Whenever Picasso does something different, people say, "No! No! No! Picasso!" But Picasso doesn't listen. Instead, he says..."Yes!". He paints all-blue pictures, all-pink pictures, plus pictures from the front and side all at the same time! He makes art out of bike bits and he can draw pictures in less than 60 seconds! Soon he becomes the greatest painter in the world. But he still wants to be different...


In this paper, we investigate multi-speaker emotional acoustic modeling methods for convolutional neural network (CNN) based speech synthesis system. For emotion modeling, we extend to the speech synthesis system that learns a latent embedding space of emotion, derived from a desired emotional identity, and we use emotion code and mel-frequency spectrogram as an emotion identity. In order to model speaker variation in a text-to-speech (TTS) system, we use speaker representations such as trainable speaker embedding and speaker code. We have implemented speech synthesis systems combining speaker representation and emotion representation and compared them by experiments. Experimental results have demonstrated that the multi-speaker emotional speech synthesis approach using trainable speaker embedding and emotion representation from mel spectrogram achieves higher performance when compared with other approaches in terms of naturalness, speaker similarity, and emotion similarity.


Abstract. The prediction of growing global populations flocking to cities, increasingdemands for more food production, the call to maintain biodiversity and the interactionsof many different stakeholders elicits quite a mind-boggling medley of complexity. Theact of 'urban farming' may be a promising starting point in which to begin understandingthis complexity. This thesis strives to untangle the variables within this predictionthrough a narrative approach, weaving in relationships of power in order to understandthe complexity of this 'mess,' by tracing the actions of the last urban farmers inStockholm, Sweden. Employing Complexity Thinking, the narrative is temporallyorganized in order to highlight context, purpose and motive, aiming to promoteverisimilitude through systematically assembling interpretations while supporting themwith thick details as to what 'urban farming' interpretively is. Discrepancies, connectionsand contradictions from the case study are juxtaposed against one another to displayplurality of views across different scales of space and time. The case study highlightsurban farming's marginalization by illustrating historically distinct institutional shifts ingovernance; drawing attention to policies and regulations, past actions and artifacts,which, when self-organized to the present, are 'currently' reducing the farmers'possibilities for food production, promoting instead, an arguably beautiful, yet'unsustainable' biodiversity-and-urban-park emphasis, ignoring the appetites of the city'srapidly growing population and the accompanying external food dependencies that growwith it. Conclusions point to a deeper seeded issue in the founding assumption of thescientific prediction, calling attention to contextuality, unpredictability, the problemsassociated with a governing logic and/or a compressed-way-of-thinking and the generalneed or willingness to appreciate the complexity of things, actions and people –particularly people who grow or raise our food.


Among the extensive public and scientific interest in the use of phytochemicals to prevent or treat human diseases in recent years, natural compounds have been highly investigated to elucidate their therapeutic effect on chronic human diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disease. Curcumin, an active principle of the perennial herb Curcuma longa, has attracted an increasing research interest over the last half-century due to its diversity of molecular targets, including transcription factors, enzymes, protein kinases, growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, receptors, and it's interesting pharmacological activities. Despite that, the clinical effectiveness of the native curcumin is weak, owing to its low bioavailability and rapid metabolism. Preclinical data obtained from animal models and phase I clinical studies done in human volunteers confirmed a small amount of intestinal absorption, hepatic first pass effect, and some degree of intestinal metabolism, might explain its poor systemic availability when it is given via the oral route. During the last decade, researchers have attempted with new pharmaceutical methods such as nanoparticles, liposomes, micelles, solid dispersions, emulsions, and microspheres to improve the bioavailability of curcumin. As a result, a significant number of bioavailable curcumin-based formulations were introduced with a varying range of enhanced bioavailability. This manuscript critically reviews the available scientific evidence on the basic and clinical effects and molecular targets of curcumin. We also discuss its pharmacokinetic and problems for marketing curcumin as a drug.


Voltammetric behaviors of various globular proteins, including cytochrome c, ribonuclease A, lysozyme, albumin, myoglobin, and alpha-lactalbumin, were studied at the polarized 1,2-dichloroethane/water (DCE/W) interface in the presence of four different anionic surfactants, that is, dinonylnaphthalenesulfonate (DNNS), bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (Aerosol-OT; AOT), bis(2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7-dodecafluoroheptyl)sulfosuccinate (BDFHS), and bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate (BEHP). When the W phase was acidic (pH = approximately 3.4), the surfactants (except for BEHP) added to DCE facilitated the adsorption of the above proteins to the DCE/W interface and gave a well-developed voltammetric wave due to the adsorption/desorption of the proteins. This voltammetric wave, which we here call "protein wave", is promising for direct label-free electrochemical detection of proteins. The current for the adsorption of a protein to the interface showed a linear dependence on the protein concentration in the presence of excess surfactant. The foot potential at which the protein wave appeared in cyclic voltammetry showed different values depending on the natures of the protein and surfactant. Multivariate analysis for the foot potentials determined for different proteins with different surfactants revealed that the protein selectivity should depend on the charged, polar, and nonpolar surface areas of a protein molecule. On the basis of these voltammetric studies, it was shown in principle that online electrochemical separation/determination of proteins could be performed using a two-step oil/water-type flow-cell system.


This volume brings together under one cover Roddy Doyle's three acclaimed novels about the Rabbite family from Dublin. "The Commitments" traces the rapid rise and even more rapid fall of Jimmy Rabbite Jr's unusual soul band. In "The Snapper", Sharon Rabbite's pregnancy sparks off intense speculation among her friends and family, but she is determined to reveal the identity of the father in her own time. "The Van", set during Ireland's 1990 World Cup attempt, follows the fortunes of Jimmy Sr and his friend Bimbo as they launch their travelling fish'n'chip shop on an unsuspecting Barrytown, learning much about themselves in the process.


Abstract A novel type of chemical modification of wood was developed and applied to functionalise wood permanently with organoboron compounds. The covalent attachment of metalloid substituents via a benzotriazolyl-activated benzoic acid to wood hydroxy groups was in focus. Thus, standard modification procedures in wood chemistry – such as the acetylation – are improved by avoiding either the loss of half the reagent in the case of acid anhydrides or the release of corrosive hydrochloric acid in the case of carboxylic acid chlorides. The introduced boron moiety could be a contribution to solve a long-lasting problem in the field of wood protection: chemical fixation of an organoboron compound by means of a well-defined covalent bond. Accordingly, the hitherto insufficient long-term availability of conventionally spread boron compounds as wood protecting agents caused by leaching can now be avoided. The investigation was also extended to arylsilyl compounds, as a second type of organometal substances, which potentially allow for subsequent chemical modifications by ipso-substitution. The presented wood modification reactions yielded weight percent gain values from 14% to 31% on beech wood, spruce wood, and pine sapwood meal (approximately 500 μm in diameter) or pine sapwood veneer chips. The modified meals and chips were analysed by IR spectroscopy.


We analyzed MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) magnetic field and plasma measurements taken during 319 crossings of Mercury's cross‐tail current sheet. We found that the measured BZ in the current sheet is higher on the dawnside than the duskside by a factor of ≈3 and the asymmetry decreases with downtail distance. This result is consistent with expectations based upon MHD stress balance. The magnetic fields threading the more stretched current sheet in the duskside have a higher plasma beta than those on the dawnside, where they are less stretched. This asymmetric behavior is confirmed by mean current sheet thickness being greatest on the dawnside. We propose that heavy planetary ion (e.g., Na+) enhancements in the duskside current sheet provides the most likely explanation for the dawn‐dusk current sheet asymmetries. We also report the direct measurement of Mercury's substorm current wedge (SCW) formation and estimate the total current due to pileup of magnetic flux to be ≈11 kA. The conductance at the foot of the field lines required to close the SCW current is found to be ≈1.2 S, which is similar to earlier results derived from modeling of Mercury's Region 1 field‐aligned currents. Hence, Mercury's regolith is sufficiently conductive for the current to flow radially then across the surface of Mercury's highly conductive iron core. Mercury appears to be closely coupled to its nightside magnetosphere by mass loading of upward flowing heavy planetary ions and electrodynamically by field‐aligned currents that transfer momentum and energy to the nightside auroral oval crust and interior. Heavy planetary ion enhancements in Mercury's duskside current sheet provide explanation for cross‐tail asymmetries found in this study. The total current due to the pileup of magnetic flux and conductance required to close the SCW current is found to be ≈11 kA and 1.2 S. Mercury is coupled to magnetotail by mass loading of heavy ions and field‐aligned currents driven by reconnection‐related fast plasma flow.


Software enables every aspect of the Web. Everything from device communication to online social networks is achievable only because of multiple lines of code. For various reasons, designing and building security and privacy into Web software is often an afterthought for most developers. This results in easily compromised systems that pose significant privacy and security risks to users. The Web extra at https://youtu.be/juxM-mJERxc is an audio recording of Davide Falessi speaking with Guest Editors Tyrone Grandison, CEO of Proficiency Labs, and Larry Koved, Principal Research Staff Member at IBM Research, about why, at a bare minimum, Web software developers must ensure that their code is sufficiently hardened to protect against URL interpretation attacks, input validation attacks, SQL injection attacks, impersonation attacks, basic inference attacks, buffer overflow attacks, and inadvertent data disclosure attacks.


Abstract The interplay between shear and bulk viscosities on the flow harmonics, vn's, at RHIC is investigated using the newly developed relativistic 2+1 hydrodynamical code v-USPhydro that includes bulk and shear viscosity effects both in the hydrodynamic evolution and also at freeze-out. While shear viscosity is known to attenuate the flow harmonics, we find that the inclusion of bulk viscosity decreases the shear viscosity-induced suppression of the flow harmonics bringing them closer to their values in ideal hydrodynamical calculations. Depending on the value of the bulk viscosity to entropy density ratio, ζ/s, in the quark-gluon plasma, the bulk viscosity-driven suppression of shear viscosity effects on the flow harmonics may require a re-evaluation of the previous estimates of the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio, η/s, of the quark-gluon plasma previously extracted by comparing hydrodynamic calculations to heavy ion data.


: Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias; it accounts for about a third of all hospital admissions for cardiac arrhythmias. Currently, there is a tendency of aging of the population and an increase in overall life expectancy, which will further lead to an increase in the number of patients with atrial fibrillation. Usually atrial fibrillation is associated with a number of symptoms such as palpitations, interruptions, shortness of breath, pain in the heart area, fatigue, dizziness and syncopal states, but at the same time the course of both paroxysmal and permanent atrial fibrillation may not be accompanied by obvious symptoms or a noticeable decrease in quality life. Such asymptomatic atrial fibrillation is usually diagnosed by chance during an examination and can be considered a clinical finding. According to a number of studies, every third to fifth patient with atrial fibrillation was asymptomatic, and in a recently completed study in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, more than 50% of all episodes of arrhythmia were asymptomatic. When newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation, the asymptomatic form may occur in 83.2% of cases [1]. The purpose of the research is on the basis of studying the clinical features of the course of atrial fibrillation, determine the effect of asymptomatic arrhythmia on the development of fatal complications and patient survival in various forms of atrial fibrillation and develop a therapeutic strategy for managing patients with asymptomatic atrial fibrillation for the first time.


In this paper, we present an algorithm that allows the simultaneous calculation of several cross correlations. The algorithm works by shifting the range of values of different images/signals to occupy different orders of magnitude and then combining them to form a single composite image/signal. Because additional signals are placed in the space usually occupied by a single signal, we call this the "invaders algorithm," to imply that extra signals invade the space that normally belongs to a single signal. After correlation is performed, the individual results are recovered by performing the inverse operation. The limitations of the algorithm are imposed by the finite length of the mantissa of the hardware used, the precision of the algorithm that performs the cross correlation (e.g., the precision of the fast Fourier transform (FFT)) and by the actual values of the images/signals that are to be combined. The algorithm does not require any special hardware or special FFT algorithm. For typical 250 times 256 images, an acceleration by a factor of at least two in the calculation of their cross correlations is guaranteed using an ordinary PC or a laptop. As for smaller sized templates, tenfold accelerations may be achieved


The energy density in a semiconductor laser cavity plays an important role in determining the above-threshold properties of the laser. There is, therefore, a need for accurate physical models for the distribution of light within laser cavities. This paper applies the probability-amplitude method for calculating distributed feedback laser spectra to the problem of calculating the distribution of light within a laser cavity. Results of the calculations are shown to be in agreement with results obtained by other methods, and physical explanations are given for some of the interesting aspects of the distributions of light in semiconductor lasers. The probability-amplitude model for calculation of the distribution of light has advantages over many other models in that it includes both the standing-wave effect and the quantum mechanical nature of the spontaneous emission within the cavity.


Aspecific leachate that contained 1.036 mgl–1 of 2-chlorobiphenyl was used in the study (255 mgl–1 COD and 133 mgl–1 BOD5). When operated on a 10 day hydraulic retention time (RT), reed beds planted with Juncus effusus removed 60% of the leachates COD, compared to 25% in unplanted beds. The constructed wetlands proved effective at reducing the level of acute toxicity to A. aquaticus and G. pulex. In untreated leachate, the LC50 for A. aquaticus was 57% v/v leachate in deionized water and 5% for G. pulex. When reed beds were operated on a 1–10 day RT, the LC50 for Asellus increased from 69% to below the LC50 threshold. The Gammarus LC50 also rose from 10% to 50%. The maximum toxicity reduction achieved by unplanted beds was 10% towards A. aquaticus and 5% for G. pulex, when operated on a 10 day RT. However, in sub-lethal concentrations of reed bed effluent (100%, 80% and 60% dilutions, obtained from planted beds on a 10 day RT), the final length of Asellus was significantly reduced, in comparison to a deionized water control. It is also speculated that chronic leachate stress may have affected the fecundity of Gammarus, however, insufficient data was collected to statistically validate this hypothesis.


The anti-inflammatory activity of some new 1-[3-(aryloxy)-propyl] diamines using the carrageenin rat paw edema test has been investigated. Arthritis induced by Freund's adjuvant was also used. Writhing induced by acetic acid in rats was used to evaluate analgesic activity. The irritative and ulcerogenic action on the rat gastric mucosa was examined after oral administration. Antiproteolytic activity has also been studied. The experimental results are discussed from the point of view of structure activity relationships.


At present, the majority of false confessions are the result of psychologically manipulative interrogation tactics. Interrogators may use the false evidence ploy or the bluff ploy to elicit confessions. Unfortunately, research suggests that these interrogation tactics increase the risk of false confessions. At this time, research on the differential impact of the false evidence ploy and the bluff ploy is inconclusive, and there is little known about whether certain variants of false evidence are differentially powerful in eliciting false confessions. The present study examined the following: 1) the differential effect of the false evidence ploy and the bluff ploy on false confessions, and 2) the differential effect of three variants of false evidence on false confessions. The present study used a 2 (ploy: false evidence vs. bluff) by 3 (evidence variant: photograph vs. physical vs. eyewitness) between-subjects design. Participants (N=218) completed a logical reasoning task on a computer and were accused of violating the experimental protocol by pressing the space bar and seeing the answer. Participants were either shown faked (false) evidence, or told this evidence could be examined at a later date (bluff), and were then prompted to sign a confession statement. Results demonstrated that participants in the photograph evidence condition were more likely to falsely confess and to internalize guilt than participants in the physical evidence condition and eyewitness testimony condition. Results also demonstrated that participants in the false evidence condition were more likely to falsely confess and internalize guilt than participants in the bluff condition. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.


Imagining Jewish Art: Encounters with the Masters in Chagall, Guston, and Kitaj, by Aaron Rosen. London: Legenda, 2009. 128 pp. $89.50. The question "what is Jewish art?" has preoccupied scholars over the decades, although such discussions have recently waned even if there is still a lack of consensus (including no consensus on whether a consensus is necessary). As early as the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel in 1901, Martin Buber mounted a special exhibition of Jewish art, which explicitly aimed to identify and define Jewish elements in visual art. Critics argue whether Jewish art should be limited exclusively to any art made by a Jew, independent of content, or else whether both the artist and the artwork must be identifiably Jewish, expressly engaging the Jewish experience, religious or worldly. In other words, a nineteenth-century portrait of a Gentile sitter by German artist Moritz Daniel Oppenheim would be considered a "Jewish" work of art, just as much as objects with obvious Jewish content, such as a Holocaust memorial by American sculptor Louise Nevelson, a landscape scene of early twentieth-century Palestine by Israeli painter Reuven Rubin, or an eleventh-century German Chanukiah. This issue is obviously most relevant for painting and sculpture from the modern period, namely after the Haskalah, whereas ancient and medieval artwork, or even Jewish ceremonial objects, are easily accepted as Jewish art. Intrigued by what Jewish art may or may not be, well outlined in an introduction that thoughtfully elucidates his methods, Aaron Rosen takes a different tack to this question. Rosen builds on Margaret Olin's rejection of the notion that Jewish art must be defined, and her argument that instead art can "speak'Jewish'" (p. 1) at various times, depending on how it is tead and who views it. Accordingly, in his slim volume, Rosen adopts a "non-definitional approach" (p. 5) to Jewish art, manifested by fleshing out the non-Jewish artistic influences on the work of the three artists noted in his title: Marc Chagall, Philip Guston, and R. B. Kitaj. That is to say, rather than offering an overarching theory of Jewish art comprised of Jewish characteristics - style, subject, function, or authorship, for example - Rosen looks at works individually, discerning Jewi sh qualities. Although a trained theologian, Rosen shows sensitivity to visual form, not treating art as illustrations of a moment or cultural experience, as non -art historians often do. In his chapter on Marc Chagall, Rosen considers several of the artist's biblical works, but especially his crucifixions, and in reference to artistic precedents, notably German painter Matthias Gruenwald's Isenheim Altarpiece (1510-15). Using the model of "family," Rosen argues that Chagall's art creates a lineage as well as a dialogue with the past and offers a way to understand how a Jewish artist connects with a decidedly Christian history of art. The second chapter explores Philip Guston's late work, when he returned to figuration after decades of painting as an Abstract Expressionist. Rosen concentrates on two images, and ones that on the surface would not appear to be "Jewish" - Deluge II (1975) and Green Rug (1976) - examining them in conjunction, respectively, with two fifteenth-century paintings that are decidedly not Jewish: Paolo Uccello's The Great Flood (c. 1447) and Piero della Francesca's The Flagellation (c. 1455). Playing on Guston's comment that he hoped "to make a Golem" (p. 51), Rosen understands the artist as wanting to mold the clay of older art, so to speak, into something newer and of his own. …


Two research questions were addressed in this study of 57 older adult outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 37 older adults attending a senior citizen's center with no significant medical or psychological problems. The research questions were: (a) Are there gender-based differences in giving and receiving expressive and instrumental social supports for chronically mentally ill patients? (b) Do chronically mentally ill elderly patients differ from older adults without chronic mental illness in giving and receiving expressive and instrumental social supports? Based on a two-factor multi variate analysis of variance, women, with or without diagnosis of chronic mental illness, were more likely than were men to provide emotionally close social contacts with others, as well as to give advice to and receive advice from others. However, there were no differences in giving or receiving instrumental or expressive social supports based on whether or not the respondent was receiving outpatient psychiatric services for a chronic mental illness. In view of this, the possibility that the mentally ill have more to offer in relationships than is generally assumed is discussed. Suggestions for future research and implications for case managers also are discussed.


