Background and Objectives The para-Bombay phenotype (also known as H-deficient secretor) is characterized by a lack of ABH antigens on red cells, but ABH substances are found in saliva. Molecular genetic analysis was performed for five Chinese individuals serologically typed as para-Bombay. Materials and Methods ABO genotyping and mutational analysis of both FUT1 (or H ) and FUT2 (or Se ) loci were performed for these individuals using the polymerase chain reaction, single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct DNA sequencing. Results The ABO genotypes of these para-Bombay individuals correlated with the types of ABH substances found in the saliva. Their FUT1 genotypes were h1h2 (three individuals), h2h2 (one individual) and h2h6 (one individual). Alleles h1 (547– 552delAG) and h2 (880–882delTT) were known frameshift mutations, while h6 (522C > A) was a missense mutation (Phe174Leu) not previously reported. These three mutations were rare sequence variations, each with an allele frequency of less than 0·005. Phe174 might be functionally important because this residue is conserved from mouse to human. Their FUT2 genotypes were Se 357 se 357,385 for the h2h6 individual and Se 357 Se 357 for the others. Both FUT2 alleles were known: one functional ( Se 357 ) and one weakly functional ( se 357,385 ). That they carried at least one copy of a functional FUT2 allele was consistent with their secretor status. As FUT1 and FUT2 are adjacent on 19q13·3, there are three possible haplotypes in these para-Bombay individuals: h1-Se 357 ; h2-Se 357 ; and h6-se 357,385 . Conclusions A novel non-functional FUT1 allele (522C > A, or Phe174Leu) was identified in a para-Bombay individual and on a se 357,385 haplotype background.


According to arrangements of local cast-in-situ regions, new precast concrete shear wall (NPC wall) has various types including integrally precast component, component with precast concealed columns and local region of wall by casting in situ, component with precast one end concealed column and the other end by casting in situ and component with all cast-in-situ concealed columns. By finite element analysis for four types of NPC wall and comparing with monolithic cast-in-situ finite element model, the lateral resistance performance of each type of NPC wall were discussed. Compared with cast-in-situ finite element model, NPC wall has rather different lateral resistant mechanism, the load-displacement curves are obviously different, and the horizontal and vertical connections decrease the strength and stiffness. The reasonable arrangement of local cast-in-situ regions can effectively improve the lateral resistance performance of NPC wall. The model composed of all cast-in-situ concealed columns, which has similar lateral resistant performance to cast-in-situ model and shows reasonable load mechanism, should be recommended. Meanwhile, the model consisting of precast concealed column and local cast-in-situ region of wall should be avoided for its poor performance.


The assessment of care from the perspective of patients provides information to evaluate the care given and enables the identification of factors that are involved, as well as work in the search for quality. It was an exploratory and descriptive field research, with a quantitative approach which aimed to identify patients' satisfaction in the postoperative of fracture on the care provided by nursing staff. The evaluation was conducted with 22 patients in the period from September to November 2009.  The Instrument of Patients' Satisfaction was used as a technique for data collection and the data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics with the support of the Statistical Analysis System tool.  It was identified the fact that patients feel more satisfied with the trust domain, followed by professional and educational domains. These data lead to reflection, since the patients visualize as less satisfactory the skills of the nursing staff in providing information to the patient for care follow-up.


The advent of Internet marked a significant change in how users and customers can be involved in the innovative process. History is rife with examples of how users innovate, but Internet and its associated communication technologies brought radically new means for individuals to interact rapidly and at little cost in communities that spur new innovations. These communities are initiated and governed by people that differ in their motivations for taking part and participate to varying degrees. Such communities are outside the immediate control of companies seeking to develop open innovation strategies aimed at harnessing their work. This book brings together distinguished scholars from different disciplines: economics, organization theory, innovation studies and marketing in order to provide an improved understanding of how technological as well as symbolic value is created and appropriated at the intersection between online communities and firms. Empirical examples are presented from different industries, including software, services and manufacturing. The book offers food for thought for academics and managers to an important phenomenon that challenges many conventional wisdoms for how business can be done. This book was published as a special issue of Industry and Innovation.


What prompts children to tell stories? What does the word "story" mean to a child at two or five years of age? The Folkstories of Children, first published in 1981, features nearly five hundred stories that were volunteered by fifty children between the ages of two and ten and transcribed word for word. The stories are organized chronologically by the age of the teller, revealing the progression of verbal competence and the gradual emergence of staging and plot organization. Many stories told by two-year-olds, for example, have only beginnings with no middle or end; the "narrative" is held together by rhyme or alliteration. After the age of three or four, the same children tell stories that feature a central character and a narrative arc. The stories also exhibit each child's growing awareness and management of his or her environment and life concerns. Some children see their stories as dialogues between teller and audience, others as monologues expressing concerns about fate and the forces of good and evil. Brian Sutton-Smith discusses the possible origins of the stories themselves: folktales, parent and teacher reading, media, required writing of stories in school, dreams, and play. The notes to each chapter draw on this context as well as folktale analysis and child development theory to consider why and how the stories take their particular forms. The Folkstories of Children provides valuable evidence and insight into the ways children actively and inventively engage language as they grow.


The Utah Population Database allows examination of the genetic relationships among the 35.7% of all cancer cases in the state that have genealogical records. Familial clustering of cancer is measured by the Genealogical Index of Familiality and is examined by site, and within site by age of onset, histology, and gender. Most cancer sites examined show excess familiality for all cases considered together. Subsets of individuals with certain characteristics showed unusually high levels of familial clustering, specifically lymphocytic leukemias and especially chronic lymphocytic leukemia, lobular breast cancer, early lip cancer, early melanoma, and female lung cancers of alveolar/adenoma histology. These may represent characteristics of the most penetrant forms of inherited susceptibilities, those which are enhanced by environmental factors, chance aggregations, rare inherited syndromes, or a combination of these factors.


Various illnesses are caused by stress, and stress release is being carried out by musical therapy. A variety of music is used in the musical therapy, and it takes a long time for patient and music therapist to select the music. Generally, time selecting music can be reduced and the musical therapy can be done more easily if effective music for the purpose it is easily found. For this purpose, we measure and extract an EEG (electroencephalogram) difference between music genres as characteristic data in this paper. Our method produces data based on frequency appearance rate, extracts features by principal component analysis, and then analyzes them by using a neural network. Finally in order to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, we carried out computer simulations by using the real data.


This work has its goal in clarifying hypothesis in using search computational power in the form of genetic algo-rithms to find geometric solutions while designing architecture. We will start by roughly explaining the fundamen-tals of this type of algorithms and its mechanics and ensue by exploring some uses of this technology in architecture. A clear separation between the traditional self-builder and the architect as a profession, in their ways of designing, cannot be denied. Christopher Alexander has a clear view on the mechanics behind these processes, in which repeti-tion over time drives perfection and self-awareness in error detection. Some years before Alexander, computation brought technological possibilities of brute force solution finding, only to be "evolved" into evolutionary strategies – as predicted by Turing. Bringing biology and genetics concepts into the fields of computation, Holland creates ge-netic algorithms, a simulation of the laws of Mendel and Darwin applied to solutions finding. Architecture design, in its pursuit of finding good project solutions, started using these computing strategies recently. Over the last years, the complexity of design levels in which these algorithms have been applied has increased steadily, giving us a glimpse of the future of computing architecture.


. This paper analyzes the terminal descent phase of a space lander on a surface of a celestial body. A multibody approach is adopted to build the physical model of the lander and the surface. In this work, a legged landing gear system is considered. Opportune modelling of the landing gear crashbox is implemented in order to accurately predict the kinetic energy. To ensure the stability of the lander while impacting the ground and to reduce the contact forces that arise in this maneuver, the multibody model makes use of a co-simulation with a dedicated control system. Two types of control systems are considered; one with only position variables and the other with position and velocity variables. The results demonstrate the good reliability of modern multibody technology to incorporate control algorithms to carry out stability analysis of ground impact of space landers. Moreover, from a comparison between the two control systems adopted, it is shown how the velocity control leads to lower contact forces and fuel consumption.


Since the independence of Haiti in 1804, the military has played a central role in the governance of the republic, often accessing the presidency through the recurrent phenomenon of the coup d'état, which serves as both a principal mechanism for the transmission of power from one government to another and for reinforcing the domination of the military over the civilian population. The 19th-century model of the coup d'état reflected the de facto decentralization of the military as it was carried out through rebellions concocted and headed by army battalions stationed in the rural provinces. The U.S. occupation (1915–1934), by locating or relocating the military elite, the most prominent military bases, the largest contingent of the military officers and rank and file in the capital city, contributed to the reengineering of a new national infrastructure that facilitates a new model of the coup d'état to emerge: One that germinates among the high command of the military; one that takes the form of a corporate intervention; one that is made possible because of the high command's control over tactical military weapons, including the heavy military equipment located in the capital city; and one that is swift, thereby preventing any provincial military base from mounting a meaningful or successful military counter-coup.


Alkaafi fel Arooz-e-val Ghavaafi written by Khatib Tabrizi is quite familiar for the students and researchers of the area of prosody and meter. Khatib Tabrizi is a sixth century scholar. The main characteristic of his Age in writing books was to adapt from the texts and works of the predecessors and little use of creativity and innovation. Considering the bibliography and the methodology of this great scholar in compiling the above mentioned text, the author of the article has concluded that Khatib Tabrizi like his other contemporary scholars could not avoid this characteristic of his Age and has emphasized on adaptation in his work very much. In his adaptations the main focus of Tabrizi has been on the books of Saaheb Ibn-e-Abbad and Akhfash. However he has also adapted from the books and works of the other scholars too.

