This paper presents an analysis of the perceptions of public spaces by megalopolis' residents. The research aim was to reveal the degree and criteria of urban public spaces' attractiveness (shopping and entertainment centers and park zones), as well as to identify demographic and socio-economic determinants of residents' preferences. Based on the results of a survey of Yekaterinburg residents (N=3570), the authors draw up the attractiveness rating of the objects on the city map where the positions are justified in terms of basic characteristics of focal public spaces (accessibility, multifunctionality, "service" equipment, etc.) and propose a typology of public spaces' consumers according to a variety of objects needed for multiple public activities. The authors reveal explicit disparities in the practices of public spaces' use.  Choices of shopping and entertainment centers depend on respondent's age and wealth status. Choices of recreation facilities depend on respondent's occupation, education level, wealth status, whether respondents have pre-school or school-age children. The more active users of one type of urban public spaces tend to use the other one more frequently. The practical significance of the obtained results is connected with the possibility to use them for the improvement of certain objects and for municipal strategic planning and development in general.
Acknowledgment. The study was part of the research project "Formation of the concept of prospective development of community areas of the municipal settlement "the city of Yekaterinburg" until 2035 (municipal contract № 15/2016-2 dated November 17th, 2016). The work was supported by the regulation no. 211 of the Government of the Russian Federation, contract no. 02.A03.21.0006.


Background: Understanding the long-term cardiovascular safety of type 2 diabetes (T2D) medications is a high-priority research area. We used electronic medical record (EMR) data in the National Patient Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) to characterize "real-world" use of T2D medications. Methods and Results: We identified a retrospective cohort of patients with T2D using a validated computable phenotype. We queried 4 unique PCORnet sites for data regarding T2D medication use in the 90 days before and after cohort entry. We described patient demographics, comorbidities, non-T2D medication use, and clinical variables in the 730 days prior to cohort entry. We identified 49,654 patients with T2D across the 4 sites (range: 2,276-20,322). Use of T2D medications, characterized by pharmacologic class, and selected characteristics are presented in Table. Among patients prescribed a single class of T2D medication, metformin was the most common (52.5%). Among patients prescribed multiple classes of T2D agents, the most common combination was metformin and sulfonylureas (49%). Conclusions: Across 4 PCORnet sites, metformin-based regimens were very prevalent, and approximately 10% of regimens included newer agents. PCORnet will be a valuable resource for future observational studies of T2D medications and long-term cardiovascular outcomes in "real-world" populations. Disclosure K.N. Bachmann: Stock/Shareholder; Self; Medtronic. C. Roumie: None. A.D. Wiese: None. C.G. Grijalva: None. J.B. Buse: Consultant; Self; Neurimmune AG. Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi, vTv Therapeutics. Stock/Shareholder; Self; Mellitus Health, PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Stability Health. Other Relationship; Self; ADOCIA, AstraZeneca, Dance Biopharm Holdings Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, MannKind Corporation, NovaTarg, Novo Nordisk A/S, Senseonics, vTv Therapeutics, Zafgen, Inc. R. Bradford: None. E.O. Zalimeni: None. P. Knoepp: None. H.L. Morris: None. W.T. Donahoo: None. N. Fanous: None. V. Fonseca: Board Member; Self; American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Consultant; Self; Abbott, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Novo Nordisk Inc., Sanofi US, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Research Support; Self; Bayer US. Stock/Shareholder; Self; Amgen Inc., BRAVO4HEALTH, Mellitus Health. B. Katalenich: None. M.M. Cook: None. R.L. Rothman: Consultant; Self; Abbott, edlogics. R.J. Chakkalakal: None. Funding National Institutes of Health (UL1TR002489, UL1TR002489); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (IK2CX001678); Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (CDRN-1306-04869)


MACLEOD, Sorcha Title: The role of international regulatory initiatives on business and human rights for holding private military and security contractors to account Author: MACLEOD, Sorcha Date: 2011 Citation: Francesco FRANCIONI and Natalino RONZITTI (eds), War by contract : human rights, humanitarian law and private contractors, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 343-361 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1814/47650 ISBN: 9780199604555; 9780191725180 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604555.003.0018 Abstract: This chapter considers the role of international regulatory initiatives in the sphere of business and human rights and corporate social responsibility in regulating private military and security companies (PMSCs). In particular, it analyses the effectiveness of the UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and considers them within the context of the Protect, Respect and Remedy framework of the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on business and human rights, John Ruggie. It concludes that while these initiatives possess some regulatory strengths, ultimately they are inadequate for ensuring effective PMSC accountability, due in particular to the lack of remedies available to those harmed by PMSC human rights violations. Furthermore, because of the lack of enforceability they lack any deterrent effect. A top-down–bottom-up, hybrid approach incorporating international and domestic regulation, as well as an effective, transparent, and enforceable remedy is proposed.


1. In normal fifth instar Rhodnius the cytological changes occurring in the medial neurosecretory cells (MNC) of the brain are very different before and after the 'critical period' for decapitation.

2. When a decapitated insect which has reached the 'critical period' (8 days after feeding) is joined in parabiosis to an insect with an intact cerebral endocrine system and which has not yet reached the 'critical period' (1 day after feeding) the MNC of the younger insect are induced to switch over from their normal sequence of cytological changes to those characteristic of the older insect. The induced changes do not occur in normal insects of the same age or in insects joined in parabiosis to others of the same age.

3. The nature of the changes indicates that release of stainable neurosecretory material is inhibited and its synthesis stimulated by the older insect. It is inferred that the haemolymph of insects which have reached the 'critical period' contains a factor which induces in the MNC an inhibition of release and a stimulation of synthesis. These are the events which occur in the MNC of normal insects at the critical period.

4. Considerable circumstantial evidence suggests that the factor is ecdysone. It may act either directly on the brain or on the corpus allatum. Its contribution to a feedback regulation of the endocrine system controlling growth and moulting is discussed.


AIM--To identify rapidly and accurately coryneform bacteria, using a commercial strip system. METHODS--Ninety eight strains of Corynebacterium species and 62 additional strains belonging to genera Erysipelothrix, Oerskovia, Rhodococcus, Actinomyces, Archanobacterium, Gardnerella and Listeria were studied. Bacteria were identified using conventional biochemical tests and a commercial system (API-Coryne, BioMèrieux, France). Fresh rabbit serum was added to fermentation tubes for Gardnerella vaginalis isolates. RESULTS--One hundred and five out of the 160 (65.7%) organisms studied were correctly and completely identified by the API Coryne system. Thirty five (21.8%) more were correctly identified with additional tests. Seventeen (10.6%) organisms were not identified by the system and three (1.9%) were misidentified. CONCLUSIONS--The system was a good alternative for identification of coryneform organisms. When occasionally performed with some additional tests, this method permits reliable and rapid identification of coryneform organisms compared with conventional methods.


Neural abstractive summarization models are prone to generate content inconsistent with the source document, i.e. unfaithful. Existing automatic metrics do not capture such mistakes effectively. We tackle the problem of evaluating faithfulness of a generated summary given its source document. We first collected human annotations of faithfulness for outputs from numerous models on two datasets. We find that current models exhibit a trade-off between abstractiveness and faithfulness: outputs with less word overlap with the source document are more likely to be unfaithful. Next, we propose an automatic question answering (QA) based metric for faithfulness, FEQA, which leverages recent advances in reading comprehension. Given question-answer pairs generated from the summary, a QA model extracts answers from the document; non-matched answers indicate unfaithful information in the summary. Among metrics based on word overlap, embedding similarity, and learned language understanding models, our QA-based metric has significantly higher correlation with human faithfulness scores, especially on highly abstractive summaries.


An application of a new method is presented for the measurement of the temperature profiles of chemical waves propagating through a solution. Using solutions of thermocolor materials, the temperature distribution caused by the heat released in the propagating chlorate oxidation of sulfite was visualized and recorded using digital image processing methods. After calibration, the temperature gradient was calculated from the gray scale value in a digitized image. Extensive multicomponent convection ("fingering") was induced by descending fronts. Only ascending fingers were observed because of the large thermal gradient that suppressed descending ones. The characteristics of the temperature profile were determined as a function of initial sulfite and chlorate concentration, and tube diameter. Unusual behavior was observed when the fronts propagated under conditions of continuously changing diameter in a conical vessel. Fingering occurred periodically in a front descending in a flask with an increasing diameter. However, when a front propagated down in flask whose diameter decreased, no multicomponent convection was observed.


Objectives Reprimo gene is a cytoplasmic protein belonging to a family of molecules controlled by p53 that inhibits cell cycle progression. Ectopic expression of Reprimo results in cell cycle arrest at the G2 phase. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of Reprimo expression on tumorigenesis of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN). Methods Thirty-seven surgical cases of IPMN were collected retrospectively. Twenty-eight patients had benign IPMNs (low-grade dysplasia, n = 18; intermediate-grade dysplasia, n = 10), and the remaining 9 had malignant IPMNs (high-grade dysplasia, n = 4; invasive carcinoma, n = 5). DNA from tumor samples was extracted. DNA methylation patterns of Reprimo were determined by the methods of methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. The methylation status of Reprimo was compared between benign IPMNs and malignant IPMNs. Results The incidence of aberrant DNA methylation of Reprimo was significantly higher in malignant IPMNs than in benign IPMNs (78% vs 32%, P = 0.016). Furthermore, the incidence of immunohistochemical Reprimo expression was significantly lower in malignant IPMNs than in benign IPMNs (22% vs 82%, P = 0.002). Conclusions Reprimo methylation was found more frequently in malignant IPMNs. Reprimo methylation is involved in malignant transformation of IPMNs.


