UNLABELLED
Little data exists concerning suicides and attempted suicides on professional duty. Now that the French Army is becoming professional, it is necessary to describe methods of self-destruction, in order to facilitate preventive measures.

METHODS
The French Army operated a surveillance system to record all instances of suicide and attempted suicide. Under this surveillance system, all suicidal acts and attempts must be reported through an anonymous standard form completed by a military physician. This form records demographic data, the circumstances and known motives. For the epidemiological analysis, we used the chi square test and the Student test. A method of indirect standardization was employed to enable comparisons between military suicides and those within the general French population in 1996. We chose a risk of error of 5%.

RESULTS
During the course of 1998, 145 forms were gathered for professional armed forces. Of these, 40 were recorded as actual suicides and 105 as attempted suicides. The suicide rate corresponded to 14p 100,000. Suicides were limited exclusively to males, the average age at death was 36. Comparisons with the French male population at large (using the indirect method of standardization) showed a standardized mortality rate of 0.43 (p > 0.05). Methods of self-destruction employed were mostly hanging and using firearms. Attempted suicide rate was 31.5 p 100,000, with a relatively even balance between males and females. The average age was 30. Methods of self-destruction employed were mostly drug ingestion and laceration. Difficulties with personal relationships were the principal motive recorded, whilst instances of psychiatric diseases were rare. Previous suicide attempts were known in 21% of recorded suicide attempts in 1998 and in 10% of actual suicide. There was no suicidal act during or linked to an outside army operation. The ratio suicide-attempted suicide was 0.38.

DISCUSSION
The fact that the rate of suicide in the French Army is lower than the national average could be explained by the medical criteria used to select army personnel on active duty. These results should be interpreted with caution: our data only covers a single year. Moreover, there is a certain bias in the surveillance system used. Measures in the French Army to prevent suicide are based on a significant medical component within units, particularly during operational tours where there is sometimes a psychiatrist. Although the military physician is constrained by professional secrecy, he must execute his duty as an advisor to the commanding officer to signal human factors that need to be taken into account. Responsibility for knowing men and living conditions lies with the commanding officer. Epidemiological surveillance is a key element of analyzing the risks of suicidal. Its contributing role should be regularly reevaluated.


Subgingival bacteria in STR/N periodontitis-susceptible mice and Swiss-Webster nonperiodontitis-susceptible mice were evaluated. STR/N or Swiss-Webster mice with an age of 3, 8, or 13 months were sacrificed. Cultivable microorganisms and alveolar bone loss were correlated with the age of the mice. The proportion of Veillonella spp. were significantly higher in STR/N mice when compared with Swiss-Webster mice at 3, 8, and 13 months of age. In addition, Haemophilus spp. were found to be significantly higher at 8 and 13 months and Streptococcus spp. at 13 months in STR/N mice. With increasing age, STR/N mice exhibited a progressive increase in bone loss and this correlated with a significant increase in the proportion of Streptococcus spp., Neisseria spp., Actinomyces spp., and Haemophilus species. On the other hand, Swiss-Webster mice did not exhibit significant bone loss over 13 months and only Actinomyces spp. significantly increased between 3 and 13 months. The following microorganisms were not observed in any of the plaque samples; spirochetes, Lactobacillus spp., Eikenella corrodens, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Actinomyces viscosus, Actinomyces naeslundii, Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus mutans, dark-pigmented Bacteroides spp., Fusobacterium spp., Capnocytophaga spp., and Branhamella species.


Nitriding of titanium was achieved in a vacuum of ~2×10-2 Pa by applying intense pulsed ion beam (IPIB) irradiation. Various phases including 'pure' nitrides (e.g. Ti2N, TiN) as well as carbonitrides (e.g. TiC0.3N0.7) were found on the IPIB-irradiated surfaces that depended on the ion beam intensity, shot number, and sample position with respect to the ion beam axis. It was found that the nitrides were preferably produced at moderate beam intensity by which the nitriding depth increased greatly with multi-shot irradiation. No or less nitrides were produced under irradiation of very high intensity or less number of shots. It is demonstrated that the IPIB nitriding process is very efficient even in vacuum where the residual N2 can readily react with melted Ti surfaces under IPIB irradiation. The origin of incorporated C in the nitrides is mainly attributed to the anode material of ion diode used in the IPIB apparatus.


Objective: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a significant public health issue worldwide due to the associated comorbidities. Recent studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between blood glucose levels and serum ferritin levels in patients with type 2 DM. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between Ferritin Levels and Inflammatory Markers on HbA1c in the Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients. Methods: This single-center, cross-sectional, controlled study included patients who were admitted to the Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders outpatient clinics of the Private Kütahya Hospital in the province of Kutahya in the Western Turkey. The study included a total of 172 patients, 84 of whom had type 2 DM and 88 without diabetes and constituted the control group. A total of 190 patients with DM were admitted to the Adult Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Outpatient Clinics of the hospital between July 1, 2018 and September 1, 2018, and among these, the study was conducted on 172 volunteer patients who met the study inclusion criteria and who did not have any missing data. The HbA1c levels, serum ferritin, hemoglobin (Hb), insulin, Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), lipid profiles, and uric acid levels were compared between the groups. Results: The serum ferritin levels of the patients with type 2 DM significantly increased with increasing HbA1c levels (p<0.01). A strong positive correlation was found between serum ferritin levels and HbA1c and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels (p<0.01). Conclusions: Our study results show a significant relationship between HbA1c levels and serum ferritin and CRP levels, suggesting that serum ferritin and CRP levels can be used as a routine screening tool for the early diagnosis of DM. However, further large-scale, prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.


The authors argue that the contemporary scholarship on hydro energy in Russia lacks a comprehensive overview of development trends, global and regional challenges, and future prospects in connection with the ongoing processes in other sectors of the national economy. Consequently, this paper addresses the gap existing in the scholarship by providing a holistic view of the current state of Russia's hydro energy. It also identifies and discusses the key developmental constraints, including the general economic and political situation developing both in Russia and in the world, negative trends in the country's wholesale electricity market and the long-term capacity market, the Russian Government's focus on development of nuclear power stations and not hydroelectric power stations, as well problems of ensuring the technical and environmental safety of hydropower facilities. Finally, the paper outlines prospects of hydro energy in Russia, taking into account global, regional, and national trends in energy development.


