Transition metal oxides (TMOs) have attracted attention because they provide eco-friendly ways of collecting solar energy and are more stable than sulfides or phosphides for photoirradiation over long periods without photocorrosion. Among TMOs, tungsten oxides have attracted considerable attention owing to their excellent electron transport properties and good resilience to photocorrosion in aqueous media. However, pristine WO3 exhibits low photocatalytic activity because of the rapid recombination of its photogenerated charge-carriers and its narrow photo-absorption range. Consequently, the monoclinic oxygen-deficient (WO3−δ) material W18O49 (≅WO2.73) has attracted greater interest than typical tungsten oxides due to its high chemical stability and large number of oxygen vacancies (OVs). In particular, the water splitting efficiency of W18O49 is enhanced by doping with Mo, which modifies the intrinsic chemical properties of W18O49 without disturbing the crystal structure while producing more active sites. Furthermore, by tuning the morphology of Mo-W18O49 (MWO), the photocatalytic activity of MWO-embedded CdS was greatly enhanced by the very large surface area and supplementary active sites. To that end, we developed an urchin-type MWO cocatalyst integrated into CdS nanorods (NRs) by simple methods. The catalyst exhibits an enhanced production rate of H2 (40.225 mmol h−1 g−1) under simulated solar light irradiation, which is 20 times higher than that of pristine CdS NRs. The urchin-type morphology significantly shortens charge-carrier transport distances. The oxygen deficiency and Mo dopant in the W18O49 system also improve the number of active sites, which promotes the efficient utilization of light, excellent electron-transport properties, and good resilience to photocorrosion. These properties are especially beneficial for the effective excitation and separation of charge-carriers that are directed to the reduction of protons to H2. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, this material exhibits the best performance among reported tungsten-based oxides as a cocatalyst on CdS composites.


The engine speed is one of the most important signals in the engine management system of a combustion engine. The signal is used to control the fuel injection, estimate the engine torque, and to generate reference values. Combustions in the cylinders result in the engine speed oscillating around a momentary average, and many applications are depending on stable estimates of this average engine speed and the average acceleration. This thesis provides a signal model based method to estimate the momentary average engine speed and acceleration. The estimation of momentary average engine speed and acceleration is complicated by imperfections in the process of measuring the engine speed. Limited accuracy in the measurements causes quantization distortion in the engine speed signal. The effects of these errors are investigated and quantified. A signal model representing the engine speed is developed and used to estimate the momentary average and acceleration using a Kalman filter. The regular Kalman filter cannot provide estimates with low noise levels at steady state and at the same time be fast enough to track the signal during transient behavior. This problem is overcome by extending the Kalman filter with a change detection algorithm. While this signal model based method gives a satisfying result, it is computationally complex. To evaluate its performance, it is compared to a moving average FIR filter, which is computationally less expensive but does not succeed as well as the signal model based method in filtering out all oscillations.


The design methods of fuzzy logic controls (FLC's) based genetic algorithms (GA's) are used to get an optimized and additional control signal to the high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems, through genetic algorithms. The optimal values for the gain factors associated with each of the two fuzzy logic controller inputs and its output is achieved without changing the membership functions or the rule base of the fuzzy logic controller itself. This paper proposes the different methods of using genetic algorithms in the design of fuzzy logic controller's optimal inputs and output called genetic algorithm based fuzzy logic control. The implementation of genetic algorithms in designing an optimal PI-fuzzy logic controller for an HVDC system, applying the new proposed technique is introduced. The results of designing an optimal genetic algorithms based PI-fuzzy logic controller (GA-PI-Fuzzy) are compared with those obtained using the PI-fuzzy logic controller (PI-Fuzzy) and those obtained using genetic algorithm based fixed element control (GA-FEC). In designing the PI-fuzzy logic controller, two factors are used the scaling factor (or the normalized space of variables) and the gain factor (or the actual space of variables).

 Key words: High voltage direct current (HVDC) system, power system, genetic algorithm, fuzzy logic control


This paper focuses on elderly health profiles and examines the conjecture that elderly health status has been significantly impacted by the evolution of mortality in countries of the re- gion. We use SABE (Survey on Health and Well-Being of Elders), a cross-sectional representa- tive sample of over 10,000 elderly aged 60 and above in private homes fielded in seven major ci- ties in Latin America and the Caribbean. We examine the following health outcomes: self- reported health, functional limitations-Activities of Daily Living (ADL's) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL's), obesity (ratio of weight in kilograms to the square of height in centime- ters), and self reported chronic conditions (including diabetes). We examine patterns of self- reported health, self-reported chronic conditions, and disability. We also examine relations bet- ween early childhood conditions and adult health. In particular, we attempt to illustrate the idea that early childhood conditions and adult health are related. However, the relations are not strong and the evidence for it is weak at best.


This field study explores the effectiveness of EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) for the post-traumatic reactions of child victims in the post-emergency context of an earthquake that occurred in 2002 in Molise, a region of Central Italy. EMDR was chosen as the treatment for the children of the San Giuliano Primary School in Molise. Twenty-two of the children who experienced the traumatic event, being suddenly buried under the debris of their collapsed school and in contact with the bodies of their dead classmates for hours, received three cycles of EMDR treatment over one year, with a total average of 6.5 sessions of EMDR each. The results show that EMDR contributed to the reduction or remission of PTSD symptoms and facilitated the processing of the traumatic experience.


The political left in Canada, like in many other countries, is undergoing dramatic change. Over the past few years, the New Democratic Party and other social groups associated with the left in Canada have been meeting in conferences, workshops, discussions. The unprecedented success of the Liberal party under Jean Chretien in winning a third majority government has challenged the viability of many movements and parties. This book is a collection of original essays by the most eminent thinkers associated with the New Democratic Party and the political left in Canada.


Pregnancy is diagnosed by the detection of beta human Chorionic Gonadotropin (beta hCG) in maternal serum or urine after implantation of the embryo. Primary function of hCG is to maintain the corpus luteum in early weeks of gestation. Pregnancy associated plasma protein A is a glycoprotein exhibits insulin like growth factor binding protein 4 protease activity, which regulates bioavailability of Insulin like Growth Factor-II. Maternal obesity increases the likelihood of serious pregnancy complications both for mother and infant. The altered maternal environment in women with a raised BMI could have adverse consequences for placental development and function thus we hypothesized if maternal body mass index is associated with alterations in serum levels of free β- HCG and PAPP-A After obtaining approval from institutional ethics committee, Kasturba Hospital Manipal, 676 singleton pregnant women of 19-45 years, in 10-14 weeks of gestations were enrolled for the study. Serum free beta hCG and PAPP-A by ECLIA method. BMI was calculated using the formula weight (in kgs)/height in m2. Data were compiled, statistical analysis was done. Non parametric tests were used for analysis. Median and MoM levels of both free beta hCG and PAPP-A showed a significant negative correlation with BMI (p<0.001). To conclude obese women have a larger extracellular volume, larger distribution volume for hCG and PAPPA. Low hCG in women with high BMI may be sequestration of hCG by adipose tissue–resident macrophages. Inverse association of HCG concentration with BMI may be a result of impaired synthesis of HCG in obese women.


Introduction Transgenic hGAS mice, which have high circulating progastrin concentrations show increased colonic epithelial proliferation and increased susceptibility to colorectal carcinogenesis. As signalling between colonic epithelial cells and their underlying myofibroblasts is known to regulate homeostasis and the colonic stem cell niche, we hypothesise that progastrin may regulate colonic carcinogenesis by exerting effects upon both myofibroblasts and epithelial cells. We have therefore assessed the numbers of pericryptal myofibroblasts in the colonic mucosa of hGAS mice and have investigated the effects of treating a human colonic myofibroblast cell line with exogenous recombinant progastrin. Methods hGAS mice were backcrossed onto a C57BL/6 genetic background and epithelial mitotic index and crypt length were assessed in the distal colon on a cell positional basis using H&E sections. The numbers of total and proliferating myofibroblasts were assessed by dual immunohistochemistry with anti-α-smooth muscle actin or vimentin antibodies (to stain myofibroblasts); and anti-Ki67 antibody (to stain proliferating cells). CCD18co human colonic myofibroblasts were treated with 0-10 nM progastrin, gastrin-17 (G-17) or glycine-extended gastrin (G-Gly) for 18 h and proliferation was assessed using a luminescence-based assay. Signalling pathways were investigated by pre-treating cells with inhibitors for the CCK-2 receptor (YM022), Protein kinase C (RO-32-0432), MAP kinase (PD98059) or PI3 kinase (LY294002). Results Consistent with previous observations in hGAS mice on the FVB/N genetic background the percentage of colonic epithelial mitotic cells was increased by 90% in hGAS mice (p<0.001), which also showed a 22% increase in colonic crypt length (p<0.01). The percentage of colonic mucosal cells which were myofibroblasts was increased in hGAS mice by α-smooth muscle actin and vimentin staining (26% and 25%, respectively, p<0.001); but no Ki67 staining was observed in myofibroblasts. 0.1 nM PG maximally increased proliferation of CCD18co cells by 86% (p<0.001) and this was inhibited by RO-032-0432 (p<0.001). G-17 and G-Gly did not affect CCD18co cell proliferation. Conclusion Progastrin overexpressing hGAS mice show increased numbers of colonic pericryptal myofibroblasts as well as increased colonic epithelial proliferation. Progastrin also stimulates the proliferation of colonic myofibroblasts in vitro via Protein kinase C pathway signalling. Progastrin therefore appears to increase colonic susceptibility to carcinogenesis by affecting both stromal and epithelial compartments.


