Context: Many children with septic shock either present late or are recognized late due to various reasons. Shock index (SI) is a valuable screening tool in dentifying high-risk septic patients in emergency department. Whether prehospital transport factors affect SI and clinical outcomes has not been evaluated. Aim: Our aim was to evaluate if prehospital transport-related factors such as mode of transport and referral from another hospital affect the admission SI and mortality in children with septic shock. Settings and Design: Prospective observational study conducted over 1-year period in the Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Subjects and Methods: Children < 17 years of age were evaluated. Data collection included referral status, mode of transport, physiologic (SI and serum lactate), and clinical parameters. Statistical Analysis Used: Student's t-test was used for analyzing continuous variables. Chi-square/Fischer's exact test was used for analysis of categorical variables. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Of 51 children, 21 (41%) were referred from other hospitals. Of these, less than half were transported by ambulance unaccompanied by any healthcare personnel. Twenty-six children (43%) died, of which 15 (71%) were referred. The median serum lactate, SI, and mortality were significantly higher in those referred. On multivariate analysis of factors associated with mortality, elevated SI and/or lactate >4 mmol/L and the "referral" status remained significant after adjusting for baseline variables and illness severity. Conclusions: Children with septic shock referred from other hospitals had higher SI, serum lactate, and mortality rates. Our study highlights the need for improving prehospital care and transportation in children with septic shock.


Abstract : This thesis assesses the viability of applying dissuasion towards the development of offensive counter space (OCS) systems by China. As a relatively new defense policy and certainly one that has never been explicitly applied previously, this thesis delves into the characteristics prescribed by recent U.S. planning documents to develop a strategy that more appropriately addresses the current security concerns. Implicitly, dissuasion is intended to prevent future arms races with China through well-placed U.S. actions that channel adversary efforts in a direction desired by Washington. Several things become clear during this investigation. First, very little scholarly work exists discussing the concept of dissuasion and the mechanisms used to formulate, implement, and execute it as a defense policy. Second, that while an admirable attempt to lessen the need for more costly policy options such as deterrence and defeat, dissuasion will not prevent China from developing counter space weapons, especially since ground-based jammers that target satellite links have already proven effective. Third, the best chance of dissuading China's efforts to acquire space-based OCS systems is through international treaties and laws.


Mainly past studies used security prices to test the random walk theory. Not much attention is given to gold bullion coin prices. Furthermore, past literature emphasised on the developed countries' markets to test the random walk theory for gold prices. However, the evidence for developing countries' markets is lacking. In addition to this, several important events happened in the past decade seem to have affected the gold prices. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to test for the presence of a random walk in the series of Malaysian gold bullion coin (1oz) daily prices, ranging from July 18th 2001 to May 11th 2012, by incorporating the structural break in the series. Past studies on testing the random walk theory of gold prices used tradition unit root tests without incorporating structural breaks. In contrast, this study applies Zivot and Andrews (1992) one-break and Lumsdaine and Papell (1997) two-break unit root tests. Furthermore, we also provided the empirical evidences based on traditional unit root tests to compare the results with the prior studies on this topic. The main finding is that Malaysian gold bullion coin prices follow mean reversion, implying that the market is inefficient and the impact of shocks is transitory. We also capture important break dates in the series. The finding has implications for econometric modelling, in particular forecasting and structural breaks. The structural breaks captured in the series reflect that investors are responsive to market sentiment. Furthermore, as our empirical results show mean reversion, therefore, investors can exploit past price trend to get abnormal profit. This paper adds to the literature on random walk theory of gold prices, by providing the evidence on Malaysian gold bullion coin prices. In our knowledge, no previous research tested the random walk theory of gold prices on Malaysia, by using structural break unit root tests.


This study utilized 120 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows in mid-lactation in a randomized block experimental design. The aim was to evaluate milk yield and composition responses to protein supplementation and profitability over an eight-week lactation period. The cows were
blocked according to milk yield, days in milk and parity before being randomly assigned to three treatment groups: Control, 15% and 30% protein supplementation. Weekly average daily milk yield (WMY), total milk yield (TMY), income from milk sales, profitability, fat and protein
percentages were subjected to statistical analyses to test the effects of treatment, block, parity, week and their second order interactions fitting days in milk as a random effect in mixed model procedures. Multiple regressions with quadratic contrasts were fitted to predict income and
profitability from total ration fed and days in milk. The 30% protein supplemented cows gave the highest milk responses (WMY, 27.1 ± 0.80; TMY, 1479.9 ± 38.01litres), fat percentage (2.6 ± 0.3%), total income ($597.4 ± 40.23) and profitability ($54.4 ± 5.04 per cow), while the
control group gave the least responses and incurred a loss of -$24.30 ± 4.95. Third parity cows also gave the highest milk yield responses (WMY, 28.1 ± 0.51; TMY 1562.1 ± 28.24 litres) and profitability ($65.7 ± 15.37). Residual phenotypic correlations (r) between milk yield, composition
and profitability were almost all highly significant (P<001) with the highest positive r=0.96 between WMY and TMY. Total ration and days in milk within treatment group alone were very poor predictors of profitability (r2=0.02-0.12) compared to within parity groups (r2=0.14-0.90) for income, WMY and TMY. It was concluded that even though
a positive profit margin was evident, long-term feeding of mid-lactation cows with 30% protein supplement is unrealistic because of the prohibitive cost of protein. Furthermore, protein requirements for milk synthesis
at this stage of lactation can be adequately met by a 16-17% protein diet since energy would be the most limiting nutrient.


The higher management of Pine Gap is and has always been an entirely American affair. To understand Pine Gap today, it is necessary to understand the organisations of the US intelligence community and military concerned with the acquisition of technical intelligence, and their politics over the past five decades. For the first two decades, responsibility for operation of the ground control station at Pine Gap resided with the Ground Systems Division of the Office of ELINT within the CIA's Directorate for Science and Technology. However, by the early 1990s control passed to the Systems Acquisition and Operations Directorate of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). In the mid-2000s the NRO itself underwent a profound change towards new organisational structures for integrating the imagery and SIGINT operations and making the whole system more responsive to users. The latest phase of these changes in the NRO stresses the role of ground systems, including Pine Gap, in creating 'a single networked information collection and distribution system' worldwide. The fundamental transformation of the higher management structure is more than an organisational matter. Along with the militarisation of the facility, it has important implications for Australia's involvement in the project. It warrants serious public discussion, which requires, in turn, greater transparency by the Australian authorities. As a 'joint' facility, its management structures are just as much of interest to Australians as to the US contractors to whom the NRO largely speaks.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Live imaging methods have become extremely important for the exploration of biological processes. In particular, non-invasive measurement techniques are key to unravelling organism-environment interactions in close-to-natural set-ups, e.g. in the highly heterogeneous and difficult-to-probe environment of plant roots: the rhizosphere. pH and CO2 concentration are the main drivers of rhizosphere processes. Being able to monitor these parameters at high spatio-temporal resolution is of utmost importance for relevant interpretation of the underlying processes, especially in the complex environment of non-sterile plant-soil systems. This study introduces the application of easy-to-use planar optode systems in different set-ups to quantify plant root-soil interactions.

METHODS
pH- and recently developed CO2-sensors were applied to rhizobox systems to investigate roots with different functional traits, highlighting the potential of these tools. Continuous and highly resolved real-time measurements were made of the pH dynamics around Triticum turgidum durum (durum wheat) roots, Cicer arietinum (chickpea) roots and nodules, and CO2 dynamics in the rhizosphere of Viminaria juncea.

KEY RESULTS
Wheat root tips acidified slightly, while their root hair zone alkalized their rhizosphere by more than 1 pH unit and the effect of irrigation on soil pH could be visualized as well. Chickpea roots and nodules acidified the surrounding soil during N2 fixation and showed diurnal changes in acidification activity. A growing root of V. juncea exhibited a large zone of influence (mm) on soil CO2 content and therefore on its biogeochemical surrounding, all contributing to the extreme complexity of the root-soil interactions.

CONCLUSIONS
This technique provides a unique tool for future root research applications and overcomes limitations of previous systems by creating quantitative maps without, for example, interpolation and time delays between single data points.


An investigation was conducted into the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) behaviour of the TRI transient measurement truck during shunt capacitor bank field tests at the Impala Substation. The measurement configuration during the measurements, the various measurement transducers and measurement cables used are analysed for their possible influence on the measurement results. Interference coupling mechanisms are discussed and different measurement methods, reducing or eliminating interference in the measurement results, are discussed. The measurement results of the shunt capacitor bank close, trip, and disconnector switching operations are examined for signs of electromagnetic interference (EMI). Specific measurements to investigate the influence of common mode currents, flowing on coaxial cable shields, on the measurement results were carried out and analysed. Several effects were observed which result from interference with the measurements and recommendations are made to prevent this occurring in future measurements. Suggestions are made for future measurements which would answer questions raised about the EMC behaviour of the measurement truck.


