Massively parallel and distributed systems open new horizons for large applications and present new challenges for software technology. Many applications already take advantage of the increased raw computational power provided by such parallel systems to yield significantly shorter turn-around times. However, the availability of so many processors to work on a single application presents a new challenge to software technology: coordination of the cooperation of large numbers of concurrent active entities. Classical views of concurrency in programming languages that are based on extensions of the sequential programming paradigm are ill-suited to meet this challenge. Exploiting the full potential of massively parallel systems requires programming models that explicitly deal with the concurrency of cooperation among very large numbers of active entities that comprise a single application. In practice, the concurrent applications of today essentially use a set of ad hoc templates to coordinate the cooperation of their active components. This shows the lack of proper coordination languages that can be used to explicitly describe complex cooperation protocols in terms of simple primitives and structuring constructs. In this paper we present a generic model of communication and describe a specific control-oriented coordination language based on this model. The important characteristics of this model include compositionality, which it inherits from the data-flow model, anonymous communication, and separation of computation concerns from communication concerns. These characteristics lead to clear advantages in large concurrent applications.


This paper discusses the nature of the conceptual structure in art practice, by example. It draws on insights gained from a practice based research (PBR) approach to making art. The PBR methods used include Reflective Practice and are briefly described. They have informed an understanding of the conceptual structure as an instance of problem framing. This is demonstrated by two creative examples, taken from two interactive artworks. These were informed by an evolving conceptual structure concerned with water.


The microstructural evolution of Cu-based alloys during aging was studied using a quantitative metallographic method. Samples were cut from ingots of Cu-0.8wt%Cr and Cu-0.8wt%Cr-RE alloys. These were solution treated at 1000 oC for 1.5h and subsequently quenched in water, then separately aged at 480 oC for different durations. The microstructures were observed by optical microscope, and the characteristic geometric parameters of precipitated Cr phase, including volume fraction VV, face density NA, mean diameter and roundness, were measured. These data provided more details about the process of aging. The results showed that precipitation of Cr phase occurred in the form of particles during aging. Rare earth elements promoted the precipitation of Cr phase and dispersed Cr particles. The phenomenon of overaging came earlier in Cu-Cr-RE than in Cu-Cr. In the present work, the optimal aging time at 480 oC was 2 hrs for the Cu-0.8wt%Cr-RE alloy and 3 hours for the Cu-0.8wt%Cr alloy.


ABSTRACTThe elastic moduli of the mineral constituents of the rock matrix are among the principal inputs in all rock-physics velocity-porosity-mineralogy models. Published experimental data indicate that the elastic moduli for essentially any mineral vary. The ranges of these variations are especially wide for clay. The question addressed here is how to select, based on well data, concrete values for clay's elastic constants where those for other minerals are fixed. The approach is to find a rock-physics model for zero-clay intervals and then adjust the clay's constants to describe the intervals dominated by clay using the same model. We examine three data sets from clastic environments, each represented by three wells, where the selected constants for clay were different between the fields but stable within each field. These constants can then be used for seismic forward modeling and interpretation in a specific field away from well control and within a depth range represented in the wells. In essence, w...


BACKGROUND
In Argentina, there is evidence of health inequalities, measured both at the general level and also using income as a parameter of social status. However, few studies address the issue of health equality in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular risk factors.

OBJECTIVE
To describe health inequalities, using cardiovascular risk factors as a tracer for chronic diseases in different areas of the country and over time. In addition, we aim to identify differences in the quality of care provided to people with cardiovascular risk factors, between 2005 and 2009.

METHODS
This is an observational study, which used descriptive and quantitative methods. Data from the National Risk Factors Survey from 2005 and 2009 in the cohorts who have chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and overweight/obesity) were analyzed to assess associations between health status and several demographic, epidemiological and socioeconomic variables. Additionally, clinical and metabolic characteristics of people with diabetes and other cardiovascular risks factors were analyzed in 2005 and 2009 using the database Quality of Diabetes Care (QUALIDIAB).

RESULTS
Cardiovascular risk factors are more frequent in people with lower socioeconomic status, regardless of the indicator. The inequalities detected showed the worst indicators in strata with lower education and income, with the same results both nationwide and separated by region. This inequalities were more pronounced in 2009, and their magnitude changed by region and cardiovascular risk factor. From 2005 to 2009, body mass index, blood glucose and HbA1c value increased. In contrast, both systolic blood pressure and triglycerides decreased, with no significant changes in total cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure.

CONCLUSION
Cardiovascular risk factors present inequalities attributed to social status manifesting at both national and regional levels.


very different patient groups, revealed a similar ED,, dose for pancuronium (62.2 and 64.4 pg/kg), but different ED,, values for vecuronium (56.2 and 36.1 pg/kg). Kong and Cooper chose to use the smaller dose, yet their patients received 60 pg/kg of vecuronium. Krieg et a1.l point out that a bolus dose of 36 pg/kg vecuronium produced a neuromuscular block of only 79% in their study, but this is increased by the prior use of suxamethonium. This accounts for the different values between the two reports. Cumulative log-dose response curves may also produce lower values for the ED,, dose when compared to the clinical use of a single bolus dose. In my practice a dose of 80 pg/kg vecuronium gives good, rapid intubation conditions, as suggested by Agoston et aL3 who found complete vocal cord relaxation in 9&100 seconds. Reversal of this dose after laparoscopy seems to cause no problem. The use of smaller doses of relaxant probably depends upon a prolonged period of mask ventilation with a volatile agent to achieve tracheal intubation which may not be advisable in some patient groups (i.e. day cases). Kong and Cooper reported a higher incidence of sore throat in the patients given vecuronium which may reflect the relatively small dose given. In comparison those given alcuronium (250 pg/kg) had a lower incidence of sore throat, but the most prolonged deficits in the measurements of postoperative muscle strength. This comparison may be unfair since the study referred to for the assessment of ED,, doses' suggests a dose of only 140.8 pg/kg for alcuronium, nearly half of that used. However, the superiority of the newer muscle relaxants over alcuronium for short procedures such as laparoscopy must surely be intuitively correct.


Water-surface-elevation profiles and peak discharges for the floods of July 12, 1972, March 19, 1979, and June 15, 1991, in the Turkey River Basin, northeast Iowa, are presented in this report. The profiles illustrate the 1979 and 1991 floods along the Turkey River in Fayette and Clayton Counties and along the Volga River in Clayton County; the 1991 flood along Roberts Creek in Clayton County and along Otter Creek in Fayette County; and the 1972 flood along the Turkey River in Winneshiek and Fayette Counties. Water-surface elevations for the flood of March 19, 1979, were collected by the Iowa Natural Resources Council. The June 15, 1991, flood on the Turkey River at Garber (station number 05412500) is the largest known flood-peak discharge at the streamflow-gaging station for the period 1902-95. The peak discharge for June 15, 1991, of 49,900 cubic feet per second was 1.4 times larger than the 100-year recurrence-interval discharge. The report provides information on flood stages and discharges and floodflow frequencies for streamflow-gaging stations in the Turkey River Basin using flood information collected during 1902-95. Information on temporary benchmarks and reference points established in the Turkey River Basin during 1981, 1992, and 1996 also is included in the report. A flood history describes rainfall conditions for floods that occurred during 1922, 1947, 1972, 1979, and 1991.


The schooling structure of Pakistan, in terms of quality education and knowledge having the lowest ranking position in the globe. Several reasons can be held to blame for this state of affairs.i.e the quality of learning and competency level of both students and teachers in Pakistan is among the poorest in the region. One of the reasons is the low level of educational qualifications required to become a primary school teacher. Another is the quality of teacher certification programs, which suffers from the lack of adequately trained trainers, little emphasis on teaching practice and non-existence of proper support/monitoring system for teachers. Teacher and its role is one of these rudiments. Because teacher is key part of the schooling and learning progression, which faces diverse tribulations owing to which they cannot play their roles efficiently in the education process. This ongoing text is based on a systematic analysis of the on hand text, decisively analyses the tribulations faced by female primary school teachers in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. Conclusion of this present on hand study reveals that teachers are not as much should be provoked towards teaching occupation, due to their appointments, transfers, place of posting and individual promotions, rapid rate of bribery and political affiliations and interference relatively than on merit. In many cases female teachers are appointed in inaccessible areas, where they not only faced with lodging and transport tribulations. The on hand study in additional establish that female teachers are overburdened with additional classes due to lack of teaching staff in primary schools, especially on one side female teachers face huge shortage of teaching and learning resources in schools and on the other side there are smaller amount proficient development opportunities for all teachers especially for female teachers. These few mentioned factors have very much affected the procedure of schooling and education in schools. The on hand study recommends that the problems of female teachers could be resolved to somehow by establishing an atmosphere of faith and intensification the system of answerability, on condition that schooling and education assets to female primary schools, providing ongoing proficient advancement opportunities and incentives to those devoted female teachers, making transparent appointments system and making clear promotions procedure just on merit, making arrangement for providing enough teaching and non teaching staff to female primary schools and rooting out the evil of political interference and involvement.


The purpose of this research is to examine and analyze the effects of Current Ratio (CR), Debt to Asset Ratio (DR), Debt to Equity Ratio (DER), Return On Asset (ROE), Net Profit Margin (NPM), dan Total Assets Turnover (TATO) simultaneously and partially to the changes of earnings of fishery companies that listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange and the period is 2011-2015. The method of this study is multiple linear regression method. The results of regression analysis showed that Current Ratio, Debt to Asset Ratio, Debt to Equity Ratio, Return On Asset, Net Profit Margin, dan Total Asset Turnover variables have no effect on changes of earnings. The result of determination analysis shows 0.537, it means that 53.7% of changes of earnings variable can be predicted by combination of four variables of financial ratio. While 46.3% of changes of earnings can be predicted by other factor like politic or economic situation in the domicile of companies.
Keywords: changes of earnings, current ratio, debt to asset ratio, debt to equity ratio, return on asset, net profit margin, total asset turn over.