A numerical procedure has been developed to solve the population balance equation (PBE) for the flocculation of colloidal suspensions.Ithastheflexibilitytocopewithdifferent flocculationkinetics andspread inparticlevolume. Thetwokeysteps in this procedure are the adoption of the logarithm of particle volume as the independent variable and the implementation of uniform discretization in the logarithmic domain. Together they allow the PBE to be represented accurately over the entire particle range overcoming the failure of the popular geometric discretization scheme to represent the PBE satisfactorily for large particles. The Method of Lines is used to convert the PBE from an integro-differential equation into a set of first-order ordinary differential equations, which is then integrated using commercial scientific computing software. The procedure has been tested for different kinetics and initial particle distributions. Preservation of particulate volume of between 1 and 8% is consistently observed. V C 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 3043–3053, 2012


Abstract In antiquity, therapeutic empiricism attributed medicinal properties to animal products, plants, minerals and metals, including the soil of specific geographical locations. The therapeutic use of certain earths and metals is thoroughly documented in the works of Hippocrates, Dioscorides and Galen and was still practised in the eighteenth century by eminent physicians such as Sir Hans Sloane. Mercury and arsenical compounds have also been widely used since antiquity, the latter finding application in our times in the successful treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia.


The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)-funded Chronicles in Preservation project
(http://metaarchive.org/neh/) completed this Comparative Analysis of three Distributed Digital
Preservation systems to analyze their underlying technologies and methodologies:
-Chronopolis using iRODS (http://chronopolis.sdsc.edu/).
-University of North Texas using Coda (http://www.library.unt.edu/).
-MetaArchive Cooperative using LOCKSS (http://metaarchive.org/).

This Comparative Analysis is not intended to designate any of the Distributed Digital Preservation (DDP) systems as superior or inferior to one another in any of the areas disclosed. On the contrary, digital preservation is often best served by maintaining a variety of solutions, and each of the three DDP systems have partnered actively with one another on several digital preservation initiatives and are learning constantly from one another's approaches. The Chronicles in Preservation project, and more specifically, this Comparative Analysis, has been undertaken by these three systems in order to test, document, and refine their processes, not in isolation, but as a collaborative effort.


The emergence of biofuels as an agricultural commodity has integrated the agricultural, energy and livestock sectors and expanded the scope of models being used to analyze the effects of energy policies. It has increased the importance of incorporating spatial heterogeneity in land availability and productivity and information about the biophysical and economic determinants of land use change at multiple spatial scales. Since biofuels affect food and fuel prices, they have expanded the boundaries of economic models to consider not only their direct but also their indirect effects on land use and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper describes the demand-side and supply-side determinants of these direct and indirect changes in land use and greenhouse gas emissions with biofuels. We discuss the major modeling approaches used to analyze these effects, their strengths, limitations and key findings and directions for future research.


A major route of detoxification for many halogenated xenobiotics is by conjugation to the tripeptide glutathione. Subsequent metabolic processing of the glutathione conjugate yields the corresponding cysteine conjugate of the xenobiotic, which may then serve as a substrate for enzymes which express beta-lyase activity. Kidney cysteine conjugate beta-lyase [glutamine transaminase K (GTK), kynurenine aminotransferase (KAT)] is an enzyme which metabolises cysteine conjugates of certain halogenated alkenes and alkanes to form reactive metabolites. Such metabolites produce nephrotoxicity in experimental animals, neurotoxicity in rabbits, and may produce subtle kidney changes and neurotoxicity in man. Although the role of kidney cysteine conjugate beta-lyase in the production of nephrotoxic thiols from cysteine conjugates of xenobiotics has been well established, the factors controlling the cellular distribution and substrate specificity of the enzyme have yet to be elucidated. Additionally, the recent finding by other researchers that the rat brain beta-lyase enzyme also possesses KAT activity raises the possibility that it may play a role in neurotransmission via modulation of the NMDA receptor. As an approach to understanding the species specific differences in halogenated alkene nephrotoxicity, the full-length cDNAs for both rat and human kidney cysteine conjugate beta-lyase have been isolated using a combination of hybridisation screening, 5' RACE and RT-PCR technologies. The cDNAs were sequenced and their identities confirmed by deduced molecular weight, deduced amino acid composition, the presence of a consensus pyridoxal phosphate binding site in their deduced amino acid sequences, and expression of the cDNAs in tissue culture cells. The rat and human cDNAs coded for proteins of 47.8 kDa and 47.9 kDa respectively, consistent with the published values for the purified beta-lyase proteins. Cytosolic extracts of COS-1 cells, transfected with the rat and human cDNAs demonstrated significant increases in both beta-lyase and GTK activity, with approximately similar Km values for the rat and human enzymes. Western blot analysis using the purified antibody to rat kidney cytosolic beta-lyase, was performed on cytosolic extract from COS-1 cells transfected with the rat cDNA and demonstrated a protein band identical in its position to that of authentic rat kidney beta-lyase. Comparison of the human deduced amino acid sequence with that of the rat enzyme indicated an 82% overall similarity, with 90% similarity either side of the pyridoxal phosphate binding site (residues 187-289), many of the changes being conservative in nature. Preliminary mapping of the gene for human cysteine conjugate beta-lyase, using PCR analysis of genomic DNA from human-rodent hybrid cells, indicated that it is located on human chromosome 9. The use of the rat and human beta-lyase cDNAs for the elucidation of the mechanism of action, substrate specificity, localisation and potential toxicity of these enzymes is discussed in this thesis. The work presented here, has given rise to a number of poster presentations, oral communications and refereed publications (see appendix II).


Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) involves systems that attempt to fit in with users' context and interaction. Researchers agree that system adaptation is a key issue in ubicomp because it can be hard to predict changes in contexts, needs and uses. Even with the best planning, it is impossible to foresee all uses of software at the design stage. In order for software to continue to be helpful and appropriate it should, ideally, be as dynamic as the environment in which it operates. Changes in user requirements, contexts of use and system resources mean software should also adapt to better support these changes. An area in which adaptation is clearly lacking is in ubicomp systems, especially those designed for mobile devices. By improving techniques and infrastructure to support adaptation it is possible for ubicomp systems to not only sense and adapt to the environments they are running in, but also retrieve and install new functionality so as to better support the dynamic context and needs of users in such environments.

Dynamic adaptation of software refers to the act of changing the structure of some part of a software system as it executes, without stopping or restarting it. One of the core goals of this thesis is to discover if such adaptation is feasible, useful and appropriate in the mobile environment, and how designers can create more adaptive and flexible ubicomp systems and associated user experiences. Through a detailed study of existing literature and experience of several early systems, this thesis presents design issues and requirements for adaptive ubicomp systems. This thesis presents the Domino framework, and demonstrates that a mobile collaborative software adaptation framework is achievable. This system can recommend future adaptations based on a history of use. The framework demonstrates that wireless network connections between mobile devices can be used to transport usage logs and software components, with such connections made either in chance encounters or in designed multi–user interactions.

Another aim of the thesis is to discover if users can comprehend and smoothly interact with systems that are adapting. To evaluate Domino, a multiplayer game called Castles has been developed, in which game buildings are in fact software modules that are recommended and transferred between players. This evaluation showed that people are comfortable receiving semi–automated software recommendations; these complement traditional recommendation methods such as word of mouth and online forums, with the system's support freeing users to discuss more in–depth aspects of the system, such as tactics and strategies for use, rather than forcing them to discover, acquire and integrate software by themselves.


Using a normalized CES function with factor-augmenting technical progress, we estimate a supply-side system of the U.S. economy from 1953 to 1998. Avoiding potential estimation biases that may have occurred in earlier studies and putting a high emphasis on data consistency, we obtain robust results not only for the aggregate elasticity of substitution but also for the parameters of labor and capital augmenting technical change. We find that the elasticity of substitution is significantly below unity and that technical progress shows an asymmetrical pattern where the growth of labor-augmenting technical progress is exponential, while that of capital is hyperbolic or logarithmic.


Abstract : A new family of metal organic framework materials was studied which relied on organophosphonate molecules as organic linkers between metal ion aggregates as connecting nodes. These materials could form new porous sorbents with the ability to tune the pore size, pore shape and the nature of the chemical functionalities lining the pores. Linear, trigonal and tetrahedral polyphosphonate molecules were studied as well as functionalized linear linkers, all of which were successful in producing new porous solids. Additionally, the use of a linear phosphonate mono ester as a linker was studied, the first use of such a compound in a metal organic framework. New organic linkers were characterized by 1H, 13C and 31P NMR spectroscopy as well as IR spectroscopy and elemental analyses. New network solids were characterized by powder and, when possible, single crystal X-ray diffraction as well as thermogravimetric analysis and gas sorption analyses. Several new families of new porous materials were developed which show promise for sorption of gaseous analytes.