Keywords: Prosody, adaptation, Tabrizi, Arooz, Ghavafi.


S-layers are now considered a common cell wall structure in Bacteria and Archaea as well as in some algae. Morphological and chemical studies have revealed that S-layers consist of crystalline arrays of protein or glycoprotein subunits forming oblique, square or hexagonal lattices on the cell surface. Electron microscopy and computer image enhancement techniques have been applied to obtain structural information down to the nanometer range. This chapter deals with the wide distribution of S-layers among cyanobacteria, and their morphological and chemical characterization, and the potential of high resolution electron microscopic studies applied to the cell envelope of Pyrodictium. The occurrence of S-layers in cyanobacteria was investigated by cryomethods and ultrathin sectioning. These investigations indicate that the ultrastructure of S-layers may be exploited as an auxiliary taxonomic criterion in the classification of cyanobacteria. Pyrodictium is the first organism which has shown an optimum growth temperature above 100°C. The highly irregularly shaped, flagellated cells are interconnected by extracellular tubules. The three-dimensional structure of this network was visualized with high resolution scanning electron microscopy while the fine structure of the cell wall architecture was studied in detail with various electron microscopic techniques. Both contributions demonstrate that the investigation of the fine structure of S-layers is fundamental for establishing structure-function relationships for these two-dimensional crystalline arrays.


BACKGROUND No published studies have assessed the efficacy and safety of rosuvastatin generics. OBJECTIVES Primary objective to assess the safety and efficacy of a generic rosuvastatin in reducing plasma low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in Lebanese dyslipidemic patients. Changes in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and adverse effects were secondary objectives. DESIGN Prospective, observational, non-comparative. SETTING Multiple outpatient clinics in Lebanon. PATIENTS AND METHODS Dyslipidemic patients requiring statin therapy were followed for 2 months after prescription of a generic rosuvastatin at the physician's discretion. Efficacy and safety measurements were collected from medical records. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Efficacy was assessed based on the evaluation of mean and percent change in LDL-C between baseline and week 8 as well as the proportion of patients reaching target LDL-C levels. Safety was assessed based on the evaluation of the incidence of adverse events (AEs) during the study period. RESULTS Two months after initiation of generic rosuvastatin, LDL-C levels in the 313 eligible patients who completed the study significantly decreased from 4.3 (0.8) mmol/L (168.2 [31.3] mg/dL) at baseline to 2.7 (0.7) mmol/L (105.9 [25.5] mg/dL) (P<.001). The mean percent change in LDL-C level was highest in subjects receiving generic rosuvastatin at a dose of 40 mg/day (−47.4%), followed by 20 mg/day (−36.8%), and 10 mg/day (−31.4%); 82.5% of patients reached the target LDL-C level as set by their physician at baseline. Thirteen patients (4%) reported six AEs during treatment: abdominal pain, headache, stomach ache, insomnia, musculoskeletal pain/myalgia and nausea. No clinically significant changes in serum creatinine, serum creatine kinase, or liver function tests were reported. One patient withdrew because of an adverse event. CONCLUSIONS Generic rosuvastatin was efficacious and safe in reducing LDL-C levels and helping the majority of patients achieve LDL-C targets after a short treatment period. LIMITATIONS The observational nature, and a control group, and the relatively short duration of follow-up limit the generalizability of results. The authors received fees for study activities at patient visits from an independent clinical research organization subcontracted by the sponsor.


hydatid cysts". Panaitesco' showed that proguantl and chloroquine diffused into hydatid cysts at 37°C, ,producing considerable concentrations, and that these concentrations had a lethal effect on scolices suspended in serum. He also reported clinical improvement, with fall of eosinophilia, in two patients (and less intense Casoni reaction in one of them), treated intermittently (one by proguanil and the other by chloroquine) for two years. I should value the comments of Dr Heath and Dr Chevis on Panaitesco's claims compared with the potential significance of mebendazole.


This research focuses on representations of China in English in the early 19th century by Western visitors and residents attracted by trade and missionary opportunities. This was the second major wave of western commentators on China following the Jesuits from the 16th to 18th centuries. As in the earlier case the main commentators are Christian missionaries, but in the 19th century they were mainly British and American protestant missionaries bringing a different world view to China. This world view was conditioned by their religion and their sense of superiority based on the relative decline of China in technological and institutional terms compared to the time of the Jesuits. Their views were widely disseminated in the West, and they became both theoretical and literal interpreters (as a result of their language expertise missionaries were employed as interpreters) for Western policy makers. There were three distinct groups of Westerners: merchants, diplomats and missionaries. The missionaries were the most intellectually curious and hence the most active commentators on China, but at the same time were the most inflexible in the framework of understanding they took to China. They also had different concerns and attitudes towards China, compared to the other groups, such as on the opium trade in China. Missionaries are selected as the main subjects for observation in this research.
There are three main research questions: firstly, how did the Protestant missionaries from the early 19th century represent China to Western readers in their publications—primarily in The Chinese Repository, and why did they represent China in the ways they did? Do these representations share some common characteristics or patterns? To what extent were these representations motivated by a framework of expectations that arose from their Western backgrounds?
The main data used in this research is from The Chinese Repository. It was the first English journal devoted to offering a comprehensive introduction to Sinology. It was published between 1832 and 1851, and it witnessed the outbreak of the first Opium War and the change of discourse that occurred over that period. Around 60 articles are selected from the journal to analyse how missionaries represented China and to suggest some reasons for this.
The main theoretical framework of the research is orientalism propounded by Edward Said in 1978. It is approached by two dimensions: a micro dimension which focuses on the book itself published in 1978 and American scholars' feedback in the decade following its publication, and macro dimension which concentrates on Chinese scholars' views of orientalism from the 1990s onwards and Western scholars' new interpretations in the 21st century. I transpose the notion of orientalism from the 20th century Middle East to the 19th century Chinese context, and apply this notion to analyse missionaries' representations of the Chinese language, religion and society. I believe that the orientalism has different contextual manifestations: in other words, it should be 'topic-sensitive'. I find that within the framework of orientalism missionaries adopted three different specific approaches in representing China: syncretism, fundamentalism and progressivism. They used these to inform and reconcile what they found in China with the framework of understanding derived from their religious beliefs and their socio-political view of the world.


This article presents a part of the Inter-Tetra project. This study firstly reviews the literature on conceptions of experiments in didactics of math and didactics of physics to design questionnaires to survey the conceptions of experiments in teaching physics and teaching math in Vietnam. Thereafter, the survey has been conducted among the math and physics pedagogical students in the Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE). The results of the survey have revealed the similarities and differences of the concepts of an experiment in teaching math and physics. In addition, this study also discusses the causes and consequence of the similar and dissimilar concepts of experiments.


Volcanic gases give information on magmatic processes. In particular, anomalous releases of carbon dioxide precede volcanic eruptions. Up to now, this gas has been measured in volcanic plumes with conventional measurements that imply the severe risks of local sampling and can last many hours. For these reasons and for the great advantages of laser sensing, the thorough development of volcanic lidar has been undertaken at the Diagnostics and Metrology Laboratory (UTAPRAD-DIM) of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA). In fact, lidar profiling allows one to scan remotely volcanic plumes in a fast and continuous way, and with high spatial and temporal resolution. Two differential absorption lidar instruments will be presented in this paper: BILLI (BrIdge voLcanic LIdar), based on injection seeded Nd:YAG laser, double grating dye laser, difference frequency mixing (DFM) and optical parametric amplifier (OPA), and VULLI (VULcamed Lidar), based on injection seeded Nd:YAG laser and optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The first one is funded by the ERC (European Research Council) project BRIDGE and the second one by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) project VULCAMED. While VULLI has not yet been tested in a volcanic site, BILLI scanned the gas emitted by Pozzuoli Solfatara (Campi Flegrei volcanic area, Naples, Italy) during a field campaign carried out from 13 to 17 October 2014. Carbon dioxide concentration maps were retrieved remotely in few minutes in the crater area. Lidar measurements were in good agreement with well-established techniques, based on different operating principles. To our knowledge, it is the first time that carbon dioxide in a volcanic plume is retrieved by lidar, representing the first direct measurement of this kind ever performed on an active volcano and showing the high potential of laser remote sensing in geophysical research.


Due to the high demand for network service availability and reliability, the IDS (Intrusion Detecting System) has become an essential element for IP networks. Currently, most IDSs use a pattern-matching mechanism to detect network flooding attacks. However, while running, such a mechanism needs to take into considerable the computing time/resource of an IDS or an IDS-embedded router. This can easily cause the IDS or router to become overloaded or to crash. In this paper, an abnormal event detection mechanism based on the abrupt variation analysis of network traffic is proposed. This detection mechanism works cooperatively with the pattern-matching mechanic to perform effective attack detection in a situation where overloading of an IDS or an IDS-embedded device should be avoided. In addition, a monitoring system using abnormal event detection is designed and implemented to demonstrate its detection performance. By using the developed system, network managers can not only determine the occurrence and the behavior of an attack, but also take some timely actions to present or stop the attack on crucial network resources.


