The effect of fluorine substitution on the aromaticity of polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAH) is investigated. Magnetically induced current densities, current pathways, and current strengths, which can be used to assess molecular aromaticity, are calculated using the gauge-including magnetically induced current method (GIMIC). The degree of aromaticity of the individual rings is compared to those obtained using calculated nucleus-independent chemical shifts at the ring centers (NICS(0) and NICS(0)(zz)). Calculations of explicitly integrated current strengths for selected bonds show that the aromatic character of the investigated polycyclic hydrocarbons is weakened upon fluorination. In contrast, the NICS(0) values for the fluorinated benzenes increase noteworthy upon fluorination, predicting a strong strengthening of the aromatic character of the arene rings. The integrated current strengths also yield explicit current pathways for the studied molecules. The current pathways of the investigated linear polyacenes, pyrene, anthanthrene, coronene, ovalene, and phenanthro-ovalene are not significantly affected by fluorination. NISC(0) and NICS(0)(zz) calculations provide contradictory degrees of aromaticity of the fused individual ring. Obtained NICS values do not correlate with the current strengths circling around the individual rings.


PURPOSE
To assess cardiac safety and potential cardiac risk factors associated with trastuzumab in the NCCTG N9831 Intergroup adjuvant breast cancer trial.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients with HER2-positive operable breast cancer were randomly assigned to doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide (AC) followed by either weekly paclitaxel (arm A); paclitaxel then trastuzumab (arm B); or paclitaxel plus trastuzumab then trastuzumab alone (arm C). Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was evaluated at registration and 3, 6, 9, and 18 to 21 months.

RESULTS
Of 2,992 patients completing AC, 5.0% had LVEF decreases disallowing trastuzumab (decrease below normal: 2.4%, decrease > 15%: 2.6%). There were 1,944 patients with satisfactory or no LVEF evaluation who proceeded to post-AC therapy. Cardiac events (congestive heart failure [CHF] or cardiac death [CD]): arm A, n = 3 (2 CHF, 1 CD); arm B, n = 19 (18 CHF, 1 CD); arm C, n = 19 (all CHF); 3-year cumulative incidence: 0.3%, 2.8%, and 3.3%, respectively. Cardiac function improved in most CHF cases following trastuzumab discontinuation and cardiac medication. Factors associated with increased risk of a cardiac event in arms B and C: older age (P < .003), prior/current antihypertensive agents (P = .005), and lower registration LVEF (P = .033). Incidence of asymptomatic LVEF decreases requiring holding trastuzumab was 8% to 10%; LVEF recovered and trastuzumab was restarted in approximately 50%.

CONCLUSION
The cumulative incidence of post-AC cardiac events at 3 years was higher in the trastuzumab-containing arms versus the control arm, but by less than 4%. Older age, lower registration LVEF, and antihypertensive medications are associated with increased risk of cardiac dysfunction in patients receiving trastuzumab following AC.


This book describes the advantages of object oriented programming for finite element software development. It explains the overall design philosophy and provides the reader with detailed programming information. The OO approach to finite element programming requires a radically different approach from that used for traditional finite element programming. It highlights the differences and demonstrates the advantages of the OO approach. Sufficient detailed programming information is included in this book to help readers to implement their own OO code or adapt the ideas presented in it.


The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the interpretations of several neuroscientific experiments by Libet, Wegner and Nisbett and Wilson change when we presuppose an anti-essentialistic self.
The debate around free will that is informed by neuroscience is based upon the question whether we are in control of our behaviour. Neuroscientists as Wegner, Lamme and Swaab claim that our brain determines our behaviour. Their claim is based upon experimental data that shows that people ascribe false reasons to their behaviour. Other experiments show that not consciousness, but unconscious processes initiate our behaviour. Therefore the idea of free will is rejected. Among others, Wegner presupposes that the self coincides with consciousness. The self that coincides with consciousness is not tenable. It presupposes a conscious-unconscious dualism and subsequently an inside-outside demarcation. When we acknowledge a difference between short and long-term intentions philosophical and scientific insights show that consciousness can influence unconscious processes and subsequently behaviour.
The conscious-unconscious dualism acknowledges implicitly an idea of essential properties. To combat that view of the self I propose an anti-essentialistic self that is based upon Helmuth Plessner's philosophical anthropology. The anti-essentialistic self entails that the self and free will are not pre-given and have to develop in the interactions a self has with its environment. This will lead to an idea that someone is free when his behaviour corresponds with his long-term intentions in terms of habits, goals and ideals.
The reinterpretation of the neuroscientific experiments show that those experiments do not reject free will. Instead those experiments help us in finding the limits of how our consciousness plays a role in our behaviour. Subsequently such experiments will learn us more about how unconsciousness and consciousness interact.


WATER-REPELLENT soils are characterized by two undesirable physical properties: low
 water infiltration rate, and high runoff. Such soils have been reported in many parts
 of the world under various conditions, however, one of California's real practical
 problems involves soil-water repellency occurring on burned water-sheds. A high percentage
 of the many acres (primarily in southern California) burned over by wildfires every
 year includes soils which repel water. The combination of removing protective vegetation,
 and inducing water repellency causes an extreme erosion hazard.


A literature search shows that robust techniques are rarely used in the animal sciences. Traditionally, normal theory tests are used to determine whether there are significant differences among group means. However, normal theory tests are optimal only if the distribution of error terms is normal and in practice, non-normal distributions are more prevalent. Therefore, in this study, it is aimed to present robust tests based on modified maximum likelihood (MML) estimators for testing the equality of the group means. A real data set about the effect of zeolite and initial weight on feedlot performance of Brown Swiss cattle is the subject of the study. Results showed that the test statistics presented in this study are more powerful than the traditional normal-theory tests. They are also more robust against departures from assumed distribution and outliers.


Prevention of chylous fistulae involves a careful search at the time of surgery for any possible chyle leaks. These should be ligated and the surgeon should be aware of the possible anatomical variations of both the thoracic duct and right lymphatic duct when he is searching for the leak. Treatment of the postoperative chyle fistula consists of elimination of long chain triglycerides from the diet and use of a medium chain triglyceride diet (Portagen), or oral feedings may be discontinued and intravenous fluids used exclusively. The supraclavicular area is treated with aspiration and pressure dressing. If the above measures are unsuccessful then surgical re-exploration is necessary.


The technical institutes of India are seeking to create enough engineering graduates needed by employers. However, the capability to improve the quality of the average Indian engineering graduates has not yet been disclosed. The researchers of this paper suggested a critical model of integrated quality management systems (IQMS) with twenty key elements (IQMS 20-KE), which is nothing more than a package of global management concepts such as ISO 9001: 2015 QMS, ISO 14001: 2015 EMS, ISO 45001 OH & SM, Knowledge Management (KM), Lean Management (LM), 6-σ (DMAIC methodology) and TQM concepts. In general, the outcome of IQMS is to meet customer expectations and improve the work culture of the institution. Efforts have been made to elucidate the applications of IQMS model in the engineering education.


Sensors play a key role in detecting both charged particles and photons for all three frontiers in Particle Physics. The signals from an individual sensor that can be used include ionization deposited, phonons created, or light emitted from excitations of the material. The individual sensors are then typically arrayed for detection of individual particles or groups of particles. Mounting of new, ever higher performance experiments, often depend on advances in sensors in a range of performance characteristics. These performance metrics can include position resolution for passing particles, time resolution on particles impacting the sensor, and overall rate capabilities. In addition the feasible detector area and cost frequently provides a limit to what can be built and therefore is often another area where improvements are important. Finally, radiation tolerance is becoming a requirement in a broad array of devices. We present a status report on a broad category of sensors, including challenges for the future and work in progress to solve those challenges.


The aim of the guide is to investigate the issues that local governments face in tourism management and the practices and approaches that have been adopted to address these issues. An investigation and appreciation of these issues is necessarily the first stage in moving towards more sustainable local tourism management.


This study examined the effect of homework on student commitment, growth and performance over a period of six weeks. The sample included 22 Grade Eight students taking Math every day for 51 minutes. During the first half of the study, the students were assigned extra homework every night, and during the second half of the study the students were not assigned any extra homework. Questionnaires, journals, selfevaluations,records of incomplete assignments and a comparison of marks were used to determine changes in student attitude and performance. The study found that in some situations, homework proved to be a relevant and helpful tool for some students, in other cases, regular homework did not affect the students positively, and in some instances it proved to be a negative influence. As well, an increase in homework caused higher levels of stress among some students that negatively affected their attitude towards class as well as their performance in other subjects. On the other hand, the data could not provide conclusive evidence as to whether the amount of homework affects student marks. In all, it was concluded that the amount of homework was not necessarily as important as the quality of assigned homework and the ability of the students to internalize the experience and make it meaningful to them.


Duckweeds are a monophyletic group of rapidly reproducing aquatic monocots in the Lemnaceae family. Spirodela polyrhiza, the Greater Duckweed, has the largest body plan yet the smallest genome size in the family (1C = 150 Mb). Given their clonal, exponentially fast reproduction, a key question is whether genome structure is conserved across the species in the absence of meiotic recombination. We generated a highly contiguous, chromosome-scale assembly of Spirodela polyrhiza line Sp7498 using Oxford Nanopore plus Hi-C scaffolding (Sp7498_HiC) which is highly syntenic with a related line (Sp9509). Both the Sp7498_HiC and Sp9509 genome assemblies reveal large chromosomal misorientations in a recent PacBio assembly of Sp7498, highlighting the necessity of orthogonal long-range scaffolding techniques like Hi-C and BioNano optical mapping. Shotgun proteomics of Sp7498 verified the expression of ∼2,250 proteins and revealed a high abundance of proteins involved in photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism among other functions. In addition, a strong increase in chloroplast proteins was observed that correlated to chloroplast density. This Sp7498_HiC genome was generated cheaply and quickly with a single Oxford Nanopore MinION flow cell and one Hi-C library in a classroom setting. Combining these data with a mass spectrometry-generated proteome illustrates the utility of duckweed as a model for genomics- and proteomics-based education.


