This thesis offers a theoretical analysis of the process by which borders have come to be precise, fixed, mappable, and infinitely thin lines traced over the surface of the earth. I argue that accounts of global modernity should understand the linearization of borders as a process related to, but relatively autonomous from processes of state formation and other structures and processes typically associated with global modernity. In other words, linear borders have their own causes and consequences, which the thesis aims to unpack. The contribution of the thesis lies within debates on the historical origins of modern international relations which often overlook the history of borders through a focus on sovereignty.
The thesis theorizes modern linear borders as an outcome of 'survey rationality', drawing on theories of rationalization. Survey rationality is a mode of territorial governance which conceives of the location of predefined borders as a technical and non-political question, and therefore susceptible to measurement and calculation through surveys and other technologies. The central argument of the thesis is that survey rationality on its own is not a natural or necessary part of territorial rule, but must be articulated with other historically particular rationalities in order to be effective in practice. I illustrate this argument historically by examining two such historically particular rationalities: first, the logic of agrarian capitalism in the English colonies of North America, and secondly, the logic of the civilizing mission in the 'Scramble for Africa'. Finally, I show how international politics are different in a world of formally linearized borders. Linear borders underpin hierarchies by altering the distribution of geographical knowledge resources, for example at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and they contribute to a modular pattern of territorial partition, from Mysore and Poland in the 18th century to Vietnam and Korea in the 20th.


No company is immune from experiencing the highs and lows of the business lifecycle throughout the course of its existence. Regardless of their ultimate level of success and distress, or failure, most firms will experience early days of achievement and later challenges that threaten this success. How can business leaders lessen the impact of a downturn? What can owners and investors do when the first signs of distress become evident? This case study will highlight a proven five-step turnaround process that can help companies restore value.


Spin-momentum locking is a peculiar effect in the near-field of guided optical or plasmonic modes. It can be utilized to map the spinning or handedness of electromagnetic fields onto the propagation direction. This motivates a method to probe the circular dichroism of an illuminated chiral object. In this work, we demonstrate local, subdiffraction limited chiral coupling of light and propagating surface plasmon polaritons in a self-assembled system of a gold nanoantenna and a silver nanowire. A thin silica shell around the nanowire provides precise distance control and also serves as a host for fluorescent molecules, which indicate the direction of plasmon propagation. We characterize our nanoantenna-nanowire systems comprehensively through correlated electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, dark-field, and fluorescence imaging. Three-dimensional numerical simulations support the experimental findings. Besides our measurement of far-field polarization, we estimate sensing capabilities and derive not only a sensitivity of 1 mdeg for the ellipticity of the light field, but also find 103 deg cm2/dmol for the circular dichroism of an analyte locally introduced in the hot spot of the antenna-wire system. Thorough modeling of a prototypical design predicts on-chip sensing of chiral analytes. This introduces our system as an ultracompact sensor for chiral response far below the diffraction limit.


Reduced expression of the tissue transglutaminase in both murine and human tumours has been consistently associated with tumour growth and progression. To investigate the functional effects of transglutaminase expression we have transfected a constitutive human tissue transglutaminase expression construct into a highly malignant hamster fibrosarcoma cell line Met B. Met B clones expressing the exogenous tissue transglutaminase exhibited a reduced incidence of primary tumour formation and an increased adherence to tissue culture plastic and fibronectin coated surfaces when compared to transfected and non transfected control cells. Transglutaminase transfected clones exhibited no significant differences in their growth rates measured in vitro, cell morphology or levels of spontaneous apoptosis measured by the determination of detergent insoluble apoptotic envelopes. The data demonstrates a suppressive effect of tissue transglutaminase on tumour growth and confirms its importance in the phenotypic changes associated with the cancer process.


Photography on the periphery of colonial empires has attracted attention in Africa and Asia but less so in the Pacific, partly due to the scattered nature of small and large collections divided between the metropole and the newer colonial archives and personal and family holdings around the globe. This has prevented the work of officially sanctioned albums, large glass plate and print collections, and smaller private collections being brought to the foreground of visual histories of French colonialism. New Caledonia, a French colony from 1853, and later promoted as a penal colony, a settler colony and a economic powerhouse due to nickel mining wealth has a rich visual history due to the popularity of photography with professional and amateur resident photographers, visiting officials and tarvellers, and the colonial adnministratiion. The Archives of New Caledonia has now addressed that problem of a scatterred archive by creating a massive collection of colonial photography of the French colony of New Caledonia in one place at the Archives of New Caledonia at Ile Nou, Noumea, drawn from private donations, purchases in Europe and astute managing of the global photography market. What is reveaed is a reinforcement of existing historical accounts, but equally divergent histories and alternative stories of life on the frontier.


This paper reports on a study of the colloidal properties of yeast fermented in control and premature yeast flocculation (PYF) worts. A lager yeast strain was fermented in both control and PYF worts and analyzed for cell wall properties. Yeast from the PYF wort exhibited more flocculation than the control. The PYF fermentation yielded yeast with less negative zeta potential than the control (P < 0.001). When both yeasts were resuspended in beer (filtered through a 10-kDa filter), there was no difference in the surface charge of the control and PYF yeasts (P > 0.05). This suggests that wort colloids or trub larger than 10 kDa caused a reduction in surface charge. Cell separation forces estimated by floc breakup through a capillary indicated PYF yeast flocs exhibited higher apparent separation force. The orthokinetic capture coefficients of control and PYF yeasts showed significant differences in capture coefficient values between both of the yeast suspensions, with the PYF capture coefficient values being higher from 72 hr of fermentation onward (P < 0.05). A physical mechanism of PYF has been proposed that involves electrostatic interaction between wort particles (positively charged toward the end of fermentation) and yeast (negatively charged through fermentation).


Climatic events affect the behaviour and ecology of many mammal species (e.g. activity, body condition, home range sizes or predation risk). We investigated short-term changes in movements, activity and habitat use of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) in response to two major snowfall events in a grassland ecosystem in the southern South Island of New Zealand during winter of 2011. Global positioning system collars were deployed on 21 possums. Generalised linear mixed models showed that, on average, possums reduced their movements and activity (measured by distances between consecutive fixes) during periods of snow cover. One hundred percent minimum convex polygon areas decreased by 37% on average, and 95% and 50% kernel density contour ranges decreased by 34% and 36%, respectively. Two to three possums (depending on the snowfall event) actually increased their movements during snow cover. No dramatic changes in habitat use were observed during the study but rock habitats were used slightly more often during snow periods, probably because rocks provide warmer and drier shelters during harsh weather conditions. Our study illustrates the behaviour of possums in seasonally harsh conditions outside their native range.


I argue that Glissant conceived of opacity first and foremost in his poetry and in his readings of earlier writers, from Mallarme to Saint-John Perse to William Faulkner, whose moments of complication or incomprehensibility he found productive. By examining the literary valence of this concept of Caribbean philosophy, I claim that opacity not only protects the subject from the invasive grasp of (neo)colonial thought but also, more affirmatively, invites the reader to join the poet on equal footing in the process of sense-making. It is this kind of collective poetics, a collectivity created in opacity, that Glissant imagines in his broader world vision of Relation and the Tout-Monde.


The performance of active contour model is limited on retinal vessel segmentation as vessel images are usually corrupted with intensity inhomogeneity, low contrast, and weak boundary, which severely affect the segmentation results of retinal vessels. A new active contour model combining the local and global information is proposed in this paper to facilitate the vessel segmentation. In our model, the fuzzy conception is firstly introduced as fuzzy methods generally provide more accurate and robust clustering and the concept of fuzziness in fuzzy clustering, which is represented by membership, can reflect the intensity distribution of the image. Then, we define local energy based on Maximum a Posterior Probability and use spatially varying parameters, mean and stand deviation, to describe the local Gaussian distribution in order to better deal with intensity inhomogeneity. Furthermore, we combine local and global energy based on fuzzy clustering, with a weight coefficient. The coefficient is computed by a weight function according to contrast ratio of the image. Experiments on synthetic and real images and comparisons with other state‐of‐the‐art active contour models show that the proposed model can detect objects more accurate and robust, especially for vessels on retinal angiogram.


In this study, three analytical radiative transfer (RT) models and a numerical RT model are used to simulate the thermal-infrared (8-13 μm) emissivity spectra of snow surfaces. The single-scattering albedo and asymmetry factor calculated by Mie theory, in conjunction with that modified by two existing packing correction methods, are used as inputs to these RT models. The simulated snow emissivity spectra are compared with in situ measurements. The best models for simulating snow emissivity spectra are identified at the conclusion of this paper.


The relation between the phenomenology of the fugue and the field of ethical behaviour was of central concern to the creative career of Glenn Gould, explored using a terminology of ecstasy, morality, and technology. This thesis attempts to further pursue the issue by moderating a conversation between dissociation theory, drawn from the cognitive sciences, and a discourse on dialogic transaction, derived from various literary and philosophical sources. Investigation of the fugal experience requires specification of the ritual context deemed to facilitate it, as well the fugue's salient structural properties. Under a regime of intense attention, it is claimed that fugal logic precipitates a perceptual "crisis" calling for a change in cognitive strategy. Practice permits the discovery of one such alternative, proposed to be an unusual, dissociated form of processing in which response set has been suspended without a corresponding loss of vigilance, allowing consciousness of a greater amount of perceptual information. The resultant phenomenology is marked by a heightened sense of temporal immediacy, spatial presence, emotional dynamism, combined with a feeling of depersonalisation. The ethical hypothesis deals with this experience, proposed to represent, in effect, a fragile, temporary annulment of the self: those higher-level memory constructs--including language--that mediate one's reactions to the world, and dominate processes of environmental monitoring and perception. The outcome is a novel level of interoception that seems to validate the etymology of ecstasy as a liberating experience of "standing outside the self". The specifically ethical thrust concerns the application of moral discipline, defined as an attentional focus and application of energy designed to transport the fugue state outside the confines of its ritual enactment. In this way, the subject begins to gain insight into the confining nature of habitual consciousness. Such a process, it is speculated, would be dependent upon a procedural ability to auto-cue the dissociative state in absence of the external perceptual framework that initiated it. Finally, the thesis offers an extended critique of the current cultural ethos with respect to the status of language, and in particular to the debilitating effect of dualistic thought.


