Abstract This lecture gives an overview of heating and current drive with electron cyclotron waves. We present the main theoretical aspects of wave propagation, wave absorption, and non-inductive current drive, as well as important technical aspects for the application of high power electron cyclotron waves, and the major achievements in their experimental application.


Autonomous vehicles capable of following a person, without any conscious effort by the individual to guide the vehicle, have many uses in the world today. Personalized Equipment Guided Gadget (PEGG) is a prototype cart with the capability of following an individual carrying a homing device. The cart follows an individual while avoiding obstacles within its sensing capabilities. PEGG utilizes radio-direction finding to home in and track the movements of the person carrying a radio transmitter. PEGG detects obstacles in its path by using ultrasonic sensors positioned in front, on its left, and on its right. A simplistic approach to obstacle avoidance is programmed into PEGG, based on the assumption that PEGG will meet objects head-on as it travels. Upon detection of an obstruction, the cart attempts to veer off towards the side where the homing signal originates while checking the sensor on that same side for any blocking objects. If the · attempt is not successful, the cart then chooses to turn to the opposite side. Once the obstacle has been bypassed, tracking is resumed. PEGG travels at approximately one foot per second, roughly at par with the walking speed of a user . The Zilog Z80-based microProfessor forms the core of the control system for PEGG. Z80 assembly language was used in programming the overall control and intelligence of the system.


Since 1969 production of crude oil in New Mexico has decreased each year to 98.6 million barrels in 1974. Oil discoveries have been low for the last 5 years, because exploration has been at a low rate. Exploration for, and discovery of, oil must increase substantially if large production decreases are to be averted. Oil prices probably must increase substantially to bring on increased exploration, .as well as to stimulate secondary and tertiary recovery projects. Natural gas production increased slightly from 1.123 trillion cubic feet in 1970 to 1.230 trillion cubic feet in 1974. In northwest New Mexico production of dry gas from producing wells is expected to decline slowly. In southeast New Mexico development of dry gas has been at record rates, but reserve/pro-duction ratios indicate these new gas reservoirs will be depleted more rapidly than fields in northwest New Mexico. Present development of new gas reserves should maintain current production in southeast New Mexico for several years. Coal resources are estimated at 283 billion tons, of which 6 billion are strippable. Current production is more than 9 million tons a year from the San Juan and Raton basins. If projects contemplating using coal are completed, more than 40 million tons will be mined by 1980 and nearly 60 million tons by 1985. New Mexico produces more than 50 percent of the nation's uranium from the Grants uranium region. The Energy Research and Development Administration estimates that New Mexico reserves ($8, $10, and $15 categories) are more than 255 million tons of ore with a U308 content ranging from 0.16 of one percent to 0.29 of one percent and totalling 516,000 tons. Potential geothermal energy areas occur along the Rio Grande valley and in southwest New Mexico. The most promising are Jemez Mountains, Socorro Peak, Radium Springs, Gila Hot Springs, and Lightning Dock.


This report contains the recommendations of a WHO Expert Committee convened to consider the prevention and control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth infections. Although these infections remain major public health concerns in many parts of the world, particularly in the poorest developing countries, cost-effective solutions are both available and deliverable. The report reviews the burden of disease, its impact on both health and development, the substantial benefits of treatment, and the safety, efficacy and ease of administration of available anthelminthic drugs. Similarities in the population at risk and in the tools required to combat the problems have prompted moves towards a combined approach to the control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Such an approach relies largely on epidemiological surveillance, health education, improvements in hygiene and sanitation, and--above all--regular treatment of high-risk groups, particularly school-age children. The report focuses on how these various elements can be achieved, emphasizing the potential of the school system for drug delivery and health education and the opportunities for integration of control activities with existing health programmes. It also stresses that the cost of recommended anthelminthic drugs has now fallen to a level at which it should no longer deter Member States from making treatment widely available in endemic areas. The recommendations of the Expert Committee provide clear and strategic guidance on the implementation of control measures and on ensuring their sustainability.


This study investigated how important Turkish EFL teachers perceive the ELT motivational strategies that are implemented in adult EFL teaching. 52 EFL instructors working in preparatory schools of foreign languages in four state universities in Turkey participated in the current study. The perceived importance of ELT motivational strategies was found in relation to various preselected independent variables to see the effects of some demographic aspects on the perception of ELF teachers. These variables were gender, educational background, and year of teaching experience. The results indicated several results regarding the relationship between the perceived importance of EFL teaching motivational strategies and the selected variables. Gender has a fairly limited significant effect on the perceived importance of the strategies whereas educational background and year of teaching experience showed more effect respectively. The study pointed out that intra-cultural aspects also influence the EFL teachers' related perception on the issue in addition to the cross-cultural aspects, which were discussed in the prior research.


Of the diverse factors motivating technological change, one factor that has received increasing attention in the recent past has been the protection of intellectual property rights. Given fairly recent changes in the international policy ethos where a regime of stronger intellectual property protection has become a fait accompli for most developing countries, it is of some significance to ask whether more stringent protection of intellectual property does indeed encourage innovation. And this is the question which this paper examines, utilising cross-country panel data on R&D investment, patent protection and other country-specific characteristics spanning the period 1981-1990. The evidence unambiguously indicates the significance of intellectual property rights as incentives for spurring innovation.


In 2010, US Congress enacted section 3509 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or ACA, to target issues relating to women's health. The ACA, signed into law by US President Barack Obama [2], aimed to increase people's access to high-quality healthcare in the United States. Section 3509, titled "Improving Women's Health," established the Office on Women's Health within the US Department of Health and Human Services and in four of its agencies, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration [3], and the Health Resources and Services Administration. Section 3509 of the ACA exemplified a federal effort to improve women's health in the US by increasing the amount of research and programs focused on the health concerns of American women.


As advances are made in medical-surgical technology and overall life expectancy increases, cardiac surgery previously done only in younger populations is now becoming common in older adult age groups. Most of the nursing literature regarding elderly cardiac surgery patients focuses on the 65− to 75-year-old age group; little has been written about the 80− to 90-year-old age group. Very elderly patients present unique and complex challenges to the interdisciplinary teams involved in their care. Nurses must recognize and anticipate the specialized needs of these frail individuals to optimally manage their care. Aortic valve replacement is the most common cardiac valve surgical procedure performed in very elderly persons. A case study and an integrated care plan for the aortic valve surgery patient are described.


This book is intended for those who need to get things done with Mac OS X Server 10.6. As such, you can use this book two ways. Those new to Mac OS X Server can read straight through the entire book, and by the end should feel competent to administer any Mac server thrown their way. For those with some knowledge of Mac OS X Server, or perhaps a thorough knowledge of other Unix-based servers, the book is arranged by tasks so that you can either start reading at any point, skipping material you already know, or pick and choose the chapters youll find most helpful to your own work or system needs. This task-oriented approach also makes the book useful as a general reference for all aspects of Mac OS X Server. Throughout the book, special emphasis is given to the new features of the latest release, Mac OS X Server 10.6, aka Snow Leopard Server. For instance, youll find out how to integrate an iPhone with Mac OS X Server using the new Mobile Access features, or how to install an SSL certificate in the web service, Apache. Task-oriented approach to server administration makes it easy to find and accomplish what needs to get done Thorough subject coverage including workflows for Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server GUI-level features, command-line features, and alternatives Features introductory material for new administrators, emphasis on new features for upgrading to Snow Leopard Server, and more advanced material for experienced IT and enterprise administrators who want to get the most out of Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server What youll learn The key features of Mac OS X Server, including new services such as mobile access for iPhone integration and Address Book Server The most efficient approach to suit your working style, including GUI and command-line alternatives When to call on third-party products where no Apple products are available Integration strategies for a range of network and server configurations How to enable each required service and all of their services from start to finish Who is this book for? This book is for administrators interested in a complete course on Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server, including first-time Mac OS X Server admins, admins upgrading from older versions, and experienced Unix or Mac admins who want to master all aspects of Apples newest Server software.


Sir .—Hageman et al, 1 in their study of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), stated that improved survival in patients with this disorder was related to earlier, more frequent diagnosis and more rapid initiation of therapy. Unfortunately, the data they presented did not support this conclusion. Among 6,384 inborn live births in 1980 there were eight cases of PPHN and four deaths. With a "higher index of suspicion" among the 6,642 live births in 1981 (4% more than in 1980) there were 27 cases of PPHN and three deaths. By changing the level of suspicion, the authors have altered their standards for admission into the study and increased the number of children at risk for development of the disease by more than threefold. They transformed a one-death difference by this statistical alchemy into a statistically significant event with a P value of less than.02. Using these at-risk values,


Acquisition of accurate colors is important in the modern era of widespread exchange of electronic multimedia. The variety of device-dependent color spaces causes troubles with accurate color reproduction. In this paper we present the outlines of accomplished digital camera system with device-independent output formed from tristimulus XYZ values. The outstanding accuracy and fidelity of acquired color is achieved in our system by employing an embedded color calibration system based on emissive device generating reference calibration colors with user-defined spectral distribution and chromaticity coordinates. The system was tested by calibrating the camera using 24 reference colors spectrally reproduced from 24 color patches of the Macbeth Chart. The average color difference (CIEDE2000) has been found to be ΔE = 0.83, which is an outstanding result compared to commercially available digital cameras.


