We provide an overview of some of our input device developments, which we designed in response to the need for more advanced 3D interfaces. Some of our devices are more task-specific and others are more general, but all of them support six or more degrees of freedom (DOF) and work in three dimensions. In our work, we try to understand the essential requirements of individual tasks and task combinations to develop corresponding devices and interaction techniques. This is our way of developing input devices for the 3D domain that work better for certain application areas than 2D mouses, gloves, and wands.


Algorithms for solving systems of polynomial equations are key components for solving geometry problems in computer vision. Fast and stable polynomial solvers are essential for numerous applications e.g. minimal problems or finding for all stationary points of certain algebraic errors. Recently, full symmetry in the polynomial systems has been utilized to simplify and speed up state-of-the-art polynomial solvers based on Gröbner basis method. In this paper, we further explore partial symmetry (i.e. where the symmetry lies in a subset of the variables) in the polynomial systems. We develop novel numerical schemes to utilize such partial symmetry. We then demonstrate the advantage of our schemes in several computer vision problems. In both synthetic and real experiments, we show that utilizing partial symmetry allow us to obtain faster and more accurate polynomial solvers than the general solvers.


: Angioplasty of the profunda femoris should be the primary approach to revascularization of the limb whenever it is feasible. Claudication distance can be significantly improved in almost all patients and prolonged limb salvage achieved in the majority of patients. In some high risk patients, the entire procedure can be accomplished expeditiously and atraumatically under local anesthesia, using a single groin incision. When the pattern of distribution of atherosclerosis provides the surgeon with the choice of performing either angioplasty of the profunda femoris or femoral popliteal bypass, the former option should be tried initially with resort to the latter if ischemia is not adequately relieved. In many instances when distal bypass is not possible or is unlikely to function effectively, angioplasty of the profunda femoris may provide the only opportunity to relieve ischemic symptoms. Operative blood flow measurements support the thesis that the collateral function of the profunda femoris artery is able to compensate for extensive obstructive disease in both the superficial femoral and popliteal segments.


Background: As many countries consider and employ various lockdown exit strategies, health authorities seek tools to provide differential targeted advice for social distancing based on personal risk for severe COVID-19. However, striking a balance between a scientifically precise multivariable risk prediction model, and a model which can easily be used by the general public, remains a challenge. A list of risk criteria, as defined by the CDC for example, provides a simple solution, but may be too inclusive by classifying a substantial portion of the population at high risk. Score-based risk classification tools may provide a good compromise between accuracy and simplicity. Objective: To create a score-based risk classification tool for severe COVID-19. Methods: The outcome was defined as a composite of being labeled severe during hospitalization or dying due to COVID-19. The risk classification tool was developed using retrospective data from all COVID-19 patients that were diagnosed until April 1st, 2020 in a large healthcare organization ("training set"). The developed tool combines 10 risk factors using simple summation, and defines three risk levels according to the patient's age and number of accumulated risk points - basic risk, high risk and very-high risk (the last two levels are also considered together as the elevated risk group). The tool's performance in accurately identifying individuals at risk was evaluated using a "temporal test set" of COVID-19 patients diagnosed between April 2nd and April 22nd, 2020, later than those used for model development. The tool's performance was also compared to that of the CDC's criteria. The healthcare organization's general population was used to evaluate the proportion of patients that would be classified to each of the model's risk levels and as elevated risk by the CDC criteria. Results: A total of 2,421, 2,624 and 4,631,168 individuals were included in the training, test, and general population cohorts, respectively. The outcome rate in the training and test sets was 5%. Overall, 18% of the general population would be classified at elevated risk by the model, with a resulting sensitivity of 92%, compared to 35% that would be defined as elevated risk by the CDC criteria, with a resulting sensitivity of 96%. Within the model's elevated risk groups, the high and very-high risk groups comprised 15% and 3% of the general population, with an incidence rate (PPV) of 15% and 33%, respectively. Discussion: A simple to communicate score-based risk classification tool classifies at elevated risk about half of the population that is considered to have an elevated risk by the CDC risk criteria, with only a 4% reduction in sensitivity. The model's ability to further divide the elevated risk population into two markedly different subgroups allows providing more refined recommendations to the general public and limiting the restrictions of social distancing to a smaller and more manageable subset of the population. This model was adopted by the Israeli ministry of health as its risk classification tool for COVID-19 lab tests prioritization and for targeting its instructions on risk management during the lockdown exit strategy.


Canine distemper virus (CDV) belongs to the genus Morbillivirus of the Paramyxoviridae family. Due to the central nervous system (CNS) tropism of the virus and associated neuropathological changes, demyelinating canine distemper encephalitis (CDE) represents a relevant model for human demyelinating diseases like multiple sclerosis. The present review decribes the role of CD44 antigen (CD44), the principle cell surface receptor for hyaluronate and extracellular matrix (ECM) processing enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases [MMPs]) and their inhibitors (TIMPs) in the pathogenesis of demyelination. In acute and subacute CDE, a plaque-associated CD44 up-regulation is found that parallels astrocyte activation. Likewise, MMPs and TIMPs are prominently up-regulated in these lesions and are expressed mostly by astrocytes and microglia. In chronic lesions, CD44 expression declines together with the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) positive astrocytes. In addition, in this plaque type, CD44 is expressed on the cell membrane of perivascular mononuclear cells. In this phase, a decrease of MMP and TIMP expressions apart from MMP-11, -12, and -13 is obvious. In summary, CD44 and MMPs might be associated with the onset of demyelination and may interact to initiate ECM disturbances. Ligation of CD44 in the early phase may induce chemokines and cytokines and hence initiate and perpetuate the inflammatory process. In the chronic phase, it is conceivable that a MMP-TIMP imbalance may be the motor for lesion progression with a simultaneous influx of CD44-positive activated immune cells.


The paper emphasizes an ergonomics intervention in a medium-sized manufacturing plant to fit jobs for workers with respect to the handling of steel panels for installation onto central station air handlers. Ergonomic risk factors were identified via qualitative and quantitative data obtained from general survey, participative assessments followed by direct observations. Ergonomics intervention by means of real life experiment was conducted. Post survey incorporating both direct observations and participative assessments was subsequently implemented to gauge its effectiveness. The intervention study comprises the introduction of a trolley designed for placing steel panels horizontally and a mobile rack created for upright placing of those panels. The action-oriented ergonomics study finally produced results which were in conformity with the research aim as anticipated.


Optical effects are observed in regularly dyed crystals that serve to mimic optical rotation and circular dichroism by rotating the azimuth and increasing the ellipticity of linearly polarized light traversing the samples. However, these effects to which we give the names optical rotatory scattering and circular dichroic scattering do not transform upon rotation of the sample like intrinsic optical rotation and intrinsic circular dichroism. We ascribe this behavior to new scattering consequences that arise here in crystals of K2SO4 containing oriented azo dyes that have been arranged and overgrown in particular growth sectors. Requisite for the apparent optical rotation and circular dichroism is a bias in the inclination of the induced dipoles with respect to the principal light propagation modes of the medium. This unique situation is a consequence of the anisotropy of growth that is unlikely to occur in other dye-doped systems such as polymers or liquid crystals.


Sequences of known 16S rRNA genes, derived from sequence analysis of cloned 16S rDNA, were used to design a specific oligonucleotide probe targeting spirochaetes of Brachyspira aalborgi lineages 2 and 3. The probe was used with fluorescent in situ hybridization to study the involvement of these organisms in human intestinal spirochaetosis. Seventeen human colonic biopsies from Norway and Denmark with intestinal spirochaetosis caused by Brachyspira-like organisms different from the type strain of B. aalborgi (lineage 1) were examined. Application of the probe gave a positive signal in two Norwegian biopsies, whereas the 15 other biopsies were hybridization-negative. The positive reaction visualized the spirochaetes as a fluorescent, 3-5 microm-high fringe on the surface epithelium, extending into the crypts. The study verified the presence of B. aalborgi lineages 2 and 3 and identified the bacteria as an aetiological agent of human intestinal spirochaetosis.


Experiments explored how a distractor coming from a known location influences localization of a subsequent sound, both in a classroom and in an anechoic chamber. Listeners localized a target click preceded by a distractor click coming from a location fixed throughout a run of trials either frontal or lateral . The stimulus onset asynchrony SOA between distractor and target was relatively long 25–400 ms ; control trials presented the target alone. The distractor induced bias and variability in target localization responses even at the longest SOA, with the specific pattern of effects differing between the two rooms. Furthermore, the presence of the distractor caused target responses to be displaced away from the distractor location in that run, even on trials with no distractor. This contextual bias built up anew in each run, over the course of minutes. The different effects illustrate that a sound localization is a dynamic process that depends on both the context and on the level of reverberation in the environment, and b interactions between sequential sound sources occur on time scales from hundreds of milliseconds to as long as minutes. © 2007 Acoustical Society of America. DOI: 10.1121/1.2390677


