The overall aim of my dissertation was to determine if subalpine conifers host a consistent core of endophytic bacteria. Endophytic bacteria, symbiotic bacteria found within healthy plant tissue, have been found in all plants studied to date. Endophytic bacteria can influence plant healthy through growth promotion, resistance to pests and pathogens, and confer plasticity to abiotic and biotic stress. Despite the role they can play in plant health, they have largely been examined in agricultural crops with little exploration of endophytic bacteria in long-lived forest trees. Forest trees may rely on bacterial endophytes to confer robustness to variable and environmental conditions they face over their lifetime. Subalpine conifers are long-lived trees that inhabit nutrient limited soils and harsh environments and therefore a good candidate to examine endophytic bacteria that may confer host robustness. In animals, core bacterial symbionts with important roles in host health are often consistently associated with individuals of a host species. To uncover potential beneficial endophytic bacteria, I used next-generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA bacterial gene to determine if subalpine conifers were host to a consistent core of endophytes. I found Pinus flexilis and Picea engelmannii at Niwot Ridge, CO were consistently dominated by a potential N2 fixing phylotype (AAB1). Next, to determine if the consistent AAB1 association was a result of shared environment (Niwot Ridge) or shared ancestry (Pinus and Picea), I characterized the needle endophytic community of P. flexilis and Pinus contorta at two distance sites: Niwot Ridge, CO and Horseshoe Meadows, CA. I found AAB1 to dominate the endophytic bacterial communities across both species and sites, suggesting the association was not dependent only on environment but may be a long-term association of AAB1 and Pinus and Picea. To further examine the distribution of AAB1 I examined the endophytic community of P. contorta at Tuolumne Meadows, CA. AAB1was present but not in high abundance, indicating the AAB1 association is facultative. I found that the remaining endophyte community (i.e. excluding AAB1) of P. flexilis, P. engelmanni and P. contorta was structured by geographic location. In contrast to the high elevation pines, a core and consistent endophytic bacteria taxa was not identified in Sequoia sempervirens and Sequoiadendron giganteum in the family Cupressaceae . In these species, the endophyte communities were highly variable within and across tree individuals and species. These results suggest that subalpine conifers in the Pinaceae associate with facultative but symbiotic N2 fixing endophytic bacteria, and that the symbiosis may have originated after the divergence of Pinaceae and the Cupressaceae.


Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women around the world. Cardiovascular disease risk increases after the menopause which may be related to metabolic and hormonal changes. The decline in ovarian function with menopause is associated with spontaneous increases in proinflammatory cytokines. Chronic inflammation is a major factor that drives the progression of atherosclerosis and atherothrombosis. Measurement of the inflammatory markers has been postulated as a method of determining increased risk of cardiovascular disease in apparently healthy older women. Endogenous estrogen appears to be cardioprotective and several observational epidemiological studies have suggested that hormone therapy reduces the risk of coronary events in healthy postmenopausal women. However, recent clinical studies failed to show such beneficial effect. Among the mechanism that may account for the effects of hormone therapy on cardiovascular disease is inflammation.


Turning solar collectors, heliostats, is certainly not a new idea but has been explored for at least two decades. Projects on this subject have resulted in more or less realistic constructions, in a commercial point of view. Far too often the technical goals have had higher priority than the economical, which has resulted in a few constructions having the ability to compete with conventional, fix solar collectors. The economical issues have been given high priority in this project, without decreasing the demands on reliability. The system has been given the following mechanical and electronical properties: One-axis movement, fix heat carrying fluid system, microcomputer controlled movement and automatic protection from overheating. According to the development in digital technology with lower prices on advanced semiconductors as a consequence, the conclusion is that the prerequisites of this concept will be even better in the future. The result of this thesis is a heliostat function that increases the energy gain by up to 40%, compared to a field of MaReCo collectors without this function. Though, the cost only increases by 13%.


This Article focuses on the problem of transfer pricing from an international taxation perspective. It elaborates two major points using game theory as a theoretical framework. First, it argues that both developed and developing countries are facing the same fundamental problem in the transfer pricing arena; the meaning of the arm's length standard (ALS) is largely unknowable because of the absence of transfer pricing case law with public good features. Second, this Article proposes a solution to the transfer pricing problem within the ALS framework. The proposal consists of a procedural, rather than a substantive, system in which multilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs) are used to produce a proxy for case law with public good features. The proposal is arguably superior to other options (such as formulary apportionment and consolidated base taxation approach elaborated by the European Commission) because it can be applied by both developed and developing countries and is consistent with the current structure of international taxation. The proposal has been written to facilitate its addition to Article 9 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital.


Gorham's Cave is one of a group of seven which lie at the base of the cliffs on the east side of Gibraltar, below Europa Advance Road, which is about two hundred feet above them. There is now a beach in front of the five southern caves but this has only been in existence for a few years, and arose from the depositing of tunnel spoil over the cliff edge. Four of the caves are named, starting from the south end of the beach, Bennett's, Gorham's, Vanguard and Boathoist; the remaining three have local names which change from time to time. The beach, which is now called Anderson Beach, will probably disappear in a few years and the sea will again reach the base of the cliffs. The cave is named after Major A. Gorham who explored a fissure at the back of the main cave in 1907, and for convenience both have been called by his name. The finding of an archaeological deposit was due originally to two members of R.E.M.E., when temporary access had been made to the beach from the cliffs above, and excavations were carried out in the upper level by Captain G. B. Alexander, R.E., and Lieut. Monke, R.E. In 1948 the Governor of Gibraltar asked that full scale excavations should be carried out and two seasons' work have now been devoted to the cave under his patronage and with the help of funds supplied by the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund.


Y2Ti2O7 nanocrystals have been prepared at the calcining temperature of 700-900°C by using tetrabutyl titanate as starting materials and citric acid as chelator. The preparation process was monitored by XRD, FT-IR and TG-DTA analysis. Compared with traditional solid state reaction (SSR), the present used methods can prepare can Y2Ti2O7 nanocrystals at a relatively low temperature (750°C) and with shortened reaction time (dwelling time of 1 h). The morphology and averge size of as-prepared products were analysized by FESEM. Results showed that the as-prepared Y2Ti2O7 with good dispersibility and narrow size-distritution were all sphere-like; the average size was about 40-50 nm, Also, the obtained products had higher BET surface area (32 m2/g). These properties are very helpful for a photocatalytic catalyst to achieve excellent activity.


Abstract During public health crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, resource scarcity and contagion risks may require health systems to shift—to some degree—from a usual clinical ethic, focused on the well-being of individual patients, to a public health ethic, focused on population health. Many triage policies exist that fall under the legal protections afforded by "crisis standards of care," but they have key differences. We critically appraise one of the most fundamental differences among policies, namely the use of criteria to categorically exclude certain patients from eligibility for otherwise standard medical services. We examine these categorical exclusion criteria from ethical, legal, disability, and implementation perspectives. Focusing our analysis on the most common type of exclusion criteria, which are disease-specific, we conclude that optimal policies for critical care resource allocation and the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should not use categorical exclusions. We argue that the avoidance of categorical exclusions is often practically feasible, consistent with public health norms, and mitigates discrimination against persons with disabilities.


A vartiety of sexualy transmitted diseases frequently accompany infection with human papillomavirus and stimulate inflammation of the cervical mucosa Inflammation and ceU injury cause release of proinflammatory cytokines, which in turn might regulate growth of human papillomavirus-infected ceUs. This study compared the interaction of the proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and its soluble receptor with normal ecto- and endocervical ceUs, human papilomavirus-immortalized ectocervical ceUs, and squamous carcinoma-derived ceU lines. Proliferation of normal cervical ceUs was enhanced by IL-6 but inhibited by its soluble receptor. However, both IL-6 and its soluble receptor significantly stimulated growth of the three immortal and four cervical carcinoma-derived ceU lines analyzed. Stimulation by IL-6 was dose dependent and was blocked by an antibody that neutralized IL-6 activity. IL-6-mediated proliferation was accompanied by increased expression of RNAs encoding transforming growt hfactor- a and amphiregulin, two epidermal growth factor receptor ligands. Furthermore, growth stimulation by IL-6 was significantly inhibited by antibodies that either blocked signal transduction by the epidermal growth factor receptor or that neutralized transforminggrowthfactor-a or amphiregulin activity. Thus, IL-6 stimulates proliferation of


We are on the verge of ubiquitously adopting Augmented Reality (AR) technologies to enhance our percep- tion and help us see, hear, and feel our environments in new and enriched ways. AR will support us in fields such as education, maintenance, design and reconnaissance, to name but a few. This paper describes the field of AR, including a brief definition and development history, the enabling technologies and their characteristics. It surveys the state of the art by reviewing some recent applications of AR technology as well as some known limitations regarding human factors in the use of AR systems that developers will need to overcome.


The synthesis and chemistry of heterocyclic N-oxide derivatives such as those from pyridine and indazole are very well-known due to their usefulness as versatile synthetic intermediates and their biological importance. These classes of organic compounds have been demonstrated in many interesting and amazing functionalities, particularly vital in the areas including metal complexes formation, catalysts design, asymmetric catalysis and synthesis, and medicinal applications (some potent N-oxide compounds with anticancer, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory activity, etc.). Therefore, the heterocyclic N-oxide motif has been successfully employed in a number of recent advanced chemistry and drug development investigations. In the present review, our primary aim was to provide a relevant summary focusing on the topics of organic synthesis and medical application potential of the compounds cited, which could be attractive and give some insights to researchers in the field. Therefore, we mainly highlight the importance of heterocyclic N-oxide derivatives including those synthesized from imidazole, indazole, indole, pyridazine, pyrazine, pyridine, and pyrimidine in organic syntheses and catalysis, and drug applications. Over the past years, a number of reviews have been published on the organic synthesis and catalysis of N-oxides. We thus concentrated on highlighting those rarely mentioned or recently reported systems.


