Today, the data available to tackle many scientific challenges is vast in quantity and diverse in nature. The exploration of heterogeneous information spaces requires suitable mining algorithms as well as effective visual interfaces. Most existing systems concentrate either on mining algorithms or on visualization techniques. Though visual methods developed in information visualization have been helpful, for improved understanding of a complex large high-dimensional dataset, there is a need for an effective projection of such a dataset onto a lower-dimension (2D or 3D) manifold. This paper introduces a flexible visual data mining framework which combines advanced projection algorithms developed in the machine learning domain and visual techniques developed in the information visualization domain. The framework follows Shneiderman's mantra to provide an effective user interface. The advantage of such an interface is that the user is directly involved in the data mining process. We integrate principled projection methods, such as Generative Topographic Mapping (GTM) and Hierarchical GTM (HGTM), with powerful visual techniques, such as magnification factors, directional curvatures, parallel coordinates, billboarding, and user interaction facilities, to provide an integrated visual data mining framework. Results on a real life high-dimensional dataset from the chemoinformatics domain are also reported and discussed. Projection results of GTM are analytically compared with the projection results from other traditional projection methods, and it is also shown that the HGTM algorithm provides additional value for large datasets. The computational complexity of these algorithms is discussed to demonstrate their suitability for the visual data mining framework.


This paper investigates the effects of phase change on the stability of a laterally heated liquid layer for the first time. The interface is open to the atmosphere and vapor diffusion is the rate-limiting mechanism for evaporation. In this configuration, the planar layer is naturally vulnerable to the formation of travelling thermal instabilities, i.e., hydrothermal waves (HTWs), due to the presence of temperature gradients along the gas-liquid interface. Recent work carried out for deformable interfaces and negligible evaporation indicates that the HTWs additionally give rise to interface deformations of similar features, i.e., physical waves. The study presented here reveals that phase change plays a dual role through its effect on these instabilities: the latent energy required during the evaporation process tends to inhibit the HTWs while the accompanying level reduction enhances the physical waves by minimizing the role of gravity. The dynamics of the gas phase are also discussed. The HTW-induced convective patterns in the gas along with the travelling nature of the instabilities have a significant impact on the local evaporation flux and the vapor distribution above the interface. Interestingly, high (low) concentrations of vapor are found above cold (hot) spots. The phase-change mechanism for stable layers is also investigated. The Marangoni effect plays a major role in the vapor distribution generating a vacuum effect in the warm region and vapor accumulations at the cold boundary capable of inverting the phase change, i.e., the capillary flow can lead to local condensation. This work also demonstrates the inefficiencies of the traditional phase change models based on pure vapor diffusion to capture the dynamics of thermocapillary flows.


Inorganic arsenic and elevated glucose concentrations increase endothelial production of superoxide, which impairs endothelium-derived nitric oxide bioavailability and associated nitric oxide-dependent arterial relaxations. However, there is now evidence in animal models of diabetes mellitus that relaxations attributed to endothelium-dependent smooth muscle hyperpolarization or endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) may be augmented and serve to compensate for the loss of nitric oxide, thereby maintaining arterial responsiveness. The effects of arsenite and elevated glucose concentrations on "EDHF-type" relaxations were thus investigated in isolated rabbit iliac artery rings using the G-protein-coupled agonist acetylcholine and the sarcoendoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase inhibitor cyclopiazonic acid. Arsenite and elevated glucose both potentiated EDHF-type relaxations evoked by cyclopiazonic acid. Differential effects of arsenite and glucose against EDHF-type responses to acetylcholine were identified in that arsenite attenuated relaxation, whereas glucose potentiated relaxation. Further experiments showed that the arsenite- and glucose-augmented components of relaxation were reversed to control levels by the hydrogen peroxide scavenger catalase and the NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin. Arsenite-augmented responses were also reversed by the cell-permeable superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetic manganese porphyrin. It follows that hydrogen peroxide derived from NADPH oxidase may augment EDHF-type relaxations in diabetes mellitus and arsenic toxicity, thus maintaining endothelial control of arterial tone when nitric oxide bioavailability is impaired by oxidative stress. These results are consistent with the demonstrations that hydrogen peroxide augments EDHF-type relaxations in the rabbit iliac artery by promoting endothelial Ca2+ mobilization and enhancing the opening of endothelial Ca2+-activated K + channels, and that the increased activity of these channels underpins augmented EDHF-type arterial relaxations in animal models of diabetes.


Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is produced by activated T cells and it plays many diverse roles by regulating the functions of normal and abnormal cells. Its roles include regulation of proliferation, promotion of immune system and activation of apoptosis in B cells. IL-21R is a type-1 cytokine receptor and belongs to the IL-2R and IL-15R family. The signaling mechanisms of IL-21 in different cell types have been identified. However, we know less about the biological effects of IL-21 and its signaling mechanisms in leukemia cells and monocytes. In this chapter, we will focus on IL-21's biological effects and signaling pathways as well as discuss the potential implications and applications of IL-21 in leukemia cells. In these cells, IL-21 does not promote proliferation but enhances apoptosis and chemotaxis. Furthermore, IL-21 promotes differential expression of many cytokines including interleukins and chemokines. IL-21 activates both the Raf-ERK-MAPK and the Jak/STAT signaling pathways. These pathways mediate some of the effects of IL-21. Lastly, IL-21 also promotes activation of the STAT3 promoter and other transcriptional factors. These findings may be relevant to IL-21's potential clinical implications and applications. in leukemia cells. Our results show that IL-21 activates Jak2, Jak 3 and Tyk2, which are involved in activating several STAT proteins including STAT2, STAT3, STAT4 and STAT6 in both U937 leukemia


Counterfactual instances offer human-interpretable insight into the local behaviour of machine learning models. We propose a general framework to generate sparse, in-distribution counterfactual model explanations which match a desired target prediction with a conditional generative model, allowing batches of counterfactual instances to be generated with a single forward pass. The method is flexible with respect to the type of generative model used as well as the task of the underlying predictive model. This allows straightforward application of the framework to different modalities such as images, time series or tabular data as well as generative model paradigms such as GANs or autoencoders and predictive tasks like classification or regression. We illustrate the effectiveness of our method on image (CelebA), time series (ECG) and mixed-type tabular (Adult Census) data.


We report a case of a 30-year-old man presenting with abdominal pain, fever, homodynamic instability, hepatosplenomegaly, acute renal failure, cervical lymph nodes, anaemia and thrombocytopenia. The patient was treated with empiric antibiotics, high dose corticosteroids, gammaglobulins, noradrenalin and diary intermittent haemodialysis, with an excellent response. The renal biopsy showed a thrombotic microangiopathy, the lymph node biopsy showed a Castleman s disease. Castleman s disease (also known as giant lymph node hyperplasia or angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia) is a clinicopathological entity of unknown aetiology. A number of renal alterations have been described in association with the Castleman s disease.


Summary

Different levels of shortening in cookies (10%, 20% and 30% by weight) were replaced with 20% jet-cooked oat bran, also called Nutrim oat bran (OB), to prepare cookies with fewer calories. The cookies containing Nutrim OB were investigated in terms of rheological and physical properties and compared with a control. As more shortening was replaced with Nutrim OB, a decrease in the diameter and an increase in the height of cookies were observed. The increased moisture content from Nutrim OB caused a decrease in the dynamic viscoelastic properties of cookie dough. Squeezing flow method showed shear thinning behaviours in all cookie doughs. Also, the elongational viscosity of cookie dough decreased significantly with more replacement of shortening with Nutrim OB. The rheological properties of cookie dough during baking indicated that all of the samples had similar types of viscoelastic characteristics during baking. However, the cookies containing more Nutrim OB exhibited more elastic properties which resulted in a decreased cookie diameter. There was no significant difference in cookie hardness among samples with up to 20% shortening replacement but the cookies became lighter in colour as the Nutrim OB content was increased.


Objectives: To determine the age and gender specific prevalence of different refractive errors in the patients presenting to the Ophthalmology Departments of the tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Analytical Cross-sectional study. Setting: Departments of Outpatient Ophthalmology at THQ Hospital Kabirwala, The Children's Hospital & The Institute of Child Health Multan and Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Period: January 2020 to May 2020. Material & Methods: A total of 400 patients ≥ 4 years age of either gender were included. Patients with history of ocular surgery, trauma and advanced fundus disease were excluded. Age and gender of the patients was noted. Clinical examination and autorefraction were carried out. Quantitative data is presented as mean ± SD and qualitative data as frequency and percentages. Chi-square test is used to assess the association of refractive errors with age groups and gender. Results: Median age of the participants was 20 years (range 04 – 92 years). Males constituted 58% (n = 232) of the study participants. Most common refractive error were astigmatism (n=298, 74.5%) and myopia in 187 (46.75%) patients. Prevalence of myopia was significantly higher (p-value < 0.001) in 11-20 (39.6%) and 21-40 (34.2%) years age group and in males (64.7%, p-value 0.01). Hypermetropia was significantly higher (p-value <0.001) in 4-10 (36.8%) and ≥ 41 (38.7%) years age group with no gender predilection. Conclusion: This study shows prevalence of myopia being highest in males age 11-40 years and prevalence of hypermetropia being highest in children between 4-10 year and elderly ≥ 41 year with no gender predilection.