Objective: To examine the association between internet addiction and self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in adolescence. Methods: Population-based cross-sectional survey of 1618 high school students aged 13–18 years in Guangzhou city, Guangdong Province, PR China. Deliberate SIB was measured using self-reported questionnaire; internet addiction was assessed using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). Results: 263 (16.3%) participants reported having committed some form of SIB in the past 6 months. 73 (4.5%) had committed SIB 6 times or more, and 157 (9.7%) 1–5 times. The majority of respondents were classified as normal users of the internet (n = 1392, 89.2%), with 158 (10.2%) moderately and 10 (0.6%) severely addicted to the internet. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds ratio for SIB was 2.0 (95% CI 1.1 to 3.7) for those who were classified as moderately and severely addicted to the internet when compared to the normal group. Conclusions: SIB is common in adolescence in the study population in China. Addiction to the internet is detrimental to mental health and increases the risk of self-injury among adolescents. Clinicians need to be aware of potential co-morbidities of other addictions among adolescent self-injured patients.


In this paper I argue that there is no true number morphology in Jamaican Creole (JC). Instead, I show that dem, traditionally taken to be a plural marker, is more properly analyzed as a marker of inclusiveness, a defining characteristic of definiteness. These are expected outcomes of JC being in the class of languages which are claimed to have set nouns, i.e. nouns which, when combined with a numeral X, refer to an X-numbered set of individuals rather than to X number of individuals (Rijkhoff 2004). Since JC does not mark plurality in the same way as its lexifier English, individuation and number in JC cannot be analysed in the same way as is done for English. The proposal for a syntactic analysis of number in JC, given the above, is that functional structure above the NP provides for optional individuation via Cl(assifier)Phrase, and additionally for optional number specification, via Num(ber)Phrase.


A 10 bit CMOS A/D converter with 3 V power supply has been developed for being integrated into system VLSI's. In this A/D converter, redundant binary encoders named "twin encoders" enhance tolerance to substrate noise, together with employing differential amplifiers in comparators. The bias circuit using a replica of the amplifier is developed for biasing differential comparators with 3 V power supply. Subranging architecture along with a multilevel tree decoding structure improves dynamic performance of the ADC at 3 V power supply. The A/D converter is fabricated in double-polysilicon, double-metal, 0.8 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. The experimental results show that the ADC operates at 20 MS/s and the twin encoders suppress the influence of substrate noise effectively. This ADC has a single power supply of 3 V, and dissipates 135 mW at 20 MS/s operation. >


We have used an in vivo-in vitro approach to investigate the cellular aspects of two-stage skin carcinogenesis. Female SENCAR mice initiated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) were promoted twice weekly with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Epidermal cultures from untreated or TPA-treated mice had few focus-forming cells resistant to calcium-induced terminal differentiation. Cultures from mice treated with MNNG alone formed numerous foci. Brief promotion (four TPA treatments) of MNNG-treated mice produced fewer but statistically larger foci, suggesting that TPA was selecting against more slowly growing cells. MNNG plus TPA-treated mice with very early papillomas produced more and larger foci than those due to MNNG treatment alone, suggesting that the papillomas may have comprised calcium-resistant cells. These cells may indeed be initiated cells since a permanent cell line arising after MNNG plus brief TPA treatment eventually formed histological papillomas in vivo. If calcium-resistant cells are initiated, then there were many more initiated cells in the skin (with or without TPA treatment) than papillomas expected, implying that either some initiated cells never formed papillomas, or that a significant accumulation of initiated cells had already occurred in the skin within 2 weeks of MNNG treatment. Subsequent TPA promotion of these cells apparently produced a toxic response that passively selected for more rapidly growing initiated cells, which eventually accumulated into papillomas.


Distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers and distributed feedback (DFB) lasers utilizing diffraction grating formed by deeply etched periodic grooves were fabricated on an InGaAs-GaAs-strained quantum-well active wafer without using a regrowth process. The first-order grooved grating that had a 150-nm period and 800-nm depth was etched from the top surface into the cladding layer on the wafer using electron beam lithography and a reactive beam etching with a mixture of Br/sub 2/ and N/sub 2/ gas. The dependence of optical properties on the structure of the grooved grating is discussed in terms of an evaluation of the coupling coefficient. The fabricated DBR and DFB lasers exhibit single-longitudinal mode oscillation with output powers of 20 mW (DBR) and 10 mW (DFB) in the measured temperature range between 15/spl deg/C-55/spl deg/C. The characteristic temperature T/sub 0/ for the threshold current is about 120 K. The slope efficiency is held constant in the measured temperature range. The performance of these DBR and DFB lasers demonstrates that the use of the grooved grating provides wavelength-stabilized lasers with a simple fabrication process.


We introduce Friendscope, an instant, in-the-moment experience sharing system for lightweight commercial camera glasses. Friendscope explores a new concept called a shared camera. This concept allows a wearer to share control of their camera with a remote friend, making it possible for both people to capture photos/videos from the camera in the moment. Through a user study with 48 participants, we found that users felt connected to each other, describing the shared camera as a more intimate form of livestreaming. Moreover, even privacy-sensitive users were able to retain their sense of privacy and control with the shared camera. Friendscope's different shared camera configurations give wearers ultimate control over who they share the camera with and what photos/videos they share. We conclude with design implications for future experience sharing systems.


Functional poly(carbonate)s with multiple hydroxyl functionalities have been prepared by copolymerization of carbon dioxide (CO2) with glycidyl methyl ether (GME) and benzyl glycidyl ether (BGE) in various ratios, using a diethylzinc–pyrogallol catalyst system. Subsequent catalytic hydrogenation was employed for removal of the benzyl protecting groups at the polymer backbone. A series of copolymers with varying comonomer fractions from 0 to 100% was obtained. The copolymers possessed a broad range of molecular weights from 9000 to 30 000 g mol−1 and showed polydispersities Mw/Mn between 2.4 and 3.6. The materials were characterized via1H and 13C NMR, SEC and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The deprotected copolymers are structurally simple materials consisting of carbon dioxide, GME and glycerol. These functional poly(carbonate)s represent degradable materials with tailored functionality.


To study mechanism underpinning the calcifuge habit of some Lupinus species, especially under low-phosphorus (P) conditions, Lupinus species that were likely to respond differently to calcium (Ca) availability were assembled, and the sensitivity to Ca under a low-P supply was assessed. Seven Lupinus species (9 genotypes, L. albus L. cv Kiev, L. albus L. P26766, L. angustifolius L. cv Mandelup, L. angustifolius L. P26723, L. luteus L. cv Pootalong, L. hispanicus ssp. bicolor Boiss. and Reut. P22999, L. pilosus Murr. P27440, L. cosentinii Guss. P27225, and L. atlanticus Gladst. P27219) were grown hydroponically at 10 or 6000 μM Ca. Leaf symptoms, gas exchange and biomass were recorded; leaf and root nutrient concentrations were analysed, and the leaf cell types in which Ca and P accumulated were determined using elemental X-ray microanalyses. Calcium toxicity was demonstrated for L. angustifolius P26723, L. hispanicus ssp. bicolor. P22999, and L. cosentinii P27225, whereas the other species were tolerant of a high Ca supply under low-P conditions. In addition, genotypic differences in Ca toxicity were found within L. angustifolius. Most Ca accumulated in the mesophyll cells in all species, whereas most P was located in epidermal cells.


Most types of HPV are harmless and some types are high risk and can cause cervical cancer or abnormal cells in the lining of the cervix that sometimes turn into cancer.  A total number of 90 subjects (70 Iraqi patients with cervical dysplasia (abnormalities) and 20 apparently healthy women) were included in this study. The patients and healthy were aged between 25-55 years. The molecular detection in our study showed that 30 of patients were positive to HPV and 40 patients were negative to virus compared to negative results in healthy women. The most common genotypes is HPV-16. Also multiple infections of HPV-HR were observed in the infected women. The correlation between gene expression, histopathology and HPV virus showed a significant increase of folding values of the genes mi-RNA744 and caspase-3 parallel to decrease of folding value of the gene Bcl-2 which indicated that the apoptosis rate was increased with the histopathology grade where the highest level of expression of the genes was in carcinoma. The results also revealed that mi-RNA744 could be up regulator of the gene caspase-3 and down regulator of the gene Bcl-2.


The influence of malaria on the hemoglobin A2 (Hb A2) level in humans was studied in a series of 94 imported cases in Belgium. Sixty-nine of the patients were natives of Western European countries, their results are reported separately since their origin and the results of their hematological examination made it unlikely that they carried the beta-thalassemia trait. The Hb A2 level of the 94 malaria patients (mean 2.76%; S.D. 0.51%) was not statistically different from that found in 60 healthy controls (mean 2.70%; S.D. 0.38%; P greater than 40). Likewise the level of the 65 Western European patients was not statistically different from that of the same controls (mean 2.81%; S.D. 0.42%; P greater than 0.10). There was also no significant difference between the level in patients infected with a particular species of Plasmodium and that of the controls. No correlation was found between the Hb A2 level and the intensity of the parasitemia or the concentration of total hemoglobin in the blood. These results are discussed in comparison with the divergent ones obtained by others and it is suggested that malaria has no significant influence on the results of surveys for the prevalence of beta-thalassemia in regions of malaria endemicity.