The sane, vigorous and manly Christianity of the well-known author of "Our Country," "The New Era," etc., finds fit and felicitous expression in this admirable hooklet. The experience 3Jl1d message it voices may confidently he counted on to arouse thought, deepen reflection and irnspire a hopeful view of the future of religion in our great republic in this crowning century-this "age on ages telling."


We study fair machine learning (ML) under predictive uncertainty to enable reliable and trustworthy decision-making. The seminal work of ``equalized coverage'' proposed an uncertainty-aware fairness notion. However, it does not guarantee equal coverage rates across more fine-grained groups (e.g., low-income females) conditioning on the true label and is biased in the assessment of uncertainty. To tackle these limitations, we propose a new uncertainty-aware fairness -- Equal Opportunity of Coverage (EOC) -- that aims to achieve two properties: (1) coverage rates for different groups with similar outcomes are close, and (2) the coverage rate for the entire population remains at a predetermined level. Further, the prediction intervals should be narrow to be informative. We propose Binned Fair Quantile Regression (BFQR), a distribution-free post-processing method to improve EOC with reasonable width for any trained ML models. It first calibrates a hold-out set to bound deviation from EOC, then leverages conformal prediction to maintain EOC on a test set, meanwhile optimizing prediction interval width. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in improving EOC. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/fangxin-wang/bfqr .


The use of e-voting for the elections to the Austrian Federation of students (Hochschülerinnen und Hochschülerschaftswahlen) was one of the most sophisticated Austrian e-government projects in 2009. The task was to complement the paper based voting with an electronic voting channel in order to create new opportunities to vote. Together with the implementation of e-voting the legal basis of the federation of students was adapted to include an electronic election administration. The discussion around e-voting was rather controversial with clear pro and contra positions. This first of a kind implementation of e-voting in Austria was technically successful. Almost 1% (2.161) of the eligible students cast their votes electronically between 18 and 22 of May 2009. For identification and authentication, they used the citizen card (the Austrian model of a smart card with digital signature) and a suitable smartcard-reader device, which was handed out for free. The anonymity was performed by using a cryptographic protocol in the postvoting phase, similar to a paper based postal voting procedure. The e-voting servers were placed in two data centers of the Federal Computing Centre (Bundesrechenzentrum) to allow for fail-safe operation. While the discussion around e-voting was rather controversial with clear pro and con positions, and marked a first nation-wide discussion around remote voting in general. For future uses of e-voting in Austria the penetration of identification and authentication means has to be raised as well as a more positive atmosphere amongst the stakeholders has to be reached.


Insulating materials were prepared by microsilica, silica aerogels and quartz fibers as raw materials, water glass as binder, and molded by the semi-dry method. In this paper, the effects of the addtion amount of silica aerogels on mechanical properties and microstructure of insulating materials were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to characterize the phase composition and scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to characterize the microstructure of the materials. The results show that when the silica aerogels content was at 40%, the material had the best properties in present study of true porosity of 45.9%, flexural strength of 5.0MPa and compressive strength of 37.9MPa, respectively.


Research Findings: National policy today is on the brink of defining preschool experiences as essential for children's academic success. Indeed, many children's classroom experience begins as they transition from infant/toddler care to a preschool classroom. This study examined developmentally relevant skill domains among 36-month-olds (effortful control, social engagement, and language abilities) and tested their organization in a latent factor model of skills hypothesized to promote classroom adaptation. Assessments of low-income children interacting with a parent and examiner from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project were utilized (n = 1,814). The data included observations of mother–child interactions during semistructured activities at home and child behavior assessments. Results indicated that the interrelated structure of children's skills was best defined in a 2-factor, latent variable model: effortful control and social communication. These learning skills were related to but separate from general cognitive ability. Practice or Policy: Home-visiting programs for infants and toddlers are expected to promote children's school readiness, yet little research has focused on the skills that facilitate children's transition to the large-group learning environment at age 3. Implications of this model for early prevention efforts and early childhood teacher training to promote children's readiness for group-based learning are discussed.


Mobisaic is a World Wide Web information system designed to serve users in a mobile wireless computing environment. Mobisaic extends the Web by allowing documents to both refer and react to potentially changzng contextual information, such as current location in the wireless network. Mobisaic relies on clientside processing of HTML documents that support two new concepts: Dynamic Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and Active Documents. A dynamic URL is one whose results depend upon the state of the user's mobile context at the time it is resolved, An active document is one that automatically updates its contents in response to changes in a user's mobile context. This paper describes the design of Mobisaic, the mechanism it uses for representing a user's mobile content. and the extensions made to the syntax and function of Uniform Resource Locators and HyperText Markup Language documents to support mobility.


Fast Track to ColdFusion provides experienced web developers with the knowledge and hands-on practice they need to start building and maintaining dynamic and interactive Web applications using the ColdFusion application server. With over 25 hands-on exercises, this coursebook covers everything that you need to know in order to start building secure, scalable, dynamic, data-driven web sites as well as implement REST APIs to support mobile apps. This coursebook was authored by Fig Leaf Software, based on their decades of practical ColdFusion consulting experiences. Chapters: Unit 1: Introducing the Course Unit 2: Introducing ColdFusion Reviewing ColdFusion's Features and Capabilities Introducing the ColdFusion Administrator Working with ColdFusion Builder Debugging and Troubleshooting your Apps Unit 3: Getting Started with CFML Working with Variables Commenting Code Using Functions Creating Functions Using Control Logic Including Common Code Unit 4: Using the Application Framework Defining an Application Implementing ColdFusion Components Implementing Roles-Based Security Unit 5: Querying Databases Using to retrieve data Implementing Query by Example Interfaces Inserting New Records Supporting File Uploads Updating Existing Records Deleting Data Invoking Stored Procedures Unit 6: Dynamically Generating Office Documents Generating PDFs Generating Microsoft Excel Files Sending Email Unit 7: Supporting Mobile Apps with RESTful APIs Exposing Services for Remote Access Implementing a RESTful API Implementing Real-Time Communications with WebSockets


National Heritage Area Act of 2012 - Establishes a system of National Heritage Areas through which the Secretary of the Interior may provide technical and financial assistance to local coordinating entities to support the establishment, development, and continuity of the National Heritage Areas. Provides for such system to be composed of National Heritage Areas designated by Congress before enactment of this Act or under this Act. Prohibits National Heritage Areas from being: (1) considered to be units of the National Park System, or (2) subject to the authorities applicable to such units. Specifies the criteria that the Secretary shall apply to determine the suitability and feasibility of designating proposed National Heritage Areas. States that designation of a National Heritage Area shall be by Act of Congress and contingent on the prior completion of a management plan and an affirmative determination by the Secretary that the area meets such criteria. Sets forth requirements for National Heritage Area management plans.


This chapter argues that Beckett's dramas written for television (from Eh Joe in 1966 to Nacht und Traume in 1983) work as reflexive analyses of television technology's uneasy position as an "old" and also a "new" medium. The history of television can be written by describing processes of co-option of aesthetic features and processes deriving from "old" media, like theatre and figurative painting, which are visible in Beckett's staging of dramatic action and TV image composition, for example. But television also works through its differentiation from antecedent or competing media, its diversification into a wide range of genres, modes and forms, and its repudiation of features associated with its competitors. These aspects are visible in the ways that Beckett's television dramas manipulate or refuse conventions of characterization, narrative, visual pleasure or entertainment. The chapter proposes a series of specific ways that Beckett's TV dramas cite past forms anachronistically and innovate by refusing them. For example, their temporality of apparent liveness links the dramas to technologies for relaying live theatre, but none of the dramas was shot "live". Beckett's experience with filmmaking, on Film (1964) and Comedie (1966), connects his television work with cinematic concerns with framing and point of view. But his work for television also disrespects conventions of filmic storytelling, and the diegetic relationship of sound to image, for example, questioning the experience of spectatorship. By analyzing the aesthetic implementation of television technologies in Beckett's dramas the chapter argues that they innovate by processes of assimilation, repudiation and displacement.


This chapter introduces a dynamic and low-complexity decision-making algorithm which aims at time-average utility maximization in real-time deep learning platforms, inspired by Lyapunov optimization. In deep learning computation, large delays can happen due to the fact that it is computationally expensive. Thus, handling the delays is an important issue for the commercialization of deep learning algorithms. In this chapter, the proposed algorithm observes system delays at first formulated by queue-backlog, and then it dynamically conducts sequential decision-making under the tradeoff between utility (i.e., deep learning performance) and system delays. In order to evaluate the proposed decision-making algorithm, the performance evaluation results with real-world data are presented under the applications of super-resolution frameworks. Lastly, this chapter summarizes that the Lyapunov optimization algorithm can be used in various emerging applications.