A new Schiff-based multifunctional colorimetric chemosensor 1 was developed for the detection of various analytes (Cu2+, Co2+ and S2−). Sensor 1 could simply monitor Cu2+ and Co2+via the naked eye in an aqueous environment. The quite low detection limits were found to be 0.19 μM for Cu2+ and 0.18 μM for Co2+, which were much lower than the values recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for Cu2+ (31.5 μM) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Co2+ (17 μM). Importantly, 1 showed high preferential selectivity for Cu2+ and Co2+ over competitive metal ions. For practical applications, the sensing abilities of 1 for detecting Cu2+ and Co2+ were examined in real water samples. In addition, 1 exhibited high selectivity for S2− even in the presence of other anions without any interference. Moreover, the sensing mechanisms of 1 toward Cu2+, Co2+ and S2− were explained by theoretical calculations.


Sir Donald Irvine, president of the General Medical Council, is facing an attempt to unseat him, in part over his role in the Bristol heart surgery saga. The high profile obstetrician and gynaecologist Wendy Savage is to stand against Sir Donald for the presidency of the body which regulates British doctors, in an unprecedented challenge to an incumbent president.

Mrs Savage, a senior lecturer at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary and Westfield College, accuses Sir Donald of "a major political error" in embarking on a misconduct …


Thank you very much for downloading c est la vie. As you may know, people have look numerous times for their chosen books like this c est la vie, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they cope with some infectious virus inside their computer. c est la vie is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our digital library saves in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the c est la vie is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Optical frequency combs can be employed over a broad spectral range to calibrate laser frequency or vacuum wavelength. This article describes procedures and techniques utilized in the Precision Engineering Division of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) for comb-based calibration of laser wavelength, including a discussion of ancillary measurements such as determining the mode order. The underlying purpose of these calibrations is to provide traceable standards in support of length measurement. The relative uncertainty needed to fulfill this goal is typically 10−8 and never below 10−12, very modest requirements compared to the capabilities of comb-based frequency metrology. In this accuracy range the Global Positioning System (GPS) serves as an excellent frequency reference that can provide the traceable underpinning of the measurement. This article describes techniques that can be used to completely characterize measurement errors in a GPS-based comb system and thus achieve full confidence in measurement results.


In order to understand the complicated phenomena of pulverized coal injection (PCI) process in blast furnace (BF), several mathematical models have been developed by the UNSW and BSR cooperation. These models are featuring from coal combustion in a pilot‐scale test rig, to coal combustion in a real BF, and then to coal/coke combustion in a real BF, respectively. This paper reviews these PCI models in aspects of model developments and model applicability. The model development is firstly discussed in terms of model formulation, their new features and geometry/regions considered. The model applicability is then discussed in terms of main findings followed by the model evaluation on their advantages and limitations. It is indicated that the three PCI models are all able to describe PCI operation qualitatively. The model of coal/coke combustion in a real BF is more reliable for simulating in‐furnace phenomena of PCI operation qualitatively and quantitatively. Such model gives a more reliable burnout prediction over the raceway surface, which could better represent the amount of unburnt char entering the coke bed. These models are useful for understanding the flow‐thermo‐chemical behaviours and then optimising the PCI operation in practice.


Ultrasonic irradiation during the solidification of molten metals has an effect on grain refinement. However, the mechanism of grain refinement by ultrasonic vibration has not been fully understood yet, so that there exist difficulties to apply the ultrasonic grain refinement to industrial casting processes. In the present study, we propose the mechanism of ultrasonic grain refinement: the nucleation is based on the extremely high pressure generated by the collapse of acoustic cavitation in molten Al-Si alloys. The effect of ultrasonic irradiation into molten Al-Si alloy on the microstructure was firstly studied, that is, molten Al-12.6wt%Si alloy was rapidly cooled down from just above the eutectic temperature after the ultrasonic irradiation. The detailed microstructure observation exhibits that ultrasonic irradiation above the eutectic temperature causes crystalline -Al and silicon to nucleate. Through the measurement of silicon content in -Al nodules solidified with ultrasonic irradiation, the silicon content is higher than that in non-irradiated -Al nodules. It is known that the collapse of acoustic cavitation generates extremely high pressure. At the highly pressurized sites, the eutectic temperature rises and the crystallized -Al nodules contain higher amount of silicon compared with those solidified at ambient pressure. According to the fact that the -Al nodules crystallized above the eutectic temperature contain higher amount of silicon, the irradiated microstructure of -Al nodules is developed at the highly pressurized sites, that is, the collapse of acoustic cavitation induces nucleation and causes grain refinement.


Postlactational involution of the mammary gland is characterized by two distinct physiological events: apoptosis of the secretory, epithelial cells undergoing programmed cell death, and proteolytic degradation of the mammary gland basement membrane. We examined the spatial and temporal patterns of apoptotic cells in relation to those of proteinases during involution of the BALB/c mouse mammary gland. Apoptosis was almost absent during lactation but became evident at day 2 of involution, when beta-casein gene expression was still high. Apoptotic cells were then seen at least up to day 8 of involution, when beta-casein gene expression was being extinguished. Expression of sulfated glycoprotein-2 (SGP-2), interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme (ICE) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 was upregulated at day 2, when apoptotic cells were seen initially. Expression of the matrix metalloproteinases gelatinase A and stromelysin-1 and the serine proteinase urokinase-type plasminogen activator, which was low during lactation, was strongly upregulated in parallel starting at day 4 after weaning, coinciding with start of the collapse of the lobulo-alveolar structures and the intensive tissue remodeling in involution. The major sites of mRNA synthesis for these proteinases were fibroblast-like cells in the periductal stroma and stromal cells surrounding the collapsed alveoli, suggesting that the degradative phase of involution is due to a specialized mesenchymal-epithelial interaction. To elucidate the functional role of these proteinases during involution, at the onset of weaning we treated mice systemically with the glucocorticoid hydrocortisone, which is known to inhibit mammary gland involution. Although the initial wave of apoptotic cells appeared in the lumina of the gland, the dramatic regression and tissue remodeling usually evident by day 5 was substantially inhibited by systemic treatment with hydrocortisone. mRNA and protein for gelatinase A, stromelysin-1 and uPA were weakly induced, if at all, in hydrocortisone-treated mice. Furthermore, mRNA for membrane-type matrix metalloproteinase decreased after hydrocortisone treatment and paralleled the almost complete inhibition of activation of latent gelatinase A. Concomitantly, the gland filled with an overabundance of milk. Our data support the hypothesis that there are at least two distinct phases of involution: an initial phase, characterized by induction of the apoptosis-associated genes SGP-2 and ICE and apoptosis of fully differentiated mammary epithelial cells without visible degradation of the extracellular matrix, and a second phase, characterized by extracellular matrix remodeling and altered mesenchymal-epithelial interactions, followed by apoptosis of cells that are losing differentiated functions.


Papers in the September 2020 issue of the Journal include the NBN Futures Forum on the social and economic benefits of broadband for digital inclusion and telehealth, the benefits of submarine cables to South Pacific nations, 5G transmission, the economics of over-the-top media, energy efficient wireless sensor networks and a celebration of the life of Liz Fell, journalist and Distinguished Fellow of the Telecommunications Society of Australia (now the Telecommunications Association). This year, open source has moved into focus with the telecommunications industry, with open core systems and open radio access networks for 5G taking centre stage. The Journal welcomes contributions on telecommunications and the digital economy.


MilliporeSigma created a unique web-based greener alternative scoring matrix, also known as MilliporeSigma's DOZN, a quantitative green chemistry evaluator based on the 12 principles of green chemistry. The 12 principles of green chemistry provide a framework for learning about green chemistry and designing or improving materials, products, processes and systems. DOZN scores products based on metrics for each principle and aggregates the principle scores to derive a final aggregate score. The system calculates scores based on manufacturing inputs, GHS and SDS data which provide a green score for each substance. DOZN is flexible enough to encompass the diverse portfolio of products. The DOZN system has also been verified and validated by a third party to ensure best practices are applied. This new Greener Chemistry Initiative offer customers' an increased breadth of Greener Alternative products with confirmatory documentations to validate greenness. DOZN 2.0 is launched to customers to use the tool to improve their sustainability.


The last decade has experienced a vivid enthusiasm to unravel the mystery of consciousness believed to be one of the major puzzles of human kind. We share this enthusiasm. Still, we feel that current models are incomplete suffering from a problem that we call the "small network argument".


In this paper, we present a phase-based binarization model for degraded document images, also a post processing method that can improve any binarization method and a ground truth generation tool. Usually, many binarization techniques are implemented in the literature for different types of binarization problems. It include an adaptive image contrast based document image binarization technique that is tolerant to different type of document degradation such as uneven illumination document smear involving smudging of text, seeping of ink to the back side of page, degradation of paper ink because of aging and so on similar reasons. An objective evaluation based methodology for handwritten document image binarization techniques that aims to reduce the human involvement in the ground truth construction and consecutive testing Image binarization is the method of separation of pixel values into dual collections, foreground for black and background for white. In images the grayscale and color images into black and white images. Ancient and degraded document improvement using image processing is attracting many researchers in the recent period. Binarization is very popular cleaning the document for further processing.