Abstract The flow of molten polymers in corotating twin screw extruders has been largely studied, but little attention has been paid until now to the melting process. In the present work, we develop an experimental study of melting in twin screw extruders, including pressure and temperature measurements, dead-stop experiments and sampling, observation of cross sections and quantification of solid fraction. The influences of process parameters (screw speed and feed rate), screw profile, pellets size and extruder size are also investigated. An original model of the melting process is proposed, deduced from these observations. This model allows one to calculate the evolution of mean shear rate, pressure gradient, dissipated energy, pellet radius and both solid and liquid temperatures along the screws, for a sequence of right- and left-handed screw elements and blocks of kneading discs. The results of the model are in good agreement with the experiments.


The urethrovesical anastomosis (UVA) is one of the most challenging steps during a minimally invasive radical prostatectomy. Not surprisingly, minimally invasive, in particular laparoscopic, prostatectomy is associated with a steep learning curve.1 With competency-based training on the horizon, as well as the recent reduction in resident work hours, surgical educators have shifted some training outside of the operating room into surgical skills labs. To reduce learning curves and improve resident education at our centre, we use a hands-on 3D printed bladder bench model to emulate the UVA task during a minimally invasive prostatectomy.


Chital deer (Axis axis) are an ungulate species introduced to northern Queensland, Australia, in an environment where land is managed for large scale cattle production. Rainfall and pasture growth are markedly seasonal and cattle experience a nutritional shortfall each year before monsoon rain. The presence of chital is perceived by land managers to reduce dry-season grass availability and this study sought to estimate the potential effect of free-living chital on regional cattle production. Diet overlap was greatest during the wet season when both ungulates principally consumed grass, and least during the dry season when chital diet comprised only ~50% grass. Using local estimates for energy values of wet and dry season grass, and the maintenance energy requirements of chital and cattle, we estimated the relative dry-matter seasonal grass intakes of both ungulates. The grass consumed annually by 100 chital could support an additional 25 cattle during the wet season and an additional 14 cattle during the dry season.


The OpenFlow concept was recently proposed primarily to facilitate policy routing in large enterprise/service provider networks. Carrier Ethernet technologies such as MPLS-TP and PBB-TE are currently considered to be the forerunners in such transport networks. Both these technologies specify the need for a managed control plane. Carrier Ethernet Switch Routers (CESRs) are being proposed for transport functionality in service provider networks. The future of the transport network is to provide for cloud-like services whereby policy routing would be a key enabler technology. The OpenFlow specification is quite in accordance with the implementation of a centralized, unified control plane that is mandatory for Carrier Ethernet. In this paper, we demonstrate the OpenFlow paradigm implementation over CESRs to support next generation cloud applications and services. We showcase architecture, modifications and protocol performance with specific focus on OpenFlow in operator networks. The main novelty of this work is in transforming the OpenFlow controller to co-exist with the network management system of a CESR thus facilitating the CESR to control and interface with the OpenFlow protocol. We adapt the OpenFlow paradigm to an implemented CESR. Hardware results for service performance, network utilization, latency behavior across the network and protection switching are shown. We conclude for the first time, the feasibility of adapting the OpenFlow standard to service provider equipment.


abstract Hatfield Moors and Hatfield West are two small gas fields with GIIP of 6.1 BCF and 2.4 BCF, respectively on adjacent licences PL161-3 and PL 162-2, east of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, operated and wholly owned by Edinburgh Oil & Gas pic. This paper describes the accidental discovery of the Hatfield Moors Gas Field and its subsequent development and eventual utilization for gas storage, the first such project onshore UK. The nearby Hatfield West Field is also described. The two fields are located on adjacent faulted anticlinal structures in the NW part of the Gainsborough half-graben. The reservoir for both fields is the Westphalian B Oaks Rock sandstone. Reservoir quality is excellent. A gas storage project was agreed with Scottish Power in 1998. Two horizontal wells, Hatfield Moors-5 (1998) and Hatfield Moors-5z (1999) have been drilled for the project by Edinburgh Oil & Gas pic using innovative drilling techniques. Since 1999 gas has been imported from the Transco network and exported from the reservoir according to market demands under the terms of the gas storage contract.


In this paper, we focus on recognizing 3D shapes from arbitrary views, i.e., arbitrary numbers and positions of viewpoints. It is a challenging and realistic setting for view-based 3D shape recognition. We propose a canonical view representation to tackle this challenge. We first transform the original features of arbitrary views to a fixed number of view features, dubbed canonical view representation, by aligning the arbitrary view features to a set of learnable reference view features using optimal transport. In this way, each 3D shape with arbitrary views is represented by a fixed number of canonical view features, which are further aggregated to generate a rich and robust 3D shape representation for shape recognition. We also propose a canonical view feature separation constraint to enforce that the view features in canonical view representation can be embedded into scattered points in a Euclidean space. Experiments on the ModelNet40, ScanObjectNN, and RGBD datasets show that our method achieves competitive results under the fixed viewpoint settings, and significantly outperforms the applicable methods under the arbitrary view setting.


We have studied the transport properties of graphene grown on silicon side of SiC. Samples under study have been prepared by two different growth methods in two different laboratories. Magnetoresistance and Hall resistance have been measured at temperatures between 4 and 100 K in resistive magnet in magnetic fields up to 22 T. In spite of differences in sample preparation, the field dependence of resistances measured on both sets of samples exhibits two periods of magneto-oscillations indicating two different parallel conducting channels with different concentrations of carriers. The semi-quantitative agreement with the model calculation allows for conclusion that channels are formed by high-density and low-density Dirac carriers. The coexistence of two different groups of carriers on the silicon side of SiC was not reported before.


Granulosa cell tumor of the ovary is an uncommon neoplasm characterized by a long natural history, late recurrence capacity and good prognosis. We report the case of a woman with adult-type granulosa cell tumor of the ovary, which developed late recurrence with contralateral ovarian disease, intra-abdominal spread and liver metastases.


Professional support is important for women during pregnancy, but more research is needed to provide a better understanding of how this support affects the mother's experience of support and breastfeeding behavior the first days after birth and its relation to the duration of breastfeeding. This study aims to evaluate the effects of a professional support during pregnancy in relation to mothers' perceived support at delivery and maternity ward, and on the number of breastfeeding sessions during the first three days after birth. These factors would be subsequently considered in relation to the duration of breastfeeding. Mothers in the Intervention group (IG) and Control group B (CGB) (November 2000 to April 2002) perceived significant better overall support, breastfeeding information and preparation for parenting from the professionals in the delivery and maternity wards compared with the Control group A (CGA) (April to October 2000), (p<0.001), (n = 540). The IG showed a higher frequency of breastfeeding sessions in the first 24 h compared with the mothers in the CGB (p<0.008) and a positive correlation between preparation for the parental role and duration of exclusive breastfeeding (p = 0.006).