As the social awareness has gradually increased, energy security has become an increasingly important consideration. Malaysia, a country that is blessed with extensive natural resources, has also recognised the need of exploring a reliable and sustainable energy source. However, due to several underlying bottlenecks, such as the traditional involvement of small medium enterprises (SMEs) in low-value utilisation of biomass, the development of the biomass industry in Malaysia is hampered. A novel mathematical model is developed to remove this inveterate barrier. In the model, vehicle capacity constraints are considered alongside with several environmental indicators, i.e., global warming potential (GWP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), acidification potential (AP), photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP), nutrification potential (NP), aquatic toxicity potential (ATP), terrestrial toxicity potential (TTP), abiotic depletion potential (ADP), water footprint (WF) and land footprint (LF) to evaluate the sustainability performance of the supply chain. A case study in Johor state is opted to demonstrate the proposed model.


In order to evolve a deformable object in time, the underlying equations of motion have to be numerically integrated. This is commonly done by employing either an explicit or an implicit integration scheme. While explicit methods are only stable for small time steps, implicit methods are unconditionally stable. In this paper, we present a novel methodology to combine explicit and implicit linear integration approaches, based on element-wise stability considerations. First, we detect the ill-shaped simulation elements which hinder the stable explicit integration of the element nodes as a pre-computation step. These nodes are then simulated implicitly, while the remaining parts of the mesh are explicitly integrated. As a consequence, larger integration time steps than in purely explicit methods are possible, while the computation time per step is smaller than in purely implicit integration. During modifications such as cutting or fracturing, only newly created or modified elements need to be reevaluated, thus making the technique usable in real-time simulations. In addition, our method reduces problems due to numerical dissipation.


Objectives The objective of this study is to examine the effect of additional cadaver laboratory use in training obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) residents on transobturator vaginal tape (TOT) insertion. Methods Thirty-four OBGYN residents were randomized into 2 groups (group 1, control; group 2, intervention; 17 in each group). Before and after the interventions, written knowledge and confidence levels were assessed. Both groups received didactic lectures using a bony pelvis and an instructional video on TOT insertion; group 2 participated in a half day cadaver laboratory. Surgical skills were assessed by placing 1 arm of the TOT trocar on a custom-designed pelvic model simulator while being graded by an Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) board-certified proctor. Results Demographics were comparable. Baseline knowledge and confidence level before interventions were similar. After interventions, knowledge scores improved for both groups (8.8% for group 1; 14.1% for group 2); TOT insertion scores were significantly higher in group 2 (6.76/15 ± 2.54 group 1; 10.24/15 ± 2.73 group 2, P < 0.01); confidence scores improved in both groups. The pelvic model simulator was rated as the most useful method to learn TOT placement by group 1. Group 2 rated TOT simulation (47%) and cadaver laboratory (41%). All trainees reported that the pelvic model was highly realistic. Conclusions Cadaver laboratory exposure, along with other educational interventions (lectures and video), improves OBGYN residents' confidence, knowledge, and surgical skills regarding TOT placement. The custom-designed pelvic model allows for a realistic simulation of TOT placement: it can be used to assess resident surgical skills and also aid the training of OBGYN residents.


The paper presents a method for the detection of anomalies in waste-free production audit data based on the neural network model of Gauss-Bernoulli of the forward only restricted Cauchy machine (FORCM). The purpose of the work is to increase the efficiency of audit data analysis of waste-free production on the basis of the neural network model of anomalies detection without the use of the marked data that simplifies audit.
To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been set and solved: offered model of generalized multiple transformations of audit data in the form of a two-layer neural network. Cauchy offered neural network model of Gauss-Bernoulli of the forward only restricted Cauchy machine possesses a heteroassociative memory; works real data; has no restrictions for storage capacity; provide high accuracy of detection of anomalies; uses Cauchy's distribution that increases the speed of convergence of a method of parametrical identification. To increase the speed of Gauss-Bernoulli parametric identification of a forward only restricted Cauchy machine, a parametric identification algorithm was developed to be implemented on a GPU using CUDA technology. The offered algorithm allows increasing training speed by approximately proportional to the product of numbers of neurons in the hidden layer and power of a training set.
The experiments confirmed the operability of the developed software and allow to recommend it for use in practice in a subsystem of the automated analysis of DSS of audit for detection of anomalies.


While the majority of linguistic researchers both inside and outside Vietnam consider the Vietnamese language a Mon-Khmer, Austroasiatic language, some counterarguments and general confusion continue to exist in the public domain. This article looks at four hypotheses regarding the linguistic origins of Vietnamese, hypotheses that place Vietnamese variously within the Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Chinese, or Tai-Kadai language families. Based on linguistic methodology and plausible scenarios of interethnic contact, the commonly held position——Vietnamese is an Austroasiatic language——remains the most tenable.


We survey a number of papers that have focused on the construction of cross-country data sets on average years of schooling. We discuss the construction of the different series, compare their profiles and construct indicators of their information content. The discussion focuses on a sample of OECD countries but we also provide some results for a large non-OECD sample.


This study examines the multiple and conflicting ways in which German national identity is spatially expressed through the material and metaphor of the human body. In particular, it describes the various gendered, sexed, and raced constructions of Germany, as they emerged in the capital city of Berlin since 1989. Based on two ethnographic case studies situated in neighboring urban environments, the Love Parade and the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, the author shows how bodily representations of post-1989 Germany are fluctuating between the sexualized, demasculinized celebration of multiculturalism and the repeatedly racist, masculinist and even anti-Semitic reconstruction of German nationhood. While the German government is making active efforts to situate the future Berlin Republic within a network of increasingly integrated European nation states, and is involved in sponsoring both the Love Parade and the MMJE, social movements in Berlin are actively supporting and contesting such politics. It is this struggle between government efforts and grassroots politics, and the role of the human body in the political process of constructing collective identities that this book ultimately explores.


Background/introduction Reductions in sexual health budgets have occurred across England. There is significant focus on the Public Health Outcomes framework and requirements to deliver improved services for less. Sexual health services are examining ways to be more efficient. In 2015 we set out to examine aspects of inefficiency within our service. We highlighted a high 'Did Not Attend' (DNA) rate for Follow up patients as a significant inefficiency. We describe a service review undertaken as part of service improvement plan looking at the reasons and triggers for patients not attending or cancelling their appointments. Aim(s)/objectives To describe associated factors with not attending appointments when a follow up (FU) appointment has been arranged. To identify solutions to reduce DNA rates to release extra capacity for new appointments. Methods Focused initial data collection on Doctor follow up stream for November 2015. Aimed to look at whether the following impacted on DNA rate: SMS reminders, Time between booking & appointment and Reason for follow up Results The overall DNA rate for Doctor Follow up appointments is 23.7%. Median time from appointment made to appointment either attended or not was the same, 18 days. Patients re-attending for Gonorrhoea and chlamydia treatment, Post exposure Prophylaxis FU, Herpes FU and patients with ongoing symptoms attended well. Patients attending for hepatitis B vaccination, window period testing, FU for Pelvic inflammatory disease and Chlamydia Test of cure were significantly more likely to DNA. A survey was conducted to ask patients what were the acceptable means of avoiding DNAs. Discussion/conclusion A total of 165 appointments were missed in November 2015, equivalent to 10 appointments every day. Introducing additional text reminders, using social influence models to increase patient cancellation, were all likely to reduce DNA rate and increase capacity for new appointments.


The two volume set LNAI 3613 and LNAI 3614 constitutes the refereed
proceedings of the Second International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and
Knowledge Discovery, FSKD 2005, held in Changsha, China, in August 2005 as a joint event in federation with the First International Conference on Natural Computation ICNC 2005 (LNCS volumes 3610, 3611, and 3612). The program committee selected 206 carefully revised full papers and 127 short papers for presentation in two volumes from 1249 submissions. The first volume includes all the contributions related to fuzzy theory and models, uncertainty management and probabilistic methods in data mining, approximate reasoning, axiomatic foundation, fuzzy classifiers, fuzzy clustering, fuzzy database mining and information retrieval, information fusion, neuro-fuzzy systems, fuzzy control, fuzzy hardware, knowledge visualization and exploration, sequential data analysis, parallel and distributed data mining, and rough sets. The second volume deals with dimensionality reduction, pattern recognition and trend analysis, other topics in FSKD methods, mining of spatial, textual, image and time-series data, fuzzy systems in bioinformatics and bio-medical engineering, in expert system and informatics, and in pattern recognition and diagostics; knowledge discovery in bioinformatics, bio-medical engineering, and in expert system and informatics; active information gathering on the web, and neural and fuzzy computation in cognitive computer vision.


ABSTRACT - BACKGROUND: Hospital costs in surgery constitute a burden for the health system in all over the world. Multimodal protocols such as the ACERTO project enhance postoperative recovery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the hospital costs in patients undergoing major digestive surgical procedures with or without the perioperative care strategies proposed by the ACERTO project. METHODS: Retrospective data from elective patients undergoing major digestive surgical procedures in a university hospital between January 2002 and December 2011 were collected. The investigation involved two phases: between January 2002 and December 2005, covering cases admitted before the implementation of the ACERTO protocol (pre-ACERTO period), and cases operated between January 2006 and December 2011, after implementation (ACERTO period). The primary outcome was the comparison of hospital costs between the two periods. As secondary end point, we compared length of stay (LOS), postoperative complications, surgical-site infection (SSI) rate, and mortality. RESULTS: We analyzed 381 patients (239 of the pre-ACERTO period and 142 of the ACERTO period) who underwent major procedures on the gastrointestinal tract. Patients operated after within the ACERTO protocol postoperative LOS had a median of 3 days shorter (p=0.001) when compared with pre-ACERTO period [median (IQR): 10 (12) days vs. 13 (12) days]. Mortality was similar between the two periods. Postoperative complications risk, however, was 29% greater (RR: 1.29; 95%CI 1.11-1.50) in the pre-ACERTO period (p=0.002). SSI risk was also greater in pre-ACERTO period (RR: 1.33; 95%CI 1.14-1.50). Costs (mean and SE) per patients were R$24,562.84 (1,349.33) before the implementation and R$19,912.81 (1,459.89) after the ACERTO protocol (p=0.02). CONCLUSION: The implementation of the ACERTO project in this University Hospital reduced the hospital costs in major digestive procedures. Moreover, the implementation of this modern perioperative care strategy also reduced postoperative complications, SSI risks, and LOS.


