BACKGROUND The major risks in patients diagnosed with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC)are recurrence, progression of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), and metastasis. Biological markers such as fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 (FGFR3) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) are related to muscle invasiveness of bladder cancer. This study was aimed to analyze the expression of FGFR3 and HIF-1α to predict muscle invasiveness in bladder cancer patients.METHODS This was an observational study with a case-control design. Sixty patients with bladder cancer, who underwent histopathology examinations at the Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara/H. Adam Malik Hospital from January 2012 to December 2015, were included in this study. Samples were then classified into 30 NMIBC and 30 MIBC groups. All samples were analyzed with an immunohistochemistry assay for FGFR3 and HIF-1α. H-scores were used to determine the relationships between each group.RESULTS FGFR3 was expressed in 29 (96.7%) patients of the NMIBC group, and 23 (76.7%) patients of the MIBC group (p=0.026, OR=8.8; 95% CI=1.01–76.96). HIF-1α was expressed in only 1 (3.33%) patient of the NMIBC group, and 15 (50%) patients of the MIBC group (p<0.001, OR=29; 95% CI=3.49–241.13).CONCLUSIONS There was a difference in upregulation of FGFR3 and HIF-1α expression in both the NMIBC and MIBC groups.


The mechanical properties of cells have been of great interest to scientists from early studies which suggested that mechanical stress-induced alterations in cell shape and structure are critical for control of many cell functions. Although various loading tests of a cell have been designed to understand the cellular mechanical properties, the heterogeneous intracellular structure such as cytoskeletons brings about difficulties in interpreting experimental data.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


In this paper, we build a social search engine named Glaucus for location-based queries. They compose a significant portion of mobile searches, thus becoming more popular with the prevalence of mobile devices. However, most of existing social search engines are not designed for location-based queries and thus often produce poor-quality results for such queries. Glaucus is inherently designed to support location-based queries. It collects the check-in information, which pinpoints the places where each user visited, from location-based social networking services such as Foursquare. Then, it calculates the expertise of each user for a query by using our new probabilistic model called the location aspect model. We conducted two types of evaluation to prove the effectiveness of our engine. The results showed that Glaucus selected the users supported by stronger evidence for the required expertise than existing social search engines. In addition, the answers from the experts selected by Glaucus were highly rated by our human judges in terms of answer satisfaction.


The historian and political philosopher Samuel Pufendorf in 1667 famously described the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) as "an irregular body much like a mythical beast" – I hesitate to employ the usual rendering "monster" since although monstrum does have a pejorative connotation it seems less strong in Latin than in English. Rather than something repellent or threatening what Pufendorf had in mind was probably more like a unicorn, a centaur, or a chimera, which combine features that nature assigns to separate and unmixable species. The context in which Pufendorf wrote was the contemporary debate about which of the classical political categories – more particularly, democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy – the empire fell into. Each position had its defenders. But Pufendorf argued that although the empire seemed to contain elements of each of those categories it did not fit any of them; hence it was "irregular", a monstrum. Its existence contradicted received wisdom – the more so the longer it continued. Thus, a century after Pufendorf Voltaire would observe that the reasons that led to the collapse of the (west) Roman empire of antiquity were less obvious by far than the reasons that should long since have led to the collapse of the HRE, except that somehow it just went on regardless. Similarly, the European Union (EU) today presents itself as something very much sui generis, something that seems to defy comparison – except that that very fact actually invites comparison with the HRE. And it is not the only similarity. Both the HRE and the EU combine institutional complexity with cumbersomely slow decisionmaking; both have influential common institutions while lacking a central power; both have great difficulty formulating a common foreign policy, and while some members have quite impressive military capabilities their common organisation lacks military weight or ambition. Yet for all their apparent shortcomings both the HRE and the EU have never been challenged fundamentally by their members, which have always seen greater advantage in sticking with the organisation than in leaving it. On the other hand, there are also fundamental differences between the two which must call in question the validity of any comparison. The proposed paper will examine these issues. The aim is to achieve a better understanding of the EU and more generally of the utility of comparing political structures across periods.


The reduction processes at four advanced sewage treatment plants in Baden-Wurttemberg were evaluated with regard to virus elimination and the elimination of indicator organisms from wastewater. The results of virus elimination were compared with the reduction of somatic and male specific bacteriophages and of E. coli . In total, 222 water samples were examined. The results obtained for the different treatment plants show reduction rates from 80.0% to 99.9% for enteroviruses, enumerated as PFU l −1 on BGM cell line, and reduction rates from 59.4% to 99.9% for other enteric viruses, enumerated as MPN l −1 on MA-104 cell line. Identification of the isolated enteroviruses yielded 88.3% for Coxsackie virus B (1-5), 18.3% were positive for Polio (1-3) and 8.3% for Echo virus (1+11). The reduction rates of somatic bacteriophages ranged from 76.4% to 99.90%, for male specific bacteriophages from 87.5% to 99.9% and for E. coli . from 75.0% to 99.9% respectively. Two of the plants use standard chemical precipitation and the other two employ combinations of chemical and biological elimination techniques to reduce the concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen. A correlation between the amount of precipitators and the elimination rates of the tested microorganisms could not be demonstrated, perhaps due to the fact that the treatment conditions could not be modified by the investigators. It is concluded that the tested treatment plants using combinations of chemical and biological techniques for P and N removal show equal or higher elimination rates than conventional treatment processes using chemical elimination techniques.


Graphite wall materials are used in present day fusion devices in order to optimize plasma core performance and to enable access to a large operational space. A large physics database exists for operation with these plasma facing materials, which also indicate their use in future devices with extended burn times. The radiation from carbon impurities in the edge and divertor regions strongly helps to reduce the peak power loads on the strike areas, but carbon radiation also supports the formation of MARFE instabilities which can hinder access to high densities. The main concerns with graphite are associated with its strong chemical affinity to hydrogen, which leads to chemical erosion and to the formation of hydrogen-rich carbon layers. These layers can store a significant fraction of the total tritium fuel, which might prevent the use of these materials in future tritium devices. High-Z plasma facing materials are much more advantageous in this sense, but these advantages compete with the strong poisoning of the plasma if they enter the plasma core. New promising experiences have been obtained with high-Z wall materials in several devices, about which a survey is given in this paper and which also addresses open questions for future research and development work.


This paper is concerned with the application of fundamental thermodynamic theories in the analysis of thermoelastic martensitic transformations in shape memory alloys, with a particular reference to polycrystalline NiTi. The discussion is delivered in two parts. The first part presents a concise overview of the fundamental theories of thermodynamics of thermoelastic martensitic transformations established in the past 30 years. The second part focuses on the principles governing the application of the theories, interpretation of the thermodynamic parameters defined in the theories, experimental determination of the parameters, and some common misperceptions and unjustified assumptions in practice concerning these parameters.


The use of baleen, ear plugs, and ovaries in the determination of age in humpback whales is described. From the evidence of baleen, the majority of humpback whales reach puberty at 4 or 5 years of age. The rate of accumulation of laminations in ear plugs is two laminations per year. The mean rate of ovulation in sexually mature females is 1.1 per year. Age determination upon the same sample of mature females by these two methods gives very similar distribution of ages. The age distribution within separate sexes from samples of mature humpback whales examined on the west and east coasts of Australia in 1957 are compared. The results indicate that the population migrating along the west coast is at present composed of younger individuals than that on the east coast of Australia.


AbstractA key trend in current broadcasting is the combination of traditional TV-formats and digital media. In these multi-platform formats, the Internet and the mobile phone in particular are used as return channels in order to stimulate audience activity. Studies of multi-platform formats have mainly analysed audience participation with cumulative influence on the production, such as Big Brother and Pop Idol. In this article, I investigate a format that combines traditional journalism with elements of audience participation. In the current affairs format Seven Thirty, the audience is invited to respond to issues raised in the programme by sending text-messages via the mobile telephone (SMS). The viewers are not guaranteed to get their messages aired; the moderator selects and rejects messages according to the editorial policy, and thus functions as a classic "gatekeeper' The study compares the text-messages received by the TV-station with the ones transmitted on-screen. The main research questions are: ...


Background: Apremilast (Otezla®), an oral small molecule inhibitor of type-4 cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE-4), is under development with Celgene Corporation for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, sarcoidosis, Behçet's syndrome, atopic dermatitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Apremilast is indicated for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis in adults. Apremilast has received its first global approval for this indication in the USA. Regulatory submissions for approval in this indication are under review in Canada and Europe. Regulatory filings have also been submitted for apremilast in the treatment of plaque psoriasis in the USA and Europe. Apremilast treatment have been reported in the following dermatologic diseases: psoriasis, rosacea, atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, sarcoidosis, lupus erythematosus, lichen planus and alopecia areata. The following article provides a summary of the salient points in relation to the clinical use of apremilast treatment in dermatology.


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This article analyses the energy dimension of relationships which have been developed between the 'Eastern Partnership' (EaP) partner countries within the context of European security. The essence of the EaP and the main priorities of the initiative's energy platform will be determined. The peculiarities of their relations with the European Union and the Russian federation will be analysed. One discovery which has been made is the fact that the involvement of the addressee countries within the EaP grants them significant advantages in the implementation of the overall energy policy, and the EU is understood by them as being a guarantor of energy security. Emphasis is placed on the fact that Russia seeks to establish the fullest possible levels of control over energy supplies which are sent to Europe, and to the EU, and indeed even to reduce the dependence of the EaP partner countries on energy imports from Russia. Something which became obvious was the fact that while Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, and Ukraine were forming closer ties with the EU, Azerbaijan and Belarus on the contrary continued (and continue) to adhere to the authoritarian status quo. From this it can be concluded that the EaP partner countries face new challenges and threats, both in terms of domestic and foreign policy, which will determine the transformation of energy relations, in particular within the dimension of security.