Conventional wisdom in the field of international finance holds that the U.S. economy has become so open financiallly as to be characterized by perfect capital mobility: a highly elastic supply of foreign capital prevents the domestic rate of return from rising significantly above the world rate of return. This view has been challenged recently by the observation that investment rates are highly correlated with national saving rates, and the claim by Feldstein and Horioka that this correlation is evidence of relatively low capital mobility.The premise of this paper is that the Feldstein-Horioka finding regarding crowding out in an open economy is strong enough to survive the econometric critiques that have been leveled against it, but that it need have nothing to do with the degree of capital mobility in the sense of the openness of financial markets and the equalization of international interest rates expressed in a common currency. It is real interest rates that matter for questions of crowding out, and real interest parity requires not just that nominal interest rates be equalized expressed in a common currency, but also that purchasing power parity hold. It is well-known that purchasing power parity does not in fact hold. Currently, for example, the dollar is expected to depreciate in real terms. Thus real interest rate parity fails and crowding out takes place because of imperfect integration of goods markets, not imperfect integration of financial markets.


Humans have a strong "cognitive compulsion" to infer intentional agents from violation of randomness and such an agency–nonrandomness link emerges early in development. In two studies, we directly quantified, formalized, and compared both ends of this link for the first time. In Experiment 1, two groups of participants viewed the same 256 binary sequences (e.g., AABAAABA) and classified each as generated by agents/non-agents or by nonrandom/random processes. We found a strong correlation between two judgments: sequences viewed as more agentive also tended to be judged as less random. In Experiment 2, another two groups were asked to produce sequences that others might appreciate as agentive or nonrandom. Participant-generated sequences in the two conditions had a substantial overlap, indicating common guiding principles of agency and nonrandomness generation. Taken together, the present studies provide evidence for a shared cognitive basis of agency detection and subjective randomness.


This document reports on the work done by the Nuclear Technology Programs of the Chemical Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, in the period April--September 1988. These programs involve R D in three areas: applied physical chemistry, separation science and technology, and nuclear waste management. The work in applied physical chemistry includes investigations into the processes that control the release and transport of fission products under accident-like conditions, the thermophysical properties of selected materials in environments simulating those of fusion energy systems. In the area of separation science and technology, the bulk of the effort is concerned with developing and implementing processes for the removal and concentration of actinides from waste streams contaminated by transuranic elements. Another effort is concerned with examining the feasibility of substituting low-enriched for high-enriched uranium in the production of fission-product {sup 99}Mo. In the area of waste management, investigations are underway on the performance of materials in projected nuclear repository conditions to provide input to the licensing of the nation's high-level waste repositories.


Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate if the lymph node count from inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy impacted the risk of isolated groin recurrence in patients with node-negative squamous cell vulvar cancer. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of women with squamous cell vulvar cancer (stage IB–II according to the 2009 Revised International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics staging system) who underwent primary radical vulvar surgery and groin lymphadenectomy between January 2005 and December 2014. Patients' sociodemographic characteristics, the disease characteristics, the number of nodes removed from each groin, and the oncologic outcome were evaluated. A cutoff value of at least 6 nodes removed from each groin was used to define the adequacy of inguinofemoral dissection. Results Seventy-six patients, fulfilling the study inclusion criteria, were considered. The mean number of nodes removed (bilaterally) was 14.5 (±5.3, SD), with a range of 2 to 29 nodes. Thirty-three women (43.4%) had less than 6 nodes removed from each groin. In the whole study cohort, 4 cases of isolated groin recurrence (5.3%) were detected, and all these recurrences developed in patients with less than 6 nodes removed. Considering the demographic, clinical, and histopathological characteristics potentially related to the risk of groin recurrence, only the number of nodes removed showed a significant correlation. Conclusions Women treated for vulvar cancer in which less than 6 nodes are removed from each groin are at higher risk of groin recurrence.


Methods for computing integral laminated lattices with prescribed minimum are developed. Laminating is a process of stacking layers of an (n 1)-dimensional lattice as densely as possible to obtain an n-dimensional lattice. Our side conditions are: All scalar products of lattice vectors are rational integers, and all lattices are generated by vectors of prescribed minimum (square) length et. For m = 3 all such lattices are determined.


Despite a long-standing debate about the utility of species-centered conservation approaches (Roberge & Angelstam 2004), surrogate species remain popular by providing useful—or even necessary—"shortcuts" for successful conservation programs (Caro 2010). Flagship species, as one prime example of surrogates, are primarily intended to promote public awareness and to raise funds for conservation (Verissimo et al. 2011). In contrast, the protection of umbrella species is expected to benefit a wide range of co-occurring species (Roberge & Angelstam 2004; Caro 2010). Accordingly, the main criteria for selecting flagships should be based on socio-cultural considerations, whereas umbrellas are principally chosen based on ecological criteria (Caro 2010; Verissimo et al. 2011; see Table 1). Since these two concepts are often confused or mistakenly used interchangeably, Caro (2010, p. 248) coined the term "flagship umbrellas" for those species that explicitly integrate both functions. Indeed, Li and Pimm (2016) recently demonstrated that the classic flagship species, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), can simultaneously act as an umbrella species, as its protection benefits many co-occurring endemic mammals, birds and amphibians. This challenges the often held views that: (i) the umbrella concept has to be abandoned as it is not efficiently working at local scales (Caro 2015); (ii) most flagship species are weak predictors for efficient reserve planning (Caro 2010); and (iii) ecosystem- or landscape-based conservation approaches should consequentially be favored over species-based approaches whenever feasible (Roberge & Angelstam 2004; Caro 2010). Further commotion in the discussion is the increasingly demanded paradigm shift in conservation strategies to specifically target hidden or neglected biodiversity for its intrinsic value and its contribution to ecosystem processes (Dougherty et al. 2016).

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This study aimed to describe the level of mastery of diction, illustrating the ability to write essays arguing and explaining relationships diction mastery of the ability to write essays siswa.Penelitian argument was held in SMA Negeri 1 Berastagi. Sample as many as 40 students, which is taken Random Sampling (Random) from 9 class X, and was elected class X-1 as an object of research.Before testing the hypothesis, first performed followed by descriptive data and test requirements analysis, test for normality and linearity test. To test the hypothesis used formula product moment correlation significance level of 5%. From the description of the data obtained diction skills class X SMA Negeri 1 Berastagi learning year 2012/2013, quite well with the average value of 75.625 and a standard deviation of 7.18 and an argument essay writing skills of students is also quite good with an average value of 71.625 and a standard deviation of 7.02. The correlation coefficient menunjukkanrhitung> rtabel or 0.663> 0.312 so it can be concluded that there is a significant relationship between mastery of diction on the ability to write an argument essay in class X SMA Negeri 1 Berastagi Learning Year 2012/2013. Linearity test results indicate that the relationship between Mastery Ability Test Diction for Writing Argumentation Writing ability is linear regression equation: Y = 22.624 + 0.648 X and Fhitung = 0.715> F table = 2.30. Thus the higher ability students mastery of diction, the higher the student's ability to write an argument essay. keyword, mastery of diction is associated with writing arguments.


This paper aims to identify elements that will help with the process of thinking through curriculum issues based on the concept of open architecture. We argue that this concept can be an interesting driver of practice and debate concerning curriculum development in different contexts. More generally, we seek for viable public education that is more deeply committed to pluralist democracy; a pluralism with some consensus, but not on everything, as argued by Chantal Mouffe, in support of Paulo Freire's claim that no one frees anyone alone but in communion. The paper describes origin of open architecture in computing, highlighting the free software movement. Then, we briefly discuss the transposition of this concept to the educational field. We also describe some communities for practice and innovation. Teacher communities should be the main foundation of the open architecture curriculum. Teachers should be transformative intellectuals with the responsibility, among others, to listen to student voices. Finally, we describe examples of the open architecture curriculum, some real, some imaginary. The concept of open architecture can also help when conducting comparative studies to enable a better understanding of curricular differences between nations, particularly with regard to flexibilization and centralization policies.


Abstract We have developed a simple and fast quantitative method for depth and shape determination from residual gravity anomalies due to simple geometrical bodies (semi-infinite vertical cylinder, horizontal cylinder, and sphere). The method is based on defining the anomaly value at two characteristic points and their corresponding distances on the anomaly profile. Using all possible combinations of the two characteristic points and their corresponding distances, a statistical procedure is developed for automated determination of the best shape and depth parameters of the buried structure from gravity data. A least-squares procedure is also formulated to estimate the amplitude coefficient which is related to the radius and density contrast of the buried structure. The method is applied to synthetic data with and without random errors and tested on two field examples from the USA and Germany. In all cases examined, the estimated depths and shapes are found to be in good agreement with actual values. The present method has the capability of minimizing the effect of random noise in data points to enhance the interpretation of results.