It is estimated that world ginseng production has increased from 3,200 tonnes In 1983 to 5,132 tonnes in 1987. China produced approximately hart of world ginseng production and South Korea's production amounts to 31.9% of world ginseng production. Canadian ginseng production of 114 tonnes in 1987 represents only 2.2% of estimated world production. World ginseng production is projected to increase to 6,856 tonnes by 1992. Canadian production as a proportion of total world production is expected to increase to 3.3% however, North American production overall is projected to decrease 12.0% of world production by 1992. Assuming that the value of each country's production is equal to average export price, the value of world ginseng production is estimated to be $ 443 million The estimated values of Korean, North Anerican and Canadian ginseng production represent $ 198.3million, 977.1 million, and $ 12.5 million, redpectively.


Objectives: While neuropsychological impairment in bipolar disorder is well documented, the effect size of this impairment is rarely compared directly to that in other clinically familiar cognitive disorders. This study compares neuropsychological functioning of euthymic bipolar patients to those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as well as healthy controls. Methods: Following evaluation during regular follow-up in a mood disorders clinic, 58 euthymic adult bipolar subjects were administered a validated and fully computerized cognitive assessment (Mindstreams; NeuroTrax Corp., N.Y., USA). Study data were compared to existing data for MCI and cognitively healthy individuals tested with the same assessment. Results: Final analyses were based on 51 bipolar patients, 162 MCI patients and 495 healthy comparison subjects. Significant (p < 0.001) group effects were found for every parameter. Post hoc analysis revealed that the bipolar and MCI groups showed statistically equivalent functioning in memory, executive function, verbal function, and information processing speed. In the domains of visual-spatial processing, attention, and motor skills, the MCI group outperformed the bipolar group. In every domain, the healthy control group outperformed both the bipolar and the MCI groups. Conclusions: The cognitive function of euthymic bipolar patients and those diagnosed with MCI was found to be similar in most but not all domains. Both groups performed significantly less well than the comparison group of healthy subjects. It may be helpful for clinicians to conceptualize the overall level of cognitive impairment in bipolar patients as similar to that in MCI.


At the Ketzin pilot site for geological CO2 storage, about 67,000 tons of CO2 were injected during the period June 2008 – August 2013. Since August 2013, the site is in its post-closure phase. Before and during the injection phase, a comprehensive monitoring programme was established. In the early post-injection phase, a majority of the monitoring activities have continued. The stepwise abandonment of the pilot site, which is planned to be accomplished in 2018, marks also the termination of most monitoring activities. Four 3D seismic surveys were acquired between 2005 and 2015 for characterizing the reservoir structure and its overburden and for monitoring the propagation of the injected CO2 in the storage formation. The first and second repeat surveys revealed the lateral extension of the CO2 plume after injecting 22 and 61 ktons, respectively. In autumn 2015, the third 3D repeat seismic survey, serving as the first post-injection survey, was acquired. The survey was acquired using the same acquisition geometry as for previous surveys, consisting of 33 templates with five receiver lines and twelve source profiles perpendicular to the receiver lines. Seismic processing of the recently acquired data has resulted in preliminary observations which can be summarized as follows: As in previous seismic repeat surveys, a clear CO2 signature is observed at the top of the storage formation. No systematic amplitude changes are observed above the reservoir which might indicate leakage. Compared to the second repeat survey acquired in 2012, the lateral extent of the CO2 plume seems to have been reduced, which may be an indication for ongoing (and relatively fast) dissolution of the CO2 in the formation brine and diffusion into very thin layers indicating pressure release. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of GHGT-13.


The End of Poverty: How We Can Make it Happen in Our LifeTimeby Jeffrey SachsPenguin Books, 2005, 396 pp., ISBN 1-59420-045-9
In many parts of the world, poverty, undeterred by the vast technological resources at humanity's disposal and unfazed by the many declarations of war against it, still ravages the lives of millions. It is the juxtaposition of the obvious human capacity to "make poverty history" and the empty rhetoric on poverty eradication that Jeffrey Sachs seeks to bring to wider attention in his book. Sachs, as some have observed, is a rock star of an economist - a labelling that is confirmed both by the media hype around the book and the company he keeps - celebrities of all colours and stripes, billionaires, presidents. This has helped the book reach the attention of a much wider audience than is usual for books on poverty and underdevelopment.


Endosomes are key sorting compartments in the endomembrane system, including the sorting of transmembrane proteins for degradation. This is achieved by a endocytic event in which the cargo-enriched endosomal membrane buds away from the cytosol and releases an intraluminal vesicle (ILV) into the endosomal lumen. Endosomes that contain ILVs are called multivesicular bodies (MVBs) and ILVs together with their cargo are finally degraded by the fusion of MVBs with the vacuole.
ILV formation is executed by evolutionary conserved multi-protein complexes that are called the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) system. The late steps of ILV formation are regulated by the ESCRTIII core and associated complex, in which the AAA-ATPase SUPPRESSOR OF K(+) TRANSPORT GROWTH DEFECT 1 (SKD1) is the key enzyme. Recent studies in Arabidopsis thaliana showed that SPIRRIG, a stimulator of SKD1 function in MVB formation, has also a function in the stress-dependent formation of Processing bodies (P-bodies). P-bodies, together with stress granules, are two classes of mRNA-ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) granules that sequester mRNAs during stress-induced polysome disassembly.
To see, if other late acting ESCRTIII proteins are associated with mRNP granules, an exhaustive colocalization study was performed. This study showed that SKD1 changes its subcellular localization after heat stress to mRNP granules, independent of MVBs. Other ESCRTIII associated proteins, but none of the tested ESCRTIII core proteins, colocalized to mRNP granule markers. The sequestration of SKD1 and some of its cofactors in mRNP granules led to the hypothesis, that ESCRT trafficking might be temporarily blocked during heat stress. First evidence supporting this hypothesis was gained by the study of the subcellular localization of PIN-FORMED 2, which is transported by ESCRT, after heat stress. In a broader approach, the interactome of SKD1 was analyzed. Several proteins known to associate with mRNP granules were identified, such as members of the chaperonin-containing T-complex or the P-body protein VARICOSE. In addition, new potential interactions with other membrane trafficking proteins, such as members of the homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS)/class C core vacuole/endosome tethering (CORVET) complex, were identified. A subcellular localization analysis confirmed the association of some candidates with mRNP granules after heat stress and indicated that proteins of other membrane trafficking routes might also be recruited to mRNP granules by heat stress.


Generalised trust has been associated with a range of positive effects. However, the problem is that little is known about the spatial distribution of trust at a small area level due to the lack of geographically detailed data. Censuses do not provide data on social capital, attitudes, and values, and other social surveys commonly lack spatial detail. This paper examines the intraurban geography of generalised trust based on small area estimates derived from synthetic spatial microdata created for Sydney, Australia. The synthetic data were generated using combinatorial optimisation and data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and the 2006 Census. Based on these data, a clear spatial pattern of generalised trust in Sydney can be identified independent of administrative data such as local government areas. The socioeconomic status and ethnic composition in neighbourhoods relate in large parts—though not fully—to the geographical pattern of trust. Variations from the pattern tend to be associated with specific local characteristics. The analysis further suggests that associations between generalised trust and other variables such as population density, residential mobility, and housing situation are not consistent across the city. In addition, mapping the small area estimates shows that small pockets of neighbourhoods with low and high levels of trust exist within larger areas characterised by opposing levels of trust, and often have neighbouring transition areas with medium levels of trust.


Operational El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-based statistical forecasting of seasonal rainfall has been undertaken in Australia now for the best part of two decades. This article compares the performance in recent years (1997 to 2009) of the two major governmental programs currently forecasting seasonal rainfall across Australia, through the verification of independent forecasts. These programs are run by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Queensland Government's Department of Environment and Resource Management (and its predecessors). In this study, the Queensland Government's Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) phase-based forecasts are not verified directly. Instead, the SOI-phase system methodology is reconstructed using the Bureau's monthly rainfall analyses and those reconstructed forecasts verified. Verification techniques employed include linear error in probability space (LEPS2) skill scores, per cent consistent rates, and reliability statistics.
Over recent years, the Bureau forecasts and the SOI-phase forecasts have performed comparably when measured by the per cent consistent statistic, although with successes and failures in different parts of the country. Both sets of forecasts show widespread forecast skill in excess of climatology, the Bureau forecasts performing better in the west of the country and the SOI-phase forecasts performing better in the centre and east. The generally more emphatic SOI-phase forecasts translated into higher LEPS2 skill scores, but the Bureau forecasts showed greater reliability.


