Conceptual distinctions between perception, action, and cognition are convoluted in real world proceedings, as we meander through life, tied to past thoughts and actions, oriented toward future goals, guided by current perceptions. The research topic "Perception, Action, and Cognition" aimed to go beyond the already established perception-action links to study the role of cognitive mechanisms in this triad.

A popular way of conceptualizing the triad of perception, action, and cognition is the idea of embodied cognition. The first section entitled "Embodied cognition" presents seven articles related to this concept. In the leading article, Hommel develops an efficient way to conceptualize embodied cognition using the Theory of Event Coding (TEC) framework. Arguing against the anti-cognitivist stance of many embodiment theorists, he firmly puts cognition back in the perception-action link, by maintaining the importance and involvement of internal representations in the production of actions. Vernon et al. propose that perception-action coupling is not only manifest in the behavioral arena, but also shows up in the internal processes of the agents, particularly those related to the self. The self-organizing, self-producing, and self-maintaining processes explain the reciprocity of perception and action. The sense of presence, which is the focus of the article by Triberti and Riva actually implies the presence of the "self" in the environment where perception-action coupling is manifest. Brizio and Tirassa go a step further to expound on how the mind is rooted in the self, particularly the biological self. They offer a taxonomy of control systems based on whether they are intentional, non-intentional, or meta-intentional, drawing on arguments from diverse disciplines ranging from psychology to biology to philosophy to artificial intelligence. The next two articles provide evidence for embodied cognition from clinical samples. Dreyer et al. report evidence from two patients with focal lesions, regarding sensorimotor systems in the cortex being crucial for the processing of semantic concepts, suggesting that without intact perceptual-motor systems, meaningful cognition is all but impossible. Wolpe et al. show that Parkinsons' Disease (PD) patients with higher levodopa dose equivalent show an abnormally high awareness of their actions and their positive outcomes, providing evidence for intact action systems feeding perceptual awareness. Finally, evidence regarding action being important for cognition also comes from a cross cultural study by Wang et al. who studied children's use of imitation in learning how to categorize objects. They propose that imitation of an action leads to direct experience, which in turn stimulates rule learning/categorization. This process is the same across the two cultures studied—Chinese and US.

The rest of the articles are ingenious forays into the socio-cultural realm. The second section of the research topic is, therefore, titled "The external world and inner reality." We begin the section with mirror mechanisms in the brain, the biological underpinnings of social perception and interactions. Volta et al. report an fMRI study that showed similar brain areas to be activated whether participants were actually walking or merely observing someone else walking, thus supporting the idea of mirror mechanisms for walking. However, differences in brain areas activated were evident between two conditions—one in which a video of open countryside was played and the other in which the closed space of a corridor was depicted, indicating the strong influence of external context on brain processing. Desanghere and Marotta show that the physical shape of an object and its center of mass, are distinct influences, in how we look at it, and grasp it. This study independently manipulated physical shape and center of mass of an object, and thus used irregularly shaped objects to study the effect of these physical features on gaze and grasp. This study is a good illustration of how the same percept may lead to different reactions in different parts of the body perhaps because the relevance of the percept to the body part is different. In another study demonstrating the effect of perceptual cues on Simon task performance, Umemura demonstrates that stimulus locations in 2D and in 3D space give independent cues for task performance to the participants. This seems understandable; for pictorial cues are sufficient for 2D locations, but 3D locations can be precisely pinpointed only by the convergence of the eyes. Studying an important variable in our social interactions, Kuraguchi and Ashida focus on detection of beauty and cuteness. They found that whilst beauty can be equally discerned in central as well as peripheral vision, the detection of cuteness declines in peripheral vision as compared to central vision, especially in males. In another study of face processing, it becomes clear why autism is associated with difficulties in the socio-emotional sphere. Ujiie et al. found that university students scoring high on Autism Spectrum Quotient, a measure of autistic traits, show abnormal audio-visual speech integration, probably because they do not show adequate processing of global facial configurations. All these studies show how changes in the external environment result in behavioral/ motor changes.

In turn, the influence of actions or their outcomes on socio-cognitive processing is clear from the next two studies. Sun et al. compared decision times on a simple task presented on the winners' or the losers' side of the screen. Results showed an attention bias in the onlookers for the losers' side of the screen. Could this be the basis of empathy/sympathy in social situations? Using a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation paradigm, Kihara et al. demonstrate that when participants were asked to change a digit stream to a letter stream by pressing a button and identify four successive targets, successful target identification was linked to pupil dilation (a measure of the involvement of the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system at the neural level). Thus, voluntary action initiated this neural substrate of transient visual attention.

The "self" emerges as a strong player in this section as well. Spape et al. present a new paradigm utilizing "avatars" or representations of the self in virtual reality, which can be used by researchers in cognition, social psychology, and human computer interaction. The study also augments our conceptualization of executive control, by showing how changes in the gender of the "avatars" can disrupt conflict adaptation in the virtual reality version of the Simon task. Zhang et al. use the virtual hand illusion to demonstrate that the bodily self is not a definite exact entity, rather, body representations are dynamic and are constantly updated by current inputs from the context. Imbir demonstrates the effect of subjective significance on the rational mind, and arousal on the experiential mind, using the emotional stroop task. The control of "reason," therefore, is dependent on whether we perceive a situation to be of significant or not. Finally, the review by Kavanagh and Winkielman suggests mimicry as an implicit but adaptive mechanism that underlies affiliation between the model and the mimic, and also signals affiliation with the group.

All these articles are heartening examples of work that goes much beyond establishing the perception-action link. Most contributions specify the mechanisms for this link, or the antecedent or consequent conditions of the link. For example, the articles in the first section propose the self as the unifying entity for perception and action. In the second, whereas some articles study the effect of perceptual factors on behavior, others specify how action influences attention/perception, and still others focus on the mediator. i.e., person involved. A perusal of all articles in this research topic reveals that perception, action, and cognition, are an unbreakable triad. Many manifest links have been established, and many other latent ones need to be explored in future research.


This chapter investigates the impact on the budgetary process of the peculiar form of crisis faced by Italy. It reviews the reforms after the onset of the crisis focusing on the initiatives of the Berlusconi, Monti and Renzi governments. The chapter discusses the use of spending reviews, which began well before the 2008 crisis and have continued afterward. It also discusses the stage for the post-crisis developments by briefly describing budgetary reforms in the period leading to the crisis. The chapter highlights the thrust towards a more top-down approach to budgetary decision-making. It also reviews budgetary reforms in Italy which occurred under conditions of severe fiscal crisis and political turmoil, within the historical-political context of the Eurozone crisis, which stemmed from the financial and economic crises triggered by the 2008-09 bank bankruptcies. The chapter dsecribes that the intertwining of the political crisis with the fiscal crisis prevented the response to the latter from unfolding into different phases.


Objective— High-density lipoproteins (HDLs) can potentially protect against atherosclerosis by multiple mechanisms, including enhancement of endothelial repair and improvement of endothelial function. This study asks if increasing HDL levels by inhibiting cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity with the anacetrapib analog, des-fluoro-anacetrapib, enhances endothelial repair and improves endothelial function in New Zealand White rabbits with balloon injury of the abdominal aorta. Approach and Results— New Zealand White rabbits received chow or chow supplemented with 0.07% or 0.14% (wt/wt) des-fluoro-anacetrapib for 8 weeks. Endothelial denudation of the abdominal aorta was carried out after 2 weeks. The animals were euthanized 6 weeks postinjury. Treatment with 0.07% and 0.14% des-fluoro-anacetrapib reduced cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity by 81±4.9% and 92±12%, increased plasma apolipoprotein A–I levels by 1.4±0.1-fold and 1.5±0.1-fold, increased plasma HDL-cholesterol levels by 1.8±0.2-fold and 1.9±0.1-fold, reduced intimal hyperplasia by 37±11% and 51±10%, and inhibited vascular cell proliferation by 25±6.1% and 35±6.7%, respectively. Re-endothelialization of the injured aorta increased from 43±6.7% (control) to 69±6.6% and 76±7.7% in the 0.07% and 0.14% des-fluoro-anacetrapib-treated animals, respectively. Aortic ring relaxation and guanosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate production in response to acetylcholine were also improved. Incubation of HDLs from the des-fluoro-anacetrapib-treated animals with human coronary artery endothelial cells increased cell proliferation and migration relative to control. These effects were abolished by knockdown of scavenger receptor-B1 and PDZ domain-containing protein 1 and by pharmacological inhibition of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase/Akt. Conclusions— Increasing HDL levels by inhibiting cholesteryl ester transfer protein reduces intimal thickening and regenerates functional endothelium in damaged New Zealand White rabbit aortas in an scavenger receptor-B1-dependent and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase/Akt-dependent manner.