The process-based Spatial Logics are multi-modal logics developed for semantics on Process Algebras and designed to specify concurrent properties of dynamic systems. On the syntactic level, they combine modal operators similar to operators of Hennessy-Milner logic, dynamic logic, arrow logic, relevant logic, or linear logic. This combination generates expressive logics, sometimes undecidable, for which a wide range of applications have been proposed. In the literature, there exist some sound proof systems for spatial logics, but the problem of completeness against process-algebraic semantics is still open. The main goal of this paper is to identify a sound-complete axiomatization for such a logic. We focus on a particular spatial logic that combines the basic spatial operators with dynamic and classical operators. The semantics is based on a fragment of CCS calculus that embodies the core features of concurrent behaviors. We prove the logic decidable both for satisfiability/validity and mode-checking, and we propose a sound-complete Hilbert-style axiomatic system for it. This is the preliminary version of a paper that was published in Proc. of the International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science, MFCS 2008


Background: While it is recognized that multiple factors interact at different socioecological levels to influence cancer disparities, many of the proposed solutions to eliminating disparities have been narrowly focused on individual level factors. Social networks have been shown to influence health outcomes through various pathways, including shared social capital, social and cultural norms, risky behaviors, and the transmission of infectious diseases. Current research has shown how social networks influence health behavior; however there are still some critical gaps in this understanding. There is lack of data about social networks and the context in which individuals make decisions about their medical care and health behavior. The purpose of this study is to explore how certain sociocultural conditions influence the composition and nature of social networks structure; and how in turn these networks serve as mediating structures for certain psychosocial mechanisms that influence decisions about screening health behaviors. Methods: Social network analysis of egocentric networks was conducted to visualize the social networks of 65 African American, Latino, and Caucasian men and women. Descriptive statistics (e.g. frequencies, proportions, and means) will be produced to describe sample characteristics in terms of screening behaviors performed/not performed, network sizes, and flow of information. Bivariate statistics (e.g., Chi-square, Mc Nemar, t-tests, ANOVAs) will be computed to make comparisons on these variables by racial/ethnic group membership. Multivariate statistics will be computed to evaluate the impact of social network characteristics on screening practices, health decisions, and access to health care. Results: Our analysis allows us to describe the structural and compositional network characteristics that are related to prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer screening, and explore whether there is variation in the ways that social network characteristics influence cancer screening behaviors. Our analysis explores the structural and compositional measures of the network (e.g., size, density, strength of ties) and associations among sociocultural conditions, the composition and nature of social networks structure and how in turn these networks serve as mediating structures for certain psychosocial mechanisms that may influence decisions about cancer screening health behaviors. Conclusion: Social network analysis has the potential to provide measureable data to help characterize how individuals interact with and access cancer screening services and other key variables that impact health risk behaviors. Before evidenced-based, multi-level interventions can be developed to improve prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer screening, more scientific knowledge is needed about how interpersonal factors shape these screening behaviors. Citation Format: Essie Torres, Levi Ross, Jarrett Johnson. The feasibility of using social networks to understand the causal pathways of cancer disparities. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A70. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-A70


Who speaks and with what authority, who is believed, what evidence is introduced, and how it is presented are all informed not only by the substantive law and the rules of evidence but also by the rituals of the trial. It is from this legal process as a whole that a judge or jury determines the (legal) 'truth' about a woman's allegation of rape. A sexual assault complainant's capacity to be believed in court, to share in the production of meaning about an incidence of what she alleges was unwanted sexual contact, requires her to play a part in certain rituals of the trial. Many of these rituals are hierarchical, requiring complainants to perform subordinate roles that mirror the gender-, race-, and socio-economic status-based societal hierarchies in which the problem of sexual violence is rooted. Relying on the work of Robert Cover and interdisciplinary work on ritual for its conceptual framework, this article pursues two objectives. First, it attempts to depict, through the use of trial transcripts, the brutality of the process faced by sexual assault complainants. Second, it exposes some of the institutionalized practices, as manifested through courtroom rituals, that contribute to the inhospitable conditions faced by those who participate in the criminal justice response to sexualized violence.


Natural and man-made disasters affect everyone in their path. Some people are nevertheless more vulnerable than others and suffer in different ways and to different extents. The tsunami highlighted a number of pre-existing factors that made some people especially vulnerable and it also brought out the ways in which other people became vulnerable as a result of disaster. Major social and demographic shifts occurred, and the social fabric of communities was severely eroded. Gender, age, extent of personal loss, personal experience in terms of how direct or indirect exposure emerged as key factors together with loss of place, problems of temporary and permanent housing, poor income generation and uncertainty about if and when it would be possible to return to original home sites and communities. Host communities were also affected, albeit indirectly. How and to what extent people were psychologically 'damaged' in, and by, the tsunami nevertheless remains poorly defined because of the paucity of real-time monitoring and the fact that in some countries there was little agreement on the nature and classification of psychosocial problems and morbidity.


Modern networks are becoming increasingly more complex, heterogeneous, and densely connected. While more diverse services are enabled to an ever-increasing number of users through ubiquitous networking and pervasive computing, several important challenges have emerged. For example, densely connected networks are prone to higher levels of interference, which makes them more vulnerable to jamming attacks. Also, the utilization of software-based protocols to perform routing, load balancing and power management functions in Software-Defined Networks gives rise to more vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious users and adversaries. Moreover, the increased reliance on cloud computing services due to a growing demand for communication and computation resources poses formidable security challenges due to the shared nature and virtualization of cloud computing. In this thesis, we study two types of attacks: jamming attacks on wireless networks and side-channel attacks on cloud computing servers. The former attacks disrupt the natural network operation by exploiting the static topology and dynamic channel assignment in wireless networks, while the latter attacks seek to gain access to unauthorized data by co-residing with target virtual machines (VMs) on the same physical node in a cloud server. In both attacks, the adversary faces a static attack surface and achieves her illegitimate goal by exploiting a stationary aspect of the network functionality. Hence, this dissertation proposes and develops counter approaches to both attacks using moving target defense strategies. We study the strategic interactions between the adversary and the network administrator within a game-theoretic framework. First, in the context of jamming attacks, we present and analyze a game-theoretic formulation between the adversary and the network defender. In this problem, the attack surface is the network connectivity (the static topology) as the adversary jams a subset of nodes to increase the level of interference in the network. On the other side, the defender makes judicious adjustments of the transmission footprint of the various nodes, thereby continuously adapting the underlying network iii topology to reduce the impact of the attack. The defender's strategy is based on playing Nash equilibrium strategies securing a worst-case network utility. Moreover, scalable decompositionbased approaches are developed yielding a scalable defense strategy whose performance closely approaches that of the non-decomposed game for large-scale and dense networks. We study a class of games considering discrete as well as continuous power levels. In the second problem, we consider multi-tenant clouds, where a number of VMs are typically collocated on the same physical machine to optimize performance and power consumption and maximize profit. This increases the risk of a malicious virtual machine performing side-channel attacks and leaking sensitive information from neighboring VMs. The attack surface, in this case, is the static residency of VMs on a set of physical nodes, hence we develop a timed migration defense approach. Specifically, we analyze a timing game in which the cloud provider decides when to migrate a VM to a different physical machine to mitigate the risk of being compromised by a collocated malicious VM. The adversary decides the rate at which she launches new VMs to collocate with the victim VMs. Our formulation captures a data leakage model in which the cost incurred by the cloud provider depends on the duration of collocation with malicious VMs. It also captures costs incurred by the adversary in launching new VMs and by the defender in migrating VMs. We establish sufficient conditions for the existence of Nash equilibria for general cost functions, as well as for specific instantiations, and characterize the best response for both players. Furthermore, we extend our model to characterize its impact on the attacker's payoff when the cloud utilizes intrusion detection systems that detect side-channel attacks. Our theoretical findings are corroborated with extensive numerical results in various settings as well as a proof-ofconcept implementation in a realistic cloud setting.


Abstract. Complex extractive districts, such as the marble quarries in the Apuan Alps (northern Italy), require soil consumption monitoring over the years that could be achieved through high-resolution remotely sensed data. To derive 2D and 3D indicators with appropriate resolution for annual monitoring of high-resolution changes in soil consumption, aerial images, LiDAR acquisitions, satellite data, and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) acquisitions were used. In particular, open-access Sentinel-2 multispectral satellite imagery with a spatial resolution of 10 m was used to assess cover changes (2D), and then refined by manual interpretation for 5 years (2016-2021). 3D changes were detected by comparing free aerial LiDAR data from 2009 and 2017, integrated with two stereo models obtained from Pléiades high-resolution satellite images from 2020 and 2022. 3D changes observed over the years by algebraic elevation comparison, performed in QGIS 3.x environment, highlight quarries characterized by intense mining activities (extracted marble blocks, characterized by positive elevation differences) and quarry area management (debris disposal and service infrastructure construction, characterized by negative elevation differences). The combined use of 2D and 3D change indicators can be challenging in order to correctly represent soil consumption over the years. A dual 2D/3D webgis client have been developed for proper representation of 2D/3D spatial indicators of ongoing extraction activities in the Carrara marble basin: high-resolution images have been served as tiled data, while 2D/3D spatial indicators are served as static and/or tiled vector data. Open-Source libraries have used in data processing, serving and representation inside a map interface.


Recently, self-attention models such as Transformers have given competitive results compared to recurrent neural network systems in speech recognition. The key factor for the outstanding performance of self-attention models is their ability to capture temporal relationships without being limited by the distance between two related events. However, we note that the range of the learned context progressively increases from the lower to upper self-attention layers, whilst acoustic events often happen within short time spans in a left-to-right order. This leads to a question: for speech recognition, is a global view of the entire sequence still important for the upper self-attention layers in the encoder of Transformers? To investigate this, we replace these self-attention layers with feed forward layers. In our speech recognition experiments (Wall Street Journal and Switchboard), we indeed observe an interesting result: replacing the upper self-attention layers in the encoder with feed forward layers leads to no performance drop, and even minor gains. Our experiments offer insights to how self-attention layers process the speech signal, leading to the conclusion that the lower self-attention layers of the encoder encode a sufficiently wide range of inputs, hence learning further contextual information in the upper layers is unnecessary.