In many undergraduate biology courses, animal dissections are used to teach body form and function, and comparative anatomy. Additionally, animal dissection is a key skill for some careers and forms part of the professional accreditation for some vocational degrees. Recently, there has been increasing uptake of technological alternatives (e.g. virtual reality, computer models) to animal dissections. This adoption in biological courses in Higher Education is largely due to rising students' ethical concerns and minimising the number of animals used in dissections. However, in making these accommodations, we need to ensure that we are not compromising the quality of learning and skill-based outcomes to which the students are exposed. We reviewed the literature into technological alternatives to animal dissection and critiqued the reasons for their implementation, student perceptions and advantages or disadvantages to student learning. We found that students were generally positive towards technological alternatives, however, the impact of these technologies on student learning depended on the learning objectives and the closeness of the assessment to the original dissection activity. We propose a flexible approach for the use of technological alternatives for animal dissections, tailored to individual student's ethical perspectives, as well as career path selection.


This research aimed to create new knowledge and pioneer a path in the area relating to future trends in the WSN, by resolving some of the issues at the MAC layer in Wireless Sensor Networks. This work introduced a Multi-channel Distributed Coordinated Function (MC-DCF) which takes advantage of multi-channel assignment. The backoff algorithm of the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) was modified to invoke channel switching, based on threshold criteria in order to improve the overall throughput for wireless sensor networks.
This work commenced by surveying different protocols: contention-based MAC protocols, transport layer protocols, cross-layered design and multichannel multi-radio assignments. A number of existing protocols were analysed, each attempting to resolve one or more problems faced by the current layers.
The 802.15.4 performed very poorly at high data rate and at long range. Therefore 802.15.4 is not suitable for sensor multimedia or surveillance system with streaming data for future multichannel multi-radio systems.
A survey on 802.11 DCF - which was designed mainly for wireless networks –supports and confirm that it has a power saving mechanism which is used to synchronise nodes. However it uses a random back-off mechanism that cannot provide deterministic upper bounds on channel access delay and as such cannot support real-time traffic. The weaknesses identified by surveying this protocol form the backbone of this thesis

The overall aim for this thesis was to introduce multichannel with single radio as a new paradigm for IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordinated Function (DCF) in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that is used in a wide range of applications, from military application, environmental monitoring, medical care, smart buildings and other industry and to extend WSNs with multimedia capability which sense for instance sounds or motion, video sensor which capture video events of interest.
Traditionally WSNs do not need high data rate and throughput, since events are normally captured periodically. With the paradigm shift in technology, multimedia streaming has become more demanding than data sensing applications as such the need for high data rate protocol for WSN which is an emerging technology in this area. The IEEE 802.11 can support data rates up to 54Mbps and 802.11 DCF was designed specifically for use in wireless networks. This thesis focused on designing an algorithm that applied multichannel to IEEE 802.11 DCF back-off algorithm to reduce the waiting time of a node and increase throughput when attempting to access the medium. Data collection in WSN tends to suffer from heavy congestion especially nodes nearer to the sink node. Therefore, this thesis proposes a contention based MAC protocol to address this problem from the inspiration of the 802.11 DCF backoff algorithm resulting from a comparison of IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.15.4 for Future Green Multichannel Multi-radio Wireless Sensor Networks.


Based on model of point-electrode and theory of vector sum, analytical expressions of electric fields on the basis of mathematical model has been deduced to reduce the ship corrosion electric field. Optimal result of current of compensatory anticathode has been gotten by appling evolutionary programming arithmetic and contrasted with actual effect. The simulation and experiment show that the electric fields around ship are reduced obviously, and the validity of the calculation method based on evolutionary programming arithmetic are proved.


: McWharter first described volar carpometacarpal dislocations of the fifth digit in 1918. Since then, 14 cases have been reported in the medical literature. Berg and Murphy were first to report a case of ulnopalmar dislocation that was successfully treated with closed reduction and immobilization. Previously reported cases required internal fixation with or without open reduction. We report a fifth carpometacarpal ulnopalmar dislocation, treated with closed reduction and casting.


First, as part of a longer work on theorizing Filipino adaptation, this study discusses extant samples of komiks-to-film adaptations in the 1950s. The study reviews received/dominant/Western adaptation literatures that have dominated the field. Secondly, it argues for the following points as a springboard to construct a theory of adaptation: The limits of received/dominant/Western film adaptation theory dominating postcolonial cinemas such as the Philippines; The need to de-Westernize theory or to indigenize Filipino film adaptation theory; and To recognize constructs and formulate concepts from historical and cultural Filipino realities to inform the theory. This study is a meta-theoretical discussion that will begin the construction of a Filipino film adaptation theory.


Abstract. The genus Vitex L. (Lamiaceae, Viticoideae) comprises 45 native species in Madagascar, all but one of which are endemic to the country. Several new species are still to be described, and we propose here three new species from the littoral forests: V. mcphersonii Callm. & Phillipson, V. rabenantoandroi Callm. & Phillipson, and V. zigzag Callm. & Phillipson. These three distinctive new species grow in the threatened littoral forests of the east coast of Madagascar. The risk of extinction to these species was assessed following the IUCN Red List Criteria, revealing that V. mcphersonii should be assessed as "Vulnerable," V. rabenantoandroi as "Near Threatened," and V. zigzag as "Critically Endangered." Each new species is provided with a discussion of its morphological affinities and a line drawing.


Theory and discourse suggest that the aesthetic appreciation of a wide range of artifacts—including works of art and consumer products—is partially governed by the principle of maximum effect for minimum means. We conducted two studies to find experimental evidence of this principle in the context of product design. In Study 1, we tested the hypothesis that the aesthetic appreciation of a product would be positively affected by the perception of the product as the minimum means achieving the maximum effect. Encouraged by the results of this study, we conducted Study 2 to test again the principle of maximum effect for minimum means using a more controlled experimental design. Our findings provide support for our hypothesis, indicating that the aesthetic appreciation of a product depends, to some extent, on the perception that the product achieves more than other products from its category by making an efficient use of resources.


A thinning trial took place in a 19-year-old Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr) plantation in the south east of Ireland where three methods of harvesting were performed using the same harvester and forwarder machine system: cut to length harvesting (CTL), integrated harvesting (INT), and whole tree harvesting (WT). The objectives of the trial were to evaluate the log volume and biomass mobilised using each method, the productivity of the machines, and quality parameters of the biomass as a fuel. Using the CTL method, 56.5 m3 ha-1 of pulpwood and 6.4 m3 ha-1 of small sawlog were harvested. This equated to 23.6 odt ha-1 of roundwood material. A greater amount of biomass was mobilised using the INT and WT harvesting methods than the CTL method. On average, compared to the CTL method, 81.8% more biomass was mobilised by the INT method and 93.6% more biomass was removed by the WT method. Wood fuel supply chain (harvesting, forwarding, and chipping) cost to the forest roadside was highest for CTL, and was 23% lower for INT, and 33% lower for WT. The results suggest that the potential biomass mobilisation from first thinnings may be greater than current estimates suggest, while harvesting costs may be further reduced by employing specialised methods. However, the trial was confined to one site, and therefore as the results are site specific they need to be interpreted with caution.


Surf zone fishes were captured by beach seine over the late summer and early fall of 5 yr (1995 to 1999), spanning pre-, during, and post-nourishment time periods along a 15 km expanse of the New Jersey shoreline. During the baseline years of sampling, silversides (primarily Menidia menidia) numerically dominated the surf-zone fish community. In 1997, coincident with beach nourishment operations, bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix became numerically dominant, increasing in abundance 10-fold. Bluefish were not captured near active beach nourishment sites and were sig- nificantly more abundant at reference stations than in the beach nourishment (treatment) area for 2 of 6 sampling dates in 1997. In contrast, northern kingfish Menticirrhus saxatilis were more abundant at treatment stations in 1997, and on one occasion congregated at the stations undergoing active sand replenishment. The feeding habits of Atlantic silversides and northern kingfish were consistent throughout the study period. In 1997, prey biomass was greater in fish caught at treatment stations when significant differences occurred. Prey consisted primarily of benthic invertebrates such as poly- chaetes and mole crabs. Amphipods and insects, which probably originated from groins and terres- trial sources respectively, were also common prey items and were present in plankton samples. Retrospective power analysis indicates that an approximate 3-fold difference in mean fish abundance was the minimum detectable effect size between reference and treatment areas. Beach nourishment impacts on the surf zone fish monitored in this study were restricted to localized attraction (northern kingfish) and avoidance (bluefish) responses to the beach nourishment operation.


To implement e-commerce, the key issue is to ensure that the security of system on entire business process, primarily through encryption, security, security agreement to guarantee the e-commerce network security. The security protocol mainly used Secure Sockets Layer Protocol and Secure Electronic Transaction. In this paper, after analysis two kinds of protocol and the security technology used in the protocol, put forward a small scale enterprise e-commerce transaction system design of network security protocols, which play a reference role to small and medium enterprises engaged in electronic commerce and transaction security.


The assessment of the health state of complex physical systems is of key importance for maintaining the same systems safe, less expensive, adequately equipped and operating. In this work, a methodology is defined for evaluating the structure and performance integrity of a physical system or its components. The monitoring activity is based on a Multilevel Artificial Neural Network for describing, diagnosing and predicting the state of the monitored system. Following a coarse-to-fine paradigm, artificial neural networks of different topologies and typologies are modularly and hierarchically combined to firstly process and validate the sensor measurements acquired on-field, then classify the validated measures and, at the end, predict the state of the system. In course tests on experimental data furnished by Alenia and regarding aircraft components have shown that the proposed method is a promising aid for the evaluation of the health state of a physical structure and that it can be integrated inside a single aircraft life cycle monitoring system.