Sea-level rise is among the greatest risks that arise from anthropogenic global climate change. It is receiving a lot of attention, among others in the IPCC reports, but major questions remain as to the potential contribution from the great continental ice sheets. In recent years, some modelling work has suggested that the ice-component of sea-level rise may be much faster than previously thought, but the rapidity of rise seen in these results depends on inclusion of scientifically debated mechanisms of ice-shelf decay and associated ice-sheet instability. The processes have not been active during historical times, so data are needed from previous warm periods to evaluate whether the suggested rates of sea-level rise are supported by observations or not. Also, we then need to assess which of the ice sheets was most sensitive, and why. The last interglacial (LIG; ~130,000 to ~118,000 years ago, ka) was the last time global sea level rose well above its present level, reaching a highstand of +6 to +9 m or more. Because Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) contributions were smaller than that, this implies substantial Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) contributions. However, this still leaves the timings, magnitudes, and drivers of GrIS and AIS reductions open to debate. I will discuss recently published sea-level reconstructions for the LIG highstand, which reveal that AIS and GrIS contributions were distinctly asynchronous, and that rates of rise to values above 0 m (present-day sea level) reached up to 3.5 m per century. Such high pre-anthropogenic rates of sea-level rise lend credibility to high rates inferred by ice modelling under certain ice-shelf instability parameterisations, for both the past and future. Climate forcing was distinctly asynchronous between the southern and northern hemispheres as well during the LIG, explaining the asynchronous sea-level contributions from AIS and GrIS. Today, climate forcing is synchronous between the two hemispheres, and also faster and greater than during the LIG. Therefore, LIG rates of sea-level rise should likely be considered minimum estimates for the future.


. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of salt natural geothermal water (SNGW) treatment on the physical, mechanical, shrinking and swelling properties of wood materials from two pine species. This study used the SNGW of Eynal, Çitgöl, and Naşa from Kutahya in Turkey on sapwood samples of black pine ( Pinus nigra Arnold . ) and Brutia pine ( Pinus brutia Ten.). The absorption, retention, density, moisture content, modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity in bending (MOE), compression strength parallel to the grain (CSPG), shrinking, and swelling values were measured for the treated and non-treated wood samples. The results showed that the absorption and retention values increased by depending on the concentrations of the dissolved salts in the SNGW used. In addition, the density and moisture content values of the SNGW-treated pine wood species were significantly higher than those of the untreated wood, whereas the values of MOR, MOE, CSPG, shrinking, and swelling were lower. In general, the Eynal treatment had the highest effect on pine species' wood properties, whereas the Naşa treatment had the least effect.


Writing centers stand resolutely as the very embodiment of student-centered learning, dedicated – unflinchingly – to Stephen North's enduring "idea:" that "writers, and not necessarily their texts, are what get changed by instruction" ("Idea" 438). Indeed, the "concept of a writing center" explicated on the IWCA website positions the student in the center of our world: "Each student's individual needs are the focus of the tutorial" (Harris). One would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the writing center community who disagrees with this statement. The writing center is widely regarded as "the ultimate point-of-need pedagogical scene" (Boquet and Lerner 174).


Ramularia collo-cygni is the biotic factor responsible for the disease Ramularia leaf spot (RLS) of barley (Hordeum vulgare). Despite having been described over 100 years ago and being considered a minor disease in some countries, the fungus is attracting interest in the scientific community as a result of the increasing number of recorded economically damaging disease epidemics. New reports of disease spread and fungal identification using molecular diagnostics have helped redefine RLS as a global disease. This review describes recent developments in our understanding of the biology and epidemiology of the fungus, outlines advances made in the field of the genetics of both the fungus and host, and summarizes the control strategies currently available.


[1] Shear wave impedance discontinuities are inventoried for eight paths connecting circum-Pacific earthquakes with seismic stations on Hawaii and Oahu. In addition to the transition zone discontinuities, we observe a consistent impedance decrease at a depth of ∼80 km that marks the transition from the fast seismic lid to the low-velocity zone. The interval over which this transition occurs is less than 30 km. The requisite impedance decrease, ascribed almost entirely to diminished velocities in the low-velocity zone, exceeds predictions for peridotite chemistries of appropriate lithospheric age. In all cases, the transition is better matched by lithosphere of roughly half of the true age. Four paths show clear evidence of the X discontinuity, an impedance increase of 3–8% near 300 km depth. The only viable explanations would require extensive eclogite or basalt-depleted mantle in the upper mantle of the western Pacific. The impedance contrast of the 410-km discontinuity, which depends on the modal fraction of mantle olivine, does not signal the presence of either, although a mixture of the two remains a possibility. We find no evidence of a low-velocity layer atop of the 410-km discontinuity. If present, it is either consistently thin (≤15 km), highly variable in thickness (topography in excess of 60 km) or has little impedance contrast (≤2–3%) with overlying mantle. The apparent absence of melt atop the 410-km discontinuity, an intermittent and weak 520-km discontinuity, and a thinned transition zone are consistent with relatively dry conditions in the deep upper mantle of the central Pacific.


In this paper we investigate the sine qua non condition of existence of equilibria for electrical systems with external sources furnishing constant power to the loads, which is a scenario encountered in modern applications. Two general cases are considered, when the system is (i) linear time-invariant or (ii) nonlinear, with dynamic behavior described by a port-Hamiltonian model with constant dissipation and switching interconnection matrix. The latter class includes the practically important case of power converters. For both cases necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of equilibria are given, which impose that the power dissipated in steady-state should exceed the extracted constant power. The equilibrium is ensured if and only if the inequality is satisfied.


Abstract Alfalfa is recommended as a rotational crop in corn production, due to its ability to contribute to soil nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) stocks through atmospheric N2 fixation and above- and belowground biomass production. However, there is little information on how alfalfa management practices affect contributions to soil and subsequent corn crop yields, and research has not been targeted to organic systems. A study was conducted to determine the effects of alfalfa stand age, cutting frequency and biomass removal on soil C and N status and corn yields at three organically managed Minnesota locations. In one experiment, five cutting treatments were applied in nine environments: two, three and four cuts with biomass removal; three cuts with biomass remaining in place; and a no-cut control. In the other experiment, corn was planted following 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-year-old alfalfa stands and a no-alfalfa control. Yield was measured in the subsequent corn crop. In the cutting experiment, the two- and three-cut treatments with biomass removal reduced soil mineral N by 12.6 and 11.5%, respectively, compared with the control. Potentially mineralizable N (PMN) was not generally affected by cutting treatments. The three-cut no-removal increased potentially mineralizable C by 17% compared with the other treatments, but lowered soil total C in two environments, suggesting a priming effect in which addition of alfalfa biomass stimulated microbial mineralization of native soil C. Although both yields and soil mineral N tended to be higher in treatments where biomass remained in place, this advantage was small and inconsistent, indicating that farmers need not forgo hay harvest to obtain the rotational benefits of an alfalfa stand. The lack of overall correlation between corn grain yields and mineral and potentially mineralizable N suggests that alfalfa N contribution was not the driver of the yield increase in the no-removal treatments. Alfalfa stand age had inconsistent effects on fall-incorporated N and soil N and C parameters. Beyond the first year, increased alfalfa stand age did not increase soil mineral N or PMN. However, corn yield increased following older stands. Yields were 29, 77 and 90% higher following first-, second- and third-year alfalfa stands than the no-alfalfa control, respectively. This indicates that alfalfa may benefit succeeding corn through mechanisms other than N contribution, potentially including P solubilization and weed suppression. These effects have been less studied than N credits, but are of high value in organic cropping systems.


Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that originates from T cells and frequently expresses oncogenic fusion proteins derived from chromosomal translocations or inversions of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene. The proliferation and survival of ALCL cells are determined by the ALK activity. Here we show that the kinase activity of the nucleophosmin (NPM)-ALK fusion regulated the shape of ALCL cells and F-actin filament assembly in a pattern similar to T-cell receptor-stimulated cells. NPM-ALK formed a complex with the guanine exchange factor VAV1, enhancing its activation through phosphorylation. VAV1 increased Cdc42 activity, and in turn, Cdc42 regulated the shape and migration of ALCL cells. In vitro knockdown of VAV1 or Cdc42 by short hairpin RNA, as well as pharmacologic inhibition of Cdc42 activity by secramine, resulted in a cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of ALCL cells. Importantly, the concomitant inhibition of Cdc42 and NPM-ALK kinase acted synergistically to induce apoptosis of ALCL cells. Finally, Cdc42 was necessary for the growth as well as for the maintenance of already established lymphomas in vivo. Thus, our data open perspectives for new therapeutic strategies by revealing a mechanism of regulation of ALCL cell growth through Cdc42.


In this paper, we study the direct and inverse scattering theory at fixed energy for massless charged Dirac fields evolving in the exterior region of a Kerr-Newman-de Sitter black hole. In the first part, we establish the existence and asymptotic completeness of time-dependent wave operators associated to our Dirac fields. This leads to the definition of the time-dependent scattering operator that encodes the far-field behavior (with respect to a stationary observer) in the asymptotic regions of the black hole: the event and cosmological horizons. We also use the miraculous property (quoting Chandrasekhar) - that the Dirac equation can be separated into radial and angular ordinary differential equations - to make the link between the time-dependent scattering operator and its stationary counterpart. This leads to a nice expression of the scattering matrix at fixed energy in terms of stationary solutions of the system of separated equations. In a second part, we use this expression of the scattering matrix to study the uniqueness property in the associated inverse scattering problem at fixed energy. Using essentially the particular form of the angular equation (that can be solved explicitely by Frobenius method) and the Complex Angular Momentum technique on the radial equation, we are finally able to determine uniquely the metric of the black hole from the knowledge of the scattering matrix at a fixed energy.