Since the late 1990s, drought‐driven dieback has affected more than a million hectares of pinyon pine‐juniper woodlands in the southwestern USA. Analysis of annual aerial surveys by the US Forest Service and soil survey data shows that most of the mortality occurred between 2003 and 2004 and that 70% was restricted to soils mapped as having available water storage capacities (Ac) <100 mm. We conducted a more refined analysis and found that as Ac increased in increments of 50 mm up to 300 mm, the distribution of areas with observed mortality decreased exponentially from 42% to 3% (n = 6 classes, r2 = 0.93). We used this information in a process‐based stand growth model, physiological principles predicting growth, to assess year to year variation in gross photosynthesis between 1985 and 2005 with climatic data at monthly intervals from four weather stations where pinyon‐juniper woodlands were confirmed by satellite imagery. A sensitivity analysis identified sustained periods of drought and supported field observations that once canopy leaf area approaches a maximum value, the majority of mortality should be restricted to soils with Ac values <100 mm. Additional analyses indicated that differences in soil texture played a small part (<10%) in the variation of gross photosynthesis and that consecutive years of drought may have a cumulative effect on pinyon pine vulnerability to bark beetle attack. Disturbances reducing canopy leaf area index should result in less pine mortality in the future, although conversion to shrub and grassland may occur if climate conditions continue to become less favorable. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In the TDD mode of UTRA (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) and IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2000) the multiple access scheme TD-CDMA (time division CDMA) is utilized. The combination of TD-CDMA with adaptive array processing in order to improve the data detection is presented and evaluated in many publications. Although multi-antenna receivers are considered in TD-CDMA, the conventional channel estimation technique which is state of the art in TD-CDMA does not take advantage of the directional inhomogeneity of the mobile radio channel. A minimum mean square error (MMSE) based joint channel estimation approach for TD-CDMA is presented, which allows consideration of the correlation properties of the desired and the undesired user signals in the space and time domains in order to improve the channel estimation and, subsequently, data detection. The achievable system performance improvements are illustrated by simulation results.


Purpose: This work describes a new macro Monte Carlo method for proton beam dose calculation. Originally developed for electron beams, macro Monte Carlo (MMC) is designed to provide better computational efficiency than traditional MC without sacrificing accuracy. Methods: The proton MMC method performs dose calculation using pre‐calculated steps derived from MCNPX simulations. Simulations of mono‐energetic proton pencil beams ranging from 5–200 MeV impinging on homogenous cylinders of varying length, radius and material were carried out using MCNPX. The energy loss, trajectory and exit position of the exiting protons and secondary particles have been determined and used to create a pre‐calculated step database. The database is used to transport protons through an absorbing geometry in a step‐by‐step manner. Energy loss is scored in a 3D dose grid during each step. The creation of secondary particles is tracked as well. For validation purposes, the dose distributions for many monoenergetic proton beams have been calculated using proton MMC and MCNPX for single‐ and multi‐layered phantoms. The resulting central‐axis depth dose curves and dose profiles have been compared. The materials tested include water, bone, fat, soft tissue and lung.Results: The calculated central‐axis depth dose curves agree better than 1% or 1 mm for all pencil beams near the Bragg peak. The lateral dose profiles agree to better than 1% or 1 mm for all pencil beams near the Bragg peak. Away from the Bragg peak, the depth dose curves and lateral profiles agree better than 1% or 1 mm for energies below 100 MeV. Above 100 MeV, disagreement can reach 5%. The computational efficiency of proton MMC is about 100 times greater than for MCNPX.Conclusions: The results from the dose comparisons show that proton MMC is accurate and more efficient than traditional Monte Carlo.


Baseline entomological information should be collected before the implementation of industrial projects in malaria endemic areas. This allows for subsequent monitoring and evaluation of the project impact on malaria vectors. This study aimed at assessing the vectorial system and malaria transmission in two ecologically different villages of the South-Cameroon forest bloc targeted for the creation of an agro-industrial complex. For four consecutive seasons in 2013, adult mosquitoes were captured using Human Landing Catch in NDELLE village (located along a main road in a degraded forest with many fish ponds) and KOMBO village (located 5km far from the main road in a darker forest and crossed by the Mvobo River). Morpho-taxonomic techniques were used alongside molecular techniques for the identification of mosquito species. ELISA test was used for the detection of circumsporozoite protein antigen of Plasmodium falciparum . Mosquito biting rate was higher in NDELLE than in KOMBO (28.18 versus 17.34 bites per person per night). Mosquitoes had a strong tendency to endophagy both in NDELLE (73.57%) and KOMBO (70.21%). Three anophelines species were identified; An. gambiae , An. funestus s.s and An. moucheti s.s.. An. gambiae and An. funestus s.s. represented the bulk of aggressive mosquitoes in NDELLE (n=10,891; 96.62%). An. gambiae was responsible for 62.6% and 77.72% of malaria transmission in KOMBO and NDELLE respectively. Mean entomological inoculation rate recorded in KOMBO and NDELLE were 4.82 and 2.02 infective bites per person per night respectively. Vector control was mainly based on the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying. The degraded forest environment added to the presence of fishponds resulted in the increase of aggressive mosquito density but not of malaria transmission. The managers should use these data for monitoring and evaluation of the impact of their project; malaria control strategies should be included in their project in order to mitigate the risk of increased malaria transmission as a result of the implementation of their projects.


Gluing is an integral part of the majority of production processes in the timber industry. The effectiveness of adhesive application, glue bond development and glue penetration into the wood structure is becoming more and more important as more structural glued timber products are used in construction and other applications. The continued increase in utilisation of mass timber products (MTPs) such as CLT, glulam and LVL in tall timber buildings requires an accurate and in-depth understanding of adhesive roles and their performance effectiveness during the life span of any of those products in relation to the type of loading applied, environmental effects (e.g. RH and temperature) and in-service condition of elements (e.g. exposure to major wet events and degradation from decay). This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of existing imaging and other visualisation methods used to assess the glue line properties and examine the performance of glue lines in relation to factors such as species, product type and environmental conditions during manufacture and in-service life.


Black carbon (BC) is an important pool of the global C cycle, because it cycles much more slowly than others and may even be managed for C sequestration. Using stable isotope techniques, we investigated the fate of BC applied to a savanna Oxisol in Colombia at rates of 0, 11.6, 23.2 and 116.1 t BC ha−1, as well as its effect on non‐BC soil organic C. During the rainy seasons of 2005 and 2006, soil respiration was measured using soda lime traps, particulate and dissolved organic C (POC and DOC) moving by saturated flow was sampled continuously at 0.15 and 0.3 m, and soil was sampled to 2.0 m. Black C was found below the application depth of 0–0.1 m in the 0.15–0.3 m depth interval, with migration rates of 52.4±14.5, 51.8±18.5 and 378.7±196.9 kg C ha−1 yr−1 (±SE) where 11.6, 23.2 and 116.1 t BC ha−1, respectively, had been applied. Over 2 years after application, 2.2% of BC applied at 23.2 t BC ha−1 was lost by respiration, and an even smaller fraction of 1% was mobilized by percolating water. Carbon from BC moved to a greater extent as DOC than POC. The largest flux of BC from the field (20–53% of applied BC) was not accounted for by our measurements and is assumed to have occurred by surface runoff during intense rain events. Black C caused a 189% increase in aboveground biomass production measured 5 months after application (2.4–4.5 t additional dry biomass ha−1 where BC was applied), and this resulted in greater amounts of non‐BC being respired, leached and found in soil for the duration of the experiment. These increases can be quantitatively explained by estimates of greater belowground net primary productivity with BC addition.

http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/publ/GlobalChangeBiol published online, 2009 Major.pdf


We have reviewed a variety of surgical techniques for mastectomy, endocrine gland ablation and the management of pathologic fractures and pleural effusion. With their judicious use for the chronic disease of mammary cancer, many persons can be cured and many others can be given long periods of symptom-free survival. With (1) attention to proper indications and contraindications for surgery, (2) surgical detail and (3) good patient care, very few patients will be made worse.


Background This study evaluates 6 years of prenatal rasopathy testing in the Netherlands, updates on previous data and gives recommendations for prenatal rasopathy testing. Methods 424 fetal samples, sent in for prenatal rasopathy testing in 2011–2016, were collected. Cohort 1 included 231 samples that were sequenced for 1–5 rasopathy genes. Cohort 2 included 193 samples that were analysed with a 14-gene next generation sequencing (NGS) panel. For all mutation-positive samples in both cohorts, the referring physician provided detailed ultrasound findings and postnatal follow-up. For 168 mutation-negative samples in cohort 2, solely clinical information on the requisition form was collected. Results In total, 40 (likely) pathogenic variants were detected (9.4%). All fetuses showed a variable degree of involvement of prenatal findings: increased nuchal translucency (NT)/cystic hygroma, distended jugular lymph sacs (JLS), hydrops fetalis, polyhydramnios, pleural effusion, ascites, cardiac defects and renal anomalies. An increased NT was the most common finding. Eight fetuses showed solely an increased NT/cystic hygroma, which were all larger than 5.5 mm. Ascites and renal anomalies appeared to be poor predictors of pathogenic outcome. Conclusion Fetuses with a rasopathy show in general multiple ultrasound findings. The larger the NT and the longer it persists, the more likely it is to find a pathogenic variant. Rasopathy testing is recommended when the fetus shows an isolated increased NT ≥5.0 mm or when NT of ≥3.5 mm and at least one of the following ultrasound anomalies is present: distended JLS, hydrops fetalis, polyhydramnios, pleural effusion, ascites, cardiac defects and renal anomalies.


