Background: Rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism (RDP) is an autosomal dominant disorder linked to chromosome 19q13 that is characterized by sudden onset of primarily bulbar and upper limb dystonia with parkinsonism. Methods: The authors evaluated 12 individuals from three generations of an Irish family and obtained detailed medical records on a deceased member. The authors describe the clinical, psychiatric, and genetic features of the affected individuals. Results: Five of eight affected members developed sudden-onset (several hours to days) dystonia with postural instability. Four of the five also had bulbar symptoms. Two have stable focal or segmental limb dystonia. One has intermittent hemidystonia with dysarthria that comes on abruptly in times of stress or anxiety. Three had a history of profound difficulty socializing, and at presentation two developed depression. Three patients had a trial of dopamine agonists without benefit. Genetic analysis suggests linkage to chromosome 19 with lod score of 2.1 at zero recombination. Conclusion: This is the third reported family with chromosome 19q13 rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism. Psychiatric morbidity appeared common in affected members of this family and may be part of the RDP phenotype.


This paper describes a piezoelectric micropump built on a dome-shaped diaphragm with one-way parylene valves. The micropump uses piezoelectric ZnO film (less than 10 /spl mu/m thick) to actuate a parylene dome diaphragm, which is fabricated with an innovative, IC-compatible process on a silicon substrate. Piezoelectric ZnO film is sputter-deposited on a parylene dome diaphragm with its C-axis oriented perpendicular to the dome surface. Two one-way check valves (made of parylene) are integrated with a piezoelectrically actuated dome diaphragm to form a multi-chip micropump. The fabricated micropump (10/spl times/10/spl times/1.6 mm/sup 3/) consumes extremely low power (i.e., 3 mW to pump 3.2 /spl mu/L/min) and shows negligible leak up to 700 Pa static differential pressure.


Introduction: Emergency foods containing immune-stimulants may enhance the immunity of disaster victims suffering from low immune status. This experiment investigated the potential use of pomegranate as an immune-stimulant. Methods: In vitro lymphocyte proliferation analysis showed pomegranate extract as an immune-stimulant. An in-vivo study was conducted with mice fed pomegranate extract added to a high calorie biscuit preparation (Testing Group), and their IgG assays were compared with mice fed a biscuit added commercial immune-stimulant (Comparison) and without immune-stimulant (Control). These 3 groups of mice were starved before the experiment to mimic an emergency condition. Their IgG assays were also compared with two groups of non-starved mice fed a biscuit to which was added pomegranate extract (Non-hunger Testing Group) and without immune-stimulant (Non-hunger Control). Total serum IgG determinations were carried out in weeks 0, 2, 4 and 8 to determine the humoral immunity stimulation. Results: Up to 4th week, there was no significant difference in total IgG among the groups. However, at 8th week, there was a significant increase of total IgG in mice fed with the Test and Comparison foods compared to the Control. This finding indicates pomegranate extract performed as well as the commercial immune-stimulant in increasing IgG. Conclusion: Increase in serum IgG is a sensitive immune-marker that represents a specific humoral immune response due to infections. Pomegranate extract shows potential for use as a supplemental food in improving immunity status of subjects in an emergency situation.


this protocol briefly described the procedure of performing metaphase spreads on single mouse MII (metaphase-II) oocytes. This will allow the user to count the chromosomes as well as perform additional immunofluorescence based stains for protein localization on fixed samples. the assay is however prone to false positive whole chromosome aneuploidies due to the nature of dropping the oocytes onto the etched glass slides. Hence, some skill development by repetition is required to ensure consistent outcomes. The whole procedure from obtaining oocytes to imaging happens over two days.


A structure-independent method for space compaction in combinational circuits based on a new generic scheme is presented. It is shown that a single-output compactor can always be designed for compressing test responses of a circuit-under-test (CUT) with guaranteed zero-aliasing. Test responses from multiple outputs are compacted to a single periodic data stream. The compactor is independent of the fault model and can be designed only from the knowledge of the given test set and the corresponding fault-free responses. An additional response logic and a special code checker are used to design the compactor. The same test set given for the CUT also detects all multiple stuck-at faults in the response logic and almost all faults in the rest of the compactor. Further, time compaction is also easily achieved. Since the design can be accomplished without any information about the structure and functionality of the CUT, it would be useful for testing embedded cores as their internal structures may not be transparent to the users.


There are only a few process evaluation studies on positive youth development programs, particularly in the Chinese context. Objectives: This study aims to examine the quality of implementation of a positive youth development program (Project Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs [P.A.T.H.S.]) and investigate the relationships among program adherence, process factors, implementation quality, and success. Method: Process evaluation of 20 Secondary 3 classroom-based programs was conducted in 14 schools. Results: Overall program adherence, individual evaluation items, quality, and success had high ratings. Principal components analysis showed that two components, namely, implementation process and implementation context were extracted from 11 evaluation items. The correlational analysis indicated that program adherence, implementation process, and context were highly correlated with quality and success. Multiple regression analyses show that teaching process and program adherence predicted quality, whereas teaching process, teaching context, and program adherence predicted success. Conclusions: The implementation quality of the Tier 1 Program of Project P.A.T.H.S. was generally high.


Powerful but nevertheless easy-to-operate systems for backing up and reconstructing data from clients are necessary in a distributed heterogeneous environment. The concept of the Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme (SNI) AG is based on a client/server model. It runs under the control of a SINIX server and includes backup clients for various Unix systems, PCs such as those with MS-DOS/Windows, and PCs in the Novell NetWare network. Logical data backup and restore actions for any file or disk partition in a Unix system and for any file in a PC system can be performed automatically and at defined times during an operation. The backup media are tapes, DAT cartridges, magneto-optical disks, and associated autochangers and jukeboxes.<<ETX>>


This article explores the extent to which it is or may be possible to have a claim both in contract and in restitution. Restitution will almost never be appropriate before a valid contract has been discharged but after it has been discharged a restitutionary claim may be available as well as a contractual one. A restitutionary claim cannot, however, be used to set aside the contractual allocation of risks. It is argued that while in the past English courts may have been too willing to conclude that restitution would be inconsistent with the allocation of risks, the view of those striving to show the independence of restitution that there will always be a restitutionary claim unless the contract, construed strictly against the party resisting restitution, has excluded it, goes too far in the opposite direction. The terms of the contract and its nature are of vital importance to the existence and extent of any restitutionary claim Apart from the question of express or implied exclusion by a contractual remedial regime which is a complete code, the contract determines both whether contractual rights are "conditional" and defensible or "unconditional", and whether the acts of the person against whom restitution is sought constitute part performance of the contract which will either bar a claim or for which the plaintiff will have to give credit.


Background and Purpose: CSF-1R-EGFP ('MacGreen') transgenic mice carry an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter gene in monocyte and macrophage populations. MacGreen mice have been used as a model system to investigate macrophage development and function. The current study investigated brain inflammation following experimental stroke.
Methods: MacGreen mice were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion and neurological deficit and ischemic damage compared to C57Bl/6j mice. EGFP expression was also characterized at 24h and 7 and 35 days post stroke in MacGreen mice.
Results: MacGreen mice show a comparable response to ischemia and progression of damage to C57Bl/6j mice. Inflammation was related to stroke severity at both acute (24h) time points and several weeks (35 days) after experimental stroke. The increased EGFP signal in the ipsilateral hemisphere post stroke was attributed to both increased cell density and increased cell size. EGFP positive cells co-labelled with the microglia/macrophage marker Iba1 and changes in the morphology of these cells from 24h to 7 and 35 days suggest temporal changes in the function of microglia/macrophages within ischemic regions.
Conclusion: MacGreen provide a clinically relevant platform in which to investigate the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis and recovery from stroke.


BackgroundUnderstanding the molecular basis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) has led to development of Hedgehog pathway inhibitors (HPIs) for patients with advanced forms of BCC (aBCC). A practical definition of aBCC as a distinct disease entity is unavailable, and epidemiological information is limited.ObjectivesTo conduct the RONNIE study to describe characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes of patients with aBCC during the period preceding HPI introduction, as well as results from patients with locally advanced BCC (laBCC).Materials & methodsA retrospective chart review was conducted using data from adult patients with a new diagnosis of laBCC between 1st January 2005 and 31st December 2010. The study period was 1st January 2005 to 31st December 2011 to allow for inclusion of at least 12 months of follow-up information for all patients.ResultsTreatment data were available for 106/117 patients. Radiation and excisional surgery were the most common first-line treatment options (43.4% and 23.5% of patients, respectively). Patients typically received multiple subsequent treatments; no apparent trend or pattern was observed. Complete visual response, partial visual response, and stable disease were obtained in 51.9%, 25.9%, and 11.1% of patients, respectively, after first-line surgery, and in 53.7%, 22.0%, and 9.8%, respectively, after first-line radiation. Median progression-free survival after first-line treatment was 32.1 months. Median overall survival was 78.8 months.ConclusionsThese data represent a baseline for laBCC before HPIs became part of the treatment algorithm. The observed heterogeneity of treatment patterns highlights the lack of an established standard treatment for laBCC before HPIs were available.