In this work, the capillary gas chromatographic enantiomer separation of eight congeneric compounds with general formulae CH3-HCX-COOC2H5 (where X = Cl, Br, I, CN, OH, OC2H5, OC6H5 and NHCOCF3) on four different permethyl- and 2,6-di-O-methyl-3-O-pentyl- beta- and gamma-CD stationary phases has been studied. The separation of enantiomers was evaluated in terms of the interactions of the X substituent of studied derivatives, as well as the nature of the 3-O-alkyl group in the 2,6-di-O-methyl-3-O-alkyl-CDs and the CDs cavity size. The differences in thermodynamic data [deltaH and -deltaS] obtained for studied compounds and the selectivity of modified beta- and gamma-cyclodextrin phases in gas chromatographic separation were evaluated. deltaH values were compared with a deltaH value of an achiral standard (ethyl propionate, where X = H) in order to obtain the contribution of a particular substituent to the overall interaction energy. It was shown that the variation in the enantiomeric separation with temperature and the retention order of these compounds on a given cyclodextrin capillary column depends on the nature of the substituents bonded to stereogenic carbon atom. It was found that the temperature dependencies of selectivity factors, In a on 1/T, were both linear as well as non-linear, inter alia depending on the number of glucopyranose units of the CD derivatives. The enantiospecific thermodynamic data [delta21(deltaH)] and [-delta21(deltaS)] which characterize the chiral recognition in the separation system were used to gain more insight into the mechanistic aspects of the enantioseparations on permethylated and 2,6-di-O-methyl-3-O-pentyl-beta- and gamma-cyclodextrins.


Introduction: Memory problems are common in everyday life of patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Some patients with ABI also have problems with self-monitoring/awareness. The ecological validity of neuropsychological tests for everyday life memory problems is questionable. Can self-report instruments supply complementary information?
Aims: 1) To document the frequency/impact of self-reported memory problems in a sample of consecutive referrals of ABI patients using PEEM and REEM. 2) To characterize the instruments with respect to psychometrics and internal consistency. 3) To document differences in memory problem patterns for various kinds/localization of brain lesions, and associated anxiety/ depression symptoms.
Methods: A descriptive retrospective study of consecutive referrals of ABI patients was performed. Ratings from the Evaluation of Everyday Memory (EEM), in a patient version (PEEM) and a version for relatives/proxies (REEM) were analysed as well as self-ratings of anxiety and depression.
Results: The EEM instruments displayed good psychometric characteristics. The mean PEEM score were close to the tenth percentile of healthy controls. PEEM and REEM versions were strongly inter-correlated. Sex, age, and lesion characteristics did not matter much with one exception. Right-hemisphere lesion patients rated their memory problems significantly lower than the proxy, for all other lesions it was vice versa. Anxiety and depression symptoms were associated with memory problems.


ABSTRACT: Excessive phosphorus (P) loss from soils impairs surface water resources. An assessment tool or index has been proposed to identify fields with high potential risk of P delivery. The P index integrates P source and transport factors into a decision making process that may lead to changes in current P management and soil conservation practices. The index recognizes that a single soil P threshold alone is not an appropriate evaluation factor because of the varying conditions across fields. Although most indices being developed in the United States include similar factors, source and transport characteristics are considered in various ways to best address the variable conditions across regions. The Iowa P index reflects conditions that predominate under grain-crop production systems, considers source factors in a multiplicative manner within three main transport mechanisms, and approximates loads of P likely to enter and become available to aquatic ecosystems. An erosional component considers sheet and rill erosion, P enrichment, total soil P, buffers, sediment delivery, distance to a stream, and the long term biotic availability of particulate P in lake ecosystems. A runoff component considers water runoff based on a modification of the runoff curve number (RCN), soil-test P (STP), rate, time, and method of P application. An internal drainage component considers the presence of tiles, water flow to tile lines, subsurface recharge from subsurface flow, and soil-test P. When the erosion risk is high, the index weighs particulate P loss heavily compared with dissolved P loss, and emphasizes long-term processes comparatively more than short-term processes. This P assessment tool helps identify alternative P and soil conservation management options for reducing total P delivery from fields to surface water resources.


Abstract We show how a fully nonlinear variational method can be used to design a more nonlinearly stable laminar shear flow by quantifying the effect of manipulating the boundary conditions of the flow. Using the example of plane Couette flow, we demonstrate that by forcing the boundaries to undergo spanwise oscillations in a certain way, it is possible to increase the critical disturbance energy for the onset of turbulence by 41 %. If this is sufficient to ensure laminar flow (i.e. ambient noise does not exceed this increased threshold), nearly four times less energy is consumed than in the turbulent flow which exists in the absence of imposed spanwise oscillations.


A growing body of empirical evidence now supports a negative association between dark traits in leaders and the psychological health of employees. To date, such investigations have mostly focused on psychopathy, nonspecific measures of psychological wellbeing, and have not considered the mechanisms through which these relationships might operate. In the current study (N = 508), we utilized other-ratings of personality (employees rated leaders' personality), psychometrically robust measures, and sophisticated modeling techniques, to examine whether the effects of leaders' levels of narcissism and psychopathy on employee depression are mediated by workplace bullying. Structural equation models provided clear evidence to suggest that employee perceptions of both leader narcissism and psychopathy are associated with increased workplace bullying (25.8% and 41.0% variance explained, respectively) and that workplace bullying fully mediates the effect of leader narcissism and psychopathy on employee depression (21.5% and 20.8% variance explained, respectively). However, when psychopathy and narcissism were modeled concurrently, narcissism did not explain any variance in bullying, suggesting that it is the overlap between psychopathy and narcissism, namely, the "dark core," which primarily accounts for the observed effects. We examined this assertion empirically and explored the unique effects of the subfactors of psychopathy.


This article is an introduction to meta-research, a systematic and replicable process of synthesizing research findings across a body of original research. After introducing the reader to the core of meta-research methodology, meta-research logic and tools are applied to present an evidence synthesis of empirical research on responsive regulation. The article concludes with a meta-research agenda for regulation and governance scholarship, and five key lessons from the empirical responsive regulation literature.


