We have studied two-photon nonlinear optical effects arising in a microcavity geometry from resonant two-photon absorption or second-harmonic generation. The transmission spectrum of the cavity is shown to depend on light intensity according to a simple two-level picture with an intensity-dependent coupling: at resonance the system exhibits a two-photon Rabi splitting. The absorption spectrum of a weak probe beam in a pumped cavity is found to strongly depend on pump intensity and detuning; the resulting effect is a sort of two-photon analogue of the usual optical Stark effect. For moderate pump intensities a two-level picture with a pump-dependent coupling can account for the main results, while at higher intensities new unexpected features show up; in particular, we predict the appearance of gain in well-determined spectral regions due to hyper-Raman processes. Finally, we have shown how the coupling coefficients appearing in our formalism can be obtained from a detailed knowledge of the material and geometrical properties of a specific system. For illustrative purposes, we have estimated the required light intensities using realistic data for a GaAs-based semiconductor microcavity.


Abstract There is a common tendency to observe a process of homogenisation when the current international structure is analysed. However, the globalisation process embraces heterogeneities and contradictions stemming from the integration of different states into a single global structure. This article explores the role and motivations of domestic social classes in creating variations in the form of integration of their states into the global whole. It takes one of the odd cases at the centre of inquiry and particularly concentrates on the emergence of alternative forms to the neoliberal globalisation in the process of Iran's integration into the global capitalism. The accumulation strategies adopted by the dominant class factions in Iran are investigated in order to reveal their dialectical relationship with the international capitalist structure. Their role in the international political economy of Iran demonstrates how social agents through their strategic activities create variations in the forms of integration into the global capitalism. The article compares the Iranian case to the varieties of integration of lately capitalised but not peripherised BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) states. This aims to reveal that whilst these countries have truly integrated into the global capitalist system, the internationalisation of their states contradicts the accumulation strategies of their dominant classes.


Much contemporary ethnography hopes to engage with a community to justify social critique. Whether from problem selection, interpersonal rewards, or a desire for exchange, researchers often take the "side" of informants. Such an approach, linked to "public ethnography," marginalizes a once-traditional approach to fieldwork, that of the ethnographic stranger. I present a model of scholarly detachment and questioning of group interests. Drawing on my own experiences and those of members of the Second Chicago School, I argue for an approach in which an unaffiliated observer questions community interests, arguing that skepticism of local explanations can discover processes shared by other scenes and can develop transsituational concepts. While the ethnographer can be seduced into sharing a group's perspective, observational distancing can mitigate this. In an approach I label skeptical ethnography, the ethnographic stranger avoids partisan allegiance in the field and at the desk. Skepticism of local interests must be combined with an epistemic generosity that recognizes that all action, whether seemingly righteous or repellent, responds to an interaction order.


The Physikalisch‐Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is currently constructing a low‐energy electron storage ring in the close vicinity of BESSY II where PTB operates a laboratory for synchrotron‐radiation‐based metrology, mainly in the X‐ray spectral region. The new storage ring, which will be called 'Metrology Light Source' (MLS), will mainly be dedicated to metrology and technological development in the UV, EUV and VUV spectral range and will thus fill the gap in the spectral range that has opened up since the shut‐down of BESSY I. Moreover, the MLS will deliver intense radiation in the IR and FIR/THz spectral range. The MLS can be operated with parameters optimized for special calibration tasks, which, at a multi‐user facility such as BESSY II is rarely possible. The electron energy can be tuned in the range from 200 MeV up to 600 MeV and the electron beam current can be adjusted from 1pA (single electron) up to 200 mA. All relevant storage ring parameters can be measured with high accuracy, thus making th...


The theory of knots is a branch of mathematics that is in charge of studying the topological behaviour of lineal entities configuring forms in three-dimensional space. Starting from their spatial character it is possible to establish correspondences with three-dimensional forms of architectural use, constituting a stimulative tool of creativity. The objectives of this work consist on analysing how to enlarge the possibilities of computers aided architectural design (CAAD) from the theory of knots, classifying forms of knots of architectural use and developing a design procedure of architectural shapes, emphasizing concepts of structure, path and form.


Studying the epidemiology of schistosomiasis-the most prevalent gastropod-borne human disease and an economic burden for the livestock industry-relies on adequate monitoring tools. Here we describe a molecular assay for detecting human and animal African schistosome species in their planorbid gastropod host (xenomonitoring) using a two-step approach. First, schistosome infections are detected and discriminated from other trematode infections using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that includes a trematode-specific marker (in 18S rDNA), a Schistosoma genus-specific marker (in internal transcribed spacer 2 [ITS2]) and a general gastropod marker (in 18S rDNA) as an internal control. Upon Schistosoma sp. detection, a second multiplex PCR is performed to discriminate among Schistosoma haematobium, Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma mattheei and Schistosoma bovis/Schistosoma curassoni/Schistosoma guineensis using markers of differential lengths in the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COX1) gene. The specificity of these assays was validated with adult worms, naturally infected gastropods and human urine and stool samples. Sensitivity was tested on experimentally infected snail specimens that were sacrificed 10 and 40 days post-infection in order to mimic a natural prepatent and mature infection, respectively. The assay provides a diagnostic tool to support the xenomonitoring of planorbid gastropods for trematode infections in a One Health context, with a focus on the transmission monitoring of schistosomiasis.


The influence of Galen in Islamic countries is associated with the extensive contribution of Greek scientific knowledge in the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods. Islam as a religion and a political force, competing with Christianity and the Byzantine Empire, was instrumental in spreading the heritage of Greek medicine. It originated in a geographical and cultural sphere close to the Hellenistic civilization, and for its development and distribution «non-Islamic» science and knowledge were needed. It appears that the dominance of Greek medical thought in Islamic culture was possible due to the fact that integration of Greek intellectual heritage was part of the ideological process during the formation of Islam itself. However, Greek medicine as it was perceived by Islam was no longer a body of knowledge that could develop independently: it now needed to be interpreted in a special way – as Islam required it. While theoretical teaching in Hellenistic medicine was based on anatomical observations, which after a period of neglect that lasted from the second half of the third century BC was taken up by Galen in the second century AD, theoretical innovation based on anatomy did not actually occur in Islamic medicine. A lack of clear understanding of the practical relevance of anatomy for the development of medical knowledge led to it becoming exclusively descriptive in medieval Islam. However, an underestimation of the practice by the medical community did not explain why dissection and surgery did not develop in Islamic medicine. Religious and theoretical factors were a more important cause. The author attempts to show how Galen was perceived in the Islamic world and, based on an analysis of Islamic reading of his works, reveals the reasons for the gap between the Christian West and the Islamic East in their approaches to ancient Greek medicine.


This essay reviews the main analyses produced for publication in 2014 alluding to the 50th anniversary of the 1964 coup and the dictatorship that followed (1964-85). It is noteworthy that most of these analyses, authored by historians and journalists, relativize several Manichaean concepts and versions; chiefly, they enhance society's responsibility for this authoritarian experiment. The coup, they claim, was not an atypical event in the country's political history; it simply expanded conservative and authoritarian values. In daring fashion, they point out the precarious or absent democratic vocation of the forces of the Left, as well as the advances in terms of the country's economic and social modernization under the military governments. The duration of the dictatorship is also questioned. In the eyes of some, it lasted only from 1964 to 1979, and arguments to this end are exhaustively presented. The fact that the report of the National Truth Commission (NTC) was released also in 2014 raised an intense debate in the press and in academia about repression and the crimes of the dictatorship, especially against urban guerrilla organizations, which are also examined in instigating fashion in this bibliography.


Sea-bed pressures taken close to the shore-line at St Helena over 39 days are analysed for information on tides, swell, and medium frequency waves. The tidal records are analysed in conjunction with short records taken by others from Ascension, Trindade and Tristan da Cunha Islands. A nine-year series from Simons Bay, South Africa, is also investigated as a possible reference base. It is found to be partially unsuitable on account of a node in the diurnal tides, previously unsuspected, but this itself is relevant to the diurnal cotidal map. A phenomenal monthly tide at Simons Bay, with sidereal rather than anomalistic monthly periodicity, is also noted. Taking a year's record from Ascension Island as tidal reference, new constants are evaluated for all four islands, and these are used to deduce cotidal maps fo the open South Atlantic. Two types of maps are considered, one a linear interpolation of the constants, the other derived from a locally forced tide (modified by the Earth tide) and a pair of Poincare waves calculated for a '(β-plane ' approximation, assuming constant depth. Although not entirely realistic, the latter scheme fits the semi-diurnal tide data very closely, but not the diurnal data. Both types of map confirm positive semi-diurnal amphidromes, according with the computations of Pekeris and Accad and of Bogdanov and Magarik, and negative diurnal amphidromes according with Dietrich's maps. Tidal records made at St Helena in 1761 by Maskelyne and Mason provide a unique opportunity to search for possible instabilities in the ocean tides. By careful comparison of the two sets of data, it is concluded that the semi-diurnal tides are virtually unchanged, but there is a significant change in phase of about 10° at all diurnal frequencies which may point to an instability in the diurnal modes in the Atlantic, as suggested by Garrett & Munk from other considerations. A frequency-time plot of the swell wave spectra shows dispersive ridges as found in the Pacific and elsewhere. These point to storm origins principally in the South Pacific and the North Atlantic Oceans. Large-scale ' rollers ' were not encountered, but there was some evidence that they have similar origins. Medium frequency waves (1 to 30 mHz) were recorded simultaneously at two points round the St Helena coast. Their spectra and coherence were studied with a view to identifying trapped modes. A theory is evaluated for waves trapped by a circular island with paraboloidal shelf (as approximately at St Helena) in contrast to the vertical wall models studied by Longuet-Higgins and others. Its main feature is that resonance peaks are much flatter than in the vertical wall cases, and do not increase with frequency. Analysis of the data shows features in common with the theory up to about 3 mHz and at some other energy peaks, but at higher frequencies there is evidence for energy leakage due to topographical roughness.


