The natural anti-Gal antibody constitutes 1% of circulating IgG in humans and interacts specifically with the carbohydrate epitope Gal alpha 1-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc-R (the alpha-galactosyl epitope). In view of the unusually large amounts of this antibody in the serum, it was of interest to determine the proportion of circulating B lymphocytes capable of synthesizing anti-Gal. For this purpose, blood B lymphocytes were incubated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and plated in microtiter wells. Proliferation of the EBV transformed B lymphocytes was readily visible after 3 weeks of incubation. The supernatants from wells containing proliferating B-lymphoid clones were assayed for anti-Gal by an agglutination assay with rabbit red blood cells and the specificity of the agglutinating antibodies was further confirmed by their interaction with synthetic oligosaccharides and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with glycoproteins. Approximately 5% of the wells contained anti-Gal antibodies. Limiting dilution studies and IgH gene rearrangement patterns suggested that each well contained an average of five proliferating B-lymphoid clones. Thus, it is concluded that approximately 1% of circulating B lymphocytes are capable of producing anti-Gal. The proportion of anti-Gal--producing lymphoid clones exceeds by fourfold that of clones producing anti-blood group A or anti-blood group B antibodies. Individual anti-Gal clones display fine variations in their combining site, as indicated by their differential interaction with alpha-galactosyl epitopes on glycolipids and on N-linked carbohydrate chains of glycoproteins. The high frequency of precursor B lymphocytes capable of producing anti-Gal, found in every individual and the restricted specificity of this antibody to alpha-galactosyl epitopes, potentially makes anti-Gal--producing lymphocytes an effective system for studying human Ig genes involved in the natural immune response to structurally defined haptens.


Disturbance to riverbed sediments from hu- man recreation allows for Escherichia coli (E. coli) to be- come elevated in the water column. To illustrate the role that sediment bacterial stores have in water-borne contam- ination, three experiments were performed. The first test was a field based bacterial sediment and water comparison designed to confirm that sediments harbor higher bacterial loads than water. Water and sediment samples were col- lected mid - stream during July, August, and September at five distinct locations. At recreational sites sediment dis- played significantly higher E. coli levels than water; this trend did not exist at non - recreational sites with minimal sediment disturbance. The second field experiment ob- served the water - borne concentration of E. coli after an induced disturbance to riverbed sediment. A rake was used to disturb a plot of 2m 2 riverbed and then water sam- ples were collected over a span of 130 seconds, 10 meters downstream of the disturbance. E. coli concentrations increased 7.5 - fold and particulates increased 60 - fold in the water column 50-60 seconds after disturbance, then returned to basal levels over the next 70 seconds. The last test was a laboratory based microcosm persistence exper- iment. Twelve samples received ten grams of sterile sedi- ment plus 100 ml of sterile water. The other twelve sam- ples only received 100 ml of sterile water. All samples were inoculated with 1x10 6 colony forming units (CFU) of E. coli. E. coli persisted on average 5 days longer and at population densities 10 fold higher in water overlaying sediment than in water alone. E. coli in all experiments were quantified using the Colilert ® Quanti - tray 2000 system (IDEXX). These results demonstrate that sedi- ments store bacteria for extended periods and as human recreation disturbs sediment, the risk of humans contract- ing a water-borne infection increases.


The Reynolds analogy is known to give inadequate results for strongly anisotropic turbulence. The use of an anisotropic diffusivity, through the Generalized Gradient Diffusion Hypothesis (GGDH), can partially overcome these deficiencies.The quality of the heat transfer prediction then relies on the accuracy of the Reynolds stresses estimation, which requires a second order closure. The article presents applications of an Algebraic Stress Model (ASM) coupled with a GGDH to the computations of various internal flows. The computations were done using the NS3D MATHILDA code, developed at ONERA, and largely used in the French aerospace industry.The study compares the ASM+GGDH results with experimental measurements for heated configurations such as a pipe, a rotor/stator cavity and a channel with ribs, ie covering a wide spectrum of turbine gas internal flows.The ASM+GGDH model leads to major improvements for the latter case, where the wall fluxes were largely underestimated in a standard k-e calculation. The difference is due to an overestimation of the turbulent Prandtl number, closer to 0.5 for a mixing layer. The ASM+GGDH model also gives a correct hierarchy of the turbulent heat fluxes for pipe flows, contrary to a standard isotropic model. Concerning the rotor/stator cavity the results are in good agreement with the measurements provided by Owen et al [1].Copyright © 1997 by ASME


We report a combined experimental/theoretical approach to study the connection of S-vacancies and wrinkling on MoS2 layers, and how this feature produces significant changes in the electronic structure and reactivity of this 2D material. The MoS2 material, when used as a catalyst in operative conditions, was found to be mainly composed of thin and short 1-5 layer sheets instead of a poorly crystalline structure, as it was previously assumed. Notably wrinkled structures with S-vacancies were also found through transmission electron microscopy. Atomistic simulations revealed a natural connection between sulfur-vacancies, wrinkling and folding. Density functional calculations further revealed that such curved structures present a lower electronic band-gap and a higher reactivity towards thiophene compared to the planar MoS2 counterpart.


A surface-treatment process, surface-severe-plastic deformation (SPD), is developed and applied on both crystalline and amorphous materials to introduce the plastic deformation in the near-surface layer. A SPD-processed crystalline component is expected to have enhanced fatigue properties because the refined grains in the near-surface layer and the coarse grains in the interior have good resistance to the crack initiation and propagation, respectively. The near-surface structures of the processed specimens were characterized by means of the optical microscopy, scanning-electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission-electron microscopy (TEM). Mechanical properties, such as the microhardness, yield strength, and four-point-bend fatigue, were systematically investigated. It is shown that the SPD process has the capability of simultaneously creating (a) a work-hardened surface layer, (b) a nanocrystalline (nc) surface layer, (c) a surface region with compressive-residual stresses, and (d) a grainsize gradient with a nc surface and a coarse-grained interior for the polycrystalline superalloy. Improved fatigue properties were found after the process. However, excessive treatments deteriorate the fatigue properties, and the possible reasons are discussed. For the amorphous material, thermal properties of the processed near-surface layer were characterized by means of the differential-scanning calorimetry (DSC). Effects of the treatment on the microhardness were studied by the nanoindentation. After the treatment, the plastic-flow deformation in the unconstrained sample edge was observed. In the sub-surface layer, the impact-induced shear-band operations generate the extrusion and intrusion marks on the side face. DSC shows that the free volumes of the deformed BMG have increased, and possible crystallization may occur during the process. XRD and high-energy synchrotron diffraction techniques were used to inspect the possible crystalline phase. A nanoindentation test shows that on the side surface, the hardness increases and, then, decreases with the distance from the processed surface. Four-point-bending-fatigue behavior has been studied and related to the modified surface structure and the compressive-residual stress induced by the process.


Relying on procedural memory is a promising approach for interventions that address the cognitive difficulties found in semantic dementia. The aim of this study was to determine if procedural memory could be used to optimise learning of relevant smartphone functions in MH, a 55-year-old man with semantic dementia. The impact of learning to use specific smartphone applications, which display concepts and their semantic characteristics, on relearning useful significant concepts, was also explored in MH. This patient, who showed no deficits in procedural learning on a serial reaction time paradigm, was able to learn manipulations related to 15 smartphone functions although, because of his deficit in word comprehension, he generally needed verbal cues to clarify which functions he was asked to perform. Six months after the end of the intervention, he was still using 8 of the 15 functions regularly. However, repeated exposure to concepts through the use of two applications did not improve naming or retrieval of semantic attributes. This study showed the potential of relying on procedural memory to optimise learning of new technologies in the ecological rehabilitation of semantic dementia.


For nearly thirty years, legislators in Europe and South America have looked to mediation as a preferred mechanism for resolving the rising problem of personal overindebtedness. This reliance has generally been misplaced, as voluntary personal debt conciliation has most often ended in failure. In some cases, however, mediation has fulfilled its promise of unburdening the court system and reconciling debtors and creditors gracefully, without formal intervention. What distinguishes failure from success in this context, and might legislators enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of personal insolvency regimes by incorporating these lessons?
This article offers some insight into these questions and proposes a new approach to mandatory mediation in the personal insolvency context. It reviews the institution of mediation as a prerequisite to court-driven personal insolvency proceedings in both longstanding systems--in France, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands--as well as more modern regimes--in Ireland, Colombia, Chile, and Spain. After reviewing data on the failures and successes of these debt mediation mandates in recent years, this article reflects on how these results square with the predictions of mediation theory. Salient theoretical determinants of mediation success are then extracted and applied to the empirical experience of personal debt mediation. In particular, mediation theory and experience offer compelling explanations for both successes and failures in the contexts of mortgage foreclosure mediation (most notably in the United States following the financial crisis) and negotiated personal debt workouts in the modern United States and Europe, with surprising parallels from the world of Classical Islam. A framework for predicting successful personal debt mediation thus emerges, providing a foundation for a more sensible and selective approach to mandatory mediation in the personal insolvency context.