Observations of radio halos and relics in galaxy clusters indicate efficient electron acceleration. Protons should likewise be accelerated and, on account of weak energy losses, can accumulate, suggesting that clusters may also be sources of very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission. We report here on VHE gamma-ray observations of the Coma galaxy cluster with the VERITAS array of imaging Cerenkov telescopes, with complementing Fermi Large Area Telescope observations at GeV energies. No significant gamma-ray emission from the Coma Cluster was detected. Integral flux upper limits at the 99% confidence level were measured to be on the order of (2–5) × 10−8 photons m−2 s−1 (VERITAS, >220 GeV) and ∼2 × 10−6 photons m−2 s−1 (Fermi, 1–3 GeV), respectively. We use the gamma-ray upper limits to constrain cosmic rays (CRs) and magnetic fields in Coma. Using an analytical approach, the CR-to-thermal pressure ratio is constrained to be <16% from VERITAS data and <1.7% from Fermi data (averaged within the virial radius). These upper limits are starting to constrain the CR physics in self-consistent cosmological cluster simulations and cap the maximum CR acceleration efficiency at structure formation shocks to be <50%. Alternatively, this may argue for non-negligible CR transport processes such as CR streaming and diffusion into the outer cluster regions. Assuming that the radio-emitting electrons of the Coma halo result from hadronic CR interactions, the observations imply a lower limit on the central magnetic field in Coma of ∼(2–5.5) μG, depending on the radial magnetic field profile and on the gamma-ray spectral index. Since these values are below those inferred by Faraday rotation measurements in Coma (for most of the parameter space), this renders the hadronic model a very plausible explanation of the Coma radio halo. Finally, since galaxy clusters are dark matter (DM) dominated, the VERITAS upper limits have been used to place constraints on the thermally averaged product of the total self-annihilation cross section and the relative velocity of the DM particles, 〈σv〉.


Could androids use movements to build relationships? For people, relationships are created with the help of behaviour-shaping norms, which infants begin to discover and manipulate by the third month. To build relationships, MAchines can also learn to exploit human reactions in real-time decision-making. In the video game Tetris, for example, affect co-opts computer-generated patterns to simplify cognitive tasks: norms mediate what Kirsh and Maglio (Cognitive Sci., 18, pp. 513–549, 1994) term epistemic actions, which allow implicit knowledge to shape key pressing in ways that, given past games, are likely to be informative and valuable. Expert players act to change their cognitive states by allowing the game's higher-level states to constrain their lower-level actions. Since this process enables the development of expertise, we might expect it to be widespread; but it seems marginal in hamadryas baboons, although they use affect and complex norms. In humans, by contrast, infants use adults as cognitive resources in developing their epistemic abilities. This has engineering implications for android designers. Since androids can elicit epistemic actions, engineers need to develop an affect–sensitive interface. If successful at this, even rudimentary co-action may prompt people to report experiencing androids as both making choices and violating expectations.


Over the past decade, there has been a call for an interface between assessment practices and second language (L2) learning, and this call has come from both testing specialists (e.g., Purpura, 2011) and second language acquisition researchers (e.g., Norris & Ortega, 2003). One area where a crossing point seems to have occurred is in classroom-based language assessment and, in specific, formative assessment. Rea-Dickins (2008) writes that a greater alignment of research in the areas of formative assessment and second language acquisition may give theorists, researchers, and practitioners a clearer understanding of language development in the classroom. Phrases such as learning-oriented language assessment (Purpura, 2004), assessment for learning (Black et al., 2003), and assessment as learning (Rea-Dickins, 2008) have been coined to emphasize the formative purposes, and highlight the learning aspect, of these classroom-based assessment practices.


STUDY DESIGN
Case Report (level IV evidence).

OBJECTIVE
To describe a potential novel application of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) in the successful treatment of a post-operative spinal cord injury.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
A 68 year old man presented with an acute spinal cord injury (ASIA impairment scale D), on the background of degenerative lower thoracic and lumbar canal stenosis. He underwent emergent decompression and instrumented fusion (T9 to L5), with an uncomplicated intra-operative course and no electrophysiological changes. Immediate post-operative assessment demonstrated profound bilateral limb weakness (1/5 on the Medical Research Council [MRC] grading scale, ASIA impairment scale B), without radiological abnormality.

METHODS
Conventional medical management (hypertension, level 2 care) was instigated with the addition of Riluzole, with no effect after 30 hours. At 36 hours 100% oxygen at 2.8 atmospheres was applied for 90 minutes, and repeated after 8 hours, with a further 3 treatments over 48 hours.

RESULTS
The patient demonstrated near-immediate improvement in lower limb function to anti-gravity (MRC grading 3/5) after 1 treatment. Motor improvement continued over the following treatments, and after 2 weeks the patient was ambulatory. At 4 months, the patient demonstrated normal motor function with no sphincteric disturbance.

CONCLUSION
The application of HBOT contributed to the immediate and sustained improvement (ASIA B to ASIA E) in motor recovery after post-operative spinal cord injury. HBOT may represent a new avenue of therapy for spinal cord injury, and requires further prospective investigation.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
4.


In this paper we consider filter bank based multicarrier systems, which provide better spectral shaping than DFT-based orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete multitone (DMT) systems for the subchannels, as well as for the overall signal. Due to their better performance in case of narrowband interference, such techniques have received attention especially in the context of very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) system development. However, the channel equalization for such systems is still an open problem. In this paper, it is demonstrated that filter bank based multicarrier systems are very sensitive to the nonlinear phase response of the channel. Alternative ways to perform the channel equalization are discussed. Also measurement results from real subscriber lines are presented and, based on these results, a two-step equalization approach is proposed.


Recent studies suggest chain adsorption in the melt may be responsible for a number of property changes in thin films by making correlations between the residual adsorbed layer thickness hads(t) measured after a given solvent washing procedure as a function of annealing time t of the film at an elevated temperature prior to this solvent rinse. This procedure, frequently called "Guiselin's experiment", refers to the thought experiment proposed in a 1992 theoretical treatment by Guiselin that assumed chain segments in contact with the surface are irreversibly adsorbed whereby unadsorbed chains could be washed away by solvent without disturbing the adsorbed substrate contact points in the melt. In the present work, we review this recent literature, identifying and experimentally testing a common protocol for forming adsorbed layers hads(t) from solvent washing melt films. We find hads(t) curves to be far less reproducible and reliable than implied in the literature, strongly dependent on solvent washing and substrate cleaning conditions, and annealing at elevated temperatures is unnecessary as densification of films sitting at room temperature makes the glassy film harder to wash off, leaving behind hads of comparable thickness. This review also summarizes literature understanding developed over several decades of study on polymer adsorption in solution, which experimentally demonstrated that polymer chains in solution are highly mobile, diffusing and exchanging on the surface even in the limit of strong adsorption, contradicting Guiselin's assumption. Preformed adsorbed layers of different thicknesses hads are shown to not affect the average glass transition temperature or physical aging of 30 nm thick films. In summary, a number of open questions and implications are discussed related to thin films and polymer nanocomposites.


This paper describes an exploratory study on the synthesis of fatty acid/potato starch esters using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) as the solvent. The effects of process variables such as pressure (6 – 25 MPa), temperature (120 – 150 °C) and various basic catalysts and fatty acid derivatives (methyl and vinyl esters and anhydrides) on the degree of substitution (DS) were explored in a batch reactor set-up. Products with a broad range of DS values (0.01 0.31) were obtained, the actual values depending on process conditions, type of catalyst and the fatty acid reagent. The combination of K2CO3 and vinyl laurate gave the highest DS values (DS = 0.31 at 150 o C, 8 MPa). The introduction of the fatty acid chains has a profound effect on product properties like hydrophobicity and thermal behavior.


Grease burns and other cooking related injuries have an especially high incidence around the November/December holiday season. A study done in 2004 at our Burn Center showed that the incidence of cooking related burns was 41.1% higher during the week of the Thanksgiving Holiday compared to surrounding weeks. The Burn Center at Washington Hospital Center in partnership with the DC Firefighters Burn Foundation set out to create a 2 prong approach to attempt to prevent these cooking related burns. First a prevention video was created outlining the proper handling of disposable aluminium pans often used for cooking turkeys. The video was posted on YouTube and email blasted to all members of the hospital staff. Second, a flier was created to be handed out at all Burn Outreach and Education events. This flier entitled Dont get Burned by the Bird featured a picture of a turkey standing in a pan of spilling grease. It included instructions for the safe handling of pans while cooking. The video received 159 views on YouTube and the flier has been passed out at numerous Burn Outreach and Education Events. Data collection is ongoing concerning the effect these measures have had on prevention of cooking burns. This year, after implementation of this program there was a reduction in grease burns. Further data collection is ongoing.


Brazilian historiography on modern architecture, replicated by international authors, confirms the importance and the pioneer stance of Gregori Ilitch Warchavchik (1896-1972)/Mina Klabin's (1896-1969) 1927-1932 architecture in São Paulo, and the 1126 Bahia Street (Luiz da Silva Prado) house, 1930-1931, São Paulo, Brazil, is a remarkable example of their initial set of houses. Its design dialogues with other houses simultaneously designed by Adolf Loos (1870-1933), Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Juan O'Gorman (1905-1982), and the connections among all these modernist pieces and their authors suggest the informal existence of an interconnected network of creators, spread across continents. Likewise, they all put forward proselytizing strategies to amplify the repercussion of their works through exhibitions, publications, and debates. The generous internal spaces of this house on Bahia Street, the steady play of its geometrical composition, and its wise topographical and innovative landscape arrangements are well balanced, providing the authors' aim of both making a manifesto and providing the site and the client's necessities with an appropriate individual solution. The house has been used as a commercial space in recent decades, but it has been properly maintained and it is still in good shape.


