DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF COOPERATIVE INTERSECTION MANAGEMENT ALGORITHM UNDER CONNECTED VEHICLES ENVIRONMENT by Slobodan Gutesa Recent technological advancements in the automotive and transportation industry established a firm foundation for development and implementation of various automated and connected vehicle (C/AV) solutions around the globe. Wireless communication technologies such as the dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) protocol are enabling instantaneous information exchange between vehicles and infrastructure. Such information exchange produces tremendous benefits with the possibility to automate conventional traffic streams and enhance existing signal control strategies. While many promising studies in the area of signal control under connected vehicle (CV) environment have been introduced, they mainly offer solutions designed to operate a single isolated intersection or they require high technology penetration rates to operate in a safe and efficient manner. Applications designed to operate on a signalized corridor with imperfect market penetration rates of connected vehicle technology represent a bridge between conventional traffic control paradigm and fully automated corridors of the future. Assuming utilization of the connected vehicle environment and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) technology, all vehicular and signal-related parameters are known and can be shared with the control agent to control automated vehicles while improving the mobility of the signalized corridor. This dissertation research introduces an intersection management strategy for a corridor with automated vehicles utilizing vehicular trajectorydriven optimization method. The Trajectory-driven Optimization for Automated Driving (TOAD) provides an optimal trajectory for automated vehicles while maintaining safe and uninterrupted movement of general traffic, consisting of regular unequipped vehicles. Signal status parameters such as cycle length and splits are continuously captured. At the same time, vehicles share their position information with the control agent. Both inputs are then used by the control algorithm to provide optimal trajectories for automated vehicles, resulting in the reduction of vehicle delay along the signalized corridor with fixed-time signal control. To determine the most efficient trajectory for automated vehicles, an evolutionary-based optimization is utilized. Influence of the prevailing traffic conditions is incorporated into a control algorithm using conventional data collection methods such as loop detectors, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi sensors to collect vehicle counts, travel time on corridor segments, and spot speed. Moreover, a short-term, artificial intelligence prediction model is developed to achieve reasonable deployment of data collection devices and provide accurate vehicle delay predictions producing realistic and highly-efficient longitudinal vehicle trajectories. The concept evaluation through microsimulation reveals significant mobility improvements compared to contemporary corridor management approach. The results for selected test-bed locations on signalized arterials in New Jersey reveals up to 19.5 % reduction in overall corridor travel time depending on different market penetration and lane configuration scenario. It is also discovered that operational scenarios with a possibility of utilizing reserved lanes for movement of automated vehicles further increases the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. In addition, the proposed control algorithm is feasible under imperfect C/AV market penetrations showing mobility improvements even with low market penetration rates. DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF COOPERATIVE INTERSECTION MANAGEMENT ALGORITHM UNDER CONNECTED VEHICLES ENVIRONMENT


Reduction of exposure in a pulsed cardiac X-ray fluoroscopy system may be accomplished by interrupting exposure during slower phases of the cardiac cycle and filling in the missing frames by interpolation to restore the full frame rate. The authors present a novel interpolation method whereby the collected frames are decomposed into a multiresolution hierarchy and a pixel-recursive algorithm is employed from the lowest to highest resolution in the hierarchy to obtain estimates of the pixel displacements. The intensity changes between corresponding pixels are then interpolated to fill in the missing frames. The authors show a computer simulation of the method, where only 11 of the original 29 frames produce a natural, nearly artifact-free rendition of the sequence.<<ETX>>


Abstract. Aerial surveying with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been popularly employed in river management and flood monitoring. One of the major processes in UAV aerial surveying for river applications is to demarcate the cross-section of a river. From the photo images of aerial surveying, a point cloud dataset can be abstracted with the structure from motion (SfM) technique. To accurately demarcate the cross-section from the cloud points, an appropriate delineation technique is required to reproduce the characteristics of natural and manmade channels, including abrupt changes, bumps, and lined shapes, even though the basic shape of natural and manmade channels is a trapezoidal shape. Therefore, a nonparametric-based estimation technique, called the K-nearest neighbor local linear regression (KLR) model, was tested in the current study to demarcate the cross-section of a river with a point cloud dataset from aerial surveying. The proposed technique was tested with a simulated dataset based on trapezoidal channels and compared with the traditional polynomial regression model and another nonparametric technique, locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS). Furthermore, the KLR model was applied to a real case study in the Migok-cheon stream, South Korea. The results indicate that the proposed KLR model can be a suitable alternative for demarcating the cross-section of a river with point cloud data from UAV aerial surveying by reproducing the critical characteristics of natural and manmade channels, including abrupt changes and small bumps, as well as the overall trapezoidal shape.


Tumefactive demyelinating brain disease can pose a diagnostic challenge in patients without a pre-existing diagnosis of multiple sclerosis by mimicking intra-cranial neoplasms, infarction, as well as infections. Choosing when to biopsy a tumefactive lesion to exclude alternative pathology can be difficult. Here we report a case of a 44 year old female patient without a previous history of multiple sclerosis who presented with two brain lesions mimicking metastatic brain disease which pose a serious diagnostic dilemma. FDG PET CT and follow up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) helped to rule out tumor etiology of those lesions and spared patient from invasive procedures such as biopsy or radiotherapy.


Background:The lacrimal sac infection common problem exposing the eyeball and the orbit into the risk of contaminations and the subsequent; orbital cellulitis, conjunctivitis, and even keratitis so it is an indirect sight threatening disorder and should be studied promptly.Patient and methodsAt Al-Diwaniya Teaching hospital, at the outpatient clinic of ophthalmology; after clinical diagnosis of dacryocystitis, a sixty tow samples of lacrimal sac contents were studied microbiologically (12 bilateral and 38 unilateral) .From June 2010 to June 2013.Results and conclusions:78%(39) of cases were with positive results, while the remainder were negative. No fungal infection recommended. The most common pathogen is the Staph species, and the most effective antibiotic is the Chloramphenicol, which is available and non coasty drug could be used as a first line therapy.


: Chronic exposure of rats to gamma-irradiation at the dose rates of 1.1, 2.1, and 12.9 cGy/d in the dose ranges of 9-165, 17-315, and 100-2000 cGy, respectively, modified the ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in the radiosensitive (thymus, spleen) and radioresistant (lung) organs. A nonmonotonic dependence of the ODC activity on the cumulative radiation doses was observed: a decrease in the ODC activity caused by low cumulative radiation doses (after 8 days of exposure) gave way to the level that was close to the control (after 45 and 90 days); after 150 days of exposure, the activity of ODC increased in some organs (spleen and lung). It was suggested that this nonmonotonicity has its origins in the radiation triggering the regulatory systems of the cell homeostasis.


OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to examine discrepancies in alcohol consumption estimates between a self-reported standard quantity-frequency measure and an adjusted version based on respondents' typically used container size.

METHOD
Using a multistage cluster sample design, 5,224 Hispanic individuals 18 years of age and older were selected from the household population in five metropolitan areas of the United States: Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Houston, and Los Angeles. The survey-weighted response rate was 76%. Personal interviews lasting an average of 1 hour were conducted in respondents' homes in either English or Spanish.

RESULTS
The overall effect of container adjustment was to increase estimates of ethanol consumption by 68% for women (range across Hispanic groups: 17%-99%) and 30% for men (range: 14%-42%). With the exception of female Cuban American, Mexican American, and South/Central American beer drinkers and male Cuban American wine drinkers, all percentage differences between unadjusted and container-adjusted estimates were positive. Second, container adjustments produced the largest change for volume of distilled spirits, followed by wine and beer. Container size adjustments generally produced larger percentage increases in consumption estimates for the higher volume drinkers, especially the upper tertile of female drinkers.

CONCLUSIONS
Self-reported alcohol consumption based on standard drinks underreports consumption when compared with reports based on the amount of alcohol poured into commonly used containers.


The penetration of tetracaine into monolayers of phosphatidylcholine and trioctanoin at different surface pressures, and the penetration of dibucaine, tetracaine, butacaine, lidocaine, and procaine into monolayers of didecanoylphosphatidylcholine at II = 10 mN/m was determined by the use of a modified Gibbs adsorption equation. These data were shown to fit a geometric model and compared favorably with data determined by a method based on the geometric model. The penetration of tetracaine into phosphatidylcholine monolayers was pressure dependent. At II = 10 mN/m, the local anesthetics penetrate into a phosphatidycholine monolayer in the order: dibucaine greater than tetracaine greater than butacaine greater than lidocaine greater than procaine. This correlates with their potencies in blocking nerve conduction and inhibiting phospholipase A2.


This paper presents a haptic teletobotic system designed to assist an operator during the execution of a multi- degrees of freedom teleoperation task. The system comprises a haptic master, a 3D visual feedback device, a slave robot, and a haptic server through which all the modules communicate. The use of the haptic server allows decoupling direct communication among all the devices involved in teleoperation and gives the possibility of introducing virtual forces at the master side ensuring a considerable enhancement of operators' performances. Experimental results from some first teleoperation tests are presented and discussed to validate the proposed telerobotic system architecture.


