Abstract Integrating use of seeded perennial cool-season grass pastures with native rangeland can increase available forage and provide a high plane of nutrition for grazing livestock. Our objective was to compare performance of yearling beef heifers grazing native rangeland with those grazing an integrated system that included seeded forages. Twice-replicated, 3-ha pastures seeded to either 'Rosana' western wheatgrass (Pascopyron smithii [Rydb.] A. Love), 'Luna' pubescent wheatgrass (Elytrigia intermedia [Host] Nevski), or 'Hycrest' crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertn. ssp. desertorum [Fisch. ex Link] A. Love) were grazed in spring, whereas twice-replicated, 3.24-ha pastures seeded to either 'Alkar' tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum [Podp.] ZW Liu & RC Wang), 'NewHy' hybrid wheatgrass (Elymus hoffmannii KB Jensen & KH Asay), 'Bozoisky' Russian wildrye (Psathyrostachys juncea [Fisch.] Nevski.), or 'Prairieland' Altai wildrye (Leymus angustus [Trin.] Pilger) were grazed in autumn. Native rangeland was grazed during summer in the integrated system and spring, summer, and autumn in the rangeland treatment. Heifers exhibited greater weight gains on seeded pastures than on native rangeland in spring and autumn of most years. In 2 out of 3 years, heifers that grazed native rangeland during spring gained more (P = 0.012 for gain head−1 and P = 0.021 for gain head−1 day−1) while grazing native rangeland during summer than heifers that grazed seeded pastures in spring. Spring + summer gains averaged (mean ± SE) 0.56 ± 0.01 kg·head−1·d−1 and 73.1 ± 1.6 kg·head−1. Livestock managers need to consider their livestock marketing and management strategies when using seeded pastures for seasonal grazing.


SUMMARY The strongest seismic noise, called secondary microseisms, is generated by ocean wave interactions and we model this noise using the theory of Longuet-Higgins generalized to random ocean gravity waves. Noise sources are computed with an ocean wave model that takes into account coastal reflections. Variations of the source locations are consistent with seasonal variations of seismic noise spectra. Noise spectra are modelled over many years for stations representative of various environments such as continent, island and polar area to constrain, for each environment, the parameters involved in the modelling. For each station, we quantify the trade-off between ocean wave coastal reflection and seismic wave attenuation that both affect the amplitude of the seismic spectrum. We show their adjustment and the need, at some stations, for an extra parameter representing the three-dimensional (3-D) seismic wave propagation effects. The long-term analysis demonstrates the stability of the fitted parameters which can be used in future noise studies. The modelling enables to reproduce the frequency content and amplitude of the different noise peaks of seismic spectra. The strongest peaks are generated by deep ocean sources whereas coastal reflections generate numerous smaller sources that contribute to the background noise level. Coastal reflection effects can be neglected only for the Pacific island station PPT. The modelling also reproduces the peculiar noise spectrum variation in Antarctica (station DRV) which is related to the presence of sea ice around the stations.


Background and objective: The whole world is suffering extensive damage from COVID-19, and even the world of sports cannot escape this situation. Preventive behavior against COVID-19 is crucial to minimizing this damage. Therefore, this study analyzed data examining preventive behaviors of all Korean professional basketball players, providing empirical evidence of the relationship between preventive health behavior and Big-5 factors depending on socio-demographic variables.

Material and methods: Using an online survey, data were collected from 106 players registered with the Korean Basketball League in the 2019-2020 season.

Results: Married players and those with more years of experience were more thorough in managing injuries and preventing infections. Among the Big-5 personality traits, conscientiousness had a significant effect on COVID-19 prevention and health management behavior. Players low on neuroticism demonstrated higher performance in terms of injury management behavior. Conclusions: These results provide critical insight regarding the preventive health behavior of professional sports players. The findings can serve as basic data for enhancing COVID-19 preventive behavior of male basketball players, and as a reference for a decrease in damage in professional sports leagues from COVID-19 and normal management and maintenance.


Kalphai, deltaepsilon, Tote, gammaalphap, ouv and asyndeton constitute a system of sentence conjunctions in the narrative framework of Matthew's Gospel, forming networks with other linguistic systems such as constituent order, thematization, verbal tense-form, and lexical choice. Using a database of the Gospel of Matthew developed for this research, relative frequencies of sentence conjunctions are quantitatively described and frequencies of collocations with other syntactical and lexical features in narrative sentences are discussed. This study argues that sentence conjunctions convey procedural rather than conceptual meaning, providing processing instructions rather than prepositional content and guiding the audience to construct and modify mental representations in discourse processing. Kai signals unmarked continuity (the unmarked condition in narrative). Kai tends to collocate with verb-subject constituent order, especially with a verb in thematic (first) position in the sentence. deltaepsilon is a signal of low- to midlevel discontinuity, commonly paired with a change in participant or a temporal shift. deltaepsilon tends to collocate with subject-verb constituent order, especially with a thematic subject. Asyndeton is used both at points of tight continuity in Matthew's narrative framework, specifically in speech margins with thematic present-tense lambdaegammaw, and also at higher- level narrative breaks, with non-verbal themes and shifters such as 'in that day/hour/time'. While deltaepsilon generally signals discontinuity within the narrated events themselves, ouv and gammaalphap signal, respectively, movement to and from the narrative line, guiding pragmatic inferences the audience makes as they integrate additional material into a mental representation of the discourse. ∫alphap introduces 'off-line' material confirming a preceding proposition. Ouv directs the audience to continue processing narrative events with a mental representation modified by the inclusion of preceding 'off-line' material. The study concludes with commentary on Matthew 8-9 based on descriptive models developed in the research, addressing both sentence-level and discourse-level functions of Kalphai, deltaepsilon, Tote, gammaalphap, ouv and asyndeton.


Titanium and titanium alloys have low density, high strength, excellent corrosion resistance in many media and are known to be biocompatible. This combination of properties makes titanium and its alloys an excellent choice for the applications, such as watch parts, medical devices, dental parts and sports goods. However, in the respect of fabricating complicated shaped parts, low machinability may be a barrier to practical uses. Therefore, it is considered to be very available that metal injection molding(MIM) process is applied to fabricate titanium alloy parts[1-2]. Nevertheless, injection molding of titanium and its alloys presents a real challenge to the processor due to its reactivity. Titanium not only has a strong affinity to oxygen, but also tends to react readily with carbon, nitrogen or hydrogen from the furnace atmosphere. Therefore, contamination by interstitial light elements such as oxygen and carbon is a serious problem because they have much influence on the mechanical properties of titanium alloys[3-5]. So it is necessary to control debinding and sintering conditions. In this paper, preparation of Ti-6Al-4V compacts was performed by MIM process. To reduce the contamination, the debound compacts were sintered at moderate temperature range from 1170°C to 1320°C and high vacuum (10-3Pa). On these conditions, the mechanical properties and relative density of sintered compacts were investigated.


Abstract. Temperature measurements from the PCL Rayleigh lidar located near London, Canada, taken during the 11 year period from 1994 to 2004 are used to form a temperature climatology of the middle atmosphere. A unique feature of the PCL temperature climatology is that it extends from 35 to 95 km allowing comparison with other Rayleigh lidar climatologies (which typically extend up to about 85 km), as well as with climatologies derived from sodium lidar measurements which extend from 83 to 108 km. The derived temperature climatology is compared to the CIRA-86 climatological model and to other lidar climatologies, both Rayleigh and sodium. The PCL climatology agrees well with the climatologies of other Rayleigh lidars from similar latitudes, and like these other climatologies shows significant differences from the CIRA-86 temperatures in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Significant disagreement is also found between the PCL climatology and sodium lidar climatologies measured in the central and western United States at similar latitudes, with the PCL climatology consistently 10 to 15 K cooler in the 85 to 90 km region.


BACKGROUND
Good clinical practice in primary care includes periodic review of repeat prescriptions. Markers of prescriptions that may need review have been described, but manually checking all repeat prescriptions against the markers would be impractical.

AIM
To investigate the feasibility of computerising the application of repeat prescribing quality checks to electronic patient records in United Kingdom (UK) primary care.

DESIGN OF STUDY
Software performance test against benchmark manual analysis of cross-sectional convenience sample of prescribing documentation.

SETTING
Three general practices in Greater Manchester, in the north west of England, during a 4-month period in 2001.

METHOD
A machine-readable drug information resource, based on the British National Formulary (BNF) as the 'gold standard' for valid drug indications, was installed in three practices. Software raised alerts for each repeat prescribed item where the electronic patient record contained no valid indication for the medication. Alerts raised by the software in two practices were analysed manually. Clinical reaction to the software was assessed by semi-structured interviews in three practices.

RESULTS
There was no valid indication in the electronic medical records for 14.8% of repeat prescribed items. Sixty-two per cent of all alerts generated were incorrect. Forty-three per cent of all incorrect alerts were as a result of errors in the drug information resource, 44% to locally idiosyncratic clinical coding, 8% to the use of the BNF without adaptation as a gold standard, and 5% to the inability of the system to infer diagnoses that, although unrecorded, would be 'obvious' to a clinical reading the record. The interviewed clinicians supported the goals of the software.

CONCLUSION
Using electronic records for secondary decision support purposes will benefit from (and may require) both more consistent electronic clinical data collection across multiple sites, and reconciling clinicians' willingness to infer unstated but 'obvious' diagnoses with the machine's inability to do the same.


