Question: What is the role of temporal climate fluctuations in the dynamics of desert winter annual plants in the Portal Bajada, and in the sustained irruption of the non-native annual plant species, Erodium cicutarium? Field site: Portal Bajada, San Simon Valley, Arizona, USA. Methods: We counted plants at flowering over a 21-year period on twelve permanent plots and related these numbers to weather data collected at an on-site weather station, supplemented by observations from the National Climate Data Center. Specific summary climate variables considered most relevant to annual plant biology were developed as candidate predictors of plant response variables. Statistical techniques: We removed trends in the data associated with the irruption of E. cicutarium, removed temporal autocorrelation, and applied a technique that sought the strongest climatic predictors of vegetation response variables by testing climate variables against each other in bivariate regression analyses. The validity of this technique was demonstrated by simulation. We supplemented our analysis with multivariate regression for simultaneous tests on multiple response variables. Conclusions: Winter rainfall was the strongest predictor of total annual plant abundance, but number of species was more strongly predicted by average temperature over the total growing season (fall and winter), with cooler weather favouring more species. Average size of a rainfall event, although often thought important in desert plant biology, did not emerge as a significant predictor of the community-level variables, total abundance and number of species, but winter event size did emerge as a significant predictor of differences between the abundances of native species. Our analyses do not support a role for climate in the sustained irruption of


This article summarizes the findings of a project investigating women's experiences with the Canadian child protection (CPS) and family law (FLS) systems. We examine both service systems together here because although both privilege children's best interests as their primary consideration and define the concept similarly, the two systems diverge in their expectations of women relative to child custody. While FLS requires women to accept custody arrangements that provide close and continued contact between themselves and their former abusive partners, CPS expects women to leave these same abusive partners or risk removal of their children. The results of thirty-five qualitative interviews with women demonstrate their struggles, firstly, in having their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) recognized by professionals in the FLS, and, secondly, in becoming caught between the opposing expectations of CPS and FLS while not receiving help from either. Recommendations for change to improve these services are included in this article.


This article describes the WomanStats Project Database — a multidisciplinary creation of a central repository for cross-national data and information on women available for use by academics, policy-makers, journalists, and all others. WomanStats is freely accessible online, thus facilitating worldwide scholarship on issues with gendered aspects. WomanStats contains over 260 variables for 174 countries and their attendant subnational divisions (where such information is available) and currently contains over 68,000 individual data points. WomanStats provides nuanced data on the situation and status of women internationally and in so doing facilitates the current trend to disaggregate analyses. This article introduces the dataset, which is now publicly available, describes its creation, discusses its utility, and uses measures of association and mapping to draw attention to theoretically interesting patterns concerning the various dimensions of women's inequality that are worthy of further exploration. Two of nine variables clusters are introduced — women's physical security and son preference/sex ratio. The authors confirm the multidimensionality of women's status and show that the impact of democracy and state wealth vary based on the type of violence against women. Overall, the authors find a high level of violence against women worldwide.


ABSTRACT Background: This study aimed to analyze the characteristics and outcomes of patients suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor mutations (EGFRm+) receiving gefitinib who remained clinically stable following confirmation of progressive disease (PD) using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) (R-PD) and identify those who benefited from tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy beyond PD. Research design and methods: The clinical courses of patients with EGFRm+ advanced NSCLC who received first-line gefitinib were investigated. Clinical PD (C-PD) was defined as one or more of the following: (1) symptomatic PD, (2) worsening performance status resulting from PD, (3) threat to a major organ(s), or (4) unequivocal multiorgan PD. Results: Of 529 patients, 258 experienced R-PD without C-PD. Among 258 patients, 91 received gefitinib beyond R-PD. Females were more likely to receive gefitinib beyond R-PD and exhibit a longer time from R-PD to C-PD than males (median days, 175 vs. 79.5). Survival beyond R-PD tended to be longer for elderly patients who received gefitinib beyond PD than for those who did not (median days, 458 vs. 336), but this was not the case for non-elderly patients (median days, 481 vs. 487). Conclusions: Some patients may benefit from continuation of gefitinib beyond PD.


Raw earth is a traditional material used worldwide in vernacular architectures. For its wide availability, recyclability and low embodied energy in its life cycle, earth is acknowledged as one of the most environmentally sustainable material. Earth construction diffusion has been slowed by the lack of broadly accepted standards. Due to it, earth has been used as an artisanal material or adapted to existing technologies in combination with high embodied energy materials as steel, concrete and EPS or PU insulations (as in rammed earth technique, from now on RE). Aim of the research is to propose an innovative RE constructive technology, more coherent with the sustainable features of the base material, which can reach the high performances and the quality target required by the constructions sector using a low-tech prefabrication process. Prefabrication of RE elements can also reduce the construction times and the risks of technological faults, enhancing the quality of the entire building. The basic idea is to create manageable and transportable rammed earth panels with superior mechanical and thermal performances. The prefabrication under controlled conditions ensures a high-quality product which can be combined, on site, with a reinforcing timber structure with anti-seismic function. A characterization campaign on different local soils has been performed in order to implement the desired RE elements. The soils have been analysed with a set of geotechnical tests and qualitative assessments in order to detect their suitability for constructions. Once a suitable soil has been identified, a physical and / or chemical stabilization is needed to improve the physical features, mechanical characteristics and thermal properties of the natural soil. In the last section of the paper, the first results on natural local soil and engineered soil (an optimized mix of soil, sand and gravel) are presented and compared to identify a suitable material for the RE panel.


Neonatal hypoxic‐ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is associated with alterations in cerebral blood flow (CBF) as a result of perinatal asphyxia. The extent to which CBF changes contribute to injury, and whether treatments that ameliorate these changes might be neuroprotective, is still unknown. Higher throughput techniques to monitor CBF changes in rodent models of HIE can help elucidate the underlying pathophysiology. We developed a laser speckle imaging (LSI) technique to continuously monitor CBF in six postnatal‐day 10 (P10) rats simultaneously before, during, and after unilateral hypoxia‐ischemia (HI, ligation of the left carotid artery followed by hypoxia in 8% oxygen). After ligation, CBF to the ligated side fell by 30% compared to the unligated side (P < 0.0001). Hypoxia induced a bilateral 55% reduction in CBF, which was partially restored by resuscitation. Compared to resuscitation in air, resuscitation in 100% oxygen increased CBF to the ligated side by 45% (P = 0.033). Individual variability in CBF response to hypoxia between animals accounted for up to 24% of the variability in hemispheric area loss to the ligated side. In both P10 and P7 models of unilateral HI, resuscitation in 100% oxygen did not affect hemispheric area loss, or hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron counts, after 1‐week survival. Continuous CBF monitoring using LSI in multiple rodents simultaneously can screen potential treatment modalities that affect CBF, and provide insight into the pathophysiology of HI.


ABSTRACT We study a periodic-review multi-technology production-inventory problem of a single product with emissions trading over a planning horizon consisting of multiple periods. A manufacturer selects among multiple technologies with different unit production costs and emissions allowance consumption rates to produce the product to meet independently distributed random market demands. The manufacturer receives an emissions allowance at the beginning of the planning horizon and is allowed to trade allowances through an outside market in each of the following periods. To solve the dynamic multi-technology production-inventory problem, we virtually separate the problem into an inner layer and an outer layer. Based on the structural properties of the two layers, we find that the optimal emissions trading policy follows a target interval policy with two thresholds, whereas the optimal production policy has a composite base-stock structure. Our theoretical results show that no more than two technologies should be selected simultaneously at any state. However, different groups of technologies may be selected at different states. Our numerical tests confirm that it can be economically beneficial for a manufacturer to maintain multiple available technologies.


Achieving positive postschool outcomes continues to be a challenge for many students. These challenges are compounded for students with disabilities, even years after the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (1990; IDEA) required systematic transition planning. In this era of accountability through high-stakes testing, schools and families may feel that they are sidelined to stand by helplessly as students—particularly those with special needs—experience life-altering circumstances such as high dropout rates, underemployment and unemployment, failure to access continuing education, and dependent living situations. To find practical and relevant suggestions for promoting successful transitions and enhancing postschool outcomes for all students, the authors examine the emerging tiered-intervention paradigm known as response to intervention.


The closed- and open-tethered Ru(II) eta(6)-arene complexes [Ru(II)(eta(6):eta(1)-C(6)H(5)(C(6)H(4))NH(2))(en)]Cl(2) (2) and [Ru(II)(eta(6)-C(6)H(5)(C(6)H(4))NH(2))Cl(en)]Cl (3), where en is ethylenediamine, have been synthesized and their X-ray structures determined. Interconversion between 2 and 3, that is, tethered-arene ring-closure and ring-opening, in different solvents has been investigated. Complex 2 opens in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) by solvent-induced dissociation of the NH(2) group of the pendant arm. In methanol, however, equilibrium between 2 and 3 is reached after 12 h when both species coexist in solution in a ratio of 2:1 (open/closed). In water (pH 7), complete ring closure of 3 to 2 at 298 K occurs in less than 2 h. The tether ring of complex 2 opens at basic pH and closes at neutral pH. Complex 2 opens over time (18 h) in concentrated HCl. The opening-closing process is fully reversible in the pH range 2-12. Density Functional Theory calculations have been used to obtain insights into the electronic structure of complexes 2 and 3, their UV-vis properties, and their stability compared to their aqua derivatives. Control of tether-ring-opening can contribute toward a strategy for activation and for achieving cytotoxic selectivity of ruthenium arene anticancer drugs.