The property of a variety of ionic liquids (ILs) as reaction media was evaluated for the production of biodiesel by enzymatic methanolysis of rapeseed oil. The IL Ammoeng 102, containing tetraaminum cation with C 18 acyl and oligoethyleneglycol units, was found to be capable of forming oil/IL biphasic reaction system by mixing with substrates, which is highly effective for the Production of biodiesel with more than 98% biodiesel yield and nearly 100% conversion of oil. Conductor-like screening model for real solvent (COSMO-RS) in silico prediction of substrate solubility and simulation of partition coefficient change vs. reaction evolution indicated that the amphiphilic property of Ammoeng 102 might be responsible for creating efficient interaction of immiscible substrates; while big difference of partition coefficients of generated biodiesel and glycerol between the two phases suggests a large chemical potential to move reaction equilibrium for maximum oil conversion and yield of target biodiesel. The reaction behavior and specificity of oil/IL biphasic system for enzymatic production of biodiesel were theoretically delineated through COSMO-RS computation with experimental validation.


The introduction of a centralized institution for trading production rights in quota-regulated agricultural sectors can dramatically improve the flow of information among market participants and increase efficiency. On the other hand, prevailing conditions in these small markets can provide sellers with a market advantage, yielding high quota prices that impose important financial costs on quota holders and limit the entry of new producers into the industry. In this paper, we modify the normal allocation rule of the k-double auction (kDA) to counter thin market conditions and to favor buyers who bid low prices. In laboratory experiments, we test the "truncated" kDA (T-kDA) against a regular kDA for its ability to affect buyer and seller behavior and decrease equilibrium prices, and assess how it impacts efficiency. The results show that the T-kDA significantly lowers the equilibrium price and results in moderate efficiency losses. Most importantly, the T-kDA effectively counters the market power of oligopolists when demand far outstrips supply.


We read with interest the article by Walker et al. on the role of several biomarkers, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), in predicting anastomotic dehiscence (AD). We recently evaluated the role of NLR in this setting with a case-match approach, and we obtained similar results. In our study, the archives of the surgical units involved were searched, and 44 patients who had a postoperative clinically manifested AD from 2012 through 2017 were enrolled. Subsequently, a control group with a rigorous matching in terms of sex, age, disease location, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, body mass index and surgical approach was retrieved. In cancer cases, we matched also the stage of the disease, and in those with rectal cancer, the distance from the anal verge. The NLR before the operation, and in the first and fourth post-operative days was calculated. No significant differences were found in the median values of NLR between the groups before surgery and in the first post-operative day. At the fourth post-operative day, the median NLR value was significantly higher in patients with AD, in comparison to those without (8.8, interquartile range (IQR): 5.37–11.87 versus 5.50, IQR: 3.40–7.00). The area under the curve (AUC) was lower than that obtained by Walker et al.: 0.697 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.581–0.797). The best cutoff value in our study was 8.7, with sensitivity and specificity 52% (95% CI: 33.5–69.2) and 88% (95% CI: 74.9–96.1), respectively, while in the study of Walker et al. the best cutoff value was 6.18, with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 61.8%. Our study, performed with a different approach, confirms the potential usefulness of NLR measured at the fourth post-operative day in predicting AD, but its diagnostic accuracy needs to be further investigated.


Body mass index (BMI) is a variable that complicates the interpretation of the alcohol metabolite ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair. However, direction on how EtG should currently be interpreted within individuals consuming moderate and excessive daily amounts of alcohol related to their BMI is lacking. In light of interpretation of EtG in individuals with high BMI, we present post hoc analysis of earlier data regarding the effect of BMI on hair EtG concentrations.


We prepared partly crystalline polydiacetylenes (PDAs) by the solid-state polymerization of substituted benzyl 10,12-alkyldiynoates followed by the dissolution of the resulting polymers in refluxing 1,2-dichlorobenzene and subsequent reprecipitation. The obtained PDAs were soluble in organic solvents, such as chloroform and tetrahydrofuran, at room temperature. They showed thermochromism not only in the bulk and polymer matrices but also in solution. The UV–vis absorption spectrum of PDAs in solutions changed depending on the temperature along with a large hysteresis. The thermochromic properties were dependent on the structure of the PDAs, that is, the length of the alkyl side chains and also the structure of the substituent on the phenyl group. We have found that aggregates are formed in the solution when the temperature decreased on the basis of the NMR and dynamic light scattering measurement results.


The phenomenon of cybercrime is becoming more hostile and confrontational as both individuals and organized criminal groups take advantage of new criminal opportunities from the cyber environment. Many cyber-attacks are used to compromise eLearning systems, to change the student's grades and results, to steal the information available only for trainers and professors, or to infect all the users that are using the platforms. The role of legislation in preventing and combating the cybercrime phenomenon against eLearning systems is very important. Legal measures are needed in all the fields, including investigative measures, procedural powers, jurisdiction, and international cooperation. In a globalized and connected world, the law consists of a collection of national and international legal systems. Sometimes provisions can contradict each other, resulting to collisions of law, because of the interactions between these legal systems. The main goal of the international law is to obtain harmonization of national laws. In the last decade many significant developments were made for the promulgation of multilateral instruments in the field of cybercrime. This paper analyses the collections of regional and international instruments developed in the context of the Council of Europe or the European Union, tools that can help the investigations of compromised online systems. Legal frameworks for the investigation of cybercrime acts in the field of eLearning require a clear scope of application of the power, in order to guarantee the legal actions. Most of the countries have introduced new investigative powers specially created for obtaining electronic evidence which can be used in cases of compromised eLearning systems.


Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a routine diagnostic tool in the clinics and the method of choice in soft-tissue contrast medical imaging. It is an important tool in neuroscience to investigate structure and function of the living brain on a systemic level. The latter is one of the driving forces to further develop MRI technology, as neuroscience especially demands higher spatiotemporal resolution which is to be achieved through increasing the static main magnetic field, B0. Although standard MRI is a mature technology, ultra high field (UHF) systems, at B0 ≥ 7 T, offer space for new technical inventions as the physical conditions dramatically change. This work shows that the development strongly benefits from computer simulations of the measurement process on the basis of a semi-classical, nuclear spin-1/2 treatment given by the Bloch equations. Possible applications of such simulations are outlined, suggesting new solutions to the UHF-specific inhomogeneity problems of the static main field as well as the high-frequency transmit field.


Sera taken from 250 Danish homosexual men in December 1981 as part of a prospective study of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were examined for the presence of HTLV-III antibody with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antibody was present in 22 (8.8%) of the men. Seropositivity was most strongly associated with sexual exposure to men in the United States (relative risk 3.5; p less than 0.007). Increased frequency of anal receptive intercourse was also independently associated with seropositivity (p less than 0.05), but age, years of homosexual experience, number of homosexual partners, and use of nitrite inhalant were not independent risk factors. The frequency of seroconversion from absence to presence of HTLV-III antibody appeared to be about 1% a month in this community during December 1981 to February 1983. Of the 22 men who were originally seropositive, two (9%) subsequently developed AIDS as defined by the Centre for Disease Control and two (9%) others the AIDS related complex. Blood was taken in addition from two of the men to develop AIDS earliest in Denmark (diagnosed 1981) at the same time as the initial survey in 1981; both were seropositive. The spread of HTLV-III from high to low risk areas and the subsequent appearance of illnesses related to AIDS in the seropositive group support the hypothesis that HTLV-III is causally related to the development of AIDS.


The term "practice" has not been popular in language classrooms since behaviourism went out of fashion. In this paper, however, I examined learners' feedback on task repetition in order to promote the idea as an aid while learning to communicate in another language. Sixty Japanese students of English reflected on their classroom practice of oral interaction and produced focused essays on it. In the subsequent main study, to investigate further one of the most common themes identified in the students' essays, task repetition, I interviewed three students and asked them what they thought of the iterative, interactive tasks I regularly employed in class. Their interview data provided support for repeated practice with more enjoyment, higher involvement, higher self-esteem, and lower anxiety. Repeated practice was supported not just by learning gains, as past research had demonstrated, but also by affective gains as this group of learners made a case for it.


The rice KNOX protein OSH15 consists of four conserved domains: the MEINOX domain, which can be divided into two subdomains (KNOX1 and KNOX2); the GSE domain; the ELK domain; and the homeodomain (HD). To investigate the function of each domain, we generated 10 truncated proteins with deletions in the conserved domains and four proteins with mutations in the conserved amino acids in the HD. Transgenic analysis suggested that KNOX2 and HD are essential for inducing the abnormal phenotype and that the KNOX1 and ELK domains affect phenotype severity. We also found that both KNOX2 and HD are necessary for homodimerization and that only HD is needed for binding of OSH15 to its target sequence. Transactivation studies suggested that both the KNOX1 and ELK domains play a role in suppressing target gene expression. On the basis of these findings, we propose that overproduced OSH15 probably acts as a dimer and may ectopically suppress the expression of target genes that induce abnormal morphology in transgenic plants.


