Abstract Crystallographic orientations of coccoliths produced by the extant species Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica, and of a fossil cocccolith, Watzunaueria barnesiae, all of which are mainly composed of calcite crystals with horizontally oriented c axes (termed R-units), were investigated using two electron diffraction techniques. According to electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analyses, the c-axis inclinations of all R-units were oriented about 10-30° from the sample substrate, which is approximately parallel to the organic base plate of the coccolith. However, the directions are toward the coccolith exterior in living coccoliths but toward the interior in fossil coccoliths. The crystallographic orientations of calcite crystals characterized by sub-vertically oriented c axes (termed V-units) were determined only for W. barnesiae and were similar to those of V-units in another living cococlith, Pleurochrysis carterae. Highly regulated crystallographic orientation and consistent chirality were evidenced for all the coccoliths with only a few degrees of variations by Kikuchi patterns analyses from TEM. To determine the indices of the crystallographic plane and edge direction that constitute distal and proximal shield elements, SEM stereo-photogrammetry in combination with EBSD analyses was applied. In the living coccoliths both shields contain the c-axis and the surface is estimated to be {21̅1̅0} with [481] the longer peripheral edge. On the other hand, the two shield surfaces of W. barnesiae are evaluated {101̅4} and the distal shield surface is surrounded by clear [481] edges. This indicates that the crystallography and morphology of R-units were not fixed for the past 230 million years. Based on these results, the calcite nucleation mechanisms are discussed with respect to the atomic arrangements on the organic template through all the coccoliths.


Resettled refugees face lack of information and support, due to disrupted community and cultural mismatch. In this context, we provided 111 refugee women peer support training and a restricted-dial unlimited-call mobile phone in Melbourne, Australia. We gathered demographic, phone call, pre and post intervention questionnaires, and interview data.The provided resources synergised with existing resources such as social capital and information demand, resulting in changes to resource allocation and social processes, such as economic resource reallocation, information sharing, personal agency, and social support. These changes impacted areas such as employment, education, transportation and domestic violence, leading to improved individual lives and community functioning.


Therefore, the current mobile phone is a telecommunications device that has impact and greater influence, especially in terms of intensity of use. Mobile-based Smartphone is dominant among the public at this time, because in terms of features it offered, to meet the needs of users in each activity. One is a mobile phone with a brand that reads Blackberry . BlackBerry is a mobile device that has the ability to push e-mail, telephone, text messaging, surfing the Internet, messenger (BlackBerry Messenger / BBM), and various other wireless capabilities.From the ease of use and features offered by BlackBerry to allow a user, especially for students to access information and support day-to-day for the searching and sharing of information through the Blackberry, so researchers wanted to examine how much use the blackberry as a means of access information among students FISIP Airlangga University.This study will be assessed by the 5 components of Uses and gratification that is, needs Cognitive, Affective needs, Personal integrative needs, Integrative Social needs, and Escapist needs. This study uses a quantitative approach to the descriptive type. Descriptive type chosen by the researcher because the researcher wanted to describe how the image using blackberry as a means of access to information among students FISIP Airlangga University. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling technique researcher.The results of this study indicate that the Blackberry is a means of media access to information helps the students for sharing and searching of information with a variety of applications contained in the features of the Blackberry, and the majority of the 17-18 year age range, is more active at the age of access to information ranging from information about the lectures, social, political and economic, hobbies and entertainment. It can be seen that the Blackberry be able to provide facilities for students to continue to surf in the virtual world in order to meet all the needs of the information they want


The acoustic characterization of ultrasound fields is not only important for the safety and efficiency of clinical treatment, but also for therapy planning. In this paper, a method to estimating the ultrasound fields at full power using hydrophone and uncooled infrared system was developed. The method includes four steps. The amplitude absorption coefficient of the medium can be measured through the first two steps. Through the second and third steps, we can estimate the ratio of absorber's heat capacity per unit volume to absorber's ultrasonic amplitude absorption coefficient. This ratio will be used to in step four, in order to estimate the intensity of HIFU at high driving voltage. This method made it is possible to determine the intensity of HIFU driving with high voltage, and there were no need to know the thermal and acoustic parameters of acoustic absorber.


Genotyping data regarding the offpsring generated from crosses of F1LerxCol hybrids to the transgenic line male sterile Ler. The genotyping markers used for genotyping are listed in the first rows. The first two columns contain the different lines genotyped. The blue color (B) identify a marker corresponding to a homozygous Ler allele while the green marker (H) corresponds to heterozygous Col-Ler.


Wave and tidal energy provide a renewable source of electricity. However, their inherent fluctuations may have a negative impact on the power quality of a local electrical network. Grid operators assess this impact through the use of dynamic models of the generation units, which are inserted into the overall power system model. Providing these models is a compulsory step for any power generator to procure a grid connection above a specified power capacity. Significant issues were encountered in the wind energy industry regarding the dynamic modelling of devices, among which were model numerical instability, poor dynamic model quality and model incompatibility. Considering the large diversity of device types in the emerging ocean energy industry, these problems are considered as a major barrier to the larger scale grid-integration of marine energy converters. Dynamic models must clearly demonstrate the compliance of the actual power generation device and array of devices to the grid code requirements for grid-connection to be allowed. A further barrier to grid connection of ocean energy devices is that existing grid codes — mainly written in the context of wind energy — may be irrelevant or inadequate for ocean energy devices. This paper presents an overview of these issues, and details a radically different approach to the dynamic modelling of ocean energy devices that will assist in overcoming the issues previously encountered in the development of wind turbine models. It also highlights the gaps and inadequacy regarding grid code requirements for ocean energy devices, and provides some recommendations for a new ocean energy grid code.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


The objective was to find out whether the reduced amount of brown adipose tissue in myopathic hamsters [Am. J. Physiol. 239 (Cell Physiol. 8): C18-C22, 1980] was secondary to a refractoriness to the trophic influence of norepinephrine. However, no evidence for any trophic influence of norepinephrine on brown adipose tissue of either normal or myopathic hamsters could be detected under experimental conditions that have demonstrated such an influence in rats. A mediator other than norepinephrine, melatonin, secreted by the pineal gland, is known to mediate the control of brown adipose tissue growth induced in hamsters by short photoperiod. Further studies of intact or pinealectomized hamsters showed that the pineal gland was not required for either cold- or diet-induced growth of brown adipose tissue. It is concluded that the defect in control of brown adipose tissue size in the hamster with muscular dystrophy is not due either to abnormal control by norepinephrine or to the pineal gland since neither of these appears to participate in the normal regulation of brown adipose tissue size in relation to environmental temperature or to diet.


AlInN/GaN unpassivated high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) on sapphire substrate has yielded a maximum drain current density close to 2 A/mm in steady state. Superior gate length downscaling than AlGaN/GaN devices has been observed owing to the possibility of the use of ultra thin barrier layer while keeping extremely high sheet carrier density. We reached an extrinsic current gain cut-off frequency of 70 GHz for a 0.08 mum gate length device. Large signal measurements reveal a relatively low RF power dispersion. Indeed, at 10 GHz we performed for the first time power measurements on such a HEMT structure. We achieved 1.5 W/mm output power density at low bias condition (VDS = 15V) in agreement with the expected power in spite of a strong thermal effect due to the sapphire substrate, a large leakage current in the Schottky diode characteristic and a low buffer layer resistivity. These results demonstrate the great potential of this structure for extremely high power high frequency applications.


18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) is usually used for staging or evaluation of treatment response rather than for cancer screening. However, 18F-FDG PET/CT has also been used in Japan for cancer screening in people with no cancer symptoms, and accumulating evidence supports this application of 18F-FDG PET/CT. Previously, we have observed a correlation between the saliva and tumor metabolomic profiles in patients with oral cancer. Hence, if salivary metabolites demonstrate a significant correlation with PET parameters such as the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), they may have the potential to be used as a screening tool before PET/CT to identify patients with high SUVmax. Hence, in this study, we aimed to explore the relationship between salivary metabolites and SUVmax of 18F-FDG PET/CT using previously collected data. 18F-FDG PET/CT was performed for staging 26 patients with oral cancer. The collected data were integrated and analyzed along with quantified salivary hydrophilic metabolites obtained from the same patients with oral cancer and controls (n = 44). In total, 11 metabolites showed significant correlations with SUVmax in the delayed phases. A multiple logistic regression model of the two metabolites showed the ability to discriminate between patients with oral cancer and controls, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.738 (p = 0.001). This study uniquely confirmed a relationship between salivary metabolites and SUVmax of PET/CT in patients with oral cancer; salivary metabolites were significantly correlated with SUVmax. These salivary metabolites can be used as a screening tool before PET/CT to identify patients with high SUVmax, i.e., to detect the presence of oral cancer.


An x-ray detector for digital x-ray mammography is under investigation, which consists of a phosphor screen coupled by a demagnifying fibre-optic taper to a time-delay integration mode, charge-coupled device (CCD) image array. The signal propagation through such a detector depends on the intensity and angular emission of light from the phosphor screen, the angular acceptance and transmission of light through the optics, and the spectral sensitivity of the CCD to the fluorescent light. The production of light by the phosphor screen was considered in a previous paper. Here, the issues related to the optics are examined. For phosphor screens coupled by lenses with limiting acceptance angles of less than , it was calculated that the coupling efficiency would be 10% greater than would be estimated under the assumption of a Lambertian source. These increases occur because a phosphor screen typically produces light which is more forward directed than a Lambertian source. Similar increases in efficiency are observed when a phosphor screen is coupled to a fibre-optic faceplate or taper. For fibre optics, exact estimation of the optical coupling efficiency requires knowledge of the angular-dependent transmission efficiency of the fibres.