The ductile fracture process in porous metals due to growth and coalescence of micron scale voids is affected not only by the imposed stress state but also by the distribution of the voids and the material size effect. The objective of this study is to understand the interaction of the inter-void spacing (or ligaments) and the resultant gradient-induced material size effect on void coalescence for a range of imposed stress states. To this end, three-dimensional finite element calculations of unit cell models with a discrete void embedded in a strain gradient-enhanced material matrix are performed. The calculations are carried out for a range of initial inter-void ligament sizes and imposed stress states characterized by fixed values of the stress triaxiality and the Lode parameter. Our results show that in the absence of strain gradient effects on the material response, decreasing the inter-void ligament size results in an increase in the propensity for void coalescence. However, in a strain gradient-enhanced material matrix, the strain gradients harden the material in the inter-void ligament and decrease the effect of inter-void ligament size on the propensity for void coalescence.


As the cost of athletic medical insurance continues to rise, athletic departments are searching for ways to continue to provide quality insurance coverage while keeping costs contained. There are few published articles dealing with the specific topic of the daily operations of maintaining an athletic medical insurance program. We sent an 18-item questionnaire to the 295 active NCAA Division I head athletic trainers to ascertain the current trends in athletic medical insurance. Of these, 207 (70%) responded. Of the respondents, 85% were primarily responsible for the administration of their athletic department's insurance coverage, although they had received no formal training in insurance management. Most athletic departments carry secondary policies and many report having a deductible. A wide range of insurance coverage and premiums were reported.


Objective Design a metric to assess the comparative effectiveness of biomedical data elements within a study that incorporates their statistical relatedness to a given outcome variable as well as a measurement of the quality of their underlying data. Materials and methods The cohort consisted of 874 patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung, each with 47 clinical data elements. The p value for each element was calculated using the Cox proportional hazard univariable regression model with overall survival as the endpoint. An attribute or A-score was calculated by quantification of an element's four quality attributes; Completeness, Comprehensiveness, Consistency and Overall-cost. An effectiveness or E-score was obtained by calculating the conditional probabilities of the p-value and A-score within the given data set with their product equaling the effectiveness score (E-score). Results The E-score metric provided information about the utility of an element beyond an outcome-related p value ranking. E-scores for elements age-at-diagnosis, gender and tobacco-use showed utility above what their respective p values alone would indicate due to their relative ease of acquisition, that is, higher A-scores. Conversely, elements surgery-site, histologic-type and pathological-TNM stage were down-ranked in comparison to their p values based on lower A-scores caused by significantly higher acquisition costs. Conclusions A novel metric termed E-score was developed which incorporates standard statistics with data quality metrics and was tested on elements from a large lung cohort. Results show that an element's underlying data quality is an important consideration in addition to p value correlation to outcome when determining the element's clinical or research utility in a study.


After almost three decades of armed struggle, negotiations between the Turkish government and the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, offer a glimmer of hope to end Turkey's most deadly conflict, which has cost up to 40,000 lives until now. Turkey's direct and indirect negotiations with the Kurdish leader have a long history, dating back to the early nineties. New domestic and regional conditions, however, suggest that the current peace effort has unprecedented chances of success. At the same time, a Turkish-Kurdish peace depends not only on an agreement between the government and the PKK, but also on Turkey's rise as a mature democracy in its turbulent region. The European Union, which could play a decisive anchoring role in the country's democratization, has taken a step back, missing its chance of being a facilitator in this long standing conflict. Will a Turkish-Kurdish peace overcome its domestic and regional challenges? Will 2013 be remembered as the turning-point on the road to long-lasting peace in Turkey?


ABSTRACT The eastern Gulf (MAFLA) continental margin may be conveniently divided into two parts of opposing history and character. West of Cape San Blas lies the eastern limb of the Gulf Coast Geosyncline whose surface expression is a clastic sand body, called the MAFLA Sand Sheet, grading westward into the muds of the Mississippi pro-delta. These sediments have a clay mineral suite dominated by smectite. East of Cape San Bias lies the West Florida Margin, a sequence of carbonate and evaporitic rocks which has been cut off from a major clastic source since Jurassic time. The surface expression of this sequence is the West Florida Sand Sheet, predominantly a patchy veneer of shell hash and foraminiferal, algal, and even oolitic sands which is subjected to periodic reworking by frontal system st rms and hurricanes. Kaolinite dominates its clay mineralogy. Seaward of the carbonate sands lies the West Florida Lime Mud facies, slope sediments composed of planktonic foraminifera and coccoliths. Inshore of the carbonate sands and separated from them by a zone of mixed composition lies a mature quartz fine sand, which also makes up the beaches of Southwest Florida. West Florida shelf quartz sands appear to have been deposited at lower sea level stands and to have been transported back and forth with no net drift in a longshore current system which changes seasonally from north to south. Clay mineralogy in portions of the MAFLA region shows distinct changes in composition over a period of a year in the benthos and over periods as short as a few hours in the water column. These changes reflect contribution from two distinct provenances. Benthie variation probably results from occasional intrusion of smectite laden Mississippi River or Loop Current water into the eastern zone. Water column variation may be the result of seiching of the Gulf or the pulsing movement of kaolinite laden eastern shelf water to the west.


The shortage of raw materials in global markets and the sky rocketing of commodityprices, have induced European authorities to take initiatives to improve innovation inEurope by creating the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (2012) and make inventory of the existing European raw materials. Albania is a rich country in natural raw materials, such as chromium, copper, ferronickel, coal, bitumen as well ascrude oil which might supply primary and secondary raw materials for some of the European needs. This literature review discusses the role of the Albanian institutions, the natural resources industry, potential investors and stakeholders in order to provide a setof indicators and platforms that can help to develop the extractive industry in Albania and monitor amelioration within sustainable development principles. A map with the potential prospects of the natural resources will be a first step in identifying the further potential for exploitation. Mineral resource policies and governance, sustainable processing and supply chain as well as environmental management information system (EMIS) are some of the crucial tools identified, which will help to set up the indicators and quantify the achievements in environmental management in Albania. Moreover, the integration of practices that will support institutional capacity building; follow-up practices; the mainstreaming of global environment into planning; and the compliance monitoring process will additionally improve the environmental situation in Albania. Aligning business strategy with environmental policy, socio-economic analysis, environmental auditing are decisive tools in order to provide the Albanian authorities with a clear overview of the economic costs and the social benefits for sustainable development of the extractive sector in Albania.


This thesis proposes that on-demand mapping - where the user can choose the geographic features to map and the scale at which to map them - can be supported by formalising, and making explicit, cartographic generalisation knowledge in an ontology. The aim was to capture the semantics of generalisation, in the form of declarative knowledge, in an ontology so that it could be used by an on-demand mapping system to make decisions about what generalisation algorithms are required to resolve a given map condition, such as feature congestion, caused by a change in scale.
The lack of a suitable methodology for designing an application ontology was identified and remedied by the development of a new methodology that was a hybrid of existing domain ontology design methodologies. Using this methodology an ontology that described not only the geographic features but also the concepts of generalisation such as geometric conditions, operators and algorithms was built. A key part of the evaluation phase of the methodology was the implementation of the ontology in a prototype on-demand mapping system.
The prototype system was used successfully to map road accidents and the underlying road network at three different scales. A major barrier to on-demand mapping is the need to automatically provide parameter values for generalisation algorithms. A set of measure algorithms were developed to identify the geometric conditions in the features, caused by a change in scale. From this a Degree of Generalisation (DoG) is calculated, which represents the "amount" of generalisation required. The DoG is used as an input to a number of bespoke generalisation algorithms. In particular a road network pruning algorithm was developed that respected the relationship between accidents and road segments. The development of bespoke algorithms is not a sustainable solution and a method for employing the DoG concept with existing generalisation algorithms is required.
Consideration was given to how the ontology-driven prototype on-demand mapping system could be extended to use cases other than mapping road accidents and a need for collaboration with domain experts on an ontology for generalisation was identified. Although further testing using different uses cases is required, this work has demonstrated that an ontological approach to on-demand mapping has promise.


Recent years have seen a trend for experimental psychology to raise its sights from the elegant arti ficialities of the laboratory and consider ways of studying the less tractable psychological problems of real life. This trend is reflected in the present book which comprises twelve chapters on : everyday anomalies of recall and recognition; childhood amnesia; remembering and aging; amnesia following electroconvulsive shock; post-hypnotic amnesia; memory disruptions associated with general anaes thetics; remembering and forgetting; dreaming; state-dependent learning; dissociative amnesia; momentary forgetting in psychotherapy; repression. Each chapter, except for one, deals with human beings in relatively naturalistic settings. Interestingly, the most frequently cited author is Sigmund Freud. The n)ain value of the book is that these chapters give competent, up-to-date progress reports on their selected topics, thus serving as informative references. However, the absence of any effort at overall synthesis makes the book as a whole less satisfying than its constituent parts.