Researchers increasingly recognize that entrepreneurial employees, intrapreneurs, play a critical role in innovation. As with regular entrepreneurship, however, the value of intrapreneurial activity depends on the firm-specific and societal reward structures that intrapreneurs face. Ideally, these rules of the game are such that they reward intrapreneurship that is beneficial for the firm and the economy. When this is not the case, intrapreneurship can be beneficial for the firm but not for society, damaging for the firm yet beneficial for society, or downright destructive. We offer a taxonomy describing how society's rules and firm rules interact to produce different intrapreneurial outcomes.


This paper explores new approaches to active learning (AL) for semantic role labeling (SRL), focusing in particular on combining typical informativity-based sampling strategies with a novel measure of representativeness based on compressed dependency trees (CDTs). In essence, the compressed representation encodes the target predicate and the key dependents of the verb complex in the sentence. We first present our method for producing CDTs from the output of an existing dependency parser. The compressed trees are used as features for training a supervised SRL system. Second, we present a study of AL for SRL. We investigate a number of different sample selection strategies, and the best results are achieved by incorporating CDTs for example selection based on both informativity and representativeness. We show that our approach can reduce by up to 50% the amount of training data needed to attain a given level of performance.


BACKGROUND
The development of a relatively simple, noninvasive method for estimating blood ethanol concentrations in mice will be useful in behavioral studies related to alcoholism. This study validated such a method.

METHODS
The apparatus consists of a body chamber fitted with a head stock through which the mouse head protrudes. This was fitted against a water-jacketed head-space chamber surrounding the mouse's head. Rebreathed air maintained at 37 degrees C in the head-space chamber was removed using a peristaltic pump and loaded into a 1-ml injection loop. Ethanol in the sample was quantified using gas chromatography. To validate this method, ethanol levels in breath samples were compared against those in tail blood samples collected immediately after the breath samples. Breath samples were collected at 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 120, and 160 minutes after ethanol (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.4, and 3.2 g/kg) was administered to male C57BL/6J mice.

RESULTS
Breath and blood ethanol levels were well correlated (r(2) = 0.96) across time points on the descending ethanol-time curve at doses below 2.4 g/kg. Correlation for these doses on the ascending portion of the curve had greater variance, but was still well correlated (r(2) = 0.92).

CONCLUSIONS
The mouse breathalyzer is an accurate, convenient, noninvasive and well-tolerated method for estimating blood ethanol concentrations in mice across a range of behaviorally relevant concentrations below 2.4 g/kg, especially on the descending limb of the ethanol-time curve. Although this procedure requires a gas chromatograph in the animal facility, the ability to estimate ethanol concentrations quickly and easily will be especially useful in behavioral studies where repeated blood sampling is not feasible.


This paper argues that to focus only on the fundamentals and precedents may limit the beginning design student to a finite, predictable, and culturally limited view of what design is. Such restricted curriculum also risks the erasure of what the students bring to the classroom—diverse perspectives and years of unique experiences. Fundamentals and precedents should be seen as a starting point in an education that has students and faculty questioning, pushing against, and possibly even rejecting the past. This approach to design education can stimulate a rich and rigorous environment of empirical research and self-reflection.


In two in vivo experiments, low doses of 5-methyl cytidine significantly suppressed the growth of urethan-induced lung tumours in strain A mice while higher doses were less effective. This inverse dose-response relationship mimics the previously reported effect of 5-methyl cytidine on mammary tumour growth in C3H mice. The finding that 5-methyl cytidine inhibits lung tumour growth as well as mammary tumour growth suggests this nucleoside may be an effective inhibitor of solid tumour growth in general. A study of the effect of 5-methyl cytidine on mouse lung tumour cell viability in vitro suggests that the direct cytotoxic effect of 5-methyl cytidine is dependent on the cell cycle. Since cell-cycle dependent agents do not inhibit lung tumour growth in vivo, 5-methyl cytidine probably inhibits mouse lung tumour growth indirectly by some effect on the host rather than by a direct cytotoxic effect on the lung tumour.


Human adenovirus (HAdV) causing epidemic keratoconjunctivitis is limited to D and E species. Recent progress in bioinformatics revealed that these viruses attach to the host with fibers, infiltrate the host cells via RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) motif of penton base, and reveal their serological reaction by hexons. Loops 1 and 2 are the variable regions of each hexon. The possibility that a novel adenovirus later named HAdV-52 was transmitted over the wall of species' from monkeys to humans was reported. The recombination of the above three hot spots introduces novel types such as HAdV-53, -54, and -56. Boinformatics may provide rapid genotyping in nosocomial infection, predicting future epidemics, and an estimate of the therapeutic target molecules in the near future.


In recent years, deep neural networks have emerged as a dominant machine learning tool for a wide variety of application domains. However, training a deep neural network requires a large amount of labeled data, which is an expensive process in terms of time, labor and human expertise. Domain adaptation or transfer learning algorithms address this challenge by leveraging labeled data in a different, but related source domain, to develop a model for the target domain. Further, the explosive growth of digital data has posed a fundamental challenge concerning its storage and retrieval. Due to its storage and retrieval efficiency, recent years have witnessed a wide application of hashing in a variety of computer vision applications. In this paper, we first introduce a new dataset, Office-Home, to evaluate domain adaptation algorithms. The dataset contains images of a variety of everyday objects from multiple domains. We then propose a novel deep learning framework that can exploit labeled source data and unlabeled target data to learn informative hash codes, to accurately classify unseen target data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research effort to exploit the feature learning capabilities of deep neural networks to learn representative hash codes to address the domain adaptation problem. Our extensive empirical studies on multiple transfer tasks corroborate the usefulness of the framework in learning efficient hash codes which outperform existing competitive baselines for unsupervised domain adaptation.


There is a significant soybean yield gap in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Sustainable intensification of the agricultural sector to reduce such a yield gap is important. Increasing soybean productivity can meet the growing demand for food and feed when complemented with higher soy meal demand by the local livestock industry. This study performs an ex-ante economic analysis to determine the effect of higher soybean production on trade and land use within SSA countries. We find that increasing soybean yield by 50% can increase the total returns from soybean production by 186 million LC (local currency) in Ethiopia and 36 billion LC in Nigeria. We show that soybean yield growth alone is enough to boost soy oil production, as the crushing of the beans produces 18% oil and 79% meal. While increasing productivity may lead to freeing land to produce high-valued cash crops, investors will be reluctant to invest in the crushing facilities in the absence of soy meal demand by the livestock industry. Therefore, policymakers need to establish collaboration between development organisations, private companies, farmers and researchers to achieve this transformation and thereby raise agricultural productivity.


PURPOSE
To determine retinal toxicity after intravitreous balanced salt solution, sulfur hexafluoride gas, and perfluorocarbon liquid injection in rabbit eyes.

METHODS
Twenty-two eyes of sixteen New Zealand albino rabbits were divided into groups: balanced salt solution (7 eyes); sulfur hexafluoride gas (4 eyes); and perfluorocarbon liquid (5 eyes). After the introduction of a needle through the sclera the vitreous was aspirated (0.3 ml), balanced salt solution, sulfur hexafluoride gas 100% and perfluorocarbon liquid (0.3 ml) were injected into rabbit vitreous cavity. The control group (6 eyes) was not submitted to any procedure. After three weeks the vitreous was aspirated and submitted to biochemical analysis and the eyes prepared for histological analysis.

RESULTS
The eyes submitted to perfluorocarbon liquid and sulfur hexafluoride gas injection showed a greater L-glutamate increase in the vitreous compared to balanced salt solution and control groups (p<0.05). Histological results confirmed small changes in the sulfur hexafluoride group and important lesions in perfluorocarbon liquid group, such as external photoreceptor segment disruption, external and internal plexiform layer thinning, ganglionar and internal nuclear layer decrease of nucleus number, edema, and presence of macrophages in the superficial layers. No major histological changes were observed with balanced salt solution and in control groups.

CONCLUSION
Liquid intravitreous injection of sulfur hexafluoride gas and perfluorocarbon are potentially toxic to rabbit retina, compared to control and balanced salt solution groups.


Background/Aim: Septic arthritis (SA) requires rapid diagnosis and therapy to avoid joint damage. This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of leukocyte esterase (LE) and glucose (GLC) strip tests for diagnosing SA. Patients and Methods: Synovial fluids from 455 patients with atraumatic joint effusions were assessed prospectively over a 5-year period with LE and glucose strip tests. Results were compared to modified Newman criteria for diagnosing joint infections. Synovial fluid cultures, crystal, blood and synovial cell analyses were also performed. Results: Forty-one patients had SA and 252 non-SA. A positive LE reading combined with negative glucose reading could detect SA with 100% specificity, 85% sensitivity, 100% positive predictive value (PPV) and 98% negative predictive value (NPV). Positive synovial LE reading alone detected SA with 82% specificity, 95% sensitivity, 47% PPV, and 99% NPV. Conclusion: Combined LE and glucose strip tests represent a low-cost tool for rapidly diagnosing or ruling out SA.