Introduction: The MEK/ERK pathway is mutated in approximately 7% of human cancers. Extracellular ligands signal via RAS to recruit RAF kinase and activate MEK and its downstream effectors. This pathway is involved in a range of biological pathways including cell proliferation, differentiation and senescence. The BRAF isoform is the most potent activator of MEK and is frequently mutated in cancer. A single thymine to adenine base pair change at position 1799 accounts for greater than 95% of somatic mutation in BRAF. BRAFV600E can gain 500-fold increased activation, stimulating the constitutive activation of the MEK/ERK pathway in the absence of extracellular signalling. The strategic position of MEK within the pathway makes it a promising target for drug development. Although MEK is downstream of both RAF and RAS, RAF but not RAS mutation has been demonstrated to predict sensitivity to MEK inhibition. Materials and Methods: Human thyroid cell lines were SNP typed for the T1799A mutation using a custom TaqMan® SNP genotyping assay. The optimal IC50 and length of treatment for the MEK inhibitor PD0325901 for each cell line were determined via a series of MTT assays. Each cell line was subjected to PD0325901 treatment and surviving cells were harvested for mRNA and protein extraction. A comparative study for relative expression of MAP2K1 (MEK1), MAP2K2 (MEK2), MAPK3 (ERK1), MAPK1 (ERK2) and the downstream target ELK1 was performed using TaqMan assays with GAPDH as the endogenous control. Results: Human thyroid cell line 8505c carries the T1799A mutation and N-Thy-Ori cell lines carry wild type BRAF. BRAFV600E cells had visually evident patches of inhibition following PD0325901 treatment which were not evident in media-only treated controls or in the BRAFWT cell line. In BRAFV600E, all 5 genes were down-regulated in PD0325901 treated cells compared to their media-only treated counterparts. This pattern was not seen with the BRAFWT cells. BRAFV600E cells exhibited this pattern following both a single treatment and two successive treatments with PD0325901. Discussion: This pattern of gene expression is consistent with the hypothesis that resistance to small molecule MEK inhibition occurs via upregulation of an alternative pathway or activation of a redundant signalling pathway rather than through reactivation off the BRAF/MEK/ERK pathway. It also reinforces the theory that MEK inhibition induces differential effects in target cells dependent upon BRAF status. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B135.


We present the theoretical investigation of a novel architecture of a LiNbO 3 guided-wave optical processor suitable for real-time microwave imaging in on-board synthetic aperture radar (SAR) applications, using a moving platform on either an aircraft or a spacecraft. The new configuration, which is basically interferometnic, includes four Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulators, each characterized by an additional aperiodic phase-reversal traveling wave modulator. The electrode configuration is appropriately designed to reproduce the product of the base-band SAR received echoes and two reference signals and, then, to perform both the range and azimuth compression. The two product signals are separately time integrated by two fast photodetectors. The sampled signals coming out of the detectors include both the required product signals and intermodulation products and are electronically filtered for reproducing the correct product with no amplitude distortion. At this stage, the signals are multiplexed and registered on a two-dimensional buffer to reproduce the final correlation functions for the range and azimuth directions. Because of the serial multiplication between the received echoes and reference signals, the circuit can operate with very long data streams. Our proposed processor can reproduce the images coming from ground features using a conventional chirp pulse SAR system with the antenna beam looking at 90 deg from the direction of platform motion. The circuit can operate at a free-space wavelength of 1.3 μm with a radiofrequency (rf) of 410 MHz, a response time/bandwidth ratio of ≈ 10 -5 μs/MHz, a linear dynamic range of ≈50 dB, and an SNR ≈8 dB, assuming chirp pulses as reference signals. The circuit performance is evaluated by considering lithium niobate as the substrate material and two different waveguide fabrication techniques: titanium indiffusion (Ti:L1NbO 3 ) and proton exchange with annealing (APE:LiNbO 3 ). The best results in terms of linear dynamic range and optical losses are obtained by the titanium indiffused channel waveguides. We calculated in any fabrication condition a swath range resolution of d σ ≈ 10 m in airborne simulation and about 60 m in the satellite simulation, whereas the azimuth resolution is about d ρ = 1.5 and 6 m, respectively. Significant improvements in terms of SNR (90%) and SAR resolution (50%) are obtained by using binary pseudorandom sequences as reference signals, i.e., ≈15 dB, Δσ = 2 and < 58 m, Δρ ≈ 1.5 and 6 m, respectively.


Business Process Management (BPM) is a management approach to identify, document, manage and finally to optimize business processes continuously. Today, Information Technology is an enabler to improve such processes. Learning objectives in a university course on BPM should be rather practice oriented in the area of business management, information systems development and team-working, because in enterprises typically people from different departments with different competences have to work together in BPM-projects. We have developed a new master study course that itself follows the paradigm of continuous process improvement and apply case-based reasoning as a mean for improving the projects of participating students. In the course, students develop in teams of five a business process application. Four major steps are problem formation, design and modelling of a process, deployment of the process in a workflow management system and monitoring of the deployed business process. Each team can freely choose an application domain with a business process and key performance indicators, a modelling tool and a workflow engine. Competences of students, decisions during the project and issues occurring in the different phases are documented in a content management system with sophisticated rights management enabling students to learn also from experiences from other teams. Case-based reasoning is applied to share experience between different projects, by indicating similar projects, teams and issues. This approach is now taken in the third year and first experience with knowledge sharing are reported. Such an approach could be also taken by an enterprise planning several business process management projects.


Informal Observations have Often been Made That a country9s language is reflected in its instrumental music. Limited research exists studying similarities between the rhythmic characteristics of French music and language on the one hand and British music and language on the other. Our research compares the rhythmic characteristics of the music and English dialects of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, County Donegal in Ireland, and the state of Kentucky, examining spontaneous speech and unscored musical recordings from the same people. We found that rhythmic characteristics are correlated in the speech and music in each dialect area.


Abstract Predictions of species richness by island area are a classical cornerstone in ecology, while the specific features of barrier islands have been little appreciated. Many shorelines are occupied by barrier islands, which are shaped by offshore sedimentation processes and annual storm tide events. Hence, the appearance of these islands may vary between years if they are not protected by dykes. Here, we analyzed more than 2,990 species across 36 taxonomic groups (including vertebrates, invertebrates, and land plants) on German barrier islands, the East Frisian Islands. We tested for relationships between species richness or species incidence and island area (SAR), island habitat diversity and further island parameters using a range of generalized linear and mixed‐effects models. Overall species richness was explained best by habitat diversity (Shannon index of habitat types). Analyses on the occurrence probability of individual species showed that changes of barrier island area by sedimentation and erosion, that is, barrier island‐specific dynamics, explained the occurrence of 17 of 34 taxa, including most beetles, plants, and birds. Only six taxa such as spiders (249 species) and mammals (27 species) were primarily related to area. The diversity of habitat types was a key predictor for the incidence of twenty‐five taxa, including ground beetles, true bugs and grasshoppers, amphibians, and reptiles. Overall, richness and incidence of taxa differed greatly in their responses, with area (although varying from 0.1 to 38.9 km2) playing a minor and island heterogeneity a major role, while barrier island‐specific sedimentation and erosion turned out to additionally explain species richness and occurrence.


The microstructural changes in a 3%Co modified P911 heat resistant steel were examined under static annealing and creep at elevated temperatures. The quenched steel was tempered at temperatures ranging from 673 to 1073 K for 3 hours. The temperature dependence of hardness for the tempered samples exhibits the maximum at 723 – 823 K which is associated with the precipitations of fine carbides with an average size of about 20 nm. The transverse lath size of martensitic structure is  200 nm after air quenching and remains unchanged under tempering at temperatures below 800 K. An increase in tempering temperature to 1073 K resulted in hardness drop. Coagulation of carbides and growth of martensitic laths takes place at these temperatures. The creep tests were carried out at 873 and 923 K up to rupture, which occurred after about 4.5 × 103 hours. The structural changes in crept specimens were characterized by the development of coarse laths/subgrains. The mean transverse size of which was  0.67 and  1.3 m after the creep tests at 873 and 923 K, respectively. On the other hand, an average size of second phase particles of  165 nm was observed in the samples tested at both temperatures.