Large industrial units, electrical generating stations and nuclear power plants all produce waste heat during different processes generally in the form of flue gases or warm water. The high or medium temperate waste heat can be used for many applications, however low temperature waste heat has a few usages such as space heating, water heating or preheating in different industrial processes. Heating is one of the main costs for greenhouse especially in the cold regions like Sweden, so it is very clear that the use of waste heat for greenhouse space heating can bring economical and environmental friendly benefits both for industries and greenhouse owners.This report investigated both technical and economical possibilities to start new greenhouses in the region close to the industries to make use of their waste heat. Case study of 300 m2 polycarbonate twinwall greenhouse selected and peak power demand, annual heat energy and operational electricity requirement for it calculated. This study showed that each square meter of greenhouse requires around 233 W and 270 kWh per year. Case study of Sorption Company could support 656 m2 greenhouse.Economy calculations investigated investment and annual cost and by using an online calculating program, pay-off time and profitability of investment has been studied. Pay-off time counted for 3.1 years, which can be considered as a good investment for such a projects.


In this paper, I analyze the Latin American development problem using a model with input-output linkages, sectorial productivity gaps, and sector-specific distortions. I provide a characterization of the sectorial linkages and distortions in the region, and quantify the gains in aggregate output of closing productivity gaps and eliminating distortions. I provide policy design recommendations for the region by identifying the sectors where opportunities areas for policy improvement are present.


There is a nationwide drive to get more girls into physics and coding, and some educators believe gaming could be a way to get girls interested in coding and STEM topics. This project, sponsored by NSF, is to create a QCD game that will raise public interest in QCD, especially among K-12 girls, and increase interest in coding among girls. Through the immersive framework of interactive gameplay, this QCD phone game will allow the public to peek into the QCD research world. The game design will fall into the "Match 3" genre, which typically attracts a higher ratio of female players. The game will be implemented initially as a phone app, and the gameplay would require learning simple QCD rules to progress. By leveraging the willingness of players to engage with the rules of an entertaining game, they are able to easily learn a few principles of physics. The game is now available to download from the Google Play store (this https URL) and the Apple Appstore (this https URL)!
We formed a development team of MSU undergraduate students to make the game and provided them with a QCD curriculum. The game will be tested at MSU outreach activities, as well as among local K-12 girls through school activities, and feedback will be used to improve the design. The final game can be easily distributed through various app stores and impact will be measured through a follow-up survey. If such a new direction works to attract more girls to coding and physics, one should develop more games to engage more girls in STEM.


Limited by the refreshable data volume of commercial spatial light modulator (SLM), electronic holography can hardly provide satisfactory 3D live video. Here we propose a holography based multiview 3D display by separating the phase information of a lightfield from the amplitude information. In this paper, the phase information was recorded by a 5.5-inch 4-view phase plate with a full coverage of pixelated nano-grating arrays. Because only amplitude information need to be updated, the refreshing data volume in a 3D video display was significantly reduced. A 5.5 inch TFT-LCD with a pixel size of 95 μm was used to modulate the amplitude information of a lightfield at a rate of 20 frames per second. To avoid crosstalk between viewing points, the spatial frequency and orientation of each nano-grating in the phase plate was fine tuned. As a result, the transmission light converged to the viewing points. The angular divergence was measured to be 1.02 degrees (FWHM) by average, slightly larger than the diffraction limit of 0.94 degrees. By refreshing the LCD, a series of animated sequential 3D images were dynamically presented at 4 viewing points. The resolution of each view was 640 × 360. Images for each viewing point were well separated and no ghost images were observed. The resolution of the image and the refreshing rate in the 3D dynamic display can be easily improved by employing another SLM. The recoded 3D videos showed the great potential of the proposed holographic 3D display to be used in mobile electronics.


Summary
Background. Oral allergy syndrome (OAS) is the most common food allergy manifestation amongst adults. However, population studies aimed at estimating its prevalence and associated factors are scarce in Mexi-co. Objectives. To establish the prevalence of OAS in a sample of university students and to describe their clinical characteristics and its associated factors. Methods. From a sample group made up of 25,269 university students, the data corresponding to 1,200 students aged 18 to 25 was analyzed with a cross-sectional approach. A structured questionnaire was used to identify OAS, its symptoms and related foods, and the personal history of atopic diseases. The associations between variables were calculated through logistical regression analysis. Results. The prevalence of OAS was 3.4%, with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 2.5 to 4.6. The main oral symptoms reported were lip pruritus, edema and the sensation of pharyngeal oppression. Among the extra-oral complaints were: reddish coloration of the skin, body pruritus, abdominal pain, and abdominal bloating. The foods that were most frequently associated with OAS were fruits (68.5%), vegetables (22.0%) and seafood (19.3%). Through multivariate analyses, allergy to pollen and latex were found to be associated with OAS, OR 3.29; 95%: CI 1.53 to 7.10 and OR 5.53; 95% CI: 1.08 to 28.2, respectively. Conclusions. Notably, the prevalence of OAS varies according to the geographic area. Personal histories of allergy to pollen or latex were the main factors linked to OAS.


This paper contains, performance of fuzzy controllers which evaluated and compared. It also describes the speed control based on Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) technique. The comparison is based on their ability of controlling the speed of DC motor, which merely focuses on performance of the controllers, and also time domain specifications such as rise time, settling time and peak overshoot. The controller is designed using MATLAB software, the results shows that the fuzzy controllers are the good but it as higher overshoot in comparison with optimal LQR. Thus, the comparative study recommends LQR controller gives better performance than the other controllers.


Learning, rationality and the reduction of uncertainty are generally understood
to contribute to better problem solving, both by allowing more problems to be
solved and by solving those problems more efficiently. Consequently, learning,
rationality and uncertainty reduction are directly embedded in the scientific
method and other problem solving frameworks. Nevertheless, some agent-based
models of problem solving suggest that learning, rationality and uncertainty
reduction can be detrimental to long term problem solving by increasing prob-
lem solving efficiency at the expense of the ability to solve more problems.
This paper presents a new agent-based model that draws on previous models of
problem solving to further explore the relationship between learning, rationality,
uncertainty reduction and problem solving. The results show that uncertainty
reduction improves problem solving efficiency but not the number of problems
that are solved, and further suggest that learning can increase as well as decrease uncertainty with the key to complete and efficient problem solving hinging on the balance between uncertainty growth and reduction.


Total internal reflection of a pulsed light beam upon an interface between two dielectric media is investigated by means of a rigorous plane-wave expansion method, and a simple analytical expression of the reflected pulsed beam is obtained on the condition of Gaussian-shaped pulsed beam illumination. It is shown that, because of the frequency-dependent Goos–Hanchen shift, the reflected pulsed beam undergoes position-dependent distortions including carrier frequency shift, phase shift, pulse duration, and chirp, which are of theoretical importance for designing optical devices used for total internal reflection of ultrashort pulses.


How faith is created, shattered, lost, renewed, challenged, and strengthened in narratives from around the world and from the Golden Age of Spain to the present day. - Maria Rippon


Reactions of the labile complex (Me3tach)M(CO)3 (Me3tach = 1,3,5-trimethyl-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane; M = W, Mo) with bis(phenylthio)alkanes ( = PhS(CH2)nSPh), (2:3 molar ratio) in CH2Cl2 as solvent (at 35 oC M = W, 0 oC M = Mo) afforded in good yields bimetallic tricarbonyl complexes triply- bridged by bis(phenylthio)alkanes of the type [M(CO)3]2(μ-PhS-(CH2)n-SPh)3 [n = 3 (a), 4 (b), 5 (c), 6 (d); M = W (1), Mo (2)]. These new triply-bridged complexes were characterized by 1H NMR, FT-IR and elemental analysis. Additionally, it has been observed that the thermodynamic stability of some of these new complexes in chlorinated hydrocarbons depends mainly on the nature of the metal center and varies in the order W >> Mo.


PurposeThis study evaluates the change in intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma medication requirements after clear corneal phacoemulsification in open angle glaucoma patients, glaucoma suspects, and normal patients at 3 years and last follow-up (mean 5 y). Patients and MethodsThis study represents a retrospective analysis of patients who had clear corneal phacoemulsification and at least 3 years of follow-up. The patients were classified into 3 groups: glaucoma (G), glaucoma suspects (GS), and no glaucoma (NG). No patient had a history of previous intraocular surgery. Single factor analysis of variance, Fisher exact tests, 2-tailed paired Student t tests and Kaplan-Meier analysis were applied. ResultsForty-eight patients (55 eyes) in the glaucoma group, 41 patients (44 eyes) in the GS group, and 59 patients (59 eyes) in the NG group met the above criteria. At 3 years follow-up IOP was significantly decreased in all groups; (G) group decreased 1.4±3.3 mm Hg (P=0.0025), GS 1.4±4.2 mm Hg (P=0.004), and NG 1.7±3.1 mm Hg (P=0.0005). At the final follow-up visit (mean near 5 y for all groups) the IOP was significantly decreased in all groups, (G) group 1.8±3.5 mm Hg (P=0.005), GS 1.3±3.7 mm Hg (P=0.025), and NG 1.5±2.5 mm Hg (P<0.0001). The number of preoperative and postoperative glaucoma medications in the (G) group did not show any significant change at 3 and 5 years (P=0.36, P=0.87). Kaplan-Meier analysis shows that at 3 years, 85% of the (G) group, 81% of GS, and 90% of the NG had IOPs less than or equal to their preoperative IOP, with the same number of glaucoma medications or less. At 5 years the percentages were 76%, 79%, and 85%, respectively. ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that cataract removal by clear cornea phacoemulsification in glaucoma patients, glaucoma suspects, and normal patients results in a small but significant decrease in IOP that is sustained at 3 years and a mean of 5 years in all groups. This study does not imply that cataract removal by phacoemulsification is a substitute for a combined procedure but may be an appropriate procedure for certain patients based on medication requirements and extent of optic nerve damage.


