Sustainable energy generation has received a great deal of interest recently because the presence of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is at an unprecedented high. There are multiple existing renewable energy sources but the most abundant of the known is hydro. Most of the hydro-energy is predicted to be present in the oceans but this thesis focuses on harnessing energy through inland river currents (known as hydrokinetic energy) because it has become apparent that there is still plenty of this energy to be extracted. Although an immature field, most of the work done to harness hydrokinetic energy has been through in-stream turbines such as the Derrius and Gorlov helical turbines. There is a concern that these in-stream turbines can have an adverse effect on their local environment cite{Anderson}, therefore, two other methods were investigated in depth: 1) a bender/flapper method and 2) an oscillating foil. The bender/flapper method was built and tested experimentally. A mathematical model was developed to analyze the potential of the oscillatory foil because the bender/flapper method did not meet expectations. Also, because of the advancement of smart materials, these two methods considered harnessing energy simultaneously through an electromagnetic inductor and piezoelectric material transducer.


Abstract Sweden applies two different private international statutes to establish which country´s domestic law that is applicable in a certain situation regarding succession and will with connection to two or more states. The first private international law is the one used in relations between Sweden and the other Nordic states. The other private international law is the one used between Sweden and all other states than the Nordic ones. A proposal for a Regulation that regulate jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and authentic instruments in matters of succession and the creation of a European Certificate of Succession has been prepared by the Commission and was published in October 2009. This regulation will, if it enters into force, modify the situation in Sweden for applicable law on a situation regarding succession and will. A comparison between Swedish private international law regarding applicable law and the rules regarding applicable law according to the Regulation is performed in this thesis.


We provide a theoretical description of synchrotron fluctuations arising from magnetic turbulence. We derive an expression that relates the correlation of synchrotron fluctuations for an arbitrary index of relativistic electrons to the correlations arising from a particular γ = 2 index that provides synchrotron emissivity proportional to the squared intensity of perpendicular to the line-of-sight component of magnetic field. We provide a detailed study of the statistics in the latter case assuming that the underlying magnetic turbulence is axisymmetric. We obtain general relations valid for an arbitrary model of magnetic axisymmetric turbulence and analyze the relations for the particular example of magnetic turbulence that is supported by numerical simulations. We predict that the synchrotron intensity fluctuations are anisotropic with larger correlation present along the direction of magnetic field. This anisotropy is dominated by the quadrupole component with the ratio between quadrupole and monopole parts being sensitive to the compressibility of underlying turbulence. Our work opens avenues for quantitative studies of magnetic turbulence in our Galaxy and beyond using synchrotron emission. It also outlines the directions of how synchrotron foreground emission can be separated from cosmological signal, i.e., from cosmic microwave background or highly redshifted H i emission. We also provide the expressions for the synchrotron polarization (Stokes parameters and their combinations) for the model of axisymmetric magnetic turbulence.


Nasal provocation tests with allergen (House Dust 5.0 mg/ml or Grass-Pollen 10000 Noon Units/ml) were performed on patients suffering from perennial rhinitis or pollinosis. The changes of the nasal passages before and after allergen challenge were measured by two different methods, (1) the rhinomanometry anterior (Balloon Method) and (2) the rhinomanometry posterior (V-P Method). No distinct differences were observed between results obtained by the two methods. Both are therefore considered suitable and applicable for nasal provocation tests. For a satisfactory result using both techniques, the measurements should be made within at least 30 minutes but preferably 60 minutes after the allergen challenge.


: Despite growing interest in design science research in information systems, our understanding about what constitutes a design contribution and the range of research activities that can produce design contributions remains limited. We propose the design research activity (DRA) framework for classifying design contributions based on the type of statements researchers use to express knowledge contributions and the researcher role with respect to the artifact. These dimensions combine to produce a DRA framework that contains four quadrants: construction, manipulation, deployment, and elucidation. We use the framework in two ways. First, we classify design contributions that the Journal of the Association for Information Systems ( JAIS ) published from 2007 to 2019 and show that the journal published a broad range of design research across all four quadrants. Second, we show how one can use our framework to analyze the maturity of design-oriented knowledge in a specific field as reflected in the degree of activity across the different quadrants. The DRA framework contributes by showing that design research encompasses both design science research and design-oriented behavioral research. The framework can help authors and reviewers assess research with design implications and help researchers position and understand design research as a journey through the four quadrants.


The thesis contains two papers focusing on different aspects of housing markets in Hong Kong. The first paper investigates the nexus between housing price index, exports, loans and housing rental index. Using the vector error-correction models, it provides empirical evidence on the links among housing price, rents, exports and private loans. Although some past studies have argued for the importance of exports on housing price growth in the long run, we observe a less dominating effect. Instead, we find that private loans and housing rental index are more important determinants of housing price index. The second paper studies the crowding out effect between public and private housing stocks. Our empirical results reject the hypothesis that public housing stock crowds out private housing stock. Instead, they confirm a strong positive long-run relationship between the private and public owner-occupied housing stocks. Our model also provides evidence for a positive relationship between private housing stock and household size, and a negative relationship between public housing stock and household size. These relations imply that the government should bring housing issues into the formulation of population policy.


Oncolytic viruses have gained attention as a novel form of cancer treatment. Many viral vectors in use today have been rendered safe by deletion of genes encoding viral structural proteins, thus making them unable to spread beyond the first infected cells. Hence, such replication-deficient constructs may lack efficacy. Here, we analyzed the oncolytic potential of the replication-competent vector VA7-EGFP, based on the avirulent Semliki Forest virus (SFV) strain A7(74), to kill cancer cells in culture as well as to target s.c. human melanoma xenografts in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. VA7-EGFP was able to infect most cancer cell lines studied, leading to complete lysis of the cells within 72 hours after infection. In SCID mice grafted with A2058 human melanoma, marked regression of the xenografts was observed following a single injection of 10 plaque-forming units of virus given either i.p., i.v., or intratumorally. Histologic analysis revealed the presence of virus not only in all treated tumors but also in the brains of the treated mice, causing progressing neuropathology beginning at day 16 after infection. Following initial oncolysis, clusters of viable tumor cells were observed embedded in connective tissue, and at later stages, encapsulated tumor nodules had formed. Infection of melanoma cells from explant cultures of these nodules revealed that a portion of the cells were resistant to virus. To be eligible for use in virotherapy, the ability of avirulent SFV to spread within tumor tissue may have to be improved and the biological safety of the virus may have to be addressed thoroughly in higher animals. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(14): 7185-94)


The Article elucidates the Intellectual Property Clause by studying the neglected record from the Constitutional Convention of 1787 pertaining to it. This record consists of proposals by James Madison and Charles Pinckney for congressional power to grant patents, copyrights, and encouragements (bounties), and to establish universities. By tracking the textual transition from the initial proposals to the eventual text of the Clause and by putting this transition in its contemporaneous context, this Article makes two major contributions to our understanding of the Clause. First, the Article takes a stand in a current controversy by providing three direct indications that the Framers intended the first part of the Clause - to promote the progress of science and useful arts - to be a limitation on Congress's intellectual property power. It thus refutes a widely held belief that the Framers intended this language as a non-binding preamble. Second, the analysis solves a current puzzlement among courts and commentators about the enigmatic ends/means structure of the Clause. It shows that the Clause's unique text reflects the Framers' intent to have each of the Clause's parts participate in defining and limiting the power it confers. The Article reviews the applications of its findings for originalism, for different readings of the Clause, and for recent (e.g., Eldred v. Ashcroft) and pending (e.g., Kahle v. Gonzales, Golan v. Gonzales) constitutional intellectual property litigation. It ends by suggesting ways in which the legal community can move toward forming a concept of progress as a constitutional limitation.


Modern cellular wireless systems would not be possible without high-performance equalizers. Signal impairments introduced by the wireless channel can only be compensated for by using such equalizers. This tutorial serves as an introduction to the challenging design of equalizers. By introducing a general framework based on the Bezout Theorem, we show that the most sophisticated equalizer concepts can be derived, thus allowing finite length solutions to be found. Based on a canonical receiver structure, we also show how equalizers improve the Signal-to-Interference and Noise Rat io (SINR) under different sources of interference such as temporal, spatial, code and multiuser. We furthermore address the challenges of adaptive equalizers as they are currently typical solutions for low-cost devices. Although research on equalizers has been performed for many decades, we finish the tutorial with some open issues that are still keeping the field alive.


PL/SQL integrates an imperative statement-by-statement style of programming with the plan-based evaluation of SQL queries. The disparity of both leads to friction at runtime, slowing PL/SQL execution down significantly. This work describes a compiler from PL/SQL UDFs to plain SQL queries. Post-compilation, evaluation entirely happens on the SQL side of the fence. With the friction gone, we observe execution times to improve by about a factor of 2, even for complex UDFs. The compiler builds on techniques long established by the programming language community. In particular, it uses trampolined style to compile arbitrarily nested iterative control flow in PL/SQL into SQL's recursive common table expressions.


