Diabetes mellitus is a frequent endocrinopathy in dogs. Exogenous insulin and nutritional management are the mainstays of therapy. High carbohydrate and fibre diets have been traditionally recommended for canine diabetes mellitus. However, recent studies in healthy and diabetic dogs have challenged the use of these traditional diabetic diets. In addition, dietary carbohydrate content was found to be the main determinant of postprandial blood glucose concentrations over 1.5 hours in healthy dogs. Increasing carbohydrate content increased blood glucose concentration. In a search of the literature, no studies in dogs were found comparing the effects on postprandial plasma glucose, insulin, triglyceride and free fatty acid concentrations of a traditionally recommended high carbohydrate and fibre diabetes diet with a moderate carbohydrate and fibre diet, or a commercially-available maintenance diet. Although fasting plasma triglyceride concentrations are commonly used for diagnosis and management of canine hyperlipidemia, a review of the literature found that in human beings, it may not to be predictive of the highest postprandial concentration. Importantly, in overweight and obese dogs with postprandial plasma triglyceride concentrations >5 mmol/L (>445 mg/dL), it was found there was a 6 fold increase in risk of laboratory evidence of exocrine pancreatic disease. However, there are limited studies on the effect of maintenance diets on postprandial plasma triglyceride concentrations in dogs, and no reference intervals determined for a triglyceride meal challenge test in healthy dogs. For the dietary studies in this thesis, animal welfare was of paramount importance, and minimally invasive peripheral venous catheterization and blood collection techniques were needed to collect 4 mL blood samples over 13 hours in conscious dogs. A search of the literature found no studies evaluating the reliability of using peripheral catheterization via the cephalic vein for the collection of larger blood volumes (for example, 4 mL). The aims of this thesis were firstly, to investigate the influence of three diets with varying carbohydrate and fibre content on postprandial plasma glucose, insulin, triglyceride and free fatty acid concentrations in healthy dogs over 12 hours; secondly, to develop a triglyceride meal challenge test and associated reference intervals; and finally, to evaluate a minimally invasive catheterization and blood collection technique for reliability in collecting the blood volumes required for these studies. For the studies in this thesis, twelve healthy dogs were fed each of three diets for three weeks in a three period cross-over design. For the meal response test at the end of each three-week period, 10 blood samples were collected over 13 hours. Reference intervals for fasting and postprandial triglyceride concentrations at single and multiple time points after eating a standard meal were determined in healthy dogs. Associations between fasting and postprandial triglyceride concentrations, and time to measure highest postprandial triglyceride concentration were also evaluated. Blood volume obtained, resistance on aspirating the blood sample, and methods used to improve blood flow during collection were recorded for the 358 samples collected. The results of the studies in this thesis demonstrated that a moderate carbohydrate diet resulted in lower peak and postprandial glucose concentrations compared with a traditional diabetic diet (CHO 55 %ME) and a maintenance diet (CHO 45 %ME). Fasting triglyceride concentrations were found not to be predictive of peak postprandial triglyceride concentrations. The highest triglyceride concentration measured at 2, 5, and 6 hours after eating had the closest agreement with peak postprandial triglyceride concentration. Glucose, insulin and triglyceride concentrations in some dogs were significantly above baseline concentrations at 12 hours after eating each of the diets. Of 358 blood samples collected, 93 % achieved the required 4 mL volume, while the remaining samples were greater than 1.5 mL, and 87 % were obtained with minimal resistance. It was concluded that the moderate carbohydrate and fibre test diet warrants evaluation in diabetic dogs. It was found that when following the same protocol, blood samples should be collected 2, 5, and 6 hours after eating to determine the highest postprandial plasma triglyceride concentration. For future nutritional studies, dogs may need to be fasted for at least 12 hours, and analytes measured over at least 12 hours after feeding to evaluate fasting and postprandial plasma analyte concentrations. Finally it was demonstrated that percutaneous catheterization of the cephalic vein using a 20-gauge catheter allows for successful collection of multiple 4 mL blood samples over 13 hours in conscious dogs. This thesis presents new information for future nutritional studies in healthy and diabetic dogs by suggesting that there may be no glycemic benefit feeding the high carbohydrate and fibre diet compared with a moderate carbohydrate and fibre diet. A triglyceride meal challenge test was developed to assist the diagnosis of canine hyperlipidemia. Finally, a minimally invasive method for obtaining serial blood samples was evaluated and described. These findings are expected to help in designing future studies in the nutritional management in healthy dogs, and dogs with diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia.


Drug-related lupus (DRL) was first described in 1945 in association with sulfadiazine. Since that time, more than 50 medications have been implicated in this syndrome and its associated laboratory abnormalities. Several mechanisms for these findings have been postulated, but no one mechanism has been established as pre-eminent. The clinical spectrum, when it does occur, is characterized by polyserositis: arthritis, pleuritis, pericarditis, and peritonitis. Many of the well-known features of SLE are rarely, if ever, seen in DRL.


This bibliography lists 1111 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system from July 1, 1981 through September 30, 1981.


This essay analyzes challenges and opportunities of the newly independent East Timor, a territory in the process of nation-building and conflict transformation. The analysis focuses on two levels of tranformative capacity building—the formal government institutions and the social relationships outside the government. At the institutional level, East Timorese military personnel, political parties, and elected representatives possess the potential to develop dynamic relations conducive to the sustainable capacity of domestic conflict transformation. On the social relationship side, three sets of paradoxical orientations involved in conflict transformation—personal versus contextual change, justice versus mercy, and empowerment versus interdependence—are explored in the context of East Timor's nation-building. The author argues within both levels of conflict transformation, East Timor needs to establish and strengthen sustainable mechanisms of communication with Jakarta in order to deter potential threats that may originate from Indonesia's domestic politics, as well as from the broader international context. The analysis concludes with a brief discussion on the inevitability of time pressure on East Timor's nation-building process, and how the post-Cold War regional security climate is likely to present unique challenges for its way forward. Conflict Transformation in Nation Building 32 3 Conflict Transformation in Nation Building: The


Graphene is the most intensive material known at present, and it has great application value for the preparation of high performance polymer matrix composites. In this context, the preparation of polymer nanospheres and graphene hybrids is based on the design and low density of the polymer particles. Two polymer nanosphere/graphene hybrid fillers were designed to solve the problem of easy stacking of graphene. It is used to reinforce rubber and filler network structure evenly and effectively dispersed in rubber aggregates to prepare rubber nanocomposites with excellent comprehensive performance and light weight. X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy (Raman) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) study the structure of PS@rG0. The results show that rG0 is effectively reduced in hybrid materials and has a strong π-π interaction with PS, thus avoiding the re-deposition of rG0 during the reduction process; scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis shows that PS nanospheres are on the rGO surface. The upper adsorption acts as a barrier and the rGO layer also inhibits further aggregation of the PS.


This study investigates the endogenous kallikrein-kinin system's role as a modulator of vasopressin action in the toad urinary bladder. Kalli-krein inhibition by aprotinin, which results in decreased kinin production, significantly increased both vasopressin and 8-Br-cyclic (c) AMP-stimulated water flow. Kinin potentiation by the kininase II inhibitor captopril (SQ 14225) significantly decreased vasopressin and 8-Br-cAMP-stimulated water flow. In contrast to water flow, vasopressin-stimulated urea permeability was decreased by aprotinin and increased by captopril. We conclude that the endogenous kallikrein-kinin system represents a significant modulator of vasopressin action and it permits separate control of vasopressin-stimulated water flow and solute transport.


Purpose: Retrospective, single-institution analysis of clinical outcomes and treatment-related toxicity in patients treated with salvage I-125 low-dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy (BT) for locally-recurrent prostate cancer after radiotherapy. Materials and methods: Between 2008 and 2018, 30 patients with biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer recurrence underwent salvage treatment with I-125 LDR-BT. Of these 30 patients, 14 were previously treated with primary external beam radiotherapy (EBRT; median dose, 73 Gy) and 16 with primary I-125 LDR-BT (145 Gy and 160 Gy in 14 and 2 cases, respectively). At seed implantation, the mean age was 75.8 years, with a median Gleason score of 7 and pre-salvage PSA of <10 ng/mL. Six patients received androgen deprivation therapy for six months after relapse diagnosis. The prescribed salvage I-125 BT dose to the gland was 120 − 130 Gy, with dose restrictions of Dmax <135% (urethra) and <100% (rectum). Toxicity was evaluated according to the CTCAE scale (v4.0). Results: At a median follow-up of 45 months, the biochemical recurrence-free survival rates at 1, 3 and 5 years were 86.7%, 56.7% and 53.3%, respectively. Overall survival at 5 years was 87%. On the multivariate analysis, two variables were significant predictors of recurrence: PSA at relapse and nadir PSA post-salvage. Grade 3 genitourinary toxicity was observed in 5 patients (radiation-induced cystitis in 3 cases and urethral stenosis in 2) and G3 gastrointestinal toxicity in 3 patients (rectal bleeding). Conclusion: Salvage therapy with I-125 brachytherapy is a safe and effective treatment option for locally- recurrent prostate cancer in previously-irradiated patients. High pre-salvage PSA and post-salvage nadir PSA values were significantly associated with a worse disease control after salvage I-125 LDR-BT. In well- selected patients, I-125 LDR-BT is comparable to other salvage therapies in terms of disease control and toxicity. However, more research is needed to determine the optimal management of locally-recurrent prostate cancer.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

It is now well established that the identification of predictive biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy for reliable patient stratification is a prerequisite for economical, ethical and logistic sustainability of targeted therapy approaches in the treatment of cancer. Intrinsic to the concept that each tumour has an independent genetic identity, molecular therapies targeting one specific oncoprotein are likely to be useful only in a fraction of patients. This means that administration of targeted drugs to unselected cohorts will result in costs, no clinical benefit and possibly adverse effects for the majority of the population.