Cysticercoids of the cestode Unciunia raymondi Gigon et Beuret, 1991 (Cyclophyllidea: Dilepididae), a parasites of palaearctic thrushes (Turdus), taken from spontaneously infected Geotrupes and black wireworm Cylindrojulus in the North-eastern Altai, is described. An identity of cysticercoids of U. raymondi and Ditestolepis diaphana sensu Kisilewska, 1960 has been stated. During the development within the fibrillate membrane, the metacestode of U. raymondi separates the cercomer from the cyst anlage in the late scolexogenesis. There is no the primary lacuna in the lamellated cercomer without any musculature. Its primarily smooth surface gradually becomes sulcate and plicate. In the result of some segments break-up, the cercomer lamella comes to be perforated with its margins deeply jagged. Metacestode of U. raymondi metacestode is compared with cryptocercus of Dilepididae, which also develops within the fibrillate membrane. Based on peculiarities of the morphogenesis of cercomer, the cysticercoid U. raymondi is assigned to a new morpho-ecological type, the placocercus.


This paper presents the experimental dynamic tolerance and the force-deformation response corridor of the human cervical spine under compression loading. Twenty human cadaver head-neck complexes were tested using a crown impact to the head at speeds from 2.5 m/s to 8 m/s. The cervical spine was evaluated for pre-alignment by using the concept of the stiffest axis. Mid cervical column (C3 to C5) vertebral body wedge, burst, and vertical fractures were produced in compression. Posterior ligament tears in the lower column occurred under flexion. Anterior longitudinal ligament tears and spinous process fractures occurred under extension. Mean values were: force at failure, 3326 N; deformation at failure, 18 mm; and stiffness, 555 N/mm. The deformation at failure parameter was associated with the least variance and should describe the most accurate tolerance measure for the population as a whole. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 882980.


Molecular dynamics is one of the most commonly used approaches for studying the dynamics and statistical distributions of physical, chemical, and biological systems using atomistic or coarse-grained models. It is often the case, however, that the interparticle forces drive motion on many time scales, and the efficiency of a calculation is limited by the choice of time step, which must be sufficiently small that the fastest force components are accurately integrated. Multiple time-stepping algorithms partially alleviate this inefficiency by assigning to each time scale an appropriately chosen step-size. As the fast forces are often computationally cheaper to evaluate than the slow forces, this results in a significant gain in efficiency. However, such approaches are limited by resonance phenomena, wherein motion on the fastest time scales limits the step sizes associated with slower time scales. In atomistic models of biomolecular systems, for example, resonances limit the largest time step to around 5-6 fs. Stochastic processes promote mixing and ergodicity in dynamical systems and reduce the impact of resonant modes. In this paper, we introduce a set of stochastic isokinetic equations of motion that are shown to be rigorously ergodic, largely free of resonances, and can be integrated using a multiple time-stepping algorithm which is easily implemented in existing molecular dynamics codes. The technique is applied to a simple, illustrative problem and then to a more realistic system, namely, a flexible water model. Using this approach outer time steps as large as 100 fs are shown to be possible.


Breast cancer is the most fatal form of cancer for female population worldwide. National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates 226,870 females and 2,190 males to be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States by the end of 2012. The estimated death toll for this year includes 39,510 females and 410 males, as reported by NCI. Statistics state that 1 in every 8 females will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime. These alarming numbers have provoked a large number of scientists to contribute towards the fight against breast cancer. Today there are various tools available for females to protect them from breast cancer. Mammography serves as an efficient tool in screening and catching such cases early enough for improved treatment, while surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy provide a strong line of treatment to breast cancer patients. Cancer patients are often subjected to a combination of such therapies, leading to cumulative adverse effects accompanied with the treatment. Addressing the growing number of breast cancer cases, the adverse effects associated with current therapies and the risk of having a relapse after undergoing extensive conventional therapy, researchers are now looking forward for a breast cancer vaccine [1-3].


Nephrotoxicity is one of the serious dose-limiting complications of methotrexate (MTX) when used in the treatment of various malignancies and nononcological diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) polymerase (PARP) activity in MTX-induced nephrotoxicity. Rats were divided into 4 groups as control, MTX treated (MTX, 7 mg/kg per d, intraperitoneally [ip], once daily for 3 consecutive days), MTX plus 1,5-isoquinelinediol (ISO, a PARP inhibitor, 3 mg/kg per d, i.p.) treated, or ISO treated. Histopathology of kidneys was evaluated by light microscopy. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling assay was used to analyze apoptosis in kidney sections. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, and urinary N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG) were used as biochemical markers of MTX-induced renal injury. Our results showed that MTX administration significantly increased BUN, serum creatinine, and urinary NAG levels. The PARP-1 and PAR (a product of PARP activity) expression and apoptotic cell death were also markedly increased in renal tubules after MTX administration. The ISO treatment attenuated MTX-induced renal injury, as indicated by BUN and serum creatinine levels, urinary NAG excretion, and renal histology. The PARP inhibitor treatment reduced PARP-1 and PAR expression to levels similar to that of controls. These results revealed that ISO may have a protective effect against the nephrotoxic effects of MTX by inhibiting PARP activation. This is the first study that demonstrates the role of PARP activation in MTX-induced nephrotoxicity and tubular apoptosis.


Managing the economics of scaling and increasing demand have been key factors in the growth of the semiconductor industry to nearly $250B over more than four decades. During the same period, functionality per chip doubled every two years. This paper provides a simplified view of the business aspects of scaling and technology migrations that have been, and are still, key to sustaining a phenomenal reduction in CPF (Cost Per Function) for integrated circuits.


Conventional equalization algorithms have been used with limited success in multipath mitigation for 8-VSB reception. This paper presents a modified iterative linear canceller (ILC) with blind startup optimized for 8-VSB application. Simulation results demonstrating superiority of the new scheme to existing methods and near multipath-free performance is presented.


Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising reinforcing elements for structural composites due to their remarkable mechanical properties. The impressive electrical and thermal properties of this new form of carbon also make CNTs containing composites ideal candidates for multifunctional applications. In the past decade, researchers have investigated CNTs as toughening inclusions to overcome the intrinsic brittleness of ceramics and glasses. Although there are numerous investigations available in the literature, a significant progress has not occurred or it has been rather slow compared to advances in the field of CNT/polymer matrix composites. This paper reviews current trends in research and development efforts on the use of CNTs for fabrication of ceramic and glass matrix composite materials. The review includes a summary of key issues related to the optimisation of CNT-based composites and an overview of investigations dealing with processing techniques developed to optimise dispersion quality, interfaces and density. The mechanical properties of as-produced composites are discussed and a comprehensive comparison of data available for different matrix materials is presented. Finally, the potential applications of the resulting CNT/inorganic matrix composites and the scope for future developments in the field are highlighted.