The study Unholy Discrimination ( Die unheilige Diskriminierung ) concerns the clash between gender equality and religious freedom, and the lack of female access to leading spiritual offices. In the Roman-Catholic Church canonic law forbids female priesthood (Can. 1024 "Only a baptised man can validly receive sacred ordination."). Islam poses no comparable legal, only social, barriers. In Judaism too there exist primarily de facto inequalities between men and women which, to a large extent, block access to a female rabbinate (apart from inconsistently applied medieval law). The contradiction between the right to non-discrimination and religious communities' invoking their right to religious freedom needs to be solved by weighing up competing interests. For the latter, the interests (or arguments) are the following: - a long-term uncontested tradition (argument of continuity), - theological reasons ("God's eternal plan" – interpreted by the clergy; in the Roman-Catholic Church, especially the male sex of Jesus), - the danger of schism (by introducing female priesthood), and - the proven effectiveness of traditional sex roles in the religious field. On the other side of the balance are, first, the specific features of equality conflicts in the religious field: - the power differentials of counterparts (Catholic women vs. potent religious authority), - the possibility of leaving the religious community (the argument of avoiding the conflict; but also the take-it-or-leave-it-dilemma), and - the argument of Ideological Enterprise ( Tendenzbetrieb , enterprises serving ideological ends: as a voluntary member of an enterprise, one is supposed to accept its objectives). Subsequently, the interests of the damaged party carry more weight, if the "interferer" makes it completely impossible for the other side to exercise its fundamental rights. Finally, the counter-arguments must be taken into account when the competing interests are weighed up: - much evidence for the admissibility of female priesthood examined by theological science, - the transition from the hitherto existing consensus to the dissent of many against the "church of men," - the argument of established practice in all religious communities (female parish leaders in the Roman-Catholic Church, female rabbis in Liberal and Reformed Judaism, female imams in the mosques). In this study the concept of balancing interests is put into concrete terms with three model cases concerning the Catholic Church (1st case: refusal of access for a female theology student to seminary, where candidates for priestly ordination receive their theological formation; 2nd case: refusal of equal payment for male parish leaders [with ordination] and their female fellows [without ordination]; 3rd case: cancelled election of a female theologian, who was ordained "contra legem"). The weighing up of the opposite interests in these concrete model cases as well as the analysis of the arguments and counterarguments lead to the result that the (nationally and internationally guaranteed) principle of equality between men and women is to be valued more highly than the appeal to a very long tradition of male religious leadership (an image of man to which all three great monotheistic religions are committed). The study takes a legal approach to equal treatment of men and women, and argues from a legal perspective. It discusses the question of the aptness of this method to the religion field, and also considers the problem that it is the State that has a duty to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens, and that fundamental rights mainly have no direct third-party effect between private-law subjects. The study also includes three interviews: with a German Roman-Catholic female priest "contra legem," with a Swiss female rabbi, and with a female law professor and expert on Islam from Morocco. Translation: Denise Buser/David Jacobson


This paper takes up the main questions addressed by the literature on comparative corporate governance: Whether national governance systems can be expected to converge in the near future, and whether the focal point of that convergence will be a new, hybrid governance system comprised of best practices drawn from different systems. The paper advances the view that neither global convergence that eliminates systemic differences nor the emergence of a hybrid best practice safely can be projected because each national governance system, rather than consisting of a loose collection of separable components, is tied together by a complex incentive structure. Interdependencies between each system's components and the incentives of its actors create significant barriers to cross reference to and from other systems. In contrast, the cross-reference hypothesis widely advanced in the comparative governance literature presupposes divisible institutions?a world in which one system's components can be adapted for use in the other system without significant frictions or perverse effects. The paper draws on models of monitoring and blockholding articulated in the incomplete contracts theory of the firm. Under incomplete contracts theory, different governance systems have incentive structures that entail different trade offs?trade offs between ownership concentration and liquidity, between monitoring and management initiative, and between private rent seeking and activity benefitting shareholders as a group. The trade offs delimit opportunities for productive cross reference. More particularly, blockholder systems, such as those in Europe, subsidize monitoring by permitting blockholders to reap private benefits through self dealing and insider trading. Market systems, such as those in the United States and Britain, regulate such private rent seeking toward the end of maintaining an institutional framework that supports diffuse share ownership and liquid trading markets. It follows that a legal framework conducive to blockholding may be ill equipped to foster dispersed equity ownership and thick trading markets, and that a legal framework conducive to liquid trading markets may have properties that discourage blockholding. There result questions for law reform agendas on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States proponents ask for deregulation of controls on institutional investors, looking to encourage blockholding and more effective monitoring. In Europe proponents ask for stronger securities regulation, looking to encourage deeper trading markets. The paper projects that each reform program may lead to disappointing results because neither assures conforming adjustments to the pertinent actors' incentives. Alternatively, strict reforms that materially change prevailing incentive patterns could perversely destabilize workable (if imperfect) arrangements without assuring the appearance of more effective alternatives.


The insurance industry in Malaysia is a large and important sector of the economy in terms of capitalisation, business turnover, assets, and the number of employees. It was integral to early Western economic expansion into Malaya, underwriting shipping, mining, and plantation ventures to protect entrepreneurs from excessive risk. The scope of the insurance business then broadened to cover fire risks, motor insurance, and workmen's compensation, while war risk coverage helped ensure that the economy continued to function during the 1940s and 1950s. After 1957, the social and political environment of independent Malaysia offered new directions for the insurance industry. A Matter of Risk shows how insurance companies established themselves in an unfamiliar environment, marketed new products, responded to diverse demands, and safeguarded market share and profit against competition. Local firms faced a major challenge as overseas insurance companies moved from agency offices to setting up of branches, taking over or collaborating with existing companies, and eventually incorporating themselves as local companies. The study looks at the role of tariff associations and insurance trade organisations such as the Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (Malaysian General Insurance Association) in maintaining order in the industry through self-regulation.


We report pure formic acid-mediated liquefaction of chitin for the first time. Formic acid exhibited a remarkable ability in the functionalization and depolymerization of ball-milled chitin as well as proto-chitin in raw shrimp shells. Up to 60% combined yield of a series of structurally identified monomeric products was obtained after reaction at 100 °C for 12 h. The product stream could also converge to a single compound, 5-(formyloxymethyl)furfural (FMF), in 35% yield after a longer reaction time. The product evolution was monitored by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and the key finding is that the liquefaction involves several major chemical events in the following sequence: (1) the process starts with partial formylation of the hydroxyl groups in chitin side chains generating soluble polymeric derivatives; (2) formic acid catalyzes polymer chain breakage in a non-conventional, non-hydrolytic pathway forming dehydrated monomers and oligomers; (3) as formylation continues, water accumulates in the system, which induces more monomer and oligomer generation via hydrolysis, and the formation of rehydrated products. As such, water is constantly generated via formylation and subsequently consumed in hydrolysis and rehydration, making the process a self-sustained one.


A successful Internet of things (IoT) environment requires standardization that contains interoperability, compatibility, reliability, and e"ectiveness of the operations on a global scale. e rapid growth of the IoT causes a sharp growth of data. Enormous amounts of networking sensors are continuously collecting and transmitting data to be stored and processed in the cloud. Such data can be environmental data, geographical data, astronomical data, logistic data, and so on. Mobile devices, transportation facilities, public facilities, and home appliances are the primary data acquisition equipment in IoT. e volume of such data will surpass the capacities of the IT architectures and infrastructure of existing enterprises and, due to real-time analysis character, will also greatly impact the computing capacity. Management of these increasingly growing data is a challenge for the community in general. Due to the generation of big data by IoT, the existing data-processing capacity of IoT is becoming ine"ective, and it is imperative to incorporate big data technologies to promote the development of IoT. It is important to understand that the success of IoT lies upon the e"ective incorporation of big data analytics. e widespread deployment of IoT also gives a challenge to big data community to propose new techniques since both big data and IoT are interdependent themselves. On the one hand, the widespread deployment of IoT provides data both on quantity and on category, thus providing the opportunity for the application and development of big data; on the other hand, the incorporation of big data analytics in IoT simultaneously accelerates the research advances and business models of IoT. is special issue provides some exciting papers in this area covering topics like the fault tolerant mechanism for big data applications using the cloud, hybrid parallel load-balancing algorithm for big data application, privacy-preserving service recommendation over sparse data, and genetic algorithm for the coevolution of meteorological data in the industrial Internet of things.


As a result of net loss (or gain) of charge to the substrate, the signal component at the output of a bucket-brigade circuit is subject to a direct-voltage shift which reduces the dynamic range of the device. Compensation for such level-shifting (of either polarity) can be provided by means of single additional m.o.s. devices placed at suitable intervals along the delay line.


The total zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) is an important parameter of the atmosphere and directly or indirectly reflects the weather processes and variations. This paper presents a hardware and software complex for continuous measurements and prediction of atmospheric thermodynamics and radiowaves refraction index. The main part is a network of ground-based spatially separated GPS-GLONASS receivers, which allows the remote sensing zenith tropospheric delay. GPS-Derived Zenith Tropospheric Delay shows the day to day variation and mesoscale spatial and temporal variability. Comparison with the numerical weather reanalysis fields and solar photometer measurements showed agreement with the relative deviation of less than 10%. Hardware-software complex includes the numerical model of the atmosphere on a computational cluster. A variational assimilation system was used to examine the comparative impact of including satellite derived total zenith tropospheric delay from GPS and GLONASS ground observations. Preliminary results show that the initial field of radiowaves refraction index was improved by assimilating the satellite derived ZTD.