Recent studies have demonstrated that maintaining task-sets in working memory (WM) for prospective implementation can interfere with performance on an intervening task when the same stimulus requires incompatible responses in the ongoing versus the prospective task. This prospective task-set interference effect has previously been conceptualized as an obligatory process, resulting from instruction-based reflexivity (IBR). However, the extent to which strategic control can be exerted over interference in ongoing behavior from prospective task-sets held in WM has heretofore not been tested directly. To probe for strategic control over this effect, the authors conducted 3 experiments using a common inducer-diagnostic task design that manipulated the proportion compatibility of trials in the ongoing task. They hypothesized that if prospective task-set interference were malleable by control, participants would suppress the influence of the prospective set on ongoing processing when incompatible trials are frequent. Consistent with this prediction, the results show that prospective task-set interference is subject to modulation by strategic control such that the magnitude of interference is reduced, eliminated, or reversed in the presence of frequent incompatible trials. Thus, the influence on ongoing behavior of a prospective task-set held in WM is not obligatory, but subject to strategic control.


Abstract With the increasing number of patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis, the UK National Health Service is considering introducing a new treatment option that would focus on lifestyle changes. This study aims to develop a novel model that could serve as a tool to estimate the impact of such an intervention on treatment outcomes. In collaboration with the Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Larbert, United Kingdom, the model was formulated as a system dynamics simulation model and was built using Insight Maker, a web-based modelling tool. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to employ system dynamics to tackle this problem. The simulations were run for several configurations to better understand the potential impact of advanced lifestyle treatment under various scenarios. The results for the most expected scenario suggest that introducing advanced lifestyle treatment would increase the average number of recovered patients by 4%, and reduce the average numbers of temporarily disabled, permanently disabled and deceased patients by 21%, 9% and 4%, respectively. The results also reveal that even with low advanced lifestyle treatment acceptance rates, the treatment outcomes could improve without any changes to current resources.


Abstract China's great power ambition and actions have been fuelled by its spectacular economic growth and military modernization. The need to sustain the economy and energy flow makes the East and South China seas vital to it. Its vulnerabilities also lie on its seaboard. To dominate the maritime spaces, it needs to own the contiguous airspace as well. The prescient Chinese leadership has transformed its Air Force into a strategic instrument of power, to protect its economic lifelines, geo-political interests and regional dominance. An analysis of the PLAAF's transformation and its employment philosophy provides insights into how it has leveraged airpower for furthering its strategic interests.


To the Editor: Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a cytotoxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus that causes leukocyte destruction and tissue necrosis (1). Although produced by <5% of S. aureus strains, the toxin is detected in large percentages of isolates that cause necrotic skin lesions and severe necrotizing pneumonia (2). Although commonly associated with community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) (3), several outbreaks due to methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) have also been reported (4–6). We describe an outbreak of cutaneous infections caused by PVL-producing MSSA that affected 6 of 11 members of 2 related families.

During a period of 6 months, a cluster of S. aureus skin and soft tissue infections occurred in 2 families in Jerusalem, Israel, that were related through the mothers, who are sisters. The event started with the 4-year-old boy of family A, who had 5 episodes of skin infections, including 2 episodes of perianal abscesses that required drainage and hospitalization. Culture of pus grew MSSA that was resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin. Subsequently, recurrent abscesses and cellulitis developed in the boy's father's legs, and his mother had severe periorbital cellulitis that required hospitalization and surgical drainage. Approximately 1 month later, a 9-year-old boy in family B had severe cellulitis and abscess around his knee that required hospitalization and surgical drainage. Subsequently, infections developed in 2 more children in family B: 1 had a finger pulp-space infection and the other cellulitis of the lower abdomen. All pus cultures grew S. aureus with identical susceptibility patterns. The cases are summarized in the Table.

Table

Clinical and microbiologic data of the outbreak*

Following these events, the families consulted the infectious diseases clinic at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem. Since the clinical isolates were not available, nasal cultures were obtained from all family members. S. aureus was isolated from all the affected members of family A and from the parents and the 2 boys in family B. All 7 isolates were subjected to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after digestion with SmaI. All except 1 had identical band patterns and the same antimicrobial drug susceptibilities as the clinical isolates. The presence of PVL genes was examined by PCR as previously described (2) and was detected only in the isolates with identical PFGE patterns. The families were advised to apply mupirocin nasal ointment twice a day for 5 days and to bathe with 4% chlorhexidine scrub for 1 week (7). At 7 months of follow-up, no new cases of skin infection had occurred in either family. An epidemiologic investigation was undertaken by the local department of health to determine if 3 kindergartens and 2 schools attended by the 7 children had an increased incidence of staphylococcal skin disease. No evidence of unusual disease was found.

We describe here the first confirmed cases of PVL-producing S. aureus infections in Israel. Maier et al (8) recently described 2 cases of similar infections that occurred in German tourists after visiting the Dead Sea area, but since these infections were caused by MRSA, it is probable that the isolates were genetically distinct from the strain described here. In addition, to the best of our knowledge this is the first description of transmission of PVL-producing MSSA between related families. Previous reports described community-related outbreaks that occurred within families (6,8,9), between schoolmates (4), and between football team players (10). The exact route of transmission was not identified in some of these cases but it was presumed to have been close contact leading to skin (10) or nasal (4) colonization and subsequent active infection. In our report, the PVL-producing S. aureus clone was detected in nasal cultures in 6 of the 11 members of the 2 families. In this niche, it was able to persist and cause a series of infections in a relatively large number of family members. Even though the S. aureus isolated from active lesions were not available for testing, the recovery of identical PVL-positive organisms from nasal cultures strongly suggests the presence of a pathogenic clone that probably caused the recurrent infections in the 6 affected family members. Our investigation highlights the high transmissibility of this PVL-producing S. aureus clone, its high attack rate, and its virulence. The intervention in this outbreak might have prevented not only subsequent recurrences of cutaneous infections but also further spread of this clone and the manifestation of even more serious infections such as necrotizing pneumonia. Increasing awareness among community-based healthcare providers of PVL-producing S. aureus infections is important to facilitate rapid and adequate response in similar clinical events in the future.


This paper develops a theoretical framework to think about employees' effort choices, and applies this framework to assess the ability of existing laboratory designs to identify the effect of pay inequality on worker effort. The analysis shows that failure to control for a number of confounds—such as reciprocity towards the employer in multi-lateral gift-exchange games (vertical fairness), or the incentive to increase effort when feeling underpaid under piece rates (income targeting)—may lead to inaccurate interpretation of evidence of treatment effects. In light of these findings, the paper provides a set of recommendations on how to improve identification in the design of laboratory experiments in the future.


Background: In routine practice, observational registries may show retention rates of tumor necrosis factor inhibitor drugs in rheumatoid arthritis. The objective of this study was to comparetumor necrosis factor inhibitor regarding the drug survival rate in RA patients.
Methods: Hacettepe University Rheumatology Biologic Registry is a single center biological registry since 2005. Data collected includes demographic data, switch ratio, baseline and follow-up disease activity parameters (if available). Patients with lost of follow-up searched regarding to last tumor necrosis factor inhibitor prescription date either local computer system or national social security institution database. Beginning and last date of tumor necrosis factor inhibitor were noted from those systems. First tumor necrosis factor inhibitordrug switch date (either adverse event or inefficacy) was accepted as main variable for drug survival. Kaplan-Meier plots and log rank tests were used to assess drug survival.
Results: Hacettepe University Rheumatology Biologic Registry includes 653 patients 77.9% was female.  Mean age was 50±13 years and mean disease duration was 10.5±8.2 years. First tumor necrosis factor inhibitor drugs were etanercept 318 (48.7%), adalimumab 219 (33.5%) and infliximab 116 (17.8%). Patients were divided as regularly follow-up (either first biological drugs or another biological drugs) 455 (69.7%), lost of follow-up 144 (22.1%), drug cessation 36 (5.5%), exitus 18 (2.7%) Patients with etanercept had better drug retention than monoclonal antibodies (log rank p=0.014).
Conclusion: In this single center observational registry, etanercept had better drug retention rate than monoclonal antibodies. On the other hand, certain confounder factors such as baseline disease activity, functional status, and socioeconomic status were not known in whole patients, thus our results should evaluate in this limitation.
Key Words: Rheumatoid arthritis, Tumor necrosis factor inhibitor tumor necrosis factor inhibitor drugs, drug retention rate.


This study investigated the role of executive function in relation to aggression in a sample of children (N = 93) aged 9 to 15 years. Based on parent ratings of aggression, the sample was divided into low- (n = 66) and high- (n = 27) aggression groups. Although the groups did not differ significantly on laboratory measures of executive function, significant differences emerged on behavioral regulation and metacognition ratings by parents. Notably, a high level of behavioral dysregulation was predictive of placement in the high-aggression group; both good metacognitive skills and behavior regulation served as significant predictors of prosocial and adaptive skills.


BACKGROUND
The International (formerly National) Bariatric Surgery Registry began collecting data in January 1986. The aim of this study was to examine changes in the practice of surgical treatment of severe obesity that occurred during the decade of 1986 through 1995, as observed in the IBSR data.

METHODS
All data submitted to the IBSR during the decade were transferred to the IBM mainframe computer for analysis. Characteristics of operative type populations were compared over time using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for age, body mass index (BMI), operative weight and Chi-square (chi2) test for gender.

RESULTS
There has been a steady increase over the decade in mean patient weight. The operations used have changed from predominantly 'simple' operations to more frequent use of 'complex' operations. Within the categories of 'simple' and 'complex', an increase in the variety of operations occurred. As a group, patients with 'simple' operations have been heavier, more often male and public pay patients than those who have undergone 'complex' operations. One year weight loss was greater for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RGB) than vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), but follow-up rates were too low to study the relative merits of the operations used. The reported incidence of operative mortality and serious complications (leak with peritonitis, abscess and pulmonary embolism) remained low.