Beginning in 1969, the Provisional Irish Republican Army conducted a paramilitary campaign designed to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, creating a 32 county democratic socialist republic. The Provisional IRA's campaign officially ended in 2005, but former Provisionals and others who followed them continue to pursue armed struggle to this day. The Provisional IRA and its successors are part of the centuries old and highly documented "resistance" of Irish people to British interference in Ireland. Over those centuries, state authorities ‒ the British, Irish, and Northern Irish governments ‒ have "resisted" the dissent of Irish Republicans. This paper draws on three different research methodologies available to social scientists ‒ counts of events that inform quantitative analyses, intensive interviews/oral histories, and visual sociology ‒ and argues that a multi-method approach will provide a better understanding of the dynamics of "resistance" in Ireland and, more generally, social protest.


Although the events of the past year are in many ways unprecedented, they have resulted in circumstances that are common throughout history. The rise of a global pandemic has led to suffering in many forms, political powers shifting, militant coups rising, and countries facing protests as civil unrest becomes more prevalent. In these uncertain times, political leaders and the role of militaries have been even more scrutinized, revealing flaws that might have remained undetected if it was not for circumstances going awry. These current events have caused us to reflect upon incidents of the past when commanders have faced the uncertainty of how to complete their mission. History is wrought with instances in which the commander, despite having a "Plan B," still fails to succeed in his role, thus resulting in hundreds of thousands of unnecessary lives lost. Specifically, this article focuses on three death marches—The Long Walk of the Navajo, The Bataan Death March, and Holocaust Death Marches—and the international law of command responsibility. In comparing and contrasting these three historic events through the lens of this law, we analyze the imposition of a commander's criminal liability when unexpected events occur and he or she is called upon to make difficult decisions. In doing so, we also provide a historical backdrop of each commander's ethical, moral, and tactical decisions, allowing us to explore what else could have been done, and who should be held liable for the actions of the commander's soldiers. Ultimately, we call on national leaders and military commanders alike to evaluate our uncomfortable contemporary reality, look back in history, and ask themselves one question: am I truly prepared to make the right decisions when things go wrong?


Microtubules (Mts) are found in four distinct arrays appearing sequentially in a cell-cycle-dependent fashion within the cells of higher plants. Additionally, the cortical Mts of non-cycling cells are spatially altered in a variety of differentiated states. Information regarding the molecular details underlying these Mt-reorientation events in plant cells is scarce. Moreover, it is unclear how cytoskeletal behavior integrates with the myriad of other cellular activities that are altered concomitantly in both differentiating and cycling cells. Data are presented herein to indicate that calcium, in the form of a Ca 2+ /calmodulin complex, can alter the behavior of Mts in lysed carrot protoplasts. Mechanistically, we show that Ca 2+ /calmodulin most likely interacts with Mts via associations with microtubule associated pro- teins (MAPS). These results are discussed with reference to how Ca 2+ may alter the dynamic behavior of Mts during growth and development.


Zionist movement is based on some historical and religious myths. They propagate that Palestine is their ancestor's home and the entire Holy Land was promised to them as a covenant between Abraham and God and they are the sole legitimate heirs of Abraham. They say that this covenant was unconditional and the Holy Land would be given to them whatever they may do. But when we examine their claims in the light of sacred texts we find that not only the Jews are offsprings of Abraham but also Muslims are the legitimate heirs of Abraham. A lot of verses also show that the covenant was conditional and because of their crimes Jews were expelled from that covenant.

 Key words: God made the promise to Abraham, God renewed His promise to Isaac, Jacob and Moses, Terms and Conditions of the 'Promised Land', Do the Jews Fulfill the Conditions of the Covenant?, The Covenant of God and the Prophet of Ismael, The Exodus from the Egypt and the Entry into the Promised-Land, Does the Promise Still Await Fulfillment?


A new technique for making single-station phase velocity measurements is developed and applied to a large number of globally recorded Rayleigh and Love waves in the period range 35–150 s. The method is based on phase-matched filter theory and iteratively suppresses the effect of interfering overtones by minimizing residual dispersion. The model surface wave signal is described by its amplitude and apparent phase velocity, both of which are parameterized in terms of smooth B-spline functions of frequency. A misfit function is constructed which represents the difference between the model and observed waveforms, and the optimal spline coefficients are estimated in an iterative misfit minimization algorithm. In order to eliminate cycle skips in the measurements of phase at short periods, the waveforms are first matched at long periods, and the frequency range is gradually extended to include higher frequencies. The application of the algorithm to records from the Global Seismographic Network, using earthquakes in the Harvard centroid-moment tensor catalog, results in the determination of more than 50,000 high-quality dispersion curves. The observed variations in measured dispersion for pairwise similar paths are used to estimate realistic uncertainties in the data. Phase delays at discrete periods are inverted for global maps of variations in phase velocity expanded in spherical harmonics up to degree 40. A realistic resolution test indicates that structures are well recovered up to at least degree 20. The new phase velocity maps explain 70–96% of the observed variance in phase residuals, reflecting the high internal consistency of the dispersion measurements.


Sanriku experienced the impacts of the Tohoku earthquake, Mw 9.0, and associated tsunami on March 11, 2011. This study investigates the effect of the Tohoku earthquake on the macrobenthos of the Sanriku area (depth range: 120m to 5600m). Core samples were taken 4.5 months after the earthquake struck. Turbidites were prominent in the core samples (Ikehara et al., 2014). To begin with, the macrobenthos in the cores were examined. This was followed by a comparison of this macrobenthic fauna with those before the earthquake (Kojima and Ohta, 1989). The decreasing macrobenthos abundance with water depth at Sanriku is a common observation around the globe (Rex et al., 2006). Post earthquake examinations of the Sanriku small macrobenthos (0.5mm to 1mm) show increased abundance in depths greater than 2000m. In addition, although the thickness of turbidites are not related to the water depth, observations from the current study show that as the thickness of the layer increases the abundance of macrobenthos decreases. There was an absence of large Nematoda (


FORMER SOVIET SCIENCEUkrainian security agents last week accused three marine scientists of crimes against the state: shipping sensitive data out of the country and illegally accepting Western currency for research. The unprecedented post-Cold War investigation has stirred an international effort to persuade the Ukrainian government to rein in its version of the KGB before formal charges are brought. Prosecuting the researchers, observers in the West say, could put scientific collaboration with Ukraine into a deep chill.


Good musical theatre writing is generally assessed by how intentional it is in telling its story. Since it is a very difficult thing to tell a story using music, writers must exercise extreme caution in allowing a story to unfold in an effective, economic way. Recently, there has been a trend in theatre for projects to be developed in a way that utilizes less time of writers sitting alone in a room, and more time of material being developed on its feet. Devised theatre, as it is often called, is anathema to the traditional practices of musical theatre writing. The results of this project, the music and lyrics for a modern adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata, shed light on musical theatre writing and its relationship to collaboration. Though the songs that were generated as a result of Lysistrata were often fraught with errors in terms of structure, rhyme, and meter, the artistic ambition contained in the songs was at least slightly commendable. If devising has a place in musical theatre writing, it is as a method of generating new material, not as a way of refining material with high standards.


Tamil Nadu has been seen as the pioneering Indian state in launching unique welfare schemes such as noon meal, free rice/cereals, free electricity for farmers and urban poor, free canteen, free laptops, free home appliances, among others. There are myths and facts about the historical and filmic contexts of these schemes as sites of welfare politics of a state that invoked the principle of "benevolence" on the part of the rulers towards their subjects twothree millennia ago. In fact, "benevolence" as a principle of righteousness and a cornerstone of public governance was a deep-rooted tradition in the larger canvas of ancient "Thamizagam" during the Sangam age. Sangam age rulers and philosophers valued "benevolence" as the cornerstone of relationships between the rulers and the ruled. In recent decades, acts of "benevolence" became a part of filmic and policy narratives in Tamil Nadu. This paper explores the intersections of filmic contexts of "benevolence" in the emergence of the so called welfare state model of Tamil Nadu with particular reference to the linkages between M. G. Ramachandran's (MGR's) articulations of "benevolence" in his films and the expressions of Dravidian socialism in the films that were scripted by his mentor, C. N. Annadurai.


Using the framework of boosting, we prove that all impurity-based decision tree learning algorithms, including the classic ID3, C4.5, and CART, are highly noise tolerant. Our guarantees hold under the strongest noise model of nasty noise, and we provide near-matching upper and lower bounds on the allowable noise rate. We further show that these algorithms, which are simple and have long been central to everyday machine learning, enjoy provable guarantees in the noisy setting that are unmatched by existing algorithms in the theoretical literature on decision tree learning. Taken together, our results add to an ongoing line of research that seeks to place the empirical success of these practical decision tree algorithms on firm theoretical footing.


The effect of a multi-species synbiotic on the fecal microbiota of healthy cats (n = 12) and dogs (n = 12) was evaluated. The synbiotic (containing 5 × 10(9)  CFU of a mixture of seven probiotic strains, and a blend of fructooligosaccharides and arabinogalactans) was administered daily for 21 days. Fecal and serum samples were collected before, during, and up to 3 weeks after administration. Changes in the fecal microbiota were analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, 16S rRNA gene libraries, quantitative real-time PCR, and 16S rRNA gene 454-pyrosequencing. Probiotic species were detectable in 10/12 dogs and 11/12 cats during product administration. Abundances of Enterococcus and Streptococcus spp. were significantly increased in at least one time point during administration, and returned to baseline abundance after treatment was discontinued. No changes in the major bacterial phyla were identified on 454-pyrosequencing. No adverse gastrointestinal effects were recorded and no significant changes in gastrointestinal function or immune markers were observed during the study period. This study shows that while the ingestion of probiotics and prebiotics does not appear to alter the predominant bacterial phyla present in feces, supplementation with the investigated synbiotic leads to an increased abundance of probiotic bacteria in the feces of healthy cats and dogs.