Introduction Little empirical research has been conducted on information technology (IT) support for knowledge management. Most published research develops recommendations for successful knowledge management without empirical basis (e.g., Davenport et al., 1998; Fahey and Prusak, 1998). The study presented in this paper complements existing research by focusing explicitly on the use of IT to support knowledge management in law firms, while contributing to the body of empirical knowledge management research (e.g., Alavi and Leidner, 1999; Ruggles, 1998). This research makes a contribution to the emerging knowledge-based view of the firm applied to professional service firms. This paper explores some important and contemporary issues concerning knowledge management by viewing organizations as knowledge systems, and it reports results from a major survey of Norwegian law firms and a minor survey of Norwegian consulting firms on IT support for inter-organizational knowledge management. The research is concerned with potential predictors of IT support and potential differences between law firms and consulting firms. This research relates to informing clients as it is concerned with providing a client with information in a form, format, and schedule that maximizes its effectiveness (Cohen, 1999). Research Aspects Firm Cooperation A law firm can be understood as a social community specializing in the speed and efficiency in the creation and transfer of legal knowledge (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). Edwards and Mahling (1997) categorized the types of knowledge involved in the practice of law as administrative data, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and analytical knowledge. Administrative data includes all of the nuts and bolts information about firm operations, such as hourly billing rates for lawyers, client names and matters, staff payroll data, and client invoice data. Declarative knowledge is knowledge of the law, the legal principles contained in statutes, court opinions and other sources of primary legal authority; law students spend most of their law school careers acquiring this kind of knowledge. Procedural knowledge involves knowledge of the mechanics of complying with the law's requirements in a particular situation: what documents are necessary to transfer an asset from Company A to Company B, or what forms must be filed where to create a new corporation. Declarative knowledge is sometimes labeled know-that and know-what, while procedural knowledge is labeled know-how (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). Finally, analytical knowledge pertains to the conclusions reached about the course of action a particular client should follow in a particular situation. Analytical knowledge results, in essence, from analyzing declarative knowledge (i.e. substantive law principles) as it applies to a particular fact setting. Treating professional service firms such as law firms as KM setting seems to make sense (Lamb, 1999). IT used to support KM may well revolutionize law firms (Whitfield-Jones, 1999), as effective IT support for KM can serve as a competitive advantage and as a valuable professional aid to law firms. Law firms increasingly enter into cooperative interorganizational relationships with other law firms (Wall Street Journal Europe, 1999). Some law firms are nodes in formal networks such as Eurojuris, Lex Norvegica, American Law Firm Association (ALFA), Proteus, and Multilaw, while others expand their informal firm cooperation. The term network has become the vogue in describing contemporary organizational arrangements (Nohria, 1992). While it may be true, from a network perspective at least, that every market may be considered a network and that no business is an island, firms increasingly adopt a network organization. In this case, the notion of a network refers to an organizational form with distinct structural properties, regardless of whether it is considered to be an intermediary form between or beyond markets and hierarchies (Sydow and Windeler, 1998). …


A growing body of research has recently focused on the use of psychoactive medication for the short-term management of specific fear and anxiety in pet cats and dogs, i.e. triggered by well-identified and predictable stimuli. Such medications are used short-term and administered as needed to prevent the symptoms of fear and anxiety associated with specific situations. Noticeably, in the last few years two medications have been approved in the US and Europe for the treatment of noise fear in dogs. Furthermore, literature from the past decades provides evidence of the anxiolytic effect following the administration of several other medications used in various situations such as travelling and veterinary examinations. This review provides a summary of the most appropriate medications for punctual use in case of specific fear and anxiety in cats and dogs. The authors recommend the use of psychoactive medications providing a clear anxiolytic effect, especially in association with environmental management and humane behavioural procedures, such systematic desensitisation and counterconditioning. Combination treatment with non-psychoactive medications is also discussed.


In response to the productivity challenge of the U.S. DARPA HPCS initiative, we have developed a methodology that provides an extremely simple and pain-free interface through which scientists can collect rich performance data from selected parts of an execution, digest the data at a very high level, and plan for improvements. This process can be easily repeated, each time refining the selection of parts of the application and revising the granularity of data collected, until complete insight is gained about bottlenecks. A distinct feature of our approach is that the framework is independent of the features being examined. Recognizing that the features to be examined change with systems/applications and also with depth at which an aspect is being examined, our framework provides an easy interface to continually add new features for examination. Furthermore, many different features can be collected simultaneously and examined in a non-interfering manner. Finally, all this is accomplished without changing the source code in any manner. We believe that this is an ideal platform for building knowledge-based repositories for automatic performance tuning, which is the subject of our future study.
 In this paper, we describe our productivity centered framework for application performance tuning. It comprises of three features: an unique source code and binary instrumentation feature, a versatile user-interface that brings all the sophisticated capabilities of the binary instrumentation to the user at a higher level of abstraction, and the functionality to collect different dimensions of performance data. The results of execution are all in terms of source level names and at no point does the scientist needs to worry about low-level details of instrumentation. We believe that it is this ability, of deciphering performance impacts at source level, that leads to high productivity of scientists to understand, direct and tune the behavior of the computing system.


ABSTRACT Because adult male Coccoidea rarely live more than three or four days, they are seldom collected and their morphology has been little studied. Therefore, the systematics of the Coccoidea is dependent on the morphology of the paedomorphic adult female. A good example is the family Ortheziidae, in which the males of only four extant and three fossil taxa are known among more than 200 species. The present work provides descriptions of the male morphology of seven further species: Graminorthezia graminis (Tinsley), Insignorthezia insignis (Browne), Newsteadia americana Morrison, Orthezia annae Cockerell, O. newcomeri Morrison, and Praelongorthezia praelonga (Douglas), as well as another belonging to an undetermined genus. The males of three additional genera are added to the previous literature on male Ortheziidae, providing significantly better sampling of male morphological variation within this family. Variation among genera confirms the latest classification of Kozár, in which Graminorthezia, Insignorthezia, and Praelongorthezia are separated from Orthezia. The use of confocal microscopy for the study of uncleared slide preparations is discussed as it allowed better visibility of macrostructures, although minute structures such as pores could not be thoroughly observed. An identification key to the species of known male Ortheziidae is included.


An equilibrium framework is used to describe the evolution of the cross-shore profile of five beaches (medium grain size sand) in southern California. Elevations were observed quarterly on cross-shore transects extending from the back beach to 8 m depth, for 3–10 years. Transects spaced 100 m in the alongshore direction are alongshore averaged into nineteen 700–900 m long sections. Consistent with previous observations, changes about the time average profile in many sections are captured by the first mode empirical orthogonal function (EOF). The first EOF poorly describes sections with hard substrate (less than roughly 80% sandy bottom) and also fails near the head of a submarine canyon and adjacent to an inlet. At the 12 well-described sections, the time-varying amplitude of the first EOF, the beach state A, describes the well-known seasonal sand exchange between the shoreline and offshore (roughly between 4 and 7 m depth). We show that the beach state change rate dA/dt depends on the disequilibrium between the present state A and wave conditions, consistent with the equilibrium concepts of Wright and Short (1984) and Wright et al. (1985). Empirically determined, optimal model coefficients using the framework of Yates et al. (2009a, 2011) vary between sections, but a single set of globally optimized values performs almost as well. The model implements equilibrium concepts using ad hoc assumptions and empirical parameter values. The similarity with observed profile change at five southern California beaches supports the underlying model equilibrium hypotheses, but for unknown reasons the model fails at Duck, NC.


Abstract Background Evidence from the United States and United Kingdom suggests that ethnic minority populations are at an increased risk for developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, data from other West-European countries are scarce. Methods We analyzed data from 1439 patients admitted between February 2020 and January 2021 to 4 main hospitals in Amsterdam and Almere, the Netherlands. Differences in the risk for hospitalization were assessed by comparing demographics to the general population. Using a population-based cohort as reference, we determined differences in the association between comorbidities and COVID-19 hospitalization. Outcomes after hospitalization were analyzed using Cox regression. Results The hospitalization risk was higher in all ethnic minority groups than in those of Dutch origin, with age-adjusted odds ratios ranging from 2.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7–2.6) in Moroccans to 4.5 (95% CI, 3.2–6.0) in Ghanaians. Hypertension and diabetes were similarly associated with COVID-19 hospitalization. For all other comorbidities, we found differential associations. Intensive care unit admission and mortality during 21-day follow-up after hospitalization was comparable between ethnicities. Conclusions The risk of COVID-19 hospitalization was higher in all ethnic minority groups compared to the Dutch, but the risk of adverse outcomes after hospitalization was similar. Our results suggest that these inequalities may in part be attributable to comorbidities that can be prevented by targeted public health prevention measures. More work is needed to gain insight into the role of other potential factors such as social determinants of health, which might have contributed to the ethnic inequalities in COVID-19 hospitalization.