Hostile attribution bias (e.g., tendency to interpret the intention of others as hostile in ambiguous social contexts) has been associated with impulsive aggression in adults, but the results are mixed and the complete sequence of hostile inferential processes leading to aggression has not been investigated yet. The goal of this event-related brain potentials (ERPs) study was to track the neural activity associated with the violation of expectations about hostile versus nonhostile intentions in aggressive and nonaggressive individuals and examine how this neural activity relates to self-reported hostile attributional bias and impulsive aggression in real life. To this end, scenarios with a hostile versus nonhostile social context followed by a character's ambiguous aversive behavior were presented to readers, and ERPs to critical words that specified the hostile versus nonhostile intent behind the behavior were analysed. Thirty-seven aggressive and fifty nonaggressive individuals participated in the study. The presentation of a critical word that violated hostile expectation caused an N400 response that was significantly larger in aggressive than nonaggressive individuals. Results also showed an enhanced late positive potential-like component in aggressive individuals when hostile intention scenarios took place in a nonhostile context, which is associated with impulsive aggression in real life even after having controlled for the effect of self-reported hostile attributional bias. The Hostile Expectancy Violation paradigm evaluated in this study represents a promising tool to investigate the relationship between the online processing of hostile intent in others and impulsive aggression. Aggr. Behav. 43:217-229, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii) is one of the major pests of okra. Eleven okra varieties collected from farmers' fields in Cameroon and four aphid-resistant accessions from The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC, Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center) were evaluated from October 2012 to March 2013, and another seven aphid-resistant accessions from AVRDC were evaluated from March to July 2013 at AVRDC's Nkolbisson station, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Accessions selected from these trials were screened in an advanced confirmatory screening in autumn (October–December) 2013 in Shanhua, Taiwan. Results showed that none of the farmers' landraces were resistant to aphids. Two accessions (VI041210 and VI033824) with the lowest aphid populations had the highest trichome density. Analysis of various phytochemicals in selected okra accessions revealed that higher nitrogen and potassium levels made the okra accessions susceptible to aphids during the reproductive stage of the plants. Similarly, the total phenol content was lower in moderately resistant accessions during their reproductive stage. Aphid feeding induced an increase in phenols, and to a lesser extent, tannins. Accessions VI041210 and VI033824 could be incorporated into an integrated pest management strategy to enhance productivity of okra.


As mining progresses into deep ore deposits in Australia, geo-hazards such as coal burst and outbursts are becoming a major concern for mine workers. The occurrence of geo-hazards involved the ejection of coal lumps and sometimes large volumes of hazardous gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. Whilst it is extremely important to de-stress and de-gas the seam and adjacent strata before roadway development and install competent support systems such as steel mesh and bolt, the last line of protection will be the installation of a protective canopy on the Continuous Miner (CM), which is typically used for roadway developments, to shield mine workers from these deadly dynamic impacts of coal and rock resulting from a burst or outburst. This paper aims to introduce the design, manufacture and testing of an innovative modular protective structure on the CM in underground coal mines. The developed protective system can be easily assembled in the underground mining environment and provide a high level of protection against flying debris hazards in the event of a coal burst. The extensive experimental program and numerical simulations have confirmed the high performance of the protective system against high-speed impact loading by single and multiple coal rocks and projectiles.


Analog models of general relativity have received great attention in the last few years, since it is believed that these models are shedding light on possible experimental verifications of some fundamental problems in black hole physics, such as the evaporation of black holes and semiclassical quantities. The idea of using supersonic acoustic flows as analog systems to mimic some properties of black hole physics was proposed for the first time by Unruh. The basis of the analogy between gravitational black hole and sonic black holes comes from considering the propagation of acoustic disturbances on a barotropic, inviscid, inhomogeneous, and irrotational (at least locally) fluid flow. It is well known, that the equation of motion for this acoustic disturbance (described by its velocity potential) is identical to the Klein-Gordon equation for a massless scalar field minimally coupled to gravity in a curved spacetime. In this letter, we discuss the role of the Gullstrand-Painlevè metric in acoustic geometry and the physical interpretation of these models.


In this paper, we propose and research a novel miniaturized composite right/left handed transmission line (CRLH TL) cell based on revised complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs) for the first time. Novel CRLH TL cell is demonstrated with lower transmission and reflection zeros from electrical and electromagnetic (EM) simulation results. Negative refractive index of CRLH effect is successfully demonstrated by the revised NRW retrieval method. Then based on this, a tri-band bandpass filter (BPF) is synthesized and fabricated by using the proposed CRLH TL cell (providing the primary GSM band) and Koch fractal-shaped microstrip line (ML) (generating the upper GPS and ISM bands). Our recent work has also found that open-circuit stub embedded in Koch-shaped ML can be optimized to adjust the ratio of the upper two bands, thus afford us additional flexibility in BPF design. Consistent result obtained from simulation and measurement is presented which have verified the design concept.


Although permeable sediments dominate the majority of natural environments past work concerning bed form dynamics has considered the bed to be impermeable, and has generally neglected flow between the hyporheic zone and boundary layer. Herein, we present results detailing numerically modeled flow which allow the effects of bed permeability on bed form dynamics to be assessed. Simulation of an isolated impermeable bed form over a permeable bed shows that flow is forced into the bed upstream of the dune and returns to the boundary layer at the leeside, in the form of returning jets that generate horseshoe‐shaped vortices. The returning flow significantly influences the leeside flow, modifying the separation zone, lifting the shear layer adjoining the separation zone away from the bed. Simulation of a permeable dune on a permeable bed reveals even greater modifications as the flow through the dune negates the formation of any flow separation in the leeside. With two dunes placed in series the flow over the downstream dune is influenced by the developing boundary layer on the leeside of the upstream dune. For the permeable bed case, the upwelling flow lifts the separated flow from the bed, modifies the shear layer through the coalescence with vortices generated, and causes the shear layer to undulate rather than be parallel to the bed. These results demonstrate the significant effect that bed permeability has on the flow over bed forms that may be critical in affecting the flux of water and nutrients.


While Judith Butler's concept of the heterosexual matrix is dominant in gender and sexuality studies, it is a curiously aspatial and atemporal concept. This paper seeks to re-embed it within space and time by situating its emergence within colonial and imperial histories. Based on this discussion, it ends with three lessons for contemporary work on gender and sexuality and a broader theorization of sex-gender-sexuality regimes beyond the heterosexual matrix.


Andrew was a desperately premature baby weighing under two pounds. He died after months of "heroic' efforts in an intensive care facility. The story of his short cruel institutionalised life is a case study in the limits and excesses of modern medicine. The night he told us our son Andrew was about to die the doctor who had taken charge of him six months before also told us we were "intellectually tight' that we had "no feelings only thoughts and words and strategies'. We were "bad parents'. As the parents of a five-year-old daughter we knew the love a mother and father feels for children. Yet as Andrew's parents we were used to condemnation and insult. Andrew was a baby born 15 weeks prematurely weighing only 1lb 12oz and in a state of painful deterioration almost from the start. We wanted him to be allowed to die a natural death. Andrew's story is the story of what can happen when a baby becomes hopelessly entrapped in an intensive care unit where the machinery is more sophisticated than the code of law and ethics governing its use. The letter printed below was sent to the administrator and numerous personnel of the hospital that controlled the life and death of our son. The physician-in-chief of that hospital characterised it as a "carefully documented critique'. The letter appear here somewhat edited and abridged and the names of people and institutions have been changed all but our own. It is the personal record of what happened to our baby and to us.


We study population dynamics using the generalized Rock-Paper-Scissors games with an arbitrary number of species. These models have proven to be a powerful tool in the study of the dynamics complex biological and ecological systems. We investigate the presence of string networks formed by the competition interaction between the species.We show that, in order to promote coexistence, the species may arrange themselves around regions with a high number density of empty sites generated by predator-prey interactions between competing species. These configurations extend into the third dimension giving rise to string networks. Using the field theory framework, we describe the dynamics of the network in terms of the density of empty sites. We perform and compare the results of a large number of stochastic  Monte-Carlo-type numerical simulations and deterministic field theory ones by implementing the Lotka-Volterra equations. We find that the strings intercommute forming loops which collapse as in the cosmic strings networks in Cosmology. We also investigate models where the strings are formed by partneships formed when groups of species follow the maxim: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The coexistence is achieved when the species form alliances which surround string competing regions. Finally, we compute the characteristic length and show that network evolves obeying the same scaling law of other curvature drive systems in nonlinear science.


Objective: To review membership application materials (especially rejected applications) to the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) during its formative years (1947–1953). Methods: Detailed study of materials in the AAN Historical Collection. Results: The author identified 73 rejected applications. Rejected applicants (71 male, 2 female) lived in 25 states. The largest number was for the Associate membership category (49). These were individuals "in related fields who have made and are making contributions to the field of neurology." By contrast, few applicants to Active membership or Fellowship status were rejected. The largest numbers of rejectees were neuropsychiatrists (19), neurosurgeons (16), and psychiatrists (14). Conclusion: The AAN, established in the late 1940s, was a small and politically vulnerable organization. A defining feature of the fledgling society was its inclusiveness; its membership was less restrictive than that of the older American Neurological Association. At the same time, the society needed to preserve its core as a neurologic society rather than one of psychiatry or neurosurgery. Hence, the balance between inclusiveness and exclusive identity was a difficult one to maintain. The Associate membership category, more than any other, was at the heart of this issue of self-definition. Associate members were largely practitioners of psychiatry or neurosurgery. Their membership was a source of consternation and was to be carefully been held in check during these critical formative years.