We analyze the effects of electricity market mergers in an environment where firms endogenously choose their level of forward contracts prior to competing in the wholesale market. We apply our model to Alberta's wholesale electricity market. Firms have an incentive to reduce their forward contract coverage in the more concentrated post-merger equilibrium. We demonstrate that endogenous forward contracting magnifies the price increasing impacts of mergers, resulting in larger reductions in consumer surplus. Current market screening procedures used to analyze electricity mergers consider firms' pre-existing forward commitments. We illustrate that ignoring the endogenous nature of firms' forward commitments can yield biased conclusions regarding the impacts of market structure changes such as mergers. In particular, we show that the price effects of mergers can be largely underestimated when forward contract quantities are held at pre-merger levels. Whether the profits of the merged firm are greater with fixed or endogenous forward quantities is ambiguous.


The study integrated the qualities of nursing students (N=227) with their aptitude and academic achievement in a tripartite model. A battery of tests called in the Assessment for Nursing Potential (ANP) composed of the (a) Nursing Quality Scale (NQS) with factors on caring, compassion, commitment and connectedness; (b) Achievement test; and (c) Aptitude test was used in the study. Using a three-wave longitudinal design, the NQS was first administered followed by the aptitude, then the achievement tests. The effects of the nursing qualities on achievement and aptitude were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The first model indicates that nursing quality as a latent factor has no significant effects on both achievement and aptitude, obtaining a moderate goodness of fit (RMSEA=.09). However, when the same model was tested including the effect of aptitude on achievement, it resulted to a better fit (RMSEA=.06). In the second model, aptitude has a significant effect on achievement, p<.05. The model explains that attitudinal characteristics of nurses are independent of cognitive abilities such as their aptitude and achievement, and thus supports the belief that it is possible to integrate them in assessing nursing potential. Although effective nurses may possess the necessary characteristics such as caring, compassion, commitment, and connectedness, these quality traits do not affect their abilities.


Since information asymmetries have been identified as an important source of bank profits, it may seem that the establishment of information sharing (e.g., introducing credit bureaus or public registers) will lead to lower investment in acquiring information. However, banks base their decisions on both hard and soft information, and it is only the former type of data that can be communicated credibly. We show that when hard information is shared, banks will invest more in soft information. These will produce more accurate lending decisions, provide higher welfare, lead to an increased focus on relationship banking and favor informationally opaque borrowers. We test our theory using a large sample of firm-level data from 24 countries.


In the last years it seemed that the Romanian economy leading up to access to the EU was going to enter a new stage, evolving more and more in line with the standard theory. Based on more accurate statistical data for the last years, we try to verify some hypotheses used in the standard economic literature. Also, applying few simple models derived from the standard ones in our experiment we estimated their parameters in the case of Romania in order to obtain an image of the trends in the next period. The two main partial models are referring to the impact of investment on GDP growth rate and to the relation between the interest rate and investment, respectively. Moreover, an equation including inflation dynamics was taken into account. Beginning in 1998, the behaviour of the national economic system and the interest rate - investment - economic growth relationship tend to converge to those demonstrated in a normal market economy and presented in the specialised literature.


All concepts for fault current limiters employing high temperature superconductors (SCFL) have the disadvantage of significant AC losses caused by the superconductor carrying a continuous load current. Therefore, in the presented paper, it is investigated what electrical and thermodynamic requirements have to be fulfilled by a superconductor if the fault current limiter is of a hybrid type. Assuming the availability of a suitable design for a superconductor used as a delayed reacting resistive limiting element in parallel with a fast acting load switch, the concept of a hybrid fault current limiter is introduced. The concept is based on a novel fast acting mechanical switch for several kA at medium voltage level to commutate the rising fault current to the superconducting element within several hundred microseconds after fault detection. It is found that a critical current density not higher than 1.5 kA per centimeter square is adequate for the proposed system. The superconductor carries only the fault current during switching and thus the total losses of the hybrid system are only 4 percent of the losses of a conventional SCFL, which offers high economical benefits. Cooling of the superconductor by gaseous nitrogen is feasible, and presents simplicity and flexibility of operation.


Static atomistic simulations based on the Born model were used to investigate intrinsic defect processes in orthorhombic LnBaCo(2)O(5.5) (Ln = Y, La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb) double perovskites. It was found that Ln/Ba antisite disorder is the lowest energy defect reaction, with the large Ln cations giving rise to smaller antisite energies. On the oxygen sublattice the oxygen Frenkel disorder dominates and also decreases in energy with increasing Ln cation size. The lowest energy oxygen vacancy and interstitial positions are in the LnO(0.5) and CoO(2) layers respectively. Interestingly, the calculations indicate that oxygen vacancies cluster with Ba antisite defects (occupying Ln sites). This suggests that the transport of oxygen vacancies will be influenced not only by the oxygen Frenkel energy but also the antisite energy. We propose that PrBaCo(2)O(5.5) most efficiently balances these two competing effects as it has an oxygen Frenkel energy of just 0.24 eV per defect combined with a high antisite energy (0.94 eV), which ensures that the A cation sublattice will remain more ordered.


ing is permitted with due credit to the Australian Journal of Intelligent Information Processing Systems. Subscriptions: Individual rate: A$80. Institutional rate: A$220 for paper or online subscription. Individual copies can be purchased at A$15 per single copy. Reprints of technical articles are available, quantities no less than 50 can be ordered. Orders should be addressed to: AJIIPS, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. Email address: email@example.com. 1 Online subscription gives additional access to back issues without any fee. Nikola Kasabov Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand László Kóczy Budapest University of Technology & Economics, Hungary Takeshi Furuhashi Nagoya University, Japan Marimuthu Palaniswami University of Melbourne, Australia M. V. Srinivasan University of Queensland, Australia A. Venetsanopoulos University of Toronto, Canada Australian Journal of Intelligent Information Processing Systems Volume 12, No. 4 ISSN: 1321-2133 2010 MACHINE LEARNING APPLICATIONS PART II


This research represents an attempt to explore aesthetic deviations from established audiovisual practices through the composition of audiovisual works based on the use of audiovisual gestalts. Within the submitted portfolio, the visual materials are made from digitally generated 3D graphics rendered with lines and points suspended in negative space whilst the musical side is anchored in post-acousmatic (Adkins et al., 2016) and post-digital (Cascone, 2002) beats-infused aesthetics. The aesthetic deviations were explored through different qualities and behaviors of gestalts that span between the organic and the artificial. Organic qualities were achieved by exploiting physics or pseudo physics-based algorithms within spatio-temporal continuum while artificial qualities were derived from the use of metric grids, step transformations and rectangular shapes. This exploration includes different approaches to the creation of audiovisual material such as 1) exploitation of the motion of 3D graphics for the purposes of sonification, visual effects and temporal distortion, 2) juxtapositions of different audiovisual hierarchies in terms of which medium leads and which follows.

This written text accompanies the portfolio of 1) computer generated audiovisual works composed between 2014 and 2018, consisting of three solo works in total length 36'06" and two collaborative works in total length 7'47", 2) a musical study piece that is 9'29" in length, 3) Stringvencer –a sequencer that utilises physics-based algorithms for temporal deformations of pre-composed musical structures, consisting of one Max patch and two Max for Live Devices 4) two Max externals and accompanying patches for optimising workflow when using 3D models within Max and for connecting points with lines in a 3D space based on the distances between points, 5) media clips and Max patches that support the commentary.

The written text presents theoretical models and concepts as well as tools and techniques that lie behind the construction of the works in the portfolio. Following the presentation of the portfolio in Chapter 2, the commentary continues with the presentation of a theoretical framework in Chapter 3. This theoretical framework, which I named the Isomorphic Audiovisual Paradigm, encompasses models of perception that deal with the perceptual integration and segregation of elements within an audiovisual scene. The models are borrowed from gestalt psychology (isomorphism and grouping principles) and psychophysics (binding factors). In Chapter 4 the aesthetic influences and their integration into my audiovisual language are discussed. Chapter 5 focuses on my compositional practice and thinking. The topics of time, compositional indeterminacy and what I call audiovisual hierarchies, audiovisual tightness and audiovisual escapology are discussed. The workflow and the development of a custom-made audiovisual system that represents my working environment are presented in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 discusses the technical solutions to the problems faced in the course of the research.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the inhibitory effect and anti-cancer mechanisms of adenovirus-mediated ING4 gene on the human bladder cancer T24 cells in vitro.

METHODS
The methods of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot were used to detect the expression of ING4 in human bladder urothelial carcinoma T24 line. The influence of Ad-ING4 transfection on cell proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay and cell apoptosis by Hochest33258 staining and flow cytometry. RT-PCR and Western blot were performed to detect the transcriptional level of such apoptosis-related genes as Bcl-2, Bax, p53, HIF-1α and caspase-3.

RESULTS
Human ING4 was successfully transcribed in T24 cell. Apoptosis rate of T24 cell in Ad-ING4 group was significant higher than that in control groups (17.2% ± 4.1% vs 4.7% ± 1.2% and 4.8% ± 1.2%, P < 0.05). Ad-ING4 not only up-regulated the expression of p53 and Bax(1.40 ± 0.11 vs 0.27 ± 0.04, 1.50 ± 0.12 vs 0.60 ± 0.05) and down-regulated the expression of Bcl-2 and HIF-1α (0.19 ± 0.02 vs 1.20 ± 0.08, 0.33 ± 0.03 vs 0.98 ± 0.06, all P < 0.05), but also enhanced the caspase-3 activation and eventually led to apoptosis.

CONCLUSION
Adenovirus-mediated ING4 gene exhibits anti-tumor capacity in T24 human bladder cancer cell and induces in vitro apoptosis. It may be related to the up-regulation of P53 and Bax/Bcl-2, and the down-regulation of HIF-1α. Thus the caspase-3 activation is enhanced so as to lead to apoptosis.