Color.- Spectro-Spatial Gradients for Color-Based Object Recognition and Indexing.- MCEBC - A Blob Coloring Algorithm for Content-Based Image Retrieval System.- EigenHistograms: Using Low Dimensional Models of Color Distribution for Real Time Object Recognition.- Image Processing.- A Novel Approach to the 2D Analytic Signal.- Shift Detection by Restoration.- Edge Preserving Probabilistic Smoothing Algorithm.- Image Databases.- Evaluating the Complexity of Databases for Person Identification and Verification.- Effcient Shape Retrieval by Parts.- Curvature Scale Space for Shape Similarity Retrieval under Affine Transforms.- Image Compression and Watermarking.- FORI-CSDR - A New Approach for Context Sensitive Image Data Reduction.- Image Compression by Approximated 2D Karhunen Loeve Transform.- A New Watermarking Method Using High Frequency Components to Guide the Insertion Process in the Spatial Domain.- Invited Lecture.- Adventurous Tourism for Couch Potatoes.- Poster Session I.- Linear vs. Quadratic Optimization Algorithms for Bias Correction of Left Ventricle Chamber Boundaries in Low Contrast Projection Ventriculograms Produced from Xray Cardiac Catheterization Procedure.- Registration and Composition of Stacks of Serial Optical Slices Captured by a Confocal Microscope.- Tracking Articulators in X-ray Movies of the Vocal Tract.- Modeling Morphological Changes During Contraction of Muscle Fibres by Active Contours.- Fuzzy Similarity Relations for Chromosome Classification and Identification.- Enhanced Neural Networks and Medical Imaging.- Learning Behavior Using Mult iresolution Recurrent Neural Network.- Automatic Classification System of Marble Slabs in Production Line According to Texture and Color Using Artificial Neural Networks.- Polygonal Approximation Using Genetic Algorithms.- Computation of Symmetry Measures for Polygonal Shapes.- An Interpolative Scheme for Fractal Image Compression in the Wavelet Domain.- On Convergence of Discrete and Selective Fractal Operators.- Optimized Fast Algorithms for the Quaternionic Fourier Transform.- Image Block Coding Based on New Algorithms of Short-Length DCT with Minimal Multiplicative Complexity.- Object Recognition with Representations Based on Sparsified Gabor Wavelets Used as Local Line Detectors.- Effective Implementation of Linear Discriminant Analysis for Face Recognition and Verification.- A Scale-Space Approach to Face Recognition from Profiles.- Pattern Recognition Combining De-noising and Linear Discriminant Analysis within a Real World Application.- Invariant Reference Points Methodology and Applications.- A New Framework of Invariant Fitting.- 3D Reconstruction of Volume Defects from Few X-Ray Images.- Geodesic Path Based Interpolation Using Level Sets Propagation.- Free-Form Surface Description in Multiple Scales: Extension to Incomplete Surfaces.- Complex Analysis for Reconstruction from Controlled Motion.- Estimating Consistent Motion from Three Views: An Alternative to Trifocal Analysis.- Using Rigid Constraints to Analyse Motion Parameters from Two Sets of 3D Corresponding Point Pattern.- An Automatic Registration Algorithm for Two Overlapping Range Images.- On Registering Front- and Backviews of Rotationally Symmetric Objects.- Registration of Range Images Based on Segmented Data.- Automatic Grid Fitting for Genetic Spot Array Images Containing Guide Spots.- Matching for Shape Defect Detection.- A Vision Driven Automatic Assembly Unit.- Scene Reconstruction from Images.- NIIRS and Objective Image Quality Measures.- Pyramidal Seeded Region Growing Algorithm and Its Use in Image Segmentation.- Multi-image Region Growing for Integrating Disparity Maps.- Contrast Enhancement of Gray Scale Images Based on the Random Walk Model.- Skeletonization on Projection Pictures.- Computing the Intrinsic Camera Parameters Using Pascal's Theorem.- Calibration Update Technique for a Zoom Lens.- Which Slightly Different View Is the Right One?.- Convex Layers: A New Tool for Recognition of Projectively Deformed Point Sets.- Measurement of Ski-Jump Distances by the Use of Fuzzy Pattern Comparator.- 2D Motion Analysis by Fuzzy Pattern Comparator.- Image Retrieval System Based on Machine Learning and Using Color Features.- Face Parts Extraction Windows Based on Bilateral Symmetry of Gradient Direction.- Modelling Needle-Map Consistency with Novel Constraints.- Improved Orientation Estimation for Texture Planes Using Multiple Vanishing Points.- Relating Scene Depth to Image Ratios.- A Modular Vision Guided System for Tracking 3D Objects in Real-Time.- Real-Time Optical Edge and Corner Tracking at Subpixel Accuracy.- Panoramic Images.- Three-Dimensional Scene Navigation through Anaglyphic Panorama Visualization.- Zero Phase Representation of Panoramic Images for Image Based Localization.- Panoramic Eigenimages for Spatial Localisation.- Grouping.- Feature Grouping Based on Graphs and Neural Networks.- Frame-Relative Critical Point Sets in Image Analysis.- A Fast Raffic Sign Recognition Algorithm for Gray Value Images.- Image Rendering.- A Geometric Approach to Light field Calibration.- Coding of Dynamic Texture on 3D Scenes.- Image Stitching - Comparisons and New Techniques.- Procrustes Alignment with the EM Algorithm.- Structural Constraints for Pose Clustering.- Subpixel Stereo Matching by Robust Estimation of Local Distortion Using Gabor Filters.


Dear Sir: As an occasional practitioner of adolescent psychiatry at a hospital with a flourishing pediatric department, I was intrigued by the article by Drs. Cole, Turgay and Mouldey (I). After careful consideration of their concems, I realize that I find myself confronted by the same troubled teenagers as they report, but that I reach a different conclusion. The DSM-III-R places the developmental disorders central to the childhood and adolescent psychiatric illnesses. Definitive pathology is thought to mature in adulthood. Troubled adolescents who are out of control and who may be exposed to external forces such as intoxicants and various forms of social upheaval can become too much for their exhausted caregivers. Drs. Cole, Turgay and Mouldey mention that a large number of their patients are in the care of the Children's Aid Society. They appear to conclude that a number of the visits to emergency departments are unproductive. I perceive the visits of similar adolescents differently. To me, the parents or guardians are searching for a definition of the pathology by obtaining a second opinion. In an attempt to improve communication with affiliated services in geriatric psychiatry, we were told that our expert opinion is necessary at times. I have been told that the same holds true in the request for adolescent psychiatric services. In these times of cutbacks and limitations, many group homes and half way houses are understaffed, especially during evenings and weekends. Staff members who are adequately trained in all parameters are not always available. Moreover, when an impasse is reached in a crisis situation, both the patient and staff require an unbiased professional setting to deal with the situation. The suggestion that affiliated systems be made more aware of the appropriate use of emergency services appears simplistic. The responsible care plans developed by the allied professions include the use of secondary systems for support (for example, police and fire departments, repair and maintenance services). In my opinion, the emergency department can expect its share of troublesome children and adolescent psychiatry cases for various but legitimate reasons reasons as legitimate as requests for a differential diagnosis in cases of abdominal pain or unexplained high fever.


The combination of pervasive and complex technology and an increasingly challenging healthcare environment is the setting for this research study. As a longitudinal case study, the research tracked the development and implementation of a large private information systems network in the U.K. National Health Service (NHS). Using stakeholder theory, we unpacked the story of a complex network of stakeholder roles and perceptions and how they changed over time. Our findings suggest that favorable and unfavorable positions held by multiple stakeholder groups become entangled and that even the same focal group may adopt competing positions that undermine the adoption of the health network. As this situation develops, the policy and implementation of the broader health IT program becomes confused and destabilized. This study makes three contributions. First, it expands the literature on stakeholder theory in the IS domain. Second, it extends the managerial focus of stakeholder approaches to include policymaking in the diverse multi-stakeholder setting of healthcare. Third, it demonstrates how IS research can employ stakeholder analysis by adopting a broader, dynamic approach to identify different stakeholder groups and by focusing on their varied roles and views during the course of a large-scale health IT program.


When purchasing tickets in advance, sports consumers are often faced with uncertainty. Most notably, in today's real-time environment, it can be challenging for consumers to determine how ticket prices and seat availability will change over time. Guided by the generic advanced-booking decision model, the current study investigated the role of time, ticket source (primary or secondary market), and team identification in advanced ticket purchasing by exploring a consumer's perceptions of ticket availability and finding a lower price. The results suggest the perceived likelihood of ticket availability and finding a lower priced ticket increased as the date of the game drew closer. Ticket source and team identification were also found to be statistically significant main eftects factors, while ticket source significantly moderated consumer perceptions of finding a lower price over time. These outcomes both confirm and contradict various findings in the leisure literature and provide a strong foundation for future sport-related examinations.


In this paper, a preliminary numerical study is conducted to investigate the use of microwave tomography in monitoring bone density in human lower limbs. By monitoring bone density, the effectiveness of Vitamin D treatment can be evaluated for Osteoporosis patients. In microwave tomography, the leg is radiated with non-ionizing low-power electromagnetic signals with scattered electric fields measured at several locations surrounding the leg. Within the framework of inverse scattering problems, the measured fields are used as inputs for an optimization algorithm to estimate the location and electrical properties inside the human leg. In this work, a two-dimensional cross-sectional model of a human leg is created and simulated using a finite-element method where the transverse magnetic approximation is applied. The synthetic results are then inverted using a finite-element contrast source inversion method. The results show that variations in bone density effect the results of the inversion algorithm.


Systems engineering is, for a large part, a process description of how to bring new systems to existence. It is valuable as it directs the development effort. Tools exist that can be used in this process. System analysis investigates existing and/or desired situations. However, how to create a system that instantiates the desired situation depends significantly on human creativity and insight; the required human trait here is commonly called systems thinking. In literature, this trait is regularly used, but information on how to do systems thinking is scarce. Therefore, we have introduced earlier twelve thinking tracks that are concrete and help system designers to make an optimal fit between the system under design, the identified issue, the user, the environment and the rest of the world. The paper provides the scientific rationale for the thinking tracks based on literature. Secondly, the paper presents three cases of application, leading to the conclusion that the tracks are usable and effective


Remobilization and transfer of stored food in vegetative tissues to the grains in monocarpic plants require the initiation of whole plant senescence. However, mechanism by which plant senescence promotes remobilization of assimilates that are rather obscure. This study examined the relationship between the senescence induced by water deficits and C remobilization during grain filling. Two wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.), Marvdasht and Zagros (sensitive and tolerant to terminal season drought, respectively) grown at a day: night temperature of 22:15°C from anthesis were held as well watered controls (field capacity) or subject to water deficit (50% FC) imposed either from anthesis to 14 days later (WS1) or from 14 days after anthesis to maturity (WS2). Relative water content, photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll content, soluble proteins of flag leaves, level of soluble sugars, in the peduncle (enclosed by the flag leaf sheath) and the penultimate internode and grain yield were assessed. Results showed that, water deficits enhanced the senescence by accelerating loss of leaf chlorophyll and soluble proteins and the loss was more under WS2 than WS1. The net CO2 assimilation rate (PN) in flag leaves during water deficit display a strict correlation with the drought sensitivity of the genotypes and showed an early reduction in Marvdasht. Water stress, both at WS1 and WS2, facilitated the reduction in concentration of total soluble sugars in the internodes, promoted the re-allocation of pre-stored C from the peduncle and penultimate to grains. WS2 resulted in more deleterious effect on grain yield than WS1 in both cultivars and led to a smaller kernels and lesser aerial biomass at maturity. The loss was more in Marvdasht than Zagros. The study results suggest that, the senescence and remobilization promoted by water deficits during grain filling are coupled processes in wheat and the mass of soluble sugars in the stems is premier than sugar remobilization efficiency. Varietal differences in the extent of such trait existed. It would be advantageous to select genotypes with greater capacity to do this under water deficit conditions.