List of Contributors. Preface. How to use the Corrosion Handbook. Sulfur Dioxide (L. Hasenberg, R. Bender). A. Metallic materials. Aluminum and aluminum alloys, copper and copper alloys, iron, iron-based alloys and steels, nickel and nickel alloys, titanium and titanium alloys, zinc, cadmium and their alloys. B. Non-metallic inorganic materials. Carbon and graphite, binders for building materials, glass, quartz ware and quartz glass, enamel, oxide ceramic materials, metal ceramic materials. C. Organic materials/plastics. Thermoplastics, thermosetting plastics, elastomers, duroplasts. D. Materials with special properties. Coatings and linings, seals and packings, composite materials. E. Materials recommendations. Bibliography.


Abstract Results of an experimental study in a print advertising context suggest that two imagery-eliciting strategies, use of pictures and use of copy containing instructions to imagine, stimulate mental imagery processing, which in turn influences attitudinal judgments. Specifically, an ad containing a concrete picture of a product in use was more effective in stimulating vivid visual imagery processing and favorably influencing attitude toward the advertisement and brand than either an ad containing a considerably less concrete picture or one without a picture. Copy containing instructions to imagine also stimulated vivid and elaborate visual imagery processing and enhanced attitudes. Tests for mediation indicate that mental imagery processing explains all or some of the direct effects of the two imagery-eliciting strategies' influence on attitudes.


CONTEXT
Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is a tissue-engineered surgical technique initially developed for articular cartilage repair of isolated chondral lesions of the knee. Third generation techniques (ACI3) are now available that deliver autologous cultured chondrocytes into the defect using cell scaffolds. The successful outcomes of these techniques have some dependency on the pre and post-surgical patient rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES
To determine if the standard of reporting for rehabilitation has improved in ACI3 studies; previous reviews in this field recommended describing the detail of this rehabilitation and patient compliance as integral elements.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION
A computerized search was performed in March 2013. Criteria for inclusion were any studies that evaluated or described the process of ACI3 in the knee and subsequent rehabilitation. The modified Coleman Methodology Score (CMS) was used to rate the standard of reporting of rehabilitation and surgical procedures; review articles were also evaluated for quality using the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT). Mean scores, odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals and Mann-Whitney U statistics were calculated.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS
An improvement in mean CMS was seen compared to previous reviews but rehabilitation reporting scores were lower than their surgical equivalent; significant association was seen between those studies with rehabilitator involvement and high scores in the individual CMS rehabilitation element. Predominant SORT scores of 2A indicated medium strength of recommendation.

CONCLUSIONS
The CMS provides a general overview of methodological quality but a more specialised tool to report on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the rehabilitation process would assist in raising the standards. It is recommended that rehabilitation therapists are included as key members of research teams and are involved in the design, implementation and reporting of future studies.


We present both the bright and dark solitons of Bose–Einstein condensates with a time-dependent atomic scattering length in an expulsive parabolic potential. As a discussed example, we select the experimental parameter, i.e. the Feshbach-managed nonlinear coefficient reading a(t) = g0exp(λt), and obtain the results which can be recovered in the literature [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 (2005) 050402].


Wear condition of journal bearing was experimentally monitored with an On-Line Visual Ferrograph (OLVF) system. The round bearing was made of 45# steel with babbitt alloy bushing and the bearing journal was made of 45# steel. High stress of the water content of 0%,1%,3% in lubricant, 10 times of a normal load of 2200 N, and the rotating speeds at 500, 1000, 2000 rpm were adopted in accelerated experiment. A quantitative index of particle coverage area (IPCA) together with wear debris ferro-image was used to characterize wear degree and wear mechanisms. Three wear stages with corresponding wear debris ferro-images were identified from IPCA variations characterized by bathtub curve trend. The first one was running-in stage characterized by the highest wear debris producing rate and higher large debris content. The second one was normal wear stage characterized by the lowest wear debris producing rate and small normal debris. The final one was failure initiation stage characterized by higher wear debris producing rate and higher large debris content. The corresponding dominant wear mechanisms were micro-ploughing and micro–cutting induced by rough initial surfaces in the running-in stage, local rub due to vibration in the normal stage, and fatigue and abrasive wear in the failure initiation stage.


Plants respond to survive under water-deficit conditions via a series of physiological, cellular, and molecular processes culminating in stress tolerance. Many drought-inducible genes with various functions have been identified by molecular and genomic analyses in various plants, including a number of transcription factors that regulate stress-inducible gene expression. The products of stress-inducible genes function both in the initial stress response and in establishing plant stress tolerance. In this short review, recent progress resulting from analysis of gene expression during the drought-stress response in plants as well as in elucidating the functions of genes implicated in the stress response are summarized.


In this paper, the conduction mechanism in organic bistable memory device was investigated by both experimental and theoretical method. The current voltage (J-V) characteristics showed the electrical bistable properties between an initial low-conductivity state and a high-conductivity state upon application of an external electric field at room temperature. The current transition exhibited a very narrow voltage range that causes an abrupt increase of current. The on-state and the off-state were proposed by space-charge-limited current and thermionic emission model, respectively. That supported by the experimental data to explained the charge transfer mechanism in organic memory device.


We propose a new approach in the estimation of the optimal hedge ratio that allows the hedge ratio to vary over time but without the necessity of frequently rebalancing the portfolio. We apply this in the context of the US and UK equity markets using weekly spot share prices and future share prices during the period 5 January 1999 to 29 September 2009. Our method is to test for cointegration in the presence of two potentially unknown structural breaks by determining the timing of each via the underlying data. The empirical findings reveal that the spot and future prices are strongly cointegrated in each market. The estimated parameters disclose that the optimal hedge ratio is not constant in case of the US and the UK. We find one negative and one positive shift in the optimal hedge ratio in the US. However, we find only one significant and positive shift in the optimal hedge ratio in the UK. The implication of these findings from the perspective of both investors as well as policy-makers is elaborated on in the main text.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNA molecules with big implications in cancer. The abnormal expression of specific miRNAs has been linked to development of many cancer types. Dysregulated miRNAs play a significant role in proliferation, invasion, differentiation, apoptosis, and resistance of various cancer cells, and considered as oncogenes or tumor‐suppressor genes. Findings have shown abnormal expression of specific miRNAs in breast tumors is a strong indication about the resistance to conventional cancer therapy methods. Acquired cancer resistance is a complex, multifactorial occurrence that requires various mechanisms and processes, however, recent studies have suggested that resistance may be linked to treatment‐induced dysregulation of miRNAs. This dysregulation of miRNAs can affect the protein expression in cells, the ability for anti‐cancer drugs to reach their targets within cells, and the apoptotic pathways. Controlling the expression of these miRNAs alters the resistant phenotype of breast cancer to a nonresistant one. This review focuses on the role of dysregulated miRNAs in breast cancer that are linked to resistance against chemo‐, radiation, hormone, and targeted therapies. Finally, the role of miRNAs in breast cancer metastasis is briefly discussed. WIREs RNA 2014, 5:823–833. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1248


We address the potential performance of the successive overrelaxation technique (SOR) in image deconvolution, focusing our attention on the restoration of astronomical images distorted by atmospheric turbulence. SOR is the classical Gauss-Seidel iteration, supplemented with relaxation. As indicated by earlier work, the convergence properties of SOR, and its ultimate performance in the deconvolution of blurred and noisy images, can be made competitive to other iterative techniques, including conjugate gradients, by a proper choice of the relaxation parameter. The question of how to choose the relaxation parameter, however, remained open, and in the practical work one had to rely on experimentation. In this paper, using constructive (rather than exact) arguments, we suggest a simple strategy for choosing the relaxation parameter and for updating its value in consecutive iterations to optimize the performance of the SOR algorithm (and its positivity-constrained version, +SOR) at finite iteration counts. We suggest an extension of the algorithm to the notoriously difficult problem of "blind" deconvolution, where both the true object and the point-spread function have to be recovered from the blurred image. We report the results of numerical inversions with artificial and real data, where the algorithm is compared with techniques based on conjugate gradients. In all of our experiments +SOR provides the highest quality results. In addition +SOR is found to be able to detect moderately small changes in the true object between separate data frames: an important quality for multi-frame blind deconvolution where stationarity of the object is a necesessity.


Background : Since polypharmacy is very common practice in diabetic patients, the study of drug-drug interactions is an imperative rational approach with respect to safety and efficacy determination. Gliclazide is a widely used drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Efavirenz and nevirapine are widely used non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) with fewer side effects concerning diabetic complications.The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of selected NNRTIs on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of gliclazide in rabbits with respect to safety and efficacy of the combination. Methods : Influence of selected NNRTIs on the activity of gliclazide was determined by conducting a single dose interaction followed by multiple dose interaction study with two groups consisting of 6 normal rabbits each. Each group was treated with an oral dose of 5.6 mg/1.5 kg bd. wt. of gliclazide, interacting drug treatment (42 mg/1.5 kg bd. wt. of efavirenz or 14 mg/1.5 kg bd. wt. of nevirapine) and their combination with a one week washout period between each treatment. One week washout after this single dose interaction study, each group was continued with the daily treatment of interacting drug for the next eight days and then the combined treatment on the ninth day. Blood samples were collected at regular intervals by marginal ear vein puncture in rabbits and were analyzed for blood glucose by GOD/POD method and insulin by radioimmunoassay method. The serum gliclazide levels were estimated by HPLC method and pharmacokinetic analysis was conducted by noncompartmental analysis using WinNonlin software. Results : In combination, efavirenz significantly (P less than  0.05) reduced the pharmacodynamic activity and serum levels of gliclazide. The pharmacokinetic parameters of gliclazide were significantly (P less than  0.05) altered. The percent decrease of serum gliclazide concentration level is 24.23% and 15.20% following single dose and multiple dose administration of efavirenz, respectively. In combination, nevirapine has no significant effect on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of gliclazide in rabbits. Conclusions : The significant pharmacokinetic interaction of efavirenz at metabolic level by CYP3A4 induction results in decreased serum gliclazide levels and pharmacodynamic activity of gliclazide. The combination of nevirapine and gliclazide was proved to be safe. doi:10.4021/jem34w


The paper introduces a coronavirus pandemic impact on the economy from a variety of dimensions such as economic outlook, growth shock, recession curve analysis, the role of regulators and proposed long term strategies. This paper also analyzes the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the growth of the economy. The study observed about the consequences of the pandemic with the help of three shaped of curve called U, L and V. Also, this study used the secondary published data from International financial institutions such as World Bank and Asian Development Bank as to describe the current growth and also predict the pre-COVID economic growth of Nepal.