Cytoplasmic oxysterol-binding protein homologues, designated OSBP-like (OSBPL) or OSBP-related (ORP) proteins, constitute a family of lipid binding/transfer proteins present in a wide spectrum of eukaryotes. In mammals these proteins are encoded by 12 genes expressed ubiquitously but at different quantities in different tissue and cell types. Their unifying feature is a β-barrel-like ligand-binding domain that has been shown to accommodate sterol ligands: oxysterols, cholesterol, or both, while a recent report shows that also phospholipid can be bound. Certain family members have the capacity to mediate or facilitate intracellular sterol transport or lipid exchange, while others are implicated as sterol sensors involved in cell regulation: lipid homeostatic control, signal transduction, organelle motility, or vesicle transport. Several ORPs have been localized to membrane contact sites, at which endoplasmic reticulum membranes are closely apposed with other organelles—indicating functions in the non-vesicular transport of ions or small molecules, or in regulation of enzymatic components active at the contact sites. OSBPL gene polymorphisms are associated with cardiovascular risk factors, and altered ORP expression levels occur in certain cancers, providing the first indications of ORP involvement in human disease. In this review we summarize and analyze the latest findings concerning the function of OSBPL/ORP proteins.


Magnetic ion exchange resin is a strong base anion exchange resin with magnetic properties that can be used to remove negatively charged materials from water. Magnetic poly glycidyl methacrylate resin (m-PGMA), as a new type of resin, has shown better removal performance for humics than MIEX®. Removal performance and influence factors of oxytetracycline (OTC) in water by m-PGMA were examined, and in addition, the removal effect of OTC by MIEX and powdered activated carbon (PAC) was used as a comparison. Results showed that m-PGMA could remove more OTC than MIEX and PAC. The removal effect was greatly affected by its dosage, inorganic anions, organics and pH value. At a contact time of 30 min, the removal rates of OTC were 45%, 52%, 63% when dosage was 5 ml/L, 10 ml/L, 20 ml/L, respectively. Contrastingly, the removal rate of OTC by MIEX as a comparison was 45% with the dosage of 10 mL/L with contact time of 30 min. The OTC removal effect was significantly increased when the pH value was above 7.3, for OTC molecule existed as an anion in alkaline medium. In conclusion, m-PGMA is more effective than MIEX and PAC for the removal of OTC in water, and can be one of the choices to remove trace organics like OTC.


A vision system is developed that recognizes and tracks multiple cars from sequences of gray-scale images taken from a moving car in hard real-time. The recognition method is based on feature detection, online deformable template matching, and temporal differencing. The vision system utilizes the hard real-time operating system Maruti which guarantees that the timing constraints on the various processes of the vision system are satisfied. The dynamic creation and termination of tracking processes optimizes the amount of computation resources spent and allows fast real-time recognition and tracking of multiple cars as demonstrated over a large number of image frames.


Correspondence to Dr Yarlini Balarajan; firstname.lastname@example.com ABSTRACT Objectives: To examine what factors influence the agenda-setting process and level of political priority afforded to micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs). Design: Qualitative case study employing process tracing, informed by primary data collected from semistructured interviews with policymakers. Setting: Dakar, Senegal. Results: Several facilitating and impeding factors affecting the level of political prioritisation for MNDs were identified. Facilitating factors included multiple stakeholders using aligned framing to collectively advocate for MNDs; availability of indicators to quantify issue severity and raise awareness; and transnational advocacy activities around micronutrients. Impeding factors included lack of awareness among policymakers and civil society about MNDs; issue complexity, with the need for coordinated multisectoral response to deliver a complex package of solutions; lack of resources trapping the issue in a 'low-priority' cycle; lack of a policy champion to advocate for the issue and the challenge of demonstrating the effectiveness of interventions to support advocacy efforts. Conclusions: This study gives insight into the political prioritisation process for MNDs from the perspective of key stakeholders working at the national level in Senegal. In doing so, the study offers some explanation as to why the issue of MNDs has struggled to gain political attention and make it onto the national policy agenda. Moving forward, greater awareness of the factors affecting agenda setting for MNDs may help to devise political strategies to champion this development issue in countries with high burdens of micronutrient deficiencies.


BACKGROUND
Social phobia is a type of performance and interpersonal anxiety disorder and as such may be associated with sexual dysfunction and avoidance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate sexual function and behavior in patients with social phobia compared with mentally healthy subjects.

METHOD
Eighty subjects participated in the study: 40 consecutive, drug-free outpatients with social phobia (DSM-IV) attending an anxiety disorders clinic between November 1997 and April 1999 and 40 mentally normal controls. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale were used to quantitatively and qualitatively assess sexual function and behavior.

RESULTS
Men with social phobia reported mainly moderate impairment in arousal, orgasm, sexual enjoyment, and subjective satisfaction domains. Women with social phobia reported severe impairment in desire, arousal, sexual activity, and subjective satisfaction. In addition, compared with controls, men with social phobia reported significantly more frequent paid sex (p < .05), and women with social phobia reported a significant paucity of sexual partners (p < .05).

CONCLUSION
Patients with social phobia exhibit a wide range of sexual dysfunctions. Men have mainly performance problems, and women have a more pervasive disorder. Patients of both genders show difficulties in sexual interaction. It is important that clinicians be aware of this aspect of social phobia and initiate open discussions of sexual problems with patients.


Dr. Sharon Baurley is to launch a network: smart textiles for intelligent consumer products, in November 2003 funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The network will constitute a think tank for future intelligent/smart consumer products and applications in the context of societal futures and future markets, by bringing together all sectors [application based industries; defence; cognitive and social science; ambient/pervasive computing; electrochemistry; textile and fibre engineering; fashion, textile, industrial, interior and architectural design], that will be involved in the design, development and production chain. The principal benefit will be the development of a new multidisciplinary community that will arise out of a thematic approach to materials and product development, as textiles and electronics technologies converge. The network will generate research and development programmes and will form the framework for a new research centre in intelligent product research at Central Saint Martins.


Progression from the initial vascular response upon hyperglycemia to a proliferative stage with neovacularizations is the hallmark of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Here, we report on the novel diabetic pdx1−/− zebrafish mutant as a model for diabetic retinopathy that lacks the transcription factor pdx1 through CRISPR-Cas9–mediated gene knockout leading to disturbed pancreatic development and hyperglycemia. Larval pdx1−/− mutants prominently show vasodilation of blood vessels through increased vascular thickness in the hyaloid network as direct developmental precursor of the adult retinal vasculature in zebrafish. In adult pdx1−/− mutants, impaired glucose homeostasis induces increased hyperbranching and hypersprouting with new vessel formation in the retina and aggravation of the vascular alterations from the larval to the adult stage. Both vascular aspects respond to antiangiogenic and antihyperglycemic pharmacological interventions in the larval stage and are accompanied by alterations in the nitric oxide metabolism. Thus, the pdx1−/− mutant represents a novel model to study mechanisms of hyperglycemia-induced retinopathy wherein extensive proangiogenic alterations in blood vessel morphology and metabolic alterations underlie the vascular phenotype.


Autonomy support is a recently defined role for teachers, and they are expected to help learners engage in autonomous out-of-class learning. With a focus on English language learning outside the classroom, this study intended to uncover English as a foreign language teachers' practices related to autonomy support and to discuss the challenges faced by the teachers in this process. Eleven teachers working at the tertiary level at a state university in Turkey were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in three sessions to find out the extent to which the teachers help their learners become autonomous. The findings revealed that the teachers perform many autonomy-supportive behaviors which are feasible in language classrooms such as motivating students, giving language advice and promoting peer collaboration. In doing this, the teachers utilize five different support mechanisms: affective, resource, capacity, technology, and social support. On the other hand, the findings uncovered such constraints as crowded classes, overloaded curriculum, and low learner motivation. These challenges were perceived as barriers hampering teachers' efforts for autonomy support. This study highlights the feasibility of creating an autonomy-supportive language learning environment and provides implications for teachers of English as a Foreign Language.


Potential Empathy Deficits, Motivations, and Desistence in Traditional and Cyber Bullies Colleen M. Keelan Bullying is a serious phenomenon that includes behaviors conducted in a variety of mediums, including face-to-face (i.e. traditional bullying) and through technology (i.e. cyberbullying). This study examined differences between traditional bullies and cyberbullies in empathy deficits, motivation to engage in bullying behavior, and reasons for desistence of bullying behavior. The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire was used to assess traditional bullying whereas the Internet Experience Questionnaire was used to assess cyberbullying. In a sample of 288 college students, there was no significant differences in total empathy, affective empathy, or cognitive empathy, between traditional bullies (N = 41), cyberbullies (N = 48), victims (N = 110), and controls (N = 89). Empathy deficits were assessed using the Basic Empathy Scale. A significant gender difference was found, with women demonstrating higher levels of empathy than men. When asked why he/she engaged in traditional and cyber bullying behaviors, 33% of cyberbullies denied the behaviors (i.e. "I would never do that"), whereas only 14% of traditional bullies responded with a statement of denial. Traditional bullies' most common motivation was peer pressure. In regards to desistence, cyberbullies again denied the behavior most frequently and traditional bullies reported that they gained self-awareness. These findings suggest that more research is needed to determine if empathy is an important construct to target in bullying interventions. Also, cyberbullies' denial of the bullying behavior suggests that more education about these behaviors is necessary


Substance use disorder (SUD) is an issue of concern that can have intergenerational impacts. Fathers affected by this disorder can exhibit atypical parenting that leaves pronounced, adverse consequences for the child, espe cially during a critical window for development, such as neonatal life and infancy. However, factors sustaining paternal drug use and its associated health outcomes remain elusive. The present review provides a systematic literature search of the scientific evidence published until February 2021 on PubMed Central, Scopus, PsycInfo, and PubMed databases. Adopting a biopsychosocial model, this review provides comprehensive insights into the issue, detailing: (i) the neurobiological correlates of paternal substance use and atypical parenting mechanisms, (ii) influence of drug consumption on paternal psychological state, and (iii) the social environment modulating the social dynamics central to fathers with SUD. Attention is also paid to the bidirectional relationships between paternal drug abuse and fatherhood, which has been severely neglected so far. Findings shed new light on the importance of paternal contributions to the father-child interaction, supporting the formulation of more targeted multidisciplinary interventions aimed at restoring such a crucial and overlooked relationship.


