This study investigates the role of heterogeneous agents in oil markets and tests tales of speculators in oil price formation. Results obtained from using a non-linear heterogeneous agent model suggest that oil market prices are driven by different groups of speculators, namely fundamentalists, chartists and the newly introduced contrarians. The latter enable us to disentangle stabilizing effects previously attributed solely to fundamentalists, and they are on average the most dominating group, whereas chartists exacerbate the huge price swings in 1990, 2008 and 2011. We also show how sensitive the model outcomes are to the specification of the fundamental value, what has strong economic implications.


The West Antarctic rift system differs from other volcanically active rift systems in two unusual respects: (1) the rift floor lies 1000–2000 m lower in elevation than others, and (2) four interior ice-filled troughs extend between 1500 m and 2555 m below sea level. Two troughs are more than twice the depth of Lake Baikal, the world9s deepest lake. The Marie Byrd Land dome, by contrast, compares closely with the intra-rift Kenyan and Ethiopian domes in the East African rift. Comparisons between these rift systems suggest (1) that the West Antarctic interior is relatively cool and volcanically inactive, (2) that there is likely to have been an episode of extension during Neogene time in the deep interior basins, and (3) that dome uplift and basin subsidence have greatly changed the West Antarctic landscape over the past 25 m.y.


This thesis investigates the cascade lines from Langmuir wave turbulence as a result of Parametric Decay Instability (PDI) in the ionosphere. This effect is studied using a high-frequency (HF) heater located at the NSF/DoD High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) Observatory in Gakona, Alaska. Measurements were taken remotely in February 2005 and March 2006 in order to focus study on the altitude variation and number of cascade lines. This data was cross-checked with a recently developed theory by Kuo and Lee [2005] citing two processes possible in PDI: resonant decay and non-resonant decay. The non-resonant cascade of Langmuir waves proceeds at the same location and is severely hampered by frequency mismatch effect, because the decay wave is a driven ion mode oscillating at considerably lower frequency than that of the ion acoustic wave. In contrast, the resonant cascade, which takes place at different resonant locations to minimize the frequency mismatch effect, has to overcome the propagation loss of the mother Langmuir wave in each cascade step. It is known, in general, that the resonant cascade process requires less thresholds than those of the non-resonant cascade process. Thorough analysis concludes that resonant decay is the most probably process due to observed altitude variation and number of cascade lines observed. Thesis Supervisor: Min-Chang Lee Title: Head of Ionospheric Plasma Research Group Plasma Science and Fusion Center Thesis Supervisor: Richard Temkin Title: Associate Director, Plasma Science and Fusion Center Department of Physics


ABSTRACT Background: Current researches associate long fasting periods to several adverse consequences. The fasting abbreviation to 2 h to clear liquids associated with the use of drinks containing carbohydrates attenuates endocrinometabolic response to surgical trauma, but often is observed children advised to not intake food from 00:00 h till the scheduled surgical time, regardless of what it is. Aim: To evaluate the safety of a protocol of preoperative fasting abbreviation with a beverage containing carbohydrates, and early postoperative feeding in children underwent elective small/mid-size surgical procedures during a national task-force on pediatric surgery. Methods: Thirty-six patients were prospectively included, and for several reasons five were excluded. All 31 who remained in the study received a nutritional supplement containing 150 ml of water plus 12.5% maltodextrin 2 h before the procedure. Data of the pre-operative fasting time, anesthetic complications and time of postoperative refeeding, were collected. Results: Twenty-three (74.2%) were males, the median age was 5 y, and the median weight was 20 kg. The median time of pre-operative fasting was 145 min and the time of post-operative refeeding was 135 min. There were no adverse effects on the anesthetic procedures or during surgery. Post-operatively, two children (6.5%) vomited. Conclusion: The abbreviation of pre-operative fasting to 2 h with beverage containing carbohydrate in pediatric surgery is safe. Early refeeding in elective small/mid-size procedures can be prescribed.


In this article, we give an overview of the growing field of consumer neuroscience and discuss when and how it is useful to integrate neurophysiological data into research conducted in business fields. We first discuss the foundational elements of consumer neuroscience and showcase a range of studies that highlight the ways that neuroscientific research and theory can add to existing lines of research in marketing. Next, we discuss the new domains and questions that brain data allow us to address, such as an emerging ability to predict market-level behavior in a range of decision types. We conclude by providing insights about the emerging frontiers in the field that we think will have an important impact on our understanding of marketing behavior, as well as organizational behavior.


Recent analyses confirm that urgent attempts to catalogue the distribution of biological diversity may be facilitated by focusing at the level of genera or families rather than species. However, questions remain over the application of higher-taxon surveys to identify networks of priority areas for conservation action. Is the close spatial match between species and higher-taxon richness at global and regional scales re-iterated when sites are locally distributed? How much money is saved by the higher-taxon approach? And how does using genus or family information affect the efficiency with which spatial priorities for conservation are identified? We examined these issues using data on the diversity of woody plants in Sri Lankan forests. We found that at this local scale, the family and particularly generic richness of sites was closely linked to their species richness, independently of variation in site size. Moreover, fieldwork in an additional forest showed that targeting woody plant genera and families rather than species reduced survey costs by a minimum of 60% and 85% respectively. Most importantly, while using family data in site-selection algorithms led to the loss from reserve networks of around 7-10% of woody plant species, using genera rather than species had virtually no effect on the representation of species in priority sites. These results thus confirm that judicious use of the higher-taxon approach is indeed a valuable technique for improving the cost effectiveness of field surveys for local conservation planning in the tropics.


This research investigates into interpersonal trust and workplace outcomes in organizations within social exchange perspective. Current study is building upon the theoretical underpinnings of trust studies that pose trust as a psychological state and a social glue. Current research develops a theoretical model of interpersonal trust presuming that different trust objects -namely peers and senior managementhave unique and direct effects on global workplace outcomes: Affective commitment, turnover intention, and job satisfaction. The data was collected via convenience sampling and data consists of 134 professionals working in Turkey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using Partial Least Squares (PLS) is employed to test our model. Findings suggest that trust in peers and trust in senior management translate into higher affective commitment. Results indicate a positive association between job satisfaction and trust in senior management. Turnover intention however, did not significantly associate with any of the trust variables suggesting the difference between economic exchange and social exchange, which involves reciprocal behaviors. Simultaneous investigation of two trust objects in organizations as well as inclusion of variety of contextual factors bring rigor to the scope of the research and the explanations of workplace outcomes.


The research problem of this investigation is what are the sources of misunderstandings between the teacher and a student that spontaneously occur during a mathematical discourse. Several episodes of mathematics classes are here analyzed, in which the meaning of a word or expression was different for the teacher and a student. They are analyzed with respect to four kinds of cognitive obstacles identified previously: Different understanding of the context of a situation or a problem . The teacher while designing a problem or a context situation, which aims at bringing a concept closer to the student, is able to extract the concept out of the context, knows what is important and what is not. A projection concept ą context situation is functioning in her thinking. A student solving the problem designed by the teacher will try to exploit all his school and out-of-school knowledge. Associating experience may be linked with different mathematical concepts or be detached from mathematics. The students' mathematical knowledge may prove to be different from that expected by the teacher, and the out-of-mathematics knowledge may cause some aspects of the situation, for the teacher unimportant, to dominate. Focusing on own goals . The teacher knows what she intends to achieve when proposing to solve a certain problem. It can be getting a skill or discovering some property or connections, important for the science of mathematics. Those objectives often determine the desired way of handling the problem, deviations of it being considered faulty. The student is focused on finding the solution and doing it with least effort. So she/he will apply approaches that she/he knows and thinks to be most efficient. Focusing on different pieces of information . Understanding of an utterance is possible because of all words being kept in memory, so that the meaning of each can be located in a context. The sense of the whole utterance depends on which part of it has been highlighted. Different meanings assigned to the same key word . Building once own mathematics is a long-lasting process, in the course of which some words may change their meanings. Different meanings assigned to the same words stimulate enacting different procedures and operations attached to the given concept. As a result, the same word evokes different properties, connections, and relations. Example A mathematics class, 2nd year of junior secondary school (17-year-old students). The topic: Transforming algebraic expressions with the use of formulas. Teacher: Represent the given expression in the form of an algebraic sum : $$ (x + 3)^2 + (2x + 5)(2x - 5) $$ Teacher 01: Who would come to do this example? Student 01: (sitting) But there is a sum here already, though. T02: Who? Come, come. S02: But there is nothing to do here. T03: Why? Nothing can be transformed? S03: Well, one could, but a sum is there already. T04: So, if one could then calculate. S04: But... T05: Please come to the blackboard. S05: (reluctantly): $(x + 3)^2 + (2x + 5)(2x - 5) = (x^2 + 6x + 9) + (4x^2 - 25)$. T06: Speed up, remove those brackets. S06: $x^2 + 6x + 9 + 4x^2 - 25$. T07: What next? S07: underlines similar terms. T08: How is it called? Redu... S08: Reducing similar terms. $5x^2 + 6x - 16$. T09: Thank you, sit down please. S09: (returning to his chair) Ha, and it is a difference coming out, not a sum... Different meanings assigned to the same key word For the teacher, an algebraic sum should be composed of monomials with the plus signs between them. The student associated with the word sum its original meaning: the adding operation, usually coded with +. On the blackboard he saw numbers and letters: symbols used in algebra. To him, an "algebraic sum" referred to a situation where the plus sign occurred in-between algebraic symbols. Different understanding of the context of a situation or a problem In previous lessons students practiced translation of a verbal formula to the symbolic one and inversely. The student may have associated the present task with the former one where calling a sum the expression $(x+3)^2+(2x+5)(2x-5)$ would be approved. Hence his reaction But there is a sum here already, though. Focusing on different pieces of information To the teacher, importance of the task was in Represent the given expression. Representing (transforming) an expression is meant as a process, in which the student should show her/his ability to use the $(a + b)^2$ formula, to reduce similar terms, and to get the "simplest form". To the student, the most important was the word sum. In the given situation no action was needed as the expression was a sum already. Focusing on own objectives The event shows that the student's action was forced by the teacher. The former for long could not catch the teacher's intention. She/he worked under the pressure of the teacher's expectations, yet her/his own understanding of the objective did not fit her/his action. The teacher on her part expected executing an algorithm, showing skill, as well as theoretical knowledge. In further analysis the authors show that the dominant reason of a misunderstanding is the difference of meanings assigned to words by the teacher and the student. There are two causes of this phenomenon: the teacher uses words, common to her, to which the student is not accustomed, in the course of learning meanings of mathematical words evolve. The research has made the authors aware of a cultural gap, which exists in the mathematics classroom. The teacher's mathematical culture in incomparable with that of a student.


