PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CHAPTER 1. Introduction to Concepts, Data, and Methods 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Genetic definitions 1.3. Techniques for detection of polymorphic markers 1.4. The evolution of gene frequencies 1.5. Classical attempts to distinguish human "races" 1.6. Scientific failure of the concept of human races 1.7. Identifying population units 1.8. Linguistic classification 1.9. Nature and sources of the data 1.10. Methods of analysis 1.11. Genetic distances 1.12. Phylogenetic tree analysis 1.13. Analysis of principal components (PCs) and derived methods 1.14. Geographic maps of gene frequencies 1.15. Synthetic maps 1.16. Isolation by distance 1.17. Admixtures, their estimation, and their effect on tree structure CHAPTER 2. Genetic History of World Populations 2.1. Paleoanthropological background 2.2. Early quantitative phylogenetic studies 2.3. Analysis of classical markers in forty-two selected populations 2.4. Analysis of DNA data 2.5. Comparison with archaeological data 2.6. Comparison with linguistic classifications 2.7. Importance of expansions in human evolution 2.8. Extent of genetic variation by FST analysis 2.9. Genetic variation and geographic distance 2.10. Maps of single genes 2.11. Synthetic maps of the world 2.12. Homozygosity 2.13. Correlations with climate 2.14. Area and time of origin of major mutants, with special attention to hemoglobins 2.15. A brief summary of human evolution CHAPTER 3. Africa 3.1. Geography and environment 3.2. Prehistory and history 3.3. Linguistics 3.4. Physical anthropology of modern Africans 3.5. Genetic analysis of the continent 3.6. Ethiopians, some of their neighbors, and North Africans 3.7. Khoisanids 3.8. Pygmies 3.9. Black sub-Saharan Africans 3.10. Studies of single genes 3.11. Synthetic maps of Africa 3.12. Summary of the genetic history of Africa CHAPTER 4. Asia 4.1. General introduction, geography, and environment 4.2. Prehistory and history in North Asia 4.3. Prehistory and history in Middle and Central Asia 4.4. Prehistory and history in East Asia 4.5. Prehistory and history in Southeast Asia 4.6. Prehistory and history in South Asia 4.7. Prehistory and history in West Asia 4.8. Linguistics 4.9. Physical anthropology 4.10. General genetic picture of Asia 4.11. Genetics of the Arctic 4.12. Genetics of East and Central Asia 4.13. Genetics of Southeast Asia 4.14. Genetics of South Asia (the Indian subcontinent) 4.15. Genetics of West Asia 4.16. Geographic maps of single genes 4.17. Synthetic maps of Asia 4.18. Summary of the genetic history of Asia CHAPTER 5. Europe 5.1. Geography and ecology 5.2. Prehistory and history 5.3. Linguistics 5.4. Physical anthropology 5.5. The genetic picture 5.6. Major outliers: Lapps, Sardinians, Basques, and Icelanders 5.7. Italy 5.8. France 5.9. Iberian peninsula 5.10. Single-gene maps 5.11. Synthetic maps of Europe 5.12. Interactions of genetic, archaeological, and linguistic information 5.13. Summary of the genetic history of Europe CHAPTER 6. America 6.1. eography and environment 6.2. Prehistory: occupation of America 6.3. Beginnings of agriculture 6.4. Development in North America 6.5. Development in Central America 6.6. Development in South America 6.7. Physical anthropology 6.8. Linguistics 6.9. Phylogenetic analysis of America 6.10. Phylogenetic analysis of individual tribes 6.11. Comparison of genetics with linguistics and geography 6.12. Geographic maps of single genes 6.13. Synthetic maps of America 6.14. Summary of the genetic history of America CHAPTER 7. Australia, New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands 7.1. Geography and environment 7.2. Prehistory and history 7.3. Physical anthropology 7.4. Linguistics 7.5. Genetic population structure in Oceania 7.6. Population genetics and synthetic maps of Australia 7.7. Population genetics and synthetic maps of New Guinea 7.8. Population genetics of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia 7.9. Single-gene maps of Australia and New Guinea 7.10. Single-gene maps of the Pacific Islands 7.11. Summary of the genetic history of the Pacific CHAPTER 8. Epilogue 8.1. The multidisciplinary approach 8.2. The uses of genetics in human evolutionary history 8.3. Comparison of different methods of genetic analysis 8.4. The future of this research 8.5. Genetic and linguistic evolution LITERATURE CITED INDEX


Increased circulating soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) levels has been previously reported in Graves' disease (GD) patients with or without ophthalmopathy (GO) and in patients with toxic nodular goiter but not in patients with subacute thyroiditis. Conflicting results have also been reported about the usefulness of sICAM-1 levels as a marker for the activity of hyperthyroidism. We have therefore determined sICAM-1 levels by a sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method in 10 patients with subacute thyroiditis (Group 1), who are at the initial or acute phase of thyroiditis, in 10 hypothyroidic patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (Group 2), in 10 patients with euthyroid nodular goiter (Group 3), in 10 patients with untreated GD patients with active ophthalmopathy (Group 4), in 10 hyperthyroid GD patients without clinical ophthalmopathy (Group 5), in 10 patients with GO who are euthyroid and treated with glucocorticoids for 3 months (Group 6) and in 20 normal subjects (Control Group). Groups 1,2,4,5 and 6 (P < 0.00001 for Groups 1,4,5,6 and P < 0.05 for Group 2) but not Group 3 showed increased sICAM-1 levels compared with the control group. However Groups 4 and 6 (patient with GO) showed significantly higher sICAM-1 levels (P = 0.0003 for Group 4 and P = 0.00013 for Group 6) than Group 5. Furthermore Group 4 showed slightly but not significantly higher sICAM-1 levels than Group 6. Mean sICAM levels were significantly decreased 3 months after glucocorticoid treatment (Group 6), but had not returned to normal levels. Three patients did not respond to steroid therapy and their sICAM-1 levels were not decreased. We concluded that patients with GO with or without hyperthyroidism and patients with subacute thyroiditis have elevated sICAM-1 levels. Moreover, sICAM-1 levels reflect the degree of inflammatory activity in the thyroid gland or orbital tissue independent of the thyroidal status, since we found elevated levels in both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.


Through the increase of computing power, Large Eddy Simulations (LES) have become an invaluable design tool for industrial applications. However, the increasing amount of data that is generated in each simulation imposes new requirements on data analysis and compression. Two shortcomings of classical approaches are addressed in this study. First, due to storage limitations, only a limited set of quantities can be extracted from the simulation, but needs to be selected in advance. This requires a-prior knowledge about the flow structure and an experienced user. Second, classical post-processing starts after the simulation is completed. Nevertheless, many effects occur at an early stage of the simulation and can give useful insights into trends. Data I/O and computing time can be reduced, if they are monitored carefully. To address both issues, we apply a spectral basis approach for nonlinear dimensionality reduction to turbulent flow data. The spectral basis is derived from the eigenvectors of the Laplace-Beltrami (LB) operator which are optimal for representing smooth functions on a surface. The solution is projected to the LB basis to achieve a compact representation of the flow with a spectral separation. We demonstrate our approach on the LES of the turbulent flow through a HVAC duct that was studied intensively in the past, e.g. by Jäger, A. et al., 2008. Results are compared to a PCA analysis based on an extensive mesh study regarding their compactness and ability to identify large-scale and dominant flow features at an earlier state during the simulation.


This study presents an energetic performance analysis for a combined power generation system consisting of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). In order to simulate the SOFC–ORC combined system under steady‐state conditions, a mathematical model is developed. The developed model is used to determine the potential effects caused by the changes of the design parameters on the energetic performance of the combined system. As design parameters, turbine inlet pressure, condenser temperature, fuel utilization, current density, compressor pressure ratio, and cell operating temperature are taken into account. In this regard, the electrical power and First Law efficiency are estimated by parametrical analysis and discussed comprehensively. Results of these analyses show that the efficiency is increased about 14–25% by recovering SOFC waste heat through ORC based on investigated design parameter conditions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Ubiquitous sensor networks (USNs) are one of the most important areas, and thus range of relevant research results have been introduced. Hands-on experiments of a ubiquitous sensor network prototype thus give a great opportunity for students to understand necessary theory and technology, covering embedded system design, network theory, RF (radio frequency) signal processing, and so on, which well exceed the scope of undergraduate study. However, implementation of only a part of functions using well-designed evaluation platforms is not generally appropriate to fulfill students' motivation and achievement. In this paper, we introduce a successful example of an undergraduate capstone design project that designs and implements ubiquitous sensor network base station controller and monitoring program. Our prerequisite courses provide substantial background for embedded system hardware design and implementation, wireless network, and embedded software, so that the students do not suffer from lack of implementation techniques rather than their creativity and challenges for the design goal. In addition, the capstone design project course has one-to-one mentor-mentee relation with companies, specifically with Samsung Data System for this project. As a result, the USN monitoring system is awarded Golden Prize from Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in 2006, through a national- wide competition.


Abstract This article reports on the change in the career adaptability of participants exposed to an intervention programme characterized by career and self-construction principles compared to the change in participants who participated in standard, traditional career counselling lessons. Convenience and purposive sampling were used to select two groups (experimental and comparison of Grade 11 learners). Intervention occurred in both experimental groups. A mixed methods, quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test comparison group design was used to gather data. Pre- and post-test scores obtained on the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) were analysed. The quantitative results suggested that the intervention programme did not improve participants' career adaptability compared to standard, traditional career counselling lessons as measured by the CAAS. Future research should include the use of measures of self-reflection and meaning-making to test the direct effects of experimental interventions.