These observations also apply to the case of metastatic colorectal carcinomas (mCRCs). The prototypic and most widely used targeted therapies against advanced colorectal tumours are cetuximab and panitumumab, two monoclonal antibodies that block the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/HER1). Addition of these antibodies to chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of unselected mCRC patients results in a modest improvement in median progression-free survival (less than one month) and response rate (5-8% more than chemotherapy alone). When used as monotherapy, the anti EGFR antibodies are effective in only 10-15% of mCRCs. This is likely due to hyperactivation of parallel or downstream compensatory pathways, which substitute or complement EGFR-driven signals in these tumors.

This notion suggests that a significant improvement of efficacy for mCRC targeted therapies can hinge on efforts committed to the optimization of drug combination protocols and the discovery of associated predictive biomarkers. For example, we (and others) have recently identified HER2 amplification as a predictor of resistance to anti-EGFR antibodies in mCRC, demonstrating that it can also predict response to combinatorial therapies against HER2 and EGFR (Bertotti et al., 2011).

Within this project, we decided to concentrate our attention on a significant fraction (34%) of KRAS wild-type tumors, which respond to cetuximab treatment with disease stabilization but not with tumor regression (Bertotti et al., 2011). The indolent growth of these tumors in the presence of antibodies against EGFR suggests that they are biologically sensitive to EGFR blockade, even if this is not sufficient to induce clinically relevant tumor shrinkage. If this is true, this subgroup of tumors can represent an opportunity for improved efficacy of targeted therapy in mCRC. Indeed, the partial lack of response exhibited by these tumors could have two reasonable explanations:

1) For some reasons EGFR is not effectively and completely inhibited by cetuximab.

2) Some other pathways complement or partially compensate for EGFR-dependent signals' inhibition.

In both cases, a number of possibilities could be envisioned to improve treatment efficacy, which range from testing alternative strategies to inhibit EGFR (in case of cetuximab inefficacy) to identifying complementary pathways that, once characterized, can be challenged by combinatorial therapeutic intervention.To tackle this issue, we have established a large series of mCRC specimens (∼400, in continuous expansion) directly transplanted into mice and grown as xenografts. This setting is far more physiologically relevant than cell lines and allows for molecular profiling of tumor biomarkers together with real-time animal randomization into prospective 'trials' with targeted agents ('xenopatients'). Proof-of-concept for reliability of this approach showed that samples from patients known to be responsive or resistant to the anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab were also sensitive or resistant in the corresponding xenograft cohorts and this tied in with specific validated predictive biomarkers such as KRAS status. Overall, we were able to challenge with cetuximab more than 200 cases. Based on response criteria loosely inspired to the clinical setting, we classified as SDs approximately 40% of KRAS wild-type tumors, which is concordant to that described in clinical trials. Therefore, we shought to explore whether SDs can be turned into overt responses by the means of combining cetuximab with other drugs targeting the same or complementary pathways. Lessons learned primarily from breast cancer indicate that concomitant inhibition of HER2 and other HER family members - such as HER3 and/or EGFR - proves to be more effective than inhibition of HER2 alone. Based on this knowledge, we focused on the other members of the HER family as potential subsidiaries for EGFR. To challenge this hypothesis, we treated 18 SDs with both lapatinib and cetuximab. This approach couples two potential mechanisms of cooperation between the two drugs: first: lapatinib targets EGFR, thus synergizing with cetuximab for full EGFR inhibition; second, lapatinib also inactivates HER2, hindering the enzymatic potential of the EGFR/HER2 complex and preventing compensatory activation of downstream pathways.

Indeed, results have been encouraging, pinpointing 5 tumors -(27.7% of tested cases) that respond to cetuximab monotherapy with disease control but show evident regression following combined administration of cetuximab and lapatinib. Further experiments showed that the EGFR-specific inhibitor erlotinib was as efficacious as lapatinib in inducing tumor regression when combined with cetuximab, suggesting that the main contribution of lapatinib is to complement cetuximab in inhibiting EGFR, while the role of HER2 kinase activity is likely to be marginal in this setting.

The observation that lapatinib synergizes with cetuximab in many but not all cetuximab-SD cases prompted us to screen for other means of partial desensitization to EGFR-inhibition in colorectal liver metastases. We got some unexpected help from the multidimensional molecular annotations assembled by the TCGA Consortium for 276 CRC cases. The authors reported overexpression of IGF2 (insulin-like growth factor 2) in approximately 20% of CRCs. Intrigued by the entity and frequency of this alteration, we analysed IGF2 gene expression in our dataset. We confirmed the rate of overexpression, but we also observed that IGF2 outliers were particularly enriched among cases that respond to cetuximab with stable disease and, to a lesser extent, in the category of the non-responders. Of note, we observed a similar enrichment for IGF2 overexpressors also in an independent dataset (Khambata-Ford 2007) composed by 'real'' patients treated with cetuximab monotherapy. Here again, IGF2 overexpression segregates with stable disease and not with tumor regression.

Remarkably, in agreement with the notion of partial independency from EGFR signaling, none of the 5 IGF2-overespressing SDs that were treated with the cetuximab+lapatinib combination did respond with massive shrinkage to treatment. In contrast, 2 IGF-overexpressing tumors out of 3 tested demonstrated sensitivity to a combination of cetuximab and BMS754897 (a specific inhibitor of the IGF2 receptor, IGF1R), which was ineffective in tumors expressing normal levels of IGF2.

These data pinpoint two previously neglected, but not minor, tumor subpopulations in mCRC that appear to display biological sensitivity, but not over clinical responsiveness, to anti-EGFR antibodies: 1) Up to 15-20% of KRAS wild type tumors could benefit from alternative EGFR-inhibition strategies, including combinations of small molecules and antibodies. Preliminary observations suggest that high autocrine levels of specific EGFR ligands could distinguish this subpopulation.2) Up to 20-25% of KRAS wild type tumors, which overexpress IGF2, could be sensitive to combined inhibition of EGFR and IGF1R.We propose these therapeutic hypotheses for clinical validation as a means to improve the clinical benefit of EGFR inhibition-based targeted therapies in mCRC.

Citation Format: Andrea Bertotti. Rational drug combinations to improve anti-EGFR targeted therapies in metastatic colorectal cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr NG02. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-NG02


Introduction: Incidence of post-operative nausea vomiting (PONV) after spinal anesthesia is 21%, which increases to 50% when we add opioid (morphine) adjuvant intrathecally for better analgesia. This study is oriented to search a remedy for this commonest postoperative complication and to compare the efficacy of intravenous Palonosetron, Dexamethasone and Glycopyrrolate given preoperatively in prevention of PONV with intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine with morphine, in lower abdominal surgeries. Methods: After Ethical committee clearance, Informed written consent was obtained from 90 ASAI or II patients, between ages 18 and 65 years undergoing surgery under spinal anaesthesia and randomized into three groups to receive either injection Palonosetron 0.075 mg (Group P), injection Dexamethasone 8mg (Group D) or injection Glycopyrrolate 0.2mg (Group G) 15 minutes prior to spinal anesthesia with injection bupivacaine 0.5% hyperbaric 15mg with 100 micrograms preservative free morphine and observed for complete responders, number of episodes of vomiting post operatively over 48 hrs. Pain and sedation assessed by Visual analogue score & Ramsey Sedation Scale respectively. Injection ondansetron 4mg is used as rescue drug. Results: Demographic data and hemodynamic variables were similar in all the groups. The incidence of PONV in Palonosetron and Glycopyrrolate group was13.3 % & in Dexamethasone group was16.7% with p value 0.6 which was similar. Conclusion: The efficacy of premedication with i.v. Dexamethasone or Glycopyrrolate in lower abdominal surgeries in prevention of PONV was comparable with Palonosetron.


The peptide binding to Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) proteins is an important step in the antigen-presentation pathway. Thus, predicting the binding potential of peptides with MHC is essential for the design of peptide-based therapeutics. Most of the available machine learning-based models predict the peptide-MHC binding based on the sequence of amino acids alone. Given the importance of structural information in determining the stability of the complex, here we have utilized both the complex structure and the peptide sequence features to predict the binding affinity of peptides to human receptor HLA-A*02:01. To our knowledge, no such model has been developed for the human HLA receptor before that incorporates both structure and sequence-based features. Results: We have applied machine learning techniques through the natural language processing (NLP) and convolutional neural network to design a model that performs comparably with the existing state-of-the-art models. Our model shows that the information from both sequence and structure domains results in enhanced performance in the binding prediction compared to the information from one domain alone. The testing results in 18 weekly benchmark datasets provided by the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) as well as experimentally validated peptides from the whole-exome sequencing analysis of the breast cancer patients indicate that our model has achieved state-of-the-art performance. Conclusion: We have developed a deep-learning model (OnionMHC) that incorporates both structure as well as sequence-based features to predict the binding affinity of peptides with human receptor HLA-A*02:01. The model demonstrates state-of-the-art performance on the IEDB benchmark dataset as well as the experimentally validated peptides. The model can be used in the screening of potential neo-epitopes for the development of cancer vaccines or designing peptides for peptide-based therapeutics. OnionMHC is freely available at https://github.com/shikhar249/OnionMHC .


Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with a poor prognosis. Even after surgery with curative intent, life expectancy is poor. As the life span for these patients is limited, preventing deterioration of quality of life is exceedingly important. We found that most QoL items decrease after surgery for pancreatic cancer, to return to baseline values at 3 to 6 months. Patients with and without severe surgical complications experienced no differences in QoL up to 1 year after resection. For patients with locally advanced tumors, a non-invasive treatment with limited side effects and a positive effect on physical symptoms is desired. Radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer is challenging, as the pancreas moves with respiration. We analyzed this tumor motion with aid of cine MRI and found that these motion patterns highly differed between individual patients. This requires individualized strategies for motion management. When choosing for gated radiotherapy, this is best performed at the end-expiration position as this is the most stable position in the breathing cycle. In addition, we found that breathing induced motion can easily be reduced up to 40% by application of an abdominal corset. Another challenge in pancreatic radiotherapy is the poor visibility of tumor and OAR with the current gold standard CT. As MRI has a better soft tissue contrast, we developed contouring recommendations for contouring of pancreatic cancer and OAR with the aid of multiparametric MRI. The tumor volumes as contoured on MRI are smaller compared to volumes as contoured on CT in an interobserver study. Lastly, we studied MRI guided stereotactic radiotherapy in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer, applying these new strategies. We found that stereotactic radiotherapy up to a dose of 24 Gy in 3 fraction is safe and feasible, but future research should focus on improving the clinical results. This might be achieved by a better patient selection, a higher radiation dose and a combination with effective chemotherapy.


Latin America was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic adopters of what has come to be known as the judicialization of politics - the use of law and legal institutions as tools of social contestation to curb the abuse of power in government, resolve policy disputes, and enforce and expand civil, political, and socio-economic rights. Almost forty years into this experiment, The Limits of Judicialization brings together a cross-disciplinary group of scholars to assess the role that law and courts play in Latin American politics. Featuring studies of hot-button topics including abortion, state violence, judicial corruption, and corruption prosecutions, this volume argues that the institutional and cultural changes that empowered courts, what the editors call the 'judicialization superstructure,' often fall short of the promise of greater accountability and rights protection. Illustrative and expansive, this volume offers a truly interdisciplinary analysis of the limits of judicialized politics.


We present a fast and accurate method to calculate the vector-field distribution of a focused Gaussian beam. This method is applied to calculate the second harmonic that is generated by such a beam from a sample in the undepleted pump approximation. These calculations can be used to model second-harmonic imaging in an optical microscope with a wide aperture.


BACKGROUND
Peri-infarct border zone (BZ) as quantified by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as a risk stratification tool, and is associated with increased mortality. BZ has been measured by various methods in the literature. We assessed which BZ analysis best predicts inducible arrhythmia during electrophysiological study (EPS).

METHODS
LGE was performed in 47 patients with coronary artery disease referred for EPS to assess for ventricular tachycardia (VT). LGE data was analyzed for BZ quantification by 3 previously published methods. Method I (BZ-I) used pixels 2-3 standard deviations over the mean of normal tissue, expressed as % of left ventricular mass, Method II (BZ-II, as described by Yan) and Method III (BZ-III, as described by Schmidt). EPS results were classified as negative (non-inducible) or positive (monomorphic VT - MVT).

RESULTS
There were 47 subjects-age 61.7 years, 72% male. During EPS, 20 patients were non-inducible and 18 had induced MVT. Ejection fraction was not significantly different between non-inducible patients and those with MVT (34.1% vs. 28.5%, p = 0.13). BZ-I was significantly different (1.4% vs. 2.6%, p = 0.001), but not BZ-II (7.9% vs. 6.9%, p = 0.68) or BZ-III (2.7 g vs. 2.1 g, p = 0.88). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that only BZ-I was an independent predictor of EPS outcome after controling for infarct size (OR 1.97 per % change, 95% CI 1.04-3.73, p = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates significant variability between the published methods for measuring BZ. Also, BZ-I is a stronger predictor of inducible MVT during EPS than ejection fraction and infarct size. BZ may be another LGE marker of elevated risk of arrhythmia.


A method of parameters estimation of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar based on combination algorithm of STFT and FRFT is proposed in this paper. Parameters here namely frequency centroid and frequency rate characterize the transmitted signal of spaceborne SAR. Estimation the parameters of the single way SAR signal is very important in ESM system. The combination algorithm of STFT and FRFT proposed in this paper overcomes the inaccuracy of direct estimation by STFT and large computation burden of pure FRFT. Simulation results show that this method is feasible and effective in improving the accuracy and reducing computational complexity for parameters estimation of spaceborne SAR.


The underlying mechanisms of glucose-induced time-dependent potentiation in the pancreatic beta-cell are unknown. It had been widely accepted that extracellular Ca(2+) is essential for this process. However, we consistently observed glucose-induced priming under stringent Ca(2+)-free conditions, provided that the experiment was conducted in a HEPES-buffered medium as opposed to the bicarbonate (HCO(3)(-))-buffered medium used in previous studies. The critical difference between these two buffering systems is that islets maintain a lower intracellular pH in the presence of HEPES. The addition of HEPES to a HCO(3)(-)-buffered medium produced a dramatic decrease in the intracellular pH. If it is the lower intracellular pH in islets in a HEPES-buffered medium that is permissive for glucose-induced time-dependent potentiation (TDP), then experimental lowering of intracellular pH by other means should allow TDP to occur in a Ca(2+)-free HCO(3)(-)-buffered medium, where TDP normally does not occur. As expected, experimental acidification produced by dimethyl amiloride (DMA) allowed glucose to induce TDP in a Ca(2+)-free HCO(3)(-)-buffered medium. DMA also enhanced the priming normally present in HEPES-buffered media. Priming was also enhanced by transient acidification caused by acetate. Experimental alkalinization inhibited the development of priming. In the presence of Ca(2+), the magnitude of glucose-induced TDP was higher in a HEPES-buffered medium than in an HCO(3)(-)-buffered medium. In summary, glucose-induced priming was consistently observed under conditions of low intracellular pH and was inhibited with increasing intracellular pH, irrespective of the presence of extracellular Ca(2+). These data indicate that glucose-induced TDP is critically dependent on intracellular pH.


The desk-mates matcher application places students in pairs of two for working in projects (similar to the well known problems of stable matchings or stable roommates). Each of the students has a (hopefully stable) secret preference between every two colleagues. The participants want to find an allocation satisfying their secret preferences and without leaking any of these secret preferences, except for what a participant can infer from the identity of the partner that was recommended to her. The peculiarities of the above problem require solvers based on old distributed CSP frameworks to use models whose search spaces are higher than those in centralized solvers, with bad effects on efficiency. Therefore we introduce a new distributed constraint satisfaction (DisCSP) framework where the actual constraints are secrets that are not known by any agent. They are defined by a set of functions on some secret inputs from all agents. The solution is also kept secret and each agent learns just the result of applying an agreed function on the solution. The expressiveness of the new framework is shown to improve the efficiency (O(2 3−log(m)) times) in modeling and solving the aforementioned problem with m participants. We show how to extend our previous techniques to solve securely problems modeled with the new formalism, and exemplify with the problem in the title. An experimental implementation in the form of an applet-based solver is available.


We present a comprehensive revision and synthesis of the higher-level classification of the barnacles (Crustacea: Thecostraca) to the genus level and including both extant and fossils forms. We provide estimates of the number of species in each group. Our classification scheme has been updated based on insights from recent phylogenetic studies and attempts to adjust the higher-level classifications to represent evolutionary lineages better, while documenting the evolutionary diversity of the barnacles. Except where specifically noted, recognized taxa down to family are argued to be monophyletic from molecular analysis and/or morphological data. Our resulting classification divides the Thecostraca into the subclasses Facetotecta, Ascothoracida and Cirripedia. The whole class now contains 14 orders, 65 families and 367 genera. We estimate that barnacles consist of 2116 species. The taxonomy is accompanied by a discussion of major morphological events in barnacle evolution and justifications for the various rearrangements we propose.


MISO, also known as Finito, was one of the first stochastic variance reduced methods discovered, yet its popularity is fairly low. Its initial analysis was significantly limited by the so-called Big Data assumption. Although the assumption was lifted in subsequent work using negative momentum, this introduced a new parameter and required knowledge of strong convexity and smoothness constants, which is rarely possible in practice. We rehabilitate the method by introducing a new variant that needs only smoothness constant and does not have any extra parameters. Furthermore, when removing the strong convexity constant from the stepsize, we present a new analysis of the method, which no longer uses the assumption that every component is strongly convex. This allows us to also obtain so far unknown nonconvex convergence of MISO. To make the proposed method efficient in practice, we derive minibatching bounds with arbitrary uniform sampling that lead to linear speedup when the expected minibatch size is in a certain range. Our numerical experiments show that MISO is a serious competitor to SAGA and SVRG and sometimes outperforms them on real datasets.


ABSTRACT The Kaskattama No. 1 well, officially called Sogepet-Aquitaine-Kaskattama-Province No. 1, is on the west shore of Hudson Bay in the central Hudson Bay Lowland at latitude 57°1418.487 and longitude 9°1029.409. The well has penetrated a relatively thick (2913 ft) Phanerozoic section, including Devonian strata hitherto postulated as being present in Hudson Bay Basin (Nelson & Johnson, 1966). Three broad lithologic units exist, called Lower Carbonate unit, Middle Clastic unit, and Upper Carbonate unit. The Lower Carbonate unit is dominantly limestone and dolomite 2490 ft thick, resting on Precambrian crystallines. Fauna indicate that it contains temporal equivalents of the Late Ordovician Bad Cache Rapids and Churchill River groups, Early Silurian Port Nelson, and Middle Silurian Severn River, Ekwan River and Attawapiskat formations. The Middle Clastic unit is 653 ft thick and mainly red siltstone. It is completely unfossiliferous but tentatively equated with the Late? Silurian Kenogami River Formation. The Upper Carbonate unit is 400 ft of limestone correlated with the Middle Devonian Abitibi River Formation. Overlying strata are 23 ft of overburden referred to Pleistocene and Recent.


Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulated the rate of DNA synthesis in rabbit spleen cell suspensions. Unlike antigens, previous immunization to PHA was not necessary and the specific response could not be transferred by macrophages, although lymphocytes primed by incubation in PHA were able to stimulate other spleen cells not directly exposed to PHA. When rabbits were stimulated by in vivo immunization with antigens, spleen cells proliferating in response to antigen were stimulated to divide by in vitro contact with PHA. Using the technique of specific hemolytic plaque formation by individual cells synthesizing γM-antibody to sheep red cells (plaque-forming cells), no evidence was obtained that stimulation of cell division by PHA resulted in specific antibody formation, although the presence of antigen resulted both in stimulation of cell proliferation and the production of plaque-forming cells. The presence of both sheep red cells and PHA in the medium of the same cell suspensions did not enhance the production of plaque-forming cells although there was a summative effect on DNA synthesis.


Smooth-pursuit eye movements are variable, even when the same tracking target motion is repeated many times. We asked whether variation in pursuit could arise from noise in the response of visual motion neurons in the middle temporal visual area (MT). In physiological experiments, we evaluated the mean, variance, and trial-by-trial correlation in the spike counts of pairs of simultaneously recorded MT neurons. The correlations between responses of pairs of MT neurons are highly significant and are stronger when the two neurons in a pair have similar preferred speeds, directions, or receptive field locations. Spike count correlation persists when the same exact stimulus form is repeatedly presented. Spike count correlations increase as the analysis window increases because of correlations in the responses of individual neurons across time. Spike count correlations are highest at speeds below the preferred speeds of the neuron pair and increase as the contrast of a square-wave grating is decreased. In computational analyses, we evaluated whether the correlations and variation across the population response in MT could drive the observed behavioral variation in pursuit direction and speed. We created model population responses that mimicked the mean and variance of MT neural responses as well as the observed structure and amplitude of noise correlations between pairs of neurons. A vector-averaging decoding computation revealed that the observed variation in pursuit could arise from the MT population response, without postulating other sources of motor variation.


The coin – subject of the work here presented – was found by a private person in 2016 and right away entered the collection of NHM – Shumen. It came from the landfills in the area of Shumen Fortress accumulated in the course of the archaeological excavations which lasted until 1990s.
The coin is struck in silver, flat, measuring 19/ 20 mm in diameter and 1,26 g in weight. A fragment has been broken from its periphery about ¼ of its blank.
The emission is definitely Byzantine in style; however, the inquiry in the numismatic bibliography did not show the existence of such a coin type. Although the coin is fragmented, the representations on it are clear enough for to make an attempt to identify it. The legend surviving right of Theotokos also helps relating it categorically to a Palaiologan emission. Who is the emperor from the Palaiologan Dynasty we can associate this coin with?
As a matter of fact, the problem with the piece in question comes with its flat design similar to the basilikons but not displaying their iconographic features; on the other hand, the legend right of Theotokos characterizes it as an emission of Michael VIII Palaiologos who did not mint flat coins but only silver scyphati.
The numismatic collection of the Hermitage houses a unique silver flat coin which is an exception of the scyphate coinage peculiar of the age of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Its obverse bears a representation of Jesus Christ enthroned, and its reverse – a standing figure of the Emperor holding labarum and akakia, and also a legend with his name and title: ΧΜ ΔECΠΟΤΗC Ο ΠΑΛEΟΛΟΓΟC. In contrast to the other silver coins which are scyphati, this one is flat and smaller in size – 19 mm. As its weight is lower compared to the basilikons coming close to scyphati (2,80 g) an opinion has been accepted that it represents a transition type minted at the end of Michael VIII Palaiologos' reign. Its emission aimed to escape the scyphate form already imposed and to revive the flat design while keeping the same weight (Grierson 1999, 113).
The above parallel is the other real opportunity for Shumen coin – to belong to the silver emission of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos from the mentioned transition coinage. The grounds for this assumption lie on the bust representation of Jesus Christ characteristic of the emissions of this emperor as well as the vertically arranged legend also peculiar of them. Only the right half of the legend on our coin has survived and still it seems enough to identify it as an emission of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Most probably to the left it should be read: ΧΜ ΔECΠ (ΟΤΗC). The new silver Palaiologan coin here discussed comes as a further addition to the varied and yet unknown coinage of this last Byzantine dynasty.


The article deals with the set of simulation models of the pension system of the Russian Federation designed to support government decision-making in the pension field. The set of models is realized on the basis of the composite combination of methods of system dynamics and agent-based modeling and allows you to explore the dynamics of developmental processes in complex social and economic systems, including the cyclic transitions between individual and group behavior of economic and social agents at the micro-level and the basic processes of social and economic system at the macro-level. Stratification of socio-economic system is proposed as a tool of the ontological domain modeling. The stratified description of the pension system is formed as an example. Described agent-based models of social and economic behavior of insured persons with regard to the choice of the method of forming pension and individual pension policies allows you to explore self-organizing processes at the micro-level of the pension system.


In this study, we have prepared and investigated the optical properties of the TiO2/CdS:Mn2+/CdSe photoanode as the function of Mn2+ doping concentration and thickness. The results show that the peaks of the UV-Vis spectra shifted toward longer wavelength while Mn2+ doping concentrations or thickness of the films were changed. The main cause of the red-shifting in UV-Vis spectra may come from the increasing of photoanode light-harvesting capacity. In addition, the results also demonstrated by the boosting performance of quantum dots sensitized solar cells from 2.07% for TiO2/CdS/CdSe photoanode to 2.5% for TiO2/CdS:Mn2+/CdSe photoanode.


In this paper, we give a new concept which is a generalization of the
 concepts quasi-convexity and harmonically quasi-convexity and establish a
 new identity. A consequence of the identity is that we obtain some new
 general inequalities containing all of the Hermite-Hadamard and Simpson-like
 type for functions whose derivatives in absolute value at certain power are
 p-quasi-convex. Some applications to special means of real numbers are also
 given.


A systematic review of available literature was conducted on the topic of 'Cybersecurity in the Saudi Arabian Context'. A search protocol was devised and relevant search terms were input in to the Google Scholar open source search engine. Around 210 scholarly and research works were considered before five were chosen for further analysis. These works were chosen keeping the topic of enquiry in mind and with an aim towards choosing only recent works. The five shortlisted works were studied and analysed further in order to glean some important observations on the state of enquiry into the aforementioned topic of cybersecurity in the Saudi Arabian context. It was concluded that research existed on cyber threats at three levels; one, at the level of crimes against the general public, two, threats to companies and three, threats to the national infrastructure. It was also evident from conducting the systematic review that there was not adequate research on the topic and many avenues for further scientific enquiry exist.


Absorption properties of film-coupled log-periodic optical antennas in the near-infrared region are numerically investigated. The maximum absorption for TE and TM polarizations at normal incidence reach to 95% and 93%, respectively, and the optimal absorption of around 90% can be simultaneously obtained for both cases. It is shown that the main absorption peak is independent to light polarizations at normal incidence. Moreover, the log-periodic antenna-assisted absorption represents district polarization selectivity at high-order resonances. For oblique incidence, only the incident light of specific wavelengths within a narrow incidence angle can be almost entirely trapped inside the absorber, indicating special direction and wavelength selectivity of the absorber. All these features would lead to potential applications in photovoltaic technology, sensing, etc.


: Continuous insect cell lines make a special object of research in biology. Insect cells in the established lines differ in the number of attributes from both normal differentiated, and embryonic cells. The period of genome destabilization necessarily precedes cell line immortalization. Genome destabilization is manifested by changes in genome size, cell karyotype, amplification of some retrotransposone families, and induction of their expression. The existence of significant genetic variability in one line puts a problem of searching for invariant attributes providing culture identification and defining the limits of normal polymorphism of cells in the culture. Using the vast collection of insect continuous cell lines stored at the N. I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics RAS, nine lines were identified by RFLP method of mitochondrial DNA. Variability of DNA-polymorphisms, cellular karyology, morphology, immunological and biochemical attribute in the culture is discussed.


ABSTRACT Research has shown that jurors are heavily influenced by secondary confessions, and that they may attribute the informant's motives to good character rather than to an incentive. This study investigated the role of race in this context by manipulating both defendant and informant race (Black/White), informant type (jailhouse/civic duty), and whether the informant received an incentive to testify. Participants read a trial transcript and provided a verdict, then answered questions about the informant's reason for testifying (i.e. attributions). We observed that in the absence of informant testimony, participants convicted the White defendant more often. We also discovered an effect of incentive on verdicts when the defendant was White, such that participants voted guilty less often when the informant received an incentive; there was no effect of incentive on verdict when the defendant was Black. Informant race, defendant race, and incentive showed a combined effect on verdict, such that participants were particularly suspicious (i.e. less likely to vote guilty) when a Black informant received an incentive for testifying against a Black defendant. There were no effects of race on attributions. This research sheds light on extralegal factors that can prevent jurors from considering the role of incentives in secondary confessions.