Purpose: To develop and evaluate the impact of a program of sectional recreational aerobics classes, taking into account the differentiation of physical loads in female students of different motor ages. Materials and Methods. Participants: In the ascertaining experiment, 145 second-year female students were examined, in the formative experiment – 42 female students. The following indicators were measured: biological age (years) using V. P. Voitenko's method (1991), motor age (years) and the general level of physical conditions (points), heart rate (bpm), heart rate recovery time after 20 squats in 30 s (min, s), the level of physical health (points), physical activity index (c. u.), the level of general physical working capacity (PWC170, kgm ∙ min-1); VO2 max (ml ∙ kg ∙ min-1) – maximal oxygen consumption. The level of motor qualities development: 2,000 m run (min, s), 4×9 m shuttle run (s), standing long jump (cm), sit-ups in 1 min (times), push-ups (times), seated forward bend (cm). Results. The study developed and tested an experimental program of recreational aerobics classes, taking into account a differentiated approach to dosing physical loads in female students of different motor ages. Data factorization revealed a rational combination of means for developing motor qualities: strength endurance – 15.88%, dynamic strength – 12.86%, speed and strength endurance – 8.72%, static endurance – 17.87%, flexibility – 12.69%, speed abilities – 14.66%, and coordination abilities – 17.32%. The study found a moderate negative correlation between motor age and the level of physical health (r = -0.68 at p < 0.01). Three levels of motor age with respect to the levels of physical health were identified. Conclusions. Taking into account female students' motor age during recreational aerobics classes ensures optimal motor activity and increases the level of physical fitness.


In this Activity, students make slurries of breakfast cereal and water and use a magnetic wand to collect elemental iron filings that are present in some cereals. They determine the mass of iron collected and then calculate the "recommended daily allowance"(RDA) in each cereal. An extension uses qualitative tests to confirm that the material collected is actually iron. This Activity connects chemistry to an item that students probably see (and eat!) often. Many students will find it surprising that metallic filings are present in a food item. The Activity can lead to a discussion of why iron is/is not used in food items in this form. Instructors can also discuss biochemical issues—what happens to iron in the body, why iron is a crucial nutrient, and the definition of RDA.


AIM
The aim of this review is to quantify the prevalence and type of malocclusion among children and adolescents during the different stages of dentition worldwide.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Recent studies (from 2009 to 2019), published in Medline, Web of Science and Embase and orthodontic text-books have been comprehensively reviewed herein. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using STROBE criteria.

RESULTS
After screening 450 records and analysing 284 relevant full-text publications, 77 studies were included in this review. A good degree of evidence was obtained due to the medium-high methodological quality level of included studies. The worldwide prevalence of malocclusion was 56% (95% CI: 11-99), without differences in gender. The highest prevalence was in Africa (81%) and Europe (72%), followed by America (53%) and Asia (48%). The malocclusion prevalence score did not change from primary to permanent dentition with a common score of 54%. Malocclusion traits such as Angle's classes, overjet, overbite, and asymmetrical midline shift essentially did not change their prevalence during different dentitions. Conversely, traits such as cross-bite and diastema reduced their prevalence during permanent dentition, while scissor-bite and dental crowding increased their scores.

CONCLUSION
The worldwide high prevalence of malocclusion and its early onset during childhood should induce policymakers as well as paediatric physicians and dentists to devise policies and adopt clinical strategies for preventing malocclusion since younger children's ages.


The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) has the potential to produce galaxy redshift surveys which
will be competitive with other state of the art cosmological experiments in the next decade. In this
chapter we summarise what capabilities the first and the second phases of the SKA will be able
to achieve in its current state of design. We summarise the different cosmological experiments
which are outlined in further detail in other chapters of this Science Book. The SKA will be
able to produce competitive Baryonic Oscillation (BAOs) measurements in both its phases. The
first phase of the SKA will provide similar measurements in optical and IR experiments with
completely different systematic effects whereas the second phase being transformational in terms
of its statistical power. The SKA will produce very accurate Redshift Space Distortions (RSD)
measurements, being superior to other experiments at lower redshifts, due to the large number
of galaxies. Cross correlations of the galaxy redshift data from the SKA with radio continuum
surveys and optical surveys will provide extremely good calibration of photometric redshifts as
well as extremely good bounds on modifications of gravity. Basing on a Principle Component
Analysis (PCA) approach, we find that the SKA will be able to provide competitive constraint
on dark energy and modified gravity models. Due to the large area covered the SKA it will be a
transformational experiment in measuring physics from the largest scales such as non-Gaussian
signals from fnl . Finally, the SKA might produce the first real time measurement of the redshift
drift. The SKA will be a transformational machine for cosmology as it grows from an early Phase
1 to its full power.


During periods of predation risk, prey adopt antipredator behaviours to maximise chances of survival, such as increased vigilance, reduced foraging time, shifting to safe habitat, and group formation. To effectively balance resource acquisition and antipredator behavior, prey animals make use of cues within their environment that provide them accurate information about the realistic threat of predation. Using camera traps, we tested vigilance and feeding behavioural responses of two naturally occurring ungulate species roe deer and moose to cues from naturally occurring brown bear and novel Amur tiger predators. We found that roe deer and moose vigilance and feeding behaviours were not affected by either visual or olfactory cues from predators, suggesting that ungulates in this system do not respond differently to novel predator cues. There are a number of potential explanations for this surprising lack of response to any predator cues: a) habituation to uninformative cues is important; b) ungulates might have relied more heavily on other cue types, such as auditory cues, or cues in combination; and, c) constraints on dispersal and/or resources may result in prey being forced to remain in high risk food patches, and continued prioritization of feeding over vigilance. We therefore, recommend that in the future studies regarding cues should involve a combination of cues at a similar location to increase predation risk to the animals to maximise prey response. To our knowledge, this is the first study to lay out the foundation of the ecological influences of captive Amur tiger on prey behaviors in the wild environment.


Privacy researchers have suggested various granular audience control techniques for users to manage the access to their disclosed information on social network sites. However, it is unclear how users adopt and utilize such techniques in daily use and how these techniques may impact social interactions with others over time. In this study, we examine users' experience during everyday use of granular audience control techniques in WeChat, one of the most popular social network applications in China. Through an interview study with 24 WeChat users, we find that users adjust their configurations and develop rationales for these configurations over time. They also perceive mixed impacts of WeChat's privacy settings on their information disclosure and social interactions, which brings new challenges to privacy design. We discuss the implications of these findings and make suggestions for the future design of privacy settings in SNSs.


This article uses nationally representative panel survey data from Malawi and Zambia to estimate the factors affecting a smallholder farm household's decision to participate in land rental markets as either a tenant or a landlord. We also estimate how land rental market participation influences various measures of household income and welfare. We find that land rental markets in both Malawi and Zambia promote efficiency by transferring land from less able to more able farmers. Land rental markets in Malawi promote equity by transferring land relatively labor-poor to labor-rich households, and in both countries we find evidence that land markets transfer land from land-rich to land-poor households. In both countries, we find evidence that renting in land has a positive effect on household income and reduces the probability of the household being in poverty. However, when we consider the full cost of renting in land, the positive impacts are much lower.


The most frequent cause of motorcycle accidents involves another vehicle violating the motorcycle's right-of-way at an intersection. In addition to detection errors, the misperception of the approaching motorcycle's speed and time-to-arrival is another driver error that may account for these accidents (e.g., Horswill et al., 2005). This misperception has been shown to be related to the small size of the motorcycle and the small angular velocity when it is approaching. In two experiments we tested the impact of different motorcycle headlight configurations in various ambient lighting conditions (daytime, dusk and nighttime). The participants drove the driving simulator and had to turn left across a line of vehicles composed of motorcycles and cars. The motorcycles were equipped with either a "standard" front light, a "horizontal configuration" (additionally to the standard front light, two lights were appended on the rear view mirrors so as to visually increase the horizontal dimension of the motorcycle), a "vertical configuration" (one light on the rider helmet and two lights on the fork were added to the standard front light so as to increase the vertical dimension of the motorcycle), or a "combined" configuration (combining the horizontal and vertical configurations). The findings indicated that in nighttime conditions both the "vertical" and "combined" configurations significantly increased the gap car drivers accepted towards motorcycles when compared with the standard configuration, and that the accepted gaps did not significantly differ from those accepted towards cars. The advantage of the vertical and combined configurations showed up especially when the approach speed of the motorcycle was high. A similar pattern appeared in dusk conditions, whereas benefits were less pronounced in daytime conditions. Results will be discussed with respect to a possible applications on motorcycles.


Abstract
This chapter evaluates the readiness of the higher education system to contribute to the competitiveness of African countries in the knowledge economy. Using institutions of higher learning in Kenya and Uganda as case studies, the study demonstrates that the higher education system in Africa is ill-equipped to fulfill the role of knowledge production for the advancement of African economies. The chapter proposed promising ways through which higher education in the region can play a more fulfilling role to the global knowledge economy through the formation of relevant skills for the growth of African economies. In an era where knowledge assets are accorded more importance than capital and labor assets, and where the economy relies on knowledge as the key engine of economic growth, this chapter argues that higher education institutions in Africa can assist in tackling the continent's challenges through research in knowledge creation, dissemination, and utilization for improved productivity. These institutions need to engage in design-driven innovation in the emerging knowledge economy. To enhance their contributions toward human capital development and knowledge-intensive economies in the region, it is imperative to employ public-private initiatives to bridge and address various challenges and gaps facing universities and research institutions in Africa.