Evaluation of outcome of epilepsy surgery is complex because of several factors. Epilepsy is itself a heterogeneous disorder. Different epilepsy centers encounter different referral mixes of patients. Institutions employ various methods for pre-operative evaluation and widely varying surgical techniques. Clear definitions of surgical success and reliable scales for its measurement are lacking. Few data are acquired prospectively and maintained in a format allowing inter-institutional collation of results. A better representation of surgical outcome could in the future be served by adherence to 4 principles: collection of common data in standard formats; comparison of like, rather than disparate, populations; maintenance of quantitative data in raw form; and measurement of outcome along several dimensions or scales. Psychosocial issues have been underemphasized in most prior analyses of outcome.


Atmospheric deposition is a global concern contributing to soil acidification and biodiversity changes in forest ecosystems. Although acidifying deposition has decreased in the last decades in Europe, few evidence of ecosystem recovery from acidification has been reported until now. The objective of this study was to reconstruct spatiotemporal changes in soil pH across the entire French forest territory over the last 100‐year period through herb species assemblages. Data were collected from floristic databases resulting in a total of 120 216 plots covering French forests and spanning from 1910 to 2010. To define acidity figures, pH values were inferred from herb assemblages for each plot of the prediction dataset based on a weighted averaging partial least squares (WA‐PLS) model (R2 = 0.80, SD = 0.59 for the validation dataset). Spatiotemporal trends of mean pH changes were obtained by comparing plots with respect to the period (mean year of the period = 1933, 1966, 1984, 1997, 2007) and substrate (acidic and nonacidic forest areas). Bioindicated pH highlighted a decrease in soil pH in both acidic and nonacidic forest areas. The sharpest and most significant pH decrease occurred before 1984 in acidic areas, reaching 0.34 pH units. Subsequently, no significant changes were observed, with a tendency toward stabilization. By contrast, the pH decrease reached 0.19 pH units in nonacidic areas, only reaching significance between 1984 and 1997. Thereafter, we observed a slight and significant pH increase. Spatially, pH trends revealed a regionalized character of acidification regarding the substrate, which could not be related to the extent of deposition modeled by the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme. Both temporal and spatial trends highlight the lagged responses of nonacidic areas compared with acidic areas. Hence, floristic reconstructed pH trends demonstrate a gradual cessation and recovery from acidification of French forests after a period of intense atmospheric pollution.


In orthogonal frequency division multiple access based mobile networks buffer aided nontransparent in-band half duplex decode-and-forward relay nodes aim to improve coverage and capacity under fairness considerations. The existing centralized radio resource management and inter-cell interference coordination schemes can achieve this goals, although at the cost of a heavy signalling overhead. This cost is a critical issue, particularly for the frequency division duplex downlink transmission. On the other hand, the fully decentralized schemes often focus on different types of frequency reuse schemes with smaller amount of necessary feedback. Here, it is often overseen that in a practical deployment, the backhaul link quality is the bottleneck of the two-hop transmission, and the backhaul link is often modelled way too optimistically. Moreover, it is necessary to allocate radio resources to single hop mobile stations as well, which further limits the possible data rates of the relay-attached users. The research presented in this Thesis aims to improve the backhaul link quality in relay-assisted cellular networks under full consideration of practical constraints. In order to minimize the required channel feedback overhead this work proposes a hybrid radio resource management scheme consisting of three adapted procedures. The hybrid radio resource management scheme includes an adapted decentralized cell selection metric which improves the possibility to gain from the relays in the system for each user. A macro cell-centralized synchronous procedure is proposed, which is responsible to allocate the radio resources in each transmission time interval. Furthermore, an asynchronous network-centralized subband power allocation scheme with very limited feedback is proposed to maximize the wireless backhaul link quality with no losses for single-hop Mobile Station (MS)s. Comprehensive system level simulation results show stable fairness and improved throughput of the proposed hybrid radio resource management scheme. In addition possible energy savings for the shared channel are presented.


Performance of a deployed Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is greatly influenced by the interference it is subject to during operation. Degradation happens due to interference resulting in packet drops, retransmissions, link instability and inconsistent protocol behavior. We have conducted experiments that highlight the fact that interference caused by WiFi and co-channel contention significantly degrades the network performance of protocols. These potential sources of interference must therefore be accounted for during the design stage of a WSN in order to achieve acceptable network performance. Based on these observations, we have proposed a multi-hop multi-channel topology control protocol RMMTC for WSN that takes into account interference caused by WiFi networks in operation in the vicinity and uses multiple channels at different frequencies to mitigate the effect of co-channel interference. This paper details the design and performance evaluation of our proposed RMMTC protocol using both simulations and empirical experiments. In addition, we have formulated the multiple channel assignment problem as an Integer linear program (ILP) and compared the performance of our distributed protocol with the centralized ILP solution. The simulation results show that RMMTC performs close to the optimal centralized ILP and achieves a nine-fold reduction in the percentage of dropped packets when a dense network is subjected to interference from WiFi and co-channel contention.


This paper summarizes information presented in the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District (District) Water Supply and Water Conservation Plan (Plan) developed by Jordan, Jones & Goulding, Inc. and completed in 2003, in which the feasibility of using highly treated wastewater effluent (reclaimed water) as a water supply option was investigated. Three types of water reuse were considered, including direct potable reuse, indirect potable reuse, and non-potable reuse. The estimated amount of potable water that could be augmented with indirect potable reuse applications ranges from 40 to 120 MGD, or between 4 and 12 percent of the projected 2030 annual average day (AAD) demand. Due to stringent nutrient limits, the costeffectiveness of indirect potable reuse decreases significantly as the discharge quantity of reclaimed water exceeds 120 MGD into a lake or reservoir. The final Plan recommends including 67 MGD-AAD of indirect potable reuse through reclamation in Lake Lanier as a water supply resource.


This project won first place in the 2016 Signature Course Information Literacy Award. The award recognizes exemplary student work that achieves the learning outcomes of the Signature Course information literacy requirement, that students will be able to create and execute a research strategy, critically evaluate information, and use citations. This paper was nominated by Dr. Adam Rabinowitz from the Classics Department and was submitted in his Fall 2015 Signature Course "Tales of the Trojan War." This project was chosen because of the uniqueness of the topic, which brought together sources about Ancient Greece and the modern day, and required Sara Phillips to choose and synthesize a diverse set of sources. In his nomination, Dr. Rabinowitz praised this work by saying, "I learned something new in this paper, even though I work directly on some of the topics she covered. [Sara] was able to associate evidence for the neurologically disinhibitory function of improvisation with traditions of improvisational poetry in the Greek symposium -- a connection I had never realized."


An improved delay-dependent H/sub /spl infin// filtering design is proposed for linear, continuous, time-invariant systems with time delay. The resulting filter is of the Luenberger observer type, and it guarantees that the H/sub /spl infin//-norm of the system, relating the exogenous signals to the estimation error, is less than a prescribed level. The filter is based on the application of the descriptor model transformation and Park's inequality for the bounding of cross terms. The advantage of the new filtering scheme is clearly demonstrated via simple examples.


Small grain varieties were tested at the Maricopa Agricultural Center as part of the on-going effort to assess variety productivity and characteristics. Barley, durum, and wheat experimental and commercial cultivars were tested. The purpose of the annual tests at Maricopa is to characterize new varieties in terms of yield potential, relative maturity, quality, and other characteristics. The variety trials at Maricopa do not substitute for localized on-farm testing of new varieties. Varieties are known to differ in their response to specific management regimes and weather conditions. A summary of small grain variety trials conducted by the University of Arizona is available from your local Cooperative Extension office.


Folding of protein in vivo typically occurs in a solution highly crowded by macromolecules and in a confined space. It has been found that the effects of macromolecular crowding and confinement are similar in terms of the enhancement of protein stability. However, these effects are often considered separately in theoretical and simulation studies. In this study, by using coarse-grained models and Langevin dynamics, we show that the two effects are additive to each other when they are both present. Both crowding and confinement give rise to the folding temperature and the folding stability of protein. It is shown that the folding free energy change due to crowding in the confined condition can be fitted to Minton scaled particle theory by assuming a linear dependence of the effective radius of the protein unfolded state on the volume fraction of crowders.


This document presents the proceedings from the workshop entitled, "New Strategies and Challenges in Lung Proteomics and Metabolomics" held February 4th-5th, 2016, in Denver, Colorado. It was sponsored by the National Heart Lung Blood Institute, the American Thoracic Society, the Colorado Biological Mass Spectrometry Society, and National Jewish Health. The goal of this workshop was to convene, for the first time, relevant experts in lung proteomics and metabolomics to discuss and overcome specific challenges in these fields that are unique to the lung. The main objectives of this workshop were to identify, review, and/or understand: (1) emerging technologies in metabolomics and proteomics as applied to the study of the lung; (2) the unique composition and challenges of lung-specific biological specimens for metabolomic and proteomic analysis; (3) the diverse informatics approaches and databases unique to metabolomics and proteomics, with special emphasis on the lung; (4) integrative platforms across genetic and genomic databases that can be applied to lung-related metabolomic and proteomic studies; and (5) the clinical applications of proteomics and metabolomics. The major findings and conclusions of this workshop are summarized at the end of the report, and outline the progress and challenges that face these rapidly advancing fields.