The principles and most-recent results of high-power THz generation through optical rectification using a tilted optical pulse front are described. Single-cycle THz pulses of multimicrojoule energies are generated at kHz repetition rates, and average THz power levels exceeding 1 mW can be generated at kHz-MHz repetition rates. Applications in nonlinear THz spectroscopy and THz coherent control are discussed.


Many defined contribution (DC) savers and plan sponsors implicitly assume that future long-term capital market returns will be similar to those observed in the favorable markets of the past few decades. In recent history, an unexceptional savings rate of 8% each year over one's career, together with other common industry assumptions, would have allowed DC savers to reach a target retirement income replacement ratio of 75%. Unfortunately, current market yields indicate that both stocks and bonds may deliver lower returns in coming years. This may impact savers significantly: We quantify that roughly 2% lower expected returns could almost double the savings rate required over one's working career to achieve this same 75% replacement ratio. We conclude by briefly describing some investment strategies that may help enhance portfolio returns.


Mouse teratocarcinoma cells from embryoid bodies were cultured in vitro to permit their differentiation into a number of cell types. Two enzyme activities, creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and the protease plasminogen activator, were studied to follow the developmental sequence of events in these embryoid body-derived cell cultures. CPK activity increased with time in culture, indicating the appearance of new cell types with brain- or muscle-specific enzyme activities. Plasminogen activator was detectable in extracts of embryoid bodies. This protease activity first increased and then decreased to a low level as the embryoid bodies in culture developed into differentiated cell types. These cell cultures also showed a decreased potential for tumor formation in syngeneic mice as a function of time in culture. This decrease in tumorigenic potential was correlated with the appearance of differentiated cells in vitro. Simian virus 40 (SV40) was used to infect and transform cells derived from embryoid bodies in culture. This was done to permit the establishment of cloned teratocarcinoma-derived cell lines. Twenty-nine distinct cloned permanent cell lines (called SVTER) containing the SV40-specific tumor antigen were obtained. None of these cell lines was capable of producing tumors in syngeneic mice. An analysis of the levels of creatine phosphokinase and plasminogen activator in these SVTER cell lines indicated that : (a) some cell lines had high CPK activity and little or no plasminogen activator activity, (b) some cell lines contained high levels of plasminogen activator activity with little or no CPK activity, and (c) some cell lines contained neither of these enzyme activities. No example of a cell line with high levels of both enzyme activities was observed, indicating that these two enzymes may participate in mutually exclusive developmental pathways. The SVTER cell lines may therefore be useful in reconstructing these developmental pathways in vitro.


By the way of adding rare earth element into the coating of electrode, this article has studied the effects of rare earth element erbium and cerium on the properties of welding surface. Experiment results show that adding rare earth element to the welding rod coating could make the grains fine, increase the content of acicular ferrite and improve the hardness and abrasion resistances of weld metal. After joining 0.3% Er and 0.3% Ce, the weld metal's macroscopic hardness achieves 39HRC, enhanced 23.8%. And the relative wear resistance enhanced 25.6%


Objective: Continuous infusion of the selective prostaglandin synthase type-2 inhibitor nimesulide, together with the oxytocin receptor antagonist atosiban, inhibits glucocorticoid induction of labor in sheep. We evaluated the effectiveness of this treatment commencing after the onset of premature labor when prostaglandin concentrations are already significantly elevated. Methods: Premature labor was induced in chronically cannulated fetuses by constant fetal dexamethasone infusion. After the onset of active labor in each ewe, defined as uterine electromyographic (EMG) activity twice basal levels, ewes received combined nimesulide and atosiban (20.0 and 4.12 mg/kg per day, respectively; n = 6) or vehicle (n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and saline each 1 mL/hour; n = 4) infusions for 48 hours. Maternal and fetal plasma PGFM (13, 14-dihydro-15-keto PGF2α, the stable metabolite of prostaglandin (PG) F2α) and PGE2 concentrations were measured before, during, and after infusions. Results: Four nimesulide- and atosiban-treated ewes successfully completed the 48-hour infusion period with no deliveries occurring during inhibitor treatment, or up to 6 hours after inhibitor treatment. Delivery was delayed in two other ewes, compared with control animals. Uterine EMG activity in nimesulide- and atosiban-treated ewes (n = 4) was significantly reduced during the 48-hour inhibitor treatmenmt period. Maternal and fetal prostaglandin concentrations were significantly decreased in inhibitor-treated ewes during and after the infusions. Conclusions: The combination of nimesulide and atosiban treatment for 48 hours successfully inhibited the progression of active premature labor to delivery. This study further supports the potential value of this treatment regime for the inhibition of premature labor.


Aim
Previous studies have shown that warming temperatures can affect the phenology of cold deciduous forests, delaying the timing of leaf coloration. However, these works have principally been based on observations from a small number of sites. Consequently it has been challenging to infer continental-scale variations in the phenology of individual deciduous forest species and the extent to which there may be underlying climate drivers for these variations. To address that problem, this study evaluated and predicted the large-scale variations of leaf colouring by using macroscale observations and models.

Location
North America.

Methods
We developed leaf colouring models using select observations (1) from Harvard Forest only and (2) from both Harvard Forest and a new, ground-based, Alaskan dataset from the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN). Both model types were evaluated using reserved observations from the continental-scale USA-NPN that were not used in model calibration. Validated models were then used to assess the spatial scaling and interspecies variation in the timing of leaf coloration. The sensitivity of the models to projected climate change was also evaluated.

Results
Using a model calibrated only with data from Harvard Forest, significant biases were found in predictions of leaf colouring date for species with broad habitat ranges in the temperate to boreal regions. When calibration data from both Harvard Forest and Alaska were used, model performance improved throughout the whole continent. It was also found that species with similar shade tolerance could be described by similar models. Finally, the models indicated that climate change over the next century will affect leaf coloration in Alaska less than in the Harvard Forest region.

Main conclusions
For a given species, continental-scale variations in the timing of autumn leaf coloration can be predicted using a model driven by photoperiod and daily temperature. The temperature sensitivity of the leaf colouring date is nonlinear, such that warmer regions have a larger temperature sensitivity than cooler regions. Species-specific measurements from multiple environments are essential for model parameterization.


Nanotechnology has proven its importance in almost all areas, and textile industry is not an expectation. Several applications of nanotechnology can be extended to attain the performance enhancement of textile manufacturing machines and processes. Using different methods like electro spraying and electro spinning, various materials have been used to increase additional functions in textiles. This treatment is applied to give textiles the desired handle, to make further processing easier and to improve the thermal and antistatic properties. In this manuscript, we have summarized the recent advances made in nanotechnology and the methods of fabricating functional fibers by electrospinning and melt spinning preparation. Applications of the nanotechnology in textile industries are also summarized in this paper with some novel ideas that can be utilized for the future research in this area.


We study a sequential auction for sharing a wireless resource (bandwidth or power) among competing transmitters. The resource is assumed to be managed by a spectrum broker (auctioneer), who collects bids and allocates discrete units of the resource via a sequential second-price auction. It is well known that a second price auction for a single indivisible good has an efficient dominant strategy equilibrium; this is no longer the case when multiple units of a homogeneous good are sold in repeated iterations. For two users with full information, we show that such an auction has a unique equilibrium allocation. The worst-case efficiency of this allocation is characterized under the following cases: (i) both bidders have a concave valuation for the spectrum resource, and (ii) one bidder has a concave valuation and the other bidder has a convex valuation (e.g., for the other useriquests power). Although the worst-case efficiency loss can be significant, numerical results are presented, which show that for randomly placed transmitter-receiver pairs with rate utility functions, the sequential second-price auction typically achieves the efficient allocation. For more than two users it is shown that this mechanism always has a pure strategy equilibrium, but in general there may be multiple equilibria. We give a constructive procedure for finding one equilibrium; numerical results show that when all users have concave valuations the efficiency loss decreases with an increase in the number of users.


Motivation Modern single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies have made it possible to measure the RNA content of individual cells. The scRNA-seq data provide us with detailed information about the cellular states but, despite several pioneering efforts, it remains an open research question how regulatory networks could be inferred from these noisy discrete read count data. Results Here, we introduce a hierarchical regression model which is designed for detecting dependencies in scRNA-seq and other count data. We model count data using the Poisson-log normal distribution and, by means of our hierarchical formulation, detect the dependencies between genes using linear regression model for the latent, cell-specific gene expression rate parameters. The hierarchical formulation allows us to model count data without artificial data transformations and makes it possible to incorporate normalization information directly into the latent layer of the model. We test the proposed approach using both simulated and experimental data. Our results show that the proposed approach performs better than standard regression techniques in parameter inference task as well as in variable selection task. Availability An implementation of the method is available at https://github.com/jeintos/SCHiRM. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com


In an array of identical resonators coupled through weak springs, a small perturbation in the structural properties of one of the resonators strongly impacts coupled oscillations causing the vibration modes to localize. Theoretical studies show that measuring the variation in eigenstates due to such vibration- mode localization can yield orders of magnitude enhancement in signal sensitivity over the technique of simply measuring in- duced resonant-frequency shifts. In this paper, we propose the application of mode localization for detecting small perturbations in stiffness in pairs of nearly identical weakly coupled micro- electromechanical-system resonators and also examine the effect of initial mechanical asymmetry caused by fabrication tolerances in such sensors. For the first time, the variation in eigenstates is studied by coupling the resonators using electrostatic means that allow for significantly weaker coupling-spring constants and the possibility for stronger localization of vibration modes. Eigenstate variations that are nearly three orders of magnitude greater than the corresponding shifts in the resonant frequency for an induced perturbation in stiffness are experimentally demonstrated. Such high electrically tunable parametric sensitivities, together with the added advantage of intrinsic common-mode rejection, pave the way to a new paradigm of mechanical sensing. (2009-0046) Index Terms—Electrical coupling, mode localization, para- metric sensitivity, resonators.