Persons in the predominately male domains of high-risk occupational groups (police, fire department, rescue teams, prison guards) often show difficulties in accepting psychological help after traumatization. The paper presents case reports and conceptual discussion of the relationship between masculinity and treatment motivation. Clinical experiences on male-specific complications of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a high-risk profile of male work-related trauma victims ('alpha-man') are discussed. Theoretical discussion furthermore includes social cognitive theories of masculinity and of development of PTSD. The paper concludes with suggestions for interventions relevant to the outlined problems.


L7-filter is a significant deep packet inspection (DPI) extension to Netfilter in Linux's QoS framework. It classifies network traffic based on information hidden in the packet payload. Although the computationally intensive payload classification can be accelerated with multiple processors, the default OS scheduler is oblivious to both the software characteristics and the underlying multicore architecture. In this paper, we present a parallelized L7-filter algorithm and an efficient scheduler technique for multicore servers. Our multithreaded L7-filter algorithm can process the incoming packets on multiple servers boosting the throughput tremendously. Our scheduling algorithm is based on Highest Random Weight (HRW), which maintains the connection locality for the incoming traffic, but only guarantees load balance at the connection level. We present an Adapted Highest Random Weight (AHRW) algorithm that enhances HRW by applying packet-level load balancing with an additional feedback vector corresponding to the queue length at each processor. We further introduce a Hierarchical AHRW (AHRW-tree) algorithm that considers characteristics of the multicore architecture such as cache and hardware topology by developing a hash tree architecture. The algorithm reduces the scheduling overhead to O(log N) instead of O( N) and produces a better balance between locality and load balancing. Results show that the AHRW-tree scheduler can improve the L7-filter throughput by about 50% on a Sun-Niagara-2-based server compared to a connection locality-based scheduler. Although extensively tested for L7-filter traces, our technique is applicable to many other packet processing applications, where connection locality and load balancing are important while executing on multiple processors. With these speedups and inherent software flexibility, our design and implementation provide a cost-effective alternative to the traffic monitoring and filtering ASICs.


Background: Polysensitisation is a frequent phenomenon in patients with allergic rhinitis. However, few studies have investigated the characteristics of polysensitised children, especially in primary care. Objectives: This analysis describes the patterns of sensitisation to common allergens and the association with age, gender, and clinical symptoms in children in primary care diagnosed with allergic rhinitis. Methods: Cross-sectional data from two randomised double-blind placebo-controlled studies were used to select children aged 6–18 years (n=784) with a doctor's diagnosis of allergic rhinitis or use of relevant medication for allergic rhinitis in primary care. They were assessed for age, gender, specific IgE (type and number of sensitisations), nasal and eye symptom scores. Results: In 699 of the 784 children (89%) with a doctor's diagnosis or relevant medication use, a positive IgE test for one or more allergens was found. Polysensitisation (≥2 sensitisations) was found in 69% of all children. Sensitisation was more common in children aged 9–13 than in younger children aged 5–8 years (p=0.03). Monosensitisation and polysensitisation were not significantly different in girls and boys. The severity of clinical symptoms did not differ between polysensitised and monosensitised children, but symptoms were significantly lower in non-sensitised children. Conclusions: Polysensitisation to multiple allergens occurs frequently in children with allergic rhinitis in general practice. Overall, clinical symptoms are equally severe in polysensitised and monosensitised children. Treatment decisions for allergic rhinitis should be made on the basis of a clinical history and allergy testing.


Gender budgeting is a fiscal approach that seeks to use a country's national and/or local budget(s) to reduce inequality and promote economic growth and equitable development. While the literature has explored the connection between reducing gender inequality and achieving growth and equitable development, more empirical analysis is needed on whether gender budgeting reduces gender inequality. Our study follows the methodology of Stotsky and Zaman (2016) to investigate the impact of gender budgeting on promoting gender equality across Asia Pacific countries. The study classifies Asia Pacific countries as gender budgeting or non-gender budgeting according to whether they have formalized gender budgeting initiatives in laws and/or budget call circulars. To measure the effect of gender budgeting on reducing inequality, we measure the correlation between gender budgeting and the Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Gender Inequality Index (GII) scores in each country. The data for our gender inequality variables are mainly drawn from the IMF database on gender indicators and the World Development Indicators database over the 1990-2013 period. Our results show that gender budgeting has a significant effect on increasing the GDI and a small but significant potential to reduce the GII, strengthening the rationale for employing gender budgeting to promote inclusive development. However, our empirical results show no prioritization of gender budgeting in the fiscal space of health and education sectors in the region.


A neutral tripodal tris(ferrocenylurea)
anion receptor has been designed
that can electrochemically and
optically recognize sulfate and phosphate
anions. The binding of the tetrahedral
anion induced distinct cathodic
shifts of the ferrocene/ferrocenium
redox couple in chloroform, whereas
the UV/Vis spectrum of the receptor
showed an increase in the d–d transition
band upon addition of sulfate ions.
Furthermore, the anion complexes
(TBA)2·ACHTUNGTRENUNG[SO4 L]·H2O (1) and TBAACHTUNGTRENUNG[
F L] (2; TBA=tetrabutylammonium
ion) were isolated. Crystal structural
analyses showed that the receptor in
the two 1:1 (host/guest) complexes encapsulated
sulfate or fluoride ions in
the tripodal cavity through multiple hydrogen
bonds. 1H NMR spectroscopic
and ESI mass-spectrometric analysis
revealed strong sulfate and fluoride
binding in solution.


In individuals with obesity, free fatty acids (FFA) are chronically raised resulting in ß-cell dysfunction, leading to type 2 diabetes (T2D) . Recent data implicate the role of inflammation in developing ß-cell dysfunction, which is in part mediated by nucleotide-oligomerization domain 1 (NOD1) , an intracellular pattern recognition receptor. NOD1 is activated by peptidoglycans of bacterial cell walls; however, in vitro studies have documented that NOD1 can also be activated by saturated FFA.
 Previous data from our lab have shown that palmitate-induced ß-cell dysfunction was prevented in whole body and ß-cell specific NOD1 null mice. We have seen earlier reports on increased macrophage infiltration in islets after elevation in circulating palmitate, and much higher expression of NOD1 in macrophages than ß-cells. Hence, we hypothesized that macrophage NOD1 receptors play a pivotal role in FFA-induced ß-cell dysfunction.
 We have generated myeloid specific NOD1 null mice to target macrophage NOD1 receptors by crossing NOD1 floxed mice with Lyz2 Cre+ mice. Both knockouts and their controls (floxed and Cre) were infused for 48 h with ethylpalmitate (hydrolyzed to palmitate and ethanol in plasma) , to achieve elevated circulating FFA in a non-toxic manner. Ethanol vehicle was infused as control treatment. To assess in vivo ß-cell function, hyperglycemic clamp was performed following the 48 h infusion, and the disposition index (DI) was calculated.
 Ethylpalmitate resulted in elevated plasma FFA compared to vehicle infusion. Ethylpalmitate caused marked reduction in DI in control mice, while knockout mice displayed no significant changes in DI between ethylpalmitate and vehicle infused groups. These results suggest that macrophage NOD1 plays a causal role in palmitate-induced ß-cell dysfunction in vivo. Overall, our data reveal NOD1 as a key factor and a potential therapeutic target for obesity-associated diabetes.

 S.Rahman: None. J.Yung: None. Y.Zhang: None. A.Giacca: None.


The need for sustainable solutions to the negative state of the Earth is urgent. Ethical choices need to be made and humanity's endowed imagination needs to be employed to find creative ways ahead. Literature has a potential to open minds and challenge perceptions, which is necessary to activate the creative imagination needed to find visionary solutions. This analytical research paper explores how a contemporary poet attempts to represent a holistic existence merging the ethics of environmentalism, in particular ecologic criticism, with the aesthetics of art, in particular ecopoetry, or rather ambient poetry. The artist studied is Jody Gladding, who defines herself as a translator and "explorer of the places that language and landscape converge" (Gladding 2018, 63). The selection of Gladding's work is based on poems published on her homepage and in the three most recent publications Rooms and Their Airs (2009), Translations of Bark Beetle: poems (2014) and the spiders my arms (2018). In order to identify the terminology and a set of conceptual tools for the analysis, the thesis starts with a theoretical overview of ecocriticism and ecopoetry, and a brief practical review of the main stages how humanity's relation to nature has been represented in poetry. Gladding's poems are then studied and examined through the two filters provided, in order to map out the place that language and nature converge. The conclusion is that Gladding's explorations result in intellectually stimulating and aesthetically entertaining pieces of art, which also serve as platforms for ethics and aesthetics to converge. These places can then perform as creative venues for the exploration of difficult issues, free of judgements as well as of anxiety. Through its multidimensionality in content and form, Gladding's creative art, once understood, has the potential to be an eye-opener that can offer a ticket out of today's dangerous carelessness and open up the mind's imaginative powers to come up with sustainable solutions for the Earth, for the future. (Less)


Linear Programming (LP) is a powerful decision making tool extensively used in various economic and engineering activities. In the early stages the success of LP was mainly due to the efficiency of the simplex method. After the appearance of Karmarkar's paper, the focus of most research was shifted to the field of interior point methods. The present work is concerned with investigating and efficiently implementing the latest techniques in this field taking sparsity into account. The performance of these implementations on different classes of LP problems is reported here. The preconditional conjugate gradient method is one of the most powerful tools for the solution of the least square problem, present in every iteration of all interior point methods. The effect of using different preconditioners on a range of problems with various condition numbers is presented. Decomposition algorithms has been one of the main fields of research in linear programming over the last few years. After reviewing the latest decomposition techniques, three promising methods were chosen the implemented. Sparsity is again a consideration and suggestions have been included to allow improvements when solving problems with these methods. Finally, experimental results on randomly generated data are reported and compared with an interior point method. The efficient implementation of the decomposition methods considered in this study requires the solution of quadratic subproblems. A review of recent work on algorithms for convex quadratic was performed. The most promising algorithms are discussed and implemented taking sparsity into account. The related performance of these algorithms on randomly generated separable and non-separable problems is also reported.