Upgrading of farmed salmon oil obtained from by-products was carried out by lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis to increase omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content. The lipases tested were from Penicillium camembertii (PC), Rhizomucor javanicus (RJ), Rhizopus niveus (RN), Rhizopus delemar (RD), Burkholderia cepacia (BC), Rhizopus oryzae (RO), Candida rugosa (CR) and Rhizomucor miehei (RM). The lipases from PC, RJ and RN had lower hydrolysis degrees (HDs) compared to the rest of the lipases. The lipase from CR had the highest HD after 24 h (91.89%). Moreover, CR lipase was the most effective one in concentrating omega 3 PUFA. The final value was increased from 13.77% to 27.81% (wt%). The changes in omega 3 PUFA content were significantly different among the lipases although the HD values were similar at the end of the reactions, which was believed to be caused by the substrate specificities of the li- pases. The investigation of the relationship between HD and hydrolysis resistant value (HRV) for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6) and oleic acid (OA, 18:1) revealed that the fatty acid (FA) selectivity of the lipases were significantly different. CR lipase had the highest preference for hydrolyzing OA selectively over EPA and DHA. The reaction conditions, i.e. presence of surfactants, sonication, buffer-to-oil ratio, enzyme load, did not affect the selectivity. Investigation of the reaction conditions revealed that it was possible to obtain ~2.15-fold of the original omega 3 PUFA content by hydrolysis of salmon oil in the presence of CR lipase (4%, based on oil weight) with a buffer- to-oil ratio of 2:1 (v/v) at 37 o C for 4 h.


Liberal theory claims that the constraint taxpayers impose on military expenditure is an important mechanism through which democracy and international commerce help prevent conflict. However, leaders with affordable access to sovereign credit have often overcome this constraint by raising revenue on credit markets. By minimizing or deferring the economic burden imposed on taxpayers and the macroeconomic stress associated with alternative financing strategies, I argue that these leaders have greater autonomy to pursue an aggressive foreign policy if they so desire. Leaders that lack creditor confidence risk increased political opposition and removal from office if hostilities generate macroeconomic stress or disturb the domestic fiscal balance. They also face a higher likelihood of defeat or retreat, and the subsequent political consequences, if they pursue conflict without sufficient resources. Estimates of a heteroskedastic probit model support this hypothesis and indicate that creditworthy states initiate conflict with a greater mean probability and greater variance than their noncreditworthy counterparts.


Serotonin-binding protein (SBP) is a soluble protein found in synaptic vesicles of central and peripheral serotonergic neurons. Experiments were undertaken to determine whether serotonin (5-HT) is physiologically stored as a complex with SBP in vivo. [3H]5-HT was used as a probe. Neurons were allowed to specifically take up the labeled amine and attempts were made to recover the in vivo formed [3H]5-HT X SBP complex. Rats were perfused intraventricularly (3 hr) with [3H]5- HT. Strips of rabbit enteric nervous system (ENS) were incubated with [3H]5-HT in the presence of desipramine. The tissues were then homogenized so as to disrupt synaptic vesicles; protein-bound [3H]5-HT was obtained from the 100,000 X g supernatant by filtration on Sephadex G-50 and subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Studies with [3H]5-HT added just prior to homogenization indicated that the [3H]5-HT X SBP complex had formed intraneuronally, prior to homogenization. The protein X [3H]5-HT complexes from brain and gut migrated on the gels with apparent molecular weights of 45,000 and 56,000, corresponding to those measured by SDS-PAGE for purified SBP; however, the 45-kilodalton (kd) molecule predominated when the SBP complex was formed in vivo, whereas the 56-kd molecule predominated when the SBP X [3H]5-HT complex was formed with extracted SBP. It is possible that the 56-kd SBP is characteristic of the molecule in perikarya or nonterminal axons, whereas the 45-kd molecule is characteristic of terminal varicosities because radioautographic results show that in both the central nervous system and ENS, [3H]5-HT is mostly concentrated in terminals. In any case, newly taken up [3H]5-HT preferentially labels 45-kd SBP. Depletion of endogenous 5-HT by placing animals on a tryptophan-deficient diet increased the amount of exogenous [3H]5-HT bound to SBP in vivo. This suggests that endogenous 5-HT is normally bound to SBP and competes with the [3H]5-HT probe for available binding sites. The binding of 5- HT to SBP within vesicles may be important to reduce the osmotic pressure that would build up in synaptic vesicles if 5-HT were free in solution.


The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has a challenging mandate to find the right policy mix to simultaneously achieve all three aspects of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. But development and implementation of an effective and sustainable fisheries management policy has been a challenge all over the world. The evidence of this failure is found in the continuous decline in fish stocks. Faced with the difficulty in fulfilling this mandate, the European Commission has increasingly been embracing fisheries stakeholders' involvement. Stakeholder involvement in policy development and implementation is important because it tries to bring the relevant interested parties together, understanding and paying attention to what is important to each and every stakeholder, identifying the individual and common issues. This process in turn can foster connections, trust, confidence, and buy-in, and commitment for the implementation of the policy. This research describes a group model-building (GMB) approach using system dynamic methodology as a participatory model building tool, enabling stakeholders to become deeply involved in the identification and modelling of the complex issues faced by the EU fisheries. Given the geographical diversity of the stakeholders, GMB was applied online, both synchronously and asynchronously, providing participants time to carefully reflect on key variables, their relationships, and the behaviour of the overall system. The study demonstrated the need and relevance of an adequate engagement of the stakeholders, with online stakeholder consultation proving an effective method of engagement. Hence, the study is very relevant for both scientists and managers. The GMB process meant the final model evolved significantly from the initial one offered, which pointed to active involvement in and progressive learning from the modelling process itself, as the methodology argues. Two quantitative stock-flow models using actual numbers were built not only to aid the GMB process but to depict how all three aspects of sustainability could actually be met with the right set of policies that consider feedback loops and inherent trade-offs.


An investigation of turbojet-engine thrust augmentation by means of tail-pipe burning was conducted in the NACA Lewis altitude wind tunnel. Performance data were obtained with a tail-pipe burner having a converging conical burner section installed on an axial-flow-compressor type turbojet engine over a range of simulated flight conditions and tail-pipe fuel-air ratios with a fixed-area exhaust nozzle. A maximum tail-pipe combustion efficiency of 0.86 was obtained at an altitude of 15,000 feet and a flight Mach number of 0.23. Tail-pipe burner operation was possible up to an altitude of 45,000 feet at a flight Mach number of 0.23.


Quasiparticles in semiconductors—such as microcavity polaritons—can form condensates in which the steady-state density profile is set by the balance of pumping and decay. By taking account of the polarization degree of freedom for a polariton condensate, and considering the effects of an applied magnetic field, we theoretically discuss the interplay between polarization dynamics, and the spatial structure of the pumped decaying condensate. If spatial structure is neglected, this dynamics has attractors that are linearly polarized condensates (fixed points), and desynchronized solutions (limit cycles), with a range of bistability. Considering spatial fluctuations about the fixed point, the collective spin modes can either be diffusive, linearly dispersing, or gapped. Including spatial structure, interactions between the spin components can influence the dynamics of vortices; produce stable complexes of vortices and rarefaction pulses with both co- and counter-rotating polarizations; and increase the range of possible limit cycles for the polarization dynamics, with different attractors displaying different spatial structures.


The authors describe a young female patient with intracranial hypertension associated with ocular manifestations, during treatment with tetracycline. This is a rare adverse effect described in the medication warnings, and in a few reported cases in the scientific literature.


For many years, philosophers have read Aquinas's ethical writings as if his moral doctrine ought to make sense completely apart from the commit-ments of Christian faith. Because Aquinas relied heavily upon rational arguments, and upon Aristotle in particular, scholars have frequently attempted to read his texts in a strictly philosophical context. According to Denis J. M. Bradley, this approach is misguided and can lead to a radical misinterpretation of Aquinas's moral science. Here, Bradley sets out to prove that Aquinas was a theologian before all else and that any systematic Thomistic ethics must remain theological-not philosophical. Against the background of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, the author provides a detailed differentiation between Aristotle's and Aquinas's views on moral principles and the end of man. He points out that Aquinas himself provided a powerful critique of remaining within the limits of Aristotelian philosophical naturalism in ethics. Human nature's openness to its de facto supernatural end, which is the focal point of Thomistic moral science, obviates any attempt to reconstruct a systematic, quasi-Aristotelian ethics from the extracted elements of Aquinas's moral science. Aquinas's critique of Aristotle leads to a paradoxical philosophical conception of human nature: short of attaining its ultimate supernatural end, the gratu-itous vision of the divine essence, human nature in history and even in eternity is naturally endless. In concluding, Bradley suggests that it is the Christian philosopher who, by explicitly embracing the theological meaning of man's paradoxical natural endlessness, can best engage a postmodernism that repudiates any ultimate rational grounds for human thought and morality."


The conditions for the leading r-process site candidate, neutrino-driven winds, cannot be reproduced self-consistently in current supernova models. For that reason, we investigate an alternate model involving the mass ejected by fallback in a supernova explosion, through hydrodynamic and nucleosynthesis calculations. The nucleosynthetic products of this ejected material produce r-process elements, including those in the vicinity of the elusive third peak at mass number 195. Trans-iron element production beyond the second peak is made possible by a rapid (<1 ms) freezeout of α-particles that leaves behind a large nucleon (including protons!) to r-process seed ratio. This rapid phase is followed by a relatively long (≳15 ms) simmering phase at ~2 × 109 K, which is the thermodynamic consequence of the hydrodynamic trajectory of the turbulent flows in the fallback outburst. During the slow phase, high-mass elements beyond the second peak are first made through rapid capture of both protons and neutrons. The flow stays close to the valley of stability during this phase. After freezeout of protons the remaining neutrons cause a shift out to short-lived isotopes, as is typical for the r-process. A low electron fraction is not required in this model; however, the detailed final distribution is sensitive to the electron fraction. Our simulations suggest that supernova fallback is a viable alternative scenario for the r-process.