Evidenced by many of the articles published throughout many of the issues of this journal, the notion of "place" is of considerable concern for community and urban sociologists. Place, not unlike its significantly looser and more nebulous cousin "space," tends to be used or approached either as an empirically and geographically specific location or as an analytic concept and abstraction. Analyses of particular material places have ranged from small or large "third places" like a coffee shop, community garden, or sports arena and have ranged from small settlements like rural towns to grand cities and their suburban hinterlands. They also range in regard to the uses and meanings people give to them. One needs only to read Eli Anderson's tour of Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia to recognize the divergent meanings a single street can hold. "People and places have a dialectical relationship," Zandria Robinson tells us. "[W]e influence the places where we live out our lives, and those places, in tandem, influence who we become and our outcomes" (p. 11). In this statement, which acts as a guide for the reader as it resonates through the entirety of This Ain't Chicago: Race, Class, and Regional Identity in the Post-Soul, Robinson purposefully combines the two ways place has been understood by sociologists. Though she clearly recognizes Memphis as a physical location with its vernacular history, she quickly moves beyond its spatial and geographic boundaries to explore the necessarily translocal influences of popular culture and media on the "identity work" of post-soul black southerners. Place, then, fluctuates between specific localities like those she sat in with interviewees and the farther reaching notion of region. Robinson's analytical and empirical use of region not only persuasively demands it be added to the increasing lexicon of intersectionality, but begs us to think of place, like identities, as performed and accomplished symbolic artifacts "rooted in the realities of history, social memory, and lived experience" (p. 196). As such, by focusing on region and "regional selves," she shows how identities, and the practices and resources used to develop them, can cross some boundaries more easily than others, physical or symbolic. Her respondents are southerners, not Memphians. "Because Memphis is neither a New South magnet, like Dallas, Charlotte, and Atlanta, nor a close-knit rural southern community, it is a key space in which to examine the interplay of urban and rural culture that undergird articulations of black southern identity" (p. 25). This interplay is the crux of the book; minutely deconstructed with profundity and grace to uncover and expose the


Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the comprehensive health program "Sumida TAKE10!", which aims to improve dietary habits and promote physical activity among community-dwelling older adults including the pre-frail elderly. This study has been ongoing since 2005 in Sumida Ward, Tokyo with the ultimate aim of preventing or delaying the need for long-term nursing care. We used the term "pre-frail elderly" for older adults who are at risk of requiring long-term care.Methods "Sumida TAKE10!" consists of a general lecture in a public hall followed by 5 educational sessions biweekly at 4-6 community centers. From 2008 to 2013, 402 participants aged ≥65 years were enrolled and included as subjects of the study. The main outcome measures were changes in 10 food intake frequencies, food frequency score (FFS), dietary variety score (DVS), frequency of exercise (obtained via questionnaire) and physical fitness (5-meter maximal walking time, 5-meter walking time, handgrip strength, one-leg standing time with eyes opened (time to upright posture for standing on one leg with eyes open), and the timed up & go test). The secondary outcome measures were changes in the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (TMIG) Index of Competence score, appetite, frequency of walking and sports, self-rated health, frequency of leaving the house, communication with neighbors, engagement in hobbies, participation in group activities and participation in volunteer activities (obtained via questionnaire).Results Compared to baseline, all outcomes showed significant improvement. "Sumida TAKE10!" can improve dietary habits and increase the physical activity of participants. Positive secondary effects were seen for life function, self-rated health, and social activities. Almost identical positive results were obtained from the pre-frail elderly group, while improvement was also seen in the dietary habits of the subjects who do not cook.Conclusion These results suggest that this program may be useful for population-based approach programs. In addition, comprehensive programs like TAKE10! may increase the health consciousness of community-dwelling older adults.


South Korea's growth miracle has been well documented. A large set of institutional and policy reforms in the early 1960s is thought to have contributed to the country's extraordinary performance. In this paper, the authors assess the importance of one key set of policies, the trade policy reforms in Korea, as well as the concurrent GATT tariff reductions. They develop a model of neoclassical growth and trade that highlights two forces by which lower trade barriers can lead to increased per worker GDP: comparative advantage and specialization, and capital accumulation. The authors calibrate the model and simulate the effects of three sets of tariff reductions that occurred between the early 1962 and 1995. Their main finding is that the model can explain up to 32 percent of South Korea's catch-up to the G7 countries in output per worker in the manufacturing sector. The authors find that the effects of the tariff reductions taken together are about twice as large as the sum of each reduction applied individually.


Region of interest selection is an essential part for remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) algorithms. Most of the time, face detection provided by a supervised learning of physical appearance features coupled with skin detection is used for region of interest selection. However, both methods have several limitations and we propose to implicitly select living skin tissue via their particular pulsatility feature. The input video stream is decomposed into several temporal superpixels from which pulse signals are extracted. Pulsatility measure for each temporal superpixel is then used to merge pulse traces and estimate the photoplethysmogram signal. This allows to select skin tissue and furthermore to favor areas where the pulse trace is more predominant. Experimental results showed that our method perform better than state of the art algorithms without any critical face or skin detection.


The simulating model and algorithm here discussed are based upon a method quite different from the well know wave-guide approach - the currently used model in musical research. Our approach is, at present, more computationally complex, but the control of the various physical parameters and of their meaning is very straightforward. Furthermore the algorithm makes no assumption on the time invariance of the system, so the variation of any parameter does not introduce artifacts. Our model implements both the viscous friction of the string with the air, and the internal friction - i.e. the energy dissipation due to internal viscous-like behavior of the string. The friction of the bow is represented by a discontinuous function, which simulates the thermal behavior of the rosin by means of an hysteresis mechanism, and models also the roughness of the bow by means of white noise. The time-varying controllable parameters are the tension/density ratio of the string, the two friction coefficients, the speed and the pressure of the bow, and the (since now discrete) point of bowing on the string (β) The computation algorithm here discussed is an intermix of a method similar to the finite element one for what concerns the integration over the space, and to the finite difference method for what concerns the integration of the evolution of the system. Our model can be used to play in extreme parametric conditions, beyond the bowed strings performance tradition. Although our model fully neglects twisting and longitudinal motions, as well as the bridge admittance, it produces very likely sounds. One can maybe infer that these characteristics are less important than one may suspect. Using this model, the Italian composer Michelangelo Lupone wrote the tape part of the string quartet Corda di metallo (Metal string), whose first world performance was held in Rome in 1997 by the Kronos Quartett.


The current research presents the professional perspectives of the students majoring in Biological Science in a public university of Sao Paulo state. The students' perspectives related to that course, have been identified by means of semi structured interviews looking at the identity they have formed as part of how they imagine the ethos of Biology. We have verified that the course which has been surveyed, has contributed little to the construction of identification by the students with the job of Biology or Science teaching. Despite that, the course aims at such a formation of teachers, and it highlights the formation of an image of the scientist-researcher in the basic field areas of Biology.


This article describes the contrasting systems of coordination and control at American and Southwest Airlines. Contrary to popular belief, the best way to achieve coordination in high velocity settings like the airline industry is not to create a flat organization based on performance measurement and little supervision. Rather it is better to build an organization based on cross-functional accountability to diffuse blame, with adequate supervisory staffing to provide coaching and feedback. Coordination benefits from strengthening this role of supervisors while weakening the role of accountability and performance measurement.


Objective: Nonmotor symptoms (sleep dysfunction, sensory symptoms, autonomic dysfunction, mood disorders, and cognitive abnormalities) in Parkinson disease (PD) are a major cause of morbidity, yet are often underrecognized. This evidence-based practice parameter evaluates treatment options for the nonmotor symptoms of PD. Articles pertaining to cognitive and mood dysfunction in PD, as well as treatment of sialorrhea with botulinum toxin, were previously reviewed as part of American Academy of Neurology practice parameters and were not included here. Methods: A literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Science Citation Index was performed to identify clinical trials in patients with nonmotor symptoms of PD published between 1966 and August 2008. Articles were classified according to a 4-tiered level of evidence scheme and recommendations were based on the level of evidence. Results and Recommendations: Sildenafil citrate (50 mg) may be considered to treat erectile dysfunction in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) (Level C). Macrogol (polyethylene glycol) may be considered to treat constipation in patients with PD (Level C). The use of levodopa/carbidopa probably decreases the frequency of spontaneous nighttime leg movements, and should be considered to treat periodic limb movements of sleep in patients with PD (Level B). There is insufficient evidence to support or refute specific treatments for urinary incontinence, orthostatic hypotension, and anxiety (Level U). Future research should include concerted and interdisciplinary efforts toward finding treatments for nonmotor symptoms of PD.


Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB), is one of the deadliest transmittable diseases in the world, and requires a lengthy treatment due to persistent non-multiplying bacteria. In hypoxia driven in vitro systems persistent or dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) bacteria are thought to constitute a larger part of the bacterial population in late stationary phase compared to the initial log phase of the bacterial growth curve. A semi-mechanistic pharmacometric multistate tuberculosis disease model describing the natural growth of M. tuberculosis H37Rv, providing predictions of a fast, slow and non-multiplying bacterial state, has previously been developed. The model has further been used to describe the effect of rifampicin (RIF) on bacteria originating from log phase bacterial cultures.Aim: This project aimed to explore if the effect of anti-TB drugs on in vitro M. tuberculosis is independent of in which phase the bacterial culture originates from, to gain insights in the kill kinetics of the different bacterial states.Materials and Methods: Data consisted of stationary phase M. tuberculosis incubated with different concentrations of RIF. The effect of RIF was evaluated as inhibition of growth or increased death rate of the different states using the multistate model. The final stationary phase model was compared to the log phase model and externally validated with clinical data.Results: A model describing the effect of RIF on stationary phase bacteria was developed and included drug effect on all multiplication states. This differed from the previous develop log model.Conclusions: The multistate model was used to characterise the antibacterial drug effect of RIF on M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Evaluation of applying log phase data to the stationary phase model suggests that the stationary phase model can describe log phase data but not the opposite.