Abstract Outcomes following peripheral nerve injury remain poor despite the regenerative capacity displayed by the peripheral nervous system. Current therapies are limited and do not provide satisfactory functional recovery in a multitude of cases. Biomaterials have decreased the need for nerve autograft across small nerve gaps in small-caliber nerves, but the lack of a cellular substrate presents a limiting factor to the effectiveness of this therapy. Schwann cells are the supportive cells in the peripheral nervous system and play an integral role in the physiological response and regeneration following nerve injury. Limitations to autologous Schwann cells include donor site morbidity during harvesting, limited expansion capability, and finite source. Stem cells are multipotent or pluripotent cells with self-renewing capabilities that show promise to improve functional recovery following nerve injury. Differentiation of stem cells into supportive Schwann cells could provide additional trophic support without the disadvantages of autologous Schwann cells, providing an avenue to improve existing therapies. A variety of stem cells have been evaluated in animal models for this clinical application; the current options, along with their clinical feasibility, are summarized in this article.


&NA; Considerable developments have occurred in the field of endocrinology in recent years, most notably in identifying and measuring phenotypic markers of endocrine diseases. Although such markers have provided the essential information necessary for the current diagnostic framework in endocrine disease, they often reveal little about disease pathogenesis. While hormone excess or deficiency remains the central element of endocrine disorders, it only provides information about the endpoint of disease. To develop therapies that go beyond replacement therapy, we must dissect the causes of these hormonal imbalances. Only then will it be possible to predict disease earlier and to treat its underlying causes. Because the key etiologic events in these diseases are a combination of environmental and genetic factors, a number of ways exist to tackle this problem. Identifying environmental causes has proved challenging but remains a valid approach to understanding disease pathogenesis. The other approach is to identify the key genetic factors that might be involved in disease and the pathways to which these factors contribute; therefore, interest in using human genetics to define disease susceptibility determinants has grown. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes 10:168–175 © 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins


In previous papers, the concept of the modulation vocoder (MODVOC) has been introduced and its general capability to perform a selective transposition on polyphonic music content has been pointed out. This renders applications possible which aim at changing the key mode of pre-recorded PCM music samples. In this paper, two enhancement techniques for selective pitch transposition by the MODVOC are proposed. The performance of the selective transposition application and the merit of these techniques are benchmarked by results obtained from a specially designed listening test methodology which is capable to govern extreme changes in terms of pitch with respect to the original audio stimuli. Results of this subjective perceptual quality assessment are presented for items that have been converted between minor and major key mode by the MODVOC and, additionally, by the first commercially available software which is also capable of handling this task.


The biological significance of cytosine methylation is as yet incompletely understood, but substantial and growing evidence strongly suggests that perturbation of methylation patterns, resulting from the infidelity of DNA cytosine methyltransferase, is an important component of the development of human cancer. We have developed a novel in vitro assay that allows us to quantitatively determine the DNA substrate preferences of cytosine methylases. This approach, which we call mass tagging, involves the labeling of target cytosine residues in synthetic DNA duplexes with stable isotopes, such as (15)N. Methylation is then measured by the formation of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The DNA substrate selectivity is determined from the mass spectrum of the product 5mC. With the non-symmetrical duplex DNA substrate examined in this study we find that the bacterial methyltransferase HPA:II (duplex DNA recognition sequence CCGG) methylates the one methylatable cytosine of each strand similarly. Introduction of an A-C mispair at the methylation site shifts methylation exclusively to the mispaired cytosine residue. In direct competition assays with HPA:II methylase we observe that the mispaired substrate is methylated more extensively than the fully complementary, normal substrate, although both have one HPA:II methylation site. Through the use of this approach we will be able to learn more about the mechanisms by which methylation patterns can become altered.


The paper is devoted to one of the most important aspects of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station: thyroid irradiation in the residents of 8 areas in the Ukrainian SSR and the town of Pripyat, affected with radioactive iodine. Irradiation doses, prognosis of medical effects of the accident, methods and practical measures for the organization of endocrinological monitoring of the affected population were thoroughly considered. The authors proposed a scheme of health care of the population in these areas. They also discussed the structure of data bases for analysis of medico-dosimetric information on "iodine" effects of the accident. The main trends in medico-dosimetric problems of the effects of thyroid irradiation were outlined.


Background: Self-directed learning originated in the field of adult education and has been referred to as self-direction in learning, self-instructed learning, autonomous learning, self-planned learning, self-regulated learning, self-managed learning, self-education, and independent learning. Self-directed learning (SDL) is significant for health care professionals to develop during their tertiary and professional education, and could potentially be the dominant mode of ongoing education for practicing health care professionals.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine undergraduate medical students' attitudes and readiness, determinants towards self-directed learning.

Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was designed and executed accordingly. This study solicited the perceptions of the final year cohort of students in the MBBS programme. A survey instrument was administered to 86 volunteer, which represents a response rate of 86%.Attitudes and readiness for self-directed learning were elicited by the Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) consisting of a 5-point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree to 5=Strongly Agree).

Results: Data relevant to of 86 graduate students registered at Swami Rama Himalayan University, Dehradun through a pre-described questionnaire. The majority of the students were female (72.10%) and most of them were central board schools. More than 60% of the students have no other medical professional in a family. In our study high readiness was reported more often in central board than state board and distance in 100m. Presence of a other medical professional in family and gender did not affect high readiness. SDL scores were lower among our MBBS students than reported elsewhere in the literature.

Conclusion: This study points out the need to address our students' SDL skills, and need for ways to build SDL skills in our students.


We report new evidence that bears decisively on a long-standing controversy in primate systematics. DNA sequence data for the complete cytochrome b gene, combined with an expanded morphological data set, confirm the results of a previous study and again indicate that all extant Malagasy lemurs originated from a single common ancestor. These results, as well as those from other genetic studies, call for a revision of primate classifications in which the dwarf and mouse lemurs are placed within the Afro-Asian lorisiforms. The phylogenetic results, in agreement with paleocontinental data, indicate an African origin for the common ancestor of lemurs and lorises (the Strepsirrhini). The molecular data further suggest the surprising conclusion that lemurs began evolving independently by the early Eocene at the latest. This indicates that the Malagasy primate lineage is more ancient than generally thought and places the split between the two strepsirrhine lineages well before the appearance of known Eocene fossil primates. We conclude that primate origins were marked by rapid speciation and diversification sometime before the late Paleocene.


Experiments and numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the propagation patterns of pre-existing 3-D elliptical crack in rock-like material under uniaxial tension. Research results demonstrated that as the load was increased, the wrapping wing cracks initiated near the front of long axis of crack, with the lateral growth of initial crack close to the front of short axis. A distortion surface formed from the growth of initial crack leaded to the macro fracture of samples. The distribution laws of mixed-mode stress intensity factor (SIF) along crack contour were derived with FRANC3D, and propagation process of 3-D crack under tension was simulated. It was concluded that propagation patterns of 3-D crack under tension were quite different from compressive cases, mainly in aspects of growth orientation and velocity.


ABSTRACT Blockage of culverts causes reduction in hydraulic capacity and is one of the main contributors to trigger urban flooding. However, the highly non-linear nature of debris interaction during the flood and lack of blockage-related data from actual flooding events make conventional numerical modelling almost impossible. Literature investigating blockage phenomena reports blockage as a complex hydraulic process, which suggests exploring adaptive solutions using latest technologies. In this context, motivated by the success of data-driven algorithms, in this article, four data driven models (i.e., K-NN, ANN, SVR, 1D-CNN) are implemented to predict the hydraulic blockage at culverts. A new numerical Hydraulics-Lab Blockage Dataset (HBD) is established from a series of lab-scale hydraulic experiments. From the experimental investigations, the ANN model was reported as the best with a R 2 score of 0.95. A potential use-case of presented research for real-world application is also discussed to demonstrate the practical feasibility.


The purpose of this case study is to explore the complex interplay among student beliefs, problem solving engagement, problem type, and mathematics understanding as well as dynamics within group discourse among four ninth-grade mathematics students. The analysis of both these dyad's 16-week long collaboration reveals that the role of conversation, prolonged problem solving interactions, and on-going negotiations and relationships is key in their transformation. The results suggest, as students developed a culture within their dyads, of problem solving and problem posing, and collaboration, that engagement was increased. After evaluating the various data relating to problem type and participant engagement, it became evident that certain problem types engaged the students more than the others. While it was no surprise that routine problems were not engaging to them, it was also evident that their collaboration and discourse were very different under these circumstances. They were much less likely to question, challenge, argue, negotiate, or probe each other's thinking, and were much more likely to rely on and accept the first answer. There were no efforts to modify, extend, or apply these routine problems to other contexts. The implication of this study for 21st Century classrooms discourse sheds light on the envisioning of curriculum alternatives for mathematics education amidst the many constraints of current and traditional problem solving contexts. This implication for today's technological and information-sensitive classrooms environment is a key for developing learners who are mathematically literate and intellectually autonomous.