Poster Presentations: Public Health, Policy, and Ethics P-PH-1 | Early Experience of Recruiting Donors into a Large Cohort Study and Biobank S. Karki, C. Gemelli, J. O'Donovan, W. Dyer, C. Jos, R. Hirani, D. Marks, D. Irving Australian Red Cross Lifeblood Background/Case Studies: Investigators previously demonstrated that our blood donors are highly willing to provide their data and blood samples for long-term health-related research. Having access to a cohort of donors who have consented for their genomic data, and data acquired through surveys along with other sources of linked data will be immensely useful for understanding the health and wellbeing of blood donors during their donation careers. To enable this, our institution has initiated a large cohort study of blood donors. We have started by assessing the participant recruitment into the study through a soft launch to learn and improve for the larger rollout of the study in 2023. Study Design/Methods: Recruitment of participants commenced in November 2022 through a soft launch at two geographically distant donor centers with the aim of gradually increasing the number of recruiting donor centers into 2023 using the learnings from the soft launch. Eligible donors were invited to participate by email two weeks prior to their scheduled appointment. A demographic survey was completed at the time of consent and another health, lifestyle and behavioral survey was sent one week after attendance at the donor center. Blood samples were collected by donor center staff at the time of donation and were transported to our biobank located in different State using standard logistics systems. 232A ABSTRACT


Abstract One of the significant roles performed by the higher degree research (HDR) supervisor is to assist students to prepare their dissertations for examination. At a time when there is increasing interest in how the academy manages the transition of creative arts HDR candidates from apprentice to peer, there is also concern about the processes, practices, and policies associated with this largely under-researched area of research training. In a recent national Office of Learning and Teaching funded project, we investigated the policy expectations, expert and peer beliefs and expectations, and examiners' practice around HDR examination, and canvassed the creative arts academic community for their recommendations on best practice in the examination of creative arts doctorates. An unexpected finding was the role of the HDR supervisor in relation to these key areas, and the impact of supervisors upon the examination of students' theses. This article presents our findings with special reference to the role, understandings, and aspirations of HDR supervisors in the context, and process, of preparing their students for creative arts HDR examination.


Flooding and membrane dehydration are phenomena that must be avoided in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operation. It needs a sufficient knowledge about water transport behaviors. Electro-osmotic drag and back diffusion are the dominant water transport mechanisms through the membrane in PEMFC. In this study, the relative humidity (RH) profile along the channel at both anode and cathode sides have been recorded. The experiment was conducted in a single cell PEMFC with single serpentine flow field design. The water content profile was strongly influenced by RH profile thus in turn influenced the electro-osmotic drag coefficient, water diffusion coefficient and back diffusion flux. The operating temperatures of cell also influence those water transport behavior. The temperature was varied at 25, 40, 50 and 60 oC, while the pressure at the anode and the cathode was fixed at 1 bar. The higher the temperature, the smaller the water contents but with higher electro-osmotic drag coefficient, water diffusion coefficient and back diffusion flux. After all, the strategy of using saturated hydrogen and dry air in this study successfully prevents flooding and membrane dehydrating in the system – that are the major problems in PEMFC operation.


The escape from the "Malthusian trap" is shown to tend to generate in a rather systematic way quite serious political upheavals. Some demographic structural mechanisms that generate such upheavals have been analyzed, which has made it possible to develop a mathematical model of the respective processes. The forecast of political instability in African and West Asian countries in 2012–2050 produced on the basis of this model is presented.


Background: Anaphylaxis is associated with systemic vasodilation that causes low blood pressure and induces hypoxic brain damage. The sound of a Buk (Korean traditional drum) is similar to the human heart beat and affects blood pressure, heart rate, and the nervous system by increasing physiological excitation and sympathetic nervous system activity. So, this study focused on the effect of Buk music as a means of treating anaphylaxis. Methods: Mice were given an intraperitoneal injection of compound 48/80 (6.5 mg/kg, a mast cell degranulator). After compound 48/80 injection, mice were exposed to Buk music and white noise for 5 min in a sound isolation booth. The mortality rate was checked over the next 40 min. Levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the serum and brain tissues were analyzed by Western blotting, quantitative real-time PCR, and ELISA methods. Results: Exposure to Buk music significantly reduced compound 48/80-induced mortality and histamine release, as well as HIF-1α and VEGF levels compared with the compound 48/80 group or compound 48/80 and white noise group. Buk music also reduced levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, and significantly increased estrogen receptor-β mRNA levels. Conclusion: These results indicate that Buk music has potential for the treatment of anaphylaxis.


Genetic arithmetic operators in genetic algorithm be improved , and a hybrid genetic algorithm of a gradient algorithm combining with the genetic algorithm be given against to the defects such as premature,slow on convergence rate,weak in the ability of local search ,all these appeared on the progress of genetic algorithm's iteration. Analysis result indicate that not only strong on the local search capacity of gradient algorithm be exhibited but also strong on the general search capacity of genetic algorithm be combined based on the hybrid genetic algorithm ,which make phenomenon of premature avoid, and the rate of convergence be improved greatly. Concrete calculated example indicated that the hybrid genetic algorithm is an effective structural optimization method.


This study focuses on the integration of values and culture in the Malay folklore animation. The objectives of the study are to rank and discuss the values and culture in the Malay folklore animation. The study adopts the values incorporated in the Malaysian National Education Philosophy (1996) to analyse the values and culture in the animations. The philosophy consists of 16 values, which are understood by all students in Malaysia. The values stated are related to the culture among the community, with 10 animations from The Kingfisher Stories. The results of the study reveal that the folklore Leader and Palm Tree contain the most number of values, that is, 10 values, while the folklore Crow, with two values, is ranked the lowest. The results show that values and culture are important in folklore. It is hoped that further studies will focus on values in Malay short stories.


Complex performance measures, beyond the popular measure of accuracy, are increasingly being used in the context of binary classification. These complex performance measures are typically not even decomposable, that is, the loss evaluated on a batch of samples cannot typically be expressed as a sum or average of losses evaluated at individual samples, which in turn requires new theoretical and methodological developments beyond standard treatments of supervised learning. In this paper, we advance this understanding of binary classification for complex performance measures by identifying two key properties: a so-called Karmic property, and a more technical threshold-quasi-concavity property, which we show is milder than existing structural assumptions imposed on performance measures. Under these properties, we show that the Bayes optimal classifier is a threshold function of the conditional probability of positive class. We then leverage this result to come up with a computationally practical plug-in classifier, via a novel threshold estimator, and further, provide a novel statistical analysis of classification error with respect to complex performance measures.


Distributed Optical-Fibre Sensing (DOFS) is a technique which utilizes the very special properties of the optical fibre to make simultaneous measurements of both the spatial and temporal behaviour of a measurand field [1,2. As such, it provides an extra dimension in the measurement process, leading to finer monitoring and control, and to a new level of understanding, especially in regard to the behaviour of large structures. Thus we may expect to measure spatial distributions with a resolution 0.1 - im over a distance lOOm, to an accuracy '-1%. The advantages of optical fibres for general measurement functions are well known: they rely on the insulating, dielectric, passivity of the medium, allied to the sensitivity of its optical propagation properties to xternal influences, over a broad range. DOFS takes advantage of two additional properties of the fibre: its one-dimensional nature, and its mechanical flexibility. With the aid of these, it becomes possible, in principle, to determine the value of a wanted measurand continuously as a function of position, along the length of a suitably-configured fibre, with arbitrarily large spatial resolution; the normal temporal variation is determined simultaneously, from the time-dependence of the signal. Such a facility as this offers many attractive possibilities for industrial and research application. The value of having access to the spatial/temporal behaviour of strain and temperature in, for example, large, critical structures such as dams, aircraft, space-craft, bridges, multi-storey buildings, electrical generators, boilers, chemical pressure vessels etc., are clear, from the points of view both of safety monitoring, and of improved understanding of behaviour under anomalous conditions. The flexibility of the fibre makes it relatively easy to install over the chosen measurement path and thus allows, unlike many other sensor systems, retrospective fitting. Furthermore, again in contradistinction to other sensor arrangements, DOFS offers a facility which is unique: there are no conventional techniques for acquiring the same information. This paper will summarize the principles of DOFS, will give examples of systems which have been studied, and give some indication as to what is in store for the future.


Recently, the application of fieldbus is becoming a trend in the development of CNC system towards decentralisation, network and multi-axis linkage. It is anticipated that fieldbus will be one of the leading technologies in the area of numerical control before long. Meanwhile, embedded system has been widely used in numerical control field to solve the reliability and real-time problems. In order to give full play to the advantages of embedded systems, the MECHATROLINK-II fieldbus is introduced to solve the transmission bottleneck of servo communications and multi-axis synchronous control problems. And it is proved that the application scheme combined fieldbus and embedded system is successful and valid by a large amount of performance testings.


TiAlN/TiN multilayer PVD coated carbide is one of the dominant tool materials for the turning applications of Inconel 718 due to its high hardness, high wear resistance, and high thermal stability. The results of a thorough investigation on TiAlN/TiN multilayer PVD coated carbide inserts were presented for turning Inconel 718. The tool wear of the PVD coated carbide inserts were tested and analyzed at different cutting speeds from 50m/min to 90m/min and different feed rates from 0.1mm/r to 0.4mm/r. The wear patterns and wear mechanisms of PVD coated carbide were analyzed. Results show that the dominant wear patterns are rake face wear, flank wear, micro-chipping, coating delamination, notch wear, built-up edge and breakage. The main wear mechanisms are adhesion, diffusion, abrasive and oxidation.