: The work was aimed at studying the biological activity of 32 structural riboflavin (RF) analogs substituted at positions 7, 8 and 10 as well as with a modified structure of the isoalloxazine cycle and the side D-ribityl chain. An RF-dependent mutant of the yeast Pichia guilliermondii MS1 was used as a test organism. The strain could grow in a medium without the vitamin in the presence of 2-thio-RF and analogs with esterified hydroxyls in the side chain, viz. tetraacetate and tetrabutyrate of RF. The antagonistic properties were distinctly displayed only by D-ribityl derivatives of vitamin B2 with a substitution of CF3, Cl, H, NH2 and N(CH3)2 for one or the both methyl groups. The inhibition indices for such analogs varied from 0.52 to 10.8. The action of the antivitamins on the yeast growth was competitively eliminated by adding RF to the growth medium. The antivitamin activity of an analog abruptly decreased or disappeared if (i) a bulky substituent such as N-piperidyl or hydroxyethylamine was incorporated at position 8 of an antimetabolite molecule, (ii) the D-ribityl side chain was substituted by a D-galactyl, D-sorbityl, L-ramnityl, 2-hydroxyethyl or methyl group and (iii) the structure of isoalloxazine cycle was modified. The analogs which were phosphorylated by RF kinase (ATP: RF-5'-phosphotransferase, EC 220.127.116.11) from P. guilliermondii were shown to be effective antivitamins. Therefore, the antagonistic effect of vitamin B2 analogs in yeast cells is realized at the level of coenzyme forms.


The implications for transition-metal clusters of theoretical results for systems containing 10–148 atoms bound by empirical potentials have been considered. The effects of the range of the interatomic pair potential and anisotropy on the potential-energy surface are now quite well understood. For example, as the range decreases the favoured morphology changes from icosahedral to decahedral and then to cuboctahedral. Since strain increases with size the crossover between electronic and geometrical 'magic numbers' exhibited by alkali-metal clusters can be rationalised. Calculations employing specific potentials designed to represent face-centred-cubic transition metals enable the study of changes in morphology and surface migrations in clusters of these elements. Single-step mechanisms exist for highly co-operative rearrangements between different structures, but the associated barriers scale as the total number of atoms. Hence, at larger size the same mechanisms are mediated by a series of transition states. The barriers for surface processes are comparable to those deduced experimentally and theoretically for bulk surfaces. It is predicted that icosahedral order is 'frozen in' at relatively small size and Mackay icosahedra grow via, anti-Mackay and then Mackay overlayers.


In this chapter I will mainly focus on approaches to, and applications of, sound and music within a number of avant-garde films, summarizing some of the dominant music approaches within the filmic avant-garde up until 1939. The major concern will be the coming of sound and the reactions that this major technological shift engendered from writers and artists concerned with the formal and artistic side of cinematic expression. Following this, I will chart the main connections between discourse on sound and the manner by which it was employed in some key avant-garde films. First, though, I will summarize some of the relations between sound and avant-garde previous to the actual 'sound era'.


There are a number of different ways for the decline of Apis melifera or the honey bee. It could be a lack of flowers (food), pesticides, viruses and even parasites. There is an accumulation of things, but this study focuses on the synergism between the fungicide propiconazole and the insecticide chlorpyrifos. These two pesticides are used to dose around 2,100 honeybees with an LD50 test for chlorpyrifos and a relative dose test for propiconazole. The two pesticides are then mixed into a 1:1 mixture ratio of chlorpyrifos and propiconazole and diluted with acetone. The bees are dosed and looked after for 96 hours. Every 24 hours the dead bees are counted and recorded. In conclusion we found that the LD50 for chlorpyrifos may be higher than previous literature had described and when mixed together, the data suggests that propiconazole and chlorpyrifos do indeed create a synergistic effect on Apis melifera.


Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response is used as a measure of sensorimotor inhibitory processes. Deficits in PPI have been found in patients with schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Huntington's disease. PPI can also be disrupted in animals through manipulations that augment serotonergic activity, such as administration of the serotonin (5-HT) agonists 8-OH-DPAT, RU 24969 and DOI. In the present experiment the identity of the 5-HT receptor subtype that mediates the DOI-induced disruption of PPI was examined. Dose-response studies revealed that the novel 5-HT2A antagonist, MDL 100,907 (0.01. 0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg, s.c), but not the new 5-HT2C antagonist SDZ SER 082 (0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg, s.c.), prevented the loss of PPI induced by DOI (0.25 or 0.5 mg/kg, s.c). The results support the hypothesis that the 5-HT2A receptor is involved in the modulation of sensorimotor gating. Because deficits in PPI are used as a model of sensorimotor gating abnormalities found in schizophrenia, the present study supports the view that MDL 100,907 may be a novel atypical antipsychotic. Studies of the serotonergic substrates of PPI may provide a model of the possible serotonergic role in the sensorimotor gating abnormalities in schizophrenia and OCD patients.


As a fundamental study to control compositions of the slag in the oxidation zone of a QSL lead smelting furnace, phase equilibrium between the metallic lead and the PbO-FeOx-CaO-SiO2 or PbO-FeOx-CaO-SiO2-ZnO slag was investigated at 1,323∼1,523 K and a composition region of the homogeneous liquid slag phase and the composition and chemical formula of solid phases in the slag coexisting with the liquid phase were determined. The PbO-FeOx-CaO-SiO2 slag with Q (= mass % CaO/(mass % CaO + mass %SiO2)) of 0.4 is completely fusible at 1,423 K when the mole fraction ratio of FeOx , R, defined as R = NFeOx /(NFeOx NCaO + NSiO2 ), is around 0.4, and departure from this value gives rise to a solid-liquid two phase region in the range of the low PbO content. This result indicates that the QSL process, which is operated practically with R of about 0.4, is quite reasonable. Solubility of ZnO in the PbO-FeOx-CaO-SiO2-ZnO slag with Q = 0.4 and R = 0.4 at 1,423 K decreases with increasing PbO content in the composition range between 0 and 18 mol % PbO, then increases in the range between 18 and 33 mol % PbO, and finally becomes stagnant at about 18 mol % ZnO in the composition range above 33 mol % PbO. This result has an important meaning for the QSL operation using a charge with a high content of zinc. Hence, it is considered that precautious control of the PbO content in the slag is required for avoiding formation of a solid phase in the slag.


In a "Minute Particular" in a recent Blake, Wayne Ripley published two examples of newspaper classified advertising from which he derived new biographical data relating to the Blake family (Wayne C. Ripley, "Two Newly Discovered Advertisements Posted by William Blake's Father," Blake 51.1 [summer 2017]). Of course, I accept that the two advertisements that he has discovered are of genuine interest, and he has my congratulations for finding them. But the house of cards he has chosen to erect on these slight foundations is entirely mistaken. It distresses me to say so, because I think Ripley and I are working on very similar projects.


It is impossible to remove methylmercury (MeHg) from biological systems
because MeHg is found throughout our environment in many fresh and salt water fish.
The consumption of fish is important to human nutrition and health. The mechanism of
MeHg neurotoxicity must be understood to minimize adverse exposure consequences.
The dissertation objective was to: 1) compare mechanisms of MeHg neurotoxicity
between animals exposed as adults and those exposed during gestation, and 2) develop
an in vitro test model of in vivo MeHg exposure.
Total mercury (Hg) levels in tissue / cells were determined by combustion /
trapping / atomic absorption. Cell death was determined by Fluoro-Jade histochemical
staining and activated caspase 3 immunohistochemistry for in vivo studies, and Trypan
blue exclusion, lactate dehydrogenase activity, and cytotoxicity assays for in vitro
studies. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), intracellular calcium ion
concentration ([Ca2+]i), and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were
determined using fluorescence microscopy or microplate reader assays. Young adult
C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to a total dose of 0, 1.0, or 5.0 mg/kg body weight MeHg
divided over postnatal days (P)35 to 39. Pregnant female mice were exposed to a total
does of 0, 0.1, or 1.0 mg/kg body weight MeHg divided over gestational days (G)8 to 18.
SY5Y cells were exposed to 0, 0.01, 0.1, or 1.0 ?M MeHg or HgCl2 for 24, 48, or 72
hours. Total Hg in brains of young adult mice, mouse pups, and SY5Y cells accumulated
in a dose-dependent manner. Cell death increased in SY5Y cells exposed to the highest
concentrations of MeHg and HgCl2 used in this study. Cell death increased in the
molecular and granule cerebellar cell layers of young adult mice exposed to the highest
doses of MeHg used in this study. P0 mouse pups showed no increase in cell death
within the cerebellum following MeHg exposure. Cerebella of mice at P10 exhibited
decreased dying cells only in the external germinal layer.
Low concentrations of MeHg affected MMP in both in vivo and in vitro studies,
but did not result in decreased MMP typically associated with higher MeHg
concentrations. [Ca2+]i was increased throughout the in vivo experiments in an age- , sexand
brain region-dependent manner. Generation of ROS was decreased in both in vivo
and in vitro studies with both the MeHg and HgCl2
(in vitro) treatments.
In summary, low and moderate MeHg exposure, both in vivo and in vitro, altered
mitochondrial function, Ca2+ homeostasis, and ROS differently than what is reported in
the literature for higher MeHg exposure concentrations. SY5Y cells were sensitive to
low-levels of MeHg and HgCl2 and responded similarly to cells in the whole animal
studies, thus making SY5Y cells realistic candidates for mechanistic MeHg studies.
Cell culture and whole animal neuronal functional studies at chronic low-level
MeHg exposure are limited. These data suggest that low-levels of MeHg may affect
neuronal function. Therefore, further chronic low-level MeHg neuronal functional
studies are…


Tactile devices with ultrasonic vibrations (based on squeeze film effect) using piezoelectric actuators are one of the existing haptic feedback technologies. In this study we have performed two psychophysical experiments on an ultrasonic haptic tablet, in order to find the minimum size of a tactile element on which all the users are able to perfectly identify different types of textures. Our results show that the spatial resolution of the tactile element on haptic touchscreen actually varies, depending on the number and types of tactile feedback information. A first experiment exhibits three different tactile textures, chosen as being easily recognized by users. We use these textures in a second experiment, and evaluate minimal spatial area on which the chosen set of textures can be recognized. Among other, we find the minimal size depends on the texture nature.