An experiment to determine the effect of poultry manure (PM) application rates on growth and yield of S. senegalensis was conducted at the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The experiment was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) of four rates of poultry manure (0, 10, 20 and 30 t ha–1) replicated three times. Analysis of variance results indicated that PM significantly (p < 0.05) influenced most of the growth attributes measured with 20 t ha-1 having the longest vine (106.5 and 140.3 cm) at 4 and 5 MAT, respectively. It also produced more leaves (77.9, 132.1, 175.9 and 250) at 2, 3, 4 and 5 MAT, respectively and had the highest number of branches of 13.85, 22.70, 27.6, 39.2 and 61.1 across the months. Most of the phenological traits were positively influenced by PM rates. Earliest days to 60% (138.0 days) and 100% (167.0 days) flower bud formation, flower bud break (191.0 days) and fruit formation (194.3 days) were associated with 30 t ha–1 of PM. Poultry manure had no significant effect on all the yield components and yield measured. Although, PM applied at 20 t ha–1 had the earliest days (706) to harvest and had the tendency to increase S. senegalensis yield. Further increase of PM rate beyond 20 t ha–1 decreased growth and yield traits taken. The use of PM at 20 t ha–1 appeared optimum and could be recommended for the cultivation of S, senegalensis in the study area.


A new technique preparing polyester fiber impregnated with organic phase change material(PCM) was proposed and experimentally examined. The impregnation apparatus consisted of a high pressure pump, two consecutive high pressure cylinders and auxiliary facilities. Polyester fiber was bound on cylindrical stainless steel net inside equilibrium cylinder and was impregnated with supercritical solution of PCM. PCMs, paraffin waxes and organic acids, were successfully impregnated into the polyester fiber even at temperature below it's glass transition temperature(Tg), and the impregnated fibers showed high energy storage and release capacity around the melting point of respective PCMs.


Background The measurement of quality of life (QoL) has become increasingly important in clinical practice. For children with chronic illnesses, QoL has become an important dimension of assessment owing to advances in medical care and an increase in survival rates for many conditions. However, there is limited research on QoL in children born with congenital anomalies. The aim of this study was to test whether the KIDSCREEN questionnaire could be used to measure QoL in children born with gastroschisis. Methods KIDSCREEN is a validated QoL measure developed and normed across 13 European countries as a self-report questionnaire for healthy and chronically ill children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years. Children born with gastroschisis, identified from the Northern Congenital Abnormality Survey, and their parents completed the questionnaire and the relevance of the questions was discussed with them through cognitive interviewing. Results Ten children (six females, four males) and ten parents completed the KIDSCREEN questionnaire. Both children and parents found it a good measure of QoL with further explanation needed on only a few items. Children frequently reported finding it a helpful tool in exploring their feelings and that it covered areas pertinent to them. Comments from parents were positive acknowledging that all priority areas were well represented and they felt it was straightforward for their children to complete. Conclusions This small qualitative study has demonstrated that the KIDSCREEN has adequate face validity as a measure of QoL in these children and is acceptable to both children and their parents.


Study on the reliability of H-beam transfer truss was based on the rebuilding of 1# office building of Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Under construction loads, the force analysis of the H-beam transfer truss was carried out with the software STS2005.12. In the paper, the right of trusses node connection was first chosen, and a plane calculation model of H-beam transfer truss was established based on some reasonable assumptions. Then, the force of H-beam transfer truss under construction loads was analyzed with the calculation model, in determining a reasonable control indexes and calculation parameters. From the results of analysis, we could see that the design and application of H-beam transfer truss in the stage of construction was safe and reliable, in the dismantling concrete post of old structure.


In June 2012, the United States Supreme Court held in Miller v. Alabama that the imposition of mandatory life-without-parole sentences on juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual" punishment. This case continued the Supreme Court's slow but steady expansion of the scope of the Eighth Amendment over the past decade. In light of the Court's decision in Miller to preclude mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles, this article explores the possibility of further expansion of the Eighth Amendment to proscribe other kinds of mandatory sentences. Applying the approach of the Court in Miller to other contexts provides, at the very least, a basis to remedy some of the injustices created by mandatory sentences. This article, then, argues that the "mandatory" meaning of Miller is that the Eighth Amendment requires consideration of mitigating evidence by courts in all cases involving "death-in-custody" sentences. In light of this "mandatory" meaning, the article then considers several important normative consequences. Specifically, application of this "mandatory" meaning would result in the Eighth Amendment barring imposition of a "death-in-custody" sentence in (1) capital cases where life with parole is not a sentencing option, (2) cases where a mandatory minimum sentence extends the term of the sentence beyond the life expectancy of the offender, and (3) cases where consecutive sentences extend the term of the sentence beyond the life expectancy of the offender. As explained below, the key principle here is that the Eighth Amendment requires courts to examine mitigating evidence in any case where the duration of the mandated legislative sentence exceeds the life expectancy of the offender. Part I of this article describes the meaning of "mandatory" as developed by Miller. In Part II, the article explains when "mandatory" matters, exploring the normative consequences of adopting the "mandatory" meaning of Miller in applying the Eighth Amendment to death-in-custody cases. Finally, Part III, the article demonstrates why "mandatory" matters for adopting this approach in Eighth Amendment cases.


In late winter and spring of 2006 and 2008, leaf spots with yellow halos were observed on dwarf schefflera (Schefflera arboricola cvs. Gold Capella, Trinette, and Green Gold) that were grown as potted plants in two commercial ornamental greenhouses in Adana and Mersin, Turkey. Average disease incidence was assessed as 10% during the term of the study. Isolations were made from leaf spots symptoms on King's medium B. Bacteria consistently isolated from diseased tissues formed green fluorescent colonies on the medium. Ten representative bacterial strains were examined and found to be gram negative, rod shaped, and aerobic, levan, pectolytic, and arginine dihydrolase negative, and oxidase positive. They all induced a hypersensitive response in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun). All strains were identified as Pseudomonas cichorii with similarity indices of 79 to 99% based on fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles determined by Sherlock Microbial Identification System software (TSBA 6 v. 6.00; Microbial ID, Newark, DE). Pathogenicity of the strains was confirmed on five dwarf schefflera plants by leaf tissue infiltration with bacterial suspensions (107 CFU ml-1) in sterile distilled water. P. cichorii NCPPB 3802 and sterile water were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. The same symptoms as those observed in the commercial greenhouses were observed on dwarf schefflera leaves within 12 to 15 days after inoculation. The bacteria were reisolated from the inoculated plants and identified as the same as the original strain by conventional tests and FAME analysis. Negative control plants remained disease free. Occurrence of bacterial leaf spot caused by P. cichorii on vegetable crops in Turkey (1,3) and dwarf schefflera in other countries (2) has been reported previously, but to our knowledge, this is the first report of the observation of P. cichorii on dwarf schefflera in Turkey. References: (1) Y. Aysan et al. Plant Pathol. 52:782. 2003. (2) A. R. Chase and D. D. Brunk. Plant Dis. 68:73, 1984. (3) F. Sahin et al. Acta Hortic. 695:93, 2005.


Information on the concentration of suspended sediments in coastal waters is necessary for the understanding and management of the coastal environment. Traditionally, suspended sediment concentration (SSC) has been measured by time-consuming and costly boat surveys which allow the accurate measurement of SSC for single points in space and time. Remote sensing from airborne and spaceborne sensors has proved to be a useful adjunct to such surveys as it provides an instantaneous and synoptic view of sediments that would otherwise be unavailable. The key to the success of remote sensing in such a role is the strong positive relationship that exists between SSC and remotely sensed spectral radiance (L(x)).

This review provides an introduction to this SSC/L(x) relationship; exploring its physical basis, its robustness under a range of environmental conditions and its utility as a tool for estimation. It is concluded that future research on this relationship should concentrate upon the suppression of environmental influences and the optimum sampling of SSC.


The P & T Committee of our institution, a 285-bed, non-tertiary care regional medical center, undertook a study to evaluate the use of the aminoglycoside amikacin sulfate (Amikin). Results of an initial DUE, a follow-up to an educational effort, and the estimated annual cost savings that could be achieved with appropriate prescribing of aminoglycosides are presented.