IT is the purpose of this paper to describe—it is believed, for the first time—the pathological changes in the temporal bones of two cases of Meniere's syndrome. In both death occurred shortly after operation for section of the VHIth nerve. For the purposes of the present paper, the surgical factors concerned in the operative failure of these cases will be dealt with only in so far as they are related to the interpretation of the histological changes which are now to be described. Their detailed consideration will be reserved for a further publication. Introduction


Near accurate forecasting of energy demand has become a non-trivial requirement for developing effective management and planning strategies/policies for a resilient energy system. This paper is aimed to develop a novel deep learning-based energy demand prediction model by utilising the combination of Convolutional neural networks and Long Short-term Memory units. The proposed model consists of two one dimensional convolutional layer with max pooling, two bidirectional LSTM layers and finally three fully connected dense layer. The energy consumption data available for a household based in Findhorn ecovillage located in the north of Scotland for a six-week period during the February and March of 2015 was utilised for training, validating, and testing the models. The proposed model provides energy demand prediction for short-term forecasting (5 minutes). The results obtained from the model are compared against four of the classical and widely applied algorithms for time series forecasting: autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM), random forest (RF), and deep neural networks (DNN). The result obtained demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed architecture in outperforming all well-established models.


In this article, Katherine V. W. Stone traces the origins of the uniquely American system of private, employer-centered welfare institutions and argues that the prevailing model must be replaced with an alternative that is both more portable and more affordable for the vast majority of workers. Stone shows how the current employer-centric system of benefits originated in the industrial era of the last century when employers sought to secure a stable workforce through internal labor markets. She argues that this employer-centered model of social insurance and welfare benefits has largely outlived its usefulness in the new "boundaryless" workplace of the twenty-first century. In response to the aging of the population and a rapidly changing economy characterized by global competition, shorter production cycles, increased use of contingent and temporary employment and rising healthcare costs, in the last two decades employers have reduced their benefits coverage, shifted away from risk-pooling plans, such as defined benefits plans, in favor of a personal responsibility approach characterized by more portable but riskier defined contribution plans. She shows that these changes have generally shifted the costs and risks of healthcare and old age assistance onto their employees. As a result, the U.S. system of employer-centered benefits is irrelevant for large numbers of employees who have no coverage and increasingly inadequate, uncertain and costly for those who are covered.


This paper presents a dual AC-3 and MPEG-2 audio decoder which can decode both bit-streams. MPEG-2 synthesis filtering is modified by the 32-point FFT to share the common data path with the AC-3's. The architecture of the decoder consists of a programmable DSP core and a hardwired common synthesis filter. The DSP core was designed suitable for audio processing. The common filter design adopts the suggested MPEG-2 modified synthesis filtering. The proposed system was synthesized with 0.6 /spl mu/m technology and proven to be cost-effective.


Fault tolerance is an important system metric to increase chip reliability. The conventional technique for improving system reliability is through component replication, which usually comes at significant cost: increased design time, testing, power consumption, volume and weight. In this contribution, we propose a technique based on partial dynamic reconfiguration (PDR) to tolerate faults in configurable logic blocks (CLBs) and routing resources (RRs). The fault tolerance is achieved through SRAM cells of configuration frames. Our method do not require preallocated spare CLBs or RRs. The reliability of frames is analyzed and improved.


Cross-device federated learning (FL) has been well-studied from algorithmic, system scalability, and training speed perspectives. Nonetheless, moving from centralized training to cross-device FL for millions or billions of devices presents many risks, including performance loss, developer inertia, poor user experience, and unexpected application failures. In addition, the corresponding infrastructure, development costs, and return on investment are difficult to estimate. In this paper, we present a device-cloud collaborative FL platform that integrates with an existing machine learning platform, providing tools to measure real-world constraints, assess infrastructure capabilities, evaluate model training performance, and estimate system resource requirements to responsibly bring FL into production. We also present a decision workflow that leverages the FL-integrated platform to comprehensively evaluate the trade-offs of cross-device FL and share our empirical evaluations of business-critical machine learning applications that impact hundreds of millions of users.


The Belgian Constitution guaranteed political liberty, exemplified by the mandatory competence of the jury for judging political and press offences. However, the constitution did not literally mention quasi-delicts. In 1861, liberal statesman Charles Rogier was insulted by the ultramontanist Catholic newspaper Le Journal de Bruxelles. He sued the newspaper's printer under tort law, and obtained a considerable amount of damages, bypassing the jury. Progressive radical lawyer Lucien Jottrand, former member of the Constituent Assembly, argued at length that the constitution exclusively reserved competence for both civil and criminal liability to the jury. The Brussels Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation rejected this reasoning and insisted on the superior natural law-origins of tort law. Yet, this decision created a risk of private censorship, well documented in the press and in private archives on the legal battle around the Journal de Bruxelles.


In this paper, we present the adaptive multiuser frequency-time domain radio resource allocation model which adaptively allocates the radio resource jointly in the frequency and time domain to exploit the frequency diversity and time diversity as well as multiuser diversity. Then we give an in-depth capacity analysis of the proposed radio resource allocation with frequency-time domain power adaptation in the downlink OFDMA systems and draw a comparison with the conventional frequency domain resource allocation method. Simulation results show that: 1) the proposed resource allocation method achieves much higher spectral efficiency than the conventional frequency-domain resource allocation; and 2) for the proposed two-dimensional allocation method, the performance of water-filling power allocation is almost the same as that of the equal power allocation, especially when the number of user is large


Fast screening accelerates the discovery and optimization of chemical reactions. Here, we present the parallel irradiation and evaluation of 96 visible light photocatalytic reactions in a microtiter plate. After completion, a chemical indicator is added, allowing the spectroscopic determination of the formed stoichiometric by-products. Their quantity correlates in many cases with the conversion of starting materials and yield of photochemical reaction products. We demonstrate the concept with known photooxidations of organic compounds by riboflavin tetraacetate (RFTA) and reproduce published results and gas chromatographic analyses by a colorimetric assay. Two new photocatalysts for the hydroxylation of boronic acids and new substrates for the photocatalytic generation of aryl radicals from aryl halides were identified. By screening a series of drug molecules containing aryl halides, new photochemical dehalogenation reactions were found. The presented methods enable laboratories lacking sophisticated high-throughput analytical instrumentation to perform parallel optimization and scope determination of photocatalytic oxidation and reduction reactions.


Neural networks have enabled learning over examples that contain thousands of dimensions. However, most of these models are limited to training and evaluating on a finite collection of points and do not consider the hypervolume in which the data resides. Any analysis of the model's local or global behavior is therefore limited to very expensive or imprecise estimators. We propose to formulate neural networks as a composition of a bijective (flow) network followed by a learnable, separable network. This construction allows for learning (or assessing) over full hypervolumes with precise estimators at tractable computational cost via integration over the input space. We develop the necessary machinery, propose several practical integrals to use during training, and demonstrate their utility.


Chronic lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension and others contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality worldwide, yet successful interventions are often limited. Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of excitement regarding potential roles for stem cell therapies to prevent, repair or regenerate lung tissue to improve outcomes of these severe, progressive and often fatal disorders.1 ,2 Based on strong preclinical data, early clinical studies are currently underway to explore safety and potential efficacy in adults with chronic pulmonary diseases, including COPD, idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and others.

In children, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) remains one of the more common yet challenging respiratory disorders for which current strategies are extremely limited. BPD is the chronic lung disease that develops in premature newborns who require respiratory support and oxygen therapy after birth.3–7 BPD has changed remarkably since its original description over 45 years ago, and remains a 'moving target:' a disease modulated and at least partly defined by the impact of therapeutic interventions themselves. Routine use of prenatal steroids, surfactant therapy, improved ventilator strategies and other treatments have improved survival and the clinical course of infants with BPD. Importantly, infants with BPD now have very different clinical courses, outcomes and pathology than had been traditionally observed in preterm infants during the presurfactant era. The classic progressive stages leading to marked disruption of lung architecture with prominent fibroproliferative disease and cyst-like lesions that characterised BPD in the past are now often absent, and the disease is now predominantly defined as a disruption of distal lung airspace and vascular growth.6–8 Lung histology of infants with the 'new BPD' often demonstrates far milder fibrosis and fewer signs of lung injury, but impaired alveolar and vascular growth remains prominent. …


A reduction in capillary dimensions has been demonstrated in postischaemic reperfusion in the heart. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that in ischaemia and ischaemia followed by reperfusion, the change in shape of the constituent endothelial cells can be inhibited by phalloidin which stabilises the actin microfilament system. Isolated, perfused rat hearts were made globally ischaemic both with and without reperfusion and in the presence or absence of phalloidin. Changes in ischaemic endothelial cell dimensions were quantified by measuring whole capillary and luminal cross-sectional areas, abluminal and luminal membrane lengths. The distribution of β-actin within the endothelial cells was determined by immunocytochemistry. In control hearts, β-actin is distributed throughout the endothelium with a slight increase towards the luminal membrane. In ischaemia, this was more marked and other patterns of actin distribution were also observed. After reperfusion, a 'double ring' of actin could be distinguished. With phalloidin, the actin staining was more regular and the ring pattern was not observed. Morphometry showed that phalloidin was more effective in reducing endothelial cell shape change after reperfusion than after ischaemia alone. We conclude that endothelial cell shape change on reperfusion can be modified by agents which target the contractile proteins.