BACKGROUND
An analysis of the relationship between clinical features and allele sharing could clarify the issue of genetic linkage between bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) and chromosome 18q, contributing to the definition of genetically valid clinical subtypes.

METHODS
Relatives ascertained through a proband who had bipolar I disorder (BPI) were interviewed by a psychiatrist, assigned an all-sources diagnosis, and genotyped with 32 markers on 18q21-23. Exploratory findings from the first 28 families (n = 247) were tested prospectively in an additional 30 families (n = 259), and the effect of confirmed findings on the linkage evidence was assessed.

RESULTS
In exploratory analyses, paternal allele sharing on 18q21 was significantly (P =.03) associated with a diagnostic subtype, and was greatest in pairs where both siblings had bipolar II disorder (BPII). Prospective analysis confirmed the finding that BPII-BPII sibling pairs showed significantly (P =.016) greater paternal allele sharing. Paternal allele sharing across 18q21-23 was also significantly greater in families with at least one BPII-BPII sibling pair. In these families, multipoint affected sibling-pair linkage analysis produced a peak paternal lod score of 4.67 (1-lod confidence interval, 12 centimorgans [cM]) vs 1.53 (1-lod confidence interval, 44 cM) in all families.

CONCLUSIONS
Affected sibling pairs with BPII discriminated between families who showed evidence of linkage to 18q, and families who did not. Families with a BPII sibling pair produced an increased lod score and improved linkage resolution. These findings, limited by the small number of BPII-BPII sibling pairs, strengthen the evidence of genetic linkage between BPAD and chromosome 18q, and provide preliminary support for BPII as a genetically valid subtype of BPAD.


Integrated Asset Modelling (IAM) processes can be used to quantify and monetise reservoir potential during the concept design process. Through quantification, risks can be mitigated and managed to deliver greater certainty through the concept selection process. IAM can be deployed throughout the hydrocarbons upstream sector to deliver robust field development and concept design solutions with more robust project economics. IAM offers significant value and potential to identify supply chain cost reductions across the full spectrum of upstream developments, from full field development planning to individual equipment item modifications. The process offers particular value in development planning; in identifying and assessing sensitivity options and in definition of the optimum concept. Full IAM incorporates expertise in reservoir, flow assurance, facilities and project economics expertise into a single integrated asset model. The process defined here is most effective as it is built upon integrating industry and in-house software, a combination of which facilitates Life of Field analysis to be carried out within a single package. The process offers unparalleled speed and flexibility in identification and analysis of concept design sensitivity cases. The IAM approach offers significant advantages and benefits to operators in addressing the three main reasons for destruction of project value; poor estimation of reserves, schedule overruns and cost overruns. This IAM process is configured for fast and robust evaluation to ensure the right decisions are made at the right time based on the right information. The process will therefore preserve project value for operators and reduce the risk of value erosion through over or under engineering, or project recycle. Introduction As major projects continue to fail the question continually asked by the industry is why.


The susceptibility of MNs to injury in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may result from excitotoxicity and subsequent dysregulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis. Post-transcriptional editing of the AMPA and Kainate glutamate receptor (GLUR) subunit(s) may alter the calcium ion permeability of the receptor pore, leading to
neurodegeneration. The aims of the study are (i) to investigate GLUR2, GLUR5 and GLUR6 RNA editing at Q/R site and its editing enzyme ADAR2 and ADAR3 in ALS/C9ORF72-positive and ALS/C9OR72-negative compared to non neurological controls, and (ii) to determine the aberrant expression of EAAT2 transcripts in the astrocytes of the spinal cord of ALS cases and controls. (iii) To characterise p-TDP43, p62, GLUR2, ADAR2, ADAR3 and GFAP and EAAT2 proteins in motor neurons of ALS/C9ORF72-postive
and ALS/C9ORF72-negative cases and controls. (iv) To develop new methodology to look at different levels of the mRNA expression in GLUR2, GLUR5, GLUR6, ADAR2, ADAR3 and EAAT2 that might exist in ALS. RNA was extracted from MNs and cDNA was prepared followed by amplification of cDNA by PCR that was used to generate amplified GLUR2, GLUR5 and GLUR6. These products were digested to produce cuts in the internal site of GLUR mRNA and differentiate edited from non-edited GLUR by analysis using agarose gel electrophoresis and the Agilent Bioanalyser. Independently the mRNA expression of ADAR2, ADAR3 and EAAT2 alternative transcripts of normal and aberrant exon 4 and 9 were quantified by qPCR. p-TDP-43, p62, GLUR2, ADAR2, ADAR3 and GFAP and EAAT2 protein levels were assessed by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA expression of GLUR2, GLUR5, GLUR6, ADAR2, ADAR3 and EAAT2 was assessed by next generation sequencing It was demonstrated that GLUR2 was fully edited in the MNs of ALS/C9ORF72- positive, ALS/C9ORF72-negative cases and controls. GLUR5 was 39% edited in MNs of ALS/C9ORF72-positive, 57% edited in ALS/C9ORF72-negative cases and 30% edited in controls. GLUR6 editing in MNs was 86% editing in the ALS/C9ORF72-
positive and 77% editing in ALS/C9ORF72-negative cases compared to 72% editing in controls. An elevated mRNA expression in EAAT2 aberrant and normal transcripts
of exon 4 and exon 9 was shown, but did not reach tatistical significance. ADAR2 immunoreactivity was associated with the nuclei of MNs, in contrast to ADAR3 which was exclusively associated with the neuronal cytoplasm. No significant differences in the pattern or distribution of immunoreactivity was detected across all
groups. Phosphorylated TDP-43+ and p62+ skein-like bodies and compact inclusions were significantly elevated in both ALS/C9ORF72-positive cases and ALS/C9ORF72- negative cases, compared to control subjects which exhibited neither
p-TDP-43 nor p62 expression. No significant difference in the pattern of immunoreactivity of EAAT2 in ALS groups and controls. In conclusion, full editing of GLUR2 in dissected motor neurons isolated by LCM was confirmed in ALS/C9ORF72-positive and ALS/C9ORF72-negative and control individuals. Whereas partial editing has been identified in GLUR5 and GLUR6 receptors. The mRNA and protein expression of ADAR2 and ADAR3 on spinal cord have shown similar levels between tested groups. No significant difference in the mRNA and protein expression of EAAT2. MNs in ALS cases, both with and without C9ORF72 expansion expressed pathogenic
inclusions of phosphorylated TDP-43 and p62, which are a hallmark for ALS. ADAR2 and ADAR3 have shown no differences in ALS groups compared to controls.


Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS) is a synoptic sky survey uses data streams from 3 wide-field telescopes in Arizona and Australia, covering the total area of ~30,000 deg2, down to the limiting magnitudes ~ 20 - 21 mag per exposure, with time baselines from 10 min to 6 years (and growing); there are now typically ~ 200 - 300 exposures per pointing, and coadded images reach deeper than 23 mag. The basic goal of CRTS is a systematic exploration and characterization of the faint, variable sky. The survey has detected ~ 3,000 high-amplitude transients to date, including ~ 1,000 supernovae, hundreds of CVs (the majority of them previously uncatalogued), and hundreds of blazars / OVV AGN, highly variable and flare stars, etc. CRTS has a complete open data philosophy: all transients are published immediately electronically, with no proprietary period at all, and all of the data (images, light curves) will be publicly available in the near future, thus benefiting the entire astronomical community. CRTS is a scientific and technological testbed and precursor for the grander synoptic sky surveys to come.


The main purpose of the present thesis is to give an account of the political activities of the Western Chalukyas, who ruled at Badami and Kalyanl, based on the results of modern research. It has been also deemed proper to add a special chapter on their system of administration. Hence the title "History of the Western Chalukyas (political and administrative)." The thesis opens wlth a discussion of the various legends of Chalukya origin found in inscriptions, and the modern views on the subject. The second chapter describes the rise of the Chalukyas under Jayasimha, RanaSaga and Pulakesln I. The third traces the growth of the Chalukya kingdom under Kirtivarman I emd Mangalesa. Chapter four gives an account of the wide activities of Pulakesln II, who attained for his house the Imperial position in the South. Chapter five deals with the reigns of his successors till their sovereignty was extinguished by the Rashtrakutas. Chapter six tells about the fortune of the Chalukya race in the Testern Deccan during the period of the Rashtrakuta supretiaoy. Chapter seven recounts the story of the re-establishment of the Chalukya sovereignty by Taila II, and the beginnings of the conflict with the Paramaras and the Cholas which lasted through generations. The history of the Chalukyas under Jayasimha II, Somesvara I, Someavara II and Vikramiaditya VI forms the theme of chapters eight and nine. All these rulers, except Somesvara II, prored to be able, energetic vigorous; they not only successfully maintained their position against the repeated onslaughts of external enemies, but also succeeded in extending their influence in different directions. Chapter ten traces the gradual decline of the Chalukya power and its final disappearance under the last four kings of the race. The concluding chapter has been devoted to the elucidation of the important aspects of the Chalukyan administration.