We have used a monoclonal antibody against the portion of the dystrophin molecule known as a mid rod using an immunoperoxidase technique in 41 muscle biopsies of patients with different muscle diseases. Twelve of the patients suffered a Xp21 dystrophy, nine of them had the Duchenne type and three the Becker. All the patients affected by a non Xp21 dystrophy had a normal dystrophin labelling pattern in their muscle fibres. The labelling patterns in the Duchenne biopsies were of three types. In seven of them we found no dystrophin at all. One showed only small nuclei of fibres with a normal amount of dystrophin in them. The last patient showed a weak labelling pattern in the majority of his fibres. In the two Becker dystrophy-type biopsies the expression of dystrophin varied. In one of them we could see a clear labelling pattern in all fibres, while the other showed a disruptive pattern with some portions of the sarcolemic membrane without dystrophin. We concluded the report enhancing the enormous support that this technique means particularly in the biopsies of patients suffering from an Xp21 alterations.


ABSTRACT Thermal decomposition is not only related to the explosive's ignition and detonation performances but also to their sensitivity to the surrounding environment. Based on the molecular dynamics method, the interaction and the thermal decomposition mechanism of plastic-bonded explosives (PBXs) composed by 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxidated (LLM-105) and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) were investigated using the reactive force field molecular dynamics (ReaxFF-lg MD) simulations at 2000 K-4000 K. The interaction between the explosive and the binder effectively stabilizes the explosive crystal and reduces its sensitivity. The predicted activation energy of LLM-105/HTPB is 39.86 kcal/mol, more than that of the pure LLM-105 (36.57 kcal/mol), which reduces the initial decomposition reaction rate of LLM-105 after adding HTPB binder. Products distribution in thermal decomposition shows that the main initial decomposition mechanisms of LLM-105 include the C-NO2, C-NH2 bonds breaking, nitroso rearranging, NH2 elimination and H atom transferring. The H ions from the HTPB dehydrogenation delay the chemical bond breaking to inhibit the decomposition of LLM-105, and the reversible H transfer reactions provide an energy buffering area to reduce sensitivity.


The enzymic regulation of triacylglycerol breakdown in skeletal muscle is poorly understood. Western blotting of muscle fibres isolated by collagenase treatment or after freeze-drying demonstrated the presence of immunoreactive hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), with the concentrations in soleus and diaphragm being more than four times the concentrations in extensor digitorum longus and epitrochlearis muscles. Neutral lipase activity determined under conditions optimal for HSL varied directly with immunoreactivity. Expressed relative to triacylglycerol content, neutral lipase activity in soleus muscle was about 10 times that in epididymal adipose tissue. In incubated soleus muscle, both neutral lipase activity against triacylglycerol (but not against a diacylglycerol analogue) and glycogen phosphorylase activity increased in response to adrenaline (epinephrine). The lipase activation was completely inhibited by anti-HSL antibody and by propranolol. The effect of adrenaline could be mimicked by incubation of crude supernatant from control muscle with the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, while no effect of the kinase subunit was seen with supernatant from adrenaline-treated muscle. The results indicate that HSL is present in skeletal muscle and is stimulated by adrenaline via beta-adrenergic activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The concentration of HSL is higher in oxidative than in glycolytic muscle, and the enzyme is activated in parallel with glycogen phosphorylase.


Based on the theory of Wavelet decomposing algorithm, in this paper an algorithm of redundancy real-time denoising is presented, and the test of on-line identification mode of a hydraulic cylinder's work load pressure signals was fulfilled. This method can improve the stability of the signal collection and the control accuracy of hydraulic cylinder pressure effectively, solve the crawling phenomenon of hydraulic cylinder when working, and reduce the signal collection error resulted from the load mutation. By means of controlling the wavelet decomposing depth, the calculation amount of real-time denoising is controled, thus the optimization of the signal, damping vibration and denoising are achieved.


Summary Introduction: The lack of comparability of evaluation results is one of the major obstacles of research and development in Medical Image Processing (MIP). The main reason for that is the usage of different image datasets with different quality, size and Gold standard. Objectives: Therefore, one of the goals of the Working Group on Medical Image Processing of the European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI WG MIP) is to develop first parts of a Reference Image Database. Methods: Kernel of the concept is to identify highly relevant medical problems with significant potential for improvement by MIP, and then to provide respective reference datasets. The EFMI WG MIP has primarily the role of a specifying group and an information broker, while the provider user relationships are defined by bilateral co-operation or license agreements. Results: An explorative database prototype has been implemented using the MySQL database software on the Web. Templates for provider user agreements have been worked out and already applied for own 'pre-RID-MIP' co-operations of the authors. Discussion and Conclusion: First steps towards a comprehensive reference image database have been done. Issues like funding, motivation, management, provision of Gold standards and evaluation guidelines are to be solved. Due to the interest from research groups and industry the efforts will be continued.


Spontaneously active gamma-motoneurons were found in muscles of the cat during shivering. The activity of these gamma-motoneurons could be increased by stimulation of thermoreceptors of the subcutaneous vessels and nociceptors. Administration of oxotremorine, nicotin, phentolamine, isoprenaline, and seduxene into the 3rd brain ventricle suppressed the shivering but did not change the firing rate of the gamma-motoneurons. The fusomotor system seems to participate in the segmentary activation of shivering, but not in its supraspinal control.


Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the treatment modality of choice in pediatric CKD5D patients awaiting renal transplantation. Facing many decades of renal replacement therapy long term preservation of peritoneal membrane function is of particular importance in this patient group. Whereas conventional PD fluids induce severe morphological and functional alterations of the peritoneal membrane within a few years, reduction of glucose degradation product content by multichamber systems, replacement of glucose by icodextrin and amino acids, and of lactate by bicarbonate at a neutral to physiological pH are expected to preserve peritoneal membrane integrity. Based on numerous in vitro, experimental and clinical studies, the European Pediatric Dialysis Working Group recommended the use of low glucose degradation product solutions whenever possible. Icodextrin is considered a useful option, in particular in children with sodium and water overload, even though infants may absorb higher amounts of icodextrin and achieve less ultrafiltration. The concept of amino acid-based PD fluids is intriguing, but pediatric benefits are insufficiently described and cannot replace tube feeding in malnourished children. Bicarbonate-based PD fluids better control metabolic acidosis and have been recommended in children with acute kidney injury and impaired lactate metabolism. This review discusses the scientific evidence and potential advantages of PD solutions with an improved biocompatibility profile, with a particular focus on pediatric studies.


This research investigated how the effects of a discrepancy in the attractiveness of the members of a couple and how long the couple has been in the relationship effect poaching decisions. Heterosexual men (N = 222) saw a photo where the man was more attractive than the woman, both were equally attractive, or the woman was more attractive than the man. Accompanying the photos were three different descriptions regarding the couple's relationship duration (2 months, 4 years, or 8 years). Items were then presented regarding the attractiveness of the couple and poaching attempts. The 2-month couple, where the woman is more attractive than the man, was expected to be more likely to be selected for poaching of the woman. Also, attractiveness discrepancy and relationship duration main effects were expected where, in general, the couple where the woman is more attractive than the man would be more likely to be a mate poaching target, and long-duration couples, were expected to be less likely to be mate poaching targets. Results revealed that, contrary to prior survey research on mate poaching, when a couple is equal in attractiveness and when the woman is more attractive than the man, participants indicate they would have more success poaching the woman in the couple. Keywords: mate poaching, couple's attractiveness, assortative mating, relationship duration, couple's discrepancy.
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 Moran, J.B. & Wade, T.J. (2019). Self-Perceived Success in Mate Poaching: How A Couple's Attractiveness And Relationship Duration Impact Men's Short-term Poaching Intentions. Human Ethology, 34, 26-40. https://doi.org/10.22330/he/ 34/026-040 submitted: 19.Sep. 2018; revised: 18.Dec. 2018; accepted: 25.Feb. 2019 Moran, J.B. & Wade, T.J. (2019): Self-Perceived Success in Mate Poaching Human Ethology, 34, 26-40


Smart pixel architectures offer important new opportunities for low-cost, portable image processing systems. They provide greater I/O bandwidth and computing performance than systems based on CCD and microprocessors. However, finding a balance between performance, flexibility, efficiency, and cost depends on an evaluation of target applications. This paper describes several promising architectural approaches for the realization of videoputer systems and outlines example implementations being pursued at the Georgia Institute of Technology.


While often overlooked, sound and music play an important role in marketing communications strategies. To stand out in today's competitive marketplace, top companies are investing in strategic sonic planning to build value for their brands. This paper will investigate the role of sonic branding in marketing communications, and how
brands can authentically and cost effectively integrate music and sound into their overall communications strategy. Looking at the history and future of sonic branding and the impact of sound and music on brands and consumers, this paper will seek to define a practical guideline for marketers and practitioners of sonic branding. The paper concludes that although it is difficult to quantify the impact of a sonic strategy, brands that embrace the principles of sonic branding can more effectively reach customers across all touch points. Moreover, the paper asserts that best practices for creating customized audio solutions differ from culture to culture.


This article provides a summary of some of the issues associated with the prescribing of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs). There is a consideration of their pharmacological mode of action and a brief overview of the history of the introduction of this important group of drugs. A pre-reading self assessment provides the opportunity for the reader to assess prior knowledge of this area. There is a discussion of some of the more important prescribing issues including adverse effects and drug interactions.