We show corporate-level real, financial, and (bank) risk-taking effects associated with calculating loan provisions based on expected—rather than incurred—credit losses. For identification, we exploit unique features of a Colombian reform and supervisory, matched loan-level data. The regulatory change induces a dramatic increase in provisions. Banks tighten all new lending conditions, adversely affecting borrowing-firms, with stronger effects for risky-firms. Moreover, to minimize provisioning, more affected (less-capitalized) banks cut credit supply to risky-firms— SMEs with shorter credit history, less tangible assets or more defaulted loans—but engage in "search-for-yield" within regulatory constraints and increase portfolio concentration, thereby decreasing risk diversification. JEL Classification: E31, G18, G21, G28


1Department of Oncology, Anhui Medical University-Affiliated Chaohu Hospital, Hefei 238000, Anhui, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Education, Anhui Medical University-Affiliated Chaohu Hospital, Hefei 238000, Anhui, People's Republic of China; 3Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Huaian City Second People's Hospital, Huaian 223000, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China Purpose: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80–90% of all lung cancers. However, biomarkers to predict the prognosis of NSCLC patients upon treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors remain unreliable. Different types of EGFR mutations can help predict the efficacy of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment among advanced NSCLC patients harboring them. However, survival varies among individuals harboring the same mutation after targeted therapy. This study aimed to investigate the value of serum tumor markers (STMs) and EGFR mutations in the prognostic assessment of progression-free survival (PFS) in advanced-stage EGFR-mutated NSCLC. Patients and Methods: A retrospective clinical review was performed on 81 NSCLC patients harboring EGFR mutations and for whom STM data, measured before commencement of first-line treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, were available. Associations among EGFR mutations, STMs, baseline clinical features, and PFS were analyzed. Kaplan −Meier method was used to plot survival curves, and Cox logistic regression models were used to identify independent prognostic factors. Results: Exon 19 deletion (19-del) in EGFR, negative neuron-specific enolase (NSE), negative pro-gastrin-releasing peptide precursor (ProGRP) value, and "never smoking" status were significantly associated with improved PFS (P=0.007, P=0.001, P<0.001, and P<0.001, respectively). Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that 19-del in EGFR, never smoking, negative ProGRP value, and negative NSE were independent predictors of PFS. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that 19-del in EGFR may predict longer PFS in advanced-stage EGFR-mutated NSCLC treated with TKIs. Additionally, longer PFS can be predicted by serum tumor markers with negative ProGRP value, negative NSE value before initial treatment, and "never smoking." Therefore, in addition to the EGFR mutation type and smoking status, physicians can also prognosticate the PFS of tyrosine kinase inhibitors treatment according to the values of ProGRP and NSE before treatment.


A web-based expert system for the dimensioning of natural stone claddings is presented. The dimensioning principles are based on the Eurocodes and the partial coefficient concept for invoking safety factors to cladding failures. The material properties needed for the dimensioning are determined through experiments defined by various EN-standards designated to natural stones.


We report a one-pot method for the facile synthesis of Cu nanowires in high purity, together with ultrathin diameters well below 20 nm. Selected area electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies confirm that the Cu nanowires are grown along the direction to give pentatwinned, one-dimensional nanostructures, enclosed by five {100} facets on the side surface. A systematic study further indicates that it is critical to conduct the synthesis under an argon atmosphere in order to improve the purity and uniformity of the nanowires while keeping their diameters thinner than 20 nm. We also demonstrate the use of these nanowires as sacrificial templates for the synthesis of Au-based nanotubes through a galvanic replacement process.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a 3-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR) intervention program on the physical activity (PA) levels of rural Appalachian school youth. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in which the pre- and postlevel of PA in rural Appalachian school youth has been assessed following a 3DPAR intervention program. A sample of 76 school youth (M age = 13.3 years) recruited from three secondary schools in the Appalachian region was included in the final analyses. To assess intervention effects such as steps per day and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) minutes per day, we had participants wear sealed NL-1000 piezoelectric pedometers for 7 days at pre- and posttest. For this 3-week pilot intervention, participants recorded daily activity using a 3DPAR self-report instrument. Participants received two educational sessions during the first three classes of the intervention period. We utilized a MANOVA to determine the effects of intervention participation on pre- versus posttest for the whole week, weekdays, and weekends. Youth who completed the 3DPAR-delivered intervention significantly increased their step counts on the weekends. Future studies should evaluate whether a longer intervention including a control group could result in improving PA over the long term. Subscribe to TPE


Abstract Within the events and attractions industry, short-term tourism events have increasingly gained popularity as catalysts for local economic development. Many communities promote sport, recreation and tourism opportunities to make full use of their recreational facilities, and to expand and diversify their local economy. Identifying who the spectators are in these small-scale sporting events will help to effectively apply marketing strategies and to accurately measure direct economic impact of such events. This study was designed to investigate the spectators' characteristics and the economic benefit of a small-scale sports event, the Cedar Valley Moonlight Classic Soccer Tournament, held at the Cedar Valley Youth Soccer Association complex in Waterloo, Iowa, in 2004 during the month of June. The findings are compared to area visitor statistics in order to help interpret the significance of local sport tournaments. IMPLAN Input-Output Model is utilized to assess the economic impact. The findings are useful to demonstrate the economic contribution to a community, and to illustrate to parks and recreation administrators an avenue for more effective decision-making and support for these types of events in their communities.


Hardware resource management is an important topic in Information Technology (IT) industry. This is due to the increasing demand of computing power by ever-evolving applications, especially those which are Service Level Agreement (SLA)-bound. Undeniably, hardware cost has reduced significantly in recent time. However this does not translate into saving in capital and operational costs of businesses as the computing resource requirement from new applications overwhelms the reduction in hardware cost. Hence, cloud computing paradigm evolved from conventional grid and utility computing, to provide for the aggressive computational demands. To better serve the hosting in cloud environments, particularly in industries where data sensitivity and privacy is of major concern, better mechanisms are needed in the resource management arena. The proposed mechanisms in this research avoided access to real data in the database, to meet the objectives of effective hardware resource administration.
Here, the hardware resource management in virtualized cloud environment is scrutinized. The topics of interest are in the area of resource utilization monitoring, optimization and affirmation. The proposed mechanisms provide alternatives to conventional methods which are commonly adopted by the wide IT industry today. The target is to provide more simplified approaches to these conventional tools, with faster and more accurate attributes in sight.
In resource utilization monitoring area, metadata of the actual data is characterized to yield an understanding of the workload in the database, which then contributes to the decision in planning for hardware provisioning and de-provisioning activities, as well as resource scaling arrangement.
Consequently, a mechanism is proposed to serve the resource utilization optimization objective. In this research area, hardware fault and failure analysis are investigated, in
iv
order to provide an optimal operating environment to database transactions. The analysis on the hardware fault and failure symptoms is performed against the output obtained from the iterative execution of Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC)-H queries. Baseline is established and parameters' values obtained from subsequent testing on the same set of queries are compared to baseline's values to obtain insightful information on the hardware state.
Next, the resource utilization affirmation theme deals with the proposition to establish stress-testing scenario in the Virtual Machine (VM). The work here strives to construct an environment in the VM whereby validation on transactions' response time can be performed at the hypothetical resource constraining point in the VM. It serves this validation purpose in 2 situations: when the VM undergoes hardware change, or during normal operations. Verification is performed by stressing the VM to the resource constraining point using the proposed method; subsequently SLA-bound transactions are sent to the database and their respective response time is examined and compared to expected response time. The proposed mechanism also incorporates technique to determine the resource threshold from database transactions perspective.
The resource utilization monitoring utilizes metadata from representative workload, whereas the resource utilization optimization and affirmation mechanisms utilize the hypothetical data and queries from TPC-H benchmark, hence achieving the objective of eluding access to real data. These deliveries focus on the consistency, stability and accuracy attributes.


Abstract Professor Angela Woollacott, the newly-appointed Professor of Modern History at Macquarie University, gave the opening address at the Australian Historical Association's Annual Conference at Armidale in September. According to the Abstract of Papers, Professor Woollacott is an exponent of 'a new research area exploring cultural understandings of the political changes in mid-nineteenth century Australia in an Imperial context.' The argument of her address seems to have been that in the 1830s and the 1840s, the frontier was a violent place, and the violence became an essential part of 'masculinity'. This characteristic was transferred to Sydney, where it 'became built into colonial culture and politics', and 'may have shaped ideas of masculinity [and] colonial conceptions of political authority' which led on to the establishment of responsible government in 1856.


A company that pursues illicit practices (e.g., money laundering, tax dodging, corruption of public officials in procurement races, etc.) may underprice and crowd out competitors that behave legally, thereby eroding the public good of legality and integrity. Recently born institutional legality ratings tackle this problem by signaling companies with excellent legality record to consumers. Redistributive policy actions aimed to tax "defectors" (i.e. buyers of unrated products) in favor of "co-operators" (i.e. buyers of "legality-rated" products) may further enforce legality, and fight corruption. We analyze the impact of the legality-rating frame by means of a randomized experiment. The experiment accounts for the effects of fiscal policies that redistribute income from defectors to co-operators either in presence or in absence of the legality frame. Our findings document that the redistribution mechanism, the legality frame and the conformity information design contribute to alleviate the prisoner's dilemma and generate significant deviations from the Nash Equilibrium.


Diagrams are an important part of visual communication and have been used for thousands of years to convey ideas and information. Today, the most widespread means of publishing diagrams and other documents is the World Wide Web. The Web was designed to support documents being presented on a range of target devices and output media with widely varying capabilities. Textual documents can be made to adjust their layout and styling to respond to display size, the reader's preferred font, colour depth, and more, without requiring the author to create many different versions of the document explicitly. Equivalent functionality is needed for diagrammatic content, however this is not supported by existing tools or standards. This thesis explores adaptive diagrams, which are diagrams that can adjust their presentation to different viewing contexts. The requirements for diagram adaptation are investigated and constraint-based tools and a proposed publication format are developed to help authors create and publish adaptive diagrams. A diagram collection and adaptation exploration exercise is presented, the result of which is a categorisation of the reasons for adapting diagrams and of the types of adaptation that can be performed on them. This is the first known attempt at classifying diagram adaptation requirements, and is used as the basis for the remainder of the work presented. A constraint-based extension to the Web's vector graphics format, SVG, is developed, which allows adaptive diagrams to be written and published more easily. The format's ability to represent all of the diagram adaptation types identified in the exploration exercise is shown. The feasibility of a performant implementation of the publication format is demonstrated via an extension to an existing SVG toolkit which completely implements the proposal. A high level model for adaptive diagrams and an interactive, constraint-based authoring tool for constructing diagrams according to this model is presented. The model supports several different types of adaptive behaviour and the tool allows all of them to be specified in an aspect-oriented manner, helping the author to create many different versions of a diagram without needing to create each combination explicitly.A qualitative user study is conducted to evaluate the usability of the authoring tool and the ability for authors to understand its underyling model. The results show that, with varying degrees of help to overcome difficulties encountered during the authoring process, participants familiar with traditional diagram authoring tools and with Web or multimedia design experience can successfully use the tool to produce adaptive diagrams. Comments from participants on the usefulness of the tool were very positive. Participants also performed a diagram adaptation sketching task, the results of which provide evidence of the comprehensiveness of the diagram adaptation type categorisation. Finally, the adaptive diagram publication format is further evaluated by investigating its suitability as an export format for the authoring tool. A comparison is made with standard, scripted SVG, showing that the proposed format provides significant file size reductions and can represent the adaptive behaviour supported by the tool in a more straightforward manner than the scripted alternative.