Quantization, or reducing the precision of variables and operations, and pruning, or removing neurons and connections are two popular approaches for improving the efficiency of DNNs. These directions have been pursued largely separately. In this work, we investigate combining DNN quantization and pruning as each of them is pushed to its limits. Specifically, we explore the efficacy of pruning DNNs for inference in the ultralow precision (sub-8 bit) regime. Pruning requires the use of sparse formats to store and access only the non-zero values. We provide analytical expressions for the storage required by these sparse formats. We demonstrate that with decreasing weight precision, the overhead of indexing non-zero locations starts to dominate, greatly diminishing the benefits of pruning. We specifically analyze the compression ratios of two popular sparse formats – Compressed Sparse Column (CSC) and Sparsity Map (Smap) – and demonstrate that they drop significantly, even degrading to <1 (inflation) in some cases. To address this challenge, we make a key observation that the best-performing sparse format varies across different precisions and sparsity levels. Based on this observation, we propose a hybrid compression scheme that dynamically chooses between sparse formats at both the network and layer-level granularities. We further propose a new scheme, compressed Sparsity Map (cSmap), to enhance the performance of hybrid compression. The cSmap scheme improves the Smap scheme by applying compression methods widely used in manufacturing test. Across 6 state-of-the-art Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), the proposed hybrid compression scheme improves the average compression ratio by 18.3% - 34.7% compared to previous approaches.


One out of 13 patients with an acute myocardial infarction is endangered of cardiogenic shock. In addition, acute valvular leakage, shunt vitiae, and acute myocarditis can lead to acute myocardial failure. As a therapeutic option, mechanical assist devices offer cardiac support and hemodynamic stabilization under these circumstances. The following minimal-invasive devices are used in cardiology and intensive care medicine: intra-aortic balloon pulsation (IABP), intra-vascular axial screw pumps, extra-corporal centrifugal pumps with and without additional membrane oxygenator. The IABP improves left ventricular function by a systolic reduction of the after-load, and an increase of diastolic blood pressure dependent on myocardial function. In contrast, axial screw pumps and centrifugal pumps can provide circulatory support independently of myocardial function. Mechanical assist devices can prevent irreversible damage not only by offering a reduction of myocardial work load, but also by improving organ perfusion in cardiogenic shock situations. Another indication for mechanical circulatory support depicts high-risk coronary angioplasty if the left ventricular ejection fraction is severely reduced or the target vessel supplies more than 50 % of vital myocardium. In case of irreversible heart failure, turbine pumps or centrifugal pumps offer a stabilization for the patient's transfer to a cardiac surgery center. They can also be used for bridging to heart transplantation in acute situations. Technical improvements will enhance the use of mechanical assist devices in the near future. Especially the development of portable emergency devices will enrich therapeutic possibilities in cardiology and intensive care medicine.


INTRODUCTION
Septic ovarian venous thrombosis is an uncommon condition. Diagnosis is often not immediately apparent clinically and there are many that mimic this condition. We described an unusual case of septic ovarian vein thrombosis associated with Campylobacter fetus (C. fetus) bacteraemia.

CLINICAL PICTURE
A 46-year-old female presented with fever and acute right loin pain. Right ovarian venous thrombosis was demonstrated on sonography and confirmed with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. C. fetus was isolated from the blood.

TREATMENT AND OUTCOME
The patient was given antibiotics and anticoagulation therapy with good response.

CONCLUSION
Septic ovarian vein thrombosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis in female patients presenting with fever associated with lower abdominal pain. C. fetus bacteraemia also predisposes to thrombophlebitis, including septic ovarian vein thrombosis. When they are diagnosed in a timely manner and treated appropriately, the response is good and potential serious complications, including thromboembolism, and death could be averted. Radiological imaging is useful in the diagnostic work-up of this condition.


Introduction Hydrogel coils have been introduced to efficiently increase the aneurysmal packing volumes which may, in turn, decreases the recurrence rate of the endovasularly treated cerebral aneurysms. There is no definite evidence for this at present, however. Methods This is a retrospective study of our interventionally coiled aneurysms. We have divided these aneurysms into Ruptured and Unruptured aneurysms and each group has been further subdivided into those treated with either Hydrogel or bare platinum coils. Volume fill is based on use of the Angiocalc program. Results In 301 patients, we have treated 354 aneurysms, 180 ruptured and 174 unruptured. We used the platinum coils in 95 ruptured and 87 unruptured aneurysms. The hydrocoated coils were used in 85 ruptured and 87 unruptured aneurysms. The average packing volumes resulted from the platinum coils were 46.37% and 52.36% in the ruptured and unruptured aneurysms respectively while the average packing volumes with hydrogel coils in the corresponding groups were 80.64% and 83.72% respectively. Total occlusion (packing volume = 100%) was achieved in 5 (5.26%) ruptured and 6 (6.9%) unruptured aneurysms treated with non-coated coils while it was achieved in 26 (30.59%) ruptured and 30 (34.48%) unruptured aneurysms treated with hydrocoated coils. Good packing volume (60%) was achieved in 29 (30.53%) ruptured and 31 (35.63%) unruptured aneurysms treated with non-coated coils while it was achieved in 71 (83.53%) ruptured and 80 (91.95%) unruptured aneurysms treated with hydrocoated coils. The overall average volume of aneurysms treated with non-coated coils was 156.75 mm3 with an average packing volume of 49.2% while the overall average volume of the aneurysms treated with coated coils was 349.55 mm3 with an average packing volume of 89.2%. Conclusion Regarding the aneurysmal packing volume, hydrocoils are proved to be more efficient than the conventional bare platinum coils in achieving higher packing densities at our institution. We currently use hydrogel coils for treatment of all coiled patients. Disclosures M. Darwish: None. A. Ku: None. K. Aziz: None. R. Williams: None.


There are libraries full of narrative guides based on practical experience and tips for good leadership. The mere recognition of man as the center of personnel management is insufficient to arrange and evaluate a theory's ethical content. The first concern of this article will be the disclosure of the fundamental values currently underlying contemporary management models and the assessment of their ethical quality. The second concern of the article will be to show a coherent deductive approach from a Catholic point of view. A Christian theory of leadership ethics is developed starting from its source of values up to strategic entrepreneur decisions. Its merit is to suggest a conclusive Christian orientation for the assessment of codes of ethics and leadership cultures in enterprises, that, as an end in itself, clearly and plausibly places man at its center.


OBJECTIVES
We compared pain perception and procedure time in abortions performed by residents and faculty using a manual vacuum aspirator and electric vacuum curettage devices.

STUDY DESIGN
We conducted a randomized trial of 114 women undergoing first-trimester abortions. Patients assessed the level of pain with visual analog scales.

RESULTS
The mean procedure times were 5.7 and 6.9 minutes, respectively, with electric vacuum curettage and manual vacuum aspirator. Faculty took less time than residents to perform both procedures. Patients reported a higher pain level with cervical dilatation before resident electric vacuum curettage procedures. Patients undergoing electric vacuum curettage thought that the procedure noise increased their pain.

CONCLUSIONS
First-trimester abortion procedures can be performed more quickly by experienced surgeons. The procedure time for the manual vacuum aspirator is greater than that for the electric vacuum curettage. Patient pain perception with aspiration by these two techniques is not different. The level of pain after aspiration did not vary significantly in patients who had abortions performed by residents or faculty.


Despite an unprecedented level of interest in the interaction between law and literature over the past two decades, readers have had no accessible introduction to this rich engagement in medieval and early Tudor England. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Law and Literature addresses this need by combining an authoritative guide through the bewildering maze of medieval law with concise examples illustrating how the law infiltrated literary texts during this period. Foundational chapters written by leading specialists in legal history prepare readers to be guided by noted literary scholars through unexpected conversations with the law found in numerous medieval texts, including major works by Chaucer, Langland, Gower, and Malory. Part I contains detailed introductions to legal concepts, practices and institutions in medieval England, and Part II covers medieval texts and authors whose verse and prose can be understood as engaging with the law.


Permanent monitoring of the financial condition of the market increases the chances of survival of the company among of increasing competition in the market. Integrated models are used in the evaluation of corporate bankruptcy. The author has analyzed five liquidity ratios (which have a predictive characteristics) of bankrupt and operating companies in the manufacturing sector in the period 2007-2012. In order to reflect changes in the financial condition of the examined companies, the author has analyzed the above-mentioned indicators during the year prior to bankruptcy. This article has attempted to designate the range limit of the liquidity ratios, below or above which there is over liquidity or the lack of liquidity in the manufacturing sector. The limit values were established for three analyzed indicators. However, for two liquidity ratios it was difficult to specify its limits values because of its positive values (caused by selling fixed assets by insolvent companies).