The diversity and composition of tree species of the tropical lowland forest will change, when there are fragmentation and changes of landscape structure of natural forest, and the dynamics of changes in the composition and diversity of trees species occur in the landscape [1]. However, there are variations among the study areas, which can be determined by tracing the linkage and interaction among indicators of changes in the composition and diversity of tree species [2].
The research objectives are to examine the the trees species diversity forest, and interactions between species on the landscape structure change in the Meranti-Dangku forest, to better understand the effects of landscape modification against individuals and groups of species. We expect that the research findings can be used to enhance the efforts on the forest restoration and biodiversity conservation.
We applied a tree vegetation analysis of fragmented natural secondary forest, and conducted observations in 32 units of
sample plots, whose size is 20m x 50m. Ecological analysis of all tree species with dbh ≥ 10 cm was conducted by identifying the local name, latin name of the tree species, and its typical characteristics, and then making the sample of herbarium. Hill's Diversity Number produced a family of number related to diversity, effective species richness, a rare species and the abundance of common species in the population [3]. We also calculated the importance value index of tree species and the Jaccard similarity index, to differentiate the level of the forest succession and the gradation among sub-landscape. The results showed significance of some parameters, which has played important roles in the detecting changes in biodiversity, namely index of species richness and species evenness, and basal area of a tree stand. Three other parameters are not significant. The changes of the tree species composition of the natural forest succession, as respond to the changes of landscape structure, and the gradation among sub-landscape, can be used as a reference on species selection in rehabilitation and restoration of the fragmented natural forest, as a part of the planning on human-modified landscape.


Crk adaptor proteins mediate integrin signaling–induced T cell migration. Crk adapts integrins to T cell movement Signaling by integrins on the cell surface of lymphocytes, such as T cells, upon interaction with proteins on the surface of endothelial cells facilitates lymphocytic adhesion to and migration through blood vessel walls during inflammatory responses. Cell movement involves coordinated changes to the cellular cytoskeleton. Roy et al. found that Crk family adaptor proteins were critical links in the pathways between the activated integrin LFA-1 and cytoskeletal rearrangements in T cells. Activated LFA-1 engaged Crk-associated complexes that enabled the activation of key regulators of actin polymerization and the formation of lamellipodia, projections that propelled the cells across various culture substrates. These findings uncover more of the mechanistic underpinnings of the migratory T cell response, which may enable future therapeutic control of this process in disease. T cell entry into inflamed tissue involves firm adhesion, spreading, and migration of the T cells across endothelial barriers. These events depend on "outside-in" signals through which engaged integrins direct cytoskeletal reorganization. We investigated the molecular events that mediate this process and found that T cells from mice lacking expression of the adaptor protein Crk exhibited defects in phenotypes induced by the integrin lymphocyte function–associated antigen 1 (LFA-1), namely, actin polymerization, leading edge formation, and two-dimensional cell migration. Crk protein was an essential mediator of LFA-1 signaling–induced phosphorylation of the E3 ubiquitin ligase c-Cbl and its subsequent interaction with the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) subunit p85, thus promoting PI3K activity and cytoskeletal remodeling. In addition, we found that Crk proteins were required for T cells to respond to changes in substrate stiffness, as measured by alterations in cell spreading and differential phosphorylation of the force-sensitive protein CasL. These findings identify Crk proteins as key intermediates coupling LFA-1 signals to actin remodeling and provide mechanistic insights into how T cells sense and respond to substrate stiffness.


Magnetic resonance imaging allowed a distinct differentiation between syringohydromyelia (9 patients) and intramedullary tumour (2 patients). In syringohydromyelia the morphological evaluation showed a greater extension of the cavitation, especially in the caudal direction, than the estimation according to clinical findings. Tumours were visualised indirectly by changing the physiological shape of the spinal cord; therefore, small parts were not recognisable on magnetic resonance images but detected by the corresponding clinical symptoms. Clinical and morphological data were complementary and both necessary for a comprehensive appreciation of the pathological process.


We discuss the problem of developing performance-oriented software and the need for methodologies. We then present the EDPEPPS (Environment for Design and Performance Evaluation of Portable Parallel Software) approach to the problem of designing and evaluating high-performance (parallel) applications. The EDPEPPS toolset is based on a rapid prototyping philosophy, where the designer synthesises a model of the intended software which may be simulated, and the performance is subsequently analysed using visualisation. The toolset combines a graphical design tool, a simulation facility, and a visualisation tool. The same design is used to produce a code suitable for simulation and real execution.


In developing the ideas of V.N. Beklemishev about an organism as a form, existing in a process of determined transformation and matter/energy exchange, we consider different aspects of the term "morphoprocess" and introduce corresponding additional terms. Momentary morphoprocess characterizes an organism in the given moment of time. This term reflects a constancy of the form ("momentary form"), where the existence of an organism can be imagined as a sequence of "momentary forms". "First derivative" of this momentary characteristic is particular morphoprocess--an organism from its origin to fission/division or death. Compound particular morphoprocess is a determined and reiterating sequence of different particular morphoprocesses. And, at last, general morphoprocess--a "second derivative" of momentary morphoprocess--is rhythmical reiteration of a particular morphoprocess on the long-term scale, an ancestors/descendants lineage. To describe consecutive changes in this material system, the terms ontogenesis and life cycle are used. Ontogenesis characterizes a sequence of the morpho-functional changes of an individual organism during its life, whereas life cycle reflects a sequence of changes during one complete segment of the general morphoprocess represented by a single or several particular morphoprocesses. We also discuss morphoprocess uniformity along with the phase nature of morphoprocesses, both particular and compound particular ones.


We evaluate the performance of downlink multiuser relay networks (MRNs) equipped with a single amplify-and-forward (AaF) relay. A thorough and exact analysis is conducted to analyze the outage probability of MRNs under dissimilar Nakagami-m fading conditions. More specifically, we derive new closed-form expressions for the outage probability and the probability density function (pdf) of the highest end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) associated with the strongest destination with the single user and Rayleigh fading as special cases. In particular, we provide new results for channel-state information (CSI)-based-gain relaying and fixed-gain relaying. We then demonstrate that the achievable diversity order is equal to either the first-hop fading parameter or the product of the second-hop fading parameter and the number of destinations. Furthermore, we derive compact closed-form expressions for the moments of the highest end-to-end SNR, from which other moment-based measures such as the average SNR and the amount of fading are deduced. Our results highlight the performance improvements offered by opportunistic scheduling and reveal the impact of the relay location with unbalanced hops on the overall performance. Various numerical examples illustrate the proposed analysis.


Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), as compared with
n-6 PUFAs, suppress cellular production of prostaglandins and tumor
cell growth both in vitro and in vivo .
However, the mechanism by which n-3 PUFAs suppress tumor growth is not
understood. We investigated whether the suppression of tumor cell
growth by dietary n-3 PUFAs is mediated through inhibition of
cyclooxygenase (COX). A colon tumor cell line, HCT-116, that does not
express COX was stably transfected with the constitutively expressed
COX-1 or the inducible COX-2 cDNA using a retroviral transfection and
infection system. Athymic nude mice transplanted with the cells
expressing enzymatically active COX were fed isocaloric diets
containing either safflower oil or fish oil for 2 weeks before the
start of the experiment and for an additional 21 days after
transplantation. Both tumor volume and tumor burden (tumor volume/body
weight) were significantly reduced in mice fed the fish oil diet as
compared with safflower oil-fed mice. This reduction occurred even in
control mice that received injections with cells infected with the
retroviral vector without COX-1 or COX-2 cDNA. The growth of tumor
cells expressing COX was not different from the growth of those
transfected with the vector alone in the nude mice and in soft agar.
N-3 PUFAs, as compared with linoleic acid, also inhibited the growth of
these cells in culture. This growth inhibition by n-3 PUFAs was not
affected by COX-1 or COX-2 overexpression. Contrary to general belief,
these results indicate that the suppression of tumor growth by dietary
n-3 PUFAs is mediated through COX-independent pathways.


OBJECTIVE
Long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 518 (LINC00518) was reported to be implicated and aberrantly expressed in multiple cancers. However, the pathogenic implications of LINC00518 in cervical cancer (CC) are still unclear. In this study, we focused on LINC00518 and investigated its expression pattern, clinical significance, and biological function in CC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The expression levels of LINC00518 in CC tissues and cell lines were determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR), and its clinical significance was assessed by statistical analysis. Cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. The cell proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay and colony forming assay, and the migration and invasion were evaluated by wound healing assays and transwell assay. Western blot was used to detect the expression of relative proteins, including EMT markers and the JAK/STAT3 signaling markers.

RESULTS
We found that LINC00518 was upregulated in CC tissues and associated with International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, lymph node metastasis, depth of cervical invasion and poor survival of CC patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that LINC00518 played a significant role of independent prognostic markers in overall survival rates. Furthermore, knocking down LINC00518 expression significantly suppressed CC cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and induced apoptosis in vitro. Mechanistically, the downregulation of LINC00518 suppressed JAK/STAT3 activation and subsequently decreased N-Cadherin and Vimentin.

CONCLUSIONS
The present work first suggests that LINC00518 acts as an oncogene in CC via regulation of the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway. In the future, LINC00518 may serve as a predictive biomarker and potential therapeutic target for CC patients.


This paper presents results from the MayaSim model, an integrated agent-based, cellular automata, and network model representing the ancient Maya social-ecological system. The model represents the relationship between population growth, agricultural production, soil degradation, climate variability, primary productivity, hydrology, ecosystem services, forest succession, and the stability of trade networks. Agents representing settlements develop and expand within a spatial landscape that changes under climate variation and responds to anthropogenic impacts. The model is able to reproduce spatial patterns and timelines somewhat analogous to that of the ancient Maya, although this proof-of-concept model requires refinement and further archaeological data for calibration. This paper aims to identify candidate features of a resilient versus vulnerable social-ecological system, and employs computer simulation to explore this topic, using the ancient Maya as an example. Complex systems modelling identifies how interconnected variables behave, considering fast-moving variables such as land cover change and trade connections, meso-speed variables such as demographics and climate variability, as well as slow-moving variables such as soil degradation.