Our statement (11 September 1970, p. 76) that in pregnancy hypothyroid patients probably should be switched from thyroxine to liothyronine has been cogently disputed. An important point in favour of letting the patient continue on thyroxine is that this has given satisfactory results. One correspondent has followed 10 athyroidal patients through their pregnancies. All were maintained on an unchanged dose of thyroxine, all showed the expected rise in PBI, and all gave birth to normal infants. Another point is that in the latter part of pregnancy the foetus produces enough thyroid hormone for its needs; it is not clear whether the risk of foetal hypothyroidism is directly influenced by the concentrations of thyroxine and liothyronine in the maternal blood - little of either passes the placenta. Furthermore, both are present in patients taking thyroxine, since, as we stated (p. 75) about one-third of administered thyroxine is metabolised to liothyronine.


Compared to monolingual models, cross-lingual models usually require a more expressive vocabulary to represent all languages adequately. We find that many languages are under-represented in recent cross-lingual language models due to the limited vocabulary capacity. To this end, we propose an algorithm VoCap to determine the desired vocabulary capacity of each language. However, increasing the vocabulary size significantly slows down the pre-training speed. In order to address the issues, we propose k-NN-based target sampling to accelerate the expensive softmax. Our experiments show that the multilingual vocabulary learned with VoCap benefits cross-lingual language model pre-training. Moreover, k-NN-based target sampling mitigates the side-effects of increasing the vocabulary size while achieving comparable performance and faster pre-training speed. The code and the pretrained multilingual vocabularies are available at https://github.com/bozheng-hit/VoCapXLM.


Cardiovascular disease risk rises sharply with menopause, likely due to the coincident increase in insulin resistance and related atherogenic changes that together comprise the metabolic or insulin resistance syndrome, a cluster of metabolic and hemodynamic abnormalities strongly implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of cardiovascular disease. A growing body of research suggests that traditional mind-body practices such as yoga, tai chi, and qigong may offer safe and cost-effective strategies for reducing insulin resistance syndrome-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease in older populations, including postmenopausal women. Current evidence suggests that these practices may reduce insulin resistance and related physiological risk factors for cardiovascular disease; improve mood, well-being, and sleep; decrease sympathetic activation; and enhance cardiovagal function. However, additional rigorous studies are needed to confirm existing findings and to examine long-term effects on cardiovascular health.


Background— Sodium glucose linked transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibition not only reduces morbidity and mortality in patients with diagnosed heart failure but also prevents the development of heart failure hospitalization in those at risk. While studies to date have focused on the role of SGLT2 inhibition in left ventricular failure, whether this drug class might be similarly efficacious in the treatment and prevention of right heart failure has not been unexplored.Hypothesis: We hypothesized that SGLT2 inhibition would reduce the structural, functional and molecular responses to pressure overload of the right ventricle.Methods: Thirteen-week-old Fischer F344 rats underwent pulmonary artery banding (PAB) or sham surgery prior to being randomized to receive either the SGLT2 inhibitor: dapagliflozin (1.5mg/kg/day) or vehicle by oral gavage. After six weeks of treatment, animals underwent transthoracic echocardiography and invasive hemodynamic studies. Animals were then terminated, and their hearts harvested for structural and molecular analyses.Results: PAB induced features consistent with a compensatory response to increased right ventricular (RV) afterload with elevated mass, end systolic pressure, collagen content and alteration in calcium handling protein expression (all p<0.05 when compared to sham + vehicle). Dapagliflozin reduced RV mass, including both wet and dry weight as well as normalizing the protein expression of SERCA 2A, AMPkinase and LC3I/II ratio expression (all p<0.05).Significance: Dapagliflozin reduces the structural, functional, and molecular manifestations of right ventricular pressure overload. Whether amelioration of these early changes in the RV may ultimately lead to a reduction in RV failure remains to be determined.


Gravity anomalies provide a tool to study crustal structure, effective elastic thickness, and
isostatic and tectonic processes. Over the last 10 years major airborne gravity surveys were flown by the
international community over several Antarctic frontiers. The longer-wavelength Antarctic gravity anomaly field
is increasingly better resolved with satellite-gravity. These recent airborne and satellite gravity datasets
provide novel perspectives on Antarctic crustal structure and geodynamic evolution.
We review results from some of these surveys over the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, Dronning Maud
Land, the Wilkes Subglacial Basin, the Transantarctic Mountains and the West Antarctic Rift System and
present gravity modelling outputs of crustal thickness for these regions. We contrast these gravity results with
a seismically-derived estimation of Antarctic crustal thickness (Baranov and Morelli, 2013, Tectonophys).
Anomalously thick East Antarctic crust lies beneath the Gamburtsev Mountains and parts of Dronning Maud
Land (50-58 km). Crustal thickening may stem from the collision of a mosaic of East Antarctic crustal
provinces in Meso to Neoproterozoic times (Ferraccioli et al., 2011, Nature), or during younger Edicaran to
early Cambrian "Pan-African age" orogenic events. The preservation of such thick crust provides significant
support for the high bedrock topography in East Antarctica. Additional flexural uplift along the flanks of the
Permian to Cretaceous East Antarctic Rift System helps explain the enigmatic Gamburtsev Mountains. Lithospheric flexure along the flank of the West Antarctic Rift System (WARS) may explain the Transantarctic
Mountains (TAM), the longest and highest non-compressional mountain range on Earth. Whether the Wilkes
Subglacial Basin also developed in response to lithospheric flexure is debated. Our gravity models image
thicker crust beneath the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) (ca 40 km thick), compared to the relatively thinner
crust (30-35 km) beneath the Wilkes Subglacial Basin (Jordan et al., 2013 Tectonophys); this is difficult to
reconcile with previous flexural model predictions. Three geodynamic processes could explain the thicker
crust beneath the TAM: i) Cambrian-Ordovician subduction and accretion along the East Antarctic craton
margin; ii) formation of a Paleozoic to Mesozoic plateau in West Antarctica that collapsed leaving behind a
region of thicker crust; iii) extensive Jurassic magmatic underplating related to Gondwana break-up.
Gravity modelling helps trace the WARS beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The interior Ross Sea
Embayment features 25-28 km-thick crust, while parts of the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) are underlain
by 19-23 km-thick crust. Narrow Cenozoic rifts may be interspersed with regions of more distributed
Cretaceous extension, explaining the anomalously thin crust and lower Te values beneath the ASE. Major
contrasts within the WARS are relevant also for the WAIS as these likely exert a key influence on geothermal
heat flux variations, which in turn influence basal melting and ice motion.


Sequential auctions can be used to provide solutions to the multi-robot task-allocation problem. In this paper we extend previous work on sequential auctions and propose an algorithm that clusters and auctions uninitiated task clusters repeatedly upon the completion of individual tasks. We demonstrate empirically that our algorithm results in lower overall team costs than other sequential auction algorithms that only assign tasks once.


Abstract : A report issued by the United States (U.S.) Comptroller General in 1976 noted that virtually every item produced by the U.S. industry is procured by the Federal Government. Products and services are procured by the Department of Defense (DoD) from over 25,000 industrial firms. The basic mechanism is through the contracting and acquisition processes. The key question raised by these circumstances is how will the increasing use of automation and robotics impact the contracting and acquisition processes in the 1980s and 1990s. A study was conducted to identify and classify the changes which will result from this trend to factory automation. The items considered include: reclassification and structure of contract costs; contracting and acquisition planning; contract types and their use; cost visibility; labor and other direct costs; cost and price analysis; cost control; bidding and solicitation procedures; and, clause structure and selection. (Author)


This study presents a modelling approach for quantifying the Mobile Web Quality of Experience (MWQoE). It builds on current QoE and Web QoE research, and by fusing together data that is available on modern mobile devices, constructs a novel MWQoE model that is user-centered, context-aware and non-intrusive (does not depend on user feedback). This study identifies the factors which affect Web QoE and measures their effect on it in mobile scenarios. Moreover, this study explores scenarios in which Web QoE can be effectively characterized and enhanced, delivering a novel Mobile-to-Cloud system for the continuous evaluation of MWQoE in real-world environments. The significance of defining and evaluating MWQoE is identified. Specifically, MWQoE can be used by online providers to uncover customer insights and illustrate how the experience in using their products is perceived by their customers. In fact, MWQoE can be considered an important key performance indicator showing the technology acceptance or satisfiability of customers for a specific web product or service.


Collective teacher efficacy (CTE) refers to the collective perception in a school that teachers make an educational difference to their pupils over and above the impact of their social circumstances. This study explored the relationships between CTE, socio-economic status (SES) and pupil attainment levels in reading, writing and mathematics (at the whole primary school level). Sixty-six teachers in 15 out of 19 schools in a small Local Authority participated. Significant positive relationships were found between SES and attainment in reading and mathematics (but not writing). However, significant positive relationships were also found between CTE and attainment in reading and writing (but not mathematics). Neither SES nor CTE independently accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the total variance in attainment. However, CTE appeared to have a much stronger independent impact than SES in writing (and also a modest independent impact in reading). One school with an atypical pattern of high CTE and high attainment despite low SES was studied in depth. Here, school climate or ethos, high quality in-service training and a focus upon pedagogy were perceived as the most potent factors in raising attainment. When these factors serve to heighten CTE, the impact of SES on pupil attainment may be reduced, and this may be easier in some subjects than others.