As demand for clean renewable sources of energy continues to grow, utilities will increasingly rely on wind power to fit that demand. This paper presents a Wind Energy Imbalance Estimation Technique (WEIET). The WEIET estimates the impact on the system energy imbalance from integrating new wind generating facilities. The area control error (ACE) is used in the WEIET to account for the imbalance of the load as well as other system components. The method relies on known and calculable quantities derived from the ACE equation taking into account the additional automatic generation control (AGC) response to the wind schedule/actual mismatch. In its simplest form, this method provides the worst case scenario of the impact on the system reliability metrics from additional wind facilities. This simplest form is easily implementable on all systems. More comprehensive analysis can be performed by expanding on the simplest form. Simulation results on a northwest utility system verify that the proposed technique predicts the impact of integrating an actual wind facility into the balancing area.


This study investigated the effect of the number of pregnancies on bone mineral density (BMD) in 320 post-menopausal women aged between 49 and 64 years. Cases were selected from people with similar lifestyles and stratified into five groups according to the number of pregnancies. Each group was divided into two subgroups according to the duration of the menopause (3 − 5 years versus 6 − 10 years). Lumbar (L2 – L4) and femoral neck BMD were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and T-score values were used in the statistical evaluation. No significant difference was found between the number of pregnancies and BMD within each group based on the same menopause duration, but a significant correlation was found in most groups based on menopause duration: T-scores decreased as menopause duration increased. Changes in BMD are likely to be related to menopause duration, rather than the number of pregnancies.


Tractography is the only in-vivo technique that allows the extraction of white matter fibers from the brain in a non-invasive way. It is used as a support in neurosurgeries and as research tool to study structural connectivity in both healthy and pathological subjects. It generates, from diffusion Magnetic Resonance (MR) volumes, millions of 3D polylines that are estimates of the path followed by real axons. One important clinical application is the automatic segmentation of precise and anatomically well-defined white matter tracts from whole-brain tractograms, but this task is particularly difficult to accomplish since the large number of streamlines makes the computational costs very high and the anatomical tracts definitions found in literature are usually vague or imprecise. The purpose of this master thesis is to model, in a reproducible way, the tracts anatomical definitions using fuzzy logic and to extract them from whole-brain tractograms of multiple subjects with the help of clustering techniques. The whole process have been implemented on a desktop computer with normal characteristics paying particular attention on memory and time issues, so that it can be ideally used by an external operator without the need of a high performance machine and in a reasonable time. This thesis, firstly intoduces the physics of the diffusion MR and the importance of tractography as a novel support in nowadays research and clinical applications. It then explains the state of the art segmentation techniques that can be used to extract individual fiber bundles. It briefly describes the tool used to model the anatomical definitions and proceeds with the explanation of the algorithm created for tracts segmentation, whose aim is to lead the fuzzy set approach from a proof of concept state to a validated technique. Finally, the results are presented together with the ones obtained using the state-of-the-art techniques to assess the validity of the outputs and to show the improvements achieved.


Filariasis is one of communicable disease which is caused by infestation of Filaria worm. The disease is transmitted by many various mosquitoes. South Kalimantan is included endemic area of Filariasis. It had been reported that there were 125 endemic villages that are in 49 subdistrict spreadingly. The objectives of the research were to get description of adult mosquito population which lived in filariasis endemic areas, through indentifying chased adult mosquitoes by using man-feed and to investigate bitting and resting habits.
The reseach was an observational study which used cross sectional design. The samples were adult mosquitoes which were chased at five houses whose filariasis patient. The width area of Empat village is 1500 ha. Most of them is slump and the remains are wet rice field and plantation. In Empat village, microfilaria rate is 1,2 in 2003. Chased adult mosquitoes consist of 4 genus and 15 spesies. They are 7 species of Culex genus, 2 spesies of Mansonia genus, 1 spesies if Aedes genus, and 5 spesies of Anopheles genus. The most of species in Empat villages is Mansonia uniformis (35,54%). The peak time of bitting among adult mosquitoes happened at 19.00-20.00 and 04.00-05.00. The habits was used to indoor (innerhouse), outdoor (outer house), and livestock stable. Resting habit among adult mosquitoes were happened indoor area (inner house), and they were rested at 76-150 cm height. They were 95 mosquitoes. The research was incomplete due to assessment of major vector and potential vector have not been investigated yet in Empat village.


Over the past years, the share of electricity production from wind power plants has increased to significant levels in several power systems across Europe and the United States. In order to cope with the fluctuating and partially unpredictable nature of renewable energy sources, transmission system operators (TSOs) have responded by requiring wind power plants to be capable of providing reserves or following active power set-point signals. This paper addresses the issue of efficiently incorporating these new types of wind power control in the day-ahead operational planning. We review the technical requirements the wind power plants must fulfill, and propose a mathematical framework for optimizing wind power control. The framework is based on an optimal power flow formulation with weighted chance constraints, which accounts for the uncertainty of wind power forecasts and allows us to limit the expected risk of constraint violations. In a case study based on the IEEE 118 bus system, we use the developed method to assess the effectiveness of different types of wind power control in terms of operational cost, system security and wind power curtailment.


Prior information biases the decision process: actions consistent with prior information are executed swiftly, whereas actions inconsistent with prior information are executed slowly. How is this bias implemented in the brain? To address this question we conducted an experiment in which people had to decide quickly whether a cloud of dots moved coherently to the left or to the right. Cues provided probabilistic information about the upcoming stimulus. Behavioral data were analyzed with the linear ballistic accumulator (LBA) model, confirming that people used the cue to bias their decisions. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data showed that presentation of the cue differentially activated and the putamen. the contralateral putamen. The fMRI analysis yielded results only when the LBA bias parameter was included as a covariate, highlighting the practical benefits of formal modeling. Our results suggest that the human brain uses prior information by increasing cortico-striatal activation to selectively disinhibit preferred responses.


D. Leitch.—Duncan Leitch died on 12th January, 1956, at Swansea where he had been Professor of Geology at University College since 1947. Born in Glasgow in 1904, he received his early education at Woodside School, Glasgow, whence he proceeded to the University. There he came under the influence of the late J. W. Gregory, and in 1926 he graduated with First Class Honours in Geology. In that year also he was appointed Baxter Demonstrator in the Geology Department where he later became Carnegie Teaching Fellow and later still (1938) Lecturer in Geology. The writer, who knew him from his student days, watched with interest and admiration the progress of his work and of his career. Tribute has been paid to him elsewhere and to his work as a teacher of geology and to his achievements in the field of geological research (see Nature, 177, 1956, p. 309; The College Courant [Glasgow], VIII, 1956, p. 141; Royal Society of Edinburgh Year Book, 1955-56, p. 25; Proceedings Geological Society of London, 1955-56, pp. 138-139) and details of his career need not be repeated here. It is enough to say that by his death geological science has lost an enthusiastic teacher and an outstanding worker in Carboniferous stratigraphy and palaeontology. It is appropriate here to dwell on his long association with the Society. He became an ordinary member in 1928 and he served on the Council with intervals from 1929 to 1947. He was Assistant Librarian from 1929 to 1932, was elected Secretary This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract


Irrigation Advisory Services (IAS) are the natural management instruments to achieve a better efficiency in the use of water for irrigation. IAS help farmers to apply water according to the actual crop water requirements and thus, to optimize production and cost-effectiveness. The project DEMETER (DEMonstration of Earth observation TEchnologies in Routine irrigation advisory services) aims at assessing and demonstrating how the performance and cost-effectiveness of IAS is substantially improved by the incorporation of Earth observation (EO) techniques and Information Society Technology (IT) into their day-to-day operations. EO allows for efficiently monitoring crop water requirements of each field in extended areas. The incorporation of IT in the generation and distribution of information makes that information easily available to IAS and to its associated farmers (the end-users) in a personalized way. This paper describes the methodology and selected results.


The effect of chronic oral therapy with acebutolol, a cardioselective beta adrenergic blocking agent, was evaluated on resting pulmonary functions in a group of patients who were free of overt obstructive airways disease and who had chronic stable angina pectoris. The study design involved a 20-week, placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized cross-over trial, using acebutolol, an agent with partial agonist activity that has been shown to be effective in the treatment of hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, and angina pectoris. Utilizing spirometry, flow volume loops, and arterial blood gas analyses, this study demonstrated that acebutolol had no significant deleterious effect on resting pulmonary function when used in clinically effective dosages.


Various phenomena of matter can only be understood by probing its electronic structure. The latter can be interpreted in terms of electromagnetic properties, each property revealing a different piece of information. Having a reliable method to calculate such properties is thus of great importance. This thesis is to be regarded in this context. Our main goal was to develop a general method that gives access to a wide variety of electromagnetic properties. In the first part of this thesis, we describe the theoretical background with which we work, and in particular time-dependent current-density-functional theory (TDCDFT), which is a density-functional approach that can describe the response due to a magnetic field. The second part is dedicated to the method we developed in order to calculate various magnetic properties in a gauge-invariant manner. In particular, we show that by using a simple sum rule, we can put the diamagnetic and paramagnetic currents on equal footing. We thus avoid the usual problems that arise when calculating magnetic properties, such as the dependence on the gauge origin of the vector potential. We illustrate our method by applying it to the calculation of magnetizabilities and circular dichroism, which has important applications, notably in biology. In the last part, which is more explorative, we aim at extending our formalism to periodic systems. We discuss several strategies to calculate magnetization in systems described with periodic boundary conditions.


Efficacy of antioxidant agents' use after dental endo bleaching was studied in clinical trial. The study enrolled 169 patients, ranging age 16 to 60 years in age. The patients were randomized into 2 groups: control (63) and trial (106). In patients of the control group tooth cavity was left open after endo bleaching, and was filled only after 7 days. In patients of the trial group antioxidant agent was administered into the dental tissues consequently to the endo bleaching, and the cavity was filled immediately. Assessment of the immediate and distant effects revealed unwanted results of postponed dental filling (control group) in terms of tooth color stability and forming micro cracks. Results of antioxidant use and immediate dental filling after endo bleaching have proven our earlier experimental studies on benefits of antioxidant use to be right. Based on the results of our clinical study we can recommend use of antioxidant after endo bleaching to achieve successful dental fillings in clinical practice.