An important component of many, if not all, real-world retrieval tasks is the decision to terminate memory search. Despite its importance, systematic evaluations of the potential rules for terminating search are scarce. Recent work has focused on two variables: the total time spent in memory search before search is terminated and the exit latency (the time between the last retrieved item and the time of search termination). These variables have been shown to limit the number of plausible rules for terminating memory search. Here, we introduce an alternative stopping rule based on a rational moment-to-moment cost-benefit analysis. We show its ability to capture critical latency data and make testable predictions about the influence of changing the relative costs and benefits of memory search. Results from an experiment are presented that support the model's predictions. We conclude that the decision to terminate memory search is based on moment-to-moment changes in subjective value.


methods for localizing STN during DBS surgery include the use of stereotactic coordinates and multi-electrode recording (MER) during implantation. MERs are incredibly useful in DBS surgeries, but require penetration of brain structures in order to infer location. Using multi-photon microscopy techniques to aid identi fi cation of STN during DBS surgeries offers a number of advantages over traditionalmethods.Forexample,bloodvesselscanbeclearlyidenti fi edwithsecond harmonic generation, something that is not possible with MER. Multi-photon microscopy also allows visualization deep into tissue without actually penetrating it. This ability to look within a depth of fi eld is useful for detection of STN borders based on auto fl uorescent cell density. When combined with traditional stereotactic information, our preliminary image classi fi cation methods are a fast, reliable way to provide surgeons with extra information concerning their location in the midbrain. We anticipate that future advancements and re fi nements to our image classi fi er will only increase accuracy and the potential applications and value. In summary, these preliminary data support the feasibility of multi-photon microscopy to aid in the identi fi cationoftargetbrainregionsduringDBSsurgeries.Thetechniquesdescribed here complement and enhance current stereotactic and electrophysiological methods for DBS surgeries. fi ndings from neuroimaging studies in individuals with cortical lesions to the clinic. OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Costs associated with the treatment of skin diseases accounted for greater than 4% of total US healthcare spending in 2013, an increase of $46 billion (170%) since 2004. Considering the increase in novel treatments and spending, cost-utility analyses (CUAs) may provide a better understanding of costs in dermatology. In this study, we conduct a systematic overview of study quality among CUAs related to dermatology. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We queried studies from the Tufts Medical Center Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry (www.cearegistry.org), a database supplying information on all peer-reviewed cost-effectiveness analysis through 2014. Database methodology was previously discussed here. We queried studies using keywords from the 24 major skin disease categories (e.g., diseases relating to actinic damage were searched by using " actinic, " " actinic keratosis " ). We collected data on study design, reporting methods, and analyzed relevant data strati fi ed by 2 time-periods (1976 – 2008 and 2009 – 2014) chosen to encompass a comparable number of studies. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In total, 42 and 50 studies corresponding to the 2 time-periods were retrieved (representing 14/24 disease categories). Based on the recommended data reporting guidelines for CUAs, quality remained unchanged across the OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Focal cartilage injuries of the knee joint are common and present a treatment challenge due to minimal intrinsic repair. Cartilage tissue engineering techniques currently used in clinical practice are expensive, cumbersome, and often ineffective in patients with mechanical or medical comorbidities. To address these issues, we developed an acellular nano fi brous scaffold with encapsulated growth factors designed to enhanced articular cartilage repair. Our goal is to evaluate this technology in vitro and pilot a large animal model for eventual translation into human subjects. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Hyaluronic acid (HA, 65kDa) will be methacrylated (~40% modi fi cation, MeHA) and conjugated with cell-adhesive (RGD) groups. A solution of 4%wt/vol MeHA, 2%wt/vol polyethylene oxide (900kDa), 0.05%wt/vol Irgacure 2959, and 0.005%wt/vol stromal cell-derived factor-1 α (SDF-1 α ) and/or transforming growth factor- β 3 (TGF- β 3) will be prepared in ddH 2 O. The solution will be HA-based cell-free scaffold can be augmented with 2 growth factors that act synergistically to improve cartilage repair in a large animal model. This technology would improve upon the cell-free scaffolds already used clinically for autologous matrix-induced chon- drogenesis and is directly translatable.


OBJECTIVES
A physician manned ambulance has provided advanced resuscitation service in the Reykjavík area for over 20 years. Out of hospital resuscitation since 1982 has been done with average response time of 4.6-4.9 minutes, the survival rate to hospital admission has been 31-40% and survival to hospital discharge 16-17%. In the years preceding this study, several changes were done in the service; the service area was enlarged, dispatch was centralized to one emergency number, the training of EMT s and physicians was improved and a two-tier rendezvous system was adopted. Cell phone coverage reached over 90% of the population. The study was done in 1999-2002 with the objective to: 1. measure the results of attempted prehospital resuscitations for cardiac diseases in the area, 2. to monitor the effect of bystander response, 3. to estimate the effect of changes in the service prior to the study period.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A ambulance staffed with EMTs and one with a physician were dispatched to all possible cases of cardiac arrest. Resuscitation was attempted using the AHA guidelines for resuscitation. Prospective data was collected following the Utstein template recorded by the physician on call.

RESULTS
A total of 319 resuscitative attempts were made during the years 1999-2002, excluding hanging, SIDS, drowning, suicide, trauma, internal bleeding and other diseases, a total of 232 arrests were considered of cardiac origin giving an incidence of 33/100,000/year. The average response time was 6,1 min. Of 232 cardiac resuscitation attempts 140 patients (60%) were in VF/VT, 53 (23%) in asystole and 39 (17%) in other rhythms. Ninety-six (41%) of all patients survived being admitted to hospital ward and 44 (19%) survived to discharge with 39 being alive at 12 months. Of patients in VF/VT, 79 (56%) survived to hospital admission and 39 (28%) to hospital discharge. Resuscitation was more successful in cases of witnessed arrest and if CPR was attempted by bystanders.

CONCLUSION
Despite various changes in the EMS system, the results of resuscitative attempts are similar to previous studies in the area but an increased proportion of survivors is left with neurological damage. In 54% of the cases COR was performed by bystanders. Response time needs to be shortened and CPR training increased.


Food contamination by chemical substances is a Public Health problem, all over the world. The cause could be as a consequence of environmental contamination that food chains could rise through air, water and soil as it occurs in the case of metals, PCBs, dioxins, etc. Contribute also the deliberate (intentionate) use of several chemical products, as pesticides, drugs or different substances administrated to animals and other agrochemical products. Few additives used in food as manufacturing and processing that can also contribute to add contaminants.
In order to control food safety, several environmental and quality agencies take care of the compliance of legislation, through the application of adequate analytical methods to determinate in quick and efficient of contaminants in food by using multirresidue methodologies and carrying out sampling and food controls in food in commercializing phase.
To analyze organic contaminants in food is a hard task which implies different and many disciplines as chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology. It is not a easy task, and many contaminants could be enumerated. They are presented at very low concentrations, complex matrices and among compounds of natural food. However, to analyze samples with complex matrices and with analytes at very low concentrations makes necessary to apply separation techniques in analytical procedures with the double objective of improve selectivity and sensibility. In this context, different separation analytical techniques, being of special relevance chromatographic techniques has been developed, because of the importance in actual analytical chemistry.
The objective of this thesis is the determination of residues of two organic contaminants, pesticides and veterinary drugs, by using different chromatographic techniques to evaluate the degree of food safety.
For this, partial objectives have to be approached:
1.-Pesticide and veterinary drugs residues extraction by using classical extraction procedures, as solid phase extraction and other more innovatives, as stir bar sorptive extraction and pressurized solvent extraction.
2.-Pesticide analysis by liquid cromatography-mass spectrometry previous the use of the extraction methods like solid phase extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction.
3.-Comparison of on-line preconcentration techniques, for the pesticide analysis in order to reach adequated limits of detection for its determination in fruits and vegetables by capillary electrophoresis.
4.-Study the use of mass spectrometry as a determination technique coupled to capillary electrophoresis using different mass analyzers, capillary electrophoresis-single quadrupole and capillary electrophoresis-ion trap to carry out these techniques in pesticide and veterinary drugs residue detection.
5.-Apply the selected analytical procedures to different vegetable products as grapes, strawberry, tomato, lettuce, peaches and nectarines, as well as to animal food such as fish, chicken and pork.
It was concluded that the quantitative and simultaneous determination in food samples from Valencian Community, through solid phase extraction, sitr-bar sorptive extraction or pressurized liquid extraction and by capillary electrophoresis with diode array or mass spectrometry detection, make known the utility of capillary electrophoresis for pesticide residues determination in complex fruit and vegetable matrices as grape, lettuce, tomato, strawberry, peach and nectarines and veterinary drug residues in animal origin food as fish and chicken and pork meat.
The presence of organic contaminants residues in food, although in few samples percentage and often at a low concentrations, makes necessary to develop and optimize methods in order to ensure that its correct determination allows an appropriate food safety.


OBJECTIVE
This study examines the impact of ambulatory waiting room characteristics on patients' emotional states and investigates whether these states are universally experienced or influenced by social and cultural factors among women aged 18-35 from the three largest demographic groups in the United States: Black, Hispanic/Latina, and White.