The disciplinary field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has witnessed an increasing interest in the investigation of the effects of subtitled and captioned audiovisual materials on domains of language learning/acquisition. In this context, this paper seeks to provide a systematic review of recent studies related to language learning aspects aided by the instructional/experimental use of subtitled and captioned materials. The present paper draws on relevant literature in the field of SLA that interfaces with subtitling/captioning, while outlining their goals and main findings. This paper also aims to unveil which dimensions have merited scholar attention the most in the last two decades. Finally, some considerations are made regarding possible avenues for future research, taking into account the existing literature and underinvestigated issues.


Chemotherapeutic drugs spread throughout the body, reaching not only the tumor but also healthy organs, where they kill off normal dividing cells. Tumor cells are also quick to mutate and become resistant to the drugs. Now, on page
 377, a research team reveals a strategy that may get around both problems, by targeting cancer drugs to the new blood vessels that nourish the tumor. They found small peptides that zero in on the cells lining these newly formed blood vessels, then linked the peptides to the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin. By addressing the toxic drug specifically to the tumor, the strategy spares other tissues. And because the tumor vessel cells are not cancerous themselves, they are much less likely to develop resistance to the drugs. Indeed, when the researchers gave the peptide-drug combination to mice with large tumors, it killed off the blood vessels, stopped tumor growth, and allowed the mice to survive the cancer. What9s more, the technique used to identify peptides that home in on tumor vessels can identify peptides that bind specifically to the blood vessels of other organs, meaning that peptides could be developed to carry drugs to many different tissues to treat conditions other than cancer.


Three diseases representative of specific health conditions affecting the Southeast Asian refugees living in middle Tennessee are leprosy (chronic bacterial infections), liver fluke infection (parasitic diseases), and hemoglobin E-β-thalassemia (hematologic disorders). In this paper we discuss incidence, causative agent, mode of transmission, metabolic abnormalities, and management of these conditions.


ABSTRACT The closure of the "L'Aquila Trial" has prompted the scientific community to revisit the question of what lessons have been learned. An issue of concern is the rise of short‐term forecasting in the aftermath of the earthquake that triggered the trial, such as using patterns of small earthquakes to provide probabilistic warnings of occurrence of damaging events in the ensuing day or week. Because most damaging earthquakes are not preceded by diagnostic precursory patterns and the vast majority of observed anomalies such as swarms of small earthquakes are not followed by a damaging event, forecasting of this type is not likely to be useful for mitigating seismic risk. Instead, long‐term earthquake preparedness should be the goal, and the most effective way of doing so is strengthening the built environment against earthquake shaking. Great progress has been made in this regard over the past few decades, and numerous lives were saved in a number of recent earthquakes owing to the implementation of earthquake‐resistant design and construction practices. Long‐term mitigation strategies face scientific, financial, regulatory, and cultural challenges. The scientific community should lead the way in dealing with these challenges.


In this study, based on some important criteria, qualitative and quantitative evaluations were presented for the selection of compressors used in compressed air systems, in a petrochemical industry. Four different scenarios were investigated according to the main criteria considered for the selection of the compressors such as reliability, energy efficiency, investment, and maintenance costs. The types of compressor and their capacities were analyzed and compared. In Scenario I, the currently active electrically driven compressors were considered as backup compressors, instead of them, a new unit turbo compressor and two units of VSD screw compressors were purchased as active compressors. In this scenario, the initial investment cost is low and standby steam consumption is reduced due to the fact that the backup compressors are electrically driven. In Scenario II all active and backup compressors are replaced by a new one, which is proposed to be electrically driven. In this scenario, the initial investment cost is high, but energy consumption is very low. In Scenario III, all active compressors are planned to be replaced by new backup steam-driven compressors. In this scenario, although the initial investment costs and energy consumption are high, the reliability of this scenario is higher than the reliability of Scenarios I and II. In Scenario IV, all compressors are projected to be replaced by new and equivalent compressors. In this scenario, the initial investment cost and energy consumption are high, but the reliability of this scenario is the highest comparing all other scenarios. The aim of this study is to contribute the studies on the selection of compressors by considering some important parameters as their types and capacities, in particular, for industrial enterprises that have risk of explosion like in the petrochemical industry.


With an atomic force microscopy (AFM)tip used as a "nib" and gold colloidal particles as "ink",patterns of gold colloidal particles have been deposited successfully from the AFM tip onto specific regions of silicon surfaces modified by bifunctional mercaptosilane,i.e.(3-mercaptopropyl)-triethoxysilane.This was used as an adhesion agent and can immobilize nanoparticles delivered from the AFM tip onto the substrate surface.


Observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) have dramatically improved our understanding of the site of exoplanet formation: protoplanetary disks. However, many basic properties of these disks are not well understood. The most fundamental of these is the total disk mass, which sets the mass budget for planet formation. Disks with sufficiently high masses can excite gravitational instability and drive spiral arms that are detectable with ALMA. Although spirals have been detected in ALMA observations of the dust, their association with gravitational instability, and high disk masses, is far from clear. Here we report a prediction for kinematic evidence of gravitational instability. Using hydrodynamics simulations coupled with radiative transfer calculations, we show that a disk undergoing such instability has clear kinematic signatures in molecular line observations across the entire disk azimuth and radius, which are independent of viewing angle. If these signatures are detected, it will provide the clearest evidence for the occurrence of gravitational instability in planet-forming disks, and provide a crucial way to measure disk masses.


with the rapid increase of technology, the data stored and transmitted among the client and server has been increased tremendously. In order to provide high security for the confidential data, there is a need for proper encryption techniques that are to be followed by the concerns. This paper presents an analysis of the various encryption algorithms and their performance on handling the private data with authentication, access control, secure configuration and data encryption. Document oriented databases such as MongoDB, Cassandra, CouchDB, Redis and Hypertable are compared on the basis of their security aspects since they manipulate the huge amount of unstructured data in their databases. It is proposed that each database has its own security breaches and emphasises the need for proper encryption methods to secure the data stored in them.


A survey of how Henry?s Law is cited in a wide range of texts suggests that there is significant variation in the presentation of the definition, breadth of theory, applications and limitations of this relationship in technical resources used by students. This is of importance because students and practitioners must be able to evaluate and apply the theory of engineering principles in order to effectively design and model environmental systems. Critical design errors may result from incomplete or inaccurate explanations of a principle in a technical resource. Most topic-specific texts provided detailed descriptions of Henry?s Law. The presentation of Henry?s Law in more general environmental engineering texts and other technical resources provided less detailed descriptions. In many cases the theory and application of Henry?s Law appear to have been oversimplified. This paper reviews the descriptions of Henry?s Law in texts and other resources to demonstrate potential effects on student learning and professional practice that may result from oversimplifications of this engineering principle.


The main hypothesis of this research project was that optimisation of treatment based on pharmacokinetic principles is on its own a powerful approach in improvement of treatment outcomes. This work therefore focused on optimisation of treatment of cancer based on principles of pharmacokinetics using two main approaches 1) lipophilic prodrug approach to specifically target the intestinal lymphatic system following oral administration and 2) identification of orally bioavailable candidate anticancer agents and biopharmaceutical development to increase the bioavailability for sufficient systemic exposure to the drug. The first approach was the prodrug derivatisation to take advantage of the physiological process of intestinal lymphatic transport in order to deliver anticancer agents to the mesenteric lymph nodes. Similar prodrug approaches have been researched by other groups but the main focus previously was on increasing the overall bioavailability where they mostly used long-chain or triglyceride mimetic prodrug moieties. However, in this project, through a series of stability and chylomicron association studies, it was revealed that activated ester prodrugs are the most suitable forms for yielding high concentrations of active drugs in the mesenteric lymph nodes. It was remarkable that using this novel approach significantly higher concentrations of the active drugs were achievable in the intestinal lymphatics without affecting the systemic exposure. The second approach taken in this PhD project was achieving sufficient systemic exposure of anticancer agents by identification of orally bioavailable candidate and improvement of oral bioavailability by biopharmaceutical development. The candidates with promising pharmacokinetic properties were rank-ordered by application of a rational drug discovery and development approach of integrated in vitro-in silico assessments. Following in vivo confirmation studies, oral bioavailability was further enhanced for a compound that exhibited a double-peak phenomenon. The results of the two approaches indicate that pharmacokinetic optimisation can be useful in development of anticancer agents to improve the treatment outcomes of cancer.


The electromagnetic continuous pulling is a newly growth technology as a promising process for silicon preparation, start-up heating is necessary for the semiconductivity of silicon at room temperature. Investigations were carried out to study this process in a square crucible with the frequency of 50kHz, details of the experimental procedure were given, the affecting factors, electrical performance and heat explosion problems during the process were measured and discussed. The results indicated that the best conditions for the preheating were the central position of the base in the coil, the higher power and the proper primary mass of silicon setting. The electrical performance indirectly showed the pool conditions and so it can be effectively used to control the melting operation.