Morphological processes are generally computable with 1-way finite-state transducers. However, we show that 1-way transducers do not capture the strong generative capacity of certain morphological analyses for more complex processes, including mobile affixation, infixation, and partial reduplication. As diagnostics for strong generative capacity, we use origin semantics and order-preservation. These analyze the input-output correspondences generated by finite-state transducers and their corresponding logical transductions. For some linguistic analyses of these complex processes, their strong generative capacity is matched by more expressive grammars, such as non-order-preserving transductions and their corresponding 2-way finite-state transducers.


On 30 June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte took office as the 16th president of Asia's oldest republic. Duterte's political experience covers over two decades as mayor of Davao City--the third most populous city in the Philippines--several years as assistant city prosecutor and three years as a congressman. However, none of these positions can be considered adequate preparation to deal with the challenges the country now faces in its foreign relations. His predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, pursued a proactive foreign policy, the centrepiece of which was the promotion of the Philippines' maritime interests and sovereign rights in the South China Sea. Aquino was responding to China's growing assertiveness in the disputed waters, particularly the stationing of coast guard vessels at Scarborough Shoal, a rocky outcrop over which there was a tense standoff between the two countries in 2012 which resulted in China's seizure of the shoal. Filipino fishermen were subsequently denied access to the valuable fishing grounds around Scarborough Shoal. Aquino, and his Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario, mounted a major challenge to China by filing a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague. The legal submission sought affirmation of Manila's rights in its claimed exclusive economic zone (EEZ), thereby invalidating China's expansive but unclarified claims indicated by the so-called nine-dash line which appears on official Chinese maps. The arbitration panel established by the PCA delivered its ruling on July 12, barely two weeks into the Duterte administration, and it was largely in Manila's favour, to China's great consternation. What Aquino had started was now left for Duterte to pursue. In addition to this legal manoeuvre, and a major campaign to draw international support for it, Aquino sought greater involvement by the United States through an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that allows for the rotational presence of US troops and the construction of support facilities in selected Philippine defence facilities. Not surprisingly, China has said that it will reject any ruling from the arbitration panel--whose jurisdiction it refuses to accept--and has accused the United States (and other countries such as Japan) of "meddling" in the dispute. This leaves President Duterte with two major foreign policy challenges: how to manage relations with China, now that the arbitration ruling has been announced; and defining what role the Philippines' security alliance with the United States should play as the next chapter unfolds in the South China Sea dispute. As a candidate on the campaign trail, Duterte's initial statements on these issues were peppered with hyperbole, but provided early indications of his preference for a more open and pragmatic approach towards China. "I can talk more candidly with the Chinese than with Americans", he said. (1) Duterte remarked that he was open to engaging China in bilateral negotiations, pursuing joint development of resources, and that he would downplay the sovereignty question if China also stopped insisting on sovereignty. (2) It appeared that Duterte was considering a more practical approach, one that would allow China to play a role in developing the Philippine economy. On the other hand, his mistrust of the United States is said to have arisen from a 2002 incident in Davao when as mayor, the US authorities spirited away an American undercover agent when local police tried to investigate a suspicious explosion at the man's hotel room. His wariness about the US may also partly relate to why he has leftists and former communists among his close associates, although they are but part of the wide political spectrum of his supporters. However, his resistance to intervention may be due to his own instinctively independent leadership style, as he has recently criticized not only the United States but also Australia and the UN when officials issued unfavourable responses to some of his off-colour utterances. …


Abstract To understand contemporary arguments about deconstructing and reconstructing the modern administrative state, we have to understand where that state came from, and what its futures might be. This introductory essay describes the traditional account of the modern administrative state's origins in the Progressive era and more recent revisionist accounts that give it a longer history. The competing accounts have different implications for our thinking about the administrative state's constitutional status, the former raising some questions about constitutionality, the latter alleviating such concerns. This introduction then draws upon the essays in this issue to describe three options for the future. Deconstructing the administrative state without adopting a program of across-the-board deregulation would entail more regulation by the legislature itself and would insist that Congress give clear instructions to administrative agencies. Tweaking would modify existing doctrine around the edges without making large changes. Reconstruction might involve adopting ever more flexible modes of regulation, including direct citizen participation in making and enforcing regulation.


M.A. Molina-Montenegro, A. Zurita-Silva, and R. Oses. 2011. Effect of water availability on physiological performance and lettuce crop yield (Lactuca sativa). Cien. Inv. Agr. 38(1): 65-74. Water is essential for plants, affecting the majority of the physiological processes related to growth and productivity. Water shortage is one of the most common factors that limit crop productivity worldwide. Many cultivars have elevated water requirements, nevertheless in some countries due to global climate change effects, the availability of water for irrigation is becoming limited. In fact, current models of climate changes predict that central Chile will be a sensitive zone where precipitation will drastically decrease. In this study, the variation of gas exchange and production of fresh biomass in a lettuce cultivar, grown under different water availability regimes, was evaluated. Additionally, the concentration of total soluble sugar and water use efficiency (WUE) as mechanisms related to water shortage responses were also evaluated. Overall, individuals with the lowest water availability (50%) showed lower gas exchange and fresh biomass values than their conspecifics grown in optimal irrigated conditions. On the other hand, those individuals with moderate water shortage showed the highest concentration of total soluble sugars and WUE. Our results suggested that cultures exposed to extensive or intense drought events, could be negatively affected in both physiological performance and productivity. Nevertheless, slight decreases in water availability can enable lettuce plants to exhibit a high WUE, maintaining high levels of physiological performance and productivity.


AIM: The suspicion of prostatic adenocarcinoma requires confirmatory biopsy of the prostate. The transrectal ultrasound scanner (TRUS) allows visualisation of the prostate and accurate placement of the biopsy needle. Traditionally this procedure has been performed under general anaesthetic. More recently however, there has been a trend to carry out TRUS and biopsy without anaesthetic. The acceptability of this procedure has never been formally investigated in a New Zealand population. The aim of this study was to determine the acceptability of TRUS and prostatic biopsy without anaesthesia. METHOD: One hundred consecutive patients undergoing TRUS guided prostatic biopsy without anaesthetic were included in the study. The indications for biopsy were an elevated serum prostate-specific antigen or an abnormal gland on digital rectal examination. The procedure was performed by the same surgeon on each occasion, using the same equipment (6 MHz multiplanar transrectal probe with 18 gauge biopsy needle) and standard techniques (left lateral position, sextant biopsies). The patients were contacted by telephone a minimum of three months after the procedure and were asked a set of standardised questions about their experience. RESULTS: Seventy-nine percent of patients found the procedure only slightly, or not at all, uncomfortable. Despite the fact that 21% of the patients would prefer the same technique (no anaesthetic) if they were to require a further biopsy. Those patients who felt that they would prefer a general anaesthetic if they had to have a future biopsy were on average younger and had a significantly higher discomfort score. CONCLUSION: Transrectal ultrasound scanning and biopsy without anaesthetic is well tolerated by New Zealand men.


Within the associated framework of metal-dielectric films optics and the dual-metal-mirror microcavity structure, the effect of a cladding dielectric layer on the light outcoupling efficiency of the top emitting orgainic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) is analyzed. A combined evaluation followed by detailed design and optimization is proposed and described in detail. The analysis shows that this cladding layer affects the device's outcoupling efficiency with three different extents as the thickness of the metal layer in the multilayer cathode varying. The simulation results give a reasonable agreement with former experiment results.


1. We have studied the kinetics of the conversion of 5-aminolaevulinate into haem and haem precursors in homogenates of livers of rats and chick embryos. Homogenates of fresh liver from both species efficiently convert 5-aminolaevulinate into haem. After frozen storage for 1 year, homogenates of rat, but not chick, liver have decreased rates of formation of haem with accumulation of more protoporphyrin. The rate of haem formation after storage is restored by addition of Fe2+ and menadione. 2. At all initial concentrations of 5-aminolaevulinate tested (2 microM-1 mM), homogenates of rat liver accumulate less protoporphyrin than haem. In contrast, homogenates of chick embryo liver accumulate more protoporphyrin than haem at concentration of 5-aminolaevulinate greater than 10 microM. Conversion of protoporphyrin into haem by homogenates of fresh or frozen chick embryo liver is not increased by addition of Fe2+. 3. Homogenates of liver from both species accumulate porphobilinogen; the kinetic parameters for this process reflect those of 5-aminolaevulinate dehydratase. 4. The results show that the rate-limiting enzyme for the hepatic conversion of 5-aminolaevulinate into protoporphyrin is porphobilinogen deaminase. In addition, chick liver, compared with rat liver, has only about one-fifth the activity of ferrochelatase, the final enzyme of the haem biosynthetic pathway, which inserts Fe2+ into protoporphyrin to form haem. 5. Comparison of these results with previous studies indicates that the homogenate system described here provides physiologically and clinically relevant information for study of hepatic haem synthesis and its control.


Using an uncharged hydrophobic fluorescent probe 4-dimethylaminochalkon (DMC) the thermotropic behaviour of cytoplasmic E. coli membranes in the presence of Ca2+ cations was investigated. DMC appeared to be very sensitive in detection of temperature induced phase transitions in E. coli membrane preparations. It was found unexpectedly that Ca2+ does not increased the phase transition temperature of membrane preparations, compared to the values calculated for the membranes in tris-HC1-buffer. The obtained results are briefly discussed.