The successful targeting of BCR/ABL by selective ABL-kinase inhibitors (AKI) such as Imatinib, Nilotinib, or Dasatinib alone is unable to eradicate the leukemic clone in Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+ ) leukemia. The t(9;22)(q34;q11) is a balanced translocation. Der22 involves the BCR (breakpoint cluster region) gene locus with two principal breaks: the M-bcr, encoding for the p210BCR/ABL and the m-bcr, encoding for the 185BCR/ABL fusion proteins, respectively. The constitutively activated BCR/ABL kinase is responsible for the leukemic transformation through an aberrant activation of multiple signaling pathways, such as Stat, Pi3K and Ras/Erk. The der9 encodes for the reciprocal ABL/BCR fusion proteins the p40ABL/BCR, present in 65% of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and the p96ABL/BCR, detectable in 100% of patients with Ph+ acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL). ABL/BCRs are oncogenes able to influence the lineage commitment of hematopoietic progenitors. Aim of this study was to further disclose the role of p96ABL/BCR for the pathogenesis of Ph+ ALL. We co-expressed p96ABL/BCRand p185BCR/ ABL from a p2A peptide-linked multi-cistronic retroviral vector, which allows the expression of multiple proteins from a single open reading frame (ORF) to identical levels. The co- expression of p96ABL/BCR enhanced the kinase activity and, as a consequence, the transformation potential of p185BCR/ABL in factor dependent progenitor cells and untransformed fibroblasts. Targeting p96ABL/BCR by RNAi inhibited growth of Ph+ ALL cell lines and primary Ph+ ALL patient-derived long-term cultures (PD-LTCs). Furthermore p96ABL/BCR negatively influenced the response to AKI in these models as shown by an increased response to AKI when p96ABL/BCR was down-regulated. Our in vitro and in vivo stem cell studies on murine fetal liver cells and adult HSCs revealed a functional hierarchy between p96ABL/BCR and p185BCR/ABL. In fact, p96ABL/BCR strongly increased stem cell capacity in replating efficiency and colony forming unit-spleen day 12 (CFU-S12) assays, whereas p185BCR/ABL showed no effect. In contrast co-expression of p96ABL/BCR and p185BCR/ABL increased significantly both serial replating potential and CFU-S12 colony formation as compared to p96ABL/BCR alone. In a syngeneic mouse model co-expression of p96ABL/BCR abolished the capacity of p185BCR/ABL to induce a CML-like disease and led to the induction of ALL. Taken together our here presented data reveal an important role of p96ABL/BCR for the pathogenesis of Ph + ALL. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Annotating the tremendous amount of sequence information being generated requires accurate automated methods for recognizing homology. Although sequence similarity is only one of many indicators of evolutionary homology, it is often the only one used. Here we find that supplementing sequence similarity with information from biomedical literature is successful in increasing the accuracy of homology search results. We modified the PSI-BLAST algorithm to use literature similarity in each iteration of its database search. The modified algorithm is evaluated and compared to standard PSI-BLAST in searching for homologous proteins. The performance of the modified algorithm achieved 32% recall with 95% precision, while the original one achieved 33% recall with 84% precision; the literature similarity requirement preserved the sensitive characteristic of the PSI-BLAST algorithm while improving the precision.


This paper introduces a systematic design method for decoupling elements, which can significantly improve the isolation between two co-located antennas, e.g. between transmit and receive antennas of an in-band full-duplex system. The design method applies the theory of characteristic modes for controlling the phase and amplitude of the scattered fields of the decoupling element, in order to optimally cancel the original incident fields which couple to the receiving antenna. We describe concisely the effects that characteristic angle, modal near-field, and modal excitation of the decoupling element have on the antenna isolation. For validating the proposed method, a planar wavetrap is designed and the isolation improvement verified with full-wave simulations. When we use the proposed method to optimize a wavetrap that is placed between two co-located patch antennas, we obtain an improvement of the isolation between the antennas by 33 dB at the centre frequency of their operational frequency band, and at least 12-dB improvement across the whole 142-MHz operational bandwidth of the two antennas. As a benchmark, the wavetrap is replaced by an absorber occupying 10 times the volume of the wavetrap. The absorber gives only 6 dB of isolation improvement, substantiating the effectiveness of the proposed wavetrap method.


Introduction As long as terrorism and fraud - or guns, goons, and gold - intrude on Philippine elections, democratization will be incomplete. This article seeks to uncover and explain patterns of violence in Filipino elections between 1965 and 1998. The first section will describe election violence in 1998, and will show that non-ideological factional violence has declined since the 1960s. The second section will show that the factors responsible for violence - a decentralized political structure, social disorder, and a confrontational political subculture - have not changed enough to account for this decline. In the third section, it will be argued that the emergence of the military and church is the biggest change in political structure since martial law, and must bear responsibility for the decline in violence. The article concludes that church participation is necessary for democratic consolidation because it institutionalizes non-violent, mass participation. Election Violence in 1998 Election Violence in 1998 The 11 May 1998 elections witnessed over 63,000 candidates contesting 17,500 positions, including president and vice president, 12 of 24 senators, 204 elected House seats, 78 provincial governors and vice governors, over 1,600 mayors and vice mayors, and 14,000 councillors.(1) In 1998, 27 million people, representing an 80 per cent turnout, voted in 174,000 precincts.(2) A count of reports in the Philippine Daily inquirer of pre-election violence in 1998 totalled 71 incidents and 39 fatalities, including 13 dead in Luzon, 16 in Mindanao and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), 1 in Manila, and 9 elsewhere. Incidents included 30 attacks on officials, politicians, or supporters, 17 attacks on rallies, offices, or homes, 5 clashes of supporters, 4 kidnappings, 4 incidents over posters, and threats, weapons violations, and arson.(3) The Inquirer reported 37 election day disturbances, with 14 dead in Luzon, 10 in Mindanao and the ARMM. Incidents included blockades of polling centres, intimidation and threats on voters or officials, ballot snatching, and blackouts to disrupt canvassing.(4) Post-election events included arson that destroyed canvassing results.(5) Many incidents were motivated by real or suspected fraud. To understand the prevalence of fraud, consider a typical election. At 7:00 a.m., voters go to the precincts (usually classrooms), write in more than 30 names, and drop the ballots into metal boxes. At 3:00 p.m., election inspectors, usually teachers, start manual canvassing. Inside the precinct, "watchers" from parties monitor the recording while volunteers from the National Citizens Movement For Free Elections (Namfrel) and Parish Pastoral Council For Responsible Voting (PPCRV) keep a watch on possible cheating or intimidation. Outside, the general public watches through precinct windows. Inspectors work all night to deliver the ballot boxes to police stations by the next day. Ballot boxes are then brought to regional capitals and Manila for canvassing, which takes weeks or months to complete. This procedure invites intimidation, fraud, and human error. The Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the Philippine National Police (PNP), formerly the Philippine Constabulary (PC), handle security. Namfrel, using carbon copies of tally sheets, and national media, using exit polls, publish "quick counts" to hinder fraudulent canvassing. Patterns of Election Violence, 1965-98 Table 1 is a list of pre-election violent incidents from 1965 to 1998. Given the absence of large-scale insurgency in the 1960s, most casualties in 1965-71 resulted from fighting between non-ideological factions. Pre-election deaths peaked at 905 in November 1971, a year before President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in September 1972. Beginning in 1978, the regime renewed elections. After the repeal of martial law in January 1981, apertura generated new poll violence by factions and insurgents. …


Rare earth elements (REEs) are in high demand as critical materials in modern green and other advanced technologies. This review focuses on the recovery of REEs from waste with ionic liquids (ILs) as green dilutants and extractants to tackle the REE supply challenge. Extraction mechanisms in different extraction systems, including pure ILs, non-functional ILs with extractants, and functional ILs, are discussed in depth. The IL-based extraction process is different from the traditional molecular solvent-based extraction process. In addition, stripping is crucial to recovering ILs, and supercritical CO2 (Sc-CO2) is introduced to recover REE complexes from the IL phase. Also, Sc-CO2 can accelerate the whole extraction process by enhancing mass transfer. The challenge is to understand the extraction mechanism of the IL/Sc-CO2 system to advance the green recovery of REEs from waste.


Batching jobs in a manufacturing system is a very common policy in most industries. Main reasons for batching are avoidance of setups and/or facilitation of material handling. Batch processing systems often consist of multiple machines of different types for the range and volumes of products that have to be handled. Building on earlier research in aircraft industry, where the process of hardening synthetic aircraft parts was studied, we discuss a new heuristic for the dynamic scheduling of these types of systems. It is shown by an extensive series of simulation experiments that the new heuristic outperforms existing heuristics for most system configurations.


In this paper we compare the effectiveness and welfare effects of alternative fuel efficiency, environmental and transport policies for a given urban area. The urban transport activities are represented as a set of interrelated markets, one for each mode of transport and type of vehicle. For each market, four different marginal external costs are computed in the present equilibrium: air pollution, accidents, noise and congestion. The gap between marginal social costs and prices shows that congestion and unpaid parking are the dominant sources of inefficiencies. Air pollution costs are significant as well. The effects of a typical air quality policy (regulation of car emission technology) and two typical fuel based policies (minimum fuel efficiency policy and fuel taxes) are compared with the effects of three alternative transport policies (full external cost pricing, cordon pricing, parking charges). Regulation of emission technology and of fuel efficiency do not necessarily lead to welfare gains, whereas transport pricing policies yield substantial gains for the urban area under study.


This paper investigates methods of value-at-risk (VaR) estimation using extreme value theory (EVT). It compares two different estimation methods, "two-step subsample bootstrap" based on moment estimation and maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), according to their theoretical bases and computation procedures. Then, the estimation results are analyzed together with those of normal method and empirical method. The empirical research of foreign exchange data shows that the EVT methods have good characters in estimating VaR under extreme conditions and "two-step subsample bootstrap" method is preferable to MLE.


