In recent years, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)systems appear to be very promising since they can provide highdata rates in environments with sucient scattering byexploiting the spatial domain. To design a real MIMO wirelesssystem and predict its performance under certain circumstances,it is necessary to have accurate MIMO wireless channel modelsfor dierent scenarios. This thesis presents dierent models forindoor MIMO radio propagation channels based on 5.2 GHz indoorMIMO channel measurements.The recent research on MIMO radio channel modeling isbriey reviewed in this thesis. The models are categorized intonon-physical and physical models. The non-physical modelsprimarily rely on the statistical characteristics of MIMOchannels obtained from the measured data while the physicalmodels describe the MIMO channel (or its distribution) via somephysical parameters. The relationships between dierent modelsare also discussed.For the narrowband case, a non line-of-sight (NLOS)indoor MIMO channel model is presented. The model is based on aKronecker structure of the channel covariance matrix and thefact that the channel is complex Gaussian. It is extended tothe line-of-sight (LOS) scenario by estimating and modeling thedominant component separately.As for the wideband case, two NLOS MIMO channel modelsare proposed. The rst model uses the power delay prole and theKronecker structure of the second order moments of each channeltap to model the wideband MIMO channel while the second modelcombines a simple single-input single-output (SISO) model withthe same Kronecker structure of the second order moments.Monte-Carlo simulations are used to generate indoor MIMOchannel realizations according to the above models. The resultsare compared with the measured data and good agreement has beenobserved.


In nineteenth-century travelogues, representations of nature as feminine commonly serve to underscore constructions of masculinity as dominant, controlled and rational. Feminine language is more readily utilised to describe southern than northern spaces, however. Thus, southern landscapes are quite often seen as picturesque and coded as feminine, whereas northern landscapes are frequently described as awe-inspiring and sublime and given masculine properties. To some extent, the American travel writer Bayard Taylor's Northern Travel: Summer and Winter Pictures of Sweden, Lapland and Norway (1858) conforms to a model which genders the land feminine and the traveller masculine. But a factor that seems to influence how a region is discursively gendered is to what degree the writer is presented as separated from or integrated with the environment. To some extent, Taylor's representation of the North as a physically demanding region where the traveller is vulnerable works to undermine the conventionally masculine position of much nineteenth-century travel writing. As a result, the narrative vacillates between reinforcing and undermining essentialist gender polarities, highlighting the problem of gendering physical space.


Abstract
 The war on terror is commonly characterized as a fundamentally different kind of war from more traditional armed conflict. Furthermore, it has been argued that, in this new kind of war, different rules, both moral and legal, must apply. In the first part of this paper, three practices endemic to the war on terror – torture, assassination, and enemy combatancy status – are identified as exceptions to traditional norms. The second part of the paper uses these examples to motivate a generalized account of exceptionalism; a taxonomy of different exceptionalisms is derived, including temporal, spatial, and group-based exceptionalisms. The third part of the paper considers the ethical status of exceptionalism, paying particular attention to the group-based exceptionalisms that are argued to be prevalent in the war on terror. It is concluded that there is nothing inherently wrong with group-based exceptionalism and, furthermore, that the proper locus of ethical evaluation lies not with the norms that are being excepted, but rather with the groups that are being excepted from them.


Out of 64 consecutive unselected patients with acute myeloid leukaemia studied during 1973-6, five developed clinical evidence of spread to the central nervous system (CNS). Neuroradiological examination showed cerebral deposits in three, in whom rapid symptomatic relief was obtained with radiotherapy. In two of these patients who developed solid intracranial deposits haematological remission could be reinduced or maintained; they were still alive 86 and 134 weeks later. When patients presented with spread to the CNS complicating generalised uncontrolled leukaemia they had short survivals. CNS infiltration may respond dramatically to appropriate treatment provided that it is not associated with generalised uncontrolled leukaemia, which has a poor prognosis. In view of this, routine "prophylaxis" of the CNS in adult acute myeloid leukaemia does not seem justified at present.


Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) can induce apoptosis in a wide variety of transformed human cellsin vitro. In this study, the antitumor activity of recombinant TRAIL was analyzed in mice bearing human colon carcinoma tumors. We found that these tumors displayed a differential sensitivity to TRAIL in vivo that paralleled their susceptibility to TRAIL-induced apoptosis in vitro. Treatment of TRAILsensitive tumors 3 days after tumor challenge resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of growth and the elimination of tumors in many mice. Colon carcinoma cell lines could be further sensitized to TRAIL-induced apoptosisin vitro by the addition of the chemotherapeutic agent camptothecin. Moreover, the combination of TRAIL and CPT-11, a water-soluble analogue of camptothecin, greatly enhanced the antitumor activity of TRAIL in vivo. TRAIL plus CPT-11 treatment of both 3and 10-day established TRAIL-sensitive tumors resulted in both a significant inhibition of tumor growth and a high proportion of complete tumor regressions. Treatment of TRAIL-resistant tumors with TRAIL and CPT-11 dramatically slowed tumor growth and induced a transient tumor regression. These data demonstrate that TRAIL alone is a potent antitumor agent in vivo, and its activity can be significantly enhanced in combination with the chemotherapeutic agent CPT-11.


Essential oils and aromatic extracts (oleoresins, absolutes, concretes, resinoids) are often used as food flavorings and constituents of fragrance compositions. The flavor and fragrance industry observes significant growth in sales of some natural materials during the COVID-19 outbreak. Some companies worldwide are making false claims regarding their essential oils or blends to be effective (or indirectly points towards this conclusion) against coronaviruses even though the available data on the activity of plant materials against highly pathogenic human coronaviruses is very scarce. Our exploratory study aimed to develop pioneering knowledge, and provide the first experimental results on the inhibitory properties of hundreds of flavor & fragrance materials against SARS-CoV-2 main- and papain-like proteases. As essential oils are volatile products, they could provide an interesting subsidiary inhalation therapeutic strategy in the long term.


ABSTRACT Coffea rizetiana Stoff. & M.Noirot, sp. nov., a diploid species only known from a single wild population in South-West Cameroon, is formally described here. It is probably extinct in the wild, but is present in the germplasm collection in Bassin Martin (Réunion, France) and Meise Botanic Garden (Belgium). Phylogenetic analyses reveal a close relationship with C. montekupensis Stoff., a species endemic to the same region but occurring at higher elevations, and with C. liberica Bull. ex Hiern, a species with a wide Central and West African distribution. The new species can be distinguished from other Coffea species from Central Africa by its large black fleshy fruits with thick mesocarp. It can be differentiated from its close relative C. montekupensis by its larger less obovate leaves, longer corolla tube and larger fruits; and from C. liberica by its shorter petiole, acuminate leaf tip, cuneate leaf base, thinner leaf blade, shorter corolla tube, longer corolla lobes and black fruits with a thick fleshy pericarp. The evolutionary importance of the fruit colour is discussed, as well as the role of Mount Kupe, the Bakossi Mountains and the broader South-West Cameroon region as the principal Coffea diversity hotspot on the African continent.


We examined the factors related to predicting cyberbullying behavior in adolescents, specifically demographics and the use of information and communication technologies. The study participants were 417 adolescents attending high school in Kir s ehir, Turkey. We used an individual information form and a cyberbullying scale to collect information and found that 149 (35.7%) of the adolescents had cyberbullied others at least once. Hierarchical regression analysis showed in Step 1 that age, gender, grade, father's age, and family income were significant factors predictive of cyberbullying, and in Step 2 that owning a computer rather than just having access to one in a public library or Internet cafe, parental control of use of the Internet, and previously being bullied on the Internet were significant predictive factors. Based on these findings, we propose that effective strategies for the prevention of cyberbullying are parental supervision of adolescent use of information and communication technologies, education for parents and teachers, and offering information technology communication (media) literacy courses in schools.


Some of the visual world is relevant to our goals and needs. Much more is not. A problem we face frequently in day-to-day living is that we are distracted by what is not relevant to our goals at the cost of attention towards what is. Emotional stimuli in particular have been shown to be very effective distractors, out-competing task-relevant stimuli for our attentional resources (Carretié, 2014; Pessoa, 2005; Pourtois et al., 2013).  How often emotional distractors occur can alter our ability to ignore them and remain task focussed (Grimshaw et al., 2018; Schmidts et al., 2020). The Dual Mechanisms of Control framework (Braver et al., 2007; Braver, 2012) suggests that, because we can expect upcoming distractors when they occur frequently, we can effectively avoid distraction through proactive control; the use of effortful preparatory cognitive control strategies.  That said, when distractors are frequent, we also become more experienced with them, and resolving the attentional conflict they create. The present investigation spanned two experiments assessing whether expectation of upcoming distractors would elicit proactive control while holding the experience of previous distractors constant. In Experiment 1 participants performed a simple perceptual task at fixation while neutral or negative task irrelevant images appeared peripherally on 25% of trials, either predictably in sequence (every fourth trial) or randomly. Expectation of distraction did not improve participants' ability to avoid emotional distraction. A paradoxical expectation effect was also found wherein distraction was increased rather than decreased when distractors occurred predictably.  In Experiment 2 distractors appeared either predictably (every fourth trial), on a random 25% of trials, or on a random 75% of trials. However, neutral and emotional images were now presented at fixation with the perceptual task presented above and below. Greater distractor frequency led to lower distraction and expectation of upcoming distractors again did not improve control, although a paradoxical increase in distraction was not replicated.  Findings indicate that expectation of upcoming distractors alone is not sufficient to drive individuals to implement proactive control. Rather, distractor frequency is suggested to drive proactive control through implicit changes in top-down control settings based on experience. While the processes behind experience-driven proactive control are unclear, conflict adaptation and selection history are discussed as possible mechanisms of experience driven proactive control. Critically, present findings also indicate that emotional stimuli may present a unique challenge to our ability to control our attention.