Germination is the first and the most stages for sainfoin ( Onobrychis viciifolia ) growth; which it has specially sensitivity to environmental stresses such as alkalinity. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of seed pre-treatment methods on improving of sainfoin tolerance to alkali stress in germination, early growth and its recovery as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design in College of Agriculture, Shiraz University in 2013. The first factor was four seed pre-treatment methods (seed with pod, seed without the pod, pre-chilling of seed without pod and hydro-priming of seed without pod) and the second factor was five alkali stress levels (pH= 6.7, 7.9, 8.9, 9.8 and 10.7). Alkali stress levels were prepared using two neutral salts (Na ₂ SO 4 and NaCl) and two alkaline salt (NaHCO 3 and Na 2 CO 3 ). The results showed that germination percentage was decreased as alkalinity (pH) levels were enhanced; so that, there were no germinated seeds in 9.8 and 10.7 treatments. Alkali stress reduced initial germination percentage (51.9%), final germination percentage (51.8%), plumule length (55.7%) and radicle length (72.2%). Under all alkalinity conditions, the lowest seed germination and seedling growth were observed in with pod seed, followed by pre-chilling treatments; while their highest were achieved in without pod seeds and hydro-priming treatments. The highest recovery was observed in without the pod, followed by hydro-primed seeds. Recovery was observed in Pre-chilled and with pod speeds up to 7.9 and in hydro-primed and without pod speeds up to 8.9.


This research is based on identifying dynamics and tradition as cultural processes. Wine production in Negotin wine region (Rajac and Rogljevo area), eastern Serbia, is a family activity, but research has revealed some changes in traditional knowledge. We have explored the authenticity of tourism products on offer: whether the winemaking method is traditional, if there are rituals (traditions) regarding grape growing and winemaking as a cultural form, and if so, whether residents present them to tourists, as well as what the external effects related to the changes are. The aim of this research is to establish the reasons for changes in the way wine is produced, in the way of life, and whether tourism is a factor in revitalising traditional winemaking or not. This paper examines the development of changes, and explains how they are affected by the value system of the local community, their knowledge or experiences, what is considered traditional and what modern. Pimnice, folk architecture structures where wine was produced and stored were analysed in relation to their significance both in the past and in the present. We have investigated the response of residents to changes in production, whether there is a will to continue participating in viticulture, and the possibilities of public-private partnership with regard to the increase in wine production and restoration of these unique wine cellars.


The relationship between food preference patterns and several psychological and sensory variables was assessed using the Food Attitudes Survey (FAS). Previous research with the FAS, which consists of preference ratings for a variety of common, unusual and fictitious foods, showed that it provides both reliable and valid information about individual differences in food preferences and attitudes (Frank & van der Klaauw, 1994). In the studies reported here, significant correlations were found between preferences for a variety of activities (as measured by the Activity Attitudes Survey or ACT) and liking for and willingness to try foods, It was also found that individuals who report that they are unwilling to try many foods are low in general sensation seeking, and that odor pleasantness ratings significantly correlate with liking for and willingness to try foods. No associations were found between FAS performance and general phobic tendencies, optimism/pessimism or disordered eating. Multiple regression analysis revealed that responses on the ACT, sensation seeking scale, a 20-item food and eating questionnaire and odor pleasantness judgments could account for from 41 to 65% of the variance in food likes, dislikes and willingness to try foods. It was concluded that personality and sensory factors contribute to pattern of responding on the FAS, and that FAS response patterns provide an index of both attitudes toward foods and general openness to experiences and activities.


2.5D maps are preferable for representing the environment owing to their compactness. When noisy observations from multiple diverse sensors at different resolutions are available, the problem of 2.5D mapping turns to how to compound the information in an effective and efficient manner. This paper proposes a generic probabilistic framework for fusing efficiently multiple sources of sensor data to generate amendable, high-resolution 2.5D maps. The key idea is to exploit the sparse structure of the information matrix. Gaussian Markov Random Fields are employed to learn a prior map, which uses the conditional independence property between spatial location to obtain a representation of the state with a sparse information matrix. This prior map encoded in information form can then be updated with other sources of sensor data in constant time. Later, mean state vector and variances can be also efficiently recovered using sparse matrices techniques. The proposed approach allows accurate estimation of 2.5D maps at arbitrary resolution, while incorporating sensor noise and spatial dependency in a statistically sound way. We apply the proposed framework to pipe wall thickness mapping and fuse data from two diverse sensors that have different resolutions. Experimental results are compared with three other methods, showing that, while greatly reducing computation time, the proposed framework is able to capture in large extend the spatial correlation to generate equivalent results to the computationally expensive optimal fusion method in covariance form with a Gaussian Process prior.


Digital libraries represent the meeting places for knowledge providers and knowledge consumers supporting and enhancing the process through which knowledge is created, used, and discovered. The demand for digital libraries is worldwide strong. These complex systems can offer a richer set of functionality than that initially expected and are able to transform the way in which joint research is conducted, thus responding to the requirements of a great number of research communities. In fact, nowadays research is a collaborative and multidisciplinary effort conducted by virtual research organisations whose components are spread worldwide. Despite this large and innovative demand the current digital library development models remain unchanged and so they are not able to match the emerging requirements. In this dissertation we propose a novel approach based on virtual digital libraries, i. e. digital libraries built by dynamically aggregating and appropriately presenting the pool of shared resources needed to fulfil the requirements of digital library communities. To support such an approach we introduced (i) a reference model for understanding significant relationships among the components of digital libraries and for developing consistent services that support them and (ii) a set of approaches and services able to provide virtual views over the heterogeneous information space resulting from reusing shared information sources. In particular, three approaches to information space virtualization are presented that provide profitable usage of the shared resources: information objects virtualization, collections virtualization, and distributed semantic search.


While mobile instant messaging (MIM) facilitates ubiquitous interpersonal communication, its constant connectivity could build the expectation of an immediate response to messages, and its notifications flood could cause interruptions at inopportune moments. We examine two design concepts for MIM-private status sharing and sender-controlled notifications-that aim to lower the pressure for an immediate reply and reduce unnecessary interruptions by untimely notifications. Private status sharing reactively reveals a customized status with a selected partner(s) only when the partner has sent a message. Sender-controlled notifications give senders the control of choosing whether to send a notification for their own messages. We built MyButler, an Android app prototype that instantiates these two concepts and integrated it with KakaoTalk, a commercial MIM app. During a two-week field study with 11 pairs (5 couples and 6 friend pairs), participants expressed themselves through a total of 210 different statuses, 64.3% of which indicated the current activity or task of the user. Participants reported that private status sharing enabled them to explain their unavailability and relieved the pressure and expectations for timely attendance. We reveal more findings on the types of privately shared statuses and their roles in MIM communication; the in-situ behaviors and patterns of using sender-controlled notifications; and the motivations of MIM users in choosing whether to alert their messages. In terms of message notifications, senders chose to send 25.4% of the messages without any notification. We found that senders' decisions to alert are affected by the receiver's status, their own status to chat, and the possibility of message content exposure to others through notifications. Based on our findings, we draw insights into how the concepts of private status sharing and sender-controlled notifications can be applied in future designs and explorations.


During NASA's high‐speed research program, a renewed emphasis has been placed on understanding and reducing the sonic boom generated by an airplane during flight at speeds faster than the speed of sound. When the current program was initiated in 1990, a three‐pronged approach was instituted: (1) human acceptabilities studies; (2) atmospheric propagation studies; and (3) airplane design and operation studies. Original goals were to use special design and operation techniques to reduce the sonic boom to levels which would be acceptable for either unrestricted overland flight or overland flight through low‐populated corridors. Recent human response studies have indicated that sonic booms are much more disturbing than continuous noise sources such as engines around airports; thus any commercial overland supersonic flight is highly unlikely within the near future. These conclusions have resulted in a redirection of the sonic‐boom program. This talk will discuss current efforts at sonic‐boom softening (small de...


The oral pathology laboratory is the most resourceful place for the diagnosis of oral lesions. Most clinicians err on the collection and transport of oral and associated tissues to the laboratory. Oral tissue examination includes a wide range such as oral biopsy (for routine formalin fixed and fresh tissue), saliva, swabs, cytology smears and fine needle-aspirated, cystic fluid. This in turn adversely affects the final diagnosis of the disease. Thus, it is high time to appreciate and acknowledge the role of collection containers, fixing reagents and transport media as an adjunct for successful diagnosis.


Cu-Fe-Al composites containing various amounts of graphite additives are prepared by induction sintering method. The mechanical properties of the composites with 0-8 wt. % graphite are measured using the mechanical tester, while the friction and wear properties are evaluated using MRH-3 friction-wear tester. Material components are found by EDS. The worn surface morphologies of the composites are analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results show that the composite containing graphite have porous microstructure. The mechanical and tribological properties of composites are related to the induction frequencies and the contents of the graphite as the solid lubricant. The increased graphite content results in reduced mechanical properties and increased friction and wear properties. The composite with 4 wt. % graphite additives and induction frequencies of 35Hz have the lower the friction coefficients and wear rate. Meanwhile, wear mechanism of materials have been changed from abrasive wear to grain wear due to the glaze layer.


Research on cattle, swine, sheep, goats, poultry, horses, and aquatic species (domestic species) at US land grant institutions is integral to maintaining an abundant, safe, affordable, and high quality supply of meat, dairy products, and eggs, which are important components of most human diets. Research on domestic species is also necessary to maintain global competitiveness of US animal agriculture and to find solutions to complex animal and human diseases. Nevertheless, a recent publication in the Journal of Animal Science (JAS; Ireland et al., 2008) documents the rapid erosion of federal and state budgets, years of inadequate and declining funding from the USDA for the National Research Initiative competitive grants program (the major agricultural competitive grants source), significant reductions in farm animal species and numbers at land grant institutions, and declining enrollment for graduate studies in the animal sciences. The article also emphasizes that because of these lost resources, recruitment of top-notch scientists who use such largeanimal models to conduct research relevant to animal agriculture and biomedicine at land grant institutions is in significant jeopardy. Perhaps most notable in the JAS article is the documentation that despite the high annual economic value of US animal agriculture (~$110 billion), less than 0.04% of the USDA's $93 billion budget is currently committed to competitive funding of animal agricultural research. Disappointingly, the recently passed 2008 Farm Bill, which created a National Institute for Food and Agriculture and authorized expansion of the USDA's competitive grants program [110th CONGRESS, 2d Session, H. R. 6124, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.