We investigate novel random graph embeddings that can be computed in expected polynomial time and that are able to distinguish all non-isomorphic graphs in expectation. Previous graph embeddings have limited expressiveness and either cannot distinguish all graphs or cannot be computed efficiently for every graph. To be able to approximate arbitrary functions on graphs, we are interested in efficient alternatives that become arbitrarily expressive with increasing resources. Our approach is based on Lov\'asz' characterisation of graph isomorphism through an infinite dimensional vector of homomorphism counts. Our empirical evaluation shows competitive results on several benchmark graph learning tasks.


To the Editor.— In the case reported by Capurro and Gray (229:763, 1974), a liver and pancreas scan are reproduced and both are read as being abnormal. This reproduction has been reviewed by several physicians in the Radioisotope Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and I had seen the original previously. We are all in agreement that the scan is normal. The "irregular concave profile" of the inferior edge of the liver is most certainly related to respiratory motion, causing a most common artifact on rectilinear liver scanning. This disappears if one employs a gamma-ray camera, injects sufficient technetium Tc 99m sulfur colloid, and performs the scan with the patient holding his breath for 15 to 20 seconds. The pancreas scan was also read as abnormal with uneven isotope uptake. One agrees that the uptake is uneven, but the apparent filling defect of the body of the pancreas


One of the successes of the Brownian approximation approach to dynamic control of queueing networks is the design of a control policy for closed networks with two servers by Harrison and Wein. Adopting a Brownian approximation with only heuristic justification, they interpret the optimal control policy for the Brownian model as a static priority rule and conjecture that this priority rule is asymptotically optimal as the closed networks's population becomes large. This paper studies closed queueing networks with two servers that are balanced, that is, networks that have the same relative load factor at each server. The validity of the Brownian approximation used by Harrison and Wein is established by showing that, under the policy they propose, the diffusion-scaled workload imbalance process converges weakly in the infinite population limit to the diffusion predicted by the Brownian approximation. This is accomplished by proving that the fluid limits of the queue length processes undergo state space collapse in finite time under the proposed policy, thereby enabling the application of a powerful new technique developed by Williams and Bramson that allows one to establish convergence of processes under diffusion scaling by studying the behavior of limits under fluid scaling. A natural notion of asymptotic optimality for closed queueing networks is defined in this paper. The proposed policy is shown to satisfy this definition of asymptotic optimality by showing that the performance under the proposed policy approximates bounds on the performance under every other policy arbitrarily well as the population increases without bound.


Chronic plantar fasciitis is often treated by surgical plantar fasciotomy when conservative treatments have been exhausted. This article presents an ultrasound-guided Weil percutaneous plantar fasciotomy technique used to successfully treat persistent plantar fasciitis in a 48-year-old woman. Five weeks after the procedure, the patient had resumed normal activity, with an excellent clinical outcome. This ultrasound-guided technique can be performed in an office or hospital surgical setting. This technique may be useful to podiatric physicians and surgeons who treat chronic plantar fasciitis.


Abstract. The permafrost methane emission problem is in the focus of attention of different climate models. We present new approach to the permafrost methane emission modeling. The tundra permafrost lakes is potential source of methane emission. Typically, tundra landscape contains a number of small lakes and warming leads to lake extension. We are making use of this process by the nonlinear theory of phase transitions. We find that climate catastrophe possibility depends on a feedback coefficient connecting the methane concentration in atmosphere and temperature, and on the tundra permafrost methane pool.


In March 2020, the World Health Organization announced the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. Most previous social media related research has been on English tweets and COVID-19. In this study, we collect approximately 1 million Arabic tweets from the Twitter streaming API related to COVID-19. Focussing on outcomes that we believe will be useful for Public Health Organizations, we analyse them in three different ways: identifying the topics discussed during the period, detecting rumours, and predicting the source of the tweets. We use the k-means algorithm for the first goal with k=5. The topics discussed can be grouped as follows: COVID-19 statistics, prayers for God, COVID-19 locations, advise and education for prevention, and advertising. We sample 2000 tweets and label them manually for false information, correct information, and unrelated. Then, we apply three different machine learning algorithms, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Classification, and Naïve Bayes with two sets of features, word frequency approach and word embeddings. We find that Machine Learning classifiers are able to correctly identify the rumour related tweets with 84% accuracy. We also try to predict the source of the rumour related tweets depending on our previous model which is about classifying tweets into five categories: academic, media, government, health professional, and public. Around (60%) of the rumour related tweets are classified as written by health professionals and academics.


In Crawford v. Washington and its progeny, the U.S. Supreme Court has re-theorized the relationship between hearsay evidence and the Confrontation Clause. Post-Crawford, hearsay statements that are "testimonial" in nature are, as a general rule, inadmissible when offered against the accused in a criminal case. Yet in footnote 6 of Crawford, the Supreme Court suggested that an exception to the general rule may exist for dying declarations. My manuscript builds on the dictum set forth in footnote 6 of Crawford, the meaning of which the lower courts are just beginning to explore. In the manuscript, I first demonstrate that the Court likely will explicitly conclude that there exists a dying declaration exception to the Confrontation Clause. Next, I show that, in doing so, the Court will develop a federal constitutional definition of dying declarations that differs in important ways from the dying declaration as it has been codified in the federal rules of evidence and state counterparts. Then, relying on historical evidence, I attempt to delineate what the likely scope of the federal constitutional definition of dying declarations will be. Finally, I demonstrate that many versions of the dying declaration exception extant in the United States today may be deemed unconstitutional as applied in certain circumstances.


This paper describes the main challenges that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are expected to face from climate change and possible responses to those challenges. The main impacts on SIDS from climate change are from air and sea temperature increases, changes to precipitation and storms, and ocean acidification, which in turn have major impacts on ecosystems, freshwater, and the natural resources on which islanders depend. SIDS people would prefer to stay in their communities by adjusting to the changes, but they need external support for doing so. As such, climate change is a global challenge but also needs to be placed in wider development and sustainability contexts to ensure that more problems are not created or exacerbated.


In this work, we will be testing four different general \textit{f(R)}-gravity models, two of which are the more realistic models (namely the Starobinsky and the Hu-Sawicki models), to determine if they are viable alternative models to pursue a more vigorous constraining test upon them. For the testing of these models, we use 359 low- and intermediate-redshift Supernovae Type 1A data obtained from thRede SDSS-II/SNLS2 Joint Light-curve Analysis (JLA). We develop a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation to find a best-fitting function within reasonable ranges for each \textit{f(R)}-gravity model, as well as for the Lambda Cold Dark Matter ($\Lambda$CDM) model. For simplicity, we assume a flat universe with a negligible radiation density distribution. Therefore, the only difference between the accepted $\Lambda$CDM model and the \textit{f(R)}-gravity models will be the dark energy term and the arbitrary free parameters. By doing a statistical analysis and using the $\Lambda$CDM model as our "true model", we can obtain an indication whether or not a certain \textit{f(R)}-gravity model shows promise and requires a more in-depth view in future studies. In our results, we found that the Starobinsky model obtained a larger likelihood function value than the $\Lambda$CDM model, while still obtaining the cosmological parameters to be $\Omega_{m} = 0.268^{+0.027}_{-0.024}$ for the matter density distribution and $\bar{h} = 0.690^{+0.005}_{-0.005}$ for the Hubble uncertainty parameter. We also found a reduced Starobinsky model that are able to explain the data, as well as being statistically significant.


PURPOSE
The clinical performance of three- and four-unit fixed partial dentures (FPDs) with frameworks made of yttria partially stabilized zirconia was determined after a mean observational period of 84 months.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Seventy-five patients were treated with 99 posterior FPDs. Fifty-one specimens were veneered with an experimental ceramic suitable for titanium and zirconia frameworks; 48 restorations were veneered with a commercially available low-fusing ceramic optimized for zirconia frameworks. All restorations were luted with zinc-phosphate cement. Statistical analysis was performed according to Kaplan-Meier; potential risk factors were analyzed using the Cox regression analysis.

RESULTS
Nineteen restorations failed completely: 12 due to technical complications, 6 due to biologic complications, and 1 for unknown reasons. The overall survival rate after 84 months was 83.4%. Thirty-two events required clinical intervention for restoration maintenance, resulting in a time-dependent success rate of 57.9% after 84 months. Nineteen dropouts occurred during the follow-up time. None of the evaluated factors showed an association with survival or success of the restorations.

CONCLUSIONS
After a mean observational period of 7 years, the survival and success rates of zirconia-based posterior FPDs were inferior to those published for metal-ceramic FPDs. The majority of failures were caused by technical complications (material fractures). The main reasons for clinical intervention to maintain function were fractures of the veneering ceramic and decementations.


Abstract. This article examines the EU's most prominent policy tool (short of further enlargement) intended to help stabilize and secure relations with its bordering states: the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Dealing with the problem of regional stabilization has been a central rationale of the ENP and in what follows we consider how the ENP's concern with this problem has been pursued through the framework of political dialogue with partners, focusing particularly on cooperation in external relations. There are undoubted benefits which the ENP brings to this policy domain, however the initiative is also saddled with three sets of problems. The first relates to the question of local relevance and 'value-added', and is a concern largely for the ENP partners. The second is the challenge of policy coherence and is played out at the EU level and among EU Member States. The third is how the ENP relates to important regional actors (principally the USA and Russia) who have the potential to both facilitate and frustrate the initiative. These three challenges frame the context for two brief regional snapshots of the ENP in action, looking at EU security relations with the South Caucasus (and Georgia more specifically) and the Middle East.


