Systems, devices, and methods according to the present disclosure are configured for use in additive manufacturing, e.g. 3D printing. Various materials, including thermoplastic materials, can be used with an additive manufacturing system to create a part composite. Systems, devices, and methods described herein can be used to identify a characteristic of a material or of a material container for use with an additive manufacturing system. The identified characteristic can be used to determine an authenticity of the material. Based on the authenticity, one or more features or functions of the additive manufacturing system can be updated. The characteristic of the material may be optical information on the container of the material, e.g. a bar code, may be identified by emitting x-ray radiation and receiving a spectral characteristic, may be an electrical or magnetic characteristic or may be engraved on the surface of the material itself.


It is argued that quantum logic and quantum probability theory are fascinating mathematical theories but without any relevance to our real world.


Clustering algorithms are often evaluated using metrics which compare with ground-truth cluster assignments, such as Rand index and NMI. Algorithm performance may vary widely for different hyperparameters, however, and thus model selection based on optimal performance for these metrics is discordant with how these algorithms are applied in practice, where labels are unavailable and tuning is often more art than science. It is therefore desirable to compare clustering algorithms not only on their optimally tuned performance, but also some notion of how realistic it would be to obtain this performance in practice. We propose an evaluation of clustering methods capturing this ease-of-tuning by modeling the expected best clustering score under a given computation budget. To encourage the adoption of the proposed metric alongside classic clustering evaluations, we provide an extensible benchmarking framework. We perform an extensive empirical evaluation of our proposed metric on popular clustering algorithms over a large collection of datasets from different domains, and observe that our new metric leads to several noteworthy observations.


Cellular morphogenesis is particularly important in plant development, because these cells do not migrate but remain where they are formed. The highly patterned formation of root hairs from some (but not all) epidermal cells of the growing root in Arabidopsis offers an opportunity to study tissue patterning as well as cellular morphogenesis. Ohashi et al. searched for the genes downstream of the group of transcription factors that regulate whether a root hair develops. Beginning with GLABRA2, the furthest downstream of the transcription factors, the authors identified a phospholipase D gene as its direct target. Experimental alterations of the phospholipase D gene expression indicate that phospholipid signaling contributes to cellular morphogenic choices. Y. Ohashi, A. Oka, R. Rodrigues-Pousada, M. Possenti, I. Ruberti, G. Morelli, T. Aoyama, Modulation of phospholipid signaling by GLABRA2 in root-hair pattern formation. Science 300, 1427-1430 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


A method developed to help scientists visualize 3D tensor data is presented. The method is based on the concept of a hyperstreamline, the simplest continuous tensor structure that can be extracted from a tensor field. Hyperstreamlines for a particular case of symmetric tensor fields are introduced, and a structural depiction of symmetric tensor fields is derived from the representation of many hyperstreamlines. A method for visualizing unsymmetric tensor data by encoding an additional vector field along the trajectory of the hyperstreamlines is discussed.<<ETX>>


During the last decade there has been increasing interest in combining veterinary and human medicine, mainly in the areas of vaccination and the eradication of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. Although the roots of this "One Health-One Medicine" approach can be found in ancient Egypt and Greece, the roots of the philosophy of "one medicine" have not been so thoroughly discussed. In this paper I will analyse some ideas that could unite veterinary and human medicine, from Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) and Calvin W. Schwabe (1927-2006). Both are recognized as important theoretical founders of the philosophy of one medicine. I will also further develop these thoughts to meet some of the discussions taken place today.


Objectives: To assess the impact of a voluntary, paraprofessional home visiting program in preventing child maltreatment and reducing the multiple, malleable psychosocial risks for maltreatment for which families had been targeted. Methods: This collaborative, experimental study focused on 6 Healthy Families Alaska (HFAK) programs; 325 families were enrolled in 2000-2001, randomized to intervention and control groups, and interviewed to measure baseline attributes. Follow-up data were collected when children were 2 years old (85% follow-up rate). Outcomes included maltreatment reports, measures of potential maltreatment and parental risks, for example, poor mental health, substance use, and partner violence. HFAK records were reviewed to measure home visiting services. Home visitors were surveyed to measure perceived effectiveness and training adequacy. Results: Parental risks were common at baseline, and one-sixth of families had a substantiated child protective services report in the child's first 2 years of life. There was no overall program effect on maltreatment reports, and most measures of potential maltreatment. Home visited mothers reported using mild forms of physical discipline less often than control mothers. The groups were similar in their use of more severe forms of physical discipline. There was no program impact on parental risks. There was no impact on outcomes for families with a 'high dose' of home visiting. Home visitors often failed to address parental risks and seldom linked families with community resources. Contradictions in the model compromised effectiveness. Conclusions: The program did not prevent child maltreatment, nor reduce the parental risks that had made families eligible for service. Research is needed to develop and test strategies to improve the effectiveness of home visiting.


Conjugation with glycine proceeds through ATP-dependent coupling of carboxylic acids with coenzyme A (CoA). Therefore, chemicals that form CoA esters may interfere with glycine conjugation. We tested the hypothesis that valproic acid (VPA), which is esterified with CoA in the first step of its mitochondrial beta-oxidation, may compromise glycine conjugation of aromatic carboxylic acids, by investigating the effect of acute VPA administration on glycine conjugation of benzoic acid in rats. VPA administered 1 hr before injection of benzoate only decreased the blood clearance of benzoate and the urinary excretion of benzoylglycine slightly in normal rats. However, in rats loaded with glycine, 2 and 3 mmol/kg of VPA reduced the blood clearance of benzoate by 34 and 59%, diminished the peak blood level of the glycine conjugate and depressed the maximal urinary excretion rate of benzoylglycine by 28 and 66%, respectively. To elucidate the mechanism of VPA-induced inhibition of benzoylglycine formation, the effects of VPA on hepatic levels of cosubstrates and the activities of enzymes involved in glycine conjugation were also determined. One hour after administration of VPA, hepatic ATP levels remained unchanged, whereas the concentration of CoA was reduced by 67 to 73% and that of glycine was increased by 58 to 67%. Activities of the enzymes of glycine conjugation were not influenced by VPA. However, 2-n-propyl-4-pentenoic acid, a metabolite of VPA, inhibited benzoyl-CoA synthetase. In summary, VPA minimally influenced the capacity of glycine conjugation of benzoic acid in normal rats, but decreased it markedly in glycine-loaded rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Cosserat rod theory proved efficient modeling performances in robotics, especially in the context of continuum robots, in the past decade. The implementation of such theory is far from being unique and straightforward. We consider the illustrative example of multisegment, general routing tendon actuated continuum robots in their nominal static operating regime. This article details two main approaches based on Cosserat rod modeling, namely, the Newtonian and Lagrangian approaches. We provide a walk-through guide regarding theoretical derivations and numerical implementation of both approaches, together with a proof of equivalence. This comparative study is supplemented with novel contributions and extensions of each approach and in-depth discussion of their performances and applicability, as well as highlighting their special features.


Purpose

This purpose of this paper is to concern with the extent to which social economies can be constructed as alternatives to private and state markets and their purported neoliberal tendencies.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a meta-evaluation of an integrated set of projects supported by philanthropic investment to build finance, skills, entrepreneurship, social enterprises and non-monetised trading in the age sector in Northern Ireland.

Findings

The programme had important successes in stimulating social entrepreneurship, improving employability and showing how social enterprises can be incubated and scaled to offer new services for older people. It also improved skills in contract readiness, but this did not translate into new borrowing or trading models, even among larger NGOs.

Research limitations/implications

In that all economies are, to some extent, constructed and socially mediated, there is value in thinking through the components, relationships and projects that might make the ecosystem work more effectively. This should not just offer a counterweight to the market but could explore how an alternative arena for producing and consuming goods and services can be formed, especially among potentially vulnerable age communities.

Originality/value

The albeit, small-scale investment in a range of interrelated projects shows not only the value in experimentation but also the limits in planned attempts to construct social markets. The analysis shows that social economies need to respond to the priorities of older people, grown from community initiatives and better connected to the capabilities and resources of the sector.


: Introduction and Aim: Healthcare is considered as one of the most important indicators for determining the level of development in all societies. To this end, hospitals play an important role and the role of the charity hospitals which provide healthcare for poor patients is of great importance. Therefore, understanding and analyzing the administrative manner of these hospitals is crucial. The main goal of this study is to design an administrative model for charity hospitals in Iran. Materials and Methods: Information from Library documents including books, scientific magazine, and domestic foreign texts; documents as e-mail, electronic database; and also contact with several charity hospital executive in several countries; and visiting charity hospitals in other countries were used. Further information gathered about weaknesses and strengths of charity hospitals in Iran, and several foreign countries charity hospital models. The primary model was designated and after analyzing various view points, reviews and criticism by scholars and experts, the final model was presented using the Delphi method. Results: This study showed that charity hospitals in Iran are managed in different ways without any specific model and do not supported financially by the government. A number of these hospitals are not autonomous. In charity hospitals outside Iran, different management styles were being used, but they were not managed like Iranian charity hospitals and most of them were foundations or companies. Furthermore, a number of them were not managed as charity hospital since the nationalization of healthcare had taken place. Conclusion : Whereas the cost of healthcare in private sector is very expensive and most of them do not have contracts with insurance companies, charity hospitals can have an important role in providing healthcare for the society. Using model described in this paper could be helpful in responding to the needs of poor clients.