. The transport of huge amounts of small aquatic organisms in the ballast tanks and at the hull of large cargo ships leads to ever increasing rates of marine bioinvasion. In this study, we apply a network theoretic approach to examine the introduction of invasive species into new ports by global shipping. This is the first stage of the invasion process where it is still possible to intervene with regulating measures. We compile a selection of widely used and newly developed network properties and apply these to analyse the structure and spread characteristics of the directed and weighted global cargo ship network (GCSN). Our results reveal that the GCSN is highly efficient, shows small world characteristics and is positive assortative, indicating that quick spread of invasive organisms between ports is likely. The GCSN shows strong community structure and contains two large communities, the Atlantic and Pacific trading groups. Ports that appear as connector hubs and are of high centralities are the Suez and Panama Canal, Singapore and Shanghai. Furthermore, from robustness analyses and the network's percolation behaviour, we evaluate differences of onboard and in-port ballast water treatment, set them into context with previous studies and advise bioinvasion management strategies.


Like many other journals, the journal PLOS Computational Biology admits and in some cases requires presubmission inquiries to be submitted before the submission of a full paper. Presubmission inquiries serve the purpose of informing the journal's Editorial Board of the essence of the intended submission. Based on the information in the inquiry, the editors can make a quick assessment of its contribution with respect to the criteria for publication in the journal. This assessment is then communicated to the authors. This enables fast turnaround to the authors about the basic suitability of a submission for processing by the journal and spares the editors and reviewers the effort of detailed inspection of submissions that clearly do not meet the criteria of the journal.

In this Editorial, we give suggestions for preparing presubmission inquiries for journal submissions. We exemplify these suggestions with reference to presubmission inquiries for the Methods section of PLOS Computational Biology. However, our suggestions generalize to presubmission inquiries of other kinds and for other journals, and in places, we will make specific comments to that effect.

Over two years ago, PLOS Computational Biology opened a special section dedicated to Methods papers. As the scope statement spells out,

Methods papers should describe outstanding methods of exceptional importance that have been shown, or have the promise to provide new biological insights. The method must already be widely adopted, or have the promise of wide adoption by a broad community of users. Enhancements to existing published methods will only be considered if those enhancements bring exceptional new capabilities.

Since Methods papers are different from other research papers in PLOS Computational Biology and also differ from typical papers on bioinformatics methods published in other journals, a mandatory presubmission stage has been introduced for the submission of Methods papers to PLOS Computational Biology. (Note that a presubmission inquiry is not mandatory for general research papers in PLOS Computational Biology, though it is also mandatory for submission to the Software papers category.)

Since the Methods section was launched in October 2012, we have received 334 presubmission inquiries. For roughly half of them (159), we encouraged submission and received full papers, of which 41 papers were published, so far, as Methods papers. We find that, while many presubmission inquiries are informative enough to make an educated decision on the submission, we also receive a number of presubmission inquiries that are not sufficiently informative, such that submission may be discouraged not on the basis of the quality or scope of the paper but on that of the presubmission inquiry. We generally do not allow revisions of presubmission inquiries. In order to minimize the number of papers that fail to get a chance to be published in PLOS Computational Biology merely because of the inadequacy of the presubmission inquiry, here we give a number of suggestions for preparing such an inquiry.

The goal of a presubmission inquiry is to make the statement to the Editorial Board that the paper to be submitted reasonably satisfies the criteria detailed in the scope statement. The presubmission inquiry must be detailed enough to convincingly make that point. Most of the insufficiently informative inquiries that we get are either too terse, i.e., they do not give enough detail, or they are not specific enough. Therefore, we suggest a way of structuring a presubmission inquiry. These suggestions are the result of our experience with presubmission inquiries over the past couple of years.

What is the problem? Please summarize the problem domain and statement and the relevance of the problem to the general readership of the journal—in the case of PLOS Computational Biology, the biological research community or a substantial subcommunity. What is that subcommunity? How relevant is the problem to them?

What is the innovation? Here it is important that you give enough detail on your contribution to allow the Editorial Board to form an image of the substance and relevance of the advance over the state of the art in the field and over your previous work. If your paper presents material that rests on or is related to your own previous publications, this entails addressing dual publication issues. In order to argue your point, you have to summarize the state of the art on which you base your contribution and give the essential ingredients of your innovation. Depending on the journal, the innovation can take different shapes: a contribution to technology or experimental design, a biological finding, a methodical or theoretical piece of work, etc. For papers in the Methods section of PLOS Computational Biology, the computational method is expected to be at the center of the innovation. This section is not for papers whose methodical core has been published elsewhere and for which you present a—possibly extended or modified—application scenario. Also, studies presenting a comparative assessment of existing methods on an application domain are not within the scope of a Methods paper. We expect a concrete and specific relationship to underlying biological issues. This is why general methods on statistical learning that find their application in biology as well as in other fields of science are typically not considered in scope, unless the paper focuses on sufficiently deep issues of the configuration of the method that are specific to biology. Finally, the method must be the major innovation of the paper. However interesting it may be, a biological finding that has been obtained with methods that are prepublished or only minor modification of prepublished methods is not within the scope of the Methods papers category. (On the other hand, it may be a suitable General research paper for the journal.)

How is the method validated? Validation can take manifold forms but is a key element in most scientific papers. For a theoretical paper, the validation often takes the form of a proof. In contrast, methods in computational biology have manifold forms of validation and, usually, a single form is not sufficient to make the point. For instance, for the Methods section of PLOS Computational Biology, we expect more than an anecdotal validation based on a couple of biological use cases. A validation purely on synthetic data is not sufficient either. Rather, the validation must make a convincing argument for the general applicability of the method in a substantial biological problem domain. Please note, however, that papers that center on the validation of a method that has been published elsewhere are not considered in scope either. The paper has to contain both the method and its application.

How is the method being made available? Availability of research results becomes an increasingly desired and often required aspect of a publication. For papers that are based on experimental data, making the data and the protocols of the experimental design available is a prerequisite for making the research reproducible. For methods papers, reusability of the method also becomes an issue. For the Methods section of PLOS Computational Biology, we only accept papers on methods that are useful to and can be readily applied by other scientists. The best way of satisfying this criterion is to make the software implementation of the methods openly available. For methods that are not based on software, a workable protocol for how to use the methods must be provided.

If you have the full submission ready at the time of the presubmission inquiry, we encourage you to attach it to the inquiry as an optional supplement and mention that you have done this in your cover letter. However, your presubmission inquiry should be worded such that the editors do not need to inspect the complete paper for making their assessment.

We wish you much success with your future submission to the Methods section of PLOS Computational Biology.


Similar and dissimilar butt joint welds comprising combinations of commercially pure grade 4 titanium (CP-Ti), Ti-6Al-4V (Ti-64) and Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr (Ti-5553) were created using the electron beam process. The resultant welds were studied by means of metallography, optical microscopy, mechanical testing and scanning electron microscopy. Mechanical testing was performed on welded samples to study the joint integrity and fracture characteristics. A scanning electron microscope investigation was performed on the fracture surface to reveal their fracture modes. While all weldments were crack free and most weldments exhibited mechanical properties comparable to the base metal, negligible ductility was exhibited during tensile testing joints of Ti-5553 welded to either Ti-64 or Ti-5553.


Objectives: We examined the psychological consequences of termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality (TOPFA). The impact of individual coping styles as well as a number of obstetric factors were assessed to determine their relevance in relation to the psychological impact of this event Additionally, when faced with health related decisions, individuals will have an idea about the level of input or control they wish to take (control preference).We aim to explore whether disparity between an individual's control preference and their perceived levels of control in relation to a) their decision to terminate and b) by which method increased their levels of distress.
Design, Setting & Sample: A cross-sectional cohort study was performed on a community sample of 122 women who had terminated a pregnancy for fetal abnormality.
Methods & Outcome Measures; The construct of control preference for health related decisions was assessed in the context of a TOPFA. This, obstetric factors, social support, and coping style (predictor variables) were used to investigate psychological outcome on standardised questionnaires which measured depression, anxiety, grief, and post-traumatic symptoms. Four parallel hierarchical regression models were developed.
Results: Termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality is associated with a range of symptoms on standardised measures of psychological morbidity. Clinically relevant determinants included social support and a range of coping styles, namely: denial, behavioural disengagement, self-blame and acceptance (protective).
Conclusion: Coping is a psychological construct of significant importance within the context of TOPFA. Behavioural disengagement, denial and self-blame all predict worse outcome. In contrast good social support and coping through acceptance predict better outcome on standardised questionnaires which measured depression, anxiety, grief, and post-traumatic symptoms.


A simulation tool that is valid within the field of tandem arc welding (unsteady, three dimensional thermal plasma flow) has been developed, based on the open source CFD package OpenFOAM. The validation of the electromagnetic part of the solver has been done separately using a problem with a known solution. A good agreement between the numerical and analytical solutions was obtained. Different boundary conditions on the magnetic potential vector have been tested. Based on these tests, the appropriate boundary conditions were chosen for the case representing a transferred arc configuration. The complete simulation tool was validated using a tungsten inert gas single arc problem. Two representations of the magnetic field have been tested, based on the electric and magnetic potentials, respectively. Qualitatively, both approaches agreed well with the results found in the literature. However, quantitatively a deviation in the results was observed in the near cathode region.