The complexities brought about by the fast paced civilization posed a colossal problem which government cannot address alone. In a country like the Philippines, societal demands in terms of security, justice, wealth redistribution and the overall welfare of the citizens have grown geometrically vis a vis limited financial and resource capabilities of the government. The diversities of demand among the citizens sometimes forced our leaders to take the driver set blind folded. The methods subscribed by our leaders lead to delayed if not disproportional dispatch of services which gradually distorted social balance. This disequilibrium has been gradually corrected by the philanthropists, charitable institutions and the non-government organizations in general. In Bohol, one of the issues though not alarming as of the moment is the presence of abandoned/neglected children. These fragile souls momentarily find peaceful abode thru the Department of Social Welfare and Development until they arrive at the doors of orphanages. Considering that orphanages heavily relied on dole out, financial grants and donations, the researcher wanted to ascertain if on top of these, the said institution interfaced in their system the basics of portfolio management. The paper is based mainly on secondary data analysis. The results showed that the theories on portfolio management were not being adhered to. Keywords - Orphanage, Bohol, Department of Social Welfare and Development


After publication of our initial mass-radius-composition models for the TRAPPIST-1 system in Unterborn et al. (2018), the planet masses were updated in Grimm et al. (2018). We had originally adopted the data set of Wang et al., 2017 who reported different densities than the updated values. The differences in observed density change the inferred volatile content of the planets. Grimm et al. (2018) report TRAPPIST-1 b, d, f, g, and h as being consistent with <5 wt% water and TRAPPIST-1 c and e has having largely rocky interiors. Here, we present updated results recalculating water fractions and potential alternative compositions using the Grimm et al., 2018 masses. Overall, we can only reproduce the results of Grimm et al., 2018 of planets b, d and g having small water contents if the cores of these planets are small (<23 wt%). We show that, if the cores for these planets are roughly Earth-sized (33 wt%), significant water fractions up to 40 wt% are possible. We show planets c, e, f, and h can have volatile envelopes between 0-35 wt% that are also consistent with being totally oxidized and lacking an Fe-core entirely. We note here that a pure MgSiO$_3$ planet (Fe/Mg = 0) is not the true lowest density end-member mass-radius curve for determining the probability of a planet containing volatiles. All planets that are rocky likely contain some Fe, either within the core or oxidized in the mantle. We argue the true low density end-member for oxidizing systems is instead a planet with the lowest reasonable Fe/Mg and completely core-less. Using this logic, we assert that planets b, d and g likely must have significant volatile layers because the end-member planet models produce masses too high even when uncertainties in both mass and radius are taken into account.


Computed tomographic colonography (CTC) computer aided detection (CAD) is a new method to detect colon polyps. Colonic polyps are abnormal growths that may become cancerous. Detection and removal of colonic polyps, particularly larger ones, has been shown to reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer. While high sensitivities and low false positive rates are consistently achieved for the detection of polyps sized 1cm or larger, lower sensitivities and higher false positive rates occur when the goal of CAD is to identify "medium"-sized polyps, 6-9mm in diameter. Such medium-sized polyps may be important for clinical patient management. We have developed a wavelet-based postprocessor to reduce false positives for this polyp size range. We applied the wavelet-based postprocessor to CTC CAD findings from 44 patients in whom 45 polyps with sizes of 6-9mm were found at segmentally unblinded optical colonoscopy and visible on retrospective review of the CT colonography images. Prior to the application of the wavelet-based postprocessor, the CTC CAD system detected 33 of the polyps (sensitivity 73.33%) with 12.4 false positives per patient, a sensitivity comparable to that of expert radiologists. Fourfold cross validation with 5000 bootstraps showed that the wavelet-based postprocessor could reduce the false positives by 56.61% (p<0.001), to 5.38 per patient (95% confidence interval [4.41, 6.34]), without significant sensitivity degradation (32∕45, 71.11%, 95% confidence interval [66.39%, 75.74%], p=0.1713). We conclude that this wavelet-based postprocessor can substantially reduce the false positive rate of our CTC CAD for this important polyp size range.


Objectives Early hospital readmissions or deaths are key healthcare quality measures in pay-for-performance programs. Predictive models could identify patients at higher risk of readmission or death and target interventions. However, existing models usually do not incorporate social determinants of health (SDH) information, although this information is of great importance to address health disparities related to social risk factors. The objective of this study is to examine the impact of social determinants of health on predictive models for potentially avoidable 30-day readmission. Methods We extracted electronic health record data for 19,941 hospital admissions between January 2015 and November 2017 at an academic medical center in New York City. We applied the Simplified HOSPITAL score model to predict potentially avoidable 30-day readmission or death and examined if incorporating individual- and community-level SDH could improve the prediction using cross-validation. We calculated the C-statistic for discrimination, Brier score for accuracy, and Hosmer–Lemeshow test for calibration for each model using logistic regression. Analysis was conducted for all patients and three subgroups that may be disproportionately affected by social risk factors, namely Medicaid patients, patients who are 65 or older, and obese patients. Results The Simplified HOSPITAL score model achieved similar performance in our sample compared to previous studies. Adding SDH did not improve the prediction among all patients. However, adding individual- and community-level SDH at the US census tract level significantly improved the prediction for all three subgroups. Specifically, C-statistics improved from 0.70 to 0.73 for Medicaid patients, from 0.66 to 0.68 for patients 65 or older, and from 0.70 to 0.73 for obese patients. Conclusions Patients from certain subgroups may be more likely to be affected by social risk factors. Incorporating SDH into predictive models may be helpful to identify these patients and reduce health disparities associated with vulnerable social conditions.


Recycling aluminum alloys has been shown to provide major economic benefits, as a result it is appropriate for the aluminum industry and the United States as a whole to identify, develop, and implement all technologies that will optimize the benefits of recycling. This paper will focus primarily alloy design for optimizing the reuse of recycled metal; this is both the most forward looking as we move toward a more recycling friendly world and the most overlooked for its potential in maximizing the recycle loop. Some specific approaches to alloy design for recycling are put forth, and some specific compositions for evaluation are proposed. Options for moving forward to further capitalize of the advantages of aluminum recycling are also addressed.


Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.


Objectives: To determine if patients with coronavirus disease 2019 had a greater number of unplanned extubations resulting in reintubations than in patients without coronavirus disease 2019. Design: Retrospective cohort study comparing the frequency of unplanned extubations resulting in reintubations in a group of coronavirus disease 2019 patients to a historical (noncoronavirus disease 2019) control group. Setting: This study was conducted at Henry Ford Hospital, an academic medical center in Detroit, MI. The historical noncoronavirus disease 2019 patients were treated in the 68 bed medical ICU. The coronavirus disease 2019 patients were treated in the coronavirus disease ICU, which included the 68 medical ICU beds, 18 neuro-ICU beds, 32 surgical ICU beds, and 40 cardiovascular ICU beds, as the medical ICU was expanded to these units at the peak of the pandemic in Detroit, MI. Patients: The coronavirus disease 2019 cohort included patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 who were intubated for respiratory failure from March 12, 2020, to April 13, 2020. The historic control (noncoronavirus disease 2019) group consisted of patients who were admitted to the medical ICU in the year spanning from November 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019, with a need for mechanical ventilation that was not related to surgery or a neurologic reason. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: To identify how many patients in each cohort had unplanned extubations, an electronic medical records query for patients with two intubations within 30 days was performed, in addition to a review of our institutional quality and safety database of reported self-extubations. Medical charts were manually reviewed by board-certified anesthesiologists to confirm each event was an unplanned extubation followed by a reintubation within 24 hours. There was a significantly greater incidence of unplanned extubations resulting in reintubation events in the coronavirus disease 2019 cohort than in the noncoronavirus disease 2019 cohort (coronavirus disease 2019 cohort: 167 total admissions with 22 events—13.2%; noncoronavirus disease 2019 cohort: 326 total admissions with 14 events—4.3%; p < 0.001). When the rate of unplanned extubations was expressed per 100 intubated days, there was not a significant difference between the groups (0.88 and 0.57, respectively; p = 0.269). Conclusions: Coronavirus disease 2019 patients have a higher incidence of unplanned extubation that requires reintubation than noncoronavirus disease 2019 patients. Further study is necessary to evaluate the variables that contribute to this higher incidence and clinical strategies that can reduce it.


This work demonstrates how minor structural and electronic changes between Ln(NO3)3 and Ln(hfac)3 lanthanide carriers (Ln = trivalent lanthanide, hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate) lead to opposite thermodynamic protocols for the metal loading of luminescent polynuclear single-stranded oligomers. Whereas metal clustering is relevant for Ln(hfac)3, the successive fixation of Ln(NO3)3 provides stable microspecies with an alternated occupancy of the binding sites. Partial anion dissociation and anion/ligand bi-exchange processes occur in polar aprotic solvents, which contribute to delay the unambiguous choice of a well-behaved neutral lanthanide carrier for the selective complexation of different trivalent lanthanides along a single ligand strand. Clues for further improvement along this stepwise strategy are discussed.


patients contain three types of agglutinin to Proteus in different proportions. One of them is the main type and the others exist as coagglutinins. In this region it has been found necessary to make the Weil-Felix test with all the three types of Proteius. The vaccine prepared here has been efficacious. In 1943, 3,122 persons-police soldiers, policemen, and prisonerswere inoculated with American typhus vaccine (Cox type), but, because sufficient vaccine was not available, controls were not inoculated, but remained in the same area. Although during that year the outbreak was not serious, cases and deaths were recorded among the uninbculated; among the inoculated, however, only mild cases were recorded, with no deaths.


The experiment described here is based on previous descriptive work on prosodic patterns in coreference chains which showed that new referents tend to be more prominent than given ones. The hypothesis being tested in the present experiment states that listeners use prosodic prominence as cue to referents' status. Sentences taken from the production experiment corpus were acoustically manipulated to create three artificial prominence distributions other than the natural New-Given: Given-Given, Given-New amd New-New. In the experiment listeners had to compare a natural sentence with one of the manipulated versions. Results show that listeners prefer the natural sentences to the manipulated ones. The most rejected manipulation is the one that reverses the prominence levels of new and given referents. Manipulations in which both referents have the same prominence level tend not to be rejected.


