Cooperation in real-world dilemmas takes many forms. We introduce a class of two-player games that permits two distinct ways to cooperate in the repeated game. One way to cooperate is to play cutoff strategies, which rely solely on a player's private value to defection. The second cooperative strategy is to take turns, which relies on publicly available information. Our initial experiments reveal that almost all cooperators adopt cutoff strategies. However, follow-up experiments in which the distribution of values to defection are made more similar show that all cooperators now take turns. Our results offer insight into what form a cooperative norm will take: for mundane tasks or where individuals otherwise have similar payoffs, taking turns is likely; for difficult tasks that differentiate individuals by skill or by preferences, cutoff cooperation will emerge.


Overwatering and underwatering grass are widespread issues with environmental and financial consequences. Current approaches to assessing grass water use efficiency (WUE) are inaccessible to the public. We developed an accessible method to assess grass WUE: combining smartphone imaging with open access color unmixing analysis. Images were converted from the RGB color space to the CIELAB color space using ImageJ—an open access, user-friendly software—to correct for uneven lighting without compromising image detail. We obtained parameters a* (unmixes green-to-red vector) and b* (unmixes blue-to-yellow vector). We hypothesized that WUE can be accurately determined from grass color and growth, which can be analyzed using CIELAB color unmixing. We tested how nine watering levels (100–900 mL every 4–5 days) affected Stenotaphrum secundatum (St. Augustine grass) over one month in Orange County, Southern California. Color was quantified using a*:b* ratios, growth was tracked using grass area, and pigment composition was analyzed using plot profiles. We analyzed whole samples in the uncontrolled real-world environment, individual leaves in a controlled homemade imaging box, and extracted pigments before and after paper chromatography. Results were clustered using Gaussian finite mixture models, implemented by R package 'mclust'. Overall trends for grass coverage, a*:b* ratios, and pigment composition were consistent with real-world observations. Cluster analyses were consistent across image types, identified an ideal watering range (600–700 mL), and differentiated between underwatered and overwatered grass. Our hypothesis was supported. Our method can be applied in automated irrigation systems or apps, providing grass WUE assessment for regular consumer use.


Herein, we report on magnetic microspheres with numerous imine groups on the surface, which have great potential for U(VI) recovery in seawater. Hyperbranched polyethylenimine (HPEI) was covalently grafted onto the surface of the core–shell structured microspheres Fe3O4@SiO2. The microstructure and chemical composition of Fe3O4@SiO2-HPEI were comprehensively characterized. Consequently, the adsorption performance at low concentrations (3–30 μg L−1) under simulated seawater was investigated and the removal rate reached more than 90%. The superior performance of the Fe3O4@SiO2-HPEI is attributed to electrostatic force and chemical bonding (between amine/imine groups and U(VI)). We recommend, therefore, Fe3O4@SiO2-HPEI as a prospective alternative adsorbent in U(VI) recovery from seawater.


In this paper we will discuss the impact of residual stresses on the reliability of microelectronic components and the materials used therein. The following issues will be particularly emphasized: First, the tendency toward delamination and subsequent cracking along interfaces, such as between silicon dies, organic substrates, glues, and underfill material; second, the fatigue of electrolytically deposited copper vias within the substrate and FR4 board material; third, the accumulation of irreversibly accumulated plastic (creep) strain in lead containing as well as leadfree solders; the microstructural change observed during thermo-mechanical use within the bulk as well as at the interface of solder interconnects. We will present state-of-the-art numerical techniques that allow to quantify the development of stresses and strains within the aforementioned materials, mostly by finite element analysis, as well as the coupling between local stresses and diffusion processes, which is theoretically based on phase field models. Further emphasis is put on proper knowledge and determination of the inherent material parameters and how theoretical predictions can be linked to and validated by experimental observations and facts.


We grew single crystals of U6Co by the self-flux method and measured the magnetic susceptibility, resistivity, and specific heat. The magnetic susceptibility shows very small anisotropy and weak temperature dependence, indicating small spin-susceptibility. Superconductivity was clearly observed in the resistivity, susceptibility, and specific heat at Tc ∼ 2.3 K. The upper critical field was remarkably large, 7.9 and 6.6 T for H || [001] and [110], respectively, in the tetragonal structure, indicating that the ellipsoidal Fermi surface is slightly suppressed along the [001] direction according to the effective mass model. The specific heat shows a large jump at Tc with ΔC/γTc = 1.58, and the field dependence of the specific heat at low temperatures shows an almost linear increase. These experimental results are well explained by the BCS model in the dirty limit condition. U6Co is most likely a conventional s-wave superconductor with a full superconducting gap.


Two immiscible fluids flowing in parallel with respect to the interface separating them in a two-dimensional porous medium has been studied using a dynamic network model. Two immiscible fluids, one wetting and the other non-wetting moving in parallel is a complicated process that haven't gotten much attention. It is found that there is a competition between imbibition and drainage displacements at the pore-scale along the front separating the two fluids due to an external force driving both the fluids in the direction parallel to this front. Imbibition is the process where a wetting fluid displaces a non-wetting fluid, while drainage is when a non-wetting fluid displaces a wetting fluid. When an external force driving the system in the direction parallel to the front separating the two liquid is small, such that the capillary forces are much strong that viscous forces, we find that imbibition displacements will dominate along the front. The wetting fluid is found to displace the non-wetting such that the front separating the non-wetting fluid from the wetting fluid moves with a velocity proportional to the volumetric flow rate perpendicular to the imposed flow direction. A wetting fluid will prefer to displace a non-wetting fluid along narrow channels due to the fact that capillary forces provide suction in imbibition, as opposed to resistance in drainage. When the front is moving, we find that clusters of non-wetting fluids are left behind the front, concentrated in the widest part of the network. These cluster will not be able to be move as long as the external driving force is not large enough to overcome the the capillary forces holding back the cluster. Wetting fluid will flow in the space around the clusters. If the external driving force is large enough so that these clusters can be mobilized, then we'll have viscous forces start dominating, and there will be a mixture of imbibition and drainage depending on the local geometry and boundary conditions. If drainage starts dominating the front will stop moving and become unstable, and non-wetting fingers will start moving in the direction of the wetting liquid. If the driving force is strong enough, these fingers will break up into bubbles due to crossing wetting fluids, and non-wetting bubbles will start migrating into the wetting fluid. For special case of a band of non-wetting fluid surrounded by wetting fluid on both sides, we find that the wetting fluid will try to displace the non-wetting fluid from both sides simultaneously. If the external driving force is not strong enough so that the clusters broken off from either side can be mobilized, we find that both the fronts stabilize and stop moving. The non-wetting and wetting fluid will then flow by themselves as if they were part of its own effective network separated by the fluid-fluid front, without any influence from the other fluid. The two fronts will be stationary as long as the capillary forces are dominating over viscous forces.


Reported in this paper are the implementation and testing of the real-time control of a two-wheeled mobile robot. The robot is underactuated, its mobility and control inputs being three and two, respectively. The control challenge faced here is to reduce the oscillations of the intermediate body while following a desired path. A controller, introduced elsewhere, is implemented using a real-time operating system on a novel control architecture. The control algorithm was tested using three different test motions: translational, rotational, and uphill.


Previous research has shown that gender stereotyping occurs in the workforce. Findings on gender stereotypes clearly paint a picture of a male-dominated workforce, with common stereotypes focusing on male strength and assertiveness, while women are portrayed as more nurturing and less capable. Stereotyping based on age can also be detrimental to employees in the workforce; their chances of excelling are limited. Many individuals may be denied a job based on the idea that older workers are less flexible, or that hiring older workers is not beneficial due to competence. The goal of this research study was to examine age and gender stereotypes in the workplace and how it affects student ratings of target employees based on performance evaluation, competence, reward recommendation, and punishment severity. Using a survey method, 245 undergraduate students participated and were randomly assigned to rate two workplace scenarios based on both organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB; behaviors that go above and beyond organizational expectations) and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB, deviant behaviors that go against organizational expectations). Data analysis revealed a significant main effect for performance evaluation and a significant two-way age by gender interaction for reward recommendation when performing an OCB. Specifically, for both measures, participants rated older females significantly lower than younger females. Additionally, for reward recommendation, participants rated older females significantly lower than older males. Implications for organizations to implement action of a discrimination-free employee selection and review process are discussed.


Selecting the market share, trade competitiveness index, revealed comparative advantage (RCA), and revealed competitive advantage index (CA), this paper compared the competitiveness of China and large sweet orange exporters, and made an empirical analysis. Results indicate that in terms of the market share, Spain has prominent advantage in competitiveness of sweet orange; in terms of the trade competitiveness index, Egypt and South Africa have higher competitiveness in the export of sweet orange; in terms of RCA and CA, Egypt has absolute international advantage in the export of sweet orange. China's export competitiveness of sweet orange is much lower than other large sweet orange producers such as Spain, Egypt, and South Africa, and the export capacity is much lower than other large sweet orange producers. In view of current situations, it came up with recommendations for improving export competitiveness of China's sweet orange, including expanding the market, diversifying the varieties, improving the quality, reducing the costs, strengthening cooperation of fruit farmer cooperatives, and enhancing government support.


Abstract. The application of LiDAR data in forestry initially focused on mapping forest community, particularly and primarily intended for largescale forest management and planning. Then with the smaller footprint and higher sampling density LiDAR data available, detecting individual tree overstory, estimating crowns parameters and identifying tree species are demonstrated practicable. This paper proposes a section-based protocol of tree species identification taking palm tree as an example. Section-based method is to detect objects through certain profile among different direction, basically along X-axis or Y-axis. And this method improve the utilization of spatial information to generate accurate results. Firstly, separate the tree points from manmade-object points by decision-tree-based rules, and create Crown Height Mode (CHM) by subtracting the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) from the digital surface model (DSM). Then calculate and extract key points to locate individual trees, thus estimate specific tree parameters related to species information, such as crown height, crown radius, and cross point etc. Finally, with parameters we are able to identify certain tree species. Comparing to species information measured on ground, the portion correctly identified trees on all plots could reach up to 90.65 %. The identification result in this research demonstrate the ability to distinguish palm tree using LiDAR point cloud. Furthermore, with more prior knowledge, section-based method enable the process to classify trees into different classes.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the usefulness of the hour-specific Bhutani et al bilirubin nomogram when applied to infants with Coombs-positive test results.