LMI-based adaptive fuzzy integral sliding mode control of mismatched uncertain systems Integral sliding mode design is considered for a class of uncertain systems in the presence of mismatched uncertainties in both state and input matrices, as well as norm-bounded nonlinearities and external disturbances. A sufficient condition for the robust stability of the sliding manifold is derived by means of linear matrix inequalities. The initial existence of the sliding mode is guaranteed by the proposed control law. The improvement of the proposed control scheme performances, such as chattering elimination and estimation of norm bounds of uncertainties, is then considered with the application of an adaptive fuzzy integral sliding mode control law. The validity and efficiency of the proposed approaches are investigated through a sixth order uncertain mechanical system.


SYNOPSIS Prior literature has firmly established the relationship between IT capability and firm performance. In this paper, we extend the research in this field and investigate (1) whether IT capability contributes to management forecast accuracy, and (2) whether IT capability improves the informativeness of management forecasts and enhances the extent to which analysts incorporate management forecasts in their revisions. Using firms listed on InformationWeek 500 as our high IT capability group, we empirically demonstrate that firms with high IT capability are able to increase management forecast accuracy, and that analysts incorporate more information from management forecasts in their revisions if the firm has high IT capability.


This paper is about "DATA ANALYTICS TO MONITOR STUDENTS PERFORMANCE – A COMPARATIVE STUDY" describes from retail marketing to cloud computing, from improved patient outcomes to enhanced teaching learning processes, Big Data has a major role to play in every sector. Imagine a world, where teachers can not only analyze students, answer given in exam sheets to discover their learning abilities but also understand why do some of their students are not able to grasp the concepts clearly and why do they give wrong answers. Imagine a world in which the lecturer can analyze how their students use the information given in textbooks or through Internet. A pattern of wrong answers is no longer just a bad grade; teachers can get clues to why students picked the wrong answer. Our paper is similar to above concept where we use academic results of students from each department analyze their data and display the results based on the top ratings and also produce the feedback. We also show students achievements and their progress throughout the year, give them feedback and ratings based on their progress, so that it will help them to improve their progress based on our ratings and results.


Masking by lookup table randomisation is a well-known technique used to achieve side-channel attack resistance for software implementations, particularly, against DPA attacks. The randomised table technique for first- and second-order security requires about m•2n bits of RAM to store an (n,m)-bit masked S-box lookup table. Table compression helps in reducing the amount of memory required, and this is useful for highly resource-constrained IoT devices. Recently, Vadnala (CT-RSA 2017) proposed a randomised table compression scheme for first- and second-order security in the probing leakage model. This scheme reduces the RAM memory required by about a factor of 2l, where l is a compression parameter. Vivek (Indocrypt 2017) demonstrated an attack against the second-order scheme of Vadnala. Hence achieving table compression at second and higher orders is an open problem.In this work, we propose a second-order secure randomised table compression scheme which works for any (n,m)-bit S-box. Our proposal is a variant of Vadnala's scheme that is not only secure but also significantly improves the time-memory trade-off. Specifically, we improve the online execution time by a factor of 2n−l. Our proposed scheme is proved 2-SNI secure in the probing leakage model. We have implemented our method for AES-128 on a 32-bit ARM Cortex processor. We are able to reduce the memory required to store a randomised S-box table for second-order AES-128 implementation to 59 bytes.


Sea-sky-line extraction under complicated sea-sky background is an important aspect of long-range target tracking research. An algorithm based on improved local complexity is proposed according to the feature that the sky and the sea usually show up at different gray levels in sea-sky background images. Median filter is applied first to remove peak noise, and then the point set of sea-sky-line region which has the greatest change in image is obtained by calculating the local complexity of image and selecting a segmentation threshold. Finally, Hough transform is used to extract the sea-sky-line. The experiment results indicate that this method can extract sea-sky-line under simple and complicated sea-sky backgrounds, which is robust and can improve noise immunity of the algorithm.


The problem of balancing supply and demand in the power grid becomes more challenging with the integration of uncertain and intermittent renewable supply. The usual scheme of supply following load may not be appropriate for large penetration levels of renewable supply. The reason is the increased level of reserves required to maintain a reliable grid, which affects both operational costs (reserves are expensive) and the environmental benefits of renewables (on-line reserves might increase CO2 emissions). An alternative paradigm is to use demand side flexibility for power balance. In this paper, we focus on one particular way of exploiting the demand side flexibility. We consider a group of loads with each load requiring a constant power level for a specified duration within an operational period. The loads are differentiated in terms of the duration of service they require. The flexibility of a load resides in the fact that the power delivery may occur at any subset of the total operational period. We consider the problems of scheduling, control and market implementation for a continuum of these loads. If the loads and the available power are known in advance, we find conditions under which the available power can service all the loads, and we describe an algorithm that constructs an appropriate allocation. In the event the available supply is inadequate, we characterize the minimum amount of power that must be purchased to service the loads. In addition, we investigate the implementation of a forward market in which consumers can purchase duration differentiated services. We first characterize the social welfare maximization problem and then show the existence of an efficient competitive equilibrium in this forward market.


Diversity in datasets is a key component to building responsible AI/ML. Despite this recognition, we know little about the diversity among the annotators involved in data production. We investigated the approaches to annotator diversity through 16 semi-structured interviews and a survey with 44 AI/ML practitioners. While practitioners described nuanced understandings of annotator diversity, they rarely designed dataset production to account for diversity in the annotation process. The lack of action was explained through operational barriers: from the lack of visibility in the annotator hiring process, to the conceptual difficulty in incorporating worker diversity. We argue that such operational barriers and the widespread resistance to accommodating annotator diversity surface a prevailing logic in data practices—where neutrality, objectivity and 'representationalist thinking' dominate. By understanding this logic to be part of a regime of existence, we explore alternative ways of accounting for annotator subjectivity and diversity in data practices.


The evaluation of image caption quality is a challenging task, which requires the assessment of two main aspects in a caption: adequacy and fluency. These quality aspects can be judged using a combination of several linguistic features. However, most of the current image captioning metrics focus only on specific linguistic facets, such as the lexical or semantic, and fail to meet a satisfactory level of correlation with human judgements at the sentence-level. We propose a learning-based framework to incorporate the scores of a set of lexical and semantic metrics as features, to capture the adequacy and fluency of captions at different linguistic levels. Our experimental results demonstrate that composite metrics draw upon the strengths of stand-alone measures to yield improved correlation and accuracy.


In the present article three benthic decapods, Aristeus varidens Holthuis, 1952 (Aristeidae), Gastroptychus formosus (Filhol, 1884) (Chirostylidae) and Plesionika longicauda (Rathbun, 1901) (Pandalidae), are recorded for the first time from the Cape Verde Islands. This is the southernmost record of G. formosus , as well as the northernmost of P. longicauda ever recorded from the eastern Atlantic. Preliminary data on batch fecundity and egg size of the pandalid shrimp are provided. Studied specimens were caught in the frame of a scientific trapping survey.


The aim of this study was to collect evidence of the impact of nutritional interventions on child growth. A systematic review of the literature on nutritional interventions in under-two-year-old children from 1980 to 2002 was conducted in the electronic databases (MEDLINE, LILACS, and MedCarib). The following descriptors were used: "nutrition", "child", "trial", "intervention", "growth", "infant", "programs", "impact", "counseling", "support", "body height", and "body weight". A complementary search was implemented by screening the bibliography cited in the previously located articles. Fourteen publications were found. The strategies used in the studies included distribution of nutritional supplements and/or nutritional counseling. Publication bias aside, most interventions presented a positive impact on child growth when applied during the first year of life. Nutritional counseling had the additional advantage of improving maternal and health professional practices on child nutrition and feeding.


End temperature of the firing cycle, during processing of dental ceramics, directs the interaction of both sintering and crystallization pathways, tailoring physicochemical properties and bioactivity. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of end temperature over the structural properties and composition, along with the bioactive behavior of dental porcelain, modified by bioactive glass. Sol-gel derived specimens of bioactive glass (58S)- commercial dental porcelain composites synthesized (BP) and underwent firing cycles at the crystallization temperature (Tc=1040oC) and the temperature just below the melting range (Tm=1080oC), as the composite material. The recommended temperature for the commercial porcelain (Ta=930oC) was examined, too. All specimens were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The assessment of bioactivity was performed in vitro, via the detection of apatite layer development. The well-defined particles, observed by SEM, at 930oC, developed contact formation during the stage of neck growth at 1040oC and 1080oC, indicating the initiation of sintering process. Increasing temperature, the complex porei network became smoother, while spherical and closed porei were evident. FTIR revealed the predominance of wollastonite at the increased temperatures, along with the appearance of cristobalite, while XRD confirmed the results. Finally, the in vitro tests evidenced the bioactivity of the specimens independently of the final temperature, though the increased temperature caused delayed apatite layer formation on their surface. The, microstructural and chemical evolution of the studied composite is temperature-dependent. Increased temperature favored the sintering process initiation, along with the surface crystallization, which delays bioactivity.


What kinds of motion can occur in classical mechanics? We address this question
by looking at the structures traced out by trajectories in phase space; the most orderly,
completely integrable systems are characterized by phase trajectories confined to low-dimensional,
invariant tori. The KAM theory examines what happens to the tori when
an integrable system is subjected to a small perturbation and finds that, for small
enough perturbations, most of them survive. The KAM theory is mute about the disrupted tori, but, for two-dimensional systems,
Aubry and Mather discovered an astonishing picture: the broken tori are replaced
by "cantori," tattered, Cantor-set remnants of the original invariant curves.
We seek to extend Aubry and Mather's picture to higher dimensional systems and
report two kinds of studies; both concern perturbations of a completely integrable,
four-dimensional symplectic map. In the first study we compute some numerical approximations
to Birkhoff periodic orbits; sequences of such orbits should approximate
any higher dimensional analogs of the cantori. In the second study we prove converse
KAM theorems; that is, we use a combination of analytic arguments and rigorous,
machine-assisted computations to find perturbations so large that no KAM tori survive.
We are able to show that the last few of our Birkhoff orbits exist in a regime
where there are no tori.