Passive magnetic bearings are known due to the excellent characteristics in terms of friction and no requirement of additional energy sources to work. However, passive magnetic bearings do not provide damping, are not stable and, depending on their design, may also introduce magnetic eccentricity. Such magnetic eccentricities are generated by discrepancies in magnet fabrication. In this framework the main focus of the work is the theoretical as well as experimental investigation of the non-linear dynamics of a rotor-bearing system with strong emphasis on the magnetic eccentricities and non-linear stiffness.In this investigation passive magnetic bearings using axially-aligned neodymium cylinder magnets are investigated. The cylinder magnets are axially magnetised for rotor as well as bearings. Compared to bearings with radial magnetisation, the magnetic stiffness of axially-aligned bearings is considerably lower, nevertheless they allow for asymmetric stiffness mounting, and it could be beneficial for rotor stabilization.A theoretical model is proposed to describe the non-linear rotor-bearing dynamics. It takes into account non-linear behaviour of the magnetic forces and their interaction with a multi-body system composed of rigid rotor and flexible foundation. The magnetic eccentricities of the shaft magnets are modelled using the distances (amplitudes) and directions (phase angles) between the shaft axis and the centre of the magnetic fields generated. A perturbation method, i.e. harmonic balancing, is used in order to evaluate the frequency response of the non-linear system.The experimental validation of the model is carried out using a dedicated rotor-bearing system set-up. The test set-up consists of a vertical rigid shaft and disc supported by two passive magnetic bearings using axially-aligned neodymium cylinder magnets. The magnetic bearing housings are flexibly supported, allowing horizontal motions. The housings are connected to each other by means of elastic beams. The shaft is free in one end and coupled to a DC motor on the other by means of a flexible coupling. On the free end a disc is attached where imbalances and gyroscopic effect can be generated.Comparison between theory and experiment shows high level of resemblance, which validates the theoretical model and the explanations for the quasi-static and dynamic responses. The magnetic eccentricities and mass imbalance effects are clearly detected and distinguished.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


T lymphocytes recognize antigen peptides and major histocompatibility complex products through their T-cell antigen receptors (TcR), consisting of a and /3 chains. The interaction between T cells and their target cells or antigen-presenting cells is also assisted by a series of other cell-surface polypeptides, most notably CD4 and CD8, which are selectively expressed on mature helper/inducer and killer/suppressor T cells, respectively. Upon engagement of their ligands, a series of signals is transduced intracytoplasmically via some of these molecules and their associated proteins. Perhaps the most important enzyme in this signal transduction process is the lymphocyte-specific tyrosine kinase Ick. Another important component is the cell-surface tyrosine phosphatase CD45. This molecule is alternatively spliced and the different isoforms are expressed on the various hematopoietic and lymphopoietic cells. Signaling through the TcR-CD4/ CD8-lck-CD45 complex is thought to be insufficient to activate T lymphocytes. A costimulatory signal is believed to be essential, and many investigators have suggested that CD28, a ligand for B7/BB1, is such a signal. Immune responses are also controlled by a number of cytokines and soluble factors. Signaling through the tumor necrosis factor receptor p55 is required for clearance of intracellular pathogens. Transcriptional factors involved in controlling interferon production are also important in T-celI development and immune responses. In an attempt to gain a better understanding of the roles of these molecules in T-lymphocyte functions and ontogeny, we generated a series of mutant mice with disruptions in the genes coding for these molecules. We are analyzing the mutant mice to evaluate the importance of these genes in T-cell development.


Upon inspection of the Table of Contents and upon noting the types of diseases covered, the question arises as to the purpose and the need for a book encompassing the field described in the title. In the Foreword, it is pointed out that viral and rickettsial infections which involve the skin, the eye, and mucous membranes are common and that "some of them are banal and merely troublesome; others may produce exceedingly chronic and disabling destructive effects upon the skin and mucous membranes; and still others produce cutaneous lesions which are incidental but important signs of systemic disease". The underlying thread that ties together the diversity of conditions covered in the book is, therefore, the emphasis on ocular, dermal and mucous membrane manifestations and not on the specialty of the practitioner most likely to see the patient.This unifying theme is suggested in the preface, where it is stated that "there is lacking in the presently available literature on viruses and rickettsiae any complete and detailed consideration of many of those diseases that affect primarily the covering of the body, the skin and conjunctive or the mucosa of the external officers.


A new hidden variable theory is proposed, according to which particles follows definite trajectories, as in Bohmian Mechanics or Nelson's stochastic mechanics; in the new theory, however, the trajectories are classical, i.e. Newtonian. This result is obtained by developing the following concepts: (i) the essential elements of a hidden variable theory are a set of trajectories and a measure defined on it; the Newtonian HCT will be defined by giving these two elements. (ii) The universal wave function has a tree structure, whose branches are generated by the measurement processes and are spatially disjoined. (iii) The branches have a classical structure, i.e. classical paths go along them; this property derives from the fact that the paths close to the classical ones give the main contribution to the Feynman propagator. (iv) Classical trajectories can give rise to quantum phenomena, like for instance the interference phenomena of the two-slit experiment, by violating the so called Independence Assumption, which is always implicitely made in the conceptual analysis of these phenomena.


We consider the problem of secure wireless communication in the presence of an eavesdropper when the transmitter has multiple antennas, using a variation of the recently proposed artificial noise technique. Under this technique, the transmitter sends a pseudo-noise jamming signal to selectively degrade the link to the eavesdropper without affecting the desired receiver. The previous work in the literature focuses on ideal Gaussian signaling for both the desired signal and the noise signal. The main contribution of this paper is to show that the Gaussian signaling model has important limitations and propose an alternative "induced fading" jamming technique that takes some of these limitations into account. Specifically we show that under the Gaussian noise scheme, the eavesdropper is able to recover the desired signal with very low bit error rates when the transmitter is constrained to use constant envelope signaling. Furthermore, we show that an eavesdropper with multiple antennas is able to use simple, blind constant-envelope algorithms to completely remove the Gaussian artificial noise signal and thus defeat the secrecy scheme. We propose an alternative scheme that induces artificial fading in the channel to the eavesdropper, and show that it outperforms the Gaussian noise scheme in the sense of causing higher bit error rates at the eavesdropper and is also more resistant to constant modulus-type algorithms.


The purpose of this thesis is to develop a solution for how an effective lean performance measurement system can be developed and how the system can be supported by business intelligence. The motivation behind this exercise is to meet the constantly increasing competition that manufacturing firms are exposed by answering with more control over theinformation that can be used to control the companies, and a more comprehensive performance management system that can use BI and filter all the relevant information and form a complex picture of where they are in relation to the preset goals and the overall strategy. The literature finds that it is fundamentally important to align these systems with overall strategy, that one should take the whole enterprise into account when defining such a system, that one should have a balanced system that also focuses on the non-financial measurements, and that they should seek to use information that is timely. The findings from best practice in the literature are put together into a framework consisting of eight steps that ultimately will form an effective performance measurement system, the Balanced Lean Decision Support System (BLDSS). The system aims at combining the best from the Balanced Score card with the best of lean. This system will be applied as a supporting system to the ERP system Jeeves Universal. Jeeves currently offers a ready-made BI system that connects directly to Jeeves' database.This BI system has been the case and a thorough analysis of the system's functionality was conducted. There were found large differences between Jeeves BI and recommended practice from the literature in this area, which means that the system has great potential in improvement. The BLDSS was used as a framework to develop a new system that uses and exploits the recommended best practice elements that were found in the literature study. Since an effective PM ideally should incorporate the overarching strategy for each company, Noca AS was used as the system user. Therefore, Noca was analyzed in accordance with the first six steps of the framework BLDSS, which included mapping business structures and processes, determine which areas they wanted to excel in, understand the current performance measurement system, develop performance indicators that include both lean and Balanced Scorecard, determine how data should be collected, and finally, how what the system dashboard should look like. The steps 7 and 8 fall outside the scope of this thesis and were therefore not included.


Cloud computing is achieving increased popularity among both, researchers and practitioners; while security is one of the major issues which reduces its growth and complications with data privacy and data protection continue to plague the market. Stimulated by the promising solutions of Semantic Web (also known as Web 3.0) for addressing the problems of management and monitoring of services shared by different parties (with different semantics and interests), the serviceoriented transformations over cloud-computing processes are today a rapidly growing demand. In this paper we go one step further and propose methodology for increasing cyber security over cloud services by using Semantic Web technology, hierarchical ontology and intelligent reasoning techniques. Keywords—cyber security, cloud computing, semantic technologies, intelligent reasoning


Introduction: The use of r-tPA to treat stroke patient presenting within 4.5 hours of symptoms onset has rapidly expanded with the advent of telestroke. This expansion may further exacerbate the concerns related to treating patients with alternative diagnoses (stroke mimics). Hypothesis: Stroke mimics rate is higher in patient treated through telestroke and is associated with a higher rate of hemorrhagic conversion. Methods: This is a single center cross-sectional analysis of possible stroke patients treated with r-tPA from January 2013 to October 2014 using retrospective panel review of post-tPA negative imaging (MRI and CT) for diagnoses of stroke mimics and provision of alternative diagnoses. The frequency of stroke mimics was compared between patients treated via telestroke and on-site treated patients. Rate of hemorrhagic transformation was compared between stroke mimics and "actual stroke". Results: Overall 66 (23.3%) stroke mimics were identified including 53 (27.2%) in the telestroke group and 13 (14.8%) in the In-house group (P= 0.033). There was a total 34 (12.0%) hemorrhagic transformation in the entire cohort with 2 (3.0%) occurring in stroke mimics and 32 (14.7%) in those with an established diagnosis of acute infarct (p = 0.019). Conclusion: In this single center cohort, the rate of stroke mimics was twice as high in participants treated via telestroke as in on-site treated participants. The rate of hemorrhagic transformation in stroke mimics was lower than in those with stroke.