The heterocyclic indole-alkaloid scytonemin is a sunscreen found exclusively among cyanobacteria. An 18-gene cluster is responsible for scytonemin production in Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133. The upstream genes scyABCDEF in the cluster are proposed to be responsible for scytonemin biosynthesis from aromatic amino acid substrates. In vitro studies of ScyA, ScyB, and ScyC proved that these enzymes indeed catalyze initial pathway reactions. Here we characterize the role of ScyD, ScyE, and ScyF, which were logically predicted to be responsible for late biosynthetic steps, in the biological context of N. punctiforme. In-frame deletion mutants of each were constructed (ΔscyD, ΔscyE, and ΔscyF) and their phenotypes studied. Expectedly, ΔscyE presents a scytoneminless phenotype, but no accumulation of the predicted intermediaries. Surprisingly, ΔscyD retains scytonemin production, implying that it is not required for biosynthesis. Indeed, scyD presents an interesting evolutionary paradox: it likely originated in a duplication event from scyE, and unlike other genes in the operon, it has not been subjected to purifying selection. This would suggest that it is a pseudogene, and yet scyD is highly conserved in the scytonemin operon of cyanobacteria. ΔscyF also retains scytonemin production, albeit exhibiting a reduction of the production yield compared with the wild-type. This indicates that ScyF is not essential but may play an adjuvant role for scytonemin synthesis. Altogether, our findings suggest that these downstream genes are not responsible, as expected, for the late steps of scytonemin synthesis and we must look for those functions elsewhere. These findings are particularly important for biotechnological production of this sunscreen through heterologous expression of its genes in more tractable organisms.


This paper provides a new approach for cross-evaluation in DEA. An examination of the link between cross-evaluation and the DEA production possibility set reveals flaws in the current methodology for cross-evaluation. This is compounded by problematic cases permitted by the existing approaches for performing cross-evaluation without recourse to the full set of optimal weights for all DMUs. Our new approach is based on information on all weighting schemes for all DMUs. We show how this overcomes the existing problems. We also provide new tools for the identi…cation of maverick DMUs that make use of unrealisitic weighting schemes and introduce the concept of under-achieving DMUs.


In this paper, the static output feedback control of a class of continuous systems is considered. Thanks to the Reciprocal Projection Lemma, it is shown that the solution of the continuous system with static output feedback problem is conditioned by a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which are numerically tractable and free from any equality constraint. Furthermore, a convex optimization problem with LMI constraint is formulated to design the optimal guaranteed cost controller which minimizes the guaranteed cost of the closed-loop systems. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.


Determining diet is a key prerequisite for understanding species interactions, food web structure and ecological dynamics. In recent years, there has been considerable development in both the methodology and application of novel and more traditional dietary tracing methods, yet there is no comprehensive synthesis that systematically and quantitatively compares the different approaches. Here we conceptualise diet tracing in ecology, provide recommendations for method selection, and illustrate the advantages of method integration. We summarise empirical evidence on how different methods quantify diet mixtures, by contrasting estimates of dietary proportions from multiple methods applied to the same consumer‐resource datasets, or from experimental studies with known diet compositions. Our data synthesis revealed an urgent need for more experiential comparisons among the dietary methods. The comparison of diet quantifications from field observations showed that different techniques aligned well in cases with less than six diet items, but diverged considerably when applied to more complex diet mixtures. Efforts are ongoing to further advance dietary estimation, including how reliably compound specific stable isotope analyses and fatty acid profiles can quantify more prey items than bulk stable isotope analyses. Similarly, DNA analyses, which can depict trophic interactions at a higher resolution than any other method, are generating new ways to better quantify diets and differentiate among life‐stages of prey. Such efforts, combined with more empirical testing of each dietary method and establishment of open data repositories for dietary data, promise to greatly advance community and ecosystem ecology.


The antitumor effects of two immunotoxins were evaluated in vitro and in vivo against the human ovarian carcinoma cell line, OVCAR-3. The immunotoxins used were composed of recombinant ricin A chain (rRTA) covalently attached to a monoclonal antibody directed toward the human transferrin receptor (45412/rRTA, also called 454A12 MAB-rRTA by Cetus Corporation) or Pseudomonas exotoxin coupled to an anticarcinoma monoclonal antibody (NR-LU-10/PE). Preliminary characterization of the NR-LU-10 antigen by immunoprecipitation and cellular fluorescence demonstrated two dominant cell surface polypeptide moieties with molecular weights of 40,000 and 45,000 and a minor component with a molecular weight of 33,000. The immunotoxins were used alone or in combination with recombinant human alpha-interferon (rhIFN-alpha). Protein synthesis was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner in OVCA-3 cells incubated in vitro with either NR-LU-10/PE or 454A12/rRTA (50% inhibitory concentrations, 1 and 75 ng/ml, respectively). Unconjugated NR-LU-10 or 454A12 abrogated the activity of the relevant immunotoxins. Concomitant incubation in vitro of OVCAR-3 cells with NR-LU-10/PE or 454A12/rRTA and a noncytotoxic concentration of rhIFN-alpha potentiated the inhibitory activity of the immunotoxins via a mechanism independent of antigenic upregulation. This potentially synergistic combination was then tested in vivo. The median survival time (MST) of mice given injections i.p. of 4 x 10(6) OVCAR-3 cells was 46 days. Cohorts of mice that received intracavitary treatment beginning 5 days posttumor cell inoculation with either 0.25 or 0.5 microgram of NR-LU-10/PE every other day for a total of 10 treatments exhibited a significantly increased MST of 63 and 104 days, respectively (P less than 0.0001). Likewise, the i.p. injection of either 2.5 or 10 micrograms of 454A12/rRTA given in an identical schedule resulted in a MST of 89 and greater than 120 days, respectively (P less than 0.0001). When rhIFN-alpha was administered i.p. in conjunction with those doses of either immunotoxin, a significant increase in the MST was observed in comparison with mice given immunotoxin alone. The combination of 5 x 10(4) units of rhIFN-alpha and 0.25 microgram of NR-LU-10/PE resulted in 67% long-term survivors (greater than 120 days) compared with only 13% survival of mice given the immunotoxin alone. Similarly, 2.5 micrograms of 454A12/rRTA plus rhIFN-alpha resulted in an enhanced therapeutic response (89% long-term survivors) when compared with 454A12/rRTA alone (29%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


This article aims at constructing a new method for testing the statistical significance of seasonal fluctuations for non-stationary processes. The constructed test is based on a method of subsampling and on the spectral theory of Almost Periodically Correlated (APC) time series. In the article we consider an equation of a nonstationary process, containing a component which includes seasonal fluctuations and business cycle fluctuations, both described by an almost periodic function. We build subsampling test justifying the significance of frequencies obtained from the Fourier representation of the unconditional expectation of the process. The empirical usefulness of the constructed test is examined for selected macroeconomic data. The article studies survey indicators of economic climate in industry, retail trade and consumption for European countries.


We implemented an educational program, based on the use of free software and low‐cost open hardware, to excite high school students' curiosity about seismic‐hazard issues and to engage them in the process of learning the best practices of seismic safety. This program was developed in a senior class at the high school Liceo Paschini in Tolmezzo (northeast Italy). The students under the supervision of their physics teacher and seismologists, used an Arduino board, ADXL345 accelerometers, and open‐source software to create a low‐cost seismometer able to record local strong motion. In this article, we provide a "how‐to" (instructional) guide to enable other students to reproduce the experiment. Certain introductory lessons in computer sciences and electronics were required for the students to acquire the necessary skills and to fill gaps in their background knowledge. In addition, lectures by seismologists and specific laboratory activities allowed the class to explore different aspects of the physics of earthquakes, particularly of the seismic waves, and to become familiar with seismic‐hazard topics through inquiry‐based learning. We believe that this exercise is a good example of how earthquake issues can be taught through a multidisciplinary approach in subjects traditionally covered by scientific and technological disciplines.


Abstract This research work investigates the derivation of a fixed upper matrix bound for the solution of one class of parameter-dependent Continuous Algebraic Lyapunov Equations (CALE). It is supposed that the nominal coefficient matrix is subjected to real structured parametric uncertainty belonging to a convex set. The bound is used to analyze the robust stability and the performance behavior of a load-frequency control system for a single area power system model. By means of the bound one can easily estimate the distance from instability of the uncertain system and the linear quadratic performance index associated with it. The applicability of the obtained results is illustrated by an example.


This thesis presents results of a research on unidirectional isolator-free cavity lasers, exploiting thulium-doped fiber (TDF) as amplification medium and operating in \unit[2]{\mu m} wavelength range. For fibre ring resonator, an optical isolator should be used to ensure unidirectional lasing. The isolator suppresses backward propagating light within a given bandwidth, which generally does not exceed few hundreds of nm. Therefore, isolator-free unidirectional ring fibre cavity (referred to "theta" resonators) represents an attractive alternative solution. In theta cavities, non-reciprocal losses are introduced via an S-shape feedback, which is set by incorporating two directional couplers into the main loop. The first part of the thesis is devoted to different aspects of thulium-doped fiber characterization. We used the software package VPITransmissionMaker to model the active fiber, incorporated in different resonators, and ensured that experimentally measured TDF characteristics matched the simulation results. In the second part, the theoretical model of isolator-free resonators is stated. It directly links performance indicators of unidirectional lasers to the cavity parameters. For the theta lasers, the split ratios of intracavity couplers constitute main design degrees of freedom. The theta laser with BPF was found to maintain the highest extinction ratio (ER) between directional modes for any split ratios. The theta laser with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is also analysed. As it represents a superposition of Sagnac loop and theta with bandpass filter BPF configurations, the ER is always limited, but the steady-state gain coefficient is significantly lower, comparing with the one of the ring- or theta with BPF cavities. The design rules suggest that considerably asymmetrical couplers should be used to achieve a high directivity in this case. In the last part, the results of experimental investigation of non-reciprocal cavities TDF lasers (TDFL) are presented. Initially, the first unidirectional theta TDFL with BPF is demonstrated, providing sub-Watt output power with a slope efficiency of 25%, 2 dB flat tuning range of 1900--2050 nm, and linewidth of 0.2 nm, and achieving the ER of 18--25 dB. It is proven that these characteristics are competitive with the ones of similar ring cavities. Next, truly all-fiber unidirectional laser, based on the theta resonator with FBG, is investigated. Based on the theoretical model, we identify and experimentally confirm the set of cavity design parameters that enables the theta laser to generate up to 1 W output power with a slope efficiency of about 30%, preserving ER better than 22 dB, and the linewidth smaller than 0.20 nm (for FBG FWHM of 0.8--0.9 nm). Furthermore, we enhance a functionality of the theta cavity toward a dual-band operation in two different gain media, by attaching a second FBG to another coupler and inserting additional holmium-doped fiber section. In our current laser layout, 100--200 mW of output power of each signal at 1950 nm and 2100 nm is achieved with a total slope efficiency of 8%. Finally, we present an all-fiber ultra-simple configuration of F9 mode-locked TDFL, generating nanosecond quasi-rectangular pulses with record energies up to 400 nJ due to dissipative soliton resonance. This work is concluded by a discussion, summarizing the above-mentioned theoretical and experimental work, and suggesting prospective directions and topics for future resea