The diagnosis of coronary aneurysms has for a long time been made at autopsy. After a general review of coronary artery aneurysms, a large aneurysm of the circumflex branch of the left coronary is described; this was diagnosed by selective coronary angiography and successfully treated by surgery. The results are compared with six other reported cases of pre-operatively diagnosed coronary artery aneurysms. Since complications, such as rupture, embolisation or infarction, are common in large coronary aneurysms, early diagnosis is desirable. An abnormal bulge of the cardiac contour or circular calcification within or at the edge of the cardiac shadow may be suggestive of the diagnosis.


In general, small bodies of the solar system, e.g., asteroids and comets, have a very irregular shape. This feature affects significantly the gravitational potential around these irregular bodies, which hinders dynamical studies. The Poincar\'e surface of sec- tion technique is often used to look for stable and chaotic regions in two-dimensional dynamic cases. In this work, we show that this tool can be useful for exploring the surroundings of irregular bodies such as the asteroid 4179 Toutatis. Considering a rotating system with a particle, under the effect of the gravitational field computed three-dimensionally, we define a plane in the phase space to build the Poincar\'e surface of sections. Despite the extra dimension, the sections created allow us to find trajec- tories and classify their stabilities. Thus, we have also been able to map stable and chaotic regions, as well as to find correlations between those regions and the contri- bution of the third dimension of the system to the trajectory dynamics as well. As examples, we show details of periodic(resonant or not) and quasi-periodic trajectories.


In this essay I identify and develop an alternative to pluralism which is overlooked in contemporary debate in philosophy of religion and in theology. According to this view, some but not all of the great world religions are equally correct, that is to say, they are just as successful when it comes to tracking the truth and providing a path to salvation. This alternative is not haunted by the same difficulty as pluralism, namely the problem of emptiness. It is therefore more rational at least for many Muslims, but probably also for many Christians and Jews, to embrace it rather than to embrace pluralism. Whether it is also to be preferred over exclusivism and inclusivism is a topic which I will not address in this essay.


The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of a high school exit examination with different consequences attached to the results on biology teachers' instructional practices in Mississippi and Tennessee.  Self-reported survey data were obtained from a representative sample of teachers who taught the same content tested on their respective state's high-stakes graduation examination. An analysis showed that both groups used a balance of student-centered (e.g., critical-thinking activities) and teacher-centered practices (e.g., lectures) on average at least 2 to 4 days per week. At least 83% of participants indicated an interest in helping their students earn test scores required for graduation and improving graduation examination scores as factors that influenced their use of specific practices and tools. This study presents a detailed picture of which practices were used and factors influencing their use by biology teachers who prepare students for state-mandated examinations with different consequences attached to results.


To improve the geometric efficiency of cardiac SPECT imaging, we have previously proposed to use a ring geometry and a multi-segmental collimation. The proposed collimation consists of multiple parallel collimators with most of the segments focused on a small central region, where the patient heart should be positioned. This scheme provides an significantly increased detection efficiency for the central region, but at the expense of reduced efficiency for the surrounding background. The authors have used computer simulations to evaluate the implication of this scheme on the accuracy of the reconstructed cardiac images. Two imaging situations were simulated, one with the heart well placed in the center, the other with the heart shifted outward and partially outside the central region; a neighboring high uptake liver was also simulated. The images were reconstructed with ML-EM and OS-FM methods using a complete attenuation map. The results indicate the deviation caused by truncation is not significant and is not strongly dependent on the activity of the liver when the heart is well positioned within the central region. The distribution of activity in the myocardium reconstructed with ML-EM or OS-FM is not sensitive to the noisy projections sampled from the background. When the heart is positioned improperly, the image reconstructed from the hybrid emission (a combination of high-count projections the central region and low-count background projections) can restore the activity for the myocardium with increased noise variances in the section outside the central region.


Significance As the climate warms, the carbon balance of arctic ecosystems will respond in two opposing ways: Plants will grow faster, leading to a carbon sink, while thawing permafrost will lead to decomposition and loss of soil carbon. However, thawing permafrost also releases nitrogen that fertilizes plant growth, offsetting some carbon losses. The balance of these processes determines whether these ecosystems will act as a stabilizing or destabilizing feedback to climate change. We show that this balance is determined by the rate at which permafrost carbon decomposes as it thaws, and that the stabilizing effects of nitrogen from permafrost is weaker than the destabilizing carbon losses from those soil layers. Permafrost soils contain enormous amounts of organic carbon whose stability is contingent on remaining frozen. With future warming, these soils may release carbon to the atmosphere and act as a positive feedback to climate change. Significant uncertainty remains on the postthaw carbon dynamics of permafrost-affected ecosystems, in particular since most of the carbon resides at depth where decomposition dynamics may differ from surface soils, and since nitrogen mineralized by decomposition may enhance plant growth. Here we show, using a carbon−nitrogen model that includes permafrost processes forced in an unmitigated warming scenario, that the future carbon balance of the permafrost region is highly sensitive to the decomposability of deeper carbon, with the net balance ranging from 21 Pg C to 164 Pg C losses by 2300. Increased soil nitrogen mineralization reduces nutrient limitations, but the impact of deep nitrogen on the carbon budget is small due to enhanced nitrogen availability from warming surface soils and seasonal asynchrony between deeper nitrogen availability and plant nitrogen demands. Although nitrogen dynamics are highly uncertain, the future carbon balance of this region is projected to hinge more on the rate and extent of permafrost thaw and soil decomposition than on enhanced nitrogen availability for vegetation growth resulting from permafrost thaw.


In the 1990s the Message Passing Interface Forum defined MPI bindings for Fortran, C, and C++. With the success of MPI these relatively conservative languages have continued to dominate in the parallel computing community. There are compelling arguments in favour of more modern languages like Java. These include portability, better runtime error checking, modularity, and multi‐threading. But these arguments have not converted many HPC programmers, perhaps due to the scarcity of full‐scale scientific Java codes, and the lack of evidence for performance competitive with C or Fortran. This paper tries to redress this situation by porting two scientific applications to Java. Both of these applications are parallelized using our thread‐safe Java messaging system—MPJ Express. The first application is the Gadget‐2 code, which is a massively parallel structure formation code for cosmological simulations. The second application uses the finite‐domain time‐difference method for simulations in the area of computational electromagnetics. We evaluate and compare the performance of the Java and C versions of these two scientific applications, and demonstrate that the Java codes can achieve performance comparable with legacy applications written in conventional HPC languages. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This article classifies petrol retail companies in Spain based on their financial ratios using the compositional data analysis (CoDA) methodology. This methodology solves the most common distributional problems encountered in the statistical analysis of financial ratios. The main purpose of this article is to show that with the CoDA methodology, accounting figures presenting low values can have a disproportional influence on classification. This problem can be attenuated by applying weighted CoDA, which is a novelty in the financial statement analysis field. The suggested weight of each accounting figure is proportional to its arithmetic mean. The results of Ward clustering show that after weighting, the contributions of the accounting figures to the total variance and to the clustering solution are more balanced, and the clusters are more interpretable. Four distinct financial profiles are identified and related to non-financial variables. Only one of the profiles represents companies in financial distress, with low turnover, low return on assets, high indebtedness, and low liquidity. Further developments include alternative weighting schemes.