Abstract Background Ozanimod, a sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor S1P1 and S1P5 modulator, is approved in the United States for moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) and in multiple countries for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). We describe COVID-19 outcomes in ozanimod-treated UC or MS patients (pts) in active phase 3 open-label extension (OLE) studies. Methods A database search identified COVID-19 infection reports in ozanimod-treated pts with UC in the True North OLE and MS in the DAYBREAK OLE. The analysis period was November 1, 2019 to either August 31, 2021 (UC) or May 10, 2021 (MS). The last COVID-19 event from all pts with ≥1 event was analyzed. Results Among 2792 ozanimod-treated pts with UC or MS, 258 developed COVID-19 (confirmed: 215); thus, the incidence in these clinical trial settings was 9.2% during the analysis periods. Most pts with confirmed cases (193/215 [89.8%]) had nonserious infections not requiring hospitalization or meeting other International Conference on Harmonisation criteria for a serious event. Of 611 ozanimod-treated pts with UC, 68 (11.1%) developed COVID-19 (confirmed: 55; Fig 1). A majority of UC pts with confirmed cases (45/55 [81.8%]) had nonserious COVID-19; most (54/55 [98.2%]) recovered (2 with sequalae) and 1 was recovering at data cutoff. One UC pt with confirmed COVID-19 discontinued ozanimod (1.8%), 23 temporarily interrupted it (41.8%), and 31 had no change to treatment (56.4%). No COVID-19‒related deaths were reported in UC pts. Of 2181 ozanimod-treated pts with MS, 190 (8.7%) developed COVID-19 (confirmed: 160; Fig 2). Most MS pts with confirmed COVID-19 (148/160 [92.5%]) had nonserious cases; most (158/160 [98.8%]) recovered (5 with sequelae) (Fig 1). No MS pts with confirmed cases discontinued ozanimod, 61 temporarily interrupted it (38.1%), and 99 had no change to treatment (61.9%). Outcomes in 13 additional UC pts (Fig 1) and 30 additional MS pts (Fig 2) with suspected COVID-19 were similar to those with confirmed cases. There were 3 COVID-19‒related deaths in the MS program. One pt died from a presumed pulmonary embolism; this pt had received high-dose corticosteroids for MS relapse immediately before COVID-19 symptom onset. Another pt died from suspected COVID-19‒related respiratory failure. One tetraplegic, cachectic pt died from a lung abscess following COVID-19 infection. Conclusion In the UC and MS OLE studies, most pts with confirmed COVID-19 had nonserious infections, recovered, and did not require ozanimod discontinuation. There were 3 deaths in MS patients (case-fatality rate 1.6% in MS, 1.2% overall).


Abstract. InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) analysis is an effective technique to map 3-dimensional surface deformation with high spatial resolution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of InSAR analysis when applied to ground monitoring of an environmental disaster. We performed a time series InSAR analysis using ENVISAT/ASAR and ALOS/PALSAR data and commercial software to investigate subsidence around the Kanto District of Japan. We also investigated techniques for efficient early detection of landslides in Kyushu using time series analysis that incorporated synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. ENVISAT/ASAR data acquired from 2003–2010 and ALOS/PALSAR data acquired from 2006–2011 were used to detect poorly expressed geomorphological deformation by conducting time series analyses of periodically acquired SAR data. In addition, to remove noise caused by geographical feature stripes or phase retardation, we applied median filtering, histogram extraction processing, and clarification of the displacement with a Laplacian filter. The main functions of the InSAR time series analysis are the calculation of phase differences between two images and the inversion with smoothness constraint for the estimation of deformation along the line of sight. The results enabled us to establish criteria for the selection of suitable InSAR data pairs, and provided the final error estimation of the derived surface deformation. The results of the analysis in the Kanto District suggested that localized areas of uplift and subsidence have occurred at irregular intervals in this area. Furthermore, the method offers the possibility of early warning of environmental disasters such as landslide and abrupt subsidence. Our results confirm the effectiveness of InSAR analysis for the monitoring of ground deformation over wide areas via the detection of localized subsidence and landslides.


Ventilation systems used in swine facilities deserve to be studied because they directly affect productivity in the pig farming sector. Bearing this in mind the uniformity of air distribution and temperature is essential to animal welfare in this breeding environment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify whether changes in air entrances and exhaust fan positioning could influence air velocity and temperature distribution. The experimental data were collected in a commercial full-scale sow facility. Validation was carried out by comparing the simulated air temperatures and data measured in the field. These results showed agreement between data with a maximum relative error of approximately 3 %. The real settings showed a gradual increase in the air velocity from the air entrances and dead zones due to the change in airflow direction. There was no difference when the positioning of the exhaust fans was altered or was maintained in the original air entrances. The proposed arrangement with only one air inlet reduced the areas of low air movement as a consequence of the change in flow direction. Furthermore, the variables have the same pattern along the transversal plane. The simulations showed that the position of the air inlets had a higher influence on temperature distribution.


State of the art security screening technology is not meeting all modern day requirements. There exists a gap in the market for the development of real time systems capable of detecting weapons at standoff ranges. Researchers at the Centre of Sensing and Imaging at Manchester Metropolitan University have developed a radar based screening technology. This technology will offer new security screening capabilities, making it feasible to have portable systems that can detect concealed weapons, with the added advantage of being capable of screening people in a crowd. The next step in the development of this radar system is to investigate the potential of using polarimetric scattering effects to detect concealed weapons, with the aim of improving the robustness and detection capabilities in comparison with the current state-of-the-art systems.
This thesis provides a feasibility study in the application of polarimetric decomposition techniques to Concealed Weapon Detection (CWD) and an experimental radar is developed to provide the measurements required for this study. The major outcome of this work is that polarimetric decompositions including the Pauli, Krogager SDH and H-α decompositions have been demonstrated as a viable means of interpreting data for the detection of concealed weapons. This will allow the next generation of radar based weapon detectors to reduce some of the orientation dependency on detection rates as observed in the current state-of-the-art systems. The work presented in this thesis has resulted in a clear understanding of what is required to implement a fully polarimetric radar based weapon detector. The detection of weapons using the developed fully polarimetric radar with the aid of polarimetric decomposition algorithms combined with calibration and signal-processing algorithms has been demonstrated in this thesis.


Introduction The standard protocol for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of Barrett's oesophagus (BO) entails two treatment phases separated by cleaning of mucosal slough. A simplified protocol without the cleaning phase allows reduction of the procedure duration and number of intubations. The simplified protocol was proven to be non-inferior to the standard protocols in single application studies, but there is lack of data relative to the overall treatment pathway. The aim of this study was to compare overall safety and efficacy of the two protocols in two cohorts of patients treated with standard or simplified protocols. Method We collected data on 143 patients receiving RFA for dysplastic BO between December 2007 and October 2016 at a single institution. Until November 2012 all patients received the standard RFA protocol, which was thereafter substituted with the simplified one. In the standard protocol circumferential RFA consisted of two hits at 12 J/cm2 separated by cleaning phase and focal RFA consisted of double hit 15 J/cm2, cleaning and double hit at 15 J/cm2. In the simplified protocol circumferential RFA consisted of double hit at 12 J/cm2 without cleaning, while focal RFA consisted of triple hit at 12 J/cm2 without cleaning. Patients treated with a mixture of the two protocols were excluded. Outcomes included complete remission of dysplasia (CR-D), complete remission of intestinal metaplasia (CR-IM) and complication rate. Patient still receiving treatment after 18 months from the first RFA were regarded as failure. Results After exclusion of patient still on active treatment and those who received RFA with a mixture of the two protocols, 46 patients were included in the standard protocol and 50 patients in the simplified one. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of sex, length of the BO and size of the hiatus hernia. Patients in the standard group were significantly older (72.2 vs 67.4, p=0.02) and had significantly higher proportion of intramucosal cancer and lower proportion of low-grade dysplasia (LGD) (p=0.001) due to recent approval of RFA for LGD. The rates of CR-D and CR-IM with the standard protocol were 91% and 82%, respectively, and with the simplified protocol 100% and 88%, respectively, which was not significantly different. Stricture rate was significantly higher in the simplified group (9/50 vs 1/46, p=0.016), with a median number of dilations of 1 in each group. Conclusion In this cohort study assessing overall outcomes, the standard and simplified protocol were equally effective, but the simplified carried a higher risk of stricture, which could be easily managed endoscopically with a single dilatation in most cases. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


YANG ZHAO This thesis introduces a new approach for the automatic detection of two crucially important shear wave splitting (SWS) parameters, fast wave polarization and delay time between split waves, from microearthquake seismograms. The method is based on the analyses of multiple time windows that include the shear wave arrivals. An automated SWS algorithm is performed for each specified window. Over the estimates of the two parameters (polarization and time delay) obtained from all windows, an unsupervised cluster analysis is applied to locate the region with the most stable estimate. The optimal region is that with the lowest variance. The mean value of the optimal cluster is regarded as the best estimate of polarization and time delay. The estimates are relatively easy to derive from large seismic datasets and show high reliability. We compare the results with manually estimated values of the SWS parameters from seismic data collected at The Geysers and Coso, CA, and Hengill, Iceland geothermal fields, and show that the method performs better than any other, providing up to 95% reliability (polarization) and 88% reliability (delay time) without human intervention. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Jose Rial. His supervision and advice is invaluable. Dr. Jonathan Lees and Dr. Kevin Stewart served as committee members and helped me with their comments and questions. I would especially like to thank my Dad and Mom for their support.I would like to thank the faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Department of Geological Sciences as well for their support during my years at Carolina.