The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the political effects of the long-distance international commerce of the Roman Empire upon the Roman East. Two areas of possible effect are studied: first, on local societies in the East which were likely to have been affected by the trade, and second, on the policy of the imperial government in the East. Attention is given to the opinions expressed by many historians who have envisaged a strongly proactive policy toward the trade by the Romans, both at an imperial and local level. These theories are compared with the sources of data available, especially that which has recently come to light in archaeological investigation, in order-to see if they are supportible from this evidence.
The thesis commences with an introductory chapter which deals with various topics essential to the understanding of the commerce. These topics include a note on the available sources and a study of the possible effect of the commerce on the economy of the Roman Empire. The chapter concludes with studies of the scope of the trade, demand for its wares, and the situation at Augustus' accession.
The study then proceeds to an area-by-area overview of the trade, detailing the commerce in Egypt, Arabia, Palmyra and Syria-Mesopotamia. In each area the conduct of the commerce and what can be known about its participants is studied from the existing evidence, with special attention given to the evidence recently uncovered in archaeological and papyrological investigations. In all four areas, any information about the effect of the trade on local social conditions and political formations is considered and evaluated. In addition, any applicable activity of the Roman central government in the area is considered for evidence that the commerce may have influenced imperial policy.
The evidence indicates that in many cases, local political formations and economies may have been affected by the long-distance international commerce in the East. This is particularly the case where the commerce may have been a dominant factor in the local economy, such as at Palmyra and Petra. On the other hand, the evidence does not support the view that there was a strongly proactive policy on the part of the Roman government toward the eastern commerce. Roman government policy is summarised in the closing chapters, which consider the statements of Roman historians regarding the commerce, the revenue which the Romans gleaned from the trade, and other factors which may have influenced the Roman government's attitude to the trade.
From the foregoing it is concluded that the commerce may have had a significant effect on local political formations in the Roman East in some isolated instances, particularly where the income from the commerce represented a significant proportion of the local economy. However, it appears that the Roman government was only interested in the trade as a source of revenue, and took no proactive measures to encourage or direct the trade. The evidence indicates that they instead preferred to protect and exploit the developing trade with minimal interference.


Obesity forms a growing challenge in medicine worldwide. In Jordan, the obese and the overweight population form 49.7% of the total population. The latest national male to female ratio in Jordan is 1:1.06. There is a relation between obesity and renal stone formation. This study is conducted to study the relation of renal stone and obesity in the Jordanian population. All patients with urolithiasis that attended the urology clinic at Prince Hussein Bin Abdullah Urology Center at King Hussein Medical Center, Jordan, over the period from January 2006 to January 2011 were included in the study and analyzed for age, gender, body weight, number of visits to the clinic and number of procedures. Over a period of 60 months from January 2006 through January 2011, 8346 patients were treated for urolithiasis. The median age was 43.2 years. The male to female ratio was 1.46:1. 42.3% of the patients were obese, with body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m 2 and 25.8% of the patients were overweight, with BMI >25 kg/m 2 . The normal body weight population formed 31.9% of the total population. The majority of our urolithiasis patients were obese and overweight, forming 68.1% of the population, with a higher number of clinical visits and higher number of surgical procedures. In the Jordanian population, there is a clear relation between obesity and stone formation, where the majority of stone formers was obese.


Drayton Park women's crisis house in North London offers an alternative to hospital admission for women experiencing mental health crises. It was Shirley McNicholas' vision that brought it into existence and she has been leading the service since it opened. As it approaches its twentieth anniversary in December, she talks to Anne Cooke.


ED05-01 Over the past 30 years, the number of new drugs approved each year has steadily declined while the cost of developing each new drug has grown almost exponentially. It currently costs approximately US $900 million to bring a drug to market, mainly because the industry has such a high failure rate and because this failure occurs so late in development. A survey of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies conducted between 1991 and 2000 showed that the overall failure rate for oncology drugs was 40% during Phase I, 70% during phase II, 60% during Phase III and of the few showing success in Phase III, 30% were not approved (1). This means that a new oncology drug entering clinical trials has a one in fourteen chance of being used in clinical practice. The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry cannot be sustainable with the high attrition rates currently operable in drug discovery and development.
 To reduce this high attrition rate, and the associated costs, pharmaceutical companies need to be able to make confident decisions regarding efficacy and toxicity as early as possible during the drug development process and to ensure that those patients most likely to benefit from the drug are enrolled into the pivotal Phase III trials. Unfortunately, there are few tools available that enable "quick to kill" and "quick to proof of concept" decisions to be made during the early phases of drug development. Most oncology trials rely on CT scan measurement of tumor size or serum tumor markers to assess early clinical response; however, tumor shrinkage or falling serum tumor marker levels are often poor predictors of survival benefit and may not reveal the clinical benefit of cytostatic drugs. Randomized Phase II trials are frequently used to seek early signals of efficacy, however these are accompanied by high false positive and false negative rates, conferring considerable risk when making the critical decision to proceed, or not to proceed, to a pivotal Phase III trial.
 Underlying these issues are the dual realities that most cancers are heterogeneous and most drugs only benefit a subset of patients with a particular disease. The traditional "trial and error" practice of treating "all comers" in pivotal trials means that many patients have to be treated in order to identify the few that derive clinical benefit. This approach is being progressively replaced by targeted therapies that are coupled to biomarkers which help identify patients more likely to show a treatment benefit or experience adverse events. The hope is that by identifying tumors that are dependent upon the targeted pathways and by demonstrating that the drug modulates the pathway it will be possible to identify the right patients for the pivotal trials and hence significantly increase the probability of success. Although there have been a few promising examples, the successful broad implementation of this approach, however, is proving to be challenging, especially in oncology where biomarker assays are often performed on tumor samples.
 Once a biomarker has been identified, the technology platform selected, the assay analytically validated and its intended use defined, the challenge becomes how to incorporate the biomarker assay into the drug development program and design of the Phase II and III clinical trials. Decisions have to be made regarding whether to evaluate the biomarker prospectively or retrospectively; whether to collect and test tumor or surrogate tissue samples; whether to retrieve archival tumor samples from pathology laboratories or arrange for fresh biopsies to be taken; how best to power the trial to test both the drug and the biomarker; and how to design the study to determine whether the biomarker has prognostic as well as predictive value.
 Prospective clinical validation of a biomarker to be used to select or stratify patients being enrolled in a pivotal trial is not a trivial undertaking. Most importantly, it requires a high level of a priori confidence in the biomarker's predictive value. Furthermore, the assay has to be in a commercializable form and the testing laboratories shown to be proficient in performing the assay prior to enrolling the first patient. For a novel biomarker or assay platform, this could take at least three years, so assay development needs to begin as early as possible. If archival tumor samples are to be tested, efficient processes have to be in place to quickly retrieve the patients' samples, often from hundreds of pathology laboratories, otherwise there will be unacceptable enrollment delays. With fresh tumor biopsies, ethical and logistical challenges invariably restrict their use to certain indications and a few carefully selected Phase II trial sites. Surrogate samples, such as blood and serum, while being much more accessible carry more risk because the biomarker may not be representative of the tumor (e.g., serum proteomics) or may only be informative in a small subset of patients (e.g., circulating tumor cells or DNA). Accordingly, few surrogate biomarkers have been adequately validated to enable decision making in clinical trials.
 Retrospective biomarker analysis has the advantage that patient enrollment is not compromised; the assay does not need to be ready prior to study commencement; and multiple hypotheses, biomarkers, and assay cut points can be evaluated. However, this approach is only suitable for exploratory biomarker studies and is rarely a path to regulatory approval. Furthermore, it may not be possible to perform a follow-on prospective biomarker validation study because it would be ethically unacceptable to deny the control group a drug with now proven efficacy. Retrospective biomarker studies performed on retrieved archival tumor samples are often inconclusive because samples can only be retrieved on a proportion of the trial subjects and the quality and volume of tissue limits the type and power of biomarker analyses.
 This combined therapeutic and diagnostic paradigm holds great promise but also creates new challenges. In this talk, I shall explore several issues that arose during the development of biomarker assays that highlight the need for greater awareness among patients, patient advocates, institutional review boards, clinicians, and pathologists of the critical need to obtain tumor samples in order to identify which patients are most likely to benefit.
 References 1. Kola I, Landis J. Can the pharmaceutical industry reduce attrition rates? Nat Rev Drug Discovery 2004;3:711-5.


One of the goals of DetNet is to provide bounded end-to-end latency
for critical flows. This document defines how to leverage Segment
Routing (SR) to implement bounded latency. Specifically, the SR
Identifier (SID) is used to specify transmission time (cycles) of a
packet. When forwarding devices along the path follow the instructions
carried in the packet, the bounded latency is achieved. This is called
Cycle Specified Queuing and Forwarding (CSQF) in this document. Since
SR is a source routing technology, no per-flow state is maintained at
intermediate and egress nodes, SR-based CSQF naturally supports flow
aggregation that is deemed to be a key capability to allow DetNet to
scale to large networks.


Based on the results of Phase I of a reading skills project in 2000 (SAJHE 16(3) 2002), Phase II was undertaken to set up a reading intervention programme on a voluntary basis for students enrolled in a mathematics access module, to
determine whether explicit attention given to reading would improve their reading skills and academic performance. The aim was to determine whether addressing problem areas in reading might help the students adopt more effective
reading strategies, so that they could become more adept at "reading to learn" their mathematics guides. This article reports on the intensive and extensive reading activities undertaken in the intervention programme, and the implications for studying mathematics.