Abstract Background: The present study primarily aims to evaluate how effective acupuncture combined with physical therapy for the treatment of idiopathic facial paralysis. Methods: The PubMed database was searched (1946 to September 2020), the EMBASE data were also searched (January 1946 to September 2020), moreover, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was searched (all years), and finally, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) was also included in the searching of electronic databases. The searching of publications did not include any language constraints. The titles and abstracts were scrutinized by a pair of authors to identify relevant studies. The efficacy of the association in the combination of acupuncture and physical therapy as a method of treatment for idiopathic facial paralysis was evaluated according to the pooled risk ratio (RR), mean differences (MD), or standardized mean difference (SMD) with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). A pair of authors conducted an autonomous risk assessment of the bias that would be introduced when the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool is used. A pair of authors autonomously extracted data with the aid of a customized data extraction form. The RevMan 5.3 statistical analysis software was utilized for conducting the statistical analysis. Results: The final results will be presented in a scientific journal that will be peer-reviewed. Conclusion: It is expected that the proposed systematic review and meta-analysis of acupuncture combined with physical therapy for treating idiopathic facial paralysis will provide reliable evidence for clinical application. OSF registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/RPCSE (https://osf.io/rpcse/)


The aging process can cause mental changes, both psychosocial and physical conditions can decrease the level of independence in activities daily living. One of the consequences is a deterioration in self-esteem that has the feeling useless and worthless. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between level of independence to self-esteem in the elderly. This study used descriptive correlational with crosssectional approach and using proportional sampling. Total population were 143 elderly people and obtained 71 samples who determined by inclusion criteria. The Data collected by questionnaire and observation then analyzed by Spearman's Rho with significant level test (p<0,05). The independent variable was level of independence and dependent variables was self-esteem. The result showed that there was correlation between level of independence with self-esteem on elderly (p=0,568). The elderly could perform activities daily living independently cause an impact on self-esteem. The result of independent elderly can have high self-esteem, high levels of confidence and can socialize with their environment. The Elderly that do the activities daily living independently can increase self-esteem. The result showed that elderly people always think positive, accept the changes that happened and can socialize with their surroundings. Further research could develop the results of this study in elderly with male gender, factors that affects self esteem in their body both in nursing home and in the community. Keyword: Level of Independence, Activities Daily Living, Self Esteem, Elderly


Background and Aim: Leutea kurdistanica mozaff. (Apiaceae) is a perennial herb endemic to Kurdistan province of Iran. The plants of this family are known for diversity in essential oils and economic importance. The goals of the present study were to evaluate chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oils of L. kurdistanica . Materials and Methods: GC-FID and GC-MS were used for compositional analysis of the essential oils.Antioxidant activities of the oil were assessed using DPPH free radical test. Antibacterial and antifungal activities of the oils were assessed by disc diffusion and agar dilution methods. Results: A total of 33 compounds representing 97.3-94.2% of the essential oils were identified. Limonene (25.3%) was the main compound of the oil followed by γ–terpinene (18.1%), elemicin (15.4%) and Δ-3-carene (8.2%). In DPPH assay, the oil has radical scavenging activity with IC 50 value of 51.4±2.3. The results of antimicrobial tests showed that the oil had remarkable inhibitory effects on the growth of Gram-positive bacteria and fungal strains. Conclusions: Regarding to significant antioxidants and antimicrobial activities of the oil of L. kurdistanica , these oils could be consider as a natural preservative in food and other industries. Although more investigation is needed to clarify the exact compounds responsible for observed biological activities.


Call centres are high‐pressure work environments characterised by routinisation, scripting, computer‐based monitoring and intensive performance targets. This promises a series of business advantages, but also risks counterproductive outcomes. Drawing on evidence from ethnographic field data, it is suggested that both desired and risked outcomes are mediated by personal modes of coping and organisational sustaining mechanisms. A central concern is to explore the underlying assumptions of call centre design and management, and to establish whether or to what extent information systems have been constructed as learning sites or behavioural control sites. When behavioural control is a primary goal this introduces a climate of resistance, further inflated by the culture of measurement and enforcement that is likely to ensue. In this environment, agent, manager and organisation become defensive and the main outcome is a destructive crisis of trust that creates important and difficult implications for the capacity to learn.


Ethiopia is a multilingual country with a federal form of state structure. The 1995 Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE Constitution) gave equal recognition for all Ethiopian languages, but has chosen Amharic to become the working language of the Federal Government. In order to accommodate the needs of non-Amharic speakers in the provision of public services, the Constitution and other laws such as the Criminal Procedure Code, require the use of interpreters. Particularly in criminal proceedings, non-Amharic speakers are entitled to be assisted with a 'qualified' interpreter to meaningfully participate in the cases. In practice, it is observed that accused people who do not speak the working language of the federal government are unable to effectively understand or get prompt and detailed information regarding the nature and effect of the case brought against them. Even if they know the case, they are not able to effectively explain their defences to the court or associated bodies, and thereby defend their rights. This study reveals that non-Amharic speakers are not effectively served according to the legal standards. This problem subsists mainly due to the absence or limited number of interpreters, as well as the use of untrained interpreters. Despite some efforts to address the problem, the federal government has not yet laid down any formal mechanism by which people with limited and/or no Amharic language proficiency are properly served in criminal proceedings both before and during trial. This study proposes the federal government to establish court interpreter training institutions and to standardise court interpretation by allocating the necessary budget; lay down a formal mechanism such as enacting detailed laws and working manuals for assigning interpreters; providing other local languages the status of working language; consulting interpretation technologies and working in collaboration with different stakeholders.


Church's synthesis problem asks whether there exists a finite-state stream transducer satisfying a given input-output specification. For specifications written in Monadic Second-Order Logic (MSO) over infinite words, Church's synthesis can theoretically be solved algorithmically using automata and games. We revisit Church's synthesis via the Curry-Howard correspondence by introducing SMSO, an intuitionistic variant of MSO over infinite words, which is shown to be sound and complete w.r.t. synthesis thanks to an automata-based realizability model.


Chilling fruits at temperatures below 12 °C hampers enzymes that help synthesize flavor-imparting volatile compounds, resulting in relatively fresh but insipid fruits. To uncover the genetic underpinnings of chilling-associated flavor loss, Bo Zhang et al. (pp. 12580–12585) stored heirloom and modern inbred varieties of red ripe tomatoes at 5 °C for 1, 3, or 7 days after which the fruits were transferred to 20 °C for 1 or 3 days. Measurement of volatile compounds revealed that 7 days of cold exposure reduced volatile levels by up to 65%; 3 days of recovery at the higher temperature failed to restore volatiles to normal levels. A panel of 76 consumers judged fruits stored at 20 °C after 7 days of chilling much less flavorful than fruits harvested a day before consumption. Though the fruits' sugar and acid contents remained largely unaltered, chilling reduced the expression of genes implicated in volatile synthesis as well as the gene switch RIPENING INHIBITOR (RIN), the epigenetic action of which is tied to fruit ripening, among other switches. Analysis of rates of methylation of cytosine residues in the control regions of RIN-dependent genes suggested a link between chilling and DNA methylation of genes implicated in volatile synthesis and fruit maturation. According to the authors, the findings furnish a molecular view of the flavor-depleting effects of cold storage on fruits. — P.N.


Metabolic syndrome encompasses a combination of conditions including obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension. Brain insulin resistance has emerged as a contributor to the development of metabolic syndrome, although the neural regions involved remain unclear. While most studies have focused on hypothalamic areas, recent evidence suggests that the subfornical organ (SFO), a circumventricular organ well-known for cardiovascular control, is also involved in metabolic regulation. We therefore hypothesized that the SFO insulin receptor protects against the development of metabolic syndrome. Male mice (6.5 wks) harboring a conditional allele of the insulin receptor gene (
 INSR)
 underwent SFO-targeted delivery of an adenovirus encoding a control vector (AdLacZ, n=7) or Cre-recombinase (AdCre, n=11) for selective removal of the SFO insulin receptor. Both groups remained on normal chow for 10 wks. Removal of the SFO insulin receptor did not influence food intake, but resulted in an ~40% greater increase in body weight (AdLacZ vs AdCre: Δ2.2±0.3 vs. 3.8±0.4 g; p<0.05). Consistent with the increased body weight, SFO insulin receptor deletion was associated with overall elevations in adiposity (e.g., abdominal fat, AdLacZ vs AdCre: 0.19±0.04 vs. 0.33±0.05 g; p<0.05). Analysis of the liver revealed substantial hepatic triglyceride accumulation in SFO-targeted AdCre mice (AdLacZ vs. AdCre: 62 ± 16 vs. 209 ± 29 mg/dl; p<0.05), with histological examinations (Oil Red O) revealing large lipid droplet accumulation following removal of the SFO insulin receptor. Parallel elevations in circulating triglycerides were also found (AdLacZ vs. AdCre: 1.4 ± 0.2 vs. 3.3 ± 0.6 mg/dl; p=0.05). These data demonstrate that ablation of SFO insulin receptors resulted in an overall deleterious metabolic state including increases in body weight, elevations in adiposity, hepatic steatosis and hypertriglyceridemia. These findings suggest that impairments in insulin signaling within the SFO contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome. Studies are ongoing to investigate the effect of SFO insulin receptor removal on blood pressure.