Sarcolemmal voltage-gated sodium and calcium ion channels are essential for generating action potentials and excitation contraction coupling required for muscle contraction. Autosomal dominant sodium and calcium ion channel gene disorders cause episodic symptoms of periodic paralysis (PP) and myotonia.1 Acetazolamide treatment improves these symptoms.2 Recently, recessive congenital myopathies due to compound heterozygous or homozygous ion channel gene mutations have been described with fixed muscle weakness and disability.3 4

In case series we previously reported, two individuals with ion channel-related congenital myopathy had additional discrete episodic or fluctuant weakness causing added morbidity.3 4 Here, we delineate the long-term benefit of treatment with acetazolamide for these individuals and discuss the implications for genetic diagnosis and management of future cases.

### Case 1

A 16-year-old girl with compound heterozygous SCN4A gene mutations (figure 1B).3 Reduced fetal movements were noted during pregnancy with a breech presentation at birth. Features of congenital myopathy included neonatal hypotonia, weak cry, talipes, thin muscle build and weak suck requiring nasogastric tube feeding for 12 days. With maturity, significant proximal and axial weakness occurred with difficulties running, going upstairs, rising from the floor and walking long distances. Due to respiratory insufficiency, she required nocturnal BiLevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) from age 6. Progressive scoliosis required surgical fixation at age 12.

Figure 1
Outcome measures, family trees and pictorial representation of skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels with mutations marked. (A) Summary of functional and respiratory measures pre-acetazolamide (ACZ) and post-acetazolamide …


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Retrospective studies show that most parents prefer to share in decisions to forgo life-sustaining treatment (LST) from their children. We do not yet know how physicians and parents communicate about these decisions and to what extent parents share in the decision-making process. METHODS: We conducted a prospective exploratory study in 2 Dutch University Medical Centers. RESULTS: Overall, 27 physicians participated, along with 37 parents of 19 children for whom a decision to withhold or withdraw LST was being considered. Forty-seven conversations were audio recorded, ranging from 1 to 8 meetings per patient. By means of a coding instrument we quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed physicians' and parents' communicative behaviors. On average, physicians spoke 67% of the time, parents 30%, and nurses 3%. All physicians focused primarily on providing medical information, explaining their preferred course of action, and informing parents about the decision being reached by the team. Only in 2 cases were parents asked to share in the decision-making. Despite their intense emotions, most parents made great effort to actively participate in the conversation. They did this by asking for clarifications, offering their preferences, and reacting to the decision being proposed (mostly by expressing their assent). In the few cases where parents strongly preferred LST to be continued, the physicians either gave parents more time or revised the decision. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that parents are able to handle a more active role than they are currently being given. Parents' greatest concern is that their child might suffer.


In recent years, claims of increased involvement of non–cytochrome P450 (non-P450) enzymes in themetabolism of drugs have appeared in the literature. However, no temporal summaries of the contribution of non-P450 enzymes to the metabolism of drugs have been published. Using data from human radiolabeled absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion studies available for a set of 125 orally or intravenously administered small-molecule drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration from 2006 to 2015, the contributions of P450 and non-P450 enzymes to the formation of major metabolites (‡10% of dose) were assessed and tabulated. Over this time frame, the involvement of P450 versus non-P450 enzymes in the formation of major metabolites is compared, and the individual non-P450 enzymes responsible are described. This analysis indicates that non-P450 enzymes contribute significantly to the metabolism of the 125 drugs analyzed. Approximately 30% of themetabolism of these drugs is carried out by non-P450 enzymes, with the predominant non-P450 enzymes identified being glucuronosyltransferases (11.7%), hydrolases (10.8%), carbonyl reductases (2.4%), and aldehyde oxidase (1.1%). Although significant, the relative contribution of non-P450 enzymes to drug metabolism does not appear to have increased dramatically over the last 10 years. As the current evaluation involves drugs which emerged from the discovery phase >10 years ago, this evaluation may not reflect the current or evolving situation in some research organizations; therefore, additional monitoring and assessment of the involvement of non-P450 enzymes in the metabolism of drugs will be conducted in the future.


This is a two-part paper. Part 1 addresses the diversity in the distribution of disposable income across the world; and Part 2, that in market income (i.e., before taxes and transferences). There are many underlying questions to these phenomena: does the diversity of inequality in disposable incomes reflect a variety of fundamentals, or a multiplicity of power structures and choice? Is rising market inequality the product of somehow 'exogenous' factors (e.g., r>g), or of complex interactions between political settlements and market failures? If the latter, how do we get through the veils obscuring these interactions and distorting our vision of the often self-constructed nature of inequality? Has neoliberal globalisation broadened the scope for "distributional failures" by, for example, triggering a process of "reverse catching-up" among OECD countries, so that now highly unequal middle-income countries like those in Latin America embody the shape of things to come? If so, are we are all now converging towards features such as mobile elites creaming off the rewards of economic growth, and 'magic realist' politics that lack self-respect if not originality? (Should I say, 'Welcome to the Third World'?) In Part 1 I also develop a new approach for examining and measuring inequality (distance from distributive targets). In turn, Part 2 concentrates on three issues: why there has been such a deterioration of market inequality among countries of the OECD, why this has led to a growing asymmetry between their distributions of market and of disposable incomes, and why inequality seems to move in "waves". The main conclusion is that to understand current distributive dynamics what matters is to comprehend the forces determining the share of the rich — and, in terms of growth, what they choose to do with it (and how they are allowed do it).


As people spend a greater portion of their time indoors, the likelihood of exposure to biohazards in indoor air is increasing. This study developed a system to disinfect indoor bioaerosols while protecting occupants from direct exposure to ozone. This hybrid approach combines high concentrations of ozone generated by a non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge system, and an ozone decomposition unit using MnO2/Al2O3 and MnO2/AC catalysts. Four types of common bioaerosols were used to test the germicidal efficacy of 0–175 ppm ozone at a relative humidity of 30–70% and retention time of 1–10 s. The results indicate that the germicidal efficacy of ozone on E. coli, C. famata and P. citrinum spore bioaerosols increased with ozone concentration, relative humidity, and retention time; however, the process was less effective with the hardy endospores of B. subtilis. Germicidal efficacy of 90% was obtained for bioaerosols (two vegetative cells and one spore) using high concentrations of ozone at a relative humidity of 70% and exposure time of 10 s. Residual ozone in the tail gas was decomposed to undetectable levels using catalysts at a gas hourly space velocity of 3.287 × 10 3 1/h. The concentration of indoor bioaerosols (total bacteria and fungi) in a small office was reduced to below 50 CFU/m 3 and ozone in the tail gas was reduced to undetectable levels following treatment for 2 h. The hybrid system of ozone disinfection and catalysts provides high germicidal efficacy while protecting occupants from direct exposure to ozone.


Bismuth salts, including bismuth subcitrate, are commonly used for gastrointestinal disorders. Overdose of bismuth salts can lead to renal failure. Seizures and pancreatitis have not been reported as complications of bismuth overdose and/or chelator treatment up-to-date. An 8-year-old girl was presented with history of taking 18 grams of bismuth subcitrate, headache, agitations and anuria. She was hypertensive and her serum creatinine was 6.5 mg/dL with the estimated glomerular filtration rate of 9.61 ml/min/1.73 m2. Antihypertensive drugs and hemodialysis were initiated. Fifteen hemodialysis sessions were performed during a month. At the sixth day of hospitalization dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) treatment was initiated for chelating bismuth. Because of intense headache and seizures were observed after 7 days of DMSA therapy, DMSA was stopped and anticonvulsive drugs were given. Meanwhile pancreatitis was diagnosed based on ultrasound findings and increased serum lipase (maximum, 1363 IU/L) and amylase (maximum, 798 IU/L) levels. Following 10 days of anuria, polyuria developed. Clinical and laboratory findings of her returned to normal at the 35th day of hospitalization. In conclusion, seizures and pancreatitis may develop following chelator treatment for bismuth overdose. Chelation therapy should be used cautiously in bismuth intoxication.


This paper assesses what health workforce 'sustainability' might mean for Australia and New Zealand, given the policy direction set out in the World Health Organization draft code on international recruitment of health workers. The governments in both countries have in the past made policy statements about the desirability of health workforce 'self-sufficiency', but OECD data show that both have a high level of dependence on internationally recruited health professionals relative to most other OECD countries. The paper argues that if a target of 'self-sufficiency' or sustainability were to be based on meeting health workforce requirements from home based training, both Australia and New Zealand fall far short of this measure, and continue to be active recruiters. The paper stresses that there is no common agreed definition of what health workforce 'self-sufficiency', or 'sustainability' is in practice, and that without an agreed definition it will be difficult for policy-makers to move the debate on to reaching agreement and possibly setting measurable targets or timelines for achievement. The paper concludes that any policy decisions related to health workforce sustainability will also have to taken in the context of a wider community debate on what is required of a health system and how is it to be funded.