DESIGN
Retrospective chart review.

SETTING
Term nursery and neonatal intensive care unit of a university-affiliated hospital.

PATIENTS
All infants with A+ or B+ blood type born in our center from September 1, 2006, through August 31, 2008, to mothers with O+ blood.

OUTCOMES
Proportion of infants with Coombs-positive results from the nomogram zones who required phototherapy and comparison of the percentage of infants with Coombs-positive results in each zone with the percentage of those with Coombs-negative results in each zone.

RESULTS
A total of 240 infants with Coombs-positive and 460 with Coombs-negative results having a gestational age of 35 weeks or older were evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity of data for infants with direct Coombs-positive results in zone 4 (high risk; 74.2% and 97.1%) and those for infants in zones 3 (high-intermediate risk) and 4 combined (96.7% and 83.7%) compared favorably with the data from the Bhutani et al cohort, which had direct Coombs-negative results (54.0% and 96.2% for zone 4; 90.5% and 84.7% for zones 3 and 4 combined). The likelihood ratio for infants with direct Coombs-positive results in zone 4, 25.8 (95% confidence interval, 11.4-58.4), was twice that of the Bhutani et al cohort, 14.1 (11.0-18.1). The nomogram performed well in directing the timing of bilirubin level follow-up. All infants in zones 3 and 4 with Coombs-positive results were followed up after hospital discharge. None required an exchange transfusion or developed bilirubin encephalopathy.

CONCLUSIONS
The Bhutani et al bilirubin nomogram reliably identified infants at gestational age of older than 35 weeks with direct Coombs-positive results who were at risk for significant hyperbilirubinemia and directed the timing of follow-up for these infants. This finding has direct clinical applicability to the health care professional practicing in the newborn nursery.


Objective : Mothers of premature infants express breast milk for early infant feedings, however problems arise with changes in physiologic stability of the infant. This pilot study examines the relationship of skin-to-skin holding to the caloric composition of maternal breast milk expressed by mothers of premature infants immediately after holding their infants. Methods : Twelve dyads of first-time mothers with medically stable neonates weighing 1,500 grams or less at birth participated in this study.  Mothers pumped breast milk on their personal, regular schedules over a 4-day study enrollment, skin-to-skin held their premature infants during the study, and pumped following holding their infants. All expressed breast milk was measured for caloric composition using a Creamatocrit Plus centrifuge. The expressed milk compositions over a four day period were compared using repeated measures ANOVA. Results and conclusions : Four sequential days of pumped breast milk data was collected and tested from each mother. There was a significant increase in caloric composition for every sample of breast milk expressed after skin-to-skin holding as compared to non-holding conditions ( p = .000) in this pilot study. These findings demonstrate clinical importance in that skin-to-skin holding has the potential to improve premature infant growth over time.


Antigene radiotherapy, a procedure based on delivery of short-range Auger-electron-emitting radioisotopes to target genes via sequence-specific triplex-forming oligonucleotides, has been successfully demonstrated in vitro using the well-studied radionuclide 125I. To proceed with in vivo trials, Auger electron emitters with shorter half-lives than 125I are required. Here we report a study of the efficiency and distribution of sequence-specific DNA strand breaks produced by decay of 123I and 111In. 123I and 111In were introduced into triplexand duplex-forming oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs) through carbohydrate linkers of various lengths. Labeling with radioiodine was performed through tributylstannylbenzamide intermediates while 111In was attached via DTPA. The Auger-emitter-labeled ODNs were hybridized to a single-stranded DNA target, to form duplexes. After decay accumulation, the target DNA samples were assayed for strand breaks using a sequencing gel-electrophoresis technique. For the first time, we observed footprints of DNA strand breaks produced by 123I and 111In. Most of the breaks were located within 10 nucleotides from the decay site. The yield of strand breaks per decay varies; decay of 111In breaks DNA almost 10 times more effectively than decay of 123I. Both 123I and 111In are less effective in breaking DNA strands than 125I, which reflects the higher total energy of the Auger decay process of 125I.


To assess whether the incidence of invasive cervical cancer (ICC) has changed as a result of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), we conducted a prospective cohort study on the incidence of ICC before and after the introduction of HAART among Italian women with a known duration of HIV infection. We estimated the incidence per 1000 person years of ICC as a first AIDS-defining disease for the periods 1981 through 1991, 1992 through 1995, and 1996 through 1998. We also estimated the incidence of other first AIDS-defining diseases. Kaplan-Meier and Cox models were applied to compare the periods 1981 through 1995 and 1996 through 1998 in terms of cumulative incidence and relative hazards (RHs). The analysis included 483 women (median follow-up: 7 years). In the period 1981 through 1995, a trend of increase was observed in the incidence of ICC and other AIDS-defining diseases; this trend has continued only for ICC, whereas the incidence of other AIDS-defining diseases has decreased since 1996. Compared with 1981 through 1995, the RH of ICC for 1996 through 1998 was 7.41 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21--45.44); when adjusting for age at HIV seroconversion, the RH decreased to 4.75 (95% CI: 0.80--28.24). It remains to be determined whether the continued increase in ICC incidence after the introduction of HAART is attributable to a decreasing competitive mortality from other AIDS-defining diseases among HIV-infected women.


This paper presents research results that describe how value generation can be improved in the design process of industrial projects when using computer advanced visualization tools (CAVT). The CAVT concept definition, prior studies about impacts of CAVT, and why they are not sufficient are presented in the paper, supporting the assertion that the extensive attention to technology instead of to the context of technology application and the lack of a conceptual framework has prevented some prior research about CAVT impacts to truly focus in ideas about how to improve engineering and construction processes. Combining production theory and lean construction principles with information technology (IT), a framework for understanding the impacts of CAVT developed as part of the research is proposed. Illustration of the use of the framework in a case study and research validation activities leads to analytic generalization of the research results.