Introduction: Cognitive disorders
frequency arising after a cardio-cerebral vascular disease (stroke) is
currently on the rise due to the ageing population and the increase in the
number of survivors after stroke occurrence. Objective: Determining post-stroke
cognitive decline and identifying associated factors. Method: It consists in a
cross-sectional, prospective, descriptive and analytical study which was
conducted from April 1 to August 31, 2013 in the Neurology Department of CNHU-HKM in Cotonou. The study
involved 100 patients who have known stroke for at least the past 6 months and
were all admitted and discharged later on. The disease survivors were
re-contacted and examined again at home or at hospital. The cognitive decline
(CD) was estimated by using a modified and adapted MMSE to suit our cultural
era. Results: All patients were aged 58.9 years ± 13.6 years. Sex-ratio was 1.4. Cognitive decline
frequency was 20%. Post-stroke cognitive decline frequency per sex was 11.6%
and 8.4% respectively for females and males. Ischemia stroke patients had a
higher cognitive decline (22.5%). 58.3% had severe CD. Moreover the CD
frequency increased with time, from 16.7% in a year to 50% in 3 years. Total
MMSE varied from 6 to 23 with 21 as median. From the unvaried analysis, the
presence of sphincter disorders (1.26 [0.35-4.59], p = 0.004), consciousness disorders (15.67 [1.46-168], p = 0.04), and convulsion disorders (3.77 [1.01 -14.00], p = 0.003) was associated with
cognitive decline. From multi-varied analysis, the sole presence of convulsive attacks
(11.5 [1.79-73.58], p = 0.01) was individually associated with post-stroke
cognitive decline. Conclusion: This study reveals the importance of CD after
stroke. The occurrence of convulsions at stroke acute stage is a prognostic
factor of CD medium or long-term occurrence. The
overall coverage improvement depends on the integration of these data in stroke
reach-out programs.


Abstract The purpose of this article is to assess the quality of life of the residents of a degraded satellite area of a city. It is considered in the context of urban development policy – as the result of decisions and as a challenge for long-term development. The research was based on a case study, which is the district of Opole referred to as Metalchem. It is characterized by an isolated location in the city structure as well as economic transformations. The study was based primarily on an analysis of source materials and results of a survey. The results show that the assessment of the quality of life is inconsistent. The living conditions are good, but satisfactory fulfilment of social needs is lacking. The residents of the studied area feel that their quality of life is lower than that of other residents of the city. This situation is the result of three main factors: insufficient access to public services, an ingrained negative image of the quarter, and a lack of coherence and continuity of the policy regarding this area. Research shows that the quality of life of the residents of degraded and satellite districts depends on the management and investments in the area, on the area's perceived status within the city, but primarily on a consistent implementation of spatial and economic policies. Ensuring cohesion and integration between the satellite districts and the city center as well as other districts is also important.


This article contributes to debates about how capitalist corporations
'see', and how they concurrently relate to the places where they
are located. It argues that an analytical focus on 'seeing' illuminates how
internal organization and outward relation making are tied together in
complex ways. Even so, corporations of the extractive industries in particular
cannot be assumed to encompass a single coherent view. The empirical
case is a critical examination of how a gas project employed strict
health, safety, and security measures to generate order when encountering
alterity in an unfamiliar environment in Papua New Guinea. It reveals
how the project was organized around two conflicting ways of seeing its
host country—trying to separate itself from it while simultaneously having
to engage and provide benefits for it.


Abstract The colonization of novel habitats involves complex interactions between founder events, selection, and ongoing migration, and can lead to diverse evolutionary outcomes from local extinction to adaptation to speciation. Although there have been several studies of the demography of colonization of remote habitats, less is known about the demographic consequences of colonization of novel habitats within a continuous species range. Populations of the Eastern Fence Lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, are continuously distributed across two dramatic transitions in substrate color in southern New Mexico and have undergone rapid adaptation following colonization of these novel environments. Blanched forms inhabit the gypsum sand dunes of White Sands and melanic forms are found on the black basalt rocks of the Carrizozo lava flow. Each of these habitats formed within the last 10,000 years, allowing comparison of genetic signatures of population history for two independent colonizations from the same source population. We present evidence on phenotypic variation in lizard color, environmental variation in substrate color, and sequence variation for mitochondrial DNA and 19 independent nuclear loci. To confirm the influence of natural selection and gene flow in this system, we show that phenotypic variation is best explained by environmental variation and that neutral genetic variation is related to distance between populations, not partitioned by habitat. The historical demography of colonization was inferred using an Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) framework that incorporates known geological information and allows for ongoing migration with the source population. The inferences differed somewhat between mtDNA and nuclear markers, but overall provided strong evidence of historical size reductions in both white sand and black lava populations at the time of colonization. Populations in both novel habitats appear to have undergone partial but incomplete recovery from the initial bottleneck. Both ABC analyses and measures of mtDNA sequence diversity also suggested that population reductions were more severe in the black lava compared to the white sands habitat. Differences observed between habitats may be explained by differences in colonization time, habitat geometry, and strength or response to natural selection for substrate matching. Finally, effective population size reductions in this system appear to be more dramatic when colonization is accompanied by a change in selection regime. Our analyses are consistent with a demographic cost of adaptation to novel environments and show that it is possible to infer aspects of the historical demography of local adaptation even in the presence of ongoing gene flow.


An 83-year old male with a seminal vesicle abscess is presented. Initially, cancer of the prostate was suspected and the findings of the transrectal ultrasound scan were misinterpreted. The diagnosis was made by CT-scan. When drainage failed the patient was treated successfully with transurethral unroofing.


Lately, a boost in rental prices led the German government to bring in a law called "Mietpreisbremse". This law corresponds to classical rent controls and enables every federal state government to announce tight housing markets within its state, in which rental prices of re-lettings will be capped. By now, in several big cities this law was put into motion and since then, re-lettings are allowed to be uprated up to a certain level of customary comparative rents only. As an exception, newly built flats or those that haven been reconstructed extensively are not affected by the reform.The reform's framework fits perfectly into a difference-in-difference (DID) setting, which is a well-known tool to recover the effects of a policy reform like the "Mietpreisbremse". Though, in a standard DID only average treatment effects are identified, whereas researchers might be interested in distributional effects instead. Therefor, Athey and Imbens (2006) suggest a distinct approach to overcome the limitations of a standard DID. They call it Changes-in-Changes model (CIC) and their idea is to compare units according to their distributional outcome. However, the classical CIC is difficult to construct with covariates, which is an important feature to control for heterogeneity across housing units. To this end, Melly and Santangelo (2015) provide an extension of the classical CIC in order to include covariates.I will apply this method to newly offered rental prices in Berlin, which has seen the most rapid increase in rental prices shortly among German metropolises. The "Mietpreisbremse" was introduced to reduce this rental boom, especially in the lower and medium rental price segment. Using data on newly offered rental prices from 2014 and 2015, I will analyze the distributional effects of the reform.Preliminary results indicate that the reform indeed lowered newly offered rents on average. When considering the entire distribution, however, effects are found to be negative mostly in the upper segment. In the lower segment, on the contrary, newly offered rental prices declined only little.Moreover, the time trend of newly offered rental prices demonstrate that rental prices collapsed right after the reform's introduction, but continue to grow ever since. On these grounds, I cannot find evidence for the intended effects of the reform in the medium run.


A 37-kDa polypeptide specified by Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus was found to share significant homology with Choristoneura biennis entomopoxyvirus spheroidin protein, which is the major component of entomopoxvirus occlusion bodies. Antibodies raised against spheroidin cross-reacted with the 37-kDa protein and confirmed its expression in the late phase of wild-type baculovirus infection. Immunoblot analysis and fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that the protein was associated with purified A. californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus occlusion bodies and was absent in purified virions. Immunofluorescence studies localized the protein to the periphery of occlusion bodies and the internal membranes of cells infected with wild-type baculovirus. The open reading frame encoding this spheroidinlike protein was inserted into a baculovirus expression vector, and recombinant protein was synthesized under control of the polyhedrin promoter. Studies of the recombinant protein demonstrated that it was heterogeneous in molecular mass as a result of N-linked glycosylation. Tunicamycin inhibited carbohydrate addition and yielded proteins of 34 and 33 kDa.


This study was carried out to investigate the yield response of 2 soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) cultivars to different planting dates and plant populations and to examine the relationships of seed yield with leaf area index (LAI) and total dry matter (TDM) during the vegetative and reproductive periods for planting dates, plant populations, and cultivars. Two soybean cultivars, A-3127 (early maturity group, MG-III) and 1530 (late maturity group, MG-IV), were planted in 2 planting dates; mid-April and mid-May during 2005 and 2006 at high (660,000 plant ha-1) and low (330,000 plant ha-1) plant populations. Plantings in mid-April increased seed yield by about 10.0%-13.5% compared with mid-May plantings. High plant populations produced 17.7% higher seed yield than the low population. Seed yield of the late maturity cultivar was more than that of the early maturing cultivar. Significant and positive relationships between seed yield and LAI were evident for planting dates at all growth stages in 2005 and 2006. Seed yields at high and low plant populations were negatively and significantly correlated with LAI at vegetative stage (V5), but positively and closely related to LAI at reproductive stages (R4 and R6) in both experimental years. The relationships between seed yield and LAI with early and late maturity cultivars were significant and positive at all growth stages except the V5 growth stage in both 2005 and 2006. Seed yield was positively and significantly correlated with TDM at all growth stages for planting dates, plant populations, and cultivars.