In this paper, a simplified finite element model of the cracked crankshaft is proposed, and a new method for simulating the nonlinear vibration of operating crankshaft with several cracks is presented. For crankshaft, cracks occur frequently in the parts of crankpin-web fillet region and the edge of oil aperture because of fatigue or damage. According to the characteristic of those cracks, the cracked parts are modeled by the corresponding cracked spatial finite elements respectively, and two cracked elements are discussed in this study. The other, un-cracked, crankshaft parts are modeled by spatial Timoshenko beam elements. Flywheel and front pulley are simplified as lumped mass elements, and main bearings are simulated by equivalent linear springs and dashpots. In order to find the dynamic response of crankshaft-bearing system, a right-handed rotating coordinate system attached to crankshaft is applied. Based on the proposed finite element model, the breathing behavior of cracks in operating crankshaft is studied, and the nonlinear motion equation with variational stiffness is formed. Finally, a four-in-line crankshaft is taken as an example, and its vibration response corresponding to different kinds of crack are calculated and analyzed. Some conclusions are drawn, and a foundation is laid for diagnosing crack fault of crankshaft.


The diagnosis of parasitic infections depends on a high level of suspicion after a thorough history and physical examination, mindful of relapsing course of long incubation periods (Table 6). Obvious information that alerts one to the diagnosis include recent travel abroad and in endemic areas of the United States. Within this framework, the most important element in the pursuit of parasitosis is persistence on the part of the physician. Advice from infectious disease specialists and laboratory personnel will increase the probability of finding, identifying, and the treating the underlying process. Serologic tests are helpful in this process. Antigen detection of antibody complexes formation by ELISA technique facilitates specific diagnosis (Table 7). The most important primary care issue is prevention. Treatment with unfamiliar drugs is best pursued with infectious disease consultation because these can have significant toxicities (Table 8). Office announcements reminding patients to ask about travel prophylaxis several months in advance of proposed travel and provision of information concerning endemic parasitoses is recommended.


Architectural acoustics design has in the past been based on simple design rules. However, with a growing complexity in architectural acoustics and the emergence of room acoustic simulation programmes with considerable potential, it is now possible to subjectively analyse and evaluate acoustic properties prior to the actual construction of a building. With the right tools applied, acoustic design can become an integral part of the architectural design process. The aim of this paper is to investigate the field of application that an acoustic simulation programme can have during an architectural acoustic design process and to set up a strategy to develop future programmes. The emphasis is put on the first three out of four phases in the working process of the architect and a case study is carried out in which each phase is represented by typical results – as exemplified with reference to the design of Bagsvaerd Church by Jørn Utzon. The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the programme in each phase compared to the works of architects not using acoustic simulation programmes. The conclusion of the paper points towards the need to apply the acoustic simulation programmes to the first phases in the architectural process and set out a reverse strategy for simulation programmes to do so – from developing acoustics from given spaces to developing spaces from given acoustics.


A major obstacle to the widespread adoption of Grid Computing in both the scientific
community and industry sector is the difficulty of knowing in advance a job submission running
cost that can be used to plan a correct allocation of resources.
Traditional distributed computing solutions take advantage of homogeneous and open
environments to propose prediction methods that use a detailed analysis of the hardware and
software components. However, production Grid computing environments, which are large and
use a complex and dynamic set of resources, present a different challenge. In Grid computing
the source code of applications, programme libraries, and third-party software are not always
available. In addition, Grid security policies may not agree to run hardware or software analysis
tools to generate Grid components models.
The objective of this research is the prediction of a job response time in production Grid
computing environments. The solution is inspired by the concept of predicting future Grid
behaviours based on previous experiences learned from heterogeneous Grid workload trace
data. The research objective was selected with the aim of improving the Grid resource usability
and the administration of Grid environments. The predicted data can be used to allocate
resources in advance and inform forecasted finishing time and running costs before submission.
The proposed Grid Computing Response Time Prediction (GRTP) method implements
several internal stages where the workload traces are mined to produce a response time
prediction for a given job. In addition, the GRTP method assesses the predicted result against
the actual target job's response time to inference information that is used to tune the methods
setting parameters.
The GRTP method was implemented and tested using a cross-validation technique to assess
how the proposed solution generalises to independent data sets. The training set was taken from
the Grid environment DAS (Distributed ASCI Supercomputer). The two testing sets were taken
from AuverGrid and Grid5000 Grid environments
Three consecutive tests assuming stable jobs, unstable jobs, and using a job type method to
select the most appropriate prediction function were carried out. The tests offered a significant
increase in prediction performance for data mining based methods applied in Grid computing
environments. For instance, in Grid5000 the GRTP method answered 77 percent of job
prediction requests with an error of less than 10 percent. While in the same environment, the most effective and accurate method using workload traces was only able to predict 32 percent of
the cases within the same range of error.
The GRTP method was able to handle unexpected changes in resources and services which
affect the job response time trends and was able to adapt to new scenarios. The tests showed
that the proposed GRTP method is capable of predicting job response time requests and it also
improves the prediction quality when compared to other current solutions.


alpha-Lactalbumin was purified to apparent homogeneity from mouse milk by combined use of gel filtration, chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and hydroxyapatite, and concanavalin A-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Mouse alpha-lactalbumin exists in several species with different charges and in two molecular-size forms. The smaller form, which constituted over 90% of total alpha-lactalbumin, included two major and two minor species, each of which showed different electrophoretic mobility on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, but gave the same single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in two different buffer systems and over the range 10-15% acrylamide concentrations. The molecular weight was estimated as 14 100. The two major species of the smaller form had the same amino acid composition and contained no significant amount of carbohydrate. The larger form of alpha-lactalbumin, consisting of two species with different charges, was present in a small amount (less than 10%) in the milk and was isolated by its ability to interact with concanavalin A-Sepharose. Each of the two species also gave the same single band of apparent mol.w.t 18 500 on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. However, this value may be anomalous, since this larger form appears to be glycosylated, and glycoproteins can behave anomalously on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gels by binding less sodium dodecyl sulphate. All species of mouse alpha-lactalbumin from milk were active in the lactose synthase reaction and showed identical immunological properties, as determined by the mono-specific antibody prepared against the small major species. The presence of both the larger and the smaller forms, each in a percentage concentration similar to that found in milk, was also demonstrated in alpha-lactalbumin induced by hormones in organ cultureof pregnant-mouse mammary gland.


Purpose: To compare the visual and refractive outcomes of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) versus laser assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK) in the treatment of low to moderate myopia and astigmatism Methods: A retrospective comparative case series study comprised 2,474 eyes of patients with manifest refraction spherical component lower than -5.00 diopters (D) and cylinder components lower than -3.00 D were assigned to 2 groups: 1,238 eyes were treated with LASIK and 1,236 eyes with LASEK. Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best spectacle corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), remaining refractive error, and complications were evaluated at 1 week, 2, 6, 12, and 36 months postoperation. Results: Preoperatively the mean refractive spherical equivalent (MRSE) was -3.42 D±1.01 (SD) in LASIK group and -3.36 D±1.01 (SD) in LASEK group, at 2 months it was -0.12 D±0.279 and -0.37 D±0.341, at 36 months postoperation in LASIK group it was -0.06 D±0.25 and in LASEK group it was -0.14±0.28 D, respectively. At 2 and 36 months, UCVA was 20/20 in 91.5% and 77.8% in LASIK group and, 94.7% and 90.9% in LASEK group, respectively. At 2 and 36 months, 95.4% and 78.7% in LASIK, 97.3% and 94.2% in LASEK group respectively were within ±0.5 D of emmetropia. Diffuse lamellar keratitis (DLK) in 5.9% and corneal ectasia in 1.05% of eyes (N=13) in the LASIK group and corneal haze in 10.6% (N=131) eyes in the LASEK group were seen. Conclusion: Both LASIK and LASEK were safe and effectively treated eyes with low to moderate myopia and astigmatism. LASEK provided superior results in visual outcomes.


Hydrogen production via alkaline water electrolysis
is of significant interest. However, the additional water dissociation step
makes the Volmer step a relatively more sluggish kinetics and consequently
leads to a slower reaction rate than that in acidic solution. Herein, we
demonstrate an effective strategy that Co(OH)2 can promote the
Volmer process by accelerating water dissociation and enhance the
electrocatalytic performance of CoP toward alkaline hydrogen evolution
reaction. The Co(OH)2 nanoplates are electrochemically induced
in-situ generated to form a nanotree-like structure with porous CoP nanowires,
endowing the hybrid electrocatalyst with superior charge transportation, more
exposed active sites, and enhanced reaction kinetics. This strategy may be
extended to other phosphides and chalcogenides and
provide insight into the design and fabrication of efficient alkaline HER
catalysts.


Despite social, economic and political pressures, green issues play an embarrassingly small role in the technology curriculum in schools. This paper puts forward O2's vision for the future of technology education. Questions about the current practice of technology education in schools are raised and proposals for
are made for developing the technology curriculum to take advantage of the growing importance of environmental factors.

The environment issue is widely perceived as a threat; but is this really the case ? Changes in the wealth creation process that are less damaging to our ecology are already beginning to happen and this is making the environment, as an education issue, impossible to ignore.

In this paper a number of proposals are presented: Firstly, children should be educated to consume intelligently and for sustainable futures. Secondly, the technology cycle, or design loop, should be
extended to include "Impacts". Thirdly, design methodologies for sustainable futures should be taught - some examples are proposed
and described. A spirit of "respect and responsibility" for the environment also needs to be engendered in young people, but before this can happen a more human centred approach to education needs to be developed. An education system on a more human scale pioneered in the USA is described. "Eco-technology" education is in its infancy, but some case studies from secondary and higher education are given.

We live on a small planet with finite resources and a growing population and we all have our parts to play in developing sustainable futures. The final proposal in this paper calls on all those involved in education, and technology education in particular, to meet the greatest challenge of this age.