With the current emphasis on reproducibility and replicability, there is an increasing need to examine how data analyses are conducted. In order to analyze the between researcher variability in data analysis choices as well as the aspects within the data analysis pipeline that contribute to the variability in results, we have created two R packages: matahari and tidycode. These packages build on methods created for natural language processing; rather than allowing for the processing of natural language, we focus on R code as the substrate of interest. The matahari package facilitates the logging of everything that is typed in the R console or in an R script in a tidy data frame. The tidycode package contains tools to allow for analyzing R calls in a tidy manner. We demonstrate the utility of these packages as well as walk through two examples.


This article assesses the impact of financial turmoil on carbon markets. The carbon trading behavior aligned with security trading is incorporated into a model of the price-volume relationship. The model indicates that correlation increases when stock prices plunge, which is referred to as contagion. Empirical studies to estimate the model parameters for EUA futures prices, FTSE 100, and DAX suggest that the correlations between EUA and stock indices decrease with the stock indices, consistent with the existence of contagion driven by financial markets. High volatilities in both stock indices and carbon prices come from low stock prices, implying an absence of an inverse leverage effect not only in FTSE 100 and DAX but in EUA futures prices. More importantly, high volatility in carbon prices driven by low stock prices may represent the impact of financial turmoil on carbon price volatility. In addition, we show that the positive relationship between EUA futures prices and FTSE 100 or DAX indices for phase II of the EU-ETS is more enhanced than phase I of the EU-ETS. Moreover, we investigate the differences of the correlations between carbon prices and stock indices regarding the type of carbon assets, that is, EUA and CER. It is found that EUA correlates with FTSE 100 and DAX more strongly than CER on average. Finally, almost the same empirical study results are obtained using the correlations between EUA and FTSE 100 or DAX and using the volatilities calculated from the Engle's dynamic conditional correlation model.


Millimeter-wave (mmWave) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) with hybrid precoding is a promising technique for the future 5G wireless communications. Due to a large number of antennas but a much smaller number of radio frequency chains, estimating the high-dimensional mmWave massive MIMO channel will bring the large pilot overhead. To overcome this challenge, this paper proposes a super-resolution channel estimation scheme based on 2-D unitary ESPRIT algorithm. By exploiting the angular sparsity of mmWave channels, the continuously distributed angle of arrivals/departures (AoAs/AoDs) can be jointly estimated with high accuracy. Specifically, by designing the uplink training signals at both base station and mobile station, we first use low pilot overhead to estimate a low-dimensional effective channel, which has the same shift-invariance of array response as the high-dimensional mmWave MIMO channel to be estimated. From the low-dimensional effective channel, the super-resolution estimates of AoAs and AoDs can be jointly obtained by exploiting the 2-D unitary ESPRIT channel estimation algorithm. Furthermore, the associated path gains can be acquired based on the least squares criterion. Finally, we can reconstruct the high-dimensional mmWave MIMO channel according to the obtained AoAs, AoDs, and path gains. Simulation results have confirmed that the proposed scheme is superior to conventional schemes with a much lower pilot overhead.


Healthcare financial managers responsible for the investments of their healthcare organizations should identify the extent of their investment programs' exposure to year-2000-related problems. A letter should be sent to investment-related vendors requesting specific information and assurances regarding the vendors' efforts to contain or eliminate the year 2000 problem. An internal timetable also should be established to move the year 2000 compliance program forward in a timely and organized fashion.


In these days it is no longer optional to have security solutions predictable for every type of organizations and individuals. Security is one of the main issues in the MANET in particular with respect to size and complexity of the network. The aim of the paper is to discuss special security aspects of MANET and relative study of the routing protocols such as AODV and DSR. The main task of this paper is to perform the experimental study which is based on simulation .This paper also discusses MANET network scenario which we implement in our simulation. In our simulation we use to implement AODV and DSR routing protocols and also did comparative study that which one is better with respect to different aspects. General Terms MANETs, AODV, DSR, OPNET.


Abstract Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), more popularly known as "drones," have become emblematic of twenty-first century military technologies but scholars have yet to convincingly explain the drivers of UAV proliferation. Using the first systematic data set of UAV proliferation, this research note examines the spread of UAVs in the context of scholarly debates about interests versus capacity in explaining policy adoption. The results yield important insights for both IR scholarship and the policy-making community. While countries that experience security threats—including territorial disputes and terrorism—are more likely to seek UAVs, drone proliferation is not simply a function of the threat environment. We find evidence that democracies and autocracies are more likely than mixed regimes to develop armed UAV programs, and suggest that autocracies and democracies have their own unique incentives to acquire this technology. Moreover, supply-side factors play a role in the UAV proliferation process: a state's technological capacity is a strong predictor of whether it will obtain the most sophisticated UAVs. The theories and evidence we present challenge emerging views about UAV proliferation and shed useful light on how and why drones spread.


This deliverable of EWENT project estimates the risks of extreme weather on European transport system. The main object of work package 5 in EWENT project was to perform a risk analysis based on impact and probability assessments carried out in earlier work packages (WP2–WP3). The results of WP 5 can be used as a starting point when deciding on the risk reduction measures, strategies and policies in the European Union. This deliverable also serves as a background material for the synthesis report (named shortly as Risk Panorama), which will summarise the findings of risk assessment and previous work packages. The methodological approach of EWENT is based on the generic risk management standard (IEC 60300-3-9) and starts with the identification of hazardous extreme weather phenomena, followed by an impact assessment and concluded by mitigation and risk control measures. This report pools the information from EWENT's earlier work packages, such as risk identification and estimation, into a 'risk panorama' and provides a holistic picture on the risks of extreme weather in different parts of Europe and EU transport network. The risk assessment is based on the definition of transport systems' vulnerability to extreme weather events in different countries and on calculations of the most probable causal chains, starting from adverse weather phenomena and ending up with events that pose harmful consequences to the transport systems in different climate regions. The latter part, the probabilistic section, is the hazard analysis. The vulnerability of a particular mode in a particular country is a function of exposure (indicated by transport or freight volumes and population density), susceptibility (infrastructure quality index, indicating overall resilience) and coping capacity (measured by GDP per capita). Hence, we define the extreme weather risk as Risk = hazard × vulnerability = P(negative consequences) × V[f(exposure, susceptibility, coping capacity)] Based on this analytical approach, risk indicators for each mode and country are presented. Due to the techniques used in calculations, the risk indicator is by definition a relative indicator, and must not be considered as an absolute measure of risk. It is a very robust ranking system, first and foremost. Country-specific vulnerability indicators and hazard indicators following the climatological division are also presented. In general, countries with poor quality infrastructures combined with high transport volumes and population densities are naturally at most risk. ISBN, ISSN ISBN 978-951-38-7864-1 (URL: http://www.vtt.fi/publications/index.jsp) ISSN 2242-122X (URL: http://www.vtt.fi/publications/index.jsp)


Surfactants are used widely to control the synthesis of shaped noble-metal nanoparticles. In this work, a mixture of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a cationic surfactant; sodium oleate (NaOL), an anionic surfactant; palladium chloride; and a reducing agent were used in the seed-mediated synthesis of palladium nanoparticles. By controlling the surfactant mixture ratio, we initially discovered that palladium nanodendrites with narrow size distribution were formed instead of the traditional nanocubes, synthesized with only CTAB. In order to investigate the optimal ratio to produce Pd nanodendrites with a high yield and narrow size distribution, samples synthesized with multiple molar ratios of the two surfactants were prepared and studied by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, conductance, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. We propose that the addition of NaOL alters the arrangement of surfactants on the Pd seed surface, leading to a new pattern of growth and aggregation. By studying the nanodendrite growth over time, we identified the reduction period of Pd2+ ions and the formation period of the nanodendrites. Our further experiments, including the replacement of CTAB with hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) and the replacement of NaOL with sodium stearate, showed that CTA+ ions in CTAB and OL– ions in NaOL play the main roles in the formation of nanodendrites. The formation of palladium nanodendrites was robust and achieved with a range of temperatures, pH and mixing speeds.


Soils in areas of underground natural gas storage facilities (UGS) can become contaminated with hydrocarbons, which impacts negatively on soil properties and functions of soil biocenosis. The purpose of this study was to biodiagnose soil samples from the territory of an UGS (Stepnoye district, Saratov region) using bioassay. For microbiological analysis of the soil samples, the following parameters were selected: The total number of heterotrophic microorganisms, the content of hydrocarbon-oxidizing and methylotrophic bacteria, as well as the number of iron-oxidizing bacteria given that in the area of this natural gas storage facility clusters of bacteriomorphic magnetite may have been formed. Dehydrogenase, catalase and β-fructofuranosidase activities were studied as informative and sensitive indicators. The biodiagnostic results showed reduced levels of heterotrophic microorganisms in the soil samples from the area of this UGS compared to the background samples obtained outside the UGS. A high content of indicator organisms: Hydrocarbon-oxidizing and methylotrophic bacteria, not only facultative, but obligate was observed in some soil samples which suggests the emission of methane into the upper layers of the soil. The presence of iron-oxidizing microorganisms in the soil samples was confirmed by an increased activity of dehydrogenases and catalases. The observed correlations between the studied biological and physico-chemical parameters of soil confirmed the presence of hydrocarbon pollution.

 Key words: Underground gas storage, bioassay, soil microorganisms, soil enzymes, magnetic susceptibility.