Tritium labelled compounds are widely used in the physical and life sciences. The preparation of such compounds is a very important area of chemistry. Although the methods are, on the whole, fairly simple and straightforward, there is still a need for improvement. The same applies as far as the analysis of the tritium distribution is concerned. High resolution 3H NMR spectroscopy of solutions is now a well established technique. However many compounds exist as solids which are either insoluble or sparingly soluble in organic solvents, consequently there is a need to develop high resolution 3H NMR spectroscopy of solids. The thesis therefore consists of four chapters. The first is a review dealing with the properties of tritium, the various labelling methods and tritium nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In the second chapter an account is given of the way in which complex metal tritides and tritiated methyl iodide, an important reagent which enables one to introduce three tritium atoms in a single step and therefore obtain products of very high specific activity, are prepared. In the third chapter an account is given of the synthesis and attempted tritiation of two potential 5-HT re-uptake inhibitors, prior to their use in biological studies. Whilst the synthesis of the two compounds N-[[[l-[(l-bromo-2-naphthalenyl)methyl]-4-piperidinyl]amino]carbonyl]-3-pyridinecarboxamide, and N-[[[l-[(l-bromo-6-fluoro-2-naphthalenyl)methyl] -4-piperidinyl]amino]carbonyl]-3-pyridinecarboxamide, was successful the tritiation procedure led to unforseen difficulties. Finally in the fourth chapter solid state tritium NMR spectroscopy, using a magic angle accessory, was developed and used in the analysis of several tritiated compounds.


Astragalus argaeus is an endemic plant species that is under critical risk of extinction. Here we investigated its population census, breeding system and reproductive success to determine the main factors affecting restricted distribution of this species. According to the results from pollination experiments, A. argaeus was autogamous but benefit from the cross pollination (xenogamous) and the presence of pollinators increases fruit set. The pollen/ovule ratio of A. argaeus was calculated as 3119,which correspond to facultative xenogamy. Reproduction biology data obtained by both methods are quite compatible with each other. Pollen viability and stigma receptivity data showed that both stigma receptivity and pollen viability were high and was no temporal isolation throughout the anthesis. Seed viability of A. argaues was determined as 52%. The low reproductive success of the species could be attributed to low seed viability and germination rates, small population size and variations in season and climate.


SLAng is an XML language for defining service level agreements, the part of a contract between the client and provider of an Internet service that describes the quality attributes that the service is required to possess. We define the semantics of SLAng precisely by modelling the syntax of the language in UML, then relating the language model to a model that describes the structure and behaviour of services. The presence of SLAng elements imposes behavioural constraints on service elements, and the precise definition of these constraints using OCL constitutes the semantic description of the language. We use the semantics to define a notion of SLA compatibility, and an extension to UML that enables the modelling of service situations as a precursor to analysis, implementation and provisioning activities.


The proliferation disrupter (prod) gene of Drosophila melanogaster encodes a novel protein associated with centromeric chromosomal regions that is required for chromatin condensation and cell viability. We have examined the binding of the Prod protein to DNA in vitro. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrate that Prod is a DNA-binding protein that specifically recognizes the 10 bp AGAATAACAT satellite repeat of D.melanogaster. Footprinting experiments show that the protein interacts with a 5-8 bp target sequence in each 10 bp repeat and suggest that it can mediate condensation of this satellite into a superhelix. Gel retardation experiments indicate that Prod does not have a well defined DNA-binding domain and it binds the satellite in a co-operative manner, probably forming Prod multimers. Since Prod localizes to both heterochromatin and euchromatin in vivo, we discuss the possibility that the ability of pre-existing euchromatic proteins to bind DNA in a co-operative manner, might be a prerequisite of satellite compaction and satellite amplification, thereby providing a basic factor in heterochromatin evolution.


A case of long-term survivor 50-year-old man treated for advanced gastric cancer with two liver metastases is described. Patient underwent a total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy and atipic liver resection. After surgery, chemotherapy with PELF achieved a complete clinical response; six month from the fourth cycle, Ca19.9 levels slowly increased until 185 U/mL and a retro-peritoneal lymphadenopathy was detected by US. Three different chemotherapeutic combinations (FOLFOX, FOLFIRI, FOLFOX4) was administrated but two new liver recurrences spread out. From November 2007 until now, patient received 8 CDF cycles and he obtained a complete clinical response supported by persistent negativity of TC-PET scans. The radiological investigations performed after last admission in our Department for jaundice, revealed multiple liver lesions with Ca 19.9 levels of 6.766 U/mL. The patient required placement of metallic biliary endoprosthesis. He is still alive 41 month after primary surgery. We consider this case a successful example of survival increasing by integrated surgery-chemotherapy treatment but also an expression of the failure of current available therapy in the definitive cure for gastric cancer. Metastatic gastric cancer should be considered a disease treatable but not curable.


Large-scale semantic parsing datasets annotated with logical forms have enabled major advances in supervised approaches. But can richer supervision help even more? To explore the utility of fine-grained, lexical-level supervision, we introduce SQUALL, a dataset that enriches 11,276 WIKITABLEQUESTIONS English-language questions with manually created SQL equivalents plus alignments between SQL and question fragments. Our annotation enables new training possibilities for encoderdecoder models, including approaches from machine translation previously precluded by the absence of alignments. We propose and test two methods: (1) supervised attention; (2) adopting an auxiliary objective of disambiguating references in the input queries to table columns. In 5-fold cross validation, these strategies improve over strong baselines by 4.4% execution accuracy. Oracle experiments suggest that annotated alignments can support further accuracy gains of up to 23.9%.


Learners' perceived self-efficacy and beliefs on English language learning are important in education. Taking into consideration the important impact of individual variables on language learning, this study seeks to highlight the relationship between Turkish EFL learners' beliefs about language learning and their sense of self-efficacy. The participants are 210 Turkish EFL undergraduate students whose major is English. The subjects were questioned about their beliefs and self-efficacy as English language learners. The data gathered were analysed quantitatively. The findings demonstrated that EFL students have medium scores in their English self-efficacy and hold the strong belief that motivation factors have a great role on their learning process. Moreover, student's beliefs about language learning are affected by their English selfefficacy. It is recommended that teachers and teacher trainers enhance students' self-efficacy and help students hold correct beliefs about foreign language learning to motivate them. It is expected that the findings of the study will shed light on the relationship between EFL learners' beliefs and self-efficacy and provide guidelines for teachers to help their students become aware of and to evaluate their own beliefs in language learning and English self-efficacy during the teaching of a foreign language.


In machine learning, the selection of a promising model from a potentially large number of competing models and the assessment of its generalization performance are critical tasks that need careful consideration. Typically, model selection and evaluation are strictly separated endeavors, splitting the sample at hand into a training, validation, and evaluation set, and only compute a single confidence interval for the prediction performance of the final selected model. We however propose an algorithm how to compute valid lower confidence bounds for multiple models that have been selected based on their prediction performances in the evaluation set by interpreting the selection problem as a simultaneous inference problem. We use bootstrap tilting and a maxT-type multiplicity correction. The approach is universally applicable for any combination of prediction models, any model selection strategy, and any prediction performance measure that accepts weights. We conducted various simulation experiments which show that our proposed approach yields lower confidence bounds that are at least comparably good as bounds from standard approaches, and that reliably reach the nominal coverage probability. In addition, especially when sample size is small, our proposed approach yields better performing prediction models than the default selection of only one model for evaluation does.


Background: Despite recent progress in profiling of risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD) and prevention and intervention of cardiac diseases, SCD remains a major cause of death. Among women, the incidence of SCD is significant, but lower than in men, particularly in the premenopausal and early postmenopausal years. Possibly, as a consequence of the difference in population burden, the mechanisms and risk markers of SCD are not as well defined for women. The aim of this study was to determine the autopsy findings and causes of death among women in a large SCD population. Additionally, we sought to classify prior ECG characteristics in male and female subjects with SCD. Methods: The Fingesture study has systematically collected clinical and autopsy data from subjects with SCD in Northern Finland between 1998 and 2017. The cohort consists of 5869 subjects with SCD. Previously recorded ECGs were available and analyzed in 1101 subjects (18.8% of total population; and in 25.3% of women). Results: Female subjects with SCD were significantly older than men: 70.1±13.1 years versus 63.5±11.8 years (mean ± standard deviation, P<0.001). The most frequently identified cause of death was ischemic heart disease in both sexes: 71.7% among women versus 75.7% among men, P=0.005. In contrast, women were more likely to have nonischemic cause of SCD than men (28.3% versus 24.3%, P=0.005). The prevalence of primary myocardial fibrosis was higher among women (5.2%, n=64) than in men (2.6%, n=120; P<0.001). Female subjects with SCD were more likely to have normal prior ECG tracings (22.2% versus 15.3% in men, P<0.001). A normal ECG was even more common among nonischemic female subjects with SCD (27.8% versus 16.2% in men, P=0.009). However, ECG markers of left ventricular hypertrophy, with or without repolarization abnormalities, were more common among women (8.2%; 17.9%) than in men (4.9%; 10.6%, P=0.036; P<0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Women were considerably older at the time of SCD and more commonly had nonischemic causes. Women were also more likely to have a prior normal ECG than men, but an increased marker for SCD risk based on ECG criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy with repolarization abnormalities was more commonly observed in women.