George Orwell's reputation as a writer rests largely upon his final two works, selected essays and some of his journalism. As a novelist, he is often considered limited, and it is for this reason that his writing has perhaps received less serious attention than that of many of his contemporaries.

Some recent publications have sought to redress this balance, identifying an impressive level of artistry, not only in his more recognised works, but in the neglected novels of the 1930s. Yet, aside from studies focused upon his political beliefs, there has been a lack of attention given to the wider ideas underpinning Orwell's writing, in particular, those which might be considered, in popular terms, 'existential'.

Given its unusually firm grounding in the many experiences he underwent, Orwell's thought, I argue, can be viewed profitably from this philosophical standpoint. By engaging his writing in a dialogue with that of the phenomenological-existentialist thinkers, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Emmanuel Levinas, this project aims to make sense of the ideas implicit within his work. Where the work of the aforementioned figures is often opaque and highly abstracted, it will be shown that Orwell's offers the reader literary and real-life exemplars as a means of making difficult ideas understood.

The study is divided into four two-part chapters, which track the Orwell canon in a broadly chronological fashion. In parallel with this, the ideas of the existential philosophers are, too, introduced chronologically: Heidegger, Sartre and, Levinas.

The thesis attempts to argue that understanding the implicit existentialism in the work of Orwell not only offers a more complete insight into the man, and the tensions inherent in his character, but also affords the reader many much-needed exemplifications, and in some cases augmentations, of some of the most important ideas in existentialist philosophy.


The highly specific molecular recognition properties of aptamers are combined with the unique optical properties of gold nanoparticles for the development of a dry-reagent strip biosensor that enables qualitative (visual)/quantitative detection of protein within minutes. A model system comprising thrombin as an analyte and a pair of aptamer probes is used to demonstrate the proof-of-concept on the conventional lateral flow test strip. The assay avoids the multiple incubation and washing steps performed in most current aptamer-based protein analyses. Although qualitative tests are realized by observing the color change of the test zone, quantitative data are obtained by recording the optical responses of the test zone with a portable "strip reader". The response of the biosensor is linear over the range of 5-100 nM of thrombin with a detection limit of 2.5 nM (S/N = 3). By comparing the analytical performances of the aptamer-based strip biosensor with the antibody-based strip sensor, we can demonstrate that aptamers are equivalent or superior to antibodies in terms of specificity and sensitivity, respectively. The sensor was used successfully for detection of thrombin in human plasma samples. It shows great promise for use of aptamer-functionalized gold nanoparticle probes in dry-reagent strip biosensors for point-of-care or in-field detection of proteins.


One of the advances in the Family Health Strategy (FHS) is the prescription of medication by nurses, which has brought the discussion together with the medical category. This study aimed at analysing nursse's perception about this act as well as its regulation. The study is of qualitative approach, having as subjects four Nurses who perform in FHS in Sobral, Ceará. A questionnaire and the technique of focus group were used to collect data. The totality of the sample works in the rural zone and that only two had specialization. Nurses reported they are unsatisfied and unsecure related to the act of prescribing medication since the municipal protocols did not correspond to local reality. A review of the current nursing protocol for the municipality is suggested, making it suitable to complaints in the community, but without abandoning the priority of the preventive and community model that nursing performs. Descriptors: Nursing; Family Health Program; Drug Prescription; Work Process.


Kidneys play important roles in the elimination of numerous endogenous and exogenous chemicals. In recent years, at least 37 xenobiotic transporters have been identified in mammalian kidneys. Although much progress has been made, information on 14 of these transporters (ATP-binding cassette [Abc] a1, apical sodium bile acid transporter [Asbt], breast cancer resistance protein, concentrative nucleoside transporter 1, equilibrative nucleoside transporter [Ent] 2, Ent3, sodium-phosphate cotransporter [Npt] 1, Npt2a, Npt2b, Npt2c, organic anion transporter [Oat] 5, organic anion-transporting polypeptide [Oatp] 4c1, peptide transporter 2, and uric acid transporter [Urat] 1) in kidneys is quite limited. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the tissue distribution, ontogeny, and hormonal regulation of these 14 transporters in kidneys of mice. Other than in kidneys, Npt2b is also highly expressed in liver and lung, Npt2c in liver and colon, Asbt in ileum, and Abca1 in liver, lung, testis, ovary, and placenta of mice. Most of these (13 of 14) transporters are lowly expressed in mouse kidneys until 15 days of age, which in part contributes to the immaturity of excretory function in fetal and newborn kidneys. One exception is Ent2, which is highly expressed before birth and gradually decreases after birth until reaching adult levels at 15 days of age. Gender-divergent expression of male-predominant (Urat1 and Oatp4c1) and female-predominant (Oat5) transporters in mouse kidneys is primarily due to stimulatory effects of androgens and estrogens, respectively. In conclusion, the mRNA expression of xenobiotic transporters in kidneys is determined by tissue, age, and sex hormones.


Capillary impregnation of viscous fluids in porous media is useful in diagnostics, design of lab-on-chip devices and enhanced oil recovery. The impregnation of a wetting fluid in a homogeneous porous medium follows Washburn's diffusive law. The diffusive dynamics predicts that, with the increase in permeability, the rate of spontaneous imbibition of a wetting fluid also increases. As most of the naturally occurring porous media are composed of hydrodynamically interacting layers having different properties, the impregnation in a heterogeneous porous medium is significantly different from a homogeneous porous medium. A Washburn like model has been developed in the past to predict the imbibition behavior in the layers for a hydrodynamically interacting three layered porous medium filled with a non-viscous resident phase. It was observed that the relative placement of the layers impacts the imbibition phenomena significantly. In this work, we develop a quasi one-dimensional lubrication approximation to predict the imbibition dynamics in a hydrodynamically interacting multi-layered porous medium. The generalized model shows that the arrangement of layers strongly affects the saturation of wetting phase in the porous medium, which is crucial for oil recovery and in microfluidic applications.


Secured by Design is an award scheme, run by the Association of Chief Police Officers, which aims to encourage housing developers to design out crime, with a particular emphasis on domestic burglary, at the planning stage. This note presents reliable indications of its success from an evaluation originally commissioned by the West Yorkshire Police. It is planned to publish a fuller account at a later date.


In his book, Samuel DeCanio provides a novel, and important, understanding of American statebuilding. He challenges the idea that statebuilding is a mechanistic institutional response to economic or social complexity. Instead, he argues that statebuilding is very much a political phenomenon, shaped by the interaction of mass opinion, elite preferences, and the (at times unforeseen) consequences of elections. But, most importantly, he argues that the development of the administrative state, which relies on bureaucratic strength housed in the executive, is an undemocratic response used by elites to protect their interests from the public. DeCanio relies on extensive archival research to detail the origins of a number of critical federal policies, notably monetary policy and railroad regulation. Through careful historical research, he is able to establish how political elites intentionally misled the public and manipulated popular opinion in order to achieve policy goals that suited their ends, rather than the public's preferences. In this analysis, he brings together institutional theory with voter behavior, stressing that voter ignorance often results in the public being easily turned from its own preferences. This understanding of how individuals understand political information, and its impact on policymaking, has been missing from the statebuilding literature. By carefully selecting cases, notably the 1875 Ohio gubernatorial election, DeCanio is able to tell a persuasive story about how voter behavior shapes institutional development (pp. 132–48). In particular, he highlights how the impact of elite discourse and media frames are not a modern phenomenon. Instead, American democracy has struggled with the tension between elite narratives and public attitudes for a very long time. DeCanio argues that elite framing and voter ignorance have had a very specific impact on American statebuilding (pp. 50–52, 67). He suggests that in the mid-nineteenth century there was a public interest in greater economic regulation. The initial preference among voters was to use the legislative branch to constrain and guide the emerging American industrial economy. However, elites were wary of allowing voters to have this much power over the economy, and preferred to entrench their interests in regulatory agencies that were less susceptible to outside influence (pp. 129–30). Ironically, the author posits that the state's developing regulatory agencies were a conservative response to anxieties over how the public might otherwise shape economic policy. In pointing out that statebuilding can be a deeply undemocratic process, DeCanio fits into a long tradition of American political development scholarship. American political development scholars have long been aware of how ideas about race, religion, or even feudal understandings of economic relationships have shaped our institutions. More recently, work on the submerged state, the invisible state, and subaltern politics also underscores the ways in which policy is developed and deployed, frequently without the public at large being aware of what is happening. However, while American political development scholars have long concurred that these cultural values and biases exist in the background, there has still been a sense that motivated citizens can (and do) shape the form of the state. Obviously, American political development does not assume a simple relationship between voters' preferences and later state policies: Scholars of American history understand that institutional structures and political compromise will alter policies as they move from voter demand into actual implemented program. But DeCanio's claim is more serious: He argues that there is a profound separation between the public and the state, and that the state may in fact not be responsive at all to the public's demands (pp. 19–20, 180, 196–97). In making these arguments, DeCanio recalls the work of James Scott. Like Scott, DeCanio is positing a democratic state that is potentially more predatory and much less under democratic control than we normally assume. In doing so, he importantly helps us to better understand the actual nature of the American state. Definitions of the state, particularly those that accurately describe who it involves and how it functions, are notoriously slippery. However, DeCanio is able to point both to specific political actors engaging in bribery, policy making, and intentional miscommunication and to particular government agencies (and the policies that created them)