The article emphasizes that the palliative medical care is considered in the Federal law "On the fundamentals of health care of citizen in the Russian Federation" (2011)as one of the types of medical care ofpopulation. The Orders of delivery of palliative care to adult population and children are in the process of development to determine in perspective the formation ofpalliative care services in the regions. The successful development of this service needs a clear-cut definition ofpalliative care to formulate the corresponding tasks and contingents ofpatients. The Preference is to be given to the definition which considers palliative medical care as a medical care of patients with diagnosis of active incurable progressing disease at the stage when possibilities of specialized/radical treatment are exhausted or limited.


An increasing number of Americans are using herbal medications.(11) Research has shown a large discrepancy in the number of people reported using herbal therapies.(7) The purpose of this study is to determine the percent of the clinical population of the Pacific University Vision Centers that are using herbal alternatives; and if they are reporting this use to their physicians. A survey of herbal usage and reported use to physicians was distributed in Pacific University Vision Clinics in Forest Grove and Portland, Oregon. Of the 89 responses, 75 of the patients were taking herbal supplements, 84.27%. Sixty women responded to the survey, of those 55 were taking herbal supplements, 91.6%. Of the 29 men who responded, only 68% were using herbal supplements. (p < 0.05) Of the 75 patients using herbal supplements, only 43% have been regularly informing their physician of their supplement use. Although the response to the survey was low, a clear pattern emerged from the data that a significant portion of the population is taking herbal supplements and not reporting this use to their physicians.


Different attractive interacting colloidal systems are characterized by means of static light scattering. As most of these samples are rather concentrated, multiple scattering is suppressed by partial contrast match and the use of very a thin sample cell (13 Im). This is possible with the laboratory built flat cell light scattering instrument, which is also capable of time-resolved measurements. The systems under investigation are oilin-water emulsions with added polymer micelles or latex spheres, which give rise to depletion interaction. A second set of samples consists of electrostatically stabilized dense silica suspensions, which are destabilized by ionic strength or pH shift initiated by an in-situ reaction. The potential change from repulsive to attractive is measured time-resolved in real time. These suspensions are model systems for the so-called direct coagulation casting (DCC) method. Scattering data are evaluated using the generalized indirect Fourier transformation (GIFT) method. We added some new routines for calculating structure factors for attractively interacting systems to the already existing software package. We now can choose between a depletion interaction and an attractive square well potential, which was used for the DCC samples. The obtained results are in good agreement with the values known from preparation for the depletion samples and those predicted from DLVO calculations for the DCC series, respectively.


We report results of the daytime travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) over Japan by simultaneous ground-satellite GEONET GPS receiver network and CHAMP satellite measurements. We used TEC (Total Electron Content) from GPS data and neutral and electron densities from the CHAMP satellite. We examined total of seventeen events for the years 2002 and 2008. From the events, twelve of them have clear southward moving structures while the remaining five have clear northward moving structures in the GPS-TEC measurements are found. On 2002, total of 3 southward-moving simultaneous events are observed in January (1 event) and February (2 events). However, there is no northward-moving events in 2002. On 2008, fourteen events are observed (January (3 events), February (5), May (1), June (1) September (1), October (2) and November (1)). For all of the events CHAMP satellite measurements show quasi-periodic fluctuations in the neutral and electron density data throughout the passage. Criteria of CHAMP satellite crosses at least one clear TID phase front used to select the events. To determine if the both measurements are observing the same wave and to calculate the phase differences of those measurements, we fitted a sinusoidal function to the data and calculated frequencies and phase differences. In this presentation, we give the results of southward-moving and northward-moving TID structures observed over Japan in the simultaneous ground-satellite observations by GPS-TEC and CHAMP, and identify the source of the daytime TIDs at middle latitudes.


As software systems become more complex, the overall system structure—or software architecture—becomes a central design problem. An important step toward an engineering discipline of software is a formal basis for describing and analyzing these designs. In the article we present a formal approach to one aspect of architectural design: the interactions among components. The key idea is to define architectural connectors as explicit semantic entities. These are specified as a collection of protocols that characterize each of the participant roles in an interaction and how these roles interact. We illustrate how this scheme can be used to define a variety of common architectural connectors. We further provide a formal semantics and show how this leads to a system in which architectural compatibility can be checked in a way analogous to type-checking in programming languages.


In order to explore the capability of automated system synthesis to compose a variety of novel systems from a common set of components, an experiment simulating the design of a mobile search and rescue robotic system is developed. As an automated system synthesis experiment, this experiment explores how an automated system can generate the structure of an design which can be implemented with a defined set of components available to satisfy the design; the components used in these designs are taken as an input into the system. Thus, this document describes the defined components used in this experiment, as well as how the experiments were organized and executed, with the system performance both in terms of computational requirements and resulting designs reported. The formulation of the system synthesis approach used in these experiments are described in work referencing this document. This experiment defines a variety of common hardware and software components which may be useful for the implementation of the proposed robotic system in a variety of operating conditions. These components are based on describing components developed or used for real world components developed for a variety of previous robotics research projects. This experiment also defines a set of functional capabilities which may be included in the system, as well as a set of environmental parameters which may impact how such functionality must be implemented. These components include some components which provide similar functional capabilities with varying non-functional requirements (e.g. differing types of connection standards, differing computational resource budgets/requirements) in order to flesh out the design space such that trade-offs between selections exist.


A surface detector array samples the lateral distribution of an extensive air-shower (EAS) at the ground, i.e. the density of particles as a function of the distance from the axis of the shower. The azimuthal symmetry of this measured lateral distribution is broken for EAS with a nonzero zenith angle. The resulting asymmetry, caused by atmospheric attenuation and geometrical effects, increases with the inclination of the shower and introduces a bias in the reconstruction of the shower parameters. Using simulated sets of air-showers, we present a model to correct the azimuthal asymmetry in signals measured by water-Cherenkov detectors and exemplified using the geometry and detector response of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Testing showers initiated by proton and iron primaries using Epos-LHC and QGSJetII-04 as hadronic models, we developed a fine-tuned model of the amplitude of the asymmetry as a function of the zenith angle, shower size and distance of a detector from the shower axis. The improvements resulting from the application of the correction are quantified in terms of the biases and resolutions in the impact-point and arrival direction.


In the case of high density polyethylene (HDPE), the fatigue crack propagates in a discontinuous manner, which can be observed by distinct striations. In this article, fatigue crack growth (FCG) experiments were conducted on two grades of HDPE pipe with compact-tension (CT) and cracked round bar (CRB) specimens. The effects of the stress ratio (R-ratio) which is defined as the ratio of minimum stress and maximum stress of fatigue loadings and the frequency on FCG behavior were experimentally studied. Although FCG rates showed a great dependence on the R-ratio in terms of the range of the stress-intensity factor, the effect of the frequency may be considered to be significant in the low crack growth region. In addition, these experimental data were employed for predicting the lifetime on the basis of the crack layer (CL) theory. Only a few steps of FCG are needed to determine all necessary parameters for CL theory, and the FCG behavior can be reconstructed based on a computer program that has been developed for the application of CL theory. The predictions from this program accord with experimental data. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers


Isothermal, isobaric chemical vapor infiltration of carbon fiber felts with fiber volume fractions of 7.1% and 14.2% were investigated at infiltration times from 20 to 120 hours, using a constant temperature of 1095 oC and a methane pressure of 22.5 kPa. Bulk densities and the density profiles as well as porosity at various densification stages were determined. Inside–outside densification was obtained in the most infiltrations, the gradients of densification along the infiltration depth decrease with increasing of residence time and infiltration times. Outside–inside densification occurs only in the felt with the lower fiber volume fraction at final infiltration stage and at longer residence times. Microstructure of the obtained matrix carbon was analyzed with a polarized light microscopy. Abruptly change from low/medium textured carbon to medium/high textured carbon are observed in both of the carbon fiber felts, whereas the thickness of the first lower textured layer is about 14 micros in the felt with a fiber volume fraction of 7.1%, whereas it is only 2 micros in the felt with a fiber volume fraction of 14.2%, which is caused by an increasing of initial surface area / volume ratio, [A/V], from 33 to 71 mm-1. Results are completely in agreement with the previous simulations studies on the influence of [A/V] ratios.


In recent years, transparency has been proposed as the solution to, and the cause of, a remarkable range of public problems. The proliferation of seemingly contradictory claims about transparency becomes less puzzling, this essay argues, when one appreciates that transparency is not, in itself, a coherent normative ideal. Nor does it have a straightforward instrumental relationship to any primary goals of governance. To gain greater purchase on how transparency policies operate, scholars must move beyond abstract assumptions and drill down to the specific legal, institutional, historical, political, and cultural contexts in which these policies are crafted and implemented. The field of transparency studies, in other words, is due for a "sociological turn."


The ability to inhibit motor response is crucial for daily activities. However, whether brain networks connecting spatially distinct brain regions can explain individual differences in motor inhibition is not known. Therefore, we took a graph-theoretic perspective to examine the relationship between the properties of topological organization in functional brain networks and motor inhibition. We analyzed data from 141 healthy adults aged 20 to 78, who underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and performed a stop-signal task along with neuropsychological assessments outside the scanner. The graph-theoretic properties of 17 functional brain networks were estimated, including within-network connectivity and between-network connectivity. We employed multiple linear regression to examine how these graph-theoretical properties were associated with motor inhibition. The results showed that between-network connectivity of the salient ventral attention network and dorsal attention network explained the highest and second highest variance of individual differences in motor inhibition. In addition, we also found those two networks span over brain regions in the frontal-cingulate-parietal network, suggesting that these network interactions are also important to motor inhibition.