We propose a novel identification strategy of imposing sign restrictions directly on the impulse responses of a large set of variables in a Bayesian factor-augmented vector autoregression. We conceptualize and formalize conditions under which every additional sign restriction imposed can be qualified as either relevant or irrelevant for structural identification up to a limiting case of point identification. Deriving exact conditions we establish that, (i) in a two dimensional factor model only two out of potentially infinite sign restrictions are relevant and (ii) in contrast, in cases of higher dimension every additional sign restriction can be relevant improving structural identification. The latter result can render our approach a blessing in high dimensions. In an empirical application for the US economy we identify monetary policy shocks imposing conventional wisdom and find modest real effects avoiding various unreasonable responses specifically present and pronounced combining standard recursive identification with FAVARs.


We provide an evaluation of the impact of public subsidy schemes that aimed to support the development of basic broadband infrastructure in rural areas of Germany. Such subsidies are subject to state aid control by the European Commission (EC). While the EC increasingly recognises the role of economic analysis in controlling public aid to companies, there are to date no full retrospective studies performed on state aid control, especially assessing the so-called balancing test. In this study, we do not only analyse whether the aid was effective in solving a market failure – low broadband coverage in rural areas – but also study its impact on competitive outcomes, on both rival firms and consumers. We adopt a difference-in-differences framework after using a matching procedure to account for selection on observables. We find that the aid significantly increased broadband coverage. More importantly, we find that the number of internet providers has significantly increased in the municipalities receiving aid. This additional entry decreased average prices. Therefore, the subsidies complied with EU state aid rules, both in terms of effectiveness and competition.


PP-wave azimuthal elastic impedance (EI) data inverted from azimuthal prestack seismic reflection data can be theoretically and practically used for fluid- and fracture-property discrimination in naturally porous and fluid-saturated fractured reservoirs within the exploration seismic frequency band. From the perspective of the low-frequency Biot-Gassmann theory, Russell's fluid indicator can be stably applied to fluid identification in hard-rock fractured reservoirs. Based on the low-frequency anisotropic poroelasticity theory, we first derive an azimuthal PP-wave reflection coefficient and an azimuthal EI equation in terms of Russell's fluid indicator (a combination of acoustic impedances and dry-rock velocity ratio without the effect of squirt flow in the seismic frequency range) and two fracture indicators (i.e., normal and tangential fracture weaknesses). Using azimuthal differences in EI data, we then develop a three-step inversion method of EI difference versus angle and azimuth. It can be used accurately to estimate the fluid and fracture indicators and characterize the sensitive properties of saturated fractured porous reservoirs. Noisy synthetic data are used to verify the stability and robustness of the proposed hierarchical impedance inversion approach. A real data set acquired over a gas-bearing fractured reservoir is also used to obtain the sensitive indicators of the fluid and fracture properties, which agree well with the well-log data. Thus, our hierarchical inversion approach provides a more straightforward and efficient manner to characterize the porous and fluid-saturated fractured reservoirs.


Concept sketches, ubiquitously used in industrial design, are inherently imprecise yet highly effective at communicating 3D shape to human observers. We present a new symmetry-driven algorithm for recovering designer-intended 3D geometry from concept sketches. We observe that most concept sketches of human-made shapes are structured around locally symmetric building blocks, defined by triplets of orthogonal symmetry planes. We identify potential building blocks using a combination of 2D symmetries and drawing order. We reconstruct each such building block by leveraging a combination of perceptual cues and observations about designer drawing choices. We cast this reconstruction as an integer programming problem where we seek to identify, among the large set of candidate symmetry correspondences formed by approximate pen strokes, the subset that results in the most symmetric and well-connected shape. We demonstrate the robustness of our approach by reconstructing 82 sketches, which exhibit significant over-sketching, inaccurate perspective, partial symmetry, and other imperfections. In a comparative study, participants judged our results as superior to the state-of-the-art by a ratio of 2:1.


In mature striated muscle, intermediate filaments (IFs) are associated with the periphery of Z-discs and sites of myofibril-membrane attachment. Previously T. Schultheiss, Z. X. Lin, H. Ishikawa, I. Zamir, C. J. Stoeckert and H. Holtzer (1991) J. Cell Biol. 114, 953) reported that the disruption of IF organization in cultured chick myotubes had no detectable effect on muscle cell structure. Cultured muscle is not, however, under the mechanical loads characteristic of muscle in situ. The dorsal myotomal muscle (DMM) of the Xenopus tadpole provides an accessible model system in which to study the effects of mutant IF proteins on an intact, functional muscle. DNAs encoding truncated forms of Xenopus vimentin or desmin were injected into fertilized Xenopus eggs. Embryos were allowed to develop to the tadpole stage and then examined by confocal or electron microscopy. DMM cells containing the truncated IF polypeptides displayed disorganized IF systems. While the alignment of Z-lines appeared unaffected, cells accumulating mutant IF polypeptides displayed abnormal organization at the intersomite junction. Myocyte termini are normally characterized by deep invaginations of the sarcolemma. In myocytes expressing mutated IF polypeptides, these membrane invaginations were reduced or completely absent. Furthermore, the attachment of myofibrils to the junctional membrane was often aberrant or completely disrupted. These results suggest that in active muscle IFs play an important role in the organization and/or stabilization of myofibril-membrane attachment sites.


Animal welfare is an important social construct showing that humans recognise the sentient nature of animals and manage them accordingly; however, because the concept differs depending on individual perceptions of the acceptability of different practices and appropriate endpoint measurements, objective evaluation of an animal's welfare state is challenging. A good level of welfare, however, is not achieved merely by the absence of difficulties (e.g. pain, injury, disease, distress) but by the animal's capacity to overcome them. Production-oriented (utilitarian) opinions contend that high production indicates good welfare, as an animal must be healthy and well nourished to achieve it. Although there is truth in this premise, high production can, in itself, result in stresses, with no obvious signs that potentially predispose animals to ill health. The focus of the present paper is on peripartal dairy cattle as it relates to development of better measures for an objective evaluation of welfare state. Advances in high-throughput metabolite (metabolomics) and gene expression (transcriptomics) analysis techniques have enabled the rapid identification of multiple biomarkers that, in combination, reflect the metabolic and immunocompetence functional capacity of the animal. With this knowledge, the effects of management, nutrition, physiological state, and their interactions can be evaluated for their effect on functional capacity. As the links between metabolism, immunology (immunometabolism) and mental state are elucidated, these techniques also offer a means to assess whether the animal also experiences feelings of malaise. Collectively, these measurements, thus, can indicate 'functional welfare', which encompasses biological function, physical state, and some components of mental state as part of animal welfare.


Nowadays, glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are broadly used so it is essential their properties to be explored in depth. In this study, GFRPs and CFRPs were produced by vacuum bag oven method and their viscoelastic behaviour at elevated temperatures was investigated. In particular, by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis experiments properties such as storage modulus, loss modulus, tanδ and glass transition temperature were determined. The results showed that, apart from a very small increment in the low temperatures in some of the compounds, as the temperature increases the storage modulus of the composites decrease while the composite containing unidirectional glass fibers in longitudinal direction and 34% percentage of matrix achieved the higher storage and loss modulus. Furthermore, as the unidirectional fibers change direction from transverse to longitudinal the GFRPs exhibit much higher storage and loss modulus.


It is often assumed that cultural identity is determined in a country's metropolitan centres. Given Russia's long tenure as a geographically and socially diverse empire, however, there is a certain distillation of peripheral experiences and ideas that contributes just as much to theories of national culture as do urban-centred perspectives. Writing at Russia's Border argues that Russian literature needs to be reexamined in light of the fact that many of its most important nineteenth-century texts are peripheral, not in significance but in provenance. Katya Hokanson makes the case that the fluid and ever-changing cultural and linguistic boundaries of Russia's border regions profoundly influenced the nation's literature, posing challenges to stereotypical or territorially based conceptions of Russia's imperial, military, and cultural identity. A highly canonical text such as Pushkin's Eugene Onegin (1831), which is set in European Russia, is no less dependent on the perspectives of those living at the edges of the Russian Empire than is Tolstoy's The Cossacks (1863), which is explicitly set on Russia?s border and has become central to the Russian canon. Hokanson cites the influence of these and other 'periphera' texts as proof that Russia's national identity was dependent upon the experiences of people living in the border areas of an expanding empire. Produced at a cultural moment of contrast and exchange, the literature of the periphery represented a negotiation of different views of Russian identity, an ingredient that was ultimately essential even to literature produced in the major cities. Writing at Russia's Border upends popular ideas of national cultural production and is a fascinating study of the social implications of nineteenth-century Russian literature.


Predicting extinction in a changing world There is great interest in understanding how species might respond to our changing climate, but predictions have varied greatly. Urban looked at over 130 studies to identify the level of risk that climate change poses to species and the specific traits and characteristics that contribute to risk (see the Perspective by Hille Ris Lambers). If climate changes proceed as expected, one in six species could face extinction. Several regions, including South America, Australia, and New Zealand, face the greatest risk. Understanding these patterns will help us to prepare for, and hopefully prevent, climate-related loss of biodiversity. Science, this issue p. 571; see also p. 501 A meta-analysis details how current climate trends could result in increases in extinction. [Also see Perspective by Hille Ris Lambers] Current predictions of extinction risks from climate change vary widely depending on the specific assumptions and geographic and taxonomic focus of each study. I synthesized published studies in order to estimate a global mean extinction rate and determine which factors contribute the greatest uncertainty to climate change–induced extinction risks. Results suggest that extinction risks will accelerate with future global temperatures, threatening up to one in six species under current policies. Extinction risks were highest in South America, Australia, and New Zealand, and risks did not vary by taxonomic group. Realistic assumptions about extinction debt and dispersal capacity substantially increased extinction risks. We urgently need to adopt strategies that limit further climate change if we are to avoid an acceleration of global extinctions.