Wireless Intrusion Detection Systems (WIDS) monitor 802.11 wireless frames(Layer-2) in an attempt to detect misuse. What distinguishes a WIDS from a traditional Network IDS is the ability to utilize the broadcast nature of the medium to reconstruct the physical location of the offending party, as opposed to its possibly spoofed (MAC addresses) identity in cyber space. Traditional Wireless Network Security Systems are still heavily anchored in the digital plane of cyber space and hence cannot be used reliably or effectively to derive the physical identity of an intruder in order to prevent further malicious wireless broadcasts, for example by escorting an intruder off the premises based on physical evidence. In this paper, we argue that Embedded Sensor Networks could be used effectively to bridge the gap between digital and physical security planes, and thus could be leveraged to provide reciprocal benefit to surveillance and security tasks on both planes. Toward that end, we present our recent experience integrating wireless networking security services into the SNBENCH (SensorNetwork workBench). The SNBENCH provides an extensible framework that enables the rapid development and automated deployment of Sensor Network applications on a shared, embedded sensing and actuation infrastructure. The SNBENCH's extensible architecture allows an engineer to quickly integrate new sensing and response capabilities into the SNBENCH framework, while high-level languages and compilers allow novice SN programmers to compose SN service logic, unaware of the lower-level implementation details of tools on which their services rely. In this paper we convey the simplicity of the service composition through concrete examples that illustrate the power and potential of Wireless Security Services that span both the physical and digital plane.


Islamic bioethics is in good health, this article argues. During the twentieth century, academic researchers had to deal with a number of difficulties including the scarcity of available Islamic sources. However, the twenty-first century witnessed significant breakthroughs in the field of Islamic bioethics. A growing number of normative works authored by Muslim religious scholars and studies conducted by academic researchers have been published. This nascent field also proved to be appealing for research-funding institutions in the Muslim world and also in the West, such as the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). On the other hand, the article argues that contemporary Islamic bioethics is in need of addressing news issues and adopting new approaches for the sake of maintaining and improving this good health in the future.


Background: Radiation therapy is one of the most efficient treatments of neoplastic diseases used worldwide. However, patients who undergo radiotherapy may develop side effects that can be life threatening because tissue complications caused by radiation-induced stem cell depletion may result in structural and functional alterations of the surrounding matrix. This treatment also damages the osteogenic activity of human bone marrow by suppressing osteoblasts, leading to post-irradiation sequelae. Even if widely used in oncology, there is still little information on the fate and potential therapeutic efficacy of electromagnetic rays. Material and Methods: We addressed this question using both human mesenchymal stem cells and osteoblasts. Monoclonal antibody characterization identified specific surface markers for stem cells (SSEA-4, CD29, CD105, Oct 3, Nanog and SOX2) and osteoblasts (Osteopontin and Osteonectin). The technique of anti-alkaline phosphatase FITC-staining demonstrated the presence of this specific ectoenzyme. Cells were cultured in complex osteogenic medium (DMEM, 15% fetal calf serum, non-essential amino acids, L-glutamine, dexametazone, ascorbic acid, insulin, TGF-β, BMP-2 and β-glycero-phosphate) after being irradiated at 0.5 Gy, 1 Gy, 2 Gy and 4 Gy using a Theratron 1000 60 Co source. The viability of irradiated cells was assessed using Trypan Blue staining. The comparison between cell lineages after culture in osteogenic media regarding phenotypical characterization and the intensity of the mineralization process included histology stainings (Alizarin Red S, Alcian Blue and von Kossa), and the MTT-based proliferation assay. Results: After irradiation, the proliferation and differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells is dose-dependent. Conclusions: This study is one among the first papers investigating the biophysics of low-dose gamma-irradiation on stem cell culture, focusing on the potential applications in radiation oncology and various palliative treatments.


The topographical features of fractured tensile, flexural, K1C, and impact specimens of monolithic epoxy have been studied and correlated with mechanical properties and surface features of samples before fracture. The topographical features studied include waviness (Wa), roughness average (Ra), root mean square value (Rq), and maximum roughness height (Rmax or Rz). As surface notches generate triaxial state of stress, therefore, the crack propagation is precipitated resulting in catastrophic failure. Although surfaces can be examined before fracture for any deleterious topographical elements, however, fractured surfaces can reveal finer details about the topography. It is because, as discussed in this article, surfaces with specific topography produce fracture patterns of peculiar aesthetics, and if delved deeper, they can further be used to estimate about the topography of surfaces before fracture. In addition, treating the samples with surfaces of specific topography can help improve the mechanical properties of monolithic epoxy.


Financial consumer protection regulation reflects the regulator's and policy makers' concerns with the relationship between financial institutions and their clients. Most emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) researched for this guide have regulated at least one financial consumer protection topic. Each detail in the regulatory requirements impacts how the supervisor enforces them in practice and which tools and techniques will work best. For example, a rule simply requiring disclosure of an item will be checked by the field supervisor differently than a rule requiring the item to be disclosed at a specific moment and in a specified format. Ignoring the time dimension of this rule can jeopardize its core goal. This guide is an attempt to help bank supervisors enforce such regulations. It is divided into following sections: section one gives introduction. Section two details guidance points in eight areas of interest for supervisory staff and agencies, while section three suggests a prioritization framework for supervisors - particularly those in low-income countries with resource and capacity constraints - that adopt a gradual approach when implementing the guidance.


Author(s): Linovski, Orly | Advisor(s): Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia | Abstract: While previous research on urban design processes has largely treated urban design practice as the public regulation of private activities, the increasing role of private consultants in public policy and design activities brings this into question. Looking at two cities with differing public capacities, Toronto and Los Angeles, this research assesses the relationships between private and public sector urban designers, the relative power that they have over urban design processes, and how this is influenced by public sector capacity.Professional expertise is shown here to be a form of political power, in the sense that it allows for influence over decision-making processes. In negotiating design processes, the professional expertise of private sector urban designers was constructed, and for the most part, perceived as "more expert" or legitimate compared to that of public sector urban designers. The establishment of a creative-technical division between public and private sector professionals was enforced in both Los Angeles and Toronto, often limiting the role of municipal urban designers in substantive decision-making. The research also demonstrates that professional urban designers have political identities. One aspect of this is the portrayal of outside experts as politically neutral and unbiased in a way that public employees were not. Consultants used the construction of political neutrality to bolster the perception that they were able to provide "more expert" advice than their public sector counterparts, arguing that they didn't face the same political and bureaucratic constraints. The public sector urban design capacity of the city was also found to be important in constructions of municipal expertise. Without a public sector that saw itself at least partially in conflict with private urban designers, confrontation about the substantive issues related to design practices and goals rarely occurred. Importantly, these constructions and deployments of professional and political practices were used in the shaping of urban design processes in a way that can be broadly understood as "setting the agenda". This notion of setting the agenda, or having control not only over the outcome of decision-making processes but also the range of possibilities that are considered, demonstrates the relative power of private sector actors in urban design practices.


—In this technical report, a low-complexity deep learning system for acoustic scene classification (ASC) is presented. The proposed system comprises two main phases: (Phase I) Training a teacher network; and (Phase II) training a student network using distilled knowledge from the teacher. In the first phase, the teacher, which presents a large footprint model, is trained. After training the teacher, the embeddings, which are the feature map of the second last layer of the teacher, are extracted. In the second phase, the student network, which presents a low complexity model, is trained with the embeddings extracted from the teacher. Our experiments conducted on DCASE 2023 Task 1 Development dataset have fulfilled the requirement of low-complexity and achieved the best classification accuracy of 57.4%, improving DCASE baseline by 14.5%. Clinical relevance — Mixup augmentation, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), spectrogram, late fusion.


Ratiometric near-infrared fluorescent probes (AH+ and BH+) have been prepared for pH determination in mitochondria by attaching dithioacetal and formal residues onto a hemicyanine dye. The reactive formyl group on probe BH+ allows for retention inside mitochondria as it can react with a protein primary amine residue to form an imine under slightly basic pH 8.0. Probes AH+ and BH+ display ratiometric fluorescent responses to pH changes through the protonation and deprotonaton of a hydroxy group in hemicyanine dyes with experimentally determined pKa values of 6.85 and 6.49, respectively. Calculated pKa values from a variety of theoretical methods indicated that the SMDBONDI method of accounting for solvent and van der Waals radii plus including a water molecule located near the site of protonation produced the closest overall agreement with the experimental values at 7.33 and 6.14 for AH+ and BH+ respectively.