Chameleon Dragons Chelosania brunnea Gray, 1845 are well known amongst naturalists of northern Australia as being one of the most cryptic and least frequently observed of Australia's large, iconic lizards. Despite their broad distribution across the savanna woodlands that dominate northern Australia, very few records exist of this species and, as a consequence, nearly nothing is known about their natural history. Here, we present records of 19 Chameleon Dragons, detected during clearing activities of a small area of semi-arid woodland at Delamere Air Weapons Range, Northern Territory. Additionally, we provide notes on sexual dimorphism, antipredator behaviour and shelter site use in this species. We discuss how some of this novel information may explain why this species is so rarely detected and suggests that this cryptic agamid may be much more common in savanna woodland than currently appreciated.


In industry, up to 40% of an IS budget can be spent on Storage technology, making it the fastest growing segment of IT/IS. While industry has recognised the need to diffuse this technology, academia has been slow to respond to this diffusion need. Universities are not teaching courses in this area and a variety of reasons are presented ranging from lack of skills to cost (the cost of installing a Storage system for use by students is a massive expenditure well beyond the budgets of most IS academic departments).This paper concentrates on the lack of skills (knowledge barriers in the parlance of diffusion of innovation theory) and examines ways to overcome this. The knowledge skills are present in industry, so collaboration between industry and academia is a suggested solution. Collaboration between industry and academia, though, is fraught with problems. The aim of this research therefore is to examine how this collaboration can be effective. Interestingly, the result of this research suggests true collaboration is not the solution, but a win-win situation is still possible for all stakeholders.


Vanadium interactions with low molecular mass binders in biological fluids entail the existence of vanadium species with variable chemical and biological properties. In the course of efforts to elucidate the chemistry related to such interactions, we have explored the oxidative chemistry of vanadium(III) with the physiologically relevant tricarboxylic citric acid. Aqueous reactions involving VCl(3) and anhydrous citric acid, at pH approximately 7, resulted in blue solutions. Investigation into the nature of the species arising in those solutions revealed, through UV/visible and EPR spectroscopies, oxidation of vanadium(III) to vanadium(IV). Further addition of H(2)O(2) resulted in the oxidation of vanadium(IV) to vanadium(V), and the isolation of a new vanadium(V)-citrate complex in the form of its potassium salt. Analogous reactions with K(4)[V(2)O(2)(C(6)H(4)O(7))(2)].6H(2)O and H(2)O(2) or V(2)O(5) and citrate at pH approximately 5.5 afforded the same material. Elemental analysis pointed to the molecular formulation K(4)[V(2)O(4)(C(6)H(5)O(7))(2)].5.6H(2)O (1). Complex 1 was further characterized by FT-IR and X-ray crystallography. 1 crystallizes in the triclinic space group P(-)1, with a = 11.093(4) A, b = 9.186(3) A, c = 15.503(5) A, alpha = 78.60(1) degrees, beta = 86.16(1) degrees, gamma = 69.87(1) degrees, V = 1454.0(8) A(3), and Z = 2. The X-ray structure of 1 reveals the presence of a dinuclear vanadium(V)-citrate complex containing a V(V)(2)O(2) core. The citrate ligands are triply deprotonated, and as such they bind to vanadium(V) ions, thus generating a distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry. Binding occurs through the central alkoxide and carboxylate groups, with the remaining two terminal carboxylates being uncoordinated. One of those carboxylates is protonated and contributes to hydrogen bond formation with the deprotonated terminal carboxylate of an adjacent molecule. Therefore, an extended network of hydrogen-bonded V(V)(2)O(2)-core-containing dimers is created in the lattice of 1. pH-dependent transformations of 1 in aqueous media suggest its involvement in a web of vanadium(V)-citrate dinuclear species, consistent with past solution speciation studies investigating biologically relevant forms of vanadium.


Inconsistencies abound in the literature regarding staff attitudes and perceptions toward family-witnessed resuscitation. Our study builds on previous research by using a validated tool to investigate emergency department staff perceptions of family-witnessed resuscitation. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to 221 emergency department doctors' and nurses'. We found few differences between doctors and nurses perceptions toward family-witnessed resuscitation. Both nurses and doctors who held a specialty certification, who were more highly qualified, who had more experience with family presence during resuscitation, and who had a personal preference for having family members present during their own resuscitation perceived more benefits and fewer risks, as well as more confidence in their ability to manage these events. However, nurses more than doctors want patients to provide advanced directives for family presence. The findings will enable clinicians, educators, and hospital management to provide better support to all stakeholders through these events.


BACKGROUND: Pediatric patients with cancer face more severe complications of influenza than healthy children. Although Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend yearly vaccination in these patients, in our large academic center, <60% of oncology patients receiving chemotherapy were immunized at baseline. Our objective was to increase this rate through a multifaceted quality improvement initiative. METHODS: Eligible patients were >6 months old, within 1 year of receiving chemotherapy, >100 days from stem cell transplant, and had ≥1 outpatient oncology visit between September 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013. Five interventions were instituted concomitantly: (1) family education: influenza/vaccine handouts were provided to families in clinic waiting rooms; (2) health informatics: daily lists of outpatients due for immunization were generated from the electronic medical record and sent automatically to triage staff and nurses; (3) outpatient clinic: patients due for vaccination were given colored wristbands during triage to alert providers; (4) inpatient: vaccine order was built into admission order set; and (5) provider education: staff education was provided at conferences on screening of patients, vaccine ordering, and documentation of refusals/contraindications. RESULTS: The complete influenza immunization rate increased by 20.1% to 64.5%, and the proportion of patients receiving ≥1 dose of vaccination increased by 22.9% to 77.7%. Similar changes were noted across all cancer types, with highest rates of immunization in leukemia/lymphoma patients (86.8%) and lowest in patients after stem cell transplant (66.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Technology, education, and multidisciplinary clinical process changes increased influenza vaccination rates. Ongoing efforts are targeting subgroups with lowest rates of immunization.


The vast majority of polytopic membrane proteins are inserted into the cytoplasmic membrane of prokaryotes by the general secretory (Sec) pathway. However, a subset of monotopic proteins that contain non-covalently-bound redox cofactors depend on the twin-arginine translocase (Tat) machinery for membrane integration. Recently actinobacterial Rieske iron-sulfur cluster-containing proteins were identified as an unusual class of membrane proteins that require both the Sec and Tat pathways for the insertion of their three transmembrane domains (TMDs). The Sec pathway inserts the first two TMDs of these proteins co-translationally, but releases the polypeptide prior to the integration of TMD3 to allow folding of the cofactor-containing domain and its translocation by Tat. Here we have investigated features of the Streptomyces coelicolor Rieske polypeptide that modulate its interaction with the Sec and Tat machineries. Mutagenesis of a highly conserved loop region between Sec-dependent TMD2 and Tat-dependent TMD3 shows that it plays no significant role in coordinating the activities of the two translocases, but that a minimum loop length of approximately eight amino acids is required for the Tat machinery to recognise TMD3. Instead we show that a combination of relatively low hydrophobicity of TMD3, coupled with the presence of C-terminal positively-charged amino acids, results in abortive insertion of TMD3 by the Sec pathway and its release at the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. Bioinformatic analysis identified two further families of polytopic membrane proteins that share features of dual Sec-Tat-targeted membrane proteins. A predicted heme-molybdenum cofactor-containing protein with five TMDs, and a polyferredoxin also with five predicted TMDs, are encoded across bacterial and archaeal genomes. We demonstrate that membrane insertion of representatives of each of these newly-identified protein families is dependent on more than one protein translocase, with the Tat machinery recognising TMD5. Importantly, the combination of low hydrophobicity of the final TMD and the presence of multiple C-terminal positive charges that serve as critical Sec-release features for the actinobacterial Rieske protein also dictate Sec release in these further protein families. Therefore we conclude that a simple unifying mechanism governs the assembly of dual targeted membrane proteins.