Focusing on the underlying ecological mechanisms of dominant species regeneration in forest gaps at a landscape scale can provide detailed understanding for gap-based forest management. The individual effects of forest gaps or elevation on the regeneration of Abies faxoniana Rehd. et Wils. are well known, although elucidating how gap characteristics and elevation concurrently influence regeneration remains an important challenge. In this paper, we present an explorative study using structural equation models (SEMs) to assess the direct and indirect effects of forest gaps and elevation on Abies faxoniana Rehd. et Wils. regeneration. Four of the predicted SEMs showed the following results: (1) Temperature, photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), soil total carbon, gap openness, shrub layer cover, herb layer cover, and moss layer thickness in forest gaps were associated with Abies faxoniana regeneration along an elevation gradient in subalpine coniferous forest. (2) Elevation had a generally negative and indirect effect on Abies faxoniana regeneration. Forest gaps positively affected regeneration when compared with non-gap plots and gap size was positively related to small tree regeneration density and the ratio of height to diameter at breast height (HD ratio) of the tallest Abies faxoniana small trees but was negatively related to Abies faxoniana sapling regeneration density. (3) In forest gaps, the Abies faxoniana sapling density and HD ratio of the tallest Abies faxoniana small trees were mainly indirectly influenced by elevation, and Abies faxoniana small tree regeneration density was directly associated with the dominance of the sapling regeneration density. In summary, Abies faxoniana regeneration was negatively and largely affected by elevation (total effect), although forest gaps enhanced Abies faxoniana regeneration by multiple pathways (direct and indirect effects).


Online social networks (OSN) are becoming more important in people's daily life, however, all popular OSNs are centralized, and this raises a series of security, privacy and management issues. A decentralized architecture based on blockchain technology provides the ability to solve above issues. In this paper, an OSN service is developed based on blockchain technology in order to make it operate decentralized. Large volume of data normally required low-security requirements can be stored in Interplanetary Filesystem (IPFS) to make data decentralized. A decentralized autonomous organization is developed for user autonomy, users can self-manage the OSN in a democratic way.


This paper examines the European stock market reaction to key events predicted to affect the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Europe, including adoption of the controversial standard on financial instruments, IAS 39. This enables us to assess perceptions of equity investors regarding the relative costs and benefits of increased harmonization under IFRS, as well as the move towards greater use of fair value accounting under IAS 39. Overall, our analyses provide evidence that the European equity markets responded positively (negatively) to events that increased (decreased) the likelihood of adoption of IFRS. This is consistent with European equity investors perceiving that the benefits of harmonized accounting standards under IFRS would outweigh the costs of implementation and any reduced local accounting diversity. As predicted, additional analyses provide evidence that these responses were accentuated for firms not cross-listed in the U.S., suggesting investors perceived greater net benefits would accrue to this type of firm. Overall, our findings are consistent with European equity investors favoring harmonization under IFRS.


The establishment of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in 1999 has led to the creation of a whole range of bureaucratic bodies in Brussels and the national capitals. These bodies support the crisis management operations of the European Union. This review article presents the state of the art of academic research on the role of bureaucracy in this recent policy area. It argues that the growing institutional complexity and the constant interaction between actors at the national and European level require scholars to go beyond the dominant approaches of International Relations. Using insights from comparative politics, public administration and multi-level governance, this article considers four important questions: who these civil servants are, why they matter, how they interact, and how they are controlled politically and democratically.


Fibroblast growth factor 3 accumulates in microlumina to drive organogenesis. Secreted fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are required for proper formation of the mechanosensory lateral line organs of zebrafish. These organs are formed by rosette-shaped groups of about 20 cells that are deposited at stereotyped intervals along the anteroposterior axis by a larger group of lateral line precursor cells (the primordium) as it migrates from the head of the embryo toward the tail. Rosettes form at the rear of the primordium and drop off the primordium as it migrates posteriorly. Durdu et al. report that the architecture of these rosettes directly influences the signaling that controls when they drop out of the primordium. Genetically or pharmacologically reducing FGF signaling in vivo delayed rosette deposition, increasing the distance between organs. Overexpressing Fgf3 accelerated organ deposition, leading to more closely spaced organs, but did not affect rosette formation or the forward velocity of the migrating primordium. Time-lapse imaging revealed that fluorescently tagged Fgf3 (GFP-Fgf3), expressed at physiologically relevant concentrations, accumulated in microlumina at the center of each rosette just before the rosette arrested its migration to separate from the moving primordium. Overexpressing GFP-Fgf3 in randomly positioned clones of cells within the primordium caused GFP-Fgf3 to accumulate only in the microlumina of the rosettes with which the cells were associated. Rosettes containing GFP-Fgf3–overexpressing cells dropped off the primordium prematurely without affecting the timing with which neighboring rosettes lacking any GFP-Fgf3–overexpressing cells dropped off the primordium. Genetically interfering with epithelial polarity prevented the accumulation of GFP-Fgf3 in microlumina, and GFP-Fgf3 leaked from microlumina punctured with a laser, delaying desposition of the rosette. The authors suggest that concentrating FGFs in microlumina allows cell behaviors within a rosette to be coordinated and may serve as a checkpoint to ensure that rosettes form properly polarized organ precursors before leaving the primordium. Whether other self-organizing cells that form central lumina use a similar mechanism to coordinate cellular behavior is an unanswered question (see commentary by Sharpe). S. Durdu, M. Iskar, C. Revenu, N. Schieber, A. Kunze, P. Bork, Y. Schwab, D. Gilmour, Luminal signalling links cell communication to tissue architecture during organogenesis. Nature 515, 120–124 (2014). [PubMed] J. Sharpe, Cells unite by trapping a signal. Nature 515, 41–42 (2014). [PubMed]


Ethiopia responded to the legacy of mass atrocities committed during the early years (1974–1980) of the communist rule of Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam and his associates by instituting a project of mass prosecution. The process reached a climax on 26 May 2008 with the Federal Supreme Court decision in the case of Special Prosecutor v Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam & Others, which upheld the Special Prosecutor's argument that the life sentence imposed by the Federal High Court was inadequate. The convictions included the crimes of genocide, aggravated homicide, torture, illegal imprisonment and abuse of power. The Court did not elucidate or advance an appropriate theory concerning the mode of criminal responsibility required, even though the main charges generally relied on the assumption that the accused participated in the alleged crimes as co-perpetrators. This chapter seeks to challenge the approach taken in the decisions of the Ethiopian federal courts in light of modes of criminal responsibility under international criminal law. Specifically, it will examine the objections raised by the accused about their convictions solely on account of them being members of the Derg. The chapter argues, among others, that courts failed to draw on international criminal law jurisprudence (such as the concept of joint criminal enterprise or alternative doctrines) in finding the defendants guilty.


The gravity model of international trade states that the volume of trade between two countries is proportional to their economic mass and a measure of their relative trade frictions. Perhaps because of its intuitive appeal, the gravity model has been the workhorse model of international trade for more than 50 years. While the initial empirical work using the gravity model lacked sound theoretical underpinnings, the theoretical developments have highlighted how a gravity-like specification can be derived from many models with varying assumptions about preferences, technology, and market structure. Along the strengthening of the theoretical roots of the gravity model, the way in which it is estimated has also evolved significantly since the start of the new millennium. Depending on the exact characteristics of regression, different estimation methods should be used to estimate the gravity model.


CdSe nanocrystals and aggregates of an aryleneethynylene derivative are assembled into a hybrid thin film with dual fluorescence from both fluorophores. Under continuous excitation, the nanocrystals and the molecules exhibit anti-correlated fluorescence intensity variations, which become periodic at low temperature. We attribute this to a structure-dependent aggregation induced emission of the aryleneethynylene derivative, which impacts the rate of excitation energy transfer between the molecules and nanocrystals. Energy transfer also affects the electric transport properties of the hybrid material under optical excitation. This work highlights that combining semiconductor nanocrystals with molecular aggregates, which exhibit aggregation induced emission, can result in unprecedented emerging optical properties.


This paper presents evidence to show how vocational qualifications act as boundary objects in the stimulation of learning at work and how they, in turn, become the catalyst for the creation of artefacts that have a purpose and existence beyond the life cycle of an accreditation process. The context for the paper is the UK's automotive manufacturing industry, a sector that has undergone considerable change over the past thirty or so years and has been under intense pressure to improve standards. The paper presents evidence from case studies of two companies that produce parts for global car manufacturers. These companies have introduced competence-based approaches in order to audit and assess the skills of their workforces in response to demands from the companies they supply that they can prove their employees are working to the required international quality standards. The competence-based approach, which is contested in the academic literature, has enabled employees to gain National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), which, in turn, are still controversial some twenty years after they were first introduced. The paper argues that a competence-based approach can be beneficial to both organisations and individuals, but the ambiguities inherent in the NVQ model of competence create tensions and opportunities for restrictive as well as expansive forms implementation.


We introduce a squeezed state source for microwave radiation with tunable parameters in circuit quantum electrodynamics. We show that when a superconducting artificial multilevel atom interacting with a transmission line resonator is suitably driven by external classical fields, two-mode squeezed states of the cavity modes can be engineered in a controllable fashion from the vacuum state via adiabatic following of the ground state of the system. This scheme appears to be robust against decoherence and is realizable with present techniques in circuit quantum electrodynamics.