Studies of the sedimentary architecture and characteristics of Antarctic shelves provide clues of past ice sheet advance-retreat cycles and help improve constraints for paleo-ice dynamic models since early glacial periods. A first seismostratigraphic analysis of the Amundsen Sea Embayment shelf and slope of West Antarctica reveals insights into the structural architecture of the continental margin and shows stages of sediment deposition, erosion and transport history from pre-glacial times to early glaciation and to the most recent glacial periods. The shelf geometry consists of a large pre- and syn-rift basin in the middle shelf region between outcropping basement of the inner shelf and basement ridges and highs beneath the outer shelf. A middle shelf sub-basin exists which may have formed as a result of motion along an early West Antarctic Rift System branch. At least 4 km of pre-glacial strata has been eroded from the present inner shelf and coastal hinterland by ice sheet advances since the onset of glaciation. Some of the eroded sediments were deposited as a progradational wedge extending the outer shelf by 25 to 65 km oceanward of the pre-glacial shelf-break. Comparing the observed seismic characteristics with those of other Antarctic shelf sequences, we assign an Early Cretaceous age for bottom sedimentary unit ASS-1, a Late Cretaceous to Oligocene age for unit ASS-2, an Early to Mid-Miocene age for unit ASS-3, a Mid-Miocene age for unit ASS-4, a Late Miocene to Early Pliocene age for unit ASS-5, and a Pliocene to Pleistocene age for the top unit ASS-6. The survival of buried grounding zone wedges in the upper part of unit ASS-5 of the outer shelf is consistent with the onset of a long warming phase and a retreated ice sheet in the early Pliocene as observed for the Ross Sea shelf and reconstructed from paleo-ice sheet models. Our data also reveal that the paleo-ice flow paths of the central Pine Island Trough system have remained stationary across the middle and outer shelf since early glacial advances. This study and its stratigraphic constraints will serve as a basis for future drilling operations required for an improved understanding of processes and mechanisms leading to West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreats, such as the rapid ice retreat presently observed in the Amundsen Sea Embayment.


Oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Astrocytes, the most abundant glial cells in the brain, protect neurons from reactive oxygen species (ROS) and provide them with trophic support, such as glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Thus, any damage to astrocytes will affect neuronal survival. In the present study, an infusion prepared from the desert plant Pulicaria incisa (Pi) was tested for its protective and antioxidant effects on astrocytes subjected to oxidative stress. The Pi infusion attenuated the intracellular accumulation of ROS following treatment with hydrogen peroxide and zinc and prevented the H2O2-induced death of astrocytes. The Pi infusion also exhibited an antioxidant effect in vitro and induced GDNF transcription in astrocytes. It is proposed that this Pi infusion be further evaluated for use as a functional beverage for the prevention and/or treatment of brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases in which oxidative stress plays a role.


: The planning fallacy refers to people's overoptimistic tendency to underestimate the time required to complete a future task. Researchers have provided theories to explain the psychological mechanism of planning fallacy, planning fallacy theory and memory bias theory. Evidences show planning fallacy could be influenced by some factors, such as cognitive factors, motivational factors, individual experience level and task property. Previous research findings show that planning fallacy could be avoided by coping strategy. The directions for further researches of planning fallacy are discussed. Future researches are expected to clear up the delicate relationship among planning fallacy, strategic misrepresentation, optimistic bias and overconfidence and explore its original source, cross-cultural significance and practical application values.


Crop production in peasant cropping systems in the semi-arid areas of West Africa is generally constrained by low and uncertain rainfall, poor soil fertility and lack of credit facilities to purchase inputs such as fertilizers and improved varieties. In this study, two field experiments (September to November 1996 and March to June 1997) were conducted on an Ultisol (Bekwai series) at Kwadaso, Kumasi in the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana. An assessment was made of production potential and nutrient depletion or conservation of sole crops cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) (C), maize (Zea mays L. var. obatcmpa) (M), sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) (P) as well as their intercrops, maize-cowpea (MC), cowpea-potato (CP) and maizepotato (MP), The cultivation of the sole crops particularly cowpeas and maize least depleted soil nutrients than the intercrops with the MP combination resulting in the greatest fall in soil nutrients. At the end of the first cropping season, cowpea total dry matter yield reduced to about 50 % in the intercropped maize and intercropped sweet potato possibly due to shading by the companion crop. Rainfall amount and distribution in the study site (minor cropping season) is insufficient for full expression of maize yield potential especially if planted in late September. Evidently, low November rainfall appears to be most critical in influencing maize yield if planting is done in September. Land equivalent ratio (LER) and the area-time equivalent ratio (ATER) demonstrated the superiority of MC intercrop to sole crops in terms of grain yield when moisture was adequate for crop growth in the 1997 cropping season. The results provide useful information for fine tuning choice of appropriate crops and cropping systems that will respond to prevailing rainfall conditions and soil nutrients; results of the present study can be used as a guide. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh


This paper presents the design and implementation of a Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy controller for a DC-DC buck converter using Arduino board. The proposed fuzzy controller is able to pilot the states of the buck converter to track a reference model. The T-S fuzzy model is employed, firstly, to represent exactly the dynamics of the nonlinear buck converter system, and then the considered controller is designed on the basis of a concept called Virtual Desired Variables (VDVs). In this case, a two-stage design procedure is developed: i) determine the reference model according to the desired output voltage, ii) determine the fuzzy controller gains by solving a set of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). A digital implementation of the proposed T-S fuzzy controller is carried out using the ATmega328P-based Microcontroller of the Arduino Uno board. Simulations and experimental results demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.


We derive the delay-time distribution (DTD) of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) using a sample of 132 SNe Ia, discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS2) among 66 000 galaxies with spectral-based star formation histories (SFHs). To recover the best-fitting DTD, the SFH of every individual galaxy is compared, using Poisson statistics, to the number of SNe that it hosted (zero or one), based on the method introduced in Maoz et al. This SN sample differs from the SDSS2 SN Ia sample analysed by Brandt et al., using a related, but different, DTD recovery method. Furthermore, we use a simulation-based SN detection-efficiency function, and we apply a number of important corrections to the galaxy SFHs and SN Ia visibility times. The DTD that we find has 4σ detections in all three of its time bins: prompt (τ 2.4 Gyr), indicating a continuous DTD, and it is among the most accurate and precise among recent DTD reconstructions. The best-fitting power-law form to the recovered DTD is t−1.07 ± 0.07, consistent with generic ∼t−1 predictions of SN Ia progenitor models based on the gravitational-wave-induced mergers of binary white dwarfs. The time-integrated number of SNe Ia per formed stellar mass is NSN/M = 0.00130 ± 0.00015  M⊙−1, or about 4 per cent of the stars formed with initial masses in the 3 - 8 M⊙ range. This is lower than, but largely consistent with, several recent DTD estimates based on SN rates in galaxy clusters and in local-volume galaxies, and is higher than, but consistent with NSN/M estimated by comparing volumetric SN Ia rates to cosmic SFH.


Contemporary Quebecois literature has attracted little attention among German researchers to date. This is certainly true of Normand Chaurette's plays, which are almost unknown in Germany, even though they are performed internationally, have been translated into several languages and have repeatedly garnered rave reviews and won awards. This article takes a thematic approach to Chaurette's work, which has grown since 1976 into a corpus of over a dozen plays and novellas. The article's central concern is an exploration of the interconnectedness of fundamental motifs – crime, death and madness. This analysis is carried out in light of the so-called coherence fautive, and culminates by addressing an important aspect of Chaurette's aesthetics: textual self-genesis.


Copolymerization via a radical ring opening polymerization of 2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane (MDO) with various silyl methacrylates including bis(trimethylsiloxy)methylsilyl methacrylate (MATM2), triisopropylsilyl methacrylate (TIPSiMA) and tributylsilyl methacrylate (TBSiMA) has been reported. Kinetics of polymerization show that the monomers react in a near-linear manner during the early hours and the consumption of silyl monomers is faster than MDO. The silyl ester side groups in the copolymers are prone to hydrolysis on contact with artificial seawater (ASW), leading to a decrease of the water contact angle of the copolymer film with immersion time. The nature of the silyl ester groups was shown to be able to tune the hydrolysis rate of the copolymers and the hydrophilicity of polymer films. The hydrolysis rates of MATM2 and TBSiMA are faster than the TIPSiMA one. The water uptake test shows that copolymers containing MATM2 and TBSiMA have higher water absorption than the copolymer based on TIPSiMA. MDO copolymers with MATM2 and TBSiMA show a significant decline in molar mass by 90% and 86% after immersion in ASW at room temperature for 7 weeks, mainly due to the cleavage of main-chain ester bonds. Their degradation is accelerated at 60 °C; meanwhile the TIPSiMA-based polyester does not show notable degradation at both temperatures, indicating that the hydrolytic degradation rate of the polymer backbone is tuned by the amount of hydrolyzed ester side groups.


Electron mean free paths as a function of kinetic energy have been measured by the substrate overlayer technique forin-situ polymerised films of polyparaxylylene, using a Ti(_ka1,2) (hv = 4510 eV) X-ray source. The results are compared with those previously reported at lower kinetic eneraies using Mg(_ka1,2) (1254 eV) and A1(_ka1,2) (1487 eV) photon sources ESCA is used to study structure, bonding and reactivity of polymeric materials, in particular those prepared by R.F. (radio-frequency), "glow discharge techniques", (plasma polymerisation) .Plasma polymerised films of perfluoropyridine have been investigated for a range of operating parameters, in both free-standing and in-situ reactors. A comparison of the stoichiometries and rates of deposition has been drawn with plasma polymers produced under comparable conditions from perfluoro and pentafluorobenzenes. Ultra thin polymers produced by plasma techniques from three isomeric perfluorinated diazines (pyrazine, pyrimidine and pyridazine) have been investigated. The polymer produced from the 1,2-diazine is discussed in some detail. A combination of ESCA and microanalytical studies show that the C:F and C:N stoichiometrics are closely similar to those for the starting monomers, over a range of operating parameters. The surface hydrolysis of these polymers with water as a function of time has been studied. The rates of polymer deposition are discussed as a function of the composite parameter W/FM. The rates of deposition reveal distinctive differences between the isomeric diazines and those of plasma polymer films for isomeric fluorinated benzenes. Laminate films based on LDPE and PET adhesively bonded with polyurethane adhesives have been investigated by ESCA. The change of surface chemistry of these films has been compared with the non-laminated base polymer of LDPE and PET. Migration and segregation phenomena in the laminates has been investigated. ESCA has been used to investigate the surface chemistry of heat treated LDPE (low and high-slip agent) and PET. The results indicate that thermally promoted reactions at the surface may well be different than those in the bulk.