Foot problems are common causes of disability in diabetic patients with as many as 25% expected to develop severe foot or leg problems during their lifetimes. Although skin ulceration is the most frequent problem, bones may also be involved in two different clinical conditions: osteomyelitis and Charcot osteoarthropathy. Osteomyelitis causes complications in up to one third of diabetic foot infections and is due to direct contamination from a soft-tissue ulcer. Osteoarthropathy Charcot foot is a chronic and progressive disease of the bone and joints. Both osteomyelitis and Charcot joint are conditions with an increased risk of lower limb amputation, both may have a successful outcome when recognized and treated in the early stages. The major diagnostic difficulty is in distinguishing bone infection (osteomyelitis) from non-infectious neuropathic bony disorders as in osteoarthropathy Charcot foot. An additional difficulty is found when a bone infection superimposes a Charcot osteopathy. This condition, which can be clinically suspected when foot ulceration appears in Charcot foot, needs to be diagnosed because it implies a different therapeutic strategy. This article aims to summarize both these two clinical conditions and give indications to make a timely and correct diagnosis.


This paper explores theories on designing optimal multipoint interconnection structures, and proposes a simple switch box design scheme which can be directly applied to field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), switch box designs, and communication switching network designs. We present a new hyperuniversal switch box designs with four sides and W terminals on each side, which is routable for every multipin net-routing requirement. This new design is proved to be optimum for W = 1, ..., 5 and close to optimum for W /spl ges/ 6 with 6.3 W switches. We also give a formal analysis and extensive benchmark experiments on routability comparisons between today's most well-known FPGA switch boxes like disjoint switch blocks (Xilinx XC4000 Type), Wilton's switch blocks, Universal switch blocks, and our Hyperuniversal switch boxes. We apply the design scheme to rearrangeable switching network designs targeting for applications of connecting multiple terminals (e.g., teleconferencing). Simply using a /spl kappa/-sided hyperuniversal switch block with a W /spl times/ W crossbar attached to each side, one can build a three-stage one-sided polygonal switching network capable of realizing every multipoint connection requirement on kW terminals. Besides, due to the fine-grained decomposition property of our design scheme, the new switch box designs are highly scalable and simple on physical layout and routing algorithm implementations.


This article provides an overview of the current state of journalist training in Uzbekistan and experiences gained in this regard. With the advancement of information technologies, changes in national journalism education, analysis of the requirements for the development of the industry and the educational system will be under taken in the article.
The concept of media convergence, the attempt to explain through the scientific and theoretical perspectives of increasing the importance of this phenomenon in journalistic practice and education will be covered. The development of Internet journalism also shapes new types of activities in the field of information, including blogging, citizen journalism, freelance journalism, as well as the emergence of online journalism, and, finally, the need for journalists and PR men who would work in these industries. It is also emphasized that interactive journalism is developing in the Internet, with a wider range of possibilities, the popularity of mobile communication and the development of social networks, increasing the role of the population in the dissemination of information – and the need for updating the education. Internet journalists graduated from specialized faculties need more knowledge and experience than the population, and they should meet the needs of the population in the global media and traditional media outlets fast and qualitatively. In this regard,the article highlights the importance to further improve the national educational system, by providing examples of international experiences and models of qualified journalist cadres who meet the information age requirements. The author offers recommendations on the use of information technology in modern journalism and the formation of professional skills in digital media and Internet journalism in students. Methods and tools for introducing information communication and Internet technologies into educational models and lesson processes should be directly linked to modern requirements, and the importance of journalistic education worldwide is rapidly changing.


This article presents a new theoretical perspective on the diversionary use of force. Players are partitioned into groups and choose how to allocate their resources to production, fighting against other groups, and fighting internally. The model gives a rationalist explanation of the group cohesion effect: when there is a lot of fighting between groups, there is less internal fighting. In equilibrium, players choose sufficiently high external conflict in order to avoid internal conflict. In contrast with the existing literature, this diversionary use of force takes place even though there is no asymmetric or incomplete information.


Transmission line principles are applied to twisted magnet wire lines made of two wires to establish design limits. Expressions are developed to predict the effects of wire film insulation and of twisting. A design procedure is developed to realize a desired characteristic impedance for the design of radio frequency broad-band transformers, signal combiners, and pulse transformers.


ABSTRACT This paper explores classroom support for students' acquisition of digital literacy skills for learning at the University of Dar es Salaam and Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. The paper contains qualitative data collected through questionnaires and informal discussions. The study found limited classroom support for students' digital literacy skills for learning because instructors are not prepared for it. Teaching activities that instructors implement do not reflect the attributes of digital literacy skills students should possess. Therefore, the paper challenges universities to mainstream students' digital literacy skills and train instructors to assume the skills support role.


Many aspects of war and national defense appear to run in cycles. Indeed, the identification and explanation of these cycles is a favorite pastime of military scholars. Historians and political scientists characterize war as alternating cycles of offensive and defensive dominance. The idea of cyclicality may in fact be hardwired into academic discussions and understandings of war. For example, early war theorist Carl von Clausewitz described an ever-changing character of war undergirded by war's fundamentally unchanging nature. Because the dominant theoretical understanding of war is that it holds a mixture of both fixed and constantly evolving elements, our concept of war may inherently lend itself to the idea of cycles. At the same time, however, the identification of cycles in war and national defense can be seen empirically. For example, the United States defense budget since World War II is notoriously cyclical, running through peaks and troughs in constant dollar terms roughly every fifteen to twenty years. Since peak defense funding periods do not always align with periods of war, it is not the dynamics of war alone that drive cyclical United States defense budgets but a mix of phenomena that includes economic cycles. Hence, in noting the cyclical nature of many aspects of defense, historians must further investigate to determine what dynamics and constraints may be at play in driving the cycle.

While commercial technology continues as a driver of acquisition speed, especially for IT; the decentralization of acquisition decision- making and the delegation of decision authority to the military de- partments will likely encourage different priority balances to emerge in different sectors of the acquisition system.

The delegation of acquisition authority to the United States Army has resulted in a significant internal reorganization of its acquisition functions. The Army is, for the first time, establishing a command focused on bringing together the wide variety of acquisition stake- holders in one structure, the Army Futures Command. Army Futures Command will bring the system for deciding requirements for new capabilities together with the acquisition process. In effect, the Army consolidates acquisition responsibilities within the service more closely under the control of the Army Chief of Staff, to whom the commander of Army Futures Command will report. The Army Futures Command will pursue a new modernization strategy, built around six major priorities, and hopes to significantly accelerate the delivery of new capability. By centralizing responsibility for requirements setting and acquisition execution in one command, the Army hopes to reduce the friction (and timespan) of coordinating across the Army's multiple major communities.

By contrast, the United States Air Force plans to extend its delegation of acquisition authority from OSD by redelegating this authority down to program executive officers and empowering program managers. This redelegation may reflect the relative maturity of the Air Force's major programs, such as the KC-46 tanker and the B-21 bomber, where the high level strategic issues are decided (notably in both cases with cost control as the major priority), and the focus is on program execution. Matters of program execution are often best handled at the program level or as close to it as possible.

However, less mature parts of the Air Force acquisition portfolio, such as recent efforts to design new systems for command and control and systems de- signed to approach space as a warfighting domain, may use the same decentralized authority to achieve different objectives. Notably, Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper is using the prototyping authority granted by Congress to rapidly demonstrate critical high-performance technologies, such as hypersonic strike systems called for in the National Defense Strategy.

Decentralizing and distributing acquisition authority within military departments may lead to a variety of microcosms within the acquisition system where the balance of acquisition priorities is different. Other trends, however, will impact the acquisition system across its entire scope. Another major trend is the increasing functionality of weapon systems defined by software over hardware. The capability seen in the Air Force's flight lines, in the Army's motor pools, or in the Navy's homeports is increasingly determined by lines of code rather than steel and aluminum.

This trend has major implications for the acquisition system because it presents challenges to its basic structure, which was originally de- signed around an industrial production model. Software-defined systems break down the boundaries around which many organizations and processes are organized. Software-based systems don't graduate from development to production to sustainment like hardware-based systems, presenting challenges to government budgeting mechanisms that are leading to calls for new funding categories that can deal with the iterative nature of software development and production.

Consider the idea that a system which can send and receive electrons may serve many purposes, such as a communications device, a sensor, a weapon, and an electronic defense system. Software-based capabilities are steadily spreading, and they are a powerful reason why Under Secretary of Defense Ellen Lord appointed a special assistant, Jeff Boleng, for software acquisition. Boleng will "help oversee the development of software development policies and standards across DoD and offer advice on commercial software development best practices to Pentagon leadership . . . ." Perhaps the perfect embodiment of this trend towards software-driven capabilities is in artificial intelligence. How this trend will affect the balance of acquisition priorities in the future is difficult to predict, but one thing seems likely: change will remain dynamic rather than static, leading to continuous acquisition reform cycles for the years to come.