A study of the one-dimensional consolidation of plastic concrete (that is, a concrete mix within the first few hours after mixing when it can still be remolded) is discussed with particular reference to the soil mechanics analogy which the author proposed for a wider study of some engineering properties of plastic concrete [2]. This property of the mix is discussed in terms of classical consolidation parameters used in soil mechanics, namely the coefficient of compressibility (mv) and the coefficient of consolidation (cv. It was desired to study the consolidation behavior of the material as it is just after mixing and, consequently, the mixes were retarded by the addition of small quantities of sugar to minimize the effect of hydration. Theoretical equations are developed to express the dependence of these two quantities on the initial moisture content of the mix and the applied consolidation pressure. A linear relationship, as predicted from theory, was obtained between mv and the initial moisture content from results of the laboratory study in which the Rowe's cell was used. Further empirical results showed that there is no apparent simple relationship between cv and initial moisture content. However, there is a linear relationship between cv and pressure increment. The mv values lie between 1.25 × 10−3 and 6.25 × 10−2 in.2/lb, while the cv values lie between 1.5 × 10−2 and 4.5 × 10−2 in.2/min. In general, the mixes tested behaved similarly to remolded clays. The Darcy coefficient of permeability of the mixes, deduced from the consolidation data, is of the order of 10−8 cm/s.


BACKGROUND
Heartburn (HB) and acid reflux (RF) in the nonpregnant population can cause nausea and vomiting; therefore, it is plausible that in women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), HB/RF may increase the severity of symptoms.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether HB/RF during pregnancy contribute to increased severity of NVP.

METHODS
A prospectively collected cohort of women who were experiencing NVP and HB, RF or both (n=194) was studied. The Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis and Nausea (PUQE) scale and its Well-being scale was used to compare the severity of the study cohort's symptoms. This cohort was compared with a group of women experiencing NVP but no HB/RF (n=188). Multiple linear regression was used to control for the effects of confounding factors.

RESULTS
Women with HB/RF reported higher PUQE scores (9.6+/-2.6) compared with controls (8.9+/-2.6) (P=0.02). Similarly, Well-being scores for women experiencing HB/RF were lower (4.3+/-2.1) compared with controls (4.9+/-2.0) (P=0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that increased PUQE scores (P=0.003) and decreased Well-being scores (P=0.005) were due to the presence of HB/RF as opposed to confounding factors such as pre-existing gastrointestinal conditions/symptoms, hyperemesis gravidarum in previous pregnancies and comorbidities.

CONCLUSION
The present cohort study is the first to demonstrate that HB/RF are associated with increased severity of NVP. Managing HB/RF may improve the severity of NVP.


The evolution of upper ocean currents involves a set of complex, poorly understood interactions between submesoscale turbulence (e.g. density fronts and filaments and coherent vortices) and smaller-scale boundary-layer turbulence. Here we simulate the lifecycle of a cold (dense) filament undergoing frontogenesis in the presence of turbulence generated by surface stress and/or buoyancy loss. This phenomenon is examined in large-eddy simulations with resolved turbulent motions in large horizontal domains using ${\sim}10^{10}$ grid points. Steady winds are oriented in directions perpendicular or parallel to the filament axis. Due to turbulent vertical momentum mixing, cold filaments generate a potent two-celled secondary circulation in the cross-filament plane that is frontogenetic, sharpens the cross-filament buoyancy and horizontal velocity gradients and blocks Ekman buoyancy flux across the cold filament core towards the warm filament edge. Within less than a day, the frontogenesis is arrested at a small width, ${\approx}100~\text{m}$ , primarily by an enhancement of the turbulence through a small submesoscale, horizontal shear instability of the sharpened filament, followed by a subsequent slow decay of the filament by further turbulent mixing. The boundary-layer turbulence is inhomogeneous and non-stationary in relation to the evolving submesoscale currents and density stratification. The occurrence of frontogenesis and arrest are qualitatively similar with varying stress direction or with convective cooling, but the detailed evolution and flow structure differ among the cases. Thus submesoscale filament frontogenesis caused by boundary-layer turbulence, frontal arrest by frontal instability and frontal decay by forward energy cascade, and turbulent mixing are generic processes in the upper ocean.


Y3Fe5O12 microspheres having a 20–32 μm diameter range were prepared by a spray dryer using a bead-milled nanosize powder. The high heat generation ability in an AC magnetic field was obtained by the bead milling of a commercial powder. The yield of the 20–32 μm microspheres was 13.5% after sifting using 20 and 32 μm sieves. The heat generation ability of the microsphere sample was almost the same as that for the bead-milled powder because the temperature enhancement mechanism was the Neel relaxation of the superparamagnetic material. Furthermore, the heat generation ability of the Y3Fe5O12 microsphere was improved by calcination at low temperature. The heat ability increased as a function proportional to the square of the increasing magnetic field for the noncalcined sample and the samples calcined at 600°C. For the samples calcined at 650°C or higher, the heat generation ability increased as a function proportional to the cube of the increasing magnetic field because of the particle growth to form single-domain ferrimagnetic particles. The sample calcined at 650°C showed the maximum heat generation ability(W/g) of 2.4·f·H3, where f and H are the frequency (kHz) and magnetic field (kA/m), respectively.


The incorporation of TiIV into the framework of zinc-substituted fluorohectorite is reported. Various spectroscopic techniques point to the substitution of TiIV into predominantly the octahedral rather than tetrahedral sublattice of the smectite framework. For clay particles prepared from a reactant composition with Ti/Ti + Si = 0.063 (ZTFH), energydispersive X-ray analysis of the particles observed by transmission electron microscopy indicates that TiIV accounts for ca. 6% of the Ti + Si. X-Ray absorption near-edge spectra indicate that the TiIV in these clay particles is predominantly in an octahedral coordination. This is supported by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of an oriented film sample in which TiIV is reduced to TiIII by heating the sample to 450 °C in 30 Torr of CO. The observed single-ion TiIII EPR spectrum shows dramatic dependence of the orientation of the clay film in the magnetic field. This orientation dependence is consistent with the principal g-tensor axis of the TiIII site being perpendicular to the clay layers. The EPR parameters of this TiIII species are consistent with TiIII occupying an octahedral site. Three-pulse electron spin-echo modulation data taken at the TiIII EPR line position shows modulation at the 7Li nuclear frequency and simulation indicates that TiIII ions are at a distance of 0.30–0.35 nm from LiI ions, a distance that is consistent with these two ions occupying adjacent sites in the octahedral sheet. The MAS NMR spectrum of the zinc/titanium-substituted fluorhectorite consists of an intense Q3 resonance at –96.4 ppm and a weak shoulder at ca.–92.5 ppm. These two resonances are interpreted as due to variations in the octahedral sheet composition. Therefore TiIV appears to have a strong preference for occupation of the octahedral sites in the zinc-substituted fluorohectorite framework.


Post-modernist film adaptations of Shakespeare often deconstruct the Shakespeare myth, as do Baz Luhrmann's prolific Romeo + Juliet (1996), Lloyd Kaufman's lowbudget Tromeo and Juliet (1996) and Fumitoshi Oizaki's anime production, Romeo × Juliet (2007), all of which draw on pop pastiche. Reducing reality to an imitation of signs these films inflate signs that are deprived of their essence. Placing Romeo and Juliet into a world that continually references itself through an abundance of signs, these films ask how true, authentic love can be experienced.


Scholars have called for the federal government to enact legislation to restore directors' duties as owed to the corporation, considering only the interests of shareholders. This is known as the shareholder primacy model. This thesis counters such criticism and argues for the emergence of an interdisciplinary model, in which shareholder primacy is relegated in favour of team production theory. This thesis dispels the theory that the business judgment rule can protect directors who do not consider the interests of multiple stakeholders, which has been argued to be a shield to protect shareholder primacy in Canada. Shareholder primacy is no longer a feasible corporate governance model in the 21st century. The interest of the corporation must include not only shareholder wealth maximization, but also other interests involving the corporation's expanded liabilities under human rights laws, environmental laws, labour standards laws, and insolvency laws, thus benefiting multiple stakeholders of the corporation.


The excavation of the potential of domestic revenues will continue to be improved optimally through the expansion of non-oil and gas revenue sources, in order to replace the funding of countries sourced from external debt. One of the dominant sources of domestic income is tax revenue. Tax revenue is a description of public participation in financing the implementation of government and state development. Given that the tax revenue will not be able to increase without the participation of the taxpayer itself. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of awareness of taxpayers, NPWP ownership, tax collection, and taxpayer compliance with tax revenue. Samples in this study are taxpayers of individuals registered in KPP Pratama Surabaya Wonocolo, Indonesia with sampling technique that is Convenience sampling. The data used are primary data collected through answers to each given statement. The method of analysis using multiple linear regression. The result of this research is the awareness of the taxpayer has an influence on the tax revenue, while the ownership of NPWP, tax collection, and taxpayer compliance has no effect on tax revenue.


Abstract Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membranous vesicles that are released by both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells into the extracellular microenvironment. EVs can be categorised as exosomes, ectosomes or shedding microvesicles and apoptotic bodies based on the mode of biogenesis. EVs contain biologically active cargo of nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and metabolites that can be altered based on the precise state of the cell. Vesiclepedia (http://www.microvesicles.org) is a web-based compendium of RNA, proteins, lipids and metabolites that are identified in EVs from both published and unpublished studies. Currently, Vesiclepedia contains data obtained from 1254 EV studies, 38 146 RNA entries, 349 988 protein entries and 639 lipid/metabolite entries. Vesiclepedia is publicly available and allows users to query and download EV cargo based on different search criteria. The mode of EV isolation and characterization, the biophysical and molecular properties and EV-METRIC are listed in the database aiding biomedical scientists in assessing the quality of the EV preparation and the corresponding data obtained. In addition, FunRich-based Vesiclepedia plugin is incorporated aiding users in data analysis.


Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1828–89) is best known for his utopian realist novel What Is to Be Done? (1863). However, he was perhaps most celebrated as a literary thinker in China as a result of the Soviet canonization of the nineteenth-century "democratic critics." This essay discusses two Chinese critics' engagement with Chernyshevsky's treatise The Aesthetic Relation of Art to Reality (1853). Here Chernyshevsky advanced the proposition "Beauty is life." In the 1930s and 1940s the literary theorist Zhou Yang read Chernyshevsky and produced a Chinese translation in 1942. In 1963 the philosopher Zhu Guangqian published the History of Western Aesthetics, in which he devoted a chapter to Chernyshevsky. This article explores how both Zhou and Zhu responded to Chernyshevsky's proposition on beauty and life, with particular attention to all three thinkers' engagement with Ludwig Feuerbach's "transformative method" in his critique of Christianity, which sought to invert the relation between subject and predicate. Both Zhou and Zhu alighted on how Chernyshevsky's reliance on Feuerbach led to a one-sided interpretation that needed further articulation; they marshaled the insights of Marx and Hegel to reinterpret Chernyshevsky. Finally, the essay considers the issue of transnational Bildung between Russia and China and the teacher-student relation as expressions of totality along the lines of both Feuerbachian transformative critique and Hegelian speculative retrieval.


Outcome-Based Education (OBE) implementation is one of the qualifying requirements for engineering programme accreditation in Malaysia.  Implementation of the OBE in Integrated Design Project (IDP) is essential in producing high quality engineering graduates that are able to meet the challenges especially in the era of Industry 4.0 in Malaysia.  IDP is the course offered to the final year students of undergraduate programme in Faculty of Civil Engineering, University Teknologi MARA.  This paper presents the mapping of the addressing Course Outcomes (CO) and Programme Outcomes (PO) to the scopes of assessment in a capstone project (CP) for IDP. The explicitness in the measurement of CO and PO in the course is demonstrated. The rubrics for the assessment of CP are also presented. Finally, evaluation of student performance in IDP particularly CP is discussed through a sample analysis of the CO and PO attainments.


Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is an important element for a healthy working environment. Working in poor IAQ can lead to sick building syndrome (SBS) with symptoms and troublesome to concentrate in delivering the task. In this study, a preliminary IAQ investigation was carried out at a teaching foundry facility of a higher learning institution in Malaysia. The foundry processes are known to discharge pollutants and gasses. Therefore, this assessment was used to investigate the existence of harmful gasses including Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) throughout the complete foundry process cycle. An advanced environmental monitor kit was used to monitor the air quality at three different locations within the foundry space to get a good distribution of data. The results reveal that only CO2 and PM10 traces were detected with the reading is still within the allowable range based on guidelines from the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), Malaysia. As for thermal comfort result, the Temperature and Relative Humidity (RH) was found to exceeds the benchmark value. Therefore, a more comprehensive and detail thermal comfort study should be conducted to validate the current finding and an appropriate mitigation strategy must be put in place to ensure the thermal comfort of the occupants during the teaching and learning process in the foundry can be improved.


Tunable Lasers (TL) are rapidly becoming key components in Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed (DWDM) systems, packet switched schemes and access networks. They are being introduced as alternatives to fixed wavelength sources to provide a greater degree of flexibility and to reduce large inventory [1]. The SGDBR laser is an ideal candidate due to its large tuning range (40 nm), high output power (10 dBm), large Side Mode Suppression Ratio (>30 dB) and its ability to be monolithically integrated with other semiconductor devices. Such integration could comprise of a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA), allowing for extended reach tunable operation, in a very compact and low cost footprint [2]. Thus far, external modulation has been the most popular modulation technique used with TLs. However, the addition of the modulator introduces loss to the transmitted signal due to high insertion and coupling losses. Addressing these short comings would result in increased cost and complexity of the transmitter. Alternatively, direct modulation is one of the simplest and cost efficient ways to modulate the lightwave signal. Hence, it is rational to investigate the performance of a directly modulated SGDBR laser in order to verify its usefulness in a WDM based access network scenario. Previous work in this area has mainly focused on bandwidth characterisation and transmission experiments [3, 4]. In this paper, we characterise the frequency drift associated with a directly modulated SGDBR laser incorporating a wavelength locker. Focus is placed on investigating the magnitude and settling time of this drift. In addition, we also demonstrate how the frequency drift has a detrimental effect on DWDM system performance when the modulated channel is passed through a narrow Optical Band-Pass Filter (OBPF) centred at the target emission frequency.


This thesis is concerned with various aspects of insect oviposition behaviour. In the first chapter published mathematical models developed to understand optimal insect oviposition behaviour are reviewed. In these models it is assumed that selection favours females that maximize their offspring's total reproductive success. In the second chapter a different approach to the optimization problem is presented. It is shown that the quantity that is maximized in the models that were discussed in the review is not well defined. It is suggested that instead the total expected resource gain that can be acquired by a female's offspring should be used as a fitness measure. The main reason for this is that if fitness is defined as the ability to pass genes on to all future generations, maximizing the fitness measure used in the existing models would not completely resolve the recursive nature of this definition. The third chapter investigates the effects of density-dependent fecundity on population size. It is assumed that females lay only one single clutch and that the size of the clutch is directly related to the female's fecundity. An iterative model is derived to calculate variation in population size. An analysis of the model and subsequent simulation predict that low levels of competition among larvae is likely to cause chaotic behaviour and overpopulation of the environment whereas high competition is likely to have a. stabilizing effect on population size. A fourth chapter briefly summarizes an experiment conducted on Pieris brassi-cae to measure variation in egg size and to estimate larval surviral rates.


Nikos Scandamis' essay L'Etat dans l'Union européenne: Passion d'un grand acteur suggests the EU has flayed the Westphalian Leviathan. It has laid its dark insides bare to relentless scrutiny. But perhaps it could only do so by appropriating these dark insides for itself. The ombre spirituel that Schmitt associated with sovereign statehood does not seem to have disappeared like the rest of nationalistic mists before the rising sun of European integration. It has simply shifted along with the pretensions of this rising sun. The market place has in broad daylight become the source of a new shadow. This response to Scandamis argues that the CJEU, the principal agent of EU integration since its decisions in Costa v ENEL and Van Gend & Loos, has simply taken over the many ombres spirituels of the Member States in the form of one cloudy jurisprudence that allows for little democratic transparency. True, the EU does not claim to be a sovereign state as yet and it is often said that its goal is also not to become one. In the meantime, however, it pursues its governmental goals in the manner of a sovereign state under the ombre spirituel offered by the obscure jurisprudence of its highest judiciary. * Professor of Philosophy of Law, University of Luxembourg


Sponsored by UNIDO, Zimbabwe in 2004, resolved to train about 28,033 tobacco farmers in five years so as to phase out the last 182 tonnes of methyl bromide then used in tobacco seedling production. The replacement technology chosen was the floating tray system. Floating tray system equipment for effective phase out was distributed to farmers with the overall objective of phasing out methyl bromide by 2009. Largely, most of the farmers were trained and equipment distributed for the effective phase-out as planned. This survey, carried out seven years later in 2011, intended to evaluate the adoption of the floating tray system by farmers. This information is required in order to assess the country's readiness for the 2015 banning of methyl bromide use in tobacco seedbeds. In addition, the survey sought to find out the role tobacco production played in deforestation and food security among other minor objectives. The survey utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods and was administered mainly on a face-to-face manner at the Boka and Tobacco Sales auction floors in Harare during the 2010/2011 selling season. In essence, the survey found out that the majority of the growers (44%) were males over 36 years old and that 76% were smallholder farmers farming on land below two hectares in size. Only 11% used the floating tray system although 61% had heard about the technology and could not use it citing the cost (48%), difficulties in procuring the substrate used in the technique, and lack of know how (39%) among other reasons. An alarming 74 % sterilised their seedbed by burning wood. Almost all farmers (91%) used the proceeds from the tobacco crop to support their maize crop. The few who used the floating tray system agreed that, it was easy (96%) and that an on-farm substrate would be better. In addition, they agreed that procurement of substrate was a problem (64%) and almost all (91%) wished to be trained in both the making of on-farm substrate from farm waste, and in the use of the floating tray system. Almost all used chemicals as a risk aversion technique. We concluded that, the floating tray system would be a recluse of a few after phase-out unless supportive measures are put in place. We also found that the use of indigenous wood in the production of tobacco would probably lead to deforestation.


The effect of process parameters and vanadium carbide on hardness, toughness and structural properties of the tungsten carbide-cobalt (WC-Co) nanocomposite has been investigated using micro-hardness tester, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with attached energy dispersive spectroscopy, respectively. To suppress grain growth, a high percentage (upto 10 wt. %) of vanadium carbide (VC) has been taken as a grain growth inhibitor as well as a hardener. WC-20Co composite with 7.5 wt% VC, heat treated at 1100 C holding time for 2 hours, possesses high hardness (1687 HV) when the volume fraction of tungsten carbide (WC) and Co6W6C phases have been taken in the ratio of 2:1. High hardness and toughness have been obtained at 1100 °C for 2 h heat-treated sample. High VC content with 8 h holding time has increased the porosity in the samples.