CONCLUSIONS
These observations and their implications can be summarized in three statements which relate to action for improved patient care in the beginning of the new century: (1) increasing weight of candidates for surgical treatment during this decade indicates the need for earlier use of operative treatment before irreversible complications of obesity can develop; (2) low risk of obesity surgery, decreasing postoperative hospital stay, and early weight control support the continued and increased use of surgical treatment; (3) continued widespread use of both 'simple' and 'complex' operations with increased modifications of standard RGB and VBG procedures emphasizes the need for standardized long-term data and analyses regarding both weight control and postoperative side-effects.


Three MAbs, MLuC2, MLuC8 and MLuC9, directed against a molecule that is produced and secreted by carcinoma cells were studied with the aim of developing a double-determinant immunoradiometric assay (DDIRMA). We demonstrated by means of immunoblotting, immunodepletion and DDIRMA techniques, that MLuC9 reacted against the CEA molecule, whereas MLuC2 and MLuC8 reacted against a 90 Kd molecule related to CEA. The DDIRMA performed with the anti-CEA as a catcher MAb and the anti-90 Kd as a tracer MAb was found to be positive with the HT29 soluble extract, which suggests the existence of CEA/90 Kd dimeric molecules. The same reactivity was found when sera from patients with lung carcinomas were tested, which excludes that this molecule could be an artefact due to the cell solubilization procedures. The association between CEA and the 90 Kd molecule was further confirmed by immunodepletion experiments in which the immunoprecipitation with one MAb not only removed the recognized molecule, but also partially immunodepleted the material from the other.


With the aim of suggesting recommendations regarding the practical implementation of sweeteners from a nutritional point of view for different groups of consumers, based on present scientific knowledge, the Swedish Nutrition Foundation (SNF) arranged a workshop focusing on the use of sugars and sweeteners in relation to obesity, diabetes, dental health, appetite, reward and addiction. The discussions and conclusions are summarized in this article. It was concluded that restrictions to keep the intake of refined sugars within the recommendations (10E%) should be achieved by limited intake of foods high in sugars, e.g. sweet drinks and candies, rather than other foods that provide less significant amounts of sugars. From a practical point of view it may be useful to restrict the intake of foods high in sugars, especially drinks, to a small amount and to a limited number of occasions, e.g. once or twice a week. Regarding sweeteners, the present intake is considered t
 o be safe from a toxicological point of view. Non-caloric intense sweeteners may be useful for lowering the energy content of liquid and semi-solid foods. Sweeteners may also provide tooth-friendly alternatives within certain food categories, but do not reduce the erosive potential of acidic foods. Keywords: appetite; dental health; diabetes; obesity; reward; weight regulation


Microfinance development is one of the avenues that can potentially promote performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) especially in developing nations. Despite the development, MSEs continue to suffer from high levels of financial exclusion as well as low participation in microfinance. In the period 2011-2016, at least 2.2 million businesses closed largely due to financial exclusion and shortage of operating funds. In addition, only about 25% of the firms used microfinance credit in the year 2015. This level of usage is considered low in light of the microfinance developments that have taken place in the last decade. Therefore, an understanding of factors that affect participation of MSEs in microfinance is necessary for designing policies and products towards promoting greater participation in microfinance. This is because MSEs are key contributors of income and employment to the economy. Studies on determinants of participation have tended to focus on the household and not MSEs. This study drew data from the 2016 FINACCESS data set and estimated the determinants using a probit model. The results revealed that, age of firm owner, tertiary education level, financial literacy level, numeracy level, ownership of radio, possession of business permit and age of firm are some of the key determinants of participation in microfinance. It is therefore suggested that government and microfinance providers should encourage and upscale financial literacy programmes so as to influence greater participation in microfinance. In addition, the government should create incentives that will increase acquisition of permits and licences by MSEs.


The cell line AG-F was isolated from the marrow of a neuroblastoma patient undergoing myeloablative treatment and autologous bone marrow rescue. A year later, the patient developed a Hodgkin's type lymphoma. AG-F cell line demonstrated an unusual phenotype, lacking surface CD2 and CD3, but expressing high levels of CD4, CD5, CD7, CD29, and CD45RO. Markers associated with Hodgkin's lymphoma cells, CD15 and CD30, were also positive. AG-F cells grow in suspension in clusters of 50-200 cells, with a doubling time of 9 h. They can also grow in serum-free medium and form tumors in nude mice. AG-F cells have amplified N-myc and c-myc and high levels of the corresponding mRNA transcripts. Cytogenetic analysis revealed a DNA index by flow cytometry of near tetraploid cells and a karyotype of 85-87 chromosomes, with consistent abnormalities in chromosomes 1, 5, and 9. Gene rearrangement studies revealed rearrangement of the beta gene of the T-cell receptor. AG-F cells secrete high levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and GM-CSF. Cell adherence and formation of long processes could be induced by fibronectin and were enhanced by exposure to PMA. Cells exposed to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) had increased expression of CD11a, CD11b, CD18, CD45RO, and HLA-DR, whereas expression of CD15 and CD30 was markedly decreased. Similarly, the level of c-myc and N-myc oncoproteins and the levels of the cytoskeletal proteins, actin, tubulin, and vimentin markedly decreased early after PMA-induced differentiation.


We examined two commercially available St. John's wort extracts and some of their constituents for their potential in inducing rat cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzyme activities after oral administration. None of the extracts or pure constituents tested enhanced the hepatic cytochrome content or the activity of cytochrome P450 isozymes in rat liver microsomes. Our results demonstrated that the reported interactions between St. John's Wort and various other drugs are not mediated by CYP 450 isoforms present in rat liver.


The article aims to respond to the lack of studies on the relationships between contemporary visual arts and VR, focusing on the role of "storytelling" and identifying what distinguishes VR art projects from other contemporary VR uses, namely their criticism of the VR medium itself. VR has developed a new language in the last five years, based on specific visual grammar and allowing new narration forms. Visual artists have been attracted to VR in search of new modes of production and expose the negative impact of technology in our perception of reality, or else the new mediated ways of seeing and distanced interaction with the world around us. The first part is dedicated to the discussion of Canadian artist Jon Rafman's View of Pariser Platz (2016) and American artist Jordan Wolfson's Real Violence (2017), two of the first Oculus Rift-based art installations to develop a metalinguistic commentary on how VR, although promising immersion, produces, in fact, alienation, homogenization, brutalization and the loss of empathy. The article continues with a discussion on the recent rise of tech companies aimed at the production of contemporary artworks based on VR technology: Acute Art (London), Khora Contemporary (Copenhagen), and VIVE Arts (Taiwan). This is a new expanding field that is changing the ontology of artmaking and redefining the artist's role, mainly in light of the cooperation with technicians and programmers.


Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies are currently delivered mainly via the intravenous route, since large volumes are often required to deliver a therapeutic dose. Administration via the subcutaneous route would have several therapeutic advantages; the absorption mechanisms for antibodies dosed subcutaneously are poorly understood. This study was conducted to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms governing the subcutaneous absorption and trafficking of monoclonal antibodies. Specifically, the role of the lymphatic system in the absorption and prolonged plasma exposure of trastuzumab was explored in thoracic lymph duct-cannulated rats after SC and IV dosing. A population pharmacokinetic model was developed in S-ADAPT to simultaneously fit all plasma and lymph concentrations and to predict the pharmacokinetics in nonlymph duct-cannulated animals. The estimated absolute bioavailability of trastuzumab after SC administration in rats was 85.5%. Following SC administration, 53.1% of the trastuzumab dose was absorbed via a first-order process (mean absorption time: 99.6 h) into the peripheral lymph compartment and 32.4% of the dose was absorbed by a Michaelis-Menten process into the central compartment. Recovery in thoracic lymph over 30 h was 26.7% after SC and 44.1% after IV administration. This study highlights for the first time the significant role of the lymphatic system in maintaining the long plasma exposure of trastuzumab, with the model predicting an extensive distribution of this monoclonal antibody into the lymph following SC and IV administration. This extensive direct absorption from the SC injection site into lymph may enable novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of lymph resident metastatic cancer.


OBJECTIVE
To compare 3-year survival, length of hospitalization, perioperative mortality, risk of readmission, and residual disease associated with laparoscopic and laparotomic interval debulking surgery among women with epithelial ovarian cancer.

METHODS
We used the National Cancer Database to identify a cohort of patients diagnosed with stage IIIC and IV epithelial ovarian cancer between 2010 and 2012 who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and interval debulking surgery. We compared 3-year overall survival, duration of postoperative hospitalization, 90-day postoperative mortality, and residual disease status between women who underwent interval debulking by laparoscopy and by laparotomy. We used the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression models in survival analyses. At a significance of .05, this study had 80% power to detect an 8% difference in 3-year survival. The main analysis was intention to treat.

RESULTS
We identified 3,071 women meeting inclusion criteria, of whom 450 (15%) underwent surgery initiated laparoscopically. There was no difference in 3-year survival between patients undergoing laparoscopy [47.5%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 41.4-53.5] and laparotomy (52.6%; 95% CI 50.3-55.0; P=.12). Survival did not differ after adjustment for demographic characteristics, facility type, presence of comorbidities, and stage (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.09; 95% CI 0.93-1.28; P=.26). Postoperative hospitalization was slightly shorter in the laparoscopy group (median 4 compared with 5 days, P<.001). Frequency of readmission (5.3% compared with 3.7%; P=.26), death within 90 days of surgery (2.8% compared with 2.9%, P=.93), and suboptimal debulking (20.6% compared with 22.6%, P=.29) did not differ between patients undergoing laparoscopy and laparotomy.