We present a single-shot, bottom-up approach for whole image parsing. Whole image parsing, also known as Panoptic Segmentation, generalizes the tasks of semantic segmentation for 'stuff' classes and instance segmentation for 'thing' classes, assigning both semantic and instance labels to every pixel in an image. Recent approaches to whole image parsing typically employ separate standalone modules for the constituent semantic and instance segmentation tasks and require multiple passes of inference. Instead, the proposed DeeperLab image parser performs whole image parsing with a significantly simpler, fully convolutional approach that jointly addresses the semantic and instance segmentation tasks in a single-shot manner, resulting in a streamlined system that better lends itself to fast processing. For quantitative evaluation, we use both the instance-based Panoptic Quality (PQ) metric and the proposed region-based Parsing Covering (PC) metric, which better captures the image parsing quality on 'stuff' classes and larger object instances. We report experimental results on the challenging Mapillary Vistas dataset, in which our single model achieves 31.95% (val) / 31.6% PQ (test) and 55.26% PC (val) with 3 frames per second (fps) on GPU or near real-time speed (22.6 fps on GPU) with reduced accuracy.


Pediatric neurological disorders are common and constitute up to 30% of children seen in general pediatrics. Information
about the availability and practice of pediatric neurologists is vital for strategic planning of management of neurological disorders.
The aim of this study was to audit current pediatric neurology services in Saudi Arabia and establish a correlation with regional
population figures. Physicians practicing in the field of pediatric neurology in Saudi Arabia were identified and contacted.
A structured 17-item questionnaire designed to examine their clinical practice was completed and validated by a follow-up
interview. Thirty-two full-time hospital based pediatric neurologists were concentrated in the 3 most heavily populated regions
of the country. Saudi Arabia as a whole had a ratio of 0.4 pediatric neurologists per 100,000 children <15 years of age given
that 38.3% of the general population was <15 years at the time of the study. Pediatric neurologists had an average of 3 half-day
clinics per week with an average of 13.4 patients per clinic. The ratio of follow-up visits to new patients was 3:1. Waiting
times for a new non-urgent consultation ranged from 1–6 months (mean 3.4 months). Inpatient hospital admissions ranged from
1–20 (mean 6.5) per week with an average of 5.7 in-hospital consultations per week. Major deficiencies were identified in the
availability of specialized nurses, occupational therapists, and psychologists. The study documents a significant shortage of
pediatric neurologists in our country. The currently practicing neurologists are required to see many patients with long waiting
lists and inadequate support services in many institutions. I feel that a strong demand exists to train and recruit more pediatric
neurologists and that generalists and pediatricians need to continue to take a proactive role in the routine care of children with
neurological disorders in Saudi Arabia


ABDOMINAL drains have been used since the early days of abdominal surgery. Then the surgeon, fearing to leave ligatures within the abdominal cavity, left the ends hanging from the wound, that he might tug at them from time to time until they loosened and came away. Again, an exigency compelled the surgeon to leave the wound open, as in one of the early hysterectomies (W. Burnham, 1853), in which the patient strained as the abdomen was opened and extruded the fibroid tumor. Being unable to replace it within the abdomen, the operator left the wound open, as did Koeberle in later years with the cervical stump after hysterectomy. The need of continued evacuation of septic or contaminating accumulations was early recognized, and finally Keath placed long glass tubes (Keath's drains) to the depths of the abdomen, which were aspirated by long-nozzled hard rubber syringes at regular intervals, a procedure that


This article looks at the relationship between trade and investment treaties signed by India and the Indian federal domestic legal regime in light of existing constitutional provisions that give the right to the central executive to negotiate and sign international treaties. It focuses on trade and investment treaties, rather than all international treaties signed by India, because the former treaties impose relatively more onerous obligations that constrain the national policy space. The article challenges the present practice in India, where international treaties on trade and investment bind India without undergoing any parliamentary approval or ratification. This can occur because the Indian Constitution is silent regarding the status of such international trade and investment treaties within the domestic legal regime, especially in cases where these treaties have not been transformed into a domestic legislation. The article also discusses those situations where an Indian law could conflict with an obligation imposed by an international trade and investment treaty that has not been transformed into a domestic legislation. Further, the Indian Constitution is also silent on whether the central executive can negotiate and sign treaties on subjects given in the State List, or whether the power to sign international treaties is limited to subjects given in the Union List. The present practice, whereby the central executive signs trade and investment treaties on State subjects without consulting the States, affects the constitutional policy space of the States and undermines the federal polity. The article concludes by stressing the need to develop a new law, clearly stipulating how the executive should go about the business of signing trade and investment treaties.


The hotel industry is often suffering from price wars, which have a number of reasons such as financial crises. Resulting from these reasons are going to reduce prices. The continued price reductions among hotels, resulting in price wars. So, this paper searches for developing and empirically testing a framework to examine which factors causes the price wars and the consequences of them. Using SEM to examine the data collected from a sample of 113 hotels, the results indicate supply, financial crises, pricing objectives based on discounts, and price sensitivity have a significant positive impact on price wars' eruption. Price wars have a significant negative influence significantly on hotel profitability, hotel image, competitive position, brand loyalty. On the other hand, price wars may lead to exit from market. The results offer important implications for hoteliers and are likely to stimulate further research in the area of pricing.


Usually nodal, principal and focal points are defined independently and thought of as distinct structures with no simple relationship among them.  By adopting a holistic approach, in which these threetypes of cardinal points are treated as particular cases of a larger class of special points, this paper develops a method of constructing the locations of the cardinal points of a system graphically directly from the transference.  The method provides a useful way of visualising the relationship of the locations of the cardinal points and of how they are affected by changes in the system or when a second optical system is placed in front of the first.  Thepaper illustrates the graphical procedure by apply-ing it in several situations of interest in optometryand ophthalmology, including the effect of a contact lens or refractive surgery on a reduced eye and the effect of accommodation, a spectacle lens and an afocal telescope on the Gullstrand-Emsley schematic eye. (S Afr Optom 2011 70(1) 3-13)


In this inaugural issue of JCFN, I wish to introduce a column that will appear in each issue. It is the intent of the editor to relate the contents of this column to current issues that have an impact on the nurses who care for children and their families. Your input is crucial if this goal is to be accomplished. I need to hear from you concerning the factors, forces, and foibles that are creating challenges in your practice.


A series of bimetallic N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ruthenium(II) complexes were synthesized, which comprise two [RuCl(2)(cymene)(NHC)] units that are interlinked via the NHC nitrogens by alkyl chains of different length. Electrochemical characterization revealed two mutually dependent oxidation processes for the complex with a methylene linker, indicating moderate intramolecular electronic coupling of the two metal centers (class II system). The degree of coupling decreases rapidly upon increasing the number of CH(2) units in the linker and provides essentially decoupled class I species when propylene or butylene linkers are used. Electrochemical analyses combined with structural investigations suggest a through-bond electronic coupling. Replacement of the alkyl linker with a p-phenylene group afforded cyclometalated complexes, which were considerably less stable. The electronic coupling in the methylene-linked complex and the relatively robust NHC-ruthenium bond may provide access to species that are switchable on the molecular scale.


During the past 10 years, there has been considerable pressure to improve the quality of medical education and the quality of our teaching and learning in university medical programs. There has been a great increase in medical knowledge and in medical technology with higher expectations of students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. There are higher expectations for the physician in areas of personal qualities, such as physicianpatient communication and understanding the psychosocial aspects of illness. In 1984, a major report was prepared for the Association of Medical Colleges—Physicians for the Twenty-First Century,1which dealt with a number of issues involving undergraduate medical education. Rather than simply acquiring factual knowledge, medical students need to acquire the following professional skills of a physician: problem solving and critical thinking, independent self-directed learning, and communication skills. At the same time, the report also recommended that faculty development programs be established to help faculty


Facade of a building is effective in the shape of a city. These facades shape the view of city when they put together. The first panel introduces the city to travelers and tourists, that is why it is particularly important to introduce any area. Urban walls are the most important elements that affect the relationship between people and the improvement of living space, these walls bring their activities as well as public spaces and show culture of the people that unfortunately today abnormalities and visual disturbances have transformed the shape, form, color and materials of building facades, and view of cities. It's a descriptive study that it has been tried to define the urban facade and factors affecting the urban facade and walls. It also studies the concept of social interactions and impact of the city walls on interactions and relationships between people and expresses how visual disturbances can cause bodies to be heterogeneous and anonymous environment.


This study explores the relationship between negative school climate factors (i.e., teacher neglect, peer rejection, discrimination) and academic outcomes amongst a sample of adolescent African American males. Specifically, this study directly examines a) the influence of negative school climate perceptions on the students' academic achievement (i.e., grades), and b) the mediating influences of internalizing and externalizing behaviors on this relationship. This study also examines the moderating effects of family factors on the associations between negative school climate and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Using a sample of 318 middle school African American boys from a larger study (N = 21,109), students reported on their perceptions of their school environments. Findings revealed that negative school climate perceptions were positively related to both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Negative school climate factors were associated negatively with students' grades; however, the relationship was mediate through internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Findings also indicated that family processes may moderate the relationship between negative school climate and adolescent outcomes. Results suggest that school environments may have adverse effects on African American males' developmental outcomes. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed.