During the Cold War, writers and artists were faced with a huge challenge. In the Soviet world, they were expected to turn out works that glorified militancy, struggle and relentless optimism. In the West, freedom of expression was vaunted as liberal democracy's most cherished possession. But such freedom could carry a cost. This book documents the extraordinary energy of a secret campaign in which some of the most vocal exponents of intellectual freedom in the West were instruments - whether they knew it or not, whether they liked it or not - of America's secret service.


We present a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) fitting method for estimating the unknown neutral face shape for frontal facial expression recognition using geometrical features. Subtracting the estimated neutral face, which is related to the identity-specific component of the shape leaves us with the component related to the variations resulting from facial expressions. Experimental results on the Extended Cohn-Kanade (CK+) database show that subtracting the estimated neutral face shape gives better emotion recognition rates as compared to classifying the geometrical facial features directly, when the person-specific neutral face shape is not available. We also experimentally evaluate two different geometric facial feature extraction methods for emotion recognition. The average emotion recognition rates achieved with the proposed neutral shape estimation method and coordinate based features is 88%, which is higher than the baseline results presented in the literature, although we do not use the person-specific neutral shapes (94% if we use), and any appearance based features.


Low-cost urban air quality sensor networks are increasingly used to study the spatio-temporal variability in air pollutant concentrations. This thesis aims to evaluate the data quality and usability of an air quality sensor network in Eindhoven. The focus is on hourly nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations, as NO2 has a large spatio-temporal variability and strong association with health effects. The first objective addresses outlier detection based on a spatio-temporal classification. Different spatio-temporal classes are defined, reflecting urban background vs. urban traffic stations, weekdays vs. weekends and four periods per day. Truncated normal distributions are used to set thresholds for the definitions of outliers in each spatio-temporal class. The second objective addresses calibration of the sensors, evaluating different methods in terms of temporal stability, spatial transferability and sensor specificity. A poor spatial transferability of the calibration parameters was found for all methods, consistent with different responses of individual sensors to environmental factors such as temperature and relative humidity. Due to their spatial and temporal variability, calibration parameters require regular updates and sensor-specific recalibrations. The third research objective addresses prediction of air pollutant concentrations using a spatio-temporal regression kriging framework. Prediction maps are created at fine spatio-temporal resolution, which can be used in infrastructural decision-making and epidemiological studies. The final research objective addresses health risk mapping. A panel study is set up to collect daily data on symptoms in asthmatic children. In a Bayesian analysis, these are combined with a priori information from literature to obtain accurate health effect estimates and subsequent burden of disease maps. After careful evaluation of the data quality and removal of outliers, this thesis shows that the low-cost air quality sensor network data can be used to map air pollutant concentrations at a fine spatial and temporal resolution. These maps can be used to estimate burden of disease at the within-city level.


A major obstacle to monitoring pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in mice has been an assay with sufficient sensitivity in small blood volumes. In 2013, Steyn and colleagues published a highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that overcame this barrier by coupling a duo of LH antibodies effective in accurately measuring LH in 4 µL whole blood aliquots. To address the unavailability of the original detection antibody, AFP240580Rb, we validated a replacement detection antibody, biotinylated-5303 SPRN-5, to be used within the established ELISA. This modified LH ELISA demonstrated a minimum detection limit of 0.0028 ng/mL and a limit of quantification of 0.0333 ng/mL or 0.0666 ng/mL in diluted whole blood samples of volume 6.4 µL (1:10) or 3.2 µL (1:20), respectively. Detection antibody 5303 SPRN-5 demonstrated parallelism, high precision, and accuracy across the standard curve. LH concentrations in comparison assays, utilizing either 5303 SPRN-5 or AFP240580Rb, were highly correlated (R 2 = 0.9829) and demonstrated LH pulse profiles from gonadectomized mice that were nearly superimposable. Pulsatile LH secretion was demonstrated in gonad-intact males and diestrous females and basal LH levels measured with 5303 SPRN-5 were ~5-fold higher than the limit of quantification. In addition, we document utility of this new LH ELISA to accurately measure LH in whole blood or serum across multiple sampling sites, as well as in pituitary extracts, LβT2 cells or media. In summary, the modified LH ELISA described here is highly effective in measuring LH across a range of sample types and small volumes in mice.


One of the principal difficulties in classifying and interpreting online disinformation is that the data arrive rapidly and evolve dramatically. The core challenges of classification and interpretation are not unique to contemporary disinformation; the problem of classifying documented information as authentic or inauthentic has been the focus of archivists for centuries. However, the rate of information creation and dissemination enabled by the Internet requires a new approach to categorization and archival examination of disinformation of documented information. This paper provides a survey of the archival problems facing disinformation researchers and proposes a taxonomy of disinformation that will aid future discussion and classification of disinformation.


Slump and compressive strength of the concrete with different steel slag powder content and different finenesses were discussed in this paper. It was indicated that: 1) High performance concrete with higher strength can be made using ground steel slag powder. 2) The greater content of steel slag powder, the more obvious was the effect of reducing slump losing. 3) About 40MPa concrete can be made using the steel slag powder whose specific surface was 510~600m2/kg under the condition that the content of steel slag powder was 50%~60%. 4) When the content of steel slag to be certain, the finenesses of steel slag powder had little effect on the performance of concrete.


Teaching practice is an important requirement to acquire a teaching qualification from South African universities. During teaching practice, it is customary for supervising teachers to guide and evaluate the students' performance. However, very little is known about how the interaction with supervising teachers influences the students' views about the teaching profession. Forty final-year Bachelor of Education students at the University of the Witwatersrand gave their consent to participate in a qualitative study using open-ended questionnaires. This research aimed to explore pre-service teachers' voices, using Denise Batchelor's (2008; 2006) research pertaining to conceptualisations of voice, namely, practical, epistemological and ontological, which were used to analyse the data. The findings suggested that pre-service teachers' pedagogical choices were linked to the supervising teachers' guidance. Many of the supervising teachers framed teaching as a profession that foregrounded administrative tasks and classroom management. Some of the supervising teachers' negative perceptions of the profession caused pre-service teachers to question their choice to become teachers. Another issue was that pre-service teachers wish to feel welcomed and supported at schools, but most experienced a lack of mentorship from their supervising teachers. We recommend that supervising teachers attend workshops and courses on how to mentor pre service teachers.


In this work, DMC (Dynamic Matrix Control) of a batch solution polymerization reactor has been investigated experimentally and by simulation to achieve a specific constant number average chain length and conversion in a minimum time. The process variables are reaction temperature and initiator initiation concentration. The performance of the DMC controller was compared with that of the IMC (Internal Model Control) controller. It was seen that DMC and IMC controllers yielded a good performance in maintaining the reactor temperature at its set point at the isothermal conditions.


Ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions provide unique opportunities to investigate nuclear matter under extreme conditions. Jets serve as useful probes of the hot, dense medium, known as the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), created in these collisions. Angular correlation, relative to a trigger particle with large transverse momentum (pT), have been extensively used as a tool to study properties of the QGP. Particle type dependence in these two-particle angular correlations can provide additional insights into the properties of nuclear matter under extreme conditions, such as the hadronization mechanisms at intermediate pT, where hydrodynamics alone cannot describe the hadron distributions. Di-hadron angular correlations using identified strange mesons (K0s) and baryons (and anti-) are studied at the intermediate pT in Au+Au collisions at center of mass energy per nucleon of 200 GeV. The study was carried out over a wide range of collision centralities adding on to previous measurements. The results show particle type dependence of associated particle yields and collective flow.


No-till (NT) and reduced tillage (RT) treatments can potentially enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization and soil aggregation. The turnover rate of SOC is affected by soil aggregate stability and the distribution of SOC across different aggregate-associated soil fractions. Carbon turnover rate slows down when soil aggregation increases and C is protected within stable microaggregates (53–250 μm). We studied the long-term (~10 yrs) effect of NT and RT practice on SOC stabilization in four soils typical for the boreal region. Distribution of SOC in different soil fractions was analyzed by wet sieving and further isolating microaggregates (mM) from large (>2000 μm, LM) and small (250–2000 μm, sM) macroaggregates. Aggregate stability decreased in the order of NT > RT > CT at all study sites. A general trend of redistribution of SOC was found at all study sites, i.e., the LM fraction gained SOC whereas the sM fraction lost SOC under NT compared to CT, while three out of the four sites did not show any signifi cant changes in total SOC content under NT compared to CT. Our results show no increase in the amount of mM fraction in NT practice. On the other hand, our hypothesis that there would be more SOC incorporated in mM fraction in NT and RT treatments compared to CT practice was corroborated at three of the four study sites. Overall, our results indicate that the potential to accumulate SOC under NT or RT compared to CT is limited in boreal agroecosystems.