Distributed target tracking in wireless sensor networks (WSN) is an important problem, in which agreement on the target state can be achieved using particle filters with standard consensus methods, which may take long to converge. We propose distributed particle filtering based on belief propagation (DPF-BP) consensus, a fast method for target tracking. According to our simulations, DPF-BP provides better performance than DPF based on standard belief consensus (DPF-SBC) in terms of disagreement in the network. However, in terms of root-mean square error, it can outperform DPF-SBC only for a specific number of consensus iterations.


Ibnu Jarir Ath-Thabari he is one of the mufassir scholrs who handed dwon the verse of the Quran using the Bil Ma'stur method (interpreting the verse with periwayatan). He sendiai manpret the Al Baqarah verse 256 with the periwayatan path, both from the hadist and the mufassirin before, in lafadz "there is no complusion to (enter) Islam as someone is not forced to convert to Islam, the latters Alif and Lam actually entered lafadz to clarify the lafadz that Allah intended in his word there is no complusiaon to enter it, nemely Islam. And bloch Came in. Alif and Lam as a subtitute for the latter ha wich was hidden in the lafadz call, than the meaning the verse when Allah is haigh and great, there is no compulistion to enter His religion, in fact the ruth is clear from the wrong path. In my opinion, this opinion is more concred with verse revelation, in Lafadz uall the most apropriate opinio about the meaning in my opinion is, that every person who was adultery with Allah, then mean worshiping other than him, sometimes by forcing others for worship him, sometime people on the basis ofthe  willingness of the those who worship themselves. The wor ship was also in the form of humans, ghost, statuse, idols, and others.


Himachal Pradesh (HP) is one of the states of India with a population of 6,864,602 and density of 123/km2. In the first healthy states, progressive India report on the ranks of states and union territories, HP scores overall 5th rank in health index based on reference year 2015-2016. Similarly, in first of its kind, "Health of nation states" report published recently revealed disease burden status of respective states and HP falls under highest epidemiological transition levels with epidemiological ratio of <0.31 in 2016 which was 1.14 in 1990. Particularly, the leading causes of disability-adjusted life years were reported as ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for HP. These above-stated factual indicators reflect on high expenditure being incurred by an average resident of state suffering from any form of noncommunicable diseases while assessing health-care services. Sustainable development goal 3 and 3.8 of financial risk protection is being addressed through various government-sponsored schemes envisaging National Health Policy-2017 goals. Government of HP had taken major strides for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and extended the similar benefits of Ayushman Bharat scheme to all sections of society with notification of Himachal Health Care scheme on December 29, 2018. Being a hilly state, HP is having its own challenges of inaccessibility and disparities, but its journey and direction on path of UHC is well directed and aptly supported by government policies.


Modern research has been diligent and successful in discovering what causes a wrongful conviction and long-term consequences on the wrongfully convicted person and their family. However, there is one area that remains relatively untouched by research efforts. It is the period between the conviction and the release, the period of incarceration itself. The purpose of this paper is to outline the experiences of wrongfully convicted persons in prison. While each incarceration term is an individualized experience, there are many commonalities within these experiences. This paper will consider the incarceration experience via two lenses: Part I will look at inmate and prison violence, and Part II will explore mental health and segregation. The paper will focus largely on the Canadian perspective, with limited insights from other jurisdictions. Each section will also evaluate: (1) the general prison experience for all incarcerated persons, and (2) the distinct prison experiences of the wrongfully convicted as a result of maintaining their innocence. Because little research exists on the distinct experiences of wrongfully convicted persons in prison, this paper looks to interviews and other sources where wrongfully convicted persons discussed their prison experiences. These sources are few and far between, with many wrongfully convicted persons echoing the words of Thomas Sophonow (wrongfully convicted of the murder of a 16-year-old donut shop employee), "whatever happened in jail [is] nobody's business."


Introduction Illegality of abortion perpetuates socioeconomic inequities in what it is practiced and, like sexual coercion, obscures its consequences for the women's health. Purpose To investigate the relationship between abortion and experiences of sexual coercion among young women. Methodology Data analysed come from GRAVAD research, a cross-sectional study with stratified random sample, that was conducted with youth aged 18–24 years in Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre and Salvador. The present sample was composed by 870 interviews of women who reported having become pregnant. For statistical analysis was used Poisson regression with robust variance, incorporating structure of design and sample weights. Results Abortion's statement was associated with account of one experience of sexual coercion (PR=1.60, 95% CI 1.04 to 2.44). It has also appeared associated with higher education (PR=2.78, 95% CI 1.77 to 4.36), greater number of sexual partners (PR=2.21, 95% CI 1.31 to 3.75), not obtained the first information about sex with parents (PR=1.90, 95% CI 1.14 to 3.18) and with a bigger number of pregnancies (PR=1.65, 95% CI 1.40 to 1.94) and sexual partners (PR 2.21; 95% CI 1.31 to 3.75). The prevalence of sexual coercion among young women in this study was 22.8%. Conclusion Association between abortion and sexual coercion reflects a situation of gender's vulnerability. Sexual violence appeared together with other factors, such as abortion, denoting precarious negotiations in terms of sexuality and reproduction. The silencing of sexual coercion by public institutions contribute to increased vulnerability of young people, as it blocks the access to educational, legal and health features, that could help breaking situations of coercion and to prevent it recurrence.


When the Soviet union collapsed at the beginning of the 1990s, a democratization began to develop. During the Jeltsin years, democracy in Russia was developing steadily, but since Putin became president at the turn of the century it has started to move back towards authoritarian rule. The purpose of this study is to explore the reasons for why the democracy in Russia never became consolidated and to understand why the country again has moved towards an authoritarian rule, like the one during the Soviet union.In order to fulfill the aim of this study, two theories were used. These were Linz and Stepan's consolidation theory, about the five arenas that have to be developed, and Samuel P. Huntington's theory about authoritarian nostalgia. In order to answer the questions that this study puts forward, these theories were used against empirical material about Russia.The results of the study show that Russia does not live up to the requirements in any of the five arenas and therefore could not possibly develop a consolidated democracy. It also seems as if the return to authoritarianism in Russia can be blamed on a combination of nostalgia for the Soviet union, which developed during the economic crisis of the 1990s, and an increasing nationalism amongst the population.


This paper presents a robust nonlinear H∞ Static Output Feedback control (SOF) design for steering control of the autonomous vehicle with input constraint, external disturbances, and the unavailability of the sideslip angle. To deal with the actuator saturation, a polytopic representation has been used. Then, based on a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) model of the vehicle lateral dynamics in its discrete-time form and using a non-quadratic fuzzy Lyapunov function, stabilization conditions have been derived in terms of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Finally, the robustness and the advantages of the proposed approach are demonstrated through different tests.


Abstract--- Caring behavior is one of the benchmarks for the quality of nursing services. However, when providing nursing care, not all students can do it in the right way. The results of research conducted by using the Caring Behavior Inventory (CBI) in college students accounted for only 23% of subjects with good caring behaviors. While 54% was in the moderate category and 23% was in the less category. In this study, researchers used a pre-experimental group pre-posttest design. Caring behavior was the dependent variable and preceptorship learning was an independent variable. The total sample was 13 subjects conducted by nonprobability sampling. The data collection tool used is the Caring Behavior Inventory (CBI). Data were analyzed using a paired t-test with a significance level of 0.05. The results showed a significance value of 0.071. P value> 0.05 indicates that there is no influence of preceptorship learning on the caring behavior of a student in the ICU. This indicates the need for further research on preceptorship learning programs and their influence on the caring behavior of nursing students.


Natural fibers are considered to have potential use as reinforcing agents in polymer composite materials because of their principal benefits: moderate strength and stiffness, low cost, and being an environmental friendly, degradable, and renewable material. A study has been carried out to evaluate impact properties of composites made by areca fibers reinforced urea formaldehyde, melamine urea formaldehyde and epoxy resins. The extracted areca fibers from the areca husk were alkali treated with potassium hydroxide (KOH) to obtain better interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. Then composites were produced by means of compression molding technique with varying process parameters, such as fiber condition (untreated and alkali treated), and fiber loading percentages (50% and 60% by weight). The developed areca fiber reinforced composites were then characterized by impact test. The results show that, impact strength increase with increase in the loading percentage. It is observed that, treated areca fiber reinforcement increases impact strength when compared to untreated areca fiber reinforcement. Keywords—Lignocellulosic Fibers Composites, Areca Fibers, Alkali Treatment, Impact Strength.