Background: TP53 is commonly mutated in ovarian cancer. As potential agents targeting TP53 mutant or wt are under development, the efficiency and accuracy for determination of TP53 mutations in a clinical trial was evaluated.

Methods: Eligible patients, including relapsed, platinum-sensitive ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, underwent pre-screening for a clinical trial with MK1775, eligibility for which was determined by the presence of functional TP53 mutations (Brana I et al, ASCO 2013). Single base substitution and single base deletion mutations in exons 2 - 11 and the flanking splice junction in the TP53 gene were analyzed using AmpliChip p53 Assay (Roche Molecular Diagnostics, California) on archival tumor specimens.

Results: Seventy-five women were screened for eligibility based on TP53; 43 had TP53 mutations, 27 were TP53 wild-type (wt), and 5 undetermined (Table 1). No clustering of mutations to define hot spots was evident. The most commonly mutated region was exon 5 (11 mutations). Missense mutations were the most common mutation type (69.7%); although, nonsense (14 %), splice (14 %), and frame shift mutations (2.3%) were also observed (Table 1). Most of the missense mutations were in exons 5 to 8 (90%). The mean turnaround time from sample reception to final TP53 status report was 3 days (range 1:14).

Conclusions: The TP53 mutational status has been successfully determined in 93.3% of patients with a short turnaround time, supporting the feasibility of TP53 determination in the clinical setting. In our patient population, 57.3% had a TP53 mutation. Potential geographic differences in the incidence TP53 mutations cannot be evaluated due to the limited sample size; this hypothesis should be further evaluated in a larger patient population

![Figure][1]

Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):B181.

Citation Format: Irene Brana, Kathleen Moore, Stephen Welch, Ronnie Shapira-Frommer, Darlene Gibbon, Hal Hirte, Saul Rivkin, Robert Coleman, Gerry Prendergast, Katherine M. Moxley, Ying-Ming Jou, Michelle Marinucci, Tomoko Freshwater, Sharon McCarthy, Mark Lee Anthony, Shelonitda Rose, Amit M. Oza. TP53 mutation screening in patients with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B181.

 [1]: pending:yes


Are constitutional secession rights compatible with democracy in a multinational political association? Multinational political associations are political formations that allow for multiple and parallel projects of national identity promotion, and are more likely than other political formations to experience secessionist pressure. One argument against incorporating secession rights in a constitution is that rights-holders might deploy exit threats in order to strengthen their bargaining position. This article argues that opponents of secession rights have inflated the case against them. Two potentially objectionable forms of exit threat are identified – cynical exit threats and exploitative exit threats. Cynical exit threats are (nearly) impossible to execute, and the most seriously exploitative exit threats can be prevented by a sensitively designed secession clause. However, secession rights do facilitate exit threats, and in doing so may generate unfair power asymmetries and threaten political stability. Since none of the objections to secession rights are decisive, decisions about whether to include them in a constitution should be made on the basis of their likely effects on democratic solidarity.


Tax burden demonstrates very precisely the scope of fiscal pressure on business and population by the state. In Georgia physical persons are taxed as by direct taxes (income tax is 20%), as indirect taxes. In the end they have much influence on population's purchasing power. More than population's cash income comes from the salaries, accordingly income tax, VAT and excise could be considered as the tax burden of salaries. According to the calculation by this principle, the salary tax burden in Georgia is 39.2 %. In the last 7 years (In comparison with the year 2012) because of the rapid growth of indirect taxes, the mentioned burden has been increased by 2.7 point. To compare the salary tax burden with the European Union countries it is complicated, because since 2008 there is annulled social tax in Georgia, which is paid by employee and employer in Europe. There could be made the comparison if according to the European countries we compare the tax burden value with single workplace, which consists of social taxes paid by salary receivers and employers (contributions). Accordingly, what we will compare with Georgian index the share of direct and indirect taxes in whole salaries, or all tax shares in workplace value, Georgia with tax size will be on leader position (according to the first position) or in outsiders (according to the second position). That means, that in joint list of the EU and Georgia, with the sum of income tax and VAT in comparison with accrued salary, Georgia will be on the second place (39.2%; on the first place is Dania-40.7%) and by the real tax burden of workplace value - on 24th place (On the first place is France-56.7%, on the last place is Cypros-23.4%).


The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans responds to pathogenic bacteria with conserved innate immune responses and pathogen avoidance behaviors. We investigated natural variation in C. elegans resistance to pathogen infection. With the use of quantitative genetic analysis, we determined that the pathogen susceptibility difference between the laboratory wild-type strain N2 and the wild isolate CB4856 is caused by a polymorphism in the npr-1 gene, which encodes a homolog of the mammalian neuropeptide Y receptor. We show that the mechanism of NPR-1–mediated pathogen resistance is through oxygen-dependent behavioral avoidance rather than direct regulation of innate immunity. For C. elegans, bacteria represent food but also a potential source of infection. Our data underscore the importance of behavioral responses to oxygen levels in finding an optimal balance between these potentially conflicting cues.


The main objective of the present study is to perform simulation, and modeling analysis for the optimized design of grid connected solar photovoltaic (PV) and proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM FC) hybrid energy system for reverse osmosis desalination plant. The goal is to integrate renewable and clean energy technologies for seawater desalination. Grid (baseline), and grid-tied hybrid solar PV/fuel cell power systems are designed and tested. The performance of the renewable power system, the cost of energy and CO2 emissions are determined. The simulation data show that the grid connected photovoltaic and fuel cell hybrid energy system meet the energy demand of the desalination plant without shortage. The proposed grid connected hybrid renewable power system offers the best overall performance compared to the grid: High power generation from renewable source (31%), good cost of energy (110 $/MWh 13% cost reduction), and low CO2 emissions (430 kg CO2/MWh – 32% CO2 emissions reduction).


Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effects of flight delays, distance, number of passengers and seasonality on revenue in the Turkish air transport industry.

Design/methodology/approach
The domestic return routes of a Turkish airline company were examined to address this issue. Among five cities and six airports, 14 major domestic return routes were selected. The augmented mean group (AMG) estimator and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimator were conducted with a two-way fixed effects (FE) robustness test in this study.

Findings
The results show that arrival flight delay and departure flight delay had negative effects on revenue, whereas the distance between airports, the number of air passengers and seasonality had positive effects on revenue.

Research limitations/implications
The data used in this study were retrieved from a Turkish airline company; for future research, other airline companies operating in Turkey may be included.

Practical implications
These findings could be evaluated by air transportation leaders to provide a guide to make strategic decisions to achieve greater performance in this competitive environment.

Originality/value
The originality of the paper comes from the facts that besides distance and number of passengers, the authors control for the seasonality when assessing the effects of flight delay on revenue; they use panel data techniques, which permit them to control for individual heterogeneity, and create more variability, more efficiency and less collinearity among the variables; they use two recent panel data techniques, CCEMG and AMG, allowing for cross-section dependence.


This paper is a rewriting of a paper delivered by the Author when Mauro Fiorentino launched his book «La questione meridionale dell'Universita» in April 2016 at the University of Rome «La Sapienza». Two issues rise significantly: the first general one, regarding the crisis of the Italian University as a whole; the second one refers to the territorial features of such issue. About the first issue, one of the main criticalities is represented by poor human and financial resources invested by Italy in academic education; such resources have been further cut by our Country over the last few years, within an overall disinvestment in the education sector altogether. But rationing the resources allocated to research and Universities, since the 2009 reform, has resulted in a clear territorial differentiation, which is leading to a gradual crumbling of the University system in Southern Italy, disadvantaged by the mechanisms of requirements, collected taxes, obtained orders, employment time after graduation. All this has led to a growing «university migration» from South to North as well as to a lack of capacity by southern Universities to attract students.In order to overcome such criticalities, it is not sufficient to guarantee an increase in resources, but it is fundamental, among others, to review the rules of allocation of the Operating Fund ("Fondo di Finanziamento Ordinario", FFO), which provides financial support for the Universities and represents their main revenue, as well as to reconsider the rewarding criteria affecting gradually the amount of resources allocated.


Panel studies are statistical studies in which two or more variables are observed for two or more subjects at two or more points In time. Cross- lagged panel studies are those studies in which the variables are continuous and divide naturally into two effects or impacts of each set of variables on the other. If a regression approach is taken5 a regression structure Is formulated for the cross-lagged models This structure may assume that the regression parameters are homogeneous across waves and across subpopulations. Under such assumptions the methods of multivariate regression analysis can be adapted to make inferences about the parameters. These inferences are limited to the degree that homogeneity of the parameters Is 'supported b}T the data. We consider the problem of testing the hypotheses of homogeneity and consider the problem of making statistical inferences about the cross-effects should there be evidence against one of the homogeneity assumptions. We demonstrate the methods developed by applying...