1 Introduction PART I Mathematical background 2 Real analysis and linear algebra 2.1 Definitions and notation 2.1.1 Numbers, sets and vectors 2.1.2 Logical notation 2.1.3 Set algebra 2.1.4 The supremum and infimum 2.1.5 Rounding off 2.1.6 Functions 2.1.7 Sequences and limits 2.1.8 Infinite series 2.1.9 Geometric series 2.1.10 Classes of real valued functions 2.1.11 Graphs 2.1.12 The binomial coefficient 2.1.13 Stirling's approximation of the factorial 2.1.14 L'Hopital's rule 2.1.15 Taylor's theorem 2.1.16 The lp norm 2.1.17 Power means 2.2 Equivalence relationships 2.3 Linear algebra 2.3.1 Matrices 2.3.2 Eigenvalues and spectral decomposition 2.3.3 Symmetric, Hermitian and positive definite matrices 2.3.4 Positive matrices 2.3.5 Stochastic matrices 2.3.6 Nonnegative matrices and graph structure 3 Background - measure theory 3.1 Topological spaces 3.1.1 Bases of topologies 3.1.2 Metric space topologies 3.2 Measure spaces 3.2.1 Formal construction of measures 3.2.2 Completion of measures 3.2.3 Outer measure 3.2.4 Extension of measures 3.2.5 Counting measure 3.2.6 Lebesgue measure 3.2.7 Borel sets 3.2.8 Dynkin system theorem 3.2.9 Signed measures 3.2.10 Decomposition of measures 3.2.11 Measurable functions 3.3 Integration 3.3.1 Convergence of integrals 3.3.2 Lp spaces 3.3.3 Radon-Nikodym derivative 3.4 Product spaces 3.4.1 Product topologies 3.4.2 Product measures 3.4.3 The Kolmogorov extension theorem 4 Background - probability theory 4.1 Probability measures - basic properties 4.2 Moment generating functions (MGF) and cumulant generating functions (CGF) 4.2.1 Moments and cumulants 4.2.2 MGF and CGF of independent sums 4.2.3 Relationship of the CGF to the normal distribution 4.2.4 Probability generating functions 4.3 Conditional distributions 4.4 Martingales 4.4.1 Stopping times 4.5 Some important theorems 4.6 Inequalities for tail probabilities 4.6.1 Chernoff bounds 4.6.2 Chernoff bound for the normal distribution 4.6.3 Chernoff bound for the gamma distribution 4.6.4 Sample means 4.6.5 Some inequalities for bounded random variables 4.7 Stochastic ordering 4.7.1 MGF ordering of the gamma and exponential distribution 4.7.2 Improved bounds based on hazard functions 4.8 Theory of stochastic limits 4.8.1 Covergence of random variables 4.8.2 Convergence of measures 4.8.3 Total variation norm 4.9 Stochastic kernels 4.9.1 Measurability of measure kernels 4.9.2 Continuity of measure kernels 4.10 Convergence of sums 4.11 The law of large numbers 4.12 Extreme value theory 4.13 Maximum likelihood estimation 4.14 Nonparametric estimates of distributions 4.15 Total variation distance for discrete distributions 5 Background - stochastic processes 5.1 Counting processes 5.1.1 Renewal processes 5.1.2 Poisson process 5.2 Markov processes 5.2.1 Discrete state spaces 5.2.2 Global properties of Markov chains 5.2.3 General state spaces 5.2.4 Geometric ergodicity 5.2.5 Spectral properties of Markov chains 5.3 Continuous-time Markov chains 5.3.1 Birth and death processes 5.4 Queueing systems 5.4.1 Queueing systems as birth and death processes 5.4.2 Utilization factor 5.4.3 General queueing systems and embedded Markov chains 5.5 Adapted counting processes 5.5.1 Asymptotic behavior 5.5.2 Relationship to adapted events 6 Functional analysis 6.1 Metric spaces 6.1.1 Contractive mappings 6.2 The Banach fixed point theorem 6.2.1 Stopping rules for fixed point algorithms 6.3 Vector spaces 6.3.1 Quotient spaces 6.3.2 Basis of a vector space 6.3.3 Operators 6.4 Banach spaces 6.4.1 Banach spaces and completeness 6.4.2 Linear operators 6.5 Norms and norm equivalence 6.5.1 Norm dominance 6.5.2 Equivalence properties of norm equivalence classes 6.6 Quotient spaces and seminorms 6.7 Hilbert spaces 6.8 Examples of Banach spaces 6.8.1 Finite dimensional spaces 6.8.2 Matrix norms and the submultiplicative property 6.8.3 Weighted norms on function spaces 6.8.4 Span seminorms 6.8.5 Operators on span quotient spaces 6.9 Measure kernels as linear operators 6.9.1 The contraction property of stochastic kernels 6.9.2 Stochastic kernels and the span seminorm 7 Fixed point equations 7.1 Contraction as a norm equivalence property 7.2 Linear fixed point equations 7.3 The geometric series theorem 7.4 Invariant transformations of fixed point equations 7.5 Fixed point algorithms and the span seminorm 7.5.1 Approximations in the span seminorm 7.5.2 Magnitude of fixed points in the span seminorm 7.6 Stopping rules for fixed point algorithms 7.6.1 Fixed point iteration in the span seminorm 7.7 Perturbations of fixed point equations 8 The distribution of a maximum 8.1 General approach 8.2 Bounds on -M based on MGFs 8.2.1 Sample means 8.2.2 Gamma distribution 8.3 Bounds for varying marginal distributions 8.3.1 Example 8.4 Tail probabilities of maxima 8.4.1 Extreme value distributions 8.4.2 Tail probabilities based on Boole's inequality 8.4.3 The normal case 8.4.4 The gamma(alpha, lambda) case 8.5 Variance mixtures based on random sample sizes 8.6 Bounds for maxima based on the first two moments 8.6.1 Stability PART II General theory of approximate iterative algorithms 9 Background - linear convergence 9.1 Linear convergence 9.2 Construction of envelopes - the nonstochastic case 9.3 Construction of envelopes - the stochastic case 9.4 A version of l'Hopital's rule for series 10 A general theory of approximate iterative algorithms (AIA) 10.1 A general tolerance model 10.2 Example: a preliminary model 10.3 Model elements of an AIA 10.3.1 Lipschitz kernels 10.3.2 Lipschitz convolutions 10.4 A classification system for AIAs 10.4.1 Relative error model 10.5 General inequalities 10.5.1 Hilbert space models of AIAs 10.6 Nonexpansive operators 10.6.1 Application of general inequalities to nonexpansive AIAs 10.6.2 Weakly contractive AIAs 216 10.6.3 Examples 10.6.4 Stochastic approximation (Robbins-Monro algorithm) 10.7 Rates of convergence for AIAs 10.7.1 Monotonicity of the Lipschitz kernel 10.7.2 Case I - strongly contractive models with nonvanishing bounds 10.7.3 Case II - rapidly vanishing approximation error 10.7.4 Case III - approximation error decreasing at contraction rate 10.7.5 Case IV - Approximation error greater than contraction rate 10.7.6 Case V - Contraction rates approaching 1 10.7.7 Adjustments for relative error models 10.7.8 A comparison of Banach space and Hilbert space models 10.8 Stochastic approximation as a weakly contractive algorithm 10.9 Tightness of algorithm tolerance 10.10 Finite bounds 10.10.1 Numerical example 10.11 Summary of convergence rates for strongly contractive models 11 Selection of approximation schedules for coarse-to-fine AIAs 11.1 Extending the tolerance model 11.1.1 Comparison model for tolerance schedules 11.1.2 Regularity conditions for the computation function 11.2 Main result 11.3 Examples of cost functions 11.4 A general principle for AIAs PART III Application to Markov decision processes 12 Markov decision processes (MDP) - background 12.1 Model definition 12.2 The optimal control problem 12.2.1 Adaptive control policies 12.2.2 Optimal control policies 12.3 Dynamic programming and linear operators 12.3.1 The dynamic programming operator (DPO) 12.3.2 Finite horizon dynamic programming 12.3.3 Infinite horizon problem 12.3.4 Classes of MDP 12.3.5 Measurability of the DPO 12.4 Dynamic programming and value iteration 12.4.1 Value iteration and optimality 12.5 Regret and epsilon-optimal solutions 12.6 Banach space structure of dynamic programming 12.6.1 The contraction property 12.6.2 Contraction properties of the DPO 12.6.3 The equivalence of uniform convergence and contraction for the DPO 12.7 Average cost criterion for MDP 13 Markov decision processes - value iteration 13.1 Value iteration on quotient spaces 13.2 Contraction in the span seminorm 13.2.1 Contraction properties of the DPO 13.3 Stopping rules for value iteration 13.4 Value iteration in the span seminorm 13.5 Example: M/D/1/K queueing system 13.6 Efficient calculation of |||QJ |||SP 13.7 Example: M/D/1/K system with optimal control of service capacity 13.8 Policy iteration 13.9 Value iteration for the average cost optimization 14 Model approximation in dynamic programming - general theory 14.1 The general inequality for MDPs 14.2 Model distance 14.3 Regret 14.4 A comment on the approximation of regret 14.5 Example 15 Sampling based approximation methods 15.1 Modeling maxima 15.1.1 Nonuniform sample allocation: Dependence on qmin, and the 'Curse of the Supremum Norm' 15.1.2 Some queueing system examples 15.1.3 Truncated geometric model 15.1.4 M/G/1/K queueing model 15.1.5 Restarting schemes 15.2 Continuous state/action spaces 15.3 Parametric estimation of MDP models 16 Approximate value iteration by truncation 16.1 Truncation algorithm 16.2 Regularity conditions for tolerance-cost model 16.2.1 Suboptimal orderings 16.3 Example 17 Grid approximations of MDPs with continuous state/action spaces 17.1 Discretization methods 17.2 Complexity analysis 17.3 Application of approximation schedules 18 Adaptive control of MDPs 18.1 Regret bounds for adaptive policies 18.2 Definition of an adaptive MDP 18.3 Online parameter estimation 18.4 Exploration schedule Bibliography Subject index


Emphasis is currently being placed upon the use of low-cost, naturally occurring reinforcers in classroom behavior modification programs. The effectiveness of students' territorial space as a natural reinforcer for social and academic classroom behaviors was investigated. Using the multiple baseline technique, student access to territorial space was systematically manipulated in an attempt to decelerate out-of-seat behaviors and to increase the percentage of assignments completed and graded either satisfactory or excellent. Student vocalization was also monitored; it was predicted that increases in desired academic behaviors would produce reciprocal decreases in vocalization. Finally, a fading procedure was utilized to remove gross territorial markings from the classroom; the locus of territorial reinforcement was shifted to a large wall map. A decrease was noted in the frequency of occurrence of out-of-seat behaviors and the percentage of assignments which were graded satisfactory and excellent increased. Vocalization and task completion remained at near-baseline rates. It was concluded that territorial space is available to teachers as a potentially effective reinforcer for desirable student behaviors.


The global effort to compel states to meet their duty to protect in the business and human rights context is centered on the project of developing National Action Plans on business and human rights (NAPs) for implementing the UNGPs. This project has been central to the agenda of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (Working Group) over the past few years. To date NAPs production has been concentrated in Europe. A looming question for the business and human rights movement and proponents of the UNGPs, therefore, is to what extent Global South countries will undertake a NAP process. The development of NAPs only in the Global North, which are in general aimed at curbing harmful corporate conduct by multinationals in the Global South without corresponding action in the Global South, is a clear impediment to the development of a global governance system that can avert corporate human rights violations, the very objective of the NAPs project. Equally necessary is the strengthening of institutions – local legislative frameworks, judicial systems, and law enforcement - in developing country host states. In this way, the production of NAPs in the Global South, particularly in conflict and post-conflict societies, can be seen as a guard against neo-colonialism by providing a critical opportunity for developing countries to systematically address the governance gaps rooted in their own institutions. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that Global South countries – China, South Africa, Thailand, India, and many others -- are the home states of multinationals that operate internationally both within their regions and in other regions of the Global South. These countries share responsibilities to strengthen their legal and regulatory institutions so that companies domiciled within their borders operating internationally know that they will be held to account for their human rights impacts. This paper aims to shed light on Global South perspectives on NAPs in an effort to understand the prospects for UNGP diffusion in Africa, Asia and Latin America through them. The emphasis is therefore on a locally-grounded conception of NAPs that meets the needs of Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans. The first section is a review of reports of regional workshops and other published analysis on the potential role of NAPs in implementing human rights norms for business within the Global South and identify several key needs that NAPs can serve. Next we examine the impetus of Global South states to develop NAPs by reviewing the political, economic and social underpinnings of NAPs commitments in two countries, Kenya and Chile, where the governments have committed to a NAP and at the time of this writing the processes are underway. We conclude with reflections on the prospects for the continued evolution and generation of NAPs in the Global South.


Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is located at the juncture of several important natural and anthropogenic aerosol sources. Satellites have observed substantial dust and anthropogenic aerosols in the atmosphere during summer over the TP. These aerosols have distinct effects on the earth's energy balance, microphysical cloud properties, and precipitation rates. To investigate the transport of summer dust and anthropogenic aerosols over the TP, we combined the Spectral Radiation-Transport Model for Aerosol Species (SPRINTARS) with a non-hydrostatic regional model (NHM). The model simulation shows heavily loaded dust aerosols over the northern slope and anthropogenic aerosols over the southern slope and the east of the TP. The dust aerosols are primarily mobilized around the Taklimakan Desert, where a portion of the aerosols are transported eastward due to the northwesterly current; simultaneously, a portion of the particles are transported southward when a second northwesterly current becomes northeasterly because of the topographic blocking of the northern slope of the TP. Because of the strong upward current, dust plumes can extend upward to approximately 7–8 km a.s.l. over the northern slope of the TP. When a dust event occurs, anthropogenic aerosols that entrained into the southwesterly current via the Indian summer monsoon are transported from India to the southern slope of the TP. Simultaneously, a large amount of anthropogenic aerosol is also transported from eastern China to the east of the TP by easterly winds. An investigation on the transport of dust and anthropogenic aerosols over the plateau may provide the basis for determining aerosol impacts on summer monsoons and climate systems.


Australia-based art collective Tissue Culture and Art Project (TC&A) use the tools of biotechnology as artistic media to create "Semi-Living" sculptures. These sculptures are exhibited, eaten, and killed in various public contexts and, therefore, raise important ethical questions about the existence of life outside of the body. Departing from dominant concerns within the academy about the ethics of producing biological art, the essay instead focuses on the overlooked ethics of its reception. It addresses the ethics of spectatorship in TC&A's work by arguing three main points: first, its documentary images reference, play with, and are haunted by religious iconography; second, examining the messianic resonances in TC&A's work illuminates an ethics of spectatorship that is closely related to the Derridean ethical experience of otherness; and third, focusing on TC&A's documentary images addresses the potential of bioart documentation to generate affect and engage in ethical relations.


Ophidian envenomation accidents constitute a serious public health problem in many countries around the globe. Over 5 million such accident cases occur each year causing more than 100,000 deaths. In Africa, more than 20,000 deaths per year are registered while 400,000 envenomation victims retain severe and permanent functional sequelae. In Morocco, snakebites are frequent and of greater severity in children. They occur mostly in rural areas. The incidence of these bites remains poorly understood and vastly underestimated. The epidemiological data are not well known due to the absence of a national registry, whereas a significant proportion of envenomations receive only traditional treatment methods in non-medical intensive care. This prompted us to investigate the enzymatic and biological properties of venom biochemical constituents from two of the most dangerous snake venoms in Morocco: Cerastes cerastes (Cc) and Macrovipera mauritanica (Mm). Also, we studied the immune cross-reactivity of Cc and Mm venoms in comparison to that of another important dangerous Moroccan viper, Bitis arietans (Ba), to identify the best candidates (venom or a mixture of venoms) for producing the most efficient and protective antivenom. In the present study, we report a preliminary venom characterization of Cc and Mm and the cross-reactivity that may exist between their venoms and Ba. These venoms are known to be highly toxic and contain several proteins that differ by molecular weights. Interestingly, both Cc and Mm venoms are characterized by intense hemorrhagic and phospholipase A2 activities and their ability to degrade the α and γ chains of fibrinogen. They display very low proteolysis through the casein test. After injection into mice, Cc and Mm induce myonecrosis in skeletal muscles, which most likely reflects direct action of myotoxins and indirect action of hemorrhagic molecules present in these venoms. In mice, this myonecrosis diminishes serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels. As expected, Cc venom is immunogenic and induces highly protective antivenom against Mm and Ba venom antigens. This protective capacity is similar to that of the antivenom produced against the Mm venom.


The chemical structure of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (2-MBI), which is widely used as a rubber antioxidant, is partially similar to those of thiourea (TU) and ethylenethiourea (ETU), both potent thyrotoxic compounds. In order to determine the oral toxicity of 2-MBI, a 28-day repeated dose toxicity study in Wistar rats followed by observation over a 14-day recovery period was conducted at dose levels of 2, 10 and 50 mg/kg 2-MBI administered by gavage. No toxic deaths occurred due to 2-MBI treatment. Decreases of body weight gain and food consumption in the 50 mg/kg dose group were observed during the second half of the treatment period. In addition, hematological examination and serum biochemical tests revealed decreased white blood cells and hemoglobin and increased serum urea nitrogen, cholesterol, phospholipid, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and the Na+/K+ ratio in the 50 mg/kg dose group. Marked thyroid enlargement (to 10 fold the control weight), histopathologically associated with diffuse hyperplasia of follicles with decreased colloid and thickening of the fibrous capsule, was found. Reduction in thymus weight was also observed in a dose-dependent manner, without significant histopathological alteration. The non-observed effect level (NOEL) of 2-MBI in this gavage study was found to be less than 2 mg/kg/day based on the significant decrease in thymus weight in the 2 mg/kg 2-MBI treatment group. In an ancillary study, measurement of serum levels of T3, T4 and TSH, and thyroid weight after gavage treatment with 0.15 and 0.3 mmol/kg of three antithyroid compounds for 14 days revealed a more potent antithyroid effect for 2-MBI than for TU or ETU.


In this paper on police officers who monitor coffee shops in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, I relate their work to Becker's moral entrepreneur (1963). Becker describes two categories of moral entrepreneurs: rule creators, such as the crusading reformer, and rule enforcers, for example the police. According to Becker, the rule enforcer is less naive and more pragmatic than the rule creator. The main question of this paper is: in what respect can the work of the police officers be described as moral entrepreneurship? To answer this question I conducted in-depth interviews with six police officers on the meaning they attach to their duties of monitoring coffee shops. The research shows that police officers take a pragmatic approach, which also contains layers of morality that influence their rule enforcing. For instance, the way they define the character and intentions of the coffee shop managers is decisive in how they act towards them. Another difference is observed in relation to the two interests of the rule enforcer described by Becker. The police officers interviewed did not have to justify their existence and they did not have to gain respect by coercion. This is explained by (a) the routine character of the monitoring, which has created a predictable situation and a modus operandi known to all parties and (b) the criminalization of cannabis in recent years. The effect of this process is that the position of police officers in relation to cannabis sellers is not questioned.


For some time, firms have used new channels established by Web 2.0 to develop platforms of innovation. Such structures of intermediation (this phenomenon is called "crowdsourcing") link companies that are out of solutions for their R&D with Internet users (scientists, academics, researchers, and retired people). The winning challenge posted on the platform is rewarded by a prize. The objective of the article is to analyze the existing mechanisms on a specific platform (Innocentive). Our aim is to understand the contractual arrangements, whether in terms of intellectual property and transfer rights between actors or in terms of technical help proposed to the company to detect the best solutions to the challenge.JEL Codes: L86, O3, O17, O32


Future nanoscale devices are expected to be more fragile and sensitive to external influences than conventional CMOS-based devices. Researchers predict that it will no longer be possible to test a device and then throw it away if it is found to be defective, as every circuit is expected to have multiple hard and soft defects. Fundamentally new fault-tolerant architectures are required to produce reliable systems that will survive with manufacturing defects and transient faults. This paper introduces the History Index of Correct Computation (HICC) as a run-time reconfiguration technique for fault-tolerant nano-computing. This approach identifies reliable blocks on-the-fly by monitoring the correctness of their outputs and forwarding only good results, ignoring the results from unreliable blocks. Simulation results show that history-based TMR modules offer a better response to fault tolerance at the module level than do conventional fault-tolerant approaches when the faults are nonuniformly distributed among redundant units. A correct computation rate of 99% is achieved despite a 13% average injected fault rate, when one of the redundant units and the decision unit are fault-free as well as when both have a low injected fault rate of 0.1%. A correct computation rate of 89% is achieved when faults are nonuniformly distributed at an average fault rate of 11% and fault rate in the decision unit is 0.5%. The robustness of the history-based mechanism is shown to be better than both majority voting and a Hamming detection and correction code.


Because conditions of culture in vitro cannot be identical to those in the living system, cell lines cultured in vitro are referred to as 'model systems'. Not all cell types are capable of differentiation in vitro. Stem cells are of various types, including embryonic stem cells (ESC), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), cancer/leukaemia stem cells (CSCs/LSCs), etc. Procedures for studying differentiation in model systems depend on the type of culture that can be employed. Techniques employed include liquid suspension cultures, monolayer cultures and complex culture systems involving semisolid matrices or liquid overlay methods. Cells derived from various tissues can be maintained in culture known as 'primary culture'. Only a rare human cell in a culture can undergo changes in its molecular machinery known as 'immortalisation' which allow it to propagate indefinitely. Recent developments include systems optimised for stem cell differentiation. Such in vitro culture techniques have applications to the study of differentiation in basic research and clinical applications.

Key Concepts:

Mammalian cells derived from many tissues, the subject of this article, can propagate outside of the body.

Stem cells can differentiate, but provide a reservoir for development of functional cells of various types which is known as 'lineage expansion'.

Stem cells give rise to progenitor cells (PCs) which can differentiate into mature cells, but have a limited repertoire of lineages of differentiation.

Mature cells can be induced to have the capabilities of stem cells and PCs by introduction of four or less transcription factors (TFs), for example, Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc, under defined conditions.

The cell environment – other cells, extracellular material – can favour lineage expansion into mature, functional cells and is called a 'niche'.