n Attendance Information Systems at the National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia (NPIC) using a conventional system, the use of paper, they can manipulate the data and this is certainly not efficient process. We want to create a new breakthrough for attendance with a computerized system at the National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia (NPIC). Development of Information Technology and its current popularity is android. Android is a Linux-based operating system specifically designed touch screen on a mobile device such as a smart phone or tablet computer. Android is not only used as a cell phone in general but is now being used for other purposes, such as information search, social media, games and more. Therefore, to facilitate the making of this application we use the method of fingerprint, with the stage of identification of needs, the development of fingerprints, web hosting behavior, the behavior of the software, software testing and implementing into android. So we intend to design a "Attendance Checking System of the National Polytechnic Institute of Cambodia (Using Android)", to facilitate teachers and staff recapitulate attendance data and the system can be accessed by parents / guardians to facilitate the process of monitoring the activities of lecturing and student.
n
Keywords: Android, Attendance Student, fingerprint, Web Hosting


In the Largemyd mouse, dystroglycan is incompletely glycosylated and thus cannot bind its extracellular ligands, causing a muscular dystrophy that is usually lethal in early adulthood. We show that the Largemyd mutation alters the composition and organization of the sarcolemma of fast‐twitch skeletal muscle fibers in young adult mice. Costameres at the sarcolemma of the tibialis anterior muscle of Largemyd mice contain reduced levels of several membrane cytoskeletal proteins, including dystrophin and β‐spectrin. In the quadriceps, longitudinally oriented costameric structures tend to become thickened and branched. More strikingly, proteins of the dystrophin complex present between costameres in controls are absent from Largemyd muscles. We propose that the absence of the dystrophin complex from these regions destabilizes the sarcolemma of the Largemyd mouse and thereby contributes to the severity of its muscular dystrophy. Thus, the positioning of sarcolemmal proteins may have a profound effect on the health of skeletal muscle. Muscle Nerve, 2004


The recently proposed SNLI-VE corpus for recognising visual-textual entailment is a large, real-world dataset for fine-grained multimodal reasoning. However, the automatic way in which SNLI-VE has been assembled (via combining parts of two related datasets) gives rise to a large number of errors in the labels of this corpus. In this paper, we first present a data collection effort to correct the class with the highest error rate in SNLI-VE. Secondly, we re-evaluate an existing model on the corrected corpus, which we call SNLI-VE-2.0, and provide a quantitative comparison with its performance on the non-corrected corpus. Thirdly, we introduce e-SNLI-VE, which appends human-written natural language explanations to SNLI-VE-2.0. Finally, we train models that learn from these explanations at training time, and output such explanations at testing time.


INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected mental health.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate Mexican population mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic by measuring symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety and insomnia, as well as resilience.

METHODS
Cross-sectional, descriptive, observational study. A survey was carried out to collect sociodemographic data, and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS 21), Athens Insomnia Scale and the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14) were applied. Central tendency and dispersion measures were obtained for quantitative variables and frequencies for qualitative variables. The chi-square test was used for bivariate analysis; alpha level was 0.05.

RESULTS
1,667 individuals with a mean age of 33.78 ± 10.79 years were analyzed. On DASS 21, a mean of 9.7 points (normal) was found, as well as 7.10 for anxiety (normal) and 6.73 for depression (normal). On Athens Insomnia Scale, a mean of 9.33 points (moderate alteration), and on the RS-14 scale, 69.13 points (high resilience) were obtained.

CONCLUSIONS
Symptoms' intensity was lower than expected in comparison with that recorded in other populations, probably due to the high levels of resilience of the Mexican population.


Image relighting has emerged as a problem of significant research interest inspired by augmented reality applications. Physics-based traditional methods, as well as black box deep learning models, have been developed. The existing deep networks have exploited training to achieve a new state of the art; however, they may perform poorly when training is limited or does not represent problem phenomenology, such as the addition or removal of dense shadows. We propose a model which enriches neural networks with physical insight. More precisely, our method generates the relighted image with new illumination settings via two different strategies and subsequently fuses them using a weight map (w). In the first strategy, our model predicts the material reflectance parameters (albedo) and illumination/geometry parameters of the scene (shading) for the relit image (we refer to this strategy as intrinsic image de- composition (IID)). The second strategy is solely based on the black box approach, where the model optimizes its weights based on the ground-truth images and the loss terms in the training stage and generates the relit output directly (we refer to this strategy as direct). While our proposed method applies to both one-to-one and any-to-any relighting problems, for each case we introduce problem- specific components that enrich the model performance: 1) For one-to-one relighting we incorporate normal vectors of the surfaces in the scene to adjust gloss and shadows accordingly in the image. 2) For any-to-any relighting, we propose an additional multiscale block to the architecture to enhance feature extraction. Experimental results on the VIDIT 2020 and the VIDIT 2021 dataset (used in the NTIRE 2021 relighting challenge) reveals that our proposal can outperform many state-of-the-art methods in terms of well- known fidelity metrics and perceptual loss.


ABSTRACT To cost-efficiently produce biofuels, new methods are needed to convert lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. One promising approach is to degrade biomass using cellulosomes, which are surface-displayed multicellulase-containing complexes present in cellulolytic Clostridium and Ruminococcus species. In this study we created cellulolytic strains of Bacillus subtilis that display one or more cellulase enzymes. Proteins containing the appropriate cell wall sorting signal are covalently anchored to the peptidoglycan by coexpressing them with the Bacillus anthracis sortase A (SrtA) transpeptidase. This approach was used to covalently attach the Cel8A endoglucanase from Clostridium thermocellum to the cell wall. In addition, a Cel8A-dockerin fusion protein was anchored on the surface of B. subtilis via noncovalent interactions with a cell wall-attached cohesin module. We also demonstrate that it is possible to assemble multienzyme complexes on the cell surface. A three-enzyme-containing minicellulosome was displayed on the cell surface; it consisted of a cell wall-attached scaffoldin protein noncovalently bound to three cellulase-dockerin fusion proteins that were produced in Escherichia coli. B. subtilis has a robust genetic system and is currently used in a wide range of industrial processes. Thus, grafting larger, more elaborate minicellulosomes onto the surface of B. subtilis may yield cellulolytic bacteria with increased potency that can be used to degrade biomass.


ABSTRACT Hand telerehabilitation currently has limitations for accurate and remote assessment of range of motion (ROM) in small finger joints. 'DIGITS' application utilises the front smartphone camera to measure finger ROM in a reliable and rapid assessment protocol. Our initial beta-phase testing examined the consistency of our software measurements to in-person goniometry. 6 to 9 degrees of difference existed between the smartphone application recorded data versus the in-person measurements. This range is within acceptable 7 to 9 degree tolerance for interrater goniometry measurements. The effect of environmental factors such as hand distance, lightings and hand orientation was evaluated. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.98–0.98 for finger extension and 0.78–0.81 for finger flexion recorded across different environmental conditions. Overall, 'DIGITS' provides an augmented reality tool to generate reliable finger ROM tracking for hand telerehabilitation. 'DIGITS' has the potential to transform hand therapy and improve our knowledge of hand pathology recovery.


We present a brief review of 42 collaborative visualization systems, grouped into four application areas: collaborative problem-solving environments, virtual reality environments, multi-player online games and multi-user enabling of single user applications. The systems are then compared by five attributes: number of simultaneous users, user access control, communication architecture, type of transmitted data and user synchronization. We review the characteristic properties of each application area, overall trends in characteristics and recommend improvements for future systems. The taxonomy of visualization and accompanying bibliography are available on-line via the RAVE project pages by Grimstead, I.J., (2005), with on-line references hyper-linked where available.


It is a great honor to introduce myself as the new Co-Editor of the American Journal of Islam and Society. Developing the future of this journal is a considerable intellectual trust that I can only envisage as a collective effort to be undertaken with the journal's excellent editorial team. Under Dr. Ovamir Anjum's editorial leadership in the last few years, the journal established a very successful trajectory, combining high academic quality and timely treatment of topics of interest to diverse communities of readers.In this introductory note, I would like to begin by expressing my commitment to the vision behind the recent name change from the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences to the American Journal of Islam and Society. The new name captures the multidisciplinarity of the journal's current content. This multidisciplinarity is reflected too in the editorial team's varied areas of expertise, to which I bring my primary academic interest in Qur'anic and tafsīr studies; my work and experiences in developing Islamic Studies as a subject in its own right in Britain, which led to my involvement in founding and launching the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS); and my more recent work on Islam and Muslims in Britain. Some common threads run across these different academic interests and activities, but one mode in which they have significantly intersected for me is through questions of gender, both conceptually and institutionally. It is this last aspect of my work that I am keen to draw upon as Co-Editor of the journal.
Shuruq Naguib, Co-Editor, American Journal of Islam and SocietyLecturer, Department of Philosophy, Politics, and ReligionLancaster University, Lancaster, UK
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This descriptive study of millions of US Facebook users documents "friending" and communication patterns, exploring parent-child relationships across a variety of life stages and gender combinations. Using statistical techniques on 400,000 posts and comments, we identify differences in how parents talk to their children (giving advice, affection, and reminders to call) compared to their other friends, and how they address their adult sons and daughters (talking about grandchildren and health concerns, and linguistically treating them like peers) compared to their teenage children. Parents and children have 20-30 mutual friends on the site, 19% of whom are relatives. Unlike previous findings on family communication, interaction frequency on Facebook does not decrease with geographic distance.


textabstractThis thesis, is compiled of publications on reflex sympathetic
dystrophy (RSD) or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type 1
(CRPS 1), as it was renamed by the committee on taxonomy of the
International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). It is a
puzzling syndrome both from a clinical point of view as well as in
the perspective of basic pain science. Therapies rendered may vary
and include physical therapy, occupational therapy, physical
immobilization, surgical or chemical sympathectomies,
pharmacotherapy and psychological treatment. A well accepted
treatment algorithm is lacking and treatment regimens hardly seem
driven by the progress made in basic pain science. The leading
thread of this thesis is the concept of CRPS 1 as a neuropathic pain
syndrome of unknown etiology involving multiple and timedependent
mechanisms. It is discussed that besides the affected
extremity also spinal and suprapinal structures may become
involved. The scope of the publications varies from clinical studies
on pain management performed in the context of an
interdisciplinary rehabilitation team, to experimental studies on
motor impairments and immunology. The clinical and experimental
work was at least partly performed before the introduction of the
t= complex regional pain syndrome 1. It is for this reason that
the reader may encounter the t= reflex sympathetic dystrophy in
some chapters.