The sphere decoder finds the maximum-likelihood (ML) solution with moderate complexity. The computational complexity of the sphere decoder can be further reduced by conventional decoding order scheme sorting the candidate symbols, where the candidate symbols are sorted in ascending order of the distance from the soft-output signal points of a zero-forcing (ZF) receiver. The soft-output signal point of ZF, however, may not be a reliable reference of sorting for finding ML solutions. Moreover, conventional sorting scheme does not consider the searching of the following layer. In this paper, a new sorting scheme is proposed which gives more reliable sorting criteria. It is to sort candidate symbols by considering the number of candidate symbols of the following layer, which are called child symbols. The proposed sorting scheme is combined with layer sorting in order to allow for more reliability at the first detected layer. It is shown that the proposed candidate symbol sorting combined with layer sorting provides around 40% complexity reduction compared with the conventional sorting scheme.


and yolk sac were recorded in a database. MSD and YSD were calculated as the average of the three measurements. Outcome at time of the nuchal scan and final pregnancy outcomes were subsequently recorded. FLDA was performed on a restricted GA range in order to have measurements from viable pregnancies and miscarriages in the upper range to study growth of CRL, MSD and YSD in pregnancies that were viable and in the ones that miscarried by 12 weeks GA. Results: 90 pregnancies resulting in a live birth which had CRL (n = 305), MSD (n = 285) and YSD (n = 234) measurements and 24 pregnancies that resulted in a miscarriage with measurements of CRL (n = 31), MSD (n = 40) and YSD (n = 26) were included. Restricted GA ranges were: from 32 to 91 days for CRL and from 32 to 84 days for MSD and YSD. FLDA of CRL and YSD discriminated viable pregnancies from miscarriages from 45 days GA onwards. Although some miscarriages showed a normal MSD growth, the discrimination between a viable pregnancy and a miscarriage was clear with FLDA in the whole GA range studied. Conclusions: The ability to discriminate viable pregnancies from miscarriages with FLDA of CRL, MSD and YSD was shown in a population with known conception dates.


A field experiment was conducted at Water Technology Centre, College of Agriculture, 0Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during rabi season 2009-10 to study effect of varying fertigation (Nitrogen and Potash (K2O) kg ha-1) and irrigation levels on performance of bush bean (Lablab purpurium var. typical L.) through drip irrigation. The Main plot treatments consisted of four irrigation levels viz., Surface irrigation at IW/CPE ratio 1.0, Drip irrigation at 100% Epan, Drip irrigation at 80% Epan and Drip irrigation at 60% Epan and three fertigation levels in sub treatments viz., No N & K application, 50 kg N and 50 kg K2O ha-1 and 100 kg N and 100 kg K2O ha-1. The results revealed that yield attributing characters included number of pods per plant and pod length were maximum in all the three pickings when irrigation was scheduled at 100% Epan with application of 100 kg N and 100 kg K2O ha-1. Similarly significantly higher green pod yield (3556 kg ha-1) was realized by scheduling irrigation at 100 % Epan which was 9.5% and 22% higher than the irrigation scheduling at 80% and 60% Epan, respectively. However, drip irrigation scheduling at 60% Epan recorded significantly higher water Use Efficiency (7.2 kg ha-mm-1) over drip irrigation at 100 %, 80 % Epan and surface irrigation at IW/CPE = 1.0. Irrespective of the irrigation levels, gradual increment in fertigation level from no fertilizer application to100 kg ha-1 N and K2O increased water use efficiency (6.1 kg ha-mm-1) and yield. The increase in the yield was to the extent of 4 and 21 % more than application of 50 kg N + 50 kg K2O ha-1 and no fertilizer application, respectively.


In the article the philosophical position of an outstanding representative of the scientific concept of aristocratic intellectuals Alexander era A.S. Kaisarov the peasant question in Russia. The research is based on an analysis of the views of the author, and description of the humanist position Kaisarov, based on the evidence of his thesis on the emancipation of the serfs in Russia


Measurements concerning the indoor radio channel are presented. The frequency domain is discussed. The transfer of the 10 GHz band with a 1 GHz bandwidth is investigated using a swept frequency method depending on a network analyzer. The spaced frequency correlation function is obtained and its 3 dB bandwidth computed.


Since the 1990s, the making of an apology has become an instrument for promoting international and national reconciliation, replacing the exaction of vengeance upon the officials of former non-democratic regimes. This article explains when and under what circumstances an explicit apology for political wrongs has contributed to overcoming divisions in post-socialist German society. It specifically focuses on politicians and political parties that have direct links and continuity with the former oppressive regime in East Germany. What role and what impact have political apologies had on the victims to whom they are addressed and on public discourse generally? Are they part of a broader acknowledgment of past injustices under the German Democratic Republic (GDR) dictatorship? Adopting a discourse analysis approach, this paper outlines the historical and political conditions, the intentions and the outcomes of speeches of political apology in eastern Germany. It focuses on the narratives of GDR officials, Stasi informants, and members of Die Linke (The Left), a successor party to the GDR's ruling communist Socialist Unity Party (SED), and on the responses to those narratives from the new elites, former dissidents in the GDR, and groups representing the victims of communism. The article concludes that political apologies expressed by state officials who were formerly linked with the oppressor state stimulate a dialectical process with regard to past injustices, even if they fail to achieve the desired reconciliation. Keywords: political apology; reconciliation; collective memory; Germany; communism DOI : 10.14712/23363231.2019.11 © 2019 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License , which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.


Spatial heterogeneity, the region-to-region variation in flow at an instant, and temporal heterogeneity, the time variation of flow in a small region of myocardium, were investigated with radioactive labeled microspheres in 111 regions of left ventricular myocardium. The error of the method was measured by simultaneously injecting four differently labeled microspheres (15 +/- 5 (SD) micron). The coefficient of variation (CV) was 6.5 +/- 1.0%. Spatial variation with autoregulation intact was 21.7 +/- 1.4% (CV); with autoregulation abolished and low perfusion pressure, it was 34.3 +/- 3.7%; and with normal perfusion pressure, 30.8 +/- 6.4% (differences not significantly). This degree of variation was similar in the entire left ventricle and its layers. Forces which tended to cause vessel closure (low perfusion pressure, ventricular systolic pressure, and ventricular diastolic pressure) tended to increase CV. Temporal heterogeneity as measured by 20-s intervals between microsphere injections was 11.1 +/- 1.0% (CV) with autoregulation, 9.8 +/- 1.3% (P less than 0.05) with autoregulation abolished, and 8.4 +/- 0.8% (P less than 0.05) when perfusion pressure was restored. A periodicity of flow cycles of 30-90 s was suggested by the data. These results suggest that spatial heterogeneity is less influenced by autoregulation than by hydraulic considerations, whereas temporal heterogeneity is a component of autoregulation.


Knowledge of the diversity and ecology of plant pathogenic fungi in cacao agroforests and surrounding natural ecosystems can inform the development of sustainable management strategies for new cacao disease outbreaks. This study investigated the occurrence of fungi related to the Ceratocystidaceae and their nitidulid beetle vectors in cacao agroforests in Cameroon, under diverse agroecological conditions. The fungi and their vectors were collected from artificially induced stem wounds on cacao and associated shade trees. Collections were also made from abandoned cacao pod husks and other tree wounds within and around plantations. Fungal isolates were identified using DNA sequence-based phylogenies and morphological comparisons, and two representatives of each species were evaluated for pathogenicity on cacao. Five species of Ceratocystidaceae were recovered, including Huntiella chlamydoformis sp. nov., H. pycnanthi sp. nov. and H. moniliformis, as well as Thielaviopsis cerberus and T. ethacetica. The incidence of these fungi appeared to be influenced by the prevailing agroecological conditions. Nitidulid beetles in the genus Brachypeplus were found to be their most common insect associates on cacao. Both T. ethacetica and H. pycnanthi produced extensive lesions after inoculation on branches of mature cacao trees, while T. ethacetica also caused pod rot. Although their impact remains unknown, fungi in the Ceratocystidaceae and their nitidulid beetle vectors are common and probably contribute to the parasitic pressure in Cameroonian cacao agrosystems.


The role of nanoconfinement on the glass transition temperature (T(g)) of polymers has been extensively studied in the thin film geometry. This work looks at the T(g) of nanoconfined polystyrene (PS) in spherical nanoparticles (27-200 nm) , individually dispersed in crosslinked polybuthylmethacrylate matrices. A reduction of T(g) compared to the bulk was observed in PS nanospheres via neutron scattering mechanical tests and was found to decrease with decreasing diameter for D<50 nm . The general trend of T(g) depression in nanospheres was found to be similar to the results on thin film geometry.


Technology has a profound influence on how business, education, entertainment, and interpersonal communications are conducted. Mental health professionals have been exploring how technology can support and enhance client care since the 1960s. In the last decade the influence of technology in the practice of counseling has increased dramatically. As the use of technology increased, so did the expectations for counselor preparation programs to include technology instruction. In 1999, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) developed the Technical Competencies for Counselor Education Students: Recommended Guidelines for Program Development. This study examines the technological competence of counseling students at one southwestern university based on the ACES recommendations.


To improve the overall performance of image fusion, this paper proposes a Bacterial Foraging Algorithm (BFA) based method. First, this method selects several objective standards to construct an index representing the overall performance of fused images. Second, after the source images were decomposed by Contourlet transform, we obtain the coefficients of low-frequency and high-frequency in Contourlet domain. Then, the swarm intelligence of BFA is introduced to determine the proportions of high-frequency coefficients, i.e. the optimal weights. Finally, we use the high-frequency coefficients fused by the optimal weights and the average of low-frequency coefficients to reconstruct the optimal fused image. Experimental results show that the method not only can provide with good visual effects, but also is superior to eight widely-used methods.