The activated sludge process used in biological wastewater treatment plants utilises a mixed consortia of microorganisms that break down complex organic compounds into smaller less toxic components. The complex mechanisms and pathways that exist within the biomass have not been studied to any great degree and as a consequence little is known about the specific fate pathways for many organic compounds being metabolised by the microorganisms. Studies carried out using a laboratory biological reactor using biomass taken from a large scale treatment plant have allowed a detailed determination of the various pathways for a range of rubber chemical compounds present in the wastewater from a rubber chemical manufacturing plant. In particular it has been found that concentration plays an important role in the metabolic pathway for many compounds: two different pathways exist depending on the concentration of a given substrate. Furthermore, it has been shown that the presence of other substrates can influence the pathway and metabolites generated during mineralisation of a substrate.

 The compound mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) is an example of a concentration dependent substrate. At low concentrations the MBT is broken down through initial methylation leading to the formation of 2-hydroxybenzothiazole and ultimately catechol. However, at higher concentrations the MBT is oxidised to form the disulphide 2,2'-dithiobisbenzothiazole. This disulphide is removed following oxidative cleavage of the sulphur-sulphur bridge producing a series of acid components including 2-benzothiazolesulphenic and sulphinic acids.

 The compound para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) has been shown to be one of a series of substrates required for the production of enzymes that are part of an overall scheme in which a substance giving a characteristic 'red' colouration to the effluent is produced and/or controlled. It has been shown that an absence of PHBA leads to the loss of a secondary substrate-enzyme complex, which subsequently leads to formation of a substance with a highly coloured chromophore following the reintroduction of the PHBA substrate.


ABSTRACT The current study compared responses from college students on a survey questionnaire about aging knowledge, aging attitudes, aging anxiety, experiences with older persons, and other related experiences. A total of 1124 college students from China (430), Japan (349), and the United States (345) participated in this study. They completed Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz, Kogan's Attitudes toward Older persons Scale, and a modified Lasher and Faulkender's Aging Anxiety Scale. Cronbach's alphas indicated satisfactory reliability on all three scales for the three cultural groups of participants. They also reported their experiences with aging and the older adults including living with, taking care of, working with older persons, and taking a gerontology course. The results indicate that the Chinese students scored significantly higher than both the Japanese and Americans on Facts on Aging Quiz. Findings also show that overall, level of aging knowledge is positively related to aging attitudes and negatively related to aging anxiety. In addition, our study shows that very few students in all three countries have ever taken a gerontology related class. Further, past and current experiences with the older adults do not seem to be related to participants' aging knowledge, with the exception of Chinese and Japanese women. These results are discussed in a global aging context of reducing ageism and the evolving nature of both Eastern Asian and American cultures.


In this paper, we present a systematic framework for recognizing human actions without relying on impractical assumptions, such as processing of an entire video or requiring a large look-ahead of frames to label an incoming video. As a secondary goal, we examine incremental learning as an overlooked obstruction to the implementation of reliable real-time recognition. Assuming weak appearance constancy, the shape of an actor is approximated by adaptively changing intensity histograms to extract pyramid histograms of oriented gradient features. As action progresses, the shape update is carried out by adjustment of a few blocks within a tracking window to closely track evolving contours. The nonlinear dynamics of an action are learned using a recursive analytic approach, which transforms training into a simple linear representation. Such a learning strategy has two advantages: 1) minimized error rates, and significant savings in computational time; and 2) elimination of the widely accepted limitations of batch-mode training for action recognition. The effectiveness of our proposed framework is corroborated by experimental validation against the state of the art.


Due to the international spread of COVID-19, the difficulty of collecting nasopharyngeal swab specimen from all suspected patients, the costs of RT-PCR and CT, and the false negative results of RT-PCR assay in 41% of COVID-19 patients, a scoring system is needed to classify the suspected patients in order to determine the need for follow-up, home isolation, quarantine or the conduction of further investigations A scoring system is proposed as a diagnostic tool for suspected patients It includes Epidemiological Evidence of Exposure, Clinical Symptoms and Signs, and Investigations (if available) This scoring system is simple, could be calculated in a few minutes, and incorporates the main possible data/findings of any patient


Phase unwrapping and integration of finite differences are key problems in several technical fields, among which is synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry. In this paper, we propose a general formulation for robust and efficient integration of finite differences and for phase unwrapping, which includes standard techniques (e.g., minimum cost flow and least squares phase unwrapping) as subcases. The proposed approach allows obtaining more reliable and accurate solutions by exploiting redundant differential estimates (not only between nearest neighboring points) and multidimensional information (e.g., multitemporal). In addition, a model of the signal (e.g., multibaseline or multifrequency) or external data (e.g., GPS or leveling measurements) can be integrated. The method requires the solution of linear or quadratic programming problems, for which computationally efficient algorithms exist. The validation tests performed on real and simulated SAR data confirm the validity of the method, which was integrated in our production chain and successfully used also in massive productions.


We have performed first order reversal curve measurements of the temperature-driven metalinsulator transition in VO2 thin films, which enable quantitative analysis of the hysteresis behavior. An unexpected tail-like feature in the contour plot of the reversal curve distribution indicates the existence of metallic domains, even at temperatures below the closing of the hysteresis. These domains interact with the surrounding medium and change the reversal path relative to a path from a fully insulating state. With this in mind, and assuming that such interaction persist through the entire phase transition, we develop a model where the driving force (or energy barrier) in charge of opening a hysteresis in VO2 are inter-domain interactions. This model is intrinsically different from the Preisach model usually used to describe hysteresis; given that it looks for the microscopic origin of the hysteresis, and provides physical parameters to characterize it.


Background: The relationship between frontal cells to frontal sinus disease pathology remains an understudied area. Caucasian population were studied in most previous studies of the pneumatization pattern of the frontal recess, whereas there are very few reports on the prevalence of frontal recess cells and their relation with frontal sinusitis in India. The purpose of this review is to determine the frequency of occurrence of frontal cells and to determine whether the size of the frontal isthmus or the presence of frontal cells is related to the presence of frontal sinus disease in various articles. There are a lot of studies that appear in the Western literature, but there are less Indian studies on this subject. Materials and methods: In this article, we reviewed around 25 various randomized, clinical, and experimental trials conducted between 1940 and 2016 and which were published in various Indian and American journals. The literature search was conducted after using the key words chronic rhino-sinusitis, Kuhn frontal cells, frontal recess, frontal sinusitis, functional endoscopic sinus surgery, and computed tomography from Pubmed, Cochrane, Proquest, and Google Scholar. Conclusion: There was no significant relation between any particular frontal recess cell and the size of the nasofrontal isthmus as the cause for frontal sinusitis in majority of studies, and therefore we concluded that various factors, along with the pattern of pneumatization and mucosal edema, contributed to the pathogenesis of chronic frontal sinusitis.


The black hole X-ray binary XTE J1550-564 was monitored extensively at X-ray, optical and infrared wavelengths throughout its outburst in 2000. We show that it is possible to separate the optical/near-infrared (OIR) jet emission from the OIR disc emission. Focussing on the jet component, we find that as the source fades in the X-ray hard state, the OIR jet emission has a spectral index consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission (alpha approximate to -0.6 to -0.7, where F-v proportional to v(alpha)). This jet emission is tightly and linearly correlated with the X-ray flux; L-OIR,L-jet proportional to L-X(0.98 +/- 0.08) suggesting a common origin. This is supported by the OIR, X-ray and OIR toX-ray spectral indices being consistent with a single power law (alpha=-0.73). Ostensibly the compact synchrotron jet could therefore account for similar to 100 per cent of the X-ray flux at low luminosities in the hard state. At the same time, (i) an excess is seen over the exponential decay of the X-ray flux at the point in which the jet would start to dominate, (ii) the X-ray spectrum slightly softens, which seems to be due to a high-energy cut-off or break shifting to a lower energy and (iii) the X-ray rms variability increases. This may be the strongest evidence to date of synchrotron emission from the compact, steady jet dominating the X-ray flux of an X-ray binary. For XTE J1550-564, this is likely to occur within the luminosity range similar to(2 x 10(-4)-2 x 10(-3)) L-Edd on the hard-state decline of this outburst. However, on the hardstate rise of the outburst and initially on the hard-state decline, the synchrotron jet can only provide a small fraction (similar to a few per cent) of the X-ray flux. Both thermal Comptonization and the synchrotron jet can therefore produce the hard X-ray power law in accreting black holes. In addition, we report a phenomenological change in the OIR spectral index of the compact jet from possibly a thermal distribution of particles to one typical of optically thin synchrotron emission, as the jet increases in energy over these similar to 20 d. Once the steady jet is fully formed and the infrared and X-ray fluxes are linearly correlated, the spectral index does not vary (maintaining alpha =-0.7) while the luminosity decreases by a factor of 10. These quantitative results provide unique insights into the physics of the relativistic jet acceleration process.