Plate motion, crustal deformation, and earthquake occurrence processes in the northwest Sunda Arc, which includes the Indo-Burmese wedge (IBW) in the forearc and the Sagaing fault in the backarc, are very poorly constrained. Plate reconstruction models and geological structures in the region suggest that subduction in the IBW occurred in the geological past, but whether it is still active and how the plate motion between the India and Sunda plates is partitioned between motion in the IBW and Sagaing fault is largely unknown. Recent GPS measurements of crustal deformation and available long-term rates of motion across the Sagaing fault suggest that ∼20 ± 3 mm/yr of the relative plate motion of ∼36 mm/yr between the India and Sunda plates is accommodated at the Sagaing fault through dextral strike-slip motion. We report results from a dense GPS network in the IBW that has operated since 2004. Our analysis of these measurements and the seismicity of the IBW suggest that the steeply dipping Churachandpur-Mao fault in the IBW accommodates the remaining motion of ∼18 ± 2 mm/yr between the India and Sunda plates through dextral strike-slip motion, and this motion occurs predominantly through velocity strengthening frictional behavior, i.e., aseismic slip. The aseismic motion on this plate boundary fault significantly lowers the seismic hazard due to major and great interplate earthquakes along this plate boundary.


This article proposes a simplification of the model for dependent binary variables presented in Cox and Snell (1989). The new model referred to as the simplified Cox model is developed for identically distributed and dependent binary variables. Properties of the model are presented, including expressions for the log-likelihood function and the Fisher information. Under mutual independence, a general expression for the restrictions of the parameters are derived. The simplified Cox model is illustrated using a data set from a clinical trial.


Identifying predictors of computer use such as attitude, anxiety, and receptivity to change have been the primary area of interest in instructional technology. Research relating to the diffusion of innovations in education has been based primarily on looking at these individual characteristics as predictors of use.
This dissertation proposes to use social network analysis to study the diffusion of two computer-based administrative innovations within a university faculty network. Methodology issues concerning time of adoption and network nominations were examined as well as the relationship of time of adoption and the number of network nominations received, spatial proximity, and organizational unit proximity. Finally, the diffusion of the innovations was to be analyzed using the dual-classification and T/CM models.
Subjects were 66 faculty members in a College in Education from a southwestern university during the 1996-1997 academic year. At the beginning of the study subjects were introduced to the innovations and asked to provide demographic information and to identify communication partners in the areas of advice, friendship, and discussion. At the conclusion of the study subjects were asked to provide feed back related to the innovations and to once again identify their communication partners in the areas of advice, friendship, and discussion.
Results indicated that there was no significant difference between adopters recall time of adoption and actual time of adoption. In addition, there was no significant difference between network nominations for advice, friendship, and discussion identified at the beginning and at the end of the study. The number of network nominations received was found to be negatively correlated with the time of adoption. No correlation was found between time of adoption and spatial and organizational unit proximity.
The diffusion process could not be studied, because the necessary threshold and critical mass levels were not reached. The innovations did not diffuse through the network. The lack of diffusion could be explained by the negative correlation between the number of network nominations received and the time of adoption as well as by comments faculty submitted related to the innovations and a graphical representation of the social network with the nodes of adopters shaded.


Aim: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), which are components of total cholesterol, have each been suggested to be linked to the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). However, the relationship between LDL-c/HDL-c ratio and the risk of SCD has not been previously investigated. We aimed to assess the associations of LDL-c, HDL-c, and the ratio of LDL-c/HDL-c with the risk of SCD. Methods: Serum lipoprotein concentrations were assessed at baseline in the Finnish Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease prospective cohort study of 2,616 men aged 42–61 years at recruitment. Hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence intervals [CI]) were assessed. Results: During a median follow-up of 23.0 years, a total of 228 SCDs occurred. There was no significant evidence of an association of LDL-c or HDL-c with the risk of SCD. In analyses adjusted for age, examination year, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, years of education, diabetes, previous myocardial infarction, family history of coronary heart disease, and serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein, there was approximately a two-fold increase in the risk of SCD (HR 1.94, 95% CI 1.21–3.11; p = 0.006), comparing the top (> 4.22) versus bottom (≤ 2.30) quintile of serum LDL-c/HDL-c ratio. Conclusion: In this middle-aged male population, LDL-c or HDL-c was not associated with the risk of SCD. However, a high serum LDL-c/HDL-c ratio was found to be independently associated with an increased risk of SCD. Further research is warranted to understand the mechanistic pathways underlying this association.


Exposed to 650°C air, TP304H stainless steel with two different grain size was oxidized at this temperature. At the meantime, comparison of their oxidation was through the oxidation kinetics curves and analysis of the morphology and composition of oxide scale which conducted by SEM and X-ray. The results showed that the oxidation rate of TP304H stainless steel was slowed down by grain refinement and oxide scale of fine-grained TP304H steel was thinner than that of coarse-grained steel. The nucleation and the growth of nuclei of coarse-grained oxide scale were more rapid. In addition, the grain refinement of austenitic stainless steel accelerated the diffusivity of Cr and made for the formation of dense and continuous oxide scale, so that the oxidation of stainless steel can be effectively inhabited.


The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of prohexadione calcium (P-Ca) and root pruning (RP) on the control of the vegetative growth and on fruit production and quality of 'Shinseiki' pear trees, under the climatic conditions of Southern Brazil. The experiment was conducted during the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 crop seasons, in a 15-year-old orchard of 'Shinseiki' pear trees, trained to a central-leader system, with a 2x5 m spacing between plants, grafted onto Pyrus calleryana rootstock. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design, with six treatments and four replicate. The treatments consisted of the control (without P-Ca application or RP), two P-Ca rates (300 and 600 mg L-1), two root pruning intensities (performed on one or on both sides of the tree), and root pruning on one side + 300 mg L-1 P-Ca. P-Ca reduced vegetative growth more effectively than RP, in both crop seasons, and the combination of both techniques did not result in additional control of the vegetative growth, compared with P-Ca alone. Vegetative growth was not affected by increasing the rates of P-Ca. The highest P-Ca dose negativelly affected fruit yield. Regarding fruit quality, RP increases the total soluble solids content at harvest.


Diffuse share ownership is not as pronounced in the U.S. as many would assume. This has led to a body of research examining large shareholders, or blockholders. Issues addressed include whether firms with a blockholder perform better or worse than widely-held firms; whether firms with a blockholder pay their executives differently to widely-held firms; and whether the presence of a blockholder increases or decreases the incidence takeovers. Another issue, which this paper explores, is what motivates block share ownership. Bebchuk (1999a, 1999b) develops a model which predicts that a firm is more likely to have a controlling blockholder if the anticipated private benefits of control at that firm are comparatively large. This paper examines the factors associated with ownership structure among publicly traded Australian firms. Our results indicate that private benefits of control are a significant factor in explaining the differences in ownership structure among Australian firms. As importantly, we also find that the relationship between the existence of a blockholder and private benefits of control is endogenous. That is, the presence of a controlling blockholder strongly influences the prevalence of these private benefits of control.


Author(s): Young, Amy | Advisor(s): McCormick, Frank | Abstract: Ras is a small GTPase that functions as a binary molecular switch, cycling between an inactive guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-bound state and an active guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound state. It is estimated that 30% of human tumors carry an oncogenic somatic mutation in one of three Ras isoforms. Oncogenic RAS alleles differ from their wild-type counterpart by a single missense point mutation that results in an amino acid substitution at position 12, 13, or 61. These amino acid substitutions impair the ability of GTPase activating proteins (GAPs) to facilitate GTP hydrolysis and consequently result in deregulated Ras signaling. Oncogenic Ras constitutively activates downstream effector pathways, including the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathways, and promotes the uncontrolled growth, proliferation, and survival of cancer cells. In cancers for which there is no RAS mutation, increased signaling through the pathway is achieved by amplification or activation of upstream receptor tyrosine kinases, loss-of-function mutation in negative regulators, or activating mutation of downstream effectors, illustrating the importance of high pathway activity in the pathogenesis of cancer. The oncogenic Ras isoform is thought to be primarily responsible for mediating the activation of downstream signaling pathways, although the two wild-type Ras isoforms remain functional. In fact, the signaling contribution of wild-type Ras in this context has largely been discounted and unexamined. The work presented here uncovers a novel role for wild-type Ras signaling in cancer cells with oncogenic RAS mutations. Wild-type Ras can be activated by external growth cues and inactivated by intrinsic regulatory proteins, and the modulation of wild-type Ras activity results in fluctuations in downstream signaling, despite the presence of oncogenic Ras. Additionally, this work demonstrates a critical role for wild-type Ras signaling in the proliferation of cancer cells expressing oncogenic RAS. These studies expand our understanding of the intricacies of Ras signaling and may uncover less obvious modes of targeting the pathway that have yet to be exploited.


Skills, and particularly manual skills, are often seen as acquired through unquestioning practice and drill. This is an ethnographic account of a group of railway workers, called shunters, who are occupied with the manual task of assembling carriages into trains. It is here claimed that the acquisition of shunting skills is conditioned by the apprentices' preconceived ideas of 'male', manual, outdoor work and by the dynamics of master-apprentice relations. Two different types of learning strategies, adopted by female and male apprentices respectively, are identified. It is claimed that these strategies lead to differential success in advancement at work. In contrast to approaches which see skill as individual mastery of given tasks it is argued that conceptions of skilful work are subject to social construction.Since cooperation calls for communication, the communicative aspects of skill come into the fore in this type of high-risk work. Card-playing is studied as an arena for expression of skills related to handling risks at work.Team-work, marked by cooperation and uninterrupted fluency, here called 'flow', is ideally based on informal relations and an egalitarian ethos. It is simultaneously thought to presuppose a structured hierarchy of well defined work roles. Team-work is also seen to demand a collective spirit, although idiosyncratic work styles and individualistic behaviour are encouraged. The treatise demonstrates how such contradictory understandings are expressed and mediated in practice, and how they are reconceptualized during a period of uncertainty caused by reorganization and change.The work is based on participation as well as participant observation in one of the largest railway yards for passenger trains in Sweden.


Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of Brucella bacteria. It is still a frequently recorded disease in developing countries. Each year, 500,000 new cases of brucellosis develop globally and its incidence in our country, though varied with regard to geographical regions, was found between 1 to 26.7% in the studies conducted. Onset of the Brucella infections is insidious in almost half of the cases and takes time. Indications are not specific. Different symptoms and clinical findings which may be observed during the course of the disease could cause this disease to be sometimes taken for dermatological, hematological, cardiac, neurological, and rheumatologic diseases and that the case becomes difficult to diagnose. Skin involvement is also not widespread in brucellosis. This case is presented to highlight the fact that brucellosis should also be considered in the etiology, in the countries where brucellosis is endemic like in our country, for the patients applied to the hospital due to fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, abdominal pain and maculopapular rash. It was interesting that two brothers applied with the complaint of atypical rash and were diagnosed with Brucellosis.

 Key words: Brucellosis, makulopapular rash, zoonosis.


CHEMISTRY
When a nematic liquid crystal is made up of chiral (or handed) molecules, the molecules themselves not only orient with respect to each other but can also adopt a helical pitch. Adding achiral molecules would be expected to decrease (or dilute) the twisting power of the chiral nematic and to increase the helical pitch. Thisayukta et al . examined what happened when banana-shaped molecules, with similar side arms but different central linkers, were added to a linear chiral nematic. Surprisingly, they observed an increase in the twisting power of the chiral nematic and a decrease in the optical pitch. Liquid crystals made of banana-shaped molecules (which lack an asymmetic carbon atom) have been known to form chiral smectic phases. These phases are believed to form as a result of a layering of the molecules, an inherent twisting of the side arms, or a helical twisting of the molecules about the director. In this case, the authors conclude that the chirality does not arise from how the molecules pack but instead is caused by twisting of the side arms. — MSL

J. Am. Chem. Soc ., 10.1021/ja0123249.


Visual Climate Change Communication: The Role of Images in Teaching MediaThe field of climate change communication has long been dominated by text analyses, where the visual representations accompanying the textual have been more or less neglected. However, in recent years scholarly work on visual environmental communication has made progress. Hansen & Machin (2013) lists research encompassing a variety of media and communicative contexts, including television news, newspapers, news and other magazines, advertising, environmental campaigns, and films. Previous research on media representations of climate change has shown a tendency, in some countries, to "nationalize" the global problem of a climate change – to turn mitigation and adaptation responses into a national responsibility (Berglez, Hoijer & Olausson 2009). These processes of nationalization are evident not least in the visual communication of television news by means of, for instance, pictures of maps of the topical country recurrently fading in and out between images of volumes of water. In newspapers, visual nationalization occurs through, for instance, photomontages of the national capital desolated by severe flooding. There are, however, also visual signs of "europeanization" by means of images such as those of the EU flag flying (Olausson 2010). Research indicates that visual representations of environmental issues and climate change tend to be decontextualized and aestheticized (Linder 2006, Doyle 2007), resulting in symbolic and routinized images whose semiotic openness allows new flexible significations and usage across different genres of communication. The same images meet news organizations need for familiar frames of reference to make issues more easily recognizable to audiences, and the need in advertising and marketing for products and services charged with a moral sense of connecting with nature and the environment. According to Hansen & Machin (2008), commercial image suppliers have significant influence over the visual representation of climate change by providing media with cheap and attractive images. One genre of communication, not listed above, is teaching media. In order to enter this obviously under-researched area as regards visual environmental communication, this study examines teaching media used in primary and secondary school: Which visual representations are used in order to provide young generations with climate change knowledge? Do we see similar patterns as in news and advertising, or may pupils meet alternative representations that are not primarily characterized by nationalization, decontextualization, aesthetization, and routinization? In order to avoid a decontextualized analysis, we regard image and text as interacting sign systems and the visual images are analyzed in their textual context. The analytical framework of the study is visual rhetoric, inspired by Kjeldsen (2009) whose analytical concepts have been developed from analyses of Scandinavian political advertising, a genre that is both persuasive and pedagogical. Kjeldsens theoretical point of departure is that images are visual signs that communicate with various rhetorical means.


This paper describes a novel use of A‐Train observations to estimate vertical velocities for actively growing convective plumes and to relate them to cloud internal vertical structure. Convective vertical velocity is derived from time‐delayed (1–2 min) IR measurements from MODIS and IIR. Convective vertical velocities are found to be clustered around 2–4 m/s but the distributions are positively skewed with long tails extending to larger values. Land convection during the 13:30 overpasses has higher vertical velocities than those during the 1:30 overpasses; oceanic convection shows the opposite, albeit smaller, contrast. Our results also show that convection with larger vertical velocity tends to transport larger precipitation‐size particle and/or greater amount of water substance to higher altitude and produces heavier rainfall. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for the designs of future space‐borne missions that focus on fast‐evolving processes such as those related to clouds and precipitation.


Customer choice modeling techniques have grown in sophistication and applicability, so that this methodology can be useful for assessing the services and amenities that are market drivers for customers of hospitality businesses. In essence, customer choice modeling is an experimental process that seeks to identify the key market drivers by comparing respondents' choices among packages of products and services, known as choice sets. By comparing the ratings of various choice set packages, one can assess which features of a product or service are most critical to the purchase decision. Also helpful in customer choice modeling is analysis of existing purchase patterns, which can be collected from point-of-sale devices and web activity. However, valuable though it is, collected data are backward looking—telling what customers did, but not what they will do. In contrast, customer choice modeling can look forward to see what customers might like, provided the experiment is designed correctly.


Giant papillary conjunctivitis is a disease we are seeing more and more. I believe it can be avoided with new ways of designing the lenses and new ways of cleaning them. Meanwhile, however, we need to improve cleaning, increase our use of enzymes, irrigate the conjunctiva, change lenses often, and use cromolyn sodium to stabilize the mast cells. These measures should enable our patients to continue using their contact lenses longer.


Experimental design is a classical statistics problem and its aim is to estimate an unknown m-dimensional vector β from linear measurements where a Gaussian noise is introduced in each measurement. For the combinatorial experimental design problem, the goal is to pick k out of the given n experiments so as to make the most accurate estimate of the unknown parameters, denoted as β̂. In this paper, we will study one of the most robust measures of error estimation D-optimality criterion, which corresponds to minimizing the volume of the confidence ellipsoid for the estimation error β− β̂. The problem gives rise to two natural variants depending on whether repetitions of experiments are allowed or not. We first propose an approximation algorithm with a 1e -approximation for the D-optimal design problem with and without repetitions, giving the first constant factor approximation for the problem. We then analyze another sampling approximation algorithm and prove that it is (1− )-approximation if k ≥ 4m + 12 2 log( 1 ) for any ∈ (0, 1). Finally, for D-optimal design with repetitions, we study a different algorithm proposed by literature and show that it can improve this asymptotic approximation ratio.


Abstract This case report of neuraxial anaesthesia for emergency orthopaedic surgery serves to highlight the dilemma faced by anaesthetists when surgical intervention becomes necessary in a patient on anti-rabies vaccine. The two issues of importance are the possible reduction in the efficacy of vaccination by an immunosuppressive effect of anaesthesia and surgery, and the possible need to avoid local anaesthetics for the provision of postoperative analgesia to assist in the early detection of any neurological deficit.


OBJECTIVE
Chronic, elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) in craniosynostotic infants may result in ocular and neurocapsular problems; however, not all infants exhibit elevated ICP. Clinical ICP studies are further confounded by small and heterogeneic samples, multiple-suture involvement, and varying surgical management protocols. The present study was designed to describe longitudinal changes in ICP in a large, homogenous sample of rabbits with uncorrected familial, nonsyndromic coronal suture synostosis.

METHODS
Ninety-one rabbits were divided into four groups: (1) normal rabbits (n = 28), (2) rabbits with delayed-onset coronal suture synostosis (DOCS; n = 25), (3) rabbits with unilateral coronal suture synostosis (UCS; n = 12), and (4) rabbits with bilateral coronal suture synostosis (BCS; n = 26). ICP was measured at 24 and 42 days of age using a Codman epidural microtransducer.

RESULTS
Rabbits with BCS had a significantly (p < .05) higher mean ICP at 25 days of age than rabbits in the other three groups by approximately 146%. However, by 42 days of age, mean ICP in normal control rabbits and rabbits with DOCS was significantly (p < .01) increased compared with their mean ICP values seen at 25 days of age, while mean ICP in BCS rabbits significantly (p < .01) decreased (by 32%) over the same time period. ICP in rabbits with UCS was between that seen in normal control rabbits and rabbits with BCS and did not significantly (p > .05) change over time.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that the degree of suture involvement may be related to early increases in ICP. Possible multifactorial explanations for intracranial decompression and compensation in the craniosynostotic rabbit model are discussed.


We live in a world of structures and patterns that are determined by the interaction of natural forces and environmental factors. Understanding forms in nature provides answers to the molecular structure and how the use of minimal energy creates these patterns. Research by esteemed scientists such as D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Charles Darwin and Leonard da Vinci will be noted as evidence for the conclusion. Why is this an important topic? This knowledge can be and has been adapted to many of today's innovations and uses of technology in medicine and architecture. Applications in these fields will be cited. My creative work will show my strategy for structures and patterns. These are a sequence of numbers combined to stretch the space that show transition and change, that relate to forms in nature.