Keywords:

differentiation;
induction of differentiation;
assessment of differentiation;
cell cycle;
culture conditions


Abstract How does a refugee camp urbanize? Up to now, camps have been considered as either urban assemblages made by dwellers? improvised tactics or spaces governed by disjointed urban planning policies. I demonstrate that there is another side to the urbanism of the refugee camp. A form of coherent institutional urban planning exists as well. It takes the shape of an improvised dispositif (apparatus). One of its main effects is to render the very process of urban planning invisible. I investigate this type of urbanism on the basis of fieldwork conducted in the Al-Hussein Palestinian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. I argue that this improvised dispositif of urban planning?of which state and non-state institutions are part?is the result of a balancing act that ensures the temporary character of the camp, while allowing the implementation of a form of urban development that leads toward a material homogenization between the camp and the surrounding urban space. It does this by rendering its own processes invisible and being officially referred to as ?improvement?. By emphasizing the key features of heterogeneity, invention and provisionality, I explain that the notion of a dispositif, coined by Foucault (1980), allows us to examine how institutions improvise away from more conventional urban planning. My analysis also complements Jeffrey's examination (2013) of institutional improvisation in the production of space, by showing that improvisation can be a form of strategic elaboration.


In this article we give an overview of the concept of universal dynamics near non-thermal fixed points in isolated quantum many-body systems. We outline a non-perturbative kinetic theory derived within a Schwinger–Keldysh closed-time path-integral approach, as well as a low-energy effective field theory which enable us to predict the universal scaling exponents characterizing the time evolution at the fixed point. We discuss the role of wave-turbulent transport in the context of such fixed points and discuss universal scaling evolution of systems bearing ensembles of (quasi) topological defects. This is rounded off by the recently introduced concept of prescaling as a generic feature of the evolution towards a non-thermal fixed point.


Abstract A growing literature is demonstrating that platinum (Pt) is transformed under surface conditions; yet (bio)geochemical processes at the nugget-soil-solution interface are incompletely understood. The reactivity of Pt exposed to Earth-surface weathering conditions, highlighted by this study, may improve our ability to track its movement in natural systems, e.g., focusing on nanoparticles as a strategy for searching for new, undiscovered sources of this precious metal. To study dissolution/re-precipitation processes of Pt and associated elements, grains of Pt-Fe alloy were collected from a soil placer deposit at the Fifield Pt-field, Australia. Optical- and electron-microscopy revealed morphologies indicative of physical transport as well as chemical weathering. Dissolution "pits," cavities, striations, colloidal nano-particles, and aggregates of secondary Pt platelets as well as acicular, iron (Fe) hydroxide coatings were observed. FIB-SEM-(EBSD) combined with S-μ-XRF of a sectioned grain showed a fine layer of up to 5 μm thick composed of refined, aggregates of 0.2 to 2 μm sized crystalline secondary Pt overlying more coarsely crystalline Pt-Fe-alloy of primary magmatic origin. These results confirm that Pt is affected by geochemical transformations in supergene environments; structural and chemical signatures of grains surfaces, rims, and cores are linked to the grains' primary and secondary (trans)formational histories; and Pt mobility can occur under Earth surface conditions. Intuitively, this nanophase-Pt can disperse much further from primary sources of ore than previously thought. This considerable mineral reactivity demonstrates that the formation and/or release of Pt nanoparticles needs to be measured and incorporated into exploration geochemistry programs.


Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the development of airway diseases. Recently, hydrogen (H2) gas has been explored for its antioxidant properties. This study investigated the role of H2 gas in oxidative stress-induced alveolar and bronchial airway injury, where A549 and NCI-H292 cells were stimulated with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vitro. Results show that time-dependent administration of 2% H2 gas recovered the cells from oxidative stress. Various indicators including reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO), antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione peroxidase), intracellular calcium, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway were examined to analyze the redox profile. The viability of A549 and NCI-H292 cells and the activity of antioxidant enzymes were reduced following induction by H2O2 and LPS but were later recovered using H2 gas. Additionally, the levels of oxidative stress markers, including ROS and NO, were elevated upon induction but were attenuated after treatment with H2 gas. Furthermore, H2 gas suppressed oxidative stress-induced MAPK activation and maintained calcium homeostasis. This study suggests that H2 gas can rescue airway epithelial cells from H2O2 and LPS-induced oxidative stress and may be a potential intervention for airway diseases.


Background: Locally recruited and trained volunteers are a vital component of the Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program (CHAP), a community-based cardiovascular disease prevention program that has been implemented across different settings and targeting different populations. As part of expanding and adapting CHAP to new settings, we conducted a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial to implement CHAP targeting French-speaking elderly residents of subsidized social housing buildings in Québec and Ontario. As there is some evidence that the culture of volunteering might be different for English-speakers than their French-speaking counterparts, our objective was to generate a profile of French-speaking CHAP volunteers and to compare it with English-speaking volunteers in Ontario who participated in an earlier community-based CHAP program and with volunteers in Canada as reported in the Statistics Canada's General Social Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP). Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered online or by telephone to French-speaking volunteers who participated in at least one CHAP session held in subsidized social housing in Montérégie (Québec, Canada) between March 2018 and June 2019. Results: The response rate was 79% (30/38), majority were female (87%, 26/30), retired or semi-retired (83%; 25/30), almost two-thirds (63%, 19/30) had previous work experience in the healthcare field, and 40% (12/30) had more than 10 years of volunteering experience. These characteristics were similar both to those of general profile of volunteers in Canada and to English-speaking volunteers in Ontario who participated in an earlier pharmacy-based CHAP program. The top 5 reasons for volunteering among French-speaking CHAP volunteers were identical to those reported in CSGVP: making a contribution to the community; using one's skills and experience; improving one's sense of well-being or health; exploring one's own strengths; and networking with or meeting people. The majority of French-speaking CHAP volunteers, like their English counterparts in Ontario, reported a high level of satisfaction with their participation in the program, enjoyed their interaction with participants, and gained new knowledge. Conclusions: French-speaking CHAP volunteers in Quebec share many similarities with English-speaking CHAP volunteers in Ontario and volunteers in Canada in terms of background, motivation, satisfaction and perceived benefits of volunteering.


Software development deals with various changes and evolution that cannot be avoided due to the development processes which are vastly incremental and iterative. In Model Driven Engineering, inconsistency between model and its implementation has huge impact on the software development process in terms of added cost, time and effort. The later the inconsistencies are found, it could add more cost to the software project. Thus, this paper aims to describe the development of a tool that could improve the consistency between Unified Modeling Language (UML) design models and its C# implementation using reverse engineering approach. A list of consistency rules is defined to check vertical and horizontal consistencies between structural (class diagram) and behavioral (use case diagram and sequence diagram) UML diagrams against the implemented C# source code. The inconsistencies found between UML diagrams and source code are presented in a textual description and visualized in a tree view structure.


This article presents an approach for collaborative project management in which not only the project but also the management is collaborative. The focus is on the support of collaboration and communication in globally distributed projects. Several project management tools exist for planning and monitoring of project tasks. Other tools exist to support information exchange and technical interoperability. However, few solutions are available for the strengthening of intangible assets and supporting the common understanding of the project objectives, requirements and practices. For this objective, 'Collaborative project alignment' is defined in this article, together with a model and services to support the identification of the alignment aims and bridging possible gaps. The project alignment model and the related services, a project alignment booster, have been developed in the context of COIN-project (FP7 EU 216256), and relying on results from this project. The first evaluation of the tools has been made in relation to large engineering projects.


Abstract Combinatorial CRISPR-Cas screens have advanced the mapping of genetic interactions, but their experimental scale limits the number of targetable gene combinations. Here, we describe 3Cs multiplexing, a rapid and scalable method to generate highly diverse and uniformly distributed combinatorial CRISPR libraries. We demonstrate that the library distribution skew is the critical determinant of its required screening coverage. By circumventing iterative cloning of PCR-amplified oligonucleotides, 3Cs multiplexing facilitates the generation of combinatorial CRISPR libraries with low distribution skews. We show that combinatorial 3Cs libraries can be screened with minimal coverages, reducing associated efforts and costs at least 10-fold. We apply a 3Cs multiplexing library targeting 12,736 autophagy gene combinations with 247,032 paired gRNAs in viability and reporter-based enrichment screens. In the viability screen, we identify, among others, the synthetic lethal WDR45B-PIK3R4 and the proliferation-enhancing ATG7-KEAP1 genetic interactions. In the reporter-based screen, we identify over 1,570 essential genetic interactions for autophagy flux, including interactions among paralogous genes, namely ATG2A-ATG2B, GABARAP-MAP1LC3B and GABARAP-GABARAPL2. However, we only observe few genetic interactions within paralogous gene families of more than two members, indicating functional compensation between them. This work establishes 3Cs multiplexing as a platform for genetic interaction screens at scale.


Create a healthy and successful organization environment! It's time to re-examine your organization's fundamental values and create the conditions necessary to make your workplaces healthier environments for everyone. This essential resource is filled with critical information needed to understand the interrelationship between individual and organizational values. Balancing Individual and Organizational Values: * Explores the major value challenges in today's business world * Offers powerful tools for assessing values * Outlines a systematic approach for revitalizing organizations through growth values "An important addition to any OD practitioner's library, Ken Hultman's book reviews and analyzes both the historical and contemporary relevance of values to the mission of OD. It is packed with valuable frameworks, models, tools, worksheets, and advice to guide OD consultants addressing value issues in the change process." -Bev Scott, principal, Bev Scott Consulting; author, Consulting on the Inside


Host resistance is an important component of integrated disease management strategies for control of Sclerotinia white mold disease in snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Few resistant snap bean cultivars have been bred, however, because genetic resistance to white mold is not well understood. This study was conducted to examine in- heritance and identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for white mold resistance in an F5:7 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population ('Benton'/NY6020-4). 'Benton' snap bean is susceptible to white mold. Snap bean germplasm line NY6020-4 has partial resistance. The parents and 77 F5:7 RILs were tested for resistance to white mold across four greenhouse and two fi eld environments. Moderately high heritability estimates were observed for straw test (0.73) and fi eld (0.62) reaction. Selective mapping of 27 random amplifi ed polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers detected two QTL condition- ing resistance to white mold on linkage groups B6 and B8 of the core map. The B6 QTL explained 12% and B8 QTL 38% of the variation for disease reaction in the straw test. The two QTL explained 13% and 26% disease reaction in the fi eld, respectively. Favorable alleles for all the QTL were derived from NY6020-4, except for the B6 QTL condi- tioning resistance to white mold in the fi eld, which was derived from 'Benton'. The B6 QTL was located near the Ur-4 rust resistance gene, and was associated with canopy height and lodging traits that condition disease avoidance. The B8 QTL was associated with increased internode length, an undesirable trait in snap bean, which may hamper use of white mold resistance derived from NY6020-4.