We have been searching for magnetic Ap stars in open clusters, in order to clarify the time evolution of magnetic fields in middle main sequence stars from the ZAMS to the TAMS. We have discovered that the star HD 66318 in the open cluster NGC 2516 has an extraordinarily large magnetic field: the measured mean longitudinal component $B_{\rm l} \approx 4.5$ kG, and the mean field modulus $B_{\rm s} \approx 14.5$ kG. This star thus has one of the largest fields so far discovered in a non-degenerate star, and the largest field known in a current Ap star cluster member.
We estimate that HD 66318 has completed about $16 \pm 5$% of its main sequence life. It thus appears to contradict the hypothesis of Hubrig et al. that magnetic fields are only found in stars that have completed at least 30% of their main sequence lifetimes.
There is no indication that the spectrum or brightness of the star is variable, and the spectral lines are very sharp. The star probably has a very long rotation period (years).
We have modelled some parts of the observed spectrum, assuming that the chemical composition is uniform both horizontally and vertically, and using a simple multipolar expansion for the field structure; although our model does not reproduce exactly the observed spectrum, it is clear that the atmospheric chemical composition of the star is very peculiar, with Ti, Cr and Fe overabundant by between 1.5 and 2.5 dex. Both La ii and iii are apparently about 4 dex overabundant. In contrast, evidence for the presence of other rare earths is difficult to find in the spectrum. It appears that Ce iii, Pr iii, Nd ii and iii, and Eu ii are detected with inferred overabundances ranging between 1.5 and 5 dex, but for most of these elements, the abundance of the non-detected ionization state is significantly lower than that inferred for the detected state. HD 66318 thus seems to exhibit strong discrepancies between abundances deduced for different ionization states of rare earths, a phenomenon so far found only in somewhat cooler stars.
Even within one ionization state it has not been found possible to fit most observed lines with a single value of abundance. For example, when we fit medium strength lines of Fe ii, the calculated strong lines of this ion are deeper than observed, and the calculated weak lines are less deep than observed. This situation is probably due to strong vertical abundance stratification of most of the elements studied.
Finally, HD 66318 also shows a new form of core-wing anomaly in H α in which the observed line profile falls below the computed one in the core. These characteristics clearly suggest that the atmospheric structure of HD 66318 is not closely similar to that of a normal main sequence A star of similar parameters.


Differences in total carcass bone, muscle and fat, and linear measurements of the tibia and radius were evaluated in barrows at 105 kg and boars at 105, 118, 132 and 145 kg live body weight. The carcasses of five replicates were physically separated into skin, bone and soft tissues, and the linear measurements of the tibia and radius were obtained on seven replicates. At live weight of 105 kg, boars did not differ significantly in fat-free muscle, but they had 33.2% less fat, 11% greater bone weight and 14% greater skin weight than barrows. At 145 kg, boars had total carcass fat weight comparable with 105-kg barrows. Fat-free muscle, bone and skin weight of boars increased at linear rates of .41, .083 and .104 kg/kg of body weight increase from 105 to 145 kg, respectively. At 105 kg, density and length of the tibia and radius did not differ between boars and barrows. The tibia of boars were heavier than those of barrows at 105 kg, resulting in a greater ratio of tibia weight to length (indirect measure of bone thickness). As boars increased in live weight from 105 to 145 kg, total weight and length of the tibia and radius increased linearly. The ratio of weight to length of the tibia and radius increased during this 40-kg weight gain, indicating that weight of both bones increased at a greater rate than length. These results indicate that boars and barrows have the same weight of total carcass fat when boars are 40 kg heavier than the barrows. The greater bone weight of boar carcasses compared with barrows is due to greater bone thickness.


Wireless Sensor Networks suffer from the limited bandwidth and power resources such as: energy, memory, CPU. Geographic multicast routing is appropriate for this kind of networks since it avoids the flooding request packets to all nodes to find destinations, which consumes a lot of energy and bandwidth. However, the problem with the geographic multicast routing is the expensive computationally cost required to enable a node to decide directions where to sending data packets. This computational cost will be repeated as long as the source has data packets to transmit to the group. In this paper, we proposed a novel geographic multicast routing protocol to solve the problem of computational cost, minimize the dissipation of energy and reduce the bandwidth consumption. Our protocol builds a stateless distributed multicast routing tree, i.e. without maintaining the state information about the distribution structure at the relay nodes. It also uses a sleep scheduling method to turn off the nodes that not concerned by the routing operation.


This article proposes a revision to existing arguments that institutions of limited government (characterized by multiple veto points) improve the ability of governments to credibly commit. Focusing on the issue of sovereign indebtedness, I present a simple framework for analyzing credibility problems in an economy divided between owners of land and owners of capital. I then argue that establishing multiple veto points can improve credibility, but whether this takes place depends upon the structure of partisan interests in a society, on the existence of cross-issue coalitions, and on the extent to which management of government debt is delegated. I develop several propositions to take account of these factors and evaluate them with historical evidence from eighteenth century England and France. The results show that incorporating these additional factors can help to explain a broader range of phenomena than is accounted for in existing studies.


We have performed a comprehensive spectral and timing analyses of Galactic black hole transients (GBHTs) during outburst decay in order to obtain the distribution of state transition luminosities. Using the archival data of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), we have calculated the weighted mean for state transition luminosities of 11 BH sources in 19 different outbursts and for disc and power law luminosities separately. We also produced histograms of these luminosities in terms of Eddington luminosity fraction (ELF) and fitted them with a Gaussian. Our results show the tightest clustering in bolometric power law luminosity with a mean logarithmic ELF of −1.70 ± 0.21 during the index transition (as the photon index starts to decrease towards the hard state). We obtained mean logarithmic ELF of −1.80 ± 0.25 during the transition to the hard state (as the photon index reaches the lowest value) and −1.50 ± 0.32 for disc-blackbody luminosity (DBB) during the transition to the hard-intermediate state (HIMS). We discussed the reasons for clustering and possible explanations for sources that show a transition luminosity significantly below or above the general trends.


Previous studies identify limited potential efficacy of weather derivatives in hedging agricultural exposures. In contrast to earlier studies which investigate the problem at low levels of aggregation, we find using straight forward temperature contracts that better weather hedging opportunities exist at higher levels of spatial aggregation. Aggregating production exposures reduces idiosyncratic (i.e. localized or region specific) risk, leaving a greater proportion of the total risk in the form of systemic weather risk which can be effectively hedged using weather derivatives. The aggregation effect suggests that the potential for weather derivatives in agriculture may be greater than previously thought, particularly for aggregators of risk such as re/insurers.


We investigate whether Deep Reinforcement Learning (Deep RL) is able to synthesize sophisticated and safe movement skills for a low-cost, miniature humanoid robot that can be composed into complex behavioral strategies in dynamic environments. We used Deep RL to train a humanoid robot with 20 actuated joints to play a simplified one-versus-one (1v1) soccer game. We first trained individual skills in isolation and then composed those skills end-to-end in a self-play setting. The resulting policy exhibits robust and dynamic movement skills such as rapid fall recovery, walking, turning, kicking and more; and transitions between them in a smooth, stable, and efficient manner - well beyond what is intuitively expected from the robot. The agents also developed a basic strategic understanding of the game, and learned, for instance, to anticipate ball movements and to block opponent shots. The full range of behaviors emerged from a small set of simple rewards. Our agents were trained in simulation and transferred to real robots zero-shot. We found that a combination of sufficiently high-frequency control, targeted dynamics randomization, and perturbations during training in simulation enabled good-quality transfer, despite significant unmodeled effects and variations across robot instances. Although the robots are inherently fragile, minor hardware modifications together with basic regularization of the behavior during training led the robots to learn safe and effective movements while still performing in a dynamic and agile way. Indeed, even though the agents were optimized for scoring, in experiments they walked 156% faster, took 63% less time to get up, and kicked 24% faster than a scripted baseline, while efficiently combining the skills to achieve the longer term objectives. Examples of the emergent behaviors and full 1v1 matches are available on the supplementary website.


On the assumption that the photosynthetic electron-transport rate is sometimes limited on the water-splitting side of Q (the oxidized primary electron acceptor), and that Q reduction, as well as primary charge recombination, is not kinetically a monomolecular process, a rate equation, a luminescence-flux equation and several versions of energy-conservation equations are derived. The energy-conservation equations explain most, if not all, observed relationships between rate and fluorescence. In particular, by assuming that the limiting site on the water-splitting side of Q is uncoupler-sensitive, these equations explain the uncoupler-induced simultaneous stimulations of rate and fluorescence as well as inhibition of luminescence without additional assumption ad hoc for each individual phenomenon. A newly introduced parameter central to the derivation of these equations is the specific affinity between two electron carriers.


Organic matter is a small but active part of the global carbon cycle. About one third is stored in the oceans where it has a relatively short residence time. The rest is found in the terrestrial biomass and in the soil. Aquatic systems exchange C02 with the atmosphere. Autotrophic organisms fix C02 into their biomass, while heterotrophic organisms respire C02 when utilising organic matter. Systems with large supply of organic matter by inflow can be net heterotrophic, which thus release more C02 than what they fix.Two systems are studied, the Lake Ortrasket in northern Sweden and the Baltic Sea. In the Baltic primary production is the main source of organic matter, while in the lake dissolved organic matter from inflow dominates. Other characteristics of the Baltic Sea are that it is brackish and has a long residence time compared to the freshwater lake. These systems are studied with different types of models.For the Baltic proper deep water, an inverse model of the water, salt and heat fluxes was used to estimate an oxygen budget including oxygen consumption. The oxygen levels in the Baltic proper deep water are critical due to the low supply and large consumption. The oxygen consumption is mainly due to organic matter degradation. The low oxygen and salinity levels in the Baltic have consequences for, among other things, the cod spawning success.The lake model is a mechanistic model of dissolved organic carbon based on a Lagrangian fluid particle model and a one-dimensional physical model. The results show that Lake Ortrasket is a net heterotrophic system. In spite of the differences between the systems, both seems to have similar organic matter degradation rates, ~50 g C m-2 yr-1.To supplement, time series of phosphate concentration were studied in the Baltic proper surface layer. These show seasonal variations coupled to the primary production, and this time dependence was modelled. The main purpose of the model is to complete corrupt observation time series, which is useful for environmental model studies.