The UA9 experimental equipment was installed in the CERN-SPS in March '09 with the aim of investigating crystal assisted collimation in coasting mode. Its basic layout comprises silicon bent crystals acting as primary collimators mounted inside two vacuum vessels. A movable 60 cm long block of tungsten located downstream at about 90 degrees phase advance intercepts the deflected beam. Scintillators, Gas Electron Multiplier chambers and other beam loss monitors measure nuclear loss rates induced by the interaction of the beam halo in the crystal. Two Roman pots installed in the path of the deflected particles are equipped with a Medipix detector to reconstruct the transverse distribution of the impinging beam. Finally UA9 takes advantage of an LHC-collimator prototype installed close to the first Roman pot to help in setting the beam conditions and to analyze the efficiency to deflect the beam. This paper describes in details the hardware installed to study the crystal collimation during 2010.


1 Statement of Problem 2 The use of banned substances to enhance performance occurs in sport. Therefore, developing 3 valid and reliable instruments that can predict likelihood to use banned substances is important. 4 Method 5 We conducted three studies. In Study 1, football players ( N = 506) and athletes from a variety 6 of team sports ( N = 398) completed the Moral Disengagement in Doping Scale (MDDS). In Study 7 2, team sport athletes ( N = 232) completed the MDDS and questionnaires measuring moral 8 disengagement in sport, doping attitudes, moral identity, antisocial sport behavior, situational 9 doping temptation, and task and ego goal orientations. A week later, a subsample ( n = 102) 10 completed the MDDS and indicated their likelihood to use a banned substance in a hypothetical 11 situation. In Study 3, athletes ( N = 201) from a variety of individual sports completed the MDDS 12 and indicated their likelihood to use a banned substance in a hypothetical situation.


The computation of sound fields in realistic atmospheres is demonstrated using a Green's‐function parabolic equation approach [X. Di and K. E. Gilbert, in Proceedings ofthe Sixth International Symposium on Long Range Sound Propagation, Ottawa, Canada, 1994] to handle the effects of ground impedance, refractive sound‐speed profiles, and atmospheric turbulence. The calculated sound fields are presented as color‐coded screen displays and show various effects, including upward or downward refraction, the ''sky wave,'' scattering into an acoustic shadow, and the effects of turbulence drift. Another program is used during the acquisition of meteorological data to monitor incoming data, to display the vertical sound‐speed profiles obtained using similarity theory, and to display in real time the predictions obtained from a ray tracing algorithm.


General Anesthesia is preferred over regional anesthesia in clavicle surgery. We report 3 cases of clavicle fracture which was performed under USG guided combined Interscalene and Superficial cervical plexus block. All the patients were comfortable and there was no need for additional analgesia. Thus regional anesthesia can be used as a sole anesthetic technique in patients with clavicle fracture and can be an alternative where general anaesthesia and its adverse effects needs to be avoided.
Keywords: clavicle fracture; interscalene brachial plexus block; superficial cervical plexus block. Correspondance: Dr.


The Duplin Formation stratotype at the Natural Well limestone sink near Magnolia, North Carolina, is commonly thought to be the source of one of the most thoroughly documented Pliocene molluscan faunas in the Carolinas. However, few of the 196 species listed by Dall (1903) as from "the Duplin well or the adjacent village of Magnolia" were actually collected from Natural Well. Neither the coding of Dall's lists nor reference in text clearly indicates which specimens were collected from the stratotype section. A stratigraphically pure Natural Well collection, housed in the Geology Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, contains 239 molluscan species (Appendix I). The faunule is low in endemics and high in first appearances of species that continue into the younger Waccamaw faunas . Like the correlative Tearcoat Branch and Muldrow Place faunules the Natural Well faunule contains only a single pectinid species, the ubiquitous Carolinapecten eboreus. The UNC-CH collections contain a number of rare and u nusual species, including a single specimen of Carinorbis quadricostata (Emmons, 1858). This is only the third recorded specimen of this rare and endemic species, and the first that permits comparative systematic analysis. The genus Carinorbis has been overlooked or inaccurately synonymized in most literature.


IMPORTANCE
Prompt bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves the likelihood of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Large regional variations in survival after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have been noted.

OBJECTIVES
To determine whether regional variations in county-level rates of CPR training exist across the United States and the factors associated with low rates in US counties.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
We used a cross-sectional ecologic study design to analyze county-level rates of CPR training in all US counties from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011. We used CPR training data from the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, and the Health & Safety Institute. Using multivariable logistic regression models, we examined the association of annual rates of adult CPR training of citizens by these 3 organizations (categorized as tertiles) with a county's geographic, population, and health care characteristics.

EXPOSURE
Completion of CPR training.

MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES
Rate of CPR training measured as CPR course completion cards distributed and CPR training products sold by the American Heart Association, persons trained in CPR by the American Red Cross, and product sales data from the Health & Safety Institute. RESULTS During the study period, 13.1 million persons in 3143 US counties received CPR training. Rates of county training ranged from 0.00% to less than 1.29% (median, 0.51%) in the lower tertile, 1.29% to 4.07% (median, 2.39%) in the middle tertile, and greater than 4.07% or greater (median, 6.81%) in the upper tertile. Counties with rates of CPR training in the lower tertile were more likely to have a higher proportion of rural areas (adjusted odds ratio, 1.12 [95% CI, 1.10-1.15] per 5-percentage point [PP] change), higher proportions of black (1.09 [1.06-1.13] per 5-PP change) and Hispanic (1.06 [1.02-1.11] per 5-PP change) residents, a lower median household income (1.18 [1.04-1.34] per $10 000 decrease), and a higher median age (1.28 [1.04-1.58] per 10-year change). Counties in the South, Midwest, and West were more likely to have rates of CPR training in the lower tertile compared with the Northeast (adjusted odds ratios, 7.78 [95% CI, 3.66-16.53], 5.56 [2.63-11.75], and 5.39 [2.48-11.72], respectively).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Annual rates of US CPR training are low and vary widely across communities. Counties located in the South, those with higher proportions of rural areas and of black and Hispanic residents, and those with lower median household incomes have lower rates of CPR training than their counterparts. These data contribute to known geographic disparities in survival of cardiac arrest and offer opportunities for future community interventions.


The West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging infection of biodefense concern and there are no available treatments or vaccines. Here we used a high-throughput method based on a novel gene expression analysis, RNA-Seq, to give a global picture of differential gene expression by primary human macrophages of 10 healthy donors infected in vitro with WNV. From a total of 28 million reads per sample, we identified 1,514 transcripts that were differentially expressed after infection. Both predicted and novel gene changes were detected, as were gene isoforms, and while many of the genes were expressed by all donors, some were unique. Knock-down of genes not previously known to be associated with WNV resistance identified their critical role in control of viral infection. Our study distinguishes both common gene pathways as well as novel cellular responses. Such analyses will be valuable for translational studies of susceptible and resistant individuals—and for targeting therapeutics—in multiple biological settings.


Objective quality assessment of distorted stereoscopic images is a challenging problem, especially when the distortions in the left and right views are asymmetric. Existing studies suggest that simply averaging the quality of the left and right views well predicts the quality of symmetrically distorted stereoscopic images, but generates substantial prediction bias when applied to asymmetrically distorted stereoscopic images. In this paper, we first build a database that contains both single-view and symmetrically and asymmetrically distorted stereoscopic images. We then carry out a subjective test, where we find that the quality prediction bias of the asymmetrically distorted images could lean toward opposite directions (overestimate or underestimate), depending on the distortion types and levels. Our subjective test also suggests that eye dominance effect does not have strong impact on the visual quality decisions of stereoscopic images. Furthermore, we develop an information content and divisive normalization-based pooling scheme that improves upon structural similarity in estimating the quality of single-view images. Finally, we propose a binocular rivalryinspired multi-scale model to predict the quality of stereoscopic images from that of the single-view images. Our results show that the proposed model, without explicitly identifying image distortion types, successfully eliminates the prediction bias, leading to significantly improved quality prediction of the stereoscopic images.


This paper deals with the problem of nonline-of-sight (NLOS) in wireless communications systems devoted to location purposes. It is well known that NLOS biases time of arrival (TOA) and time difference of arrival (TDOA) estimates thus reducing accuracy of positioning algorithms. In order to achieve positioning error reduction the Kalman filter proposed for location estimation includes the time measurement bias for each base station (BS) as additional parameters to be estimated. The use of the Kalman filter allows then tracking, not only the position and speed of the mobile, but also the bias due to NLOS, yielding an accurate location prediction algorithm.


Nonylphenols (NPs) are classified as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are known to cause disorders in the endocrine systems of organisms. Due to their high lipophilicity and low degradability, these harmful substances are known to accumulate and persist in the environment, and even enter into the food chain. Analytical methods of liquid–liquid extraction using solid-phase extraction for sample clean-up combined with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry were established to determine the presence of NPs in foods. This study aimed to develop and validate these methods using four food matrices representing high-fat and low-fat solid food, as well as high-fat and low-fat liquid food, groups. The single linear isomer 4-n-NP was used to validate the quantification of NPs, which exist in complex isomer mixtures. Our results showed good linearity, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.998 for all four matrices. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.37–1.79 and 1.11–5.41 μg/kg, respectively. Recovery rates were 86.8–108.6% and 92.6–101.9% for intraday and interday assays, respectively, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were below 12% for both assays. The method was applied to analyze 1185 domestic food samples consumed by Koreans, with NPs detected at concentration ranges of 2.57–269.07 μg/kg. Results for each food type over wide concentration ranges indicated that these compounds are highly dependent on the area of cultivation, and are affected by the levels of those contaminants in different environments. The contents of NPs in foods from animal sources were generally higher than those from plant sources, in particular being higher in the intestines than in lean tissue. The present findings could form the basis for determining the level of dietary exposure to NPs and how each food source contributes to it in South Korea.