Several large reinforced concrete highway bent cap girders, designed according to ACI and AASHTO provisions, were found to have very wide cracks near middepth on the side faces. Although the crack width at the level of main reinforcement was acceptable, the side face cracks near middepth were up to three times as wide. This indicated potential durability problems. A 3/8 scale laboratory model using deformed bars and reduced maximum size aggregate accurately reproduced the crack pattern and crack widths of the full size bent caps. A simplified test specimen was developed to accurately simulate the behavior of a portion of a beam under constant moment loading. A series of 44 specimens investigated the variables affecting side face cracking: amount and distribution of side face reinforcement, cover web width, and beam depth. A relatively simple two-dimensional finite element analysis generally confirmed the laboratory results. A new design procedure was developed to control side face crack widths and was simplified for code use. To verify the new design procedure, the original model bent cap with the serious side face cracking problem was redesigned and tested. The procedure worked very well. Although the new procedure requires substantially more side face reinforcement for large beams than present provisions do, it appears that the side face cracking problem can be controlled at little or no additional cost by considering the flexural strength contribution of the side face reinforcement. /FHWA/


Author(s): Seeley, Brien A., MD.; Seeley, Damon; Rakas, Jasenka, PhD | Abstract: UC Berkeley has long been known as the home of important societal movements. In early October 2019, the electric aircraft movement came to UC Berkeley (UCB) courtesy of UCB's Institute for Transportation Studies (ITS) and the College of Engineering. At what some have called the "Woodstock of Aviation"—the Sustainable Aviation Symposium (SAS) convened leaders of that movement from across the globe for two full days in UC's Pauley Ballroom to explore how to solve important societal-enviro-economic issues in transportation with breakthroughs and innovations in high-tech physics, chemistry and electrical engineering. Beyond Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) topics, the faculty presentations spanned a broad spectrum of UC's graduate and undergraduate curriculum and included those by prominent UC faculty members, professors from other universities, leaders from NASA as well as several by experts in private industry. SAS 2019 was unique among conferences in focusing on how the future driverless, emission-free sky taxis of urban air mobility (UAM) could affordably transform transportation and neighborhoods at scale in metro regions and beyond. The socio-enviro-economic prospects for that transformation's potential for regional mass transit by air that could ease surface gridlock, untenable infrastructure costs and climate change, showed why SAS 2019 engaged for the first time the disciplines of urban and environmental planning and civil engineering. SAS 2019 resulted in a growing awareness of the pan-topic relevance of UAM and justified both the continuation of SAS at UC Berkeley as well as further activities of the Aviation Futures Lab at UCB.


The aim of this study was to assess the capacity of the existing primary feeder network (33 kV) and to determine ways of reinforcing it in view of prospective full scale electrification and power demand of the rural areas of Oyo State. This work was done by using data of maximum power demand allocations to fully electrified areas of the State to compute expected range of power demand per capita, and applying normal mode simulations and solutions using iterative approximation and direct matrix algebra methods. The results show that the load per capita range, and potential load demand for the State are 0.011 kW to 0.094 kW and about 534 MW (huge compared to current 103.7 MW supply from the utility) respectively. The capacities of existing networks and the total injection substations' capacity (225 MVA) are inadequate for meeting the potential demand of Oyo State, including the rural areas. Upgrading the voltage of the existing network to 132 kV will improve its distribution capacity significantly and solve overloading and voltage problems. Also, installation of more 132 kV substations is needed to relieve the existing fully loaded ones. Otherwise, a full scale rural electrification development in Oyo State, intending to feed from the national grid, will be impossible.


Context-aware computing describes the situation where a wearable/mobile computer is aware of its user's state and surroundings and modifies its behavior based on this information. We designed, implemented, and evaluated a wearable system which can learn context-dependent personal preferences by identifying individual user states and observing how the user interacts with the system in these states. This learning occurs online and does not require external supervision. The system relies on techniques from machine learning and statistical analysis. A case study integrates the approach in a context-aware mobile phone. The results indicate that the method is able to create a meaningful user context model while only requiring data from comfortable wearable sensor devices.


Biofortification is a rapidly emerging strategy to address micronutrient malnutrition, but as an agricultural strategy with health objectives, it faces unique challenges. This article identifies three challenges to agricultural technology adoption that biofortification must meet to become a successful component of national nutrition strategies: (i) biofortification will need to achieve high rates of adoption and consumption in geographically distinct areas; (ii) strategies for delivery of biofortified crops must be tailored to the local context for each crop--nutrient pair; and (iii) biofortification needs to identify more cost-effective delivery strategies in order to offer an alternative to supplementation and commercial fortification. Evidence to support these arguments is provided from recent biofortification experiments in Uganda and Mozambique. (JEL codes: I12, O33, Q16) Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Ifo Institute, Munich. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: email@example.com, Oxford University Press.


Icebergs are fragments of glacier ice, which break-off from the ice shelves and glacier tongues all around Antarctica. After calving, icebergs drift through the ocean, driven by a number of forces. The main forces are the ocean currents and the wind, but also the Coriolis force, sea surface tilt, sea ice concentration and strength, as well as the wave radiation do influence the drift of icebergs. The relative contributions of the individual forces depend on the environmental conditions (e. g. sea ice or open water) and the iceberg size and thickness.
A drift algorithm is used to simulate the drift of icebergs through the Southern ocean. The iceberg drift algorithm is implemented in the Finite Elemente Sea-ice Ocean Model (FESOM), which has a spatial resolution of 10 km close to the ice shelf edge and 30 km offshore.
A test was carried out to study the effect of iceberg size and thickness as well as model set ups on the drift pattern. "Test icebergs" of a simplified shape were released into the model domain from 77 locations around Antarctica to simulate and analyse their path. The model results were compared with available observations.
Additionally to the drift, the model also calculates the melting of icebergs and therefore the freshwater input into the ocean.


Summary Background The aim of this pilot trial was to study the feasibility of sentinel node percutaneous preoperative gamma probe-guided biopsy as a valid preoperative method of assessment of nodal status compared to surgical sentinel lymph node biopsy. Material/Methods This prospective study enrolled 10 consecutive patients without evidence of axillary lymph node metastases at preoperative imaging. All patients underwent sentinel node occult lesion localization (SNOLL) using radiotracer intradermic injection that detected a "hot spot" corresponding to the sentinel node in all cases. Gamma probe over the skin detection with subsequent ultrasonographically guided needle biopsy of the sentinel node were performed. The percutaneous needle core histopathological diagnosis was compared to the results of the surgical biopsy. Results Preoperative sentinel node identification was successful in all patients. Conclusions The combination of preoperative gamma probe sentinel node detection and ultrasound-guided biopsy could represent a valid alternative to intraoperative sentinel node biopsy in clinically and ultrasonographically negative axillary nodes, resulting in shorter duration of surgery and lower intraoperative risks.


Gap junction proteins are a highly homologous family of 21 connexins. Here, the authors describe a tissue-specifi c technical artifact complicating analysis of connexin32 protein expression in the central nervous system. The authors show that in brain, but not liver, eight commonly employed antibodies exhibit a higher affi nity for a cross-reactive protein that masks the detection of connexin32. Cross-reactivity is evident in Western blot analyses when proteins are subjected to reducing/ denaturing conditions but not immunoprecipitation or in situ immunofl uorescent applications. Through bioinformatic analyses, tested by sucrose gradient fractionation and immunoblotting of lysates from connexin null-mutant mice, the authors show that the cross-reactive protein is not found in the same cellular compartments as connexin32 and is likely not a member of the connexin family. These fi ndings are presented with the intent of helping to reduce the amount of time laboratories currently expend in validating changes in connexin32 expression in the central nervous system.


The possibility of influencing resonance energy transfer through the input of off-resonant pulses of laser radiation is the subject of recent research. Attention is now focused on systems in which resonance energy transfer is designedly precluded by geometric configuration. Here, through an optically nonlinear mechanism - optically controlled resonance energy transfer - the throughput of non-resonant pulses can facilitate energy transfer that is, in their absence, completely forbidden. The system thus functions as an optical buffer, with excitation throughput switched on by the secondary beam. For applications, a system based on two parallel nano-arrays is envisaged. This paper will establish and discuss the principles - those that can be exploited to enhance switching characteristics and efficiency, and others (such as off-axis excitation transfer) that may represent cross-talk limitations. Principles to be explored in detail are the interplay between geometric features, including the array architecture and repeat distance (lattice constant), the array spacing and translational symmetry, the orientations of the transition dipoles, and the magnitude of the relevant components of the nonlinear response tensors. The aim is, through a determination of key parameters, to inform a program of optimization that can deliver specific criteria for realizing the most efficient systems for implementation.


Growing up Jewish in London with a difficult home life, Jonathan Wilson had plenty of reasons to feel he didn't belong, and one reason to feel certain he did: football. Wilson discovered his love for the game as a young boy; through his adolescence and adulthood and well into his later years it remained an important part of his life. Football became Wilson's international passport, helping him find friends and community and solace all over the globe, from England to Israel to the US. Whether working on a kibbutz or teaching literature to young Americans, traveling through Russia or raising children, the sport remained a constant in his life. Kick and Run is a gripping, funny, sometimes heartbreaking account of a life well lived and a game played, if not always masterfully, then certainly with the utmost passion.