Abstract Bolometers are a powerful tool for diagnosing plasma radiation in a reactor-relevant environment. Resistive and imaging bolometers have been applied to the Large Helical Device (LHD) to measure radiative phenomena. Installed on LHD are 56 channels of resistive bolometers at four different ports, providing total radiated power measurements and radial profiles with 5-ms temporal resolution. Calibration coefficients are seen to vary slightly year to year. Imaging bolometer foils are installed at four ports. Infrared cameras have been used at some of these ports to provide an image of the foil temperature, which can be analyzed to give an image of the radiated power absorbed by the foil. Upgrades of existing imaging bolometers using platinum foils and more advanced infrared cameras with frame rates of 345 and 420 frames/s (minimum time resolutions of 3 and 2.5 s, respectively) are introduced. Variations of the thermal parameters on thin platinum (2.5-μm) foils are measured in a calibration experiment. The thermal properties of the foil can be quantified experimentally by measuring the responses of the foil temperature in the form of the peak change in temperature and thermal time (average of thermal decay and rise times) to a chopped HeNe laser. These measurements are made in 1-cm increments moving in two dimensions across the foil or at 63 separate locations. The imaging bolometers are intended to give images of complex three-dimensional radiative phenomena and ultimately provide the data for one-, two-, and three-dimensional tomographic inversions.


A new wavelet representation for multimodal images is presented. The idea for this representation is based on the first fundamental that provides a local measure for the contrast of a multimodal image. This concept is extended towards multiscale fundamental forms using the dyadic wavelet transform of Mallat. The multiscale fundamental forms provide a local measure for the contrast of a multimodal image at different scales. The representation allows for a multiscale edge description of multimodal images. Two applications are presented: multispectral image fusion and colour image noise filtering. In an experimental section, the presented techniques are compared to single valued and/or single scale algorithms that were previously described in the literature. The techniques based on the new representation are demonstrated to outperform the others.


Diabetic macular edema (DME), characterized by an increase of thickness in the eye macular area, is due to breakdown of the blood‐retinal barrier (BRB). Hypoxia plays a key role in the progression of this pathology by activating the hypoxia‐inducible factors. In the last years, various studies have put their attention on the role of pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide (PACAP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in retinal dysfunction. However, until now, no study has investigated their protective role against the harmful combined effect of both hyperglycemia and hypoxia on outer BRB. Therefore, in the present study, we have analyzed the role of these peptides on permeability, restoration of tight junctions expression and inhibition of hyperglycemia/hypoxia‐induced apoptosis, in an experimental in vitro model of outer BRB. Our results have demonstrated that the peptides' treatment have restored the integrity of outer BRB induced by cell exposure to hyperglycemia/hypoxia. Their effect is mediated through the activation of phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt and mammalian mitogen activated protein kinase/Erk kinase (MAPK/ERK) signaling pathways. In conclusion, our study further clarifies the mechanism through which PACAP and VIP perform the beneficial effect on retinal damage induced by hyperglycemic/hypoxic insult, responsible of DME progression. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1079–1085, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Statistical learning paradigms traditionally use transitional probabilities as a measure of statistical distribution within a language. The current study suggests that alternative metrics may exist that can account for differences in language processing ability. Two primed lexical decision tasks are used to examine the effects of bigram frequency and diversity on speed and accuracy of word recognition. It is demonstrated that both frequency and diversity contribute to word recognition performance; findings and theoretical implications are discussed.


Researchers have assessed relational aggression (RA) and physical aggression (PA) primarily with teacher ratings and peer nominations. However, limited observational research exists in this area. This study compared three methods for assessing RA and PA: a teacher rating scale, a peer nomination measure, and a direct observation measure. Results supported previous research showing intermethod agreement between peer and teacher ratings of RA for girls and PA for boys. All three methods indicated that boys engaged in PA and RA more often than girls. However, teachers and peers agreed more often about incidences of RA and PA than did observers. Thus, a variety of evaluation tools may be necessary to assess preschoolers' types of aggression. Development of accurate, practical measures will provide educators with better identification, prevention, and intervention strategies for boys and girls.


LALS 1 -- Latino/a Diaspora: The Impact of Latinos Living in the United States (Cuellar); LBCS 15 -- Latin American Workers in the Americas (Figueroa Landeros)


Herbal medicines are being increasingly used for treatment of variety of disorders. Herbal medicines are generally thought to lack severe side effects. Despite of the general belief, herbal medicines are known to cause serious side effects and toxicities. On the other hand, physicians' knowledge of herbal medicines and their potential toxicities are generally limited. Neurotoxicity, cardiac toxicity, pulmonary toxicity, hepatotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity are potential severe complications of herbal medicines. The subject of severe herbal medicine complications is reviewed.


Two analogues of oxytocin, [Thr4,Sar7]- and [Thr4,MeAla7]oxytocin, were synthesized and their pharmacological properties investigated. [Thr4,Sar7]oxytocin was found to exhibit high biological activity (uterotonic activity of 1174 +/- 104 and milk ejection activity of 731 +/- 57 units/mg) and high selectivity for oxytocin-like relative to vasopressin-like activities (antidiuretic activity of 0.037 +/- 0.012 unit/mg, undetectable pressor activity). [Thr4,MeAla7]oxytocin was characterized by markedly lower biological activities. In both analogues, the additivity of the effects of the residues in positions 4 and 7 of oxytocin on the biological activity of the analogues was ascertained.


Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been introduced for increasing the effectiveness of various cancer treatments such as radiation and photodynamic therapy. Instead of toxic chemicals, various natural compounds have been introduced for AuNPs synthesis. Here, gallic acid-coated AuNPs (Ga@AuNPs) with the average diameter of 17.9 ± 10 nm and surface charge of −16.2 ± 3.2 mV have been synthesised through easy and single-step chemical route and were characterised with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The interaction of Ga@AuNPs and methylene blue (MB) photosensitisers was confirmed through various techniques such as FTIR spectroscopy, zeta potential investigation, and UV–vis spectroscopy. Based on our results, methylene blue was adsorbed to the surface of Ga@AuNPs through various amine and thiol functional groups. Upon laser radiation, a release of singlet oxygen species (ROS) from nanoformulation of methylene blue was more gradual than free methylene blue based on the determination of singlet oxygen in the present of 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF) radical scavenger. The Ga@AuNPs nanoparticles were not representing significant toxic effects toward cells. However, the synthesised nanoparticles could increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy or combined treatment of methylene blue mediated photodynamic and radiation therapy in an in-vitro investigation.


Computers have been used for the reconstruction of historical buildings in architecture and archaeology in order to visualise forms that existed before. The goal of this paper is to push further the evolution of an architectural form of a high cultural significance in the history of Islamic architecture; muqarnas.

Muqarnas is a three-dimensional form whose visual function is to provide the gradual transition between two levels, two sizes, and or two shapes. It evolved over a period of eight centuries and, later, was neglected. Nowadays, it is being copied and introduced into the architecture of the Islamic world, but only as a rigid copy and not as a living evolving form. A long research on the computerisation of muqarnas over the last two decades aimed at pushing further the evolution of this form into new possibilities.

The basic theory behind this research revolves around typology. Defining a type requires stating all its perceived qualities, both of fixed values 'characteristics', and of variable values 'attributes'. Creating new forms would be, then, giving new values for the attributes. A true evolution of the form happens when a characteristic is turned into an attribute and given new values. When this theory was applied in muqarnas research at many levels, it produced many new evolutionary steps which will be presented. The theory could be applied in other fields where there is a need for the evolution of traditional forms.


A fast, sensitive, and convenient dual-emission water detector was robustly fabricated. This detector was prepared with blue fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) and red fluorescent Cu nanoclusters (NCs), and showed two well-resolved and intensity-comparable fluorescence peaks under a single excitation wavelength. Moreover, it showed strong red fluorescence in organic solvent due to the aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) properties of the Cu NCs, but the red fluorescence was gradually quenched with an increasing amount of water, whereas the blue fluorescence remained constant. The differences in response result in a continuous fluorescence color change from red to blue that can be clearly observed by the naked eye. Thus, as-prepared Cu NC-based dual-emission nanomaterials can be used for ratiometric fluorescence detection of trace amounts of water in organic solvents by taking advantage of the water sensitivity of their fluorescence intensity ratios (red/blue) and their low detect limits (<0.02% v/v). These studies demonstrate that a novel and sensitive dual-emission ratiometric water detector has been found, which shows promise for application in environmental monitoring, food inspection, and life science.