This paper presents a cross-covariance-based time- delay estimation method for accurate determination of the time- delay between the input and the output of a RF power amplifier/transmitter. In order to overcome the time resolution limitation caused by the relative low sampling rate of the analog- to-digital converter in the baseband signal acquisition system, the Lagrange interpolation is utilized to improve the time resolution. A two-step method for time-delay estimation/alignment is proposed to increase the dynamic range for time-delay estimation/alignment under the certain computation resource consumption condition. The experimental validation results have been provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for accurate time-delay estimation and alignment.


This well-written introduction to the method of literary criticism gives the reader an awareness and appreciation of the rich diversity of thought found in the Old Testament. The student is shown how to identify the elements of structure, style, form, language, and composition in the books of the Old Testament. Norman Habel demonstrates how literacy criticism works with examples which are familiar and well-suited for a beginner's level of study. The literary features of Genesis 1-9 are fully explored, then the author focuses on the importance of the Yahwist and priestly sources for the whole Pentateuch. This book's explanation of techniques used in the process of literary criticism will be valuable to both student and professor.


SCOPE
High red meat and sucrose consumption increases the epidemiological risk for chronic diseases. Mechanistic hypotheses include alterations in oxidative status, gut microbiome, fat deposition, and low-grade inflammation.

METHODS AND RESULTS
For 2 weeks, 40 rats consumed a diet high in white or red meat (chicken-based or beef-based cooked mince, respectively), and containing corn starch or sucrose in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Lard was mixed with lean chicken or beef to obtain comparable dietary fatty acid profiles. Beef (vs chicken)-fed rats had higher lipid oxidation products (malondialdehyde, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, and hexanal) in stomach content and blood, and lower blood glutathione. Sucrose (vs corn starch)-fed rats showed increased blood lipid oxidation products and glutathione peroxidase activity, higher liver weight and malondialdehyde concentrations, and mesenterial and retroperitoneal fat accumulation. Beef-sucrose-fed rats had increased cardiac weight, suggesting pathophysiological effects on the cardiovascular system. The colonic microbiome of beef-sucrose-fed rats showed an outgrowth of the sulfate-reducing family of the Desulfovibrionaceae, and lower abundance of the Lactobacillus genus, indicating intestinal dysbiosis. Blood C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation, was not different among groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Consumption of a cooked beef-based meat product with sucrose increased oxidative stress parameters and promoted cardiac hypertrophy and intestinal dysbiosis.


ABSTRACT The relationship between performance art and the camera – be it the photographic or video camera – in Central and Eastern Europe is a special one. Because of the manner in which performance art developed in the region, remaining mainly an alternative form of art, artists preserved their work visually for a range of reasons: as evidence of it having occurred, as a witness to the event, for a future audience that could someday appreciate it, or to be sent abroad as mail art – one of the few ways artists could participate in international exhibitions and networks if they were unable to travel abroad, which they often were. Unlike in Western Europe and North America, where performance attempted to eschew the grasp of commodification, in Central and Eastern Europe, artists did not want their performative work to remain ephemeral. This article will demonstrate how documentation played a very important role in insuring its longevity, and argue that rather than creating performances to avoid commodification, artists deliberately used the camera to preserve these ephemeral acts, either for distribution at the time, or as a record of the event. It will also show how artists developed innovative ways to integrate this essential tool, the camera, into their actions.


Abstract. This paper reports initial results from an Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Nadir Mapper cloud pressure and cloud fraction algorithm. The OMPS cloud products are intended for use in OMPS ozone or other trace-gas algorithms. We developed the OMPS cloud products using a heritage algorithm developed for the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite. The cloud pressure algorithm utilizes the filling-in of ultraviolet solar Fraunhofer lines by rotational Raman scattering. The OMPS cloud products are evaluated by comparison with OMI cloud products that have been compared in turn with other collocated satellite data including cloud optical thickness profiles derived from a combination of measurements from the CloudSat radar and MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We find that the probability density functions (PDFs) of effective cloud fraction retrieved from OMPS and OMI measurements are very similar. The PDFs of the OMPS and OMI cloud pressures are comparable. However, OMPS retrieves somewhat higher pressures on average. The current NASA total ozone retrieval algorithm makes use of a monthly gridded cloud pressure climatology developed from OMI. This climatology captures much of the variability associated with the relevant cloud pressures. However, the use of actual cloud pressures retrieved with OMPS in place of the OMI climatology changes OMPS total column ozone estimates locally (presumably in the correct direction) only in areas with large differences between climatological and actual cloud pressures. The ozone differences can be up to 5% in such areas.


The size and speed of progesterone effects depend on many factors; s ummarized in 2 groups: factors concerning the applied preparations and f actors related ot the quality and condition of the endometrium. Superlutin in doses of 10 mg/1.5 ml and 20 mg/3 ml prepared for injection was compared with progesterone in doses of 30 mg/1 ml. Both were compared as regards immediate effects. In injection administration superlutin has a slightly higher efficiency than progesterone but prepared for injection it does not have a quick effect because of its low level of solubility. It is suggested that the 30 mg/1 ml of progesterone be used for quick effect. For semidepot efficie ncy the hydroxyprogesteroncepronate (Neolutin forte) containing 125 mg/1 ml is recommended since it is fairly suitable.


Numerical simulations are widely used as a predictive tool to better understand complex air flows and pollution transport on the scale of individual buildings, city blocks, and entire cities. To improve prediction for air flows and pollution transport, we propose a Variational Data Assimilation (VarDA) model which assimilates data from sensors into the open-source, finite-element, fluid dynamics model Fluidity. VarDA is based on the minimization of a function which estimates the discrepancy between numerical results and observations assuming that the two sources of information, forecast and observations, have errors that are adequately described by error covariance matrices. The conditioning of the numerical problem is dominated by the condition number of the background error covariance matrix which is ill-conditioned. In this paper, a preconditioned VarDA model is presented, it is based on a reduced background error covariance matrix. The Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) method is used to alleviate the computational cost and reduce the space dimension. Experimental results are provided assuming observed values provided by sensors from positions mainly located on roofs of buildings.


ABSTRACT Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important opportunistic healthcare-associated pathogen and major contributor to the global spread of antimicrobial resistance. Gastrointestinal colonization with K. pneumoniae is a major predisposing risk factor for infection and forms an important hub for the dispersal of resistance. Current culture-based detection methods are time consuming, give limited intra-sample abundance and strain diversity information, and have uncertain sensitivity. Here we investigated the presence and abundance of K. pneumoniae at the species and strain level within fecal samples from 103 community-based adults by qPCR and whole metagenomic sequencing (WMS) compared to culture-based detection. qPCR demonstrated the highest sensitivity, detecting K. pneumoniae in 61.2% and 75.8% of direct-fecal and culture-enriched sweep samples, respectively, including 52/52 culture-positive samples. WMS displayed lower sensitivity, detecting K. pneumoniae in 71.2% of culture-positive fecal samples at a 0.01% abundance cutoff, and was inclined to false positives in proportion to the relative abundance of other Enterobacterales present. qPCR accurately quantified K. pneumoniae to 16 genome copies/reaction while WMS could estimate relative abundance to at least 0.01%. Quantification by both methods correlated strongly with each other (Spearman's rho = 0.91). WMS also supported accurate intra-sample K. pneumoniae sequence type (ST)-level diversity detection from fecal microbiomes to 0.1% relative abundance, agreeing with the culture-based detected ST in 16/19 samples. Our results show that qPCR and WMS are sensitive and reliable tools for detection, quantification, and strain analysis of K. pneumoniae from fecal samples with potential to support infection control and enhance insights in K. pneumoniae gastrointestinal ecology. Plain Language Summary What is the context? Klebsiella pneumoniae is a major cause of healthcare-associated infections and a key contributor to the spread of resistance to last-line antimicrobials. Gastrointestinal colonization by K. pneumoniae is a risk factor for developing infection and can facilitate the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Culture-based detection may lack sensitivity and is ill-suited to detecting within-sample K. pneumoniae abundance and diversity. Developing molecular methods to improve K. pneumoniae abundance and strain diversity detection are essential in understanding human gut colonization and ecology. What is new? We compared culture-based detection of K. pneumoniae within human fecal samples to two molecular-based techniques: 1) qPCR, which amplifies K. pneumoniae species complex-specific DNA targets with high sensitivity, and 2) whole metagenomic sequencing (WMS), which sequences the entire DNA content of complex microbial communities. Our findings show: qPCR had the highest sensitivity, detecting K. pneumoniae in all (52/52) culture-positive samples and 11/51 and 23/47 culture-negative samples, using a direct-fecal and culture-sweep method, respectively. qPCR could accurately quantify K. pneumoniae to 16 genome copies/reaction. WMS had lower sensitivity, positive in 37/52 culture-positive samples, and demonstrated false positives arising from closely related bacterial species. Relative abundance estimates could be performed to 0.01%. WMS performed accurate strain-level detection of K. pneumoniae to 0.1% relative abundance and could detect within-sample strain diversity. What is the impact? qPCR and WMS are valid methods for the detection and characterization of colonizing K. pneumoniae with potential to enhance our understanding of the gastrointestinal ecology of this important pathogen.


PHP allows the names of variables, classes, functions, methods, and properties to be given dynamically, as expressions that, when evaluated, return an identifier as a string. While this provides greater flexibility for programmers, it also makes PHP programs harder to precisely analyze and understand. In this paper we present a number of patterns designed to recognize idiomatic uses of these features that can be statically resolved to a precise set of possible names. We then evaluate these patterns across a corpus of 20 open-source systems totaling more than 3.7 million lines of PHP, showing how often these patterns occur in actual PHP code, demonstrating their effectiveness at statically determining the names that can be used at runtime, and exploring anti-patterns that indicate when the identifier computation is truly dynamic.