Fifteen years has passed since ArF lithography technology transitioned to mass production. At first the node size was 130nm, however, now we are discussing one-digit nm node. This node size is one-fifteenth compared to that in the initial generation. It is obvious that generations have steadily changed. Meanwhile, ArF projection optics has been designed with higher NA. Moreover, much higher NA or effectively short wavelength have been achieved by introducing the immersion lithography technology which injects immersion media between the light emission side of optics and the wafer surface. Now that ten years has passed since the immersion lithography technology transitioned to mass production, the requirements for the light source have become much more demanding. This is because E95%, a typical parameter for the light source, which reduces the CD variation and influences the optical characteristics, has been required to be much shorter along with advanced node. The spectrum characteristics of the conventional KrF 248nm-light source were defined with full-width at half maximum (FWHM). After entering ArF era, E95% was defined as more stringent parameter. This new parameter is closely linked to line narrowing and node transition. This E95% is a parameter to define optics monochromaticity and recognized as equivalent to quantified chromatic aberration. More specifically, it is desired to reduce the chromatic aberration ideally down to zero to maximize the contrast by suppressing blur images. Provided that the blur images are caused by not only chromatic aberration but also the convoluted effect of spherical aberration, residual errors of lithography optics system and other defocus elements. In line with this we should take persistent challenges to reduce errors in designing and manufacturing lithography optics systems and drive the chromatic aberration closer to zero. The contrast we discuss in the lithography optics systems strongly correlate to resolution, and thus it is well known that OPC bias is linear with respect to E95% when the resolution is fixed. Although this OPC bias and E95% have been firmly linear with each other, it has also been revealed that the trend of the linearity with much shorter E95% deviates from the conventional trend and shows an inflection point in the near future. We systematically analyze the trend that linearity error tends to be greater than the conventional distribution and suggest solutions to the issue. This systematic analysis includes: 1. Measurement errors and distribution in measuring E95% as the spectrum width 2. Correlation between raw measured spectrum intensity data and E95% 3. Linearity comparison in behaviors between when E95% is approximated by i) +/-2 sigma of, ii)+/-3 sigma of normal spectrum distribution, and iii) by another approximation. Based on these studies, we identify the roles of the light source to contribute to 7nm-node mass production by defining the spectrum and its requirements for lithography performance.


As widespread products of folk culture, proverbs help people realize and interpret both their own and others' emotions. In this sense, they guide how people transform acquired knowledge into behavior. This function of proverbs is explained in terms of emotional intelligence. Turkish proverbs appear to be an extremely rich source in this respect. I therefore examined them using Goleman's (1995) model of emotional intelligence. Data were collected using two Turkish dictionaries and the findings were analyzed using semantic content analysis. I explored whether or not and how proverbs improve the mental abilities that form emotional intelligence. The effects of the emotional functions of Turkish proverbs on personal and social life are discussed.


The history of Hawaiian freshwater resources begins 1500–1600 years ago, when the first Hawaiians arrived from Polynesia. Early Hawaiian freshwater management balanced human needs with ecological sustainability through community-based taro farming. In this system, water was never diverted out of the watershed. Instead, freshwater was the lifeline that connected the mountains to the oceans. Western discovery of Hawaii brought with it privatized natural resources, cultural diversity, and a shift of agriculture from within the watersheds to sunny, but arid, landscapes. The rise of sugar cane facilitated political changes that led to the fall of the Hawaiian Monarchy and eventual statehood in the United States. However, this new agriculture was economically impossible without diverting irrigation water from the windward sides of each island, resulting in a permanent loss from the watersheds. Stream water removal eliminates habitat and disrupts a specialized life cycle of several endemic species, a life cycle that requires migration to and from the ocean. Recent petitions to enforce existing water law have sparked political debate of freshwater allocation in the face of diminished agriculture. Future management will require compromise and scientifically based strategies to bring back ecological balance and long-term sustainability.

Keywords:

Hawaii;
freshwater;
agriculture;
history;
amphidromy;
fish;
invertebrates;
law


The national accounts measure economic activity. The UK is developing "satellite accounts" which use the framework of the national accounts but aim to quantify other aspects of living standards. This article starts by comparing satellite accounts with the use of indicators to measure the quality of life. It then reports on progress with the UK environmental accounts, and with the household accounts, which measure the productive unpaid work done in the home. It concludes with a discussion of the scope for developing a wider range of satellite accounts for the UK.


Typical graph embeddings may not capture type-specific bipartite graph features that arise in such areas as recommender systems, data visualization, and drug discovery. Machine learning methods utilized in these applications would be better served with specialized embedding techniques. We propose two embeddings for bipartite graphs that decompose edges into sets of indirect relationships between node neighborhoods. When sampling higher-order relationships, we reinforce similarities through algebraic distance on graphs. We also introduce ensemble embeddings to combine both into a "best of both worlds" embedding. The proposed methods are evaluated on link prediction and recommendation tasks and compared with other state-of-the-art embeddings. While being all highly beneficial in applications, we demonstrate that none of the considered embeddings is clearly superior (in contrast to what is claimed in many papers), and discuss the trade offs present among them. Reproducibility: Our code, data sets, and results are all publicly available online at: this http URL.


RESUMEN:The El Bronce gold district is located in Central Chile (32°11'S-70°56'W), and contains epithermal polimetallic (Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn) vein deposits. The district has been mined since the end of the 18th century and its estimated production up to the present is more than 4 x 105 oz Au and 106 oz Ag, besides an important volume of copper. The geological framework of the district is represented by Cretaceous volcanic and intrusive rocks. The oldest stratigraphic units are the Cerro Morado Formation (late Lower Cretaceous) and Las Chilcas Formation (late Lower Cretaceous-Upper Cretaceous (?)), formed by andesitie breccias, agglomerates and lava flows, with volcaniclastic interbeddings. An Upper Cretaceous eruptive centre unconformably overlies these units cutting the volcanic sequence. The centre is defined by the presence of a caldera structure ("Morro Hediondo Caldera"), of a 7 km radius semicircular section. Dacitic lapilli tuffs (K-Ar: 86±3 Ma), andesitic lavas (K-Ar: 82-80 Ma), and breccias, assigned to the Lo Valle Formation, are the rocks associated with this centre. Two groups of intrusive rocks are recognized in the area. The western group is the oldest one, and is composed of quartz monzodiorites belonging to a batholith dated (K-Ar) as 134 - 86 Ma, which extends between 31° and 32°S. The eastern group is younger and is composed by dioritie (andesitic) to granodioritic (dacitic) stocks, dikes and sills, among which the outstanding components are the "Porfido Petorea" (K-Ar: 86±3 Ma) and a "Ring Dike" (K-Ar: 80-79 Ma), which define the outer border of the above mentioned caldera. Extensive hydrothermal alteration zones considered as genetically associated with the intrusives, according to their spatial distribution and K-Ar data (109±4; 82±9; 81±14 Ma) also crop out in the district. The rocks of the area are cut by a number of mainly NW striking faults and dikes, which played an important role in the control of mineralization. Some of these structures show a radial or concentric pattern to me "Morro Hediondo Caldera". About 90 ore bodies, mainly polimetallie veins, some copper veins, and one copper breccia pipe (Dulcinea Mine) have been identified. The most important and productive ore deposit is the El Bronce vein, emplaced in a 7 km long, NS-N20°E striking fault. Different lenticular, structurally controlled ore shoots are observed along the fault, ranging from 100-600 m in length, 200-400 m in depth, and 1-20 m in width. The mineralogy consists of pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena, tennantite-tetrahedrite, bornite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, hematite, and magnetite in that order of abundance. Gangue minerals are quartz (massive, microcrystalline, amethyst, and crystalline-transparent), ankerite, siderite, and barite. These minerals occur as massive concentrations, disseminated grains and in stockworks. A barren andesitic dike is also emplaced along the mineralized structure. A few meters thick, hydrothermally altered (sericite, clays, chlorite and carbonates) halo surrounds the vein. According to paragenetic studies, mineralization would have been produced in three stages, gold and silver being deposited during the two earlier ones, associated with quartz, pyrite, sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Fluid inclusion studies show homogenization temperatures ranging between 150° and 349°C, and salinities (weight %NaCI) from 1 to 10, while sulfide isotope analyses yielded values of 34S between +0,5 and +2,3. The above data support the hypothesis that the ore was formed at a depth of less than 1,000 m below paleosurface, due to a mixing process between hydrothemal magmatic ore fluids and meteoric ground waters. Keywords: Paragenesis, Hidrothermal alteration, El Bronce district, Epithermal ores, Gold, Morro Hediondo caldera, K-Ar Dating, Fluid inclusions, Upper Cretaceous, Valparaiso Region, Chile.


not occurred. Analysis of incorporated bromodeoxyuridine with monoclonal antibodies requires the DNA to be denatured (commonly by exposure to acid). Unfortunately, this step is inherently prone to error as it leads to considerable cell loss and possible damage to antigenic sites. Also, sensitivity to DNA denaturation varies across the cell cycle4for example, cells fixed in late S phase will have more denatured DNA. Our experience in colorectal tumour tissue has shown that labelling indices obtained with both flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry results in reproducible variations that are dependent on acid concentration. The intention of this letter is not to discourage the use of thymidine analogues in cell proliferation analysis but simply to make interested parties aware of the inherent caveats in this methodology. Advances in the clinical application of bromodeoxyuridine will depend on a closer investigation of these enigmas at a tissue specific level. The desire for data should not tempt us to explain the answers before we have asked the questions.