This study examined the long-term water storage affect of silanization on shear bond strength of composite resin to porcelain. One hundred and sixty square-shaped specimens were fabricated and sanded flat sequentially with silicone carbide papers. The specimens were then placed into four groups and 16 subgroups of 10 specimens each randomly. Four commercially available silane systems, two one-mix and two two-mix, were tested in this study. Teflon tubes with an internal diameter of 2.97 mm and 2 mm in height were filled with a dual cure composite resin (Mirage FLC), placed on the silanated surfaces and light-cured for 120 s. Specimens were stored in room temperature water and subjected to shear bond strength testing after 24 h, 1 week, 1 month and 3 month periods of immersion. An Instron Universal testing machine with a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min was used for the testing. The mean values of the shear bond strengths ranged from 4.38 MPa (24-h period) to 23.90 MPa (3-month period). ANOVA and Scheffe' tests were used to analyse data with confidence level at 95%. All groups recorded an increase in bond strength after one week as compared with the 24-h period (P<0.05). With the exception of a one-mix system, all systems showed significantly higher bond strength at 3 weeks as compared with the 24-h and 1-week water storage periods. In conclusion, bond strength of composite resin to porcelain resulting from silanization of porcelain increased during the experimental period. The bond strength also varied for different silanes used in this study.


This study examines the transmission channels of oil and food price shocks to selected Indonesian macroeconomic variables including Indonesia industrial production index, world interest rate, inflation, domestic interest rate, real effective exchange rate, and Jakarta Composite Index using monthly data over the period 2001M01-2013M08. An empirical analysis is carried out by utilizing structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) framework. Impulse response functions (IRFs) and forecast variance decompositions (FEVDs) are employed to track the impact of oil and food price shock to Indonesian economy. The empirical findings of IRFs suggest that oil price shock negatively affects industrial production, depreciates real effective exchange rate, increases inflation and interest rate, and negatively affects aset price. However, following food price shocks, industrial production increases, depreciates real effective exchange rate, increase stock return. Moreover, inflation and interest rate respond positively following food price shocks. The FEVDs results clearly reveals that the variation in industrial production growth, inflation, interest rate, real effective exchange rate, and aset price due to oil price shock is relatively larger than the food price shocks. This implies that oil price is most important source of disturbances in Indonesian macroeconomy. As a whole, this study recommend that world oil and food price should be considered for policy analysis and forecasting an Indonesian macroeconomy. Key Words : Oil and food price shocks, SVAR, IRFs, FEVDs, Indonesia


: Graphs are ubiquitous as they naturally capture interactions between entities. Recently, graph representation learning has gained significant popularity thanks to its superiority in downstream machine learning (ML) tasks, such as friend recommendation and anomaly detection. Specifically, node representation learning (embedding) aims to find a dense vector of rich latent features per entity for these tasks. However, these representations with fixed dimensions come with computational and storage challenges for large real-world graphs, and the "black-box" nature of the latent features impedes interpretability. Graph summarization aims to describe the original graph with concise and interpretable representation, but it is often lossy and trades off space and performance in ML tasks. In this thesis, we bridge the two lines of research, node embedding and graph summarization by introducing scalable methods for generating summaries of latent or non-latent node features that achieve the state-of-the-art performance on ML tasks while requiring significantly reduced storage and supporting interpretability. Specifically, we introduce latent network summarization that summarizes the graph structural features in static networks as latent node embeddings for storage and query efficiency, and extend this idea to incorporate temporal proximity as the temporal summaries in continuous-time dynamic networks. We also perform an extensive systematic study of temporal summaries and show that they capture the graph structure and temporal dependency at least as well as recently-proposed dynamic embedding approaches, while being less complex and easy-to-understand. Finally, we summarize the non-latent graph features by modeling feature importance as the high-level knowledge that can be used for graph analysis and transfer learning. We demonstrate the effectiveness, scalability, and space efficiency of our methods on industrial applications such as entity linkage and professional role inference.


Relationship between an optical transparency and a filler loading in cross-linked rubber is reviewed using our results of hydrophilic and hydrophobic silica-filled peroxide cross-linked natural rubbers(NRs). The loading of hydrophilic silica shows an optical anomaly, in which the optical transparency initially decreases and then increases with increasing an amount of the loading. The optical transparencies of the hydrophobic silica filled samples, on the other hand, are almost same without depending on the amounts. The difference is ascribed to characteristics of silica networks in these samples, which are revealed by three-dimensional transmission electron microscopy. With an increase of isolated filler chains in the rubber matrix, the optical anomaly of hydrophilic silica-filled cross-linked NR is found to be significantly accelerated. Light scattering equation is also formulated using a product of the number density and squared length of the isolated chains to explain the differences.


Colposcopically directed punch biopsy and endocervical curettage is considered to be a gold standard " in diagnosing premalignant lesions of the uterine cervix. However, in daily routine practice the CIN grade, assessed on the basis of colposcopically directed punch biopsy, sometimes differs from postoperative histopathological evaluation. Such a situation can influence the methods and outcomes of further treatment of women with premalignant lesions of the uterine cervix. Objective: The comparison of histopathological diagnoses of punch biopsies to postoperative findings. Material and methods: The accuracy of punch biopsies findings was evaluated in 104 women treated in the Gynecology Ward ofthe District Hospital in Kielce in the years 1996 - 2000. Women with cytological diagnosis of LGSIL and HGSIL were included to the study. Histopathological findings of colposcopically directed punch biopsies and endocervical curettage were compared to definitive diagnoses of postoperative material obtained by conization or hysterectomy. Results: Discrepancies between the diagnosis of CIN grade, evaluated by colposcopically directed punch biopsies, and postoperative findings were detected in 37 cases (35,5%). Lower grade of CIN evaluated in biopsy was found in 23 cases (22,1%). Discrepancies in this group were found most often when colposcopy was unable to examine the entire lesion and pbsitive endocervical specimen was obtained by curettage. In 12 (11,5%) cases when preoperative diagnosis showed CIN an early invasion was detected in postoperative material. Conclusions: Significant discrepancies were found between pre- and post-operative evaluation of CIN grade. Therefore in each case of LGSIL diagnosed in punch biopsy HGSIL should be ruled out. Expectant management of LGSIL lesions and ablative treatment of CIN should be performed only in centers with highly qualified medical staff experienced in colposcopy and cytology. It seems to be advisable to discriminate a group threatened with fast progression into CIN III or cancer among women with LGSIL (e.g. typing of high risk HPV, aneuploidy).


Vector line art plays an important role in graphic design, however, it is tedious to manually create. We introduce a general framework to produce line drawings from a wide variety of images, by learning a mapping from raster image space to vector image space. Our approach is based on a recurrent neural network that draws the lines one by one. A differentiable rasterization module allows for training with only supervised raster data. We use a dynamic window around a virtual pen while drawing lines, implemented with a proposed aligned cropping and differentiable pasting modules. Furthermore, we develop a stroke regularization loss that encourages the model to use fewer and longer strokes to simplify the resulting vector image. Ablation studies and comparisons with existing methods corroborate the efficiency of our approach which is able to generate visually better results in less computation time, while generalizing better to a diversity of images and applications.


Pretrained Language Models (LMs) generate text with remarkable quality, novelty, and coherence. Yet applying LMs to the problems of paraphrasing and infilling currently requires direct supervision, since these tasks break the left-to-right generation setup of pretrained LMs. We present REFLECTIVE DECODING, a novel unsupervised approach to apply the capabilities of pretrained LMs to non-sequential tasks. Our approach is general and applicable to two distant tasks – paraphrasing and abductive reasoning. It requires no supervision or parallel corpora, only two pretrained language models: forward and backward. REFLECTIVE DECODING operates in two intuitive steps. In the contextualization step, we use LMs to generate many left and right contexts which collectively capture the meaning of the input sentence. Then, in the reflection step we decode in the semantic neighborhood of the input, conditioning on an ensemble of generated contexts with the reverse direction LM. We reflect through the generated contexts, effectively using them as an intermediate meaning representation to generate conditional output. Empirical results demonstrate that REFLECTIVE DECODING outperforms strong unsupervised baselines on both paraphrasing and abductive text infilling, significantly narrowing the gap between unsupervised and supervised methods. REFLECTIVE DECODING introduces the concept of using generated contexts to represent meaning, opening up new possibilities for unsupervised conditional text generation.


Despite recognition that Fe availability is significant in regulating oceanic production in some regions, the biogeochemistry of this trace element is poorly understood. To complement contemporary methods of analytical chemistry, we have used an immunological approach to monitor the Fe nutrition of marine phytoplankton. In prokaryotes and numerous microalgae, the redox catalyst ferredoxin is functionally replaced by flavodoxin during periods of Fe deficiency. In this study, antibodies were raised against ferredoxin purified from a marine diatom, and their utility as a diagnostic indicator was assessed. A species survey demonstrated broad reactivity with both pennate and centric diatoms and additionally with several nondiatom taxa. In batch cultures of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin, in which Fe levels were varied, accumulation of ferredoxin varied with the physiological state of the culture; in unimpaired cells (Fv/Fm≥ 0.65), ferredoxin levels were high, whereas levels dropped markedly in cells experiencing even slight photochemical impairment. Accumulation of flavodoxin varied inversely with that of ferredoxin. An experiment was performed to demonstrate the temporal pattern of accumulation of ferredoxin upon recovery from Fe limitation. Prior to Fe amendment, cells were physiologically impaired (chlorotic, Fv/Fm < 0.3) and contained flavodoxin but no detectable ferredoxin. Following addition of Fe, constraints on photochemistry were relaxed within hours. Coinciding with this, levels of flavodoxin declined, whereas ferredoxin was accumulated to high levels within 8 h.


Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are important events in the lives of patients with COPD. While several definitions exist for AECOPD, exacerbations that result in a hospitalization would nearly always be considered severe. On average, exacerbation rates are approximately 1 to 2 per patient-year with COPD hospitalizations averaging approximately 0.1 to 0.2 per patient-year. Many risk factors, some of which are modifiable, such as patient adherence to therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, and type of medication used, influence the rate of AECOPD. Severe AECOPD that result in hospitalization often lead to several adverse affects, including decreased quality of life, diminished lung function, weakness, reexacerbations/rehospitalization, cardiopulmonary complications, and death. Preventing severe AECOPD and their sequelae is a critical component in treating our patients with COPD.


Backgrounds: The purpose of this study was to investigate clinical relevance of preoperative screening for metal sensitivity (MS), and to assess whether there is any difference in the MS after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) between oxidized zirconium (OxZr) and cobalt-chrome (Co-Cr) implants. Methods: A total of 48 subjects referred for TKA were enrolled the study with no history of metal allergy. After preoperative screening, we prospectively evaluated subjects, who were received either of 2 components, by comparing values of skin patch test, lymphocyte stimulation test (LST), and serum ion sampling. Results: Preoperatively, positive rates to Co, Ni, Cr were 2.1, 6.3, 0 (%, patch test), and were 6.3, 29.2, 16.7 (%, lymphocyte stimulation test (LST)), respectively. Postoperatively, 1 subject (4%) newly tested positive to Va in the Co-Cr group, and positive rates of LST to Co, Ni, and Cr were higher in the Co-Cr group. As the result of serum ion sampling, there was a slight increase of Co and Ni levels in the Co-Cr group. However, none of the subjects has developed cutaneous signs attributable to metal sensitization, and no evidence of the implant loosening was confirmed at the latest examination. Conclusions: The finding of our study suggested that the past history alone was insufficient for identifying subjects with MS, and preoperative screening might be useful for subjects with no history of allergy. However, we could not conclude the benefit of the OxZr implant during short post-operative period.


The Canadian registration in 2007 of Disrupt SBW Micro-Flakes s , a pheromone-based product for control of spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), paved the way for large-scale trials to test the practicality of mating disruption as a commercial pest management strategy. We review results from field and laboratory experiments on pheromone-based mating disruption of spruce budworm conducted from 1974 to 2008. Application of pheromone from the ground or the air consistently reduced the orientation of males toward pheromone sources. Mating disruption also reduced the mating success of caged or tethered females in 15 of 16 field studies where this parameter was recorded, but had only a limited effect on the mating success of feral females. No consistent difference in the density of egg masses in control and treated plots was observed, which has often been attributed to immigration of gravid females into pheromone-treated plots. Laboratory studies suggest that false-trail following is the predominant mechanism underlying mating disruption in spruce budworm. The enhanced mating success of females with increasing population density suggests that mating disruption should target low-density emergent populations during the initial phase of an outbreak. Constraints that may limit the potential of mating disruption as a management tool include (1) difficulties associated with obtaining accurate sampling estimates at low population density to forecast the onset of outbreaks, (2) potential behavioral adaptations by which females enhance their mating success when the atmosphere is treated with pheromone, and (3) long-range dispersal of females by flight.


A $36.5 million renovation of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor included a two-level underground expansion on a very sensitive site and the largest-ever seismic retrofit for a museum. The Legion of Honor, as designed by George Applegarth and constructed in the early 1920s, is a U-shaped, concrete-frame structure with hollow clay-tile infills forming the exterior walls and some interior partitions. The building, which houses an art museum, was constructed to honor Californians who lost their lives in World War I. A 1988 seismic study by GFDS Engineers, San Francisco, warned of extensive structural damage and possible collapse of the structure in a major earthquake. The building's irregular roof line, HCT construction and multiple skylight openings meant that it lacked adequate structural integrity to withstand strong ground shaking.


Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) for measuring bone mineral content of lumbar vertebrae is increasingly used internationally. The effect of using conventional CT (single energy CT, SE-CT) and dual energy CT (DE-CT) on reproducibility has been examined. We defined a standard measurement protocol, which automatically evaluates a calibration phantom. This should ensure an in vivo reproducibility of 1 to 2%. Reference data, which has been obtained with this protocol from 113 normal subjects, using SE-CT and DE-CT, are presented.


A procedure for obtaining IIR Hilbert transformers from generalized halfband filters [5] is described. The solution is shown to be suited for specifications where the "care"-band for the Hilbert transformers is centered at 0.5π. Even when this condition is not satisfied, the proposed Hilbert transformers obtained by overdesign may often be preferable for implementation to those obtained from a general design procedure [6]. Analytic solutions for noncausal Hilbert transformers and 90° phase shifters can be derived from special classes of classical low-pass filters. The design procedure described by Gold et al. [6] is shown to be equivalent to applying a transformation on Hilbert transformers derived from elliptic low-pass filters. Numerical approximation can be used for designing IIR Hilbert transformers with a right-sided impulse response. This gives us a single causal IIR filter (instead of a pair of 90° phase shifters) whose output is the approximate Hilbert transform of the delayed version of the input.


A thermally driven nanotube nanomotor provides linear mass transportation controlled by a temperature gradient. However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear, as the mass transportation velocity in experiment is much lower than that resulting from simulations. Considering that defects are common in fabricated nanotubes, we use molecular dynamics simulations to show that the mass transportation would be considerably impeded by defects. The outer tube of a double-walled carbon nanotube transports along the coaxial inner tube subject to a temperature gradient. While encountering the defects in the inner tube, the outer tube might be bounced back or trapped at some specific sites due to the potential barriers or wells induced by the defects. The stagnation phenomenon provides a probable picture to understand the low transportation velocity at the microscopic level. We also show that a similar stagnation phenomenon holds in mass transportation of a fullerene encapsulated in a defective carbon nanotube. Ou...


Surface discharges along oil-immersed solids used as insulators and supports in high-voltage pulsed-power equipment can lead to catastrophic system failures. To achieve reliable compact pulsed-power systems, it is important to quantify the electrical fields at which surface flashover, or other types of breakdown event, will occur for different dielectric materials. This paper reports the observed behavior of samples of polypropylene, lowdensity polyethylene, ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene, Rexolite, and Torlon, which were subjected to impulse voltages of peak amplitude of 350 kV and a rise time of 1 μs. The cylindrical samples were located between pairs of electrodes immersed in insulating oil. Breakdown events were studied under both nonuniformand uniform-field conditions, with sample lengths being chosen so that the breakdown events occurred on the rising edge of the impulse. Ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene showed the highest average breakdown field, which is 645 kV/cm, in uniform fields, and the corresponding breakdown field was reduced to ~400 kV/cm in the nonuniform fields. Weibull plots of the various sets of results are presented, providing comparative data for system designers for the appropriate choice of dielectric materials to act as insulators for high-voltage pulsed-power machines.


Caveolae and lipid rafts are plasma membrane microdomains that are considered to play a role in cellular signalling. Caveolins and cavins as well as cholesterol are required for the structure and function of caveolae. The papers summarized in this thesis examine the role of caveolae in smooth muscle function. Ca2+-sensitization is a contractile process depending on inhibition of myosin phosphatase activity. Here I test whether protein kinase C and Rho-associated kinase-mediated Ca2+ sensitization depends on caveolae using gene disrupted (KO) mice. While the process of Ca2+ sensitization was unaffected by lack of caveolae in the intestine, α1-adrenergic and protein kinase C-mediated arterial contraction was increased. Arteries lacking caveolae weighed more per unit length, suggesting growth of the arterial wall. I go on to demonstrate that small resistance arteries from KO mice are remodelled, and that these and other changes counterbalance an excessive NO production to normalize blood pressure in caveolin-1 deficient mice. NO production is required for initiating and maintaining penile erection. Surprisingly, nerve-induced relaxation and relaxation in response carbachol and sodium nitroprusside was impaired in caveolae-deficient corpus cavernosum. In the last two papers, I examine the role of caveolae in detrusor function. Disruption of caveolae using desorption of cholesterol was first shown to impair contraction of human bladder strips in response to muscarinic receptor activation. I then demonstrate that the membrane density of caveolae increases after bladder outlet obstruction in the rat. The latter effect was due to crowding of the same relative number of caveolin molecules on a smaller relative membrane area. In conclusion, a considerable body of evidence has been gathered that demonstrate an important and pleiotropic physiological and pathophysiological role of caveolae in smooth muscle (Less)


The performance of an automated face recognition system can be significantly influenced by face image quality. Designing effective image quality index is necessary in order to provide real-time feedback for reducing the number of poor quality face images acquired during enrollment and authentication, thereby improving matching performance. In this study, the authors first evaluate techniques that can measure image quality factors such as contrast, brightness, sharpness, focus and illumination in the context of face recognition. Second, they determine whether using a combination of techniques for measuring each quality factor is more beneficial, in terms of face recognition performance, than using a single independent technique. Third, they propose a new face image quality index (FQI) that combines multiple quality measures, and classifies a face image based on this index. In the author's studies, they evaluate the benefit of using FQI as an alternative index to independent measures. Finally, they conduct statistical significance Z-tests that demonstrate the advantages of the proposed FQI in face recognition applications.


We introduce a new collection of spoken English audio suitable for training speech recognition systems under limited or no supervision. It is derived from open-source audio books from the LibriVox project. It contains over 60K hours of audio, which is, to our knowledge, the largest freely-available corpus of speech. The audio has been segmented using voice activity detection and is tagged with SNR, speaker ID and genre descriptions. Additionally, we provide baseline systems and evaluation metrics working under three settings: (1) the zero resource/unsupervised setting (ABX), (2) the semi- supervised setting (PER, CER) and (3) the distant supervision setting (WER). Settings (2) and (3) use limited textual resources (10 minutes to 10 hours) aligned with the speech. Setting (3) uses large amounts of unaligned text. They are evaluated on the standard LibriSpeech dev and test sets for comparison with the supervised state-of-the-art.