In this note, a new class of hybrid impulsive and switching models is introduced and their asymptotic stability properties are investigated. Using switched Lyapunov functions, some new general criteria for exponential stability and asymptotic stability with arbitrary and conditioned impulsive switching are established. In addition, a new hybrid impulsive and switching control strategy for nonlinear systems is developed. A typical example, the unified chaotic system, is given to illustrate the theoretical results.


Fistula-in-ano is a debilitating disease affecting anorectal region. It is an abnormal tract lined with fibrous tissue and unhealthy granulation tissue. It usually begins from a perianal abscess caused by cryptoglandular infection. The abscess burst spontaneously and forms fistula-in-ano. It may also seen in association with other diseases like Crohn's disease, lymphogranuloma venereum, actinomycosis, malignancy and TB. It is distressing to the patient and the surgeon due to its recurrent nature and the complications like postoperative incontinence. The disease can be classified as low anal and high anal fistulae on the basis of its internal opening. Perianal subcutaneous fistula is included under low anal fistula. Generally, the modern treatment measures for fistula-in-ano include fistulectomy, fistulotomy, advancement flaps, fistula clip closure, LIFT technique, VAAFT procedure, anal fistula plug repair, fibrin glue and seton technique. The prime aim of the treatment is to eradicate the tract and drain the site of infection while preserving anal continence. In Ayurveda, Fistula-in-ano can be correlated with Bhagandara on the basis of signs and symptoms. Since it is difficult to treat, Acharya Susruta considered it as one among Ashtamahagada. He described the treatment as Shastra Karma, Kshara Karma, Agni Karma. In the present case study, a 35-year old male patient visited the OPD with perianal subcutaneous fistula was selected for Agnikarma after fistulotomy to reduce the treatment period and to improve the quality of living. Daily dressing was done with Jathyadi ghrta and the patient was cured within 21 days of intervention. The follow up was done for next 3 months and no complications were noted.


Fault tree analysis is a commonly used technique to assess the systems reliability performance in terms of its components reliability characteristics. More recently, the Binary Decision Diagram (BDD) methodology has been introduced which significantly aids the analysis of the fault tree diagram. The approach has been shown to improve both the efficiency of determining the minimal cut sets of the fault tree, and also the accuracy of the calculation procedure used to quantify the top event parameters. To utilise the technique the fault tree structure needs to be converted into the BDD format. Converting the fault tree is relatively straightforward but requires the basic events of the tree to be placed in an ordering. The ordering of the basic events is critical to the resulting size of the BDD, and ultimately affects the performance and benefits of this technique. Numerous studies have tackled this variable ordering problem and a number of heuristic approaches have been developed to produce an optimal ordering permutation for a specific tree. These heuristic approaches do not always yield a minimal BDD structure for all trees, some approaches generate orderings that are better for some trees but worse for others. The most recent research to find an approach to produce an optimal ordering for a range of trees has looked at pattern recognition approaches, such as genetic algorithm based classifier systems. This paper reviews the heuristic approaches that have been established and examines the pattern recognition techniques that have been applied more recently. Another potential new algorithm for ordering using the structural importance of the components is proposed.


Objectives: Depression in the frail elderly is a common problem in the Netherlands. Research has shown that life review is an effective way to prevent symptoms of depression in this group. An intervention that links life-review and theories about the autobiographic memory is 'dierbare herinneringen'. This intervention uses volunteers to perform life-review meetings with frail elderly people with mild to moderate depression symptoms. In this study the volunteer will be analysed during the talks with a participant. This research focuses on the question: What are the used interview techniques by volunteers in a life review intervention to prevent depression in frail elderly. The scientific importance of this study is to monitor the use of volunteers in life-review interventions. It is also important because the results of this study can possibly lead to a way to evaluate the use of volunteers in life-review interventions. In this study the intervention 'dierbare herinneringen' is evaluated based on the results. Method: This is an explorative one-case study uses a qualitative methodology. Five meetings between a volunteer and a participant have been transcribed. The transcripts of these meetings are fragmentised and inductively analysed (bottom-up).
Results: There are four main themes found that lead to four bigger concepts. The concepts are: method, interview techniques, (therapeutic) alliance and (therapeutic) conditions. These four concepts are related to tasks that the volunteer takes on. In each of these task there is the question; what should the intervention offer to fulfil these tasks and can we expect the volunteers to take these tasks. The boundary between volunteer and professional is in the study approach in an ethical way.
Conclusion: Based on this research the interview techniques that the volunteer uses, can be divided in to four concepts. Based on how these concepts are implemented life-review interventions that uses volunteers could be evaluated. However; the boundary between professionals should be chosen carefully. The intervention 'dierbare herinneringen' shows a focus on all four concepts and so shows to be an example for what a life-review intervention should be like.


OBJECTIVE
To identify similarities and differences in oral health attitudes, behaviour and values among freshman dental students.

DESIGN
Cross-cultural survey of dental students.

SETTING
18 cultural areas.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS
904 first-year dental students completed the Hiroshima University-Dental Behavioural Inventory (HU-DBI) translated into their own languages. Individual areas were clustered by similarity in responses to the questions.

RESULTS
The first group displayed an 'occidental-culture orientation' with the exception of Brazil (Cluster 1 comprised: Australia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and Brazil, Cluster 2: Germany, Italy, Finland and France). The second group displayed an 'oriental-cultural orientation' with the exception of Greece and Israel (Cluster 3 comprised: China and Indonesia, and Cluster 4: Japan, Korea, Israel, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and Greece). Australia and United Kingdom were the countries that were most alike. Ireland was the 'neighbour' to these countries. Greece and Malaysia had similar patterns of oral health behaviour although geographic conditions are very different. Although it was considered that in Hong Kong, occidental nations have affected the development of education, it remained in the oriental-culture group. Comparison with the data from the occidentals indicates that a higher percentage of the orientals put off going to the dentist until they have toothache (p < 0.001). Only a small proportion of the occidentals (8%) reported a perception of inevitability in having false teeth, whereas 33% of the orientals held this fatalistic belief (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Grouping the countries into key cultural orientations and international clusters yielded plausible results, using the HU-DBI.


Since pitch is a commonly varied parameter in auditory displays, we investigated whether it is possible to attend to relative pitch while ignoring changes in pitch, and whether changes in pitch could be assessed independently of the overall pitch of a dynamic auditory stimulus. Stimuli were defined as either congruent (e.g., high pitch stimulus that became higher in pitch) or incongruent (e.g., high pitch stimulus that became lower in pitch). In this experiment, faster responses to congruent stimuli indicated a failure of selective attention. This effect was uniform for pitch judgments with all stimuli, but varied with the overall pitch for pitch-change judgments. The performance difference between congruent and incongruent trials was greatest for the extreme (high or low) stimuli. Moreover, pitch information intruded more into responses to pitch change than vice versa. Auditory display designers can use congruent stimuli to help distinguish between high and low pitches. If pitch change is the important dimension, designers should restrict the range over which stimulus pitches vary.


Research on performance, robustness, and evolution of the global Internet is fundamentally handicapped without accurate and thorough knowledge of the nature and structure of the contractual relationships between Autonomous Systems (ASs). In this work we introduce novel heuristics for inferring AS relationships. Our heuristics improve upon previous works in several technical aspects, which we outline in detail and demonstrate with several examples. Seeking to increase the value and reliability of our inference results, we then focus on validation of inferred AS relationships. We perform a survey with ASs' network administrators to collect information on the actual connectivity and policies of the surveyed ASs. Based on the survey results, we find that our new AS relationship inference techniques achieve high levels of accuracy: we correctly infer 96.5% customer to provider (c2p), 82.8% peer to peer (p2p), and 90.3% sibling to sibling (s2s) relationships. We then cross-compare the reported AS connectivity with the AS connectivity data contained in BGP tables. We find that BGP tables miss up to 86.2% of the true adjacencies of the surveyed ASs. The majority of the missing links are of the p2p type, which highlights the limitations of present measuring techniques to capture links of this type. Finally, to make our results easily accessible and practically useful for the community, we open an AS relationship repository where we archive, on a weekly basis, and make publicly available the complete Internet AS-level topology annotated with AS relationship information for every pair of AS neighbors.