In this article we consider how the composition of banks' balance sheets between capital and deposits affects the transmission of economic shocks. We use a small, stylised model of the economy to analyse under which conditions firms are unable to borrow as much as they would like from banks, and banks are unable to attract as many deposits as they would like from households. We show that, following shocks to aggregate productivity and bank net worth, the response of output in this model economy with credit constraints is both larger and longer-lasting than in a similar economy where credit constraints do not bind. This is because an adverse shock lowers bank capital, which constrains lending to firms and amplifies the fall in output; and it takes time for banks to rebuild their capital so it takes time for output to return to its initial level. We find that, in our model, only a small proportion of the fluctuations of output in response to productivity shocks is due to the bank capital channel, but this channel is more important when there are direct shocks to bank capital.


The femme fatale occupies a precarious yet highly visible space in contemporary cinema. From sci-fi alien women to teenage bad girls, filmmakers continue to draw on the notion of the sexy deadly woman in ways which traverse boundaries of genre and narrative. This book charts the articulations of the femme fatale in American cinema of the past twenty years, and contends that, despite her problematic relationship with feminism, she offers a vital means for reading the connections between mainstream cinema and representations of female agency. The films discussed raise questions about the limits and potential of positioning women who meet highly normative standards of beauty as powerful icons of female agency. They point towards the constant shifting between patriarchal appropriation and feminist recuperation that inevitably accompanies such representations within mainstream media contexts.


This work emphasises the cultural value of archaeological heritage through the design of an archaeological park at the Islamic fortress of Gandia. The city, heavily tight to traditional tourism visitors, attracted by climatic easiness and beach facilities, tries now to develop an alternative course of action in order to complement its offer. Therefore, a wide project has been designed so as to put all the efforts together and get present a complete valorisation project within the current renewal dynamics regarding tourist local products. Beyond heritage and tourism, this text focuses on the importance of research and innovation in heritage politics driven by municipal institutions.


Events are encapsulated pieces of information that flow from one event agent to another. In order to process an event, additional information that is external to the event is often needed. This is achieved using a process called event enrichment. Current approaches to event enrichment are external to event processing engines and are handled by specialized agents. Within large-scale environments with high heterogeneity among events, the enrichment process may become difficult to maintain. This paper examines event enrichment in terms of information completeness and presents a unified model for event enrichment that takes place natively within the event processing engine. The paper describes the requirements of event enrichment and highlights its challenges such as finding enrichment sources, retrieval of information items, finding complementary information and its fusion with events. It then details an instantiation of the model using Semantic Web and Linked Data technologies. Enrichment is realised by dynamically guiding a spreading activation algorithm in a Linked Data graph. Multiple spreading activation strategies have been evaluated on a set of Wikipedia events and experimentation shows the viability of the approach.


The pathophysiology of a tension pneumothorax relates to ventilation and cardiac output. The insertion of a large-bore needle or medium-bore catheter into the affected pleural cavity rapidly accomplishes decompression. The McSwain Dart was developed for the prehospital care of tension pneumothorax. The dart is inserted into the secondary costal space, mid-clavicular line, or the fourth intercostal space mid-axillary line. Proper identification of the indications for use of this device is often difficult in the prehospital setting.


Zonal separation of particles in density gradients contained in hollow or tubeless rotors has been explored with the aim of developing a preparative counterpart of the analytical ultracentrifuge. A rotor with a capacity of 1625 milliliters has been tested up to 22,500 revolutions per minute, with sucrose density gradients used. Excellent separation of subcellular particles has been achieved as well as partial separation of the albumin and globulin peaks of serum.


Wilfred Cantwell Smith is perhaps the most important Canadian scholar of Religious Studies. At the seventh Parliament of the World's Religions in 2018, former students acknowledged his influence. This article emphasizes three contributions that have proven prophetic following increased rates of migration and technological development: (1) Smith's definition of religion as faith and history, or personal piety and cumulative tradition; (2) the interconnectedness of religions; and (3) science or secularism as a religious world view


The outposts in the service of the Cape Refreshment Station, 1652-1795. The outposts (buitenposten) f the VOC at the Cape, of which 57 were identified by the author, can be defined as manned, decentralised and specialised auxiliary service stations. Their functions included military guard and signal duties, the production of vegetables, timber, fuel and building materials, organising and providing transport for the headquarters, conducting trading expeditions to the Khoi and rescue operations for shipwrecked crews and cargo, collecting specimens for professors of natural history at European universities, herding the Company's cattle and sheep, and fishing. These outposts, particularly the military posts representing the vac at great distances from the Castle in the Table Valley, marked the advancing frontier and played no small part in the decline of the social and economic structures of the aboriginal Khoi. The Cape service station would not have succeeded as it did without the use of the outpost-system, as there was no other way of protecting resources against rivals than by occupying them, there was no alternative labour force, no economic structure that provided maritime services, no other system capable of handling heavy transport, no ally on the borders to share the military pressures, and (early on) no other agricultural producer, that would have enabled the Company to buy rather than to cultivate. Unfortunately the production side of the outpost-system outlived its need and led to the serious retarding of local commercial, industrial and agricultural development and marketing systems.


Haemangioma of the tendon sheaths in thumb is rare. We report a case of a 15 year old girl with a slowly growing, painful haemangioma of the synovium of tendon sheath of Flexor Pollicis Longus of her dominant hand in which the tumour had not infiltrated the tendon. CASE HISTORY A 15 year old girl came to our hospital with complaints of a painful swelling on the inner aspect of her right thumb. She had noticed the swelling 5 months back but the pain had started only one month back. The swelling was slowly growing in size. It was present on the medial half of the thumb. The skin over the swelling had a bluish hue. The swelling was tender though the phalanges were non-tender on palpation of their lateral aspects. It was slightly compressible on pressure. Flexion at interphalangeal joint was painful. Rest of the movements at the thumb were full range and pain free. Radiographs showed no bony lesion but a soft tissue shadow as expected. She was diagnosed as a case of Haemangioma and admitted for excisional biopsy. On surgical exploration the tumour was seen as dark red fleshy mass originating from the tendon sheath of flexor pollicis longus (Fig 1 and Fig 2). The tendon itself was not infiltrated by the tumour. The tumour along with the tendon sheath was excised without sacrificing the tendon (Fig 3). Biopsy of the swelling confirmed the diagnosis of Haemangioma. Figure 1 Figure 1 Haemangioma in relation to the synovium of the sheath of the Flexor Pollicis Longus 2 of 3 Figure 2 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 3 DISCUSSION Haemangioma in relation to tendon sheaths in thumb is very rare. Only a few cases have been reported in literature with Haemangioma in relation to tendon sheaths in hand. Only one case has been reported with tumour infiltrating the tendon1. The cases without tendon infiltration are completely resected with functional recovery2. The recent haemorrhage corresponds to the sudden increase in size, while the papillary endothelial hyperplasia accounts for the persistence and gradual enlargement of the lesion3. CORRESPONDENCE TO Abid Hussain Koka. Flat no. 10. Govt. flats Jawaharnagar Srinagar, Near SBI. JK71(5):618-21. 2. Rico AA, Holguin PH, Gonzalez IG, Coba JM. Flexor tendon synovial sheath haemangioma mimicking subacute tenosynovitis. J Hand Surg [Br]. 1994 Dec;19(6):704-5. 3. Chow LT, Ho PC, Kumta SM. Papillary endothelial hyperplasia within synovial haemangioma of the flexor tendon sheath of the wrist. APMIS. 2004 Apr- May;112(4-5):314-8. Haemangioma in relation to the synovium of the sheath of the Flexor Pollicis Longus 3 of 3 Author Information Abid Hussain Koka, MS (Orthopaedics) Senior resident, Department of Orthopaedics, SKIMS Medical College Simon Desouza Paljor, MS (Orthopaedics) Department of Orthopaedics, SKIMS Medical College Talib Khan, MD (Anaesthesia) Department of Orthopaedics, SKIMS Medical College Moulvi Sajad, MS (Orthopaedics) Department of Orthopaedics, SKIMS Medical College


Dedicated long-term monitoring at appropriate spatial and temporal scales is necessary to understand biodiversity losses and develop effective conservation plans. Wildlife monitoring is often achieved by obtaining data at a combination of spatial scales, ranging from local to broad, to understand the status, trends, and drivers of individual species or whole communities and their dynamics. However, limited resources for monitoring necessitates tradeoffs in the scope and scale of data collection. Careful consideration of the spatial and temporal allocation of finite sampling effort is crucial for monitoring programs that span multiple spatial scales. Here we evaluate the ability of five monitoring designs - stratified random, weighted effort, indicator unit, rotating panel, and split panel - to recover parameter values that describe the status (occupancy), trends (change in occupancy), and drivers (spatially-varying covariate and an autologistic term) of wildlife communities at two spatial scales. Using an amphibian monitoring program that spans a network of U.S. National Parks as a motivating example, we conducted a simulation study for a regional community occupancy sampling program to compare the monitoring designs across varying levels of sampling effort (ranging from 10 to 50%). We found that the stratified random design outperformed the other designs for most parameters of interest at both scales, and was thus generally preferable in balancing the estimation of status, trends, and drivers across scales. However, we found that other designs had improved performance in specific situations. For example, the rotating panel design performed best at estimating spatial drivers at a regional level. Thus, our results highlight the nuanced scenarios in which various design strategies may be preferred, and offer guidance as to how managers can balance common tradeoffs in large-scale and long-term monitoring programs in terms of the specific knowledge gained. Monitoring designs that improve accuracy in parameter estimates are needed to guide conservation policy and management decisions in the face of broad-scaled environmental challenges, but the preferred design is sensitive to the specific objectives of a monitoring program.