Despite lucrative career opportunities in information technology (IT), representation of Blacks in IT occupations is abysmal. IT careers are a viable source of economic advancement for Blacks who as a group face significant entry and advancement barriers in the labor market. We argue that the information systems (IS) community can make Black lives matter in IT by advancing their opportunities in this occupational space in an equitable manner. Such advancements require a dialogue within the IS community about the following: What can the IS community do to foster greater inclusion of Blacks in IT profession? To begin this dialogue, a panel of five IS scholars, Drs. K. D. Joshi, Eileen Trauth, Lynette Kvasny, Allison J. Morgan, and Fay Cobb Payton, who participated in the panel organized at SIGMIS CPR 2016 in Washington, D.C. (Trauth et al. 2016b), share their perspectives on making Black lives matter in the information technology profession. An agenda is proposed that calls on IS scholars to conduct research on issues discussed in this paper and appeals to IT practitioners and educators to foster greater inclusion of Blacks in the IT profession.


The causal relationship between growth and inequality is complex, and there have been many scholarly works to study this relationship since the seminal work of Kuznets in the 1950s. Few recent studies in this field have shown that the nature of relationship is multifaceted and non-linear. In addition to the intrinsic non-linear nature of the relationship, government and institutions play pivotal role in distributing the benefits of growth to reduce inequality. The responsiveness greatly depends upon a country's initial conditions in terms of inequality and the nature of democracy prevailing in the country. This volume highlights the role of institutions in explaining the gulf between inequality and growth, by applying a dynamic general equilibrium framework and by utilizing econometric techniques. Econometrically two important hypotheses are tested. First, assuming there is no difference in institutions, the growth rate increases as inequality decreases. Second, assuming inequality remains unchanged, improvement in the integrity of fiscal institutions results in higher economic growth. Integrating theoretical and empirical approaches, this volume links crucial economic concepts in a novel way, and goes beyond academic analysis to suggest policy implications, and will serve as a valuable resource for scholars and policymakers alike in the fields of economic growth and development, public policy, and economic modeling.


This study aimed to identify the impact of effective planning for efficient performance from the perspective of the employees in the Jordanian Health Ministry. The researcher mentioned the most important roles of the government to provide all the correct procedures, and follow-up its operations regard the ministry to prepare programs and health plans, and follow up their practice. The researcher has developed a questionnaire, and distributed the employees (121) in the ministry. The study found a range of results, and the most notable was that there is a statistically significant impact for the effective planning on the employees' performance efficient in the Jordanian Health Ministry.


Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis depends on clinicopathological features in addition to the treatment provided. We aimed to assess the natural history of TNM stage I HCC tumors which received different treatment over a period of 20 years. Methods: Between 1992 and 2011, a total of 397 stage I HCC patients were included. Detailed information was retrieved from MD Anderson Cancer Center patients' medical records. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate patients' overall survival (OS). Cox regression analysis was used to calculate the estimated hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval of different prognostic factors. Results: Out of 397 patients, 67.5% were males, 42.8% had hepatitis-related HCC, and 59.7% had underlying cirrhosis. After adjustment for confounding factors, we found that all therapeutic modalities were associated with a significant mortality rate reduction with an OS of 63, 42.03, 34.3, and 22.1 months among patients treated with surgery, ablation, local, and systemic therapy, respectively. A restricted analysis of cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients showed that ablative and local therapy were significantly associated with a longer OS compared to systemic therapy. Conclusion: TNM stage I HCC patients have a favorable prognosis regardless of the type of treatment. Notably, ablative and local therapy significantly improved OS compared to systemic therapy.


Kenneth Burke and argument? Surely it would be more appropriate to speak of Kenneth Burke OR argument, or at least to treat the phrase as an oxymoron. After all, Burke alludes to almost no modern writings in argumentation--although his survey of classical rhetoric might be construed as a survey of argumentation. And few, if any, argumentation and debate texts ever mention Kenneth Burke. Apparently the two traditions, Burke and argumentation, were meant to wander their separate ways in the twentieth century. In 1991 a program was proposed for the Speech Communication Association Association convention on Burke and argument. I was asked to serve as program critic, and entitled my response, "Finding Argument under Burkean Stones." The title suggested my approach of doubting, debunking, casuistically stretching positions, and generally suggesting that if this new consubstantiality was pushed, Burke would probably sue. I think I reflected the same bifurcation that the initial essay by James Klumpp suggests: a mental separation of Burke and argument despite an interest in both. Klumpp's "Rapprochement between Dramatism and Argumentation" describes his intellectual journey and its attendant difficulties. Perhaps Burke was right after all: the separation of these two traditions was the neat product of our "either/or" orientations and corresponding terministic screens. The idea of combining Burke and argument at least deserved some additional focus. Yet two conclusions seemed clear from the beginning: (1) Burke argues, often and interestingly; and (2) Burke offers no systematic and complete theory of argument. That Burke argues is probably beyond dispute. Those who have responded to Burke's positions on political policy, such as Sidney Hook (Hook, Critical Responses), on behaviorism, on technology, on science, or on a variety of other positions respond to his arguments. Some find his arguments innovative, insightful and productive; others have characterized them as assertive, overgeneralized, and wrong. William Rueckert's volume, Critical Responses to Kenneth Burke, is filled with comments on Burke's arguments, although not always clothed in the language of argument. Perhaps it is difficult if not impossible to engage in criticism without entering the domain of argument. It seems clear, however, that few Burke readers would doubt that he creates arguments, and at times seems to revel in those arguments. All Burke arguments do not seem to be either of the same type or follow the same patterns, however. Sometimes Burke will set down specific criteria for establishing a conclusion, as when one is making a claim for the representativeness of an anecdote. Sometimes he is gliding over centuries as in his "dramatization" of historical acts in Attitudes Toward History, or compressing philosophic positions as he does in their pentadic placement in Grammar of Motives. When typical rules of argument and evidence use are applied, Burke often comes up short as the last essay by David Levasseur, "Edifying Arguments and Perspective by Incongruity: The Perplexing Argumentation Method of Kenneth Burke," illustrates. Perhaps the act of describing how Burke argues even broadens our view of argument. But Burke seems to offer no clear system for argument. Consequently "finding" a theory of argument, or positions that inform argument theory, will be an inferential process, and the work may be that of a detective. But where should one look? One clue might appear early in the Grammar of Motives, when Burke observes that in choosing a vocabulary of action, humans necessarily select a part of reality and reason from that part. The act is inferential, as Burke suggests: Men (sic) seek for vocabularies that will be faithful reflections of reality. To this end, they must develop vocabularies that are selections of reality. And any selection of reality must, in certain circumstances, function as a deflection of reality. …


Background: Physical activity and corresponding energy expenditure can improve health in various ways. Existing methods to directly measure energy expenditure are currently limited to laboratory settings and/or expensive instrumentation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate accuracy of energy expenditure characterization, during walking and running, using demographic data, as well as data collected via an accelerometer and novel piezoresponsive foam sensors. Methods: 30 individuals (14 females; mass = 67 ± 10 kg; height = 1.74 ± 0.08 m; age = 23 ± 3 yrs) walked and ran at five speeds (1.34, 2.23, 2.68, 3.13, and 3.58 m/s) on a force-instrumented treadmill while wearing a metabolic analyzer and standardized athletic shoes instrumented with an accelerometer, and four novel nanocomposite piezoresponsive force sensors. Various predictive models, including demographic data and data derived from the accelerometer and force sensors, were evaluated for each gait speed. Results: The predictive models varied in ability to accurately characterize energy expenditure. For walking, the most accurate model included acceleration and body weight, and resulted in an average absolute error of 0.07 ± 0.03 kcal/min. For running, the most accurate model included sensor and acceleration data, and resulted in an average absolute error of 0.45 ± 0.14 kcal/min. Conclusions: When combined with acceleration data and body weight, the novel foam sensors can be used to inexpensively and accurately measure walking and running energy expenditure. This can be done at various speeds, outside of a traditional research laboratory. These results have application within a wide range of diverse contexts.


Leaching of heavy metals and other contaminants from soils poses a significant environmental threat as it affects the quality of downstream water bodies. Quantifying these losses is particularly important when employing phytoremediation approaches to reduce soil contamination, as contaminant escaping the system through leaching cannot be taken up by vegetation. Despite its undoubted importance, the role of such hydrologic forcing has seldom been fully considered in models describing the long-term contaminant mass balance during phytoremediation. The partitioning of contaminants between leaching and vegetation uptake is controlled by a number of biophysical processes as well as rainfall variability. Here, we develop a novel stochastic framework that provides analytical expressions to quantify the partitioning of contaminants between leaching and plant uptake and the probability of phytoremediation duration as a function of rainfall statistics and soil and vegetation characteristics. Simple expressions for the mean phytoremediation duration and effectiveness (defined as the fraction of contaminant that is recovered in plant biomass) are derived. The proposed framework can be employed to estimate under which conditions phytoremediation is more efficient, as well as to design phytoremediation projects that maximize contaminant recovery and minimize the duration of the remediation process.


Large-scale In2O3 nanotowers with different cross sections were synthesized by a thermal evaporation and oxidation technique using metal as the catalyst. The morphologies and structural characterizations of In2O3 nanotowers are dependent on growth processes, such as different metal (Au, Ag or Sn) catalysts, the relative position of the substrate and evaporation source, growth temperature, gas flow rate, and growth time. In2O3 nanotowers cannot be observed using Sn as the catalyst, which indicates that metal liquid droplets play an important role in the initial stages of the growth of In2O3 nanotowers. The formation of an In2O3 nanotower is attributed to the competitive growth model between a lateral growth controlled by vapor–solid mechanism and an axial vapor–liquid–solid growth mechanism mediated by metal liquid nanodroplets. The synthesized In2O3 nanostructures with novel tower-shaped morphology may have potential applications in optoelectronic devices and gas sensors.