Cox proportional hazards and stratified Poisson regression are commonly used models for time-dependent data in epidemiologic studies. However, whether these methods consistently produce comparable results for the estimate of risk for both rare and prevalent outcomes is unclear. Data from a previous study that utilized stratified Poisson regression to investigate relationships between selected causes of death and annual cumulative exposures to titanium dioxide (TiO2) were reanalysed using Cox proportional hazards modelling. The study cohort included 3,607 workers employed in three US manufacturing facilities, followed 1935–2006. Analyses were completed for cumulative doses in mg/m3-year with no lag and lagged 10 years, with all models specified similarly for covariates. Overall, the Cox and Poisson models resulted in similar estimates in most dose categories for the selected causes of death, with no statistically significant indication of a positive association between TiO2 exposure and death from all cancers, lung cancers, non-malignant respiratory disease, or all heart disease. The Cox model routinely produced narrower 95% confidence intervals (CI), although overlapping with those from Poisson. Borderline disagreement results were associated with risk estimates lagged 10 years for heart disease at dose >80: 1.51 (CI: 1.00, 2.25) from Poisson and 1.356 (CI: 0.922, 1.995) from Cox; and for all cancers at dose 15-35: 1.35 (CI: 0.89, 2.04) from Poisson and 1.485 (CI: 1.005, 2.193) from Cox.


Langara College, as one of the leading undergraduate institutions in the province of British Columbia (BC), offers the "Applied Science for Engineering" two-year diploma program as well as the "Engineering Transfer" two-semester certificate program. Three project-based courses are offered as part of the two-year diploma program in Applied Science (APSC) and Computer Science (CPSC) departments: "APSC 1010—Engineering and Technology in Society", "CPSC 1090—Engineering Graphics", and "CPSC 1490—Applications of Microcontrollers", with CPSC 1090 and CPSC 1490 also part of the Engineering Transfer curriculum. Although the goals, scopes, objectives, and evaluation criteria of these courses are different, the main component of all three courses is a group-based technical project. Engineering students have access to Langara College's Makerspace for the hands-on component of their project. Makerspaces expand experiential learning opportunities and allows students to gain a skillset outside the traditional classroom. This paper begins with a detailed review of the maker movement and the impact of makerspace in higher education. Different forms of makerspace and the benefits of incorporating them on first-year students' creativity, sense of community, self-confidence, and entrepreneurial skills are discussed. This paper introduces Langara's engineering program and its project-based design courses. Langara's interdisciplinary makerspace, its goals and objectives, equipment, and some sample projects are introduced in this paper in detail. We then explain how the group-project component of APSC 1010, CPSC 1090, and CPSC 1490 are managed and how using makerspace improves students' performance in such projects. In conclusion, the paper describes the evaluation of learning outcomes via an anonymous student survey.


Chufa (Cyperus esculentus L. var. sativus Boeck.) is a traditional crop in the Mediterranean region of Spain, where it is only furrow irrigated. This article analyzes the irrigation performance for this crop, conducting field studies over three consecutive seasons in Valencia (Spain). Irrigation schedule was based on the volumetric soil water content, which was measured with capacitance sensors. Infiltrability was measured with blocked-furrow infiltrometers. An area velocity flow module measured the water flow, the cross-sectional geometry of furrows was determined using furrow profilometers, and times for advance and recession were recorded. WinSRFR software was used to analyze every irrigation event, determining the application efficiency (AE) and distribution uniformity of the minimum (DUmin), and to optimize the combination of furrow inflow (q) and cut-off time (Tco). Average values obtained for AE were 30.1%, 25.6%, and 26.7% in 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively, and the corresponding DUmin values were 0.54, 0.61, and 0.67. Optimized results showed that it is possible to reach AE and DUmin values up to 87% and 0.86, respectively. However, understanding the q-Tco relationship that maximizes both AE and DUmin is more important than knowing the specific values. A function that related q and Tco was obtained for the typical plot dimensions, and this was validated in 2011. Therefore, this function can be used in most of the plots in the cultivation area.


Understanding black-box machine learning models is crucial for their widespread adoption. Learning globally interpretable models is one approach, but achieving high performance with them is challenging. An alternative approach is to explain individual predictions using locally interpretable models. For locally interpretable modeling, various methods have been proposed and indeed commonly used, but they suffer from low fidelity, i.e. their explanations do not approximate the predictions well. In this paper, our goal is to push the state-of-the-art in high-fidelity locally interpretable modeling. We propose a novel framework, Locally Interpretable Modeling using Instance-wise Subsampling (LIMIS). LIMIS utilizes a policy gradient to select a small number of instances and distills the black-box model into a low-capacity locally interpretable model using those selected instances. Training is guided with a reward obtained directly by measuring the fidelity of the locally interpretable models. We show on multiple tabular datasets that LIMIS near-matches the prediction accuracy of black-box models, significantly outperforming state-of-the-art locally interpretable models in terms of fidelity and prediction accuracy.


Herein, we report the preparation of well characterized hierarchical CuO/ZnO heterostructures and demonstrate the versatility of this composite as a CO2 gas sensor and a visible light catalyst for methylene blue (MB) degradation. 3D hierarchical ZnO spheres were decorated with CuO nanoleaves to form the interleaved p-CuO/n-ZnO hetero-surfaces. Subsequently, silver (Ag) functionalized composites were tested for their sensitivity and selectivity towards CO2 gas as a core application. The nanostructured Ag@CuO/ZnO composite demonstrated an improved sensor response of 34% at 320 °C with response/recovery times of 76 and 265 s compared to the CuO/ZnO composite and control samples. Additionally, the Ag@CuO/ZnO composite displayed excellent recovery (97%), repeatability (96%), accuracy (86%), and lower baseline drifts with a co-efficient of variation (COV) of 4.5% measured over an extended period of 40 days towards 1000 ppm CO2 gas for 10 individually tested sensors. In a parallel application as a photocatalyst, the CuO/ZnO composite was observed to degrade 98% methylene blue in 180 min with the first order rate constant (κapp) found to be 6- and 75-fold greater, respectively, when compared to the ZnO and CuO samples under visible light irradiation. The gas sensing mechanism substantiated from in situ diffuse reflectance infra-red Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) confirmed the formation of copper carbonate in the presence of CO2. Interleaved assembly ensured the high mobility of electron–hole pairs with concerted efforts from a high effective surface area, multi-interleaved p/n nano-interfaces and the catalytic role of Ag. The confluence of these factors resulted in an improved CO2 sensor response and photocatalytic performance.


Since filamentous fungi are capable of assimilating several types of sugars (hexoses and pentoses), they are potential candidates for bioconversion of spent sulfite liquor (SSL). Three filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus oryzae, Mucor indicus, and Rhizopus oryzae were investigated in this work. The SSL was diluted in order to obtain concentrations of 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90% and supplemented with two types of nutrients. The results from cultivations in shake flask showed that A. oryzae and M. indicus were not able to grow in pure SSL and SSL90% while R. oryzae could grow only in SSL50% and SSL60%. Cultivation with A. oryzae resulted in the highest yield of produced fungal biomass, while R. oryzae cultivation resulted in the lowest fungal biomass yield. Although, the mediums containing yeast extract, (NH4)2SO4, KH2PO4, CaCl2∙2H2O, and MgSO4∙7H2O as nutrients supplementations produced higher fungal biomass compared to the mediums containing NH4H2PO4 and ammonia, but there was no significant difference between two types of nutrients in terms of sugars and acetic acid consumption rate. The sugars consumption in M. indicus cultivation was faster than A. oryzae and R. oryzae cultivation. Acetic acid present in SSL was completely consumed during cultivation of all fungi. M. indicus was the best and fastest ethanol producer from SSL among the fungi examined, when yeast extract and salts were used as nutrients supplementations. Furthermore, no further improvement in ethanol concentration and rate of sugars consumption was obtained in medium supplemented with NH4H2PO4 and ammonia compared to medium containing yeast extract, (NH4)2SO4, KH2PO4, CaCl2∙2H2O, and MgSO4∙7H2O. On the other hand, the higher dilution of SSL resulted in a better fermentability, and better consumption of sugars and acetic acid. Keywords—Ethanol, filamentous fungi, fungal biomass, spent sulfite liquor.


Software architectures have become one of the most crucial aspects of software engineering. Software architectures let designers specify systems in terms of components and their relations (i.e., connectors). These components along with their relations can then be verified to check whether their behaviours meet designers' expectations. XCD is a novel architecture description language, which promotes contractual specification of software architectures and their automated formal verifications in SPIN. XCD allows designers to formally verify their system specifications for a number of properties, i.e., (i) incomplete functional behaviour of components, (ii) wrong use of services operated by system components, (iii) deadlock, (iv) race-conditions, and (v) buffer overflows in the case of asynchronous (i.e., event-based) communications. In addition to these properties, designers can specify their own properties in linear temporal logic and check their correctness. In this paper, I discuss XCD and its support for formal verification of software architectures through a simple shared-data access case study.


ABSTRACT In recent years, policy-makers and researchers have identified regional development agencies as the most suitable actors to carry out public tasks. One of these tasks has been the coordination of regional development processes. Both practitioners and researchers argue that legitimacy is a prerequisite for these regional actors to function properly. Although legitimacy is a key issue, little is known about the challenges that arise while producing it. Selecting six regional development agencies in Switzerland and applying an interview-based research method, this explorative study analyses how regional development agencies deal with legitimacy issues. The findings indicate that the main problem with which regional development agencies struggle is not procedural rightfulness but means–end coordination. By proposing a clear distinction between legitimacy and justification, we aim to stimulate the debate on how to operationalize legitimacy and further the discussion of the functioning of regional development agencies. Consequently, we introduce the concept of 'asymmetric justification' to the debate on regional development processes in order to shed a light on the functioning of regional development agencies.


Over the past two decades net mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet quadrupled, caused by enhanced surface melting and speedup of the marine-terminating outlet glaciers. This speedup has been related, among other factors, to enhanced submarine melting, which in turn is caused by warming of the surrounding ocean and by increased subglacial discharge. For the future and recent mass balance changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet, ice-ocean processes potentially play an important role, yet they are not properly represented in contemporary Greenland Ice Sheet models.
In this work we performed numerical experiments with a one-dimensional plume model coupled to a one-dimensional model of outlet glacier. We investigate the response of a coupled ice-flow plume model to possible outcomes of climate change. In particularly, we examine the transient and equilibrium response of the outlet glaciers to changes in ocean temperature and subglacial discharge which affects both: glacier geometry and submarine melt rates.