In the perspective of improving food sustainability, seasonal consumption is one of the advises given by environmental agencies. However, little is known on the seasonality of consumption patterns, on the adequacy of such an advice, and on the population targeted. This work is an attempt to analyse seasonality of purchases of fruits and vegetables of French households by using a rich data set which registers continuous purchases all over the year. The study of seasonality as intra-annual variability shows that expenditure and quantities purchased have different seasonality patterns. Comparing the importance of seasonality gaps, price (as unit values) and quantity gaps change all over the year. It cannot be said that consumption seasonality is higher than price seasonality, as in staples markets. Lastly, the impact of heterogeneity of households on purchases seasonality indicates the characteristics of the households more related to seasonal purchasing patterns. The more seasonal purchases are associated with higher age, lower education level, higher income. We find evidence of substitutions impact of own produce consumption and purchases in the production season. The most unexpected result concerns the absence of relationship with location variables, question the relationship between seasonal consumption and locally-grown products, deserving further research.


Given the world wide predominance of the small to medium sized enterprise (SME) we should consider whether we need to segment and target our marketing knowledge, practice and attitudes towards this business type. It is argued that we need to be able to develop entrepreneurship within the context of marketing, and marketing within the context of entrepreneurship in order that we are able to understand fully that most common of business forms – the small firm. This implies that we should consider how much of our existing marketing knowledge is appropriate to the SME and how much needs to be rethought and adapted. The body of work by colleagues in what could be described as the "marketing entrepreneurship interface" demonstrates both appropriate concerns and potential solutions. As such it represents a solid start to a debate in which we hope that many of our marketing colleagues will join.


This paper presents experimental and simulation results on the performance of a new kind of linear actuator making use of the magnetic shape memory (MSM) effect. The actuation material is a Ni-Mn-Ga foil of 200 μm thickness that has been fabricated from a bulk Ni-Mn-Ga (100) single crystal consisting of 10 M martensite variants at room temperature. Stress-strain experiments on tensile test structures demonstrate that the stress needed for reorientation of martensite variants is about 1.2 MPa. The low twinning stress allows magnetic-field induced variant switching, the basic mechanism of MSM actuation. A Ni-Mn-Ga foil actuator is fabricated by lithography and hybrid integration. The actuator shows a maximum magneto strain of 4.9%, which is limited by the constraints of fixation and loading. Upon tensile loading at 1.5 MPa, linear actuation cycles are generated with an actuation stroke of 2.2%. The linear actuator is used as a benchmark system for modeling the coupled magneto-mechanical behavior of MSM actuation. We present finite element simulations based on a thermodynamic Gibbs free energy model that describes the observed tensile stress-dependence of magneto strain in many respects.© 2010 ASME


The fashion show and its spaces are sites of otherness, representing everything from rebellion and excess through to political and social activism. This conceptual and stylistic variety is reflected in the spaces they occupy, whether they are staged in an industrial warehouse, on a city street, or out in the open landscape. Staging Fashion is the first collection of essays about the presentation and staging of fashion in runway shows in the period from the 1960s to the 2010s. It offers a fresh perspective on the many collaborations between artists, architects and interior designers to reinforce their interdisciplinary links. Fashion, architecture and interiors share many elements, including design, history, material culture, aesthetics and trends. The research and ideas underpinning Staging Fashion address how fashion and the spatial fields have collaborated in the creation of the space of the fashion show. The 15 essays are written by fashion, interior, architecture and design scholars focusing on the presentation of fashion within the runway space, from avant-garde practices and collaboration with artists, to the most spectacular and commercial shows of recent years, from Prada to Chanel.


The cDNA encoding a second type of mouse beta-galactoside alpha2,6-sialyltransferase (ST6Gal II) was cloned and characterized. The sequence of mouse ST6Gal II encoded a protein of 524 amino acids and showed 77.1% amino acid sequence identity with human ST6Gal II. Recombinant ST6Gal II exhibited alpha2,6-sialyltransferase activity toward oligosaccharides that have the Galbeta1,4GlcNAc sequence at the nonreducing end of their carbohydrate groups, but it exhibited relatively low and no activity toward some glycoproteins and glycolipids, respectively. On the other hand, ST6Gal I, which has been known as the sole member of the ST6Gal-family for more than ten years, exhibited broad substrate specificity toward oligosaccharides, glycoproteins, and a glycolipid, paragloboside. The ST6Gal II gene was mainly expressed in brain and embryo, whereas the ST6Gal I gene was ubiquitously expressed, and its expression levels were higher than those of the ST6Gal II gene. The ST6Gal II gene is located on chromosome 17 and spans over 70 kb of mouse genomic DNA consisting of at least 6 exons. The ST6Gal II gene has a similar genomic structure to the ST6Gal I gene. In this paper, we have shown that ST6Gal II is a counterpart of ST6Gal I.


A novel bacterial strain, designated FGD1T, was isolated from subtropical forest soil of the Nanling National Forest Park located in Guangdong Province, P.R. China. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain FGD1T was most closely related to Novosphingobium lindaniclasticum DSM 25049T (98.8 %), followed by N. barchaimii DSM 25411T (98.7 %), N. guangzhouense DSM 32207T (98.2 %), N. panipatense DSM 22890T (98.1 %) and other species of Novosphingobium (<98 %). The draft genome sequence was 4.58 Mb in length with a G+C content of 65.1 mol%. The calculated average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain FGD1T and closely related type strains were 77.7‒79.6 % and 21.7-22.9 %, respectively. Major fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1  ω7c and/or C18 : 1  ω6c), summed feature 3 (C16 : 1  ω7c and/or C16 : 1  ω6c), C14 : 0 2-OH and C16 : 0. The predominant respiratory quinone was ubiquinone 10 and the major polyamine was spermidine. Polar lipids were composed of sphingoglycolipid, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified phospholipid and lipid. The polyphasic taxonomic results indicated that strain FGD1T represents a novel species of the genus Novosphingobium, for which the name Novosphingobium silvae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FGD1T (=GDMCC 1.1761T=KACC 21283T).