A comparison of the development of the various structures of the middle-ear region in the lizard, duck, and mammal, shows a remarkable uniformity in their origin and relation. The first gill-pouch separates off from the epidermis from below upwards; at its dorsal edge is an epiblastic proliferation contributing to the geniculate ganglion. The tympanum is formed between the outer epidermis and an outgrowing diverticulum of the hinder lower region of the first gill-pouch. The chorda tympani is a post-trematic branch of the facial nerve, developing behind the first or spiracular gill-slit, and passing down to the lower jaw between the tympanum and the closing spiracle. The relation of these parts to the skeleton and blood-vessels is (with the exception mentioned below) constant throughout the Amniota, and is only intelligible on the view of Reichert that the proximal region of the columella corresponds to the stapes, the quadrate to the incus, and the articular to the malleus. In the chick the chorda tympani develops as a pre-trematic branch of the facial nerve from its first appearance. In adult gallinaceous birds the chorda passes down directly from the geniculate ganglion in front of the tympanic cavity. This exceptional position is probably due to some secondary modification at present unexplained.


The present study explored the demotivating and re-motivating factors from the point of view of MA students at Wollega University. The study employed mixed method, and the quantitative data were gathered from 161 students, and to gather the qualitative data, six students were interviewed. SPSS 16 was employed to analyse the quantitative data. The qualitative data were analysed using NVivo. An explanatory factor analysis was conducted to revalidate the questionnaire and to explore the sampling adequacy and factorability of the items. Based on the result, nine demotivating factors were retained. As the result of independent t-tests revealed, there were no significant differences between male and female students and government and self-sponsor students regarding the demotivating factors. However, the one-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant difference across respondents' year of study for most of the factors except instructors' characteristics and administrative decisions. The interviews were analysed to explore the possible re-motivating factors. Three major sub-themes (curriculum revision, improving facilities and improving administrative decisions) were emerged. It was concluded that curriculum decision is the most prevalent problem for MA in TEFL students. To solve this problem, the researchers recommended the need for MA in TEFL curriculum.


The development of social robots that convey emotion with their bodies—instead of or in conjunction with their faces— is an increasingly active research topic in the field of humanrobot interaction (HRI). Rather than focusing either on postural or on dynamics aspects of bodily expression in isolation, we present a model and an empirical study where we combine both elements and produce expressive behaviors by adding dynamic elements (in the form of Perlin noise) to a subset of static postures prototypical of basic emotions, with the aim of creating expressions easily understandable by children and at the same time lively and flexible enough to be believable and engaging. Results show that the noise increases the recognition rate of the emotions portrayed by the robot.


The present study was carried out to prepare a healthy Labneh cheese from fresh whole buffalo's milk and avocado paste en route to innovate a functional food. To achieve the purpose of this research, a pasteurized buffalo's milk (at 74°C for 15 sec) was cooled immediately to 40°C and divided into four equal quantities. The first quantity was manufactured as a control. The second, third, and fourth quantities were mixed with avocado paste and 0.1% disodium citrate at percentages of 5, 10 and 15%, respectively then stirred well to obtain uniform mixtures. Then a concentration of 4% fresh prepared bacterial yoghurt starter culture was added for all milk portions and incubated at 40 °C. The incubation was terminated at pH 4.8. All treatments were put into cloth bags and hung up in a refrigerator to allow whey to drain for 12 h, then 1% salt was added and filled into suitable containers. The obtained results showed that, the Labneh fortification with avocado paste up to 5% led to improve the body and the texture and did not clearly affect the appearance and the flavor. While the exceeding avocado paste addition to 15% led to a decrease in the degrees of texture, body and appearance. Also it was determined the total cost of one kg Labneh cheese containing 5% avocado paste increased only by 8.9% versus the control. Finally, the forgoing results led satisfactory to conclude that, it could successfully made a Labneh cheese that meets the intended health purposes based on the fortification with 5% avocado paste of many impressive health benefits en route to innovate a functional food.


Being a neurosurgeon is a protracted, time-consuming, and labor-intensive occupation. It presupposes excellent, continuing physical and mental competence, and a passion to always do better than the best. During the last two decades, the exponential deployment of operative technology has resulted in a radical transformation, making a neurosurgeon trained four decades ago, run the risk of being outdated. Expectations from patients have reached an all time high level. Socioeconomic and medicolegal aspects cannot be brushed aside. It is universally accepted that in spite of increasing longevity in the educated upper middle class, the process of ageing per se continues relentlessly. When is enough enough? Is there a risk that a "senior, experienced" neurosurgeon may even become a liability to his patients some day? Should there be a mandatory time point at which a neurosurgeon should necessarily stop operating. The author reviews the published literature and opines that after the age of 65 years, all seniors should agree to their operating privileges being formally reviewed regularly every 2 years.


In this study, the main subject is to contribute to the businesses as well as academic resear-
chers about the effect of organizational culture in reaching the organizational effectiveness.
Sustaining the organizational effectiveness is an important factor for organizational development
and, the managerial level employees may utilize from the results of this study when constructing
their strategy maps. To perform the study, we made a research analysis and applied a survey in-
strument on a number of 578 employees in metalworking industry. We constructed an original
model to fulfill the gap between the organizational culture and organizational effectiveness. We
measured the organizational culture in dimensions of 'involvement', 'collaboration', 'transmission
of information', 'learning', 'care about clients', 'strategic direction', 'reward and incentive system',
'system of control', 'communication' and 'coordination and integration'. Additionally, we measured
the organizational effectiveness in terms of 'customer orientation', 'employee satisfaction', 'organi-
zational commitment' and 'financial & growth performance'. The methodology was carried out as
researching for the survey questions on the literature, constructing the best fitting survey from the
alternatives, reaching the participants and informing them for the survey, gathering the data, and
measuring & analyzing these data. The gathered data were entered in SPSS (Statistical Package
for the Social Sciences) version 11.5. By the results of the SPSS analyses, we determined that
the constructed model is significant (at the 0.000 level) and all organizational culture dimensions
have significant correlations with organizational effectiveness (at the 0.000 level). Furthermore,
the total explained variance of organizational effectiveness depending on -organizational culture
dimensions- has come out as the value of 0.60. Therefore, we may conclude that; the academic
researchers as well as managerial level employees should investigate other factors to reach a high
level of effectiveness.


Peer-to-peer (P2P) systems are application-layer networks that let networked hosts share resources in a distributed environment. An important attribute of P2P networks is the ability to efficiently search the contents of other peers. In this article, the authors survey existing search techniques for information retrieval (IR) in P2P networks, including recent techniques that they propose. They also present a realistic experimental evaluation and comparison of these techniques, using a distributed middleware infrastructure they designed and implemented.


Deference to committees and committee obstruction are two frequently cited phenomena of the U.S. Congress. Even in the postreform Congress, standing committees exert disproportionate influence on legislation. Shepsle and Weingast have put forth an institutional explanation for these phenomena: the ex-post veto that standing committees enjoy via the conference procedure. They argue that it is pointless for the House to drastically modify a standing committee's bill on the floor in a way that the committee disapproves of, or discharge a committee of a bill, because committees can veto legislation by refusing to come to agreement in conference. In this article I examine the procedure used by the House to select conferees, and describe the implications of this process for legislative outcomes. In doing this I suitably modify the Shepsle/ Weingast theory to fit the current rules of the House and significantly alter the implications of the theory for committee influence. I show that committee influence depends upon the behavior of the Speaker of the House and suggest that the Speaker's behavior (and hence committee influence) is determined by the preferences of the members of the majority party on the floor. I then analyze the debate over minimum wage legislation in the House of Representatives during 1972, 1973, and 1977 in the context of the theory developed.


A three component condensation of 2-aminopyrimidines, isocyanides and 4-hydroxybenzaldehydes was studied. 3-Amino-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives were obtained in moderate yields. Using 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde and 2-aminopyrimidine as starting materials in the condensation led to mixtures of isomeric 2- and 3-aminoimidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines. It was demonstrated, that the regiospecificity of this reaction is mainly defined by the steric hindrance of substituents on the pyrimidine nucleus and the carbonyl activity of the corresponding aldehydes.