Acquisition and restructuring strategies are some of the growth and retrenchment strategies that firms employ with the aim of achieving competitive advantage in form of superior financial sustainability position. In this study, we set out to provide a descriptive framework for acquisition and restructuring strategies as corporate level strategies and to investigate the ability of these strategies to help organizations improve their financial sustainability. Acquisition was recommended as an effective diversification strategy due to its benefit of increasing barriers to entry. Horizontal and vertical integration were particularly recommended as effective market development strategies by way of acquisition of unique resources and competitors' market share. However, few authors also discouraged acquisition strategy on the grounds of increase in external reliance for critical resources. Restructuring strategies were recommended as an effective part of a turnaround strategy as opposed to being implemented in isolation.

 Key words: Acquisition strategy, restructuring strategy, competitive advantage, financial sustainability, diversification, market development, turnaround strategy.


Parallel Kinematic Machines (PKM) are mechanical systems utilized to produce precise operations at high speeds compared to serial machines. Its applications
cover a wide range of operations in the automotive and aerospace industry. These machines can be affected by oscillatory effects such as resonant frequencies, which
can produce adverse effects on the performance and the useful life of the systems.
Therefore the determination of these characteristics is an important element in the design and operation of these machines.
The research developed in this thesis addresses the identification of these resonant frequencies in the possible working volumes of a PKM called FreeHex. This
machine is used to perform high speed machining operations and in situ rapair of aerospace equipment. Two methods are developed and described to estimate the
resonant frequencies.The first is formulated through the Finite Element Method (FEM), and given the initial configuration of the FreeHex is capable to estimate
the resonant frequencies within the working volume of that configuration. The second method is intended to validate the model described by the FEM. As the
FreeHex is able to achieve a several configurations the analysis is performed to a single one and then the experimental and the finite element analysis model
are compared. The experimental results are obtained by impact testing trough Multiple Input Single Output (MISO) method on the structure. The average error between the FEA models and experimental results lies in a value of 3.94 % showing a good correlation between both methods and making possible to implement the algorithms here developed.


This study examines the dynamics of Lintner's model using bank-specific panel data from 15 commercial banks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, using the newly introduced dynamic Panel-Auto Regressive Distributed Lag technique for the Period 2006Q01 to 2015Q04. The study findings from the long-run estimates reveal that Lintner's model holds well, but with a negative effect of profitability on dividend payout of banks in Nigeria during the period in question. The findings further reveal evidence of a co-integrating relationship among past year dividend, profitability, capital adequacy and taxation, and with evidence of unidirectional short-run causality among the variables used to test Lintner's model and the dividend payout ratio. Based on these findings, this study concludes that dividend process in Nigeria support the information-content-hypothesis' argument by strict adherence to Lintner's model in Nigerian banking sector.


To examine the previously claimed fast cooling of the Central Compact Object (CCO) in the Cas A supernova remnant (SNR), we analyzed two Chandra observations of this CCO, taken in a setup minimizing instrumental spectral distortions. We fit the two CCO X-ray spectra from 2006 and 2012 with hydrogen and carbon neutron star atmosphere models. The temperature and flux changes in the 5.5 yr between the two epochs depend on the adopted constraints on the fitting parameters and the uncertainties of the effective area calibrations. If we allow a change of the equivalent emitting region size, REm, the effective temperature remains essentially the same. If REm is held constant, the best-fit temperature change is negative, but its statistical significance ranges from 0.8σ to 2.5σ, depending on the model. If we assume that the optical depth of the ACIS filter contaminant in 2012 was ±10% different from its default calibration value, the significance of the temperature drop becomes 0.8σ–3.1σ, for the carbon atmospheres with constant REm. Thus, we do not see a statistically significant temperature drop in our data, but the involved uncertainties are too large to firmly exclude the previously reported fast cooling. Our analysis indicate a decrease of 4%–6% (1.9σ–2.9σ significance) for the absorbed flux in the energy range 0.6–6 keV between 2006 and 2012, most prominent in the ≈1.4–1.8 keV energy range. It could be caused by unaccounted changes of the detector response or contributions from unresolved SNR material along the line of sight to the CCO.


An elasticity of retail sales with respect to farm, manufacturing, and transfer income is estimated for three community sizes and seven types of retail businesses. The results indicate the aggregate marginal propensity to consume retail goods locally decreases in the smallest communities and increases in the largest communities when rural income increases. The estimated elasticity ranged from minus 4.9 to positive 5.6 across the seven business types and three sources of income.


Background: The Taylor Spatial Frame (TSF) has been widely used for tibiofibular fractures. However, traditional radiograph measurement method is complicated and the reduction accuracy is not high enough for correcting residual deformities. We proposed the marker-3D measurement method to solve these problems. This study aimed to compare the reduction accuracy of the traditional radiograph measurement method and the marker-3D measurement method in tibiofibular fracture treated with TSF.Methods: From January 2016 to June 2019, A retrospective analysis was performed based on the patients with tibiofibular fracture treated with TSF in our department. 41 patients were qualified for this study, including 21 patients in the marker-3D measurement group (experimental group) and 20 patients in the traditional radiograph measurement group (control group). In the experimental group, CT scan was performed for 3D reconstruction with 6 markers installed on the TSF, to determine the adjusting plan. In the control group, the anteroposterior (AP) and lateral radiographs were performed for the deformity parameters. X-rays were taken to measure the residual deformities after correction.Results: All patients reached functional reduction. The residual displacement deformity (RDD) in AP radiograph was 0.5 (0, 1.72) mm in experimental group and 1.74 (0.43, 3.67) mm in control group. The residual angle deformity (RAD) in AP radiograph was 0 (0, 1.25) ° in experimental group and 1.25 (0.62, 1.95) °in control group. As to the Lateral radiograph, the RDD was 0 (0, 1.22) mm in experimental group and 2.02 (0, 3.74) mm in control group. The RAD was 0 (0, 0) ° in experimental group and 1.42 (0, 1.93) ° in control group. Significant differences in all above comparisons were found between the groups (AP radiograph RDD: P = 0.024, RAD: P = 0.020; Lateral radiograph RDD: P = 0.016, RAD: P = 0.004). Conclusions: Both groups achieved satisfactory fracture reduction. However, the residual deformities in the experimental group were significantly smaller. This study proved that the marker-3D measurement method could further improve the reduction accuracy.


This study examines the use of tense- and non-tense-marking morphology over time by a group of English L2 children with typical language development and two English L2 children with language delay/impairment. The aim was to ascertain whether the Extended Optional Infinitive (EOI) account characterized the acquisition patterns displayed by the affected children, suggesting that tense functions as a clinical marker in impaired L2 as well as L1 English. Results showed that the two children with language delay/impairment displayed a hybrid pattern between typical child L2 English and L1-based EOI characteristics. The difference in age of English acquisition onset between L1 and L2 is put forward as a potential explanation for the dissimilar patterns between L1 and L2 impaired acquisition.


Manpower is the most valuable asset in the construction industry. Based on an examination of literature, selected key data sources, and views from 29 key informants, this paper addresses the important labour resource context related to the construction industry in the case of Hong Kong. These include the trends of the critical indicators of the labour market in construction and the implications of the changing markets and technology on the future pattern of skill requirements, and the government policies on construction personnel. The findings are of immense importance to anyone involved in the construction industry, particularly training organizations and policy makers in their mission to maintain a skilled, competitive and adequate workforce able to meet the future demands of the industry. The changing labour market trends and skill requirements pose challenges for construction personnel in terms of upgrading their skills. Further research is recommended to construct robust models predicting the occupational trends in labour resources for effective manpower planning and to establish a labour market information system which could lead to capturing periodic labour market signals with a view to assisting the process of policy making on various human resource development aspects of construction workforce in Hong Kong.


Feature matching and model fitting are fundamental problems in multi-view geometry. They are chicken-&-egg problems: if models are known it is easier to find matches and vice versa. Standard multi-view geometry techniques sequentially solve feature matching and model fitting as two independent problems after making fairly restrictive assumptions. For example, matching methods rely on strong discriminative power of feature descriptors, which fail for stereo images with repetitive textures or wide baseline. Also, model fitting methods assume given feature matches, which are not known a priori. Moreover, when data supports multiple models the fitting problem becomes challenging even with known matches and current methods commonly use heuristics. One of the main contributions of this thesis is a joint formulation of fitting and matching problems. We are first to introduce an objective function combining both matching and multi-model estimation. We also propose an approximation algorithm for the corresponding NP-hard optimization problem using block-coordinate descent with respect to matching and model fitting variables. For fixed models, our method uses min-cost-max-flow based algorithm to solve a generalization of a linear assignment problem with label cost (sparsity constraint). The fixed matching case reduces to the multi-model fitting subproblem, which is interesting in its own right. In contrast to standard heuristic approaches, we introduce global objective functions for multi-model fitting using various forms of regularization (spatial smoothness and sparsity) and propose a graph-cut based optimization algorithm, PEaRL. Experimental results show that our proposed mathematical formulations and optimization algorithms improve the accuracy and robustness of model estimation over the state-of-the-art in computer vision.