Input-Queued switching fabrics are widely used in high speed network switches for their scalability. However, a scheduling algorithm must be elaborative designed for input-queued switches to get high throughput. The randomized algorithms are attractive in kinds of scheduling algorithms for their low complexity and well performance. In this paper, a fluid model is introduced to analyze the rate stability of switching systems with randomized schedulers. By this method, we proved that the randomized scheduling algorithm can achieve 100% throughput under any admissible traffics which satisfy the strong law of large numbers (SLLN).


I n today's era of molecular biology, where reports of new receptor families appear on an almost weekly basis, it is often forgotten that the concept of "receptors" as the primary mediators of neurohormonal transmission is over a century old. Although it was first postulated by Ehrlich and Langley in the late 19th century, the identification of receptors as discrete molecular entities did not proceed to certainty until some 75 years later, coincident with the introduction and the rapid widespread utilization of receptor binding techniques. Both the theoretical and practical aspects of this methodology are addressed in this chapter. The placement of receptor binding as the introductory chapter speaks to the fundamental importance of the technique in the pharmacological sciences.


The novel technologies in all areas of agriculture have improved agricultural production, but some modern practices affect the environment. The recent challenge faced by advanced farming is to achieve higher yields in an environment-friendly manner. Thus, there is an immediate need to find eco-friendly solutions. Among various types of species being used as biocontrol agents, Trichoderma is widely used as biocontrol agent against different kinds of plant pathogens. Trichoderma spp. are asexual fungi that are present in all types of agricultural soils and also in decaying wood. The hostile activity of Trichoderma species showed that it is parasitic on many soil-borne and foliar plant pathogens. Recent studies showed that this fungus not only acts as biocontrol agent but also stimulates plant resistance, plant growth and development resulting in an increase in crop production. The antagonistic activity involves mycoparasitism, antibiotics, competition for nutrients and also induces systemic resistance in plants. Currently, Trichoderma spp. are being used to control plant diseases in sustainable disease management system. This paper reviews the already published information on Trichoderma as biocontrol agent, its biocontrol activity and its commercial production and application in plant disease management programs


We use an expanded variational approach based on dissipation to study the motion of the boundary of a non-circular cylindrical, and thus essentially 2-dimensional, crystalline grain of arbitrary cross-section enclosed in another grain of the same material under conditions where the normal grain boundary motion is coupled to relative tangential motion of the grains along the grain boundary. Coupling leads to relative rotation of the crystal axes of the two grains and requires shape accommodation; we assume that the necessary mass transport for shape accommodation is by diffusion confined to the grain boundary. We include the recently discovered fact that different modes of coupling with different coupling factors are crystallographically possible and do occur in molecular dynamic simulations. Several results are deduced from the equations we derive. When there is a mirror plane symmetry to the crystal's initial shape, this symmetry plane remains and rotates at half the rate of rotation of the enclosed crystal's crystal axes relative to the surrounding crystal's axes. Sliding along the grain boundary is essential for shape change: when there is no sliding, we show that, although the inner crystal rotates and shrinks, its shape remains the same. If the cross-section of the enclosed crystal is large with a large aspect ratio and diffusion is relatively slow, then the rotation rate is initially diffusion controlled and very slow compared to nearly circular cylindrical crystals of the same cross-sectional area. In this case, and when sliding is relatively easy, the resulting normal motion is essentially mobility-controlled motion by weighted mean curvature; when sliding is intermediate in difficulty between mobility and diffusion, we have instead sliding-controlled motion by weighted mean curvature. As crystals become rounder and smaller in cross-section, all the kinetic factors become involved.


Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are systems that can convert chemical energy into electrical energy by biological oxidation, current effort to improve the power output is limited by the lack of knowledge about the electrochemical activity bacteria and researches on the power generation mechanisms of pure strains are rare. In this study, the exoelectrogenic ("exo" for exocellular) bacterium staphylococcus SJ-1 was directly isolated from the MFC, which was stably run for 90 days. Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) indicated that temporary mediator produced by SJ-1 may take the work of transferring electron. A new built double-chamber MFC was inoculated with pure SJ-1, and after 40 days enrichment, the system produced 520mW/m2 power density and the highest open circuit voltage (OCV) reached to 616mV, the power output was higher than most of the single-strain MFCs reported.


Designing an effective HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) immunogen for elicitation of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) is a challenging task because of the high sequence diversity, heavy glycosylation, and inherent meta-stability of Env. Based on the antigenic profile of recently isolated bNAbs, the rational approach to immunogen design is to make a stable version of the Env trimer, which mimics the native trimeric Env present on the viral surface. The SOSIP.664 form of a clade A Env, BG505, yields a homogeneous and well ordered prefusion trimeric form, which maintains structural integrity and desired antigenicity. Following the same approach, we attempted to stabilize a naturally occurring efficiently cleaved clade C Env, namely 4-2.J41, isolated from an Indian patient. Although the SOSIP form of 4-2.J41 failed to produce reasonably well ordered trimers, the 4-2.J41.SOSIP.664 Env could be stabilized in a native-like trimeric form by swapping a domain from BG505 Env to 4-2.J41 Env. Using various biochemical and biophysical means we confirmed that this engineered Env is cleaved, trimeric, and it retains its native-like quaternary conformation exposing mostly broadly neutralizing epitopes. Moreover, introduction of a disulfide bond in the bridging sheet region further stabilized the closed conformation of the Env. Thus, our 4-2.J41.SOSIP.664 Env adds to the increasing pool of potential immunogens for a HIV-1 vaccine, particularly for clade C, which is the most prevalent in India and many other countries. Besides, the approach used to stabilize the 4-2.J41 Env may be used successfully with Envs from other HIV-1 strains as well. Additionally, a soluble native trimeric form of an efficiently cleaved membrane-bound Env, 4-2.J41, may be beneficial for immunization studies using various prime-boost strategies.


This project investigates the potentials, challenges and opportunities of using CO2 as refrigerant in the supermarket refrigeration and heat recovery systems. The focus is on CO2 trans-critical booster system, as the emerging state-of-the-art system in supermarket refrigeration field. The CO2 booster system performance is studied using computer modeling and field measurement analysis to find the most energy efficient ways for providing simultaneous cooling and heating demands in supermarkets. Through this research work, the solutions available on the market are investigated, suggestions on system modifications and optimization are made, and new system solutions are suggested.


Objective: To evaluate the neurological involvement in systemic sclerosis and to identify changes of cerebral blood flow after a cold stressor test. Methods: We investigated 16 patients with systemic sclerosis through the SPECT analysis of regional cerebral blood flow to find out whether focal or diffuse perfusion defects might be present and wether new or increased defects might occur after a cold hand test. MRI imaging was obtained to asses the presence of cerebral ischemic lesions. Results: Cerebral perfusion defects on SPECT were found in 7 patients (43.5%). After the cold test, perfusion defects appeared in 1 patient and the perfusion defect detected at baseline worsened in 3 patients. MRI showed cerebral ischemic lesions in 6 patients (37.5%) and cortical atrophy in 10 patients. Conclusions: We observed the appearance of vasospastic features in the central nervous system (CNS) after a cold stressor test in scleroderma patients. A Raynaud's syndrome may occur in the CNS. Perfusion changes of cerebral blood flow might be due to a reduced vascular reserve or to a vascular-endothelial damage.


Femtosecond laser pulse-train induced breakdown in fused silica is investigated theoretically, with a focus on the role of ultrafast seed electrons during the pulse-train excitation. Material breakdown threshold is investigated by a model, which consists of both the excitation model and an improved optical model by including the optical absorption of self-trapped excitons (STEs). It is found that the evolution of a single train induced breakdown threshold is governed by the interplay of three competing sources of seed electrons initiating an electronic avalanche: residual conduction-band electrons left by the previous pulse, photoionization of atoms in dense media and photoionization of STEs by subsequent pulses. The third source provides a key to the understanding of some potential and existing problems involved, and leads to many pulse-separation independent phenomena (e.g. surface damage/ablation size) for pulse-train processing when it becomes dominant, and can contribute to the repeatable processing. For a single train of two or several femtosecond pulses, the third source can become dominant and sustained at large pulse-separations only when the first-pulse energy is over a critical value, ~65–75% of the single-pulse breakdown threshold. Our calculations are in agreement with the experimental data.


Treatment options for patients with breast cancer have progressively improved over the past 40 years, from an era of no chemotherapy to the introduction of taxanes, hormonal therapy, and biologic therapy. These advances have resulted in substantial, 15%-20% improvements in clinical outcomes. However, progress has yet to be made to improve the prognosis in many breast cancer patients, and research is currently under way to test new tools, or new applications of older tools, to advance breast cancer management. Chemotherapy clearly remains a cornerstone of adjuvant breast cancer treatment, because breast cancer can be very sensitive to the currently available agents. Meanwhile, the era of a one-size-fits-all approach to breast cancer management is over, and the maximum potential of chemotherapy should now be reached by targeting specific populations. Effective biomarkers are therefore needed to optimize chemotherapy, define more selective populations, and clearly tailor treatment. This paper discusses recent data, including new trials that are more fully incorporating current knowledge with respect to molecular markers and the underlying biology of breast cancer.


The first article of this two-part series explores the basic concepts and techniques of antenna pattern measurement and evaluates the benefits and drawbacks of various measurement methods. The concepts relating to near-field and far-field pattern testing are discussed as well. The second article (see page 34) presents the theory and equations governing antenna properties and includes a complete description of a site calibration for pattern-measurement testing.