Ayurvedic approach of diagnosing any disease is a complex process in which various factors are to be understood. Treatment and diagnosis begins with RogaPareeksha (ailment examination) and Rogi Pareeksha (patient examination). Once these two concepts are clear, Vyadhi Vinishchaya and vyavaccheda (Differential diagnosis) will be perfect. This facilitates the Vaidya to make a wise choice of drugs and appropriate Chikitsa (treatment). Out of numerous ways of diagnosis in Ayurveda, one of them is Nidanpanchaka. Nidana (aetiology), Purvaroopa (early signs and symptoms), Roopa (cardinal features), Upashaya (symptomatic treatment) and Samprapti (pathogenesis) are the Nidanpanchak (The five entities of Roga Pareeksha). It is one of the imperative and practical method to make a diagnosis of diseases, its causes and future prospects. Aims and Objectives: To review the concept of Upashaya—one of the diagnostic methods in Ayurveda. Materials and Methodology: All the basic texts of Ayurveda been reviewed and data related to Upashaya are presented to understand the concept in simple language. Discussion: When Vaidya had doubtful diagnosis of a disease after thorough examination, he will carry out symptomatic first hand simple therapy, result of which will clarify his ambiguity in diagnosis. For example, pain in the Janu Sandhi may raise the doubt in the physician regarding its diagnosis as Amavata or Sandhivata. The Sthanika Taila Prayoga (local oil application) as Upashaya (decrease in symptoms of pain) will result in clarity of diagnosis of Sandhivata otherwise can be concluded as Amavata. Hence Upashaya (Pathya-beneficial) and Anupashaya (Apathya—harmful) are the diagnostic tools in Vyadhi Vinishchaya. This creates a clearly outlined path for the way of thinking that Ahar (food), Vihara (regimen) and Aushadha (medicine) which mitigates the Lakshanas (symptoms) of any Vyadhi are well thought-out as Upashaya and those which aggravate or worsen are considered as Anupashaya. Conclusion: This concept can be practically applied to advice the Rogi about Pathya (Do's) and Apathya (Dont's) in the specific disease and it also helps to diagnose the disease beyond doubt. Hence a knowledge of Upashaya (Rogasatmya/Pathya) and Anupashaya (Rogaasaatmya/Apathya) is essential in Chikitsa. Keywords: Ayurveda, Anupashaya, Upashaya, Nidanpanchaka Cite this Article Tomar S, Jawanjal PM. Concept of Upashaya—A Multifactorial Diagnostic Tool in Ayurveda. Journal of AYUSH: Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. 2019; 8(2): 13–18p.


The analysis and combination of data from different gamma-ray instruments involves the use of collaboration proprietary software and case-by-case methods. The effort of defining a common data format for high-level data, namely event lists and instrument response functions (IRFs), has recently started for very-high-energy gamma-ray instruments, driven by the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). In this work we implemented this prototypical data format for a small set of MAGIC, VERITAS, FACT, and H.E.S.S. Crab nebula observations, and we analyzed them with the open-source gammapy software package. By combining data from Fermi-LAT, and from four of the currently operating imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, we produced a joint maximum likelihood fit of the Crab nebula spectrum. Aspects of the statistical errors and the evaluation of systematic uncertainty are also commented upon, along with the release format of spectral measurements. The results presented in this work are obtained using open-access on-line assets that allow for a long-term reproducibility of the results.


Probabilistic topic models are widely used to discover latent topics in document collections, while latent feature vector representations of words have been used to obtain high performance in many NLP tasks. In this paper, we extend two different Dirichlet multinomial topic models by incorporating latent feature vector representations of words trained on very large corpora to improve the word-topic mapping learnt on a smaller corpus. Experimental results show that by using information from the external corpora, our new models produce significant improvements on topic coherence, document clustering and document classification tasks, especially on datasets with few or short documents.


In this study, we explore whether false beliefs about a past experience affect current consumption of wine by suggesting to participants that they either "Loved" or "Got Sick" from drinking white wine before age 20. Specifically, we report the consequences of false beliefs about wine, which could take the form of either increased or decreased wine consumption. In response to the suggestion, and similar to other false memory studies many participants became more confident that the suggested event occurred in their past. However, it was easier to influence participants' consumption behavior when we used the "Loved" suggestion rather than the "Got Sick" suggestion. This finding has implications for marketers who use suggestions to influence product consumption by connecting consumers to their autobiographical memories.


Supply Chains are often required to absorb unexpected pressure, turbulent changes in demand and disruptions across their structural components. In this paper, we acknowledge both the inter-organizational and collaborative nature of supply chains and explore how established logistics structures respond to conditions of crises as a result of unforeseen natural events and disasters. After a brief review of existing practices in the area of Disaster Supply Chain Management (DCSM) we focus on identifying and presenting the sharing 'realities' of inter-organizational networks through a short case study showcasing the situational, complex and temporal nature of responsive networks under pressure.


In the last decade, there has been a considerable increase of interest in fault-tolerant computing due to dependability problems related to process scaling, embedded software, and ubiquitous computing. In this paper, we consider an approach to fault-tolerance which is inspired by gene regulatory networks of living cells. Living cells are capable of maintaining their functionality under a variety of genetic changes and external perturbations. They have natural self-healing, self-maintaining, self-replicating and self-assembling mechanisms. The fault-tolerance of living cells is due to the intrinsic robustness of attractors' landscapes of their gene regulatory networks. Previously, we introduced a technique which exploits the stability of attractors to achieve a fault-tolerant computation. In this paper, we evaluate this technique on the example of a gene regulatory network model of Arabidopsis thaliana and show that it can tolerate 70% single-point mutations in the outputs of the defining tables of gene functions.


Background

The dynamics of cardiovascular system development in childhood are still largely unknown. Despite its known sensitivity to small perturbations, it has not been fully elucidated how the cardiovascular system evolves and responds to different stimuli and how these impact the future cardiovascular status. This thesis is basically aimed at exploring the effects of several possible postnatal determinantson the developing cardiovascular system. These early life determinants perhaps immediately cause cardiovascular issues in childhood and contribute to cardiovascular risk in later life. Particular attention is given to childhood conditions that are relevant for low-to-middle income countries, including malnutrition and physical activity. We specifically also look at HIV infection as a model of childhood inflammation which may have profound effects on the developing cardiovascular system.

Methods

Our research questions are addressed through several studies as follows: (1) a pilot/feasibility study of a currently enrolling randomized breastfeeding optimization trial (NCT01566812 )in Indonesia to investigate determinants of breastfeeding planning in pregnant women; (2) a Prospect-European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (Prospect-EPIC) cohort to study the effects of famine exposure in childhood on coronary artery calcifications; (3) An ongoing Wheezing Illnesses Study in Leidsche Rijn (WHISTLER) birth cohort to study the effects of physical activity on childhood vascular characteristics; (4) A cohort of 111 HIV infected and 51 healthy children in Jakarta, Indonesia to study the effects of ART-naive and ART-exposed HIV infection on childhood cardiac status and future cardiovascular risk.

Results

We found that childhood physical activity, famine, and HIV infection seemed to determine future cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood. Higher physical activity level was associated with better vascular properties with thinner intima media thickness. Famine in childhood increased the risk of coronary artery calcification in later life. HIV infection in children was associated with various alterations in heart structure, function, and the conduction system in childhood. Moreover, childhood HIV may increase future cardiovascular disease risk as we found a significantly thicker intima media among treatment naive HIV infected children. Given that breastfeeding is beneficial for childhood vascular properties, we sought the determinants of breastfeeding plan in pregnant women and found that the likelihood of giving exclusive breast feeding was related to mothers being well informed, regardless their social and educational background.

Conclusions

Postnatal influences, including childhood nutrition, physical activity, and morbidities appear to shape cardiovascular development, which not only affects childhood cardiovascular status but also may determine future cardiovascular risk in adulthood.


This concise textbook, designed specifically for a one-semester course in astrophysics, introduces astrophysical concepts to undergraduate science and engineering students with a background in college-level, calculus-based physics. The text is organized into five parts covering: stellar properties; stellar structure and evolution; the interstellar medium and star/planet formation; the Milky Way and other galaxies; and cosmology. Structured around short easily digestible chapters, instructors have flexibility to adjust their course's emphasis as it suits them. Exposition drawn from the author's decade of teaching his course guides students toward a basic but quantitative understanding, with 'quick questions' to spur practice in basic computations, together with more challenging multi-part exercises at the end of each chapter. Advanced concepts like the quantum nature of energy and radiation are developed as needed. The text's approach and level bridge the wide gap between introductory astronomy texts for non-science majors and advanced undergraduate texts for astrophysics majors.


Many of the challenges to be faced by smart cities surpass the capacities, capabilities, and reaches of their traditional institutions and their classical processes of governing, and therefore new and innovative forms of governance are needed to meet these challenges. According to the network governance literature, governance models in public administrations can be categorized through the identification and analysis of some main dimensions that govern in the way of managing the city by governments. Based on prior research and on the perception of city practitioners in European smart cities, this paper seeks to analyze the relevance of main dimensions of governance models in smart cities as well as to identify differences among prior research and perceptions of practitioners regarding these dimensions. Results could shed some light regarding new future research on efficient patterns of governance models within smart cities.


Studies to analyze the genetic processes in natural populations of plants were started on the territory of the East-Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT) in 1962 and in the zone of the Chernobyl accident in May 1986. The main directions of the genetic studies in both radioactive areas were similar: 1) study of the mutation process intensity depending on the dose and dose rate and analysis of dose-effect relationships for different genetic changes (point mutations, chromosome aberrations in mitosis and meiosis) in irradiated plant populations; 2) study of the mutation process dynamics in generations of chronically (prolongly) irradiated populations of plants; 3) analysis of microevolutionary processes in irradiated plant populations. The report presents an analysis of observed dose-effect relationships under the action of radiation on populations of Arabidopsis thaliana, Pinus sylvestris and a number of other plant species. Analysis of the mutation processes dynamics in 8 Arabidopsis populations growing in the zone of the Chernobyl catastrophe has demonstrated that the level of the embryo lethal mutations 10 years after the accident in the irradiated populations significantly exceeds the control level. The following phenomena observed in chronically irradiated populations have also been considered: increased radioresistance of irradiated populations (radioadaptation), the appearance of abnormal karyotypes and selective markers upon chronic irradiation. The authors call attention to the high importance of monitoring of genetic processes in irradiated plant populations for understanding of the action of radiation on human populations.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Loss of claudin 18 (CLDN18), a membrane-spanning tight junction protein, occurs during early stages of development of gastric cancer and associates with shorter survival times of patients. We investigated whether loss of CLDN18 occurs in mice that develop intraepithelial neoplasia with invasive glands due to infection with Helicobacter pylori, and whether loss is sufficient to promote the development of similar lesions in mice with or without H pylori infection.