We report a case of a 32-year-old woman with a septic pulmonary embolism-related implanted central venous port. She was treated with S-1/cisplatin(CDDP)chemotherapy for recurrent gastric cancer. Her disease was progressive after five courses of S-1/CDDP combination therapy. Because of peritonitis carcinomatosa, her oral intake was poor, so we placed an implanted central venous port in her right subclavian vein. We administered 5-FU/Leucovorin/paclitaxel combination therapy and total parenteral nutrition from the port. Chemotherapy was effective, so we stopped total parenteral nutrition after one month. Two months later, multiple nodular shadows appeared in her left lung fields without apparent symptoms. Because we suspected septic pulmonary embolism related to the venous port, we removed the venous port promptly and administered antibiotics with a broad spectrum. Pulmonary shadows disappeared immediately, and no recurrence was observed afterward.


In order to improve the catalytic performance of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), it is pivotal to increase the density and accessibility of the active sites. Herein, we have developed a template-free melamine-assisted co-calcined strategy to afford Fe-embedded and N-doped carbons (Fe-N-C) with not only high density of atomically dispersed Fe-Nx active sites but also abundant 3D interconnected mesopores by directly pyrolyzing Fe-ZIF-8 covered with a controllable melamine layer. It is demonstrated that the introduction of melamine in the precursor play a key role in constructing various carbonized products with controllable morphology, porosity and components. With an optimal mass ratio 1:1 of melamine to Fe-ZIF-8, the resultant Fe@MNC-1 exhibits excellent ORR activity and stability, which exceeds 20 wt.% commercial Pt/C catalyst (with half-wave potential of 0.88 V vs. 0.85 V) in alkaline electrolyte, and is even comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst (with half-wave potential of 0.78 V vs. 0.80 V) in acidic electrolyte. To the best of our knowledge, Fe@MNC-1 can be ranked among the best non-precious metal electrocatalysts for ORR in both alkaline and acidic media. The present synthetic strategy may provide a new opportunity for the design and construction of MOF-derived nanomaterials with rational composition and desired porous structure to boost their electrocatalytic performance.


The present article looks back at the forms and temporality of the emergence of a scientific interest in European human rights law subsequent to the adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights (1950). It shows how a "Convention world" took shape around the Strasbourg institutions (judges of the Court and higher civil servants of the Council of Europe) that quickly got involved in promoting European human rights by means of producing a scholarly discourse and disseminating it throughout academic journals and congresses. It then turns to the variety of paths along which European human rights was received in different national settings, and stresses the gap that appears between this Strasbourg-based transnational academic agenda and national legal scholarship(s) pertaining to human rights law.


The smartphone is proposed to evaluate the Blood Pressure (BP) anywhere and anytime. The tasks performed by smartphone are (i) extraction of the PhotoPlethysmoGram (PPG) signal from a frame sequence acquired by the integrated camera, and (ii) processing it by Artificial Neural Network for the evaluation of the BP. The PPG signal is evaluated by analyzing the volumetric blood variation of the fingertip on the frame sequence. Successively, parameters characterizing the pulses of the PPG signal are sent to the Fit Forward Neural Network for the simultaneously evaluation of the systolic and the diastolic BP. The validation of the results is performed by comparing them with the ones obtained by the Ambulatory Blood Pressure monitor ABP Spacelabs 90207. Preliminary experimental results show useful information to address the future research devoted to reduce the maximum error.


Abstract Current methods of agricultural and environmental education for indigenous farmers in Papua New Guinea (PNG) fail to provide high level engagement. Indigenous knowledge (IK) forms the basis of natural resource management, agriculture and health of farmers in PNG, yet its value to agricultural and environmental education in PNG is rarely recognised. The argument made in this article is that valuing indigenous knowledge will enhance agricultural and environmental education. The purpose of this empirical study was to assess the application of a knowledge management model in understanding indigenous knowledge to enhance agricultural and environmental education. This article focuses on agricultural and environmental indigenous knowledge and culture in two villages in the Western Highlands of PNG. Participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and apprentice observations were methods to collect data from small-scale indigenous farmers. The study found that as farmers shift to cash crops, IK is devalued against Western knowledge. The study also found that trust, culture, and social barriers limit sharing of knowledge. The article concludes with recommendations for future agricultural and environmental education in the PNG highlands.


Tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium (II) (Ru(bpy)3 2+) electrogerated chemiluminescence (ECL) sensor was fabricated by immobilization of Ru(bpy)3 2+) complex on the functionalized MWCNT-Nafion composite film coated on surface of glass carbon electrode. The functionalized MWCNT was prepared by coating of polythiophene (PTh), polyaniline (PANI), and poly(3-thiophene acetic acid) [P(3-TAA)] on the surface of the carboxylic acid-modified MWCNT. The sensitivity and reproducibility of the prepared ECL sensor to tripropylamine (TPA) was evaluated. As results, the carboxylic acid-modified MWNT composite electrode was high sensitivity and good reproducibility than that of other functionalized MWNT composite electrode.


Purpose

Project-based industries face major challenges in controlling project cost and completing within the budget. This is a critical issue as it often connects to the main objectives of any project. However, accurate estimation at the beginning of the project is difficult. Scholars argue that project complexity is a major contributor to cost estimation inaccuracies. Therefore, recognising the priorities of acknowledging complexity dimensions in cost estimation across similar industries is beneficial in identifying effective practices to reduce cost implications. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify the level of importance given to different complexity dimensions in cost estimation and to recognise best practices to improve cost estimation accuracy.

Design/methodology/approach

An online questionnaire survey was conducted among professionals including estimators, project managers, and quantity surveyors to rank the identified complexity dimensions based on their impacts in cost estimation accuracy. Besides, in-depth interviews were conducted among experts and practitioners from different industries, in order to extract effective practices to improve the cost estimation process of complex projects.

Findings

Study results show that risk, project and product size, and time frame are the high-impact complexity dimensions on cost estimation, which need more attention in reducing unforeseen cost implications. Moreover, study suggests that implementing a knowledge sharing system will be beneficial to acquire reliable and adequate information for cost estimation. Further, appropriate staffing, network enhancement, risk management, and circumspect estimation are some of the suggestions to improve cost estimation of complex projects.

Originality/value

The study finally provides suggestions to improve cost estimation in complex projects. Further, the results are expected to be beneficial to learn lessons from different industries and to exchange best practices.


This thesis contains original research into the propagation of sound in acoustically lined ducts with flow. The motivation for this work is the requirement to predict the sound attenuation of acoustic liners in the bypass duct of modern turbofan aeroengines. The liners provide the most effective means with which to suppress the rear fan noise. It is therefore important to make the best possible use of the available lined area by optimising the liner configuration. A set of analytic and numerical methods for predicting the liner attenuation performance have been developed, which are suitable for use in intensive liner optimisation studies, or as preliminary design tools. Eigenvalue solvers have been developed to find modal solutions in rectangular ducts with uniform flow and annular ducts with sheared flow. The solvers are validated by replicating results from the scientific literature and the Finite Element method. The effect of mean core flow radial profile and boundary layers on the mode eigenfunctions and axial decay rates are considered. It is shown that solutions for thin boundary layer flows converge to those based on the commonly used slip flow boundary condition. It is demonstrated that realistic flow profiles should be used to assess acoustic mode propagation in bypass ducts. The flow profile can have strong effects upon low order modes and surface waves, and in fact at high frequencies, the profile can affect all the modes. Mode-matching schemes are developed to assess the power attenuation performance and modal scattering of finite length liners. The results of the schemes are used to show that refraction of sound by boundary layers increases attenuation at high frequency. Power attenuation is higher where the mean core flow gradient refracts sound towards the liner. It is found that asymmetric liners can provide improved attenuation, depending on the direction of the mean flow shear gradient. The optimisation of axially-segmented liners for single and multi-mode sources is demonstrated. It is found that potentially large improvements in the attenuation of tonal noise is possible, whilst benefits for broadband noise are more difficult to achieve.


Considering the epidemiological relevance and the mortality of Uterine Cervix Cancer, the aim of this study is know the gynecological profile of women who take Pap smear in a basic unit of a metropolitan area. This is an exploratory study, with quantitative approach and traversal outlining which took place in a Center of Natural Childbirth with 72 women. The data was collected during the women's appointment and the through analysis of the charts. It was found that most women had up to 40 years of age (42; 58,5%), with low education degree (44; 61,1%), married (39; 54,2%), with menarche from 10 to 13 years (36; 50%) and first sexual relation between 12 and 19 years (46; 63,9%). It was also found that some did not use contraceptive method (30; 41,7%), maintained vaginal only sexual relations (39; 54,1%) and did the Pap smear test annually (38; 53%). Its was observed a good adhesion to the Pap smear test by the women, even though not obeying a regular periodicity. These particular studies are of great importance, because it pounts out characteristics that interfere in the woman's health and make it possible for the health professionals to recognize what needs to be improved, together with the satisfactory characteristics in the development of these women's health.


Changing has begun with the industrial revolution for the cities in the world as well as in Turkey. This changing is causing to develop unhealthy urban centers and high-income people tended to search healthy surroundings of the city from the centers of the urban as a result of this changing. For this reason, slums which are surroundings of city have gained an increase in the amount of value. This situation firstly come to light the need to placing regeneration of slum areas in our country high on the top of the agenda. Nowadays, urban areas are changing due to economical, social, cultural, physical and political reasons and needs regeneration with time. Urban regeneration projects are systematic planning tools which helps the changing having positive impacts in terms of application. However, an urban regeneration approach is needed for the success of applications which provide permanent, qualitative and livable solutions. In this study, an urban regeneration application which is made in Inegol (Bursa / Turkey) is investigated within the frame of multi-factorial approach. Local frame of the regeneration term and expectations of residents were evaluated by a multi-factorial approach technique scope of survey analysis.