The overexpression of gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) in cancer can be used for peptide-receptor mediated radionuclide imaging and therapy. We have previously shown that an antagonist analog of bombesin RM26 conjugated to 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-N,N',N''-triacetic acid (NOTA) via a diethyleneglycol (PEG2) spacer (NOTA-PEG2-RM26) and labeled with 68Ga can be used for imaging of GRPR-expressing tumors. In this study, we evaluated if a variation of mini-PEG spacer length can be used for optimization of targeting properties of the NOTA-conjugated RM26. A series of analogs with different PEG-length (n = 2, 3, 4, 6) was synthesized, radiolabeled and evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The IC50 values of natGa-NOTA-PEGn-RM26 (n = 2, 3, 4, 6) were 3.1 ± 0.2, 3.9 ± 0.3, 5.4 ± 0.4 and 5.8 ± 0.3 nM, respectively. In normal mice all conjugates demonstrated similar biodistribution pattern, however 68Ga-NOTA-PEG3-RM26 showed lower liver uptake. Biodistribution of 68Ga-NOTA-PEG3-RM26 was evaluated in nude mice bearing PC-3 (prostate cancer) and BT-474 (breast cancer) xenografts. High uptake in tumors (4.6 ± 0.6%ID/g and 2.8 ± 0.4%ID/g for PC-3 and BT-474 xenografts, respectively) and high tumor-to-background ratios (tumor/blood of 44 ± 12 and 42 ± 5 for PC-3 and BT-474 xenografts, respectively) were found already at 2 h p.i. of 68Ga-NOTA-PEG3-RM26. Results of this study suggest that variation in the length of the PEG spacer can be used for optimization of targeting properties of peptide-chelator conjugates. However, the influence of the mini-PEG length on biodistribution is minor when di-, tri-, tetra- and hexaethylene glycol are compared.


The inherent bit complexity of leader election on asynchronous unidirectional rings of processors is examined under various assumptions about global knowledge of the ring. If processors have unique identities with a maximum of $m$ bits, then the expected number of communication bits sufficient to elect a leader with probability 1, on a ring of (unknown) size $n$ is $O(nm)$. If the ring size is known to within a multiple of 2, then the expected number of communication bits sufficient to elect a leader with probability 1 is $O(n \log n)$. These upper bounds are complemented by lower bounds on the communication complexity of a related problem called solitude verification that reduces to leader election in $O(n)$ bits. If processors have unique identities chosen from a sufficiently large universe of size $s$, then the average, over all choices of identities, of the communication complexity of verifying solitude is $\Omega (n \log s)$ bits. When the ring size is known only approximately, then $\Omega (n \log n)$ bits are required for solitude verification. The lower bounds address the complexity of certifying solitude. This is modelled by tbe best case behaviour of non-deterministic solitude verification algorithms.


This paper documents the approach and experience of Traumaclinic, a Cape Town based organisation offering a trauma support service. The controversy over single session debriefing interventions is examined and it is concluded that interventions that invite intense emotional expression should not be offered indiscriminately or forced on those who do not want them. When they do occur, they need to be carefully managed and take place over several sessions. A review of contemporary approaches to intervention following trauma highlights their comprehensive and flexible nature and the inclusion of multiple components that are introduced in a manner responsive to the needs of the situation. This is the basis of the current model used by Traumaclinic. The principles of that model are summarised and examples given of the application of the approach to specific cases. Keywords: acute stress disorder, critical incident stress debriefing, trauma recovery, trauma support Journal of Psychology in Africa 2005, 15(2): 135–142


Working within the framework of the branch of Linguistics known as discourse analysis, and more specifically within the current approach of genre analysis, this thesis presents an analysis of the English of economic forecasting. The language of economic forecasting is highly specialised and follows certain conventions of structure and style. This research project identifies these characteristics and explains them in terms of their communicative function. The work is based on a corpus of texts published in economic reports and surveys by major corporate bodies. These documents are targeted at an international expert readership familiar with this genre. The data is analysed at two broad levels: firstly, the macro-level of text structure which is described in terms of schema-theory, a currently influential model of analysis, and, secondly, the micro-level of authors' strategies for modulating the predictions which form the key move in the forecasting schema. The thesis aims to contribute to the newly developing field of genre analysis in a number of ways: firstly, by a coverage of a hitherto neglected but intrinsically interesting and important genre (Economic Forecasting); secondly, by testing the applicability of existing models of analysis at the level of schematic structure and proposing a genre-specific model; thirdly by offering insights into the nature of modulation of propositions which is often broadly classified as `hedging' or `modality', and which has been recently described as lq`an area for prolonged fieldwork'. This phenomenon is shown to be a key feature of this particular genre. It is suggested that this thesis, in addition to its contribution to the theory of genre analysis, provides a useful basis for work by teachers of English for Economics, an important area of English for Specific Purposes.


In this paper, simultaneous multi-point wireless sensing is proposed and demonstrated via multiple sensors in nested split-ring resonator (NSRR) geometry coupled to a single illuminator antenna. In this passive multi-point sensing system, each probe in the sensor array is assigned a non-overlapping spectral interval for frequency shift in response to local mechanical loading around a unique operating resonance frequency in the band of the antenna. Here, it is shown that the antenna is capable of capturing the responses from all probes in a single frequency sweep. Furthermore, the inter-coupling between the array elements and the effect of antenna illumination on the coupling are experimentally investigated in a systematic way. In addition, as a proof-of-concept real-life application in structural health monitoring, two NSRR sensors are located inside a concrete beam to monitor the strain forming on reinforcing bars, and this dual-probe system is demonstrated to record strain simultaneously via both of the embedded probes.


Mediterranean central Chile is globally recognized as a hotspot for terrestrial biodiversity due to its high endemism and massive habitat loss. However, within the rural landscape of central Chile, significant extents of natural areas remain, especially on less productive, steep slopes, and vegetation strips extending from the surrounding hills to agricultural areas. Accordingly, vegetation strips or corridors, within lowland farms, constitute key elements to support the conservation of biodiversity in rural landscapes. To assess the ecological performance of corridors in 22 commercials vineyards in central Chile, we characterized them in terms of width-, length-, area-, and perimeter-to-area ratios, as well as the number of connections with natural areas. Based on a set of previously defined ecological indicators (species, functional groups, and structural components), we compared their occurrence in corridors within vineyards and in the surrounding natural areas. We evaluated the effects of corridor attributes on the occurrence of the selected ecological indicators, using a generalized linear mixed model with each vineyard as a random factor. The area, width, and length of vegetation corridors varied widely (1.2–86.3 ha, 10.5–95 m, and 380–5000 m, respectively). We found significant differences in the occurrence of indicators between corridors and natural areas. All sampled ecological indicators in corridors showed a negative relationship with the distance to the nearest natural area. Vegetation strips within vineyards represent important opportunities for biodiversity conservation that significantly enhance habitat quality in the agricultural landscape for biodiversity and habitat connectivity.


Scholars from different historical disciplines use the word 'retrospective in different ways which might sometimes be confusing. In historical geography, 'retrogressive methodology' is the term for what in history is known as retrospective methodology: using later sources to shed light upon earlier times. In this field, retrospective methodology is the opposite: making earlier sources throw light upon later times. The aim of this article is to present the retrogressive method as I know it from historical geography and in two case studies show how it works and highlight its potential for medieval landscape studies by the use of (post-medieval) maps from the provinces of Halsingland and Jamtland, mid-Sweden (fig. 1). The cases discuss medieval hamlet and village formation as well as late medieval farm desertion.


Background: To examine the associations of serum liver markers with parameters of mineral and bone metabolism and their relationship with leptin, adiponectin and resistin in patients with hip fracture (HF). Methods: In 294 older patients (mean age 82.2 ± 7.9 years, 72.1% women) with osteoporotic HF, we measured serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin, albumin, adiponectin, leptin, resistin, 25(OH) vitamin D (25(OH)D), intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium, phosphate, magnesium, osteocalcin (OC), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), urinary concentrations of deoxypyridinoline (DPD/Cr) and cross-linked N-telopeptide of type 1 collagen (NTx/Cr) (both corrected for urinary creatinine concentrations), as well as routine blood parameters. Results: In the total cohort, in fully adjusted multivariate linear regression analyses, lower OC was an independent predictor of higher GGT, ALT and bilirubin, whereas higher BAP was positively associated with GGT and ALP; NTx/Cr, hemoglobin (both inversely), adiponectin, coronary artery disease (CAD) and alcohol overuse (all three positively) were also independently associated with GGT activity. However, in malnourished women, OC was not an independent predictor of GGT or ALT and NTx/Cr predicted ALP activity. OC was independently predicted by GGT, ALT (both negatively), ALP, leptin and age (all three positively), BAP by GGT and ALP, OC/BAP ratio by GGT (inversely) and leptin (positively) and both elevated NTx/Cr and DPD/Cr by higher ALP and lower leptin levels. The GGT > 20 U/L indicated increased prevalence of low OC levels (two-fold) and low OC/BAP ratio (2.6-fold) with a positive predictive value above 75%. Conclusions: In older HF patients, bidirectional links exist between liver function (within normal range in the vast majority) and parameters of bone metabolism. Adiponectin is an independent predictor of GGT, whereas leptin is a determinant of OC and bone resorption; these relationships are modulated by nutritional status. GGT > 20 U/L may be used as a marker of impaired bone metabolism. J Endocrinol Metab. 2014;4(5-6):121-135 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jem250w