The growth of the information security industry reflects the global threat of cybercriminal activities. Cybercriminal activities impose significant costs on the global economy. Yet, although cybercriminal activities are underpinned by information systems (IS), research is scarce on how digitalization facilitates cybercrimes. To understand, anticipate and control successful cybercriminal modi operandi , crime researchers need to understand the capabilities inherent in cybercriminals. We analyze the case of the WannaCry attack, a global unprecedented ransomware attack, from an IS capability perspective. Our preliminary analysis suggests a three-phase process model of the dynamic environment of WannaCry consisting of cybercriminals and counterparties. During each phase, cybercriminals relied on different types of IS capabilities to continue their operations within a changing context.


Allergenicity of plant and invertebrate N-glycans has been shown to be caused by the presence of two typical nonmammalian substitutions: an α(1,3)-fucose linked to the proximal N-acetylglucosamine and a β(1,2)-xylose linked to the core mannose. IgE antibodies against these carbohydrate structures are induced upon exposure to pollen or after insect stings, and result in extensive cross-reactivity to plant and invertebrate foods. These cross-reactive IgE antibodies have been shown to possess variable degrees of biological activity, but have never been convincingly shown to induce clinical food allergy. The most likely explanation for this lack of clinical relevance has to be sought in a combination of epitope valency and antibody affinity. In diagnostic tests, these antibodies are at the basis of many false-positive test results for food allergy. Recombinant technologies offer the possibility to produce allergens that do not carry IgE-binding glycans. Whether their absence or presence is of importance for the application of recombinant allergens in immunotherapy is still largely unknown.


This study focuses on the possible extensions of current temporal logics. In this study, 4 extensions are proposed: self-referring events, nonexisting events, multiple recurrence of events, and an improvement on anterior past events. Each of these extensions is on a different level of temporal logics. The main motivation behind the extensions is the temporal analysis of Turkish. Similar to temporal logic studies built on other natural languages, like French, Ukrainian, Italian, Korean, English, or Romanian, this is the first time that the Turkish language has been deeply questioned in the sense of computable temporal logic using the view of a standardized temporal markup language. This study keeps the methodology of TimeML and researches Turkish from the perspectives of Reichenbach and Allen's temporal logics. Reichenbach's temporal logic is perfectly capable of handling the anterior temporal feeling, but it is not enough to handle the sense of `learnt' or `study', which are 2 past tenses in Turkish. Moreover, Allen's temporal logic cannot handle 2 events following each other continuously, which is called recurring events in this study for the first time. Finally, based on the experiences from a 4-year PhD study on natural language texts, this study underlines the absence of self-referring or a reference to nonexisting events in temporal logics. After adding the above extensions to computable temporal logic, the capability of tagging the events in Turkish texts is measured with an increase from 18% to 100%, creating a Turkish corpus for the first time. Moreover, new software is implemented to visualize the tagged events and previous software is developed to handle events tagged for Turkish.


Our understanding of the generation of coherent synchrotron radiation in magnetic bending systems and its impact on beam dynamics has grown considerably over the past few years. The search for understanding has brought a number of surprises, all related to the complexity of the fully self-consistent problem. Herein I survey the associated phenomenology, theory, and experiments while emphasizing important subtleties that have recently been uncovered. I conclude by speculating on courses of future investigations that may prove fruitful.


BACKGROUND
Sexual dysfunction is common among people who are prescribed antipsychotic medication for psychosis. Sexual dysfunction can impair quality of life and reduce treatment adherence. Switching antipsychotic medication may help, but the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of this approach is unclear.

OBJECTIVE
To examine whether or not switching antipsychotic medication provides a clinically effective and cost-effective method to reduce sexual dysfunction in people with psychosis.

DESIGN
A two-arm, researcher-blind, pilot randomised trial with a parallel qualitative study and an internal pilot phase. Study participants were randomised to enhanced standard care plus a switch of antipsychotic medication or enhanced standard care alone in a 1 : 1 ratio. Randomisation was via an independent and remote web-based service using dynamic adaptive allocation, stratified by age, gender, Trust and relationship status.

SETTING
NHS secondary care mental health services in England.

PARTICIPANTS
Potential participants had to be aged ≥ 18 years, have schizophrenia or related psychoses and experience sexual dysfunction associated with the use of antipsychotic medication. We recruited only people for whom reduction in medication dosage was ineffective or inappropriate. We excluded those who were acutely unwell, had had a change in antipsychotic medication in the last 6 weeks, were currently prescribed clozapine or whose sexual dysfunction was believed to be due to a coexisting physical or mental disorder.

INTERVENTIONS
Switching to an equivalent dose of one of three antipsychotic medications that are considered to have a relatively low propensity for sexual side effects (i.e. quetiapine, aripiprazole or olanzapine). All participants were offered brief psychoeducation and support to discuss their sexual health and functioning.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The primary outcome was patient-reported sexual dysfunction, measured using the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale. Secondary outcomes were researcher-rated sexual functioning, mental health, side effects of medication, health-related quality of life and service utilisation. Outcomes were assessed 3 and 6 months after randomisation. Qualitative data were collected from a purposive sample of patients and clinicians to explore barriers to recruitment.

SAMPLE SIZE
Allowing for a 20% loss to follow-up, we needed to recruit 216 participants to have 90% power to detect a 3-point difference in total Arizona Sexual Experience Scale score (standard deviation 6.0 points) using a 0.05 significance level.

RESULTS
The internal pilot was discontinued after 12 months because of low recruitment. Ninety-eight patients were referred to the study between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019, of whom 10 were randomised. Eight (80%) participants were followed up 3 months later. Barriers to referral and recruitment included staff apprehensions about discussing side effects, reluctance among patients to switch medication and reticence of both staff and patients to talk about sex.

LIMITATIONS
Insufficient numbers of participants were recruited to examine the study hypotheses.

CONCLUSIONS
It may not be possible to conduct a successful randomised trial of switching antipsychotic medication for sexual functioning in people with psychosis in the NHS at this time.

FUTURE WORK
Research examining the acceptability and effectiveness of adjuvant phosphodiesterase inhibitors should be considered.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN12307891.

FUNDING
This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 24, No. 44. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.


This study falls within the enhancing awareness and understanding theme of the National Climate Change Strategy. It was conducted by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in January/February 2001 and involved 1,643 farming operation, feeder cattle, dairy cattle, hogs and poultry producers. The purpose of this study is to assess producers' level of awareness of climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as their understanding of the role of agriculture in the emissions of GHG. This study also establishes a baseline measurement that will be used to evaluate the success of the awareness and public education effort regarding climate change and GHG.


Oat β-glucan was partially degraded by lichenase for different periods of time. Weight-average molecular weights were obtained from SEC−RI−RALLS−Visc and ranged from 5300 to 257 200. Weight-average intrinsic viscosities ranged from 7 to 160 mL/g. The determined viscosity equation, [η] = 5.47 × 10-3M 0.82, indicated an extended coil conformation. When the coil was modeled as a wormlike chain a persistent length of 2.30 nm was obtained. 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy were used to identify the structural units in the partially degraded β-glucan. The identification of the disaccharide laminaribiose in the hydrolysates may suggest the presence of a new structural feature in cereal β-glucan.


Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 1.5 deaths reported per 1000 people. Carotid artery stenting (CAS) with cerebral protection is slowly becoming the gold standard for treatment of carotid artery occlusive disease in high risk patients. CAS is based on the selective cannulation of the common carotid artery by means of an introducer sheath or guiding catheter and the deployment of a wire mesh (stent) to treat the occluded artery segment. The goal for CAS is the prevention of stroke and its efficacy depends greatly on the periprocedural complications. The major concern with CAS is its potential to produce emboli that may translate into a severe neurological disorder. In this regard, several cerebral protection devices (CPDs) have been developed recently as an adjunct to CAS, with the primary function of capturing the plaque particles released from the site of vessel injury to prevent neurological events. A category of CPD that has received recent attention due to its ability to allow continued distal perfusion is the embolic protection filter. We tested in vitro one FDA approved (RX Accunet Embolic Protection System, Guidant Corporation, Indianapolis, IN) and two investigational (FilterWire EZ, Boston Scientific, Natick, MA and Angioguard XP, Cordis Corp., Coral Gables, FL) devices of this kind. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of emboli capture of the devices, investigate potential intangible failure modes and complications, and set a baseline of desirable design parameters for future generations of embolic protection filters. None of the devices tested completely prevented embolization into the artery model. Overall, the RX Accunet device had the best filtration performance, failing to capture 0.16% of plaque particles when deployed in an artery model of 5.5 mm in diameter. Several complications related to device retrieval were detected in all devices on any given set of testing scenarios. Crossing profile, opening/closing mechanics and pore size were among the key design variables required for improved device designs.


The soluble state of amphiphile and crosslinked derivatives of carboxymethylpullulan was investigated by physicochemical analyses. This soluble state also called infinite sol was obtained from hydrogels after a short-time temperature treatment. The analyses show a large distribution in size for the species in solution (from some nanometers to some micrometers). Furthermore, they also reveal the presence of hydrophobic associations (intra and/or intermolecular) in addition to the chemical links. The nature of these hydrophobic interactions will depend on the polymer concentration and on the solvent used.


This commentary reflects upon the major Māori land reforms in te Ture Whenua Māori Bill (2016). The reforms implement more bureaucracy and replace some mechanisms used by the Māori Land Court to protect against Māori land loss. The Waitangi Tribunal, which has dealt with Māori grievances over land loss for over 30 years, issued a critical report in March 2016 along with recommendations about the reforms. That report was largely ignored by the New Zealand Government. This commentary contains a review of the literature on Māori land to date, as it helps to understand the ideas behind the Tribunal's report as well as the reforms. There is also an examination of the main points made by the Waitangi Tribunal, as well as aspects of te Ture Whenua Māori Bill (2016). The overall conclusion is that the Māori people should be very nervous about the reforms for their lands.