The search for vigor tests that offer fast and reliable information about the physiological potential of seeds is fundamental in quality control. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of different temperatures associated with the reduction of soybean imbibition period in the electrical conductivity test. Seven seed lots of the cultivar TMG 7062 IPRO were used in this assessment. For the initial characterization of the lots, we determined the water content, the first and the final count of the germination test, the emergence, the accelerated aging, and the traditional electrical conductivity. The other method used for the electrical conductivity test consisted of 20 replicates of 10 seeds which were placed in plastic cups with 25ml of deionized water, and soaked in 10 min, 30 min, 60 min, and 120 min at temperatures of 30oC, 35oC, 40oC, and 45oC. The experimental design was completely randomized. We were able to reduce the imbibition period since its results were similar to those of the traditional methodology. The electrical conductivity test performed using the 30 minutes imbibition period at temperatures of 30oC or 35oC provides consistent information that allows the identification of lots of soybean seeds with different levels of vigor.


The paper explores bilateral ties between Turkey and the United States (US) following the end of World War II to the recent era of Trump-Erdogan. Due to its immense geostrategic significance and a strong military, throughout the Cold War period and also in the post-Cold War era, Tukey has mostly remained a key US ally. The methodology adopted for this study is based on both qualitative data available in the form of policy documents and existing literature about the subject as well as utilizing quantitative data comprising US economic and military aid and arms' sales to Turkey obtained from databases of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) respectively. Like numerous developing countries in other parts of the world, Turkey also became one of the biggest recipients of US economic and military assistance and Washington also provided huge arms to Ankara during the Cold War years. The US has provided Turkey an aggregate of US$ 70 billion in civilian and military assistance and has delivered its arms worth US$ 34 billion. However, it has not been a smooth journey as their bilateral relationship experienced some upheavals not only during the Cold War period but ties have been strained by various thorny matters in recent years. These include Turkey's dispute with Greece on Cyprus, targeting Kurdish fighters in Syria, purchase of S-400 defense systems from Russia, and human rights violations at home. By examining these vital points of concern, the paper concludes that although both countries have historically maintained warm bilateral ties, several divergent issues have marred the relationship between the two countries in recent years.


Fourteen three-dimensional (3D) lanthanide coordination polymers (CPs) with dicarboxylate mixed ligands, [Ln(fum)1.5(H2O)2]·0.5(H2bdc)·H2O (Ln = Sm (1), Tb (2)), [Ln2(fum)2(bdc)(H2O)4]·2H2O (Ln = Sm (3), Eu (4), Tb (5), Er (6)), [Ln(fum)0.5(bdc)] (Ln = Sm (7), Eu (8), Tb (9), Er (10)), and [Ln2(bdc)2(ox)(H2O)4]·0.7H2O (Ln = Sm (11), Gd (12), Tb (13), Dy (14)), have been synthesized hydrothermally from the self-assembly of lanthanide(III) ions (Ln3+), fumaric acid (H2fum), and terephthalic acid (H2bdc) in the presence of potassium hydroxide at different temperatures. The compounds fall into four classes. Compounds 1 and 2 were isolated from hydrothermal reactions performed at a relatively low temperature of 100 °C and found to crystallize in the triclinic space group P. The 3D framework is assembled from 2D layers of [Ln(fum)(H2O)2] units pillared by the chelating fum ligands and has 1D rhombic channels templated by H2bdc and lattice H2O molecules. The framework presents a binodal (4,5)-connected tcs topology with the point symbol (44·62)(44·66). Raising the reaction temperature to 140 °C resulted in the formation of compounds 3–6. These materials crystallize in the monoclinic system with the polar space group P21 and feature a 3D network constructed from dinuclear {Ln2(OCO)6(H2O)4} units interlinked by fum and bdc ligands, showing a uninodal 6-connected two-fold interpenetrated pcu topology. The small channels of the framework are occupied by lattice H2O molecules. Further increase of the reaction temperature to 160 °C gave rise to the formation of compounds 7–10, crystallizing in the orthorhombic space group Pbca. The 3D framework is generated from 2D corrugated sheets of [Ln(fum)]2+ bound by bdc ligands and contains no intercalated H2O molecules in the lattice. The framework possesses a trinodal (4,6,7)-connected net with the point symbol (42·64)2(46·68·8)(412·69)2. Finally, compounds 11–14 contained an in situ generated oxalate (ox) ligand formed under hydrothermal conditions conducted at a high reaction temperature of 180 °C. These compounds crystallize in the monoclinic space group P21/c and possess a 3D open framework consisting of a dinuclear [Ln2(ox)(H2O)4]2+ unit linked by bridging bdc ligands and has small void channels occupied by lattice H2O molecules. The frameworks were topologically simplified as a binodal (4,5)-connected tcj/hc net with a total point symbol of (42·52·72)(42·53·75). In the solid state at room temperature, the Tb (2, 5, 9, and 13) and Eu (4 and 8) compounds emit green and red light, respectively.


This paper provides evidences of the lasting effects conflict exposure during different stages of life on the long-term labor-market outcomes of civilians in Sierra Leone. We took advantage of variations in time and location of the conflict and used a combination of data from the Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey (2011) and various other data related to human-rights violations and loss of assets during war. Our results suggest a negative effect of conflict exposure during primary school age on long-term labor-market participation and employment. More precisely, exposure during this stage of life can reduce participation in the labor market or employment by up to 3%. The study also established the negative impact of conflict exposure from utero stage through primary-school age on hourly wages.


Abstract. Geomatics technics and methods are now able to provide a great contribution to the Cultural Heritage (CH) processes, being adaptable to different purposes: management, diagnosis, restoration, protection, study and research, communication, formation and fruition of the Cultural Heritage. This experimentation was done with an eye to encouraging and promoting the development of principles and good practices for recording, documentation and information management of cultural heritage. This research focuses on the documentation path of a cultural asset, in particular a Renaissance statue, aimed to achieve a three dimensional model useful for many digital applications and for solid reproduction. The digital copy can be used in many contexts and represents an efficient tool to preserve and promote CH. It can be included in virtual museum archives and catalogues, shared on network with cultural operators and users, and it permits the contextualization of the asset in its artistic and historical background. Moreover, the possibility to obtain a hard copy, reproduced through 3D printing, allows to reach new opportunities of interaction with CH. In this article, two techniques for the digitization of the terracotta bust of Francesco II Gonzaga, in the City Museum of Mantua, are described: the triangulation scanner and dense image matching photogrammetry. As well as the description of the acquisition and the elaborations, other aspects are taken into account: the characteristics of the object, the place for the acquisition, the ultimate goal and the economic availability. There are also highlighted the optimization pipeline to get the correct three-dimensional models and a 3D printed copy. A separate section discusses the comparison of the realized model to identify the positive and negative aspects of each adopted application.


Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of a multifaceted hospitalwide quality improvement program that featured an intervention to remind physicians to remove unnecessary urinary catheters. Methods. A hospitalwide preintervention-postintervention study was conducted over 2 years (July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2006). The intervention consisted of nurse-generated daily reminders that were used by an intervention team to remind physicians to remove unnecessary urinary catheters, beginning 3 days after insertion. Clinical, microbiological, pharmaceutical, and cost data were collected. Results. A total of 2,412 patients were enrolled in the study. No differences were found in the demographic and/or clinical characteristics of patients between the preintervention and postintervention periods. After the intervention, reductions were found in the rate of inappropriate urinary catheterization (mean rate, preintervention vs postintervention, 20.4% vs 11% [P = .04]), the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI) (mean rate, 21.5 vs 5.2 infections per 1,000 catheter-days [P <.001]), the duration of urinary catheterization (mean, 11 vs 3 days [P < .001]), and the total length of hospitalization (mean, 16 vs 5 days [P < .001]). A linear relationship was seen between the monthly average duration of catheterization and the rate of CA-UTI (r = 0.89; P < .001). The intervention had the greatest impact on the rate of CA-UTI in the intensive care units (mean rate, preintervention vs postintervention, 23.4 vs 3.5 infections per 1,000 catheter-days [P = .01]). The monthly hospital costs for antibiotics to treat CA-UTI were reduced by 63% (mean, $3,739 vs $1,378 [P < .001]), and the hospitalization cost for each patient during the intervention was reduced by 58% (mean, $366 vs $154 [P < .001]). Conclusions. This study suggests that a multifaceted intervention to remind physicians to remove unnecessary urinary catheters can significantly reduced the duration of urinary catheterization and the CA-UTI rate in a hospital in a developing country.


In this paper, a recommendation system based on a mobile and web application is proposed for indoor decoration. The main contribution of this work is to apply two-stage ltering using linear matching and collaborative ltering to make recommendations. In the mobile application part, the image of the medium captured by a mobile phone is analyzed using color quantization methods, and these color analysis results along with other user-dened parameters such as height, width, and type of the product are sent to the web server. In the web application part, a large data set is rst ltered via linear matching in which the color content of the medium and user-dened parameters received from the mobile application are matched to those for the products stored in the database. We then apply second-stage ltering, namely collaborative ltering, on the reduced data set. Performance evaluations of various color quantization methods and collaborative ltering methods used in the system are made. Results show the feasibility of using scalar quantization as a color quantization method and the K-nearest neighbor in the collaborative ltering method for our recommendation system. Overall evaluation of the system shows that our recommendation system provides around 90% accuracy.