Physical activity has mental and physical health benefits; however, globally, three-quarters of the population do not meet physical activity guidelines. The Couch-to-5k is a beginner runner programme aimed at increasing physical activity. However, this programme lacks an evidence base, and it is unclear who is attracted to the programme; running also has a high rate of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries. The aims of this study were to identify the characteristics of people taking part and the incidence of MSK injuries as well as exploring the experiences of people who dropped out of a modified 9-week Couch-to-5k programme. A total of 110 runners (average age was 47.1 ± 13.7 years) participated in the study, which involved completion of questionnaires (running experience and footwear information, quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), physical activity level (IPAQ-short form), MSK injury history and knee condition (SNAPPS and KOOS-PS)) at the start, middle and end of the programme and collecting sociodemographic information (age, gender, social economic status, relationship status, education level), as well as body mass index, running experience, footwear information, quality of life, physical activity levels, MSK injuries and knee condition. Fifteen drop-outs were interviewed to explore experiences of the programme. Runners were mainly females (81.8%) with an average age 47.1 years, average body mass index of 28.1 kg.m2, mainly from high socio-economic levels, married and educated to degree level. In total, 64% of the sample had previous running experience and were classified as active. Half the sample self-reported pain/discomfort and 37.2% reported anxiety/depression at the start of the programme via the EQ-5D-5L scale. Self-reported health scores increased (p = 0.047) between baseline (73.1 ± 18.8 out of 100) and at the midpoint (81.2 ± 11.6), but there were no significant differences between any other time points (end point 79.7 ± 17.5, p > 0.05). Twenty-one injuries were reported during the programme (19%). Previous injury increased the risk of new injury (OR 7.56 95% CI from 2.06 to 27.75). Only 27.3% completed the programme. Three themes emerged from interviews; MSK injury, negative emotions linked to non-completion and design of the programme. The Couch-to-5k may not attract diverse inactive populations, but future work with larger sample sizes is needed to substantiate this finding. Dropping out was linked to MSK injury and progressive design, so future programmes should consider including injury prevention advice and more flexible designs.


In the long history of human civilization, man has selected and improved three important non-alcoholic beverages from nature's rich storehouse of plant resource the extract of tealeaves, the extract of coffee beans and the extract of cocoa beans. Tea, Coffee and Cocoa are true stimulants and have been satisfying the palate demands of human beings for centuries. Of the three beverages, tea is the oldest-known and is now the most popular beverage. It leads the other two in the total amount of beverage consumed, and it is less expensive compared to coffee and cocoa. Today, the plant is cultivated on a larger scale compared to coffee and cocoa being adapting to a wide range of agro climatic conditions. As one of the widely preferred global beverages, tea has the scientific name of Camellia Sinuses. Based on a survey, tea accounts for 90%, filter coffee 4%, malted health beverages 2%, instant coffee 2% and carbonated soft drinks just above 1% of total consumption. Squashes, concentrates, mineral water account for a minuscule part of the consumption. The present study entitled " Analysis of Financial Performance of Tea Industry in India" has been undertaken with the object of analyzing and evaluating the financial performance of the tea industry in India. The study covers ten reputed tea companies of India. The present study obtains an insight into the financial position of the selected companies of tea industry in India, and to judge, their financial performance and financial strength. The financial performance of selected companies during the years from 1997-1998 to 2002-2003 is thoroughly examined. The Present study includes the following ten companies of Tea Industry, namely AFT Ind. Ltd., Dhunseri V Tea and Ind. Ltd., Goodricke Group Ltd., Greenline Tea and Exports Ltd., Jay Shree Tea and Ind. Ltd., Parry Agro Ind. Ltd., Rossell Ind. Ltd., Tata Tea Ltd., Warren Tea Ltd., and Williamson Tea Assam Ltd.


Assessment in medical education is very vital because of its far reaching implications not only for the students and their teachers but for the communities and world at large. This article attempts to review the assessment methods used in undergraduate medical schools, highlight their limitations while proffering solutions as recommended by experts in medical education. Assessment methods that are used in the undergraduate medical education can be broadly subdivided into two; assessment of knowledge and its application (Multiple choice questions, essay and viva voce) and assessment of clinical competence (long case, short case and objective structured clinical examination [OSCE]). There are five major criteria for determining the usefulness of a particular method of assessment: Reliability, Validity, Educational impact, Cost effectiveness and Acceptability. The major drawback of the long and short case examinations is the poor reliability or reproducibility due to case specificity, inter examiner and clinical case scenario variability. In 1975, Harden et al., introduced the OSCE to avoid the disadvantages of long case but acceptability may be an issue because of inadequate exposure to its principles and resistance to change by some teachers. Another objective version of the long case is the objective structured long examination records. Objective structured practical examination is also preferred to the traditional practical examinations in laboratory based courses. All assessment methods have their strengths and limitations. It is important that teachers in medical schools are aware of the limitations of the traditional assessment tools and embrace newer and more reliable methods of assessment.


Atomic layer deposition (ALD) recently emerged as an enabling technology for microelectronic device fabrication. This technique provides the unique capability to deposit ultra thin films with the thickness control, uniformity, step coverage, and electrical/mechanical properties required to support device manufacturing at the 45 nm node and beyond. This paper will review the fundamentals of ALD processing and describe the equipment used. Applications of ALD in the fabrication of advanced gate stacks, on-chip capacitors, and thin film magnetic heads are presented.


A fall in cerebral perfusion is the final common pathway leading to syncope. While we commonly investigate syncope as though the only cause of loss of perfusion is loss of arterial pressure, there is another possible contributing factor: failure of cerebral autoregulation.1

Cerebral autoregulation is the intrinsic ability of cerebral vasculature to maintain constant cerebral blood flow over a wide range of cerebral perfusion pressures.2–4 If this autoregulation is deranged, cerebral perfusion is less able to resist a decline when arterial blood pressure falls.

Clinical studies into cerebral autoregulation around the time of syncope can be carried out using provocation by head-up tilt or by lower-body negative pressure. Transcranial Doppler can be used to measure middle cerebral artery flow velocity. This can then be compared with arterial blood pressure to give an index of cerebrovascular resistance. Because both flow and pressure are fluctuating dynamically, it is useful to apply transfer function analysis to determine how the oscillatory components of the two are related.

Previous studies have provided conflicting data. It would be predicted that during vasovagal syncope, reduced cerebral perfusion should induce cerebral vasodilatation. However, it has been noted that head-up tilt leads to a decrease in diastolic velocity in the middle cerebral artery but preservation of systolic velocity in syncopal patients. Therefore there was a paradoxical rise in cerebral resistance, presumed to be secondary to arteriolar constriction.5

On the other hand, a comparison of controls with neurogenic syncope patients while undergoing head-up tilt, found no significant differences between the two groups with regards to transfer gain, coherence and phase …


Grmmdwater accmmts for a major percentage of the world's fresh water and it is fairly distributed
all over the world. It has always been considered to be a readily available source of water for domestic,
agricultural and industrial use. Various strategies have been adopted for the development and management of
groundwater resource because of its importance to life. This presentation enwnerated some of the factors
affecting groundwater quality and its diminishing quantity. It also highlighted the effect of these on the
economy, health and the environment. It was concluded that poverty can be reduced if conscious effort is made
to develop and manage groundwater resource.


The purpose of this study was to develop an analytical method to quantify the relative activities of carboxylesterases (CESs) in biological samples. Taking the advantage of loperamide, a specific carboxylesterase 2 (CES2) inhibitor, and bis-p-nitrophenyl phosphate (BNPP), an irreversible CESs inhibitor, we propose for the first time a capillary electrophoresis (CE) method that enables detecting and distinguishing CES2 activity from other CESs in complex biological samples. The capillary electrophoresis method proved to be fast, simple, repeatable, and applicable to the measurement of the specific activity of CESs. The method was successfully applied to the evaluation of human cells overexpressing human carboxylesterase 2 (hCE-2) and to several mammalian sera, using extremely small amounts of samples in comparison with traditional spectrophotometric methods. The same rationale can be applied to establish methods for determining the activity of other isoenzymes, using the appropriate specific inhibitors.


We present empirical justification of why logistic regression may acceptably approximate, using the number of currently vocalizing interlocutors, the probabilities returned by a time-invariant, conditionally independent model of turn-taking. The resulting parametric model with 3 degrees of freedom is shown to be identical to an infinite-range Ising antiferromagnet, with slow connections, in an external field; it is suitable for undifferentiated-participant scenarios. In differentiated-participant scenarios, untying parameters results in an infinite-range spin glass whose degrees of freedom scale as the square of the number of participants; it offers an efficient representation of participant-pair synchrony. We discuss the implications of model parametrization and of the thermodynamic and feed-forward perceptron formalisms for easily quantifying aspects of conversational dynamics.


In the present in vitro study, osteoblasts proliferation, vitality and ultrastructure were investigated when cultured in the presence of silver-hydroxyapatite/titania nanoparticles (nAg_HA/TiO2) compared to HA nanoparticles (nHA) at various concentrations and cell culture without nanoparticles for up to 120 hours. Results confirmed the detrimental influences of both nAg_HA/TiO2 and nHA on osteoblast growth.Cell vitality was slightly higher during the earlier 24h, but after that was inhibited. Both cell proliferation and vitality by addition of nanoparticles were restricted with concentrations of nanoparticles increasing. However, the respiration rates by addition of nanoparticles were showed higher than that of the cell culture without nanoparticles. No remarkable ultrastructure changes were showed in the osteoblasts exposed nanoparticles. The difference in cell proliferation, vitality and ultrastructure between nAg_HA/TiO2 and nHA were insignificant. It was demonstrated that biocompatibility of nAg_HA/TiO2 is almost the same as nHA.


The arrival of refugees from predominantly Muslim countries in the core of Europe has fuelled discussions on European solidarity. This article explores the sources of solidarity in Europe in the aftermath of the 'refugee crisis' of 2015. By focusing on migrants' attitudes towards refugees, the article considers solidarity in light of contradictory public discourses on refugees in Europe. Drawing on data from a survey among Polish migrants residing in Germany and applying a conjoint analysis, the article demonstrates that religion and gender are the main criteria for boundary-making between the respondents and the refugees. In this process, national and ethnic identities are subordinated to the idea of belonging to an imagined Christian community. Our results suggest that new exclusionary solidarities shaped by boundary-making between Christians and Muslim refugees are being established within Europe. As a result, Islamophobia emerges as a transnational European exclusionary project evading ethnic and national boundaries.