METHODS
We performed immunohistochemical analyses in levels of CLDN18 in archived tissues from B6:129 mice infected with H pylori for 6 to 15 months. We analyzed gastric tissues from B6:129S5-Cldn18tm1Lex/Mmucd mice, in which the CLDN18 gene was disrupted in gastric tissues (CLDN18-knockout mice), or from control mice with a full-length CLDN18 gene (CLDN18+/+; B6:129S5/SvEvBrd) or heterozygous disruption of CLDN18 (CLDN18+/-; B6:129S5/SvEvBrd) that were infected with H pylori SS1 or PMSS1 at 6 weeks of age and tissues collected for analysis at 20 and 30 weeks after infection. Tissues from CLDN18-knockout mice and control mice with full-length CLDN18 gene expression were also analyzed without infection at 7 weeks and 2 years after birth. Tissues from control and CLDN18-knockout mice were analyzed by electron microscopy, stained by conventional methods and analyzed for histopathology, prepared by laser capture microdissection and analyzed by RNAseq, and immunostained for lineage markers, proliferation markers, and stem cell markers and analyzed by super-resolution or conventional confocal microscopy.

RESULTS
CLDN18 had a basolateral rather than apical tight junction localization in gastric epithelial cells. B6:129 mice infected with H pylori, which developed intraepithelial neoplasia with invasive glands, had increasing levels of CLDN18 loss over time compared with uninfected mice. In B6:129 mice infected with H pylori compared with uninfected mice, CLDN18 was first lost from most gastric glands followed by disrupted and reduced expression in the gastric neck and in surface cells. Gastric tissues from CLDN18-knockout mice had low levels of inflammation but increased cell proliferation, expressed markers of intestinalized proliferative spasmolytic polypeptide-expressing metaplasia, and had defects in signal transduction pathways including p53 and STAT signaling by 7 weeks after birth compared with full-length CLDN18 gene control mice. By 20 to 30 weeks after birth, gastric tissues from uninfected CLDN18-knockout mice developed intraepithelial neoplasia that invaded the submucosa; by 2 years, gastric tissues contained large and focally dysplastic polypoid tumors with invasive glands that invaded the serosa.

CONCLUSIONS
H pylori infection of B6:129 mice reduced the expression of CLDN18 early in gastric cancer progression, similar to previous observations from human gastric tissues. CLDN18 regulates cell lineage differentiation and cellular signaling in mouse stomach; CLDN18-knockout mice develop intraepithelial neoplasia and then large and focally dysplastic polypoid tumors in the absence of H pylori infection.


Scientific images represent types or particulars. According to a standard history and epistemology of scientific images, drawings are fit to represent types and machine-made images are fit to represent particulars. The fact that archaeologists use drawings of particulars challenges this standard history and epistemology. It also suggests an account of the epistemic quality of archaeological drawings. This account stresses how images integrate non-conceptual and interepretive content.


OBJECTIVE
To discuss a case of sciatica associated with lower back pain that originates in a disc. We discuss the use of manipulative therapy as a conservative approach and compare it with other conservative methods and with surgery.

CLINICAL FEATURES
The patient suffered from lower back and left leg pain that had increased in severity over a 6-day period. There was decreased sensation in the dorsum of the left foot and toes. Computed tomography demonstrated the presence of a small, contained disc herniation.

INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME
The patient was initially treated with ice followed by flexion-distraction therapy. This was used over the course of her first three visits. Once she was in less pain, side posture manipulation was added to her care. Nine treatments were required before she was released from care.

CONCLUSION
We need a nonsurgical, conservative approach to treat lower back pain with sciatica as an alternative to and before beginning the more aggressive, and potentially hazardous, surgical treatment. There is some support for the idea that lumbar disc herniation with neurological deficit and radicular pain does not contraindicate the judicious use of manipulation. Although significant questions remain for the evaluation and treatment of lumbar radiculopathy (sciatica) with disc herniations, there is ample evidence to suggest that a course of conservative care, including spinal manipulation, should be completed before surgical consult is considered.


The human beta-globin locus control region (LCR) is required for the maintenance of an open chromatin configuration of the locus. It interacts with the genes and the hypersensitive regions flanking the locus to form an active chromatin hub (ACH) transcribing the genes. Proper developmental control of globin genes is largely determined by gene proximal regulatory sequences. Here, we provide the first functional evidence of the role of the most active sites of the LCR and the promoter of the beta-globin gene in the maintenance of the ACH. When the human beta-globin gene promoter is deleted in the context of a full LCR, the ACH is maintained with the beta-globin gene remaining in proximity. Additional deletion of hypersensitive site HS3 or HS2 of the LCR shows that HS3, but not HS2, in combination with the beta-globin promoter is crucial for the maintenance of the ACH at the definitive stage. We conclude that multiple interactions between the LCR and the beta-globin gene are required to maintain the appropriate spatial configuration in vivo.


The authors present the methodological background to and underlying research design of an ongoing research project on the scientific evaluation of serious games and/or computer-based simulation games (SGs) for advanced learning. The main research questions are: (1) what are the requirements and design principles for a comprehensive social scientific methodology for the evaluation of SGs?; (2) to what extent do SGs contribute to advanced learning?; (3) what factors contribute to or determine this learning?; and (4) to what extent and under what conditions can SG-based learning be transferred to the real world? In the Netherlands between 2005 and 2012, several hundred SG sessions with 12 SGs were evaluated systematically, uniformly and quantitatively to create a dataset, which comprises data on 2488 respondents in higher education or work organizations. The authors present the research model, the quasi-experimental design and the evaluation instruments. This focus in this paper is on the methodology and dataset, which form a sound foundation for forthcoming publications on the empirical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


Recently the strong demands in wireless communication requires expanding development for the application of RF MEMS (Radio Frequency micro electro mechanical systems) sensing devices such as micro-switches, tunable capacitors because it offers lower power consumption, lower losses, higher linearity and higher Q factors compared with conventional communications components. To accelerate commercialization of RF MEMS products, development for packaging technologies is one of the most critical issues should be solved beforehand. Packaging for RF MEMS is more challenging compared with conventional IC (integrated Circuit) Packaging technologies because it has both electrical and mechanical component, a low temperature, and hermetic wafer level packaging technology is needed for RF MEMS device. Au-Sn metallization system has been successfully utilize for flip chip bonding in many applications such as optoelectronic packaging and microwave device because of their high strength, good wetting behaviors, and resistance for thermal fatigue compared with conventional Pb/Sn solder system. Au-Sn eutectic bonding is considered to be a promising low temperature, wafer level bonding technology. In this paper, Au-Sn eutectic bonding for RF MEMS application is presented, a closed square loop was designed for the bonding structure, test vehicle was prepared for DOE (Design of experiment) process for the optimization of bonding parameters, and bonding temperature and applied load are found to be the most critical parameters for the bonding result, bonding can be done at a relative low temperature below 300/spl deg/C. For bonded samples, shear strength, warpage, insertion loss and hermetic tests etc. are performed for the evaluation of bonding quality, AES (Auger Electron Spectrum) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) was also made to investigate the microstructure of bonded interface, and reliability test such as thermal shock and high temperature, high humidity storage test was performed for the evaluation of bonding quality.


"Triumph and Tragedy" could well have been a subtitle of this history of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. The triumph came in the exchange's first century, beginning in 1790 when merchant-financiers organized the Board of Brokers, the first stock exchange in the United States. New York also traded securities at the time, but its traders would not form a similar securities trading club, the forerunner of the New York Stock Exchange, until 1792. Until the 1830s, the exchanges of the two cities were peers. Philadelphia's exchange benefited from the city being the capital of the country in the 1790s and the headquarters of the two Banks of the United States, while New York's   exchange thrived as its city became the largest of all U.S. cities and the nation's commercial capital. When the second Bank of the United States lost its federal charter in 1836, and then as a state-chartered bank failed a few years later, New York City and its exchange continued to grow and shot ahead. But Philadelphia became a leading industrial city, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (the name adopted in 1875) played an important role in financing the economic infrastructure— banks, insurance companies, roads, railroads, urban transit, and utilities— that made it an industrial center. In the century of triumph a number of America's leading financiers were Philadelphians: Thomas Willing, Robert Morris, Thomas and Nicholas Biddle, Enoch Clark, Jay Cooke, and Anthony Drexel.