Information exchange systems, such as BitTorrent, Yahoo Answers, Yelp, Amazon Mechanical Turk, differ in many ways, but all share a common vulnerability to selfish behavior and free-riding. In this paper, we build incentives schemes based on social norms. Social norms prescribe a social strategy for the agents in the system to follow and deploy reputation schemes to reward or penalize agents depending on whether they follow or deviate from the prescribed strategy when selecting actions. Because agents in these systems often have only limited capability to observe the global system information, e.g. the reputation distribution of the agents participating in the system, their beliefs about the reputation distribution are heterogeneous and biased. Such belief heterogeneity causes a positive fraction of agents to not follow the social strategy. In such practical scenarios, the standard equilibrium analysis deployed in the economics literature is no longer directly applicable and hence, the system design needs to consider these differences. To investigate how the system designs need to change, we focus on a simple social norm with binary reputation labels but allow adjusting the punishment severity through randomization. First, we model the belief heterogeneity using a suitable Bayesian belief function. Next, we formalize the agents' optimal decision problems and derive in which scenarios they follow the prescribed social strategy. Then we study how the system state is determined by the agents' strategic behavior. We are particularly interested in the robust equilibrium where the system state becomes invariant when all agents strategically optimize their decisions. By rigorously studying two specific cases where agents' belief distribution is constant or is linearly influenced by the true reputation distribution, we prove that the optimal reputation update rule is to choose the mildest possible punishment. This result is further confirmed for more sophisticated belief influences in simulations. In conclusion, our proposed design framework enables the development of optimal social norms for various deployment scenarios with limited observations.


This paper studies the reaction of share prices in the Chilean securities market at the sectoral level to the arrival of COVID-19 in the country. The following question is answered: Did the Chilean market act efficiently before the arrival of COVID-19? To answer this question, an event study using a 10-day investment return window was applied to the industrial sectors that make up the IPSA (Selective Stock Price Index). To obtain the abnormal returns (AR) and cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) for the event window, three models were used: (1) adjusted average return, (2) adjusted market return, and (3) the market model. The results of the study show an overreaction to market losses, except in the utilities industry, causing greater losses after the event, which shows that information is slow to be incorporated in the previous stage and suggests that the prices of the assets do not reflect all the information available in the market. A significant finding is that the Chilean stock market responded inefficiently in the face of the arrival of the pandemic. This information is useful for investors in the formation of portfolios and/or investment strategies with a view to the long term.


For several decades, technology scaling has brought many orders of magnitude improvements in digital CMOS performance and similar economic benefits to consumers. Feature size is quickly approaching nanometer scale, and the associated large variability imposes grand challenges in achieving reliable and robust operation. This is especially so for high-precision analog and mixed-signal circuits since they have always relied on accurate device matching which will not be available in nanometer CMOS or emerging technologies. This dissertation is aiming to develop design methodologies for overcoming such grand challenges without the conventional matching requirements. The underlining hypothesis is that, from a population of devices with significant variability, correct interconnection and sequencing can produce an effective system level matching that is several orders of magnitude better than the original devices. The optimal solution is non-deterministic polynomial-time hard but a simple ordered element matching strategy based on ordered statistics produces dramatically improved matching. Practical implementation of the new matching strategy is demonstrated on a 15-bit binaryweighted current-steering digital-to-analog converter design in a 130nm CMOS technology. The core area of the chip is less than 0.42mm 2 , among which the MSB current source area is well within 0.021mm 2 . Measurement results have shown that the differential nonlinearity and integral nonlinearity can be reduced from 9.85LSB and 17.41LSB to 0.34LSB and 0.77LSB, respectively.


In 'A Poetic for Histories', Greg Dening tells us that we all make histories endlessly. It is part of the human condition, he tells us, to make histories—to make sense of the present as past as soon as it has gone, to tell stories about it, to interpret it. But histories are not just the content of the story or interpretation of the past. They are also the mode of the story's expression, the occasion of its telling. One of Greg's great regrets was that he did not hear the stories of Te Henua (The Land we know as the Marquesas) directly from Enata (the Men of The Land)—that he never came to know the living as he knew the dead. What I found when I went to the southern Vanuatu island of Tanna in 1975 as one of Greg's PhD students was that talking with the living was one of the ways of coming to know the dead. In the forty years since then, what I have learnt is that talking with the dead is also one of the ways of coming to know the living.


Genetic evidence suggests that inhibition of amyloid fibril formation by small molecules should be effective against amyloid diseases. Known amyloid inhibitors appear to function by shifting the aggregation equilibrium away from the amyloid state. Here, we describe a series of transthyretin amyloidosis inhibitors that functioned by increasing the kinetic barrier associated with misfolding, preventing amyloidogenesis by stabilizing the native state. The trans-suppressor mutation, threonine 119 → methionine 119, which is known to ameliorate familial amyloid disease, also functioned through kinetic stabilization, implying that this small-molecule strategy should be effective in treating amyloid diseases.


Spectroscopic and photovoltaic properties of composites of purified and subsequently fluorinated single‐walled carbon nanotubes (F‐SWCNTs) with conjugated polymer poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) are tested. Adding cyclohexanone into o‐dichlorobenzene solution of P3HT and F‐SWCNTs significantly affects the composite morphology and promotes P3HT/F‐SWCNT nanofilament formation, as evidenced from atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of spin‐coated composite films. Also, nanofilament formation enhances quenching of P3HT photoluminescence by F‐SWCNTs. The performance of P3HT‐based organic photovoltaics (OPV) devices with separated semiconducting SWCNTs and F‐SWCNTs as the acceptor component of the active layer is comparable. Light‐induced electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal intensity in P3HT/F‐SWCNT composite films and frozen solutions grows with increase in F‐SWCNT content, which is a signature of photoinduced electron transfer. Dramatic change in SWCNT electronic structure upon fluorination is also evidenced by UV–vis– near infra red optical absorption spectra, from which the bandgap of about 1.0 eV is derived for F‐SWCNTs. Overall, the experimental results confirm that fluorination efficiently converts metallic SWCNTs into semiconducting ones, and F‐SWCNTs can be used for as an electron acceptor component in OPV devices, in combination with polymer donors. Presently, the performance of P3HT/F‐SWCNT devices is limited by F‐SWCNT aggregation into bundles, which decreases P3HT/F‐SWCNT interface area.


Abstract As the highest and most impressive features of the landscape, mountains have an unusual power to awaken a sense of the sacred. Their soaring summits, the clouds and thunder that swirl about their peaks, the life-giving waters that flow from their heights, these and other characteristics imbue them with an aura of mystery and sanctity. In that aura, people of diverse backgrounds, both traditional and modern, experience a deeper reality that gives meaning and vitality to their lives. Drawing on many of the themes associated with sacred mountains around the world, The Mountain Institute in Washington DC has developed with the US National Park Service innovative educational activities that highlight the spiritual and cultural meanings of natural features of mountain environments in different cultures. The purpose of the project is to connect a broad range of visitors with nature, enrich their experiences, and give them deep-seated, sustainable reasons for conserving the environment. Efforts to conserve the environmental integrity and cultural diversity associated with sacred mountains need to involve the many diverse peoples and traditions that revere and care for them.


Objective: ADHD affects between 2% and 8% of college students and is associated with broad functional impairment. No prior randomized controlled trials with this population have been published. The present study is a pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) group skills training adapted for college students with ADHD. Method: Thirty-three undergraduates with ADHD between ages 18 and 24 were randomized to receive either DBT group skills training or skills handouts during an 8-week intervention phase. ADHD symptoms, executive functioning (EF), and related outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up. Results: Participants receiving DBT group skills training showed greater treatment response rates (59-65% vs. 19-25%) and clinical recovery rates (53-59% vs. 6-13%) on ADHD symptoms and EF, and greater improvements in quality of life. Conclusion: DBT group skills training may be efficacious, acceptable, and feasible for treating ADHD among college students. A larger randomized trial is needed for further evaluation.


all traces of phosphorus wash with 1 % solution copper sulphate," etc. (our italics). It seems clear from both our own experience and that of Dr. Thelwall Jones that 1 % copper sulphate solution can only indicate and not completely destroy appreciable quantities of phosphorus. 2. Although Dr. Thelwall Jones considers that the " official" concentrations of copper sulphate and alkali are adequate for clinical treatment of industrial phosphorus burns, he admits that they might show deficiencies under field or Service conditions, which are precisely those which our proposed treatment was designed to encounter. As an example we might quote the difficulty of removing, by means of forceps, liquid phosphorus, as compared with the usual waxy product. We might also refer to the added advantage of the osmotic effect of the concentrated applications as compared with the " official solutions." 3. We were glad to receive Dr. Thelwall Jones's support for two important points-namely: (a) the necessity for prolonged treatment with hypertonic "alkalis "; (b) the avoidance of coagulants as a continuation treatment. It would appear, therefore, that our criticisms of the " official" method as issued by the Army authorities and the Ministry, of Health receive substantial support from Dr. Thelwall Jones, and, we trust, so far as liquid phosphorus is concerned, his complete concurrence. We would emphasize that the main object of our paper was to make suggestions for an adequate first-aid treatment, which we are sure Dr. Thelwall Jones will agree is not provided by the " official " treatment.-We are, etc., E. W. GODDING. The Crookes Laboratories, London, N.W.10. H. E. F. NOTITON.