Despite a dearth of precedent, in recent years some federal courts have permitted defendants to remove cases from state to federal court by virtue of authority found in the All Writs Act. This seems a questionable development. Federal statutes that expressly authorize removal seem to be the exclusive grants of authority to federal courts to obtain jurisdiction over cases commenced in state court, and federalism and harmonious relations between the federal and state courts seem to militate against judicial creation of additional vehicles for removal. The commentators who have mentioned this new development have found it remarkable, usually in a pejorative sense, but courts have continued to embrace these removals. Their reach for such an innovation makes one wonder whether established mechanisms governing federal-state judicial relations are insufficient. When is there a need for proceedings to be adjudicated in federal court? When there is such a need, do traditional vehicles and generally accepted doctrines not suffice to get the cases there, if they originally were filed in state court? Do the ordinary provisions for removal, federal injunctions of state court proceedings under the circumstances authorized by the Anti-Injunction Act, and notions of supplemental or ancillary jurisdiction, even cumulatively, sometimes fail to sufficiently protect the interests of parties to proceedings in federal courts and of the federal courts themselves? If so, is interpreting the All Writs Act to authorize removal the solution or would a new and clear statutory authorization of removal be preferable? This Article examines these issues.Part I, Section I of this Article provides background on the All Writs Act and the Anti-Injunction Act. Section II discusses the cases in which courts have either upheld removal pursuant to the All Writs Act or have expressly refused to do so. Section III addresses two threshold questions: why parties have sought All Writs removal, rather than anti-suit injunctions, and why we should be concerned if the "wrong" vehicle is used to bring cases into federal court.Section IV then elaborates a multi-faceted argument that interpreting the All Writs Act to authorize removal is erroneous and undesirable. This section explains why considerations of both comity and federalism caution against loose interpretation of the All Writs Act, and argues that removal is more disruptive of federal-state judicial relations than are injunctions against state court proceedings. The section concludes that, because removal necessarily encompasses the injunction of state court proceedings, All Writs removal should be permissible, if at all, only when an injunction of those proceedings would be proper under the Anti-Injunction Act. The propriety of such an injunction, however, would not alone suffice to justify All Writs removal.With this larger perspective in mind, Section IV then approaches the issue of All Writs removal from the perspective of proper statutory interpretation. It articulates why courts should eschew All Writs removal and base removal on ordinary removal statutes such as 28 U.S.C. § 1441 et seq. where that course is available. The section invokes evidence that Congress did not intend the All Writs Act to authorize or legitimate removal under any circumstances.Section V supplements the foregoing arguments by showing that no need for removal under the All Writs Act has been demonstrated. Focusing on the cases in which federal courts of appeals have upheld All Writs removal, Section V discusses whether an injunction of the state court proceedings would have been authorized by the Anti-Injunction Act, and if so, whether such an injunction, followed by the exercise of ancillary jurisdiction over proceedings then commenced in federal court, would sufficiently have protected the interests of the federal courts and of the parties. Finding overwhelmingly that the combination of these mechanisms would have protected the relevant interests, Section V concludes that none of the decided cases demonstrates a genuine need for removal under the All Writs Act.Finally, Section VI of Part I of the Article reviews and proposes possible amendments to the Anti-Injunction Act that are intended to ratify the decisional law authorizing injunction of state court proceedings that would interfere with federal disposition of some multi-district and class actions. With those amendments (or even without them, assuming the correctness of the referenced case law), Part I of the Article concludes that some combination of independent bases of federal jurisdiction, ordinary removal, injunctions of state proceedings, and ancillary or supplemental jurisdiction always will furnish a basis for federal adjudication of matters that it is important be adjudicated in federal court. As a result, removal pursuant to the All Writs Act is unnecessary and never should be permitted. For the same reasons, there is no need for a new, clearer, statutory authorization of removal for the kinds of situations in which courts have removed under the All Writs Act. The Article nonetheless suggests some language that Congress could use if it desired to expand removal authority to help ensure the effectiveness of federal jurisdiction over pending federal actions or to ensure the effectiveness of federal judgments and consent decrees.Part II of the Article analyzes the special considerations that apply to anti-suit injunctions issued to protect federal class actions. It focuses, first, on the need for personal jurisdiction over the persons enjoined. It considers what is required for a class action court to exercise personal jurisdiction to enjoin absent members of opt out and mandatory classes from commencing or prosecuting related litigation. It then focuses on personal jurisdiction to enjoin absent class members who collaterally attack class action judgments, applying the principles thus far discussed to the class actions that have been removed pursuant to the All Writs Act. Part II of the Article then concentrates on the "right" of class members to collaterally attack a class action judgment, and on policies favoring and disfavoring the injunction of such collateral attacks. It illustrates the murky distinction between collateral attacks and other litigation that is transactionally related to class actions, through reference to the class action cases in which All Writs removal was purportedly effectuated. Having made these explorations, Part II concludes that if injunctions are available against litigation related to federal class actions and collateral attacks on class action judgments, then All Writs removal is wholly unnecessary. Part II further concludes that if, for various policy reasons, injunctions against collateral attacks should not be available, All Writs removal of such suits would be equally inappropriate.


We combine information from several different studies and data sets to assemble a fuller, more accurate picture of job flows and worker flows in U.S. labor markets. Our picture characterizes the magnitudes of job and worker flows, the connections between them, their cyclical behavior, differences among identifiable groups of workers and employers, the spatial concentration of job flows, and other aspects of labor market dynamics. We also assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. data sets that are currently available for measuring labor market flows, and we clarify the relationships among various measures of labor market flow activity that appear in the literature. Finally, we discuss prospects for using administrative records maintained by U.S. government agencies to develop new longitudinal data sets that would permit timely, detailed and comprehensive measures of gross job and worker flows.


Abstract Although toxoplasmosis is one of the most widely spread infections in the world, types that involve the skin are extremely rare. However, skin lesions are not specific; moreover, they are quite diverse, which makes the diagnosis of cutaneous toxoplasmosis rather difficult. Thus, differential diagnosis should include a number of other diseases. We present a case of a 43-year-old immunocompetent man with multiple livid erythematous papules and nodules with yellowish discharge that involved the skin of the body and the extremities. By using electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay, immunoglobulin G antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were detected in the serum, confirming the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. The treatment with pyrimethamine and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole led to complete resolution of skin lesions. In conclusion, although rare in the dermatological practice, cutaneous toxoplasmosis should be considered in all patients presenting with lymphadenopathy, non-specific skin eruptions, especially nodular and colliquative, blood eosinophilia and histological findigs revealing abundant eosinophilic inflitrations.


We present LCAV-31, a multi-view object recognition dataset designed specifically for benchmarking light field image analysis tasks. The principal distinctive factor of LCAV-31 compared to similar datasets is its design goals and availability of novel visual information for more accurate recognition (i.e. light field information). The dataset is composed of 31 object categories captured from ordinary household objects. We captured the color and light field images using the recently popularized Lytro consumer camera. Different views of each object have been provided as well as various poses and illumination conditions. We explain all the details of different capture parameters and acquisition procedure so that one can easily study the effect of different factors on the performance of algorithms executed on LCAV-31. Moreover, we apply a set of basic object recognition algorithms on LCAV-31. The results of these experiments can be used as a baseline for further development of novel algorithms.


This review investigated the available literature on diversity and its relationship to teacher thinking. The literature review produced 36 studies, from which five categories emerged: beliefs teachers hold about student diversity and student performance; effective teaching in diverse settings; the impact of teacher experience on teacher cognition and practice; the impact of context variables on teachers' responsiveness to diversity; and the impact of preservice education on teachers' beliefs and practices. The paper discusses each of the five categories in detail and closes with a discussion of the implication for theory and practice. Implications from the review suggest that teachers come with distinct beliefs and conceptualizations about diversity. These beliefs influence what teachers know, and the environment in which they work contributes to the implementation of classroom curriculum and policy. Principals can influence teachers' self-efficacy, commitment, and collegiality and be catalysts for change. These factors can contribute to an inclusive school environment that promotes diversity. Educational reform that addresses the needs of diverse students must examine what teachers know and the environment in which they work. (Contains 48 references.) (SM) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ********************************************************************************


The perfective aspect marker in Chinese is partly functionally similar to inflectional suffixes in Indo-European languages, but is non-inflectional and lexical in nature, lying thus at the semantics-syntax interface. This provides us with the opportunity to compare directly the syntactic and semantic constraints during L2 sentence processing. The present study explored how L2 Chinese learners with Indo-European languages as their L1s process the Chinese perfective marker. The Competition Model prioritizes syntactic processes entailed by cross-linguistic transfer from the participants' L1s, but this prediction might be challenged by the concurrent functioning of semantic processes. In an ERP experiment, 22 European language-speaking L2 Chinese learners with low to intermediate proficiency level and 20 native Chinese speakers (i.e., the control group) participated. An aspectual agreement paradigm was used for materials. Results showed that in the aspect marker mismatch condition, L2 Chinese learners with a shorter learning experience were more likely to show a P600-like component, indicating a morpho-syntactic routine, supporting thus the predictions of cross-linguistic transfer based on the Competition Model. Those with a longer L2 learning experience were more likely to show a N400-like component similar to native Chinese speakers. This shift from P600 to N400 for more advanced learners suggest that L1-L2 syntactic similarity may exert much stronger influence than semantic constraints for learners with shorter L2 experience.


With emergence of online virtual reality applications, the 3D data of virtual scenes are available to heterogeneous end user devices with relatively limited computing power, resolution and transmission rate. Still, many virtual scenes created by expert developers are composed of complex 3D data models with huge number of geometry primitives and appearence elements. This complexity can cause a lot of problems when the scenes are deployed on the limited access devices. To address this issue, we propose a virtual scene adaptation framework which is able to perform the transformation of given complex 3D model into new forms with less geometric and appearance data. Through the framework, complex virtual scenes are connected with real-world semantics and are preprocessed with selected optimization strategies based on the semantic features matching client devices' capabilities before deployment.