From at least the third century b.c. , Buddhist ritual focused on stupas, stylized replicas of the mounds of earth in which early Buddhists interred relics of the Buddha. Beginning in the first century b.c. , Buddhist monks in western India began manipulating the physical shape of monastic stupas to make them appear taller and more massive than they actually were. Buddhist monks used these manipulations to help assert authority over the Buddhist laity. Employing theories of practice, materiality, and semiotics, I argue that physical manipulations of the shape of stupas by Buddhist monks led to the progressive detachment of the primary signs of Buddhism from their original referents. Where earlier stupas were icons and indexes of the Buddha encased within indexes of his presence, later stupas were symbols of the Buddha and Buddhist theology. This change in the material practice of Buddhism reduced stupas' emotional immediacy in favor of greater intellectual detachment. In the end, this shift in the meaning ascribed to stupas created the preconditions from which the Buddhist image cult and Mahayana Buddhism emerged in the first through fifth centuries a.d . The development of Mahayana Buddhism and Buddha images signified a return to iconic worship of the Buddha.


A strategy for single phase fault location in distribution systems using statistical
learning algorithm based on fuzzy logic and connective structure, is presented in this paper. In this research, the signals of the measured voltage and current at the power substation during a fault are used to obtain the attributes as the fault locator inputs. Finally, the results obtained for tests in a real distribution system
with errors lower 3% are presented.


Submental intubation is an interesting alternative to tracheostomy, especially when short-term postoperative control of airway is desirable with the presence of undisturbed access to oral as well as nasal airways and a good dental occlusion. Submental intubation with midline incision has been used in 10 cases from October 2008 to March 2010 in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore. All patients had fractures of the jaws disturbing the dental occlusion associated with fracture of the base of the skull, or/and a displaced nasal bone fracture. After standard orotracheal intubation, a passage was created by blunt dissection with a haemostat clamp through the floor of the mouth in the submental area. The proximal end of the orotracheal tube was pulled through the submental incision. Surgery was completed without interference from the endotracheal tube. At the end of surgery, the tube was pulled back to the usual oral route. There were no perioperative complications related to the submental intubation procedure. Average duration of the procedure was less than 6 minutes. Submental intubation is a simple technique associated with low rates of morbidity. It is an attractive alternative to tracheotomy in the surgical management of selected cases of panfacial trauma.


In this paper we present a graph-based approach aimed at learning a lexical taxonomy automatically starting from a domain corpus and the Web. Unlike many taxonomy learning approaches in the literature, our novel algorithm learns both concepts and relations entirely from scratch via the automated extraction of terms, definitions and hypernyms. This results in a very dense, cyclic and possibly disconnected hypernym graph. The algorithm then induces a taxonomy from the graph. Our experiments show that we obtain high-quality results, both when building brand-new taxonomies and when reconstructing WordNet sub-hierarchies.


Background: One of the most common methods of identifying mortality risk is the Clinical Risk Index for Babies scoring system (CRIB- II). The aim of this study was assessing the value of CRIB- II in predicting mortality risk in preterm and low birth weight infants in East Azerbaijan- Iran. Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study was carried out in 2013-2014 during 6 months in NICUs of Alzahra, Taleqani and Children hospitals of Tabriz-Iran. All infants ≤ 32 weeks' gestational age or ≤ 1500gr birth weight were included in the study using consecutive method. After calculating CRIB- II score, the infants were followed up at 3 months of age and their outcome was determined. The data was analyzed using SPSS-13, t- test, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and area under curve (AUC) and relative risk (RR). Results: Of total 215 infants, 64 infants (29.7%) died in the hospital and one infant (0.4%) died after discharging from the hospital. 150 (68.8%) infants, were alive at 3 months age follow up. The mean of CRIB- II score in the group of dead infants was higher and statistically significant compared to the group of alive infants (P<0.05). The prediction power of CRIB- II was determined at 8.5 cut off point regarding the outcome of infants. Based on AUC, the CRIB- II score predicted 83% of mortality rate in infants (confidence interval =76-90). Conclusion: Findings indicated the notable power of CRIB- II in predicting infants' mortality, so it can be used as a simple and reliable tool to prioritize the interventions in Newborn Intensive Care Units (NICUs).


The shear (SH)-wave transfer function and the horizontal-to vertical (HV) spectral ratio are fast methods to estimate the S-wave velocity profile and thickness of surface layers overlying a bedrock on the basis of resonance frequencies. Understanding the behaviour of the respective frequency spectra is essential to obtain reliable results. In this work, we propose a full-wave numerical method, based on a pseudospectral spatial differentiation, to simulate SH and P-S waves generated by random sources distributed spatially and temporally (ambient noise). The modeling allows us to implement seismic attenuation, surface waves and casual source radiation patterns, based on random values of the angles of the moment tensor at each source location. We focus on the location of the resonance peaks, without considering the amplitudes, since it is known that the HV method cannot predict the amplitudes. First, we analyze Lamb's problem for which an analytical P-S solution exists. The modeling algorithm is verified for a Ricker time history, but the analysis can be performed by using spikes as sources. The experiments based on ambient noise are compared to those of a coherent line source as a reference spectrum (e.g., and earthquake event far away from the receivers). SH-wave resonance frequencies can be identified in the spectra only when the random sources are located below the bedrock. In the case of P-S waves, the SH-wave transfer function is a good approximation to the HV spectrum, mainly when the noise is generated in the bedrock. Finally, we have assumed a square basin and found that coherent (e.g., earthquake-type) sources may yield identiable peaks but ambient noise gives unreliable results.


Platelet-activating factor (PAF) may play a role in the regulation of immune responsiveness and is a potent mediator in asthmatic inflammation. However, as yet, the mechanisms whereby PAF mediates its pleiomorphic effects on immune cells have not been elucidated. Because PAF is a potent chemotactic factor for eosinophils, the presence of receptors for PAF (PAFR) on lymphocytes may provide a mechanism for the concurrent recruitment of both eosinophils and T lymphocytes into the airways of asthmatic patients. To address this issue, we have examined freshly isolated PBMC and granulocytic cells as well as various T and B lymphocyte lines with regards to PAFR expression and PAF-induced changes in intracellular calcium concentration. Using two-color immunofluorescence techniques and highly purified cell populations, it was not possible to detect surface PAFR protein or functional PAFR on resting and in vivo or in vitro activated T and B cells derived from nonallergic individuals or patients with allergic asthma. In addition, we were unable to detect PAFR mRNA, protein, or functional response to PAF in human or murine T cell lines. In contrast, we found functional PAFR in most B lymphoblastoid cell lines. Within the PBMC population, CD14+ cells respond to PAF. These results suggest that PAF does not interact directly with lymphocytes and thus that previous observations suggestive of such an interaction likely reflect the effects of PAF on monocytes. PAF-induced increases in intracellular calcium concentration were also detected in neutrophils and eosinophils, but were lower in granulocytes relative to the levels detected in monocytes.


Purpose/Background Overdose deaths in the U.S. from opioids have dramatically increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Although medicated-assisted treatment (MAT) programs are widely available for sufferers of opiate addiction, many drop out of treatment prematurely. Twelve-step programs are considered a valuable part of treatment, but few studies have examined the effect of combining these approaches. We aimed to compare abstinence rates among patients receiving MAT who were referred to 12-step programs to those only receiving MAT. Methods In this prospective study, a cohort of participants from a MAT clinic agreeing to attend a 12-step program was compared to 15 controls selected from a database before project implementation. Eligible participants were diagnosed with OUD, receiving buprenorphine (opiate agonist), and at least 18. Participants were provided with temporary sponsors to attend Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Medication-Assisted Recovery meetings together. The primary endpoint was the change in positive opiate urine drug screens over 6 months between participants and controls. Results Between March 29, 2021, and April 16, 2021, 166 patients were scheduled at the clinic. Of those scheduled, 146 were established patients, and 123 were scheduled for face-to-face visits. Of these, 64 appeared for the appointment, 6 were screened, and 3 were enrolled. None of the participants attended a 12-step meeting. Enrollment barriers included excluding new patients and those attending virtual visits, the high percentage of patients who missed appointments, and lack of staff referrals. The low incidence of referrals was due to time constraints by both staff and patients. Implications for Nursing Practice Low enrollment limited our ability to determine whether combining medication management with a 12-step program improves abstinence. Failure to keep appointments is common among patients with OUD, and virtual meetings are becoming more prevalent post-COVID. Although these factors are unlikely to be controllable, developing strategies to expedite the enrollment process for staff and patients could hasten recruitment.