Desktop application for teaching the structure of the musculoskeletal system. Contains information about all bones and muscles and how to connect them. The application should run on Windows, Linux and MasOS. Visual representation in the form of a 3D model based on Unity. Realistic three-dimensional human model can be rotated and viewed from any angle. Select items by mouse click for detailed information about them. The ability to add your notes and signatures to parts of the system, so you can keep your own notes and make only the necessary information. All information is stored in a database. Latin will help to unify knowledge. Also all names will be given in accordance with international anatomical terminology (FIAT). Provide a function that allows you to select and study the desired system in isolation. For example, show only bones or only muscles. This will help to better understand the structure of individual systems. The application will be useful for both school and University studies. Due to the 3D view can learn and people who do not have a high medical or biological education. In recent decades, many software systems have been developed to systematize information about human anatomy. Using such programs is much more convenient than the usual paper collection. In addition, they can always take with you and quickly find what you need. Interactive interaction facilitates the learning process, provides mobility of access to information, makes it clearer and more understandable. Also, these systems can be used to develop mechanical analogues of the human body, which is currently a popular and promising direction of technology development.


This paper analyses the emerging trends in twenty eight major states in India in respect of few key parameters which have an intrinsic bearing on social and economic development and establishes the economic growth (EG) - human development (HD) nexus in the post economic reforms era (1990s to 2010s). Data for the period 1990 to 2011/12 is used to analyse the relative performance of Indian states on human development and growth indicators and determine if inter-state disparity has increased or decreased over time. The two way relationship between EG and HD is empirically estimated using cross section pooled data. Further, states are classified into four different categories of growth and development: (i) vicious cycle (low EG - low HD), (ii) virtuous cycle (high EG - high HD), (iii) lopsided-EG (high EG - low HD) and (iv) lopsided-HD (low EG - high HD), for the years 1993, 1999-2000 and 2011-12. The pattern of transition of states across different categories over the two decades is traced. Such categorization and the shifts therein have obvious policy implications. The paper highlights the need for more focused regional planning and a simultaneous policy thrust on EG and HD to enable states escape the vicious cycle of low growth and development.This paper analyses the emerging trends in twenty eight major states in India in respect of few key parameters which have an intrinsic bearing on social and economic development and establishes the economic growth (EG) - human development (HD) nexus in the post economic reforms era (1990s to 2010s). Data for the period 1990 to 2011/12 is used to analyse the relative performance of Indian states on human development and growth indicators and determine if inter-state disparity has increased or decreased over time. The two way relationship between EG and HD is empirically estimated using cross section pooled data. Further, states are classified into four different categories of growth and development: (i) vicious cycle (low EG - low HD), (ii) virtuous cycle (high EG – high HD), (iii) lopsided-EG (high EG – low HD) and (iv) lopsided-HD (low EG – high HD), for the years 1993, 1999-2000 and 2011-12. The pattern of transition of states across different categories over the two decades is traced. Such categorization and the shifts therein have obvious policy implications. The paper highlights the need for more focused regional planning and a simultaneous policy thrust on EG and HD to enable states escape the vicious cycle of low growth and development.


Producing a text in a language which is not one's mother tongue can be a demanding task for language learners. Examining lexical errors committed by EFL learners is a challenging area of investigation which can shed light on the process of second language acquisition. Despite the considerable number of investigations into grammatical errors, few studies have tackled formal and semantic errors of lexis committed by EFL learners. The current study aimed at examining Persian learners' formal and semantic errors of lexis in English. To this end, 60 students at three different proficiency levels were asked to write on 10 different topics in 10 separate sessions. Finally, 600 essays written by Persian EFL learners were collected, acting as the corpus of the study. An error taxonomy comprising formal and semantic errors was selected to analyze the corpus. The formal category covered misselection and misformation errors, while the semantic errors were classified into lexical, collocational and lexicogrammatical categories. Each category was further classified into subcategories depending on the identified errors. The results showed that there were 2583 errors in the corpus of 9600 words, among which, 2030 formal errors and 553 semantic errors were identified. The most frequent errors in the corpus included formal error commitment (78.6%), which were more prevalent at the advanced level (42.4%). The semantic errors (21.4%) were more frequent at the low intermediate level (40.5%). Among formal errors of lexis, the highest number of errors was devoted to misformation errors (98%), while misselection errors constituted 2% of the errors. Additionally, no significant differences were observed among the three semantic error subcategories, namely collocational, lexical choice and lexicogrammatical. The results of the study can shed light on the challenges faced by EFL learners in the second language acquisition process. Keywords—Collocational errors, lexical errors, Persian EFL learners, semantic errors.


The concentration of extracellular calcium rightly regulates calcitonin secretion by calcium influx through dihydropyridine-sensitive voltage-dependent cal cium channels; the result is an increase in intracellular cal cium. There also exists a cAMP-dependent pathway of cal citonin release activated by glucagon or growth hormone releasing hormone. In thyroid C-cells, as in all cells, there is dual regulation of adenylate cyclase, mediated by inhibitory or stimulatory G proteins; glucagon stimulated cAMP pro duction can be inhibited by somatostatin via pertussis toxin sensitive inhibitory G proteins. Somatostatin inhibits not only cAMP dependent but also calcium-dependent calci tonin secretion. Furthermore, somatostatin inhibits voltage dependent calcium channel currents thereby lowering cytosolic calcium. These actions also involve a pertussis toxin-sensitive inhibitory G protein but they occur independently of changes in the cytosolic cAMP concentration. Thus mul tiple interactions between second messenger systems at different cellular levels modulate calcitonin secretion.


Background: Globally in 2013 about 382 million people are diabetics, 90% of them are type 2, that meticulous diet control is crucial in a treatment as diabetes is the 8th leading cause of death worldwide.
Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice towards sweeteners in a sample of type 2 diabetic patients as few researches cover this subject in Iraq.
Patients and method: A cross-sectional study in which convenient sample of 440 diabetic were collected and interviewed from the Centers of Diabetes and a primary health center in Baghdad during the period from 14th of March to 3rd of July 2014. Knowledge has been studied, in addition to assessment of other variables, including gender, age, education and disease duration.
Results: The results showed that 52% of the sample use sweeteners in diet 79% used 5-10 tablet/ day.
Conclusion: Majority of our sample have good knowledge and their practice of using sweeteners is in the approved range of tablets number by the FDA.


Educational aims To define the metabolic syndrome in the paediatric population. To describe the long-term morbidity of paediatric metabolic syndrome in early adulthood. To investigate the relationship between OSA and metabolic syndrome during childhood, across age ranges and across different degrees of obesity. To identify future areas of research. Summary The metabolic syndrome is defined as the clustering of hyperinsulinaemia, obesity, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia. Its prevalence in the paediatric population in the US is estimated at ∼4%, but this can rise to 20–50% in obese children. The presence of aspects of the metabolic syndrome in childhood is closely linked to factors such as obesity, insulin resistance and early signs of cardiovascular disease in young adulthood. While in adults there is a strong relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and obesity, and hence with other factors associated with the metabolic syndrome, the evidence in children has not been as clear-cut, although factors such as arterial oxygen saturation (Sa,O2) and apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI) have been shown to correlate with aspects of the metabolic syndrome. Intervention studies in sleep-disordered breathing with metabolic syndrome, using adenotonsillectomy, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and weight loss, have produced mixed results, and the optimum treatment remains unclear. Randomised controlled trials of these treatments, along with larger-scale and longitudinal studies to tease out the associations between sleep-disordered breathing, obesity and the metabolic syndrome in a paediatric context, are needed.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to assessing the impact of social media on the risky sexual behaviors of college students. The study focuses on identify the association between social networking media and risky sexual behavior related images among college students. Hypothesis: Individuals ages 15-24 comprise approximately half of the 19 million new Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) infections yearly in the United States (Fulton, Marcus, & Payne, 2010). One contributing factor to these statistics is Risky Sexual Behavior (RSB) among youth, which is any behavior that increases the probability of unintended health consequences such as STD's and unplanned pregnancy. This study explores the possible association between social media and RSB behaviors, such as alcohol use and sexual promiscuity. It is hypothesized that social networking media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have a strong correlation with risky sexual behavior related images in comparison to non-social media outlets such as Books and Newspapers. Research Methodology: The research design is a convenience sampling of undergraduate college students from Tuskegee University randomly selected to engage in a matching-to-sample experiment using Super Lab Pro 5.0. Results: A pilot study yields the preliminary results that indicate only certain social networking media have a stronger association with RSB related images than non-social networking media. All social networking media are more associated with RSB related images than all non-social networking media with the exception of Radio and Television. Facebook and Instagram are less associated with RSB related images than Tumblr, Twitter, and YouTube. Conclusion: The findings of this study will contribute statistical data analysis supporting the notion that social networking sites influence RSB in college students. Future studies may focus on measuring the associations pointed out, how to reduce the media content that influence RSB on social networking sites, or how to use social networking sites to reduce RSB in college students.