In this study, a heart rate variability (HRV) analysis guided by respiration is conducted to assess changes in autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation during pronounced heat stress induced by repetitive exposures to dry sauna in 13 young healthy subjects. The spectral power at the low frequency (LF) band [0 . 04 , 0 . 15] Hz and at the high frequency band centered around the mean respiratory rate, estimated from ECG-derived respiration signals, are studied. The mean heart rate (HR), the total power of HRV, and the normalized LF power are also analyzed. Results show that mean HR and normalized LF power increase significantly after basal stage, not only during the sauna sessions, but also at the intermediate short rest stages and recovery phase after 30 min. A significant reduction in the total power of HRV during all sauna sessions is observed, while an increased power in LF band is shown only during recovery which might be related to improved cardiac function (increased cardiac output and reduced peripheral vascular resistance) after heat exposure. Respiratory rate does not change significantly during the protocol but a negative trend at stress stages may indicate a reverse reaction against an over-activation of the sympathetic branch. In conclusion, exposure to heat stress shifts sympathovagal balance of ANS toward sympathetic dominance that increases HR and diminishes


We consider the problem of component selection in a functional ANOVA model. A nonparametric extension of the nonnegative garrote (Breiman, 1996) is proposed. We show that the whole solution path of the proposed method can be efficiently computed, which, in turn , facilitates the selection of the tuning parameter. We also show that the final estimate enjoys nice theoretical properties given that the tuning parameter is appropriately chosen. Simulation and a real data example demonstrate promising performance of the new approach.


We consider the thermodynamics of an infinite-range Ising p-spin glass model with an additional r-spin ferromagnetic interaction. For r = 2 there is a continuous transition to a ferromagnetic phase, while for r > 2 the transition is first order. We find both glassy and non-glassy ferromagnetic phases, with replica symmetry breaking of both the one step and full varieties. We obtain new results for the case where r = p > 2, demonstrating the existence of a non-glassy ferromagnetic phase, of significance to error-correcting codes.


The interaction of linear polarized microwaves with agricultural features is well understood. Much less is understood about polarimetric data and the potential use of these data to improve surface parameter retrieval models. This paper explores the soil surface information provided by quad-polarimetric SAR through a review of previous work and an empirical sensitivity study of RADARSAT-2 data at four incidence angles. Soil moisture, surface roughness, and crop residue data are quantitatively sampled in unvegetated fields. RADARSAT-2 variables include: linear backscatter and polarization ratios; copolarized phase difference and magnitude of the copolarized complex correlation; pedestal height; extrema of the scattered intensity, completely polarized, and completely unpolarized components; and parameters of the Cloude–Pottier scattering decomposition. Results demonstrated that sensitivities of field averaged linear backscatter were reproduced from previous reports, lending confidence to the experiment. Field averaged pedestal height and copolarized complex correlation coefficient showed significant relationships to crop residue and surface roughness, suggesting an ability to characterize volume and multiple scattering. Similarly, dynamic range of the degree of polarization showed significant relationships with crop residue cover at higher incidence angles. Target averaged or variance of copolarized phase difference did not produce a consistent relationship with the surface parameters, in contrast to qualitative based suggestions of previous experiments. Extremas of the scattered intensity and completely polarized components indicated comparable relationships to surface features as the like polarized linear intensity channels, suggesting sensitivities of these variables to surface scattering. The extrema of the completely unpolarized component showed comparable relationships to surface features as the pedestal height. Results of this paper contribute to identification of optimal SAR variables for use in agricultural monitoring and evaluate potential contributions of polarimetric data for improving surface parameter retrieval models.


We reorganized part of the manuscript to better streamline the methods and results. The revised "Methods" section starts with a definition and method overview, followed by the subsections elaborating each of the primary methods. The previous lengthy "Results and discussions" section has been broken into several stand-alone sections, including "Production components and usage", "Validation", and "Comparisons with existing global datasets". Both reviewers indicated that our methods and results are overwhelmingly detailed. To improve the readability, we have relocated some of the technical triviality to Supplementary Materials and have reduced the redundancy as much as possible. However, we kept a certain amount of detail that we deemed important. Since this is a data description paper, our rationale is to ensure that we have conveyed the principles as such readers understand how our dataset differs from the existing ones and may potentially replicate and improve our dataset.


Antenna design is a very tricky problem. Common designs are sensitive to only a narrow range of frequencies, and are not efficient if they are smaller than a quarter of the wavelength. This is a problem for small, portable antennas, such as those on cellular phones. Fractal antenna designs can overcome some of these problems. Experiments have shown that antennas built with only a small number of iterations of a fractal process can exhibit sensitivity at several frequencies. As the number of iterations increases, the lowest frequency of the antenna gets lower, and additional higher frequencies are added. Also, fractal antennas can operate efficiently at one-quarter the size of more traditional designs. Properly harnessed, these features represent real advantages. Fractals already are being used for compact, multifrequency antennas in cellular phones and military communications hardware. Fractal Antennas are now used in cellular phone antenna fitting inside the body of the phone, and, the multifrequency aspect of the antenna will allow GPS to be incorporated in the phone. Other applications include compact, multifrequency wireless LAN and maritime antennas. In this paper we present a miniaturization model of a square loop antenna using a non-return to zero pulse as a generator instead of the square pulse in Minkowski fractal model that allows an increase in the total electric length without occupying more space. This led to an easily matched compact loop antenna, but with a small sacrifice of the gain.


Physicochemical and thermodynamic studies of liquid-lithium-containing systems have continued. Pressure-composition isotherms for the lithium-hydrogen system measured by a gravimetric technique are found to be in reasonably good agreement with earlier tensimetric results. Plateau-pressure studies of the lithium-hydrogen, lithium-deuterium, and lithium-tritium systems have been made at temperatures above and below the monotectic. The observed isotope effects were found to be near the predicted values. Measurements of the solubility of the lithium-deuterium in liquid lithium gave results in good agreement with prior data for the solubility of lithium-hydrogen in lithium and confirmed that the limits on cold trapping of lithium hydrides from lithium are too high for protected fusion reactor applications. Determination of the solubility of lithium dioxide in liquid lithium is nearing completion. Solubility values measured to date are slightly lower than, but in the range of, prior measurements.


The energy consumption in cities is mostly satisfied by large scale fossil fuelled power plants that account for the major CO2 emissions. National and European policies point towards the adoption of proper energy measures aiming at reducing the emissions. In this direction, Distributed Energy Systems (DESs) are considered as an alternative to the traditional centralized supply, since they allow producing energy that may be distributed to consumers. Yet, the energy interactions occurring among consumers and installers of DESs are modeled within the framework of the complex networks, where nodes stand for consumers and/or potential producers and links symbolize their energy exchanges. The model is based on a cost analysis and minimizes the energy provided from the traditional power plant when a network of distributed energy systems is constituted within the urban territory. Moreover, the impact that the decentralized production has on the centralized supply in terms of cost of the energy delivered to consumers is evaluated. Results are discussed within an application to a numerical case study.


The data on interspecific distribution and antigenic variability of homologues of mink Lpm-protein (Lpm) and alpha 2M-globulin (alpha 2M) among 43 species of 6 orders of mammals are presented. Strong variability of antigenic structure of Lpm and alpha 2M of Rodentia and Artiodactyla orders was established. This fact allows to classify the macroglobulins studied as belonging to the group of evolutionary high-speed plasma globulins. In the plasma of human and green marmoset (Cercopithecus aephiops) the only homologue of alpha 2M was found. The lack of reaction to Lpm in above-mentioned species allows to postulate significant differences between Carnivora and Primates in the organization of this gene cluster. Unique features of antigenic variability of Lpm and alpha 2M were also fixed among other systematical groups tested. Taken together, the data obtained stimulate scientific interest to the study of molecular organization of the Lpm and alpha 2M gene families.


OBJECTIVE
To overview the field of psychotherapy in the medically ill. Rather than attempting a systematic review of this very extensive area, the article seeks to capture some of the main threads and issues of importance.

METHOD
The subject is looked at under four headings: (i) which illnesses have attracted research interest in psychotherapy; (ii) which outcome measures have been chosen; (iii) which modes of intervention have been used; and (iv) finally a review of the methodology and the results obtained.

RESULTS
Some illnesses have attracted much more psychotherapeutic interest than others; the differences are haphazard. Outcome measures on the whole have focused on coping with illness and psychological distress, with a smaller number looking at disease outcome. Only short-term changes have been sought in the main. The most commonly used modalities of therapy have been cognitive-behavioural; additionally, supportive information-giving and group therapy have been trialled. Benefit in terms of all these have been reported, but the majority of studies are weakened by major methodological shortcomings.

CONCLUSION
There is an overall paucity of well-designed studies that clearly demonstrate psychotherapy as an efficacious treatment in the medically ill. The field is hampered by the lack of a clear conceptual thread recognizing the long-term and diverse experience of patients with medical illness and relating this to the question of the part psychotherapy should play. Future work needs to concentrate on appropriate selection of patients who might benefit, as well as including a wider range of more clinically relevant outcome measures and more stringent methodology.


Summary.  We propose a methodology to sample sequentially from a sequence of probability distributions that are defined on a common space, each distribution being known up to a normalizing constant. These probability distributions are approximated by a cloud of weighted random samples which are propagated over time by using sequential Monte Carlo methods. This methodology allows us to derive simple algorithms to make parallel Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms interact to perform global optimization and sequential Bayesian estimation and to compute ratios of normalizing constants. We illustrate these algorithms for various integration tasks arising in the context of Bayesian inference.


Abstract : The DoD often faces the challenge of migrating from legacy systems to new target systems. Such migration efforts represent a complex engineering problem. These efforts call for a migration plan to supplement the development plan. The migration plan addresses issues associated with phasing out legacy systems and moving to the new system. These issues include user interface compatibility, database compatibility, transition support, system interface compatibility, and training. By producing and implementing a migration plan, a development organization can help a user community make the transition in an orderly fashion. This note describes migration planning, identifies influencing factors, outlines a set of migration planning activities, and offers a set of guidelines for the migration planning process.