The tribe Chlamydini was highly diversified in the marine Neogene of southern South America, reaching its maximum taxonomic diversity during the Miocene. However, the evolutionary relationships of South American taxa remain uncertain. This is the first phylogenetic analysis based on a large morphological matrix on Pectinidae, which focuses on South American taxa and species related to Chlamys s.s. The phylogenetic analysis is based on a matrix composed of 145 shell‐characters scored for 48 species, and multiple searches were conducted using equal and implied weighting. Two new monophyletic clades are defined, Multiplicata and Pauciplicata. The first includes Dietotenhosen, Ckaraosippur, Zygochlamys, Moirechlamys (South America), the North‐West Pacific Azumapecten, and the North‐East Pacific Chlamys hastata. Pauciplicata is represented by Chokekenia (Patagonia, Argentina), Laevichlamys (tropical Atlantic and Indo‐Pacific), Semipallium (Indo‐Pacific), Swiftopecten (South America and North Pacific), and Jorgechlamys + Reticulochlamys (Patagonia, Argentina). All of these genera are monophyletic except for the paraphyletic Jorgechlamys. The oldest documented occurrence of the tribe is Semipallium foulcheri from the lower Oligocene, a derived taxon that pushes the divergence time of basal genera to the Eocene–Oligocene boundary, generating ghost lineages in all clades, except Jorgechlamys + Reticulochlamys. Pauciplicata and Multiplicata diverge in the early history of the tribe, at the Eocene–Oligocene boundary. Future analyses are necessary to gain a better understanding of the taxonomic arrangement of this poorly understood tribe. Further insights into the relationships of its deepest nodes may well resolve many ghost lineages.


Gesture-based interfaces, in which the user specifies commands by simple freehand drawings, offer an alternative to traditional keyboard, menu, and direct manipulation interfaces. The ability to specify objects, an operation, and additional parameters with a single intuitive gesture makes gesture-based systems appealing to both novice and experienced users. Unfortunately, the difficulty in building gesture-based systems have prevented such systems from being adequately explored. Gesture-based systems require classifiers to distinguish between the possible gestures a user may enter. In the past, classifiers have often been hand-coded for each new application, making them difficult to build, change, and maintain. A wireless data glove was developed to control a robot. Sensors mounted on the glove send signals to a processing unit, worn on the user's forearm that translates hand postures into data. An RF transceiver, also mounted on the user, transmits the encoded signals representing the hand postures and dynamic gestures to the robot via RF link


STUDY DESIGN
Case series.

BACKGROUND
Patellofemoral pain is a common overuse injury in runners. Recent findings suggest that patellofemoral pain is related to high-impact loading associated with a rearfoot strike pattern. This case series describes the potential training effects of a landing pattern modification program to manage patellofemoral pain in runners.

CASE DESCRIPTION
Three female runners with unilateral patellofemoral pain who initially presented with a rearfoot strike pattern underwent 8 sessions of landing pattern modification program using real-time audio feedback from a force sensor placed within the shoe. Ground reaction forces during running were assessed with an instrumented treadmill. Patellofemoral pain symptoms were assessed using 2 validated questionnaires. Finally, running performance was measured by self-reported best time to complete a 10-km run in the previous month. The runners were assessed before, immediately after, and 3 months following training.

OUTCOMES
The landing pattern of runners was successfully changed from a rearfoot to a nonrearfoot strike pattern after training. This new pattern was maintained 3 months after the program. The vertical impact peak and rates of loading were shown to be reduced. Likewise, the symptoms related to patellofemoral pain and associated functional limitations were improved. However, only 1 of the participants reported improved running performance after the training.

DISCUSSION
This case series provided preliminary data to support further investigation of interventions leading to landing pattern modification in runners with patellofemoral pain.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Therapy, level 4.


The combination of mobile computing and collaborative augmented reality into a single system makes the power of computer enhanced interaction and communication in the real world accessible anytime and everywhere. The paper describes our work to build a mobile collaborative augmented reality system that supports true stereoscopic 3D graphics, a pen and pad interface and direct interaction with virtual objects. The system is assembled from off-the-shelf hardware components and serves as a basic test bed for user interface experiments related to computer supported collaborative work in augmented reality. A mobile platform implementing the described features and collaboration between mobile and stationary users are demonstrated.


Divided societies have long been seen as terrible terrain for democracy. Yet some countries in South and Southeast Asia have managed to overcome ethnic and religious rifts and establish lasting democracy, as in India, while other countries in these regions have seen such deep divisions underpin durable authoritarianism, as in Malaysia. We trace these differences to divergent definitions of the nation that prevailed in struggles for independence and that continue to provide a political resource in ongoing political struggles. Where the national community was defined as inclusive in both ethnoreligious and popular terms, democracy has proven stronger. Alternatively, where the foundational national bargain was more exclusive with respect to salient identity cleavages and popular classes, authoritarianism has been reinforced. Founding types of nationalism not only help explain regime types in India and Malaysia but in countries across southern Asia, offering novel insight into how to understand ongoing battles to shape the nation and the people's political position within it. In an era of rising nationalist fervor and eroding support for democracy, understanding the conditions under which nationalism either promotes democracy or bolsters authoritarianism is of critical importance to political scientists, activists, and policymakers alike.


The purpose of this paper is to describe examples of the application of learning analytics (LA), including the assessment of subject grades, identifying subjects that need revision, student satisfaction and cohort comparisons, to program curriculum review.,Examples of analyses that address specific questions that a curriculum review wishes to address are provided, together with examples of visualizations from the analyses to aid interpretation.,The results show that using LA as a part of curriculum review can provide insights not possible with the traditional curriculum review methods and can yield useful and actionable insights.,The work in this paper illustrates another important application for LA and demonstrates the value this approach has for informing curriculum enhancement at the program level.,The analyses described provide insights not possible with traditional curriculum review methods. However, the challenge remains to develop analytic tools that can assist teachers to conduct LA independently.,LA have been used to predict grades or identify at-risk students (Gasevic et al., 2016), but there is little research on its use for curriculum evaluation (Mendez et al., 2014). This paper addresses this gap and provides examples of its application in program curriculum review and the insights it can provide.


This dissertation is a historical and stylistic analysis of music arranging in pop Sunda. Pop Sunda is modern commercial popular music in the Sundanese language accompanied by primarily Western instruments. The music blends traditional Sundanese and Western musical elements. I use pop Sunda as a case study to show that the role of the arranger is paramount in the production of pop Sunda, and that the arranger performs functions that are quite different from arrangers in other kinds of music. In pop Sunda, the arranger is also a composer who chooses the instruments and electronic sound timbres; composes melodic and rhythmic parts; determines the tempo; and sets the harmonic foundation of a piece. The arranger is a producer who coordinates the recording session and helps the composer, singers, and musicians understand the tastes of the audience. The arranger may also be a musician and studio engineer in the process of production. However, arrangers rarely receive credit as significant actors in the creation of pop Sunda.

In order to demonstrate the central role of the arranger, I investigate the role of five prominent arrangers of pop Sunda: Mohammad Jassin, Tan Deseng, Yan Ahimsa, Doel Sumbang, and Ari Prigara. I use musical analysis to show points of interest and significant sonic devices to distinguish styles of arranging, from the 1960s to 2012. By tracing the history of pop Sunda through the lens of arranging, my dissertation aims to provide a new way of understanding the production of modern Sundanese music.


The following presentation is based on experimental work we have already developed and published. We investigated the nitrogen oxides in different solvents and analyzed their reaction with β‐carotene. The electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) and ultraviolet and visible (UV‐vis) spectroscopy were applied to investigate the reaction of β‐carotene with nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide in both pure dioxane and dioxane/ water solvent. Free radicals were detected and evaluated with the EPR technique, which is highly selective and sensitive. A reaction mechanism was proposed on the basis of the experimental kinetic and EPR results. The validity of the mechanism was checked by applying simulation set up conditions that reproduced the results achieved. The radical intermediates proposed in the reaction: the β‐carotene neutral radicals and the cyclic nitroxide neutral radicals were theoretically studied. For that purpose, the density functional theory (DFT) level was applied, selecting the most suitable method, the unre‐ stricted Becke‐style 3‐parameter with the Lee‐Yang‐Parr correlation functional (UB3LYP) and the 6‐31G(d) basis sets (d orbital functions). We developed an appropriate discussion on the importance of carotenoids compounds and their reactions in biological media. Also, we evaluated the role and the possible reactions of nitroxide intermediates.


Introduction
Perforation of the gallbladder is a benign and common complication during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. However, it may result in stone spilling, which potentially can lead to serious postoperative complications. Case report
A 70-year-old male underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis. The procedure was complicated by perforation of the gallbladder and spilling of gallstones. More than a year after the procedure, the patient developed subcutaneous abscesses containing some of the spilled stones, a computed tomography revealed a complex intraabdominal and intrathoracic fistula with communication from the abdominal cavity to pleura and ultrasonic imaging found a lost gallstone in the thorax. After two years, the patient developed pleural empyema and sepsis secondary to the condition. Presently, the patient awaits surgery for the fistula and empyema. Conclusion
Proper care should be taken to avoid stone spilling during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. However, if perforation and stone spilling occur, all visible stones should be removed during the procedure and the complication should be noted in the medical records. Furthermore, the patient should be thoroughly informed. This may help accelerate diagnosis if the patient later suffers from a complication related to lost stones.


With superior performances, Linear motor driven pumping unit becomes the electrical control of the focus and emphasis of the recent oil field equipment. Against the beam pumping unit motor efficiency, low power factor and stoke that difficult to regulate, this paper proposes new research programs about energy-saving line pumping systems by linear motor driven source. Paper Studys the mechanical model of linear motor in detail, using MATLAB / SIMULINK, a simulation model is analyzed. At the base of vector control of revolving induction motor, we established the linear motor control system. Theoretical analysis and computer simulation results show that the speed control system has good performance, response characteristics of the electromagnetic force, and demonstrate the proposed mathematical model and control method.