Abstract
Systemic Risk in the Banking Industry of the United States
Weiyu Gao
In this thesis, I estimate the systemic risk in the U.S. banking industry and the effects of a financial regulation and an event on the financial health and stability of U. S. banks. The financial regulation and event are respectively Basel I and the U.S. sub-prime mortgage financial crisis which are captured by two dummy variables. I estimate systemic risk using the definition which considers a systemic crisis as an event causing a simultaneous default of a significant number of financial institutions. Thus, the systemic risk here is the simultaneous probability of default of a certain number of financial institutions. Next, I form two systemic risk indices, including the default probability based on bank assets and the default probability based on the number of banks. I investigate the sources of systemic risk and address the factors which are significantly related to the stability of the banking system. In order to conduct this investigation, I establish two categories of variables related to systemic factors and bank specific factors. The systemic factors include the median correlation of assets, volatility of assets and capitalization while the bank specific factors consist of time trend, bank size and the ratio of book value of equity to total assets. The regression analyses are applied between the systemic risk indices and the systemic/ bank specific factors. The results suggest that Basel I does not effectively improve the stability of the banking system and that the financial crisis contributes to systemic risk. The volatility of assets and capitalization are significantly related to the systemic risk indices. Although the systemic factors perform better than the bank specific factors in explaining the systemic risk indices, bank size is also a significant explanatory factor.


In this work, the sol-gel technology is used to produce silica based xerogels and aerogels suitable for insulation applications in Space. The properties of the obtained materials are tailored varying the precursor – Methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) or Methyltriethoxysilane (MTES), and the solvent – methanol or ethanol. A two-step acid-base catalyzed synthesis is used, being the obtained gels dried at atmospheric pressure, in the case of xerogels, and in supercritical conditions, for aerogels. Density and thermal conductivity must be made as low as possible for the sought application and only highly porous materials can fulfill this requirement. The obtained xerogels and aerogels, either with MTMS or MTES, show very promising properties for thermal insulation in Space, when methanol is used as solvent. The more suitable materials are obtained with MTMS and exhibit very low density (80-100 kg/m3), very high surface area (~ 400 m2/g) and small pore size (~ 30-40 Å). They also show moderate flexibility and a remarkable hydrophobic character (~ 150º).


Past work has not considered social robots as proctors or monitors to prevent cheating or maintain discipline in the context of exam invigilation with adults. Further, we do not see an investigation into the role of invigilation for the robot presented in two different embodiments (physical vs. virtual). We demonstrate a system that enables a robot (physical and virtual) to act as an invigilator and deploy an exam setup with two participants completing a programming task. We conducted two studies (an online video-based survey and an in-person evaluation) to understand participants' perceptions of the invigilator robot presented in two different embodiments. Additionally, we investigated whether participants showed cheating behaviours in one condition more than the other. The findings showed that participants' ratings did not differ significantly. Further, participants were more talkative in the virtual robot condition compared to the physical robot condition. These findings are promising and call for further research into the invigilation role of social robots in more subtle and complex exam-like settings.


This research aims to investigate the pore structures and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) of concrete containing both slag and fly ash. Test variables include three water-to-binder ratios (0.35, 0.50, 0.70) and four substitute ratios of cement with pozzolanic materials (20%, 30%, 50% and 60%). The specimens were tested to determine compressive strength, MIP porosity measurement and ITZ microhardness. Test results show that concrete containing slag and fly ash produce evident filling effect and the pozzolanic reaction after 28 days. At the age of 91 days the pozzolanic materials has provided prominent contribution to the strength, the porosity and the ITZ of concrete, making the pore volume smaller and ITZ property of pozzolanic concrete better than that of normal concrete. The concrete that adds suitable amount of pozzolanic materials (ex. 10% slag + 10% fly ash) has the optimum microstructure and mechanical property. Too much pozzolanic materials (ex. 40% slag + 20% fly ash) may be disadvantage to the concrete, and the suggested substitute ratio is under 50%. It is found that the compressive strength has the closest relationship with the total pore volume, so we use the total pore volume to predict the compressive strength of pozzolanic concrete and establish a prediction model as follow: S= -662.68Vt+87.29, R2=0.946.


Peak accelerations of the Loma Prieta main shock have been tabulated from instruments maintained by a number of organizations. We have analyzed a subset of 86 records from nominally free-field sites, which have been subdivided into rock, alluvium, and bay-mud categories according to data available in various reports. After correction for attenuation, the peak accelerations on rock, alluvium, and bay-mud sites are factors of 1.6, 1.8, and 4.5 larger, on the average, than Joyner and Boore's (1988) predicted values for a M= 6.9 earthquake. The mean motions for the rock and alluvium sites are somewhat greater than one standard deviation away from the predicted value, but the mean acceleration from the bay-mud sites is well outside the range expected from analyses of data from previous earthquakes from rock and alluvium sites. Large amplitudes of motions on bay-mud sites relative to rock sites (a factor of 2.8 for the average of the recordings of the Loma Prieta main shock) has been found previously from recordings of distant earthquakes and explosions, but the Loma Prieta earthquake provided the first opportunity to study the relative amplitudes from strong-motion recordings.


In this special issue, Researching 21st Century Education Policy Through Social Network Analysis , authors use social network analysis (SNA) to explore policy networks, broaden the current literature of sociological approaches to SNA, and/or incorporate new lenses for interpreting policy networks from political science or other academic disciplines. This editorial introduction first provides an overview of policy networks and their relevance in education. Then, the editors describe existing work applying the tools of SNA to education policy and highlight understudied areas before describing the articles included in this issue. These articles apply SNA to a variety of education policy issues, including large scale policies such as the Every Student Succeeds Act and the Common Core State Standards, charter schools, and the relationship between system and non-system actors. Articles highlight multiple applications of SNA, including how SNA can be used to advance theory, as well as describe and predict policy networks.


Hydrogen transportation systems require very high pressure hydrogen storage containers to enable sufficient vehicle range for practical use. Current proposed designs have pressures up to 70 MPa with leakage due to damage or deterioration at such high pressures a great safety concern. Accurate models are needed to predict the flammability envelopes around such leaks which rapidly vary with time. This paper compares CFD predictions of jet flows for low pressure jets with predictions using the integral turbulent buoyant jet model. The results show that the CFD model predicts less entrainment and that the turbulent Schmidt number should be smaller, with 0.55 giving better results. Then, CFD predictions for very high pressure flows are compared with analytical models for choked flows that generate underexpanded jets into the ambient to evaluate the effects of the model assumptions and the effects of real exit geometries. Real gas effects are shown to accelerate the blowdown process and that real flow effects in the CFD model slow the flow rate and increase the exit temperature.


The Higgs boson is unified with gauge fields in the gauge-Higgs unification. The SO(5)×U(1) gauge-Higgs electroweak unification in the Randall-Sundrum warped space yields almost the same phenomenology at low energies as the standard model, and gives many predictions for the Higgs couplings and new W ′,Z′ bosons around 6∼ 8TeV, which can be tested at 14TeV LHC. The gauge-Higgs grand unification is achieved in SO(11) gauge theory. It suggests the existence of the sixth dimension (GUT dimension) in addition to the fifth dimension (electroweak dimension). The proton decay is naturally suppressed in the gauge-Higgs grand unification.


NADPH oxidase generates reactive oxygen species that are essential to innate immunity against microbes. Like most enzymes, it is sensitive to pH, although the relative importance of pHo and pHi has not been clearly distinguished. We have taken advantage of the electrogenic nature of NADPH oxidase to determine its pH dependence in patch‐clamped individual human eosinophils using the electron current to indicate enzyme activity. Electron current stimulated by PMA (phorbol myristate acetate) was recorded in both perforated‐patch configuration, using an NH4+ gradient to control pHi, and in excised, inside‐out patches of membrane. No electron current was detected in cells or excised patches from eosinophils from a patient with chronic granulomatous disease. When the pH was varied symmetrically (pHo= pHi) in cells in perforated‐patch configuration, NADPH oxidase‐generated electron current was maximal at pH 7.5, decreasing drastically at higher or lower values. Varying pHo and pHi independently revealed that this pH dependence was entirely due to effects of pHi and that the oxidase is insensitive to pHo. Surprisingly, the electron current in inside‐out patches of membrane was only weakly sensitive to pHi, indicating that the enzyme turnover rate per se is not strongly pH dependent. The most likely interpretation is that assembly or deactivation of the NADPH oxidase complex has one or more pH‐sensitive steps, and that pH‐dependent changes in electron current in intact cells mainly reflect different numbers of active complexes at different pH.