Background: HGF/MET has been found to be associated with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of HGF/MET involved in regulating the metastasis of NSCLC remain unclear. Methods: The effect of HGF/MET and FOSL2 on cell migration and invasion were assessed by transwell and scratch assays. HGF/MET-induced phosphorylation and upregulation of FOSL2 was analyzed by RT-PCR and Western blotting. Regulatory effects of FOSL2 on SNAI2 transcription were detected by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and dual-Luciferase reporter assays. The correlations of FOSL2 expression with clinical outcomes were assessed in 56 NSCLC patients. Results: HGF/MET induced the phosphorylation and upregulation of FOSL2 by ERK1/2 kinase, FOSL2 promoted the transcription of SNAI2 by binding with the SNAI2 promoter, and SNAI2 subsequently promoted the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, and migration of NSCLC cells. According to the clinical correlation analysis in NSCLC, high expression of FOSL2 correlated with advanced tumor stage and metastasis. Conclusion: Our studies propose that the regulatory mechanisms of the HGF/MET-induced cascade pathway is mediated by FOSL2 in NSCLC metastasis and suggested that FOSL2 could potentially be employed as a prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target of NSCLC metastasis.


This study explored the feasibility of Laurencia papillosa, Sargassum spp, and Gracilaria bailinae crude extracts as feeds for the juvenile sea cucumber Holothuria scabra in a tank-based system. Post-metamorphic juveniles (~1 mm) were harvested from larval tanks and were reared until the late juvenile stage in indoor tank systems at 300 ind./tank stocking density for 45 days. Growth and survival rates of H. scabra juveniles were monitored to assess the performance of each seaweed treatment. L. papillosa consistently yielded the best growth (SGR: 7.63-11.32%.d-1) and highest survival rates (54.6–56.8%) of H. scabra juveniles. The performance of L. papillosa did not differ from that of Sargassum spp., while G. bailinae yielded poor growth (SGR of 5.01–9.38%.d-1) and low survivorship of juveniles (8.77–19.77%). Growth and survival rates were similar between fresh and dried seaweeds (p>0.05), suggesting dried seaweeds' applicability as feeds for juvenile H. scabra. Moreover, increased feed rations resulted in better growth of juveniles, but survival rates among feed rations (4.5, 6.0, 7.5, and 9.0 L.d-1) did not differ significantly (p>0.05). The monthly mean water temperature ranged from 26.6°C to 28.8°C, salinity of 33.2–35.1 ppt, dissolved oxygen of 6.1–8.3 mg/L, and pH of 8.1–8.3. High yields of sea cucumber juveniles were observed during the dry season, while low survival rates (<20%) were observed during wet months. The success of this study could set forth the application of tank-based nursery systems for H. scabra, especially during the season of high rainfall and extreme weather conditions that heavily affects cage rearing in the open-sea setting.


Flow cytometry revealed the dynamic nature of polyclonal whole serum naturally occurring IgG and IgM antibody binding to the syngeneic murine T cell lymphomas SL2-5, L5178Y-F9 and the in vitro selected high natural antibody binding variant L5178Y-F9 TPA/NAb+3. This was particularly evident at physiological conditions where the temperature was 37 degrees C and the concentration of reactive serum natural antibodies (NAb) was high. Lower binding was observed at 37 versus 4 degrees C, or after raising the temperature from 4 to 37 degrees C, a procedure which was associated with an augmented loss of 125I-surface-labelled material from cells incubated in NAb compared to cells exposed to growth media. Even at 4 degrees C, NAb binding exhibited biphasic kinetics suggesting a loss of surface-bound NAb and a subsequent cycle of NAb uptake. The increased intravenous liver metastasis potential of the high NAb binding L5178Y-F9 TPA/NAb+3 corresponded with its higher total loss of 125I-surface-labelled material when incubated in NAb at 37 degrees C, and with its extensive loss of NAb binding when the temperature was raised from 4 to 37 degrees C. These observations are consistent with the idea that molecules released from the cell may contribute to the higher metastasis. This thinking was supported by the increased metastasis of tumor cells injected intravenously, either with serum in which they had been preincubated at 37 degrees C or into mice treated with supernatants from tumor cells incubated in NAb.


Background Problem-based learning (PBL) is well established in medical education and beyond, and continues to be developed and explored. Challenges include how to connect the somewhat abstract nature of classroom-based PBL with clinical practice and how to maintain learner engagement in the process of PBL over time. Objective A study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of decision-PBL (D-PBL), a variant form of PBL that replaces linear PBL cases with virtual patients. These Web-based interactive cases provided learners with a series of patient management pathways. Learners were encouraged to consider and discuss courses of action, take their chosen management pathway, and experience the consequences of their decisions. A Web-based application was essential to allow scenarios to respond dynamically to learners' decisions, to deliver the scenarios to multiple PBL classrooms in the same timeframe, and to record centrally the paths taken by the PBL groups. Methods A randomized controlled trial in crossover design was run involving all learners (N=81) in the second year of the graduate entry stream for the undergraduate medicine program at St George's University of London. Learners were randomized to study groups; half engaged in a D-PBL activity whereas the other half had a traditional linear PBL activity on the same subject material. Groups alternated D-PBL and linear PBL over the semester. The measure was mean cohort performance on specific face-to-face exam questions at the end of the semester. Results D-PBL groups performed better than linear PBL groups on questions related to D-PBL with the difference being statistically significant for all questions. Differences between the exam performances of the 2 groups were not statistically significant for the questions not related to D-PBL. The effect sizes for D-PBL–related questions were large and positive (>0.6) except for 1 question that showed a medium positive effect size. The effect sizes for questions not related to D-PBL were all small (≤0.3) with a mix of positive and negative values. Conclusions The efficacy of D-PBL was indicated by improved exam performance for learners who had D-PBL compared to those who had linear PBL. This suggests that the use of D-PBL leads to better midterm learning outcomes than linear PBL, at least for learners with prior experience with linear PBL. On the basis of tutor and student feedback, St George's University of London and the University of Nicosia, Cyprus have replaced paper PBL cases for midstage undergraduate teaching with D-PBL virtual patients, and 6 more institutions in the ePBLnet partnership will be implementing D-PBL in Autumn 2015.


The role of students experience in laboratory tests as a part of their engineering education is discussed. Nowadays, when computer simulations become an important tool in engineering design, problems solution, and research, students may loose the touch of real-world hardware and challenges. Hence, exposure to experimental work is very significant. It is proposed that at the advanced stages of the first degree studies, experiments related to specific courses will be incorporated as a part of the course material. It is also believed that in studies towards higher degrees, the combination of experimental research with theoretical modeling and analysis is an excellent introduction for the future professional career.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


This paper compares solvency capital requirements under Solvency I and Solvency II for a sample mid-size insurance portfolio. According to the results of a study, changing the solvency capital regime from Solvency I to Solvency II will lead to a substantial additional solvency capital requirement that might represent a heavy burden for the company's shareholders. One way to reduce the capital requirement under Solvency II is to increase reinsurance protection, which will reduce the net retained risk exposure and hence also the solvency capital requirement. Therefore, this paper proposes an extended reinsurance structure that, under Solvency II, brings the capital requirement back to the level of that required under Solvency I. In a step-by-step approach, the paper demonstrates the extent of solvency relief attained by the insurer by applying different possible adjustments in the reinsurance structure. To evaluate the efficiency of reinsurance as the solvency capital relief instrument, the authors introduce a cost-of-capital based approach, which puts the achieved capital relief in relation to the costs of extending the reinsurance protection. This approach allows a direct comparison of reinsurance as a capital relief instrument with debt instruments available in the capital market. With the help of the introduced approach, the authors show that the best capital relief efficiency under all examined reinsurance alternatives is achieved when a financial quota share contract is chosen for proportional reinsurance.


Abstract:I examine "Gods," one of Nabokov's "bottom of the barrel" stories, as a previously unnoticed but telling finger exercise for "An Evening on a Vacant Lot" and, less obviously, the final section of Chapter One and much of Chapter Nine of Speak, Memory. Though superficially about a death of a child, the story is Nabokov's first sustained public effort to write about his grief after his father's death, a subject he found deeply disturbing. Even 45 years after the assassination of Nabokov's father, Nabokov' mourning was still so deep that in the 1967 version of Speak, Memory, he felt himself small, untidy, ridiculously inarticulate, and overwhelmed by his subject, feelings one does not usually associate with Vladimir Nabokov: "preserved drafts of some of his [V.D. Nabokov's] proclamations (beginning "Grazhdane!", meaning"Citoyens!") and editorials are penned in a copybook-slanted, beautifully sleek, unbelievably regular hand, almost free of corrections, a purity, a certainty, a mind-and-matter cofunction that I find amusing to compare to my own mousy hand and messy drafts, to the massacrous revisions and rewritings, and new revisions, of the very lines in which I am taking two hours now to describe a two-minute run of his flawless handwriting. His drafts were the fair copies of immediate thought. In this manner, he wrote, with phenomenal ease and rapidity (sitting uncomfortably at a child's desk in the classroom of a mournful palace) the text of the abdication of Grand Duke Mihail (next in line of succession after the Tsar had renounced his and his son's throne). No wonder he was also an admirable speaker, an 'English style' cool orator, who eschewed the meat-chopping gesture and rhetorical bark of the demagogue, and here, too, the ridiculous cacologist I am, when not having a typed sheet before me, has inherited nothing." Nabokov, Speak, Memory, Chapter Nine