Various studies have confirmed the numerous advantages of non-motorized transportation (NMT) especially on the environment and personal well-being of the commuter. Unfortunately its transportation modal share has always been negligible in the Philippines. Recently, the rapid rise in the price of oil and an overwhelming increase in environmental awareness have resurrected the interests of commuters, policymakers and transport planners on the use and promotion of NMT. This study analyzes the Philippine case by reviewing its overall NMT-related transport policies at the national and local levels and by investigating the use of pedicabs and bicycles in the country. The results reveal various sporadic initiatives in the promotion, use and regulation of NMT. Issues such as the lack of both hard and soft infrastructure (physical facilities and policies, respectively) serve as major impediments in the growth and development of NMT in the country. The challenge is to encourage different stakeholders in promoting NMT.


This research was conducted in three phases. The first two phases were presented in two interim reports. This report includes a summary of the first two phases and a detailed discussion of the final phase. The final phase of the study focused on a trend analysis of energy use in routine maintenance and development of an optimization approach that can be used to determine the optimal assignment of various equipment types to different activities. The use of the approach was illustrated through an example application. A set of energy conservation guidelines was then outlined for possible implementation.


We reviewed the results, in eight patients, of excision of heterotopic ossification about the elbow performed three to ten months (average, seven months) after the initial injury and followed by radiation therapy to prevent recurrence. The etiology of the heterotopic ossification included a neurological (head or spinal cord) injury in five patients and a local injury (fracture or fracture-dislocation) of the elbow in three patients. The average preoperative arc of motion of the three joints that were capable of motion was 12 degrees (5, 10, and 20 degrees); the remaining five joints were fixed in an average of 56 degrees (range, 10 to 90 degrees) of flexion. All of the patients received a total dose of radiation of 1000 centigray, divided into five fractions. The radiation therapy was instituted on the first postoperative day, and at least three of the remaining four treatments were administered on consecutive days. Radiation therapy was not performed on the weekend, so the five fractions were administered over the course of seven days. At an average of forty-six months (range, twenty-five to seventy-two months), the arc of motion averaged 103 degrees, which compared favorably with the 121-degree arc of motion that had been attained intraoperatively. Two patients who had residual motor deficits in the involved extremity had an arc of motion of 50 and 70 degrees at the latest follow-up evaluation; those who had normal motor function fared considerably better, averaging 118 degrees of motion. There was no substantial recurrence of ossification either radiographically or that limited motion, and no complications attributable to the radiation therapy were noted. On the basis of this experience, it seems that the generally recommended twelve to eighteen-month delay between injury and excision, to allow for maturation of heterotopic bone and thus to lessen the likelihood of recurrence, may be eliminated. Additional studies are needed to define the relative risk of recurrence in the various clinical settings in which heterotopic ossification is seen and to determine whether radiation therapy is necessary to prevent recurrence after early excision in each of these instances.


It is well accepted that handpumps designed for use in remote locations in developing countries should satisfy the
VLOM (Village Level Operation and Maintenance) criteria if the pump is to be sustainable. In general terms the
sustainability of a pump depends on (a) ease of use and maintenance, (b) durability (including corrosion resistance) and (c) the cost and availability of spare parts. However, at present there are no clear guidelines which quantify these factors, so there tends to be debate amongst pump designers, manufacturers and users as to how 'VLOM'
certain pumps are. The two former factors (the 'technical' aspects) tend to be less critical for shallow (less than 30 metres) installations. The loads on the pump are low, allowing the use of lightweight and corrosion resistant plastics such as uPVC and HDPE, and mechanisms can be kept simple and relatively inexpensive. In deeper installations, however, the technical challenges are generally greater. As the loads on the pump increase, the use of stronger, heavier, (and more expensive) materials becomes necessary. This in turn often leads to the need for heavy lifting gear (tripods, chain blocks, pulleys etc) for maintenance, as well as more complicated mechanisms in the pump design. Capital costs, and cost of spare parts all increase, adversely affecting sustainability. At present there are several alternative VLOM pumps for shallow installations, however there are very few available for installations deeper than 45 metres. The added difficulty of spare parts distribution and government restrictions on allowable pump types also means that introducing
new pumps on to the market is very difficult. This paper presents a new pump arrangement which addresses most or all of these difficulties.


A broad-spectrum fluorescent probe, which can be applied to monitoring H2S in various biological systems, has been rationally designed and synthesized. This specific probe was applied to localize the endogenous H2S in living Raw264.7 macrophage cells, HepG2 cells, and H9C2 cells. At the same time, the probe has successfully visualized CBS- and CSE-induced endogenous H2S production and monitored CBS and CSE activity in H9C2 cells. This probe could serve as a powerful molecular imaging tool to further explore the physiological function and the molecular mechanisms of endogenous H2S in living animal systems.


Tropical crops are vital for tropical agriculture, with resource scarcity, functional diversity and extensive market demand, providing considerable economic benefits for the world's tropical agriculture-producing countries. The rapid development of sequencing technology has promoted a milestone in tropical crop research, resulting in the generation of massive amount of data, which urgently needs an effective platform for data integration and sharing. However, the existing databases cannot fully satisfy researchers' requirements due to the relatively limited integration level and untimely update. Here, we present the Tropical Crop Omics Database (TCOD, https://ngdc.cncb.ac.cn/tcod), a comprehensive multi-omics data platform for tropical crops. TCOD integrates diverse omics data from 15 species, encompassing 34 chromosome-level de novo assemblies, 1 255 004 genes with functional annotations, 282 436 992 unique variants from 2048 WGS samples, 88 transcriptomic profiles from 1997 RNA-Seq samples and 13 381 germplasm items. Additionally, TCOD not only employs genes as a bridge to interconnect multi-omics data, enabling cross-species comparisons based on homology relationships, but also offers user-friendly online tools for efficient data mining and visualization. In short, TCOD integrates multi-species, multi-omics data and online tools, which will facilitate the research on genomic selective breeding and trait biology of tropical crops.


The authors present an outline of the development of thyroid surgery from the ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century, when the definitive surgical technique have been developed and the physiologic and pathopfysiologic consequences of thyroid resections have been described. The key representatives, as well as the contribution of the most influential czech surgeons are mentioned.


The positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) and the stress-induced leakage current (SILC) effects are thoroughly examined in nFETs with SiO2/HfO2/TiN dual-layer gate stacks under a wide range of bias and temperature stress conditions. Experimental evidence of the SILC increase with time is obtained suggesting the activation of a trap generation mechanism. Threshold voltage (V T) instability is found to be the result of a complicated interplay of two separate mechanisms; filling of preexisting electron traps versus trap generation each one dominating at different stress condition regimes. Furthermore, V T instability relaxation experiments, undertaken at judiciously chosen conditions, show that the preexisting and stress-induced traps exhibit similar detrapping kinetics indicating that both types of traps may have similar characteristics. Finally, it is shown that the role of the SILC effect (and the associated trap generation component) on V T instability is process dependent and that SILC reduction is accompanied by enhancement of the PBTI device lifetime.


This is the first paper that econometrically estimates the impact of rising Bioenergy production on global CO2 emissions. We apply a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) approach to time series from 1961 to 2009 with annual observation for the world biofuel production and global CO2 emissions. We find that in the medium- to long-run biofuels significantly reduce global CO2 emissions: the CO2 emission elasticities with respect to biofuels range between -0.57 and -0.80. In the short-run, however, biofuels may increase CO2 emissions temporarily. Our findings complement those of life-cycle assessment and simulation models. However, by employing a more holistic approach and obtaining more robust estimates of environmental impact of biofuels, our results are particularly valuable for policy makers.


The clinical potential of chimeric antigen receptors in adoptive cellular therapy is beginning to be realized with several recent clinical trials targeting CD19 showing promising results in advanced B cell malignancies. This increased efficacy corresponds with improved engineering of the chimeric receptors with the latest-generation receptors eliciting greater signaling and proliferation potential. However, the antigen-binding single-chain variable fragment (scFv) domain of the receptors is critical in determining the activity of the chimeric receptor-expressing T cells, as this determines specificity and affinity to the tumor antigen. In this study, we describe a mammalian T cell line screening protocol employing a 2A-based bicistronic retroviral vector to isolate functional scFvs. This approach involves expression of the scFv library in a chimeric antigen receptor, and is based on selection of clones capable of stimulating CD69 upregulation in a T cell line and has a number of advantages over previously described methods in that the use of a 2A cassette ensures the exclusion of nonexpressing scFvs and the screening using a chimeric receptor in a mammalian T cell line ensures selection in the optimum context for therapeutic use. Proof-of-principle experiments show that the protocol was capable of a 10(5)-fold enrichment of positive clones after three rounds of selection. Furthermore, an antigen-specific clone was successfully isolated from a partially enriched scFv library, confirming the strength of the protocol. This approach has the potential to identify novel scFvs of use in adoptive T cell therapy and, potentially, wider antibody-based applications.