In this paper, the sound quality of interior noise of three 1500‐cc passenger cars driving at constant speed is evaluated. Paired comparison for three different cars and engine rpm was applied for subjective assessment with respect to important factors, i.e., booming, roughness, sharpness, powerfulness, and loudness. Based on the results, loudness is the most important factor on the perceived annoyance. Finally, an objective measure to evaluate: Each of five factors was conducted and each of these measures had good correlation and subjective evaluation. [See NOISE‐CON Proceedings for full paper.]


The water volume required for daily monitoring of Cryptosporidium (which can statistically ensure an annual risk of infection below 10(-4)), was assessed by evaluating the applicability of the Poisson lognormal (PLN) distribution in microbial risk assessment. PLN showed as good a fit to the observed data as to the negative binomial distribution. From the estimated PLN distributions for the source and finished water, the efficacy of the oocyst removal by the conventional water treatment process was estimated to follow log-normal distribution (median = 3.16 log10, 95% CI = 4.27-2.05 log10). The 365 consecutive negative results of daily monitoring for 180 L of finished water were found to be statistically equivalent to the annual risk of infection below 10(-4). This research also suggested the possibility of applying a qualitative detection method, such as CC-PCR, as a routine monitoring method for the quantitative risk management.


Permeability, the ability of rocks to flow hydrocarbons is directly determinedfrom core. Due to high cost associated with coring, many techniques suggested to predict permeability from easy to obtain and frequent properties of reservoir such as porosity. This study launched to put clustering methods (MRGC, SOM, DC and AHC) into practice in permeability prediction of a heterogeneous carbonate reservoir in SW Iran. Conventional approaches like empirical models and regression analysis were also examined. Performance of all examined methods compared in order to choose the best approach for predicting permeability in uncored wells of the studied field. For all clustering methods, selecting optimal number of clusters is the most important task. The optimal value for the number of clusters selected by iteration. The optimal number of clusters for MRGC, SOM, DC and AHC is 7, 9, 9 and 8 respectively. Empirical equations and regression analysis could not predict permeability well and R2 of estimation of both approach were around 0.6. Generally performance of clustering techniques was acceptable regarding to Fahliyan formation. These techniques predict permeability between 1 and 1000 mD very well and just overestimate permeability below 1 mD. SOM performed the best between examined techniques (R2=0.7911).


The Chapel of S. Felice in the southern transept of the Basilica of S. Antonio in Padua was commissioned by the condottiere, Bonifazio de' Lupi in 1372. Its principal designers were the architect and sculptor Andriolo de' Santi, and the painter Altichiero. In transforming the pre-existing transept of the Basilica into the chapel, Andriolo solved many problems. He converted a large, unfocused space into an intimate one; he regularized an irregular ground plan; he resolved a potential conflict of longitudinal and lateral axes; and he established the means to focus the viewer's attention on both the altar and the tombs of the chapel's patron and his kinsmen. Altichiero tailored his frescoes to Andriolo's architectural container to make of the chapel a compelling gesamtkunstwerk. He accentuated the powerful cross axes by pictorial means; he established cogent iconographical and formal interrelationships between the frescoes and other components of the chapel; and, finally, he integrated sunlight and compass orientations with the decorative scheme. By these means the artists fashioned a Trecento masterpiece which heralds the chapels of the Baroque era in which all three media are synchronized with one another and with their setting.


3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate [P(3HB-4HB)] is one of polyhydroxyalkanoates which is biodegradable and biocompatible, and is one of the hot issues of the biodegradable materials research. But the degradation will occur at high temperature and shear rate. So P(3HB-4HB) is modified with PEG10000 by means of a mechanical blending. In this research, capillary rheometer and TGA are applied to investigate its rheological and thermal behaviors. The technology of melt spinning is also studied and the P(3HB-4HB)/PEG10000 fiber with a certain mechanical property is obtained successfully. Electronic velocimeter and electronic single end yarn strength tester are applied to investigate the mechanical property of the fiber. The result of TG indicates that the addition of PEG10000 improves the thermal stability of P(3HB-4HB). The result of capillary rheometer shows that P(3HB-4HB)/PEG10000 is pseudoplasticfluid. Because of the addition of PEG10000, the non-Newtonian index n of the P(3HB-4HB)/PEG10000 sample increases and the flow activation energy of the P(3HB-4HB)/PEG10000 sample decreases. The result of fiber strength test shows that the addition of PEG10000 has an impact on the mechanical property of the fiber and the lowest fiber strength appeared when PEG10000 content was P(3HB-4HB)/PEG=100/6. The moisture regain ratio increases with the content of PEG10000 rising. And when PEG10000 content is P(3HB-4HB)/PEG=100/2, the highest degree of orientation of fiber appears.


The empirical analysis, based on 1'181 self-evaluations by adolescents regarding their home and schooling literacy respectively aims at identifying how hetereogeneity in reading socialisation and the development of reading compentences are related. Findings show that reading socialisation is by far not homogeneous in the sample under scrutiny and differs substantially regarding quality and quantity of the home literacies. Furthermore, the study shows how a generally homogenised model of reading competence based on literacy practices stemming from outside of school particularly orients to groups of higher socio-economic status with their particular reading socialisation and respective knowledge. However important for groups with other reading socialisation profiles, this homogenised assumption is problematic if taken as a basis for designing supporting measures for children and adolescents with problematic features in their schooling literacy process.


Background During AECOPD, expiratory flow limitation results in dynamic hyperinflation (DH), respiratory neuromechanical uncoupling, and increased work of breathing causing breathlessness. We have previously demonstrated that 2nd intercostal space EMGpara, as a direct marker of neural respiratory drive (NRD), is able to detect clinical change in hospitalised AECOPD patients. We hypothesised that EMGpara has an indirect relationship with DH. Method Patients admitted with AECOPD at a metropolitan teaching hospital were recruited. Inspiratory capacity (IC) was used as a measure of DH. EMGpara, spirometry and IC manoeuvres were measured twice daily from admission until the patient was fit for discharge. Dyspnoea scores (modified Borg score, visual analogue scale and numerical rating scale) were recorded. NRD was expressed as EMGpara%max: inspiratory EMGpara signal normalised to a maximum signal measured during a sniff manoeuvre. The changes in EMGpara%max (?EMGpara%max) and IC (ΔIC) between admission and discharge were analysed. Results 31 patients were recruited; only 20 (65%) were able to perform spirometry and IC manoeuvres. The baseline characteristics were 69±11 years; male 55%; body mass index 26.1±7.3 kg/m2; %predicted FEV1 36.3±9.3; and 41±24 smoking pack years. The overall mean ΔEMGpara%max of the 20 patients fell by 4%, with 16 (80%) patients experiencing a fall in EMGpara%max during their admission. We observed an indirect relationship between ΔEMGpara%max and ΔIC (r=−0.52, p=0.02), and between ΔEMGpara%max and ΔFVC (r=−0.585, p=0.036). We found a correlation between ΔIC and ΔFEV1 (r=0.658, p=0.015). There were differences in ΔIC between patients whose EMGpara%max decreased during their admission and those whose EMGpara%max increased (mean difference 0.50 l; p=0.003) (Abstract S116 figure 1). There were no significant correlations between dyspnoea scores and ΔIC or ΔEMGpara%max.Abstract S116 Figure 1 Conclusion DH is a significant contributor to NRD in AECOPD. ΔEMGpara%max reflects changes in DH during hospital admission, but patient-reported dyspnoea does not indicate the degree of DH, highlighting the limitations of dyspnoea scores. Changes in DH are correlated with changes in airflow obstruction. These data provide a physiological rationale for the utility of parasternal EMG as a non-invasive and non-volitional technique to track clinical change in AECOPD patients.


OBJECTIVE
to describe the perception of nursing teachers on environmental education and its relation to the professional training received by nurses.

METHOD
exploratory-descriptive, qualitative study performed with 17 nurses working in Undergraduate Nursing courses at Federal Institutions of Higher Education of Rio Grande do Sul. Data were collected between January and April 2013, through semi-structured interviews and the analysis of pedagogical projects. Content analysis framework was used for data analysis.

RESULTS
the following categories emerged: multiplicity of perceptions about environmental education, where environmental education, although still perceived through a naturalist bias, also includes a well rounded vision for socio-cultural context and human values; and environmental education in in the nursing education program, showing an incipient approach in vocational training, while recognizing its importance in nursing care.

CONCLUSIONS
Environmental education must be fostered with the goal of providing training committed to environmental sustainability.


An evaluation of the water flow submodel, LEACHW, of the LEACHM solute transport model was conducted using profiles of volumetric water content, θ(z), and hydraulic head, H(z), measured under steady sated and near-saturated flow conditions in two large, intact, soil columns. The hydraulic conductivity (K)-water content (θ)-pressure head (ψ) relationships, K-θ-ψ, required by LEACHW were obtained by fitting the Van Genuchten functions to measurements of sated hydraulic conductivity (K s ) and 0 vs. ψ obtained : (i) using in-situ TDR and tensiometer measurements, with the θ-ψ data being collected during the initial column wetting ; and (ii) using the traditional saturated flow-desorption technique on intact soil core subsamples collected from the columns at the end of the experiment. The LEACHW model provided reasonably accurate predictions of the θ(z) and H(z) profiles, regardless of whether the in-situ or soil core-based K-θ-ψ relationships were used, and regardless of whether sated or near-saturated flow occurred. The LEACHW predictions were substantially more accurate, however, when the K-θ-ψ relationships derived from the in-situ measurements were used. It was concluded that the LEACHW model, coupled with independently measured K-θ-ψ functions, could provide reasonably accurate predictions of steady θ(z) and H(z) profiles in large, intact soil columns, regardless of whether the soil macropores are largely water-conducting (sated flow) or largely nonwater-conducting (near-saturated flow). It also appears that in-situ K s and θ-ψ measurements, with the θ-ψ data collected during initial wetting, may provide more appropriate K-θ-ψ relationships for use in water and solute transport models than the traditional saturated flow-desorption method using intact soil core subsamples.