For many macroeconomic purposes, such as the study of productivity or the assessment of capacity utilisation, we need measures of the level and growth rate of the productive services that the capital stock is capable of providing. The official estimates of the capital stock produced by the Office for National Statistics aim to be measures of wealth, not capital services. So while they are appropriate for their intended purposes, such as balance sheet analysis, they may not be appropriate for productivity analysis or in measures of capacity utilisation. This article discusses the theory behind a different concept of capital, called here the volume index of capital services (VICS), and presents estimates of the VICS for the United Kingdom - based on both a five-asset breakdown and an eight-asset breakdown - for the period 1979-99. The eight-asset breakdown includes three information and communications technology (ICT) assets: computers, software and telecommunications equipment. The VICS measure has grown faster than the wealth measures, and the divergence is more apparent when ICT assets are included explicitly.


Self-control involves the inhibition of dominant response tendencies. Most research on self-control has examined the inhibition of appetitive tendencies, and recent evidence suggests that stimulation to increase right frontal cortical activity helps to inhibit approach-motivated responses. The current experiment paired an approach-avoidance joystick task with transcranial DC stimulation to test the effects of brain stimulation on the inhibition of both approach and avoidance response tendencies. Anodal stimulation over the right/cathodal stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (compared to the opposite pattern of stimulation or sham stimulation) caused participants to initiate motive-incongruent movements more quickly, thereby suggesting a shared neural mechanism for the self-control of both approach- and avoidance-motivated impulses. (PsycINFO Database Record


Turmeric has long been used as a spice and food colouring agent in Asia. In the present investigation, the antimutagenic potential of curcumin was evaluated in Allium cepa root meristem cells. So far there is no report on the biological properties of curcumin in plant test systems. The root tip cells were treated with sodium azide at 200 and 300 μg/ml for 3 h and curcumin was given at 5, 10 and 20 μg/ml for 16 h, prior to sodium azide treatment. The tips were squashed after colchicine treatment and the cells were analyzed for chromosome aberration and mitotic index. Curcumin induces chromosomal aberration in Allium cepa root tip cells in an insignificant manner, when compared with untreated control. Sodium azide alone induces chromosomal aberrations significantly with increasing concentrations. The total number of aberrations was significantly reduced in root tip cells pretreated with curcumin. The study reveals that curcumin has antimutagenic potential against sodium azide induced chromosomal aberrations in Allium cepa root meristem cells. In addition, it showed mild cytotoxicity by reducing the percentage of mitotic index in all curcumin treated groups, but the mechanism of action remains unknown. The antimutagenic potential of curcumin is effective at 5 μg/ml in Allium cepa root meristem cells.


Subject area

Innovation and Intrapreneurship.

Study level/applicability

MSc, MBA and Executive Education Programmes.

Case overview

The case on Priscila Matta focuses on the role of social intrapreneurship and social inclusion at Natura, the largest cosmetics company in Brazil and a corporate responsibility leader. Centred in the complexity stemming from dealing with a local community which supplies key ingredients to the Ekos product line, the company's most prominent and innovative brand, it illustrates the difficulties of establishing inclusive forms of business with a traditional community in the northeast of Brazil. Ekos builds on the rich Brazilian biodiversity and traditional knowledge. Brazilian law requires Natura to share the benefits obtained from the access to genetic heritage and associated traditional knowledge with those communities who supply such resources. Implicitly, the case focuses on the role of the social intrapreneur – Priscila Matta – and how she navigated corporate politics to structure the company's community relations. The case demonstrates the difficulties of social intrapreneurs who aim to create sustainable innovations to execute shared value strategies.

Expected learning outcomes

The case has the following four learning objectives: to illustrate best practices in intrapreneurial activities that aim to create shared value – in this case, value for Natura and for the community; to define the role and characteristics of social intrapreneurs – people inside big corporations who drive sustainable innovation; to discuss obstacles the corporate environment presents in the process of social innovation; and to illustrate how individuals within companies can implement a shared value strategy.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email firstname.lastname@example.com to request teaching notes.


Abstract Idioblastic, mm-scale brookite is reported from SiO2-Ba-Fe-rich metasomatic rocks from the carbonatitic Gross Brukkaros Volcanic Field, Southern Namibia. Electron probe microanalysis shows significant concentrations of Nb (12-17 wt.% Nb2O5), coupled with Fe, substituting for Ti in the structure. Calculation of the analytical data indicates evolving Fe2+/(Fe2++Fe3+) ratios during crystallization and two distinct substitution mechanisms in operation: 2Ti4+ ⇌ Nb5++ Fe3+ and 3Ti4+ ⇌ 2Nb5++ Fe2+. The compositional patterns observed are explained in terms of initial growth in an environment which evolved from oxidizing to reducing. The outermost 10 μm rims of the crystals are characterized by oxidizing conditions, resulting from a subsequent metasomatic overprint.


The stories of most literary and cinematic works are based on the character's maturation cycle as his journey unfolds. The protagonist, most of the time, has convictions strongly rooted in values said to be naive, both by the narrative itself and by the common target audience, which leads him to decay in the face of the obstacles of the adventure, and, consequently, makes him doubt his beliefs and adopt a new way of thinking about the world, characterizing its transformation. This sequence is treated as a necessary central element that leads the hero or heroine to victory, that is, a formula for success and, markedly the essence of the transformation arc, for the death and defeat of the villain. In Nausicaa, we are presented with a multifaceted conflict in which the self-styled right parties see the annihilation of the enemy as their triumph and solution. The biggest challenge for Nausicaa, a female character, is not to understand something she doesn't know, but to remain firm in her initial belief – that men and Ohmus can live peacefully – in the midst of the challenges that present themselves. The purpose of this work is to present the animation Nausicaa (Japan, 1984) by Studio Ghibli. Aspects of Hayao Miyazaki's work will be presented, such as age classification, aspects of the character, use of close-up, relationships between youth and the feminine, among others.


Autocatalysis is an essential property for theories of abiogenesis and chemical evolution. However, the different formalisms proposed so far seemingly address different forms of autocatalysis and it remains unclear whether all of them have been captured. Furthermore, the lack of unified framework thus far prevents a systematic study of autocatalysis. Here, we derive general stoichiometric conditions for catalysis and autocatalysis in chemical reaction networks from basic principles in chemistry. This allows for a classification of minimal autocatalytic motifs, which includes all known autocatalytic systems and motifs that had not been reported previously. We further examine conditions for kinetic viability of such networks, which depends on the autocatalytic motifs they contain. Finally, we show how this framework extends the range of conceivable autocatalytic systems, by applying our stoichiometric and kinetic analysis to autocatalysis emerging from coupled compartments. The unified approach to autocatalysis presented in this work lays a foundation towards the building of a systems-level theory of chemical evolution.


In addition to high miR159-target gene complementarity, conserved RNA secondary structures abutting the miR159 binding sites are required for strong miR159-mediated silencing of MYB target genes in Arabidopsis. In plants, microRNA (miRNA)-target complementarity has long been considered the predominant factor determining the silencing outcome of the miRNA-target interaction, although the efficacy of such interactions have rarely been appraised in plants. Here, we perform in planta silencing efficacy assays on seven Arabidopsis MYB genes, all of which contain conserved miR159-binding sites of analogous complementarity. These genes were found to be differentially silenced by miR159; MYB81, MYB97, MYB101, MYB104, and DUO1 were all poorly silenced, whereas MYB33 and MYB65 were strongly silenced. Curiously, this is consistent with previous genetic analysis defining MYB33 and MYB65 as the major functional targets of miR159. Neither the free energy of miR159-target complementarity, nor miRNA binding site accessibility, as determined by flanking region AU content, could fully explain the discrepancy of miR159 silencing efficacy. Instead, we found that MYB33 and MYB65 were both predicted to contain a distinctive RNA secondary structure abutting the miR159 binding site. The structure is composed of two stem-loops (SLs) that are predicted to form in MYB33/65 homologs of species as evolutionary distant as gymnosperms. Functional analysis found that the RNA structure in MYB33 correlated with strong silencing efficacy; introducing mutations to disrupt either SL attenuated miR159 efficacy, while introducing complementary mutations to restore the SLs, but not the sequence, restored strong miR159-mediated silencing. Therefore, it appears that this RNA secondary structure demarcates MYB33/65 as sensitive targets of miR159, which underpins the narrow functional specificity of Arabidopsis miR159.


Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) are considered as an attractive low-cost security anchor. The unique features of PUFs are dependent on the Nanoscale variations introduced during the manufacturing variations. Most PUFs exhibit an unreliability problem due to aging and inherent sensitivity to the environmental conditions. As a remedy to the reliability issue, helper data algorithms are used in practice. A helper data algorithm generates and stores the helper data in the enrollment phase in a secure environment. The generated helper data are used then for error correction, which can transform the unique feature of PUFs into a reproducible key. The key can be used to encrypt secret data in the security scheme. In contrast, this work shows that the fuzzy PUFs can be used to secret important data directly by an error-tolerant protocol without the enrollment phase and error-correction algorithm. In our proposal, the secret data is locked in a vault leveraging the unique fuzzy pattern of PUF. Although the noise exists, the data can then be released only by this unique PUF. The evaluation was performed on the most prominent intrinsic PUF - DRAM PUF. The test results demonstrate that our proposal can reach an acceptable reconstruction rate in various environment. Finally, the security analysis of the new proposal is discussed.


Fact-checking real-world claims often requires collecting multiple pieces of evidence and applying complex multi-step reasoning. In this paper, we present Program-Guided Fact-Checking (ProgramFC), a novel fact-checking model that decomposes complex claims into simpler sub-tasks that can be solved using a shared library of specialized functions. We first leverage the in-context learning ability of large language models to generate reasoning programs to guide the verification process. Afterward, we execute the program by delegating each sub-task to the corresponding sub-task handler. This process makes our model both explanatory and data-efficient, providing clear explanations of its reasoning process and requiring minimal training data. We evaluate ProgramFC on two challenging fact-checking datasets and show that it outperforms seven fact-checking baselines across different settings of evidence availability, with explicit output programs that benefit human debugging. Our codes and data are publicly available at https://github.com/mbzuai-nlp/ProgramFC.