BACKGROUND
Patients typically spend more time waiting for routine medical appointments than receiving care, and evidence suggests that waiting can reinforces power dynamics that benefit privileged groups, leading to different experiences for minority women seeking preventative care. Still, literature addressing the impact of waiting areas is largely limited to universal measures, and little is known about how different ethnic/race groups respond to waiting spaces.

METHODS
This inquiry used a questionnaire assessing 15 waiting room characteristics and testing four variables (furniture arrangement, room-scale, color saturation, and quantity of positive distractions) in a 2 × 3 quasiexperiment using a fractional randomized block design with 24 waiting room images.

FINDINGS
Responses from 1,114 participants revealed mutual preferences for sociopetal seating, positive distractions, neutral colors, and welcoming and calming environments. Yet, Black participants indicated significantly greater importance in seeing ethnically/racially similar patients and healthcare providers and strategies that promote transparency, including image-based provider directories and views into the clinic.

CONCLUSION
By investigating the impact of the waiting room environment on patient affect and comparing perceptions across three demographic groups of women, this study offers insights into potential strategies for improving access to preventative care services by creating more welcoming ambulatory care waiting environments.


We present a case of a 75-year old woman, who developed scalp necrosis as a result of giant cell arteritis in the temporal arteries. This is a very rare, but serious complication of temporal arteritis, which implies an increased risk of visual loss and other catastrophic sequelae. Healing of the ulceration was achieved after cortico-steroid therapy supplemented with split skin transplantation.


How much of the good growth performance in Latin America between 1870 and 1913 can be assigned to the forces of globalization? Why was industrialization so weak? Why was inequality on the rise? This paper offers an answer to these questions. It starts by exploring the disadvantages associated with geographic isolation from world markets and the transport revolutions that helped liberate Latin America from that isolation, a pro-global force. It then asks how independence contributed to massive de-globalization during the decades of lost growth' between the 1820s and the 1870s. Next, it documents what happened to the external terms of trade in Latin America between 1820 and 1950: from the 1890s onwards the terms of trade deteriorated, but it also underwent spectacular improvement before the 1890s, suggesting that it had something to do with the fairly fast' Latin America growth during so much of the belle 'poque. While booming relative prices of exports certainly fostered trade, policy suppressed it: tariff rates were higher in Latin America than almost anywhere else in the world between 1820 and 1929, long before the Great Depression. The paper then asks why. The answer is to be found mainly with revenue needs rather than with some precocious import substitution policy. High tariffs still had a powerful protective effect, regardless of motivation. However, protective policy was modified by those powerful and positive terms of trade shocks, yielding on net weak early industrialization. Finally, the paper documents that inequality rose in most of Latin America up to World War I, while it fell thereafter. The correlation between globalization and inequality is likely to have been causal.


Introduction Little evidence exists on the safety and efficacy of the rechallenge of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) after immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients with cancer. Methods We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane for articles on ICI rechallenge after irAEs for systemic review and meta-analysis. The outcomes included the incidence and associated factors for safety and objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) for efficacy. Results A total of 789 ICI rechallenge cases from 18 cohort studies, 5 case series studies, and 54 case reports were included. The pooled incidence of all-grade and high-grade irAEs after rechallenge in patients with cancer was 34.2% and 11.7%, respectively. Compared with initial ICI treatment, rechallenge showed a higher incidence for all-grade irAEs (OR, 3.81; 95% CI, 2.15–6.74; p < 0.0001), but similar incidence for high-grade irAEs (p > 0.05). Types of initial irAEs (pneumonitis and global irAEs) and cancer (non-small cell lung cancer and multiple cancer) recapitulated these findings. Gastrointestinal irAEs and time interval between initial irAEs and ICI rechallenge were associated with higher recurrence of high-grade irAEs (p < 0.05), whereas initial anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies were associated with a lower recurrence (p < 0.05). Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies rechallenge was associated with a lower all-grade irAE recurrence (p < 0.05). The pooled ORR and DCR after rechallenge were 43.1% and 71.9%, respectively, showing no significant difference compared with initial ICI treatment (p > 0.05). Conclusions ICI rechallenge after irAEs showed lower safety and similar efficacy outcomes compared with initial ICI treatment. Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO, identifier CRD42020191405.


Neutrinos make only the weak interaction, and have quite a small reaction cross-section. A huge detector system was usually required to detect neutrinos in such experiments as Homestake and Kamiokande. We consider that the neutrinos have an elaborated mass-generation mechanism on the basis of axial-vector (AV) type neutral scalar field. A resonance perturbation on this mechanism may exert influence on the neutrino structure, and make neutrinos to be very reactive in a similar degree to the electromagnetic interaction. According to this idea, we attempt to detect neutrinos by using a resonance-type electrochemical detector with a small size. A nuclear reactor produces an intense neutrino flux. The detector experiment was initiated in a location close to a nuclear reactor. The voltage of our detector increased with time, and showed a periodical saw-teeth waveform. After the initial experiment, the detector was moved back to our laboratory. The saw-teeth waveform was seen again for long-distant reactor and environmental neutrinos. We consider that the detector acquired the AV type neutral scalar field in the initial experiment.


This study examines whether acts of anti-government violence exhibit spatial dependence across state boundaries. In other words, to what extent can acts of anti-government violence in one country be attributed to violence in neighboring countries? Past research, which has largely focused on civil war or large-scale conflict contagion, finds that geographically proximate states are more likely to experience the cross-boundary diffusion of conflict due to action emulation. However, this assumes that actors are fully aware of conflicts occurring in neighboring countries. To address this, the article argues that the proliferation of communication technology increases access to information about events in neighboring states, thereby allowing emulation to occur and subsequently conditioning the potential for violence to spread. It tests this expectation by modeling the effects of a unique spatial connectivity matrix that incorporates both state contiguity and access to communication technology. An analysis of all acts of anti-government violence in 44 African countries from 2000 to 2011 supports the argument.


Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in all economies today and although their individual environmental impact is often limited, their total impact can be said to be significant due to their sheer number. Environmental management is a way to reduce the impact, but the results obtained by implementing ISO 14001 vary. The point of departure for this dissertation is the hypothesis that, the way SME's differ from the larger companies can be advantageous, defined as the SME potential, and not merely a disadvantage for them. Different approaches to management system implementation are the indentified and discussed; the approach chosen is assumed to play an important role in the implementation process. It is concluded that a company can choose an approach to the management systems implementation, where much of its SME potential can be used, and in that way do a reat deal with its limited resources. What is essential is creating a more holistic view in the company, which can lead to development of Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM) and sustainable business practices in the future (Less)


This paper deals with the simulation of the emission characteristics of self-assembled semiconductor quantum dash (QDash) active materials, characterized by high length-to-width and width-to-height ratios of the dash size and by a wide spreading of the dash dimensions. This significant size fluctuation requires to compute numerically the corresponding energy distribution of the electron and hole confined states. Furthermore, due to the long dash length, it is necessary to take into account the many longitudinal confined states that contribute to the emission spectrum. To implement a model that does not require excessive computation time, some simplifying assumptions have been introduced and validated numerically. Starting from good knowledge of the dash size, material composition, and optical waveguide dimensions, we have been able to simulate the amplified spontaneous emission and gain spectra of a quantum dash semiconductor optical amplifier with a good quantitative agreement with the measured data. As an application example, the model is used to predict the gain properties of different QDash ensembles having various size distributions.


Bioactive compounds from Fucus vesiculosus were extracted and their antioxidant efficacy in fish-oil-enriched foods was evaluated. Water extract (WE) and ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) were obtained and characterised. Furthermore, WE and EAF were added to fish-oilenriched milk or mayonnaise. Oxidation during storage was evaluated. EAF showed highest phenolic and pigment contents compared with WE. Antioxidant efficacy was found to be dependent on the concentration in the foods. Furthermore, high antioxidant activity in the foods was related to high radical scavenging, high or moderate metal chelating ability, as well as high phenolic and carotenoid contents. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


BACKGROUND
COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) has emerged as a potential treatment for COVID-19. However, efficacy data and recommendations for its use are limited.

METHODS
AABB commissioned a panel of experts to develop interim recommendations based on limited data to guide use of this scarce resource. The panel performed a literature review using the search terms "COVID-19," "SARS-CoV-2" and "convalescent plasma." The interim recommendations reflect a consensus of expert opinion. INTERIM RECOMMENDATION 1: When making risk benefit decisions, one should consider the risk of CCP as comparable to standard (SARS-CoV-2 non-immune) plasma. INTERIM RECOMMENDATION 2: CCP is optimally effective when transfused as close to symptom onset as possible. CCP is unlikely to provide benefit for patients with late-stage disease or on mechanical ventilation. INTERIM RECOMMENDATION 3: The effectiveness of CCP is related to the antibody quantity within a unit; high-titer CCP is superior to low-titer CCP. A single high-titer unit should be sufficient for most patients. INTERIM RECOMMENDATION 4: If group B or group AB CCP is unavailable, transfusion of group A or group O CCP with low anti-A/B titer may be acceptable for group B and group AB patients. INTERIM RECOMMENDATION 5: Additional randomized controlled trial (RCT) data are needed to fully assess CCP efficacy and to identify which specific patient populations and unit characteristics might confer the greatest benefit.

CONCLUSIONS
These interim recommendations are based on the best-available evidence at the time of writing. Additional data from on-going RCTs will lead to clinical practice guidelines in the future.