Speech is one of the most fundamental forms of self-expression and communication in humans [1]. Voiced speech is produced by fluid-structure interactions that drive vocal fold oscillations, creating a periodic pressure oscillation in the vocal tract. This excitation has a fundamental frequency, typically ranging between 100 and 200 Hz, depending on the individual. Thousands of people lose this ability each year when they are forced to undergo a total laryngectomy, which removes the entire larynx, usually to prevent the spread of cancer. The American Cancer Society predicts there will be about 3,000 laryngectomees in the United States alone during 2013 [2][3].Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Scattered occurrences of ophiolitic rocks are widespread in the Cyclades islands of Greece and are important for understanding the later Mesozoic ocean spreading and collisional history of the region, which has been obscured by Cenozoic nappe stacking, metamorphism, plutonism and extension. Ophiolitic rocks in the Upper Tectonic Unit of Ikaria are preserved in a mélange underlying Triassic limestones in the Kefala Unit and in a coarse-grained conglomerate at Faros directly overlying the mid-crustal detachment fault. The geochemistry of these rocks has been determined, their mineralogy investigated by electron microprobe, and K–Ar radiometric dating was carried out. Sole rocks are amphibolite of alkaline basalt protolith. Most ophiolitic samples from Ikaria consist of hornblende gabbro with MORB geochemistry that underwent sea-floor hydration, deformation and metamorphism. The large variation in degree of deformation, grade of metamorphism, and radiometric ages suggest syn-spreading extensional deformation at a slow-spreading ridge. The ophiolitic mélange on Ikaria, because it is unaffected by younger metamorphism, provides clear evidence for Late Cretaceous ocean-crust formation in the Cyclades region.


A single enhancing lesion in the brain parenchyma, also called an inflammatory granuloma, is a frequent neurologic diagnosis. One of the commonest causes of this lesion is human neurocysticercosis, the infection by the larvae of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. Following the demonstration that viable cysticercosis cysts survive in good conditions for several years in the human brain, single cysticercal granulomas have been consistently interpreted as representing late degeneration of a long-established parasite. On the basis of epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory evidence detailed in this article, we hypothesize that in most cases these inflammatory lesions correspond to parasites that die in the early steps of infection, likely as the natural result of the host immunity overcoming mild infections.


Five adult female goats were brought to our veterinary hospital with infertility. Ultrasonography showed what seemed to be hydrometra or cystic lesion in the genital region of 18-month-old twin local breed female goats. After slaughter of the does and excision of the genital tract, a macroscopic examination revealed bilateral hydrosalpinx and extreme dilation of the ovarian bursa with complete capsulation of the active ovary in the cystic ovarian bursa on each side. Amber to dark brown fluid fully filled the oviduct and the cystic structure of the ovarian bursa. Microscopically, the ovarian bursa showed an obvious chronic inflammation and an increase in the connective tissue. The oviduct revealed either no mucosal folds or semi-flattened mucosal folds. The possible causes of this pathological case and its significance are discussed in this report. We claim that this pathological condition has not been reported before in goats.


In this study, the authors consider a transmitter location finding problem in a wireless network equipped with RAKE receivers. In these types of receivers, fading is mitigated in the wireless communication channel. This fading is due to multiple versions of the transmitted signal at a spread of arrival times. In the RAKE receiver, a certain number of them are needed – called strongest – to have received signal strength above a threshold. In the optimum location finding problem, the number of bad receiving points determined based on a proposed error function is minimised. Two different criteria, which are defined through the RAKE receiver architecture, form this error function. Thus, a multi-objective optimisation problem is herein solved in order to solve transmitter location finding problem. The proposed optimisation method contains a jointly designed ray tracing engine (RTE) and genetic algorithm (GA). The algorithm is applied on a sample environment, which is fully simulated with RTE. The GA, which is integrated to RTE, determines optimum location(s) of transmitters. The results show that the proposed method perfectly finds the best locations of the minimum number of transmitters.


A simple model of dimerizing hard spheres with highly nontrivial fluid-solid phase behavior is proposed and studied using the recently proposed resummed thermodynamic perturbation theory for central force (RTPT-CF) associating potentials. The phase diagram has the fluid branch of the fluid-solid coexistence curve located at temperatures lower than those of the solid branch. This unusual behavior is related to the strong dependence of the system excluded volume on the temperature, which for the model at hand decreases with increasing temperature. This effect can be also seen for a wide family of fluid models with an effective interaction that combines short range attraction and repulsion at a larger distance. We expect that for sufficiently high repulsive barrier, such systems may show similar phase behavior.


Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is a rare osseous pathology of unknown origin in which normal bone is replaced by fibro-osseous tissue. Recent research has linked FD to a somatic mutation in the protein transcription of the GNAS1 gene, which leads to an increase in intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate. FD represents 2.5% of all bony tumors and over 7% of all non-malignant bone tumors. FD has various clinical presentation groups such as the monostotic, craniofacial and polyostotic forms, and the McCune-Albright syndrome. We present a temporal bone monostotic FD case of a 66-year-old female patient, who underwent surgical treatment of pituitary tumor. J Med Cases. 2018;9(11):363-365 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc3180


Infectious sheep abortions caused by bacterial agents such as Brucella melitensis, Campylobacter spp., Listeria spp., Chlamydophila abortus etc. lead significant economic losses in sheep enterprises. Many of these bacteria such as C. abortus that causes enzootic sheep abortion are contagious and zoonotic, as well. "Good veterinary practices" performed accurately and timely are extremely important in the management of the outbreak and minimizes the economic losses caused by these infections. This study aimed to diagnose infectious sheep abortions and to manage the outbreaks observed in two enterprises with 850 Hemşin sheep in Şavşat district of Artvin province, Turkey. The disease was diagnosed by conventional and real-time PCRs with detecting C. abortus DNA in five aborted fetal tissues. The diagnosis was confirmed immunohistochemically. In the course of the outbreak management, aborted sheep were weed out, treated with 5 mL/sheep I.M. of oxytetracycline for 5 times 24 h apart and got maintained for 3-4 weeks until disposed of by the owners. Pregnant sheep were administered 5 mL/sheep I.M. of oxytetracycline for 3 times as 3 days after the first application and 5 days after the second application. A mineral-amino acid supplement was also administered to the pregnant sheep by adding 15 mL of the drug to 0.5 L water for each sheep for 3 days. For the prophylactic purpose, tetracycline with a dose of 20 mg/kg bw/day was recommended to add to drinking water once a day for 3-5 days following the initial treatment. For biosafety, aborted materials were covered with quicklime and buried in soil depth of 1.5 m and contaminated areas were disinfected with 0.5% bleach once a day for 3 days. A protective immunization could not be done because of the absence of vaccines in the national market and some concerns about the vaccination of late-pregnant sheep. The sheep enterprises were closely monitored for 4-5 weeks until the birth season ended.


Vision acuity and visual evoked potentials (VEP) to a homogeneous light field and chess field reversion were studied in children aged 5-6 years with unilateral amblyopia before and after 3-month direct total occlusion of the intact eye. Occlusion of the intact eye resulted in improvement of the vision acuity and VEP of the amblyopic eye, that correlated with the degree of amblyopia. At the same time examinations of the intact eyes revealed reduced amplitude of VEP to large and increased latency to small chess pattern cells but no changes of the vision acuity. The results evidence the necessity of monitoring the occlusion by VEP recording to prevent the detrimental effects of visual deprivation on the development of the system of vision in a child.


In order to achieve a ubiquitous ad-hoc environment suitable for any kind and number of compute devices, information concerning device usability must be stored and manipulated. Take, for example the home where a large number of devices - heating, cooking, lighting, entertainment, security all cooperate to provide a suitable environment for a home resident. This paper proposes a representation of home devices as OWL-S (Web service ontology) services, capable of being implemented by means of the formal algebra CSP (communication sequential process). Because of the ontological nature of OWL-S and the possibility of translating CSP equations to lightweight implementations, this proposal allows a rich semantic description of services capable of being hosted by a wide range of devices, including such ones with low computational resources. The paper describes the procedure of developing a service in OWL-S, its translation to CSP and its implementation in occam, an efficient CSP-based language


Coxiella burnetii, the aetiological agent of Q fever, causes acute, chronic or asymptomatic disease in humans. Routine clinical diagnosis of acute and chronic Q fever primarily relies on serodiagnosis. Isolation of the organism is rarely attempted, as C. burnetii is known to be amongst the most infectious of bacteria.
 This thesis aims to define and characterise a relevant experimental model of Q fever and establish whether C. burnetii-specific antigens appear in the urine of experimental animals. It is further intended to characterise any antigens excreted and assess urinary antigen detection as a method for the laboratory diagnosis of Q fever.
 Experimental C. burnetii infection was established in the guinea pig using Lane strain (a previously uncharacterised British isolate from heart tissue of a patient suffering from Q fever endocarditis). The aerosol route of delivery resulted in a more severe disease compared to delivery by the intraperitoneal route and C. burnetii organisms were shown to persist in heart tissues for at least thirteen weeks following aerosol infection. A capture ELISA assay was developed with a detection limit of 80 ng antigen ml-1 (equating to approximately 800 organisms ml-1). C. burnetii-specific antigens appeared in the urine of animals, infected by aerosol with approximately 1000 organisms and 1-10 organisms, at 1 and 10 days post-infection, respectively. During subsequent characterisation of the urinary antigens in severely diseased guinea pigs, viable C. burnetii organisms were detected and a C. burnetii-specific immunoreactive protein with an approximate molecular weight of 62 kDa was demonstrated. Evidence also suggested that LPS was present in the urine.
 The appearance of antigen in the urine was used as a marker of infection to assess the efficacy of doxycycline and ciprofloxacin in the treatment of experimental Q fever.. Preliminary studies supported other data (febrile response, serology and PCR) which suggested that doxycycline was more effective than ciprofloxacin in the treatment of acute experimental Q fever.