The present thesis explores aspects of the liturgical hymns transmitted under the name of Germanos, a figure frequently identified with Germanos I, patriarch of Constantinople (715- 730). The corpus of hymns associated with this name includes about 65 kanons (nine-ode hymns) and 52 stichera (monostrophic stanzas), mostly composed during the Middle Byzantine period. By focusing on this large body of texts, the purpose of my research is to contribute to the study of Byzantine hymnography, a largely neglected genre of Byzantine literature despite its enormous fertility and importance. The dissertation consists of an introduction, three chapters corresponding to the three main themes of the thesis, and a conclusion. Chapter One is devoted to Mariological poetry and deals with the kanons and stichera for the Nativity of the Mother of God (8 September), the Annunciation (25 March), and the Hypapante (2 February). Chapter Two deals with hagiographical poetry. It deals with the hymns, both kanons and stichera, devoted to the saints, the most voluminous category in the extant corpus. The saints eulogised in these hymns include apostles, martyrs, holy bishops, and ascetics. The topics discussed in Chapter Two include references to saints as imitators of Christ and his sacrifice; a vocabulary from painting applied to Christian saints; modelling the saints on biblical figures; and presenting them as exemplars for emulation by the faithful. The cult of relics and icons is the subject in Chapter Three. The veneration of sacred objects, especially the instruments of Christ's Passion and the saints' physical remains, found a notable expression in Middle Byzantine liturgical poetry. There are seven such hymns preserved under the name of Germanos. Five of them are devoted to the so-called primary relics, i.e., saints' bodies or bodily parts. The hymn for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 September) has for its subject the Holy Cross and the Holy Lance. In the conclusion, I summarise the results of my research.


Anthropogenic disturbance and climate change might negatively affect the ecosystem services provided by mutualistic networks. However, the effects of such forces remain poorly characterized. They may be especially important in dry forests, which (1) experience chronic anthropogenic disturbances (CADs) as human populations exploit forest resources, and (2) are predicted to face a 22% decline in rainfall under climate change. In this study, we investigated the separate and combined effects of CADs and rainfall levels on the specialization of mutualistic networks in the Caatinga, a seasonally dry tropical forest typical of north-eastern Brazil. More specifically, we examined interactions between plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) and ants. We analysed whether differences in network specialization could arise from environmentally mediated variation in the species composition, namely via the replacement of specialist by generalist species. We characterized these ant-plant networks in 15 plots (20 × 20 m) that varied in CAD intensity and mean annual rainfall. We quantified CAD intensity by calculating three indices related to the main sources of disturbance in the Caatinga: livestock grazing (LG), wood extraction (WE) and miscellaneous resource use (MU). We determined the degree of ant-plant network specialization using four metrics: generality, vulnerability, interaction evenness and H2 '. Our results indicate that CADs differentially influenced network specialization: we observed positive, negative, and neutral responses along LG, MU and WE gradients, respectively. The pattern was most pronounced with LG. Rainfall also shaped network specialization, markedly increasing it. While LG and rainfall were associated with changes in network species composition, this trend was not related to the degree of species specialization. This result suggests that shifts in network specialization might be related to changes in species behaviour, not species composition. Our study highlights the vulnerability of such dry forest ant-plant networks to climate change. Moreover, dry forests experience highly heterogeneous anthropogenic disturbances, creating a geographic mosaic of selective forces that may shape the co-evolution of interactions between ants and EFN-bearing plants.


Owing to several contributing factors, continuation of exercise therapy is difficult for patients with type 2 diabetes. One potential factor that has not been well examined is the influence of muscle strength on regular exercise behavior. We examined the relationship between regular exercise behavior and knee extension force (KEF) in 1,442 patients with type 2 diabetes. In sex‐specific univariate analysis, KEF was significantly higher in patients who regularly exercised than in patients who did not regularly exercise. However, age, but not exercise behavior, was significantly different between KEF quartiles. Accordingly, KEF and age might strongly influence exercise behavior. In the multivariate analyses using age and other parameters as covariates, KEF was a significant explanatory variable of regular exercise in both men and women, suggesting that muscle strength could influence regular exercise behavior.


The equations of motion of particles in an AVF cyclotron in a curvilinear coordinate system are derived for the cases with and without space charge forces. Assuming a set of the parameter values in the equations, numerical calculations are carried out by using Lunge Kutta methods in the case with space charge forces. The results show that the formation of the beam halo is also a main reason of the beam losses, but the mechanism here is different from that in a linear accelerator. It is not given rise by resonance and chaos but the outward repellent motion and the vortex motion of the particles in the bunch.


The bacterial microbiome is an essential component of many corals, although knowledge of the microbiomes in scleractinian corals far exceeds that for octocorals. This study characterized the bacterial communities present in shallow water Caribbean gorgonian octocorals over time and space, in addition to determining the bacterial assemblages in gorgonians exposed to environmental perturbations. We found that seven shallow water Caribbean gorgonian species maintained distinct microbiomes and predominantly harbored two bacterial genera, Mycoplasma and Endozoicomonas. Representatives of these taxa accounted for over 70% of the sequences recovered, made up the three most common operational taxonomic units (OTUs), and were present in most of the gorgonian species. Gorgonian species sampled in different seasons and/or in different years, exhibited significant shifts in the abundances of these bacterial OTUs, though there were few changes to overall bacterial diversity, or to the specific OTUs present. These shifts had minimal impact on the relative abundance of inferred functional proteins within the gorgonian corals. Sequences identified as Escherichia were ubiquitous in gorgonian colonies sampled from a lagoon but not in colonies sampled from a back reef. Exposure to increased temperature and/or ultraviolet radiation (UVR) or nutrient enrichment led to few significant changes in the gorgonian coral microbiomes. While there were some shifts in the abundance of the prevalent bacteria, more commonly observed was "microbial switching" between different OTUs identified within the same bacterial genus. The relative stability of gorgonian coral bacterial microbiome may potentially explain some of the resistance and resilience of Caribbean gorgonian corals against changing environmental conditions.


This paper reports a subset of results from the Beef Cooperative Research Centre-funded Maternal Productivity Project. This research aimed to describe the response of Angus cows of different and divergent genotypes to variable nutritional environments over five breeding seasons. Cows selected for a divergence in either fat depth (HFat vs LFat) or residual feed intake (RFI: HRFI vs LRFI) based on mid-parent estimated breeding values (EBV) for those traits were allocated in replicate groups to either high or low nutritional treatments at two different sites, namely the Vasse Research Centre in Western Australia and the Struan Research Centre in South Australia. The traits reported in this paper include output traits (birth and weaning weight of calves, liveweight change of cows), change traits (change in Rib Fat, P8 fat, eye muscle area and liveweight between specified time points) and reproductive traits [pregnancy rates, percentage calves born alive and days to calving at the days to calving at the second calving opportunity (DC2)]. Having had their first calf, the vulnerability of these young cows to nutritional restriction and how it may adversely affect rebreeding was examined. HFat and HRFI cows were fatter, heavier and had greater eye muscle area than LFat and LRFI, respectively, at all times during the breeding cycle on both levels of nutrition. There was no difference in either days-to-calving or pregnancy rates after the second mating between genotypes. Equally, nutritional treatment had no effect on these traits in this cohort of cows. There was evidence for an implied genetic correlation between Rib Fat EBV, DC2 and pregnancy rates of –0.38 that suggests that selection for leanness may result in reduced fertility of the herd but the effect was not significant herein. As long as producers record the phenotype for both traits and select cows with favourable DC2 as well as low fatness, these problems can be avoided, owing to only 22% of variation in pregnancy rates being explained by DC2 and Rib Fat EBV. Producers can largely be confident that selection for leanness, or increased feed efficiency, has little impact on productivity as long as cows are in adequate body condition to remain healthy and productive.


Objective:To determine the prognostic influence of residual tumor at or within 1 mm of the mobilization margins (R1Mobilization) compared with transection margins (R1Transection) following pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Background:The prognostic strength of R1 status increases with frequency of margin positivity and is enhanced by protocol driven pathology reporting. Currently, margins are treated uniformly with tumor at or close to any margin considered of equal prognostic significance. The resection involves a mobilization phase freeing the posterior margin and anterior surface then a transection phase requiring lympho-vascular division forming the medial resection and pancreatic transection margin. The comparative assessment of the relative importance of tumor involvement of these different margins has not previously been investigated. Methods:Retrospective analysis of 148 consecutive resections for PDAC from 1996–2007 was performed. The individual (pancreatic transection, medial, posterior, and anterior surface) margins were separately identified and analyzed by a senior pathologist. An R1 resection was defined as microscopic evidence of tumor ≤1 mm from a resection margin. R1Mobilization tumor extension included both R1Anterior and R1Posterior cases; while R1Transection included pancreatic neck/body transection, R1Medial and adjacent transection margins. Results:R1 status was confirmed in 109 patients (74%). The medial (46%) and posterior (44%) margins were most commonly involved. R1 status was found to an independent predictor of poor outcome (P < 0.001). R1Mobilization involvement only (n = 48) was associated with a significantly longer median survival of 18.9 months (95% CI, 13.7–24.8) versus 11.1 months (95% CI, 7.1–15.0) for those with R1Transection tumor involvement (n = 61) (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the survival of the R1Mobilization compared with R0 group (P = 0.52). Conclusions:Following pancreaticoduodenectomy for PDAC, involvement of the transection margins in contrast to mobilization margins defines a group whose outcome is significantly worse. This may impact upon the allocation of adjuvant therapy within the setting of randomized controlled trials.


m-Learning technologies can potentially deliver education at significantly reduced costs by leveraging the relatively cheap mobile infrastructure available throughout the Caribbean. Mobile devices also have a strong appeal among young adults that can be exploited to provide flexible learning opportunities regardless of the time or the location of learners. m-Learning technologies are a perfect complement to Open and Distance Learning (ODL), allowing communication with learners beyond their traditional places of learning. They can also support face-to-face learning by reaching out to learners outside the traditional classroom.