The synthesis of the unsymmetrical triarylmethine dyes 4derived from a lithiated naphthopyran and diaryl ketones is reported. In toluene solution 4 display a typical reversible photochromic response becoming coloured upon irradiation with UV light and fading upon cessation of irradiation. At low pH an intensely coloured dye cation is generated and UV irradiation of this solution results in a further colour change as a consequence of photochromic cycling of the naphthopyran unit


Scarlet fever made its appearance in Valparaiso, Ind., September, 1908, and continued until June, 1911. It is estimated that during this time there were 400 cases, of which only 255 were reported to the city board of health, 145 were not reported and most of them were not subjected to quarantine regulations. Beginning in February, 1911, a special study of the epidemic was begun to determine, if possible, what steps were necessary to terminate this epidemic. The question whether the infection was being spread through the medium of books was considered. If books were carriers of scarlet fever infection, the opportunity for the spread of the disease in this city by them was very great, as Valparaiso is a residence and school city with about 10,000 population. It supports two libraries, one a public city library, the other a public library in connection with the Valparaiso University. The libraries were


Abstract Thin-walled centrically compressed members with non-symmetrical or mono-symmetrical cross-sections can buckle in a torsional-flexural buckling mode. Vlasov developed a system of governing differential equations of the stability of such member cases. Solving these coupled equations in an analytic way is only possible in simple cases. Therefore, Goľdenvejzer introduced an approximate method for the solution of this system to calculate the critical axial force of torsional-flexural buckling. Moreover, this can also be used in cases of members with various boundary conditions in bending and torsion. This approximate method for the calculation of critical force has been adopted into norms. Nowadays, we can also solve governing differential equations by numerical methods, such as the finite element method (FEM). Therefore, in this paper, the results of the approximate method and the FEM were compared to each other, while considering the FEM as a reference method. This comparison shows any discrepancies of the approximate method. Attention was also paid to when and why discrepancies occur. The approximate method can be used in practice by considering some simplifications, which ensure safe results.


Background Cedar pollinosis is one of the most prevalent forms of seasonal allergic reaction in Japan. Only one prospective study has examined the association between cedar pollinosis and mortality. Using a symptom-based questionnaire on cedar pollinosis, we investigated the association of cedar pollinosis with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Methods Data came from the Takayama Study, which recruited residents aged ≥35 years in 1992 from Takayama city in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The current study used information on cedar pollinosis that was obtained from the second survey in 2002. A total of 12,471 persons who were 45–80 years old and had no history of cancer, coronary heart disease, or stroke responded to a questionnaire asking about four symptoms related to cedar pollinosis. Mortality and migration data were obtained throughout the follow-up period up to March 2013. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the relation between cedar pollinosis and mortality. Results A total of 1,276 persons died during follow-up period. Among these, there were 504 neoplasm, 278 cardiovascular, and 181 respiratory deaths. After adjusting for potential confounders, cedar pollinosis was associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65–0.95) and respiratory mortality (HR 0.38; 95% CI, 0.18–0.82). There was no significant association between cedar pollinosis and mortality due to neoplasm or cardiovascular disease. Conclusions We found an inverse association between cedar pollinosis and the risk of all-cause and respiratory mortality. Further research is needed to elucidate the association between cedar pollinosis and mortality.


We develop a theory for stochastic control problems which, in various ways, are time inconsistent in the sense that they do not admit a Bellman optimality principle. We attach these problems by viewing them within a game theoretic framework, and we look for Nash subgame perfect equilibrium points. For a general controlled Markov process and a fairly general objective functional we derive an extension of the standard Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, in the form of a system of non-linear equations, for the determination for the equilibrium strategy as well as the equilibrium value function. All known examples of time inconsistency in the literature are easily seen to be special cases of the present theory. We also prove that for every time inconsistent problem, there exists an associated time consistent problem such that the optimal control and the optimal value function for the consistent problem coincides with the equilibrium control and value function respectively for the time inconsistent problem. We also study some concrete examples.


Abstract. When conducting meso-micro scale coupled atmospheric simulations, it is crucial to ensure an adequate treatment of gray zone or terra incognita resolutions in which a large portion of the kinetic energy is naturally produced by the momentum balance equations in the model, while the remaining part still needs to be parameterized. In this work, we conduct three multi-day, real case, full-physics atmospheric simulations that are fully coupled from the meso to the micro scale and in which the only difference is the treatment of boundary layer physics at the gray zone domain. One simulation uses a well-established parameterization, another uses its scale-aware version previously modified to accommodate gray zone resolutions, and a final one uses no parameterization at all and assumes that the gray zone domain can be run in large-eddy simulation (LES) mode. The simulated fields are cross-compared, and further compared to measurements collected during the Prince Edward Island Wind Energy Experiment. Use of LES in the gray zone domain influences the flow fields in a manner that is robust to temporal averaging. The best predictions of vertical wind shear were found for the simulations in which the gray zone is parameterized, and the inclusion of a micro scale nest run in LES mode within the gray zone domains increased the model errors by producing overly homogeneous flow fields. The parameterized simulations also produced better agreement in terms of kinetic energy spectra at the two innermost simulation domains. In the gray zone domain, the energy decays as f−3 throughout most of the spectral range considered. In the micro scale domain, the same is only seen in the low-frequency end of the gray zone spectral range. In the high-frequency end, the energy decay follows a f−1 slope. Outside the gray zone spectral range, the micro scale simulated spectra follow the expected f−5/3 slope and produce good agreement with measurements.


Sphingolipids and their metabolic products are now known to have second-messenger functions in a variety of cellular signaling pathways. Lactosylceramide (LacCer), a glycosphingolipid (GSL) present in vascular cells such as endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, macrophages, neutrophils, platelets, and monocytes, contributes to atherosclerosis. Large amounts of LacCer accumulate in fatty streaks, intimal plaque, and calcified intimal plaque, along with oxidized low density lipoproteins (Ox-LDLs), growth factors, and proinflammatory cytokines. A possible role for LacCer in vascular cell biology was suggested when this GSL was found to stimulate the proliferation in vitro of aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMCs). A further link of LacCer in atherosclerosis was uncovered by the finding that Ox-LDLs stimulated specifically the biosynthesis of LacCer. Ox-LDL-stimulated endogenous synthesis of LacCer by activation of UDP-Gal:GlcCer,beta1-4galtransferase (GalT-2) is an early step in this signaling pathway. In turn, LacCer serves as a lipid second messenger that orchestrates a signal transduction pathway, ultimately leading to cell proliferation. This signaling pathway includes LacCer-mediated activation of NADPH oxidase that produces superoxide. Such superoxide molecules stimulate the GTP loading of p21(ras). Subsequently, the kinase cascade (Raf-1, Mek2, and p44MAPK [mitogen-activated protein kinase]) is activated. The phosphorylated form of p44MAPK translocates from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and engages in c-fos expression, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) such as cyclin activation, and cell proliferation takes place. Interestingly, D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (D-PDMP), an inhibitor of GalT-2, can abrogate the Ox-LDL-mediated activation of GalT-2, the signal kinase cascade noted above, as well as cell proliferation. Additional studies have revealed that LacCer mediates the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced nuclear factor-kappaB expression and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) expression in vascular endothelial cells via the redox-dependent transcriptional pathway. LacCer also stimulates the expression of CD11/CD8, or Mac-1, on the surface of human neutrophils. Collectively, this phenomenon may contribute to the adhesion of neutrophils or monocytes to the endothelial cell surface and thus initiate the process of atherosclerosis. In addition, the LacCer-mediated proliferation of ASMCs may contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis. On the other hand, programmed cell death (apoptosis) by proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha, interleukin-1, and high concentrations of Ox-LDL occur via activation of a cell membrane-associated neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase). N-SMase hydrolyzes sphingomyelin into ceramide and phosphocholine. In turn, ceramide or a homologue serves as an important stress-signaling molecule. Interestingly, an antibody against N-SMase can abrogate Ox-LDL- and TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis and therefore may be useful for in vivo studies of apoptosis in experimental animals. Because plaque stability is an integral aspect of atherosclerosis management, activation of N-SMase and subsequent apoptosis may be vital events in the onset of plaque rupture, stroke, or heart failure. Interestingly, in human liver cells, N-SMase action mediates the TNF-alpha-induced maturation of the sterol regulatory-element binding protein. Moreover, a cell-permeable ceramide can reconstitute the phenomenon above in a sterol-independent fashion. Such findings may provide new avenues for therapy for patients with atherosclerosis. The findings described here indicate an important role for sphingolipids in vascular biology and provide an exciting opportunity for further research in vascular disease and atherosclerosis.


Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is usually utilized to solve various combinatorial optimization problems. In this work, however, two novel ant systems are developed to estimate the state of interest, and we call them ant estimators. The first ant estimator is based partly upon the idea of Particle Filter, while the latter depends on the movement of each ant. For each ant estimator, the "pheromone" update equation is well defined in order to guide ants to better solutions. Finally, Monte-Carlo runs are conducted and the results indicate that the two ant estimator perform well in estimating state parameters. In particular, we find that both are capable of tracking maneuvering target without any auxiliary means when employed in the target tracking field.


This paper reviews the status of advanced computational simulation techniques in the aerodynamic design of modern aircraft. An outline of the aircraft design process is provided, and the most relevant trade-offs between disciplines are presented to justify the leading role that aerodynamic design plays in this truly multidisciplinary process. A control theory based adjoint approach which considerably reduces the computational cost of the calculation of design sensitivities is presented. Our experience with this method is described with the help of several computational design examples that cover a substantial range of objective functions, computational models, and geometric complexity. Using the adjoint method, entire design optimization calculations can be completed with a computational cost equivalent to only a few (typically less than ten) analysis runs. In comparison with current practice in an industrial setting, the design approach presented in this paper can yield large computational savings as well as reduced turn around times that can be used to either decrease the time to market or to increase the number of design iterations within a given time frame.