Two novel approaches for measuring the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) from single-polarized spaceborne SAR data were proposed in the mentioned paper, i.e., the TEC autofocus method and the systematic alternate up/down pulse methodology. The up/down pulse methodology indicates that ionospheric TEC could be estimated using the difference between range-compressed phase distributions of the up and down chirps. However, it can be shown theoretically that the difference between the up and down chirps after compression is not expected. Thus, the estimation of TEC from alternating up versus down chirp combinations might not be feasible.


The preference of Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) for different in-cage shelters was tested. First, 15 males and 15 females were made to choose between a cage with a shelter and one without. Different shelters were tested consecutively: short (10-cm) or medium (15-cm) pipes made of black acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), 7.6 cm in diameter and open at both ends; and short or medium boxes made of black acrylic panels and open at only one end. The strongest use of the shelter cage for nesting (about 75% of days) was in the case of the medium, open pipe, for both males and females. The strongest use of the shelter itself for nesting was also in the case of the medium open pipe (52% of days). A second experiment gave a choice between pairs of shelters (of seven different types) to 10 males and 10 females. Both sexes nested significantly more in a medium pipe closed at one end than under a wheel, and tended to nest more in that medium, semi-closed pipe than in a medium, open pipe. Also, females tended to nest more in the medium, semi-closed pipe than under an aluminium cover. Other pairings did not yield significant differences. Direct use of the shelters for nesting was rather low, except for the medium, semi-closed pipe (about 50% of days). Semi-closed ABS pipes are inexpensive, easy to clean, and do not interfere with running wheels, and they could be recommended as environmental enrichment for hamsters.


This paper investigates drivers, determinants and barriers of electronic banking adoption in Iran. Results of the analysis of information gathered through comprehensive interviews with the key managers of the pioneer private bank for e-banking adoption in Iran(KB) indicate that the adoption status is the transition of pre-development to development phase and the main drivers for adopting e-banking are downsizing, gaining competitive advantage, increasing market share and improving bank's image. The analysis further reveals that inefficient ICT infrastructure, political challenges and traditional organizational culture are barriers for adoption of e-banking in Iran. We conclude that banks in Iran need to web-enable themselves sooner or later and in order for the banks to overcome some of their barriers identification of the drivers for e-banking adoption would be a helpful tool.


Problem. It is difficult for schools to make sound decisions regarding whether to use external programs to address teenage pregnancy, AIDS, substance abuse, or any other social issue. Questions arise as to which administrative factors impact decisions to use an external program and also what indicators influence successful program implementation. The effects of central office support for a program, staff training, and ample funding are administrative factors to be examined before a program is selected. Method. The research was conducted across several school districts within Indiana. Data collection involved the distribution of a questionnaire developed for this study. Schooladministrators comprised the largest portion of the sampled population. Surveys were distributed in elementary, middle, and high schools in public and private settings. A few external program providers were also sampled. A correlation matrix was produced for social issues needing external expertise for implementation in schools. Items on the survey were used to test for significant differences in external and internal factors and indicators relating to administrative decisions to adopt external programs. Results. The number of external programs used in schools increased from 1970 to 1990. The data analysis revealed that child abuse topped the list of issues viewed as needing external expertise. The data also generated lists of external and internal administrative factors related to program adoption and administrative indicators of successful implementation of external programs. Internal program initiation and internal implementation were the factors most significantly impacting administrative decisions to adopt external programs (p<.001). External funding was also a significant factor (p<.05). External funding was the most significant indicator of successful implementation of external programs (p<.001). Internal initiation and internal implementation were also significant indicators of successful implementation (p<.01). Conclusions. External expertise is perceived to be most needed to address the social issues of child abuse and substance-abuse prevention and least needed in the areas ofdecision-making and values clarification. This study shows that decisions to adopt external programs are influenced more when the programs are initiated by internal forces and implemented by internal personnel.


Critical thinking is of paramount importance in our society. People regularly assume that critical thinking is a way to reduce conspiracy belief, although the relationship between critical thinking and conspiracy belief has never been tested. We conducted two studies (Study 1, N = 86; Study 2, N = 252), in which we found that critical thinking ability—measured by an open-ended test emphasizing several areas of critical thinking ability in the context of argumentation—is negatively associated with belief in conspiracy theories. Additionally, we did not find a significant relationship between self-reported (subjective) critical thinking ability and conspiracy belief. Our results support the idea that conspiracy believers have less developed critical thinking ability and stimulate discussion about the possibility of reducing conspiracy beliefs via the development of critical thinking.


ductal dependent CHDs were detected. Thirty-eight percent (37/97) had an abnormal karyotype. Of the 55 critical CHDs detected, 44% (24) of the pregnancies with lethal/serious fetal malformations were terminated, 15% (8) died in utero, 42% (23) were born alive, 27% (15) were still alive after 2 years. Of the 42 CHDs detected postnatally, 2% (1) were terminated for other reasons, 98% (41) born alive and 81% (34) were still alive after two years. Prenatal detection of CHD is still a challenge with 57% detection rate only. Isolated defects are detected less frequently. To improve the results, the great arteries have been added to the fetal heart examination in addition to the four chamber view, increasing the detection rate to some extent, but not as much as expected. Our data suggest that implementation of additional views might not give the expected results as long as the basic views are not fully exhausted. The importance of a stepwise introduction to the fetal heart examination still seems fundamental to the success in fetal heart scanning, underlining the importance of mastering the first step, the four-chamber view, before the next step is considered, emphasizing the need for additional training.


Cu (InGa) SeTe Nanocrystals Structural and Optical Properties
Novel chalcogenide nanocrystals are the potential materials for the photovoltaic use. Predominantly, single phasic chalcogen materials are an area of the great attention. In this order it is important to demonstrate colloidal synthesis of Cu25(In16Ga9)Se40Te10 (CIGST-1) and Cu20(In14Ga9)Se45Te12 (CIGST-2) nanocrystals adopting the single step heating-up (170oC) process. The synthesized materials single/ multi-phases crystallographic structures are verified from the X-ray diffractometer. The average size agglomerated nanocrystals/ particles is evaluated less than 10 nm from the Transmission Electron Microscopy and VU-Visible spectrum Lorentzian fit analysis. The UV-Visible optical absorption spectrum demonstrates a distinguishable blue shift. While the elemental presence and their particle distribution within the configuration is described with help of the energy dispersive X-ray mapping technique. The materials binding energy core level changes are verified from the X-photoelectron spectroscopy. The photoluminescence spectroscopic outcome is revealed a broad peak in wave length range 450 nm to 750 nm for these materials.


We extend the theory of distance (Brownian) covariance from Euclidean spaces, where it was introduced by Szekely, Rizzo and Bakirov, to general metric spaces. We show that for testing independence, it is necessary and sufficient that the metric space be of strong negative type. In particular, we show that this holds for separable Hilbert spaces, which answers a question of Kosorok. Instead of the manipulations of Fourier transforms used in the original work, we use elementary inequalities for metric spaces and embeddings in Hilbert spaces.


Numerous research efforts in reconfigurable embedded processors have shown that augmenting a CPU core with a coarse-grained reconfigurable array for application-specific hardware acceleration can greatly increase performance and energy-efficiency. The traditional execution model for such reconfigurable co-processors however requires the accelerated function to fit onto the reconfigurable array as a whole, which restricts the applicability to rather small functions. In the authors' research presented in this chapter, the authors have studied hardware virtualization approaches that overcome this restriction by leveraging dynamic reconfiguration. They present two different hardware virtualization methods, virtualized execution and temporal partitioning, and introduce the Zippy reconfigurable processor architecture that has been designed with specific hardware virtualization support. Further, the authors outline the corresponding hardware and software tool flows. Finally, the authors demonstrate the potential provided by hardware virtualization with two case studies and discuss directions for future research.


The author presents a review of the world medical literature reports on the latest classifications of tumours of the hemopoietic and lymphatic tissues, based on new concepts of the hemopoiesis system. Changes in the interpretation of the meaning of such terms as "reticular cell", "reticulosis", reticulosarcoma", "hemocytoblastosis", and others are discussed. A contraversial nature of many new concepts and incompleatness of the discussion concerning the problem are emphasized. The author is one of the opinion that it would be better to abstain from the use of new classifications and from alterations in terms in practical work of pathologists before the appearance of a unified international classification of the tumours in question. Further studies of new theoretical aspects of the problem and continuation of detailed morphological, including histochemical, immunomorphological and other investigations of the substrate of tumour lesions of the hemopoietic and lymphatic tissues are recommended.


Paper deals with verification of high load force sensor using the small weight weights. Test band was built for this purpose. Verification of test band were executed using the etalon reference sensor. Small forces were executed via using the direct method through the applying of weights. High forces were executed using the indirect method through the lever amplification of load derived from small weights. Uncertainties of measurement were evaluated.


A Delphi survey of ERP life cycle management issues was conducted within five agencies of the Queensland government. The five agencies each implemented SAP Financials at around the same time using the services of a common implementation partner. Responses were elicited from ERP project participants, from managers at the agencies, and from users of the financial systems. Valid questionnaires were returned from 61respondents in the first round survey (response rate = 55%) and yielded 274 perceived issues. Through two rounds of the Delphi survey, these issues have been summarized and categorized into 10 major issue categories (with 38 sub-issues). The final survey round in which respondents will assign weights to these issues is currently underway. Lessons drawn from this study will assist in understanding the ERP life cycle and specific characteristics of the public sector ERP life cycle, and will provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of ERP systems for public sector organizations.