Typically, the development of software system starts with a goal. The goal is implemented by following a methodology consisting of phases. Initially, the goal is formulated as functional requirements when stakeholders of the software system meet and discuss what the software system should do in order fulfill satisfy needs. The functional software requirement document is then converted to software design document either through conceptual model, software code or both. After, the system is tested rigorously before it is implemented. Since the development of a software system consists of phases with each phase depending on prior stages, an inconsistency made in the initial phase of development such as in the requirement specification phase, may be propagated into other phases. A methodology for detecting conflict in functional software requirements through level of Potential Structural Inconsistency (PSI) is presented in this research. This is accomplished, by representing functional software requirements stated in natural language as structural model (i.e. conceptual model) and similarities between these models are obtained as a level of potential structural inconsistency. Sample functional software requirements are analyzed using this methodology and the inconsistency is compared with a particular type of conflict. In conclusion, various inferences are made based on the new methodology and recommendations are given for further improvements and future research.


The presented work aims to study the exploration-exploitation problem in a complex organization. The study roots in a rich and influential research stream, starting from the paper of James March (1991) who created a model to address interesting questions on the balance between exploration and exploitation. In the presented study, the organization is considered embracing different aspects of the mechanisms of knowledge exchange. First, the organization is modelled as a multicultural centre of activities where the knowledge is no universal but is composed by different areas of knowledge. Second, different communication channels are modelled together, covering most of the chances individuals have to seek for knowledge. Autonomous search, search through propinquity, search through friendship, and search through governance (itself split into project and department meetings) are the channels modelled.
The study shows interesting results. First, March's output seems to be valid within a delimited range of members in an organization. Second, the environment has a huge impact on exploration exploitation problem. With different channels activated and different settings, the exploration exploitation output of the organization could be extremely different. Third, the study of the connections network shows the presence of a cost in terms of energy in maintaining the communication channel. Moreover, the network tends to change its structure according to the active channels. Last, the complexity of exploration exploitation problem is demonstrated by the presence of emergent phenomena.
The study covers many different aspects and discusses about important points of the exploration-exploitation dilemma. Moreover, such a sophisticated model opens different directions for future studies and offers practical implications for balancing exploration-exploitation within organizations.


Abstract Introduction: During pregnancy, maternal cortisol levels are increased threefold by third trimester. The enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD, isoforms 1 and 2) regulates cortisol levels by the conversion between cortisol and cortisone. Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent chemicals with suspected endocrine disrupting abilities applied in consumer products. PFAS have been reported to inhibit 11β-HSD1 and 11β-HSD2, which could lead to reduced levels of cortisol and cortisone. Aim: To investigate a possible effect of early pregnancy PFAS exposure on late pregnancy activity of 11β-HSD1 and 11β-HSD2 assessed by cortisol and cortisone levels in urine and blood samples. Methods: The study is part of the prospective cohort study, Odense Child Cohort (OCC). A total of 1,826 pregnant women had serum (S) concentrations of five PFAS (Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA)) measured in first trimester (median gestational week (GW) 11). Diurnal urinary (dU) cortisol and cortisone (n=344), and S-cortisol (n=1,048) were measured in third trimester (median GW 27). Results: In multiple regression analyses, a two-fold increase in S-PFOS was significantly associated with lower dU-cortisone (β=-9.1%, p<0.05) and higher dU-cortisol/dU-cortisone (dU-C/C) (β=9.3%, p<0.05). The same trend was demonstrated for PFOA, PFHxS, PFNA, and PFDA. In crude models, a doubling in PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA concentrations were associated with a significant increase in S-cortisol, however, these associations became insignificant after adjustment. Conclusion: Early pregnancy concentrations of maternal S-PFAS were inversely associated with late pregnancy dU-cortisone, indicating reduced activity of 11β-HSD2.


Abstract Using data on children whose parents lost their jobs during the post-communist transition of Hungary, we address the causal effect of unexpected long-term unemployment of parents on their children's educational achievement. We estimate the effect of the children's age at the time of their parents' job loss on their probability of dropping out of secondary school (an event that follows the parents' job loss by many years). The treatment is an additional year reared in a family with regularly employed parents, which can be interpreted as additional human capital investment. We provide bounding estimates to the causal effect. The estimated bounds are tight, they show a substantial effect, and the effect is significantly stronger for preschool age children than for older ones.


We address the problem of selecting an attribute and some of its values for branching during the top-down generation of decision trees. We study the class of impurity measures, members of which are typically used in the literature for selecting attributes during decision tree generation (e.g. entropy in ID3, GID3*, and CART; Gini Index in CART). We argue that this class of measures is not particularly suitable for use in classification learning. We define a new class of measures, called C-SEP, that we argue is better suited for the purposes of class separation. A new measure from C-SEP is formulated and some of its desirable properties are shown. Finally, we demonstrate empirically that the new algorithm, O-BTree, that uses this measure indeed produces better decision trees than algorithms that use impurity measures.


Evidence of three major Quaternary glaciations is recognized in the Metolius River area on the east flank of. the High Cascades. The latest glaciation (Cabot Creek glaciation) is multiple, with evidence of a late readvance (Canyon Creek advance) well displayed in cirques. Post-Altithermal glacial activity is restricted to a twofold late Neoglacial advance on Mount Jefferson and Three-Fingered Jack. Stone-weathering characteristics and soil development are used to differentiate and correlate the drifts throughout the area. The degree of soil development on the drifts suggests that there was a longer period of time between the oldest and intermediate glaciations than between the intermediate and youngest glaciations. Volcanic activity may have been restricted to times of little ice cover, since no evidence of intraglacial volcanism was observed. Tephra and lava flows were erupted during two Pleistocene interglaciations and during Holocene time at scattered locations. The High Cascade platform and probably the stratovolcanoes were largely constructed prior to the earliest recognized glaciation (Abbott Butte glaciation). Information on extent of ice cover during the Cabot Creek glaciation and the Neoglacial advance is sufficiently detailed to reconstruct past glacier margins and estimate former equilibrium-line altitudes (ELA). An accumulation-area ratio of 0.6 ± 0.1 was employed to calculate past ELAs. During the Cabot Creek glaciation, ELAs ranged from about 950 m lower than present at the maximum to 700 to 750 m lower than present for the Canyon Creek advance. Neoglacial ELAs on Mount Jefferson glaciers were lower than present by 200 to 250 m. ELA gradients across the Western Cascades during the Cabot Creek glaciation averaged about 5 m/km, increased to 14 m/km across the High Cascades, and were greater than 38 m/km farther east. This reflects a pattern of precipitation similar to that of the present.