Small RNA-seq is increasingly being used for profiling of small RNAs. Quantitative characteristics of long RNA-seq have been extensively described, but small RNA-seq involves fundamentally different methods for library preparation, with distinct protocols and technical variations that have not been fully and systematically studied. We report here the results of a study using common references (synthetic RNA pools of defined composition, as well as plasma-derived RNA) to evaluate the accuracy, reproducibility and bias of small RNA-seq library preparation for five distinct protocols and across nine different laboratories. We observed protocol-specific and sequence-specific bias, which was ameliorated using adapters for ligation with randomized end-nucleotides, and computational correction factors. Despite this technical bias, relative quantification using small RNA-seq was remarkably accurate and reproducible, even across multiple laboratories using different methods. These results provide strong evidence for the feasibility of reproducible cross-laboratory small RNA-seq studies, even those involving analysis of data generated using different protocols.


This dissertation investigates and illuminates the factors that led 35 Mexican immigrant and refugee youth in Ottawa and Montreal to develop transnational practices. Among these factors are their class location before migration, motivations for immigration, and type of economic integration once in Canada. I identified three different types of economic integration among my participants, which were central in differently shaping their production of sociocultural, economic, and political transnational practices or lack thereof.
I contextualized these various processes in the historical and politico-economic context of Mexico and its relationship with Canada, a relationship mediated, in turn, by the one sustained between these two countries and the United States. In addition, I locate the particularities of Mexican immigration in the broader Latin American immigration to Canada, particularly since the 1970s.
Making use of Bourdieusian theory, segmented markets theory, and a transnationalism approach, my dissertation responds to the limited scholarship on Latin Americans and transnationalism in Canada.
My analysis thus offers a complex account of how transnationalism from below is shaped by immigrants and refugees' pre- and post-migration class location (including migration status, age, and gender). It is also shaped from above under a Canadian immigration model that privileges economic immigration over family and humanitarian immigration, along with the expansion of Canadian, Mexican, and global capital.
The comparison of economic integration among immigrants and refugees living in a small, Anglo-Canadian (capital) city vis-a-vis those living in a sizable French-Canadian city (Ottawa and Montreal respectively) also offered an interesting insight. For instance, I illuminate the effects that the expansion and accumulation of (trans)national and global capital have in shaping national and sub-national models of immigration and integration in Canada.
Finally, my research also contributes to the understanding of the little explored arena of reasons for immigration, types of economic integration, and transnational practices of high-skilled and educated immigrants. The traditional emphasis of Canadian and American literature on low-skilled workers has not assisted us in having a better understanding of the economic integration experiences of (Mexican) skilled immigrants, and the extent to which they generate transnational practices and ties in the North American region.


ABSTRACT Thorough biotic inventories are still needed even in families with paradigm organisms like Drosophilidae, including well-studied areas such as North America. This work presents a taxonomic revision of the species of the genus Amiota Loew in North America and the Nearctic portion of Mexico. Amiota steganoptera Malloch is currently excluded from the Nearctic and Amiota setigera Malloch is synonymized under Amiota humeralis Loew. Specimens of Amiota subtusradiata Duda were not encountered during this study along with its synonym Amiota quadrata Takada and Toda; however, based on previous descriptions we include A. subtusradiata in the Nearctic fauna. All other previously described species from the Nearctic are redescribed. Thirty-six species are described as new: Amiota amputata, A. antitormentum, A. avipes, A. biacuminis, A. brayi, A. byersi, A. cervites, A. cruciatum, A. didens, A. durangoensis, A. elsaltoensis, A. floridiensis, A. forceps, A. fulvitibia, A. hyalou, A. imperator, A. incurva, A. laevifurca, A. latilabrum, A. mcalpinei, A. multiplex, A. nanonigrescens, A. occidentalis, A. onyx, A. oviraptor, A. pseudominor, A. raripennis, A. sinaloensis, A. subnebojsa, A. tessae, A. texas, A. tibialis, A. tormentum, A. uniacuminis, A. wheeleri, and A. zaliskoi. This increases the total species known in the Nearctic from 13 to 49. All species in the Nearctic are illustrated, adult diagnostic features are discussed, and distributions are provided. A cladogram based on parsimony analysis of 46 morphological characters established species groups in the genus. Most of the Nearctic species were accommodated into 10 species groups. Three species groups were previously erected for species in China and Europe. Seven species groups are newly established: the avipes, cervites, hsui, mariae, nebojsa, nigrescens, and subtusradiata groups. Diversity in Amiota appears to be partially dependent on elevation and latitude in the Nearctic, with high diversity found in southern Ontario, the Appalachians, the Ozarks, mountain forests of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Sierra Madre of central Mexico. The taxonomic history of the Nearctic species is reviewed, and various aspects of their biology is presented. Males of species in the A. mariae species group are polymorphic for mirror-image, asymmetric genitalia, called chiral variants. Besides morphology, larval saproxyly, adult lachryphagy, and biogeography are reviewed. Challenges to the study of Amiota and future prospects are discussed.


eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide. Abstract: Local television news is the public's primary source of public affairs information. News stories about crime dominate local news programming because they maintain high audience demand. The prevalence of this type of reporting has led to a crime narrative or "script" that includes two core elements: crime is violent and perpetrators of crime are non-white males. We show that this script has become an ingrained heuristic for understanding crime and race. Using a multi-method design, we assess the impact of the crime script on the viewing public. Our central findings are that exposure to the racial element of the crime script increases support for punitive approaches to crime and heightens negative attitudes about African-Americans among white, but not black, viewers. In closing, we consider the implications of our results for intergroup relations, electoral politics, and the practice of journalism.


This paper presents a new and versatile framework to window design based on a semi-infinite linear programming approach by using the Dual Nestled Complex Approximation (DNCA) algorithm. The paper considers a practical problem formulation, the general window design specification and the corresponding optimum solution. The DNCA linear programming algorithm is presented and several highly optimized window design examples included. Furthermore, the capability of the design method by enhancing the sidelobe attenuation of existing windows such as Flattop windows is illustrated as well. Flattop windows are commonly available in frequency analyzers for accurate amplitude measurements of harmonic tones in presence of noise. However, the design method can be directly applied to any other existing window, in purpose to enhance its performance. With the proposed method it is possible to design windows with more than 150dB sidelobe attenuation. A relevant application where such high precision windows is needed are in today's 24bit equivalent 1bit-Sigma-Delta ADC:s, where high frequency noise is generated.


This study investigates how various types of pension reforms affect the age-related policy preferences of different cohorts and whether they reinforce or undermine the generational welfare contract. It uses detailed descriptions from OECD Pensions at a Glance reports to create indicators for pension reforms in 18 European countries between 2008 and 2016. These indicators are combined with European Social Survey data from 2008 and 2016 to measure preferences towards welfare programmes that benefit the old compared to policies that benefit the working population and families with children. A difference-in-difference design is applied to test whether there are differences between reform and non-reform countries and between cohorts. Pension reforms were found to be associated with stronger declines in pro-old policy preferences in countries that raised the retirement age or introduced private pensions. The results show that although support for pro-old welfare policies has declined in almost all countries, this has not necessarily undermined the generational welfare contract. Rather, there has been a re-balancing of preferences towards policies that also favour other generations in other life-course stages.


Abstract. The COVID-19 pandemic has struck many countries globally. Jordan has implemented strict nationwide control measures to halt the viral spread, one of which was the closure of universities and shifting to remote teaching. The impact of this pandemic could extend beyond the risk of physical harm to substantial psychological consequences. Our study aimed at assessing 1) psychological status, 2) challenges of distance teaching, and 3) coping activities and pandemic-related concerns among university teachers in Jordan in the midst of COVID-19–related quarantine and control measures. We conducted a cross-sectional study using an anonymous online survey. The measure of psychological distress was obtained using a validated Arabic version of the Kessler Distress Scale (K10). Other information collected included sociodemographic profile, methods used to handle distress, motivation to participate in distance teaching, and challenges of distance teaching as well as the most worrisome issues during this pandemic. Three hundred eighty-two university teachers returned completed surveys. Results of K10 showed that 31.4% of respondents had severe distress and 38.2% had mild to moderate distress. Whereas gender was not associated with distress severity, age had a weak negative correlation (Rho = −0.19, P < 0.0001). Interestingly, most teachers had moderate to high motivation for distance teaching. Engagement with family was the most reported self-coping activity. More than half of the participants were most concerned and fearful about SARS-CoV-2 infection. In conclusion, university teachers have shown to exhibit various levels of psychological distress and challenges during the implementation of precautionary national measures in the battle against COVID-19 in Jordan.


Introduction: In recent years, it has been shown that postmenopausal women have a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD) than their male counterparts. Additionally, greater parity in postmenopausal women is associated with increased AD prevalence. Menopause and childbirth, two factors that affect estrogen levels, are believed to contribute to this health disparity, as estrogen plays an important role in neuroprotection. In addition, few studies have considered the effect of ethnicity on AD incidence in postmenopausal women. It is important to consider the role of ethnicity in the development of effective AD prevention methods for diverse ethnicities. This study seeks to a) investigate the link between increased parity and the development of AD in postmenopausal women of different ethnicities, and b) investigate the effectiveness of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) in reducing the risk of AD.
Methods: This protocol comprises two studies. Study 1 will include neurological assessment of 200 postmenopausal women to determine AD incidence. These women will be from African, Caucasian, Asian, and Latin ethnicities. The second study will be a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial providing ERT to a cohort of 200 menopausal women of the same ethnicities as part A. The treatment will be monitored for AD incidence once every 3 years for 15 years post-intervention.
Results: Based on prior literature, we hypothesize that women of African and Latin ethnicities in Study 1 will have higher AD incidence than Caucasian and Asian women. In Study 2, we expect overall AD incidence to be lower in the ERT group than the control group. We also expect AD incidence to be higher in African and Latino participants than Caucasian and Asian participants post-ERT.
Discussion: The relationship between ethnicity and AD incidence can be confounded by factors such as migratory status and the indirect relationship between racial and genetic groupings. Future studies are required to investigate these factors.
Conclusion: This study will pave the path for further estrogen therapies that can reduce the risk of AD through exogenous estrogen exposure. As AD is prevalent amongst the aging population, findings will also help to reduce health disparities among postmenopausal women of multiple ethnicities.