The 'Internet of Things' has increased the demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-based edge computing in applications ranging from healthcare monitoring systems to autonomous vehicles. However, the growing complexity of machine learning workloads requires rethinking to make AI amenable to resource constrained environments such as edge devices. To that effect, the entire stack of machine learning, from algorithms to hardware primitives, have been explored to enable energy-efficient intelligence at the edge. From the algorithmic aspect, model compression techniques such as quantization are powerful tools to address the growing computational cost of ML workloads. However, quantization, particularly, can result in substantial loss of performance for complex image classification tasks. To address this, a principal component analysis (PCA)-driven methodology to identify the important layers of a binary network, and design mixed-precision networks. The proposed Hybrid-Net achieves a significant improvement in classification accuracy over binary networks such as XNOR-Net for ResNet and VGG architectures on CIFAR-100 and ImageNet datasets, while still achieving up remarkable energy-efficiency. Having explored compressed neural networks, there is a need to investigate suitable computing systems to further the energy efficiency. Memristive crossbars have been extensively explored as an alternative to traditional CMOS based systems for deep learning accelerators due to their high on-chip storage density and efficient Matrix Vector Multiplication (MVM) compared to digital CMOS. However, the analog nature of computing poses significant issues due to various non-idealities such as: parasitic resistances, non-linear I-V characteristics of the memristor device etc. To address this, a simplified equation-based modelling of the non-ideal behavior of crossbars is performed and correspondingly, a modified technology aware training algorithm is proposed. Building on the drawbacks of equation-based modeling, a Generalized Approach to Emulating Non-Ideality in Memristive Crossbars using Neural Networks (GENIEx) is proposed where a neural network is trained on HSPICE simulation data to learn the transfer characteristics of the non-ideal crossbar. Next, a functional simulator was developed which includes key architectural facets such as tiling, and bit-slicing to analyze the impact of non-idealities on the classification accuracy of large-scale neural networks.To truly realize the benefits of hardware primitives and the algorithms on top of the stack, it is necessary to build efficient devices that mimic the behavior of the fundamental units of a neural network, namely, neurons and synapses. However, efforts have largely been invested in implementations in the electrical domain with potential limitations of switching speed, functional errors due to analog computing, etc. As an alternative, a purely photonic operation of an Integrate-and-Fire Spiking neuron is proposed, based on the phase change dynamics of Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) embedded on top of a microring resonator, which alleviates the energy constraints of PCMs in electrical domain. Further, the inherent parallelism of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) was leveraged to propose a photonic dot-product engine. The proposed computing platform was used to emulate a SNN inferencing engine for image-classification tasks. These explorations at different levels of the stack can enable energy-efficient machine learning for edge intelligence. Having explored various domains to design efficient DNN models and studying various hardware primitives based on emerging technologies, we focus on Silicon implementation of compute-in-memory (CIM) primitives for machine learning acceleration based on the more available CMOS technology. CIM primitives enable efficient matrix-vector multiplications (MVM) through parallelized multiply-and-accumulate operations inside the memory array itself. As CIM primitives deploy bit-serial computing, the computations are exposed bit-level sparsity of inputs and weights in a ML model. To that effect, we present an energy-efficient sparsity-aware reconfigurable-precision compute-in-memory (CIM) 8T-SRAM macro for machine learning (ML) applications. Standard 8T-SRAM arrays are re-purposed to enable MAC operations using selective current flow through the read-port transistors. The proposed macro dynamically leverages workload sparsity by reconfiguring the output precision in the peripheral circuitry without degrading application accuracy. Specifically, we propose a new energy-efficient reconfigurable-precision SAR ADC design with the ability to form (n+m)-bit precision using n-bit and m-bit ADCs. Additionally, the transimpedance amplifier (TIA) –required to convert the summed current into voltage before conversion—is reconfigured based on sparsity to improve sense margin at lower output precision. The proposed macro, fabricated in 65 nm technology, provides 35.5-127.2 TOPS/W as the ADC precision varies from 6-bit to 2-bit, respectively. Building on top of the fabricated macro, we next design a hierarchical CIM core micro-architecture that addresses the existing CIM scaling challenges. The proposed CIM core micro-architecture consists of 32 proposed sparsity-aware CIM macros. The 32 macros are divided into 4 matrix-vector multiplication units (MVMUs) consisting of 8 macros each. The core has three unique features: i) it can adaptively reconfigure ADC precision to achieve energy-efficiency and lower latency based on input and weight sparsity, determined by a sparsity controller, ii) it deploys row-gating feature to maintain SNR requirements for accurate DNN computations, and iii) hardware support for load balancing to balance latency mismatches occurring due to different ADC precisions in different compute units. Besides the CIM macros, the core micro-architecture consists of input, weight, and output memories, along with instruction memory and control circuits. The instruction set architecture allows for flexible dataflows and mapping in the proposed core micro-architecture. The sparsity-aware processing core is scheduled to be taped out next month. The proposed CIM demonstrations complemented by our previous analysis on analog CIM systems progressed our understanding of this emerging paradigm in pertinence to ML acceleration.


Abstract. While accuracy, detail, and limited time on site make photogrammetry a valuable means for underwater mapping, the establishment of reference control networks in such settings is oftentimes difficult. In that respect, the use of the coplanarity constraint becomes a valuable solution as it requires neither knowledge of object space coordinates nor setting a reference control network. Nonetheless, imaging in such domains is subjected to non-linear and depth-dependent distortions, which are caused by refractive media that alter the standard single viewpoint geometry. Accordingly, the coplanarity relation, as formulated for the in-air case does not hold in such environment and methods that have been proposed thus far for geometrical modeling of its effect require knowledge of object-space quantities. In this paper we propose a geometrically-driven approach which fulfills the coplanarity condition and thereby requires no knowledge of object space data. We also study a linear model for the establishment of this constraints. Clearly, a linear form requires neither first approximations nor iterative convergence scheme. Such an approach may prove useful not only for object space reconstruction but also as a preparatory step for application of bundle block adjustment and for outlier detection. All are key features in photogrammetric practices. Results show that no unique setup is needed for estimating the relative orientation parameters using the model and that high levels of accuracy can be achieved.


New results from integrated biochronologic and geochronometric studies on the basal Jurassic section at Puale Bay (Alaska Peninsula) improve the calibration of the Early Jurassic time scale. Previously, the interval around the Triassic-Jurassic system boundary was poorly dated, which hampered our understanding of geologic and biotic events, e.g., the end-Triassic mass extinction and subsequent recovery. Published suggestions for the presence of the earliest Hettangian (Planorbis Zone) and a continuous boundary section at Puale Bay are not substantiated. Although the Kamishak Formation is likely to contain an uninterrupted sedimentary record, pre‐middle Hettangian strata are locally faulted, resulting in an apparent Rhaetian to early Hettangian gap in the fossil record. The Hettangian ammonite zonal schemes developed locally for Nevada and the Queen Charlotte Islands permit reliable correlation with Alaska, but have limited applicability. The faunal succession recorded at Puale Bay is useful in the development of a regional zonation for North America. We obtained three U-Pb zircon dates that are tied into an ammonite biochronology at the zonal level. A middle Hettangian tuff layer from near the top of the Kamishak Formation is dated at 200.8 +2.7 / ‐2.8 Ma. Tuffs from the overlying Talkeetna Formation are bracketed by middle and late Hettangian ammonites and yield crystallization ages of 197.8 +1.2 / ‐0.4 and 197.8 ± 1.0 Ma. These new calibration points require that the Hettangian-Sinemurian boundary be younger than 199 Ma. The Triassic-Jurassic boundary is likely to fall between 200 and 205 Ma. Similar studies are needed for the uppermost Triassic to obtain tighter constraints. Zircon U-Pb systematics of two samples revealed strong Proterozoic and late Archean inheritance patterns that require revised tectonic models to account for the proximity of the Talkeetna arc to evolved crustal blocks.


We propose the concept of ultra-broadband terahertz communication, based on directed non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmissions. Potential applications of such a system supporting multi-gigabit data rates are given, and put into the context of currently emerging WLANs/WPANs. The technology and propagation constraints serve as boundary conditions for the determination of the required antenna gain to support ultra-broadband communication. Resulting high-gain antenna requirements will necessitate highly directed transmissions. We propose the use of omni-directional dielectric mirrors to support directed NLOS paths. Their performance is investigated with ray-tracing simulations of a terahertz propagation channel in a dynamic office environment, which is calibrated with measured building-material and mirror parameters. We demonstrate that a directed NLOS path scheme will make a terahertz communication system robust to shadowing. Furthermore, we show that dielectric mirrors covering only parts of the walls will significantly enhance the signal coverage in a typical indoor scenario.


Introduction : The high consumption of high cholesterol foods associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular disease. Because of the side effects like myopathy and the high price of hipercholestrolemia therapy, public interest for the use of natural medicine increased. Moringa leaves contain flavonoids, polyphenols , and β-sitosterol so that it can reduce fatty infiltration at heart. Histological Study of effect moringa leaves on heart has never been performed before. This study aim ed to determine whether the extract of Moringa leaf (Moringa oleifera Lam.) can lower the fatty infiltration of heart on hypercholesterolemia rat model (Rattus norvegicus ) . Methods: This study wa s an experimental laboratory with post test only control group design. A sample of male rats were consisting of Sprague Dawley rats, weight 150-200 g, aged 2-3 months. The sampling technique used is incidental sampling. Twenty eight of samples were randomly divided into four groups, each group consisted of 7 rats. Group KK is given aquades . Group K (-), K1, and K2 is given a high-fat diet for 42 days. Group K1 and K2 were each given Moringa leaf extract at a dose of 200 and 400 mg pe kg of body weight from day 42 nd until day 7 0 th . Termination was performed on 71th day, then their hearts were prepared for specimen stained with hematoxylin eosin . H eart ventricle fat area was observed with 1000x magnification on light microscope. The data were analyzed using Kruskal -wallis comparative test and then Post-hoc test Mann Whitney was performed (α = 0.05) . Results: The observation area of fat at left and right ventricle in KK, K (-), K1, K2 were 378 . 81±53.32; 1280.15±133.94; 386 . 74±57.87; and 326 . 1±29.89 μm. Kruskall-Wallis test showed significant result ( p = 0.000 ) . Mann Whitney test results showed no statistically significant difference in area of ventricle fat (p <0.05) among all groups, except between groups of KK and K1 ( p = 0.633 ) . Conclusion: The extract of leaves of Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) can reduce steatosis / fatty liver histopathology picture rat heart (Rattus norvegicus) model of hypercholesterolemia. Keywords: Moringa leaf extract, heart, fatty infiltration, rat.