Objectives To develop a comprehensive mutation analysis system with a high rate of detection, to develop a tool to predict the chance of detecting a mutation in the L1CAM gene, and to look for genotype–phenotype correlations in the X-linked recessive disorder, L1 syndrome. Methods DNA from 367 referred patients was analysed for mutations in the coding sequences of the gene. A subgroup of 100 patients was also investigated for mutations in regulatory sequences and for large duplications. Clinical data for 106 patients were collected and used for statistical analysis. Results 68 different mutations were detected in 73 patients. In patients with three or more clinical characteristics of L1 syndrome, the mutation detection rate was 66% compared with 16% in patients with fewer characteristics. The detection rate was 51% in families with more than one affected relative, and 18% in families with one affected male. A combination of these two factors resulted in an 85% detection rate (OR 10.4, 95% CI 3.6 to 30.1). The type of mutation affects the severity of L1 syndrome. Children with a truncating mutation were more likely to die before the age of 3 than those with a missense mutation (52% vs 8%; p=0.02). Conclusions We developed a comprehensive mutation detection system with a detection rate of almost 20% in unselected patients and up to 85% in a selected group. Using the patients' clinical characteristics and family history, clinicians can accurately predict the chance of finding a mutation. A genotype-phenotype correlation was confirmed. The occurrence of (maternal) germline mosaicism was proven.


Interstitial-free (IF) sheet steels are largely used in automotive deep-drawing applications, as they offer both good formability and adequate strength for auto bodies. In order to improve the corrosion resistance they are usually coated, mostly by hot-dip galvanizing. In the present work two IF steels purposely designed for a specific continuous hot-dip galvanizing line are investigated. The employed methodology, based on physical simulation, is presented and discussed in the paper. Its reliability is demonstrated by comparing some experimental and industrial results. The simulated specimens are tensile tested and the effects of annealing temperature and line speed on their mechanical properties are evaluated.


Building performance models routinely involve tens or hundreds of components or aspects and at least as many parameters to describe them. This results in overwhelming complexity and a tedious process if the designer attempts to perform parametric analysis in an attempt to optimize the design. Traditionally, during design, parameters are selected on a one-at-a-time basis, and occasionally, formal mathematical optimization is applied. However, many subsets of parameters show some level of interaction – to varying degrees – suggesting that the designer should consider manipulating multiple design parameters simultaneously. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part presents a methodology for identifying the critical parameters and two-way parameter interactions. The second part uses these results to identify the appropriate level of modeling resolution. The methodology is applied to a generic model for net-zero or near net-zero energy houses, which will be used for an early stage design tool. The results show that performance is particularly sensitive to internal gains, window sizes, and temperature setpoints and they indicate the points at which adding insulation to various surfaces has minimal impact on performance. The most significant parameter interactions are those between major geometrical parameters and operating conditions. Increased modeling resolution for infiltration and building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) only provides a modest improvement to simpler models. However, explicit modeling of windows, rather than grouping them into an equivalent area, has a significant impact on predicted performance. This suggests that identifying and implementing the appropriate level of modeling resolution is necessary, and that it should be detailed for some aspects even in the early stage design.


The nuclear shell model is a benchmark for the description of the structure of atomic nuclei. The magic numbers associated with closed shells have long been assumed to be valid across the whole nuclear chart. Investigations in recent years of nuclei far away from nuclear stability at facilities for radioactive ion beams have revealed that the magic numbers may change locally in those exotic nuclei leading to the disappearance of classic shell gaps and the appearance of new magic numbers. These changes in shell structure also have important implications for the synthesis of heavy elements in stars and stellar explosions. In this review a brief overview of the basics of the nuclear shell model will be given together with a summary of recent theoretical and experimental activities investigating these changes in the nuclear shell structure.


This paper experimentally investigates the properties of unprecedented new advanced composite structural members in compressions made of bamboo culms formed with different bio-based and synthetic matrices. Due to extensive CO2 emissions corresponded to the production of construction materials, it is essential to produce high-performance environmental-friendly construction materials from bio-based renewable resources such as bamboo. However, the use of bamboo culms in construction has been hindered by their inherent specific geometric hollow shape. To address this issue, small-diameter bamboo species were used in this study to form solid structural composite cross-sections to desired shapes. An experimental study was conducted on the compressive properties of six composite structural members made of commonly available bamboo species (Phyllostachys edulis or Moso) with different matrices including a bio-based furan resin, a cementitious grout, and epoxy. In order to prevent premature buckling of bamboo components within the engineered columns, and in an attempt to propose a bio-based structural column, three layers of hemp wrap where applied to provide confinement for bamboo culms. The results of the tests confirm that the bamboo-furan and bamboo-grout composite columns both have the potential to reach a remarkable compressive strength of 30 MPa. However, the bamboo-epoxy composite specimen, considering the excellent mechanical properties of the epoxy matrix, delivered a benchmark to demonstrate the potentials of bamboo-based structural sections by reaching 76 MPa compressive strength before crushing. The bamboo-epoxy composite provided new prospects for future work on the 100% bio-based versions of the bamboo-based sections with improved bio-matrices (by using bio-epoxy and improved furan resins with compatible mixes) and innovative confinement types. With the promising results of this study, there is a real opportunity of creating contemporary engineered bamboo-based structures as a sustainable replacement to the existing steel, concrete and timber structures.


Welfare reforms in 1996 created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant program (TANF). Under the assumption that a job will provide recipients with a path to self-sufficiency, this program focuses primarily on putting them to work. Unfortunately, this work-first focus has not resulted in a path out of poverty for the majority of recipients. New York State must reform its TANF program to provide relevant education and training for its recipients, equipping them with the tools they need to break the cycle of poverty and maintain a self-sufficient life.


In opening up the black box of what entrepreneurship education (EE) should be about, this study focuses on the exploration of relationships between two constructs: opportunity identification (OI) and complex problem-solving (CPS). OI, as a domain-specific capability, is at the core of entrepreneurship research, whereas CPS is a more domain-general skill. On a conceptual level, there are reasons to believe that CPS skills can help individuals to identify potential opportunities in dynamic and nontransparent environments. Therefore, we empirically investigated whether CPS relates to OI among 113 masters students. Data is analyzed using multiple regressions. The results show that CPS predicts the number of concrete ideas that students generate, suggesting that having CPS skills supports the generation of detailed, potential business ideas of good quality. The results of the current study suggest that training CPS, as a more domain-general skill, could be a valuable part of what should be taught in EE.


This position paper addresses some enduring, as well as emerging issues, associated with the crucial question of benchmarking understandings about nature of science (NOS) for precollege science education. The question of benchmarking NOS understandings is revisited in light of the often cited, continuing debates among historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science, which are invoked to undermine the current widely accepted, domain-general, consensus-based, aspects approach to NOS. The paper explicates the underlying assumptions of, and argues for, this consensus approach. However, the paper calls for extending the current framework and advances a developmental perspective that allows for incorporating controversial NOS issues into this framework. The paper also examines recent calls to altogether abandon the domain-general approach to NOS research and development in science education in favor of a domain-specific approach. The paper argues that, contrary to what its advocates assume, a domain-specific approach is susceptible to the same criticisms often invoked against a domain-general approach. Instead, the paper argues for complementarity and reciprocity between the two approaches, and explicates how the latter can be achieved. Finally, the paper critiques current calls to privilege accounts of context-specific, day-to-day scientific practice and scientists' accounts of their enterprise as sources for deriving understandings about NOS in lieu of scholarship in history, philosophy, and sociology of science (HPSS). The paper argues that, while important, these can only supplement rather than replace HPSS scholarship as a major source for deriving understandings about NOS.


Signaling through the Jak-STAT pathway is initiated when an extracellular signaling protein binds to its corresponding transmembrane receptor. This leads to activation of the Jaks. The Jaks mediate phosphorylation at the specific receptor tyrosine residues, which then serve as docking sites for the STATs. Once recruited to the receptors, the STATs become phosphorylated by the Jaks. Activated STATs will dimerize, translocate to the nucleus and target gene promoters. STAT proteins display a wide range of functions in many biological aspects. Consequently they are involved in or mediating pathological processes. This thesis describes and discusses our research, performed to understand in more detail the role of Jak-STAT signaling in liver pathophysiology. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease. It is believed that HCV proteins interfere with interferon alpha induced Jak-STAT signaling in order to escape the interferons induced antiviral state. We therefore analyzed interferon alpha induced Jak-STAT signaling in the presence of HCV viral proteins in in vivo and in vitro models to gain more insight in this interference, as well as to identify the viral protein(s) responsible for this interference. In chapterwe show inhibition of JakSTAT signaling in transgenic mice that express HCV proteins in their liver cells. The inhibition occurred in the nucleus and blocked binding of STATs to the promoters of interferon stimulated genes. This inhibition of interferon induced signaling resulted in an enhanced susceptibility of the HCV transgenic mice to LCMV infection and the development of severe hepatitis. The results described in chapter 3, show that the combined HCV structural proteins and the core protein alone partly inhibit interferon alpha induced Jak-STAT signaling, using a panel of tetracycline-regulated cell lines inducibly expressing individual HCV proteins or in different combinations. In cells expressing HCV nonstructural proteins, interferon alpha induced Jak-STAT signaling was not impaired. The last chapters of this thesis describe the generation of conditional active gainof-function models to study STAT signaling independent of natural ligands. Fusion proteins were constructed between STAT1, STAT3 or STAT5a and the modified ligand binding domain of the estrogen receptor (ER) and subsequently expressed in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. In addition several mutants of the fusion proteins were generated. The fusion protein between wild-type STAT3 and the ER (mSTAT3wt-ER) was shown to bind DNA and mimic STAT3 signaling upon activation by 4hydroxytamoxifen (synthetic steroid ligand) only (chapter 4). mSTAT3wt-ER and mSTAT5aR618K-rER (SH-2 domain mutant) fusion protein constructs were used to generate liver-specific conditional active gain-of-function mouse models. Chapterdescribes the multistep cloning approach to prepare the constructs for injection and the analysis of the transgenic mice designated albSTAT3wt-ER and albSTAT5R618K-rER. The transgenic mice were designed to express the fusion proteins under control of the albumin promoter allowing liver-specific expression. Transgenic founders have been identified, as well as a transgenic F1 offspring. The transgenic mice appeared to be healthy and show a normal phenotype. Further characterization has to be completed. In chapterpossibilities for future use of the in chapterdescribed transgenic mice are discussed. The mice could be used to study STAT3 and STAT5a signaling in processes as liver cell regeneration, cellular transformation, bacterial infection, gluconeogenesis and cell survival.