ABSTRACT Data collaborations have gained currency over the last decade as a means for data- and skills-poor actors to thrive as a fourth paradigm takes hold in the sciences. Against this backdrop, this article traces the emergence of a collaborative subject position that strives to establish reciprocal and technical-oriented collaborations so as to catch up with the ongoing changes in research. Combining insights from the modernity/coloniality group, political theory and science and technology studies, the article argues that this positionality engenders epistemic obedience by bracketing off critical questions regarding with whom and for whom knowledge is generated. In particular, a dis-embedding of the data producers, the erosion of local ties, and a data conformism are identified as fresh sources of obedience impinging upon the capacity to conduct research attuned to the needs and visions of the local context. A discursive-material analysis of interviews and field notes stemming from the case of astronomy data in Chile is conducted, examining the vision of local actors aiming to gain proximity to the mega observatories producing vast volumes of data in the Atacama Desert. Given that these observatories are predominantly under the control of organisations from the United States and Europe, the adoption of a collaborative stance is now seen as the best means to ensure skills and technology transfer to local research teams. Delving into the epistemological dimension of data colonialism, this article warns that an increased emphasis on collaboration runs the risk of reproducing planetary hierarchies in times of data-intensive research.


Abstract
This chapter presents an analysis of the lived experiences of academic mobility for three educational researchers, at various stages of their research career, from different European national contexts. Lived experiences were explored by examining the metaphors used by each educational researcher to convey their experiences of academic mobility. These metaphors were then explored in further depth via individual interviews. The purpose of this analysis is to extend the debate around academic mobility, which often fails to differentiate between academic mobility and mobile academics. In addition, this chapter explores the impact of the desire for, and experience of, academic mobility on the complex, hybrid and changing process of academic identity formation. In conclusion, the chapter questions whether conventional ideas of research in the social sciences and humanities are essentially connected in one way or another to the nation state, or whether research is fundamentally an international occupation.


Layered perovskite, K2NbO3F, includes rock-salt type KF blocks in a K2NiF4 type structure. After the KF blocks are dissolved selectively in water at room temperature, the resultant colloidal suspension consists of nanosheet forms. Positively charged K+ ions in colloidal suspension act as an inorganic binder in electrostatic self-assembly with an exfoliated perovskite nanosheet. In the present study, we synthesized a KNbO3 thin film on a quartz substrate using a self-assembly process. The thin film on a quartz substrate was characterized using XRD analysis. The molar extinction coefficient of the colloidal suspension and absorbance of the thin film were examined using UV-vis absorption spectra. Respective thicknesses of perovskite nanosheet aggregate thin films were examined using AFM. The UV-vis absorption spectra of the films showed an increase in absorbance with increasing immersion time, suggesting growth of a self-assembled multilayer comprising perovskite nanosheets and K+ ions.


Universal Time (ut) is a non-uniform time-scale based on the rotation of the Earth around its axis. Another time-scale based on the duration of the SI second that was originally defined by the revolution of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, is called Terrestrial Time (tt). As tt is a uniform time designed to provide continuity with the former Ephemeris Time (et), the difference between tt and ut is known as delta-T (ΔT). The time series of ΔT values shows the variations in Earth rotation. There are several mathematical models to represent ΔT used in astronomical software and calculations.

This paper discusses a new model for values of ΔT from 1620 to 2010 that uses artificial neural networks. The maximum absolute error in this model is about 0.5 SI second. The accuracy of the new model is compared with that of four prior models.


Poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) microspheres were prepared by seed swelling polymerization in the presence of tung oil methyl esters. First, the core monodisperse polystyrene microspheres were prepared by a dispersion polymerization method. Using polystyrene microspheres as seed, tung oil methyl esters as a functional monomer, divinylbenzene as crosslinker, poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) microspheres were prepared by seed swelling polymerization. Then they were characterized by using FT-IR spectroscopy, TG/DSC and optical microscopy. Results showed that the tung oil methyl esters did participate in the copolymerization of styrene and divinylbenzene.


Information processing is increasingly embedded in the systems and processes of the contemporary city to enhance its operations, functions, and designs. This has been fueled by the new digital transition in ICT enabled by an integration of various forms of pervasive computing. Driving this transition predominantly are big data analytics and context–aware computing and their increasing amalgamation in a number of urban application domains, especially when such analytics and computing share the same enabling technologies, namely pervasive sensing devices, computing infrastructures, data processing platforms, and wireless communication networks. The purpose of this paper is to outline the key technological components of big data and context–aware computing, to demonstrate the opportunities and applications computing has to offer, and to identify the challenges it poses in the context of smart sustainable cities. We argue that combining big data analytics and context–aware computing can be leveraged in the advancement of urban sustainability, as their effects in this regard reinforce one another as to their efforts for transforming urban life by employing the data–centric and smart applications and services to improve, harness, and integrate urban systems as well as facilitate collaboration among urban domains.


This paper investigates generalisation in multi-agent games, where the generality of the agent can be evaluated by playing against opponents it hasn't seen during training. We propose two new games with concealed information and complex, non-transitive reward structure (think rock/paper/scissors). It turns out that most current deep reinforcement learning methods fail to efficiently explore the strategy space, thus learning policies that generalise poorly to unseen opponents. We then propose a novel hierarchical agent architecture, where the hierarchy is grounded in the game-theoretic structure of the game -- the top level chooses strategic responses to opponents, while the low level implements them into policy over primitive actions. This grounding facilitates credit assignment across the levels of hierarchy. Our experiments show that the proposed hierarchical agent is capable of generalisation to unseen opponents, while conventional baselines fail to generalise whatsoever.


ABSTRACT Yang, Z. and Zhou, H., 2018. Deep intrusion data mining method forship monitoring network under cloud computing. In: Liu, Z.L. and Mi, C. (eds.), Advances in Sustainable Port and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 83, pp. 668–672. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. In the cloud computing environment, the network space with different type and different scale are completely different in the destructiveness of intrusion and intrusion features. The traditional intrusion mining is mainly to weight these differentiated intrusion results, and calculating a fused threshold, measuring whether it is invaded, but this method does not subdivide intrusion features in ship monitoring network, and has high false alarm rate and rate of missing report. This paper proposed data mining method of the ship monitoring network intrusion mining based on the fuzzy C mean clustering algorithm and improved support vector machine algorithm. Firstly, this paper carried out dimensionality reduction and classification processing for the different type data, and collected related data for the extraction and analysis of sample feature, and calculated the overall threshold of data, and used the improved support vector machine algorithm to normalize the collected data, and obtained the data signal with uniform format. Experimental results show that the improved algorithm in the ship monitoring network under cloud computing deepness intrusion mining can improve the accuracy of mining, reduce the false alarm rate and improve the mining efficiency.


The wars waged for political control of eastern North America during the second half of the eighteenth century brought thousands of British soldiers to the continent. The fashion for collecting curiosities led many officers and colonial officials to acquire examples of indigenous art, and those engaged in diplomatic negotiations might also be presented with fine clothing in the context of ritual adoptions. This essay reviews the major collections that have come down to us from the period in order to demonstrate the two different collecting paradigms and the contrasting experiences of indigenous life that lie behind them.


The aim of this study was to assess removal dynamics of paracetamol (PAR), as an extraordinary chromophore in spent dialysate, upon the optical monitoring of dialysis of end-stage renal disease patients with inflammation complications. Seven dialysis sessions of different patients were followed to whom PAR was used as a pain reliever or antipyretic. Spent dialysate was sampled hourly and analyzed using HPLC with MS/MS and UV detection. Quantitative calculations were made on the basis of the peak areas on the chromatograms at 280 nm for uric acid (UA) and 254 nm for PAR and its metabolites (PAR-M). Peaks of UA, PAR, PAR-glucuronide, and PAR-sulphate were identified on the basis of specific mass spectra. Removal of PAR was found to be proportional to that of uric acid if intake of the drug by patient occurred half a day before dialysis. But disturbances of the UV-absorbance curves at 280 nm were observed related to rise of UA concentration in spent dialysate when PAR was taken by patients in the course of dialysis. The mechanism of such relation remains unknown. It was concluded that possible benefits and risks of treatment of uremic patients with paracetamol-containing drugs may need to be reassessed.


Previous reports have indicated that cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with pancreatic enzyme insufficiency have a raised faecal bile acid output. In this study, 18 out of 29 CF patients and 2 out of the 4 non-CF patients with pancreatic enzyme insufficiency had raised faecal bile acid levels. In the CF patients no correlation was found between faecal bile acid and faecal fat excretion, but an inverse relation was shown between faecal bile acid values and age. Those CF patients with overt liver disease tended to have the lowest faecal bile acid values. Duodenal aspiration in 5 CF patients and in one non-CF patient with pancreatic enzyme insufficiency (Shwachman-Diamond syndrome), produced very small fluid volumes. Duodenal fluid mean total bile acid concentrations were within normal limits. Estimation of serum bile acids in these 6 patients showed that 3 patients had raised serum bile acid values. It is suggested that excessive chronic faecal bile acid loss may produce a contraction of the bile acid pool, and lead eventually to a reduction of intraduodenal bile acid concentrations. Measures which curtail faecal bile acid loss may have a particular significance in the management of CF.