At present, industry and researchers are looking for ways to reduce the use of lubricants because of ecological and economical reasons. Therefore, metal cutting is to move toward dry cutting or semi-dry cutting. This paper presents an investigation into MQL(Minimum Quantity Lubrication) machining with the objective of deriving the optimum cutting conditions for the turning process of SM45C. To reach these goals several finish turning experiments were carried out, varying cutting speed, feed rate and oil quantity, with MQL. The surface roughness results of tests were measured and the effects of cutting conditions were analyzed by the method of Analysis of Variance(ANOVA). From the experimental results and ANOVA, it is found that a better surface roughness can be obtained by decreasing oil quantity and feed rate.


Objective: Self-powered UV detectors based on TiO 2 has attracted a lot of attention due to its promising properties. Dye sensitized solar cell based-TiO 2 was previously designed to be used as an alternative to the conventional solar cell as it resembles a low cost source of renewable energy. Methods: In this paper, dye sensitized cell was modified and investigated to be used as a low cost practical UV light detector. TiO 2 was deposited on a glass substrate coated with Indium tin oxide conductive layer. Dye and electrolyte were added to help in absorbing photons and maintaining the charge carriers in the cell respectively. The cell was encapsulated using a second conductive glass substrate. Findings: To increase the detector stability, the device was sealed to isolate it from the environment using cross-linked SU-8 photo resist. A small bias was applied to the cell through its electrodes in order to control the amount of charge carriers. The detector was tested in ambient as well as underwater to check its reliability and robustness. Application: It shows high responsively, around 1440 A/W and fast response for on/off and continuous light irradiation. The measurements for the detector were obtained under 365 nm UV light irradiation with light intensities varying from 0.1 to 8 mW/cm 2 .


PREPARING AND TRANSITIONING A MULTI-SITE CAMPUS TO A LOCAL CHURCH AT THE VILLAGE CHURCH IN DENTON, TEXAS William Beau Hughes, D.Ed.Min. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2016 Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Michael S. Wilder The purpose of this project was to create a transition model to serve the elders of The Village Church, particularly its campus pastors, as they prepare and lead their multi-site campuses to become local churches. The project focuses on how a campus pastor can prepare himself, the leadership, and the membership at a multisite campus to be a local church. Chapter 1 outlines the two goals compelling the project. The chapter also describes the history and context of The Village Church, including my personal background. The chapter concludes by clarifying the rationale for the project and providing key definitions, limitations, delimitations, and methodological approach for it. Chapter 2 provides a framework for how a campus pastor can ready himself for a campus transition. Beginning with a theological survey of Timothy's pastoral development, this chapter focuses on the pastoral competencies a campus pastor must develop to become a lead pastor and to lead the campus into a transition. Chapter 3 outlines how a campus pastor can prioritize his energy and time toward preparing other pastoral leaders to help him care for the campus. Rooted in the ministry pattern established by the apostle Paul and handed off to Titus, this chapter focuses on the priority that leadership development must take in the ministry of a campus pastor in order for a campus to be healthy and ready to transition to a local church. It provides a theological foundation and model for campus pastors who want to structure their ministry for the sake of ongoing development of pastoral leaders. Chapter 4 describes how a campus pastor can lead the other pastoral leaders into the work of shepherding the congregation toward the spiritual health and maturity necessary for a campus transition. Informed by the apostle Paul's instruction about the gift and goal of pastoral leadership, this chapter outlines a pattern for how the pastoral leaders at a campus, led by the campus pastor, can prepare the membership for a campus transition by shepherding them toward spiritual maturity. Chapter 5 provides a narrative of leading the Denton campus of The Village Church from its affirmative vote on the campus transition vision to its formal establishment as a new local church, The Village Church Denton. It highlights lessons learned over the course of the transition that might serve the campus pastors and other elders of The Village Church in the future as they seek to transition additional campuses.


In this paper we describe how performance models can be used as a more structured approach to the problem of resource allocation when programming heterogeneous parallel systems. Functional skeletons are used in this paper to coordinate parallel computation in a heterogeneous system. An advantage of this approach is the ability to associate performance models with the implementations of a skeleton. We describe how these performance models can be used to predict the cost of of a particular resource allocation strategy over an entire program expressed using skeletons. Using a parallel conjugate gradient algorithm as a case study we investigate the approach on a mixed vector and scalar parallel machine when exploiting SPMD and simple MPMD parallelism in the algorithm.


Sea ice retreat, changing stratification, and ocean acidification are fundamentally changing the light availability and physico‐chemical conditions for primary producers in the Arctic Ocean. However, detailed studies on ecophysiological strategies and performance of key species in the pelagic and ice‐associated habitat remain scarce. Therefore, we investigated the acclimated responses of the diatoms Thalassiosira hyalina and Melosira arctica toward elevated irradiance and CO2 partial pressures (pCO2). Next to growth, elemental composition, and biomass production, we assessed detailed photophysiological responses through fluorometry and gas‐flux measurements, including respiration and carbon acquisition. In the pelagic T. hyalina, growth rates remained high in all treatments and biomass production increased strongly with light. Even under low irradiances cells maintained a high‐light acclimated state, allowing them to opportunistically utilize high irradiances by means of a highly plastic photosynthetic machinery and carbon uptake. The ice‐associated M. arctica proved to be less plastic and more specialized on low‐light. Its acclimation to high irradiances was characterized by minimizing photon harvest and photosynthetic efficiency, which led to lowered growth. Comparably low growth rates and strong silification advocate a strategy of persistence rather than of fast proliferation, which is also in line with the observed formation of resting stages under low‐light conditions. In both species, responses to elevated pCO2 were comparably minor. Although both diatom species persisted under the applied conditions, their competitive abilities and strategies differ strongly. With the anticipated extension of Arctic pelagic habitats, flexible high‐light specialists like T. hyalina seem to face a brighter future.


Diabetes mellitus reached epidemic proportions in much of the less‐developed world over a decade ago. In Africa, incidence and prevalence rates of diabetes are increasing and foot complications are rising in parallel. The predominant risk factor for foot complications is underlying peripheral neuropathy, although there is a body of evidence that confirm the increasing role of peripheral vascular disease. Gangrene and infections are two of the more serious sequelae of diabetic foot ulcer disease that cause long‐standing disability, loss of income, amputation or death. Unfortunately, diabetes imposes a heavy burden on the health services in many African countries, where resources are already scarce or cut back. Reasons for poor outcomes of foot complications in various less‐developed countries include the following: lack of awareness of foot care issues among patients and health care providers alike; very few professionals with an interest in the diabetic foot or trained to provide specialist treatment; non existent podiatry services; long distances for patients to travel to the clinic; delays among patients in seeking timely medical care, or among untrained health care providers in referring patients with serious complications for specialist opinion; lack of the concept of a team approach; absence of training programs for health care professionals; and finally lack of surveillance activities. There are ways of improving diabetic foot disease outcomes that do not require an exorbitant outlay of financial resources. These include implementation of sustainable training programmes for health care professionals, focusing on the management of the complicated diabetic foot and educational programmes that include dissemination of information to other health care professionals and patients; sustenance of working environments that inculcate commitment by individual physicians and nurses through self growth; rational optimal use of existing microbiology facilities and prescribing through epidemiologically directed empiricism, where appropriate; and using sentinel hospitals for surveillance activities. Allied with the golden rules of prevention (i.e. maintenance of glycaemic control to prevent peripheral neuropathy, regular feet inspection, making an effort not to walk barefooted or cut foot callosities with razors or knives at home and avoidance of delays in presenting to hospital at the earliest onset of a foot lesion), reductions in the occurrence of adverse events associated with the diabetic foot is feasible in less‐developed settings.


Today many people work in radioactive environments, like in nuclear power plants and areas for storing spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. Humans cannot perceive radioactivity, so to increase our awareness and avoid danger we need tools and devices for these purposes. IFE (Institute for Energy Technology), the Company that ordered this project, have a section that develops software to visualize, plan and simulate activities in such conditions. This paper describes the implementation of a tool to find the way from Node A to Node B in a graph that exposes the worker to a minimal radiation dose, a task that can be difficult to do by hand. The programming language used for this project was JAVA. The program uses a radiation calculator written by IFE, to get radiation levels in the area. The algorithm for the search is a Uniform Cost Search that guaranties the safest way in the graph. The GUI can draw the solution, and eases debug, testing and validating the algorithm. The code works and IFE approved the project and will evaluate if they are going to use it in their products.


Rapid changes in defense technology have increased the importance of Anti-Air warfare for the naval battles. The increasing complexity of threats, such as anti-ship missiles, urges to develop new techniques and tactics against these threats. This thesis developed simulation models with respect to different operational conditions so as to aid decision makers in ship air defense. We analyzed the effects of different combat systems with simulation models. Different firing policies in different situations were considered. In these situations, various SAM (Surface to air missile) types were used against particular types of threats. The results of these simulation models indicate that use of these models provides good insight for the decision makers and leads them to appropriate decisions about selecting the best firing policy under varying operational conditions.