A particularly challenging subpopulation of prostate cancer patients are those who present with a persistently elevated PSA and suspicion of prostate cancer despite having had one or more prior negative prostate biopsies. These patients may benefit from the improvements made in prostate imaging through multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) and MRI-guided prostate biopsy techniques. In this study, we evaluate mpMRI and MRI-US fusion biopsy as a means of detecting clinically significant cancer as well as a potential indicator for avoiding repeat biopsies. We performed a retrospective study of 374 men seen between 12/2012 and 06/2015. All patients underwent pre-biopsy mpMRI to identify regions of interest (ROIs) within the prostate and each was assigned an MRI suspicion score. All patients then underwent a 12-core standard trans-rectal mapping biopsy, and all patients with ROIs identified on mpMRI underwent MRI-US fusion targeted biopsy. We defined cancer as any Gleason score ≥ 6, and we defined clinically significant cancer as Gleason score ≥ 3+4. Statistical analysis was performed using chi squared, Fisher's exact, student's ttest, one-way ANOVA, and multivariate logistic regression. All test results were considered statistically significant if p < 0.05. 143 patients were included in our analysis. Overall cancer detection rate was 42.66%, and the clinically significant cancer detection rate was 27.27%. For standard 12-core mapping biopsy, the cancer detection rate was 34.97%, and the clinically significant cancer detection rate was 18.18%. For men who underwent targeted biopsies, the cancer detection rate of the targeted biopsies was 40.5%, and the clinically significant cancer detection rate was 27.27%. In total, 21.50% of patients were upgraded by inclusion of targeted biopsy. For the 72 patients with no cancer on targeted biopsy, only 2 were found to have clinically significant cancer on mapping biopsy. A total of 213 ROIs were identified following mpMRI. Cancer was found in 32.86% of the ROIs and clinically significant cancer was found in 22.54%. For the 22 patients with no target identified on MRI, none were found to have clinically significant cancer. Age, PSA, MRI suspicion score, and PSA density were correlated with clinically significant. Anterior location of ROI was significantly correlated with presence of cancer and higher grade cancer, particularly on targeted biopsy. For clinically significant cancer detected on targeted biopsy, multivariate logistic regression revealed that the only significant independent predictor of disease was the presence of an anteriorly located ROI on mpMRI (OR 4.50, p < 0.01). In men with one or more previous negative biopsies and continued suspicion for prostate cancer, mpMRI and MRI-US fusion targeted biopsy provide greater detection rate of clinically significant disease compared to standard 12-core TRUS biopsy. Men with negative MRI findings may be able to avoid or delay biopsy. Patients with high MRI suspicion score lesions and those with anterior lesions are at increased risk for significant disease and should be treated with the necessary diligence.


Studies on morphological sexual systematical characteristics of the giant water bug L. indicus and their habitats were carried out throughout Vietnam, in the period of 2000-2010. It is not recorded a special sexual difference in morphological characteristics and color of the giant water bug. The male's body measurements are smaller than those of the female, 70.3 ± 0.25 × 26.3 ± 0.3 mm and 78.64 ± 0.33 × 28.63 ± 0.06 mm, respectively. The male genital capsule, i.e. phallobase, aedeagus, diverticullum and parameres, as well as the female genital capsule, i.e. gonapophysis, valve and anal cone, of the giant water bug were described. These are the most cleared characteristics in identification the male and the female. The proportion between a length and width of the last abdomen segment of the bug is an important mark in recognizing a male and female; and it was indicated 2.66 and 2.12, respectively. In Vietnam, the habitats of the giant water bug L. indicus are ranged to the following order: 1. Water rice fields with water level 50 cm, 14%; 3. Rivers and streams, 3%; and 4. Habitats out of water, 2%.


Abstract The adverse effects of Chile's neoliberal social housing policy have been evident for years. The housing deficit, amount of informal housing and pressure from citizen groups have increased in recent years. Numerous stop-gap strategies have been devised in order to contain its adverse effects, many of which can be classified as "exceptional" policy responses, as opposed to "standard" policy responses. Such strategies may include tailormade rights and arbitrary flexibility, the results of which are radically different from those of the "standard" policy. Our hypothesis is that exception is a government strategy to face the deficiencies and conflicts that the policy brings about. A qualitative study was carried out to study the origins, characteristic and repercussions of exception. The results showed four dimensions of this government strategy. First, the application of exception amid the occurrence of environmental emergencies. Second, the use of exception for economic and political purposes and interests. Third, when inhabitants demand exceptional measures. Fourth, when exceptional targeting mechanisms are created to deal with a population whose characteristics are so particular that they are beyond the sphere of political action. It is concluded that exceptions become the norm in a context of neoliberal governance of social housing policy.


In this paper the implementation of passive loops as a tool for magnetic field mitigation is studied. A theoretical introduction that describes the problem mathematically and physically is presented. Using this formulation a tool to estimate the magnitude and phase of current induced in passive loops is developed and the values obtained are compared with measurements to validate the model. Finally, calculations and measurements are performed for magnetic field with and without the implementation of loops on scale models. The analysis considers different sections of conductors used in loops, and different sizes and shapes.


Current legal trends tend to obscure the sharp distinction between substance and procedure. This tendency is manifested, inter alia, as a growing dependence of procedural norms in substantive law; greater flexibility of procedural norms; and growing judicial discretion to deviate from procedural rules. In order to evaluate these contemporary trends, we provide a theoretical analysis of the basic relationships between procedural norms and substantive legal outcomes. This framework reveals the moral commitments underling these modern trends as opposed to the moral foundations of the traditional view that legal decisions should be made under rigid procedural constraints. Focusing on criminal evidence law, the proposed theoretical framework is applied to some of the ongoing legal debates, such as about the admissibility of evidence seized in violation of rights, the exclusion of statistical and character evidence, and the flexibility of the reasonable doubt standard of proof.


The theory of Gibbs measures belongs to the borderlandbetween statistical mechanics and probability theory. In thiscontext, the physical phenomenon of phase transitioncorresponds to the mathematical concept of non-uniqueness for acertain type of probability measures.The most studied model in statistical mechanics is thecelebrated Ising model. The Potts model is a natural extensionof the Ising model, and the beach model, which appears in adifferent mathematical context, is in certain respectsanalogous to the Ising model. The two main parts of this thesisdeal with the Potts model and the beach model,respectively.For theq-state Potts model on an infinite lattice, there areq+1 basic Gibbs measures: one wired-boundary measure foreach state and one free-boundary measure. For infinite trees,we construct "new" invariant Gibbs measures that are not convexcombinations of the basic measures above. To do this, we use anextended version of the random-cluster model together withcoupling techniques. Furthermore, we investigate the rootmagnetization as a function of the inverse temperature.Critical exponents to this function for different parametercombinations are computed.The beach model, which was introduced by Burton and Steif,has many features in common with the Ising model. We generalizesome results for the Ising model to the beach model, such asthe connection between phase transition and a certain agreementpercolation event. We go on to study aq-state variant of the beach model. Using randomclustermodel methods again we obtain some results on where in theparameter space this model exhibits phase transition. Finallywe study the beach model on regular infinite trees as well.Critical values are estimated with iterative numerical methods.In different parameter regions we see indications of both firstand second order phase transition.Keywords and phrases:Potts model, beach model,percolation, randomcluster model, Gibbs measure, coupling,Markov chains on infinite trees, critical exponent.


Transition metals such as iron and copper are present in the myocardium and can act as catalysts for the formation of oxygen free radicals during reperfusion after myocardial ischemia. Previous studies suggested that transition metal chelators such as desferrioxamine reduce the production of such radicals and may thereby attenuate postischemic myocardial dysfunction. These studies used spin trapping agents, commonly nitrone compounds, which may themselves influence the severity of the ischemia and reperfusion events being studied. We evaluated two transition metal chelators, desferrioxamine, an iron chelator, and bathocuproine, a copper chelator, by using a new electron paramagnetic resonance technique that does not require the administration of spin traps. We measured ascorbate free radical, an index of free radical production, in the great cardiac vein effluent. Twenty-eight open-chest dogs underwent 20 min of coronary artery occlusion and 30 min of reperfusion. Ten dogs received no drug, 10 dogs received 750 mg bathocuproine, i.v., and eight dogs received 700 mg desferrioxamine, i.v. Both bathocuproine and desferrioxamine blunted the postreperfusion increase in ascorbate free radical generation: no drug, 36+/-8% increase; desferrioxamine, 13+/-5% increase; bathocuproine, 21+/-6% increase (p < 0.05 vs. baseline). Thus direct free radical measurements indicate that chelation of the transition metals iron and copper reduces free radical generation during reperfusion.


Background: Plaque control measures are important to maintain proper oral hygiene. Indigenous medicines can be alternatives considered with minimal or no side effects to treat oral diseases. Aim: To determine and compare the antibacterial efficacy of indigenous herbal mouthwash with 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted in two parts, and it was registered for the Clinical Trials Registry-India. The first part consisted of in vitro evaluation in which disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods were used. In the second part, a clinical trial was conducted among 30 participants of 18–40 years' age group to evaluate and compare the antibacterial efficacy of indigenous herbal mouthwash with 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate. Plaque and gingival health assessments were carried out using the plaque index and gingival index on the 7th day, 14th day, and 21st day. All statistical procedures were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20.0 software (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). It was assessed at 5% level of significance, i.e., P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results were statistically analyzed with unpaired t-test for pairwise intergroup multiple comparisons, on the 21st day, when plaque and gingival health were compared using plaque and gingival indices (P < 0.05). Results: Indigenous herbal mouthwash was seen to be sensitive at 12.5 mg/ml, and the zone of inhibition was highest against Prevotella intermedia (23 mm). With 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate, the zone of inhibition was highest for Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella intermedia (25 mm each) and MIC was seen to be 12.5 mg/ml for Bacteroides forsythus and 0.2 mg/ml for Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli by broth technique. In vivo examination showed a decrease in mean scores of plaque index and gingival index with chlorhexidine and indigenous herbal mouthwash from baseline to 21 days. Conclusion: From the present study, it was seen that there was a statistically significant reduction in both clinical and microbiological parameters with the use of an indigenous herbal mouthwash as well as 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate. However, chlorhexidine mouthwash was statistically efficacious at the 21st day in controlling plaque and gingivitis with potent antimicrobial activity.