Ambient Intelligence systems are aimed at making user-system interaction and content consumption a truly positive experience. The endless search for nifty information visualisation mechanism to squeeze yet one more piece of information onto a visual display is surpassed by the challenge to embed interactive displays into our environments that bring true user experience. Examples of experiences supported by immersiveness, social intelligence and freedom have been investigated in the Philips HomeLab. HomeLab offers an unique scientific environment for evaluating the feasibility and usability of technologies that are used in the realisation of Ambient Intelligent scenarios. Equipped with an extensive observation infrastructure of 34 cameras and microphones, the HomeLab has enabled behavioural researchers to study the effect of innovative technologies on the user's acceptance for Ambient Intelligence. In the presentation we discuss recent developments resulting from our work in HomeLab with an emphasis on the relation between (information) visualization and experiences.


The Mission Mentoring Programme is an innovative scheme that supports council employees to become mentors for looked after children. It was first piloted in 2015, proved successful with rewarding outcomes and has continued to grow and attract interest. This article presents a case study of a young man who participated in the programme and found it helpful for his transition to adulthood and intended employment. It summarises his views and experiences along with those of his mentor and the virtual school headteacher who established the programme. The article begins with a review of the literature on mentoring interventions and sets the background to the programme. Key themes identified highlight the importance of the matching process between mentor and mentee, potential ways of developing the corporate parenting role, destigmatising the care experience and improving children's life chances. The article concludes with a discussion of the programme's potential contribution to welfare services and ways in which it might develop.


BACKGROUND
The Lung Cancer Cetuximab Study is an open-label, randomized phase II pilot study of cisplatin and vinorelbine combined with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted monoclonal antibody cetuximab versus cisplatin and vinorelbine alone, in patients with advanced EGFR-expressing, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). End points of the study are activity, safety and pharmacokinetics.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Following randomization, for a maximum of eight cycles, patients received three-weekly cycles of cisplatin (80 mg/m(2), day 1) and vinorelbine (25 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 8) alone or following cetuximab treatment (initial dose 400 mg/m(2), followed by 250 mg/m(2) weekly thereafter).

RESULTS
Eighty-six patients were randomly allocated to the study (43 per arm). Confirmed response rates were 28% in the cisplatin/vinorelbine arm (A) and 35% in the cetuximab plus cisplatin/vinorelbine arm (B). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.6 months in arm A and 5.0 months in arm B, with PFS rates at 12 months of 0% and 15%, respectively. Median survival was 7.3 months in arm A and 8.3 months in arm B. The 24-month survival rates were 0% and 16%, respectively. The cetuximab combination was well tolerated.

CONCLUSION
In the first-line treatment of advanced NSCLC, the combination of cetuximab plus cisplatin/vinorelbine demonstrated an acceptable safety profile and the potential to improve activity over cisplatin/vinorelbine alone.


From the Publisher:
Communication and Qualitative Research is the first textbook to examine the impact of Internet technology on qualitative research methods. Drawing on many pioneering studies using computer-mediated communication (CMC), the authors show how online researchers can employ Internet-based qualitative methods to collect rich, descriptive, contextually-situated data. They discuss the methodological, practical and theoretical considerations associated with such methods as in-depth online interviewing, virtual focus groups, and participant observation in virtual communities. This is a comprehensive and practical guide that:
-Reviews online research practice and basic Internet technology
-Looks in detail at the skills required by the online researcher
-Examines the ethical, confidentiality, security, and legal issues involved in online research
-Considers the theoretical challenges surrounding data collected in a "virtual venue"
-Addresses the social and cultural impact of researching online through a discussion of power, gender, and identity issues in the virtual world
Internet Communication and Qualitative Research will be an indispensable guide for all students and researchers working in the digital age.


Reason for withdrawal from publication
The authors have relinquished responsibility for this protocol. It was published several years ago, and Cochrane Skin have decided to withdraw it (Managing Editor, Cochrane Skin).


One of the biometric technologies that have been implemented in many security systems besides retinal recognition, fingerprint recognition and iris is facial recognition. On the hardware side itself, face recognition (Face Recognition) uses a camera to capture a person's face then compared to the previous face that has been stored in a particular database. There are several methods of facial recognition, namely neural networks, artificial neural networks, adaptive neuro fuzzy, and eigenface. Specifically in this study the method to be explained is the eigenface method. Specifically in this study the method that will be explained is the eigenface method, and uses a web cam to capture images in real time. The advantage of this method is that the computation is very fast and simple compared to the use of methods that require a lot of learning, such as artificial network requirements. Broadly speaking, the process of this application is the camera to capture faces, then an RGB value is obtained. Using the initial processing, resize, RGB to Grayscale, and histogram equalization for light alignment. The eigenface method functions to calculate the eigenvalue, and the eigenvector that will be used as a feature in making recognition. From the experiments and tests carried out, the tool can recognize facial images with a success rate of up to 90% at a distance of 25 cm with an average success of 72.5%. This proves this tool is quite good in face recognition.


The study investigates the effect of competition on bank stability in the Zimbabwean banking sector. After encountering episodes of bank failures, which altered the competitive landscape and episodes of high non-performing loans which contributed to banking sector insolvency and bank failure motivated the study. The study uses a two - step method to establish whether the Zimbabwean banking systems adheres to competition stability or competition fragility hypothesis. In the first step the study estimates the measures of financial sector competition and stability. In the second step, the study applies the generalised method of moments dynamic panel data to test the "competition-stability" and "competition-fragility" hypothesis respectively. The results show that the banking sector supports the competition fragility hypothesis which means that an increase competition in the banking sector leads to banking fragility. Bank ownership has no influence on the stability of the banks. The study recommends that the central bank should closely monitor banks to ensure adherence to international best practice in credit management and moderate pro-competitive policies.


Biochemical energy recovery using digestion and co-digestion of faecal matter collected from urine diverting dehydrating toilet faeces (UDDT-F) and mixed organic market waste (OMW) was studied under laboratory- and pilot-scale conditions. Laboratory-scale biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests showed an increase in methane production with an increase in OMW fraction in the feed substrate. In subsequent pilot-scale experiments, one-stage and two-stage plug flow digester were researched, applying UDDT-F:OMW ratios of 4:1 and 1:0, at about 10 and 12% total solids (TS) slurry concentrations. Comparable methane production was observed in one-stage (Ro-4:1,12%) (314 ± 15 mL CH4/g VS added) and two-stage (Ram-4:1,12%) (325 ± 12 mL CH4/g VS added) digesters, when applying 12% TS slurry concentration. However, biogas production in Ram-4:1,12% digester (571 ± 25 mL CH4/g VS added) was about 12% higher than in Ro-4:1,12%, significantly more than the slight difference in methane production, i.e. 3–4%. The former was attributed to enhanced waste solubilisation and increased CO2 dissolution, resulting from mixing the bicarbonate-rich methanogenic effluent for neutralisation purposes with the low pH (4.9) influent acquired from the pre-acidification stage. Moreover, higher process stability was observed in the first parts of the plug flow two-stage digester, characterised by lower VFA concentrations.


The current access to mobile services a user has, is defined by the user's mobile terminal as the single entry point to an operators network. This comes along with a set of limitations. Although performance and multimedia capabilities of mobile devices are constantly increasing, user-service interaction is still limited due to physical constraints imposed by the form factor. Another drawback is the varying ability of devices to download and execute new services. At the same time it is not possible to synchronise, exchange or share the user's data and media content among different devices. In order to overcome these limitations this paper presents the concept of the Distributed Communication Sphere and the according architectural framework that allows its management. This framework defines functional components to enable multi-device delivery of communication and media service sessions, user input interpretation, terminal management and resource discovery. It also provides flexible service delivery through the dynamic desktop component and relies on intelligent service enablers of the underlying service platform architecture, such as context-awareness, service provisioning and personal profile enablers. The work has been performed as part of the EU IST-SPICE (027617) project targeting intelligent extensions for next generation service platforms.


The control of CD4 gene expression is essential for proper T lymphocyte development. Signals transmitted from the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) during the thymic selection processes are believed to be linked to the regulation of CD4 gene expression during specific stages of T cell development. Thus, a study of the factors that control CD4 gene expression may lead to further insight into the molecular mechanisms that drive thymic selection. In this review, we discuss the work conducted to date to identify and characterize the cis-acting transcriptional control elements in the CD4 locus and the DNA-binding factors that mediate their function. From these studies, it is becoming clear that the molecular mechanisms controlling CD4 gene expression are very complex and differ at each stage of development. Thus, the control of CD4 expression is subject to many different influences as the thymocyte develops. Correspondence


Hydrated transition metal ions are prototypical systems that can be used to model properties of transition metals in complex chemical environments. These seemingly simple systems present challenges for computational chemistry and are thus crucial in evaluations of quantum chemical methods for spin-state and redox energetics. In this work, we explore the applicability of the domain-based pair natural orbital implementation of coupled cluster (DLPNO-CC) theory to the calculation of ionization energies and redox potentials for hydrated ions of all first transition row (3d) metals in the 2+/3+ oxidation states, in connection with various solvation approaches. In terms of model definition, we investigate the construction of a minimally explicitly hydrated quantum cluster with a first and second hydration layer. We report on the convergence with respect to the coupled cluster expansion and the PNO space, as well as on the role of perturbative triple excitations. A recent implementation of the conductor-like polarizable continuum model (CPCM) for the DLPNO-CC approach is employed to determine self-consistent redox potentials at the coupled cluster level. Our results establish conditions for the convergence of DLPNO-CCSD(T) energetics and stress the absolute necessity to explicitly consider the second solvation sphere even when CPCM is used. The achievable accuracy for redox potentials of a practical DLPNO-based approach is, on average, 0.13 V. Furthermore, multilayer approaches that combine a higher-level DLPNO-CCSD(T) description of the first solvation sphere with a lower-level description of the second solvation layer are investigated. The present work establishes optimal and transferable methodological choices for employing DLPNO-based coupled cluster theory, the associated CPCM implementation, and cost-efficient multilayer derivatives of the approach for open-shell transition metal systems in complex environments.