This report examines innovative mechanisms that can help attract new financial resources into water and sanitation services. In particular, it focuses on mobilising market-based repayable financing (such as loans, bonds and equity) as a way of bridging the financial gap to meet the water-related Millennium Development Goals and other crucial sector objectives. The Camdessus and Gurria reports, published seven and four years ago, respectively, formulated a number of recommendations in this area. This report examines the extent to which these recommendations have been implemented. It looks at the rapidly evolving global context and to the ongoing financial and economic crisis, and considers how innovation in financing for the water sector may need to adapt.

This title belongs to OECD Report Series .

ISBN: 9781780406077 (eBook)

ISBN: 9781843393672 (Print)


This study investigated how population parameters representing heterogeneity of variance, skewness, kurtosis, bimodality, and outlier-proneness, drawn from normal and eleven non-normal distributions, also characterized the ranks corresponding to independent samples of scores. When the parameters of population distributions from which samples were drawn were different, the ranks corresponding to the same pairs of samples of scores inherited similar differences. This finding explains some known results concerning Type I error probabilities and the relative power of parametric and nonparametric tests for various non-normal densities.


SUMMARY Vasospasm is probably the cause of myocardial infarction (MI) in only a few cases. There are differences between statins and therefore they cardiovascular risk factors need to be assessed in high-risk patients.


Background This study aimed to explore the impact of social activity frequency on mid- and long-term overall survival in older Chinese people. Methods The association between social activity frequency and overall survival was analysed in 28 563 subjects from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) cohorts. Results A total of 21 161 (74.1%) subjects died during the follow-up of 132 558.6 person-years. Overall, more frequent social activity was associated with longer overall survival. From baseline to 5 years of follow-up, adjusted time ratios (TRs) for overall survival were 1.42 (95% CI 1.21 to 1.66, p<0.001) in the not monthly but sometimes group, 1.48 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.84, p=0.001) in the not weekly but at least once/month group, 2.10 (95% CI 1.63 to 2.69, p<0.001) in the not daily but at least once/week group, and 1.87 (95% CI 1.44 to 2.42, p<0.001) in the almost everyday group versus never group. From 5 years to the end of follow-up, adjusted TRs for overall survival were 1.05 (95% CI 0.74 to 1.50, p=0.766) in the not monthly but sometimes group, 1.64 (95% CI 1.01 to 2.65, p=0.046) in the not weekly but at least once/month group, 1.23 (95% CI 0.73 to 2.07, p=0.434) in the not daily but at least once/week group, and 3.04 (95% CI 1.69 to 5.47, p<0.001) in the almost everyday group versus the never group. Stratified and sensitivity analysis revealed similar results. Conclusion Frequent participation in social activity was significantly associated with prolonged overall survival in older people. However, only participating in social activity almost every day could significantly prolong long-term survival.


1. In the first section of thin thesis the anatomy of excised tomato roots was compared and contrasted with that of cultured seedling roots. The remaining experimental work comprises a study of the effects of various growth substances on the initiation and growth of the cambium in excised tomato roots. Each substance was tested in two ways: (a) The roots were cultured immersed in a liquid medium supplemented with the compound(s). (b) The growth substances were fed via the cut end using a modified Raggio and Raggio technique (page 25). At the end of each experiment the roots were measured and the anatomy of the basal region of the roots was examined. The substances tested included auxins, cytokinins, a gibberellin, meso-inositol and various complex mixtures such as coconut milk, yeast extract and acid hydrolysed casein. The auxins, cytolcinins and meso-inositol were also tested in various combinations. 2. It has been shown that a well developed vascular cambium is initiated in two week old excised roots in the standard medium but that the activity of this cambium was not maintained. In contrast the cambium initiated in seedling roots was active up to six weeks. 3. It has been shown that IAA and NAA, at the concentrations tested, prevented the formation of a cambium and caused some reduction in the number of xylem cells in the stele. However when auxins were supplied via the cut end of the root no marked effect was observed. 4. Kinettn and 6-benaylaminopurine, added to the liquid medium, inhibited the formation of the cambium and greatly reduced the diameter of the stele and the number of xylem cells within the stele. When the cytokinins were supplied via the cut end, they increased the linear growth of the roots but had little effect on the anatomy aft the base. 5. The effects of gibberellic acid were similar to those of the auxins in that it prevented the formation of a cambium and reduced the number of xylem cells in the stele. 6. Although meso-inositol did not have a stimulatory effect on cambial activity after twooweeks it did markedly prolong its activity and roots grown in a meso-inositol supplemented medium for six weeks showed extensive secondary thickening. No effect on cambial activity was observed when the meso-inositol was fed via the cut end. In experiments with intact seedling roots meso-inositol similarly stimulated the activity of the vascular cambium. After one week's growth meso-inositol increased the growth of excised tomato roots by up to 60%. when added to the standard medium containing 2% sucrose. However, it was much-less effective in media containing 1% or 3% sucrose. After two weeks it was most effective in the medium containing 1% sucrose. Sorbitol, another cyc3litol, had little effect on the growth of tomato roots. 7. When the various combinations of IAA or NAA, cytokinins and meso-inositol were tested for effects on cambial growth, no positive interactions were observed. It was found that at the lower concentrations combinations of NAA, kinetin and meso-indsitol produced thick roots, but this reflected an effect on the thickness of the cortex rather than on the stele. 8. At the concentrations tested coconut milk, yeast extract and acid hydrolysed casein had no detectable effect on cambial activity when added to the liquid medium or when fed via the cut end of the root. 9. Excised roots cultured for six weeks in media supplemented with meso-inositol developed a considerable amount of secondary tissues which were derived from a vascular cambium. It is suggested that meso-inositol may be a factor limiting the cambial growth in excised tomato roots in standard medium. However meso-inositol did not produce roots with secondary tissues extensive as in comparable seedling roots and it was considered that other unidentified factors are also involved in cambium growth.


Bangladesh is one of the country's most vulnerable to climate change which also has a very high population density. The combination of a high level of poverty, and a depleted ecological system increase the country's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, which threatens the development achievements over the last decades. The increasing risks from climate change, sea level rise, and natural and man-made hazards, such as cyclones, storm surge, flooding, land erosion, water logging, and salinity intrusion in soil and water, already have adversely affected livelihoods of people living in environmentally fragile areas. The objectives of this study are to identify the social and livelihood groups vulnerable to climate change or climate variability; understand capital asset transformation capability of the villagers in potential hotspots; recognize and categorize climate change related hazards facing people in those hotspots; identify a range of adaptation measures in practice; and understand villagers' aspirations and concerns regarding reduction of vulnerability and improvement of livelihoods.


Research on mushroom and mushroom products is dynamic with global increasing interest. The natural habitat of mushrooms being the wild, it is imperative to cultivate mushroom domestically in order to make it available to the populace. The aim of this research was to assess the perception of consumers to consumption of wild and cultivated mushrooms in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria; and validate nutrition quality of wild and cultivated mushroom. A survey was conducted using structured mixed questionnaires, to gather perception of 90 respondents on consumption of wild and cultivated mushroom. Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont.) Singer, sourced from the wild was cultivated using standard methods for mushroom cultivation and both mushrooms were analysed for proximate chemical and mineral components. Result revealed that 47.8% of the respondents got introduced to mushroom consumption through family settings; 53.3% of respondents were conversant with wild mushrooms, 27.8% with cultivated and 16.7% with both. A total of 71.1% was informed about mushroom poisoning; while 28.9% had no knowledge about it at all. About 45.6% sourced mushroom from the wild and 33.3% from mushroom farms. Only 28.9% consumed mushrooms for over 10 years; whereas, 13.3% had never tasted mushrooms. Year-round consumption was only by 12.2%; while 57.8% consumed mushroom once in a while. However, if cultivated mushrooms could be made available, 58.9% indicated interest in mushroom consumption. If nutrition facts of wild and cultivated mushrooms are the same, 38.9% were willing to consume cultivated mushrooms, 30.0% wild, 20.0% both and 11.1% insisted on no consumption. On the other hand, if nutrition analysis reveals different nutrition parameters for both types of mushrooms, 43.3% opted for cultivated mushroom, 42.2%, wild; 12.2% both; while 2.2% would eat neither of the mushrooms. Generally, from the results, both mushrooms possess adequate nutritive values; though, of all the parameter analysed, only zinc was significantly different (P<0.05). For some of the parameters (potassium, zinc, phosphorus, calcium, total ash, crude fat, crude protein) the wild mushroom had higher values than the cultivated; whereas for other parameters (iron, manganese, magnesium, carbohydrates, crude fiber), the cultivated values were higher. Both mushrooms were relatively low in fat, ash and moisture; and high in carbohydrate, crude fiber and crude protein. Both mushrooms were high in minerals. There is no significant difference between the nutrition facts of the wild and cultivated test mushrooms. Keywords: Consumption pattern, Lentinus squarrosulus , nutrition, perception, wild mushroom


While research on education for sustainable development (ESD) is expanding, empirical evidence on its impact and outcomes remains very limited. Moreover, the facilitating role of the school organization, while extensively documented in literature on school management and school effectiveness, is lacking. In this study we present and qualitatively validate a framework for an ESD-effective school, previously developed via a critical review of ESD and school management literature. This framework consists of eight characteristics: sustainable leadership, school resources, pluralistic communication, supportive relations, collective efficacy, adaptability, democratic decision-making and shared vision. Via semi-structured interviews, the framework for an ESD-effective school was theoretically validated via a sample of 19 teachers and school leaders with expertise in ESD. The findings from the interviews show that the participants largely confirm the framework and the individual characteristics are recognized by the sample. There were relevant differences between the respondents in terms of positioning the different characteristics within the framework. Specifically, views on pluralistic communication differed from the initial conceptual framework.