PROLOGUE TO DISCOURSE Hansel Ndumbe Eyoh's The Inheritance upholds the myth that reality can neither be changeable nor can the world be transformed. I have argued elsewhere (3) that the power metaphor in this play upholds the ideology of the class that deprives the ordinary, prostrate masses of Wundupie village their today and tomorrow. In The Inheritance, Eyoh seems to subscribe to Mboh Fese's feudal notion of oppression and exploitation. This ossification of subjective embellishments in an epoch where "exchange value" has come to dominate peripheral capitalist society remains worrying. This is how Mboh Fese (Eyoh) expresses his bourgeois worldview in the play: When you fight for it, when you conquer it, people learn to respect you, because you would have crushed a few people on the way to make your point (4). The positive notion of a degraded, calumniated individual (as Makia Wokwo) breaking free from the logorrhea of bastardity is muted in a stasis that breaks out into a too neat catastrophe, complete with a stage littered with corpses. Such a denouement of bourgeois deception cannot be apprehended as an act of homeopathy wherein the complex of pity and fear (catharsis), becomes transformed into an ennobling experience. Neil Lazarus has argued that African literature is a: Scalding critique of the irresponsibility of post-colonial leadership in Africa. All portray the elite as a murderously hypocritical social fraction, living not only beyond their own natural means but beyond the means of their societies as a whole. They show us the elite, thus, as a kleptocracy, with the continuing poverty and powerlessness of the peasants, proletarians, and marginals toiling below them (5). The apparent triumph of ex-Ambassador Epie Ngous and his son, Ngoh, to the coveted throne of Wundupie village cannot be perceived either as humanity's triumph over adversity since such a vision is fractured precisely because characters in this play are never carried to some pitch of intensity but rather are given inconsequential dimension. In The Inheritance, there are neither hidden insights nor are there attempts to bring out the hidden poetry of man. T. S. Eliot (6) submits that no work of art can remain impervious to the socio-historical truth in which it derives its provenance. He has thus argued that the inherited modes of ordering a literary work, which assumed, as it were, a relatively coherent and stable social order could not accord with the immense panorama of futility and anarchy, which is contemporary reality. New forms are needed to explore each changing reality. A practicable example of this artistic ideology is Eliot's epic of the twentieth century, 'The Wasteland' (7) where artistic dislocation is the proper mode to reflect modern man's dislocation from an accepted moral order. If new aesthetics as a vehicle for the advancement of the continuity of mankind's consciousness and historical totality can only be meaningfully discussed within the purview of socio-political discourse essential to the dismantling of colonial and Western hegemony, as I have tried to register above, in Hansel Ndumbe Eyoh's The Inheritance, for the first time in modern Anglophone Cameroon drama, we come face to face with how the aesthetics of a bourgeois comprador elite, acquire a hegemonic status. In presenting his "target" audience with a fourteen (14) scene play, sans act ['without Acts'] one would have thought that the author of The Inheritance has felt it necessary to experiment with a radically new form, in the conviction that persistence to either the Aristotelian or Aeschylean mode is collusion with forms of perception and expression, which cannot but defend the anachronistic order represented by Ma Mende, Sanga Tete, Nkumba, as well as the other traditional elements in his play who can charitably be dismissed as irredeemable fools. …


The opportunities and challenges of incorporating accurate policy representations into institutional partial equilibrium commodity models were investigated. Six issues are raised: commodity space definition, vertical linkages, assessing market power, the changing nature of government support, trade policy, and data requirements. The importance of product attributes and different approaches to modeling product differentiation are considered. A case study of food safety is used to bring together the major issues. Although institutional commodity models still have a role to play, we advocate the use of smaller idiosyncratic models to address many of the relevant policy questions in a rapidly changing sector.


Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a reversible clinical and radiological entity. The circumstances of occurrence are numerous and the pathophysiology is unclear. The main theory is related to the onset of hypertension leading to the deterioration of the cerebral autoregulation. This is an acute or subacute syndrome, often preceded by convulsive episodes. Symptoms are headaches, impaired consciousness, and vomiting or visual disturbances. The brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the gold standard and highlights evidences of hyperintensities on T2 (bilateral, symmetrical, reversible, and predominantly posterior). Several cases have been reported as a complication during the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but few cases have been published in adult patients and especially in Philadelphia positive ALL. We report the first adult case of Philadelphia positive ALL with development of PRES after induction therapy.


Relations and Extent of tile Zone of Disturbance The writer in recent years has done considerable geologic work in connection with a study of the oil pools that lie along the extension of the Campton anticline and the Rough Creek uplift, in Kentucky. The result of these observations, added to the work previously done by others, has served to show that there is a zone of disturbance in the Paleozoic rocks which completely crosses the State in an east-west direction. To the west it connects with the Shawneetown fault and Bald Hill uplift, which is shown by F. W. DeWolf on the State geologic map of Illinois as completely crossing southern Illinois into Missouri. To the east it connects with the Warfield-Chestnut Ridge zone of folding, which I. C. White has, with a slight interruption, mapped across the State of West Virginia into Pennsylvania, showing the position of it on . . .


There are significant inter-annual fluctuations of growing stock volume changes of living trees estimated by the Lithuanian National Forest Inventory (NFI). In the current study, we compared two sources of information on forest productivity: conventional NFI data and dendrochronological data based on tree cores collected in parallel with the measurements of the fourth Lithuanian NFI cycle during 2013–2017 on the same permanent plots (total number of cores was 4967). The main finding is that the dendrochronological basal area increment data confirmed the depression of gross stand volume increment around 2006–2007 (based on Lithuanian NFI measurements in 2008–2009), followed by a steep increase during 2008–2011 (NFI from 2010–2013). The findings explain the differences between projected growing stock volume change, which have been used for forest reference level estimation according to land use, land-use change and forestry sector regulation, and the one recently provided in National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Reports.
Key words: Growing stock volume change, basal area increment, forest reference level, greenhouse gas reporting


Introduction : A Vision for Change – Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy1 highlights adolescence as a key stage of psychological development during which young people need to develop and acquire skills to cope with difficult emotions. Adolescence can be a time of increased risk of poor mental health with anxiety and depression, as well as an increasing risk of self-harm and suicidal behaviour. While there is existing knowledge about high self-harm and suicide rates in Irish adolescents (e.g. McMahon et al.2), there is limited research on effective programmes that teach skills to promote resilience against a variety of these health risk behaviours. Mazza et al.3 identified the need to provide young people in schools with problem-solving skills, and offer them a safe environment to practice those skills in order to build up resilience and prevent the development of poor emotion regulation behaviours. With this in mind, they developed a proactive and preventive curriculum, DBT STEPS-A, which is a social-emotional learning programme based on DBT. Method : 16 teachers, three CAMHS Clinical Psychologists, six NEPS Psychologists and two Health Promotion Officers were trained to deliver the DBT STEPS-A curriculum in Cork, Ireland. A framework for inter-agency collaboration was also established. This school based intervention was delivered by teachers, and was supported by wider child and adolescent services across health and education (NEPS, CAMHS, Health Promotion). Results : DBT STEPS-A was delivered to over 400 Transition Year students (15-17 years) across eight schools in Cork during the 2015/2016 academic year. Although implementation of the programme was complex and required flexibility across professional roles, outcomes and experiences are promising. Conclusion : DBT STEPS-A represents a new way of working and demonstrates a model of successful inter-agency collaboration which facilitates development of a shared language from community level to specialist mental health services. It also provides an opportunity to build resilience, to normalise mental health discussions and potentially identify mental health issues in adolescents at an early stage.  References : 1- Department of Health & Children. A Vision for Change: Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy. Dublin: Stationery Office. 2006. 2- McMahon, E.M., Keeley, H., Cannon, M., Arensman, E., Perry, I.J., Clarke, M., Chambers, D & Corcoran, P. The iceberg of suicide and self-harm in Irish adolescents: a population-based study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2014;49(12):1929-1935. 3- Mazza, J.J., Dexter-Mazza, E.T., Miller, A.L., Rathus, J.H., & Murphy, E.M. DBT skills in schools: skills training for emotional problem solving for adolescents (DBT STEPS-A). New York: Guilford Press. 2016.


Abstract Context. The severity and prevalence of the amphibian fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is correlated with several environmental variables, including salinity, temperature, and moisture content, which influence the pathogen's growth and survival. Habitats that contain these environmental variables at levels outside of those optimal for Bd growth and survival may facilitate the survival of susceptible host species. Therefore, manipulation of environmental salinity is a potential management strategy to help conserve Bd-susceptible species. However, host behaviour also influences disease dynamics, and the success of habitat manipulation programs depends on how hosts use this altered habitat. Aims. To assess if the Bd-susceptible green and golden bell frog, Litoria aurea, will select waterbodies with a salinity increased to S = 3; if this selection is affected by infection; and if a frog's time in a waterbody of this salinity affects infection load or blood physiology. Methods. We conducted a filmed choice experiment and a 3-year field study where infected and uninfected frogs could choose between fresh or saline waterbodies. Key results. In both the laboratory experiment and field study, Bd-infected L. aurea spent a significantly greater amount of time in or closer to a waterbody than uninfected frogs. Experimentally infected frogs tended to prefer the saline water over fresh, but their choice of water usage did not differ statistically from uninfected frogs. In the field, frogs began to avoid ponds when salinities rose above S = 5. Conclusions. Because both wild and captive, and infected and uninfected L. aurea readily selected waterbodies with a salinity of S = 3, this salinity could potentially be used as a passive method for reducing the severity of Bd when managing this species. However, further testing is needed to understand the efficacy of this treatment, and care must be taken to prevent salinities rising above S = 5, because this level seems to produce an avoidance response and therefore may not be suitable in every location. Implications. Manipulation of aquatic habitats may be a worthwhile focus for Bd management in habitats where water level fluctuations are minimal.