Ten years after the fall of Napster, digital piracy remains an issue for e-commerce firms. While scholars treat digital piracy as a behaviour that needs to be prevented or punished, the user's decision about how to acquire a digital product involves more than the piracy option, yet the decision between piracy and legal alternatives has received limited attention. Moreover, existing models of piracy emphasize some elements of the acquisition decision, but disregard other important influences. This paper presents a model of digital product acquisition in the context of piracy, integrating elements of previous digital piracy models and expanding upon them to reflect the decision's complexity. We depict the acquisition decision as being influenced by the user's price perceptions, perceived risks, product desire, skills, and internal regulators of behaviour. A preliminary and partial test of the model is conducted for film and music using data collected students in at two Danish universities. The paper concludes with an outline for future research.


A continuous flow reaction process in which a metal salt solution is rapidly mixed with high-temperature water was employed to achieve rapid heating up to supercritical conditions. A quarter of a century has passed since the supercritical hydrothermal method was first proposed. This paper introduces recent advances in science and technology related to the supercritical process. Process design, kinetics, reaction atmosphere (redox) control, morphology control, organic modification of particles, nanocatalysts, and organic-inorganic hybrid materials are reviewed for promising applications of the supercritical process.


Reports reveal an increase in the number of individuals with serious mental illness in jails, prisons and forensic hospitals. Despite the wide-ranging and devastating consequences of this 'criminalization' of mental illness, there remains a lack of information on the subject as well as on the provision of care for these patients. This important new book fills a gap in the literature by examining topics such as: the history and policy factors related to criminalization; original research on forensic populations; pharmacological and psychological treatment strategies; and principles and guidelines for diversion out of the criminal justice system. Contributions from leading experts in the field further our understanding of this important subject, offering advice on how to provide humane care for patients. A must have for all mental health clinicians including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, rehabilitation therapists, and mental health nurses. A useful tool for mental health administrators and policy makers.


Objective To investigate single muscle fiber contractile performance in muscle biopsies from patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), one of the most common hereditary muscle disorders. Methods We collected 50 muscle biopsies (26 vastus lateralis, 24 tibialis anterior) from 14 patients with genetically confirmed FSHD and 12 healthy controls. Single muscle fibers (n = 547) were isolated for contractile measurements. Titin content and titin phosphorylation were examined in vastus lateralis muscle biopsies. Results Single muscle fiber specific force was intact at saturating and physiologic calcium concentrations in all FSHD biopsies, with (FSHDFAT) and without (FSHDNORMAL) fatty infiltration, compared to healthy controls. Myofilament calcium sensitivity of force is increased in single muscle fibers obtained from FSHD muscle biopsies with increased fatty infiltration, but not in FSHD muscle biopsies without fatty infiltration (pCa50: 5.77–5.80 in healthy controls, 5.74–5.83 in FSHDNORMAL, and 5.86–5.90 in FSHDFAT single muscle fibers). Cross-bridge cycling kinetics at saturating calcium concentrations and myofilament cooperativity did not differ from healthy controls. Development of single muscle fiber passive tension was changed in all FSHD vastus lateralis and in FSHDFAT tibialis anterior, resulting in increased fiber stiffness. Titin content was increased in FSHD vastus lateralis biopsies; however, titin phosphorylation did not differ from healthy controls. Conclusion Muscle weakness in patients with FSHD is not caused by reduced specific force of individual muscle fibers, even in severely affected tissue with marked fatty infiltration of muscle tissue.


Tables of stiffness and carry-over factor are presented for members in which the cross section and axial load do not vary along the length of the member. These tables are of use in solving problems in the stability of structural members under axial load as well as in application of the Cross method of moment distribution when the effects of axial load in the members are considered. The interval between successive values of the argument is small enough to make interpolation unnecessary in engineering calculations.


To examine the long‐term effect of interferon (IFN) therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, particularly on survival and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prevention, 101 male patients with chronic hepatitis B in a randomized controlled trial were followed up for 1.1 to 11.5 years after the end of therapy. Of the 101 patients, 34 patients received a placebo (control), and 67 patients were treated with IFN (31 patients were treated with IFN alone and 36 patients were treated with IFN after prednisolone priming). Follow‐up studies included clinical, biochemical, and virological aspects and HCC screening every 3 to 6 months. Twenty‐eight (42%) of the 67 IFN‐treated patients and 8 (24%) of the 34 untreated patients seroconverted by the end of the trial. During follow‐up, 22 (56%) of the 39 patients who did not seroconvert in the treated group and 5 (19%) of the 26 patients who did not seroconvert in the control group showed a delayed sustained response (P < .005). The cumulative incidence of sustained response was highest in the steroid priming group (P = .049 vs. the IFN–alone group;P = .028 vs. the control group). HCC was detected in 1 (1.5%) of the 67 treated patients and 4 (12%) of the 34 untreated patients (P = .043). The interval between entry and HCC detection was 3.5 to 8.2 years. The cumulative incidence of HCC development was significantly higher in the control group than in the treated group (P = .013). In contrast, the cumulative survival rate was higher in the treated group than the control group (P = .018). Multivariate analysis showed that IFN therapy, preexisting cirrhosis, and the patient's age at entry are significant independent factors for both survival and HCC development. The results suggest that IFN has long‐term beneficial effects in terms of HBV clearance, reduction of HCC, and prolonging survival.


An experimental investigation is reported of the flocculation of bentonite and Alcaligenes eutrophus in a batch oscillatory baffled flocculator (OBF), where fluid mixing is achieved by eddies that are generated when fluid passes through a set of equally spaced stationary orifice baffles. Periodically formed vortices can be controlled by a combination of operational and geometrical parameters, such as, oscillation frequency, oscillation amplitude, baffle diameter and baffle spacing. The effect of oscillation frequency and amplitude in the OBF on the percentage of flocculation of both bentonite and Alcaligenes eutrophus was examined, the floc sizes at various operational conditions observed and the strain rates in the OBF measured using a digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) technique. The results show that the oscillation amplitude is the dominant factor in influencing the percentage of flocculation. The measured strain rate was linked with the percentage of flocculation per ppm polymer dose and the results compared with those obtained in conventional stirred tank flocculators.


Data Warehouses (DWs) manage crucial information for enterprises which must be protected from unauthorized accesses. The  question of which security issues are present in all stages of the DW design is therefore of great  importance when considering these security constraints in design decisions. We have used the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach to propose an MDA architecture with which to develop secure DWs, which defines secure models at different abstraction levels along with their automatic transformation between models. Our approach considers a multidimensional path towards On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools, but did not, until now, support the transformation of complex security rules from conceptual models. After carrying out a modification of our conceptual metamodel to support a better representation of security rules and to define several sets of transformation rules, this paper shows how to transform these security rules through an example.


China takes the horizontal ecological compensation policy as an important measure for sharing the results of green development in economically backward areas. On the basis of environmental protection, China realizes economic development and benefits the people's livelihood, so as to accomplish "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets". Trans-provincial basin horizontal ecological compensation is a significant exploration of China to take a market-oriented way to control cross-border water pollution, and is another institutional innovation in the process of ecological civilization construction. However, there are few studies on the impact of horizontal compensation on the total factor productivity of enterprises.In this paper, the trans-provincial horizontal ecological compensation of Xin'anjiang River Basin signed by Anhui Province and Zhejiang Province in 2011 is regarded as a natural experiment. It takes the database of Chinese industrial enterprises from 2008 to 2013 as the research sample, and uses the System GMM method to calculate total factor productivity. According to the scope of policy implementation, the enterprises located in the policy compensation area(Huangshan City)are selected as the experimental group, and the DID method is used to study the impact of trans-provincial horizontal ecological compensation on the total factor productivity of enterprises in Xin'anjiang River Basin. It is found that, the implementation of the policy significantly improves the total factor productivity of enterprises through tax relief, government subsidies, labor productivity improvement and capital deepening, and the effect is sustainable. The results of age heterogeneity show that only when enterprises enter a relatively stable period, can the policy significantly improve the total factor productivity of enterprises. The results of industry heterogeneity show that when enterprises are in labor-intensive and technology-intensive industries, the implementation of the policy is conducive to the improvement of total factor productivity, but it hinders the total factor productivity of enterprises in capital-intensive industries. This paper puts forward suggestions from three aspects: (1)Continue to promote the implementation of trans-provincial basin horizontal ecological compensation policy steadily.(2)Strengthen the supervision of ecological environment compensation funds flowing into enterprises.(3)According to the age and industry of enterprises, the policy of differentiated support and supervision should be implemented to avoid the "one-size-fits-all".The marginal contributions of this paper are as follows: (1)In terms of research content, there are few studies on the effect of horizontal ecological compensation on total factor productivity at home and abroad. This paper analyzes the implementation mechanism of ecological compensation, and further studies the implementation of basin horizontal ecological compensation through four kinds of mechanisms for the total factor productivity of enterprises.(2)In terms of data method, this paper uses the relatively new Chinese industrial enterprise database for empirical analysis, while the DID method can effectively reduce the endogenous problem and improve the reliability and robustness of empirical regression results.


High-performance cryptographic code often relies on complex hand-tuned assembly language that is customized for individual hardware platforms. Such code is difficult to understand or analyze. We introduce a new programming language and tool called Vale that supports flexible, automated verification of high-performance assembly code. The Vale tool transforms annotated assembly language into an abstract syntax tree (AST), while also generating proofs about the AST that are verified via an SMT solver. Since the AST is a first-class proof term, it can be further analyzed and manipulated by proven-correct code before being extracted into standard assembly. For example, we have developed a novel, proven-correct taint-analysis engine that verifies the code's freedom from digital side channels. Using these tools, we verify the correctness, safety, and security of implementations of SHA-256 on x86 and ARM, Poly1305 on x64, and hardware-accelerated AES-CBC on x86. Several implementations meet or beat the performance of unverified, state-of-the-art cryptographic libraries.