BACKGROUND
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the most common types of endocrine disease and the immune system plays a predominant role in its pathogenesis.

AIMS
The present study aimed to examine known gene polymorphisms within IL-12B (+1188) region and its circulating serum levels in Type 2 diabetic patients from the southeastern region of Iran and compare them with unrelated controls.

MATERIALS & METHODS
In this clinical study, peripheral blood was collected from 114 Type 2 diabetic patients and 100 healthy controls. Serum levels of IL-12B were measured by ELISA. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples and polymorphisms at the +1188 position of the IL-12B gene were assessed using PCR restriction fragment-length polymorphism.

RESULTS
Our findings demonstrated that the AA genotype and the A allele of IL-12B were increased significantly in Type 2 diabetic patients when compared with controls. Our results also showed that the circulating levels of IL-12B were significantly decreased in Type 2 diabetic patients when compared with controls.

CONCLUSION
According to the findings of the current study, we concluded that IL-12B and its +1188 polymorphism may play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes. Further replicative investigations using a larger sample size are essential to identify additional IL-12B genetic variants associated with a risk of Type 2 diabetes.


Abstract The behaviour of volatile components in magmas is crucial for magmatic and volcanic processes, from the deep regions of magma generation and storage to the shallow regions of magma eruption and emplacement. Water, carbon dioxide, and sulphur compounds are the main volatile components in natural magmas, generally comprising more than 99% of the volcanic gases released before, during, and after eruption. We have set up a method to calculate the chemical equilibrium between a fluid phase in the C-O-H-S system and a silicate liquid with a composition defined by ten major oxides. The method is based on previous models for the saturation of H2O-CO2 fluids (Papale 1997, 1999) and sulphur solubility (Moretti 2002) in silicate liquids, and for the fugacities of components in fluids with complex composition (Belonoshko et al. 1992). The model calculations provide estimates of the partitioning of H2O, CO2 and S between the silicate liquid and the coexisting fluid, and the composition of the fluid phase in terms of H2O, CO2, SO2, and H2S, as a function of pressure, temperature, volatile-free liquid composition, oxygen fugacity, and total amount of each volatile component in the system. Model calculations are presented for silicate liquids with tholeiitic and rhyolitic composition, oxygen fugacities in the NNO ± 2 range, and pressures from a few hundred MPa to atmospheric, with the simplifying assumption that no reduced or oxidized sulphur-bearing solid or liquid phases nucleate or separate from the liquid-gas system. The results are in good agreement with the bulk of experimental data from the literature, and show the well-known minima in sulphur saturation contents as a function of oxygen fugacity, the mutual effects of volatiles on their saturation contents, and the complex relationships between the saturation surface of multi-component fluids and the liquid composition, volatile abundance, and pressure-temperature-oxygen fugacity conditions. The new model therefore represents a powerful tool for the prediction of multi-component gas-liquid equilibria in natural magmatic systems, for the simulation of magmatic and volcanic processes, and for the interpretation of data on the degassing of magma bodies and composition of volcanic plumes, provided that the assumptions on which the model rests, first of all that no separation of additional S-bearing phases occurs, are satisfied.


There is an increasing quantity of data with uncertainty arising from applications such as sensor network measurements, record linkage, and as output of mining algorithms. This uncertainty is typically formalized as probability density functions over tuple values. Beyond storing and processing such data in a DBMS, it is necessary to perform other data analysis tasks such as data mining. We study the core mining problem of clustering on uncertain data, and define appropriate natural generalizations of standard clustering optimization criteria. Two variations arise, depending on whether a point is automatically associated with its optimal center, or whether it must be assigned to a fixed cluster no matter where it is actually located.
 For uncertain versions of k-means and k-median, we show reductions to their corresponding weighted versions on data with no uncertainties. These are simple in the unassigned case, but require some care for the assigned version. Our most interesting results are for uncertain k-center, which generalizes both traditional k-center and k-median objectives. We show a variety of bicriteria approximation algorithms. One picks O(kε--1log2n) centers and achieves a (1 + ε) approximation to the best uncertain k-centers. Another picks 2k centers and achieves a constant factor approximation. Collectively, these results are the first known guaranteed approximation algorithms for the problems of clustering uncertain data.


We compute Raman scattering intensities via the lowest-order coupling to the bosonic propagator associated with orbital nematic fluctuations in a minimal model for iron pnictides. The model consists of two bands on a square lattice exhibiting four Fermi pockets and a transition from the normal to a nematic state. It is shown that the orbital fluctuations produce in the B1g channel strong quasi-elastic light scattering around the nematic critical temperature Tn, both above and below Tn. This holds for the A1g symmetry only below Tn whereas no low-energy scattering from orbital fluctuations is found in the B2g symmetry. Due to the nematic distortion the electron pocket at the X-point may disappear at low temperatures. Such a Lifshitz transition causes in the B2g spectrum a large upward shift of spectral weight in the high energy region whereas no effect is seen in the other symmetries.


Mycoplasma species share a set of features, such as lack of a cell wall, streamlined genomes, simplified metabolism, and the use of a deviant genetic code, that make them attractive approximations of what a chassis strain should ideally be. Among them, Mycoplasma pneumoniae arises as a candidate for synthetic biology projects, as it is one of the most deeply characterized bacteria. However, the historical paucity of tools for editing Mycoplasma genomes has precluded the establishment of M. pneumoniae as a suitable chassis strain. Here, we developed an oligonucleotide recombineering method for this strain based on GP35, a ssDNA recombinase originally encoded by a Bacillus subtilis-associated phage. GP35-mediated oligo recombineering is able to carry out point mutations in the M. pneumoniae genome with an efficiency as high as 2.7 × 10–2, outperforming oligo recombineering protocols developed for other bacteria. Gene deletions of different sizes showed a decreasing power trend between efficiency and the scale of the attempted edition. However, the editing rates for all modifications increased when CRISPR/Cas9 was used to counterselect nonedited cells. This allowed edited clones carrying chromosomal deletions of up to 1.8 kb to be recovered with little to no screening of survivor cells. We envision this technology as a major step toward the use of M. pneumoniae, and possibly other Mycoplasmas, as synthetic biology chassis strains.


For fixed income investment, the preponderant risk is the clustering of defaults in the portfolio. Accurate prediction of such clustering depends on the knowledge of default correlation. We develop models with exogenous debt and endogenous debt to predict default correlations from equity correlations based on a self-consistent structural framework. We also examine how taxes affect the prediction of default correlations based on the two models. The empirical analysis shows that the corporate taxes tend to decrease default correlations, while personal taxes could increase or decrease default correlations. Our default correlation model with exogenous debt does a better job of predicting default correlations for high quality bonds, while the one with endogenous debt predicts more accurately for lower rated bonds. Our studies not only theoretically improve the modeling of default correlation in the structural setting but also shed new light on various aspects of default correlations and thereby help financial practitioners price credit derivatives more accurately and formulate more effective strategies to manage default risk of credit portfolios.


This fall, the Supreme Court will address whether public colleges and universities may consider race in admissions for the first time since 2003, when it decided Grutter v. Bollinger. The Fifth Circuit case under review, Fisher v. Texas, upheld the University of Texas' narrow consideration of race in undergraduate admissions. The panel opinions in Fisher stake out two competing narratives, one lending great deference to university administrators in their efforts to promote diversity and the other in favor of strict colorblindness in admissions. This Article argues that both diversity and colorblindness are important national aspirations and that Fisher should be understood primarily as conflict between the two. It frames this conflict as a clash between two deeply held loyalties to which the Supreme Court would desperately like to adhere, but which in this context and many others simply cannot coexist. Relying on literature on loyalty from the social sciences and humanities, this Article shows that conflicts between loyalties are often difficult for individuals to resolve, particularly when the loyalties are of meaningful importance. After showing that norms in favor of diversity and more widespread inclusion are now deeply entrenched in contemporary society — not only in education, but in the corporate and public sectors as well — this Article discusses Fisher in the loyalty context and argues that because many efforts aimed at promoting diversity (in both the private and public sector) could be rendered illegal pursuant to a reading of strict colorblindness into the Constitution, the Court should privilege diversity in this conflict of loyalties and continue to permit limited, good faith deviations from the colorblindness aspiration. The alternative, a privileging of strict colorblindness over race-conscious efforts aimed at diversification, has the potential to reverberate far beyond public school admissions and radically reshape society.


We investigate the characteristics of the Candida species involved in BSI episodes in our Institute, their phospholipase and protease activity and the susceptibility pattern towards the main antifungal agents currently available. From January 2009 to December 2010 we documented a total of 59 episodes of candidemia. The incidence of candidemia was 32% in General Surgery, 22% in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 13% in Oncology and 10% in Gastroenterology. C. albicans was the most common species (32 cases=48%), followed by C. glabrata (17 cases=26%) and C. parapsilosis (12 cases=18%), a significant production of phospholipase in all strains of C. albicans was detected. Among Candida non-albicans species, the production of this enzyme only occurred in 1/12 strains of C. parapsilosis. The expression acid protease production was detected in 48% of C. albicans and no strains of Candida non-albicans. All species of Candida were susceptible to amphotericin B. The rate of susceptibility to fluconazole was 100% for albicans and C. parapsilosis. Decreased susceptibility to fluconazole was mostly seen with C. glabrata, which was 76.5% susceptible in a dose-dependent manner. The echinocandins showed a good performance for C. albicans, and maintained a good MIC distribution in C. glabrata.