Automated design of analog and radio-frequency circuits using supervised or reinforcement learning from simulation data has recently been studied as an alternative to manual expert design. It is straightforward for a design agent to learn an inverse function from desired performance metrics to circuit parameters. However, it is more common for a user to have threshold performance criteria rather than an exact target vector of feasible performance measures. In this work, we propose a method for generating from simulation data a dataset on which a system can be trained via supervised learning to design circuits to meet threshold specifications. We moreover perform the to-date most extensive evaluation of automated analog circuit design, including experimenting in a significantly more diverse set of circuits than in prior work, covering linear, nonlinear, and autonomous circuit configurations, and show that our method consistently reaches success rate better than 90% at 5% error margin, while also improving data efficiency by upward of an order of magnitude. A demo of this system is available at circuits.streamlit.app


Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes perform very close to capacity for long lengths on several channels. However, the amount of memory (fixed-point numbers that need to be stored) required for implementing the message-passing algorithm increases linearly as the number of edges in the graph increases. In this letter, we propose a decoding algorithm for decoding LDPC codes that reduces the memory requirement at the decoder. The proposed decoding algorithm can be analyzed using density evolution; further, we show how to design good LDPC codes using this. Results show that this algorithm provides almost the same performance as the conventional sum-product decoding of LDPC codes.


The current study assessed the role of differential offense category involvement in the link between cognitive ability and arrest. Using structural equation modeling, the current study relied on data from the Pathways (n = 1,354) and Add Health (n = 3,605) to address three research questions on the differential etiology of offending category (aggressive and property), the mediating effects of disaggregated offending on the relationship between IQ and arrest, and how those effects vary across samples. The results suggested the negative association between IQ and arrest masked more complex processes encompassing opposing indirect paths through aggressive (negative) and property (positive) offending, suggesting inconsistent mediation. As a result, the total indirect effect of IQ on arrest through offending was suppressed when an aggregated offending measure was used, highlighting the value of disaggregating offending categories.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between cigarette smoking and the incidence of nuclear and non-nuclear lens opacities in members of the Framingham Eye Study Cohort.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS
Eye examinations were conducted on surviving members of the Framingham Heart Study Cohort from 1973 to 1975 (Framingham Eye Study I) and again from 1986 to 1989 (Framingham Eye Study II). Smoking data, collected biennially since 1948 in the Heart Study, were used to examine the relationship between cigarette smoking and the incidence of lens opacities. Two thousand six hundred seventy-five persons were examined in the Framingham Eye Study I. Our analysis included 660 persons, aged 52 to 80 years, who were free of lens opacities at the first eye examination.

RESULTS
During the approximately 12.5 years between eye examinations, lens opacities developed in a total of 381 persons, with nuclear opacities constituting the most frequent type. In logistic regression analyses that controlled for age, sex, education, and diabetes, a significant positive association with increasing duration of smoking and number of cigarettes smoked daily was found for nuclear lens opacities, alone or in combination (test for trend, P < or = .002), but not for nonnuclear opacities (test for trend, P = .62). Among the heavier smokers (persons who smoked > or = 20 cigarettes per day according to 6 or more biennial Framingham Heart Study examinations), 77% were still smoking at the time of the first eye examination. Persons who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day at the time of the first eye examination were at substantially increased risk for the development of nuclear opacities than nonsmokers (odds ratio, 2.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.46-5.51). There was no apparent excess risk for persons with nonnuclear lens opacities (odds ratio, 1.42; 95% confidence interval, 0.65-3.07).

CONCLUSION
This study provides further evidence that cigarette smokers have an increased risk of developing nuclear lens opacities. The risk was greatest for heavier smokers, who tended to be current smokers and who smoked more cigarettes and for a longer duration.


Given that alcohol moieties are present in a great diversity of valuable fine chemicals from nature and synthesis, methods enabling their structure diversification are highly sought after. Catalysis proved to enable the development of new transformations that are beyond the inherent reactivity of alcohols. However, modifying the structure of alcohols at certain unbiased positions remains a major challenge or requires tedious multistep procedures. Recently, increased attention has been given to multicatalyis, which combines multiple reactions and catalysts within one system, creating room for discovering previously inaccessible reactivities or increasing the overall efficiency of multistep transformations. This feature article focuses on demonstrating various aspects of devising such multicatalytic systems that modify the structure of alcohol-containing compounds. Special attention is given to highlighting the challenges and advantages of multicatalysis, and in a broader context discussing how the field of catalysis may progress toward more complex systems.


This paper reports on the initial idea of a core conceptual model for the Golden Agents Project, which aims to integrate several het- erogeneous datasets about cultural heritage of the Dutch Golden Age. We hypothesize that the combination of event and storytelling modeling would provide us a common infrastructure to represent and retrieve some core information regardless to its specific nature: painting, book, notary act or theatre performance. The proposed model was developed based on (i) several discussions conducted with humanities experts and (ii) foundational ontology for ground- ing the modeling decisions. It is assessed through a case study about Vermeer, the painting 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' and a novel written about the production of the painting. We conclude that the model satisfactorily addresses the case study, and we discuss some next steps to further assess and extend the model, as well as implementing and testing it in practice.


Over the last 20 years there has been a dramatic technical development of machines and software in the production of knitted fashion garments. This development has made it possible to rationalise design and production of knitted garments so that today it is possible to make a knitted garment, almost ready made, directly in the knitting machine, with a minimum of processes, such as cutting and sewing. The objective of this paper is to explain and give examples of how this new knitting production technology could be implemented in a fast fashion logistic system. The method for this paper is an inductive approach based on a literature survey. The new technical achievements have not meant the great breakthrough that was expected. Why? Many companies moved their production to development countries where the costs ofproduction, mainly labour costs are lower than in western countries. Another reason is that it is not enough to invest in new machinery and then use the machines in the same production system as before. To gain the benefits of this technique the production processes in the company have to be changed and adapted to these new conditions. The lack of knowledge in supply chain design and a one-sided perspective on production costs, instead of a customer orientated one, is one explanation. This, in a business (fashion) where the demand is changing dayby-day and the short time to market is vital to a company's ability to be competitive. This article describes the integral and complete garment knitting techniques and the advantages that they open up, both from a logistics and a technical point of view. An integral knitted whole garment technology, implemented and adjusted to the production and business system in a company, can reduce lead times dramatically and respond quickly to the rapidly changing fashion market.


The purpose of this paper is to explore the strategic role of Corporate Sustainability(CS) and the stakeholder"s value in the emerging markets (EM). This study investigates how a strong stakeholder reputation is widely acknowledged to be the most valuable asset of a firm (Peloza, et al, 2012) and why sustainability has become an important component of corporate reputation. This research was conducted using quality content analysis procedure of the surveys, interviews, and case studies. This study examined three main questions: (1) howCS satisfies the needs of both the direct and (Faupel and Schwach, 2010) indirect stakeholders, (2) how achieving consistency in corporate identityand reputation (Vallaster et al, 2012) strengthens Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and (3) what are the strategic managerial and profit implications of these findings for the corporations and researchers. This paper concludes that holistic integration of CS maximizes stakeholder value (MSV) in the EM.


The Mov 34 mutation is a recessive embryonic lethal mutation caused by retroviral integration in the murine germline. This integration disrupts a transcription unit that appears to encode a novel protein. The Mov 34 proviral integration is located on mouse chromosome 8 and the human homolog of this gene has been mapped to chromosome region 16q23-q24. An evolutionarily conserved syntenic relationship exists between this region of human chromosome 16 and a region of mouse chromosome 8 that also contains oligosyndactyly (Os), another recessive lethal mutation. Genetic studies have ruled out Os as residing at the same locus as the Mov 34 integration. The Mov 34 transcript is conserved in evolution, and a Drosophila homolog appears to encode a protein with 62% amino acid identity to the murine protein. In situ hybridization to Drosophila polytene chromosomes localizes the Drosophila homolog to 60B,C on chromosome 2. Several Drosophila lethal mutations also map to this region.


Evaluation of health research output can have important implications for departments, institutes and individual careers. Typically, a peer review of the scientific quality of the output is central in this evaluation, increasingly with a bibliometric analysis at its core. Such an analysis is based on counting publications and citations from journals included in the (Social) Science Citation Index. Although the methodology is still far from perfect, there seems to be consensus on how to evaluate the scientific quality. This is in contrast to the evaluation of the social relevance of health research output, as there is no agreement on its importance, the dimensions involved, or the relevant methods of assessment. There is a need for the assessment of the social impact of applied health research, next to its scientific quality. As an initial rough approximation, counting publications in national professional journals may provide a suitable indicator of the social relevance of the research output.


Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) is a positive sense RNA virus that is a pathogen of fowl. Pathogenicity of IBV has classically been attributed to the spike glycoprotein. However, recent evidence in literature indicates that the polymerase genes play a role in pathogenicity. In this study the full-length genome of three homologous pathogenic parent and attenuated progeny strains of IBV were sequenced and examined. Comparative genomics were conducted on IBV strains: Ark-DPI pathogenic, Ark-DPI attenuated, GA98 pathogenic, GA98 attenuated, Mass41 pathogenic, and Mass41 attenuated. Within strains, differences between pathogenic and attenuated viruses were observed. Although the role these mutations play in pathogenicity must be examined, if they are verified they could be used to significantly improve IBV vaccine development.