We use matched employer–employee data to explore the relationship between employees' access to flexible working arrangements and the amount of informal care they provide to sick or elderly friends and relatives. Flexitime and the ability to reduce working hours are each associated with about 13% more hours of informal care. Workplaces do not respond to the presence of carers by providing flexible work, instead there is some underlying selection of carers into flexible workplaces. The wider workplace environment beyond formal flexible work may also facilitate care.


This paper discusses the main problematic, misunderstandings and gaps associated with the development of self-organizing multiagent mechatronic systems. The paper reflects the authors' experience in designing and implementing Multiagent Mechatronic Systems. It also partly addresses the work developed under the FP7 IDEAS project (rated an EU FP7 success story) as a clarifying, but not unique, example. In this respect the paper presents a critical overview on how the existing technology is close to support the automation concepts envisioned by emerging production paradigms that rely on Emergence and Self-Organization as main constructs of the system and why technology alone should be understand as only a mean and not a end.


(1) Background and objectives: The purpose of this work is to determine the association of fear-avoidance attitudes with sickness absence status, its duration and disability in a work accident context. (2) Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive observational design, conducting the study in two occupational insurance provider clinics with patients with nonspecific low back and neck pain during the study period. Clinical variables were the Fear Avoidance Questionnaire, Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, Neck Disability Index, Numerical Pain Scale; sociodemographic variables were sex, age, occupational, educational level, sickness absence status, and duration in days of absence from work. Multiple logistic and linear regressions were used to explore the association between variables. (3) Results: Fear-avoidance behavior is related to sickness absence status (OR = 1.048, p = 0.007), and the physical activity dimension (OR = 1.098, p = 0.013) is more relevant than the work dimension (OR = 1.056, p = 0.028). The duration of sickness absence is related to higher values on the fear-avoidance behavior scale in its global dimension (b = 0.84, p = 0.003, r = 0.327), and the results of the physical activity dimension (B = 1.37, p = 0.035, r = 0.236) were more relevant than the work dimension (B = 1.21, p = 0.003, r = 0.324). Fear-avoidance behavior is related to disability in both dimensions (B = 0.912, p ˂ 0.001, r = 0.505). (4) Conclusions: Fear-avoidance behaviors may influence the typification of sickness absence status, its duration both in its physical activity and work dimension, and its disability reported with higher values than in other healthcare contexts.


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When the Laguerre-based finite-difference time-do- main (FDTD) method is used for electromagnetic problems, a huge sparse matrix equation results, which is very expensive to solve. We previously introduced an efficient algorithm for implementing an unconditionally stable 2-D Laguerre-based FDTD method. We numerically verified that the efficient algorithm can save CPU time and memory storage greatly while maintaining comparable com- putational accuracy. This paper presents new efficient algorithm for implementing unconditionally stable 3-D Laguerre-based FDTD method. To do so, a factorization-splitting scheme using two sub-steps is adopted to solve the produced huge sparse matrix equation. For a full update cycle, the presented scheme solves six tri-diagonal matrices for the electric field components and com- putes three explicit equations for the magnetic field components. A perfectly matched layer absorbing boundary condition is also extended to this approach. In order to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method, numerical examples are given.


This thesis describes a research inquiry into models which could be used in an interactive manner for formulating problems and exploring managers' needs for decision aids. It reviews a wide range of literature in Operational Research Methodology, Models and Games, and then argues the case that what managers want are models which could allow them to reflect on the way they manage process and not those which simulate that process. A two phase practical study was carried out in association with two departments of a large organisation in which a group of managers were interested in the basic aims of the study and willing to cooperate. The aim was to research their managerial environment, seeking ways to improve management control of the processes which they do not directly involve themselves in, except by managing those who do. In phase one, Bowen's Problem Formulation Methodology was used to structure and feed back the data obtained from managers. The Methodology proved to be a very effective tool to help both the Operational Researcher and the Problem Owners to communicate and identify potential problem areas and failures in communications and purposeful actions. In phase two, a computer based system was developed for the General Manager of one department to help him in the recording of and access to essential features of his current prob lems and communications about them. The system could be extended as a planning schedule and process control held in common by a management group, a decision support system for the department as a whole.


Archaeologists generally view images and 3D models as objective witnesses to archaeological scholarship and excavation, capturing the subject as seen by human eyes so others can 'see' it for themselves. We employ the newest technology we can afford using prescribed, standardised methods to create as objective an image or visualisation as possible. There is much more to photography and 3D imaging, however, and restricting ourselves in this way severely limits the information we can gather from images. In this thesis, I introduce novel, effective and affordable methods for digitally imaging small, reflective and translucent objects using photography, PTM reflectance transformation imaging, and structure from motion photogrammetry. I focus on glass beads from Iron Age and Early Medieval Scottish contexts. First, I identify regional differences in trade and manufacture of Iron Age and Early Medieval Scottish glass beads using visible-range photographic filters to examine bubble concentrations. Next, I determine the chemical relationships between Iron Age and Early Medieval glass bead collections in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon, Roman, New Kingdom Egyptian, Medieval English, and modern collections using near-ultraviolet and near-infrared photographic filters. Third, I use visible- and non-visible-range filters to greatly increase the success rate of reflectance transformation imaging and structure from motion photogrammetry of glass beads. Finally, I apply all these techniques to non-glass subjects to demonstrate their wider applications. In conclusion, I argue that investigating and deploying novel and affordable imaging techniques in addition to standardised current technologies provides significantly more archaeological data than the current practice of continually adopting new imaging technologies for primarily documentary purposes.


A calculation is performed of the imaginary part of the electron magnetic susceptibility, as function of energy and momentum in the vicinity of the maximum of the inelastic neutron scattering. Compared to the previous calculation a slight bending of the energy bands in the vicinity of extended saddle point singularities is taken into account. It is shown that this simple picture fits qualitatively the recently observed experimental data on the fine structure in momentum space of the inelastic neutron scattering cross section in the vicinity of the maximum at different energies.


Existing approaches to modelling software systems all too often neglect the issue of component-mismatch identification and resolution. The traditional view of software development overemphasises synthesis at the expense of analysis; the latter frequently being seen as problem which only needs to be dealt with during the integration stage towards the end of a development project. The paper discusses two software modelling and analysis techniques, all tool supported, and emphasises the vital role analysis can play in identifying and resolving risks early on. The work also combines model based development (e.g. architectural modelling) with component based development (e.g. COTS and legacy system), and shows how their mismatch-detection capabilities complement one another to provide a more comprehensive coverage of development risks.


Dewi, Rochmah Irfanilasari. 2018. "An Analysis of Code Mixing Used in
Critical Eleven and Taken Movies : A Comparative Study between Native and
Non Native Speakers". English Department, Language and Science Faculty,
Wijaya Kusuma Surabaya University. First Advisor : Dr. Ribut Surjowati, M.Pd.
Second Advisor : Drs. H. Heru Wibowo, M.Pd.
Keywords: Sociolinguistics, Code Mixing, Native and Non-Native Speakers
The study is aimed to describe the different types of code mixing and the different
reason used by two different movies (Critical Eleven and Taken). In this study, the
writer uses a qualitative method to analyze the data, explain the related theory to
code mixing and collect the data from video to the written transcription. Referring
to the theory according to Miles and Huberman (1994), the data classified into the
types of code mixing. The result of this study showed that native and non-native
speakers in Critical Eleven and Taken movie mostly used the first type of code
mixing called insertion but in a different frequency. Also it showed the reasons of
the characters mixed their language are because of personal reason or intention
such as not having appropriate words, willing to feel comfortable, keeping a secret
and clarifying a talk.


The influence of ultraviolet (UV) illumination on piezoelectric properties is investigated in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films. It is found that the poling procedure is more effective when the film is exposed to a broadband UV light in the presence of a high electric field. Piezoelectric coefficients are increased and aging rates are decreased as compared to poling in dark conditions. Both an internal bias field and a polarization offset are observed in the piezoelectric hysteresis loops. The mechanism of the photoinduced poling effect in PZT films is probably due to electron trapping near the film-electrode interface.


Causality or causal linkages are central to the methodology of system dynamics (SD). SD models are supposed to contain and represent only causal relationships as opposed to correlations. Yet, the notion of causality, including the concept, its role, and function in the context of SD modeling, have not received much attention in the SD literature. This paper seeks to contribute to a clear understanding of causality for both SD researchers and practitioners by combining results from the philosophy of science and practical experience from SD modeling project work. In the end, we will generate new knowledge that is vital for the SD community and aims at substantially contributing to the quality and impact of SD modeling activities in all kinds of environments.