Although HIV transmission among Namibian in-school adolescents is mainly heterosexual, previous data on sexual activity are not disaggregated, making it difficult to target interventions. This study conducted a disaggregated analysis of coital activity and explored various factors associated with coital activity among Namibian High School students. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 18 schools located in six education regions. Data were collected from 829 students through a structured questionnaire. Pearson χ2 analysis was used to determine the distribution of coital activity for students from different regions, rural-urban areas, ethnic groups, and gender. Factors associated with coital activity were established by the use of odds ratios and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Overall, 50.2% of the students never had sex before and 29.2% were sexually active. Pearson χ2analysis showed that coital activity was significantly high among students in the Caprivi region, urban areas, Lozi, Herero and Damara-Nama ethnic groups, and male gender. Multivariate logistic regression showed that the only significant factors positively associated with coital activity were Herero ethnicity, male gender, testing for HIV, thinking one could not get HIV if they were faithful to a single sexual partner, having a boyfriend of girlfriend, and drinking beer. These disaggregated results will help design targeted HIV/AIDS preventive programmes for High School students in Namibia. This can be done by targeting messages that reduce students' coital activity by way of altering personal, peer, and social behaviours.

 Key words: Prevalence, distribution, determinants, coital activity, students.


Ghana's slow progress towards attaining millennium development goal 5 has been associated with gaps in quality of care, particularly quality of clinical decision making for clients. This thesis reviews the relevance and effect of clinical decision making support tools on pregnancy outcomes.
Relevance of three clinical decision making support tools available to frontline providers of care in the Greater Accra region is discussed. These are routine maternal health service delivery data population based reproductive data and clinical care guidelines.
First, the quality of routine health system data, determined by the completeness and accuracy of transfer of routine antenatal and delivery service data in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana is assessed and found to be good and reliable for use for decision making.
Secondly, predictors of skilled attendance at delivery were identified amongst women who attend antenatal clinic at least once during their pregnancy in Ghana, using the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data. These predictors were wealth status class, rural or urban residency, previous delivery complication and health insurance coverage.

Finally, adherence to first antenatal care guidelines was assessed. Overall, complete adherence to guidelines was low and providers were more likely to completely adhere to guidelines when caring for women 20 years or older, employed and married women.

Also, public health facility resource availability in relation to provider adherence to first antenatal visit guidelines was explored.It was evident that although antenatal workload varies across different facility types in the Greater Accra region, other health facility resources that support implementation of first antenatal care guidelines are equally available in all the facilities. Thus, availability of these resources do not adequately account for the low and varying proportions of complete adherence to guidelines across facility types.

Regarding effect, two clinical decision making support tools (first antenatal care guidelines and mobile health) on pregnancy outcomes were examined.

Complete adherence to first antenatal care guidelines decreased risk of any neonatal complication and delivery complication.

A systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of mHealth interventions targeting health care workers to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) was conducted. From this review, mHealth interventions were used as communication, data collection, or educational tool by health care providers in the provision of antenatal, delivery and postnatal care. None of the studies directly assessed effect of mHealth on maternal and neonatal mortality. We conclude that there is a gap in the knowledge of whether mHealth interventions directly affect maternal and neonatal outcomes and future research should address this gap.

In conclusion I discuss the importance of reducing subjectivity of provider judgement by encouraging them to use available clinical decision making support tools. I also emphasize the need for them to be supported by the health system to be able to incorporate these tools in their daily practice to enhance the quality of care for mothers and improve pregnancy outcomes.


A circuit member connection structure (10) includes circuit members (20, 30) having a plurality of circuit electrodes (22, 32) formed on main surfaces (21a, 31a) of circuit substrates (21, 31). A circuit connection member (60) connects the circuit members (30, 30) to each other so that the circuit electrodes (22, 32) oppose. The circuit connection member (60) is made of a hardening material for hardening the circuit connection material. The circuit connection material contains an adhesive component and coated particles (50) made of conductive particles (51) each having a part of the surface (51a) coated by insulating fine particles (52). The insulating fine particle (52) has a mass equal to 2/1000 to 26/1000 of the mass of the conductive particle (51).


In this article, some empirical and theoretical models accounting the relationship between the strength and pore structure of cement-based materials is reviewed and analyzed. From the literature review and analysis, it can be found that the total porosity can be singly used to characterize the relationship between compressive strength and pore structure, but can not be applied into describe the relationship between pore structure and tensile strength. Another major parameter of pore structure - pore size distribution, will have a major impact on strength; the relationship between pore structure and tensile strength is for most models of cement paste, without the consideration of aggregate, and the application of the model must comply with the relevant assumptions. The research on the relationship between the tensile strength of concrete is still at a preliminary stage, requiring more theoretical and experimental study.


Bacterial infection and the issue of antibiotic resistance have become one of the major public health problems worldwide. Thus, searching for new antibacterial agents is urgently required. Hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, as a traditional bactericide, is applied widely for medical treatments. However, the relatively high concentration of H2O2 used in a clinical setting usually inhibits wound healing and even damages normal tissues during disinfection. Here, we synthesized N-doped sponge-like carbon spheres (N-SCSs), which showed excellent mimicking activities for multiple enzymes, including peroxidase, oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. We then utilized the peroxidase-like activity of the N-SCSs to convert low-concentration H2O2 into radical oxygen species to resist bacteria. The data showed that the antibacterial performance of H2O2 against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli), Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), and multidrug-resistant bacteria was improved through the peroxidase-like catalytic reaction of N-SCSs. Importantly, besides generating heat against bacteria, near-infrared laser exposure also promoted the peroxidase activity of N-SCSs, to further generate radical oxygen species to kill bacteria. In addition, this catalytic-photothermal antibacterial strategy demonstrated accelerated recovery of infected wounds in an animal model. Thus, our work provides a new synergetic anti-infection strategy, and further expands the application of carbon-based nanozymes in biomedicine.


ABSTRACT Evidentialism is the thesis that a person is justified in believing a proposition iff the person's evidence on balance supports that proposition. In discussing epistemological issues associated with disagreements among epistemic peers, some philosophers have endorsed principles that seem to run contrary to evidentialism, specifying how one should revise one's beliefs in light of disagreement. In this paper, I examine the connection between evidentialism and these principles. I argue that the puzzles about disagreement provide no reason to abandon evidentialism and that there are no true general principles about justified responses to disagreement other than the general evidentialist principle. I then argue that the puzzles about disagreement are primarily puzzles about the evidential impact of higher-order evidence–evidence about the significance or existence of ordinary, or first-order, evidence. I conclude by arguing that such higher-order evidence can often have a profound effect on the justification of first-order beliefs.


For neural sequence model training, maximum likelihood (ML) has been commonly adopted to optimize model parameters with respect to the corresponding objective. However, in the case of sequence prediction tasks like neural machine translation (NMT), training with the ML-based cross entropy loss would often lead to models that overgeneralize and plunge into local optima. In this paper, we propose an extended loss function called dual skew divergence (DSD), which aims to give a better tradeoff between generalization ability and error avoidance during NMT training. Our empirical study indicates that switching to DSD loss after the convergence of ML training helps the model skip the local optimum and stimulates a stable performance improvement. The evaluations on WMT 2014 English-German and English-French translation tasks demonstrate that the proposed loss indeed helps bring about better translation performance than several baselines.


A multilevel modular capacitor-clamped DC-DC converter (MMCCC) will be presented in this paper with some of its advantageous features. By virtue of the modular nature of the converter, it is possible to integrate multiple loads and sources with the converter at the same time. The modular construction of the MMCCC topology provides autotransformer-like taps in the circuit, and depending on the conversion ratio of the converter, it becomes possible to connect several dc sources and loads at these taps. The modularity of the new converter is not limited to only this dc transformer (auto) like operation, but also provides redundancy and fault bypass capability in the circuit. Using the modularity feature, some redundant modules can be operated in bypass state, and during some faults, these redundant modules can be used to replace a faulty module to maintain an uninterrupted operation. Moreover, by obtaining a flexible conversion ratio, the MMCCC converter can transfer power in both directions. Thus, this MMCCC topology could be a solution to establish a power management system among multiple sources and loads having different operating voltages.


This presentation examines how the softwarization of everyday life is experienced. The point of embarkation is the observation that despite the proliferation computation in the everyday, people pay little attention to the conditions of software and its role in shaping their mundane time-spaces. I will discuss results from a case study that used Henri Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis (1992/2004) to shed light on how the rhythms of code-based technology are experienced. The research design of the intervention was inspired by the idea of privacy mirrors (Ngueyn and Mynatt 2002). Research participants (n=13), who described their relation to their devices as intense, used tracking software (RescueTime, ManicTime, App Usage or RealizD) in their ICTs and kept media diaries. These were used as artefacts in the interviews to enable reflection on the role of ICTs in daily life. The results from the rhythmanalysis show how the complex intertwinement of digital devices and applications in the everyday evokes manifold feelings. Simultaneously, technology is perceived as an aid in organizing and managing the daily life, but it also induces feelings of losing control, chaos, and burden. The results suggest that although people might take for granted the infrastructural conditions of technology, such as data mining, they still actively negotiate their relation to devices and applications vis-a-vis temporality. Outcomes from the intervention encourage developing further research designs that use the means of softwarization itself (e.g. tracking and digital traces) to enable critical reflection.


The diffusion and loading of liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide into chitosan spheres with a diameter of 0.5 cm and a mass of 0.055 g was experimentally explored at temperatures of 25, 35, and 45 °C and at fixed carbon dioxide densities of 0.65, 0.75, and 0.85 g/cm3. Loading as high as 1.25 g of carbon dioxide/g of chitosan was achieved. Carbon dioxide loading increased as the carbon dioxide density and temperature each increased. By modeling the loading as unsteady-state radial Fickian diffusion, a diffusion coefficient of carbon dioxide into the chitosan sphere could be obtained at a given exposure temperature and pressure. These diffusion coefficients were on the order of 10-7 m2/s and increased with temperature. Carbon dioxide density did not seem to have a significant effect on the diffusion coefficients, but it did influence the maximum achievable loading.