ABSTRACT Objective: This survey estimated differences in staff time requirements between fentanyl HCl iontophoretic transdermal system (fentanyl ITS) and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) in post-operative pain management. Research design and methods: European Delphi panels of nurses and anaesthesiologists, who had practical experience with both fentanyl ITS and IV-PCA, were provided a task list, developed from a previous clinical trial, associated with each modality. The panellists were asked to estimate time spent on each task. Estimates were calculated by multiplying the estimated patient proportion for whom the task was performed by the expected frequency of task performance, by the estimated task time. Results: Data is presented as mean minutes (standard deviation). Fentanyl ITS use was estimated to save an average of 68.7 min total staff time per patient per treatment period compared to IV-PCA (86.5 (20.3)) vs. 156.4 (55.2); respectively; p < 0.001), the largest amount of savings being in the 'Setup' category (19.4 (6.7) vs. 47.8 (17.5), respectively; p < 0.001), and mostly due to IV-PCA task elimination. Significant time savings were estimated using fentanyl ITS over IV-PCA in the 'Discontinuation' category (4.8 (2.4) vs. 20.6 (3.3), respectively; p < 0.001). Panellists agreed that fentanyl ITS use would decrease staff assistance time required for helping patients during self-care routines and it may also decrease the patient's time to ambulation. Survey limitations included: possible recall bias due to the observational nature of the data; task list descriptions resulting in possible double-counting of data; no sensitivity analyses; and the declarative nature of the responses possibly leading to a dilution of survey findings. Conclusions: Fentanyl ITS use was estimated, by expert opinion, to require 44% less staff time than IV-PCA use.


Some patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) have disease accelerated deterioration without identifiable cause referred as "acute exacerbation" or "accelerated stage". It is characterized by severe worsening of dyspnea, hypoxemia and new or progressive opacities on imaging studies. The typical histological findings are diffuse alveolar damage in addition to the features of usual interstitial pneumonia pattern. Mortality in this clinical entity is very high and no efficacious therapeutic have been described. The authors describe the clinical, functional and radiological features, treatment and evolution of five patients with IPF acute exacerbation. A discussion will be carry out concerning the IPF acute exacerba


Contemporary virtual reality as marketed by the likes of Oculus Rift and Vive promises 'never-before-experienced' levels of immersion and the 'magic of presence' as a radically new consumer product. Yet these hyped up claims are far from new and echo similar hype from the 1990s and resonate with earlier forms of immersive audiovisual experimentation.

This talk will put these claims in context by looking at the larger history of the resonance between computing and audiovisual media that goes back at least to the 1960s, including the work of John Whitney and Jordan Belson, as well as experimenters with video in the 1960s and 1970s such as Frank Gillette, Bill Viola and Alberto Grifi. It will situate the actual development of virtual reality in the 1990s in proximity to both these practices, and histories of stereoscopy, 3D and special effects. Finally it will propose that while discussions of VR in the 1990s were no less prone to exaggeration and hype, their speculative qualities are valuable for thinking about what may actually emerge as genuinely new in 21st Century VR.


The Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is an X-linked primary immunodeficiency disease, arising from mutations of the WAS-protein (WASP) gene. Previously, we have reported that mononuclear cells from WAS patients showed lack/reduced of the intracellular WASP (WASPdim) by flow cytometric analysis, and analysis of WASP by flow cytometry (FCM-WASP) was useful for WAS diagnosis. In this study, we report a WAS patient who showed the unique pattern of FCM-WASP. The patient had the small population of normal expression of WASP (WASPbright) mononuclear cells together with the major WASPdim population. The WASPbright cells were detected in T cells, not in B cells or in monocytes. Surprisingly, the molecular studies of the WASPbright cells revealed that the inherited mutation of WASP gene was reversed to normal. His mother was proved as a WAS carrier, and HLA studies and microsatellite polymorphic studies proved that the WASPbright cells were derived from the patient himself. Therefore, we concluded that the WASPbright cells were resulted from spontaneous in vivo reversion of the inherited mutation. Furthermore, the scanning electron microscopic studies indicated that WASP-positive cells from the patient restored the dense microvillus surface projections that were hardly observed in the WASPdim cells. This case might have significant implications regarding the prospects of the future gene therapy for WAS patients.


Since physical form and function are intimately linked, mechanisms that maintain
cell shape and size within strict limits are likely to be important for a wide variety of
biological processes. However, while intrinsic controls have been found to
contribute to the relatively well-defined shape of bacteria and yeast cells, the extent
to which individual cells from a multicellular animal control their plastic form
remains unclear and is the subject of much scientific interest.
In this work I studied the regulation of the cell length using micro-patterned lines to
limit cell extension to one dimension. In particular, I described a mechanism by
which animal cells maintain a characteristic steady-state length independent of their
size, pattern-width and cortical actin, but dependant on microtubule dynamics and
organization. Population of dynamic microtubules aligned along the long cell axis, as
the result of interactions of microtubule plus ends with the lateral cell cortex, drives
elongation of cells on micropatterned lines.
Furthermore, I described a mathematical model of micropatterned cells based on
microtubules dynamics. Notably, the model recapitulates the cell length control
mechanism that I observed experimentally. Moreover, I discuss model predictions
and related experimental tests validating these predictions and confirming the cell
length control hypothesis.
In conclusion, my work suggests that microtubules impose unexpected limits on cell
geometry that enable cells to regulate their length. Since cells are the building blocks
and architects of tissue morphogenesis, such intrinsically-defined limits may be important for development and homeostasis in multicellular eukaryotes. Finally,
preliminary in-vivo experiments confirmed the biological relevance of the
homeostasis cell length control in zebra fish.


In the field of tissue engineering, polymeric and micro/nanocomposite substrates with suitable architectural features, mechanical, transport and surface properties are normally required according to specific applications.
In this context, the present research has been divided into two different steps evidencing some strategies to develop 3D multifunctional scaffolds with enhanced and tailored performances.
The first step highlights the possibility to extend a precisely controlled two-step procedure to immobilize RGD motifs on 3D rapid prototyped PCL scaffolds. In particular, the aim was to design 3D advanced scaffolds through 3D Fiber Deposition technique, that are able to guide cell functions, benefiting from an approach to control morphology, spatial distribution of surface treatment, as well as macro-, micro-, nano- mechanical performances. Nanoindentation and tensile measurements on the PCL fibers of 3D scaffolds have allowed to understand the effects of the surface modification via aminolysis. Furthermore, the efficacy of both functionalization and bioactivation was monitored by analytically quantifying functional groups and/or peptides at the interface. Cell adhesion studies verified the correct presentation of the peptide with enhanced cell attachment.
On the other hand, the second step of the research was mainly focused on the design of 3D PCL/biomimetic hydroxyapatite (HA) nanocomposite scaffolds for hard tissue regeneration. Accordingly, 3D fiber-deposited PCL/Mg,CO3-substituted HA nanocomposite scaffolds were developed and the effects of the biomimetic HA nanoparticles on the biological and mechanical performances were suitably evaluated.


In most sports, the ability to forecast motions and trajectories is among the highest priority, which can be only earned from experience. How to predict the motion from image and visualize for training is a challenging topic for computer vision. In this paper, we present a real-time table tennis forecasting system using a long short-term pose prediction network. Our system can predict the landing point of a serve before the pingpong ball is even hit using the previous and present motions of a player, which is captured only using a single RGB camera. In the precision evaluation, our system shows an acceptable accuracy and the max difference is 8.9 cm. From another pilot study, we know that our system could help the amateur to return an expert's serve. As training application, this system can be either used for training beginner's prediction skill, or used for practitioners to train how to hide their serve from being predicted.


Coping behaviour plays a great role in solving a difficult, conflict situation. Hardiness cand be considered as a personality resource of coping behaviour in a conflict. In our research we use the following methods: S. Maddi's questionnaire (hardiness) and A. Heim's technique (coping strategies). 227 people, 108 men and 119 women, participated in the research. The correlation analysis has shown that strongly pronounced hardiness is connected with the choice of adaptive coping strategies, and feebly pronounced hardiness is a predictor of the choice of non-adaptive emotional strategies. Hardiness and its components - commitment and control, have a positive correlation with adaptive and relatively adaptive variants of cognitive, emotional and behavioural strategies and a negative correlation with the choice of non-adaptive strategies. Challenge has a negative correlation with adaptive behavioural strategies. In the conclusion, we show that studying the influence of hardiness on a person's choice of coping strategies in conflict situations can help to prevent similar conflicts in the future. As such, the findings of our research can be considered as a good prognostic and diagnostic tool. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n8p225


The Caribou Lake intrusive body, located in the Canadian shield, covers an area of 7 square miles. Its east-west dimension is 5½ miles; it attains a width of 2 miles but in the east tapers to a narrow constriction, 650 feet wide. Mapping of the foliation pattern, of the topographic highs and lows which reflect the rhythmic banding in the intrusive body, and of the gneissosity in the surrounding gneisses reveals the presence of two synclinal areas in the western part of the intrusive body. The northern syncline is 2½ by 1½ miles, the southern syncline covers 1 square mile. If the two synclinal areas represent channels through which magma ascended, then it should be possible to correlate structure with petrology. The petrological and geochemical evidence, however, points to a differentiation path that can be traced from the narrow constriction at the eastern tip of the intrusive body to the synclinal areas in the west. This evidence is summed up: (1) Ultrabasic rocks occur only near the eastern tip. (2) Hypersthene decreases and augite increases as the norite is traced westward across the intrusive body. (3) The Fe/Mg ratio in hypersthene and the Na-Si/Ca-Al ratio in plagioclase increase progressively westward. (4) MgO decreases to the west as FeO, Fe 2 O 3 , and alkalies increase. (5) Nickel, copper, and chromium decrease progressively to the west. The intrusive body and surrounding area was mapped by aeromagnetic methods. An anomalous magnetic high of strong gradient was defined at the narrow constriction in the east where petrological and geochemical evidence indicate the presence of the funnel. This combination of observations leads to the interpretation that the channel is located at the eastern tip of the intrusive body. The significance of the two synclinal areas is a matter of conjecture. It appears that structural data alone are inadequate to determine the shapes of basic intrusive bodies.