In 1884, at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Pisa, the new chair of pathology was inaugurated and Angelo Maria Maffucci was appointed first director. Angelo Maffucci was born in 1845 in Calitri, near Avellino, from a farming family. After graduating in medicine at Naples, in 1872, he started his scientific work at the institute of pathology, under Otto von Schrön (1837-1917). He was professor of general pathology in Messina then Professor of pathology at the university of Catania. In 1884 assumed the role of chairman of pathology at the university of Pisa, where he died in 1903. His scientific contribution is recorded in the massive collection of his personal notes, sketchbooks and watercolours. In 1881 he described, for the first time, the disease characterized by an enchondroma with multiple angiomas, known as Maffucci's Syndrome. The most important scientific contribution was in the field of tuberculosis. Maffucci asserted that avian tuberculosis had a different aetiology from the bovine and human forms. This revolutionary theory caused a strong scientific conflict with Robert Kock. In the last years of his life his pioneering research provided the basis for the following modern investigations to produce vaccines from living bacilli. As a person he was described as brilliant and modest, shy and rigorous.


The retinogeniculate pathways of normal and albino ferrets have been studied with horseradish peroxidase and tritiated proline used as axonal markers. The uncrossed retinogeniculate projection of adult albino ferrets is abnormally small and occupies only a fraction of the geniculate area normally occupied by uncrossed afferents. The crossed pathway is correspondingly expanded, occupying almost the entire nucleus. The geniculate laminae in the albino ferret are abnormal, showing abnormal fusions between layers receiving crossed input and abnormal discontinuities next to the small cell islands receiving uncrossed afferents. In early development, retinofugal fibres can be labelled within the optic tracts on the 28th intrauterine day and a few crossed fibres can be traced into the lateral geniculate nucleus. At this stage, the uncrossed component is extremely small in normal and albino animals and cannot be traced beyond the tract. By day 32 retinal fibres are invading the lateral geniculate nucleus bilaterally, the invasion by the crossed component being significantly more advanced than that by the uncrossed component. The uncrossed pathway of the albinos is already abnormal in terms of its size, in terms of the position it occupies in the optic tract, and in terms of its limited invasion of the lateral geniculate nucleus. The abnormally reduced size of the uncrossed component appears earlier than the abnormal segregation of the retinogeniculate terminals, suggesting that the primary action of the albino gene upon central visual pathways is prechiasmatic. At postnatal stages (41 days after conception and older) the normal, gradual withdrawal of the uncrossed fibres from the monocular segment, and the separation of crossed from uncrossed retinogeniculate terminal arbors is significantly delayed in the albinos. The uncrossed retinogeniculate terminals are abnormally sparse initially and become distributed in an abnormal, interrupted pattern as development proceeds. The abnormal pattern of geniculate lamination appears to be secondary to the abnormal distribution of retinogeniculate afferents.


The use of biochar as an agricultural soil improvement was tested in acid sulfate and sandy soils from Malaysia, cropped with rice and corn. Malaysia has an abundance of waste rice husks that could be used to produce biochar. Rice husk biochar was produced in a gasifier at a local mill in Kelantan as well as in the laboratory using a controlled, specially designed, top lift up draft system (Belonio unit). Rice husk biochar was applied once to both soils at two doses (2% and 5%), in a pot set up that was carried out for two cropping seasons. Positive and significant crop yield effects were observed for both soils, biochars and crops. The yield effects varied with biochar type and dosage, with soil type and over the cropping seasons. The yield increases observed for the sandy soil were tentatively attributed to significant increases in plant-available water contents (from 4%–5% to 7%–8%). The yield effects in the acid sulfate soil were likely a consequence of a combination of (i) alleviation of plant root stress by aluminum (Ca/Al molar ratios significantly increased, from around 1 to 3–5) and (ii) increases in CEC. The agricultural benefits of rice husk biochar application to Malaysian soils holds promise for its future use.


Objective
The effects of implant locations and prosthesis design (palate less, full palate) on stress values of the implant and bone in maxillary overdenture prostheses were examined and compared with finite element analysis.
Material and Methods
 Full palate and palate less four implant supported finite element overdenture models have created with different implant locations (M1: bilateral lateral 1. premolar, M2: canine 2. premolar, M3: 1. premolar 1. Molar). Static loads have applied with food stuff method on 1. Molar region. Von mises stress on implants and implant parts, maximum and minimum principal stress generated in peri-implant bone have calculated with finite element analysis method (FEA).
Results
As a result, it was observed that the palate less design creates more stress on the implants and bone compared to the full palate design. In addition, stress formation was observed to be higher in models with implant positions are posterior.
Conclusion
 In implant supported overdentures (ISO), palatal coverage ensures more balanced distribution of stresses occurring around the implants and implant parts, regardless of the location of the supporting implants.


Canadian and Australian licensing and registration policies regarding International Medical Graduates (IMGs) display some noticeable similarities and differences. Both receiving countries verify IMGs educational credentials, medical training, and language proficiency, apply examinations assessing the skills of this group of foreign trained doctors and tend to place IMGs in underserviced areas responding to health care workforce shortages. However, the Australian nationally regulated, focused on specific labour market needs approach to registration allows IMGs to use various pathways to registration. IMGs who enter Australia utilizing different immigration options have to be registered by the designated registration bodies and, in most cases, to have a verified offer of employment before they are granted visas by the immigration authorities. Consequently, they can start practicing medicine right after their arrival. On the contrary, their Canadian counterparts begin their licensing process only after they enter Canada as permanent residents. The urgent need for nationally consistent, pragmatic and flexible approach to licensing of foreign trained doctors in this country is emphasized.


The paper presents an innovated hardware and software platform for the implementation of the fuzzy controller for temperature and temperature slope change in an electric resistance chamber furnace. The point of this paper is to present the modern hardware and software tools that we used to lift up the base for continuation of the research done in the laboratory for electrical heating of Faculty of electrical engineering, University of Belgrade, more than 15 years ago. In that period, also the robustness of control in respect to the amount of load in the furnace was investigated. The next item of study of the robustness of the fuzzy controller is investigation which will show if the controller can be applied as "plug and play controller", i.e. if the controller can be applied without additional tuning on another furnace with the similar construction in respect to the one where the fuzzy controller is tuned. The paper presents the experimental results of study if "plug and play controller" is practically realistic. The experiments were performed on two electric chamber furnaces with different rated power and volumes.


Problem. This study was conducted to determine (1) whether student evaluations of teachers and ratings of teacher behaviors are related to the ethnicity of the students, (2) the relationship between overall student evaluations of teachers, classes, and ratings of teacher behaviors, and (3) the relationship between student evaluations of teachers, ratings of teacher behaviors, and student achievement. Method. Two teacher evaluation instruments were administered to students in undergraduate classes at a Christian college and a Christian university. The Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) was used as a high-inference evaluation form and the Teacher Behavior Inventory (TBT) was used as a low-inference rating form. The sample included 414 students from one college with a multicultural population and 67 students from one college with a homogeneous ethnic population. Results. In both the college and the university, no relationship was found between ethnicity and student evaluations of teachers. In the multiethnic setting, differences were found between the ratings of teacher behaviors by Caucasian students and the students from the remaining ethnic groups (p $ Conclusions. Students in general tend to give teachers positive evaluations and there were no significant differences among evaluations of teachers done by students from different ethnic groups. However, students from different ethnic groups perceive teacher behaviors differently and give teachers overall evaluations based on different behaviors. Different teacher behaviors are also weakly related to achievement of college students from different ethnic groups. Teachers may be able to improve teaching by learning what behaviors work well with different groups and include a variety of methods in the classroom.


Information technology (IT) radically alters the cost of capturing, storing, and analyzing information, and thus dramatically alters the value of the historical data represented by a firm's detailed transaction records of customer interactions. Yet, information systems are seldom used to their full potential in developing flexible pricing strategies and tailored offerings for individual customers, based either on the actual cost of serving these customers or on their demonstrated preferences and requirements. This will become increasingly crucial in industries with heterogeneous customers and with costs that vary widely across customers, in order to enable flexible pricing and to provide services that are accurately targeted at the needs of specific customer segments. In addition, accurate, detailed, and robust cost-accounting systems and expertise in the interpretation of performance data will increasingly become essential for competing successfully; those firms prevented from accurate microsegmentation by corporate culture and tradition, by regulation, or by an outmoded information infrastructure will be vulnerable to newer and more nimble competitors. In particular, being the low-cost provider with economies of scale will not provide adequate defense against targeted cream-skimming by opportunistic competitors, able to offer lower prices to selected customer segments. The earliest academic papers on the strategic implications of information technology explicitly adopted a framework recommending that firms adopt a single, simple generic strategy from a small set (cost leadership, differentiation, or niche). In contrast, recent experience suggests that IT may enable firms to select from more finely tuned strategic options, and that it may require them to implement multiple strategies simultaneously.


The tremendous growth and impact of fake news as a hot research field gained the public's attention and threatened their safety in recent years. However, there is a wide range of developed fashions to detect fake contents, either those human-based approaches or machine-based approaches; both have shown inadequacy and limitations, especially those fully automatic approaches. The purpose of this analytic study of media news language is to investigate and identify the linguistic features and their contribution in analyzing data to detect, filter, and differentiate between fake and authentic news texts. This study outlines promising uses of linguistic indicators and adds a rather unconventional outlook to prior literature. It utilizes qualitative and quantitative data analysis as an analytic method to identify systematic nuances between fake and factual news in terms of detecting and comparing 16 attributes under three main linguistic features categories (lexical, grammatical, and syntactic features) assigned manually to news texts. The obtained datasets consist of publicly available right documents on the Politi-fact website and the raw (test) data set collected randomly from news posts on Facebook pages. The results show that linguistic features, especially grammatical features, help determine untrustworthy texts and demonstrate that most of the test news tends to be unreliable articles.