Taiwan was one of the few Asian economies that had emerged from the 1997-1998 East Asian financial crisis relatively unscathed. During the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, the island's shock-absorbing capability turned out to be once more quite respectable. Taiwan inherited a relatively healthy state of financial systems prior to the sub-prime loan crisis and built up a huge foreign reserve. Also foreign banks' participation in domestic loan market was quite limited. The state dominated the banking sector and closely supervised its lending policy and balance sheet. The island's macro-economic fundamentals were quite healthy and the government still enjoyed spare fiscal capacity to borrow and spend. Many elements that define Taiwan's economic resilience have been fostered by some entrenched institutional arrangements and established policy orientations over a long time. Taiwan managed to retain the bulk of these long-running sources of economic resilience despite of the tremendous external pressures by neo-liberal policy advocates to dismantle these "out-dated" policy thinking and practices. Furthermore, despite of the political turmoil after the first power rotation of 2000, the legacy of an independent and proactive central bank, whose reputation and credibility had been strengthened by its record of steering the island safely through the financial crisis as well as the Strait missile crisis, was kept intact. The legacy of prudential financial regulation was also largely kept intact with the concentration of regulatory authority in a new cabinet-level supervisory commission. Taiwan was able to cope with the 2008-09 global financial crisis thanks also to a more enabling regional environment. The political backlash against IMF-imposed austerity measures precipitated a growing awakening among East Asian policy thinkers. Most developing countries in the region have insured themselves through managing exchange rates and building huge currency reserves, so that they could be protected against the tempests of currency speculation and never again would have to call on the IMF. The ideological milieu and the cooperative institutional arrangements in East Asia have changed so much between the two crises.


This study investigates accounting firm office acquisitions. It explores whether office acquisitions affect post-acquisition office audit quality, particularly whether there is a spillover effect on the existing client base of the acquiring office. We capitalize on a unique circumstance: the 2002 acquisition of Arthur Andersen (Andersen) offices by other audit firms. This setting involves a set of offices in each of the remaining large international audit firms that acquired entire Andersen local practices and a set of offices that did not acquire Andersen practices. Using a within-audit firm matched sample and a difference-in-differences research design, we find robust evidence of higher audit quality post-acquisition among the audits of existing clients of the acquiring offices. These findings extend the literature on office audit quality and provide initial evidence of the impact of audit firm office acquisitions on the existing client base.


Finely laminated diatomaceous sediments from the Miocene Monterey Formation, Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, California, record the mutualistic coupling of life processes and environmental evolution at subannual and subseasonal resolution. In this study we present a new classification of lamina and couplet styles based on couplet bimodality, lamina thickness, compositional domination, lamina spacing, and cyclicity. We also describe five distinct lamina types with emphasis on paleoenvironmental settings, paleoecological associations, and biologically mediated sedimentary/taphonomic processes. Detrital laminae, consisting of silt, clay, and robust diatoms, were deposited from continental runoff during rainy seasons. Thin biosiliceous laminae consist of either moderately preserved high-diversity diatom assemblages, or well-preserved monogeneric phytoplankton assemblages. Most thick, continuous diatomaceous laminae are composed of well-preserved monogeneric and monospecific diatom assemblages that likely experienced biologically induced aggregation and rapid sedimentation without grazing. Thick, discontinuous diatomaceous laminae consist of either Thalassiothrix longissima mats or Chaetoceros setae. Mat laminae reflect stratified water conditions and high biomass conditions developed via vertically migrating diatom mats. Setae laminae are problematic to interpret. Macerated biosilica laminae, consisting of closely packed and highly fragmented biosilica from a variety of taxa, reflect intense zooplankton maceration and dissolution of diverse phytoplankton assemblages. Our results illustrate how different lamina types and associations can be used to proxy specific ecological and oceanographic conditions. This study provides a foundation for developing a high-resolution time series of paleoenvironmental variability recorded by biological event strata in hemipelagic sediments.


The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of residual stresses in cerebral arteries, particularly in the Common Carotid Artery (CCA). Numerical simulations were based on experimental data described in the literature. Finite Element Method (FEM) was used, to calculate the stress response of the two-layer model of artery (intima-media and adventitia) to the transmural pressure. Strongly nonlinear stress-strain characteristics were applied. Conducted research showed the tendency and mechanisms connected with residual stress phenomenon. It was shown that residual stresses have strong impact on stress field for physiological and supraphysiological transmural pressures. Particularly, circumferential stress in the media layer was significantly reduced. We concluded that the presence of residual stress protects the intima-media layer against overstretching and rupture.


— General methods for reducing printed circuit board (PCB) emissions over a broad band of high frequencies are neces-sary to meet EMI requirements, as processors become faster and more powerful. One mechanism by which EMI can be coupled off a PCB ormultichipmodule (MCM)structure isfrom high-frequency fringing electric fields on the dc power and reference planes at the substrate periphery. An approach for EMI mitigation by stitching multiple ground planes together along the periphery of multilayer PCB power-bus stacks with closely spaced vias is reported and quantified in this paper. Power-bus noise induced EMI and coupling from the board edges is the major concern herein. The EMI at 3 m for different via stitch spacing and layer thickness is modeled with the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method. Design curves and an empirical equation are extracted from a parametric study to summarize the variation of the radiated EMI as a function of layer thickness and stitch spacing.


The identification of two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancers raised hopes for improved prevention and treatment. But now that tests for mutations in these genes are coming on the market, reality is setting in. Too little is known about the mutations to give women carrying them a precise assessment of what they mean: Are these women almost certain to get cancer, or are the odds less grim? Clear answers will require huge studies on large numbers of women and their families, which are just beginning.


The management of wildlife resources, including encounters that occur between tourists and wildlife, has emerged as a major issue for the tourism industry and management agencies. This paper explores the preferences for wildlife encounters of visitors in Cairns, Australia. Based on a survey of 287 international tourists the research found that 73.5% of respondents were interested in some form of wildlife encounters whilst in the region. Most respondents said they would like to experience wildlife in a controlled setting either in a zoo or in a wildlife park (64%), while wildlife tours were the least popular form of wildlife encounter (32%). When asked about their specific wildlife experiences in Cairns, 25% of respondents reported visiting a zoo or wildlife park, 36% reported wildlife experiences in national parks and only 3% participated in a commercial tour. The preference for encounters in a controlled setting is an important factor in determining strategies that should be adopted by the Cairns tourism industry as it seeks to retain unique wildlife assets in an era of climate change and increasing urbanisation. This paper will explore these issues in the Cairns region.


Abstract : Perchloroethene (PCE) and its degradation products are among the most common organic groundwater contaminants in the United States. Constructed wetlands are a relatively new approach to dealing with this contamination problem. With their upward flow capability it is possible to introduce an aerobic and anaerobic environment with a consortium of microorganisms available to degrade the contaminants to within acceptable levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This study is a follow-up to the previous two years of research on PCE degradation in cell 1 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This thesis was conducted in order to study the wetland and determine the mechanisms that exist to degrade the chlorinated solvent contamination that is present. It also provided additional evidence that the constructed wetland is degrading PCE to its innocuous byproducts. A purge-and-trap gas chromatograph was used to determine the concentrations of PCE, TCE, DCE isomers, and VC throughout the three layers of the constructed wetland. Inflow and outflow were also sampled and analyzed. In this year's data, PCE was detected at a level that was below the maximum contaminant level established by the EPA. However, it is clear that Cell 1 is still developing. This wetland cell has been in existence for three years and it is obvious that the development of a constructed wetland is a lengthy process. If a constructed wetland were to be used as a treatment process for contaminated water sources, time would have to be allowed for it to develop before it would reach maximum treatment efficiency.


In the research it was investigated how university teachers in Physical Education conceptualize didactic. There was a reviewing in the literature addressing history and conceptualizations of teaching. Using the technique of interview and qualitative analysis, it was collected and analyzed the evidence of thirteen university professors from the master's degree in Physical Education. With the method of historical approach it was found that the didactic teaching has articulated the educational trends: traditional, new school, technical and progressive and is conceptualized as a discipline, field of study and teaching´s technique. As technique it can be understood in the broad sense referring to the procedures of bringing somebody to learn something, and towards educational shows the procedures coupled with socio-moral issues. The evidence collected showed that professors believe the teaching in the broad sense. It follows that the formation of the professors was addressed only as a didactic approach to teaching, despite its historical trajectory and pedagogical practices are directly linked to the direction of education.