Drugs that induce miscarriage may eventually replace traditional surgical abortions in the first three months of pregnancy. In particular, a panel that recently evaluated international drug tests, determined that a specific two-drug combination was safe and effective when used early in pregnancy. The combination included a relatively new compound called RU 486 that induced abortions and has been tested in Europe as a 'morning after' pill. The other drug, prostaglandin, is older, and already on the market. The new twist is that together the drugs can be used as low doses that cause few side-effects, and that in combination, they have approximately a 95 percent success rate in causing abortion during the first three months of pregnancy. Should women be denied this new birth control option on social rather than medical grounds? In most countries cultural, religious and legal considerations will inevitably influence the decision on whether or not to approve RU 486. Concern for women's reproductive health should also be a factor. Moreover, politics should not infringe on sound medical practice, nor should access to a major medical advance be restricted purely on the basis of an emotional debate.


This paper describes the use of EM simulation as a convenient method to provide an equivalent circuit model of the external parasitic pad structure of microwave devices. The extraction of accurate device models from measured data is an essential prerequisite of microwave circuit design. The first stage of the modelling process is to de-embed the intrinsic device response from the parasitic network associated with the on-wafer measurement environment. The normal approach is by means of open and short test structures to characterise the embedding network. In addition to requiring that special test structures be fabricated, this method has uncertainty associated with imperfect short and open terminating impedances and is sensitive to noise on the measurement data. In this work, it is shown how EM simulation of the embedding network can be used to deembed microwave HBT data. This approach is shown to give good agreement with the measured test piece approach thereby validating the simulation method. (5 pages)


Abstract.  We developed and evaluated a multimetric index of lake diatom condition (LDCI) based on surface-sediment samples for the National Lake Assessment (NLA) by the US Environmental Protection Agency. We selected final metrics in each of 5 categories for use in composite metrics of biological condition, which we combined in a hierarchical multimetric index. The final metrics selected for the LDCI had responses as predicted based on ecological principles, wide ranges, high signal-to-noise ratios, the ability to distinguish reference from disturbed lakes, and low intercorrelation. The final metrics were: Shannon diversity, taxon richness, % reference taxa, % tolerant taxa, % epiphytic individuals, % chain-forming individuals, % low-P taxa, % low-N taxa, % high-P taxa, % high-N taxa, % Achnanthidium individuals, % Cocconeis individuals, and % Cyclotella + Stephanodiscus individuals. We developed and tested models for adjusting the expected reference LDCI at a site for natural variation among sites. The best model used lake morphology, watershed attributes, and climate variables to predict expected reference LDCI for each lake. The adjusted LDCI was the observed LDCI at a lake minus the expected reference LDCI modeled for that lake. The adjusted LDCI varied less among reference sites than the LDCI, indicating the adjusted LDCI better accounted for natural variability among sites than the LDCI. However, it had less power than the LDCI to separate reference and disturbed lakes, a result attributed to lower values of expected reference LDCI in landscapes with high agricultural land use. The adjusted LDCI is the first multimetric diatom index developed for lakes, applied at a scale as large and diverse as the USA, and corrected for natural variation among lakes. According to the adjusted LDCI, 47.1% of USA lakes were in reference condition, 27.0% were in fair condition, and 23.2% were in poor condition.


The results of carried out studies demonstrated that children with intestinal parasitoses are more affected by different diseases than children without this pathology. In particular, during last two years in the first group 78.2±1.5% of cases of diseases were registered while total children morbidity comes to 36.4±2.0% of cases in average (t=16.72, p<0.001). Summarily, on each child with intestinal parasitoses accounts for 0.78±0.11% of cases of disease in average which resulted in 2.82±0.07 cases of missing school lessons. The rate of intestinal parasitoses is largely impacted by level of material well-fare and living conditions of families. The elimination of established social epidemiological prerequisites opens wide perspectives for organization and implementation of rational measures of prevention of intestinal parasitoses in urban children.


There has been a rapid increase in government efforts to expand electric vehicle markets by deploying fast-charging stations, promoting uptake through greater investment, and by enacting supportive policies. Government support and private investment have contributed to the expansion of electric vehicles in many countries. The aim of this study is to highlight and analyze the most critical aspects of the expansion of the electric vehicle market, regarding technologies, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, opportunities, and barriers in Europe. Our study analyzes the progress of electric vehicles by reviewing recent literature based on technology, policy, and government measurements. This study provides comprehensive information on electric vehicles and perspectives that are critical to policymakers, car manufacturers, consumers, and the community. To achieve favorable results, governments should invest in developing electric vehicles and battery technologies, provide subsidies, and develop charging infrastructure. Furthermore, by analyzing current EV sales in ten countries around the world, we assess the operating costs of electric vehicles. Overall EV cost of ownership is influenced by grid electricity price, cost of financing, location, carbon tax, wind speed, and solar insolation.


Abstract Understanding how poverty persists and how this affects environmental reliance has policy implications for poverty reduction and environmental conservation. Employing a panel data-set from rural Nepal, we shed light on this issue, using a combination of parametric and nonparametric models. Results show that, as a population, households will converge at a single equilibrium point in the long-term, hence indicating the absence of a poverty trap. The exact asset level of this single equilibrium point, which indicates the absence of a poverty trap, varies between groups of households (for example, based on location, marital status). Based on the convergence point of the entire study population, two groups of households are identified: one situated above the convergence point and another situated below the point. Total environmental income, that is, all income from forest and non-forest environments, is very important to households below the convergence point. Although total environmental income is not a major contributor to asset accumulation, its non-forest component is a significant and positive contributor. We attribute the importance to their looser restriction to access, than for forest resources. Hence, securing greater access to forests without affecting the conservation priorities will help improve the contribution of forest resources to poverty reduction.


Detecting and segmenting Spatio-temporal foreground objects from videos are significant to motion pattern modelling and video content analysis. Extensive efforts have been made in the past decades. Nevertheless, video-based saliency detection and foreground segmentation remained challenging. On the one hand, the performances of image-based saliency detection algorithms are limited in complex contents, while the temporal connectivity between frames are not well-resolved. On the other hand, compared with the prosperous image-based datasets, the datasets in video-level saliency detection and segmentation usually have smaller scale and less diversity of contents. Towards a better understanding of video-level semantics, this thesis investigates the foreground estimation and segmentation in both image-level and video-level.

This thesis firstly demonstrates the effectiveness of traditional features in video foreground estimation and segmentation. Motion patterns obtained by optical flow are utilised to draw coarse estimations about the foreground objects. The coarse estimations are refined by aligning motion boundaries with actual contours of the foreground objects with the participation of HOG descriptor. And a precise segmentation of the foreground is computed based on the refined foreground estimations and video-level colour distribution.

Second, a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) for image saliency detection is proposed, which is named HReSNet. To improve the accuracy of saliency prediction, an independent feature refining network is implemented. A Euclidean distance loss is integrated into loss computation to enhance the saliency predictions near the contours of objects. The experimental results demonstrate that our network obtains competitive results compared with the state-of-art algorithms.

Third, a large-scale dataset for video saliency detection and foreground segmentation is built to enrich the diversity of current video-based foreground segmentation datasets. A supervised framework is also proposed as the baseline, which integrates our HReSNet, Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) networks and a hierarchical segmentation network.

Forth, in the practice of change detection, there requires distinguishing the expected changes with semantics from the unexpected changes. Therefore, a new CNN design is proposed to detect changes in multi-temporal high-resolution urban images. Experimental results showed our change detection network outperformed the competing algorithms with significant advantages.


Chronic pain causes patients to endure prolonged suffering and discomfort, often having profound effects on quality of life. In New Zealand, one in five people currently suffer from chronic pain. To treat chronic pain, patients are typically prescribed drugs that activate the mu opioid receptor (MOPr), such as morphine, codeine and oxycodone. In recent years in the United States of America, there has been a rapid increase in the use of prescription and non-prescription opioid drugs, with opioid overdoses now the leading cause of accidental death. In New Zealand, daily doses of prescription opioids quadrupled in the ten year period from 2001-2011. Clearly, there is a need for the development of more effective and safe medications. This thesis evaluated two classes of non-addictive compounds: bioactive lipids and kappa opioid receptor (KOPr) agonists. N-docosahexaenoyl ethanolamine (DHEA) is an N-acyl ethanolamine class lipid that is structurally similar to the endocannabinoid anandamide. DHEA has previously been shown to have immune-modulatory effects in vitro, however, the in vivo effects have not previously been tested. Using the intraplantar 2% formaldehyde model in mice, DHEA reduced inflammatory and nociceptive pain via both intraperitoneal (i.p.) and local intraplantar (i.pl.) administration. DHEA significantly reduced formaldehyde-induced footpad oedema and reduced the infiltration of neutrophils into the inflamed tissue. The antinociceptive and anti-oedematous effects were not modulated by pre-treatment with either cannabinoid 1- or 2-type receptor antagonists. DHEA did not have any effect in a thermal nociceptive pain model and did not show any motor coordination impairment or changes in thermoregulation. In the search for non-addictive analgesics, KOPr agonists are a promising alternative. In contrast to MOPr agonists, KOPr agonists play a critical role in regulating the reward system. Salvinorin A (SalA) is a selective KOPr agonist that has antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects in vivo, with limited abuse potential. However, the short duration of action and aversive side effects limit the clinical usefulness. The present study aimed to investigate the antinociceptive effects of acute administration of novel analogues of SalA. In the dose-response tail withdrawal assay, SalA and the novel analogues 16-Ethynyl SalA and 16-Bromo SalA were more potent than the traditional KOPr agonist U50,488, and 16-Ethynyl SalA was more efficacious. 16-Ethynyl SalA and 16-Bromo SalA both had a longer duration of action in the warm water tail withdrawal assay and the hot plate test compared to SalA. In the intraplantar 2% formaldehyde test, SalA, 16-Ethynyl SalA and 16-Bromo SalA significantly reduced nociceptive pain and inflammatory pain, effects which were reversed by the KOPr antagonist nor-binaltorphimine. SalA, 16-Ethynyl SalA and 16-Bromo SalA reduced paw oedema and reduced the infiltration of neutrophils into the inflamed tissue. However, SalA, 16-Ethynyl SalA and 16-Bromo SalA produced motor incoordination effects. However, 16-Ethynyl SalA did not alter thermoregulation. The KOPr agonists were further assessed in a model of paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain. In the acute dose-response experiment, 16-Ethynyl SalA was significantly more potent at reducing mechanical allodynia compared to morphine in both male and female mice. SalA and 16-Ethynyl SalA were more potent at reducing cold allodynia than morphine. In a chronic administration model over 22 days, for the treatment of cold and mechanical allodynia, all of the opioid treatments reduced pain, however, the traditional KOPr agonist U50,488, was the most potent, by reducing the male mechanical allodynia and cold allodynia in both sexes back to baseline levels. The ultrastructure of the sciatic nerves were studied, however, it was found that U50,488 did not reverse the effects of paclitaxel on myelin degeneration and mitochondrial damage. Overall, this study has identified DHEA as a modest treatment for inflammatory pain, with reduced side effects and a mechanism of action in contrast to other compounds with a similar structure. The novel KOPr agonists had significant effects in acute pain models with longer duration of action than the parent compound SalA. This is the first known study to investigate the effects of KOPr agonists in a paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain model, showing that KOPr agonists are a potential therapeutic avenue for this debilitating condition.