A modeling methodology to speed up the design of luminaires composed of solid state light emitting devices has been elaborated in the Delphi4LED research project of the European Union. Starting with integrated and automated measurements of packaged LED devices in the electric, thermal and optical domain; the methodology provides SPICE like models, which besides the electrical properties also reflect the thermal and optical ones.
 The electrical and optical model is based directly on semiconductor physics, for precise modeling of the low-current and high-current decay of efficiency. The compact model of the thermal domain is based on the methodology defined in the previous DELPHI project. Measured data on the population are converted in an optimization process to best fit the model parameter sets.
 The paper presents the elaborated methodology and also outlines a new JEDEC standard encompassing multiple thermal test environments.


Ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation are known to be two types of cardiac arrhythmias that usually take place during acute ischemia and frequently lead to sudden death. In this work, we have studied the different patterns of activation displayed in a virtual ventricular slab preparation after premature stimulation during acute ischemia. Furthermore, we also have analyzed the vulnerable window (VW) under such conditions. Influence of the tissue structure and morphology of the ischemic zone have also been considered. For a centered ischemic zone, eight shaped reentry was originated at the mid plane of the slab and the VW was found to be almost the same as for the 2D simulations. Eight shaped reentry were formed in the epicardial surface as the morphology of the ischemic zone changed (the centre of the ischemic zone was moved toward the epicardial surface). These changes also caused a reduction in the VW of a 24% as compared with the centered ischemic zone.


There has been recent concern regarding the effects of range management practices on biodiversity. Our objective was to determine the long-term (> 30 years) effects of chaining, and chaining followed by root plowing, on vegetation diversity in an ephemeral drainage system. Plant species richness and diversity were estimated in 2 chained (ca. 1950) areas, 2 chained (ca. 1950) and root-plowed (ca. 1960) areas, and 2 untreated areas during April 1993. Beta diversity within treatments was estimated with mean dissimilarity (l-mean similarity). Mean similarity was quantified with Jaccard's index. Spatial gradient analysis in which pairwise similarities were regressed against the distance between each pair of samples within a site was used to describe similarity within a site. Species richness and diversity were similar among treatments for both herbaceous and woody species. Similarity (Jaccard's index) among transects within a site increased with increasing degree of disturbance. Chained and root plowed sites had lower beta diversity than chained or untreated sites. Similarity in the chained and root plowed sites varied randomly, not spatially, while the control (untreated) and chained sites had negative spatial gradients, indicating spatial heterogeneity within these sites. Although root plowing did not reduce species richness and diversity as reported on upland sites in previous studies, beta diversity and habitat heterogeneity were lower on chained and root plowed sites than on chained or untreated sites.


Purpose: The SupraFOIL smooth nylon foil implant is a polyamide sheet available in varying thicknesses that has been used in orbital reconstruction following trauma. The authors report their experience with smooth nylon foil implants in the repair of orbital fractures. Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients having undergone repair of orbital fractures between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2003 was conducted. The Wilcoxon test was used to compare cases with complications and those with no complications. Results: Of 282 orbits that underwent fracture repair with alloplastic material, 87 were excluded because non-nylon foil implants were used alone or in combination with nylon foil to repair the orbital fracture. An additional 14 fractures were excluded because of insufficient clinical data or lack of follow-up, for a total of 181 orbits that underwent orbital fracture repair with only nylon foil. A transconjunctival approach was used in 98% cases, and all 181 implants were fixated with at least 1 titanium screw. Average follow-up was 362.8 days. The overall complication rate was 1.7%. One patient had an acute postoperative orbital hemorrhage (0.6% acute complication rate). Two patients had late orbital infections, 683 days and 984 days following repair (1.1% late complication rate). Conclusions: The authors found the smooth nylon foil implant to be safe and effective in orbital fracture repair. The lower rate of complications the authors observed compared with previously reported series may be related to implant fixation. A titanium screw secured just posterior to the orbital rim may decrease long-term complications by providing more stability than implants left without fixation.


In this work, a hybrid code division multiplexing (CDM) coding and digital filtering method for optical intensity modulation and direct detection (IM-DD) link is investigated to address multipath interference (MPI) and channel bandwidth limitation. CDM signaling already provides robustness to MPI through suppressing the unsynchronized paths by orthogonal (de)coding. As for digital filtering based on square root raised cosine (SRRC) waveforms, its advantage to IM-DD link includes robustness to channel bandwidth limitation due to pulse shaping. Additionally, matching filters achieve the best orthogonality only when they are synchronized well, thus robustness to MPI can be expected on the basis of CDM. We study the performance of such hybrid coding and filtering method over IM-DD link in the presence of MPI and bandwidth limitations through simulation. This is followed by experimental demonstrations of single point-to-point transmission with capacity at 112 Gbps. BER comparison between CDM only and hybrid filtering and coding method is performed by emulating MPI using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Furthermore, bidirectional transmission over a single fiber verifies its performance advantage and demonstrates potentials for reducing implementation costs of end-to-end optical communications.


Let X be a smooth connected projective curve defined over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic p >0. Let G be a finite group whose order is divisible by p. Suppose that G has a normal p-Sylow subgroup. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for G to be a quotient of the algebraic fundamental group pi(1)(X) of X.


Rumours can spread quickly through social media, and malicious ones can bring about significant economical and social impact. Motivated by this, our paper focuses on the task of rumour detection; particularly, we are interested in understanding how early we can detect them. Although there are numerous studies on rumour detection, few are concerned with the timing of the detection. A successfully-detected malicious rumour can still cause significant damage if it isn't detected in a timely manner, and so timing is crucial. To address this, we present a novel methodology for early rumour detection. Our model treats social media posts (e.g. tweets) as a data stream and integrates reinforcement learning to learn the number minimum number of posts required before we classify an event as a rumour. Experiments on Twitter and Weibo demonstrate that our model identifies rumours earlier than state-of-the-art systems while maintaining a comparable accuracy.


In light of expanding international trade, it is increasingly likely that politicians, courts and tribunals will wrestle with whether punitive damages are appropriate in transnational disputes, and whether countries that traditionally do no allow exemplary relief should recognize and enforce foreign awards of such damages. Furthermore, by seeing how different systems address these problems, we can gain a deeper understanding of the role of punitive damages in our own legal system and be better able to deal with punitive damages issues in the international arena. Thiswork undertakes a thorough comparative study of punitive damages in common law countries. It examines the laws of England, the United States of America and, of course Italy, to determine whether there exists a consensus on the availability of punitive damages. The Article finds that, despite the controversy over the appropriateness of punitive damages, they are widely available in these countries and claims for such damages have increased in recent years. It also finds, however, that there is little consensus on the factors that are used to determine the amount of punitive damages that should be awarded. Some jurisdictions provide little or no guidance to the judge or jury who sets the award. Others provide a detailed list of factors, and one country even provides damages brackets to guide the decision maker in fixing the amount of punitive damages. Thework concludes focusing on the italian possibilities to have punitive damages in his countries or not.


ABSTRACT
The total mortality of mother in east java was still catagorized so high. Pasuruan regency was one of many areas which capable to decrease maternal mortality rate(MMR) up to the targeted level number by MDGs 2015. The maternal health was also one of husband's duty as a decision maker in the family. The purpose of this research was to analyze a relationship among knowledge, attitude and the husband's practice for maternal health. This research was done in May until June 2013 at Puspo sub-district of Pasuruan Regency. A research design was a cross sectional of the population from of all of couple who had a child from second month to 2 years old, lived in a roof. The amont of respondent was 115 couple. The sample selection was systematically done by random sampling. The variable of this research was characteristic, knowledge, attitude and the husband's action. The result showed that mostrespondens had lower knowledge about maternal health (72,2%), a positive attitude (73,9) and the unsupported action in maternal health (68,7). A chi-square test showed that there was no relationship between knowledge antion, neither between attitude nor action on maternal health.The conclusion that can be drawn on research about relationship of knowledge, attitudes and actionsin support of maternal health husband wife in Pasuruan district Puspo isno correlation between knowledge and attitude of the husband with the husband in the act of giving support to maternal health became pregnant wife until the election of contraception.
 Keywords knowledge, attitudes, actions, maternal health


Data on 323 patients operated upon for penetrating duodenal ulcers (resection of the stomach) are presented. New procedures are described which elevate hermeticity of the duodenal stump as well as prophylactic measures against incompetence of sutures of the duodenum stump. Six patients had incompetent sutures of the duodenum stump which was of limited character and was completed by the formation of a duodenal fistula. Lethality from this complication was not noted.


The landslides event was triggered by rain infiltration is an annual occurrence in Indonesia, majority of landslide occur in rainy season. In this research, the case of landslide taken in Pangkalan Area, District of Limapuluh Kota, West Sumatera. The location of the case study is the main access of West Sumatra-Riau, so the landslide in the location is certainly causing close the road. Research phase is geology mapping, geotechnical analysis, and hydrological modeling. Hydrological modeling is done by numerical simulation using laboratory data. The modeling results show that the rain infiltration process resulted in the formation of positive water pressure zone at the foot of the slope, then spread towards the top of the slope.  One day after the rainfall, the soil layer had been saturated. The soil layer will saturate the water, so that the slope stability will decrease and the landslide event will occur. To improve the slope stability, it can be done by preventing water from entering the permeable layer with the installation of the shotcrete layer, and draining the water from the slopes by the installation of horizontal drain.


