a lack of specific safety requirements in the field of bio-energy, even when considering the fact that the major parts of these plants are small scale and are below the threshold values for the application of Seveso directives. In this context, a thorough analysis of accidents related to the production of bio-energy is here performed and, specifically, a comparison between Europe and USA. The gathered information is comprised of general data, including activity, location, type of accidents, causes, injuries and fatalities; the aim is to build a useful instrument of analysis, in order to investigate and identify the main and recurrent hazards in the area, as well as to implement risk assessment tools and become aware of the gap between Europe and America. The frequency analysis and the assessment through the use of a rapid risk matrix, confirm that a non-negligible risk profile may be attributed to bio-energy industries. Safety culture in bio-energy production is an issue of primary importance, as well as the need for extending accident investigation, looking beyond the immediate technical causes for ways of avoiding the hazards and for deficiencies in the management system.


Accurate, robust and automatic image registration is critical task in many typical applications that employ multi-sensor and/or multi-date imagery information. The main content of this paper is an algorithm for the registration of digital images. Some multi–sensed or temporal images contain large number of speckles and noise, or image can have some distortion by some means. For these reasons, we need to remove the noises, speckle and to recover from distortion. We register two to find the similarity between the images. This paper discusses techniques for image registration based on SIFT. In this proposed framework we use NCC metrics for optimizing the matching work. Best bin first search using kd tree is used for feature


Nowadays, the popularity of tourism in the world has changed. Tourists are increasingly interested in ecotourism or sustainable tourism by experiencing the nature and learning of local culture, including the way of life of the villagers. Samut Songkhram is another province of Thailand that has cultures, traditions, and ways of life that are connected to the river from the past to the present, especially Amphawa sub-district which has long-history communities since the Ayutthaya period and is settled on the flat plain of the Mae Klong River Basin. There are Amphawa canals which separate from the Mae Klong River flowing through the community area. There are also many canals that flow through the community area. In addition, there are canals being connected as a network within the community area, resulting in the convenience of water transportation. Moreover, Amphawa community is also known as "Muang Sam Nam", which is a city that has both fresh water, brackish water, and salt water. This results in biodiversity, including creating an abundance of ecosystems. It can be seen that the Amphawa community has very ridiculous cultural and natural resources. Therefore, this article wants to study the supply chain operations of tourism in Amphawa floating market in order to know the operational model according to the supply chain management principles and to be a way to develop and respond to the preparation at the provincial level and provincial groups of the country to generate income for the people and develop tourist attractions in Thailand to be able to compete in the ASEAN and world markets systematically by considering the economic, social, and cultural potential of the area which will be a mechanism to strengthen local, provincial and national levels in the future. The results depict that the information flow of Amphawa floating market has both Thai and foreign tourists visiting Amphawa floating market. Sometimes, they want to report the situation and request information about the places to visit around the floating market. Currently, tourists still find information by themselves from social networks and rely on inquiries from tourists who come to each other because there is no tourist service center. The management of Amphawa Floating Market (Service Flow), Shops,This is a floating market in the evening with the charm of houses on both banks that are still very original. The pedestrian walk is a clean concrete walkway with a fence to prevent tourists to increase safety. Parking Lots, has enough space to provide tourist parking for 2 types which are free parking and charging parking. Toilet especially about its cleanliness and various odors. There are separate male-female toilets. Tourists can use the service conveniently. Cleanliness and safety during the festival, tourists' personal belongings need to be more careful because the pickpocket will seize opportunities during festival. This will occur with tourist spots everywhere in the world. Cash Flow allows tourists to buy products in the market in baht currency and mainly pay for goods with cash. Reverse service flow, Amphawa Subdistrict Municipality Office will look after using 4 channels of complaint, including manual complaint by writing a complaint at Amphawa Municipality Office, complaint via telephone number 034-751-351, complaint via the Amphawa Municipality website, and complaint via Facebook of Amphawa Municipality.


The chemical structure of 99mTc-GSH has been estabilished using the 99Tc isotope. Labeling of glutathione with technetium in the presence of stanous chloride gave a high yield result. In a comparative study between 99Tc and 99Tc glutathione, the Tc-GSH complex obtained was purified and characterized by uv, visible spectroscopy, HPLC, Biogel chromatography, mass and NMR spectroscopy. Stoichiometric analysis showed a 2 : 1 molar ratio of GSH/Tc for the reaction. The molecular mass assessed by mass spectroscopy was 727 Da corresponding to an oxo(bis) glutathione technetate. NMR studies demonstrated that each glutathione molecule was coordinated to technetium via cysteinyl sulfur and nitrogen atoms. The biodistribution of the complex was studied in normal rats. Blood clearance was rapid during the first hour involving a biexponential curve ( t1/2 (1) : 50 min, t1/2 (2) : 400 min ). No radioactive accumulation was found in any specific organ except kidney and bladder. All the activity excreted was found unchanged in urine. In conclusion, Tc-GSH displayed an anionic dimer form as GSH-Tc-GSH. We assume that the complex is a tetradentate (2N,2S) complex containing a pentavalent technetium coordinated by two thiol and nitrogen atoms of both GSH ligands, and an apical oxo group.