Abstract 1164 Introduction: Systemic corticosteroids, a common first-line treatment for chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), are known to be associated with an increased risk of cataracts. Feudjo-Tepie et al (2009) determined that the rate of cataracts was higher in patients treated with oral corticosteroids (14.0/1000 patient years [PYs] vs 6.0/1000 PY). Eltrombopag, an oral, nonpeptide thrombopoietin receptor agonist, is approved for the treatment of chronic ITP, a disease characterized by low platelet counts. Preclinical studies of eltrombopag in young rodents showed the potential for cataract development at doses ≥4 times the human clinical exposure. The potential for an association between treatment with eltrombopag and an increased risk for cataracts was assessed in 5 clinical trials in chronic ITP. Methods: Ocular data from 5 trials were analyzed: 2 placebo-controlled, 6-week studies, TRA100773A (phase 2) and TRA100773B (phase 3); a 6-month, placebo-controlled phase 3 study (RAISE); a phase 2 study with 3 intermittent treatment cycles of up to 6 weeks (REPEAT); and an ongoing extension study (EXTEND, data from June 2006-February 2010). Ocular monitoring included assessment of ocular health history and cataract risk factors such as chronic corticosteroid use, and a complete ophthalmologic exam, including assessment of the lens using the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) lens opacity grading protocol (AREDS Research Group, 2001). Ocular exams were performed at baseline, frequently during treatment, and 6 months following discontinuation of treatment. A Clinical Events Committee (CEC) composed of 3 external ophthalmologists was assembled to provide external medical review of the ocular data across the eltrombopag program. The CEC adjudicated the presence or absence of cataracts from treatment-blinded data and, where possible, made attributions of potential relatedness to study medication. Results: At baseline, 47/392 patients (12%) had pre-existing cataracts or were aphakic/pseudophakic. Across the trials, chronic corticosteroid use was the most commonly reported cataract risk factor, reported in 62% of patients with risk factor assessment. After CEC adjudication, in the two 6-week trials, 2/49 placebo-treated patients (4%) and 6/112 eltrombopag-treated patients (5%) had an incident cataract or progression of cataracts. All 8 patients reported prior use of corticosteroids, and 7/8 reported at least 1 risk factor for cataracts at their first ocular exam. In RAISE, 6/61 placebo-treated patients (10%) and 11/135 eltrombopag-treated patients (8%) had incident cataract or progression of cataracts. All 17 patients reported prior use of corticosteroids, identified as a risk factor at the baseline ocular exam. In REPEAT, the CEC identified 2/66 patients with potential cataract findings; given the additional risk factors in both patients, the CEC concluded there was no evidence of a drug-related increased risk of cataracts in the study. In the ongoing eltrombopag extension study, 25/299 patients (8%) had incident cataract or progression of cataracts. Twenty patients reported at least 1 cataract risk factor, and 24 patients had documented use of corticosteroids. The CEC noted variability in the AREDS lens grading, in which there was apparent progression followed by apparent regression to a lower, less severe grade on the AREDS scale. Conclusion: The CEC adjudication of the ocular data from the placebo-controlled eltrombopag studies in chronic ITP showed that a similar proportion of patients in the placebo- and eltrombopag-treatment groups had incident cataract or progression of cataracts. In the extension study, with patients exposed to eltrombopag for over 3 years, the proportion of patients with cataracts is similar to that observed in the placebo-controlled studies (despite the significant difference in exposure to eltrombopag). The noted variability in the AREDS lens grading reflects the inherent challenges for the clinician in implementing this scale in a consistent manner. Based upon the ocular data reviewed to date by the CEC, there is no evidence of an increased risk of cataract or cataract progression in chronic ITP patients treated with eltrombopag. The possibility of a relationship between eltrombopag and cataracts has not been completely excluded and is still being monitored in clinical trials. Disclosures: Cooper:GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria. Wong:Biogen Idec: Honoraria, Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Bayer: Honoraria, Research Funding; GSK: Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Pfizer Inc: Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; Leo Pharma: Honoraria; Johnson & Johnson: Research Funding. Brainsky:GlaxoSmithKline: Employment, Equity Ownership. Bailey:GlaxoSmithKline: Employment, Equity Ownership.


DevOps is the combination of cultural mindset, practices, and tools that increases a team's ability to release applications and services at high velocity. The development and operations teams always have a conflict around the scope of responsibility. With these differences the quality and speed of delivery across software Development Life Cycle is negatively impacted. DevOps is about removing the barriers between two traditionally delimited teams, development and operations. With DevOps, these two teams work together to optimize both the productivity of developers and the reliability of operations. They strive to communicate frequently, increase efficiencies, and improve the quality of services they provide. They take full ownership for their services, often beyond where their stated roles or titles have traditionally been scoped. Transitioning to DevOps requires a change in culture and mindset first. It is quite difficult to persuade a whole company to change its culture at once. This paper aims to bring different phases of software development lifecycle into DevOps implementation strategy and presents a comprehensive collection of leading tools used across Software Development life Cycle to automate and integrate different stages of software delivery. This paper also highlights on DevOps practices which span across different phases of the Software Development Lifecycle and how those can be implemented with different tools available.


Objective: Surgery is among the causes of acute pain. One of the major problems of patients after surgical procedures is postoperative pain. Annually, millions of people throughout the world undergo surgery and experience different intensities of postoperative pain. Due to physiological changes and given the stability of the heart and lung, the management and control of pain is rarely considered as a priority in the care of patients after cardiac surgery. Cardiac surgical patients experience pain due to the surgical incision and between the ribs nerve injury created during the course of the surgery, and irritation and inflammation of the pleura by catheters. Control and management of pain in intensive care units (ICU) are the main tasks in nursing care. The purpose of this review study was the investigation, assessment, and management of pain in patients after cardiac surgery. Materials and Methods: In this study, the literature available on Magiran, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and PubMed were collected, and after reviewing, the relevant literature was studied. Results: Although pain is one of the major stressors in patients undergoing surgery, the measures taken for the treatment and care of these patients are associated with experiencing pain. In this regard, all the resources have emphasized the using of guidelines and tools to assess patients' pain. However, in cardiac surgery patients, sufficient attention is not paid to pain control. Patients reported poorly controlled pain and experiences of moderate to severe pain after surgery. Conclusion: Pain is a subjective experience, and in patients who cannot report their pain, it should be considered important. According to numerous studies, pain control is not performed in ICUs. Thus, efforts should be made for appropriate control and reduction of pain, use of valid methods to determine and control pain, and improvement of the quality of the programs.


The authors of the letter had 3 main concerns regarding our article. They first questioned our use of brain MR imaging and gadolinium contrast. When neurologic symptoms are present, our standard protocol includes administration of contrast material. All of the patients in our study had neurologic symptoms suggesting intracranial pathology; thus, they received brain imaging. The authors of the letter do not include imaging in their diagnostic criteria and believe that the disease is diagnosed by clinical symptoms, electrophysiology, and CSF abnormalities. Why then do they not criticize our use of spine imaging? Other authors disagree with them because in children, nonimaging findings may be confusing due to the nonspecific clinical presentation, thus resulting in delayed diagnosis and even death. CSF and electromyography findings lag behind the clinical symptoms, thus supporting the usefulness of noninvasive techniques like MR imaging in children with suspected Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Furthermore, gadolinium-enhanced spine MR imaging is comparable with the criterion standard nerve conduction studies and may play a crucial role in the diagnosis of GBS, especially when specialist neurophysiology expertise is unavailable. The second question raised by the authors of the letter was whether the enhancement indicated prognosis. Because our article is retrospective in nature, it was not meant to indicate prognosis. The authors of the letter answered their own question by indicating that there are multiple factors involved in the prognosis. The third question raised was the effectiveness of enhancement in separating chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy from GBS. The authors themselves have indicated that enhancement is seen in both diseases. They believe that timing of the scan is important. Again, this is a retrospective study in which timing could not be controlled. The letter writers do not give their source of information as to why they think timing is important.


An important form of social behaviour in humans, is touch. A touch has many positive effects on a human's wellbeing and is also important for the daily social interactions between people. An important effect is that a touch may calm people down during stressful moments, and it has beneficial effects for people who are not touched. A touch is very complex and there are several aspects that influence the experience of a touch, one of them is the relation between people. A touch could be experienced as inappropriate when touched by someone you do not know and just appropriate when a person you know is touching you. Nowadays we live in a world where the use of (social) robots in different areas increases. Social robots are suitable for touch, because of their physical embodiment. This research focuses on the experience of a robot's touch, especially stress-reduction, after a bond is built between the person and the robot. An important question that needs to be answered is whether a touch of a robot can have the same effects as a touch between people. The main question is: can a touch of a robot, when the robot and the person have bonded with each other, calm a person down during a stressful moment.
Through a 2 x 2 between subjects factorial design I investigated whether the touch of a robot had a calming effect on a person. The two independent variables were having a bond or not, and to be touched or not. Dependent variables were stress reduction, robot-touch experience, robot perception and the Midas Touch effect. Throughout a thrilling movie, tension was created and the robot tried to soothe the participant verbally and touch, depending on the condition. In total, 67 participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions.
The results show that it seems possible to create a superficial bond between a robot and a person in a short period of time. But this study found no scientific evidence for any of the examined hypotheses. Also, an alternative bonding variable gave no interaction effect of bond and touch. Another interesting finding was that participants in the bond condition (who were touched by the robot) experienced the touch of the robot less pleasant than the participants in the no bond condition. But with the alternative bonding variable this is the other way around: participants in the bond condition experienced the robot touch more pleaseant than the no bond condition.
Potential limitations of this study are small effect sizes for interaction effects of the touch and bond, there were small differences in the data. Also, it is important to take into account that the effect of a robot touch could be different instead of a human touch. Future research should focus on how a robot touch could contribute in a positive way for a human being.


This paper proposes a new control method for musculoskeletal systems, which combines a feed-forward input with a feedback input, while considering an output limit. Our previous research proposed a set-point control that used a complementary combination of feedback using a time delay and a muscular internal force feed-forward; it achieved robust and rapid positioning with relatively low muscular contraction forces. However, in that control method, the range of motion of the musculoskeletal system was limited within a horizontal plane. In other words, that system did not consider the effect of gravity. The controller proposed in this paper can achieve the reaching movement of the musculoskeletal system without requiring accurate physical parameters under gravity. Moreover, the input of the proposed method can be prevented from becoming saturated with the output limit. This paper describes the design of the proposed controller and demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method based on the results of numerical simulations.