Background Endotoxin induced chorioamnionitis increases IL-1 and provokes an inflammatory response in the fetal ileum that interferes with intestinal maturation. In the present study, we tested in an ovine chorioamnionitis model whether IL-1 is a major cytokine driving the inflammatory response in the fetal ileum. Method Sheep bearing singleton fetuses received a single intraamniotic injection of recombinant ovine IL-1α at 7, 3 or 1 d before caesarian delivery at 125 days gestational age (term = 150 days). Results 3 and 7 d after IL-1α administration, intestinal mRNA levels for IL-4, IL-10, IFN-γ and TNF-α were strongly elevated. Numbers of CD3+ and CD4+ T-lymphocytes and myeloidperoxidase+ cells were increased whereas FoxP3+ T-cells were detected at low frequency. This increased proinflammatory state was associated with ileal mucosal barrier loss as demonstrated by decreased levels of the intestinal fatty acid binding protein and disruption of the tight junctional protein ZO-1. Conclusion Intraamniotic IL-1α causes an acute detrimental inflammatory response in the ileum, suggesting that induction of IL-1 is a critical element in the pathophysiological effects of endotoxin induced chorioamnionitis. A disturbed balance between T-effector and FoxP3+ cells may contribute to this process.


Malignant tumours are composed of a heterogeneous collection of single cells with different molecular and phenotypic features, a phenomenon termed intratumoural heterogeneity (ITH) that is involved in tumour growth, progression, invasion and metastasis. This multilesion scenario represents a serious hurdle to accurate diagnoses and effective treatments that should be urgently circumvented to improve the clinical management of oncologic patients. To this end, many efforts have been devoted to investigate the morphological, environmental and molecular principles of ITH, specifically in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).1 Understanding tumour immunogenicity is a central topic in cancer therapy as immune microenvironment, human leucocyte antigen heterogeneity and tumour-specific neoantigens may lead to next-generation vaccination strategies.2 Genetic variation has been appointed as a source of ITH in HCC with pharmacological implication, although caution should be taken in the interpretation of mutational signatures3 that should be subjected to further validation. In this regard, orthogonal analyses combining complementary approaches to analyse different layers of biological information are currently providing a more precise phenotypic description to the molecular complexity resulting from ITH. The study of ITH by integrating different sources of information was already proposed in 1983 and in recent years the use of genome-wide exploration technologies is emerging as a resource with unprecedented capabilities …


A review of the known geographical distribution and current knowledge on the genetic population structure of harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ) in the North Atlantic is presented. Based on a synthesis of the results fromfive different studies of neutral geneticmarkers (mtDNAand nuclear microsatellites, mainly) twelve genetically distinct populations were identified in the North Atlantic: USA/Canada, Iceland, west coast of Norway, Ireland-Scotland, English east coast, Channel area, Wadden Sea, Limfjord, Skagerrak, Kattegat, West Baltic, and East Baltic. Most of the studies addressed the population structure at the regional level, while only a few addressed the structuring at a local level, i.e. within countries. Due to the limited number of studies conducted, the identified population units were considered preliminary andmore detailed, local studies would probably reveal structuring on a finer scale. The choice of genetic markers, their properties, resolution in time and applicability in population structure studies is shortly discussed and compared to ecological methods used to delineate populations.


A model for the transmission efficiency of the planetary gear train has been proposed based on the principle of energy. The network topology for the planetary gear train is established with the graph theory by substitution the net nodes for the parts. According to the principle of conservation of energy, the interaction model of the energy transfer of the gear train is built by the way of integration the energy transfer equations between the nodes. With the investigation on the power losses, the transmission efficiency of planetary gear train can be calculated.


A number of factors may lead to inaccuracy in measurement of capillary blood glucose with a glucometer. Measurement of other carbohydrate molecules such as galactose and fructose along with glucose can potentially be a cause of error. We report a newborn patient who was referred to our hospital with conjugated bilirubinemia, hepatomegaly and high capillary blood glucose levels measured with a glucometer. Simultaneous biochemical measurements revealed normal blood glucose levels. Further investigation led to a diagnosis of classical galactosemia. Capillary blood glucose level measured with glucometer also dropped to normal values following cessation of breastfeeding and initiation of feeding with a lactose-free formula.


Traditionally, Dynamic Scoring calculations experiments are carried out using representative agent based macroeconomic models. Existing literature does not provide any objection to this approach. In this paper, I develop a heterogeneous agent model similar to the Saver-Spenders model of Mankiw (2000). But spenders in my model are merely credit constrained and not rule-of-thumb consumers. Both groups are intertemporal optimizers because of the existence of Internal Habit Persistence. Transition path of most of the macro and fiscal variables for various tax cuts under alternative financing scheme shows pattern which are significantly different and sometimes contrasting to the representative agent model. Dynamic scoring calculations reveal a downward bias of the representative agent model. Underestimation of the dynamic response could be as large as 45%. Finally, steady state results indicate smaller impact of contractionary policies on major fiscal variables such as net tax revenue and tax base. Over all, the paper argues that the need to use heterogeneous agent based model in dynamic fiscal calculations is not only desirable, but also essential.


Typhoon (TY) Koppu (2015) brought intensive small horizontal-scale rainfall at Baguio, Philippines. This study examines the applicability of the TWRF model (based on the Weather Research and Forecasting model, https://www.mmm.ucar. edu/weather-research-and-forecasting-model, specifically for the TY prediction) of the Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan in the rainfall prediction of Koppu. Moreover, it aims to improve the understanding of the mountainous terrain effect on the rainfall and structural changes of TY Koppu. The TWRF-predicted rainfall initiated at 1200 UTC 17 October is compared with the surface observed rainfall and the passive microwave rainfall product, and the TWRF-simulated TY Koppu structure is verified against satellite infrared cloud imagery. Verifying available best tracks, the largest predicted track error within 72 hours of prediction is 145 km. Rainfall similar to that at Baguio can also be obtained by the TWRF, except that the location of the maximum rainfall is to the south of the observation. Modeling results show that heavy rainfall was caused by the outer rain band of TY Koppu, which gradually reorganized over the western coastal area when Koppu weakened after landing. Results also show that the high terrain located south of the TY center enhanced the rain band. However, the dry air in the lee side and downstream of the high mountains located north of the TY center weakened and pushed the band southward. TY Koppu and the rain band then moved northward. The formation and intensification, the weakening and southward shifting, and then the northward approaching and passing of the rain band resulted in the extreme rainfall at Baguio.


Author(s): Brandao, Francisco | Advisor(s): Bimber, Bruce | Abstract: The changes in the media environment brought up by digital media are expected to have profound effects on politics, from citizen's participation to elites' strategies. However, the literature has paid little attention to systemic and contextual factors that might constrain or limit the possibilities for collective action in this new communication context. Using a structural approach, I analyze presidential election campaigns' use of Twitter in a study of 16 Latin American countries between 2012 and 2015 – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. To demonstrate the quality of the data set, I show that forecasting models with Twitter Volume can preview election results in most of the cases, and even give more accurate forecasting than polling data in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico. In order to fill the shortage of theoretical models on social media, I propose a new concept of campaign spheres for understanding the linkage between social media messages and public opinion associated with campaigns. Campaign spheres are sections of the public sphere. Instead of forming public opinion through rational deliberation, a campaign sphere mostly reproduces a candidate's political slogans and symbols to mobilize opinion leaders. While the public sphere is inclusive, a campaign sphere has clear boundaries dividing those who support the campaign and those who oppose it. Institutions and social context do affect campaign spheres in Latin American presidential elections. Party systems can predict how intensely people participate, while incumbency increases the number of participants, mainly in left-wing campaign spheres. Two-round systems had a negative impact on the participation of right-wing campaign spheres, and also demonstrated a small negative effect on the prestige of all candidates. Yet challengers had more prestige than incumbents – an effect that was stronger in plurality system countries and after the elections. This research gives a perspective on the constrained context for communication change in Latin America, which can be extended and generalized to other new democracies.


Glycation of purified preparations of amino acids, hemoglobin and albumin has been studied. The content of glycated blood proteins in children with different diseases (diabetes mellitus, thyroid gland function disturbances, obesity, neurodermititis) has been determined. Application of the protein glycation for diagnosis and prediction of diseases is proved to be expedient.


Abstract In this brief review of recent work relating the DIBs to other gas-phase constituents of the ISM, we explore correlations between DIB equivalent widths and the column densities of various atomic and molecular species, drawn from a large database constructed for that purpose. The tightness and slopes of the correlations can provide information on how the DIBs might be related to those species (physically, chemically, spatially) and on various properties of the DIB carriers. Deviations from the mean relationships can reveal dependences of DIB strengths on other parameters, regional variations in DIB behavior, and individual sight lines where unusual environmental conditions affect the DIBs. Variations in DIB profiles (e.g., wings, substructure) and relative strengths may be related to differences in physical conditions inferred from atomic and/or molecular absorption lines.