Summary Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease; there is growing evidence that it is a hepatic manifestation of a metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of metabolic risk factors among patients with NAFLD. Material/Methods Outpatients with NAFLD were recruited into the study. Family physicians recorded patients' demographic and anthropometric data, leisure-time physical activity, concomitant diseases, and pharmacological treatment for NAFLD into standardized Case Report Forms. Results In total, data on 798 patients were analyzed. Most patients were women and they were older than the men (mean age, 60.2±9.6 vs. 54.5±11.4 years; p<0.05). Metabolic risk factors (obesity, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia) were highly prevalent in the study patients, and these factors were more prevalent among women. There were no differences in the mean Body Mass Index (BMI), in the proportion of men or women with BMI >30 kg/m2 or central obesity in the 2 age groups (≤60 years and >60 years). Hypertension and diabetes were more prevalent among older men and women. Dyslipidemia was more common among older women. The level of leisure-time physical activity was lower in women and in older patients. The most frequently prescribed pharmacological agents were cytoprotective agents, lipid-lowering drugs, and antioxidants. Conclusions Metabolic risk factors were highly prevalent among patients with NAFLD. Obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were more prevalent among women. The differences in the prevalence of hypertension seemed to be influenced by older age of women.


In this article we will focus on counselling techniques that are still an area of excellence of social practice, a fundamental methodological dimension. Philosophical counselling proposes to transform life by rediscovering the interrogative and interpretive dimension of human consciousness and apply it to the everyday experience. It is an experience of freedom transposed from metaphysical into the social plan. Philosophical thinking out of the transcendence space reconfigures immediacy "connecting it" to the "world of ideas" and bringing individual's authenticity. Appreciative approach to philosophy is based on the works of David Cooperrider on "Appreciative Inquiry", a discursive pragmatic form that replaces the focus on the problem with focusing on the successful elements of previous experience of individuals, groups, organizations or communities. Principles of appreciative philosophical counselling aim partnership between all participant in philosophical counselling. This experience can be integrated with the philosophical discourse having as referential maieutic and Platonic dialogues.


We propose a new statistic deformable model that we call discriminant snake for 3D reconstruction in volumetric images. Our discriminant snake generalises the classical snake attracted by edge points; it deforms due to a generalised contour representation. The snake selects and classifies image features by a parametric classifier and each snaxel deforms to minimise the dissimilarity between the learned and found image features inside the feature space. We apply our statistic snake to segment anatomical organs and the results are very encouraging.


Based on the principle of micro electrical discharge machining (EDM), a reversible machining method is proposed, which can achieve depositing or removing selectively metal material for the fabrication of micro structures. It is easy to transform the machining process from deposition to removal in one machining system. The characteristics of the deposited material show that the components of deposited material are almost the same as those of the tool electrode, and the metallurgical bonding has formed on the interface between the deposited material and the base. Moreover, the deposited material has well machinability in different micro EDM selective removal process, including micro EDM die-sinking and micro EDM milling. As a result, a micro square column with 0.1mm in side length, 0.88mm in height and a micro cylinder with 0.14mm in diameter, 1.18mm in height were fabricated by using the micro reversible EDM process.


Background The study aimed to evaluate trends in the prevalence and correlates of risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs; low physical activity, insufficient fruit/vegetable intake, current tobacco use, problem alcohol use, diabetes, hypertension, increased total cholesterol, and obesity) in Bhutan. Methods Three repeat cross-sectional Bhutan STEPS surveys (N = 9,281) in 2007, 2014, and 2019 were analyzed. Results The proportion of people with 3–8 NCD risk factors significantly decreased from 62.8% in 2007 to 32.6% in 2019 (p < 0.001), and the mean number of NCD risk factors significantly decreased from 3.0 in 2007 to 2.1 in 2019 (p < 0.001). In linear regression analyses by study year, older age (p < 0.001) was positively associated with eight NCD risk factors across all study years. Furthermore, male subjects were negatively (p < 0.01) and positively (p < 0.001) associated with eight NCD risk factors, respectively. Higher education levels (p < 0.05) were positively associated with eight NCD risk factors in 2007 and negatively associated with eight NCD risk factors in 2019 (p < 0.05). Employment (p < 0.001) and urban residence (p < 0.001) were positively associated with eight risk factors for NCD in 2019, while urban residence (p < 0.001) was negatively associated with eight NCD risk factors in 2014. Conclusion The prevalence of eight NCD risk factors decreased in Bhutan over the past 13 years. Inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, problem alcohol use, and hypertension increased, current tobacco use, low physical activity, obesity, diabetes, and elevated total cholesterol decreased from 2007 to 2019. Several factors associated for eight and each individual NCD risk factor were identified, which can help guide interventions.


We present a telemedicine application, called the Medical Environment for Diagnostic Images (MEDI), that provides remote medical care services while taking advantage of the broadcast and multicast capabilities and the wide-band capacity of satellite systems. We developed the application in an open environment (Java) using a client-server architecture based on TCP/IP. We evaluated the performance of the application on satellite connections.


Serverless platforms facilitate transparent resource elasticity and fine-grained billing, making them an attractive choice for data analytics. We find that while server-centric analytics frameworks typically optimize for job completion time (JCT), resource utilization and isolation via inter-job scheduling policies, serverless analytics requires optimizing for JCT and cost of execution instead, introducing a new scheduling problem. We present Caerus, a task scheduler for serverless analytics frameworks that employs a fine-grained NIMBLE scheduling algorithm to solve this problem. NIMBLE efficiently pipelines task executions within a job, minimizing execution cost while being Pareto-optimal between cost and JCT for arbitrary analytics jobs. To this end, NIMBLE models a wide range of execution parameters — pipelineable and non-piplineable data dependencies, data generation, consumption and processing rates, etc. — to determine the ideal task launch times. Our evaluation results show that in practice, Caerus is able to achieve both optimal cost and JCT for queries across a wide range of analytics workloads.


The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence and incidence of periodontal disease and its relationship with non-insulin-dependent diabetesmellitus (NIDDM). Two thousand two hundred seventy-three Pima Indians (949 men, 1324 women) aged ≥15 yr from the Gila River Indian Community in Arizonawere examined between 1983 and 1989. Periodontal disease was diagnosed by tooth loss and by percentage of interproximal crestal alveolar bone loss ascertained from panoramic radiography. Subjects with little or no evidence of periodontal disease were classified as nondiseased. Thus, the incidence of advanced periodontal disease was determined. The age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of periodontal disease at first dental examination was 60% in subjects with NIDDM and 36% in those without. Twenty-two new cases developed in a subset of 701 subjects (272 men, 429 women) aged 15–54 yr who initially had little or no evidence of periodontal disease and had at least one additional dental examination. The incidence of periodontal disease in this group was similar in men and women (incidence-rate ratio 1.0, 95% confidence interval [Cl] 0.5-1.9, controlled for age and diabetes). Higher age predicted a greater incidence of periodontal disease (χ2 = 30.6, df = 3, P < 0.001, controlled for sex and diabetes). The rate of periodontal disease in subjects with diabetes was 2.6 times (95% Cl 1.0–6.6, controlled for age and sex) that observed in those without. Although periodontal disease was common in nondiabetic Pima Indians, in whom most of the incident cases occurred, diabetes clearly conferred a substantially increased risk. Thus, periodontal disease should be considered a nonspecific complication of NIDDM.


Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have recently emerged as an important target for therapeutic intervention in cancer and potentially other human diseases. By modulating the acetylation status of histones, histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) alter the transcription of genes involved in cell growth, maturation, survival and apoptosis, among other processes. Early clinical results suggest a potentially useful role for HDACIs in the treatment of certain forms of lymphoma (e.g., cutaneous T cell lymphoma) and acute leukaemia. An unresolved question is how HDACIs induce cell death in tumour cells. Recent studies suggest that acetylation of nonhistone proteins may play an important role in the biological effects of this class of compounds, and may explain lack of correlation between histone acetylation and induction of cell death by HDACIs in some circumstances. Recently, attention has focussed on the effects of HDACIs on disruption of co-repressor complexes, induction of oxidative injury, upregulation of the expression of death receptors, generation of lipid second messengers such as ceramide, interference with the function of chaperone proteins and modulation of the activity of NF-κB as critical determinants of lethality. Aside from providing critical insights into the mechanism of action of HDACIs in neoplastic disease, these findings may provide a foundation for the rational development of combination studies, involving HDACIs in combination with either conventional cytotoxic drugs as well as more novel targeted agents.