Even though m-Learning is still in its infancy, in this paper we show how it can be used to support blended learning in both traditional face-to-face formats and ODL, using technologies such as context and location awareness, mobile learning management systems, and mobile RSS. As an example, we consider an advanced course at The University of the West Indies. We show how classroom learning can be supported with m-Learning technologies that deliver concise course notes, summaries, assignments, and tutorials directly to individual learners after each class or topic is covered. The technology supports polls, opinions, and other forms of student interaction and communicates information on timetables/schedules, deadlines, news, alerts, etc. to an entire class.


IDHology Among the most exciting drug targets to emerge from cancer genome sequencing projects are two related metabolic enzymes, isocitrate dehydrogenases 1 and 2 (IDH1, IDH2). Mutations in the IDH1 and IDH2 genes are common in certain types of human cancer. Whether inhibition of mutant IDH activity might offer therapeutic benefits is unclear (see the Perspective by Kim and DeBerardinis). F. Wang et al. (p. 622, published online 4 April) isolated a small molecule that selectively inhibits mutant IDH2, describe the structural details of its binding to the mutant enzyme, and show that this compound suppresses the growth of patient-derived leukemia cells harboring the IDH2 mutation. Rohle et al. (p. 626, published online 4 April) show that a small molecule inhibitor of IDH1 selectively slows the growth of patient-derived brain tumor cells with the IDH1 mutation. A small molecule that inhibits a mutant enzyme in tumors slows malignant growth by inducing cancer cell differentiation. [Also see Perspective by Kim and DeBerardinis] The recent discovery of mutations in metabolic enzymes has rekindled interest in harnessing the altered metabolism of cancer cells for cancer therapy. One potential drug target is isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1), which is mutated in multiple human cancers. Here, we examine the role of mutant IDH1 in fully transformed cells with endogenous IDH1 mutations. A selective R132H-IDH1 inhibitor (AGI-5198) identified through a high-throughput screen blocked, in a dose-dependent manner, the ability of the mutant enzyme (mIDH1) to produce R-2-hydroxyglutarate (R-2HG). Under conditions of near-complete R-2HG inhibition, the mIDH1 inhibitor induced demethylation of histone H3K9me3 and expression of genes associated with gliogenic differentiation. Blockade of mIDH1 impaired the growth of IDH1-mutant—but not IDH1–wild-type—glioma cells without appreciable changes in genome-wide DNA methylation. These data suggest that mIDH1 may promote glioma growth through mechanisms beyond its well-characterized epigenetic effects.


The vitamin A (VA) value of carotenoids from fruits and vegetables is affected by many factors. This study determined the VA value of alpha-carotene isolated from carrots compared with beta-carotene and retinyl acetate supplements fed to Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). Gerbils (n = 38) were fed a VA-free diet for 4 wk. At baseline, 6 gerbils were killed to determine liver VA. Gerbils were divided into 3 treatment groups (n = 9/group) and given 35, 35, or 17.5 nmol retinyl acetate, alpha-carotene or beta-carotene, respectively, in 2 divided doses 5 h apart each day. The remaining 5 gerbils received oil vehicle. Gerbils were killed after 3 wk of supplementation. Serum samples and livers were collected and analyzed for VA. Liver extracts were subsequently saponified to quantify alpha-retinol. Serum retinol concentrations did not differ among the groups. Liver retinyl palmitate concentrations were significantly higher in the retinyl acetate treatment group (0.198 +/- 0.051 micromol/g; P < 0.05) than in all other groups. The alpha- and beta-carotene treatments resulted in similar retinyl palmitate concentrations, i.e., 0.110 +/- 0.026 and 0.109 +/- 0.051 micromol/g, respectively, which did not differ from the concentrations in gerbils killed at baseline (0.123 +/- 0.024 micromol/g). The oil group had significantly less retinyl palmitate (0.061 +/- 0.029 micromol/g; P < 0.05) than all other groups. alpha-Retinol was detected in livers of the alpha-carotene group (0.062 +/- 0.013 micromol/g). Thus, twice the amount of purified alpha-carotene maintained VA status as well as beta-carotene in VA-depleted gerbils. Conversion factors were approximately 5.5 microg alpha-carotene or approximately 2.8 mug beta-carotene to 1 microg retinol.


Industrial and ironclad power reached its culmination in the war that engulfed Europe. As events would prove, however, the products of the industrial system of the 20th century, including the capacity of the system to transfer vast reserves of manpower from civilian to military employment at short notice, much more greatly favoured strategies of defence than offence. The outcome was a war of attrition and immobile fronts, eventually to be unlocked only when a second wave of industrial innovation yielded means - the tank, the aeroplane - to break the stalemate. This is a complete history of World War I. It is illustrated throughout and incorporates computer-generated cartography to bring the battlefields to life.


The phonon-dispersion relations of LaAlO3 crystal are calculated using the first-principle calculations. The first-order Raman spectra in the LaGaO3 were measured in the temperature range of 20–300K for the rhombohedral phase. The temperature dependence of the linewidth of the Alg (132 cm-1) and that of Eg (489 cm-1) were analyzed using temperature-weighted two-phonon density of states (TDOS) due to the cubic term. The calculated results reproduce the observed ones in this temperature range. The scattering of a thermal phonon by observed phonons dominates phonon-phonon interaction on the rotational modes [the Alg (132 cm-1)]. Phonon-phonon interaction on the bending mode [the Eg (489 cm-1)] is dominated by both the scattering and the decay of the observed phonons into two phonons having lower energies. We found that this originates in the discrete spectra on the higher-frequency side in the phonon density of states that produces a difference in anharmonic effects on each peak's channels in the HT. This result is similar to that in the high-temperature phase in the case of LaGaO3 [1].


Communication contributes to mediate the interactions between plants and the animals that disperse their genes. As yet, seasonal patterns in plant–animal communication are unknown, even though many habitats display pronounced seasonality e.g. when leaves senescence. We thus hypothesized that the contrast between fruit displays and their background vary throughout the year in a seasonal habitat. If this variation is adaptive, we predicted higher contrasts between fruits and foliage during the fruiting season in a cerrado–savanna vegetation, southeastern Brazil. Based on a six-year data base of fruit ripening and a one-year data set of fruit biomass, we used reflectance measurements and contrast analysis to show that fruits with distinct colors differed in the beginning of ripening and the peak of fruit biomass. Black, and particularly red fruits, that have a high contrast against the leaf background, were highly seasonal, peaking in the wet season. Multicolored and yellow fruits were less seasonal, not limited to one season, with a bimodal pattern for yellow ones, represented by two peaks, one in each season. We further supported the hypothesis that seasonal changes in fruit contrasts can be adaptive because fruits contrasted more strongly against their own foliage in the wet season, when most fruits are ripe. Hence, the seasonal variation in fruit colors observed in the cerrado–savanna may be, at least partly, explicable as an adaptation to ensure high conspicuousness to seed dispersers.


The CMB lensing signal from cosmic voids and superclusters probes the growth of structure in the low-redshift cosmic web. In this analysis, we cross-correlated the Planck CMB lensing map with voids detected in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (Y3) data set (∼5,000 deg2), expanding on previous measurements that used Y1 catalogues (∼1,300 deg2). Given the increased statistical power compared to Y1 data, we report a 6.6σ detection of negative CMB convergence (κ) imprints using approximately 3,600 voids detected from a redMaGiC luminous red galaxy sample. However, the measured signal is lower than expected from the MICE N-body simulation that is based on the ΛCDM model (parameters Ωm = 0.25, σ8 = 0.8), and the discrepancy is associated mostly with the void centre region. Considering the full void lensing profile, we fit an amplitude Aκ = κDES4pt/κMICE4pt to a simulation-based template with fixed shape and found a moderate 2σ deviation in the signal with Aκ ≈ 0.79 ± 0.12. We also examined the WebSky simulation that is based on a Planck 2018 ΛCDM cosmology, but the results were even less consistent given the slightly higher matter density fluctuations than in MICE. We then identified superclusters in the DES and the MICE catalogues, and detected their imprints at the 8.4σ level; again with a lower-than-expected Aκ = 0.84 ± 0.10 amplitude. The combination of voids and superclusters yields a 10.3σ detection with an Aκ = 0.82 ± 0.08 constraint on the CMB lensing amplitude, thus the overall signal is 2.3σ weaker than expected from MICE.


Contrast-enhanced multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) is now capable of providing high-quality noninvasive views of cardiac anatomy and 'instant' noninvasive coronary angiography. With current generation 64-slice scanners, MDCT can be performed in most patients with minimal patient discomfort and high diagnostic accuracy. MDCT may obviate the need for invasive diagnostic angiography in patients with borderline symptoms or equivocal noninvasive testing. It is useful in assessing the symptomatic patient postrevascularization and in emergency room triage in selected patients with chest pain. Calcified vessels are still difficult to assess, as is the accurate evaluation of implanted coronary stents. The volume of contrast material required for proper opacification limits the use of MDCT in patients with renal dysfunction, but newer emerging technologies will greatly improve these disadvantages in the near future. MDCT is expected to become an integral part of our diagnostic armamentarium in the cardiac patient.