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The uncertainty of dynamic calibration for pressure transducer is a key indicator of its dynamic measurement precision. A novel grey method( GM) was proposed to evaluate the dynamic calibration uncertainty of pressure transducer. Firstly,a sine pressure generator was used to produce required sine pressure signal to drive the calibrated pressure transducer and obtain output of transducer. Secondly,using the grey relational analysis to deal with the measurement sequences outputted,a weighted value sequence was obtained.Thirdly,a grey model was established to calculate the calibration uncertainty of appointed frequency. Finally,a weighted least-square fitting method was applied to do fitting with the calibration uncertainty of appointed frequency,and then a dynamic calibration uncertainty model was established. An experimental verification under the calibration condition of changing amplitude and unchanging amplitude was set up. Grey method and Huang method( HM) were used to process the output of pressure transducer separately. The results show that the curve models of dynamic calibration uncertainty are consistent with each other in the setting condition. What is more,under changing amplitude,the relative error of calibration uncertainty obtained by the two methods is superior to 6% at appointed frequency points and is also less-than 10% at testing frequency points. Under unchanging amplitude,the relative error is less than 5% at most of frequency points and is superior to 0. 018%at some testing frequency points. Based on the above analysis,it can be approved that the grey method can evaluate the dynamic calibration uncertainty of pressure transducer reliably.


Abstract Objective The present research aimed to describe perceptions and behaviours around the consumption of water and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) by youths. Design A formative, qualitative study which conducted four focus groups. Transcripts were analysed and themes related to reasons youths drink SSB and water, and conversely do not drink SSB and water, were analysed to reveal thematic clusters around sensory factors, environment and policy, access, marketing and role model influences, and health risks. Setting A rural, tri-ethnic community in New Mexico, USA. Participants Middle- and high-school students, parents and teachers. Results Although youths and adults were aware of the health risks of soda, they did not translate this information to other SSB, including sports drinks and sweetened tea. Moreover, their perceptions of risks of dyes outweighed their concern with sugar. Youths and adults were aware of water's health benefits, but they focused on short-term benefits. Youths and adults perceived water as unappealing. Adults were also concerned with water safety and access. Conclusions This formative research has implications for decreasing SSB consumption and simultaneously increasing water intake among youths in rural communities. Addressing unique access and safety concerns related to water in rural communities, as well as increasing awareness of the risks of all types of SSB, can work together in a positive feedback loop to change perceptions and behaviours with long-term health consequences. Specific policy suggestions include strengthening school policies to restrict all types of SSB and water promotion efforts that address access, safety and health benefits.


Sol-gel methods offer a number of notable advantages for the synthesis of optical films and coatings. Areas of potential or actual application of this technology range from single layer and multilayer antireflection coatings to embossed planar waveguides and organic-modified oxide materials. The most notable advantages of these wet chemical nethods will be surveyed, as will progress achieved to date in a number of the most attractive representative areas. The technical bases for the success/failure in each case will be considered. Also to be discussed will be the prospects - in both the near-term and long-term - of future developments in the sol-gel synthesis of optical films, as well as the principal technical hurdles which must be overcome in order that such synthesis methods may achieve more widespread use in the future. Finally, a comparison will be made between the microstructures and characteristics of films and coatings deposited using sol-gel methods with those deposited from the vapor phase. In all cases, use will be made of recent advances in our laboratory in the subject area.


Open-set action recognition is to reject unknown human action cases which are out of the distribution of the training set. Existing methods mainly focus on learning better uncertainty scores but dismiss the importance of feature representations. We find that features with richer semantic diversity can significantly improve the open-set performance under the same uncertainty scores. In this paper, we begin with analyzing the feature representation behavior in the open-set action recognition (OSAR) problem based on the information bottleneck (IB) theory, and propose to enlarge the instance-specific (IS) and classspecific (CS) information contained in the feature for better performance. To this end, a novel Prototypical Similarity Learning (PSL) framework is proposed to keep the instance variance within the same class to retain more IS information. Besides, we notice that unknown samples sharing similar appearances to known samples are easily misclassified as known classes. To alleviate this issue, video shuffling is further introduced in our PSL to learn distinct temporal information between original and shuffled samples, which we find enlarges the CS information. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed PSL can significantly boost both the open-set and closed-set performance and achieves state-of-the-art results on multiple benchmarks. Code is available at https://github.com/Jun-CEN/PSL.


The ectodomains of numerous proteins are released from cells by proteolysis to yield soluble intercellular regulators. The responsible protease, tumor necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme (TACE), has been identified only in the case when tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) is released. Analyses of cells lacking this metalloproteinase-disintegrin revealed an expanded role for TACE in the processing of other cell surface proteins, including a TNF receptor, the L-selectin adhesion molecule, and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFalpha). The phenotype of mice lacking TACE suggests an essential role for soluble TGFalpha in normal development and emphasizes the importance of protein ectodomain shedding in vivo.


Renal failure in patients with acute or chronic hepatic insufficiency may be caused by prerenal factors (diuretics, hemorrhage), acute renal failure (shock, toxic tubular necrosis) or concurrent primary renal disease. Prerenal (functional terminal or circulatory) insufficiency to the kidneys seems to occur spontaneously; it is characterized by progressive reduction of glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow due to vasoconstriction and increase of intrarenal arterial resistance; the pathogenetic mechanisms of these changes are unknown. Reduction of effective plasma volume is especially important. Attempts at pharmacologically influencing renal blood flow have failed up to now. Increase of plasma volume and furosemide medication are therapeutic procedures worthwhile trying. Hemodialysis is indicated only, if restitution of liver function can be expected.


Discrete supertetrahedral clusters of metal chalcogenides are rare because of the difficulty involved in meeting global charge matching between the negative charge of the skeleton and counterion. We present herein the third type of a discrete chalcogenide cluster with a double T3 structure in the compound (HDBN)6[In20S33(DBN)6] (DBN = 1,5-diazabicyclo [4.3.0]-5-nonene), the anion of which features quasi-D3 symmetrical double-T3 In20S33 supertetrahedra with six cornered indium atoms coordinated by DBN molecules. DFT theory calculations of the interaction between host and guest show that this compound may have high kinetic stability and low photoelectric reactivity.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the effectiveness of opioids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and exercise therapy for knee osteoarthritis pain.

DESIGN
Systematic review with network meta-analysis.

LITERATURE SEARCH
We searched the databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception to April 15, 2021. Web of Science was used for citation tracking.

STUDY SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomized controlled trials comparing exercise therapy, NSAIDs, and opioids in any combination for knee osteoarthritis pain.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Network meta-analysis comparing exercise therapy, NSAIDs, opioids, and placebo/control for knee osteoarthritis pain. Additional trials from previous reviews were included to create the external placebo/control anchor.

RESULTS
We included 13 trials (1398 patients) with direct comparisons, supplemented with data from 101 additional trials. The treatment effect of NSAIDs for knee osteoarthritis pain was similar to that of opioids (standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.14 to 0.18; Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations [GRADE]: low certainty). Exercise therapy had a larger effect than NSAIDs (SMD, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.89; GRADE: very low certainty). No estimate could be made for exercise vs opioids due to the lack of studies. Exercise therapy ranked as the "best" intervention in the network meta-analysis, followed by NSAIDs, opioids, and placebo/control intervention (GRADE: low certainty).

CONCLUSION
Exercise therapy ranked as the best treatment for knee osteoarthritis pain, followed by NSAIDs and opioids. The difference between treatments was small and likely not clinically relevant, and the overall confidence in the ranking was low. The results highlight the limited evidence for comparative effectiveness between exercise therapy, NSAIDs, and opioids for knee osteoarthritis pain. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2022;52(4):207-216. doi:10.2519/jospt.2022.10490.


Abstract:  Linognathus samburi n. sp. is described from adult male and female specimens collected from a juvenile female Günther's dikdik (Madoqua guentheri) live-trapped near Olturot Village, Samburu district (Rift Valley Province) in northern Kenya. The new species is distinguished from other species of Linognathus including Linognathus geigyi and Linognathus damarensis, both of which parasitize Kirk's dikdik (Madoqua kirkii). A dichotomous key to the species of Linognathus that are known to parasitize dikdiks is included.


Large surveys using multiobject spectrographs require automated methods for deciding how to efficiently point observations and how to assign targets to each pointing. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) will observe around 106 spectra from targets distributed over an area of about 10,000 deg2, using a multiobject fiber spectrograph that can simultaneously observe 640 objects in a circular field of view (referred to as a "tile") 1.°49 in radius. No two fibers can be placed closer than 55″ during the same observation; multiple targets closer than this distance are said to "collide." We present here a method of allocating fibers to desired targets given a set of tile centers that includes the effects of collisions and that is nearly optimally efficient and uniform. Because of large-scale structure in the galaxy distribution (which form the bulk of the SDSS targets), a naive covering of the sky with equally spaced tiles does not yield uniform sampling. Thus, we present a heuristic for perturbing the centers of the tiles from the equally spaced distribution that provides more uniform completeness. For the SDSS sample, we can attain a sampling rate of greater than 92% for all targets, and greater than 99% for the set of targets that do not collide with each other, with an efficiency greater than 90% (defined as the fraction of available fibers assigned to targets). The methods used here may prove useful to those planning other large surveys.