CONCLUSION
Ovarian cancer patients selected for laparoscopic interval debulking surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy have 3-year survival rates similar to women who undergo interval debulking by laparotomy. Laparoscopy is associated with a modestly shorter postoperative hospitalization, whereas readmission rates and risk of perioperative death are similar for the surgeries.


Along the rapid development of Information and communication technology (ICT) tools and growth of Internet access offer opportunities that facilitate teaching and learning activities in the context of higher education. However, the study of ICTs readiness and acceptance in Somalia higher education is meagre. This research aims to examine the current state of ICT readiness among university students and explores the factors that affect their readiness acceptance. It proposes an extended model, based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which explains how University students' beliefs influence their readiness to accept ICT applications in their learning. Survey responses of 304 students from undergraduate and Graduate in Somalia higher education were collected and analyzed using structural equation modelling. The results of the data analysis demonstrated that the TAM explained university students' readiness acceptance of ICT applications reasonably well. More specifically, perceived usefulness, Ease of Use, ICT Selfefficacy, Teaching-Learning autonomy, Student's Optimism and Availability of ICT infrastructure are robust predictors of Students ICT readiness acceptance. Results also showed that internet affordability, network speed and quality, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity do not have a meaningful effect on perceived usefulness and Ease of Use towards ICT readiness acceptance. Through the empirical results, this study helped us understand why students choose to engage in ICT applications for their learning context.


Musical information retrieval (MIR) applications have become an interesting topic both for researchers and commercial applications. The majority of the current knowledge on MIR is based on Western music. However, traditional genres, such as Classical Turkish Music (CTM), have great structural differences compared with Western music. Then, the validity of the current knowledge on this subject must be checked on such genres. Through this work, a MIR application that simulates the human music processing system based on CTM is proposed. To achieve this goal, first mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) and delta-MFCCs, which are the most frequent features used in audio applications, were used as features. In the last few years deep belief networks (DBNs) have become promising classifiers for sound classification problems. To confirm this statement, the classification accuracies of four probability theory-based neural networks, namely radial basis function networks, generalized regression neural networks, probabilistic neural networks, and support vector machines, were compared to the DBN. Our results show that the DBN outperforms the others.


This paper presents a closed-form analytical technique for analyzing surface PM machines equipped with fractional-slot concentrated windings. Since this class of winding configuration deviates significantly from conventional sinusoidal distributions, classical steady-state phasor or dq analytical techniques cannot be used to provide accurate results. The presented analytical model provides a fast and reliable method to analyze and compare candidate machine designs. Stator slotting effects are taken into consideration and a wide range of concentrated winding configurations can be analyzed. This technique is capable of analyzing the machine both below (constant-torque) and above (flux-weakening) base speed. Average torque, cogging torque, and ripple torque are all evaluated. Analytical results are verified using finite element analysis.


ABSTRACT Apparent changes in lung nodule size assessed via simple image-based measurements from computed tomography (CT) images may be compromised by the effect of the background lung tissue deformation on the nodule, leading to erroneous nodule tracking. We propose a feature-based affine registration method and study its performance vis-a-vis several other registration methods. We implement and test each registration method using a lung- and a lesion-centred region of interest on 10 patient CT datasets featuring 12 nodules. We evaluate each registration method according to the target registration error (TRE) computed across 30–50 homologous fiducial landmarks selected by expert radiologists. Our results show that the proposed feature-based affine lesion-centred registration yielded a 1.11.2 mm TRE, while a Symmetric Normalisation deformable registration yielded a 1.21.2 mm TRE, with a baseline least-square fit of the validation fiducial landmarks of 1.51.2 mm TRE. The proposed feature-based affine registration is computationally efficient, eliminates the need for nodule segmentation, and reduces the susceptibility of artificial deformations. We also conducted a pilot pre-clinical study that showed the proposed feature-based lesion-centred affine registration effectively compensates for the background lung tissue deformation and serves as a reliable baseline registration method prior to assessing lung nodule changes due to disease.


A novel sintering process is proposed for bonding of BaTiO3 and Al2O3 layers. Common commercial glass was used and infilterated among filler particles. As the kind of commercial glass, the phenomenon of the infilteration is different. Although Sud-1140 glass forms a glass/filler composite, it is not completely infilterated into the filler particles at 900°C. However as the increase of sintering temperature the infilteration of glass was improved. In this study, GA-1 and GA-12 glasses were infilterated the more than Sud-1140 glass. However, they are reacted by BaTiO3 layer. The results of the experiment show that constrained sintering and the co-firing of the different materials were possible for glass infilteration using Sud-1140 glass at 1000°C.


CoFe2O4@MnFe2O4, with a mixed core-shell structure was fabricated by a high temperature thermal decomposition. From the Rietveld refinement, these nanoparticles were found to be cubic spinel with space group Fd-3m and with a Bragg factor (RB) and a structure factor (RF) less than 5%. The size and the shape of the nanoparticles were examined with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The values of the magnetization (MS) and the coercivity (HC) of these nanoparticles at room temperature were 78.95 emu/g and 21.2 mT, respectively. The effect of hyperthermia, measured with a magneTherm device showed that the self-heating temperature of the nanoparticles could reach 133 °C. To determine the applicability of nanoparticles in hyperthermia therapy, we evaluated the in-vitro cell viability of nanoparticles. Based on the probability distribution of cations, we determined the Mössbauer spectra at 4.2 K with two sets of six lines under various applied fields parallel to the direction of the γ-rays. To separate the A and the B sites, we also obtained the Mössbauer spectra of the nanoparticles under high external field up to 5 T at 4.2 K. From the detailed analysis of the Mössbauer spectra, the spin canting angles and the anisotropy energies at the A and the B sites were determined.


Dimensionality reduction of empirical co-occurrence data is a fundamental problem in unsupervised learning. It is also a well studied problem in statistics known as the analysis of cross-classified data. One principled approach to this problem is to represent the data in low dimension with minimal loss of (mutual) information contained in the original data. In this paper we introduce an information theoretic nonlinear method for finding such a most informative dimension reduction. In contrast with previously introduced clustering based approaches, here we extract continuous feature functions directly from the co-occurrence matrix. In a sense, we automatically extract functions of the variables that serve as approximate sufficient statistics for a sample of one variable about the other one. Our method is different from dimensionality reduction methods which are based on a specific, sometimes arbitrary, metric or embedding. Another interpretation of our method is as generalized - multi-dimensional - non-linear regression, where rather than fitting one regression function through two dimensional data, we extract d-regression functions whose expectation values capture the information among the variables. It thus presents a new learning paradigm that unifies aspects from both supervised and unsupervised learning. The resulting dimension reduction can be described by two conjugate d-dimensional differential manifolds that are coupled through Maximum Entropy I-projections. The Riemannian metrics of these manifolds are determined by the observed expectation values of our extracted features. Following this geometric interpretation we present an iterative information projection algorithm for finding such features and prove its convergence. Our algorithm is similar to the method of "association analysis" in statistics, though the feature extraction context as well as the information theoretic and geometric interpretation are new. The algorithm is illustrated by various synthetic co-occurrence data. It is then demonstrated for text categorization and information retrieval and proves effective in selecting a small set of features, often improving performance over the original feature set.


Climate warming is severely affecting maritime Antarctica, causing accelerated glacier retreat and thus leading to an ongoing exposure of once ice- covered land. This initiates a succession of plant and soil development. Nevertheless, the temporal dynamics and controlling factors of these processes, like C and N status of soils and the effect of root exudation are widely unknown under these harsh climatic conditions.
Topsoil samples from three different sites of a chronological soil sequence in the forefront of a retreating glacier of the Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, were collected and incubated at 2 °C for three weeks. To mimic the influence of C and N containing root exudates (primers) on the mineralization of soil C, we added 13C labeled glucose or alanine and compared CO2 evolution in comparison to samples without C and N addition.
Soil microbes covered up to 90% of their C demand for anabolic functions with the added C-sources in the case of late soil successions while it was only 50% for the young soils. These findings were independent of the form of primer. Both primers increased the mineralization of soil carbon in the young soils as compared to the control. For the later stages of soil development, we found negative priming which was strongest for the latest stage.
These results give evidence for a clear shift in the microbial community of the three investigated sites. While sites with initial soil formation seem to be dominated by k-strategists with low turnover rates that rather use complex C-sources, a significant number of r-strategists in the soils of the older sites uses simple C-substrates very efficiently. As this leads to a relative decrease in SOM mineralization for the late stages of soil development, it is questionable if higher plants can improve their nutrition by stimulating free living soil microbes with root exudates or if they rather have to rely on mycorrhiza.