We present a new geologic map of western Nepal and three balanced regional cross sections in the Himalayan thrust belt. The minimum shortening between the South Tibetan detachment and the Main Frontal thrust is 485–743 km and suggests that total Himalayan shortening may exceed 900 km. All rocks involved in the thrust belt are of upper crustal affinity, implying that a comparable length of Indian lower crust and mantle lithosphere was subducted beneath Tibet. Major structural features are the Subhimalayan thrust system, Lesser Himalayan imbricate zone, Dadeldhura thrust sheet, Lesser Himalayan duplex, Ramgarh thrust sheet, Main Central thrust sheet, and a north-dipping normal-sense shear zone, possibly related to the South Tibetan detachment. These structures are continuous along the entire Nepalese portion of the Himalayan thrust belt. New 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages from the Ramgarh thrust zone, Greater Himalayan rocks, and the lower part of the Tethyan sequence support a kinematic model in which major thrust systems in Nepal propagated southward from early Miocene time onward. The geometry and kinematic history of the thrust belt in western Nepal are not compatible with recent models for southward ductile extrusion of Greater Himalayan rocks in a mid-crustal channel. Instead, the thrust belt in western Nepal behaved like a typical forward propagating thrust system, involving unmetamorphosed, brittlely deformed rocks in its frontal part and ductilely deformed, higher-grade metamorphic rocks in its hinterland region. Although our results do not support published versions of the channel flow model, they provide additional geological and geo-chronological data that will assist future attempts to develop geodynamic models for the Himalayan-Tibetan orogenic system.


Automated extraction of spectral endmembers is a crucial task in hyperspectral data analysis. In most cases, the computational complexity of endmember extraction algorithms is very high, in particular, for very high-dimensional datasets. However, the intrinsic properties of available techniques are amenable to the design of parallel implementations. In this letter, we evaluate several parallel algorithms that represent three representative approaches to the problem of extracting endmembers. Two parallel algorithms have been selected to represent a first class of algorithms based on convex geometry concepts. In particular, we develop parallel implementations of approximate versions of the N-FINDR and pixel purity index algorithms, along with a parallel hybrid of both techniques. A second class is given by algorithms based on constrained error minimization and represented by a parallel version of the iterative error analysis algorithm. Finally, a parallel version of the automated morphological endmember extraction algorithm is also presented and discussed. This algorithm integrates the spatial and spectral information as opposed to the other discussed algorithms, a feature that introduces additional considerations for its parallelization. The proposed algorithms are quantitatively compared and assessed in terms of both endmember extraction accuracy and parallel efficiency, using standard AVIRIS hyperspectral datasets. Performance data are measured on Thunderhead, a parallel supercomputer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center


Abstract Objective: The objective of this study was to develop and validate a smartphone-based digits-in-noise hearing test for South African English. Design: Single digits (0–9) were recorded and spoken by a first language English female speaker. Level corrections were applied to create a set of homogeneous digits with steep speech recognition functions. A smartphone application was created to utilize 120 digit-triplets in noise as test material. An adaptive test procedure determined the speech reception threshold (SRT). Experiments were performed to determine headphones effects on the SRT and to establish normative data. Study sample: Participants consisted of 40 normal-hearing subjects with thresholds ≤15 dB across the frequency spectrum (250–8000 Hz) and 186 subjects with normal-hearing in both ears, or normal-hearing in the better ear. Results: The results show steep speech recognition functions with a slope of 20%/dB for digit-triplets presented in noise using the smartphone application. The results of five headphone types indicate that the smartphone-based hearing test is reliable and can be conducted using standard Android smartphone headphones or clinical headphones. Conclusion: A digits-in-noise hearing test was developed and validated for South Africa. The mean SRT and speech recognition functions correspond to previous developed telephone-based digits-in-noise tests.


This Application Note demonstrates the use of the Agilent ChemStation Method Scouting Wizard for the development of a chiral separation method on the Agilent 1260 Infinity II SFC System. The SFC system was equipped with a four-column selection valve and four different chiral columns for scouting runs against different isocratic separation conditions.


Abstract The relevant literature was reviewed to identify phthalate sources in the environment and problems resulting from phthalate contamination of soil and water. Phthalate properties responsible for their toxicity for living organisms were identified, and the effects of phthalates on humans and animals were described. Special emphasis was placed on the effects of exposure to phthalates on human health. Phthalates are readily released into the environment and create a risk of exposure for humans and other living organisms. They are characterized by reproductive toxicity in humans and animals, they can cause infertility and reproductive problems in males. Phthalates are more toxic in young children, which are much more susceptible to phthalate exposure, including fetal life. Phthalates are used in numerous industries, and they are very difficult to eliminate from our daily surroundings.


Abstract In the southwestern United States, local weed management programs are increasingly important in weed prevention and control; however, little is known about the effectiveness of different local approaches to weed management. We surveyed coordinators of 53 local weed management programs in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah to determine how 4 key program attributes (interagency coordination, volunteer participation, regulatory authority and enforcement, and the state in which the program was located) were related with 4 performance measures: weed control, public education and outreach, weed monitoring, and integrated weed management. Based on the responses of 42 program coordinators (79%) we found that 1) weed programs that coordinated their activities with other organizations and those with citizen volunteers conducted more monitoring, but programs that did not coordinate or use volunteers treated more of their infested acreage; 2) programs that used a light-handed regulatory approach conducted more weed control than those with more punitive enforcement regimes or no enforcement authority; and 3) Colorado programs conducted more outreach and education than did programs in the other 3 states. Thus, although volunteer involvement and interagency coordination contributed to the performance of the local weed programs studied, particularly in monitoring, they have not compensated for the lack of locally enforceable weed regulations or adequate funding. Successful weed management in southwestern United States will require adequately funded, locally adapted approaches supported by locally enforceable weed regulations.


Abstract In this study, we investigated how the brain responds to task difficulty in linguistic and non-linguistic contexts. This is important for the interpretation of functional imaging studies of neuroplasticity in post-stroke aphasia, because of the inherent difficulty of matching or controlling task difficulty in studies with neurological populations. Twenty neurologically normal individuals were scanned with fMRI as they performed a linguistic task and a non-linguistic task, each of which had two levels of difficulty. Critically, the tasks were matched across domains (linguistic, non-linguistic) for accuracy and reaction time, such that the differences between the easy and difficult conditions were equivalent across domains. We found that non-linguistic demand modulated the same set of multiple demand (MD) regions that have been identified in many prior studies. In contrast, linguistic demand modulated MD regions to a much lesser extent, especially nodes belonging to the dorsal attention network. Linguistic demand modulated a subset of language regions, with the left inferior frontal gyrus most strongly modulated. The right hemisphere region homotopic to Broca's area was also modulated by linguistic but not non-linguistic demand. When linguistic demand was mapped relative to non-linguistic demand, we also observed domain by difficulty interactions in temporal language regions as well as a widespread bilateral semantic network. In sum, linguistic and non-linguistic demand have strikingly different neural correlates. These findings can be used to better interpret studies of patients recovering from aphasia. Some reported activations in these studies may reflect task performance differences, while others can be more confidently attributed to neuroplasticity.


The pathogenesis of rheumatoid factor (RF), especially IgG RF, in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the influence of gold salt on RF were studied clinically. The following results wereobtained. 1) The incidence of RF sera was 78.9% by the RA test, 90.9% by the Heller FⅡ method and 72.7% by the Heller Svartz method. In RA synovial fluid, the incidence of RF was 94% by the RA test, 100% by the Heller FⅡ method and 72.7% by the Heller Svartz method. In osteoarthritis (OA) synovial fluid, the incidence of RF was 14.3% by the RA test and 33.3% by both the Heller FⅡ and Heller Svartz method. 2) The RF titer of same RA serum was higher by the Heller FⅡ method than by the Heller Svartz method. 3) RF response in RA serum and synovial fluid was identical in 76.2% of cases by the RA test. In 19% of the subjects, RA test was positive in synovial fluid but negative in serum. 4) No relationships were found between RF titer and white cell count or RA cell count in RA and OA synovial fluid. 5) The mean value of IgG RF was almost equal in seronegative and seropositive RA. 6) A statistically significant relationship was present between higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate and higher RF titer in RA patients. 7) No relationships were found in positive and negaitve C-reactive protain in the three RF subtypes in RA patients. 8) A correlation was present between a high grade of bone destruction and IgG RF value above the mean in RA serum and synovial fluid. 9) In RA synovial fluid, IgG RF level was parallel to total beta glucuronidase activity. 10) In effective cases of chrysotherapy in RA, serum and synovial fluid gold concentration did not decrease but the IgG RF level decreased slightly. 11) In non-effective cases of chrysotherapy in RA, serum and synovial fluid gold concentration decreased slightly but the IgG RF level was stationary or increased slightly.


The stimulation of the central vagus nerve in guinea pigs was applied to study the role of vagal afferent information in the control of breathing. The survival time after bilateral vagotomy was measured in unanesthetized animals, under Hexobarbital anesthesia, and in anesthetized subjects when the central stump of the vagus nerve was stimulated. There were no differences in survival time between the first and the second groups, but in animals with vagal stimulation, the survival time was prolonged. The respiratory and circulatory disturbances were abolished by stimulation.


Recent studies observed a correlation between estrogen-related cancers and groundwater atrazine in eastern Nebraska counties. However, the mechanisms of human exposure to atrazine are unclear because low groundwater atrazine concentration was observed in counties with high cancer incidence despite having the highest atrazine usage. We studied groundwater atrazine fate in high atrazine usage Nebraska counties. Data were collected from Quality Assessed Agrichemical Contaminant Nebraska Groundwater, Parameter–Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and water use databases. Descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were performed. Domestic wells (59%) were the predominant well type. Groundwater atrazine was affected by well depth. Clusters consisting of wells with low atrazine were characterized by excessive groundwater abstraction, reduced precipitation, high population, discharge areas, and metropolitan counties. Hence, low groundwater atrazine may be due to excessive groundwater abstraction accompanied by atrazine. Human exposure to atrazine in abstracted groundwater may be higher than the estimated amount in groundwater.