"Back in those glory days, I was very uncomfortable when they asked us to
say things we didn't want to say and deny other things. Some people asked,
you know, were you alone out there? We never gave the real answer, and yet
we see things out there, strange things, but we know what we saw out there.
And we couldn't really say anything. The bosses were really afraid of this,
they were afraid of the War of the Worlds type stuff, and about panic in the
streets. So, we had to keep quiet. And now we only see these things in our
nightmares or maybe in the movies, and some of them are pretty close to
being the truth." - Senator John Glenn on NBC Tuesday,
March 6, 2001.


In this paper, a study is conducted in order to explore the use of genetic programming, in particular gene expression programming (GEP), in finding analytic functions that can behave as classifiers in high-dimensional haptic feature spaces. More importantly, the determined explicit functions are used in discovering minimal knowledge-preserving subsets of features from very high dimensional haptic datasets, thus acting as general dimensionality reducers. This approach is applied to the haptic-based biometrics problem; namely, in user identity verification. GEP models are initially generated using the original haptic biometric datatset, which is imbalanced in terms of the number of representative instances of each class. This procedure was repeated while considering an under-sampled (balanced) version of the datasets. The results demonstrated that for all datasets, whether imbalanced or under-sampled, a certain number (on average) of perfect classification models were determined. In addition, using GEP, great feature reduction was achieved as the generated analytic functions (classifiers) exploited only a small fraction of the available features.


We combine data from the housing market with data from the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry to estimate how individuals value living in close proximity to a convicted criminal. We use the exact location of sex offenders to exploit variation in the threat of crime within small homogenous groupings of homes, and we use the timing of sex offenders' arrivals to control for baseline property values in the area. We find statistically and economically significant negative effects of sex offenders' locations that are extremely localized. Houses within a one-tenth mile area around the home of a sex offender fall by 4 percent on average (about $5,500). We also find evidence that the effect varies with distance within this range -- houses next to an offender sell for about 12 percent less while those a tenth of a mile away or more show no decline. We combine our willingness-to-pay estimates with data on sexual crimes against neighbors to estimate the costs to victims of sexual offenses. We estimate costs of over $1 million per victim -- far in excess of estimates taken from the criminal justice literature. However, we cannot reject the alternative hypotheses that individuals overestimate the risk posed by offenders or view living near an offender as having costs exclusive of crime risk.


Current methods for sequence tagging, a core task in NLP, are data hungry, which motivates the use of crowdsourcing as a cheap way to obtain labelled data. However, annotators are often unreliable and current aggregation methods cannot capture common types of span annotation error. To address this, we propose a Bayesian method for aggregating sequence tags that reduces errors by modelling sequential dependencies between the annotations as well as the ground-truth labels. By taking a Bayesian approach, we account for uncertainty in the model due to both annotator errors and the lack of data for modelling annotators who complete few tasks. We evaluate our model on crowdsourced data for named entity recognition, information extraction and argument mining, showing that our sequential model outperforms the previous state of the art, and that Bayesian approaches outperform non-Bayesian alternatives. We also find that our approach can reduce crowdsourcing costs through more effective active learning, as it better captures uncertainty in the sequence labels when there are few annotations.


Philomene Bloemhoff-de Bruijn's thesis is about the vowel changes that have taken place within the language of the city of Zwolle, the capital city of the province of Overijssel, over a period of 150 years. The research is based upon 19th century publications in this urban dialect. The language of these older texts has been compared to the dialect which is used nowadays. Especially many vowel changes can be stated. Some of them already took place in the course of the 19th century, and can quite exactly be dated, for example: zeen 'see' that changed into zien, and waor 'where' into woor. First, other types of changes are discussed: words and expressions became out of date, certain word forms disappeared and meanings changed. Striking are the changes within the system of the personal and the possessive pronouns. In the following chapters eight vowel changes are described. After that some aspects of the changes are examined more thoroughly. In the last chapter conclusions are drawn.In principal, all the vowel changes are natural and regular processes. Some natural processes are more or less influenced by the standard language, but it did not cause them. The different processes have hardly effected or caused each other. The still uncompleted vowel developments are processes that spread lexically gradual. There is no positive correlation between the frequency of words and their undergoing the changes. On the contrary: frequent words clearly lag behind in several vowel changes which are still going on.


The widespread and relatively inexpensive influx of high speed Internet technology has rendered the Cybersex pornographic industry a considerably profitable e-commerce business. This exploratory investigation attempts to delineate the intricacies and effects of such technology on individual well-being using ethnographic field research methodology. Although most individuals utilize the Internet for occupational, educational, recreational, and shopping purposes, a sizable male minority exists, known as Cybersex compulsives and at-risk users, who invest an inordinate amount of their time, money, and energy in the pursuit of Cybersex experiences with negative intrapersonal ramifications in terms of depression, anxiety, and problems with felt intimacy with their real-life partners. Such individuals find themselves in a compulsive Cybersex quest for the "perfect" sexual visualization that will match their "lovemap," only to get disappointed at its fleeting nature.


Body size is one of the most obvious and most important characteristic of any organism. A thorough understanding of how and why a certain individual obtains a specific body size, given its evolutionary history and ecological context, is a fundamental question in biology. One special case of variation in size is clinal variation: individuals of the same species indigenous to higher latitudes are on average larger than their conspecifics inhabiting regions at lower latitudes (closer to the equator). This pattern has a genetic basis, is very common in many animal species and represents a long-standing puzzle in evolutionary biology.

Drosophila melanogaster populations from temperate and tropical regions were known to produce the clinal variation in body size, very likely as a result of adaptation to the different climates. Aim of this study was to understand the evolution of this genetic difference in average body size between populations adapted to low and high temperatures. Analyses of correlated life-history traits, interaction of selection pressures, biochemistry of resource allocation and global gene expression resulted in formulating the following scenario. We suggest that geographical variation of adult body size in Drosophila melanogaster is plausibly the result of thermal evolution of a genetic trade-off between adult size and larval survival. Because a cold environment seems to select for a large adult body and a warm environment seems to select for increased larval vigor to resist challenges to pre-adult survival, alternative resource allocation strategies have evolved. Cold adapted genotypes seem to invest glycogen reserves preferentially in growth while warm adapted genotypes seem to invest their glycogen reserves preferentially in larval survival. The physiological basis of these alternative strategies is plausibly variation in the utilization of glycogen induced by variation in glycogen processing enzyme activities. A large fraction of the genes found to be differentially expressed across genotypes with different body size are involved in cell growth and maintenance. This suggests that the actual molecular determinants of the divergence in cellular metabolism and body size might be effectors and regulators of cell growth and differentiation through variation in the activity of signal transduction pathways.

Thus, the real difference between individuals from different geographical populations seems to be not a quantitative but a qualitative one. Warm and cold adapted genotypes are fundamentally different in their cellular metabolism and physiology. This underlying divergence allows them to exhibit alternative resource allocation strategies that result in adaptive life-histories


We investigated the computational properties of natural object hierarchy in the context of constellation object class models, and its utility for object class recognition. We first observed an interesting computational property of the object hierarchy: comparing the recognition rate when using models of objects at different levels, the higher more inclusive levels (e.g., closed-frame vehicles or vehicles) exhibit higher recall but lower precision when compared with the class specific level (e.g., bus). These inherent differences suggest that combining object classifiers from different hierarchical levels into a single classifier may improve classification, as it appears like these models capture different aspects of the object. We describe a method to combine these classifiers, and analyze the conditions under which improvement can be guaranteed. When given a small sample of a new object class, we describe a method to transfer knowledge across the tree hierarchy, between related objects. Finally, we describe extensive experiments using object hierarchies obtained from publicly available datasets, and show that the combined classifiers significantly improve recognition results.


This study is a cultural and political analysis of the emergence and deterioration of the relationship between George Washington and Thomas Paine. It is informed by modern studies in Atlantic history and culture. It presents the falling out of the two Founding Fathers as a reflection of two competing political cultures, as well as a function of the class aspirations of Washington and Paine. It chronologically examines the two men's interaction with one another from the early days of the American Revolution to the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. Along the way this study highlights the dynamics that characterized the Washington-Paine relationship and shows how the two men worked together to further their own agendas. This study also points to Thomas Paine's involvement with a web of Democratic Societies in America and to Washington's increasing wariness and suspicion of these Societies as agents of insurrection.


This study considers the impact of federal funding on the administrative expenditures of local school districts since the passage of the No-Child-Left-Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. Under NCLB, federal education funds were made contingent upon a variety of accountability and reporting standards, creating new administrative costs and challenges for local school districts. According to the premises of resource dependence theory, these increases in administrative costs will likely be most pronounced among those local districts with the greatest reliance on federal revenue. Repeated measures models are constructed for a multi-state sample of public school districts to test the extent to which these policy changes may be influencing administrative expenditures at the local level. While effect sizes are small, the results do demonstrate a significant resource dependence effect, suggesting that districts with greater reliance on federal revenue are experiencing larger increases in administrative expenditures over time.


We present a tool for parallel enumerative LTL model-checking and reachability analysis. The tool brings model checking to high-powered multi-core systems, as well as high-performance clusters. Boasting pluggable modelling language framework, it is possible to leverage the available parallel algorithms for multiple problem domains, by using suitable input language.