This exposition documents several years of process-driven practice-as-research. The work explores themes of womanhood, embodiment, and autobiography.

Throughout the exposition I argue that the embodiment of process is key to understanding practice-as-research. I propose that practice-as-research projects should not be driven with a 'final output' in mind. Instead, the practice of practice-as-research should be reconsidered throughout its development; it should use its potential for liminality. It is the demonstration of a 'living process'; living in process.

This exposition explores ways in which we live in process through a presentation of text, visual essays, and short film and video pieces. The work develops from creative artefacts and critical text into a piece of responsive writing, 'A Play of Characters'. This playtext reconsiders some of the influences in the work and explores the imagery of the whole project in a performative context.

The notion of embodiment and a 'living body of work' is developed further through the use of metaphor, in particular the metaphor of the mollusc. I use this to consider how practice evolves alongside process, 'housing' both the work and the process in both material form (the shell) and trace (the snail trail).

Different combinations of this work have been presented as performance installations, both at the University of Portsmouth, as part of my PhD examination in 2010, and at the University of Lincoln, as part of the Gnarlfest in 2014. However, by the very nature of 'living in process' this is a work that continues to evolve and 'live' in different forms. The purpose of this exposition is to explore the work in an accessible online form – one that offers alternative platforms and sequences, creating different possibilities and readings of the practice.


Stories about war are some of the oldest stories told - used to entertain, to glorify, to lament and to educate. An Instinct for War utilises myriad tales of war to offer a remarkable look at one of humanity's oldest plagues. Roger Spiller excavates the essence of war and its evolution through the words and thoughts of those who led - and those who were led - into battle, moving from the perspective of an ancient Chinese emperor to Napoleon's command, from a Civil War soldier's final days to the particularities of today's small wars throughout the globe. Spiller combines a mastery of the primary sources with a vibrant historical imagination to locate a dozen turning points in the world's history of warfare that altered our understanding of war and its pursuit. We are conducted through profound moments by the voices of those who witnessed them and are given a graphic understanding of war, the devastating choices, the means by which battles are won and lost, and the enormous price exacted. Spiller's attention to the sights and sounds of battle enables us to feel the sting and menace of past violent conflicts as if they were today's. A bold departure from standard military history, An Instinct for War will challenge our understanding of how war forever alters the landscape - both human and geographic - and how individuals can alter the nature of battle. This collective portrait of the life of war offers unparalleled insight into our struggle for mastery over a fundamental instinct.


ABSTRACT Glucose-grown cells of Bacillus cereus respond to anaerobiosis and low extracellular oxidoreduction potentials (ORP), notably by enhancing enterotoxin production. This response involves the ResDE two-component system. We searched the B. cereus genome for other redox response regulators potentially involved in this adaptive process, and we identified one gene encoding a protein predicted to have an amino acid sequence 58% identical (80% similar) to that of the Bacillus subtilis Fnr redox regulator. The fnr gene of the food-borne pathogen B. cereus F4430/73 has been cloned and partially characterized. We showed that fnr was up-regulated during anaerobic fermentation, especially when fermentation occurred at low ORP (under highly reducing conditions). The expression of fnr was down-regulated in the presence of O2 and nitrate which, unlike fumarate, stimulated the respiratory pathways. The inactivation of B. cereus fnr abolished fermentative growth but only moderately affected aerobic and anaerobic nitrate respiratory growth. Analyses of glucose by-products and the transcription profiles of key catabolic genes confirmed the strong regulatory impact of Fnr on B. cereus fermentative pathways. More importantly, the fnr mutation strongly decreased the expression of PlcR-dependent hbl and nhe genes, leading to the absence of hemolysin BL (Hbl) and nonhemolytic enterotoxin (Nhe) secretion by the mutant. These data indicate that fnr is essential for both fermentation and toxinogenesis. The results also suggest that both Fnr and the ResDE two-component system belong to a redox regulatory pathway that functions at least partially independently of the pleiotropic virulence gene regulator PlcR to regulate enterotoxin gene expression.


With the phasing out of lead-bearing solders, electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) have been identified as one of the environmentally friendly alternatives to tin/lead (Sn/Pb) solders in electronics packaging applications. In particular, with the requirements for fine-pitch and high-performance interconnects in advanced packaging, nanoconductive adhesives are becoming more and more important due to the special electrical, mechanical, optical, magnetic, and chemical properties that nano-sized materials can possess. There has been extensive research for the last few years on materials and process improvement of ECAs, as well as the advances of nanoconductive adhesives that contain nano-filler such as nanoparticles, nanowires, or carbon nanotubes and nanomonolayer graphenes. In this chapter, recent research trends on electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) and their related nanotechnologies are discussed, with the particular emphasis on the emerging nanotechnology, including materials development and characterizations, processing optimization, reliability improvement, and future challenges/opportunities identification. The state of the art on nanoisotropic/anisotropic conductive adhesives incorporated with nanosilver, carbon nanotubes, and nanonickel, and their recent studies on those for flexible nano/bioelectronics, transparent electrodes, and jettable processes are addressed in this chapter. Future studies on nanointerconnect materials are discussed as well.


The manuscript by Giorgianni et al [1], and co-authored by myself, claims and concludes on a purely electronic insulator to metal transition (IMT) in VO2 using ultra-intense THz fields without any lattice interaction. The underlying mechanism behind IMT in VO2 is a highly debatable subject with the "electron-only" IMT concept being increasingly resisted in the field especially under intense excitations. If Giorgianni/Hauri's claim were sustained, it would be an important step towards fundamental understanding of complex systems such as the model VO2 [2-4] and may have implications on low power ultrafast switching applications. The experiment was enabled by the uniquely-intense THz source I previously developed at the SwissFEL [5, 6] and is thus not possible to reproduce elsewhere under similar excitation conditions. However, some of the measurements under the reported experimental settings showed clear phonon oscillations on the short time scale, and sample damage using the maximum reported field intensities, which may be contradicting the purely electronic/non-phonon paper claims/conclusions. These measurements were known to all PSI authors (Feb./March 2017) before the paper was drafted. However, the principal authors (Giorgianni, Vicario, and Hauri) 1 decided to exclude these measurements from the paper, disapproved the call to further repeat and verify the paper measurements, and submitted it. They then publically published the text on the arXiv without the consent of all the authors. The external co-authors (from U.C. Berkeley, USA, and Tsinghua U., China) requested the addition of the note "We (Kai Liu, Junqiao Wu and Kevin Wang) were unaware of the situation, of the hidden data, and of the PSI disagreements, and we have never been contacted or informed of any of these issues. We merely provided the samples."† The experiment was performed at a SwissFEL laboratory, but not the experimental user laboratories. This comment should not lay responsibility on the SwissFEL facility. PSI attempted to withdraw the submission, but the arXiv is non-retractable.2


This is an introduction to the Qur'an for those who want to know more about it and do not know where to start. In it, Jacques Jomier takes selected passages and points out their distinctive style and language, drawing attention to the religious ideas in the Qur'an and the way in which they are expressed. He shows how the Qur'an keeps returning to certain fundamental truths or essential points of doctrine, its great themes, yet often elsewhere confines itself to suggestion and allusion. He is also deeply aware of the role of the Qur'an in the history of Islam and the life of the community, so that it is not just a holy book but also arouses the emotions Christians feel as they remember family Christmases or hear quiet organ music in a darkened church. Chapters include discussions of Mecca and the early days of Islam, the Muslim community, Adam, Abraham, the prophets, Jesus, and hymns to God the creator. Jacques Jomier is a Dominican and the author of How to Understand Islam.


Freight  movement  emits  greenhouse  gases  (GHGs)  and  deteriorates  pavement- thereby causing additional emissions from pavement maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R)  treatments.  This  study  predicts  the  carbon  dioxide  equivalent  GHGs  (CO2 eGHGs)  emission  from  simulated  freight  movement  and  pavement  M&R  operations on  regional  highways  connecting  the  Canadian  provinces  of  New  Brunswick,  Prince Edward  Island,  Newfoundland  and  Labrador,  Nova  Scotia  and Quebec.  This  study estimates the equivalent single axle loads (ESALs), CO2 e GHGs emissions, and vehicle-distance on every regional highway for a 30 years period. The International Roughness Index (IRI) estimates pavement deterioration curves for highways based on ESALs and observed pavement strength. Linear programming of life-cycle optimization estimates the pavement M&R operations required to maintain the pavement in good condition during the design period. The simulated freight traffic will emit 1.279 million tons of carbon  dioxide  gas  while  emissions  from  pavement  M&R  treatments  will  be  1.403-1.755 million tons of CO2e GHG.