The correctness of software behaviors determines whether the software underdevelopment could meet the goal of stockholders and developers. Developing requirements models effectively for large scale and complex systems and describing their behaviors precisely are both obstacles in Requirements Engineering (RE) domain. Based on our research on software behaviors, we put forward a formal language—Behavior Description Language (BDL) to specify the behaviors of applications. A modeling process is outlined based on BDL to model large and complex systems. A set of behavior characteristics are proposed to describe the correctness of the model and a series of verification methods are illustrated to verify these characteristics.


Background:  Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death associated with malignancy in the United States, and is thought to be the second leading cause of death in 2030 in the United Kingdom. In Asia, pancreatic cancer is the most fatal cancer with the lowest survival of all malignancies, 25-30% survival five years after surgery. Indonesia has no data on the survival of pancreatic cancer and the factors that affect it. The aim of this study is knowing the 1-year survival of pancreatic cancer and its influencing factors in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta. Method: A retrospective cohort study was performed using data from the medical records of pancreatic cancer patients dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital between January 2012 - December 2016. Factors age, sex, metastasis, stage, comorbid and treatment were analyzed bivariate and multivariate using Cox Proportional Hazards Regression to obtain Hazard Ratio (HR) for each prognostic factor. The cumulative survival of 1 year after diagnosis is expressed by the Kaplan-Meier curve. Results: Of 83 subjects the proportion of males was 62.7%, age ≥ 50 years 68.7%, with age range 33-79 years, and 55 years on average. In bivariate analysis, there was a statistically significant relationship of survival with comorbid variables (HR = 2,116, 95% 953 1,335-3,513, p < 0,002), metastasis (HR = 3,802, 95% CI: 1,995-7,249, p < 0.001), palliative treatment (HR = 2,108 , 95% CI: 1,077-4,125, p = 0,029) and group without treatment (HR = 2,924, 95% CI: 1,496-5,716, p = 0,002). Multivariate analysis showed that metastasis provided the greatest risk of death with HR = 4.306 (95% CI: 2.125-8.724, p < 0.001). Palliative group HR was 2.510 (95% CI: 1,245-5,061 p = 0.010) while the group without treatment gave HR 2,535 (95% CI: 1,277-5,032 p = 0,008). The 1-year survival rate is 14%, with a median survival of 6 months. C onclusion: The overall survival of one year of pancreatic cancer patients was 14%, with a median survival of 6 months. The presence of metastasis and not the curative therapy of Whipple surgery in patients with pancreatic cancer in dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital is the main factor that negatively affect the survival of 1 year


The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 indicated that China's existing former mechanism for emergency management was very vulnerable. The Chinese Government has since established a new mechanism for responding to emerging communicable diseases. This paper examined the current status of and developments in China's response to emerging communicable diseases from the outbreak of SARS in 2003 to the outbreak of H7N9 virus infection in 2013. Results indicated that the current mechanism for emergency responses to emerging communicable diseases in China has made great achievements in terms of command and decision-making, organization and collaboration, monitoring and early warning systems, protection, and international communication and cooperation. This mechanism for responding to emerging communicable diseases allowed China to successfully deal with outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu, H1N1 flu, and H7N9 bird flu. However, a better coordination system, a more complete Office of Responses to Public Health Emergencies, administrative responsibility and error correction, better personnel training, and government responsibility may help to improve the response to emerging communicable diseases. Such improvements are eagerly anticipated.


Enterprise modelling can facilitate the design, analysis, control and construction of
contemporary enterprises which can compete in world-wide Product markets. This
research involves a systematic study of enterprise modelling with a particular focus on
resource modelling in support of the life cycle engineering of enterprise systems.
This led to the specification and design of a framework for resource modelling. This
framework was conceived to:
classify resource types;
identify the different functions that resource modelling can support, with respect to
different life phases of enterprise systems;
clarify the relationship between resource models and other modelling perspectives
provide mechanisms which link resource models and other types of models;
identify guidelines for the capture of information - on resources, leading to the
establishment of a set of resource reference models.
The author also designed and implemented a resource modelling tool which conforms
to the principles laid down by the framework. This tool realises important aspects of
the resource modeffing concepts so defined.
Furthermore, two case studies have been carried out. One models a metal cutting
environment, and the other is based on an electronics industry problem area. In this
way, the feasibility of concepts embodied in the framework and the design of the
resource modelling tool has been tested and evaluated.
Following a literature survey and preliminary investigation, the CIMOSA enterprise
modelling and integration methodology was adopted and extended within this
research. Here the resource modelling tool was built by extending SEWOSA (System
Engineering Workbench for Open System Architecture) and utilising the CIMBIOSYS
(CINI-Building Integrated Open SYStems) integrating infrastructure.
The main contributions of the research are that: a framework for resource modelling has been established; means and mechanisms have been proposed, implemented and tested which link and coordinate different modelling perspectives into an unified enterprise model; the mechanisms and resource models generated by this research support each Pfe
phase of systems engineering projects and demonstrate benefits by increasing the
degree to which the derivation process among models is automated.


OUR bold, new approach to the mentally ill may be no more bold than in the past, nor as new as one might think. The following excerpts, taken from the Annual Reports of Winnebago State Hospital, Wisconsin, covering nearly 100 years, sound distressingly like a 1967 yearbook of psychiatry. While there are some new answers, many of the questions and dilemmas remain the same. Lack of Facilities "In view of the large number of persons in the state who are proper subjects for hospital care and treatment, beyond the present hospital accommodations, this is a matter of great importance." (1873) Need for Research "This institution will have done a great work, if it shall succeed in sending to their homes, 'clothed and in their right minds,' a liberal portion of those who came to it sick and in trouble, but it will have done a much greater


We study performance optimization of single frequency broadcast systems (SFBSs) spectrally underlaid in an FDD-CDMA cellular network which operates in a high frequency band (HFB) for the forward link and a low frequency band (LFB) for the reverse link. Interference scenarios between the cellular network and the SFBSs in both HFB and LFB are identified, and an interference analysis is presented to evaluate the received bit-energy-to-noise ratio (E/sub b//N/sub o/). We also study a family of frequency allocation strategies for use by the SFBSs: (1) fixed channel allocation (FCA), (2) random channel allocation (RCA), and (3) distance based channel allocation (DBCA). The simulation results show that, in order to maximize the outage performance of the FDD-CDMA cellular network, and in the meantime to keep the outage performance of the SFBSs at an acceptable level, the DBCA with HFB as the inner tier and LFB as the outer tier should be adopted by the SFBSs given that D is properly adjusted. A good choice of D is to set D=0.76 at which acceptable outage performances of both FDD-CDMA cellular network and SFBSs can be achieved.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the aging population. Evidence implicates elevated soluble oligomeric Aβ as one of the primary triggers during the prodromic phase leading to AD, effected largely via hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau. At low, physiological levels (pM-nM), however, oligomeric Aβ has been found to regulate synaptic plasticity as a neuromodulator. Through mutational analysis, we found a core hexapeptide sequence within the N-terminal domain of Aβ (N-Aβcore) accounting for its physiological activity, and subsequently found that the N-Aβcore peptide is neuroprotective. Here, we characterized the neuroprotective potential of the N-Aβcore against dysfunction of synaptic plasticity assessed in ex vivo hippocampal slices from 5xFAD APP/PS1 mice, specifically hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). The N-Aβcore was shown to reverse impairment in synaptic plasticity in hippocampal slices from 5xFAD APP/PS1 model mice, both for LTP and LTD. The reversal by the N-Aβcore correlated with alleviation of downregulation of hippocampal AMPA-type glutamate receptors in preparations from 5xFAD mice. The action of the N-Aβcore depended upon a critical di-histidine sequence and involved the phosphoinositide-3 (PI3) kinase pathway via mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin). Together, the present findings indicate that the non-toxic N-Aβcore hexapeptide is not only neuroprotective at the cellular level but is able to reverse synaptic dysfunction in AD-like models, specifically alterations in synaptic plasticity.


In student modeling, the concept of "mastery learning" i.e. that a student continues to learn a skill till mastery is attained is important. Usually, mastery is defined in terms of most recent student performance. This is also the case with models such as Knowledge Tracing which estimate knowledge solely based on patterns of questions a student gets correct and the task usually is to predict immediate next action of the student. In retrospect however, it is not clear if this is a good definition of mastery since it is perhaps more useful to focus more on student retention over a longer period of time. This paper improves a recently introduced model by Wang and Beck that predicts long term student performance by clustering the students and generating multiple predictions by using a recently developed ensemble technique. Another contribution is that we introduce a novel clustering algorithm we call "Regularity Clustering" and show that it is superior in the task of predicting student retention over more popular techniques such as k-means and Spectral Clustering.


Current global models of the carbon (C) cycle consider only vertical gas exchanges between terrestrial or oceanic reservoirs and the atmosphere, thus not considering the lateral transport of carbon from the continents to the oceans. Therefore, those models implicitly consider all of the C which is not respired to the atmosphere to be stored on land and hence overestimate the land C sink capability. A model that represents the whole continuum from atmosphere to land and into the ocean would provide a better understanding of the Earth's C cycle and hence more reliable historical or future projections. A first and critical step in that direction is to include processes representing the production and export of dissolved organic carbon in soils. Here we present an original representation of dissolved organic C (DOC) processes in the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES-DOCM) that integrates a representation of DOC production in terrestrial ecosystems based on the incomplete decomposition of organic matter, DOC decomposition within the soil column, and DOC export to the river network via leaching. The model performance is evaluated in five specific sites for which observations of soil DOC concentration are available. Results show that the model is able to reproduce the DOC concentration and controlling processes, including leaching to the riverine system, which is fundamental for integrating terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Future work should include the fate of exported DOC in the river system as well as DIC and POC export from soil.