Taking into account the composition of Pentecostalism – a mixture of, on one side, a Protestant tradition that allows the constitution of the 'sincere person', and, on the other side, the enchanted aspects of personhood – what happens when this message is disseminated in a context with a long Catholic tradition by 'translators' socialized in the Catholic culture; in other words, by people with a particular interpretation of the Protestant tradition? In this article, the author explores this question and shows how the Catholic framing impacts the arrangements for accommodating the semiotic ideologies of 'sincerity' and 'saintliness' within Pentecostal religiosity, resulting in singular manifestations of the collective project and of the regional Christian Person.


The abundance and productivity of North American trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) was assessed during the 2005 quinquennial trumpeter swan survey, May 2005-January 2006. The continental estimate of trumpeter swan abundance in 2005 was 34,803, a record-high level since comprehensive surveys were initiated in 1968, and 47% higher than the estimate during the 2000 survey. Abundance estimates for each of North America's 3 recognized trumpeter swan populations also reached record-high levels during the 2005 survey. Survey biologists estimated that the Pacific Coast Population included 24,928 swans, 42% more than during the 2000 survey. The abundance estimate of Rocky Mountain Population swans during the 2005 survey was 5,228 birds, 43% higher than in 2000. The 2005 survey estimate for the Interior Population was 4,647 swans, an increase of 91% from the estimate in 2000. The age distributions of all swan populations during the 2005 survey ranged from 27% to 31% cygnets, and were higher than the 2000 percentage for each population. We present estimates of average annual growth rates and indices of production for these populations and their component flocks.


This paper discusses the present understanding of ionospheric storms, in particular storm effects in the F-layer and their relationship to changes of thermospheric composition. After summarizing the main effects of storms on the F-layer and the neutral thermosphere, the paper discusses some recent theoretical modelling of how the thermosphere responds to energy inputs at high latitudes, such as occur during storms. The high-latitude inputs set up a thermospheric "storm circulation", with consequent world-wide temperature increases and changes in chemical composition. These composition changes appear quite differently when viewed at fixed heights and at fixed pressure-levels. At fixed heights in the F-layer, there are marked increases of neutral molecular/atomic concentration ratio; but at fixed pressure-levels the increases are confined to high latitudes, with decreases at middle and low latitudes. The results of the modelling cast doubt on the theory that negative F-layer storms at midlatitudes are caused by decreases in the atomic/molecular ratio brought about by dynamical processes originating at high latitudes. The implications for storm theories, and alternative mechanisms for producing negative storm effects, are discussed. It is still considered that the negative storm effects are probably due to photochemical processes. The possibilities include widespread enhancement of the vibrational excitation of molecular nitrogen, induced by soft particle precipitation, or substantial energy inputs at latitudes well equatorward of the auroral ovals.


Summary In this work, a regularized Independent Component Analysis (coined as RICA) is proposed in face verification. RICA attempts to generate a linearly independent feature representation with minimal within-class variance, leading to better data discrimination. In RICA, information of correlation coefficients between image data is employed to form a Laplacian matrix. This matrix measures the degree of deviation of a data point from its nearby/ adjacent points. In other words, local discriminative features of data could be disclosured through the Laplacian matrix. As the name suggests, independent component analysis (ICA) is adopted as feature descriptor in this approach. Since there are two different architectures of ICA (ICA I and ICA II), RICA is implemented on these two types of feature extractor and the proposed techniques are known as RICA_ICA I and RICA_ICA II, respectively. The efficiency of RICA is assessed based on three face datasets, namely (1) Facial Recognition Technology (FERET), (2) CMU Pose, Illumination, and Expression (CMU PIE) and (3) Face Recognition Grand Challenge (FRGC).


Patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS) typically present with vaginal bleeding, pain, and a pelvic mass. Typical presentations with hypercalcemia or eosinophilia have been reported. Radiographic evaluation with combined positron emission tomography/computed tomography may assist in the diagnosis and surveillance of women with uterine LMS. A recently developed risk-assessment index is highly predictive of disease-specific survival. Ovarian preservation does not appear to negatively impact outcome, and the addition of adjuvant therapy after surgical treatment does not seem to improve survival. It is noteworthy that LMP2-deficient mice exhibit spontaneous development of uterine LMS with a disease prevalence of ~37% by 12 months of age. The LMP2 gene is transcribed from a promoter containing an interferon (IFN)-γ-response factor element; thus, the IFN-γ-signal strongly induces LMP2 expression. Furthermore, a recent report demonstrated the loss of ability to induce LMP2 expression, which is an interferon (IFN)-γ-inducible factor, in human uterine LMS tissues and cell lines. Analysis of human uterine LMS shows somatic mutations in the IFNγ signalling pathway, thus the loss of LMP2 induction is attributable to a defect in the earliest steps of the IFN-γ signalling pathway. The discovery of an impaired key cell-signalling pathway may provide new targets for diagnostic approaches and therapeutic intervention.