This paper is aimed to review farmers' perception on land degradation and adoption of soil-water conservation measures in Ethiopian highlands. Because of land degradation in the form of deforestation, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and nutrient depletion has been a serious problem of the area. Besides it has adverse impacts on costs of production and agricultural productivity, environment, food security, poverty, social and political stability. Abandonment and shortage of land, water scarcity, and fuel wood shortage, prevalence of invasive species, recurrent disasters, joblessness, migration, conflicts and poverty are the main consequences of land degradation. Land use change, overgrazing, agricultural mismanagement, inappropriate land use policy and tenure insecurity, limited access to inputs and extension services, poverty and climate change are the main causative factors. Topographic ruggedness, rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility and populous of the highland areas also considered as additional factors of land degradation. Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) has been initiated in Ethiopia since mid-1970's followed the recurrent droughts and subsequent food shortages. However, SWC practices were unsatisfactory or not successfully adopted. This is due to lack of community participation, top-down and rigid approaches; lower in personal perception and lack of knowledge; and institutional, socio-economic, bio-physical and technological characteristics. Therefore, SWC technologies must be confirmed as economically efficient and technically effective in specific agro-ecological conditions. Motivation of real community participation and equitable benefit sharing, amalgamation of scientific and indigenous knowledge, awareness creation and capacity building, appropriate research development and extensional services, accessible infrastructures and information networks, sharing experiences and scaling up of good practices are highly required. It must be in line with poverty alleviation, creating job opportunities, increasing agricultural productivity and improving food security of the country. Finally, any SWC interventions should be evaluated in terms of their technical effectiveness, environmental soundness, economic viability and social acceptability. Keywords : Adoption, Ethiopian Highlands, Land Degradation, Perception, Soil and Water Conservation


This Feature Article describes a plausible picture of entangled polymer shear flow behavior, resulting from a decade of efforts in our laboratory to unravel the origins of a host of intricate and interconnected rheological phenomena. The first report of spurt flow by Bagley (1958) raised several key questions: Does the spurt flow reflect a constitutive failure as suggested by Vindogradov et al. (1972), Doi-Edwards (1979) and McLeish-Ball (1986)? How is it related to sharkskin, "melt fracture" and/or wall slip? The subject remained unsettled and "paradoxical" [Denn (1990)] until the 1990's when a first quantitative description of polymer slip was provided by Brochard and de Gennes (1992). The experimental elucidation [Rheol. Acta 1998, 37, 415] of the interfacial origin of the spurt flow led to the conclusion that the stress maximum in the Doi-Edwards theory (1979) was a theoretical artefact and to a decade of efforts to derive a constitutive description of polymer flow by incorporating Marrucci's idea of convective constraint release (1996). Ongoing studies (2003-present) of constitutive flow and interfacial slip behavior of entangled polymer solutions have revealed something surprising: the entangled polybutadiene solutions appear to respond differently to rate-controlled vs. stress-controlled shear. The results [Macromolecules 2004, 37, 9083] imply that there would not necessarily be a homogeneous shear field in a simple-shear apparatus in the rate-controlled mode. An effective particle tracking velocimetric (PTV) method was developed to allow determination of the velocity profile across the gap in various shear apparatuses including cone-plate and linear sliding-plate setups for startup shear, large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) and step strain experiments. Our PTV observations show an initial linear velocity variation across the gap and a nonlinear velocity profile beyond the shear stress overshoot [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2006, 96, 016001], growth of shear banding in LAOS [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2006,96,196001] and elastic breakup of several entangled solutions after step strain [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2006, 97, 187801]. These results present great challenges to both the prevailing theoretical description of entangled polymer flow that is based on tube models and the conventional rheometric protocols used to experimentally determine constitutive flow behavior, and questions the validity to perform numerical simulations of polymer processing based on the available constitutive models.


A 60-day feeding trial was conducted with 40 growing West African Dwarf bucks aged 5–7 months with an initial average weight of 5.25 kg ± 0.35 to determine their hematological and serum biochemical parameters. The goats were randomly allocated to five treatments namely: T1 (100% urea-treated cassava peel), T2 (60% untreated cassava peel + 40% cassava foliage), T3 (60% untreated cassava peel + 40% poultry manure), T4 (60% untreated cassava peel + 20% cassava foliage + 20% treated cassava peel), and T5 (60% untreated cassava peel + 20% cassava foliage + 20% poultry manure) in a complete randomized design. Each treatment was split into eight replicates. At the end of the feeding trial, blood samples were collected from four goats per treatment to evaluate the following hematological indices: packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and MCH concentration (MCHC). Serum parameters determined were total protein (g/dL), albumin (g/dL), globulin (g/dL), creatinine (mg/dL), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (iu/L), alanine transaminase (ALT) (iu/L), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (iu/L), and urea (iu/L). PCV, RBC and WBC showed significant (P 0.05). Serum biochemical parameters indicated that total protein ranged from 4.10 to 5.18 g/dL, albumin: 1.90–2.55 g/dL, creatinine: 0.08–1.28 mg/dL, ALP: 53.18–96.95 iu/L, ALT: 138.75–176.50 iu/L, globulin: 2.20–3.03 iu/L, AST: 16.18–17.58 iu/L, and urea: 17.60–23.75 iu/L. All the values obtained for hematological and serum biochemical parameters were within the normal ranges for growing goats. This indicates that feeding of cassava peel with supplemental nitrogen sources had no deleterious effect on the body physiology and health of the animals.


In this paper we present a method based on the "learning from demonstration" paradigm to get a cost-efficient control policy in a continuous state and action space. The controlled plant is a two degrees-of-freedom planar arm actuated by six muscles. We learn a parametric control policy with XCSF from a few near-optimal trajectories, and we study its capability to generalize over the whole reachable space. Furthermore, we show that an additional Cross-Entropy Policy Search method can improve the global performance of the parametric controller.


In colonies of social insects, non-random spatial positioning within the colonies may reflect division of labour and improve colony efficiency. Here, we describe a novel defence system in the colony of a gall-forming social aphid, Quadrartus yoshinomiyai (Nipponaphidini), where young and old defensive aphids move towards the dangerous area typically associated with a higher risk of predation, whereas the middle-aged reproductive individuals move away. Younger nymphs and post-reproductive adults of Q. yoshinomiyai concurrently defend against predators that intrude after their galls open. In natural open galls, both types of defenders were preferentially located around the open area vulnerable to invasion by predators, whereas reproductive individuals remained in the safer areas. In addition, when a hole was artificially made in closed galls, these morphs located themselves in similar spatial positions to the natural open galls within 12 hours. The defensive system led by oldest and youngest individuals may reflect the possibility of future reproduction for these insects, thereby optimizing colony efficiency in a seasonally changing environment, according to the reproductive values of colony members.


Associative processors, while ideal for vector-based applications, have been limited in their use mainly due to area and energy considerations. This reality is changing due to the advent of ultra-dense resistive memories (RRAMs), allowing for area efficient implementations of in-memory associative processors. However, with the high levels of integration, issues related to power density become the major bottleneck. In this paper, we investigate approximate computing in RRAM-based associative processors as a means of enhancing energy efficiency for in-memory associative processors. A case study of a wireless communication system is considered, where fast Fourier transform (FFT) modules are widely used. The proposed manager adjusts the bit width based on the channel SNR, aiming at achieving the desired performance at a reduced energy consumption. An analytical model of system performance under the reduced bit width induced noise is presented. Based on this model, an adaptive bit width adjustment algorithm is presented that utilizes the received SNR estimates to find the optimal bit width that achieves the desired performance goals. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve up to 45% energy savings as compared to wireless communication systems using conventional RRAM FFT associative processor.