Load testing of applications is an important and costly activity for software provider companies. Classical solutions are very difficult to set up statically, and their cost is prohibitive in terms of both human and hardware resources. Virtualized cloud computing platforms provide new opportunities for stressing an application's scalability, by providing a large range of flexible and less expensive (pay‐per‐use model) computation units. On the basis of these advantages, load testing solutions could be provided on demand in the cloud. This paper describes a Benchmark‐as‐a‐Service solution that automatically scales the load injection platform and facilitates its setup according to load profiles. Our approach is based on: (i) virtualization of the benchmarking platform to create self‐scaling injectors; (ii) online calibration to characterize the injector's capacity and impact on the benched application; and (iii) a provisioning solution to appropriately scale the load injection platform ahead of time. We also report experiments on a benchmark illustrating the benefits of this system in terms of cost and resource reductions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objective: The aims of the present study were to analyze the association between discontinuation of paroxetine (PAX) and the genetic variants of the polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) in Japanese patients with panic disorder (PD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: The 5-HTTLPR genotype was determined by polymerase chain reaction method. PAX plasma concentration was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography to confirm adherence. Results: When comparing between the PD and MDD patients with the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test, the PD patients had a significant and higher discontinuation rate due to nonadherence than did the MDD patients (13.5% [7/52] versus 0% [0/88], respectively; P  0.001). MDD patients had a significant and higher discontinuation rate due to untraceability than PD patients (12.5% [11/88] versus 1.9% [1/52]; P = 0.032). Multilogistic regression revealed a tendency for the long/short and short/short genotypes to affect discontinuation due to adverse effects in PD patients (25.0% versus 6.3%, respectively; P = 0.054). Conclusion: The results indicate that the 5-HTTLPR genotype might contribute to the discontinuation of initial PAX treatment due to adverse effects in PD


From introduction: An autunite deposit in the SW 1/4 sec. 25, T. 10 N., R. 13 W. San Bernardino meridian, was visited by F. M. Chace on May 6 and 15, 1950. The deposit is about 100 yards west of a north-south country road and is at an altitude of approximately 2,775 feet. The autunite-bearing tuffaceous sandstone strikes N. 35-40 W. and dips 20 -25 SW. It has been traced about 40 feet along the strike at the base of the outcrop and for about 20 feet up the dip. Insufficient work was done to give an accurate idea of the size of the deposit or to determine if other autunite-bearing beds are present.


Elevated carbon dioxide levels impaired the odortracking behavior of the smooth dogfish, a shark whose range includes the Atlantic Ocean off the eastern United States. Adult sharks significantly avoided squid odor after swimming in a pool of water treated with carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide concentrations tested are consistent with climate forecasts for midcentury and 2100. The study suggests that predator-prey interactions in nature could be influenced by elevated carbon dioxide concentrations of ocean waters.


Ultrashort optical pulses are integral to probing various physical, chemical, and biological phenomena and feature in a whole host of applications, not least in data communications. Super‐ and subluminal pulse propagation and dispersion management (DM) are two of the greatest challenges in producing or counteracting modifications of ultrashort optical pulses when precise control over pulse characteristics is required. Progress in modern photonics toward integrated solutions and applications has intensified this need for greater control of ultrafast pulses in nanoscale dimensions. Metamaterials, with their unique ability to provide designed optical properties, offer a new avenue for temporal pulse engineering. Here an epsilon‐near‐zero metamaterial is employed, exhibiting strong nonlocal (spatial dispersion) effects, to temporally shape optical pulses. The authors experimentally demonstrate, over a wide bandwidth of tens of THz, the ability to switch from sub to superluminal and further to "backward" pulse propagation (±c/20) in the same metamaterial device by simply controlling the angle of illumination. Both the amplitude and phase of a 10 ps pulse can be controlled through DM in this subwavelength device. Shaping ultrashort optical pulses with metamaterials promises to be advantageous in laser physics, optical communications, imaging, and spectroscopy applications using both integrated and free‐standing devices.


We describe PALLAS (PALm Logic-based Algebraic Search), a prototype architecture, design and implementation for a search interface on a portable digital assistant. PALLAS is part of the UbAgent, a middleware infrastructure that provides an efficient way of handling the back-end processing of pervasive computing: accessing information from distributed databases, computation processing, and location specific services. The goal of the PALLAS' design is to offer the flexibility of advanced searches by exploiting the metadata and inferencing capabilities of the semantic Web, whilst maintaining ease-of-use to a level such that it would be accessible to an end-user without expansive technical knowledge, much like the typical users of the World Wide Web today. A prototype of PALLAS have been developed and tested for the PALM OS. The pervasive computing test bed used was the UbAgent infrastructure.


For pt.I see ICNN'97, vol.2, p.1321-5 (1997). Call admission control (CAC) is a key technology of ATM network traffic control. It should be adaptable to the rapid and various changes of the ATM network environment. Conventional approach to the ATM CAC requires network analysis in detail in all cases. The optimal implementation is said to be very difficult. Therefore, a neural approach has been employed, but it does not meet the adaptability requirements. It requires additional learning data tables and learning phase during CAC operation. The authors compare the neural network CAC method based on sparse distributed memory (SDM) which they proposed in pt.I with a conventional neural CAC method. The performance of our method is as good as those of the previous neural approaches without additional learning table or learning phases. Our method, however, shows better adaptability to manage changes in ATM network.


Low-chromium cast iron as the matrix, SiC particles as reinforcement, water glass sand in ordinary dry type, no negative pressure conditions, the use made of composite diffusion agent, prepared the surface of SiC particulate reinforced steel matrix composites. The results show that: SiC particles penetrate the surface of the composite material has excellent wear resistance, with the content of SiC particles increase the wear resistance of composite cast layer increased, when the SiC particle content of 20%, the wear resistance to achieve the best good. The hardness of up to 3000HV composite layer above. Smooth casting surface roughness, dimensional accuracy is more accurate, composite layer and substrate is good.


The major essay by renowned art historian J. J. Brody traces the development of southwestern pottery from the prehistoric Anasazi through modern Pueblo. A section on pottery technology examines the different types of clays and details the pottery-makings process. Rebecca Allen has contributed an essay on the history of the Museum's southwestern collection, providing insights into the personalities of the collectors and the ways their personal tastes affected the contents of their collections. The catalogue includes a compendium of the 104 objects in the exhibition, each accompanied by a photograph.


The third paper in the manoeuvre warfare series, describes a prescriptive approach for the organization's operationalisation of its strategic intent. It discusses the practical planning stages adapted from the military appreciation process. Termed the mission analysis process (MAP) this framework guides planners through the initial mission analysis, the development of a course of action (CoA), followed by a landscape analysis, execution, review, reorientation, and further action if deemed necessary. This paper argues from a military paradigm using both military and business as examples. This paper emphasises the need for porous, flexible and rapid planning processes, devolved decision‐making, and high levels of organizational capability, initiative, trust, and employee competence. Argues that the MAP framework facilitates organizational learning, a heightened sense of organizational participation and commitment, as well as improving business development between management levels and across the organization.


The goal of this study was to develop a Korean version of the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (K-GPAQ) and to examine its reliability and validity. The English version of the GPAQ was translated to the Korean language (K-GPAQ) via forward–backward translation. Reliability of the K-GPAQ was evaluated using a one-week interval test–retest method with 115 individuals. Criterion-related validity of the K-GPAQ was examined with 199 participants using accelerometers. Cohen's kappa and Spearman's correlation coefficients were used to measure test–retest reliability and validity, respectively. A Bland–Altman analysis was used to assess agreement between physical activity (PA) levels measured via K-GPAQ and the accelerometer. Coefficients for the reliability of the K-GPAQ showed moderate agreement for recreational PA and slight agreement for work-related PA (Cohen's kappa: 0.60–0.67 for recreational PA and 0.30–0.38 for work-related PA and Spearman's rho: 0.27–0.47 for work-related PA and 0.53–0.70 for recreational PA). Criterion validity of the total amount of PA, as measured by the K-GPAQ and the accelerometer, showed a weak but significant correlation (r = 0.34, p < 0.01). The K-GPAQ is a reliable and valid questionnaire to measure PA although K-GPAQ overestimated PA levels.


New field data on cohesive sediment erosion is presented and discussed, with particular focus on partitioning the total erosion into resuspension and bed load. The data were obtained using a recently developed in situ flume of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand. The erosion rate is estimated from direct measurements of bed surface elevations by acoustic sensors, whereas resuspension rate is obtained using data on sediment concentrations measured by optical backscatter sensors. The bed- load contribution to the total erosion rate is evaluated from the conservation equation for sediments. To test repeatability, the data from the in situ flume are compared with those from a previous version of the flume. The results show that comparative studies of in situ flumes and standardized deployment procedures enable direct comparison of experimental data on cohesive sediment erosion. Overall, the data show that a commonly used assumption that the erosion rate is equal to the resuspension rate is not always valid as bed load plays a significant role in cohesive sediment erosion. The data also highlight the importance of clay content and other sediment physical characteristics in the sediment mixture.


: Efforts to link the observed signs in a canine poisoning event with 1 or more possible permanent wave solution chemicals ingested are described. A scenario is presented describing the mechanisms by which the most likely of those compounds, ammonium thioglycolate and sodium or potassium bromate, could have acted to cause both the immediate and delayed signs of acute vestibular dysfunction.


Around 3.15% of the total world energy consumption accounts for Information and Com-
munication Technology (ICT) sector. ICT's contribution to global greenhouse gas emission is expected to double in the coming five years.
Base transceiver station (BTS), an important but energy hungry component of access network in a cellular communication system, is usually resourced to serve busy hour traffic but remains under-utilized for most of the 24-hour period irrespective of the traffic load.
Hence, self organizing networks (SON) that react to the variable traffic load are being studied to minimize energy consumption without compromising the QoS of the network.
Discrete time Markov decision process (DTMDP) as an optimization tool to manage the operation of BTS is investigated in this thesis. MDP _nds an optimal policy that takes state specific optimal decisions, i.e. actions, and gets immediate rewards which maximizes the long term expected reward. The rewards obtained are the power savings when BTS operates as a SON by means of dynamic sectorization against the operation of BTS in uppermost mode irrespective of the traffic load. Further, transition cost to address mode switching cost and delay cost to address QoS are also discussed and elaborated through appropriate simulation to realize the actual energy savings.