Quality characteristics of steel workpiece and their inspection methods are introduced, and the influencing factors of surface quality are analyzed by quality tools. A set of inspection scheme for cutting temperature and cutting force on-line monitoring is worked out. Thin film thermocouple technology was introduced to measure the dynamic temperature which affects the surface quality characteristics of steel workpieces. A system for measuring cutting temperature and cutting force has been developed. A high speed data acquisition card ADlink PCI-9118HG is used to acquire the temperature and force signals. Simple and friendly human-machine interface was programmed with the application of VC++ technology and Tchart controllor to achieve real-time data acquisition, display and analysis of cutting temperature and cutting force. It was concluded from the experiment that the data acquisition and measuring system is easy and flexible to use.


The vibration and stability of a spinning disk under follower edge tractions are studied both numerically and analytically. The edge traction is circumferentially stationary in the space. When the compressive traction is uniform, natural frequencies of most of the non-reflected waves decrease, except some of the zero-nodal-circle modes with small number of nodal diameters in the low frequency range. When the spinning disk is under nonuniform traction in the form of cos kθ, where k is a nonzero integer, it is fbund that the eigenvalue only changes slightly under the edge traction if the natural frequency of interest is well separated from others. When two modes are almost degenerate, however, modal interaction (frequency loci veering or merging) occurs when the difference between the number of nodal diameters of these two modes is equal to ±k. Types of modal interaction vary as the radius ratio of the circular disk changes. Analytical methods for predicting how the eigenvalue changes and what type of modal interaction will occur are proposed and verified.


The Data Warehouse for Lymphoma Decision Support System is a data warehouse containing relevant Lymphoma medical information and patient data. The data warehouse provides the source for all current and historical clinical data to help doctors and other health professionals to improve the quality of diagnosis, clinical care and treatment recommendation decision making for Lymphoma patients. This paper focus on the evaluation of the architecture, data inputs as well as data warehousing processes and techniques of the Lymphoma data warehouse. An evaluation model based on Bill Inmon's definition of data warehouse is proposed to evaluate the Lymphoma data warehouse.


Introduction: Barrett's esophagus (BE) with dysplasia has a recognized potential for malignancy. Neither acid suppression nor anti-reflux surgery produce consistent or complete regression of metaplasia or dysplasia in the epithelium. Endoscopic argon plasma ablation (APC) offers the possibility of eradication, but factors that may influence the outcome of therapy have not been consistently evaluated. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of APC for eradication of BE with dyspla - sia and to evaluate the factors that influence the immediate outcome and results after one year of follow up. Methods: The study population included thirty-three patients suffering from BE with dysplasia: 19 men (58%), mean age of 56.9 ± 6.35 years (range 45-69 years) and an average length of EB 4.1 cm (range 2 to 8 cm.). All patients had undergone APC at intervals of 4 to 6 weeks to eradicate Barrett's esophagus. Patients also received double doses of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Patients were endoscopically monitored at 3, 6 and 12 months and thereafter every year with four-quadrant biopsies of treated areas. Results: Ablation of BE and dysplasia was achieved in all patients after a median of 2 sessions of APC (1-4 sessions). Recurrence of BE and dysplasia is associated with longer initial lengths affected by BE and larger circumferences of its circular or proximal margin, despite treatment with additional APC sessions (no significant differences). Documented recurrences of Barrett's esophagus occurred in seven patients (21.2%), documented recurrences of dysplasia occurred in three patients (9.1%). Two of these were low grade and one was high grade. The most frequent complication was chest pain which was experienced by six patients (18.2%), four had stenoses that required endoscopic dilatation (12.1%), and one patient's (3%) bleeding re- quired sclerotherapy during the procedure. The average follow-up time was 43.7 ± 19 months. No esophageal carcinoma developed nor were there any deaths related to the disease or therapy. Conclusions: Treatment with APC is safe and effective ablative therapy for short segments of BE with dysplasia. Post treatment recurrences of BE and dysplasia are common especially among patients with long segments of BE.


We consider continuous state branching processes (CSBP's) with additional multiplicative jumps modeling dramatic  events in a random environment. These jumps  are described by a Levy process with bounded variation paths. We construct the associated class of processes as the unique solution of a stochastic differential equation. The quenched branching property of the process allows us to derive quenched and annealed results and make appear new asymptotic behaviors. We characterize the Laplace exponent of the process as the solution of a backward ordinary differential equation and establish when it becomes extinct. For a class of processes for which extinction and absorption coincide (including the $\alpha$ stable CSBP's plus a drift), we determine the speed of extinction. Four regimes appear, as in the case of branching processes in random environment in discrete time and space.The proofs rely on a fine study of the asymptotic behavior of exponential functionals of Levy processes. Finally, we apply these results to a cell infection model and determine the mean speed of propagation of the infection.


Discrete-Time Inverse Optimal Control for Nonlinear Systems proposes a novel inverse optimal control scheme for stabilization and trajectory tracking of discrete-time nonlinear systems. This avoids the need to solve the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation and minimizes a cost functional, resulting in a more efficient controller. Design More Efficient Controllers for Stabilization and Trajectory Tracking of Discrete-Time Nonlinear Systems The book presents two approaches for controller synthesis: the first based on passivity theory and the second on a control Lyapunov function (CLF). The synthesized discrete-time optimal controller can be directly implemented in real-time systems. The book also proposes the use of recurrent neural networks to model discrete-time nonlinear systems. Combined with the inverse optimal control approach, such models constitute a powerful tool to deal with uncertainties such as unmodeled dynamics and disturbances. Learn from Simulations and an In-Depth Case Study The authors include a variety of simulations to illustrate the effectiveness of the synthesized controllers for stabilization and trajectory tracking of discrete-time nonlinear systems. An in-depth case study applies the control schemes to glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, to calculate the adequate insulin delivery rate required to prevent hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia levels. The discrete-time optimal and robust control techniques proposed can be used in a range of industrial applications, from aerospace and energy to biomedical and electromechanical systems. Highlighting optimal and efficient control algorithms, this is a valuable resource for researchers, engineers, and students working in nonlinear system control.


INTRODUCTION Of the various lots of foraminiferal material collected from the walls of the canyons on the south side of Georges Bank, one, the greensand from Canyon II, Tow 6, is very distinctively Cretaceous in age, the others, greensand and the silts, are of late Tertiary age. The Cretaceous greensand contains a large fauna and is apparently to be correlated with faunas of known Upper Cretaceous, Navarro age, of the general Gulf Coastal Plain region. Unfortunately, the foraminiferal fauna of the Cretaceous of the Atlantic Coastal Plain is not yet well enough known, so that correlations with that area cannot be definitely made. Some of the species are identical with those of the Cretaceous, upper Selma chalk, of Tennessee, and most of them are found in clays of known Navarro age in the Texas area. The large number of species and their known vertical ranges show the undoubted Cretaceous age . . .


Traditional medicine has been used by a significant percentage of the population not only in the Western Pacific Region but also in a lot of Asian countries [1]. A review article published earlier in Hong Kong revealed that an estimation of about 60% of the local population has experience of consulting traditional medicine practitioner or using Chinese medicinal products [2]. The increasing use of traditional medicine implies that the demand for a well-established regulatory policy becomes imminence. In Hong Kong, the Legislative Council has passed the Chinese Medicine Ordinance in 1999 with aims to regulate the practice, use, trading and manufacture of Chinese medicine [3]. A list of the first batch of registered Chinese medicine practitioners was published in the Gazette on November 2002 [3]. A project entitled Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards that focuses on safety and quality standards for Chinese medicinal materials was launched in the same year and being developed. Two local universities have been invited for participation in the first phase of this project [4]. Licensing of Chinese medicines traders has been implemented in 2003 and registration of proprietary Chinese medicines has also been introduced recently. According to the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, all proprietary Chinese medicines in Hong Kong should subject for initial registration before 30 June 2004. All those required documentations and test reports should arrive the Chinese Medicines Board within the transition period. No person shall sell, import or possess any proprietary Chinese medicines in Hong Kong unless it is registered.