The Serra da Bodoquena is the region in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil in which the municipality of Bonito is located. This municipality is the primary calling card for tourism in the state and is one of the most developed areas of ecotourism and speleotourism in the country. The tourism there is entitled ecotourism, and is designed to be sustainable. The present case study focuses on the ecologically sustainable aspects of the speleotourism practiced there, especially the proposals for tourist carrying capacity adopted. The results and discussion provide suggestions for the adoption of a different formulation of carrying capacity focusing on both operational and quantitative aspects. Ecologically sustainable speleotourism in the Serra da Bodoquena should be possible as long as new proposals limiting visitation are adopted which conform to technical environmental management procedures and consider the interests of local stakeholders.


Background RA is associated with pulmonary comorbidity and lung function decline over time, but longitudinal assessment of pulmonary abnormalities in the context of RA treatment needs further characterisation. Mavrilimumab, an investigational human monoclonal antibody, inhibits GM-CSF by binding to the GM-CSF receptor α subunit. Objectives To investigate the pulmonary safety of mavrilimumab because of the theoretical risk of inhibiting alveolar macrophage function and causing pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP). Methods Pulmonary monitoring included standardised serial pulmonary function testing (spirometry and diffusing capacity of lung carbon monoxide [DLCO]), chest X-rays, assessments of dyspnoea and pulmonary adverse events (AEs) in two randomised, double-blind studies (NCT01706926; NCT01715896) where patients (pts) with moderate to severe RA received mavrilimumab 30, 100 or 150 mg every other week (eow), or placebo and mavrilimumab 100 mg eow or golimumab 50 mg every 4 weeks, respectively. Eligible pts transferred to the open-label extension study (NCT01712399) and received mavrilimumab 100 mg eow. All studies excluded pts with clinically significant uncontrolled pulmonary disease. An Independent Pulmonary Evaluation Committee (IPEC), blinded to treatment, adjudicated pulmonary AEs and lung function abnormalities. Results Mavrilimumab was received by 442 pts with cumulative safety data exposure of approximately 900 pt-yrs and a median (range) exposure time of 2.5 (0.1–3.3) yrs. Baseline (BL) characteristics are shown (Table). Mean dyspnoea (Table), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and DLCO were mostly maintained within 5% of BL values for pts treated with mavrilimumab during the clinical programme. Clinically relevant decreases in predicted FEV1 and FVC (>20% from BL and <80% predicted) were demonstrated by ≤6.2% of pts at any visit (Table); decreases were mostly transient with no apparent trends. Overall, 83 pts (9.24/100 pt-yrs) reported ≥1 pulmonary AE; bronchitis was reported most frequently (34 pts [3.78/100 pt-yrs]); one AE was considered serious and treatment-related (acute bronchitis). The reported pulmonary AE rate was generally stable over time. No suspected or confirmed PAP cases were found by IPEC and no pulmonary-related deaths were reported. Conclusions We believe this is the most comprehensive longitudinal study of pulmonary function in a clinical RA programme. The BL pulmonary function profile indicates that this is not a normal population from a pulmonary health perspective. Mavrilimumab was not associated with substantial decline in pulmonary function or PAP in pts treated up to 3.3 years; its acceptable safety profile advocates initiation of Phase III studies with mavrilimumab. Further studies are now required to fully characterise pulmonary function over time in RA. Acknowledgements Funded by MedImmune. Medical writing support: R Plant, QXV Comms, an Ashfield company, funded by MedImmune. ^Senior author. Disclosure of Interest G. Burmester Consultant for: MedImmune, M. Michaels Employee of: MedImmune, D. Close Employee of: MedImmune, A. Godwood Shareholder of: AstraZeneca, Employee of: MedImmune, K. Middleton Employee of: MedImmune (contracted employment at time of study), P. Miranda Grant/research support from: Amgen, Medimmune, Janssen, Pfizer, Celltrion, Abbott, Sanofi, Actelion, Merck & Co, Boehringer, BMS, Consultant for: Pfizer [Etanecept: Fee less than USD5000], J. Vencovský Consultant for: Pfizer, Elli Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Speakers bureau: Biogen, Pfizer, MSD, Abbvie, Novartis, Boehringer, UCB, BMS, J. Kremer Shareholder of: Corrona, Grant/research support from: Abbvie, Amgen, Genentech, Lilly, Pfizer, Consultant for: Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Genentech, Lilly, Pfizer, Employee of: Corrona, I. McInnes Grant/research support from: MedImmune [The University of Glasgow is a charity registered in Scotland, charity number SC004401 Grant/research support: Research award to University of Glasgow], Consultant for: MedImmune, M. Albulescu Shareholder of: MedImmune, Employee of: MedImmune, M. Weinblatt Grant/research support from: BMS, UCB, Crescendo Bioscience. Amgen, dxterity, Consultant for: MedImmune, Astra Zeneca, Amgen, Abbvie, BMS, Crescendo bioscience, Lilly, Pfizer, UCB, Roche, novartis


The present study explores, from a contrastive point of view, the conditions that rule the political discourse in terms of linguistic politeness. By contrasting the data (examples drawn from press titles, mainly the French journal Le Monde Diplomatique and its' translations into Greek), we will be able to discover the underlying operations and constraints that regulate the use of such markers and to reach conclusions about the existence or not of symmetrical uses of our two languages. The theoretical framework followed is that of Brown and Levinson and the one of the Theory of Enunciation.
In the case of press titles translation, despite the possibility of using symmetrical structures in source text as well as in target text, different structures are mostly preferred. This discrepancy leads to hypothesis about different linguistic attitudes of each linguistic community reflected explicitly by the use of different syntactic/lexical markers. It is this awareness that enabled Brown and Levinson (1987: 248) to consider cross-cultural variation and recognise that some societies may be oriented towards one or the other type of politeness (i.e. negative or positive)», formulating the so called cultural ethos of each linguistic community.


In this letter, we present a study that highlights the importance of electrostatic effects on DNA sequence orientation, and the subsequent influence on the functioning principles of nanogap embedded dielectric-modulated field effect transistor (DMFET) biosensors. We find that the orientation of DNA molecules is responsible for governing the sensitivity and dominance of charge or dielectric constant effect in nanogap embedded FET devices. Using 2-D TCAD simulations, the study not only provides a correct explanation for the observed trend of threshold voltage shifts for DNA detection using n-channel DMFET, which has been loosely attributed to the dominance of the charge effect, but also gives insight into the reason of higher sensitivity of p-channel over n-channel DMFET biosensors.


Objective To assess the efficacy of targeted agents (TAs) in the treatment of elderly patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Materials and methods Databases from PubMed, Web of Science and abstracts presented at ASCO meeting up to December 31, 2015 were searched to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies included prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating therapies with or without TAs in elderly patients with AGC. The endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Statistical analyses were conducted by using Comprehensive Meta Analysis software (Version 2.0). Results A total of 1,759 elderly patients with AGC from ten RCTs were included for analysis. The pooled results demonstrated that the addition of TAs to therapies in elderly patients significantly improved OS (HR 0.88, 95% CI: 0.79-0.99, p = 0.032), but not for PFS (HR 0.83, 95% CI: 0.66-1.06, p = 0.13) when compared to controls. Subgroup analysis according to targeted agents indicated that survival benefit was observed for anti-HER-2 agents (HR 0.71, 95% CI: 0.55-0.91, p = 0.006) and angiogenesis inhibitors (AIs) (HR 0.78, 95% CI: 0.62-0.99, p = 0.04) in terms of OS. Conversely, no survival benefit was found for anti-EGFR agents in terms of OS (HR 1.12, 95% CI: 0.93-1.36, p = 0.24) and PFS (HR 1.35, 95% CI: 0.88-2.07, p = 0.17). No publication bias was detected by Begg's and Egger's tests for OS. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that the addition of TAs to therapies in elderly patients with AGC offers an improved OS, which can be ascribed to AIs and ant-HER2 agents. With available evidence, anti-EGFR agents could not be recommended for use in elderly AGC patients.


Recently, seven Earth-sized planets were discovered around the M-dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. Thanks to transit-timing variations, the masses and therefore the bulk densities of the planets have been constrained, suggesting that all TRAPPIST-1 planets are consistent with water mass fractions on the order of 10%. These water fractions, as well as the similar planet masses within the system, constitute strong constraints on the origins of the TRAPPIST-1 system. In a previous work, we outlined a pebble-driven formation scenario. In this paper we investigate this formation scenario in more detail. We used a Lagrangian smooth-particle method to model the growth and drift of pebbles and the conversion of pebbles to planetesimals through the streaming instability. We used the N-body code MERCURY to follow the composition of planetesimals as they grow into protoplanets by merging and accreting pebbles. This code is adapted to account for pebble accretion, type-I migration, and gas drag. In this way, we modelled the entire planet formation process (pertaining to planet masses and compositions, not dynamical configuration). We find that planetesimals form in a single, early phase of streaming instability. The initially narrow annulus of planetesimals outside the snowline quickly broadens due to scattering. Our simulation results confirm that this formation pathway indeed leads to similarly-sized planets and is highly efficient in turning pebbles into planets. Our results suggest that the innermost planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system grew mostly by planetesimal accretion at an early time, whereas the outermost planets were initially scattered outwards and grew mostly by pebble accretion. The water content of planets resulting from our simulations is on the order of 10%, and our results predict a "V-shaped" trend in the planet water fraction with orbital distance: from relatively high (innermost planets) to relatively low (intermediate planets) to relatively high (outermost planets).