The author participated in the 6 th EU Framework Project ?Q-pork Chains (FP6-036245-2)? from 2007 to 2009. With understanding of work reports from China and other countries, it is found that compared with other countries, China has great problems in pork quality and safety. By comparing the pork chain management between China and Spain, It is found that the difference in governance structure is one of the main differences in pork chain management between Spain and China. In China, spot-market relationship still dominates governance structure of pork chain, especially between the numerous house-hold pig holders and the great number of small slaughters. While in Spain, chain agents commonly apply cooperatives or integrations to cooperate. It also has been proven by recent studies, that in quality management at the chain level that supply chain integration has a direct effect on quality management practices (Han, 2010). Therefore, the author started to investigate the governance structure choices in supply chain management. And it has been set as the first research objective, which is to explain the governance structure choices process and the influencing factors in supply chain management, analyzing the pork chains cases in Spain and in China. During the further investigation, the author noticed the international trade of pork between Spain and China is not smooth since the signature of bi-lateral agreement on pork trade in 2007. Thus, another objective of the research is to find and solve the problems exist in the international pork chain between Spain and China. For the first objective, to explain the governance structure choices in supply chain management, the thesis conducts research in three main sections. 10 First of all, the thesis gives a literature overview in chapter two on Supply Chain Management (SCM), agri-food chain management and pork chain management. It concludes that SCM is a systems approach to view the supply chains as a whole, and to manage the total flow of goods inventory from the supplier to the ultimate customer. It includes the bi-directional flow of products (materials and services) and information, and the associated managerial and operational activities. And it also is a customer focus to create unique and individual source of customer value with an appropriate use of resources, leading to customer satisfaction and building competitive chain advantages. Agri-food chain management and pork chain management are applications of SCM in agri-food sector and pork sector respectively. Then, the research gives a comparative study in chapter three in the pork chain and pork chain management between Spain and China. Many differences are found, while the main difference is governance structure in pork chain management. Furthermore, the author gives an empirical study on governance structure choice in chapter five. It is concluded that governance structure of supply chain consists of a collection of rules/institutions/constraints structuring the transactions between the various stakeholders. Based on the overview on literatures closely related with governance structure, such as transaction cost economics, transaction value analysis and resource-based view theories, seven hypotheses are proposed, which are: Hypothesis 1: Transaction cost has positive relationship with governance structure choice Hypothesis 2: Uncertainty has positive relationship with transaction cost; higher uncertainty exerts high transaction cost Hypothesis 3: The relationship between asset specificity and transaction cost is positive Hypothesis 4: Collaboration advantages and governance structure choice have positive relationship11 Hypothesis 5: Willingness to collaborate has positive relationship with collaboration advantages Hypothesis 6: Capability to collaborate has positive relationship with collaboration advantages Hypothesis 7: Uncertainty has negative effect on collaboration advantages It is noted that as transaction cost value is negative, the transaction cost mentioned in the hypotheses is its absolute value. To test the seven hypotheses, Structural Equation Model (SEM) is applied and data collected from 350 pork slaughtering and processing companies in Jiangsu, Shandong and Henan Provinces in China is used. Based on the empirical SEM model and its results, the seven hypotheses are proved. The author generates several conclusions accordingly. It is found that the governance structure choice of the chain not only depends on transaction cost, it also depends on collaboration advantages. Exchange partners establish more stable and more intense relationship to reduce transaction cost and to maximize collaboration advantages. ?Collaboration advantages? in this thesis is defined as the joint value achieved through transaction (mutual activities) of agents in supply chains. This value forms as improvements, mainly in mutual logistics systems, cash response, information exchange, technological improvements and innovative improvements and quality management improvements, etc. Governance structure choice is jointly decided by transaction cost and collaboration advantages. Chain agents take different governance structures to coordinate in order to decrease their transaction cost and to increase their collaboration advantages. In China´s pork chain case, spot market relationship dominates the governance structure among the numerous backyard pig farmer and small family slaughterhouse 12 as they are connected by acquaintance relationship and the transaction cost in turn is low. Their relationship is reliable as they know each other in the neighborhood; as a result, spot market relationship is suitable for their exchange. However, the transaction between large-scale slaughtering and processing industries and small-scale pig producers is becoming difficult. The information hold back behavior and hold-up behavior of small-scale pig producers increase transaction cost between them and large-scale slaughtering and processing industries. Thus, through the more intense and stable relationship between processing industries and pig producers, processing industries reduce the transaction cost and improve the collaboration advantages with their chain partners, in which quality and safety collaboration advantages be increased, meaning that processing industries are able to provide consumers products with better quality and higher safety. It is also drawn that transaction cost is influenced mainly by uncertainty and asset specificity, which is in line with new institutional economics theories developed by Williamson O. E. In China´s pork chain case, behavioral uncertainty is created by the hold-up behaviors of great numbers of small pig producers, while big slaughtering and processing industries having strong asset specificity. On the other hand, ?collaboration advantages? is influenced by chain agents´ willingness to collaborate and chain agents´ capabilities to cooperate. With the fast growth of big scale slaughtering and processing industries, they are more willing to know and make effort to cooperate with their chain members, and they are more capable to create joint value together with other chain agents. Therefore, they are now the main chain agents who drive more intense and stable governance structure in China's pork chain. For the other objective, to find and solve the problems in the international pork chain between Spain and China, the research gives an analysis in chapter four on the 13 international pork chain. This study gives explanations why the international trade of pork between Spain and China is not sufficient from the chain perspective. It is found that the first obstacle is the high quality and safety requirement set by Chinese government. It makes the Spanish companies difficult to get authorities to export. Other aspects, such as Spanish pork is not competitive in price compared with other countries such as Denmark, United States, Canada, etc., Chinese consumers do not have sufficient information on Spanish pork products, are also important reasons that Spain does not export great quantity of pork products to China. It is concluded that China´s government has too much concern on the quality and safety requirements to Spanish pork products, which makes trade difficult to complete. The two countries need to establish a more stable and intense trade relationship. They also should make the information exchange sufficient and efficient and try to break trade barriers. Spanish companies should consider proper price strategies to win the Chinese pork market


Micro-sized carbon-coated Si-based composites have been developed by a simple mechanochemical reaction between SiO, Ni, and Al, followed by an additional milling process with graphite. The resultant carbon-coated Si-based composite exhibits a reversible capacity of over 580 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles with a considerably higher tap density of ∼1.34 g cm−3 compared to nanosized Si (∼0.16 g cm−3). The improvement in the electrochemical performance is achieved due to both highly conductive NiSi2 nanoinclusions and amorphous Al2O3 buffer matrix in the composite. Upon cycling, the multifunctional NiSi2 phase not only provides enhanced electronic conductivity but also suppresses the formation of crystalline Li15Si4 that causes an inhomogeneous volume change. Simultaneously, amorphous Al2O3 plays a crucial role in maintaining particle connectivity by impeding the agglomeration of active Si nanocrystallites. The combination of these advantages with a low-cost, scalable, and environmentally benign synthetic process make the Si-based composite a promising alternative anode for high performance Li-ion batteries.


To evaluate projects involving approximately 200-route-mile of interstate and primary pavements in Kentucky and Tennessee in relatively short time frames, it was decided to test, analyze, and design overlays using test equipment (road rater) and procedures developed by the University of Kentucky transportation research program. This paper presents the analysis methodology and the evaluation and overlay designs for selected projects, including the before and after analysis of milling on one project. The road rater applies a dynamic sinusoidal loading of known force and frequency. The velocity of the vibration waves are measured by sensors and integrated electronically to obtain surface deflections. An analysis of the shape and magnitude of the deflection bowl permits an assessment of whether the structure is performing as anticipated or whether some component is significantly weaker than designed. Analyses permit the determination of the "behavioural" or effective thickness of the asphaltic concrete layers and the in-place subgrade moduli. Strip charts of effective thickness and subgrade strength (or alternatively, overlay thicknesses) along the length of a project permit delineation of the project into relatively uniform segments. The arithmetic mean and standard error are determined for each segment to estimate design parameters. The required overlay thickness is the difference between the total thickness required for new construction to carry the anticipated traffic and the behavioural thickness of the existing pavement. For the covering abstract of the symposium see IRRD 286635. (Author/TRRL)


The construction sector value added in Mozambique grew at an average annual rate of 12.8 per cent in 1993-2015. Investment in the basic infrastructure of health, education, and housing improved families' and communities' living conditions. Investment in roads, communications, and office facilities boosted economic activities and reduced transaction costs. Construction value added grew by only 1.1 per cent in 2016. Challenges ahead include enabling a business environment conducive to expanding small and medium companies in the formal sector; reducing production costs and increasing international competitiveness; improving the prioritizing and programming of public investments; and improving training systems and basic public infrastructure quality.


The paper provides findings on the technical efficiency of the European dairy processing industry, which is one of the most important subsectors of the food processing industry in the European Union (EU). The ability to efficiently use inputs in the production of outputs is a prerequisite for the sustainability and competitiveness of the agri-food sector as well as for food security. Thus, the aim of this paper is to provide a robust estimate of technical efficiency by employing new advances in productivity and efficiency analysis, and to investigate the efficiency of input use in 10 selected European countries. The analysis is based on two-stage stochastic frontier modelling incorporating country-specific input distance function (IDF) estimates and a meta-frontier input distance function estimate, both in specification of the four-component model, which currently represents the most advanced approach to technical efficiency analysis. To provide a robust estimate of these models, the paper employs methods that control for the potential endogeneity of netputs in the multi-step estimation procedure. The results, based on the Amadeus dataset, reveal that companies manufacturing dairy products greatly exploited their production possibilities in 2006–2018. The dairy processing industry in the analysed countries cannot generally be characterized by a considerable waste of resources. The potential cost reduction is estimated at 4–8%, evaluated on the country samples mean. The overall technical inefficiency (OTE) is mainly a result of short-term shocks and unsystematic failures. However, the meta-frontier estimates also reveal a certain degree of systematic failure, e.g., permanent managerial failures and structural problems in European dairy processing industry.