The technology changes the world. At present, we are at the brink of new technological boom. Artificial Intelligence, Self-driving, Big data, Sensing city,3-D printing, Dueling neural networks, etc. The new technologies terminologies are full over the media platforms. If someone asks you, which scientific or technological word you can speak out immediately. AI must be one of the words you would say. In the past few years, there were lots of news and articles containing the word of AI. One of the biggest news was "AlphaGo wins the best chess player" made AI be the most popular technology word during that period. What's AI, how it be applied, how can we take advantages from AI, how does AI link with our daily life, how important of AI in the industries and companies, etc. All of these questions drive us to do more research on it. Talking about the modern life, E-commerce changed people's lifestyle a lot. Buy things from different places at home is not a joke. Order online in the morning, receive the product in the afternoon has already realized. Behind the incredible convenient life, that the modern technology support. The computer scientific, the mobile technic, the excellent management, and more advanced technology to forecast the sale, to provide the exact what you want before your search, thus to improve the experience. The following statement is going to analyze the AI application in the retailing industry. To avoid vague and general description, be accurate analysis, we pick one of new technology companies who devotes AI technology application and regards AI as the important strategy development target. JD.com is also called as JingDong. It's a Chinese e-commerce company headquartered in Beijing. It is one of the two massive B2C online retailers in China by transaction volume and revenue, a member of the Fortune Global 500 and a major competitor to Alibaba-run Tmall. JD.com is the world's leading company in high tech and AI deliver through ?? drones, autonomous technology and robots, and also possesses the largest drone delivery system, infrastructure and capability globally. It has recently started testing robotic delivery services and building drone delivery airports, as well as operating driverless delivery by unveiling its first autonomous truck. JD.com and its competitors such as Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon and so on are not only competing to be the largest e-commerce business in the world but also to build the operating system for retail in the future. JD.com is driving business with artificial intelligence, big data, and robotics while building the retail infrastructure for the 4th industrial revolution. Extracting from the latest interview report with Richard Liu, the company's founder, CEO, and chairman, has even gone so far to predict his company won't need humans and said, "I hope my company would be 100% automation someday…no human beings anymore, 100% operated by AI and robots." This essay will briefly introduce AI technology and the JD.com business units, by using the business analyze tools to understand the strategic planning, thus have a better understanding of "How AI technology affects in JD.com" based on the deployment on AI.


When Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis isolates were tested for susceptibility to fluconazole and echinocandins using either EUCAST or Etest methods, differential patterns of growth were observed, independently of the methods used. For C. albicans, a trailing phenomenon (incomplete growth inhibition at supra-MICs) was observed with fluconazole in 90% and 93.3% for EUCAST and Etest, respectively, but not with echinocandins (<7% for EUCAST and 0% for Etest). In contrast, for C. dubliniensis, a trailing phenomenon was very rarely observed with fluconazole (20% for EUCAST and 0% for Etest), while the opposite pattern was observed with echinocandins (>50% for EUCAST and >86% for Etest). This suggests that the pathways involved in the trailing effect might be different between these two related species. Furthermore, clinical microbiologists must be aware of these species-specific patterns for a reliable MIC determination.


Niche conservatism has been proposed as the mechanism driving speciation in temperate montane clades through range fragmentation during climatic oscillations. Thus, a negative relationship between speciation rates and niche width is expected. Here, we test this prediction using American zopherine beetles. Our phylogenetic analyses recovered two clades in addition to that of the genus Zopherus: the genera Verodes and Phloeodes, which originated most likely in the Eocene, and diversified during the Miocene and the Pliocene. The assessment of clade niche width in relation to clade diversity supported the proposition of narrow niches leading to a higher probability of range fragmentation during climatic oscillations, thus increasing speciation. Additionally, almost all current populations of Phloeodes and Verodes are located within regions that retained favourable climatic conditions across warm and cold Pleistocene periods, suggesting that dispersal limitation is a strong factor controlling clade distribution. In sum, our results suggest that (i) niche width is a major determinant of the probability of speciation in temperate montane clades, by controlling the probability of potential range fragmentation and (ii) dispersal limitation is also a major determinant of the speciation process, by increasing the fragmentation of realized ranges even when potential distributions are cyclically fused during climatic oscillations. When dispersal limitation is extreme, as in zopherine beetles, populations persist just in those areas that have retained suitable conditions during extremes of past climatic oscillations. Paradoxically, this relict condition confers zopherine beetles great resilience for facing future climate change.


An Evaluation of Interspersing the Testing Effect During Lecture on Test Performance and Notes in High Schoolers Angela M. Dewey Testing is the most common way to assess student learning at all ages and grade levels. Testing is traditionally viewed as a measure of knowledge, and not as a way to enhance learning. Nonetheless, a large body of literature demonstrates that testing is actually an effective way to facilitate learning and enhance long-term memory for information. This finding, that retrieval of information from memory leads to better retention than re-studying or re-reading the same information, has been termed the testing effect. The benefit of testing compared to review of material is typically seen after a delay between practice and final test, with review being a better strategy when the test is given immediately or after a short delay. This phenomenon has been shown across a variety of contexts, test formats, retention intervals, and ranges of ages and abilities. However, one domain in which the testing effect has not been shown to work is in the review of student-produced lecture notes. Lecture note-taking is a ubiquitous learning strategy and notes have been shown to be highly correlated with academic outcomes such as test performance and GPA. Note-taking in itself is a cognitively demanding process, and students often struggle to take accurate and complete notes from lecture, thus limiting the benefits of note-taking and review. There is limited research on ways to improve the review function of notes. Thus, this dissertation sought to understand the effect of integrating the testing effect into the context of lecture note-taking on memory for information compared to review of notes and a lecture-only control. A sample of 59 high school students watched a video lecture and took notes on the information. The lecture was divided into three sections with two-minute pauses in between each segment. During each pause, students were asked to either reread their notes from the previous section (review group), recall and write down what they remembered to be the most important ideas from the lecture they were just shown (self-testing group), or complete a distractor word search puzzle for the duration of the pause (lecture-only control group). Participants were given a written recall test of lecture information following a one-day delay. Comparisons were made between lecture groups on test performance and note quantity. Measures of sustained attention and mind-wandering during lecture were examined as covariates. While participants in the self-testing group scored higher on the written recall test, this difference did not reach statistical significance. Self-testing and reviewing notes during lecture pauses were both significantly better than lecture note-taking alone. Results also showed that it was actually the students in the review group who took significantly more notes than those in the lecture-only control. There was a main effect for time, indicating that students in all lecture groups took increasingly more notes as the lecture progressed. Note quantity was found to be a significant predictor of test performance. Examination of attentional variables showed that students who reported lower instances of mind-wandering took significantly more notes and did significantly better on the recall test. Further, students in the self-testing group reported less of an increase in mind-wandering as the lecture progressed compared to those in the control group. Differences between the results of this study and other studies in the testing effect literature are hypothesized to be due several factors, including complexity of lecture information, encoding difficulties, and the presentation of new information at each self-testing time point. Future research should continue to explore the testing effect in conjunction with note taking.


This review summarizes recent work that focuses on the role of endogenous opioids (EOs) and opiate receptors in the control of food intake. Although the anorexic effect of opiate antagonists are now well accepted, the exact EO, site(s), and mechanism(s) of action remain to be established. However, accumulating evidence suggests that dynorphin, an endogenous ligand for kappa-type opiate receptors, is an important regulator (stimulant) of appetite. The roles of other EOs, such as beta-endorphin, are less clear. EOs appear to be involved in maintaining normal feeding behavior and are likely responsible for the overconsumption of fat in genetically obese and stressed subjects. Opiate antagonists block overconsumption of palatable foods, thus offering a promising approach to weight reduction for some overweight individuals. Anorexias may follow from a deficiency of kappa-type opioid activity, and surprisingly, can also result from excess opioid activity. Indeed, opiate antagonists of the mu type (naloxone) can enhance eating and weight gain in certain anorexic conditions. Therefore, it appears that excess opioid agonist activity may result in hyperphagia or anorexia (depending on the opiate receptor type). Finally, opiate antagonists may help normalize both types of pathological feeding states.


We define trust-based mechanism design as an augmentation of traditional mechanism design in which agents take into account the degree of trust that they have in their counterparts when determining their allocations. To this end, we develop an efficient, individually rational, and incentive compatible mechanism based on trust. This mechanism is embedded in a task allocation scenario in which the trust in an agent is derived from the reported performance success of that agent by all the other agents in the system. We also empirically study the evolution of our mechanism when iterated and show that, in the long run, it always chooses the most successful and cheapest agents to fulfill an allocation and chooses better allocations than other comparable models when faced with biased reporting.


OBJECTIVE
Research has shown that routine screening laboratory tests for patients with mental health symptoms admitted to psychiatry units find little unexpected clinical abnormalities. This study examined the effects on cost of care and patient safety measures of a hospital change in policy in which such routine tests were no longer required.

METHODS
This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from all patients admitted from the emergency department (ED) to inpatient psychiatry at a tertiary care hospital 4 months before and 4 months after the policy change. Primary outcome measures were number and costs of laboratory tests ordered in the ED and during the inpatient stay. Secondary measures included length of stay (LOS) and number of hospital consultations during admission, patient transfers to nonpsychiatry services, and inpatient deaths. Chi-square tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to examine group differences.

RESULTS
In total, data from 1,910 patients were included (886 preimplementation and 1,024 postimplementation). The median number of lab tests ordered during the hospital stay decreased from three (interquartile range [IQR]=3) to two (IQR=3). The median total lab charges decreased from $445 (IQR=$291) to $312 (IQR=$497). Mean ED LOS decreased by 5.5 hours, and the proportion of patients with no blood lab orders increased from 22% to 40%. No increases in consultations or transfers were noted. No patients died at any point.

CONCLUSIONS
A policy that avoids routine laboratory screening tests for patients admitted to inpatient psychiatry can save money, improve patient care, and decrease LOS, without increasing adverse outcomes.


We revisit domain adaptation for parsers in the neural era. First we show that recent advances in word representations greatly diminish the need for domain adaptation when the target domain is syntactically similar to the source domain. As evidence, we train a parser on the Wall Street Journal alone that achieves over 90% F1 on the Brown corpus. For more syntactically distant domains, we provide a simple way to adapt a parser using only dozens of partial annotations. For instance, we increase the percentage of error-free geometry-domain parses in a held-out set from 45% to 73% using approximately five dozen training examples. In the process, we demonstrate a new state-of-the-art single model result on the Wall Street Journal test set of 94.3%. This is an absolute increase of 1.7% over the previous state-of-the-art of 92.6%.