Since the turn of the 21st century, gene knockout mice have been created for all major urea transporters that are expressed in the kidney: the collecting duct urea transporters UT-A1 and UT-A3, the descending thin limb isoform UT-A2, and the descending vasa recta isoform UT-B. This article discusses the new insights that the results from studies in these mice have produced in the understanding of the role of urea in the urinary concentrating mechanism and kidney function. Following is a summary of the major findings: (1) Urea accumulation in the inner medullary interstitium depends on rapid transport of urea from the inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) lumen via UT-A1 and/or UT-A3; (2) as proposed by Robert Berliner and colleagues in the 1950s, the role of IMCD urea transporters in water conservation is to prevent a urea-induced osmotic diuresis; (3) the absence of IMCD urea transport does not prevent the concentration of NaCl in the inner medulla, contrary to what would be predicted from the passive countercurrent multiplier mechanism in the form proposed by Kokko and Rector and Stephenson; (4) deletion of UT-B (vasa recta isoform) has a much greater effect on urinary concentration than deletion of UT-A2 (descending limb isoform), suggesting that the recycling of urea between the vasa recta and the renal tubules quantitatively is less important than classic countercurrent exchange; and (5) urea reabsorption from the IMCD and the process of urea recycling are not important elements of the mechanism of protein-induced increases in GFR. In addition, the clinical relevance of these studies is discussed, and it is suggested that inhibitors that specifically target collecting duct urea transporters have the potential for clinical use as potassium-sparing diuretics that function by creation of urea-dependent osmotic diuresis.


The green lineage (Viridiplantae) comprises the green algae and their descendants the land plants, and is one of the major groups of oxygenic photosynthetic eukaryotes. Current hypotheses posit the early divergence of two discrete clades from an ancestral green flagellate. One clade, the Chlorophyta, comprises the early diverging prasinophytes, which gave rise to the core chlorophytes. The other clade, the Streptophyta, includes the charophyte green algae from which the land plants evolved. Multi-marker and genome scale phylogenetic studies have greatly improved our understanding of broad-scale relationships of the green lineage, yet many questions persist, including the branching orders of the prasinophyte lineages, the relationships among core chlorophyte clades (Chlorodendrophyceae, Ulvophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae and Chlorophyceae), and the relationships among the streptophytes. Current phylogenetic hypotheses provide an evolutionary framework for molecular evolutionary studies and comparative genomics. This review summarizes our current understanding of organelle genome evolution in the green algae, genomic insights into the ecology of oceanic picoplanktonic prasinophytes, molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of complexity in volvocine green algae, and the evolution of genetic codes and the translational apparatus in green seaweeds. Finally, we discuss molecular evolution in the streptophyte lineage, emphasizing the genetic facilitation of land plant origins.


Mt. Vesuvius is a worldwide known active volcano located in Southern Italy, east of the city of Napoli. Its last eruption occurred in 1944, ending a continuous open‐conduit activity that lasted for more than three centuries. After then the volcano entered into a quiescent phase. Nonetheless, the explosive style of its past activity and its proximity to densely populated areas make Mt. Vesuvius one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. For this reason, a comprehensive monitoring program was established, with the goal of early detection of any possible signals of unrest. During the last decades, seismic activity at Vesuvius has been characterized by low‐magnitude volcanotectonic (VT) earthquakes located below the crater area at depths shallower than 5 km (D'Auria et al. , 2013). Some degassing activity is observed at fumaroles inside the crater (Granieri et al. , 2013), whereas ground deformations are negligible and attributed to gravitation flank sliding and compaction rather than volcanic activity (Tammaro et al. , 2013). Should the volcano reawake in the future, a number of precursor phenomena are expected to be observed. Among them, seismic activity is the most common precursor observed at volcanoes worldwide before eruptions. Seismic events different than VT earthquakes, like volcanic tremor and low‐frequency earthquakes (LF), have been documented to accompany unrest episodes at many active volcanoes worldwide (Konstantinou and Schlindwein, 2002; Chouet, 2003; McNutt, 2005; Chouet and Matoza, 2013). The source of such signals is likely related to the volcano feeding system, as a consequence of the interaction of volcanic and hydrothermal fluids with the surrounding rock (e.g., Chouet, 1996). Unfortunately, the distinctive features of volcanic tremor and LF earthquakes make their detection, classification, and location a challenging task. These events are in fact characterized by low amplitudes, emergent onset, and lack of impulsive phases, which prevent the use …


This study investigated the performance of blown airfoil. Two types of blown airfoil were developed. The integrated parts of the airfoils were investigated in the subsonic wind tunnel to study the aerodynamic forces. Each airfoil was implemented with a blower at different locations on the upper surface and was tested in the wind tunnel, with different Reynolds numbers, and with and without blower. The results showed that the airfoil with air blower produced a very significant additional 35% lift force compared to airfoil without air blower. The experimental result also exhibited 7% higher lift coefficient for air blower compared to numerical analysis.


BACKGROUND
Neglected tropical diseases are a severe burden for mankind, affecting an increasing number of people around the globe. Many of those diseases are caused by protozoan parasites in which cysteine proteases plays a key role in the parasite's pathogenesis.

OBJECTIVE
In this review article, we summarize the drug discovery efforts of the research community from 2017 - 2022 with a special focus on activities such as the optimization of small molecule cysteine protease inhibitors in terms of selectivity profiles or drug-like properties as well as in vivo studies. The cysteine proteases evaluated by this methodology include Cathepsin B1 from Schistosoma mansoni, papain, cruzain, falcipain, and rhodesain.

METHODS
Exhaustive literature searches were performed using the keywords "Cysteine Proteases" and "Neglected Tropical Diseases" including the years 2017 - 2022. Overall, approximately 3'000 scientific papers were retrieved, which were filtered using specific keywords enabling the focus on drug discovery efforts.

CONCLUSION
Potent and selective cysteine protease inhibitors to treat neglected tropical diseases were identified, which progressed to pharmacokinetic and in vivo efficacy studies. As far as the authors are aware of, none of those inhibitors reached the stage of active clinical development. Either the inhibitor's potency or pharmacokinetic properties or safety profile or a combination thereof prevented further development of the compounds. More efforts with particular emphasis on optimizing pharmacokinetic and safety properties are needed, potentially by collaborations of academic and industrial research groups with complementary expertise. Furthermore, new warheads reacting with the catalytic cysteine should be exploited to advance the research field in order to make a meaningful impact on society.


The reactions between methanol (CH{sub 3}OH, CH{sub 3}OD, CD{sub 3}OD, {sup 13}CH{sub 3}OH) and layered HLaNb{sub 2}O{sub 7}{center_dot}xH{sub 2}O were investigated. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that a peak corresponding to the basal spacing of HLaNb{sub 2}O{sub 7}{center_dot}xH{sub 2}O (1.05 nm) disappeared and a new peak appeared at 1.18 nm. Carbon-13 NMR spectra revealed the presence of two environments of the methyl group; the broad 67 ppm signal is ascribed to the rigid species located in the interlayer space, and the 50 ppm signal is ascribed to mobile methanol on the external surface. The amount of the latter species was negligibly small. Deuterium NMR spectra revealed the presence of a Pake doublet with an effective quadrupole coupling constant (QCC) of 47 kHz and an asymmetry factor ({eta}) of zero, indicating that the CD{sub 3}O group was rigidly bound to the interlayer surface. In addition, when both CD{sub 3}OD and CH{sub 3}OD were used, no signal corresponding to the OD group was observed. Hence, although XRD results can be interpreted as intercalation of methanol, the {sup 2}H NMR results indicate that methanol was dissociatively adsorbed to the interlayer surface. The observed very high thermal stability of the methyl group ismore » consistent with methoxy formation. The structure of the product is discussed on the basis of the results with larger n-alcohols.« less


Surveys the history of the Second Vatican Council and the sixteen documents it promulgated. Highlights materials that reveal the vision of Catholic faith presented by the Council from a theological perspective.


Empirical studies on the incidence of social security contributions in Japan have produced conflicting results. Against this background, the present study, using new panel data, examines the extent to which employers' health insurance contributions have been shifted to employees through the adjustment of wages following a major reform of the way insurance contributions are calculated. The results indicate that a large part of employers' contribution burden was shifted to employees, and that this tendency was particularly pronounced for health insurers with a large number of insurees. This finding is consistent with the view that the labour supply in Japan is inelastic with regard to changes in wages. Furthermore, the empirical results suggest that the increase in employers' insurance burden following the reform was not passed on to employees immediately but rather over time through the gradual adjustment of wages.


In this paper, we analyse the interactions between monetary and macro-prudential policies and the circumstances under which such interactions call for their coordinated implementation. We start with a review of the interdependencies between monetary and macro-prudential policies. Then, we use a DSGE model incorporating financial frictions, heterogeneous agents and housing, which is estimated for the euro area over the period 1985 -2010, to identify the circumstances under which monetary and macro-prudential policies may have compounding, neutral or conflicting impacts on price stability. We compare inflation dynamics across four "policy regimes" depending on: (a) the monetary policy objectives – that is, whether the policy instrument, the short-term interest rate factors in financial stability considerations by leaning against credit growth; and (b) the existence, or not, of an authority in charge of a financial stability objective through the implementation of macro-prudential policies that can "lean against credit" without affecting the short-term interest rate.


Multiple sensitivity to metals is often seen in humans. This may be due to cross-reactivity or to multiple sensitization. The pattern of cross-reactivity to some metal compounds was studied, using the guinea pig maximization test method. Animals were induced with K2Cr2O7 and CoCl2, respectively, and then challenged with K2Cr2O7, CoCl2, NiSO4, PdCl2 and RhCl3. No simultaneous reactivity was recorded. This supports the view that simultaneous reactivity in patients to nickel-cobalt and to chromate-cobalt is due to multiple exposure and sensitization, and not to cross-reactivity. The purity of the test compounds was analysed.