The layered Y-doped SnO2/C anode materials were prepared by a co-precipitation method. The physical properties of the Y-doped SnO2/C were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and electrochemical measurements. XRD studies showed that the Y-doped SnO2/C has the same layered structure as the undoped SnO2/C. The SEM images exhibited that the particle size of Y-doped SnO2/C is smaller than that of the undoped SnO2/C and the smallest particle size is only about 1µm. The Y-doped SnO2/C samples were investigated on the Lithium extraction/insertion performances by charge/discharge, cyclic voltammograms (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS). The results showed that the optimal doping content of Y was that x=0.07 and 2% content of carbon nanotubes samples to achieve high discharge capacity and good cyclic stability. The electrode reaction reversibility and electronic conductivity were enhanced, and the charge transfer resistance was decreased through Y-doping.


In this paper I explore elements of the relationship between deployments of cultural capital and neighbourhood change. Based on research in a gentrified neighbourhood of Bristol, England, I argue that for gentrifier households with children the need to reproduce (institutional) cultural capital in the education market can conflict with the desire to display (objectified) cultural capital via the gentrification aesthetic in the inner-urban neighbourhood. In the trade-off between aesthetics and education, education wins, resulting in a much more conventional suburban, exurban housing/neighbourhood career for onward-moving gentrifiers. I conclude by suggesting a more diffuse, provincial form of gentrification in which the different strands of cultural capital can conflict in urban space (rather than the smooth reproduction of cultural capital assumed by the idea of a gentrification habitus). It confirms that the intergenerational reproduction of an (urban) new middle class is likely to be confined to large metropolitan areas.


Programa Escolhas" is a Portuguese program that aims to promote children and youth social inclusion in deprived socioeconomics contexts. The present study aims to identify internal and external resources perceived by children and adolescents that participated in the program, to understand the impact in life contexts, and to identify the resources nominated by their family, projects professionals and partners. A qualitative method was used in order to analyze 365 speeches from four different groups: children and adolescents (149), family (40), projects professionals (126) and projects partners (50). The model used was Benard's Conceptual Model for the Resilience and Youth Development. The conclusions highlight the success and relevance of Programa Escolhas regarding the children and the adolescents and their families, by promoting social inclusion in deprived socioeconomics contexts.


The overall aim of this project was to study the reutilisation of the major ash components, predominantly silica and potassium, in wheat straw combustion residues to form alkali silicate binders for novel inorganic composite boards.

Wheat straw of one variety and year was studied in detail on a lab-scale. Studies on the effects of combustion time and temperature show, for the first time, that the inherent alkali in the wheat straw is sufficient to solubilise up to 25% of the silica in the ash at room temperature. Combustion at temperatures below 600 °C gives the highest silica extraction by producing the most alkaline solutions, preventing calcium solubility and maintaining silica in a more reactive form. The first detailed comparisons of the effect of wheat straw variety and growth year on the properties of its combustion residues show that their mineralogical composition, leaching of inorganic components, silica structure and alkalinity can be correlated to the initial elemental composition.

Pretreatment of wheat straw by ethanol extraction indicates that this can reduce the potassium and chloride content similar to that achieved by water washing, potentially producing a less problematic material for combustion, without significantly reducing the alkalinity of the combustion residues. This is believed to be the first reported observation of this effect.

Pyrolysis of the wheat straw followed by char washing prior to combustion demonstrates improved extractability of the silica present utilising the inherent alkalinity, compared to extraction of the ashes. The leached chars display a lower ash content, lower potassium content, lower chloride content and higher calorific value, making them more suitable for combustion than the initial straw.

Finally, the formation of alkali silicate solutions from commercial biomass combustion residues is demonstrated. Biosilicate solutions comparable to commercial potassium silicate solutions are formed by extraction of the bottom ashes. These show potential as binders for inorganic composite boards.


Numerous studies have linked biodiversity with zoonotic disease control. However, researchers have warned against simply believing that the increase in biodiversity can reduce the infection disease in the community. They proposed that amplification effect (increase in biodiversity accompanied by an increase in disease prevalence) might sometimes occur. Thus, we formulated a deterministic model to consider the impact of an amplification or dilution agent on the SNV transmission in the deer mouse population. Bifurcation analysis was carried out to examine the combined influences of the environmental carrying capacity, the interspecific competition strength and the impact of amplification or dilution agent on the deer mouse population. Our results showed that the system with amplification agent required a higher carrying capacity or stronger interspecific strength to compensate for its amplification effect in suppressing the SNV prevalence; this situation explains the lack of reduction in SNV prevalence despite the presence of high biodiversity in some empirical studies. In this study, we highlight the importance of investigating the roles of the additional species in an assemblage to better understand their relationship with the SNV prevalence in deer mouse population.


PURPOSE
In this study, the cyber aggression in relationships scale (CARS) was intended to be adapted to Turkish.

DESIGN AND METHODS
The study was designed as a methodological study with 426 students.

FINDINGS
The best fit index values for both the cyber perpetration and cyber victimization scales (CVSs) were obtained through confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's α internal consistency coefficients for the overall and sub-dimensions of the cyber perpetration scale and CVS were found to range from 0.88 to 0.92 and 0.85 to 0.91, respectively.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
In the study, CARS was found to be a valid and reliable instrument for Turkish society.


Motion History Images(MHI) are extensively being used to represent the history of temporal changes involved in the execution of an activity. Here the intensity of the pixels of a scalar valued image are varied, depending upon the motion history. MHI suffers from a very prominent drawback that when self-occluding or over-writing activities are encountered it fails to generate a vivid description of the course of that activity. This happens because when repetitive activities are performed, the current action overwrites or deletes the information of the previous action. In this paper, we have designed a methodology which has overcome this problem of conventional MHI. In our mechanism, we have used red, green and blue channels to represent human movement. Initially the pixel values of all the three channels are null. When any motion is detected at a particular pixel for the first time, then it is represented using MHIR. However, if a repetitive action is performed, then it is represented using MHIG and if overwriting action is thereafter continued for the second time, then MHIB is utilized. In this approach, the pixel intensities are varied in accordance with the basic MHI. Thus, using our methodology which uses multiple channels, MHI is not only capable of detecting the history of motion but is also made capable of representing overlapping repetitive actions.


Natural language processing is a technique that includes both natural language understanding and natural language generation. Translating one natural language into another becomes complex due to structural difference, varieties of meanings, different forms of verbs etc. In this paper, a general algorithm has been developed which takes one natural language (i.e. English, German etc) as input and produces another natural language (i.e. Bengali, Japanese etc.) as output reserving the same expression. For understanding the input natural language, a smart-parse algorithm has been developed which unambiguously and efficiently generates a stack of the parse tree from the existing structure. After parsing, it incorporates itself with the knowledge base and dictionary and finally produces the corresponding targeted natural language. After fixing up the input and output natural language, it is possible to use this algorithm for translation after simple modification.


A particularity of island areas is that they are subjected to strong sea state conditions that can have a severe impact on the beach stability, while on the other hand, they rely mainly on diesel combustion for electricity production which in the long run is not a sustainable solution. The aim of this work is to tackle these two issues, by assessing the impact of a hybrid marine energy farm that may operate near the north-western part of Giglio Island in the Mediterranean Sea. As a first step, the most relevant environmental conditions (wind and waves) over a 27-year time interval (January 1992–December 2018) were identified considering data coming from both ERA5 and the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative for Sea State. An overview of the electricity production was made by considering some offshore wind turbines, the results showing that even during the summertime when there is a peak demand (but low wind resources), the demand can be fully covered by five wind turbines defined each by a rated power of 6 MW. The main objective of this work is to assess the coastal impact induced by a marine energy farm, and for this reason, various layouts obtained by varying the number of lines (one or two) and the distance between the devices were proposed. The modelling system considered has been already calibrated in the target area for this type of study while the selected device is defined by a relatively low absorption property. The dynamics of various wave parameters has been analysed, including significant wave height, but also parameters related to the breaking mechanics, and longshore currents. It was noticed that although the target area is naturally protected by the dominant waves that are coming from the south-western sector, it is possible to occur extreme waves coming from the north-west during the wintertime that can be efficiently attenuated by the presence of the marine energy farm.


In this paper, we propose a robust approach to image enhancement based on fuzzy logic that addresses the seemingly conflicting goals of image enhancement: (i) removing impulse noise, (ii) smoothing out nonimpulse noise, and (iii) enhancing (or preserving) edges and certain other salient structures. We derive three different filters for each of the above three tasks using the weighted (or fuzzy) least squares (LS) method, and define the criteria for selecting each of the three filters. The criteria are based on the local context, and they constitute the antecedent clauses of the fuzzy rules. The overall result of the fuzzy rule-based system is the combination of the results of the individual filters, where each result contributes to the degree that the corresponding antecedent clause is satisfied. This approach gives us a powerful and flexible image enhancement paradigm. Results of the proposed method on several types of images are compared with those of other standard techniques.