Several studies have shown that waterfowl females in good condition lay larger clutches and start egglaying earlier in a breeding season. However, most of these studies lack corresponding data on individual condition and timing of breeding in different years. We analysed data on clutch size, egg size, hatching date and female body condition of a non-migratory species, the Upland Goose Chloephaga picta leucoptera, recorded in three seasons on New Island, Falkand Islands. We found a strong seasonal decline in both egg and clutch size. Egg size increased with clutch size. The mean egg volume and total clutch volume increased with female body condition and hatching date was earlier for females in higher body condition. Chicks hatched from nests with higher mean egg volume had higher early body condition. We also compared individual females between different study years and found that individual body condition showed a significant repeatability between years, whereas hatching date did not. While female aging did not systematically affect hatching date, females produced clutches that hatched earlier in years of higher body condition. We could thus show for the first time that the frequently reported negative relationship between female condition and hatching date also holds true on an individual basis. To our knowledge, this is the first study on seasonal clutch size decline in sheldgeese and one of a few in waterfowl comparing condition and timing of breeding within individuals between different years.


The extent to which e-governance develops in a country is a function of the collective national and local capital supplying IT services and of informal social and human capital creating a demand for e-governance. Supply requires public officials and citizens to have access to the Internet and access varies enormously according to a country's modern resources and political openness. But the characterization of these differences as a digital divide is misleadingly static. A diffusion model of Internet access shows that it is more realistic to think of cross-national differences in terms of leading and lagging countries; in this model laggards have the potential to catch up with leaders. Differences in the capacity of countries to supply standard e-government services are a consequence of its degree of modern resources and to supply e-participation facilities reflects its political openness and extent of corruption. In countries with a high degree of modern resources and a majority of adults on line, digital choice creates limits as well as opportunities for e-governance, since most non-users of the Internet are older people who see no need for going on line. Among those on line a majority prefer to contact local and central government by traditional means, such as telephone or writing a letter. In the most modern and open societies the diffusion of the Internet is most likely to promote government efficiency and the virtual linkage of disparate public agencies serving the same client. In developing countries it will be one more pressure to reduce corruption and increase bureaucratization and in relatively closed regimes it can threaten destabilization by strengthening dissident mobilization within and across national borders. Globally, the diffusion process will promote openness in 'intermestic' public policies that involve both national and trans-national politics. It will also reduce the proportion of native English-speakers and increase bilingual and bicultural Internet users.


Objective. To establish short-term surgical outcomes of three-port laparoscopic risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) in women with hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC). Methods. The medical records of all HBOC women that underwent laparoscopic RRSO between January 2001 and December 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic data, operative details, and short-term surgical outcomes were obtained and subjected to SAS. Statistical univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Results. 358 patients met study criteria with 277 (77.4%) carrying a documented BRCA mutation. The predominant technique utilized three ports (two 5 mm and one 10/12 mm), a 5 mm laparoscope and a 5 mm Ligasure pulsatile bipolar device. Mean operative time was 58.3 minutes (SD 22.6, 26.0–197.0), significantly affected by BMI greater than 30 ( 𝑃 0 . 0 0 0 1 ) and status of adhesions ( 𝑃 = 0 . 0 0 1 ). Estimated blood loss (EBL) was negligible in 96.9% of cases. Seven patients required conversion to laparotomy. No major intraoperative complications were recorded. One-night hospital admission rate was less than 2.0% while postoperative complication rate was 3.1%. Malignancy was revealed in 14 patients (3.9%). Conclusion. In HBOC population, three-port laparoscopic RRSO is a simple, reproducible, and safe procedure with low conversion rate, short operative time, minimal EBL, low surgical morbidity, and rapid postoperative recovery.


School age children are more susceptible for intestinal parasitic infections in
comparison with others. The best way to prevent these diseases and reduce morbidity in students is
increasing students' knowledge, changing their attitude and behavior. The purpose of this study was to
identify the effect of health education on preventing giardiasis among primary schools students in the
suburbs of Khoy.
Materials & Methods: In this randomized quasi-experimental study, 300 students were randomly
selected from primary schools and their feces were tested for giardia lamblia. After treatment by
suitable drugs the infected patients were divided into two equal groups of intervention and control.
Educational program was implemented on the intervention group, but the control group received no
instruction. One and a half months after education the two groups were tested and compared in terms
of re-infection. Data collecting tools including a valid and reliable questionnaire, behavior checklist,
and stool exam, and data were collected before and after the training. Study data was analyzed using
descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS software.
Results: The mean age for both groups of students was 10.95±0.97. In the intervention group, before
education the mean score of knowledge and attitude of students towards giardiasis were 9.3±2.85 and
12.75±2.68, respectively (p>0.05), but after education those changed to 18.7±1.73 and 19.33±1.82
(p<0.001). In intervention group, before education the percentage of students' health behavior was
24.4, after training it increased to %82.6 (p<0.001). But in the control group, before and after
education there was no significant changes in knowledge, attitude and behavior of students (p>0.05).
After training, the results revealed that 2.8% of the intervention group and 33.33% of controls had reinfection
with Giardia lamblia.
Conclusion: The best strategy for the prevention of parasitic infections is raising awareness, changing
attitudes and health behaviors of students toward these diseases. With regard to preventing parasitic
infections, school health teachers have an important role in training school children and their families.


The GSHAP CAUCAS test area was established under the INTAS Ct.94-1644 (Test Area for sismic Hazard Assessment in the Caucasus) and NATO ARW Ct.95-1521 (Historical and Prehistorical Earthquakes in the Caucasus), with the initial support of IASPEI, UNESCO and ILP. The high tectonic interest and seismicity rate of the whole area, the availability of abundant multi-disciplinary data and the long established tradition in hazard assessment provide a unique opportunity to test different methodologies in a common test area and attempt to establish some consensus in the scientific community. Starting from the same input data (historical and instrumental seismic catalogue, lineament and homogeneous seismic source models) six independent approaches to seismic hazard assessment have been used, ranging from pure historical deterministic to seismotectonic probabilistic and areal assessment methodologies. The results are here compared.