In EN 1994-1, design rules are given for the evaluation of the mechanical properties of structural steel-concrete composite joints (rotational stiffness, resistance and ductility) based on the component method offered in EN 1993-1-8 and adding specific components for composite joints. These rules cover only the situations for the joints subjected to shear forces and hogging moments. However, during the last decades, researches have been conducted on the behaviour of composite joints subjected to different kind of actions such as sagging bending moments, cyclic loadings, combined bending moments and axial loads, elevated temperatures etc. with the objective of improving/extending the rules presently proposed in the Eurocodes design rules. As an outcome of the Technical Committee 11 of the European Convention of Constructional Steelwork (ECCS) dedicated to the behaviour of composite structures, a publication summarising these recent developments and their main outcomes is under finalisation. Within the present paper, it is proposed to highlight these main outcomes which could be seen as proposals for future improvements of the beam-to-column provisions in Eurocodes in general and of Eurocode 4 in particular.


Audio steganography is a technology that embeds messages into audio without raising any suspicion from hearing it. Current steganography methods are based on heuristic cost designs. In this work, we proposed a framework based on Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to approach optimal embedding for audio steganography in the temporal domain. This is the first attempt to approach optimal embedding with GAN and automatically learn the embedding probability/cost for audio steganography. The embedding framework consists of three parts: a U-Net based generator, an embedding simulator, and a discriminator. For practical applications, Syndrome-Trellis Coding (STC) is used to generate stego audio with the learned embedding probability. Experimental results on the UME-ERJ and WSJ speech datasets have shown that the proposed framework can automatically learn the adaptive embedding probabilities for audio steganogra- phy and has a considerable advantage in terms of resisting steganalyzers in comparison with the existing conventional method.


When local tissue is insufficient for the revision of unhealed below-knee stumps tissue expansion offers an interesting alternative for local coverage. We used this method in seven patients (five men, two women; mean age 30 years) who had had below-knee amputations, six of them after injury to a healthy limb and one for purpura fulminans. Ten tissue expanders were inflated slowly and intermittently either weekly or twice weekly depending on the patients. The mean expansion period was 92 days. Mean hospital stay for the two operations was 5.8 (range 4-9) and 7.6 (range 6-10) days, respectively. Using subjective and objective criteria, functional outcome was excellent in five patients and good in one. Expansion failed in one because of infection. Expanded skin flaps allow good cover with a minimal scar area in appropriate cases, while preserving the skin sensitivity and length of the tibial shaft.


Silicon light funnels are three-dimensional subwavelength structures in the shape of inverted cones with respect to the incoming illumination. Light funnel (LF) arrays can serve as efficient absorbing layers on account of their light trapping capabilities, which are associated with the presence of high-density complex Mie modes. Specifically, light funnel arrays exhibit broadband absorption enhancement of the solar spectrum. In the current study, we numerically explore the optical coupling between surface light funnel arrays and the underlying substrates. We show that the absorption in the LF array-substrate complex is higher than the absorption in LF arrays of the same height (~10% increase). This, we suggest, implies that a LF array serves as an efficient surface element that imparts additional momentum components to the impinging illumination, and hence optically excites the substrate by near-field light concentration, excitation of traveling guided modes in the substrate, and mode hybridization.


A number of studies have detected high levels of pesticide residues in surface water and aquatic life in Jamaica and acute pesticide poisoning is believed to be widespread there. Despite efforts by the Jamaican government to create awareness of the dangers of pesticides and adopt safe a pesticide disposal method, many farmers still display poor pesticide handling and disposal practices. The objectives of this study were to 1) describe pesticide use by farmers in northwestern Jamaica including inappropriate methods in pesticides handling and disposal, and 2) determine whether farmers' perception of the mode of bodily entry of pesticides affects their method of disposal. Farmers in Westmoreland, St. James and Hanover were surveyed using an investigator-administered instrument. Although 96% of farmers had some form of formal education, 75% had received no training in the use of pesticides. Only about 15% thought that crop yields and quality could be maintained without the use of pesticides. Only 29% believed that pesticide use posed a health risk, while 91% thought that pesticide use was an environmental hazard. Less than 45% of farmers used safety gear (gloves, masks, goggles) in handling pesticides although 65% always used special clothing. A fair proportion of farmers burn, bury or dump unused pesticide or empty pesticide containers in the bushes. Farmers' disposal methods were influenced by their perception of the ways that pesticides enter the human body. Thus, a large percentage of farmers in these parishes use pesticides inappropriately and are exposed to pesticides in handling. Disposal of unused pesticides and empty pesticide containers pollute the environment and most likely expose others. Measures should be taken to educate farmers, to provide protective gear at an affordable price, and to implement a clear and consistent method for collection of unused pesticide and empty pesticide containers.


Dimeric porphyrin molecules have great potential as donor materials for high performance bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (OSCs). Recently reported dimeric porphyrins bridged by ethynylenes showed power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of more than 8%. In this study, we design and synthesize a new conjugated dimeric D–A porphyrin ZnP2BT-RH, in which the two porphyrin units are linked by an electron accepting benzothiadiazole (BT) unit. The introduction of the BT unit enhances the electron delocalization, resulting in a lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level and an increased molar extinction coefficient in the near-infrared (NIR) region. The bulk heterojunction solar cells with ZnP2BT-RH as the donor material exhibit a high PCE of up to 10% with a low energy loss (Eloss) of only 0.56 eV. The 10% PCE is the highest for porphyrin-based OSCs with a conventional structure, and this Eloss is also the smallest among those reported for small molecule-based OSCs with a PCE higher than 10% to date.


When a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system monitors and manages other complex infrastructures through the use of distributed technologies, it becomes a critical infrastructure by itself: A failure or disruption in any of its components could implicate a serious impact on the performance of the other infrastructures. The connection with other systems makes a SCADA system more vulnerable against attacks, generating new security problems. As a result, it is essential to perform diverse security analysis frequently in order to keep an updated knowledge and to provide recommendations and/or solutions to mitigate or avoid anomalous events. This will facilitate the existence of a suitable, reliable, and available control network.


Abstract There are no reports of the use of an integrated care pathway (ICP) to facilitate the management of pleural empyema in children. Our aim is to assess pleural empyema management in our institute, to establish an ICP and to review the impact of this on the patient journey. Data were collected about management strategies, pain control and length of hospital stay from children admitted in 2000 with a diagnosis of pleural empyema. An integrated care pathway was developed to facilitate change in practice and provide greater consistency in management. This incorporated the use of intrapleural urokinase and guidelines on pain control. This was followed by data collection in 2004 to review the impact of the integrated care pathway. The 2000 review revealed that the majority of children (eight of 13) underwent a primary surgical intervention. Urokinase was not used. The median length of stay was 11.5 days (range 4–49 days). Implementation of the pathway led to a reduction in the number of children who underwent surgery (one of 18) with no adverse impact on clinical outcome. Median length of stay was 9 days (range 2–28 days). Children had a smoother patient journey, with prompter investigation and intervention. Children on the pathway had smaller chest drains inserted, received urokinase and had a clearly recorded analgesia strategy. Pleural empyema in childhood requires multi-disciplinary management. The implementation of an integrated care pathway is a valuable tool for managing a condition that requires multi-disciplinary input.


�Summary The phas promoter displays stringent spatial regulation, being very highly expressed during embryogenesis and completely silent during all phases of vegetative development in bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. This pattern is maintained in transgenic tobacco and, as shown here, Arabidopsis. Dimethyl sulphate in vivo footprinting analyses revealed that over 20 cis-elements within the proximal 295 bp of the phas promoter are protected by factor binding in seed tissues whereas none are bound in leaves. The hypothesis that this complex profile represents a summation of several module (cotyledon, hypocotyl, and radicle)-specific factor‐DNA interactions has been explored by the incorporation of site-directed substitution mutations into 10 locations within the � 295phas promoter. Only 2.6% of � 295phas promoter activity remained after mutation of the G-box; the CCAAAT box, the E-box and the RY elements were also found to mediate high levels of expression in embryos. Whereas the CACA element has dual positive and negative regulatory roles, the vicilin box was identified as a strong negative regulatory element. The proximal (� 70 to � 64) RY motif was found to bestow expression in the hypocotyl while all the RY elements contribute to expression in cotyledons but not to vascular tissue expression during embryogenesis. RY elements at positions � 277 to � 271, � 260 to � 254, and � 237 to � 231 were found to orchestrate radicle-specific repression. The G-box appears to be the functional abscisic acid responsive element and the E-site may be a coupling element. The results substantiate the concept that autarkical cis-element functions generate modular patterning during embryogenesis. They also reflect the existence of both redundancy and hierarchy in cis‐element interactions. Importantly, the virtually identical expression patterns observed for the two distantly related plants studied argue strongly for the generality of function for the observed factor‐element interactions.


Recently, the role of diffuse inputs of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) into surface waters has been investigated. It has been observed that river loads increased during rain and that street runoff contained considerable loads of PFAAs. This study aims at quantifying these diffuse inputs and identifying the initial sources in a small nonindustrial river catchment. The river was sampled in three distinct subcatchments (rural, urban, and wastewater treatment plant) at high temporal resolution during two rain events and samples were analyzed for perfluorocarboxylates and perfluorosulfonates. Additionally, rain, stormwater runoff, wastewater effluent, and drinking water were sampled. PFAA concentrations in river water were all low (e.g., < 10 ng/L for perfluorooctanoate, PFOA), but increased during rainfall. PFAA concentrations and water discharge data were integrated into a mass balance assessment that shows that 30-60% of PFAA loads can be attributed to diffuse inputs. Rain contributed 10-50% of the overall loads, mobilization of dry deposition and outdoor release of PFAA from products with 20-60%. We estimated that within a year 2.5-5 g of PFOA originating from rain and surface runoff are emitted into this small catchment (6 km(2), 12,500 persons).