This paper proposed a new smart home master control system based on Z-wave network and the TI-CC1125 transceiver. The smart home system includes lighting system, security system, smoke sensors, environment control and other equipment which are communication network. Instead of having a specific controller for each system, in this paper we suggest having a master controller that monitor all systems status via sniffing their transceiver signals. Z-wave is the selected communication technology for this research. The Texas instrument lower power consumption transceiver (TI-CC1125) is used for this purpose in the sniffer mode of operation. Smart RF Studio 7 and the Code Composer Studio (CCS), both produced by Texas Instrument, are used for programming the Transceiver. The sniffed packets are displayed by the on-board LCD screen as well as the on PC application over UART interface, which can be processed later for a specific function.


Application of autocorrelated homonuclear (COSY) and proton-carbon chemical shift correlation two-dimensional nmr experiments to the problem of assigning the 1H- and 13C-nmr spectra of phenanthro[4,3-a]dibenzothiophene fails despite their considerable utility in the assignment of the spectra of the smaller phenanthro[b]thiophenes. The failure of these techniques in the case of phenanthro[4,3-a]dibenzothiophene is predominantly due to the inability of the COSY spectrum to provide the means of subgrouping the proton resonances into their component spin subsystems. Two-dimensional relayed coherence transfer nmr experiments which first established coherence between vicinally coupled protons which is then transferred to the carbon spins which are ultimately observed circumvent these problems. The application of two-dimensional relayed coherence transfer to phenanthro[4,3-a]dibenzothiophene is described, the technique leading to the sub-grouping of all five of the proton spin subsystems and thus providing a means of beginning the total assignment.


We have not yet completed the automatic recognition of facial parts by image processing. Even if once we get the edge image for the contour of facial parts, due to the existence of the noise, the results are quite frequently not sufficient both in local and global aspects. This is caused mainly by the lack the top-down mechanism for compensating the insufficient Bottom-Up mechanism of image processing. Then, in this paper, a curve fitting mechanism in the image processing is introduced as a top-down processing for enforcing the total performance of contour extraction of the facial parts. An experiment for extracting the contour line extraction of the jaw was done and some preliminary experimental results were presented in this paper, because jaw contour was especially hard to detect at the field test of EXPO2005 Exhibition. Furthermore the possibility of the new deformation basis for the facial caricature is prospected so that the parameter space of the analytical curve could be introduced.


This project presents a door locking system which suggests two ways for unlocking a door using Internet of Things (IoT) and Fingerprint. Most of the major door lock security systems have several loopholes which could be broken down to gain access to the desired places, and it creates a concern for a secure lifestyle and proper working environment. People can access Internet services by using their cell phone, laptop and various gadgets. Fingerprint is a reliable biometric feature having a wide range of applications that require authentication. Biometric systems such as fingerprint provide tools to enforce reliable logs of system transactions and protect an individual's right to privacy. In the proposed system, fingerprints of the authorized users are enrolled and verified to provide access to a facility that is used by multiple users. A user can also be removed and a new user can be enrolled in the system. We have implemented a centralized control system from where we can control who can enter in which rooms and who cannot. This is an Arduino Mega device based. Fingerprints are stored dynamically in a database for computing the different statistics.


We investigate properties of material ejected dynamically in the merger of black hole-neutron star binaries by numerical-relativity simulations. We systematically study the dependence of ejecta properties on the mass ratio of the binary, spin of the black hole, and equation of state of the neutron-star matter. Dynamical mass ejection is driven primarily by tidal torque, and the ejecta is much more anisotropic than that from binary neutron star mergers. In particular, the dynamical ejecta is concentrated around the orbital plane with a half opening angle of 10\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\char21{}20\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and often sweeps out only a half of the plane. The ejecta mass can be as large as $\ensuremath{\sim}0.1{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$, and the velocity is subrelativistic with $\ensuremath{\sim}0.2\char21{}0.3c$ for typical cases. The ratio of the ejecta mass to the bound mass (disk and fallback components) is larger, and the ejecta velocity is larger, for larger values of the binary mass ratio, i.e., for larger values of the black-hole mass. The remnant black hole-disk system receives a kick velocity of $O(100)\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{km}\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ due to the ejecta linear momentum, and this easily dominates the kick velocity due to gravitational radiation. Structures of postmerger material, velocity distribution of the dynamical ejecta, fallback rates, and gravitational waves are also investigated. We also discuss the effect of ejecta anisotropy on electromagnetic counterparts, specifically a macronova/kilonova and synchrotron radio emission, developing analytic models.


The Baja British Columbia hypothesis holds that a large segment of the western edge of northern North America (Baja B.C.) was situated alongside California and northern Mexico in middle Cretaceous time, was displaced northward in the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene by north-oblique convergence of the Kula plate with North America, and arrived near its present location by the early Eocene. A consistent body of paleomagnetic data supports this hypothesis. However, doubt persists, and various crucial tests of a geologic nature have been proposed. One such test concerns the provenance of zircons in Cretaceous sedimentary basins of Baja B.C. In this paper we use both paleomagnetic data and zircon occurrences to reconfirm the Baja B.C. hypothesis. We first argue that the only truly crucial tests yet performed have been paleomagnetic, and that all such tests have been positive. Second, we show that detrital-zircon data from the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group, although not a crucial test, provide valuable paleogeographic information. Available data demonstrate a change in detrital-zircon provenance in the Nanaimo Group that closely matches the position of these rocks predicted by the Baja B.C. hypothesis. Detrital zircons in the Nanaimo Group suggest a change from a southwestern North American source rich in Grenville and 1.4–1.5 Ga rocks to an increasing contribution from older parts of the craton such as the Wyoming province. Together, detrital zircons and paleomagnetic inclinations allow us to assemble a detailed schedule of northward tectonic transport of the Baja B.C. terranes.


We consider the problem of remote authentication over a long range wireless network using large signature keys such as biometric samples (fingerprint, retinal scans etc.). Because of the large size of these keys, and continual need for authentication, considerable power and bandwidth is consumed by such processes. We show that by using the concept of a holographic proof, it is possible to significantly cut down the number of bytes transferred. While bandwidth savings is obvious, for long range wireless this means huge savings in power which is a critical resource for mobile devices. Our approach trades computaion for communication, the intuition being that power requirement for transmitting one byte over wireless is orders of magnitude higher than executing one instruction on a standard processor. Our simulations provide a detailed analysis of power savings under a reasonable energyconsumption model and indeed demonstrate the effectiveness of such approach.


High torque low speed direct drive permanent magnetic synchronous machines (PMSM) powered by variable speed drives are increasingly used in applications traditionally reserved for standard induction motors with gear-boxes. Our application experience shows that in such motors resonant frequency of the common mode current path can have unusually low value (comparable with the inverter switching frequency) which is for at least a decade lower than that normally expected in standard induction machines. Thus the drive inverter switchings can excite large common mode currents which appear as a strong low frequency disturbance in the motor currents causing significant errors in the motor current measurements and related motor torque ripple induced by the drive itself. Rejection of such strong low frequency disturbance in the motor current measurements appears to be far more problematic that the rejection of the standard motor current switching ripple or high frequency noise caused by the inverter switching. Our goal in this paper is to point out to this issue and investigate practically available options appropriate for its mitigation. It will be shown and experimentally demonstrated that the averaging sampling method is suitable for this purpose.


Recently geometric hypergraphs that can be defined by intersections of
pseudohalfplanes with a finite point set were defined in a purely combinatorial
way. This led to extensions of earlier results about points and halfplanes to
pseudohalfplanes, including polychromatic colorings and discrete Helly-type
theorems about pseudohalfplanes.
 Here we continue this line of research and introduce the notion of convex
sets of such pseudohalfplane hypergraphs. In this context we prove several
results corresponding to classical results about convexity, namely Helly's
Theorem, Carath\'eodory's Theorem, Kirchberger's Theorem, Separation Theorem,
Radon's Theorem and the Cup-Cap Theorem. These results imply the respective
results about pseudoconvex sets in the plane defined using pseudohalfplanes.
 It turns out that most of our results can be also proved using oriented
matroids and topological affine planes (TAPs) but our approach is different
from both of them. Compared to oriented matroids, our theory is based on a
linear ordering of the vertex set which makes our definitions and proofs quite
different and perhaps more elementary. Compared to TAPs, which are continuous
objects, our proofs are purely combinatorial and again quite different in
flavor. Altogether, we believe that our new approach can further our
understanding of these fundamental convexity results.