Stage 7 More Stories C are the latest titles at St 7 of Oxford Reading Tree. These new and exciting stories are written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, and include more 'magic key' adventures to inspire children's imagination and encourage creative writing. They develop more complex reading skills as paragraphs are introduced, and cover a wider sight vocabulary. Longer stories offer more reading practice. Titles include: The Power Cut, Australian Adventure, The Riddle Stone and Riddle Mountain, A Sea Mystery, The Big Breakfast. The 24pp Teaching Notes booklet which is included in the pack is the same size as the pupil books for easy classroom management. It is included in the pack of 6, but also available separately. Comprehension activities are also covered as well as Group and Independent Reading, Speaking and Listening and Writing.


The goal of this paper was to identify key insights of work life for employees at the DNV department Well, Pipeline and Subsea, developing solutions for these insights and choosing one solution for more development as prototype. The paper used methods that placed an emphasis on the gathering employees' experiences, i.e. a bottom-up process with mapping first and categories later. The paper used methods from behavioral science (interviews, questionnaire and observation) to map the now situation and wanted situation in the department. Quantitative and qualitative data was analyzed and five key insights were developed; increase feedback, increase competence networks, increase cooperation, increase competence transfer an increase project size. A workshop was held with the basis of the five key insights. The workshop included DNV employees of different position and experience. The group expanded on the key insights in discussion and worked to create solutions for each key insights. The workshop generated around 40 solutions, ranging in type from concrete tools to policy changes. The solutions were structured and expanded upon and filtered for more development as a prototype. One solution was chosen from the "increase competence networks" key insight: a computer database program to satisfy the dual needs of increased interest in and knowledge about other employees in the department. The prototype used and categorized real information about sections, business areas, projects, competencies and individual employees. Individual information was gathered from seven employees, who had individual profiles created examples. The prototype was tested using a computer in the workplace, by observing users testing the prototype and talking to the users about their experience. The testing yielded 20 new ideas, questions and comments, which were used in further iterations of the prototype. In conclusion, the suggested way forward for the department and DNV is a focus on investigation (gathering more relevant information), informing (sharing the results and key insights) and involving (working with employees to develop solutions and continue improving the prototype).


Introduction Clinical demands and advances in diagnostics and therapeutics have seen a rapid growth in GI physiology/motility services. We surveyed the practice, training and attitudes towards services nationally, to determine if these aspects have kept pace with expansion and to identify areas for development. Methods An online survey developed by a multi-disciplinary panel with medical, surgical and GI physiology representation was circulated to all GI clinicians and physiologists in the UK & Ireland by their national societies BSG, AGIP, AUGIS and ACPGBI. The survey included both generic questions and specific ones signposted for 'specialists' (GI physiologists/clinical leads). Results 313 responses (59% Gastroenterologists) were received, with 221/313 (71%) from 98 institutions having an on-site GI physiology unit. Most units (88/98) had a clinical lead (60% Gastroenterologists, 34% with 'subspecialty interest'). Figure 1 summarises the services available nationally. GI physiologists/nurse specialists conduct the majority of studies (69%) and biofeedback (84%). GI physiologists report most studies (Upper GI 71%, Lower GI 69%), however cases are often discussed with a lead clinician prior to finalising (Upper GI: 34% discuss all cases and 38% selected cases; Lower GI: 27% discuss all cases and 27% selected cases), 45% have dedicated multidisciplinary team meetings (MDT) for reporting (held weekly in 72%) and of those without an MDT, 72% felt introducing one would improve provision of therapeutic recommendations. 54% of 'specialists' reported that therapeutic recommendations are not routinely made (50% citing reasons such as; no subspecialist clinician/ 'not qualified' or 'not necessary'). Moreover, 70% of 'specialists' felt a 'subspecialist' clinician is best placed to make such recommendations, whilst only 4% of clinicians without subspeciality interest are comfortable interpreting the data. Overall, very few felt that services (26%), research opportunities (15%) and training (14% for GI physiologists and 10% for clinicians) were adequate, with most GI physiologists (83%) and clinicians (96%) recommending changes with suggestions including an accredited clinical training programme.Abstract PTU-122 Figure 1 Conclusion The survey highlights that GI physiology/motility is a rapidly emerging sub-specialty with limited exposure during clinical training. An MDT approach with subspecialist clinical input facilitates interpretation of complex data and provision of therapeutic recommendations. Percieved deficiencies in current services and training systems have been identified, providing an opportunity to raise awareness nationally via AGIP/BSG and to build on existing training pathways. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Plant volatiles serve as key foraging and oviposition cues for insect herbivores as well as their natural enemies, but little is known about how genetic variation within plant populations influences volatile-mediated interactions among plants and insects. Here, we explore how inbred and outbred plants from three maternal families of the native weed horsenettle (Solanum carolinense) vary in the emission of volatile organic compounds during the dark phase of the photoperiod, and the effects of this variation on the oviposition preferences of Manduca sexta moths, whose larvae are specialist herbivores of Solanaceae. Compared with inbred plants, outbred plants consistently released more total volatiles at night and more individual compounds—including some previously reported to repel moths and attract predators. Female moths overwhelmingly chose to lay eggs on inbred (versus outbred) plants, and this preference persisted when olfactory cues were presented in the absence of visual and contact cues. These results are consistent with our previous findings that inbred plants recruit more herbivores and suffer greater herbivory under field conditions. Furthermore, they suggest that constitutive volatiles released during the dark portion of the photoperiod can convey accurate information about plant defence status (and/or other aspects of host plant quality) to foraging herbivores.


Many students experience medical school as much more intense, stressful, and rigorous than the undergraduate school years. Female students, in particular, have different concerns and needs that require additional attention. As the number of women pursuing careers in medicine increases, their professional development is a topic that medical schools and community practitioners must address. An overview is provided of the female student's experience in medical school, followed by recommendations to enhance her academic and clinical training experiences.


The visual system generates the perception of a world of
meaningful three
-
dimensional objects from
a stream of retinal
signals
–
in the psychologist Richard Gregory's words 'images in
the eyes'. When this perception is consistent with information
from other sources such as the ears and the muscles that guide
movement, all is well and we are almost entir
ely unaware of this
process. But when it is not, we see illusions. To adopt Gregory's
phrase, 'strange phenomena that challenge our sense of
reality'
1
.
The project is inspired by the work of the German artist Ludwig
Wilding (1927
–
2010), who refined appr
oaches to the everyday
phenomenon of moire interference patterns to generate
dramatic illusions of depth and movement in shallow box frame
structures.
1
Gregory Richard L. 1990.
Seeing Through Illusions
. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. p186
Based on the principle that the intersection of two sets of
parallel lines generates the appearance o
f a third set of lines, or
moire bands,
Wilding's innovation lay in the discovery that, by
introducing a shallow space between the two
layers of printed
lines and by tilting and rotating
them
, the size and
orientation
of
the
se moire
bands
can
be
manipulate
d
to produce converging
contours and texture gradients that are perceived by the visu
al
system as forms in depth.
This thesis builds on these observations to investigate the
potential of the material and optical qualities of glass in
combination with moire interference effects to generate
inconsistencies between th
e images in the eyes and the objects
that produce them, creating illusions of space.


Time-series representation learning is a fundamental task for time-series analysis. While significant progress has been made to achieve accurate representations for downstream applications, the learned representations often lack interpretability and do not expose semantic meanings. Different from previous efforts on the entangled feature space, we aim to extract the semantic-rich temporal correlations in the latent interpretable factorized representation of the data. Motivated by the success of disentangled representation learning in computer vision, we study the possibility of learning semantic-rich time-series representations, which remains unexplored due to three main challenges: 1) sequential data structure introduces complex temporal correlations and makes the latent representations hard to interpret, 2) sequential models suffer from KL vanishing problem, and 3) interpretable semantic concepts for time-series often rely on multiple factors instead of individuals. To bridge the gap, we propose Disentangle Time Series (DTS), a novel disentanglement enhancement framework for sequential data. Specifically, to generate hierarchical semantic concepts as the interpretable and disentangled representation of time-series, DTS introduces multi-level disentanglement strategies by covering both individual latent factors and group semantic segments. We further theoretically show how to alleviate the KL vanishing problem: DTS introduces a mutual information maximization term, while preserving a heavier penalty on the total correlation and the dimension-wise KL to keep the disentanglement property. Experimental results on various real-world benchmark datasets demonstrate that the representations learned by DTS achieve superior performance in downstream applications, with high interpretability of semantic concepts.


Five hundred and thirteen unrelated subjects belonging to various tribes of West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in Eastern India, were screened for the presence of alpha-thalassemia (thal) gene deletion(s) as a possible cause of unexplained anemia (Hb < 11 g/dL and/or MCH <28 pg, MCV < 78 fL). As reported earlier, beta-globin gene mutant alleles were found with a frequency of up to 20% in some tribes. In the present study, alpha-globin gene deletion alleles were found in 18% of subjects from West Bengal, 3.9% from Arunachal Pradesh and 3.84% from Assam tribesmen. Coexistence of alpha- and beta-globin gene abnormalities was observed in up to 18% of some tribal groups. The high inbreeding rate and lack of appropriate medical care make these populations particularly vulnerable.


We report anisotropic collision-induced Raman scattering intensities by the Kr-Xe atomic pair recorded in a gas mixture of Kr and Xe at room temperature. We compare them to quantum-mechanical calculations on the basis of modern incremental polarizability models of either ab initio post-Hartree-Fock or density functional theory methods.