This paper reports our experiences building PlanetLab over the last four years. It identifies the requirements that shaped PlanetLab, explains the design decisions that resulted from resolving conflicts among these requirements, and reports our experience implementing and supporting the system. Due in large part to the nature of the "PlanetLab experiment," the discussion focuses on synthesis rather than new techniques, balancing system-wide considerations rather than improving performance along a single dimension, and learning from feedback from a live system rather than controlled experiments using synthetic workloads.


Many papers in recent years have examined the benefits of adding alternative assets to traditional portfolios containing stocks and bonds. Bitcoin has emerged as a new alternative investment for investors which has attracted much attention from the media and investors alike. However relatively little is known about the investment benefits of Bitcoin and therefore this paper examines the benefit of including Bitcoin in a traditional benchmark portfolio of stocks and bonds. Specially, we employ data up to June 2018 and analyse the potential out-of-sample portfolio benefits resulting from including Bitcoin in a stock-bond portfolio for a range of eight popular asset allocation strategies. The out-of-sample analysis shows that, across all different asset allocation strategies and risk aversions, the benefits of Bitcoin are quite considerable with substantially higher risk-adjusted returns. Our results are robust to rolling estimation windows, the incorporation of transaction costs, the inclusion of a commodity portfolio, alternative indices, short-selling as well as two additional optimization techniques including higher moments with (and without) variance-based constraints (VBCs). Therefore, our results suggest that investors should include Bitcoin in their portfolio as it generates substantial higher risk-adjusted returns.


p-Type transparent conductors and semiconductors still suffer from remarkably low performance compared to their more widespread n-type counterparts, despite extensive investigation into their development. In this contribution, we present a comparative study on the defect chemistry of potential p-type transparent conducting oxides Mg-doped and Ni-doped Cr2O3. Conductivities as high as 28 S cm−1 were achieved by Ni-doping. By benchmarking crystallography and spectroscopy characterization against density functional theory calculations, we show that the incorporation of Ni into Cr2O3 contributes to the composition of the valence band, making the formed holes more delocalized, while Mg states do not interact with the valence band in Mg-doped Cr2O3. Furthermore, it is experimentally proven that Ni has a higher solubility in Cr2O3 than Mg, at least in the highly non-thermodynamic deposition conditions used for these experiments, which directly translates into a higher acceptor concentration. The combination of these two effects means that Ni is a more effective acceptor in Cr2O3 than Mg and explains the improved conductivity observed for the former.


Implicit transfer in sequential learning can occur with some spatiotemporal structures but not with others. Here, we investigated whether the consistent mirror-reversal of visuomotor sequences would lead to implicit transfer. A "set" comprised three sequential button presses and seven consecutive sets comprised a "hyperset." Participants learned hypersets by trial and error with their right hand. Then, they learned another hyperset, in which each set was vertically mirrored, horizontally mirrored, or randomly generated. Even when the participants did not notice the mirrored rule, the mirrored hypersets led to implicit transfer in terms of accuracy for both vertical and horizontal reversals. Furthermore, the vertical reserval also led to implicit transfer of performance speed. Taken together, the present results suggest that people can implicitly apply their learned representations to the mirrored visuomotor sequences.


: Diet has been found to significantly affect hexachlorobenzene (HCB) accumulation in 20-week old female Osborne Mendel rats. These animals were all fed mg/kg body weight HCB/day for 6, 12 and 18 days, high carbohydrate (67.7% w/w) or high fat (45.3% w/w) diets which were isocaloric with respect to protein. The effect of two sources of carbohydrate, cornstarch and sucrose, on the accumulation of HCB was studied in separate experiments. Feeding the high fat diet not only resulted in higher carcass fat content but also promoted HCB accumulation in the perirenal fat pad, gastrocnemius muscle and liver. these same tissues from obese animals fed the high fat diet had substantially higher fat levels than those fed high carbohydrate diets. Much less HCB was present in the feces of animals fed the high fat ration so the high fat diet presumably facilitated HCB absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. The differences in HCB accumulation in rats fed diets with different carbohydrate sources were slight, but the sucrose diet promoted greater HCB accumulation than the cornstarch diet.


This study investigates the optimal macroprudential policies for Luxembourg using an estimated closed-economy DSGE model. The model features a monopolistically competitive banking sector, a collateral constraint and an explicit differentiation between the flow and the stock of household mortgage debt. Based on a welfare-oriented approach and in a context of easy monetary policy environment, we first find that the non-joint optimal loan-to-value (LTV) and risk weighted capital requirement (RW) ratios for Luxembourg seem to be 90% and 30%, respectively, while the joint optimal ratios are found to be 100% and 10% respectively. Our results from the combination of instruments suggest that the policy scenario that provides better stabilization effects on mortgage credits isn't necessarily the one that is welfare improving. In other words, we find a complementarity between LTV and RW in terms of welfare, while their optimal combination diminishes the stabilization effects on mortgage debt and house prices. However, the time-varying and endogenous rules for LTV and RW improve the social welfare and better stabilizes mortgage loans and house prices compared to their static exogenous ratios. We further find that the optimal interactions between LTV and RW ratios in our modelling framework exhibit a convex shape. It should be recalled that the results are conditional on the model's specific assumptions.


In banking practice, quantifying the probability of default is one of the most important elements of the lending decision, therefore it is also vital from a financial stability perspective. The aim of our research was to model the probability of default as precisely as possible in the case of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. By linking the data from the Central Credit Information System (KHR) and companies' financial statements, a database was created that covers all the SMEs with loan contract, thus we were able to examine credit risk based on a uniquely large group of enterprises. In our research, we created models that enabled us to produce estimates based on certain corporate features about the probability of default of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Our analysis revealed that modelling these size categories separately and managing non-linear effects in the case of several variables are especially important. In addition, the impact of the macroeconomic environment on credit risk also proved to be important in the fitting of our estimates.


Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data are widely used as a petrofabric tool because the technique is rapid and nondestructive and because static measurement systems are capable of determining small degrees of anisotropy. The Kappabridge KLY‐4S provides high resolution as a result of the large number of measurements acquired while rotating the sample about three orthogonal axes. Here we describe a graphical‐based program called AMSSpin for acquiring AMS data with this instrument as well as a modified specimen holder that should further enhance the utility of this instrument. We also outline a method for analysis of the data (that differs in several ways from that of the software supplied with the instrument) and demonstrate that the measurement errors are suitable for using linear perturbation analysis to statistically characterize the results. Differences in the susceptibility tensors determined by our new program and the SUFAR program supplied with the instrument are small, typically less than or comparable to deviations between multiple measurements of the same specimen.


Hypopharynx reconstruction must deal with restoration of not a simple tubed conduit but a complex arrangement of constrictive and propulsive forces with fine sensory circuits. The chosen surgical approach should guarantee both complete removal of tumor and re-establishement of the two primary functions of the district: first swallowing and then phonation. We retrospectively reviewed data of 67 patients who had undergone oncologic reconstruction of hypopharynx with either pedicled or free flaps at the ENT Department of IRCCS Policlinico S Matteo, University of Pavia, between November 1994 and July 2004. Type and extension of the defect following cancer removal guided the selection of reconstructive procedure. Partial defects, with more than 50% mucosa spared, in absence of chance of being closed primarly, were covered with radial forearm free flaps as first choice; pedicled flaps such as pectoralis major and SCM rotational flaps were used instead if free flaps contraindicated by general and/or local conditions. With circumferential defects reconstruction was accomplished by means of jejunum free flap, as first choice. Adverse local abdominal conditions mandated the alternative use of either tubulized or tunnelized fasciocutaneous free flaps, such as radial forearm and lateral thigh. When free flaps use contraindicated, or in case of salvage surgery after flap loss, pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi pedicled flap were chosen. Both reconstructions with free and pedicled flaps were successful in an high percentage of cases (>85%). Analysis of incidence and causes of flap failure are reported in this work. In the free flaps group of patients a lower rate of complications were registered, allowing a faster patient discharge from hospital (36% versus 81.3%). An oral swallowing function was gained in 92% of free flaps and 62.5% of pedicled flaps. Excellent and exclusive oral nutrition (free diet), was obtained in 54% of free flaps and 25% of pedicled flaps. None of patients undergone laryngectomy coupled in both groups with pharyngectomy achieved an intelligible esophageal speech. Only patients in the free flaps group benefitted from voice prosthesis implant: in fact this procedure was avoided in pedicled flaps due to the excessive tissue bulk. In conclusion, the data collected suggest that free flaps rapresent the first choice for both partial and total oncologic hypopharyngeal reconstruction, while pedicled flaps should be taken into account when free ones contraindicated by general or vascular conditions.


Predictive survival of microbiological quality of chicken sausages was simulated using ComBase® microbial predictive software. The prediction was based on real time and temperature monitoring chicken sausages during distribution to retailer around Bangkok area. Six pathogens, which were Pseudomonas spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens were selected respectively for simulation during distribution. Five parameters were selected to predict the growth of selected pathogens during distribution period (maximum temperature from observation periods, pH, Aw, and initial log of Total Aerobic Plate Count (TAPC). The result showed that Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, E.coli and pseudomonas spp count ranged from 0.11 log CFU/g to 1 log CFU/g during distribution at 19.5°C for 9.05 hours. Pseudomonas spp showed the highest growth (1 log cfu/g ) while Clostridium perfringens showed the lowest growth (0.11 log cfu/g ) after distribution. As a conclusion, higher the temperature and longer the observation period could increase the growth rate of selected pathogens on distribution the products.