This article adds to the literature on the use of hypermedia systems for software development in nursing education by describing design and authoring considerations in the construction of course-specific remediating software. In 1991, under the guidance of an instructional designer, faculty members developed LinkWay folders on aspects of the endocrine system for remedial use by students in Project Get Ahead in Nursing at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Existing content outlines were modified according to design criteria, including representing information graphically, making the software translation interactive, embedding visual prompts and cues, and conforming to a specific design protocol. The use of LinkWay in facilitating the implementation of both procedural of both procedural and screen protocol is discussed, and several screen templates are presented, including menus, multiple choice, short answer, multiple choice browsing, and end-of-section evaluation. Current project status and conclusions for remediation using a hypermedia approach are discussed.


None of Us Were Like This Before recounts the dark journey of a tank battalion as its focus switched from conventional warfare to guerrilla war and prisoner detention. Phillips's narrative reveals how a group of ordinary soldiers, ill trained for the responsibilities foisted upon them, descended into a cycle of degradation that led to the abuse of detainees. The book illustrates that the damaging legacy of torture is not only borne by the detainees, but also by American soldiers and the country to which they have returned.


: Despite some uneven performance in the 1980s, health maintenance and preferred provider organizations are here to stay. Author Keith Korenchuk believes that negotiating satisfactory managed care contracts will become increasingly important in the next decade and he offers several suggestions to reach this goal.


While big data offer exciting opportunities to address questions about social behavior, studies must not abandon traditionally important considerations of social science research such as data representativeness and sampling biases. Many big data studies rely on traces of people's behavior on social media platforms such as opinions expressed through Twitter posts. How representative are such data? Whose voices are most likely to show up on such sites? Analyzing survey data about a national sample of American adults' social network site usage, this article examines what user characteristics are associated with the adoption of such sites. Findings suggest that several sociodemographic factors relate to who adopts such sites. Those of higher socioeconomic status are more likely to be on several platforms suggesting that big data derived from social media tend to oversample the views of more privileged people. Additionally, Internet skills are related to using such sites, again showing that opinions visible on these sites do not represent all types of people equally. The article cautions against relying on content from such sites as the sole basis of data to avoid disproportionately ignoring the perspectives of the less privileged. Whether business interests or policy considerations, it is important that decisions that concern the whole population are not based on the results of analyses that favor the opinions of those who are already better off.


Conveying distinctive and coherent brand associations is a key concern of modern brand management. Brands with a concise, consumer-relevant, and unique brand image are preferred by consumers. This study considers the contribution brand names can provide to building customer based brand equity. Recent cognitive theories of conceptual combination form the theoretical basis for analyzing consumer reactions toward brand names. Following these theories, three techniques to integrate brand name and product are developed. Reaction time measurements and association tests show that the techniques presented are an effective and efficient means to convey a brand's image.


The "human security" scholarship has attracted much attention since the 1994 UN human development report and then, its slogan "freedom from fear and freedom from wants" became famous worldwide. Human security refer to a kind of security that does not focus on either the traditional security nor even on the expanded nontraditional security, both of which are concerned first with the entity of the state. It focuses instead on the importance of protecting the well-being of the human race—not just the security of one"s own people, but of all cutting-across distinctions and boundaries of nationality and ethnicity, class and culture, gender and religion. Currently religious extremism, terrorism, racialism, communal violence and sectarian clashes have threatened peace and prosperity. On the other hand environmental degradation, infectious diseases, illegal drugs" trafficking, economic crises, irregular migration and poverty have become common phenomenon which need to be tackled on priority basis. This study argues that Sufism is a source for human security. The Sufi ideology is combination of spiritual material and philosophical world views which is capable of sharing the torch of the way of peace, good character, and the balance for everyone. Sufism is an alternative source of human security and it has capability to provide constructive pathways for safeguarding humanity.


Background: The constructions of the infrastructure for information and communication technology (ICT) and a universal health insurance system are necessary for a smooth execution of telemedicine. However, despite the fulfilment of such necessary conditions, there are situations where the telemedicine still fails to settle as a system due to low receptivity of stakeholders.

Introduction: This study plans to first analyse the stakeholders' resistance to an organisation's implementation of telemedicine. By focusing on the medical professionals' interests, we aim to propose a strategy to minimise their conflicts and improve their acceptance.

Materials and methods: The Delphi study was carried out on 190 telemedicine professionals, whom have been recommended by 480 telemedicine-related personnel in South Korea.

Results: Out of 190 professionals, 60% of enrolled participants completed the final questionnaires. The stakeholders were categorised into groups including policy making officials, medical professionals, patients and industrialists. Amongst these, the majority of the medical professionals opposed to the execution of telemedicine. The main causes of such opposition were found to be the lack of medical delivery system and the threat of disruption of the primary care units. The consensus amongst stakeholders revealed low and in order to facilitate the smooth agreements, each expert presented the similar conditions such as the financial support by the government and the guarantee of medical autonomy.

Conclusion: The analysis of the causes of the resistance of telemedicine, extracted from the concerned parties, has important implications for the policy-makers to derive strategies for an appropriate consensus.


All material supplied via JYX is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, and duplication or sale of all or part of any of the repository collections is not permitted, except that material may be duplicated by you for your research use or educational purposes in electronic or print form. You must obtain permission for any other use. Electronic or print copies may not be offered, whether for sale or otherwise to anyone who is not an authorised user. An examination of nonresponse in a study on daily family life : I do not have time to participate, but I can tell you something about our life Rönkä, Anna; Sevón, Eija; Malinen, Kaisa; Salonen, Eija


This study aimed to investigate the influence of Ecovillage design concept on the decisions to buy houses in housing projects. This work used a quantitative method in which data were collected from 813 samples in Bangkok Metropolitan area from March to May 2016 using quota sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study broadly found that certain distinct criteria influenced consumers' decision to buy a house. Most of the respondents considered the infrastructure in the area as the main factor affecting their decision such that electricity, paved roads and water supply system should be readily available. As to the village layout, most of the respondents considered the accessibility of a market, convenience stores and other stores within the area to affect their decisions.  However, the study interestingly found that energy and environment conservation factors also influence consumers' buying decisions for each housing type and price level. All site selection factors and some site design factors such as the marketplace and sports or recreation area have high or highest influence on consumers' decision to buy a house in all segments while some factors have high or highest influence on the majority of house segments such as the bike lane, wide footpath, fishbone road network and U-turn roundabout, air-flow type fence, environmentally-friendly material used, universal design, garbage management, and natural disaster prevention. These findings can be used as a guideline in designing housing projects to satisfy consumers' needs.


The concept of vibration controllability with smart fluids within flexible structures has been of significant interest in the past two decades. Although much research has been done on structures with embedded electrorheological (ER) fluids, there has been little investigation of magnetorheological (MR) fluid adaptive structures. In particular, a body of research on the experimental work of cantilever MR beams is still lacking. This experimental study investigates the controllability of vibration characteristics of magnetorheological cantilever sandwich beams. These adaptive structures are produced by embedding an MR fluid core between two elastic layers. The structural behaviour of the MR beams can be varied by applying an external magnetic field to activate the MR fluid. The stiffness and damping structural characteristics are controlled, demonstrating vibration suppression capabilities of MR fluids as structural elements. MR beams were fabricated with two different materials for comparison purposes. Diverse excitation methods were considered as well as a range of magnetic field intensities and configurations. Moreover, the cantilever MR beams were tested in horizontal and vertical configurations. The effects of partial and full activation of the MR beams were outlined based on the results obtained. The controllability of the beam's vibration response was observed in the form of variations in vibration amplitudes and shifts in magnitudes of the resonant natural frequency.


One hundred years ago this week the war poet David Jones was wounded on the Somme. Unlike other war poets it took over 20 years for the horrors he had witnessed to work their way out into his writing. This workshop examines the cognitive processes involved (a) when poets re-render past visual experience as words, and (b) when readers of those words reconstruct the original emotions for themselves. The workshop tasks will thoroughly explore the mind's "semantic interlingua", that is to say, the as-yet-unbroken deep-mind code into which all incoming, and out of which all outgoing, communications have to be translated. The tasks therefore promise practical benefits to participants wishing to ground their visualisation practicum more effectively in the sciences of mind. Factsheets and suggestions for follow-up reading will be provided.


The number and type of atmospheric pressure techniques suitable for sampling analytes from surfaces, forming ions from these analytes, and subsequently transporting these ions into vacuum for interrogation by MS have rapidly expanded over the last several years. Moreover, the literature in this area is complicated by an explosion in acronyms for these techniques, many of which provide no information relating to the chemical or physical processes involved. In this tutorial article, we sort this vast array of techniques into relatively few categories on the basis of the approaches used for surface sampling and ionization. For each technique, we explain, as best known, many of the underlying principles of operation, describe representative applications, and in some cases, discuss needed research or advancements and attempt to forecast their future analytical utility.


A general information transmission model, under independent and identically distributed Gaussian codebook and nearest neighbor decoding rule with processed channel output, is investigated using the performance metric of generalized mutual information. When the encoder and the decoder know the statistical channel model, it is found that the optimal channel output processing function is the conditional expectation operator, thus hinting a potential role of regression, a classical topic in machine learning, for this model. Without utilizing the statistical channel model, a problem formulation inspired by machine learning principles is established, with suitable performance metrics introduced. A data-driven inference algorithm is proposed to solve the problem, and the effectiveness of the algorithm is validated via numerical experiments. Extensions to more general information transmission models are also discussed.