Viral marketing is a marketing tool that is becoming more common in the marketing industry. As people spend more time on the internet via their smartphones, tablets and computers marketers try to find new ways to reach out and connect with consumers. Succeeding with a viral spread is not easy; it's several factors that are important. Viral marketing encourages consumers to recommend and talk about product-related information with each other. So, what should a viral campaign or message contain in order to create this interest among us consumers? There are few empirical studies done in this subject which makes this kind of uncharted territory. By reading previous studies done in the subject we managed to find a few factors that reappeared frequently. In our theory chapter, we describe what previous studies say about these viral marketing factors; Message, Messenger, Social Media and Environment. Based on the theory we then created questions which we used when we interviewed 10 respondents who work with viral marketing on a daily basis. All answers were then stacked up in a table in which we extracted interesting patterns. These patterns are discussed and analyzed in our analysis chapter where our data is compared with previously done theory and our own reflections.Our contribution by this thesis is to bring empirical data within viral marketing, which has been missing up to now. We have done this through interviews and a model that we have developed. Keywords: Viral marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, Viral message


The Chanarin–Dorfman syndrome (CDS) is a rare, autosomal recessively inherited genetic disease. This syndrome is associated with a decrease in the lipolysis activity in multiple tissue cells because of recessive mutations in the abhydrolase domain containing 5 (ABHD5) gene, which leads to the accumulation of lipid droplets in multiple types of cells. Major clinical symptoms in patients with CDS include ichthyosis and intracytoplasmic lipid droplets. The variability of clinical symptoms in patients with CDS depends on a large number of mutations involved. In this syndrome, liver involvement is an important cause of mortality and morbidity. This review aims to summarize the demographic characteristic, clinical symptoms, liver involvement and mutations in CDS patients in the literature to date.


Oscillation eigenmodes are studied for a planar so- lar model with a non-uniform horizontal magnetic field in the atmosphere. The three layer atmospheric model is the same as in Tirry et al. (1998). The analysis in that paper is extended to a wide range of parameters. Different types of oscillation modes are determined for a wide range of the magnetic field strength and for different de- grees of the spherical harmonic. The emphasis is on the possible coupling of global solar oscillation modes to localized contin- uum eigenmodes of the magnetic atmosphere. For propagation parallel to the magnetic field, the global oscillation modes can couple only to slow continuum modes and this is found to occur for a rather large range of parameters. In addition to the damping of global oscillation modes due to resonant absorption it was found that the interaction of global eigenmodes with slow continuum modes leads to unanticipated behaviour of global eigenmodes. The rather strange behaviour in the slow continuum involves the disappearance and appearance of global modes and splitting and merging of global modes. Additionally, frequency shifts of global modes due to the magnetic field have been examined. The shifts are compared to observations.


In this paper we propose a synthesizable LDPC decoder IP core for WiMax and WiFi applications. Two new techniques are applied in the proposed decoder to improve the decoding performance. Firstly, a high parallelism permutation network (PN) is proposed to perform the circulant shift according to the parity check matrix (PCM) defined in WiMax and WiFi standards. By using the proposed PN, at most, four independent code frames with small code length are decoded concurrently, which largely improves the decoding throughput (2-4 times). Secondly, a fast early stopping criterion specialized for WiMax and WiFi LDPC code is proposed to reduce the average iteration number. Unlike the early works, by utilizing our proposed stopping criterion, the decoding will be stopped when all the information bits of a code frame are corrected even if there are still some errors in redundant part. Experiment results show that, it can reduce up to 20% iteration numbers compared to popular used stopping criterion.


In this position paper we review the results of the the eye-tracking -related part of the PRIMA project (Proactive Information Retrieval by Adaptive Models of User's Attention and Interests), carried out during 2003–2005. The project focused on how to construct and combine user models from implicit or explicit feedback signals. If proper user models can be constructed, it will be possible to build proactive applications, that is, applications that learn to anticipate the user's needs. Our prototype application is information retrieval, where implicit feedback signal is measured from eye movements. Relevance of read text is extracted from the feedback signal with hidden Markov models learned from a collected data set. Since relevance in general is hard to define, we have constructed an experimental setting where relevance is known a priori. The implicit feedback signal is very noisy. Thus, it needs to be supplemented with relevance predictions from other available sources. In the prototype application an alternative relevance prediction was obtained from collaborative filtering. For new document titles the prediction accuracy with eye movements, collaborative filtering, and their combination was significantly better than by chance. The best prediction accuracy still leaves room for improvement but shows that proactive information retrieval and combination of many sources of relevance feedback is feasible.


We propose a theory of abstraction of discrete-event systems (DES) formulated at the semantic level, i.e., as a function that maps event traces at the original (ground) level to traces at the abstract level. We study how diagnosis of DES can be performed using an abstract model, and under which conditions this process leads to a correct solution (i.e., a set of alternative diagnoses that include the real status of the system). Finally, we study how the use of an abstract model can affect the precision of diagnosis, i.e., the presence of spurious system states in the solution. To this end, we introduce the notion of diagnosability with abstract models, which ensures the precision of abstract diagnoses, and we discuss a practical way to test it.


This paper discusses an experimental software project that interactively trains an artificial intelligence program with user input. The project is a commentary on the humanmachine relationship inspired by the infamous Turing 'imitation' game. The software is an anthropomorphic play modeled on the different stages of an initiation rite (separation, margin and aggregation) observed by Van Gennep in early African societies. We ask users to interact with the software in order to teach it what is needed to become intelligent. The users reply to a series of questions such as: what kind of things should an intelligent machine have, what kind of things should intelligent machines know about, and so on. By comparing and contrasting the answers given by different participants, we identify the underlying assumptions, desires, and expectations projected onto the attempts to build artificial agency. By pointing out a series of similarities between the birth of agency in human infancy and the processes for building human-like intelligent machinery, we comment on how the perception of intelligent machines and newborns are configured by the established norms and values in


This chapter makes the case for joined-up thinking when approaching non-traditional signs in trademark law. Over the past three decades, trade mark registration has moved from up-front exclusions for certain categories of signs (no shapes, no colours) towards cautious and incremental acceptance. However the policy concerns generated by the grant of legal monopolies in such signs remain equally relevant today. The grant of an abstract colour mark to one trader closes off a part of the colour spectrum to others. Can we therefore allow such signs in to the system while successfully managing the tensions generated by their admission?
Responding to this challenge, this chapter explores two potential responses. First, when permitting such marks to be registered, should we correlate the mark as characterised at the time of registration—agreeably modest in its scope and ambitions—with the mark as deployed in an enforcement context, where it otherwise tends to be read more generously? Second, when it comes to regulating non-traditional marks, should we move beyond historic upstream solutions—in the form of exclusions from registrability—and proactively consider additional scope limitation mechanisms when applying infringement tests and defences?
Drawing on a range of EU and US decisions across various categories of non-traditional marks, the chapter argues that both questions should be answered affirmatively. Section II reviews the manner in which non-traditional marks came to be accommodated within trademark registration systems. Section III focuses closely on the characterisation of the mark at the time of registration. Trademark registration calls for a non-traditional mark to be depicted or represented (always), described (often) and classified according to type (where possible). This characterisation has profound consequences, as the ongoing Louboutin (C-163/16) red-soled shoes litigation before the Court of Justice demonstrates. Once characterised, the mark is then channelled into the relevant stream of substantive examination analysis. Since characterisation matters, applicants have learned to adapt, in order to overcome obstacles to registration. However where characterisation techniques have been used to subvert substantive criteria, registries and courts have responded by overriding the applicant's own preferred characterisation with an objective assessment of the mark's content. Section IV outlines the importance of consciously connecting the scope of the mark as characterised for the purposes of registration with its scope for the purposes of infringement. Section V concludes.


Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer payment system and digital currency, is often involved in illicit activities such as scamming, ransomware attacks, illegal goods trading, and thievery. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin ecosystem has not yet been mapped and as such there is no estimate of the share of illicit activities. This paper provides the first estimation of the portion of cyber-criminal entities in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Our dataset consists of 854 observations categorised into 12 classes (out of which 5 are cybercrime-related) and a total of 100,000 uncategorised observations. The dataset was obtained from the data provider who applied three types of clustering of Bitcoin transactions to categorise entities: co-spend, intelligence-based, and behaviour-based. Thirteen supervised learning classifiers were then tested, of which four prevailed with a cross-validation accuracy of 77.38%, 76.47%, 78.46%, 80.76% respectively. From the top four classifiers, Bagging and Gradient Boosting classifiers were selected based on their weighted average and per class precision on the cybercrime-related categories. Both models were used to classify 100,000 uncategorised entities, showing that the share of cybercrime-related is 29.81% according to Bagging, and 10.95% according to Gradient Boosting with number of entities as the metric. With regard to the number of addresses and current coins held by this type of entities, the results are: 5.79% and 10.02% according to Bagging; and 3.16% and 1.45% according to Gradient Boosting.


The base of the pyramid (BoP) refers to the global poor, most of whom live in developing countries and face limited access to health care, education, and public services. Social entrepreneurship can be an effective approach to creating both economic and social value at the BoP, addressing the needs of this market segment through innovative business models and relationships with different local stakeholders. Scholars and practitioners alike have proposed that multinational corporations or philanthropic efforts would be effective in serving the needs of this market segment. However, social entrepreneurs, through their pursuit of social and economic goals that address the community's needs and potentiates its capabilities, constitute a better alternative to these approaches. Thus, based on the study of three social enterprises in Latin America, we develop a set of propositions regarding the characteristics that effective social enterprises serving the rural BoP are likely to exhibit. These features include a) a local founder who understands the community needs and sociopolitical context, b) an innovative business model that fits the local context, c) the deployment of or investment in local capabilities, and d) diversified sources of income through multiple market segments or different product lines."