In Mozambique, adoption of improved maize seed and chemical fertilizers is still limited. This study assessed farmers' attitudes towards hybrid maize SC513, Nitrogenous (N) Phosphorous (P) Potassium (K), (NPK 12-24-12) and urea fertilizers in highlands and lowlands of the Manica District. The study determined the influence of farmers' characteristics, attitudes, sources of information, and agro-ecological conditions on adoption of these technologies during 1995 through 2005. A questionnaire was administered during April and May 2006 with a randomly selected sample of 293 households. In general, farmers held positive attitudes towards improved maize varieties and chemical fertilizers, but the strength of attitudes towards fertilizers, in particular, varied by source of information. Farmers who learned about fertilizers from extension had stronger positive attitudes than farmers who learned about fertilizers from neighbors, although with hybrid seeds adoption there was no significant difference between key sources. Overall, the number of farmers using SC513 was higher than the number of farmers using NPK and urea. Farmers' decision to adopt SC513 was positively associated with agroecological conditions, knowledge, production traits and marketability of the maize. Agroecological conditions, knowledge of fertilizer application, and extension contact influenced adoption of chemical fertilizers. The results differentiate a simpler process of adoption of new seed from a more complex process of adoption of fertilizers which demands greater knowledge of timing and soils as well as basic computational skills. Factors determining adoption of hybrid maize varieties and chemical fertilizers should be considered when designing extension programs for these technologies.


AIMS AND BACKGROUND
Esophageal cancer patients with pathologic lymph node involvement generally have a poor prognosis. Many randomized controlled trials have not achieved consistent results similar to those of the RTOG8501 trial, and the long-term survival rate has not increased. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy and toxic side effects of concurrent chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy alone to treat N1 esophageal carcinoma.

METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN
A total of 130 N1 esophageal carcinoma patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups: concurrent chemoradiotherapy group (n = 65) and radiotherapy group (n = 65). Both groups received three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy with a total dose of 64-66 Gy. Meanwhile, to the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group, an additional chemotherapy protocol (nedaplatin, 20 mg/m²/d, 5-FU, 500 mg/m²/d for four days) was given from day 1, and such treatment was repeated until day 29. From day 21 after radiotherapy, two cycles of a consolidated chemotherapy protocol were given at an interval of 28 days.

RESULTS
The survival rates at one, two, and three years were 72.3%, 55.3%, and 40% in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group, respectively, and 75.3%, 38.5%, and 18.5% in the radiotheray group (P = 0.007), respectively. The survival rates of the patients in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group who completed one to two cycles and three to four cycles at one, two, and three years were 70%, 53.3%, and 30%, and 74.2%, 57.1%, 48.6% (P = 0.128), respectively. Three-year distant metastasis rates were 10.7% in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group and 16.9% in the radiotherapy group. Acute toxicity in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group was higher than in the radiotherapy group. Late toxic side effects were similar in the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Compared with radiotherapy alone, concurrent chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of esophageal carcinoma with local lymph node enlargement can improve the three-year survival rate. Moreover, completion of three to four cycles of chemotherapy may have better efficacy than one to two cycles.


Human engineering has many applications in the field of compatibility between workers and their material and moral working environment. These applications are reflected positively in achieving the satisfaction of employees and then their happiness. The research problem included the impact of applications of human engineering on employees' happiness through job satisfaction. The research aims to test as an intermediate variable in the relationship and impact between applications of human engineering and the happiness of employees of the College of Engineering research community-. This is via a questionnaire distributed to 50 individual in all branch and department officials in the College. The data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. By correlation coefficients and regression to verify the hypotheses, and the results agreed the research hypotheses, It has been shown that the applications of human engineering have an impact on the satisfaction of College employees on the one hand, and their desired career happiness on the other. In the light of recommendations, it is hoped that these will beneficial to the taken into consideration.


Puerperium is the time following delivery during which pregnancy-induced maternal anatomical and physiological changes return to the nonpregnant state. Puerperium period of 6 weeks can be divided into: (a) immediate – within 24 hours (b) early – up to 7 days (c) remote – up to 6 weeks. The puerperal effects are seen in all organs and particularly in reproductive organs. Infection and haemorrhage are the common postpartum complications. Post partum care is very important. Advice on exclusive breast feeding and contraception is also mandatory after every childbirth.


Using immunoelectrophoresis and other techniques, we have demonstrated an association between lipoprotein-X and (a) alkaline phosphatase and (b) other enzymes originating from the hepatocyte membrane, namely y-glutamyitransferase and leucine aminopeptidase. The highmolecular-mass forms of these enzymes, in both serum and bile, were precipitated by lipoprotein-X antiserum but not by antisera to other plasma proteins. The activity of high-molecular-mass alkaline phosphatase in serum was positively correlated with lipoprotein-X and with lipoprotein-X-associated alkaline phosphatase, both assessed semi-quantitatively. On the other hand, many sera possessed high activities of high-molecular-mass alkaline phosphatase but no detectable Iipoprotein-X. Incubation of serum with conjugated bile salts and with synthetic detergents, at concentrations which did not dissociate the high-molecular-mass enzymes, caused parallel alterations in the electrophoretic mobility of serum lipoprotein-X and its associated enzyme activity. Incubation of normal dialyzed hepatic bile with normal, lipoprotein-X-negative serum produced an alteration in electrophoretic mobility of biliary lipoprotein and its associated enzyme activity from anodal to cathodal in agar gel. Digestion with papain had a variable effect on the different enzymes in the complex, without affecting the lipoprotein moiety. Leucine aminopeptidase was removed most readily from the complex to give the low-molecular-mass form present in normal serum; y-glutamyltransferase dissociated somewhat less readily, and alkaline phosphatase was completely resistant to dissociation from the complex. These results are discussed in the light of current knowledge, and a hypothesis is proposed for the nature of the high-mo.lecular-mass enzymes in serum and bile.


Malignant hyperthermia has been an iatrogenic syndrome which was usually fatal. The syndrome occurs when certain physiologically active compounds act on defective skeletal and cardiac muscle cells. The syndrome consists of a soaring fever, severe acidosis, tachycardia, tachypnea, and usually myoclonic spasms. Cardiac arrhythmias, shock, bleeding disorders, and death soon follow. Malignant hyperthermia has characteristically complicated the administrations of anesthesiologists, but is being triggered by drugs used in other diagnostic and therapeutic activities. This paper reports a fatal case which followed the infusion of iodinated contrast media. The increased release of epinephrine and the production of fibrin split products seen in an iodinated contrast media reaction suggest certain commonalities between it and a malignant hyperthermia reaction which may be triggered be epinephrine and is complicated by disseminated vascular clotting and bleeding disorders. The potential for successful treatment has greatly improved with the availability of dantrolene. Increased awareness of the syndrome, temperature monitoring, early diagnosis, and rapid treatment should make this malignant disorder less threatening.


The article scrutinises how Germany's non-political party radical left has discussed immigration and 'cultural' or 'national' identity in the context of past and current immigration into Germany, with a focus on the refugee crisis of 2015. Three types of radical left discourse are identified. First, some in the radical left have come to regard immigrants, in particular refugees, as an 'ersatz proletariat' and therefore as potential revolutionary instruments for their own project. Second, some agree that revolutionary change is necessary but subordinate their principles to practical support for immigrants and refugees in the here and now. Third, given the improbability of communist revolution and the crisis of 'Western modernity', some on the radical left have called for the defence of 'the West' and to help immigrants assimilate into Western civilisation. The article makes a timely contribution to the knowledge about contemporary radical left politics in Germany and shows the fractured nature of Germany's non-political party radical left in the context of the refugee crisis. It also investigates the impact of 'crisis' as an 'open moment' and 'catalyst' on the radical left's discourse-as-practice.


Ultrasonic inspection of the cast stainless steel with coarse grain size has not been possible to demonstrate unambiguously that current inspection techniques are adequate, which means it is very difficult for ultrasonic inspector to discriminate the reflected signals at the real flaw from scattered signals. In this paper, wavelet denoising is performed in the stationary wavelet domain by means of scale-varying threshold level to reduce the speckle and to enhance flaw-visibility. Experiments have been carried out on A-scan ultrasonic signals obtained from CCSS material which is a part of narrow gap welds connecting the steam generator to main reactor coolant piping in the nuclear power plant.


The study of spinal nerve trajectories in higher vertebrate embryos has revealed an inherent polarity within somites along the antero-posterior axis, and provides a simple system in which to study the factors that influence axon pathfinding. We argue that the orientation of spinal axons is determined by the simultaneous operation of two distinct guidance mechanisms, contact repulsion and chemorepulsion. Motor and sensory axons traverse the anterior half of each somite because they are excluded by contact repulsion from the posterior half-somite, and the molecular nature of several candidate contact repellents is reviewed. In contrast, we find that the dorsoventral trajectory of primary sensory axons is oriented by diffusible repellents originating from the notochord medially and dermamyotome laterally. In this system, therefore, repulsion by surrounding tissues ('surround-repulsion') is the main force directing axon growth in three dimensions.


To improve the utilization ratio of resources and the complete number of tasks, a kind of a new grid resource scheduling algorithm TWMQC (based on Task Weight and Multi-QoS Constraint) integrating multi-QoS constraint with task weight was proposed. The accomplished process of grid resource scheduling algorithm was transformed multi attribute constraints of resource and task, according to the parametric resource information and task information, classified different task weight sets based on the priority of tasks. Multi-QoS constraints of deadline of gridlets, bandwidth and CPU were defined, and the correlative algorithms were simulated by the GridSim toolkits. The simulation results show that algorithm TWMQC, which integrating multi-QoS constraint and tasks weight is superior in solving such kind of issues by comparing and analyzing the result data.