Most of the behavior models with respect to Web applications focus on sequencing of events, without regard for the changes of parameters or elements and the relationship between trigger conditions of events and Web pages. As a result, these models are not sufficient to effectively represent the dynamic behavior of the Web 2.0 application. Therefore, in this paper, to appropriately describe the dynamic behavior of the client side of Web applications, we define a novel Client-side Behavior Model (CBM) for Web applications and present a user behavior trace-based modeling method to automatically generate and optimize CBMs. To verify the effectiveness of our method, we conduct a series of experiments on six Web applications according to three types of user behavior traces. The experimental results show that our modeling method can construct CBMs automatically and effectively, and the CBMs built are more precise to represent the dynamic behavior of Web applications.


This study was conducted to assess three extraction methods for the determination of fatty acid compositions and carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, AŸ-carotene, and a-carotene) from marine microalgae, Nannochloropsis oculata (NO) and Chaetoceros gracilis (CG). For this purpose, three different extraction methods for the determination of fatty acids (dichloromethane:methanol, water:propan-2-ol:hexane and direct saponification-ethanol KOH) and carotenoids (hexane:ethanol:acetone:toluene, methanol:chloroform and methanol:tetrahydrofulran) were used. Two derivatization methods using different types of catalyst (acetyl chloride and boron trifluoride) were also used for the transmethylation of the fatty acids into corresponding methyl esters. The results of the fatty acid compositions showed that NO had a higher amount of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (C20:5). CG was predominantly high in palmitic acid (C16:0) and palmitoleic acid (C16:1). The extraction method 1 (dichloromethane:methanol) and extraction method 2 (water: propan-2-ol: hexane) with acetyl chloride-catalyzed transmethylation were found to be the best methods for the determination of fatty acid compositions in NO and CG, respectively. A significantly higher (P<0.05) amount of carotenoids was found in NO as compared to CG using different extraction methods. Extraction method 1 (involving saponification procedure) yielded the best result for NO while extraction method 3 (methanol: tetrahydrofuran with no saponification procedure) generated higher amounts of carotenoids in CG. Overall, this study has shown that significantly high amounts of fatty acids and carotenoids could be obtained from these microalgae using these methods.


A means to mark and track a moving and mixing volume within a cloud is useful for estimating the transport and dispersion of seeding material or other aerosols and thus for determining where and when the microphysical effects of the aerosols should occur.  A proven approach has been to release and track chaff into a cloud and track it with circular polarization radar to estimate the rates of dispersion, loft, and dilution of ingested aerosol, as well as the filling of the cloud volume.  The chaff, an effective tracer, is separable from the cloud because it strongly depolarizes the radar's signal.  A primary disadvantage of this cloud-volume-filling approach is that radar measurements of the microphysical evolution of the tracked cloud parcels may be masked by the chaff itself.  To measure transport and dispersion in the cloud and simultaneously unambiguously examine the microphysical evolution in the same volume, a refined approach was devised to tag but not fill the cloud volume with chaff. Several experimental designs for chaff tagging are proposed for stratiform or gravity-wave clouds and for cumuliform clouds.  The tagging technique will be more difficult to apply in convective clouds and is not yet tested.  However, a "parallel lines" experiment designed for stratiform clouds was tested with hygroscopic seeding in a wave cloud with intrusions of convective cloud.  The chaff lines were tracked for about one hour despite some ingestion by convective elements.  This demonstrated that a seeded cloud volume could be bracketed and tracked effectively.  A hygroscopic seeding signature, anticipated to appear as a line of enhanced reflectivity along a seeded flight path between the chaff lines, was not detected.  A "tagged circle" experiment with silver iodide seeding was conducted in a precipitation wave cloud.  A seeded circle was tagged with arcs of chaff, allowing it to be tracked efficiently.  A seeding effect was indicated along the circular seeded path between the chaff arcs as signatures of enhanced reflectivity and values of depolarization indicative of pristine, new ice crystals.  The results of these experiments demonstrate the potential of the chaff tagging technique.


The use of Deep Learning (DL) algorithms is increasingly evolving in many application domains. Despite the rapid growing of algorithm size and complexity, performing DL inference at the edge is becoming a clear trend to cope with low latency, privacy and bandwidth constraints. Nevertheless, traditional implementation on low-energy computing nodes often requires experience-based manual intervention and trial-and-error iterations to get to a functional and effective solution. This work presents a computer-aided design (CAD) support for effective implementation of DL algorithms on embedded systems, aiming at automating different design steps and reducing cost. The proposed tool flow comprises capabilities to consider architecture-and hardware-related variables at very early stages of the development process, from pre-training hyperparameter optimization and algorithm configuration to deployment, and to adequately address security, power efficiency and adaptivity requirements. This paper also presents some preliminary results obtained by the first implementation of the optimization techniques supported by the tool flow.


Political speeches are not mere linguistic texts encoded in verbal or written form. They also carry covert ideologies which are embedded in a country's social, political and cultural context. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) can be used to investigate such interaction between discourse (speech/text), its covert ideology and the context. This paper sets out to analyse the historic 7th March, 1971 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which has lately been recognised by UNESCO as part of the world's documentary heritage. Based on the work of Fairclough (1989, 1992, 2001) and Halliday (1978, 1994), a shared, discursive analytical framework within the CDA paradigm was employed to carry out the investigation. The analysis of 94 clauses identified a mutual existence of multiple linguistic and ideological patterns and strategies including the personal pronouns, mood blocks, modality and tense, the reference of the then-socio-political situation as well as the depiction of power relations between the speaker and the audiences. These strategies were intertwined in a wholesome way, thus revealing the ingenuity of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's leadership and his rhetoric skill. The study, by analysing the selected speech, attempts to fill the gap in CDA-based linguistic studies of political texts in the Bangladeshi context. The author believes that this attempt, in tandem, will act as a motivation and centre of attention for further scholarly endeavor in this field.


Mitochondrial preornithine transcarbamylase (p-OTC) and premalate dehydrogenase (p-MDH) are the only two matrix-located preproteins so far identified for which the proteolytic processing in vitro requires the formation of genuine processing intermediates, i-OTC and i-MDH, respectively. To establish the processing of other preproteins during import with respect to the two-step processing of p-OTC and p-MDH, the chelators EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline were used to study the import and processing of rat prechaperonin 60 (p-cpn60) and p-OTC by mitochondria from four cpn60-containing organs. We found no evidence for a secondary processing step in the maturation of p-cpn60, but a clear requirement for two-step processing of p-OTC, even in three organs which do not contain ornithine transcarbamylase. The metal-ion requirement of the p-OTC processing activities in the organelle is consistent with the proposition that the mitochondrial processing protease (MPP) and mitochondrial intermediate peptidase (MIP) activities defined in vitro [Kalousek, F., Hendrick, J.P. & Rosenberg, L. E. (1988) Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 85, 7536-7540] are responsible for precursor processing in vivo. The authenticity of two-step processing in vivo was, furthermore, established by demonstrating that i-OTC accumulates to high levels in Spodoptora frugiperda insect cells supplemented with MnCl2. The inability of the insect cells to process p-OTC fully is not a characteristic of cells grown in culture since cultured rat hepatoma cells process p-OTC to the fully processed m-OTC. Finally, we find that the import and processing of p-cpn60 and p-OTC is inhibited in an identical fashion by presequence-bovine-serum-albumin conjugates. The differences in proteolytic maturation between p-cpn60 and p-OTC are therefore not likely to result from different import pathways as the two precursors compete for common components of the import apparatus.


District of Columbia v. Heller was a landmark, if controversial, opinion. Discussion has centered on the merits of its self-described originalist approach. Supporters praise its efforts to return to a more originalist and textualist approach to constitutional questions, whereas critics challenge the accuracy of Heller's historical claims and criticize its departure from precedent.This paper challenges much of the conventional wisdom about Heller, its use of originalism, and its relationship to nineteenth and twentieth century case law. This article argues that, despite much of its rhetoric, Heller actually exemplified popular constitutionalism — not originalism — in the way it approached the most important practical question at issue in the case: determining the content of the right to bear arms. On that question, Heller — and not Miller — is largely consistent with the way, throughout most of American history, that both state and federal courts have adjudicated cases involving the right to bear arms. In particular, this article argues that the dominant approach followed by nineteenth-century courts was neither "originalist" nor "textualist" about the right to bear arms. These courts did not look to how James Madison viewed the right in 1789 or how Americans in 1791 commonly understood the Second Amendment. Instead, they attempted to find compromise positions on the scope of the right to bear arms to accommodate a population divided between those believing in the right and those seeking stronger restrictions on weapons. To do this, the nineteenth-century courts shifted their understanding of the purpose of the right to bear arms over time, which, in turn, enabled them to reach conclusions about the content of the right that reflected the contemporary popular understanding of the right — and of the right's limits. In this revisionist account, Miller is the case that represented a break with the courts' historical approach because it arguably allowed access to common military weapons — an approach that did not readily allow courts to adjust the Second Amendment right to new circumstances as these military weapons became increasingly destructive. These difficulties prompted subsequent courts to adopt the "collective rights" interpretation of Miller — an interpretation that was too rigidly restrictive, and therefore, also difficult to adjust to reflect popular understandings. The paper concludes that Heller reflects a new compromise: expanding the individual self-defense rationale while diminishing the Second Amendment's military objectives. This new compromise recognizes an individual right to have self-defense weapons, while allowing greater control over military-style weapons — which aligns with how mainstream Americans today view the right. Although Heller radically reshaped the Second Amendment right to fit the twenty-first century popular understanding of the right, its methodological approach is quite consistent with how most courts have approached Second Amendment questions — an approach that sounds more in popular constitutionalism than originalism.