The biological carbon pump plays a key role in regulating the ocean-atmosphere balance of CO2, without it atmospheric CO2 would likely be 200ppm higher than it is today. The most rapid attenuation of downward particulate organic carbon (POC) flux typically occurs in the upper few hundred meters of the water column, yet the practical difficulties of making measurements in this dynamic region of the ocean mean that the processes controlling POC flux attenuation are still poorly understood. In this thesis, Marine Snow Catchers were deployed in the Scotia Sea, Antarctica and the northeast Atlantic to obtain intact sinking particles and investigate the relationship between particle type and attenuation rate. Faecal pellets (FP) were a major component of the flux at all stations, yet total POC attenuation varied between sites in relation to zooplankton composition and bloom timing. A novel method was employed to characterise particle-associated microbial respiration on FP, which is currently a poorly understood term. Oxygen microsensors were used to measure small scale oxygen gradients through the boundary layer at the interface of FP. Rates of particle-associated microbial respiration were too low to account for the observed large decreases in FP flux over the upper 200 m, and evidence suggests that losses via zooplankton grazing and fragmentation are more important. The importance of Antarctic krill for setting the export efficiency of POC in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the Scotia Sea is highlighted through unique comparisons between observed mesopelagic krill FP fluxes and predicted surface FP production. Krill FP are transferred through the upper mesopelagic much more efficiently than values of POC attenuation typically used in global biogeochemical models. I conclude that improved, regionally specific knowledge of the zooplankton community composition is vital to understand global variations in POC flux attenuation, and hence allow better predictions of ocean carbon sequestration. Ultimately carbon is lost from the organic carbon pool as CO2 via respiration, and hence in theory, at steady state, the attenuation of POC should be balanced by community respiration. In reality this balance is difficult to achieve, suggesting that our understanding is incomplete. Very low rates of both absolute and carbon specific particle-associated microbial respiration (a term missing from previous budget studies) were measured on marine snow particles collected in the northeast Atlantic and hence cannot resolve imbalances in the upper mesopelagic POC budget. Microbial disaggregation and solubilisation of POC as well as fragmentation of large particles into slowly sinking and non-sinking POC by zooplankton, may help to explain imbalances in the carbon budget, highlighting the need to measure respiration losses on both fast, slow and non-sinking pools of POC.


by Noah Zepponi University of the Pacific 2017 This thesis has used the methodology of an ideological criticism on the long-running science-fiction television series, Doctor Who. Argued within, is that an ideological paradigm shift occurred during the fifty years of scripted storylines. To discern evidence supporting the shift, multiple episodes were viewed from each of the first eleven Doctors. During the viewing process all aspects presented within the show, such as dialogue, movements, tactics, and traits, were explored for ideological agency. Once found, the discourse was further analyzed to understand how these ideologies were enforced. From the findings, proof was examined in order to show by the end of the eleventh Doctor, Doctor Who had moved from portraying the viewpoints of individualism to collectivism.


The present work focuses on the correlation between the material tendency to be deformed by incremental sheet forming and the microstructural features that appear during the process itself. The material object of the study is the stainless steel AISI 301L. Single-point incremental forming (SPIF) experiments were carried out and the material formability evaluated. X ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was utilized to determine the fraction of transformed martensite along the wall of formed parts at different levels of thickness reduction. TEM analysis was then employed to analyze the microstructure developed during the SPIF process. Two fundamental deformation mechanisms are observed, which could explain the remarkable material formability achievable during the SPIF process: strain induced martensitic transformation, and deformation twinning. Particularly, deformation twinning (instead of dislocation slip) appears to be the preferred plastic deformation mode of austenite at the early stage of the process, leading to the formation of multiple nano-twins in coarse grains that are responsible for the material ductility enhancement.


Lloyd Evans, a leading plant scientist, published extensively on the regulation of flowering and on crop production during a lifetime spent in research at CSIRO. His significant achievements included: identification of a gibberellin plant hormone as a flowering regulator in the grass Lolium temulentum; discovery of a synthetic gibberellin growth retardant that blocked endogenous gibberellin synthesis; and discovery in Pharbitis of a novel biological flowering clock with a 12h (semidian) period. In crops, he established the impact on yield of photosynthate production and transport to competing sinks. Two of his books, Crop Evolution: Adaptation and Yield and Feeding the Ten Billion have had a major influence on agricultural research and policy. His ability to define research options led to many years of international advisory work. He was an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), and of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA) (including a term as president).


Artificial joint replacement is the most effective way to treat osteoarthritis. However, these artificial joints are too stiff with high interfacial contact stress and poor surface lubrication, resulting in stress shielding and severe wear and tear lead to an extremely high failure rate. At present, hydrogels are considered the most promising substitute for artificial joint prostheses owing to their good biocompatibility, adjustable mechanical properties, and excellent flexibility. Nevertheless, a traditional single-layer hydrogel has poor bearing capacity and lubrication, which are far from the properties of natural articular cartilage. The high strength and low friction properties of natural articular cartilage are based on its own multilayer fibrous structure. Therefore, by simulating the multilayer structure of natural cartilage, a bilayer bionic cartilage hydrogel was prepared; that is, the upper hydrogel realized excellent lubrication and the lower hydrogel realized high load-bearing capacity. However, the interface binding of bilayer hydrogels is a challenge at present. Therefore, the interfacial adhesion of the bilayer hydrogel is improved by adding tannic acid (TA) based on the adhesion of the natural polyphenol structure. The average interfacial toughness reaches 3650 J/m2, and the average interfacial shear force reaches 800 kPa. In the preparation of the bilayer hydrogel, taking advantage of the coordination reaction between TA and metal cations, Fe3+ is further added to endow the bilayer hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties and good sliding friction performance. Therefore, this work opens up a new way to construct cartilage-like materials with high toughness and a soft-soft interface.


arteriovenous malformations over a period of 26 years. One hundred and thirty-two of these were supratentorial and 18 infratentorial. Patients seen in the earlier years were referred because of haemorrhage and had in general larger lesions than those seen more recently. This fact was related to the increasing use of angioencephalography, especially with respect to patients with convulsive seizures. Fifty-four patients were operated on by the authors and 17 underwent operation by surgeons with whom the patients had been seen in consultation. Surgical intervention was contraindicated in 40 patients and was declined, though advised, in the remainder. On three occasions radiotherapy was administered by a 1 000 kV source and on two occasions by the Synchetron (70 000 kV) without benefit. In nine patients with supratentorial lesions there were coexisting saccular aneurysms. Haemangioblastomas were found in three patients.


"Resilience" has burst into the lexicons of several policy areas in recent years, owing in no small part to climate change's amplification of extreme events that severely disrupt the operation of natural, social, and engineered systems. Fostering resilience means anticipating severe disruptions and planning, investing, and designing so that such disruptions, which are certain to occur, are made shallower in depth and shorter in duration. Thus a resilient system or community can continue functioning despite disruptive events, return more swiftly to routine function following disruption, and incorporate new information so as to improve operations in extremis and speed future restorations.
As different policy communities apply the concept of resilience to their respective missions, they emphasize different objectives. This article examines how the definitions adopted by the public health and electricity communities can, but do not necessarily, converge in responses to electricity outages so severe that they affect the operation of critical infrastructure, such as wastewater treatment and drinking water facilities, hospitals, and cooling centers. Currently, such outages cause a form of handoff from utilities to their customers: grid power fails and a small constellation of backup generators maintained by atomized campuses, facilities, or individual structures switch on, or fail to switch on, or were never purchased and so leave the location dark and its equipment inoperative. This handoff is operational, but it reflects legal obligations — and their limits.
Enter the microgrid, a specially designed segment of the electricity distribution grid's mesh that can either operate seamlessly as part of the wider grid, or as an independent "island" that serves some or all of the electricity users within its boundary even when the wider grid fails. Microgrids can, but do not necessarily, mitigate the adverse public health implications of the handoff that accompanies widespread and severe grid failure. To encourage the convergence of public health and electricity policy priorities in decisions about microgrid siting, design, and operation, this article makes several recommendations. Some of these should ideally be taken up at the federal level, but the bulk of the work they recommend should take place at the state-level, and would necessarily be implemented at the state and local levels.


This report discusses Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which assists participating states to serve school-age children with disabilities. The
state funding formula, which provides a foundation amount based on states' FY1999
grants and allocates remaining amounts based on states' shares of school-age children
and of school-age poor children, authorizes a maximum allotment per disabled child
served of 40% of the national average per pupil expenditure (APPE). Annual
appropriations have never been sufficient to provide each state its maximum allotment;
in FY2002, states will receive approximately 16.5% of the national APPE per disabled
child served. Some advocates for the program have called upon the Congress to fully
fund the formula. An estimated $18.2 billion would be required to provide states the
maximum allotment allowed per disabled child served in FY2002, about 2.4 times more
than the appropriation of $7.5 billion for FY2002.


Using both human and murine cell lines, we show that malignant cells are able to invade through basement membrane and also secrete elevated amounts of collagenase IV, an enzyme implicated in the degradation of basement membranes. Using serine proteinase inhibitors and antibodies to plasminogen activators as well as a newly described collagenase inhibitor we demonstrate that a protease cascade leads to the activation of an enzyme(s) that cleaves collagen IV. Inhibition at each step reduces the invasion of the tumor cells through reconstituted basement membrane in vitro. Treatment with a collagenase inhibitor reduced the incidence of lung lesions in mice given i.v. injections of malignant melanoma cells.


We propose a method for constructing the observer trajectory in bearings-only tracking. This method is applicable to any target with a Markovian model but in particular, we study it for nearly-constant velocity targets. The proposed method is built upon a family of optimal trajectories obtained for the localization of stationary targets. These trajectories can be parameterized by a parameter known as range-to-baseline ratio. For moving targets, at each moment, the range-to-baseline ratio is computed and the appropriate trajectory is pursued based on this ratio and current estimates of the target bearing and course. We study the behavior of this method by simulation.