Accurate prediction of ductile fracture of metallic materials requires sufficient understanding of the underlying micromechanical phenomena, especially if complex multiaxial and non-proportional loadings are to be considered. In this micromechanical study, real micro-structures are submitted to realistic boundary conditions up to large plastic strains thanks to the combination of Laminography, Digital Volume Correlation and Finite Element Model-ling. The obtained results evidence the effect of the microstructural heterogeneities on the ductile fracture process.


Predictions from theory, field data, and experiments have shown that high landscape connectivity promotes higher species richness than low connectivity. However, examples demonstrating high diversity in low connected landscapes also exist. Here we describe the many factors that drive landscape connectivity at different spatiotemporal scales by varying the amplitude and frequency of changes in the dispersal radius of spatial networks. We found that the fluctuations of landscape connectivity support metacommunities with higher species richness than static landscapes. Our results also show a dispersal radius threshold below which species richness drops dramatically in static landscapes. Such a threshold is not observed in dynamic landscapes for a broad range of amplitude and frequency values determining landscape connectivity. We conclude that merging amplitude and frequency as drivers of landscape connectivity together with patch dynamics into metacommunity theory can provide new testable predictions about species diversity in rapidly changing landscapes.


TOTHEEDITOR: In a recent issue of The Annals, Calhoun et aLI reviewedthe useof intravenous ibuprofen for treatment of patentductusarteriosus(PDA)and statedthat ibuprofen maycause pulmonary hypertension based on 2 citations, one of which was a comment on the other.P The trialthat promptedthe earliestreportwas carriedout in verypreterm infants «6 h after birth) who received ibuprofen for the prevention of PDA and were at high risk for pulmonaryhypertension.'The difference betweenthe treatmentand placebogroupswas not statistically significant (double-sided p value = 0.0809), but because of the seriousness of the event, the trial was stopped prematurely.Additionally,the formulation (ibuprofen trishydroxyaminomethane, or THAM) usedin the studyis different from the one recently approved for use in the US (ibuprofen lysine). As noted by Mosca et aI.,2 no unexpectedworseningof oxygenation occurred after ibuprofen lysineadministrationin 227 mechanically ventilated infants and no association betweenibuprofen lysineadministration and pulmonaryhypertension was found.The researchers concluded that ibuprofen lysine as a treatment for PDA is safe and effective. As Arandaet aI.s havepointedout, this adverseeffecthas notbeenassociated with ibuprofen lysine, and they have called for further safety studies on ibuprofen THAM afterGoumay et aI.3suggested thatacidification by the ibuprofen THAM formulation may have precipitated pulmonary microembolization. Belliniet aI.' publisheda case reportof pulmonary hypertensionfollowingthe use of another formulationof ibuprofenlysine used in Italy. This singlecase occurredamong 169mechanically ventilated, ibuprofen Iysine-treated, preterminfants treatedoveran 8 yearperiod. Withinan hourof the seconddose,hypoxemia was notedandechocardiographyshowedclosingof the ductusand findings consistent with right to left shunting. As the authors of this case report pointed out, pulmonary hypertension after ibuprofenlysineadministration has not been reported in any multicenter,randomized,double-blind, controlled trial. In a systematic review of the use of intravenous ibuprofen for the treatment of PDA in pretermand/or low birth weight infants that providesthe largest collective published experience to date, II studies with 620 infants showedno casesof pulmonaryhypertension-induced severehypoxemia.' Finally, the 2 formulations available in the US for treating PDA (Indocin and NeoProfen,both manufacturedby Ovation Pharmaceuticals) are not indicated in the extremepreterm study population in whichthese eventsoccurred.


Study Objectives
To examine the effects of moderate sleep restriction (SR) on body weight, body composition, and metabolic variables in individuals undergoing caloric restriction (CR).

Methods
Overweight or obese adults were randomized to an 8 week caloric restriction (CR) regimen alone (n = 15) or combined with sleep restriction (CR + SR) (n = 21). All participants were instructed to restrict daily calorie intake to 95 per cent of their measured resting metabolic rate. Participants in the CR + SR group were also instructed to reduce time in bed on five nights and to sleep ad libitum on the other two nights each week.

Results
The CR + SR group reduced sleep by 57 ± 36 min per day during SR days and increased sleep by 59 ± 38 min per day during ad libitum sleep days, resulting in a sleep reduction of 169 ± 75 min per week. The CR and CR + SR groups lost similar amounts of weight, lean mass, and fat mass. However, the proportion of total mass lost as fat was significantly greater (p = 0.016) in the CR group. This proportion was greater than body fat percentage at baseline for the CR (p = 0.0035), but not the CR + SR group. Resting respiratory quotient was reduced (p = 0.033) only in CR, and fasting leptin concentration was reduced only in CR + SR (p = 0.029).

Conclusions
Approximately 1 hr of SR on five nights a week led to less proportion of fat mass loss in individuals undergoing hypocaloric weight loss, despite similar weight loss. SR may adversely affect changes in body composition and "catch-up" sleep may not completely reverse it.

Clinical trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02413866).


There is a need for the communities to develop their health financing system, most especially those that were not covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). This will give the people an opportunity to finance their medical care which in turn would alleviate financial burden at the point of treatment. Therefore, this study is aimed to determine the level of awareness for Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS) among communities and to measure the degree of willingness to pay for the scheme in Katsina, North-Western Nigeria. Semi structured interviewer-assisted questionnaires were used to collect information from the respondents. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 20.0. The results indicates that majority of the respondents attained tertiary level of education (68.3%) and 81.1% were employed. About 74.2% were earning more than the Nigerian minimum wage N18, 000 (≈$59). About 52.2% of the respondents were aware of the CBHIS. And 81% were willing to pay for premium while 62.2% will pay between N 1, 000 – 5, 000 (≈$3.3-$16.4). There was strong significant relationship between monthly income and knowledge of CBHIS (p = < 0.0001). However, gender and educational level were not significantly associated with the knowledge of CBHIS. Awareness about CBHIS was not sufficiently adequate but a significant number of the respondents were willing to pay for CBHIS after learning about the scheme. Factors such as level of education and income levels were found to have positive effect on willingness to pay. Keywords: Willingness to pay; Awareness; Community Based Health insurance; Healthcare financing; Household head 1 USD ≡ 305.70 NGN ($1 ≡ N 305.70)


The damping of short gravity-capillary waves (Bragg waves) due to surfactant accumulation
under low wind speed conditions results in the formation of natural sea slicks. These slicks are
detectable visually and in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. Surfactants are produced by
natural life processes of many organisms, such as bacteria, phytoplankton, seaweed, and
zooplankton. By using DNA analysis, we are able to determine the relative abundance of
surfactant-associated bacteria in the sea surface microlayer and the subsurface water column.
A method to reduce contamination of samples during collection, storage, and analysis (Kurata
et al., 2016; Hamilton et al., 2015) has been implemented and advanced by increasing the
number of successive samples and changing sample storage procedures. In this work,
microlayer samples have been collected in the Gulf of Mexico during a research cruise (LASER)
on the R/V F.G. Walton Smith during RADARSAT-2 and TerraSAR-X overpasses. We found that in
slick areas surfactant-associated bacteria mostly reside in subsurface waters, producing
surfactants, which move to the surface, accumulate on and enrich the sea surface microlayer.
This is consistent with previous studies (Kurata et al., 2016; Hamilton et al., 2015) and with the
experimental results of Cunliffe et al. (2010).


Research into the socio-spatial dynamics in Central-Eastern European cities is an important area of contemporary transition studies. Open issues in this domain range from defining a theoretical framework to data availability and methodological approaches. As to the former aspect, recent literature focuses on the hybrid nature of the post-socialist urban space, which underwent transformation in the conditions of globalization and economic liberalization; the earlier model of spatial development changed dramatically as a result. The multi-scalar and comparative approaches may shed new light on the complex patterns of urban socio-spatial differentiation and its post-Soviet dynamics. Growing regional socio-economic imbalances observed in the former socialist states are lending new urgency to this area of research. This study employs a comparative approach to investigate post-1991 socio-spatial transformations in St Petersburg and Riga — the two largest post-Soviet urban centres in the Baltic Sea region. An important result of the research is a methodology for multi-leva el analysis of changes in the urban environment of post-socialist cities. Data from post-1991 national censuses and population registers are used to calculate measures of social well-being in urban districts as well as to identify territorial imbalances. Comparative analysis makes it possible to trace the spatial patterns of post-Soviet differentiation and set out guidelines for further research in the area.


A new modified infrared tracking sensor array with spatial filter is proposed, which identifies the locations and sizes of thermal object efficiently with the winner-take-all (WTA) circuit and a low offset correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit. The winner-take-all (WTA) circuit is used in combination with active readout circuit for thermopile array. In this circuit, thermal image intensity has been chosen for the input saliency map. The removal process is performed by zeroing the values of the thermal image background intensity levels, so only the potential thermal objects of interest are compared by the WTA. The offset reduction with CDS technique enhances the sensitivity of winner-take-all (WTA) circuit and shows a sharp selectivity which makes it possible to pick up only one winner pixel from each thermal object. In order to simulate and present the infrared thermal sensor array in this paper, the sensor array is integrated by using a 2P4M 0.35μm standard CMOS technology. This proposed architecture shows a high resolution with two orders higher than the circuits without CDS. The results have shown that integrated thermopile array with WTA and CDS can approach a high level of development, reliability and easy for high accuracy infrared tracking applications.