SUMMARY: Vitamin requirements for growth in a casein hydrolysate medium were determined for 27 strains of Aerococcus viridans from diverse sources. Panto-thenic acid, nicotinic acid and biotin were either absolutely required by, or markedly stimulatory to, all strains; none required thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, folic acid or folinic acid. Tween 80 replaced the biotin requirement of most strains. Amino acid requirements were not sharply defined and varied from strain to strain. As the amino acid composition of the medium was simplified the amount of growth was decreased and most strains would not grow when biotin was replaced by Tween 80. A single purine base was required: either guanine or xanthine alone satisfied this requirement for each of the strains tested; adenine was a suitable alternative source for some strains. Exogenous pyrimidine was not required.


We consider the problem of link capacity dimensioning and routing optimization in networks that support elastic flows and maintain proportional fairness among these flows. We assume that each demand between the origin-destination (O-D) pairs is associated with a minimum and a maximum bandwidth requirement and that a certain allocated bandwidth to a user demand (which must be between these minimum and maximum values) generates revenue for the network operator. On the other hand, the operator is incurred a capacity dependent cost for each link in the network. We then formulate the problem of bandwidth allocation, routing optimization and link capacity dimensioning as an optimization problem where the operator's objective is to maximize profit (under the fairness constraint). We propose computationally efficient algorithms to solve some important variants of this problem.


This thesis offers a new approach to the study of the coda in one of the most familiar topics in the field of music: the study of sonata form in the works of Haydn, Mozart and Bee-thoven. As with all fresh approaches, it draws from several current works on this subject, whilst also providing new views on the coda and approaches to multi-movement and multi-work analysis. In addition to considering the study of the coda using a prototype-statistical methodology, this thesis provides a foundation for examining works and genres by composers beyond the thesis sample.

From one perspective, this thesis is a research report outlining the findings from the analysis of 333 individual sonata-allegro and sonata-rondo movements by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. However, this work does not only represent a significant analytical undertaking: it also identifies patterns in the composition of the coda, establishing generalisations previously thought not to exist. Although the theoretical discussion of the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-turies is important, the preference in this thesis, like Hepokoski's and Darcy's Elements, is to let the composers themselves teach us how codas work (2006, p. v).

The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part, Chapters One and Two, outlines the reason for a fresh perspective on the coda and the approach undertaken. In the second part, Chapters Three and Four, eight methods for identifying a coda are established. This is fol-lowed by a numerical survey of the sample of sonata-form movements, discussing the four different methods of achieving movement closure (including the use of a coda) and the three methods used to integrate a coda (when present) into the recapitulation. The third part, Chap-ters Five, Six and Seven, explores the organisation of the coda in the symphonic first and final sonata-form movements by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, establishing prototype parameter baselines with which to compare, numerically, each individual coda from its respective com-poser sample. The final chapter (Chapter Eight) amalgamates the findings of the thesis, creat-ing a definition of the coda based on the generalisations


A method, taking into account the effects of flexibility and based on a general eighth-order differential equation, is presented for finding the stresses in a two-bay, noncircular cylinder the cross section of which can be composed of circular arcs. Numerical examples are given for two cases of ring flexibility for a cylinder of doubly symmetrical (essentially elliptic) cross section, subjected to concentrated radial, moment, and tangential loads. The results paralleled those already obtained for shells with circular rings.


Abstract This study adds to the extant research on the school-to-prison pipeline by investigating how school-based service providers and administrators conceptualize the causal mechanisms constraining and enabling the school-to-prison pipeline in a large urban district. Thirty-three schools were selected for the study based on their suspension rates. Support staff and district partners (n = 36) participated in focus groups guided by semi-structured protocols. Most participants emphasized structural and systemic causes of the school-to-prison pipeline, such as institutional racism and poverty. To minimize the school-to-prison pipeline, participants highlighted the importance of relationship building and non-punitive practices in response to misbehavior, although solutions offered limited evidence of promising interventions. Given strong research indicating that racial disparities cannot be explained by differential behavior, scholarship in this area emphasizes the need to increase school-level practices that promote positive school climate. The persistence of exclusionary and punitive attitudes among a subset of the sample suggests a need for differentiated professional development to address competing frameworks for understanding the root causes of, and solutions to, the school-to-prison pipeline.


A method is proposed to estimate both green leaf area index (GLAI) and soil moisture (h/sub v/), based on radar measurements at the Ku-band (14.85 GHz) and C-band (5.35 GHz) frequencies. The Ku-band backscatter at large incidence angles was found to be independent of soil moisture conditions and could be used alone to estimate GLAI. Then, the Ku-band estimate of GLAI could be used with a measurement of C-band backscatter in a canopy radiative transfer model to isolate the value of h/sub v/. This concept was demonstrated with a set of Kuand C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter data acquired over agricultural fields in Arizona. The demonstration showed promise for operational application of the method, though several limitations were identified. Since both Ku- and C-band /spl sigma//sub /spl deg// are sensitive to soil roughness, this approach must be applied only to fields of similar soil roughness or row direction. This limitation may be less serious for farm management applications since crop type and cultivation practices are generally well known and can be taken into consideration. Another limitation of the use of Ku- and C-band /spl sigma//spl deg/ is the apparent saturation of the Ku-band signal with increasing GLAI. Operational implementation of this approach will require dual-frequency sensors aboard an aircraft or orbiting satellite.


The freezing behaviour studies of dormant buds, were examined, employing scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and light microscopy. The differences and effect of freezing behaviour on dormant buds were observed. The dormant bud primordia of several woody plant species avoid freezing injury by deep supercooling. By slow cooling (5°C/day) of dormant buds to –30°C, all living cells in bud tissues exhibited distinct shrinkage without intracellular ice formation detectable by SEM. However, the recrystallization experiment of these slowly cooled tissue cells, which was done by further freezing of slowly cooled buds with liquid nitrogen (LN) and then rewarming to –10°C, confirmed that some of the cells in the apical meristem, area in which cells had thin walls and in which no extracellular ice accumulated, lost freezable water with slow cooling to –30°C, indicating adaptation of these cells by deep super cooling. Water in plant tissues will not supercool unless heterogeneous ice nucleating substances are absent and the spread of ice from adjacent tissue can be prevented. Deep supercooling could not occur in dormant bud primordia if xylem vessels formed a continuous conduit connecting the dormant bud primordia with the remainder of the plant. If xylem continuity was established, ice could propagate via the vascular system and nucleate the water within the primordia. It is concluded that no extracellular ice crystals accumulated in such tissues containing deep supercooling cells with thin cell walls.


We present a simple and efficient method for refining maps or correspondences by iterative upsampling in the spectral domain that can be implemented in a few lines of code. Our main observation is that high quality maps can be obtained even if the input correspondences are noisy or are encoded by a small number of coefficients in a spectral basis. We show how this approach can be used in conjunction with existing initialization techniques across a range of application scenarios, including symmetry detection, map refinement across complete shapes, non-rigid partial shape matching and function transfer. In each application we demonstrate an improvement with respect to both the quality of the results and the computational speed compared to the best competing methods, with up to two orders of magnitude speed-up in some applications. We also demonstrate that our method is both robust to noisy input and is scalable with respect to shape complexity. Finally, we present a theoretical justification for our approach, shedding light on structural properties of functional maps.


In this paper, we present a solution developed at rough set theory and weight value to make multiattribute decision with incomplete information. The paper defined the concepst of breaking points and recovered the incomplete information system according to the relationship between the condition attributes and decision attributes. And introduced OWGA(ordered weight geometric averaging) operators to calculate the aggregation value of each project. Finally, selected the project with the maximum aggregation value as the best decision making. The illustration and experiments were implemented and the results indicate that the method is effective and efficient.


Brain tumors are the second most common cancer in children after leukemia and constitute about 20% of all childhood cancers in the United States (1). The annual incidence is approximately 34 pen million children under 15 years of age. The incidence may be rising; the U.S. National Cancer Institute reported an increase in the period 1973-1988 (1). With a 5-year relative survival rate of approximately 58%, brain tumors account for about 24% of the mortality from childhood cancer. Mortality rates have decreased in recent years (1), due to significant advances in neunosungical and neumodiagnostic techniques and radiation therapy (2). However, children who survive their brain tumor are frequently cognitively impaired (3) or have endocrine deficiencies (4). Inasmuch as childhood brain tumors account for a large fraction of the mortality and morbidity from childhood cancer and of the deleterious late sequelae in survivors, an understanding of etiological factors leading to these tumors is crucial for the early detection of children at high risk and ultimately for prevention. Several recent reviews exist in the literature on risk factors for childhood cancer (5-8), but none deals extensively with childhood brain tumors. The most recent review of risk factors for childhood brain tumors dates back to 1980 (9), and since then many papers have been published. A review of the risk factors for childhood brain tumors may assist in evaluating previous studies and initiating further research. Therefore, we reviewed the epidemiological studies on childhood brain tumors that appeared in the literature from 1974 to March 1992 (10-32). All investigations were case-control studies, and their designs are summarized in Table 1.