CPAs need to develop special expertise to succeed in a challenging niche. A CPA providing litigation services contributes professional assistance to lawyers in the litigation process. These services may include damage computations, financial analysis and expert testimony. Providing such services can be rewarding, but it is also challenging and demanding: The practitioner must be able to communicate complex ideas convincingly in simple terms, possess well-rounded technical skills and function in a pressure-filled environment. CPAs must not only possess skills unique to litigation services but also be able to testify convincingly--and the lawyers who hire CPAs must be comfortable with the CPA's skills. CPAs may already possess many of the relevant skills and can develop other skills from a variety of sources. This article discusses training in a variety of fields and how expertise in each of these fields makes the CPA more proficient and marketable in this niche. FUNDAMENTAL EDUCATION Much of the knowledge used in litigation services is available from undergraduate and graduate courses in accounting. Continuing professional education and work experience also are good sources. Traditional accounting education that is most relevant to litigation services includes the following items. (They generally are included in accounting programs. However, schools rarely teach the application of these areas to litigation services, so further education may be required.) Financial and investigative accounting. As an expert witness, a CPA may have to analyze and interpret financial statements and information. Accordingly, the practitioner should have sufficient knowledge in financial accounting. Some examples: * When a CPA performs a business valuation, he or she often analyzes and adjusts the balance sheet and income statement to reflect economic factors. If the accountant was retained to search for fraudulent transactions, knowledge of the relationships between general ledger accounts might narrow the CPA's search. * Some assignments require the CPA to provide forensic or investigative accounting services. A bankruptcy case may require a search for preferential transfers or fraudulent conveyances. A search for perquisites paid by a closely held company may be necessary in a divorce case to determine the real income of the parties. * Procedures used in fraud engagements are similar to investigative skills employed by auditors. * Sampling techniques are used in some cases to develop costs for damage computations. Cost accounting. The litigation services practitioner preparing a damage computation or lost-profits analysis often applies cost accounting theories. For such engagements, variable costs, as opposed to fixed costs, are frequently deducted from lost revenues to arrive at lost profits. A CPA should have a knowledge of cost accounting when the litigation involves a company in an industry that uses it, such as manufacturing, construction or defense contracting. Taxation. In marital dissolutions, CPAs may be asked about the tax effects of alimony, child support, property allocation and distributions from pension plans. Bankruptcies involve complex tax issues, such as the forgiveness of debt. Also, a portions of certain types of court awards are nontaxable under some circumstances. OTHER TRADITIONAL EDUCATION AREAS These areas are not necessarily part of an accounting course of study, but many CPAs may already be familiar with these subjects from undergraduate or graduate work. Economics. Business appraisals require the consideration of micro- and macroeconomic principles, such as the nature of the economy and the competition affecting a specific company. Lost-profit computations usually require the determination of what profits would have been if a specific event had not occurred. Consequently, the practitioner may need to consider economic trends that occurred before and during the damage period. …


Nightmares are a comparatively frequent phenomenon. They are often accompanied by emotional distress and gain clinical relevance when recurrent. To assess how much distress nightmares cause the individual, the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ, Belicki, 1992) is probably the most often used measure. However, its validity is still disputed. To analyze the validity of the proposed three NDQ subscales in more detail, we conducted an experience sampling study, gathering data either in real-time or short retrospective timeframes over the course of 22 days twice per day (N = 92 participants). The measurements were implemented via a mobile app using participants' own smartphones. Besides the dream quality, we assessed concepts on a daily basis that past research found to be related to dreams. These included critical life events, alcohol consumption, eating behavior, and well-being. We found that only the subscales "general nightmare distress" and "impact on sleep" showed convergent as well as divergent validity. The validity of the subscale "impact on daily reality perception" is unclear. If at all, this subscale is rather indirectly associated with nightmare distress. Furthermore, all of the NDQ items did not differentiate between a bad dream and a nightmare, which suggests that the NDQ might rather be a measure of negative dreams in general and not nightmares in particular. Based on the present experience sampling design, we propose to advance the validation process by further possibilities, such as an item-level, person-level, and multi-level approach. This approach seems to be especially fruitful for concepts which are not very salient (e.g., laughter), can hardly be remembered retrospectively (e.g., dream content), or are potentially threatened by recall biases (e.g., alcohol consumption).


We prove Beurling-type theorems for H-invariant spaces in relation to a semifinite von Neu-mann algebra M with a semifinite, faithful, normal tracial weight τ, using an extension of Arveson's non-commutative Hardy space H-. First we prove a Beurling-Blecher-Labuschagne theorem for H-invariant subspaces of L p (M,τ) when 0 < p ≤ -. We also prove a Beurling-Chen-Hadwin-Shen theorem for H -invariant subspaces of L a (M,τ) where a is a unitarily invariant, locally k 1 -dominating, mutually continuous norm with respect to &\tau;. For a crossed product of a von Neumann algebra M by an action β, M o β Z, we are able to completely characterize all H-invariant subspaces of L a (Mo β Z,t) using our results. As an example, we completely characterize all Hinvariant subspaces of the Schatten p-class, S p (H) (0 < p ≤ -), where H is the lower tri-angular subalgebra of B(H). We also characterize the non-commutative Hardy space H -invariant subspaces in a Banach function space I(τ) on a semifinite von Neumann algebra M.


Introduction. We evaluated the effectiveness of office-based accommodative/vergence therapy (OBAVT) with home reinforcement to improve accommodative function in myopic children with poor accommodative response. Methods. This was a prospective unmasked pilot study. 14 Chinese myopic children aged 8 to 12 years with at least 1 D of lag of accommodation were enrolled. All subjects received 12 weeks of 60-minute office-based accommodative/vergence therapy (OBAVT) with home reinforcement. Primary outcome measure was the change in monocular lag of accommodation from baseline visit to 12-week visit measured by Shinnipon open-field autorefractor. Secondary outcome measures were the changes in accommodative amplitude and monocular accommodative facility. Results. All participants completed the study. The lag of accommodation at baseline visit was 1.29 ± 0.21 D and it was reduced to 0.84 ± 0.19 D at 12-week visit. This difference (−0.46 ± 0.22 D; 95% confidence interval: −0.33 to −0.58 D) is statistically significant (p < 0.0001). OBAVT also increased the amplitude and facility by 3.66 ± 3.36 D (p = 0.0013; 95% confidence interval: 1.72 to 5.60 D) and 10.9 ± 4.8 cpm (p < 0.0001; 95% confidence interval: 8.1 to 13.6 cpm), respectively. Conclusion. Standardized 12 weeks of OBAVT with home reinforcement is able to significantly reduce monocular lag of accommodation and increase monocular accommodative amplitude and facility. A randomized clinical trial designed to investigate the effect of vision therapy on myopia progression is warranted.


In the current era of fast sequencing of entire genomes, more data is becoming available for analysis. This data analysis, in turn, leads to an increasing amount of scientfic publications. Consequently, biologists spend a considerable part of their time searching the biomedical literature. This avoids expensive experiment duplications in wet labs, and provides inspiration for new hypotheses.

Unfortunately, the fast growth of biological information, in the form of free-text, has led to a lack of standard in the naming of biological entities. As a result, different genes are referred to with the same name, or acronym, and different names refer to tlze same gene. The ambiguity of free-text is problematic, as the success of a search often relies on the matching of a query term with a term contained in the document representation.

Biomedical ontologies, when available, can help disambiguate the information expressed in free-text: they provide unique terms to represent concepts and therefore counterweiglzt the occurrence of synonyms and polysems in free-text. They also contain information about the relationships between concepts. This information can be used to understand and evaluate semantic similarities between concepts.

The largest repository of biomedical research literature in the world, MEDLINE, is an entry point to biomedical information for most biologists (Hersh et al., 2004). The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is the controlled vocabulary used in MEDLINE to annotate the conceptual content of biomedical articles. The annotations include information about the importance of MeSH concepts in the article, and their contexts. The MeSH ontology is organized in several hierarchies that indicate the level of specificity of the MeSH concepts. This hierarchical information can be used to generate semantic similarities between concepts.

Our inotivation is the inzprovelnent of MEDLINE search, as it is still a central information access point for biologists in spite of the growing availability of full journal articles on the Web. In particular, we focus on the use of the MeSH ontology to represent and retrieve biomedical articles. Although MeSH is widely used by current MELDINE search methods, we show that the information contained in MEDLINE MeSH annotations and tlze MeSH hierarchies is often overlooked.

We hypothesize that MeSH-based document representation can ilzzprove MEDLINE information retrieval. Specifically, our hypothesis is that the integration of iliforniatioli about concept relevance (from the MEDLINE annotation), and interconcept similarities (from tlze MeSH hierarchies), will ilzzprove retrieval performance. We evaluate methods using such information to discriminate and compare MeSH concepts. Our methods are evaluated in the context of MEDLINE ad hoc document retrieval and document binary classifications. Our evaluatiolls use standard datasets and metrics recently used at the Genonzics track of the 2005 Text Retrieval Conference workshop.


Cyber-physical systems build the backbone of today's information systems and implement, for example, complex control applications that strictly rely on sensor data. Thus, it is inherently important for cyber-physical systems to provide a reliable data path throughout the entire system: from the sensor nodes to the data post-processing infrastructure in networked environments (e.g., edge and cloud infrastructure). This paper analyzes system-level aspects of the data path of cyber-physical systems (i.e., storage components and file systems) and reveals limitations of current technologies. To improve the current state of the art, we present the implementation of an embedded file system with low jitter which improves predictability characteristics of cyber-physical systems.


More and more BPM frameworks are bringing in the balanced scorecard, digital dashboards and other management tools in IT era, to evaluate enterprise performance, monitor of enterprise business operational status real-time, and ensure successful strategic implement. The purpose of this article is to present the composition and potential value of the BPM-BI framework for enterprises. First, this article introduces the background of the BPM, the relationship between BPM and BI. Secondly, describes the framework of BPM system based on business intelligence platform, discusses the BI technological tools and BPM method in the business performance management system, revealing the strategy implementation of BPM system function from the perspective of information resources integration.