This study applies Hobfoll's notion of loss spirals to argue for a reciprocal relationship between role stress and 2 of its most commonly studied consequences: exhaustion and satisfaction. By means of structural equation modeling and a cross-lagged design of 116 business managers, the researchers found support for a relationship between role stress and exhaustion. They also found that satisfaction influences role stress, a relationship that the existing literature has not examined. The study contributes a more complex understanding of the relationship between role stress and its modeled outcomes than has been achieved previously.


Failures that cause logic circuits to malfunction at the desired clock rate and thus violate timing specifications are currently receiving much attention. Such failures are modeled as delay faults. They facilitate delay testing. The use of delay fault models in VLSI test generation is very likely to gain industry acceptance in the near future. In this paper, we review delay fault models, discuss their classifications and examine fault coverage metrics that have been proposed in the recent literature. A comparison between delay fault models, namely, gate delay, transition, path delay, line delay and segment delay faults, shows their benefits and limitations. Various classifications of path delay fault models, that have received the most attention in recent years, are reviewed. We believe an understanding of delay fault models is essential in today's VLSI design and test environment.


Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate secondary and high school teacher perceptions about integrating educational computer games into their lessons. The participants consist of teachers who work at the 26 different secondary and high schools in Turkey. Two survey instruments were used to collect data from 581 participants. Data was analyzed using t-test, ANOVA test, Chi-square. Content analysis was also conducted to analyze the interview data. The findings revealed teachers who use educational games in their classes are more positive than the teachers who do not incorporate educational games in their lessons. Furthermore, secondary school teachers were more positive towards integrating educational games in their courses than high schools teachers. While teachers expressed their willing to use educational computer games in their courses, the negative aspects of computer games come to the fore according to the teacher perceptions.


Expanded triplet repeats have been identified as the genetic basis for a growing number of neurological and skeletal disorders. To examine the contribution of double-strand break repair to CAG·CTG repeat instability in mammalian systems, we developed zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) that recognize and cleave CAG repeat sequences. Engineered ZFNs use a tandem array of zinc fingers, fused to the FokI DNA cleavage domain, to direct double-strand breaks (DSBs) in a site-specific manner. We first determined that the ZFNs cleave CAG repeats in vitro. Then, using our previously described tissue culture assay for identifying modifiers of CAG repeat instability, we found that transfection of ZFN-expression vectors induced up to a 15-fold increase in changes to the CAG repeat in human and rodent cell lines, and that longer repeats were much more sensitive to cleavage than shorter ones. Analysis of individual colonies arising after treatment revealed a spectrum of events consistent with ZFN-induced DSBs and dominated by repeat contractions. We also found that expressing a dominant-negative form of RAD51 in combination with a ZFN, dramatically reduced the effect of the nuclease, suggesting that DSB-induced repeat instability is mediated, in part, through homology directed repair. These studies identify a ZFN as a useful reagent for characterizing the effects of DSBs on CAG repeats in cells.


The digital filter with complex coefficients finds applications in the digital processing of analytic signals and complex envelopes. A theory is developed for designing such filters based on low-pass analog prototypes and digital design techniques for real filters. An example of a filter designed according to this theory is presented. The relative advantages of real and analytic signal processing are discussed. It is shown that the filtering required by either processing technique requires essentially the same amount of signal operations, which is reasonable in view of the fact that the same amount of information is processed in both classes of filter.


Accurate electromagnetic and thermal analysis is essential for designing wideband radiometer calibration targets as well as for understanding the electromagnetic wave interaction with these highly absorbing structures. To serve this purpose, a three dimensional dispersive finite difference time domain (FDTD) engine has been developed. We present the various aspects associated with this FDTD formulation, including modeling of dispersive lossy media using piecewise linear recursive convolution (PLRC) and application of uniaxial perfectly matched layer (UPML) absorbing boundary condition and symmetry/periodic boundary conditions to provide high accuracy using moderate computational resources. Time domain modeling of the dispersive radar absorbent material is performed by fitting the measured complex permittivity and permeability data to a series of Debye like terms using genetic algorithm (GA) optimization. The broadband reflectivity spectrum of the calibration target is obtained by transient plane wave excitation. The reflectivity spectra of pyramidal calibration targets in the frequency range [6, 200] GHz is obtained and compared to the geometrical optics limit and a finite element solution. The spectrum depends significantly on the height to base ratio and coating thicknesses of the absorbent material.


This paper presents the results of a simulation study on the imaging performance of a bedside cardiac PET system. The proposed system consists of two compact gamma cameras mounted on a mobile gantry, key challenges presented by this imaging context include: detector positioning to obtain sufficient angular sampling, attenuation correction in the absence of transmission images, and control of image noise. The primary aim of this paper was to quantify the extent of reconstructed image artifacts that result from these effects under the anticipated imaging conditions. The simulation studies demonstrated that limited angle acquisition is the primary source of artifacts followed by attenuation effects. Image noise in this context was not a major factor in the reconstructed image quality. Image artifacts resulting in a nearly 50% variation in image intensity in isolated regions of the myocardium could be expected from this imaging system. Such artifacts render the detection of mild myocardial defects highly difficult; however, severe defects should still be detectable with this system, which can offer important diagnostic information for this patient population


Abstract For the last two decades, the Amazon development debate has been torn between attempts to reconcile two rather opposing views of land use: on one hand, a vision of setting aside large tracts of the Amazon forests for conservation purposes (referred hereafter to as The First Way) and, on the other hand, seeking a 'sustainable' resource-intensive development, mostly through agriculture/livestock, energy and mining (referred hereafter to as The Second Way). The decrease of Brazilian Amazon deforestation from 2005 to 2014 (about 75% decline) opens a window of opportunity to conceive a novel sustainable development paradigm: The Amazonia Third Way initiative (A3W). It can represent a new opportunity emerging to protect the Amazon ecosystems and the indigenous and traditional peoples who are their custodians and at the same time develop a vibrant, socially inclusive biodiversity-driven 'green economy' in the Amazon by harnessing Nature's value through the physical, digital and biological technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). 4IR technologies are increasingly harnessing these assets across many industries from pharmaceutical to energy, food, cosmetics, materials and mobility, and making profits. A3W addresses ways to channel to the Amazon the benefits of the 4IR for the creation of bio-industries and local development as it protects the forests.For the last two decades, the Amazon development debate has been torn between attempts to reconcile two rather opposing views of land use: on one hand, a vision of setting aside large tracts of the Amazon forests for conservation purposes (referred hereafter to as The First Way) and, on the other hand, seeking a 'sustainable' resource-intensive development, mostly through agriculture/livestock, energy and mining (referred hereafter to as The Second Way). The decrease of Brazilian Amazon deforestation from 2005 to 2014 (about 75% decline) opens a window of opportunity to conceive a novel sustainable development paradigm: The Amazonia Third Way initiative (A3W). It can represent a new opportunity emerging to protect the Amazon ecosystems and the indigenous and traditional peoples who are their custodians and at the same time develop a vibrant, socially inclusive biodiversity-driven 'green economy' in the Amazon by harnessing Nature's value through the physical, digital and biological technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). 4IR technologies are increasingly harnessing these assets across many industries from pharmaceutical to energy, food, cosmetics, materials and mobility, and making profits. A3W addresses ways to channel to the Amazon the benefits of the 4IR for the creation of bio-industries and local development as it protects the forests.


An optical indicator and a high-speed motion-picture camera capable of operating at the rate of 2,000 frames per second were used to record simultaneously the pressure development and the flame formation in the combustion chamber of the NACA combustion apparatus. Tests were made at engine speeds of 570 and 1,500 r.p.m. The engine-jacket temperature was varied from 100 degrees to 300 degrees F. And the injection advance angle from 13 degrees after top center to 120 degrees before top center. The results show that the course of the combustion is largely controlled by the temperature and pressure of the air in the chamber from the time the fuel is injected until the time at which combustion starts and by the ignition lag. The conclusion is presented that in a compression-ignition engine with a quiescent combustion chamber the ignition lag should be the longest that can be used without excessive rates of pressure rise; any further shortening of the ignition lag decreased the effective combustion of the engine.


This thesis investigates the role of skills and universities in explaining differences in economic performance between firms and regions. The first chapter examines the relationship between university entry and GDP growth between 1950 and 2010 based on new data that combines university entry in 1,500 regions across 78 countries. It finds that a 10% increase in a region's universities is associated with 0.4% higher GDP per capita in that region, with evidence of spillovers to neighbouring regions. Part of the university effect appears to be mediated through increases in human capital and innovation, and we also find evidence that universities shape views on democracy.
Focusing on the UK, the second chapter studies how university growth impacts on local industry composition and productivity using panel data on firms and nearby university enrolments over the period 1997-2016. This spatial analysis reveals that university growth stimulates high-tech start-ups and the effects are stronger for higher quality, research intensive universities and areas of higher initial human capital. Employment effects are more muted, though smaller establishments appear to get larger as universities grow. On average, positive productivity impacts are found only in more high-tech intensive areas. The third chapter provides evidence for a complementarity between modern management practices and higher education using data on manufacturing firms, universities and labour markets across 19 countries. It finds that firms further from universities have lower management scores, even when controlling for a rich set of observables and region fixed
effects. Analysis using estimates of regional skill premia suggests that variation in the price of skills drives these effects.
The fourth chapter examines differences in economic performance across the UK using a variety of data sources and measures. Ten stylised facts are presented which are relevant for policymakers and researchers engaged in the development of industrial strategy in the UK.