This paper proposes an innovative spectral feature extraction (SFE) method called prototype space (PS) feature extraction (PSFE) based only on class spectra. The main novelties of the proposed SFE lie in the following: representing channels in a new space called PS, where they are characterized in terms of reflection properties of classes; and proposing uncertainty, angle, and distance measures to distinguish highly correlated and informative channels. Having clustered the channels by Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) in PS, highly correlated and isolated channels are separated by an uncertainty measure. Consequently, PSFE is built by a linear combination of spectra weighted by class membership values of channels that fall in each cluster. Furthermore, we will enrich PSFE with informative channels which are outlier channels identified through their angle and distance with respect to diagonal and cluster centers in PS. In contrast to the previous SFE methods, PSFE substitutes the search strategies with FCM clustering to find relevant channels. Moreover, instead of optimizing separability criteria, the accuracy of classification over a subset of training data is used to decide which disjoint optical region yields maximum accuracy. According to how class spectra are obtained, PSFE incorporates four approaches: knowledge based, supervised, semisupervised, and unsupervised. The latter three PSFE approaches are assessed in two main cases including with and without informative channels and compared with the conventional feature extraction methods. Experimental results demonstrated higher overall accuracy of PSFE compared to its conventional counterparts with limited sample sizes.


Abstract Adolescents suffering from end-stage renal disease face the life-prolonging, and hopefully lifesaving, procedures of hemodialysis and transplantation, and the struggle to prevent rejection of the allograft. They also experience, according to their age and developmental stage, the psychophysiological thrust and the social demand of adolescence. Through the case histories of patients who had their kidney transplants almost 3 years ago, this paper attempts to demonstrate how four teenagers are handling their age-appropriate growth tasks. This case material derives from the cumulative observations of the renal transplant group, which includes a psychiatric team.


PURPOSE
A phase I trial of intrathecal (IT) mafosfamide was performed to determine the optimal dose, dose-limiting toxicities, and incidence and severity of other toxicities when administered in association with concomitant multiagent systemic chemotherapy to children younger than 3 years with newly diagnosed embryonal tumors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Twenty-five assessable patients received IT mafosfamide at one of six dose levels ranging from 5 mg to 17 mg. Patients were premedicated with dexamethasone (0.15 mg/kg) and morphine (0.1 mg/kg) before receiving IT mafosfamide. Serial samples of CSF for pharmacokinetic studies were obtained in a subset of patients with Ommaya reservoirs.

RESULTS
Irritability, presumably secondary to pain or headache during mafosfamide administration, was dose limiting in two of three patients at the 17-mg dose level. The maximum-tolerated dose of IT mafosfamide following premedication with dexamethasone and morphine was 14 mg.

CONCLUSION
The maximum tolerated dose and recommended phase II dose of IT mafosfamide in patients younger than 3 years with newly diagnosed embryonal CNS tumors is 14 mg. A trial to assess the efficacy of regional therapy with IT mafosfamide administered with intensive systemic chemotherapy in children younger than 3 years with primary intracranial embryonal tumors is now in progress.


Many studies have been done on the role of video feedback (VFB) on the acquisition of motor skills, but most have been limited to closed skills. In rugby, tactical choices are determining elements for performance but the relevance of these choices is difficult to assess by players. Whether in a game or in training, players find it hard to assess the value of their choices, which depend, among other things, on the value of their opponents and partners. In this context, VFB can be a way for players to learn decision-making by making them aware of the most important indicators. The research presented in this paper compared three different methods of Internet image-sharing on decision-making. These provided STAPS (Sciences et techniques des activites physiques et sportives – Physical and Sports Sciences and Techniques) students with delayed feedback on their motor skills. The effects of these three methods on decision-making were assessed during actual game situations. Results led to a discussion on the different VFB presentation methods and highlighted the effectiveness of images linked to verbal peer correction, especially when these images were combined with comments by experts.


Colour vision testing is one of the entrance test conducted by optometrists to differentiate between normal colour vision and colour vision anomalies. However different level of illumination can affect results of colour vision testing. The objective of this study is to identify the effect of different levels of illumination on Farnsworth D-15 colour vision test among subject with colour vision defect that came to Ui Vision Care Optometry Clinic UiTM Puncak Alam Campus. Thirty subjects were participates on this study. Each subject was been screened with Ishihara colour vision and VA test. However, seven subjects from the participants who had VA 6/6 and fail Ishihara were been tested using Farnsworth D-15 at range of 30 to 36 lux, 293 to 305 lux, 905 to 920 lux and 1893 to 1910 lux of illumination. The used of low illumination which is range from 30 to 36 lux shows 28.6% of normal and deutan result respectively but 42.9% of the subject are scotopic. For moderate level of illuminations which are from 293 to 305 lux, 57.1% of subject shows normal result, 42.9% of subject shows deutan result and no result of scotopic. Then, 57.1% of subject shows normal result, 42.9% of subject shows deutan result and no result of scotopic for range 905 to 920 lux and 1893 to 1910 lux indicated for high illumination. In conclusion, colour deficiency patient can be misclassified in low illumination whereas in moderate and high level of illumination, result of Farnsworth D-15 test is the same as the standard illumination.


A series of copolymers based on thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione and thiophene-phenyl-thiophene with varying degrees of fluorination on the phenyl unit was synthesized by Stille polycondensation. The influence of the degree of fluorination on the optical, thermal and electrochemical properties of these polymers is systematically studied. Additionally, the charge transport in organic field effect transistors (OFETs) as well as the thin film alignment are investigated. After thermal annealing the non-fluorinated as well as difluorinated polymers show ambipolar charge transport in OFETs. In contrast, tetrafluorination results in exclusively n-type behaviour with an electron mobility of 3.7 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1. GIWAXS measurements of as-cast and annealed films reveal a very interesting structural alignment in thin films. All polymers show the rarely observed "end-on" orientation, where the polymer chains stand on the substrate. This may be explained by the low molecular weights of these polymers in relation to the film thickness. Fluorination does not influence the microstructural properties, only the propensity of crystallization is increased.


Abstract Intra‐cohort cannibalism is an example of a size‐mediated priority effect. If early life stages cannibalize slightly smaller individuals, then parents face a trade‐off between breeding at the best time for larval growth or development and predation risk from offspring born earlier. This game‐theoretic situation among parents may drive adaptive reproductive phenology toward earlier breeding. However, it is not straightforward to quantify how cannibalism affects seasonal egg fitness or to distinguish emergent breeding phenology from alternative adaptive drivers. Here, we devise an age‐structured game‐theoretic mathematical model to find evolutionary stable breeding phenologies. We predict how size‐dependent cannibalism acting on eggs, larvae, or both changes emergent breeding phenology and find that breeding under inter‐cohort cannibalism occurs earlier than the optimal match to environmental conditions. We show that emergent breeding phenology patterns at the level of the population are sensitive to the ontogeny of cannibalism, that is, which life stage is subject to cannibalism. This suggests that the nature of cannibalism among early life stages is a potential driver of the diversity of reproductive phenologies seen across taxa and may be a contributing factor in situations where breeding occurs earlier than expected from environmental conditions.


A new hexanuclear molecular iron phosphonate complex, [Fe6(HAIPA)12(OH)6]·nH2O (1·nH2O) (H2AIPA = NH2(CH3)2CP(O)(OH)2, (2-aminopropan-2-yl)phosphonic acid), was synthesized from Fe2+ and Fe3+ salts in water by interaction with the ligand salts. Addition of corresponding amounts of sodium or tetramethylammonium salts of H2AIPA to the solution of iron precursors led to the formation of large bright-green crystals of complex 1. Isolated products were studied by spectroscopic and analytical methods – IR, Mossbauer spectroscopy, TG/DSC, ICP-OES, and CHN analysis. A novel {Fe6} hexanuclear molecular structure of 1 was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. An octahedral coordination environment of iron cations is formed by phosphonate and hydroxo oxygens. Twelve phosphonate groups and six –OH groups act as bridging ligands and bind six Fe octahedra. Because of protonation of the amino group, the phosphonate anions coordinate in the zwitterionic form as HAIPA− (NH3+(CH3)2CPO32−). The iron cations are present in the form of high-spin Fe3+, which was confirmed by the bond valence sum (BVS) calculations and the 57Fe Mossbauer spectra. The magnetic measurements show antiferromagnetic coupling between the iron centers with decreasing temperature.


The compound SE-l, which had been isolated from the sapwood of yachidamo (Fraxinus mandshurica RUPR. var. japonica MAXIM.) together with (±) -syringaresinol (I) and fraxinol (II), was identified to be olivil (III) by IH-NMR and MS spectroscopies. The specific rotation of the compound SE-l was (a)D -56.0· and that of an authentic olivil given by Dr. Ayres was (a)D -38.0·. They were not exactly same even though measured in the same condition. However, the values were similar each other. Since SE-l (olivil) was not detected in the heartwood, it might convert into other compounds such as cycloolivil (VIII) during the heartwood formation.


This paper presents a historical literature review on the evaluation of periodicals and the methodology employed for their evaluation. It emphasizes the attention that should be given to the contents of the periodicals and their format based on technical standards in order to reach a global quality of the publications. This paper includes a summary of the most important aspects of the technical standards for periodicals and scientific articles.