A method is introduced for the evaluation of x-ray spectra from x-ray machines operating in the range 50-100 kVp using a cadmium telluride (CdTe) detector with low detection efficiency. The pulse height distribution obtained with this kind of detector does not represent the true photon spectra owing to the presence of K-escape, Compton scattering, etc.; these effects were evaluated using a Monte Carlo method. A stripping procedure is described for implementation on a Univac 1100/82 computer. The validity of our method was finally tested by comparison with experimental results obtained with a Ge detector and with data from the literature; the results are in good agreement with published data.


Remote sensing techniques have been widely used for monitoring and measuring of the uppermost layer of the ocean. A methodology has been developed to predict the temperature vertical profiles of the ocean using satellite derived sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH). SSH have shown significant linear relationships with latitudinal thermicline depths. Linear relationships were also found among the model parameters. Mixed layer temperature was obtained by a linear relationship using SST. Having all the relationships, temperature vertical profiles prediction using satellite data were discussed. Thermal structure of the oceans have wider applications in oceanography and fisheries. This model can be used to generate isothermal subsurface temperatures of depth to 500 m. On the other hand, if a particular species tuna fish swim in 21 oC, the depth of that isothermal surface can be predicted. The output of this model can support for deep sea fishing industry.


Because medically useful information could also be gathered through hospital-based studies, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of HT among the elderly at a university hospital in Turkey. A total of 3,038 elderly were enrolled. Overall, 75.1% of the patients had HT. Among the hypertensive elderly, 88.9% were aware that they had HT, and only 20.9% had BPs that were under control. The low prevalence of control, even among individuals aware of their HT, suggests that the education of health care providers at all stages of professional training is especially important.


Though most legal and labor historians have depicted an American labor movement that suffered from legal disabilities, American law has never denied organized labor's freedom of association. Quite the contrary, unions have always enjoyed at least some favoritism in the law, and this status provided the essential element to their success and power. But, even during the heyday of union power (1930–47), organized labor never succeeded in gaining all of the privileges that it sought, not enough to stem its current (private-sector) decline back to historically normal levels. This article provides a synoptic overview and reinterpretation of the development of American labor law.


The current high demand of minimally processed or fresh-cut fruit and vegetables results from the consumer's desire for healthy, convenient, fresh, and ready-to-eat plant food-derived commodities. Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are usually packaged under active- or passive-modified atmosphere packaging, while its shelf life must be under refrigerated conditions. The most important goal to preserve quality and safety focuses on releasing the microbial spoilage flora, since every unit operation involved will influence the final load. Sanitation in the washing step is the only unit operation able to reduce microbial load throughout the production chain. Chlorine is widely used as an efficient sanitation agent, but some disadvantages force to find eco-friendly emerging alternatives. It is nec - essary to deal with aspects related to sustainability because it could positively contribute to the net carbon balance besides reducing its use. Several innovative techniques seem to reach that target. However, industrial changes for replacing conventional techniques request a fine knowledge of the benefits and restrictions as well as a practical outlook. This chapter reviews the principles of emerging eco-friendly techniques for preserving quality and safety of fresh-cut products in order to meet the expected market's demand.


Retinoid receptor-related testis-associated receptor (RTR)/germ cell nuclear factor is a nuclear orphan receptor that plays an important role in the control of gene expression during early embryonic development and gametogenesis. It has been shown to repress transcriptional activation. In this study, we further characterize this repressor function. We demonstrate that RTR can suppress the transcriptional activation induced by the estrogen receptor related-receptor α1 through its response element. The latter is at least in part due to competition for binding to the same response element. In addition, RTR inhibits basal transcriptional activation, indicating that it functions as an active repressor. Mammalian two-hybrid analyses showed that RTR interacts with the co-repressor nuclear co-repressor (N-CoR) but is unable to interact with the co-repressor SMRT or RIP140. Pull-down analyses with glutathioneS-transferase-RTR fusion protein demonstrated that RTR physically interacts with N-CoR in vitro, suggesting a potential role for N-CoR in the transcriptional repression by RTR. To identify the regions in RTR essential for the binding of RTR to N-CoR, the effect of various deletion and point mutations on this interaction was examined. This analysis revealed that this interaction requires the hinge domain, helix 3 as well as the helix 12 region of RTR. The residues Ser246-Tyr247 in the hinge domain, Lys318 in helix 3, and Lys489-Thr490 in helix 12 are identified as being critical in this interaction. Our results demonstrate that RTR can function as an active transcriptional repressor and that this repression can be mediated through interactions with the co-repressor N-CoR. We show that this interaction exhibits several characteristics unique to RTR. Through its repressor function, RTR can suppress the induction of transcriptional activation by other nuclear receptors. These repressor activities may provide important mechanisms by which RTR regulates gene expression during development and gametogenesis.


The harmful effect of inhalational anesthetics on the working environment of anesthetists is one of most controversial areas, where speculations can easily arise. In the present review the authors summarize the possible sources of environmental pollution in the operating theatre with special emphasis on the importance of air suctioning and air conditioning systems. A full-spectrum of the previously published animal and human studies is provided about the possible health hazards of inhalational agents including effects on the central nervous, reproductive and hematologic systems, on the liver functions and also on the carcinogenesis. A list of the proposed measures to decrease pollution to the minimum in the operating theatre environment is provided. It is concluded that according to the present knowledge, the use of inhalational agents may be considered safe if the prescribed limits of halogenated anesthesia gases are met.


In July 2014, a three week immersive internship was completed, a primary purpose of which was to raise awareness and to provide education on alcohol and tobacco use for tribal adults and children of rural Kerala, India. To achieve this goal, alcohol and tobacco use awareness classes were conducted under the supervision of a group of health administrators and healthcare workers at eleven primary and secondary schools and at several free rural medical camps and medical clinics. Each of these sites provided numerous opportunities for interaction with the Adivasi or indigenous communities of the region, one of which was the Paniya tribe. Despite government-authorized anti-alcohol and tobacco abuse awareness campaigns in Kerala, there continues to be a dramatic rise of substance abuse. This increase in abuse raises the question as to why such programs are ineffective. Based on an evaluation of the internship experience, along with research on the problems perceived while participating in the fieldwork, this paper maintains that the ineffectiveness of these programs derives from their individualistic emphasis, one which is incongruent with the collectivistic moral framework of the Paniya tribe. The individualistic tones of the current government-authorized public health campaigns target the agent (i.e. the smoker or the drinker). Contrastingly, the collectivistic values and concerns characteristic of and voiced by the Paniyas focus on the social effects of substance abuse. This distinction, in conjunction with the fieldwork and research, suggests that in order for substance abuse education to be effective in Kerala, it must be reworked in a manner which honors the virtues and values of the existing collectivistic culture, for instance by presenting the effects of substance abuse within the context of the family and society.


BackgroundHand eczema is a very common condition that has a significant effect on an individual's life in terms of daily functioning including various occupations. Studies show that the point prevalence of hand eczema is around 4% and the lifetime prevalence is 15%.
ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and pattern of hand eczemas in patients attending the Dermatology outpatient department of Bir hospital.
Materials and methodsThis is a retrospective study, where all the cases of hand eczema who presented to the Dermatology Out-Patient Department of Bir Hospital during the period from Baisakh 2075 till Chaitra 2075 B.S were recorded.
ResultsEczema was diagnosed in 5,100 new cases (15.74%) and among them, hand eczema was seen in 494 cases, which accounts for 9.68% of all eczemas. The mean age was 37.43 years. Out of all the hand eczemas recorded, 334 (67.6%) were unspecified hand eczemas, pompholyx was seen in 92 (18.6%) cases, chronic hand eczema in 27 (5.5%), contact dermatitis in 20 (4%) patients and finger tip eczema was seen in 15 (3%) cases.
ConclusionHand eczema is one of the common dermatological conditions. Our study showed the prevalence of hand eczema to be 9.68%.


In 1977, there was an outbreak of photosensitivity dermatitis by among persons who had ingested a certain brand of chlorella tablets. At least 23 patients were identified in and around the Tokyo metropolitan area. The unconsumed chlorella tablets collected from these patients invariably induced photosensitivity dermatitis in mice. These chlorella tablets contained large amounts of pheophorbide and its ester, which are well-known phototoxic pigments derived from chlorophyll, while chlorella tablets from another maker, which contained less than a tenth as much pheophorbide induced no photosensitivity lesion in mice. Furthermore, a linear dose response relationship was observed between the severity of photosensitivity dermatitis in experimental animals and the content of pheophorbide in chlorella dministered. However, the reaction induced by pheophorbide extracted from the suspect chlorella was weaker than that induced by the original chlorella sample. It was confimed that ethanol, used in forming granules of chlorella before pelleting, activates chlorophyllase, which in turn hydrolyzes chlorophyll naturally contained in chlorella into pheophorbide and its ester. We concluded that the photosensitivity dermatitis was caused by the chlorella tablets, which had been treated with ethanol. We believe that pheophorbide and its ester found in large amount in these tablets, have played a major role in inducing the photosensitivity dermatitis. (Received November 20, 1978)


SUMMARY Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) belong to the family of recently discovered anti-cancer factors found in milk fat. In order to exert a significant protection against the development of cancer, intake of CLA should be increased, which can be accomplished with the consumption of food products with enhanced CLA level. The increase of CLA content in milk fat can be obtained through feeding by modification of the biological hydrogenation processes in the rumen. The factors which exert an effect on the amount of CLA formed in conjunction with feeding are the amount and composition of the oil supplementation, the stage of the fat in the diet (e.g. free fat addition or fat within seeds), the structure of the fat-carrier, the fiber content and energy level of feed and the feeding regimen. While assembling diets the above factors should be applied in such a manner that paralell with the increase of CLA content of milk fat possible negative effects due to emerged oil consumption e.g. milk fat depression, decrease of the digestibility of nutrients and that of feed intake would be minimized.