This article discusses the 1903 Human Pavilion's Ainu Fushine Kōzō, who advanced a notion of imperial subjecthood, where one could be Ainu and a loyal subject of the Japanese empire. Fushine urged that the Ainu be treated equitably not because all races were equal, a rather modern and Western notion, but because he viewed imperial subjecthood as predicated upon military conscription and being children of the emperor. I examine the removal of the Okinawan women, Nakamura Kame and Uehara Ushi, from the display, amidst a larger debate where competing visions of imperial subjecthood and what it meant to be civilized were tied up with the charge that the pavilion was a humanitarian concern (jindō mondai). The Human Pavilion became a nexus between colonial and imperial subjects, which, rather than reifying distinctions between the two, called into question the coherence of civilizational taxonomies in Japan and the world.


Two cases of human Echinostoma hortense infection were found in Seoul Paik Hospital. Their stools revealed echinostomatid eggs. After treatment with praziquantel (single does of 10-12 mg/kg) and purgation with magnesium salt, total 21 flukes were collected in one case. The flukes were 5.9-7.5 mm long, had 27-28 collar spines around their head, laterally deviated ovary and two tandem testes. They were identified as E. hortense Asada, 1926. The cases are 38-year and 20-year old men residing in Seoul, whose hometown is Chungsong-gun and Seungju-gun, Kyongsangbuk-do respectively. They had eaten raw flesh of various kinds of fresh water fishes (both cases) and/or salamander (latter case), which are considered possible sources of this fluke infection. They experienced abdominal discomfort and/or diarrhea. Hematology revealed 22 percent eosinophilia in the latter case, but it became 5 percent after the treatment. Echinostomatid eggs were not found after the treatment in both cases. These are the 4th and 5th human cases of E. hortense infection in Korea.


: The levels of tropic and peripheral hormones (ACTH, TSH, STH, T3, T4, hydrocortisone, insulin) have been assessed in 74 patients, aged 16 to 64 years, operated on for posterior cranial fossa tumors. Depending on the basic anesthesia component the patients were divided into 3 groups: patients on halothane anesthesia, patients on anesthesia with azeotropic mixture, patients on neuroleptanalgesia. Three hemodynamic variants in the course of operation and postoperative period have been established: patients with normal blood pressure, heart rate, stroke volume; patients with elevated and high blood pressure; patients with unstable hemodynamics. It has been found that general halothane and azeotropic mixture anesthesia is associated with marked changes in intraoperative endocrine function. Endocrine function is changed on the 3rd and 7th day postoperatively due to surgical brain trauma.


This thesis is concerned with type-logical grammars and their practical applicability as tools of reasoning about sentence syntax and semantics. The focal point is narrowed to Dutch, a language exhibiting a large degree of word order variability. In order to overcome difficulties arising as a result of that variability, the thesis explores and expands upon a type grammar based on Multiplicative Intuitionistic Linear Logic, agnostic to word order but enriched with decorations that aim to reduce its proof-theoretic complexity. An algorithm for the conversion of dependency-annotated sentences into type sequences is then implemented, populating the type logic with concrete, data-driven lexical types. Two experiments are ran on the resulting grammar instantiation. The first pertains to the learnability of the type-assignment process by a neural architecture. A novel application of a self-attentive sequence transduction model is proposed; contrary to established practices, it constructs types inductively by internalizing the type-formation syntax, thus exhibiting generalizability beyond a pre-specified type vocabulary. The second revolves around a deductive parsing system that can resolve structural ambiguities by consulting both word and type information; preliminary results suggest both excellent computational efficiency and performance.


This paper deals with the question of a polarity standard to apply generally to 3D multicomponent seismic data, or any subset thereof. The primary goal is to provide a field recording standard according to which the designations normal polarity and reverse(d) polarity may be used on any or all of the three or four components normally acquired in a multicomponent seismic survey. Since this includes three geophone components and a possibly a hydrophone or microphone component, this polarity standard should – and does – also apply in a consistent way to 2D or 3D land 3C, 3C VSP, vertical cable, and streamer seismic data. Recommendations or guidelines are given on how to proceed, both in acquisition and preprocessing, to determine the polarity for any particular data component. The basis of this standard is the SEG polarity standard, which was first enunciated as a field-recording standard for vertical-component land data and marine hydrophone data. It is founded on a right-handed coordinate system, with z positive downward, x positive in the positive line direction in 2D, or some specified principal direction in 3D, usually that of the receiver-cable lines, and y positive in the direction 90° clockwise from x. The polarities of these axes determine the polarity of ground motion in any component direction. The present recommendations are for a field-recording or acquisition standard (which is taken to include certain preprocessing steps) rather than a final-display polarity standard. A primary objective has been an internally consistent system of polarity specifications, encompassing all of the recorded components, in order to facilitate, among other things, consistent horizon correlation among multicomponent datasets and determination of correct reflectivity polarity. We also recommend a cyclic indexing convention for multicomponent seismic data, namely (W, X, Y, Z) such that, when used e.g. as subscripts, W would denote hydrophone (pressure), X inline geophone, Y crossline, and Z vertical. The (x, y, z) symbols denote the Cartesian distance coordinates of the right-handed system specified above.


ProQuest Sanborn Maps Geo Edition (1867-1970) provides digital access to thousands of large-scale maps of American towns and cities, searchable by address and GPS coordinates. How to browse the database


Abstract of the PhD thesis entitled "Chemical and biological rhizosphere interactions in low zinc soils" by Andreas Duffner Soil provides ecosystem services critical for life. The availability of micronutrients, such as zinc (Zn), in soils is an essential factor for normal healthy growth and reproduction of plants. Zinc deficiency is, however, a global problem in crop production due to low Zn bioavailability in soils to plants. The bioavailable Zn fraction in soils is controlled by several factors and is not directly related to the total Zn content of soils. The main objective of this thesis was the determination of factors which control Zn bioavailability in soils to plants and to assess approaches to improve the prediction of Zn plant uptake. Based on rhizobox experiments, in situ measurements in the rhizosphere as well as multisurface- and radial transport modeling approaches it was shown that the effect of root exuded citrate for increasing plant available Zn is soil specific and does not depend on a specific concentration of low molecular weight organic acids (e.g. citric acid) in the soil solution. Using various low Zn soils at the same time in an experimental setting improved the understanding of soil-responsiveness to root exuded citrate. Another insight was that multisurface models, which are widely used to assess the potential ecotoxicological risk in metal-contaminated soils, are also accurate to predict the Zn activity in soils with low Zn levels. The predictions were validated with the soil column Donnan Membrane Technique by using various soils with low Zn levels. It was predicted that soil organic matter is the dominant Zn sorbent and controlled the Zn activity also at low soil organic matter levels. Examples were shown how this modeling approach can be used to assess management options to increase bioavailable Zn to plants. Using soil extracted Zn fractions to directly predict the Zn plant uptake at low Zn levels was shown to be inaccurate. Using a stepwise approach where the steps of the uptake process were characterized with, respectively, Zn solid-solution distribution, adsorption of Zn to root surface, Zn uptake into root and Zn translocation to shoot made the prediction of Zn plant uptake more accurate. Root surface adsorbed Zn was shown to be a useful proxy for the bioavailable Zn. The framework of experimental and modeling approaches which were developed and applied in this thesis can also be used to study the plant-availability of other micronutrients at low concentration levels and how that is affected by various root exuded ligands.


Intelligent assistants are increasingly being used on smart speaker devices, such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple Homepod, and Harmon Kardon Invoke with Cortana. Typically, user satisfaction measurement relies on user interaction signals, such as clicks and scroll movements, in order to determine if a user was satisfied. However, these signals do not exist for smart speakers, which creates a challenge for user satisfaction evaluation on these devices. In this paper, we propose a new signal, user intent, as a means to measure user satisfaction. We propose to use this signal to model user satisfaction in two ways: 1) by developing intent sensitive word embeddings and then using sequences of these intent sensitive query representations to measure user satisfaction; 2) by representing a user's interactions with a smart speaker as a sequence of user intents and thus using this sequence to identify user satisfaction. Our experimental results indicate that our proposed user satisfaction models based on the intent-sensitive query representations have statistically significant improvements over several baselines in terms of common classification evaluation metrics. In particular, our proposed task satisfaction prediction model based on intent-sensitive word embeddings has a 11.81% improvement over a generative model baseline and 6.63% improvement over a user satisfaction prediction model based on Skip-gram word embeddings in terms of the F1 metric. Our findings have implications for the evaluation of Intelligent Assistant systems.


Tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) gene transcription is specifically activated by glucocorticoid hormones in liver cells. This regulation involves a glucocorticoid responsive region located 2,500 bases upstream from the transcription start site of the rate gene. By transient transfection of TAT-CAT fusion genes into a rat hepatoma cell line expressing the TAT gene we found that this region promotes only 30% of the glucocorticoid stimulation. We have identified a new cis-acting region far upstream (-5,400) from the transcription start site that is essential to achieve the physiological level of glucocorticoid stimulation of endogenous TAT gene expression. This region corresponds to a tissue-specific DNAse I hypersensitive site which is constitutive despite the fact it possesses a glucocorticoid receptor binding site. It is by itself almost inactive on a promoter but it cooperatively enhances the action of the proximal glucocorticoid responsive region. Its activity requires both the glucocorticoid receptor binding site and its flanking sequences.