This paper presents a reduced-order modelling strategy for Rayleigh–Bénard convection of a radiating gas, based on the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). Direct numerical simulation (DNS) of coupled natural convection and radiative transfer in a cubic Rayleigh–Bénard cell is performed for an $\text{air}/\text{H}_{2}\text{O}/\text{CO}_{2}$ mixture at room temperature and at a Rayleigh number of $10^{7}$. It is shown that radiative transfer between the isothermal walls and the gas triggers a convection growth outside the boundary layers. Mean and turbulent kinetic energy increase with radiation, as well as temperature fluctuations to a lesser extent. As in the uncoupled case, the large-scale circulation (LSC) settles in one of the two diagonal planes of the cube with a clockwise or anticlockwise motion, and experiences occasional brief reorientations which are rotations of $\unicode[STIX]{x03C0}/2$ of the LSC in the horizontal plane. A POD analysis is conducted and reveals that the dominant POD eigenfunctions are preserved with radiation while POD eigenvalues are increased. Two POD-based reduced-order models including radiative transfer effects are then derived: the first one is based on coupled DNS data while the second one is an a priori model based on uncoupled DNS data. Owing to the weak temperature differences, radiation effects on mode amplitudes are linear in the models. Both models capture the increase in energy with radiation and are able to reproduce the low-frequency dynamics of reorientations and the high-frequency dynamics associated with the LSC velocity observed in the coupled DNS.


The Hawkesbury-Nepean River in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, is the largest river system in the Sydney metropolitan area, and it drains most of the developing areas to the west. This catchment is under increasing pressure from urban expansion and the river frequently experiences extended periods of low flows due to a combination of extensive river regulation and the Australian temperate climate. Added to this, the river and several of its tributaries receive treated sewage and stormwater from various sources.

Habitats and biota within the Hawkesbury-Nepean River catchment have been altered since European settlement and many introduced species have spread throughout the terrestrial and aquatic environment (Recher et al. 1993). Submersed macrophyte assemblages within the river have undergone significant changes in their distribution and abundance due to eutrophication, habitat alteration and changes to river flows (Recher et al 1993). Anecdotal evidence and some early unpublished studies suggest that egeria (Egeria densa Planchon), introduced from South America as an aquarium plant, was present in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River prior to 1980. Sainty (1973) reported a persistent and troublesome infestation over a number of years at Wallacia in the upper Nepean River.

Here, as part of a larger study on the ecology of macrophyte and invertebrate assemblages associated with anthropogenic disturbance in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, we document the rapid spread of egeria since 1994. Significant increases in egeria biomass were also found, and we present preliminary evidence which suggest that the native ribbonweed, vallisneria (Vallisneria americana Michx.) is being displaced.


Abstract The gap between the availability of information in developed and developing countries in climate and meteorology is described and detailed. The description is based on a recent survey of scientists around the world. The information divide results from the high costs of information and lack of resources in many countries and can be compounded by language difficulties and cultural differences. This has led to the breakdown in the flow of weather and forecast data, the flow of journals to developing countries, and the flow of the results of scientific work back to these same journals from developing countries. With the increasing electronic flow of information, many countries are also limited by costly and low-bandwidth access to the Internet. Several ideas for bridging the information divide are also presented, ranging from electronic distribution of journals, to increasing capacity to deal with information, to a commitment to include all users in new strategies for delivering information. The Nati...


Because characteristics of rock layers and problems in drilling must be studied before radioactive waste can be safely contained, an evaluation was made of methods for correlating alluvial deposits at Yucca Flat of the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Although correlation of Tertiary volcanic tuff beds at the NTS has been successfully achieved, correlation of stratigraphic zones in the overlying alluvium has posed technical difficulties. We have evaluated several methods for correlating alluvial deposits from drillholes, including electric resistivity logs (E logs), visual examination of sidewall samples and comparison of their carbonate (CO/sub 2/) content, downhole stereo photography for identifying debris flow deposits, caliche age-dating, and specific yield and permeability measurements of deposits. For predicting the thickness of zones having similar physical properties in the alluvium, E log measurements were found to be the most useful of these methods.


The present work theoretically investigates the interfacial transport of immiscible fluid layers in an inclined fluidic channel in the presence of magnetofluidic actuation. Immiscible binary system consists of both non-Newtonian fluid (top layer) and Newtonian fluid (bottom layer), while the Carreau fluid model is used to describe the rheology of non-Newtonian layer. We develop a theoretical framework consistent with the homotopy analysis method (HAM) to obtain the approximate analytical solutions for the underlying thermo-fluidic transport features. By depicting the auxiliary parameter curve (ℏ-curve) of flow velocity and temperature distribution, we ascertain the effective reliability of the theoretical method developed here. We demonstrate both velocity and temperature variations in the channel for a set of involving parameters pertinent to this analysis. Albeit the flow configuration considered in this analysis is not complex, yet, the method developed here seems to be efficient in capturing underling transport features, retaining the simultaneously acted implications of fluid rheology and magnetohydrodynamics. Form the consistency observed in predicting the flow velocity for any values of shear-thinning parameter, including non-integers, our semi-analytical method is deemed pertinent to predict the thermo-hydrodynamics of immiscible multilayer system even by accurately capturing the intervening effects of fluid rheology and applied fields.


The in vitro activity of rifampin alone and in combination with oxacillin was determined for 75 Staphylococcus aureus strains (64 susceptible and 11 resistant to oxacillin). Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) were determined by broth microdilution; antibiotic combinations were evaluated by microdilution checkerboard and time-kill studies. The 90% MIC of rifampin was less than or equal to 0.015 micrograms/ml after both 24 and 48 h of incubation. The 90% MBC of rifampin was less than or equal to 2.0 micrograms/ml on subculture at 24 h of incubation and less than or equal to 0.5 micrograms/ml on subculture at 48 h. MIC checkerboards with oxacillin-susceptible strains revealed an additive or indifferent effect in 35 strains (55%) and antagonism in 29 strains (45%). MBC checkerboards performed by subculture at 24 h demonstrated antagonism for all but one of the oxacillin-susceptible strains, with sub-MBCs of rifampin impairing the bactericidal activity of oxacillin. MBC checkerboards performed by 48-h subculture revealed antagonism with 37 strains (58%); in 26 additional strains (40%), a synergistic, additive, or indifferent effect was observed at low antibiotic concentrations, but antagonism was seen at higher concentrations. Time-kill studies tended to show indifference rather than antagonism with oxacillin plus rifampin. In checkerboards performed with oxacillin-resistant strains, the addition of rifampin did not improve oxacillin inhibitory or bactericidal activity to a clinically significant extent; however, the addition of oxacillin improved the bactericidal activity of rifampin at easily achievable serum concentrations.


A package for solving time-dependent partial differential equations (PDEs), MathPDE, is presented. It implements finite-difference methods. After making a sequence of symbolic transformations on the PDE and its initial and boundary conditions, MathPDE automatically generates a problem-specific set of Mathematica functions to solve the numerical problem, which is essentially a system of algebraic equations. MathPDE then internally calls MathCode, a Mathematica-to-C++ code generator, to generate a C++ program for solving the algebraic problem, and compiles it into an executable that can be run via MathLink. When the algebraic system is nonlinear, the Newton-Raphson method is used and SuperLU, a library for sparse systems, is used for matrix operations. This article discusses the wide range of PDEs that can be handled by MathPDE, the accuracy of the finite-difference schemes used, and importantly, the ability to handle both regular and irregular spatial domains. Since a standalone C++ program is generated to compute the numerical solution, the package offers portability.


Proof nets for MLL (unit-free Multiplicative Linear Logic) are concise graphical representations of proofs which are canonical in the sense that they abstract away syntactic redundancy such as the order of non-interacting rules. We argue that Girard's extension to MLL1 (first-order MLL) fails to be canonical because of redundant existential witnesses, and present canonical MLL1 proof nets called unification nets without them. For example, while there are infinitely many cut-free Girard nets ∀x Px ⊢ ∃x Px, one per arbitrary witness for ∃x, there is a unique cut-free unification net, with no specified witness. Cut elimination for unification nets is local and linear time, while Girard's is non-local and exponential time. Since some unification nets are exponentially smaller than corresponding Girard nets and sequent proofs, technical delicacy is required to ensure correctness is polynomial-time (quadratic). These results transcend MLL1 via a methodological insight: for canonical quantifiers, the standard parallel/sequential dichotomy of proof nets is insufficient; an implicit/explicit witness dichotomy is needed. Current work extends unification nets to additives and uses them to extend combinatorial proofs [Proofs without syntax, Annals of Mathematics, 2006] to classical first-order logic.


We consider multiclass closed queueing networks. For these networks, a lot of work has been devoted to characterizing and weakening the conditions under which a product-form solution is obtained for the steady-state distribution. From this work, it is known that, under certain conditions, all networks in which each of the stations has either the first-come first-served or the random service discipline lead to the same (product-form expressions for the) steady-state probabilities of the (aggregated) states that for each station and each job class denote the number of jobs in service and the number of jobs in the queue. As a consequence, all these situations also lead to the same throughputs for the different job classes. One of the conditions under which these equivalence results hold states that at each station all job classes must have the same exponential service time distribution. In this paper, it is shown that these equivalence results can be extended to the case with different exponential service times for jobs of different classes, if the network consists of only one single-server or multiserver station. This extension can be made despite of the fact that the network is not a product-form network anymore in that case. The proof is based on the reversibility of the Markov process that is obtained under the random service discipline. By means of a counterexample, it is shown that the extension cannot be made for closed network with two or more stations.