In the past, providers of orthodontic services were solely concerned with esthetic/cosmetic considerations of the teeth. In more recent years emphasis has been placed on the interdigitation of the teeth in centric occlusion combined with the absence of occlusal interferences in sliding/gliding jaw movements with the teeth in partial contact with each other (protrusive, cuspid disclusion, etc.). Still more recently true jaw function, or, function of the entire stomatognathic system, as opposed to the more limited functional movement of the teeth as influenced by their inclined planes when in partial occlusion, has come to the fore. And rightly so. This necessarily required consideration of the health or pathology of the temporomandibular joint/s because some patients could open their mouths more than others. Some opened straight up and down, while others deflected to the left or right and some made various noises and jerky movements. Others opened noiselessly and smoothly and were in moderate to severe pain and pointing their finger at the orthodontic provider.


: Seedling establishment and seed nutritional quality require the sequestration of sufficient element nutrients. Identification of genes and alleles that modify element content in the grains of cereals, including Sorghum bicolor , is fundamental to developing breeding and selection methods aimed at increasing bioavailable element content and improving crop growth. We have developed a high throughput workflow for the simultaneous measurement of multiple elements 98 in sorghum seeds. We measured seed element levels in the genotyped Sorghum Association 99 Panel (SAP), representing all major cultivated sorghum races from diverse geographic and 100 climatic regions, and mapped alleles contributing to seed element variation across three 101 environments by genome-wide association. We observed significant phenotypic and genetic correlation between several elements across multiple years and diverse environments. The power 103 of combining high-precision measurements with genome wide association was demonstrated by implementing rank transformation and a multilocus mixed model (MLMM) to map alleles controlling 20 element traits, identifying 255 loci affecting the sorghum seed ionome. Sequence 106 similarity to genes characterized in previous studies identified likely causative genes for the 107 accumulation of zinc (Zn) manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), calcium (Ca) and cadmium (Cd) in 108 sorghum seed. In addition to strong candidates for these four elements, we provide a list of candidate loci for several other elements. Our approach enabled identification of SNPs in strong 110 LD with causative polymorphisms that can be evaluated in targeted selection strategies for plant 111 breeding and improvement.


This research is about the networks of pesantren in Priangan from 1800 to 1945. The result shows that along 1800-1945, there were many networks that described the relations among pesantrens in Priangan. There are five networks forms as manifested from those relations. First, the networks among pesantrens, which were formed, are based on scientific relation. They are Pesantren Al-Falah Biru, Pangkalan and Keresek in Garut; Gentur, Kandang Sapi and Darul Falah Jambudipa in Cianjur; Sukamiskin Bandung; and Darul Ulum in Ciamis. Those pesantrens have intellectual relation that pointed to one public figure, namely Syekh Khatib Sambas in Mecca. Second, the networks among pesantrens, which were formed, are based on relative (genealogy) relations. The existence of Pesantren Sumur Kondang, Keresek, Gentur, and Cijawura were the ones that have this relation. Third, the networks among pesantrens, which were formed, are based onmarriage relation. For instance, Pesantren Cidewa with Pagerageung, Pesantren Cipari with Cilame, Cipasung with Gentur Rancapaku, Cijantung with Gegempalan, Sukamiskin with Al-Jawami, and Pesantren Sukamiskin with Cijawura Bandung, were the ones that have this relation. Fourth, the networks among pesantrens, which were formed, are based on the similarities in developing a particular Islamic mysticism (tarekat). The existence of Pesantren Suryalaya which develops Qodiriyah wa Naqsabandiyah mysticism—followed by generating their talqin and Pesantren Al-Falah Biru which develops Tijaniyah mysticism—followed by generating their muqaddam are the ones of this relation. Fifth, the networks among pesantrens, which were formed, are based on the same vision of their movement and struggle against the colonizer. The existence of Pesantren Al-Falah Biru with Samsul Ulum Gunung Puyuh through POII (Persatoean Oemat Islam Indonesia) organization, and Pesantren Cipasung with Sukamanah through Nahdhatul Ulama organization in Tasikmalaya were the ones who struggle against the colonizers of Netherland and Japan.


We present time-resolved diffraction and two-slit interference experiments using a streak camera as a detector for femtosecond pulses of photons. These experiments show how the diffraction pattern is built by adding frames of a few photons to each frame. It is estimated that after 300 photons the diffraction pattern emerges. With time resolution we can check the speed of light and put an upper limit of 2 ps at our resolution to the time for wave function collapse in the quantum measurement process. We then produce interference experiments with photons of different energies impinging on the slits, i.e. we know which photon impinges on each slit. We show that for poor time resolution, no interference is observed, but for high time resolution, we have interference that is revealed as beats of 100 GHz frequency. The condition for interference is that the two pulses should overlap spatially at the detector, even if the pulses have different energies but are generated from the same pulse of the laser. The interference seems to be in agreement with classical theory at first sight. However, closer study and analysis of the data show deviations in the visibility of the interference fringes and of their phase. These experiments are discussed in connection with quantum mechanics and it may be concluded that the time resolution provides new data for understanding the longstanding and continuing arguments on wave-particle duality initiated by Newton, Young, Fresnel, Planck and others. A thought experiment is presented in the appendix to try to distinguish the photons at the detector by making it sensitive to colour.


The availability of water, which can be expressed in terms of water activity (a(w)), is one of the most important determinants for microbial homeostasis and growth on surface to air interfaces. Here we show, using an environmental control chamber containing a precisely controlled temperature/a(w) gradient in combination with a mathematical approach, that the environmental a(w) growth limit of a microorganism can be lower than its intracellular a(w) limit. This internal limit represents the point at which microbial cells cannot lower their internal a(w) any further in response to low external a(w) values without interfering with essential intracellular processes. To grow at external a(w) values below their internal limit, microbes need to generate more water metabolically than they lose to their environment. This internal a(w) limit can be calculated by measuring the a(w) growth limit of an organism at different water vapour diffusivities using barometric pressure as a variable. Fascinating morphological changes, such as rope-like superstructures formed by B. subtilis, are furthermore observed in response to low external a(w) values in particular around the calculated intracellular a(w) limit. The intracellular a(w) limit of an organism is a decisive parameter for water limitation-induced adaptations in cellular hydrophilicity and morphogenesis.


The nuclear lamina is a filamentous network that underlies the nuclear envelope. Lamina components include the family of LEM domain (LEM-D) proteins, named for LAP2, emerin and MAN1. Mutations in genes encoding LEM-D proteins cause tissuerestricted human disease, even though these genes are globally expressed. To understand the contributions of the LEM-D proteins to nuclear lamina function, investigations of the Drosophila LEM-D proteins was undertaken. The Drosophila genome encodes four LEM-D proteins and this thesis describes work done on the Drosophila homologues of MAN1 and emerin, Drosophila MAN1 (dMAN1) and Otefin (Ote). Chapter 2 describes the generation and phenotypic analyses of dMAN1 mutants. These mutants display a range of tissue-specific defects associated with an increase in BMP/Dpp signaling. This suggests that dMAN1 downregulates BMP/Dpp signaling at the nuclear periphery. Chapter 3 describes the identification and phenotypic analyses of ote mutants. Loss of Ote is associated with a tissue-specific defect of the female germline where ote mutant females display defects in germline stem cell (GSC) maintenance. Loss of Ote causes defects in the germline cells, the cap cells of GSC niche and an increased sensitivity to Dpp signaling in both germline and somatic cells. These findings support models suggesting that laminopathies arise from dysfunction of the homeostasis in stem cell populations. Taken together, these studies suggest that the nuclear lamina may play tissue-specific roles through regulation of signal transduction pathways. Our data also support the use of Drosophila as a system to elucidate the mechanistic basis of diseases associated with defects in the nuclear lamina.


We describe key steps in the process by which an animation and VFX studio (Animal Logic) integrated Pixar's Universal Scene Description™ into a large existing legacy pipeline. We discuss various architectural choices, as well as software systems developed to support these patterns. This successful USD migration has enabled the studio to significantly improve its toolchain productivity, supporting the simultaneous development of multiple feature films.


A popular assumption for out-of-distribution generalization is that the training data comprises sub-datasets, each drawn from a distinct distribution; the goal is then to"interpolate"these distributions and"extrapolate"beyond them -- this objective is broadly known as domain generalization. A common belief is that ERM can interpolate but not extrapolate and that the latter is considerably more difficult, but these claims are vague and lack formal justification. In this work, we recast generalization over sub-groups as an online game between a player minimizing risk and an adversary presenting new test distributions. Under an existing notion of inter- and extrapolation based on reweighting of sub-group likelihoods, we rigorously demonstrate that extrapolation is computationally much harder than interpolation, though their statistical complexity is not significantly different. Furthermore, we show that ERM -- or a noisy variant -- is provably minimax-optimal for both tasks. Our framework presents a new avenue for the formal analysis of domain generalization algorithms which may be of independent interest.