The processed Aloe vera gel (PAG) contains immunomodulatory polysaccharides, which consists of a mixture of polymer chains of b-(1,4)-linked acetylated galactomannan with different lengths. PAG was shown to inhibit azoxymethane(AOM)-initiated and dextran sodium sulfate(DSS)-promoted colon carcinogenesis model in mice. In the present study, we examined the molecular mechanisms for the inhibition of colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis by PAG. PAG administration significantly inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators in the colon. Western blot analysis using the colon extracts showed that PAG administration reduced the activation of NF-kB resulting in the inhibition of iNOS and COX-2 expression. PAG appeared to inhibit NF-kB activation through the PPARγ activation. PAG administration also inhibited the expression and phosphorylation of STAT3, which was known to connect inflammation and cancer. PAG administration also inhibited cell cycle progression-related transcription factors such as the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), ERK, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and cyclin D1. In contrast, PAG administration increased the expression of CDX2, which was known to be a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancers. These findings show that PAG suppresses colitis-related colon carcinogenesis by inhibiting both chronic inflammation and cell cycle progression in the colon.


Abstract. Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a global warming gas, but the lack of a firm observational record since the preindustrial period means that estimates of its radiative forcing (RFTO3) rely on model calculations. Recent observational evidence shows that halogens are pervasive in the troposphere and need to be represented in chemistry-transport models for an accurate simulation of present-day O3. Using the GEOS-Chem model we show that tropospheric halogen chemistry is likely more active in the present day than in the preindustrial. This is due to increased oceanic iodine emissions driven by increased surface O3, higher anthropogenic emissions of bromo-carbons, and an increased flux of bromine from the stratosphere. We calculate preindustrial to present-day increases in the tropospheric O3 burden of 113 Tg without halogens but only 90 Tg with, leading to a reduction in RFTO3 from 0.43 to 0.35 Wm−2. We attribute  ∼ 50 % of this reduction to increased bromine flux from the stratosphere,  ∼ 35 % to the ocean–atmosphere iodine feedback, and  ∼ 15 % to increased tropospheric sources of anthropogenic halogens. This reduction of tropospheric O3 radiative forcing due to halogens (0.087 Wm−2) is greater than that from the radiative forcing of stratospheric O3 (∼ 0.05 Wm−2). Estimates of RFTO3 that fail to consider halogen chemistry are likely overestimates (∼ 25 %).


The cutting forces, form of chips and the morphology of the chip influences the productivity of any machining process. In this research work, the form of chips produced and its morphology in machining Ti-6Al-4V alloy is studied under dry, wet, and cryogenic machining conditions. The cutting force, feed force and thrust force which greatly influences the efficiency of the cutting tool is also studied. Efficiency of the cryogenic cutting coolants (Carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen) in terms of chip morphology and cutting forces are analyzed in comparison with dry and wet machining conditions. The use of cryogenic coolants yielded chips with uniform serrated teeth with low average peak value and smaller pitch values. Cryogenic CO2 coolant in particular reduced the cutting force in the range of 21 – 41%, feed force in the range of 11 – 39% and thrust force in the range of 14 – 43% when compared to wet machining.


THE IMPROVEMENT of vital-organ perfusion is an accepted aim in shock therapy. The most effective approach to this aim is controversial. Adequate blood volume repletion does not necessarily result in an optimal regional distribution of blood flow. The present study was designed to compare the effects of two drugs, levarterenol and isoproterenol, on cardiac output and blood flow to the superior mesenteric and renal vascular beds. Though chemically related, these drugs have divergent effects upon the resistance vessels, levarterenol being a vasoconstrictor and isoproterenol a vasodilator. Levarterenol was an obvious choice for a vasopressor drug because of its wide clinical usage, its role as an endogenous sympathetic mediator, 1 and because of the inconsistency of reported results following its application in experimental and clinical shock. The use of levarterenol to elevate pressure has produced both positive and negative experimental results in terms of survival and measured blood flow data. Reports


The topic of this thesis is the Origin of the Dutch coastal landscapes during the Holocene. The landscape evolution is visualized in a series of palaeogeographical maps, and the driving mechanisms behind the environmental changes are discussed. The practice to make palaeogeographical map reconstructions in the Netherlands developed after the Second World War when a lot of regional geological and soil scientific mapping programs were carried out by government institutions and universities. The palaeogeographical map reconstructions were subsequently used for the understanding and modelling of the long-term coastal evolution, coastal management issues, landscape-archaeological purposes and for education and public information.
The aim of this thesis is to describe how the palaeogeographical maps are compiled, what kind of data was used and what the goals were which had to be achieved with the maps. Palaeogeographical maps can be drawn on three scale levels: national, regional and local. The format of this book follows this subdivision. Geoarchaeology is involved in all these studies. Geological and palaeo-environmental data from archaeological excavations and surveys, 'key sites' in the landscape reconstruction, provided essential information for the palaeogeographical reconstructions.
In the introduction (Chapter 1) the background of the landscape reconstructions is given, the geological / palaeo-environmental terminology and stratigraphic classifications are discussed, the role of archaeology in the coastal reconstruction treated, and the driving mechanisms in coastal evolution are elaborated upon.
Chapter 2 discusses the compilation of 11 palaeogeographical maps of the Netherlands.
Chapter 3 reports about three regional palaeogeographical studies. The flooding history of the Southwestern Netherlands is described in Chapter 3.1.
The landscape history of the Oer-IJ tidal system (middle Noord-Holland) is the subject of Chapter 3.2. The landscape development of this system is described on a regional to supra-regional scale. In Chapter 3.3 five landscape reconstructions of the coastal area of the Northern Netherlands and Lower Saxony between 500 BC and today are presented.
Three local palaeogeographical case studies are described in Chapter 4. The Yangtze harbour (water connection between the Maasvlakte 1 and 2; Port of Rotterdam) study is an example of a research in which geology and palaeolandscape reconstructions were used as tools for archaeological prospection of potential Stone-Age archaeology in the subsurface of the harbour (Chapter 4.1).
The study of the Vergulde Hand West in Vlaardingen (VHW; Chapter 4.2) describes the landscape development of a peat site along the northern margin of the Rhine–Meuse Estuary. At this location archaeological remains from the Bronze Age up to the Middle Ages were found.
The landscape evolution around a Middle Bronze Age site in the area of Geestmerambacht, north of Alkmaar, is the subject of Chapter 4.3. The area was part of the former Westfriese tidal-inlet system and the archaeological site is located on top of a salt-marsh ridge.
In the synthesis, Chapter 5, the landscape development of the Netherlands is summarized. For the time intervals between the different national palaeogeographical maps, the mechanisms driving coastal evolution are analysed.


Over the past decade, governments and the non-profit, private, academic, and philanthropic sectors have begun thinking differently about how human and social services are organized and delivered. Across Canada, a range of integrated health and social care practices are being developed, adapted, and implemented to meet local needs. The Hub (or Situation Table as it is more commonly known in Ontario) model is one such approach. The Hub model is a multi-sector, collaborative, risk-driven intervention that mobilizes multi-sectoral human services for the purpose of rapid risk mitigation focused on the immediate needs of persons experiencing acutely elevated risk of harmful safety or well-being outcomes. Over the past eight years, the model has been adopted in over 115 communities across Canada.While the model has benefited from developmental and formative evaluations, it is now timely to undertake a systematic multi-site evaluation of the generalizable impacts (e.g., clients, system, costs) and lessons learned about what works, in which context, and why. This body of work will serve to inform policymakers, funders, practitioners and others as to the way forward with the Hub model. The Community Safety Knowledge Alliance (CSKA) is moving forward on a plan to see such independent evaluation undertaken.


Salt marsh areas in the Guadiana estuary are important nursery sites for many fish species of commercial and recreational value. More effective protection measures should be adopted as the area is highly affected by anthropogenic and natural threats. Studying larval fish communities in these impacted nursery areas will be relevant to the management of local ecosystems and to larval fish ecology in general. Spatial and seasonal distribution and the effect of environmental factors on the larval fish community of this ecosystem were studied for one year (April 2010 to March 2011). Larvae were sampled monthly in parallel with phytoplankton and zooplankton. Hydrological data and physical parameters were monitored. A decision tree model was used to assess the influence of environmental factors on the larval fish community. A total of 130 larvae and 1171 eggs were caught. Diplodus sargus, Sardina pilchardus , and Pomatoschistus microps were the most abundant larval fish species. The peaks of fish larvae abundance occurred in March and April. The output of the model demonstrates that the abundance of larval fish is determined by the abundance of eggs, zooplanktonic food, and water flood and flow. This study shows the importance of the Guadiana salt marsh as an area for fish nursery and highlights the need for conservation of this area.