A Mobile Ad hoc NETwork (MANET) is a network that does not require any presence of infrastructure. Mobile nodes can move at any time and cannot predict beforehand. Each node acts as a router to communicate with other nodes in the network. The movement of nodes is a big challenge for routing. Another challenge is interference. Interference in the network is one of the most important problems to study. Some interference-aware multi-path protocols were proposed to minimize the impact of interference. However, these protocols are not highly efficient or have a very high computational complexity (NP-hard). In this paper, we propose 1) a definition of interference, 2) a formula of interference and 3) develop a novel Linkdisjoint Interference-Aware Multipath protocol (LIA-MPOLSR) for mobile ad hoc networks. LIA-MPOLSR finds paths only in polynomial time. From our simulation results, we show that LIA-MPOLSR significantly improves performance in terms of packet delivery fraction, end-to-end delay, routing overhead and normalized routing load compared to the prominent protocol Ad hoc On-demand Multipath Distance Vector (AOMDV).


For an animated human face model to appear natural it should produce eye movements consistent with human ocular behavior. During face-to-face conversational interactions, eyes exhibit conversational turn-taking and agent thought processes through gaze direction, saccades, and scan patterns. We have implemented an eye movement model based on empirical models of saccades and statistical models of eye-tracking data. Face animations using stationary eyes, eyes with random saccades only, and eyes with statistically derived saccades are compared, to evaluate whether they appear natural and effective while communicating.


In this paper a methodology for performing electrothermal analyses on integrated circuits is introduced. Using the relaxation method, standard electrical and thermal simulators, which are often used in the design process, are coupled through an efficient interface program. The simulator is capable of performing steady-state and transient analysis at device and chip levels. A variable-time-step technique has been implemented to reduce the computational time for a given set of computational resources. The simulator has been validated on different structures such as the bipolar junction transistor to predict the temperature distribution and the device performance in an amplifier circuit and an integrated current-mirror circuit. The simulation results are compared to experimental results to verify the performance of the electrothermal simulator and the accuracy of the thermal model. Simulation results demonstrate that the approach is suitable to model the thermal effects of integrated circuits in a more time-efficient, accurate and user-friendly fashion.


Context: Surface replacement of the hip is aimed especially at active patients, and it seems to achieve optimal functional results in a short time if associated with a tailored rehabilitation protocol. Objective: To assess the functional outcome in a group of active patients after hip resurfacing. Design: Clinical measurement and controlled laboratory study in a case series. Setting: Gait-analysis laboratory. Participants: 8 patients and a control group of 10 subjects. Interventions: Patients treated with Birmingham hip-resurfacing system and a tailored rehabilitation protocol Main Outcome Measures: Clinical assessment (Harris Hip Score [HHS]) and instrumented gait analysis including muscular electromyographic assessment. Patients were assessed preoperatively and at 3 and 9 mo follow-up after surgery. Results: HHS showed a significant increase from the baseline to 3(P = .008) and 9-month (P = .014) follow-up; 5 patients returned to sport. Gait pattern in the presented case series of patients improved substantially 3 mo postoperatively, and minimal further changes were present 9 months postoperatively. Residual abnormalities of time–distance and hip-kinematics parameters were consistent with a slow gait. A complete restoration of the muscle-activation pattern during gait was achieved. Conclusion: Hip resurfacing associated with a rehabilitation protocol based on the characteristics of the implant provides excellent clinical and functional outcome, especially for very active patients.


Use this guide to conduct research related to countries of the world and international travel. If you are connecting from off campus, you need to go through Blackboard to be able to access subscription resources on this guide.


Constrained Devices as they are used in the "Internet of Things" need
security. One important element of this security is that devices in
the Internet of Things need to be able to decide which operations
requested of them should be considered authorized, need to ascertain
that the authorization to request the operation does apply to the
actual requester, and need to ascertain that other devices they place
requests on are the ones they intended. On the ACE mailing list, an
activity to create specifications for such authenticated authorization
for constrained devices is contemplated, leading to protocol proposals
such as [I-D.ietf-ace-dtls-authorize] or [I-D.seitz-ace-oscoap-
profile]. One potential work item complementing this protocol work is
an Authorization Information Format (AIF). This document provides a
strawman for such a format that should enable further discussion of
the objectives for its development.


As the complexity of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) increases, it becomes increasingly challenging to ensure CPS reliability, especially in the presence of software and/or physical failures. The Simplex architecture is shown to be an efficient tool to address software failures in such systems. When physical failures exist, however, Simplex may not function correctly because physical failures could change system dynamics and the original Simplex design may not work for the new faulty system. To address concurrent software and physical failures, this article presents the RSimplex architecture, which integrates Robust Fault-Tolerant Control (RFTC) techniques into the Simplex architecture. It includes the uncertainty monitor, the High-Performance Controller (HPC), the Robust High-Assurance Controller (RHAC), and the decision logic that triggers the switch of the controllers. Based on the output of the uncertainty monitor, we introduce a monitor-based switching rule in the decision logic in addition to the traditional envelope-based rule. The RHAC is designed based on RFTCs. We show that RSimplex can efficiently handle a class of software and physical failures.


In this paper, we explore the slot tagging with only a few labeled support sentences (a.k.a. few-shot). Few-shot slot tagging faces a unique challenge compared to the other fewshot classification problems as it calls for modeling the dependencies between labels. But it is hard to apply previously learned label dependencies to an unseen domain, due to the discrepancy of label sets. To tackle this, we introduce a collapsed dependency transfer mechanism into the conditional random field (CRF) to transfer abstract label dependency patterns as transition scores. In the few-shot setting, the emission score of CRF can be calculated as a word's similarity to the representation of each label. To calculate such similarity, we propose a Label-enhanced Task-Adaptive Projection Network (L-TapNet) based on the state-of-the-art few-shot classification model – TapNet, by leveraging label name semantics in representing labels. Experimental results show that our model significantly outperforms the strongest few-shot learning baseline by 14.64 F1 scores in the one-shot setting.


A very important aspect in the design of RF-MEMS switches, is to obtain low switching time. The switching time not only depends on the device geometric parameters but also on the operating conditions. This paper presents the squeeze film damping effect on the dynamic response of the RF-MEMS switches. The squeeze film damping effect, with and without perforations, on the switching time is analyzed using finite element method (FEM) simulations. The effect of temperature and humidity on the squeeze film damping and switching time is also investigated.


Control of corner separation in axial compressor blade rows has attracted much interest due to its potential to improve compressor efficiency and the energy utilization in turbomachinery. This paper investigates the effectiveness and mechanisms of boundary layer suction in controlling the corner separation of a highly loaded axial compressor cascade. Numerical simulations have been carried out to investigate the effect of different suction schemes on the loss downstream of the cascade and the change in incidence characteristics with the variation of the suction flowrate. The results show that the effectiveness of flow suction in controlling the flow separation depends heavily on the proportion of the blade for which it is applied. It was found that suction along part of the blade span on the suction surface could effectively remove the separation at the region of the span influenced by the suction slot. However, this resulted in a deterioration of the flow field at other parts of the span. The full-span suction scheme on the suction surface not only eliminated the separation of the boundary layer in the middle of the blade but also significantly improved the flow uniformity near the end-wall. Despite the improvement in flow uniformity using the full-span suction scheme, a three-dimensional (3D) corner separation still existed due to the strong cross-passage pressure gradient. To improve the flow field uniformity further, two combined suction schemes with one spanwise slot on the suction surface and another slot on the end-wall were designed in order to fully remove both the separated flow on the blade suction surface and the 3D corner separation. It was found that the total pressure loss coefficient was reduced significantly by 63.8% with suction flowrates of 1.88% and 0.82% for the slots on the suction surface and the end-wall, respectively. Further work showed that the behavior of the loss coefficient is different as the combination of suction flowrates is changed for different incidence. The cascade loss at high incidence operation can be more effectively reduced with suction control on the end-wall. When implementing combined suction, it is necessary to determine the best combination of suction flowrate according to the incidence level.


Organization development (OD) has traditionally devoted much attention to organizational change. Recently, however, questions have emerged concerning OD's relevance to solve issues of stagnation in change processes. In this article, it is argued that traditional OD's basic assumptions about people, organization and change may cause a certain myopia with regard to problems that result from patterns of action that people have constructed in their mutual interactions and that may lead to stagnation or deadlock. The goal of this article is to study how a sensemaking approach might help OD practitioners to better understand the phenomena with which they are confronted in organizational change and enrich OD interventions by a more explicit focus on actors' habituated patterns of sensemaking and action. This article describes such a pattern in a police organization, its implications for the change process and lessons for OD assumptions, theory, and interventions.


TWO animal experiments have indicated that relatively large doses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) can produce changes in central nervous system (CNS) function which persist for periods of time considerably longer than are usually estimated as necessary for drug detoxication. Adey 1 reports cats given a single dose of LSD in amounts of 80µg/kg showed disruption of conditioned responses and accompanying electroencephalographic (EEG) changes which persisted for 20 days. Sharpe et al 2 found that two of four squirrel monkeys given daily doses of from 10 to 40µg/kg required four to six months after discontinuing the drug to regain the predrug level of proficiency for difficult visual size discrimination tasks. Otis replicated this experiment using a larger sample and doses of frim 10 to 100µg/kg. He found similar impairment of both easy and difficult discrimination lasting for several weeks (L.S. Otis, written communication, March 7, 1969). Single