PURPOSE Genomic testing is recognized in national guidelines as essential to guide appropriate therapy selection in metastatic colorectal cancer. Previous studies report adherence to testing guidelines is suboptimal, but current testing rates have not been assessed. This study reports testing rates in metastatic colon cancer (mCC) for guideline-recommended biomarkers in a US-based population. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective review of data extracted from electronic medical records was performed to identify patients with pathologically confirmed mCC and describe patterns of guideline-aligned biomarker testing. Data were extracted from the electronic health records of 1,497 patients treated at 23 practices across the United States. Both community and academic centers were represented. RESULTS A total of 1,497 patients with mCC diagnosed between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017 were identified. Guideline-aligned biomarker testing rates for RAS, BRAF, and microsatellite instability/mismatch repair deficiency over this study period were 41%, 43%, and 51%, respectively. Patients were more likely to have guideline-aligned testing for RAS and BRAF if they were treated at an academic center, were diagnosed with de novo metastatic disease, and were female. In addition, patients < 65 years of age were more likely to have guideline-aligned RAS testing. Of the 177 patients (12% of cohort) who received anti–epidermal growth factor receptor therapy, only 50 (28%) had complete guideline-aligned biomarker testing. CONCLUSION Despite guideline recommendations and significant therapeutic implications, overall biomarker testing rates in mCC remain suboptimal. Adherence to guideline-recommended biomarker testing would potentially reduce exposure to expensive and ineffective therapies, resulting in improved patient outcomes.


Ousseina Alidou's book is a welcome addition to the growing anthropological literature on Islam in Africa. In the book, she focuses on the experiences of three very different Muslim women: Malama A'ishatu, who runs an Islamic school for girls and broadcasts a popular radio show; Habsu Garba, a singer and dancer who also host a radio talk show; and "Agaisha", a spokeswoman for the armed Tuareg rebellion and, for obvious reasons, the only one of the three denoted by pseudonym. She intersperses chapters which detail the lives of her three heroines with more general discussions of relevant aspects of the situation of Muslim women in Niger.


INTRODUCTION
Developmental speech and language disorders (DLD) constitute a group of disorders when children with normal intelligence and hearing fail to develop language in an age-appropriate manner. There is no definite or surrogate neurophysiologic laboratory marker to quantitate the extent of speech and language impairment. The current study was designed to evaluate the abnormalities in Auditory Brainstem Evoked Responses (ABER) in children with speech and language impairment who do not have a hearing deficit or autism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
ABER recording was done in a cohort of 94 children (age 2-8 y) with DLD without overt hearing deficit or autism. The mean latencies for waves I, II, III, IV and V along with inter peak latencies for I-III, I-V, III-V and amplitude ratio of wave V/I was measured after click stimulus with intensities 110 db until 40 db and compared to age appropriate normograms.

RESULTS
The peak latencies for waves I, III & V, inter-peak latencies I-III & I-V, III-V and wave amplitude ratio V/I was found within normal limits in both ears of all the children when compared to age appropriate normograms.

CONCLUSION
The current study therefore emphasizes the fact that ABER may not be used/recommended as diagnostic or prognostic tool in children with speech and language impairment without autism or hearing deficit. The results and the recommendations of this study will definitely reduce the burden on electrophysiologist, laboratories and also save time and financial resources.


This work considers the performance of an all-optical packet-switched cross-connect. All-optical header processing and all-optical routing are implemented in the cross-connect architectures. The main metric considered to measure the performance is the packet loss ratio for the buffering. A recirculating buffer is implemented with a degenerate configuration. It is shown that the unsatisfactory performance achieved taking the self-similarity of the traffic into account can be improved using overflow buffering. Overflow buffering utilises available buffer positions in parallel wavelengths of the same physical buffer.


Fructose feeding has been widely reported to cause hypertension in rats, as assessed indirectly by tail cuff plethysmography. Because there are potentially significant drawbacks associated with plethysmography, we determined whether blood pressure changes could be detected by long-term monitoring with telemetry in age-matched male Sprague-Dawley rats fed either a normal or high-fructose diet for 8 weeks. Fasting plasma glucose (171±10 versus 120±10 mg/dL), plasma insulin (1.8±0.5 versus 0.7±0.1 &mgr;g/L), and plasma triglycerides (39±2 versus 30±2 mg/dL) were modestly but significantly elevated in fructose-fed animals. Using the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp technique, the rate of glucose infusion necessary to maintain equivalent plasma glucose was significantly reduced in fructose-fed compared with control animals (22.9±3.6 versus 41.5±2.9 mg/kg per minute; P<0.05). However, mean arterial pressure (24-hour) did not change in the fructose-fed animals over the 8-week period (111±1 versus 114±2 mm Hg; week 0 versus 8), nor was it different from that in control animals (109±2 mm Hg). Conversely, systolic blood pressure measured by tail cuff plethysmography at the end of the 8-week period was significantly greater in fructose-fed versus control animals (162±5 versus 139±1 mm Hg; P<0.001). Together, these data demonstrate that long-term fructose feeding induces mild insulin resistance but does not elevate blood pressure. We propose that previous reports of fructose-induced hypertension reflect a heightened stress response by fructose-fed rats associated with restraint and tail cuff inflation.


ABSTRACT Background: The therapeutic alliance has been found to be a critical component of treatment delivery in mental health interventions. This construct may have the potential to inform both treatment efficacy and adherence in aphasia rehabilitation. However, little is known about how people with aphasia perceive therapeutic alliance construction in the context of aphasia rehabilitation. Aims: This study aimed to investigate people with aphasias' subjective experiences and reflections of constructing and maintaining therapeutic alliances in aphasia rehabilitation. Methods & procedures: In-depth interviews were conducted with eighteen people with aphasia who had received aphasia rehabilitation following a stroke. Interviews were subject to thematic analysis. Outcomes & results: Data analysis revealed five core themes: (1) readiness to contribute to the alliance; (2) proximity with the therapist; (3) perceived attunement with the therapist; (4) receiving information; and (5) collaborative engagement. The therapist's perceived ability to read and respond effectively to individuals' relational and situational needs contributed to the success of the alliance. Conclusions: These findings offer novel insights into current practice, highlighting considerable variation in alliance formation across the profession, with ineffectual alliances obstructing engagement and eroding hope and effective alliances promoting adherence and instilling hope. Further research is recommended to understand which aspects of the therapeutic alliance are essential for optimising therapeutic efficacy.


FPGA processors are very well suited for the implementation of image processing and pattern recognition tasks. This paper describes a particularly demanding application of this type and Enable++, the FPGA processor used. The system finds particle trades in high-energy physics detector images at a rate of 100 kHz. This requires to process a data stream of up to 500 MBytes/s in real time. The algorithm and the implementation on Enable++, a general purpose FPGA processor are described. Results from a software implementation are compared with the measurements from an implementation on the CCM. This implementation is 15 times faster than the software implementation on high end computers.


Firm-level stock returns exhibit comovement above that in fundamentals, and the gap tends to be higher in developing countries. We investigate whether correlated beliefs among sophisticated, but imperfectly informed traders can account for the patterns of return correlations across countries. We take a unique approach by turning to direct data on market participants' information namely, real-time firm-level earnings forecasts made by equity market analysts. The correlations of firm-level forecasts exceed those of fundamentals and are strongly related to return correlations across countries. A calibrated information-based model demonstrates that the correlation of beliefs implied by analyst forecasts leads to return correlations broadly in line with the data, both in levels and across countries the correlation between predicted and actual is 0.63. Our findings have implications for market-wide volatility the model-implied correlations alone can explain 44% of the cross-section of aggregate volatility. The results are robust to controlling for a number of alternative factors put forth by the existing literature. JEL Classification: G15, G12, G10, D8


The cooperative caching is one of the most attractive schemes used in the area of Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANETs) to improve the data access performance. The cached data is shared between multiple mobile nodes which cooperatively manages the cached contents. The node mobility and unpredictable network partitioning creates additional overhead, latency and reduces data access ratios in the highly dynamic network environment. An efficient adaptive cache update protocol (ACUP) is proposed in this paper, which address the above problems effectively. A Rendezvous Region (RR) is adopted in the proposed work to exploit the cluster based approach that satisfies the data consistency requirements among partitioned network. A content server transmits data through cluster head nodes (H-Nodes) to local mobile nodes (L-Nodes) in a rendezvous region. The ACUP provides the consistency of cached data in L nodes by utilizing a Time-To-Live (TTL) threshold value. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the existing scheme called Flexible Cache Consistency Maintenance (FCCM) in terms of reduced delay, control overheads and increased packet delivery ratio.


This paper is the authors' attempt to summarize major aspects of an admissions and OR scheduling systems. The admissions scheduling system can help achieve a stabilization of elective OR procedures and potential increase in utilization of ORs; however, a computer-aided-OR scheduling system is needed to meet the special needs of the OR scheduling process. Thus, combined use of an admissions and OR scheduling system appears to provide the best opportunity for reducing hospital costs as well as providing superior service.


The square of opposition is a structure involving two involutive negations and relating quantified statements, invented in Aristotle time. Rediscovered in the second half of the XXth century, and advocated as being of interest for understanding conceptual structures and solving problems in paraconsistent logics, the square of opposition has been recently completed into a cube, which corresponds to the introduction of a third negation. Such a cube can be encountered in very different knowledge representation formalisms, such as modal logic, possibility theory in its all-or-nothing version, formal concept analysis, rough set theory and abstract argumentation. After restating these results in a unified perspective, the paper proposes a graded extension of the cube and shows that several qualitative, as well as quantitative formalisms, such as Sugeno integrals used in multiple criteria aggregation and qualitative decision theory, or yet belief functions and Choquet integrals, are amenable to transformations that form graded cubes of opposition. This discovery leads to a new perspective on many knowledge representation formalisms, laying bare their underlying common features. The cube of opposition exhibits fruitful parallelisms between different formalisms, which leads to highlight some missing components present in one formalism and currently absent from another.