This paper presents an efficient approach to secure network formation in distributed sensor networks (DSNs), which could be used for secure communications among the nodes after the start of the network's operation. The structure of the network is formed on the basis of offline rank assignments by pre-distribution of secret keys to the participating sensors. Our approach uses the notion of weakly connected dominating set (WCDS) to reduce the number of cluster-heads in the network for greater resource efficiency. The clusters in the network are formed in a secure and efficient way so that no hostile entity could be included in any cluster during network structuring process. We propose an efficient algorithm to form a network-wide secure WCDS, which includes an optional re-keying mechanism to increase the level of security. Our objective is to ensure security in distributed sensor network from the bootstrapping stage up to the beginning of its operation. Along with the description of our approach, we present detailed analysis, simulation results and comparisons of our approach with other related schemes.


The purpose of this development was to validate the use of the external Rover Ultra High Frequency (RUHF) antenna for space under extreme thermal environments to be encountered during the surface operations of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. The antenna must survive all ground operations plus the nominal 670 Martian sol mission that includes summer and winter seasons of the Mars thermal environment.The qualification effort was to verify that the RUHF antenna design and its bonding and packaging processes are adequate to survive the harsh environmental conditions. The RUHF is a quadrifilar helix antenna mounted on the MSL Curiosity rover deck. The main components of the RUHF antenna are the helix structure, feed cables, and hybrid coupler, and the high-power termination load. In the case of MSL rover externally mounted hardware, not only are the expected thermal cycle depths severe, but there are temperature offsets between the Mars summer and winter seasons. The total number of temperature cycles needed to be split into two regimes of summer cycles and winter cycles. The qualification test was designed to demonstrate a survival life of three times more than all expected ground testing, plus a nominal 670 Martian sol missions. Baseline RF tests and a visual inspection were performed prior to the start of the qualification test. Functional RF tests were performed intermittently during chamber breaks over the course of the qualification test. For the RF return loss measurements, the antenna was tested in a controlled environment outside the thermal chamber with a vector network analyzer that was calibrated over the antenna s operational frequency range. A total of 2,010 thermal cycles were performed. Visual inspection showed a dulling of the solder material. This change will not affect the performance of the antenna. No other changes were observed. RF tests were performed on the RUHF helix antenna, hybrid, and load after the 2,010 qualification cycles test. The RF performance of the RUHF antenna, hybrid, and load were almost identical before and after the complete test. Therefore, the developed design of RUHF is qualified for a long-duration MSL mission. The RUHF antenna has not been used for long-duration missions such as MSL in the past. The state-of-the-art technology of the RUHF antenna is used to develop the antennas for MSL mission survivability. This developmental test data provides the confidence in using this RUHF antenna for future NASA missions to Mars.


The effects of titanium modification, which was added along with the pouring liquid in ladles, on the shrinkage porosity and cavity of cast steel ZG35 smelted in intermediate frequency induction furnace were studied. Proper content of titanium could effectively increase the volume of concentrated shrinkage cavity, and restrain the forming of shrinkage porosity. The concentrated shrinkage cavity was analyzed quantitatively by stuffing wet gluten and draining water method. The maximal cavity arrived at 0.15wt.% titanium modification. By scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy disperse spectroscope (EDS) analysis, it was found that TiC, acting as heterogeneous nuclei, could refine the structure grains, diminish the strong dendrites, and increase the fluidity and feeding capacity of steel liquid. However, overdoes titanium modification easily caused mass nitrides or oxides, which kept solid phases with high meting point in metal liquid to increase its viscosity and decrease the fluidity. On the other hand, these solid state titanium compounds enlarged the composition supercooling, so the metal liquid changed from sequential solidification to simultaneous solidification, resulting in inadequate metal liquid feeding, less oncentrated shrinkage cavity and serious shrinkage porosity.


Purpose: The paper aims to review the academic research work done in the area of Islamic financial technology. The Islamic FinTech area has been classified into three broad categories of the Islamic FinTech, Islamic Financial technology opportunities and challenges, Cryptocurrency/Blockchain sharia compliance and law/regulation. Finally, the study identifies and highlights the opportunities and challenges that Islamic Financial institutions can learn from the conventional FinTech organization across the world. Approach/Methodology/Design: The study collected 112 research studies (50 from Social Science Research Network (SSRN), 30 from Research gate, 12 from Google Scholar and 20 from other sources) in the area of Islamic Financial Technology. The study presents the systematic review of the above studies. Findings: The study classifies the Islamic FinTech into three broad categories namely, Islamic FinTech opportunities and challenges, Cryptocurrency/Blockchain sharia compliance and law/regulation. The study identifies that the sharia compliance related to the cryptocurrency/Blockchain is the biggest challenge which Islamic FinTech organizations are facing. During our review we also find that Islamic FinTech organizations are to be considered as partners by the Islamic Financial Institutions (IFI's) than the competitors. If Islamic Financial institutions want to increase efficiency, transparency and customer satisfaction they have to adopt FinTech and become partners with the FinTech companies. Practical Implications: The study will contribute positively to the understanding of Islamic Fintech for the academia, industry, regulators, investors and other FinTech users. Originality/Value: The study believes to contribute positively to understanding of Fintech based technology like cryptocurrency/Blockchain from sharia perspective.


Stability of fresh-cut cabbage packed in low density polyethylene under active modified atmosphere and in expanded polyestyrene trays wrapped with PVC was evaluated. The fresh-cut product was stored for 16 days in a cold room at 5 ± 1 °C and 95 ± 5% RH and in a refrigerated display case similar to those found in grocery stores. The following variables were analyzed: content of oxygen and carbon dioxide inside the package headspace; browning, luminosity, polyphenoloxidase and peroxidase activities, pH, titratable acidity; soluble solids, fresh mass loss, and ascorbic acid content. The stability of fresh-cut cabbage was higher at the temperature of 5 °C compared to those stored in the refrigerated displays. The active modified atmosphere was not effective in extending the shelf life of fresh-cut cabbage compared to other treatments. LDPE packaging was more adequate for fresh-cut cabbage storage. However, PVC wrapping also presented satisfactory effects.


Numerous eddies have been identified in a seven year time series of mooring observations in the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean. We focus on a series of deep eddies centered at ∼1200 m depth, and occupying up to 1500 m of the water column. The deep eddies are found to be spatially localized, only ever being observed at one of four mooring sites of the Beaufort Gyre Observing System in the Canada Basin. However, despite only a few previously reported observations of deep eddies in the Arctic Ocean, we find that they are the most prevalent eddy‐type at this location. Based on this observation, together with an analysis of the temperature‐salinity structure, and the exclusively anticyclonic rotation of the deep eddies, we hypothesize that they are formed by a density‐driven outflow from the Chukchi Borderland region. We also describe a simple analytical model to explain the observed vertical scales of the eddies.


Riboswitches are structured RNAs typically located in the 5′ untranslated regions of bacterial mRNAs that bind metabolites and control gene expression. Most riboswitches sense one metabolite and function as simple genetic switches. However, we found that the 5′ region of the Bacillus clausii metE messenger RNA includes two riboswitches that respond to S-adenosylmethionine and coenzyme B12. This tandem arrangement yields a composite gene control system that functions as a two-input Boolean NOR logic gate. These findings and the discovery of additional tandem riboswitch architectures reveal how simple RNA elements can be assembled to make sophisticated genetic decisions without involving protein factors.


: The influence of immune serum, PMN leucocytes, and macrophages from immunized animals and metabolic inhibitors on the intraphagocytic degradation of isotopically labeled bacteria has been evaluated. Immune serum specifically delayed the degradation of a variety of P(32)- and C(14)-labeled organisms within both types of phagocytic cells. The active principle in immune serum was found to be a globulin which could be removed by adsorption with the homologous organism. The inhibiting action of immune serum was thought to be related to its combination with the bacterial surface and the subsequent temporary protection of the bacteria from leucocyte enzymes. PMN leucocytes and macrophages obtained from immune hosts did not differ from normal cells in their ability to degrade homologous, labeled bacteria. Immune serum had the same inhibiting influence in the presence of "immune" cells as with cells from non-immunized hosts. Iodoacetate, arsenite, and cyanide at concentrations which inhibited the glycolysis and respiration of both PMN leucocytes and macrophages had no influence on the rate of degradation of isotopically labeled bacteria engulfed by these cells. This implied that following the initial phagocytic events, the degradation of bacteria within leucocytes is not dependent upon the major pathways of energy metabolism.


Clickbait refers to deliberately created sensational or deceptive text for tricking readers into clicking, which severely hurts the web ecosystem. With a growing number of clickbaits on social media, developing automatic detection methods becomes essential. Nonetheless, the performance of existing neural classifiers is limited due to the underutilization of small labelled datasets. Inspired by related pedagogy theories that learning to write can promote comprehension ability, we propose a novel Contrastive Variational Modelling (CVM) framework to exploit the labelled data better. CVM models the conditional distributions of text and clickbait labels by predicting labels from text and generating text from labels simultaneously with Variational AutoEncoder and further differentiates the learned spaces under each label by a mixed contrastive learning loss. In this way, CVM can capture more underlying textual properties and hence utilize label information to its full potential, boosting detection performance. We theoretically demonstrate CVM as learning a joint distribution of text, clickbait label, and latent variable. Experiments on three clickbait detection datasets show our method's robustness to inadequate and biased labels, outperforming several recent strong baselines.