We consider a class of packing problems with uncertain data, which we refer to as the chance-constrained binary packing problem. In this problem, a subset of items is selected that maximizes the total profit so that a generic packing constraint is satisfied with high probability. Interesting special cases of our problem include chance-constrained knapsack and set packing problems with random coefficients. We propose a problem formulation in its original space based on the so-called probabilistic covers . We focus our solution approaches on the special case in which the uncertainty is represented by a finite number of scenarios. In this case, the problem can be formulated as an integer program by introducing a binary decision variable to represent feasibility of each scenario. We derive a computationally efficient coefficient strengthening procedure for this formulation, and demonstrate how the scenario variables can be efficiently projected out of the linear programming relaxation. We also study how methods for lifting deterministic cover inequalities can be leveraged to perform approximate lifting of probabilistic cover inequalities. We conduct an extensive computational study to illustrate the potential benefits of our proposed techniques on various problem classes.


Chemical compounds of the hydrophobic extracts (n-hexane-ether extract) of the aerial parts of Scrophularia amplexicaulis and Scrophularia oxysepala were analyzed for the first time by the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detection (GC-FID). Total 36 compounds were identified which were 84.7% and 79.8% of total compounds of then-hexane-ether extract. The main constituents were n-Dotriacontane (15.1%), 1-Docosanol (13.6%), Eicosane (11.6%) in S. oxysepala and n-Pentatriacontane (32.9%), n-Tetrateracontane (16.8%) and Gamma-Sitostrol (8.7%) in S. amplexicaulis. The antibacterial was tested using the inhibition of broth dilution with shaking (BDS) method and contact toxicity assay indicated by calculation of percentage mortality of insects based on Isman method.


An open ended unstructured questionnaire was used to find out the opinion of clients of the Community Drug Problem Service of Lothian Health Board, concerning how the service had helped them and for suggestions for improvement. A total of 63 questionnaires were returned over a six month period. Analysis showed that 77% of respondents valued counselling services but 26% complained of too low oral substitute drug dosage. Improvement in personal development, stabilised drug use, less criminality and stopping injecting were reported as being the main benefits. A more detailed self reporting questionnaire will be developed from this pilot study to answer some of the questions raised and for use as a routine part of ongoing service monitoring and evaluation.


The experimental data about the phenazine methosulfate (PMS) effect on human erythrocytes are considered. It is demonstrated that PMS well penetrates the cells and causes changes dependent on incubation time. PMS may possess either oxidative or reducing properties according to experimental conditions. The PMS potency for oxidation is revealed in change of the haemoglobin redox state to more oxidative one (MetHb), in decrease of the reducing glutathione level and in increase of the reducing rate of potassium ferricyanide (RRPF). The use of erythrocytes oxidated by sodium oxide demonstrates the PMS reducing properties which cause reduction of methaemoglobin (MetHb) and decrease of the sodium oxide inhibitory effect on RRPF. Based on the obtained data a scheme is proposed for the PMS action on erythrocytes implying three interaction centres within the cells.


In Antarctica, there are two di stinct lineages of Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) characterised by 8.3% di vergence in mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region I (mt DNA HVR I). These two lineages are known as the Antarctic and Ross Sea lineages (A and RS respectively). This study aims to characterise aspects of mutation and variation as seen in HVR I of the Adelie penguin , by sequencing the DNA of indi vidua ls from different locations around Antarctica. The geographic distribution of the two lineages was examined in greater detail. A dramatic decrease in the RS lineage was di scovered on the edge of the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. Because the two lineages have different geographic distributions, and are separated by 8.3% sequence divergence, this study also investigated the possibility that these two lineages were in fact cryptic species . Sequencing of mt DNA and microsatellite genotyping proved that indi viduals of the two lineages mate randomly and produce offspring. Recentl y, a rate of evolution based on serially preserved DNA from Adelie penguins was estimated at 0.96 substitutions/site/Million years. (0.53-1.43 s/s/Myr). This rate is four to seven times higher than previous avian control region evolution rates estimated by phylogenetic methods, and is more aki n to rates of mutation determined by pedigree studies in other species such as humans. In the light of this higher direct estimate of the rate of evolution in Adelie penguins, this study also begins to determine a rate of mutation in Adelie penguins based on pedigree analysis. No new mutations were found , however three cases of inherited single point heteroplasmy were detected. The inclusion of heteroplasmy in mutation rate calculation is also addressed. One of the arguments as to why pedigree studies find a higher rate of mutation than phylogenetic studies is that pedigree studies preferentially find mutations at 'hot spots' in the DNA sequence. This study also seeks to characterise the distribution of variable sites in hypervariable region I in relation to the two mt DNA lineages, and also to geographic location. While the exact sites of variation differ between the two lineages, it was seen that the regions where variation was high or low is very similar in both lineages. This could be due to underlying physical constraints on DNA sequence variation. Looking towards future work in Adelie penguin mt DNA and an expansion of the studies undertaken here, the complete mitochondrial genome of the Adelie penguin was determined. This now provides the opportunity to estimate rates of change in the entire Adelie penguin mitochondrial genome, using ancient DNA from the extremely well preserved sub-fossil bones in Antarctica.


The synthesis of Sindbis virus minus-strand and genomic and subgenomic RNAs is believed to require specific cis-acting sequences or structures in the template RNAs and a combination of virus-specific proteins and host components which act in trans. A conserved sequence of about 21 nucleotides in the junction region and encompassing the start site for the subgenomic RNA has been proposed to function as the promoter on the minus-strand template for synthesis of the subgenomic RNA (J.-H. Ou, C. M. Rice, L. Dalgarno, E. G. Strauss, and J. H. Strauss, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 79:5235-5239, 1982). We introduced a three-base insertion in this sequence, which also inserts a single amino acid near the COOH terminus of nsP4, in a cDNA clone of Sindbis virus from which infectious RNA transcripts can be generated. The phenotype of this mutant, called Toto1100CR4.1, was studied after RNA transfection of chicken embryo fibroblasts or BHK cells. The mutation leads to a drastic reduction in the level of the subgenomic RNA but does not alter the start site of the RNA. Probably as a consequence of depressed structural-protein synthesis, very few progeny virions are released and the mutant makes tiny or indistinct plaques even after prolonged incubation. The cis-acting effect of this mutation was demonstrated by incorporating either a wild-type or mutant junction region into a defective-interfering RNA and examining the relative synthesis of defective-interfering RNA-derived subgenomic RNA in vivo in the presence of wild-type helper virus. These results show that the junction region is recognized by yet unidentified viral trans-acting components for subgenomic RNA synthesis. When the Toto1100CR4.1 mutant was passaged in culture, plaque morphology variants readily arose. A total of 24 independent revertants were isolated, and 16 were characterized in detail. All revertants analyzed showed an increase in the level of subgenomic RNA synthesis. Sequence analysis of the junction region showed that all were pseudorevertants, with only two containing potentially compensating changes in the junction region. An assay was developed to identify revertants with second-site changes in trans-acting viral components involved in subgenomic RNA synthesis. At least two such revertants were identified. Mapping of these and other second-site compensating mutations may provide genetic clues as to which virus-specific protein(s) is responsible for interaction with the conserved junction region to promote subgenomic RNA synthesis.


Writer identification and verification have gained increased interest recently, especially in the fields of forensic document examination and biometrics. Writer identification assigns a handwriting to one writer out of a set of writers. It determines whether or not a given handwritten text has in fact been written by a claimed writer. While in the offline case, the data contains spatial information about the handwriting only, in the online case, the data additionally encodes temporal information. The following contributions are made in this work: in the offline case, two state-of-the-art systems to address the tasks of writer identification and verification are developed. Different confidence measures are defined to assess the quality of the recognition. The performances of the two systems are evaluated and compared on a large data set. Furthermore, feature selection methods are applied to improve the performance of an existing writer identification system. In the online case, a system to identify the writer of online hand-written notes on a whiteboard is developed. Different feature sets are defined and a new approach to improve the performance of a writer identification system by fusing the asynchronous feature streams is presented. Various parameters influencing the performance of the system are systematically studied on a large data set.IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields. Some of the areas we publish in: -Biomedicine -Oncology -Artificial intelligence -Databases and information systems -Maritime engineering -Nanotechnology -Geoengineering -All aspects of physics -E-governance -E-commerce -The knowledge economy -Urban studies -Arms control -Understanding and responding to terrorism -Medical informatics -Computer Sciences


Space-time coding is a bandwidth and power efficient method of communication over fading channels that realizes the benefits of multiple transmit antennas. Specific codes have been constructed using design criteria derived for quasi-static flat Rayleigh or Rician fading, where channel state information is available at the receiver. It is evident that the practicality of space-time codes will be greatly enhanced if the derived design criteria remain valid in the absence of perfect channel state information. It is even more desirable that the design criteria not be unduly sensitive to frequency selectivity and to the Doppler spread. This paper presents a theoretical study of these issues beginning with the effect of channel estimation error. Here it is assumed that a channel estimator extracts fade coefficients at the receiver and for constellations with constant energy, it is proved that in the absence of ideal channel state information the design criteria for space-time codes is still valid. The analysis also demonstrates that standard channel estimation techniques can be used in conjunction with space-time codes provided that the number of transmit antennas is small. We also derive the maximum-likelihood detection metric in the presence of channel estimation errors. Next, the effect of multiple paths on the performance of space-time codes is studied for a slowly changing Rayleigh channel. It is proved that the presence of multiple paths does not decrease the diversity order guaranteed by the design criteria used to construct the space-time codes. Similar results hold for rapid fading channels with or without multiple paths. The conclusion is that the diversity order promised by space-time coding is achieved under a variety of mobility conditions and environmental effects.