The paper is devoted to the numerical stability of fractional delay differential equations with non-smooth coefficients using the Chebyshev collocation method. In this paper, based on the Grunwald-Letnikov fractional derivatives, we discuss the approximation of fractional differentiation by the Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind. Then we solve the stability of the fractional delay differential equations. Finally, the stability of the delayed Mathieu equation of fractional order is examined for a set of case studies that contain the complexities of periodic coefficients, delays and discontinuities.


Water is one of the natural resources which is essential to sustain life. Water pollution is any chemicals, physical or biological that changes the quality of water and has harmful effects on any living organism that uses it. When humans drink polluted water, it often has serious affects on their health. The objective of the study is 1) to evaluate the nature of the ground water in study area, 2) to study the Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, 3) to examine the awareness of the respondents about the water pollution, and to find out the methods to control the ill effects of water pollution on human health. The present study was conducted to assess the ill effects of water pollution on human health in Erumapalayam village in Salem District. Salem is the fifth largest city in Tamil Nadu State. A sample of 50 respondents was selected through simple random sampling techniques. The data was collected through well structured interviewing schedule. The collected data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The physical and chemical analysis conducted the water sample, it is found that the appearance of samples is slight-brownish color and they have objectionable odour and taste, Turbidity of the samples is found to be not in the range of permissible limit, I.e., 36 mg/L. As per the standard of Central Public Health Engineering Environmental Organization (CPHEEO) water sample is physically and chemically not potable due to appearance of odour and TDS, ALK, TH, FE, NO3 and C1 value exceeds the maximum permissible limits.


Agriculture is an important sector of the national economy. Modelling in agriculture is extensively used to evaluate and simulate the development of this industry. There are two main purposes for the development of agricultural models: to develop a scientific understanding of a particular system and obtain information in order to justify agricultural policy decisions and predict their implications. The purpose of this study is to analyse the models used in agriculture in the European Union (EU). To reach these purposes, the following research tasks were set: (1) to analyse the theoretical aspects of simulation modelling; (2) to explore the key agricultural simulation models employed in the EU. The research found that simulation modelling is often used in agriculture by policy makers. There are eight key models of different complexity which are being used to predict the development of the agricultural sector in the EU.


In this paper a procedure to detect and isolate data attacks on power network power flow measurements is proposed. This method can be used in conjunction with available bad data detection (BDD) methods to isolate multiple bad data which are otherwise difficult to handle. The proposed procedure relies on secure measurements of bus voltage magnitudes to define a measurement residual using potentially compromised active and reactive power flow measurements on transmission lines. The proposed residual can be calculated in real-time. In addition, the component of the proposed residual on any particular line depends only locally on the component of the data attack on the same line. This makes the proposed residual well-suited for distributed data attack isolation in large-scale power networks. Furthermore, it can be shown that the proposed procedure becomes more effective when measurements from multiple time instances can be utilized. A detailed numerical case study on the IEEE 14-bus benchmark system demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed procedure.


Gravity is the most familiar force at our natural length scale. However, it is still exotic from the view point of particle physics. The first experimental study of quantum effects under gravity was performed using a cold neutron beam in 1975. Following this, an investigation of gravitationally bound quantum states using ultracold neutrons was started in 2002. This quantum bound system is now well understood, and one can use it as a tunable tool to probe gravity. In this paper, we review a recent measurement of position-space wave functions of such gravitationally bound states, and discuss issues related to this analysis, such as neutron loss models in a thin neutron guide, the formulation of phase space quantum mechanics, and UCN position sensitive detectors. The quantum modulation of neutron bound states measured in this experiment shows good agreement with the prediction from quantum mechanics.


Increase of the efficiency of photodynamic therapy (PDT) requires the development of advanced protocols employing both novel photosensitizer (PS) carriers and aids for online monitoring. Nanoconstructs may be comprised of a photosensitizer, chemotherapy drugs, or inhibitors of molecular pathways that support cancer growth. In this paper, we analyze the efficiency of a bimodal approach involving fluorescence and optoacoustic imaging in monitoring drug distribution and photobleaching. The study evaluates typical sensitivities of these techniques to the presence of the two key moieties of a nanoconstruct: benzoporphyrin derivatives (BPD) serving as a PS, and IRDye800 acting as a contrast agent. Both imaging modalities employ dual-wavelength probing at the wavelengths corresponding to absorption peaks of BPD and IRDye800, which enables their separate detection. In an experiment on a tissue-mimicking phantom with inclusions containing separate BPD and IRDye800 solutions, fluorescence imaging demonstrated higher contrast as compared to optoacoustic imaging for both components, though strong light scattering in the surrounding media restricted accurate localization of the markers. It was also sensitive to photobleaching, which is a measure of PDT efficiency. Optoacoustic imaging demonstrated sufficient sensitivity to both components, though less than that of fluorescence imaging, however, it enabled depth-resolved detection of an absorber and estimation of its relative content. Employment of the bimodal approach in monitoring of PS photobleaching adds to its potential in intraprocedural PDT monitoring.


The new edition of this popular course in translation from French into English offers a challenging practical approach to the acquisition of translation skills, with clear explanations of the theoretical issues involved. A variety of translation issues are considered including: *cultural differences *register and dialect *genre *revision and editing. The course now covers texts from a wide range of sources, including: *journalism and literature *commercial, legal and technical texts *songs and recorded interviews. This is essential reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students of French on translation courses. The book will also appeal to wide range of language students and tutors. A tutors' handbook offering invaluable guidance on how to use the text is available for free download at http://www.routledge.com/cw/thinkingtranslation/


How do you record the wildlife in a wood? This book explains ways to record the flora and fauna found in woodland and outlines the sources you can use to find out more about the history and management of an area. Whether you have just a few hours, or a few years, there are examples that you can follow to find out more about this important habitat. Woods include some of the richest terrestrial wildlife sites in Britain, but some are under threat and many are neglected, such that they are not as rich as they might be. If we are to protect them or increase their diversity we need first to know what species they contain, how they have come to be as they are, to understand how they fit into the wider landscape. Conservation surveys are the bedrock on which subsequent protection and management action is based. There is not one method that will be right for all situations and needs, so the methods discussed range from what one can find out online, to what can be seen on a general walk round a wood, to the insights that can come from more detailed survey and monitoring approaches. Fast-evolving techniques such as eDNA surveys and the use of LiDAR are touched on.


Recent work in knowledge compilation suggests that relations which can be described precisely by either Horn theories or tree constraint networks are identi able in output polynomial time. Algorithms for computing approximations using these languages were also proposed. Upon testing such approximations on arti cially generated and real life data, it was immediately observed that they yield numerous super uous models. As a result, although certain entailment queries can be answered reliably, these methods may be ine ective for a large class of membership queries. To improve the approximation quality, we investigate here the k-decomposition problem, that is, determining whether a relation can be described by a disjunction of k tractable theories. The paper discusses the complexity of this task, outlines several algorithms for computing both exact and approximate k-decompositions, and evaluates the potential of this approach empirically. We focus on the class of tree constraint networks and Horn theories and report results on arti cially generated relations and on three real life cases. Our experiments show that for uniform random relations, the quality of upper bound approximations improves as k increases. However, when we require very high accuracy, decomposition is not e ective since k grows linearly with the size of the data. When the data comes from a near-tractable source, the approach is useful. Experiments show that for the King Rook King problem the generalizing power of such methods is comparable to that of recently developed learning algorithms.


Volborthite offers an interesting example of a highly frustrated quantum magnet in which ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions compete on anisotropic kagome lattices. A recent density functional theory calculation has provided a magnetic model based on coupled trimers, which is consistent with a broad 1/3-magnetization plateau observed experimentally. Here we study the effects of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions in volborthite. We derive an effective model in which pseudospin-1/2 moments emerging on trimers form a network of an anisotropic triangular lattice. Using the effective model, we show that for a magnetic field perpendicular to the kagome layer, magnon excitations from the 1/3-plateau feel a Berry curvature due to the DM interactions, giving rise to a thermal Hall effect. Our magnon Bose gas theory can explain qualitative features of the magnetization and the thermal Hall conductivity measured experimentally. A further quantitative comparison with experiment poses constraints on the coupling constants in the effective model, promoting a quasi-one-dimensional picture. Based on this picture, we analyze low-temperature magnetic phase diagrams using effective field theory, and point out their crucial dependence on the field direction.


Many constraints restricting the result of some computations over an integer sequence can be compactly represented by register automata. We improve the propagation of the conjunction of such constraints on the same sequence by synthesising a database of linear and non-linear invariants using their register-automaton representation. The obtained invariants are formulae parameterised by a function of the sequence length and proven to be true for any long enough sequence. To assess the quality of such linear invariants, we developed a method to verify whether a generated linear invariant is a facet of the convex hull of the feasible points. This method, as well as the proof of non-linear invariants, are based on the systematic generation of constant-size deterministic finite automata that accept all integer sequences whose result verifies some simple condition. We apply such methodology to a set of 44 time-series constraints and obtain 1400 linear invariants from which 70% are facet defining, and 600 non-linear invariants, which were tested on short-term electricity production problems.