BACKGROUND
Sleep electroencephalogram alterations and insomnia complaints persist after alcohol withdrawal in dependent patients and are considered strong predictors of relapse. Although disturbances of magnesium household due to alcohol consumption are well known, the relationship of magnesium metabolism and sleep disturbances has not been investigated in this patient group. We conducted an open pilot study to evaluate the effects of magnesium treatment on the sleep of primary alcohol-dependent patients during subacute withdrawal.

METHODS
Patients were treated with 30 mmol magnesium daily over 4 weeks. Eleven of the 14 included patients were evaluated. Patients were free of any kind of psychotropic medication or other substances known to influence sleep. Polysomnographic recordings with monitoring of periodic leg movements in sleep (PLMS) were performed for two consecutive nights 2 weeks after acute withdrawal (baseline) and 4 weeks later at the end of the treatment period. After the baseline polysomnography, patients were investigated by the magnesium loading test to verify magnesium depletion.

RESULTS
We found a significant decrease of sleep onset latency from 40.6 to 21.7 min (p = 0.03) and a significant improvement of subjective sleep quality, as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, from 8.1 to 5.8 (p = 0.05) during magnesium treatment. Changes in PLMS indices revealed two subgroups of patients: one with an increase of PLMS from 30.7 to 39.4 per hour of sleep (n = 4) and the other one with a decrease of PLMS from 8.9 to 2.1 per hour of sleep (p = 0.04). Patients with PLMS decreases seemed to have a more favorable prognosis: total sleep time, gamma-glutamyltransferase, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, and Beck Depression Inventory scores improved significantly during treatment in this group. The magnesium loading test revealed a magnesium deficiency in only one patient, five patients showed normal retention values, and the remaining five patients had an increased magnesium excretion, indicating a possible continued renal magnesium loss during abstinence.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study should be interpreted with caution, because no control group with placebo was investigated. Both subjective and, partly, objective parameters of sleep improved during the 4-week study period. Further research is needed to clarify the relationship of magnesium metabolism and sleep alterations.


Potato virus Y (PVY) is one of the most important viruses that infect Solanaceous crops. In the study, the antigenic epitopes were predicted using computer-assisted analysis, and many potential regions of antigenic epitopes were located. Many properties of coat protein, such as the antigenic index, α-helix, β-sheet, β-turn, coil structure, hydrophilicity, surface probability, and flexibility, were analyzed with several algorithms in some softwares. Based on the rules for location the antigenic epitopes in the regions including β-turns and coil structures with the high hydrophilicity and surface probability, the predicted epitopes were located in the region of amino acid position 8-22, 24-38, 45-55, 240-255, respectively. It is helpful to prepare the antiserum of PVY based on the prediction result of antigenic epitope.


Objective: To identify predictors of early lobar intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) recurrence, defined as a new ICH within 6 months of the index event, in patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Methods: Participants were consecutive survivors (age ≥55 years) of spontaneous symptomatic probable or possible CAA-related lobar ICH according to the Boston criteria, drawn from an ongoing single-center cohort study. Neuroimaging markers ascertained in CT or MRI included focal (≤3 sulci) or disseminated (>3 sulci) cortical superficial siderosis (cSS), acute convexity subarachnoid hemorrhage (cSAH), cerebral microbleeds, white matter hyperintensities burden and location, and baseline ICH volume. Participants were followed prospectively for recurrent symptomatic ICH. Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify predictors of early recurrent ICH adjusting for potential confounders. Results: A total of 292 patients were enrolled. Twenty-one patients (7%) had early recurrent ICH. Of these, 24% had disseminated cSS on MRI and 19% had cSAH on CT scan. In univariable analysis, the presence of disseminated cSS, cSAH, and history of previous ICH were predictors of early recurrent ICH (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). After adjusting for age and history of previous ICH, disseminated cSS on MRI and cSAH on CT were independent predictors of early recurrent ICH (hazard ratio [HR] 3.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38–11.17, p = 0.011, and HR 3.48, 95% CI 1.13–10.73, p = 0.030, respectively). Conclusions: Disseminated cSS on MRI and cSAH on CT are independent imaging markers of increased risk for early recurrent ICH. These markers may provide additional insights into the mechanisms of ICH recurrence in patients with CAA.


Objective. To determine sensitivity and specificity of the physical examination (PE) for identifying synovitis in the knee and ankle joints of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and to identify cases in which ultrasound (US) screening augments the PE. Methods. Nineteen patients with JIA were referred for US. Both knees and ankles were examined using US with and without power Doppler. Active arthritis on PE was defined as (1) non-bony swelling or (2) limitation of motion with either pain on motion or tenderness to palpation. Active arthritis on US was defined as synovial hyperplasia, effusion, or increased vascularity on power Doppler scan. Results. There was agreement between US and PE in 75% of cases. PE was 64% sensitive and 86% specific for identifying active arthritis. PE was 100% specific if (1) the patient was positive for both PE criteria or (2) if arthritis was present on PE in the knees. When the PE was negative and the US was positive, 21.4% developed active disease on PE within 6 months. In cases where the PE was positive and US was negative, the joint involved was most often the ankle and frequently the subtalar joint. Conclusion. PE is neither highly sensitive nor specific for identifying active synovitis when compared to US, and screening with US can identify subclinical disease. In joints with both non-bony swelling and limitation of motion with pain on motion or tenderness, and in the knee joint, little additional information is gained by US. This has implications for classification and treatment of JIA.


Software development methodologies (SDM) have been traditionally defined in a prescriptive manner with an underlying assumption of universal applicability. However, as industrial practice suggests, this assumption is fundamentally flawed. Software development projects very rarely adopt a methodology in such a rigid fashion. Conversely methodologies are normally adapted to meet specific contextual characteristics. This adaptation, known as Method Tailoring (MT), generally occurs implicitly. Implicit adaptation has several drawbacks. Firstly, responsibility and consequences are not attributable to the decisions made during MT. Secondly, MT experience is not captured, thus not being shared and reused within the organization. As a consequence, implicit MT leads to reactive rather than proactive adaptation with negative effects on both productivity and efficient use of resources. In order to alleviate the problems described above, this paper proposes a framework aimed at assisting software development teams and organizations in the elicitation of their Method Tailoring processes. As a result the know-how and experience accumulated during the practice of Method Tailoring is made explicit and organized for the benefit of future projects. The framework has been applied a posteriori to a project carried out by a medium-sized software development company for the Italian national public health service.


Efficient T cell activation and effector responses require an antigenic peptide presented on the MHC complex to the TCR (signal 1), costimulatory molecule interactions between T cells and APCs (signal 2), and the synthesis of innate immune-derived proinflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species (signal 3). We previously demonstrated that the third signal dissipation impairs autoreactive T cell activation. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that encapsulation of Ag with an antioxidant-containing biomaterial would induce Ag-specific hyporesponsiveness. We cocultured bone marrow–derived dendritic cells with microcapsules composed of multilayer-assembled poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVPON) and the antioxidant tannic acid (TA). LPS-activated dendritic cells cocultured with (PVPON/TA) microcapsules displayed a decrease in TNF-α, IL-12p70, and CXCL10 synthesis. To study Ag-specific T cell responses, we incorporated chicken OVA into the (PVPON/TA) multilayers and stimulated OT-II splenocytes in a primary recall assay. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated a significant inhibition of CD4 T cell activation markers, upregulation of CTLA-4 and PD-1, and blunted secretion of IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and CXCL10 by ELISA. To test microcapsule efficacy in vivo, we immunized OT-II mice with (PVPON/TA)-OVA microcapsules and performed an OVA recall assay. Immunization of OT-II mice with (PVPON/TA)-OVA microcapsules elicited a decrease in CD4 T cell differentiation and effector responses including IFN-γ, TNF-α, CCL3, and CCL5 by ELISA compared with OVA immunization alone. These data show that microcapsules composed of antioxidant and encapsulated Ags can effectively blunt innate immune-derived proinflammatory third signal synthesis necessary for Ag-specific effector T cell responses and present a prospective strategy for T cell–mediated autoimmunity.


Surface Electromyogram (SEMG) of the lumbar back muscles is being used for determining posture disorders for people suffering from low back pain. But SEMG of the back has a strong electrocardiogram (ECG) artefact. Research was conducted to determine the difference in the SEMG before and after the removal of ECG artefact from the SEMG recording using gating, subtraction and Multi-step Independent Component Analysis (MICA). The paper reports results of experiments conducted on eleven subjects over two days. The results show that removal of ECG artefact from the raw signal can substantially alter the RMS of the signal demonstrating the need for careful filtering of the signal for analysis. The paper also reports of the success of MICA for removing the ECG artefact.