The payload ground segment (PGS) for the recently launched German radar satellite, TerraSAR-X, performs the operational data management of the acquired satellite data. This comprises well-known functions such as reception, systematic and on-demand processing, archiving and cataloguing, ordering, and dissemination of digital Earth-observation products. In addition, it comprises new functions like large-scale multimode acquisition ordering by users, integration with a commercial service segment, and new interfaces and workflows within the complete ground segment. The TerraSAR-X PGS is based on the Data Information and Management System (DIMS), the multimission data-handling infrastructure of the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) at the German Aerospace Center. The development and integration of the new functions and complex workflows for TerraSAR-X were achieved and successfully tested on time. After the support of commissioning phase for five months, the system is now operational. As an intended side effect, the PGS for TerraSAR-X is, in several aspects, a pattern being reused for upcoming future missions, thus substantially reducing overall developmental costs. This paper investigates features of the TerraSAR-X PGS that enable the reuse in a multimission environment. It summarizes the achieved enhancements and extensions of DIMS to support the TerraSAR-X mission. Special emphasis is placed on the implementation of the request workflow initiated by user orders and the corresponding data flow within the distributed DFD multimission facility.


Abstract The main aim of the paper is to analyse whether a demand for reusable products in Slovenia exists and to identify customers' characteristics in terms of their gender, age, income, education and employment status. We used survey data to investigate what share of customers in Slovenia are buying and are willing to buy reusable products. Furthermore, we investigate whether there are differences between customers who are buying and who are not buying reusable products with regard to selected demographics (gender, age, income, education and employment status). The findings show that more than half of customers in Slovenia are already buying reusable products. The results of selected characteristics of individuals indicate that there are differences among buyers and non-buyers of reusable products only with regard to gender. The paper contributes to the literature on the demand for reusable products and gives better insights into the characteristics of customers buying reusable products.


We present a technique for constructing random fields from a set of training samples. The learning paradigm builds increasingly complex fields by allowing potential functions, or features, that are supported by increasingly large subgraphs. Each feature has a weight that is trained by minimizing the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the model and the empirical distribution of the training data. A greedy algorithm determines how features are incrementally added to the field and an iterative scaling algorithm is used to estimate the optimal values of the weights. The random field models and techniques introduced in this paper differ from those common to much of the computer vision literature in that the underlying random fields are non-Markovian and have a large number of parameters that must be estimated. Relations to other learning approaches, including decision trees, are given. As a demonstration of the method, we describe its application to the problem of automatic word classification in natural language processing.


The laborious microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is the gold standard serologic test for laboratory diagnosis of leptospirosis. We developed EIA based serologic assays using recombinant proteins (rLigA, rLigB, rLipL32) and whole-cell extracts from eight Leptospira serovars as antigen and assessed the diagnostic performance of the new assay within each class, against MAT positive (MAT+) human sera panels from Portugal/PT (n = 143) and Angola/AO (n = 100). We found that a combination of recombinant proteins rLigA, rLigB and rLipL32 correctly identified antigen-specific IgG from patients with clinical and laboratory confirmed leptospirosis (MAT+) with 92% sensitivity and ~ 97% specificity (AUC 0.974) in serum from the provinces of Luanda (LDA) and Huambo (HBO) in Angola. A combination of whole cell extracts of L. interrogans sv Copenhageni (LiC), L. kirschneri Mozdok (LkM), L. borgpetersenii Arborea (LbA) and L. biflexa Patoc (LbP) accurately identified patients with clinical and laboratory confirmed leptospirosis (MAT+) with 100% sensitivity and ~ 98% specificity for all provinces of Angola and Portugal (AUC: 0.997 for AO/LDA/HBO, 1.000 for AO/HLA, 0.999 for PT/AZ and 1.000 for PT/LIS). Interestingly, we found that MAT+ IgG+ serum from Angola had a significantly higher presence of IgD and that IgG3/IgG1 isotypes were significantly increased in the MAT+ IgG+ serum from Portugal. Given that IgM/IgD class and IgG3/IgG1 specific isotypes are produced in the earliest course of infection, immunoglobulin G isotyping may be used to inform diagnosis of acute leptospirosis. The speed, ease of use and accuracy of EIA tests make them excellent alternatives to the laborious and expensive MAT for screening acute infection in areas where circulating serovars of pathogenic Leptospira are well defined.


Objective: To analyze whether the time the patients entering into prenatal care affects the route of delivery, maternal, and fetal outcomes. Study Design: The electronic medical files of 17,035 women who delivered at the same hospital between January 2008 and December 2014, were retrospectively reviewed. Pregnant women were distributed into one of 5 groups (No-prenatal-visit group, Only-pregestational-visit group, First-visit-prior-to-24-weeks-follow-up group, Early-third-trimester-follow-up group, Late-third-trimester-follow-up group) according to the time of their first pregnancy follow-up visit. The route of delivery, maternal anemia, and fetal outcomes were compared among the groups. Results: Pregnant women in the no-prenatal-visit group were younger and showed higher rates of vaginal delivery (56%), term deliveries (90.7%), and postpartum anemia. Those in the first-visit-prior-to-24-weeks group were older and showed higher rates of both primary and secondary cesarean (58%), and higher rates of term deliveries (93.6%) and lower postpartum anemia. Both the primary and secondary cesarean rates were higher in groups with frequent and early follow-up visits than in a no-prenatal-visit group and late-third-trimester-follow-up group (p<0.001). Conclusion: The rates of cesarean deliveries were found to be increased prominently in pregnant women who began antenatal care early in pregnancy with frequent follow-ups.


The vast majority of U.S. universities nowadays accept TOEFL iBT scores for admission and placement into ESL classes. A significant number of candidates choose to repeat the test hoping to get higher results. Due to the significant increase in the number of international students, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is currently seeking to find the most cost-effective ESL placement policy which would regulate the ESL placement of TOEFL repeaters. Since there is little published research examining students' multiple TOEFL iBT score reports, and there are no guidelines for the interpretation of multiple scores provided by the test publisher, this paper attempts to address the issue of interpretation and use of TOEFL iBT repeaters' scores for making ESL placement decisions in the context of UIUC. The main research question considered in our study was: Which TOEFL iBT scores (official highest, most recent, average or self-reported scores) are the best predictors of ESL placement? The findings indicate that the self-reported and the highest TOEFL iBT scores have the strongest association with the ESL placement results. The self-reported and the highest scores also demonstrate the highest classification efficiency in predicting ESL placement of TOEFL iBT repeaters. The results and implications of the study are discussed.


November 1949: In the aftermath of his brother James's death, Richard MacEwan's life suddenly is rocked by secrets involving his wife Sarah and daughter Anna. Among his bachelor brother's papers, Richard discovers a letter from Sarah, hinting at an infidelity. Then Anna becomes involved with a married man, Charles Norden-an affair that will threaten her life and change it forever. Richard, Sarah, Anna, and Charles-along with the troubling legacy of James-drive the plot of this novel: a story of faith and doubt, profound moral and spiritual conflict, and the intricate bonds that hold families together.


Nicola J LogUe Durham University AIDS and its Metaphors Susan Sontag 96 pp £3.99 (paperback) Penguin Books, 1990 In AIDS and its Metaphors Susan Sontag considers the ways in which our language and culture have influenced our view of the AIDS epidemic. By comparing and contrasting how we think and speak about diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis, leprosy, syphilis and especially AIDS, she explains and elucidates how our deepest fears and prejudices are exaggerated and exploited by thoughtless use of metaphors. Admitting that all thinking is interpretive and therefore impossible without the use of metaphors, she stresses the necessity for examining and evaluating the metaphors and myths surrounding AIDS, an illness that elicits so much guilt and shame. Continuing the work of her earlier polemic, Illness as Metaphor in which she subjects the myths and metaphors of cancer to scrutiny, Sontag skilfully leads us through an expose of the metaphors associated with AIDS. She investigates plague, the principal metaphor by which the AIDS epidemic is understood, with its highly pessimistic connotations of inexorability and inescapability. She alerts us to the folly of viewing AIDS as a punishment, a moral judgement (secular or religious) on a permissive society. She commends American officialdiscourse, which condemns bigotry and discrimination and she praises the medical establishment which, 'has been on the whole a bulwark of sanity and rationality.' In fact she appears to be a staunch supporter of the traditional rather than the alternative in medicine, speaking scathingly on a couple of occasions of the holistic approach by 'resigned' or 'superstitious' patients. The author shows how the AIDS epidemic can stand for any mythological menace created by political or racist paranoia. With insight and sensitivity Sontag explains how the disease is associated with an end-of-an-era feeling in our culture, a premonition of doom on a world scale: 'The illness is such a perfect repository for people's most general fears about the future.' The methodology of viruses, with their menacing characteristics of latency, mutability, insidiousness and biological innovativeness, is examined. Sontag illustrates how virology supplies a new set of medical metaphors, independent of AIDS which nevertheless reinforces the AIDS mythology. Having expertly examined the most commonlyused metaphors which contribute to the dread of AIDS, Sontag selects her own bete nair. The metaphor she is most anxious to see retired is the military one. Here the disease is envisaged as, 'an alien other, the enemy as in modem warfare attacking and invading the body which retaliates with its own military operations.' She admirably reveals the accustory side of military metaphors, warning that 'the move froJ1\ the demonization of the illness to the attribution of fault to the patient is an inevitable one.' In this comprehensive and succinct study Susan Sontag focuses our attention upon the metaphOrs and myths surrounding AIDS, presenting them for our critical examination, thus enabling us to recognize and hopefully to avoid the inherent dangers.