The use of electric power has become a backbone of the modern society. Together with the growth in possible applications of electric power, we also see a growth in the number of devices and the interest of using electrical energy as an environmentally-friendly alternative to other sources of energy. Electrical equipment and the use of electricity develops towards more energy-efficient and high-technology products, This implies at the same time that the power quality is impacted as well. The accelerated use of power electronics, harmonics (LF harmonics, up to about 2 kHz) became an important subject for both engineers and researchers. This included origin, impact and propagation of harmonics. The existing situation is that HF harmonics (above 2 kHz) are taking over the role of LF harmonics as an area of concern in the power system as well as for end-user equipment. The driving forces behind the increasing levels of HF harmonics are the increased introduction of energy-efficient and high-technology products and, ironically enough, the limitation of LF harmonics among others using active converters. The research group at Lulea University of Technology, to which the author of this thesis belongs, is one of the few groups in the world that has studied different aspects of HF harmonics. A number of reasons have been identified for the lack of research on this subject: the fast development in technology; the lack of suitable measurement equipment; but most importantly the fact that this subject requires input from different engineering disciplines: electronics; electromagnetic compatibility (EMC); and power engineering. The last few years have however seen a fast growth in interest in the area, with several companies and universities contacting our group.The resonance phenomena, one of the main areas of concern for LF harmonics, are also a concern of HF harmonics but obviously at higher frequencies where experience and suitable measurement equipment was missing. Resonance phenomena in this frequency range have been identified by other researchers, but in relation to dc distribution or in relation to the testing of equipment. Common-mode resonance phenomena in the (ac) low-voltage distribution are treated in this thesis, whereas differential-mode resonances are studied in a parallel project.The aim of this thesis is to show the origin, propagation, impact and treatment of HF harmonics when modern equipment is connected to the low-voltage power distribution. The description is based on the existing knowledge on LF harmonics and the ongoing work, globally, on EMC, end-user equipment and power distribution.The title of the thesis "The zone concept - Design of low-voltage installations considering the spread of High- frequency harmonics" has been chosen to emphasize the need for electromagnetic compatibility and high power quality. This can only be achieved through interplay between end-user equipment and the electrical installation.An essential part in the zone concept is the limitation of the spread of HF harmonics through series filters, which may be power transformers, and through shunt elements to prevent high levels of disturbance especially due to resonances. Such shunt elements close the current path by lowering the impedance in the HF harmonic frequency range and can help in preventing resonance phenomena by introducing active losses. It is further shown in this thesis that many of the means to limit HF harmonics, e.g. transformers, can also be used to limit LF harmonics.


Allan Meltzer's career in economics has featured outstanding contributions in an astonishingly wide range of activities. As the basis of all of these, of course, lies his work in economic research. Perhaps most well known is Allan's long line of papers in monetary economics, many written together with Karl Brunner, which helped to establish the broad and widely accepted approach once known as monetarism. But several other areas have, at different times, attracted his main research efforts; among these are business-cycle analysis, financial intermediation, analytical political economy, and the history of economic thought. Recently, he has become deeply immersed in a major historical project — the writing of an extensive history of the Federal Reserve System and its monetary policymaking. A second type of outstanding accomplishment has been Allan Meltzer's work as a conference-series creator and organizer. In the 1970's, he and Karl Brunner founded the Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, which has been unusually fruitful as an incubator of new ideas and talent. Together, Brunner and Meltzer also founded the Interlaken Seminar on Analysis and Ideology, which for many years brought together economists, political philosophers, and other social scientists. Allan was a major contributor to Brunner's organization of the Konstanz Seminar on Monetary Theory and Policy — still a creative force in European economics — and with colleagues he created and ran the Carnegie Mellon Conference on Political Economy from 1979 to 1990. As if all this were not enough for three or four normal beings, Allan and Karl created the Shadow Open Market Committee. At its inception this was a unique institution, but it has since served as a model for other groups designed to provide policy analysis for a wider public audience. In terms of that latter objective, Allan has been and continues to be one of the economists most frequently sought out and quoted in the national and international press. He maintains an amazingly fresh and extensive store of knowledge about economic and social affairs the world over, one that he shares generously with other scholars. Allan Meltzer has not spent much time in full-time governmental positions, but has served extensively as a consultant or advisor to the U.S. Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisors, as well as official agencies in several other nations, including most notably the Bank of Japan. Also he has for several years spent a good bit of time at the American Enterprise Institute. For over 40 years, however, his principal professional home has been the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University. From the foregoing account, it will be obvious that Allan Meltzer is equipped with an enormous supply of energy and enthusiasm, as well as analytical ability. A closely related characteristic, familiar to all those who are lucky enough to spend time with him, is an unfailing attitude of optimism and cheerfulness. My interview with Allan took place on May 14, 1997, in his office, with its pleasant corner location in the new wing of GSIA's building. We talked in the afternoon and continued somewhat longer than intended because there was so much of interest to discuss. Even after 16 years of having nearby offices and multiple conversations — on days when we both are in Pittsburgh — I found it instructive and enjoyable to learn more about Allan Meltzer's remarkable career. The interview was taped, transcribed, and edited lightly.


While similarity and retrieval in case-based reasoning (CBR) have received a lot of attention in the literature, other aspects of CBR, such as case reuse are less understood. Specifically, we focus on one of such, less understood, problems: knowledge transfer. The issue we intend to elucidate can be expressed as follows: what knowledge present in a source case is transferred to a target problem in case-based inference? This paper presents a preliminary formal model of knowledge transfer and relates it to the classical notion of analogy.


A ground-based ultra-wideband radiometer operating at 540, 900, 1380, and 1740 MHz was used to measure microwave thermal emissions from an Arctic sea ice floe as part of the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) Expedition. The instrument was deployed on a drifting ice floe near 86°N, 120°E in leg 1 of the expedition (December 2019) and observed second-year ice (potentially with refrozen melt ponds) that experienced new ice growth at its base over a ten-day period. Measured circularly polarized brightness temperatures were compared with the predictions of a radiative transfer (RT) model for a layered medium consisting of ocean, growing new ice, desalinated remnant second-year ice/refrozen melt pond, and snow layers. Characteristics of the sea ice composition used in the model were determined from in-situ measurements. Comparisons of the measured and modeled wideband brightness temperatures showed good agreement consistently over the observation period and for various off-nadir observation angles. The results demonstrate the capabilities of 0.5–2 GHz microwave radiometry for observing sea ice properties and also show the impact of a saline ice layer at the ice bottom on the measured brightness temperature.


This article discusses aspects of health that might affect young people and ways in which nurses can promote healthy living and support this group of clients during a potential period of anxiety.


Numeric methods were used to analyse the characteristics of methane oxidizing bacteria in order to reveal descriptors that had a significant effect on the formation of phenones. It was found that descriptors with an equal degree of significance for the organisms being analysed could be assembled into groups by using the method of transposed matrix with the following processing by numeric methods. Poorly reproducible or instrumentally complicated characteristics can be excluded from these groups of descriptors (1 of 2, or 2 of 3), and the organisms would be identified then by using a limited range of characteristics. This technique seems to be appropriate as an accelerated method for diagnostics of methane oxidizing bacteria as well as any other organisms.


The objects in geographical information systems are represented in a context extremely rich of relationships among them. Complexity of geographical data precludes the use of general purpose relationship discovery and data analysis techniques. Most of the decision support systems in the geographic domain depend heavily on the effective and efficient processing of neighbourhood relations and cause and consequence type relations. Three important techniques, which try to exploit these object relationships for capturing meaningful patterns, are: clustering, classification and association analysis. This paper discusses the importance of exploiting spatio-temporal object relationship, the three important techniques which try to exploit these relationships for effective and efficient data analysis, identifies a few of the related research issues which need to be addressed, and then proposes a few solutions to the issues. For instance clustering high dimensional data is challenging when the clusters are of widely differing shapes, sizes, and densities, and when the data contains noise and outliers. Research in clustering spatial data has mostly focused on effectiveness and scalability for large databases. However, only a very few of them have taken into account constraints that may be present in the data or constraints on the clustering. These constraints have significant influence on the results of the clustering process of large spatial data. For Association analysis, there are many problems for deriving the spatial and spatio-temporal relationships hidden in the data, such as: encoding spatial relationships for all combinations of geographic objects, data integration, data classification, the representation and calculation of spatial relationships, and strategies for finding interesting rules. It is necessary to address these issues for effective and efficient association analysis of the data. For spatial classification step, as the data inputs for spatial analysis have both spatial and non-spatial features, so it is required to consider both type of features including auto-correlation for mapping the data in meaningful classes. Finally, as a case study, the application of these techniques exploiting spatio-temporal object relationships in the context of developing a decision support system in hydrological environment is briefly described.


There is a common presumption that queer theory is global and unproblematically so.This paper argues otherwise, by performing a postcolonial reading of Zsazsa Zaturnnah, an extremely popular Philippine "campy" text from 2003, which is easily assimilated into a queer reading that all too devastatingly overlooks its specificities as a postcolonial articulation. In particular, the paper differentiates contemporary Western camp from the postcolonial camp to be found in texts coming from the Global South, whose theories of subjectivity, even if pathetic, remain distinct from postmodernism's understanding of agency, simply because they remain entirely utilizable in anticolonial and nationalist projects, as this text itself illustrates. Queer theory's "doctrine" of gender performativity therefore needs to be reinterpreted from the perspective of postcolonial syncretism and/or hybridity, which indeed can be seen to challenge its most basic assumptions regarding the issues of agency and social transformation.