Total knee arthroplasty is one of the most successful operations performed. Multiple modalities are utilized for pain management in the perioperative period. Regional anesthesia is a common, effective method associated with high patient satisfaction. It typically provides exceptional local pain control without the systemic side effects that have been associated with oral or parenteral narcotics. Alleviation of pain allows for earlier mobilization and potentially shorter hospital stays. However, continuous infusion of a long-acting local anesthetic is not without risk. Case reports of severe complications such as hypotension, arrhythmia, seizure, and cardiovascular collapse have been reported, but all involved intra-articular injections or a single injection of a large dose of anesthetic medication to attain a regional block1-6. We found no reports of arrhythmia in association with an indwelling catheter in patients who were receiving regional anesthesia.

We present the case of a patient in whom a third-degree heart block developed in association with a continuous bupivacaine infusion through an indwelling femoral catheter. The patient was informed that data concerning the case would be submitted for publication, and she consented.

### History

A seventy-eight-year-old woman who weighed 59 kg had a five-year history of progressive, debilitating, left knee pain that was most severe with walking, stair-climbing, and arising from a seated position. As nonoperative treatment had failed to provide relief, the decision was made to perform a total knee replacement. Her medical history included osteoarthritis of both knees, peptic ulcer disease, a cerebrovascular accident in 1993, and cirrhosis of the liver secondary to alcohol abuse. The patient had previously undergone a right total knee arthroplasty with no complications. Physical examination of the left lower extremity demonstrated a 20° valgus deformity and an arc of knee motion from 15° to 115°. Due to the known fact that the patient had liver …


Despite their explicit intent to speak with a single voice in foreign affairs, EU member
states manage to do so only some of the time. Which are the factors that determine
whether or not the EU member states successfully coordinate their positions in the
international arena? To find out, I propose to examine the voting behaviour of the EU
member states inside the United Nations General Assembly; a forum in which,
notwithstanding heterogeneous policy preferences, they intend to coordinate their
votes and are thus subject to coordination pressures. This means that for divisive
resolutions, each member state must try to reconcile its national policy preference
with the objective of casting a unified vote. I hypothesise that the balance a member
state strikes generally depends on how important it views the issue at hand, how
powerful it is, what type of relationship it maintains with the EU and under certain
conditions, what type of relationship it maintains with US. I further argue that the
balance is expected to tip in favour of EU unity when increasing the collective
bargaining power by working together becomes a tangible objective. By adopting a
multi-method approach, the thesis shows that the EU member states make a genuine
and continuous effort to coordinate their votes inside the General Assembly.
Significantly, the thesis illustrates that member states, at times, are able to override
their heterogeneous national policy preference in order to stand united. I conclude by
connecting the findings with the constructivist/rationalist debate, which juxtaposes
foreign policy cooperation according to the logic of appropriateness with the logic of
consequence. The results obtained have implications not only for the study of EU
voting behaviour in the United Nations, but also for theoretical debate underlying it.


In 1500 few Europeans regarded nature as a subject worthy of inquiry. Yet fifty years later the first museums of natural history had appeared in Italy, dedicated to the marvels of nature. Italian patricians, their curiosity fuelled by new voyages of exploration and the humanist rediscovery of nature, created vast collections as a means of knowing the world and used this knowledge to their greater glory. Drawing on extensive archives of visitors' books, letters, travel journals, memoirs, and pleas for patronage, Paula Findlen reconstructs the lost social world of Renaissance and Baroque museums. She follows the new study of natural history as it moved out of the universities and into sixteenth- and seventeenth-century scientific societies, religious orders, and princely courts. Findlen argues convincingly that natural history as a discipline blurred the border between the ancients and the moderns, between collecting in order to recover ancient wisdom and the development of new textual and experimental scholarship. Her vivid account reveals how the scientific revolution grew from the constant mediation between the old forms of knowledge and the new.


With the economy developing rapidly, Location Based Service (LBS) has attracted more and more people's attention. Indoor positioning methods based on WLAN and RSS with advantage of low cost are most widely used. In this paper, we propose an improved indoor positioning method based on received signal strength to obtain better accuracy. We apply selected weighed K nearest neighbor (WSKNN) to get a better initial point of the gradient-descent-based location search (GLS) which is combined with exhaustive location search (ELS) to achieve a better result. Experimental results conducted in the real environments show that our proposed algorithm can obtain improvement of the mean error distance of 7.17% and 22.54%, compared with the GLS-CF method and traditional KNN method, respectively.


The current work was carried out to characterize the welding of austenitic stainless steel AISI 310 steel to Inconel 800 alloys by Gas Tungsten Arc (GTA) welding using Inconel 600 filler wire. Tensile test shows that failure has occurred in heat affected zone of AISI 310 and its strength was lower as compared to the base metal. In addition the SEM fractographs showed the micro void with some dimple structure which ensures the fracture is ductile in nature. Furthermore the maximum hardness value was found at the weld interface of AISI310 due to the formation of chromium-carbide. The microstructure revealed a considerable change in the grain size and orientation of the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) in both sides of the weldment than that of the parent metal. Moreover the corrosion test was also carried out in the welded samples both in air and molten salt of Na2SO4 – 50%NaCl at 700 °C. The weld zone corroded less readily in the air and molten salt than that of the base metal. It can be concluded that these joints could be used effectively at aggressive environments without compromising the strength.


In this article, we studied the microwave permittivity of the complex of the single-walled carbon nanotubes and paraffin in 2-18GHz. In the range, the dielectric loss of single-walled carbon nanotubes are higher, and the real part and the imaginary part of the dielectric constant decrease with the increase of frequency, and the dielectric constant possesses the property of dispersion frequency response. The ??, ?? and tanδ of the complex of the single-walled carbon nanotubes and paraffin increase with the increase of the content of carbon tubes, and it presents good second-order function relationship with the volume fraction of carbon in certain range. The polarization dispersion dielectric response is the main reason that the single-walled nanotubes absorbs and wastes microwaves.


This web publication explores how John Curtin used his wartime prime ministership to further his lifelong dream of a fair go for all Australians, implementing Labor programs in the areas of economic reform, social services and immigration, education, public broadcasting, and foreign policy, while maintaining confidence in the power of Parliament.


Evidence from animal and human research shows that established memories can undergo changes after reactivation through a process called reconsolidation. Alterations of the level of the stress hormone cortisol may provide a way to manipulate reconsolidation in humans. Here, in a double-blind, within-subject design, we reactivated a 3-d-old memory at 3:55 A.M. in sixteen men and four women, immediately followed by oral administration of metyrapone versus placebo, to examine whether metyrapone-induced suppression of the morning cortisol rise may influence reconsolidation processes during and after early morning sleep. Crucially, reactivation followed by cortisol suppression versus placebo resulted in enhanced memory for the reactivated episode tested 4 d after reactivation. This enhancement after cortisol suppression was specific for the reactivated episode versus a non-reactivated episode. These findings suggest that when reactivation of memories is immediately followed by suppression of cortisol levels during early morning sleep in humans, reconsolidation processes change in a way that leads to the strengthening of episodic memory traces. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How can we change formed memories? Modulation of established memories has been long debated in cognitive neuroscience and remains a crucial question to address for basic and clinical research. Stress-hormone cortisol and sleep are strong candidates for changing consolidated memories. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject pharmacological study, we investigate the role of cortisol on the modulation of reconsolidation of episodic memories in humans. Blocking cortisol synthesis (3 g metyrapone) during early morning sleep boosts memory for a reactivated but not for a non-reactivated story. This finding contributes to our understanding of the modulatory role of cortisol and its circadian variability on reconsolidation, and moreover can critically inform clinical interventions for the case of memory dysfunctions, and trauma and stress-related disorders.


The second chapter of this PhD thesis examines the barriers to nonviolent resistance and explains why, despite the grievances, we see uprisings in some states and not others. I argue that a lack of common ties and the existence of ethnic cleavages create additional barriers for nonviolent mass mobilization in ethnically diverse states. I test the argument by using the Ethnic-Power Relations (EPR) and Nonviolent and Violent Campaign and Outcomes (NAVCO.2.0) datasets. The results show that the probability of nonviolent campaign onset is conditional on both, the levels of ethnic diversity and the regime type – the onset being less likely in ethnically diverse non-democracies. The third chapter illustrates how ethnic divides can be used to undermine mass-scale nonviolent mobilization by examining government framing of protest events during the 2014 spring protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Automated text analysis approach is used to discover the types of narratives (frames) that the Bosnia and Herzegovina's government officials used to respond to protest demands. The results show that the Government officials have predominantly used the following types of frames: delegitimizing (ex. calling protesters traitors, hooligans), demobilizing (sympathetic statements – ex. saying that protests are justified), and alternative views (sidelining/ignoring grievances by discussing more salient issues). The results indicate that ethnic divides were exploited to prevent cross-ethnic mass mobilization. In the chapter four, I explore the variability of government responses to protest events using the Mass Mobilization Data (MMD), focusing on the ignore category - the response not commonly studied in the literature. I find that contrary to the expectations, governments are more likely to ignore than repress protest events. In particular, governments are more likely to ignore protests with 1000 or more participants, and more likely to accommodate than repress protests above 5000 participants. In conclusion, this PhD thesis shows that ethnicity increases costs of cooperation and lowers potentials for nonviolent resistance. In addition, this thesis demonstrates that governments might often choose to neither repress nor accommodate protest events, choosing instead to ignore grievances and demands. In summary, the aim of this PhD thesis is to examine barriers to nonviolent resistance and state responses to dissent.