This paper explores the developing of how designers can search for inspiration source which provided in the form of traditional elements and archetypes and also their role on idea generation in design from building to urban measure. In order to clarify of this, current study focuses on the Far-East region as an ancient part of the world in which there is a huge number of symbols like well known, Yin-Yang. To understanding of how designers inspired by the symbols and forming the character of place via those, the case study method is used to an in-depth evaluation. The result is presented in a table involving cases which selected in divers rang of Far-East countries. Based on result, historical symbols, as a rich source of ideas and stimulation can play a significant in meaning-making and also forming the identity of city. In addition, these symbols help highly to revival the exiting values which ignored in contemporary urbanization particularly in developing countries like Iran. Accordingly, evaluation of cases observed that the symbol-inspired design can prove the durability of the urban character. Finally, inspiration source divided in two main types including: visual and verbal. Based on results of exist study, most of designers inspired visually (i.e. visual analogy, external) and a low percent of them inspired verbally (i.e. abstract, internal). Moreover, minority of designer inspired mediocre by combination of these (i.e. visual/verbal).


The fluxes and production/consumption rates of oxygen, nitrate, ammonium and sulphide are estimated in the paper utilising results of the 1.5-dimensional stationary model of vertical exchange in the Black Sea (Samodurov & Ivanov, 1998). The profiles of the vertical flux and rate of production/consumption of these substances have revealed a number of intriguing features in the biogeochemical nature of the Black Sea. An approximate redox balance of the counter-fluxes of nitrate and ammonium into the sub-oxic zone has been revealed confirming that intensive denitrification may be the primary loss of nitrogen in the Black Sea. A low ratio of the nitrate stock to the flux of nitrate from the oxycline confirms the possibility of prominent changes in the distribution of nitrate on the time scale of a year. The ratio of the nitrate to oxygen vertical flux has revealed a lack of nitrate in the oxycline above the nitrate maximum. The lateral (related to the "Bosporus plume") flux of oxygen in the layer of the main pycnocline appears to be very important for the existing biogeochemical structure of the Black sea water column being the reason of sulphide consumption inside the anoxic zone and changes in the ammonium-sulphide stoichiometry of the anoxic zone, the primary reason of the existence of the sub-oxic layer and the basic reason of relative stability of the sulphide onset.


I discuss the importance of McDonald, with regard to the Second Amendment, its contours in light of the District of Columbia v. Heller decision, and the question of its incorporation through the Fourteenth Amendment." First, the basics: McDonald v. City of Chicago follows naturally from the Court's 2008 D.C. v. Heller decision, which held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right that Congress may not abridge--but which expressly did not address the question of whether the Second Amendment is incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment to apply to the States. Because the challenged gun-control law in McDonald is a Chicago city ordinance, the first question the Court must answer, therefore, is whether the Second Amendment can even be claimed as protection by petitioner Otis McDonald--i.e., whether the Second Amendment is incorporated to apply to the States. Then, if the answer is affirmative, the Court must decide whether the particular ordinance runs afoul of the Second Amendment. I will focus entirely on the first question--the issue of incorporation. One reason this case is so interesting is that since the United States Supreme Court began its modern practice of selectively incorporating individual Bill of Rights provisions through the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process clause in 1925, it has never addressed the question of whether the Second Amendment applies to the States. So this question alone--whether the amendment is incorporated through the Due Process clause--is of great practical importance. But there is much more, in the fact that the Court has never given another relevant provision of the Fourteenth Amendment--the Privileges or Immunities clause, which was expressly intended by its framers to incorporate the entire Bill of Rights (including the Ninth Amendment, protecting unenumerated rights)--its proper reading; and this case offers the Court a golden opportunity to finally correct its past mistakes. This is precisely the point I made in an article published a couple years ago in the Missouri Law Review entitled Second Amendment Incorporation Through the Fourteenth Amendment Privileges or Immunities and Due Process Clauses1--and it is precisely the point petitioners Otis McDonald et al. are making in McDonald v. City of Chicago (spending fully sixty-five of seventy-three pages of their argument on the privileges or immunities argument; and the remaining eight on the traditional Due Process argument). In Section I of this short essay, I will briefly review the sad history of how the Court buried the Privileges or Immunities clause in 1873 just five years after its birth; then in Section II, I will offer a possible doctrinal approach were the Court to move forward in (finally) giving proper effect to the Privileges or Immunities clause. Language: en


Summary Organic-rich shales exhibit a variation in shear strength and anisotropic behavior of seismic wave propagation when the direction of the plane of weakness is varied with respect to the direction of the principal stresses. This study investigats geomechanical and seismic behaviors of a Draupne shale core retrieved from an exploration well from the Central North Sea, offshore Norway. CIU- Isotropically Consolidated Undrained-tests were performed on three core plugs that drilled parallel (0 degree), inclined (45 degree) and perpendicular (90 degree) to the layerings/beddings. The index test results indicate very low permeability of the shale with small pore throats ensuring a high capillary sealing for the intact part, whereas the observed shear fracture is more uncertain with respect to sealing capacity. Anisotropy has been demonstrated to have a marked influence on the strength properties (e.g. shear strength, Young's Modulus, Poisson's Ratio) of the Draupne shale. The minimum shear strength is measured for 45 degree core plug whereas the plug drilled parallel (0 degree) to the layering exhibits the highest shear strength. Post-test sample observation confirms that the strength anisotropy is related to failure with respect to the layerings/beddings.


Given the robustness and maturity of contemporary particle image velocimetry (PIV) methods, detailed flow measurements are now possible in actual turbine engine environments. For instance, flow non-uniformity measurements are possible in fan outlet gas-paths by adapting PIV hardware to the restricted access afforded in such applications. In the present work, a framework is proposed and demonstrated for planning and executing stereoscopic PIV measurements in the fan outlet duct of a Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-1A research turbofan engine. Two case studies have been carried out by following this framework in order to demonstrate two different imaging methods — conventional lens/camera coupling and endoscopic imaging. A key step within the planning and execution framework is risk reduction, and this step resulted in considerable refinement of the methods in both cases. For instance, in endoscopic imaging, the risk reduction provided a new fluorescent paint application for obtaining near wall data not previously possible. The data obtained in the engine experiments have been used to quantify the uncertainty for both imaging methods, not surprisingly revealing 50% greater average uncertainties for endoscopic PIV versus conventional lens/camera imaging. The results from the case studies indicate that both imaging methods may be practically and economically implemented for detailed measurements in fan outlet ducts, and application demands may be carefully considered, and risks reduced, using the framework proposed.


In this paper, we address the problem of identifying spam users on Wikipedia and present our preliminary results. We formulate the problem as a binary classification task and propose a set of features based on user editing behavior to separate spammers from benign users. We tested our system on a new dataset we built consisting of 4.2K (half spam and half benign) users and 75.6K edits. Experimental results show that our approach reaches 80.8% classification accuracy and 0.88 mean average precision. We compared against ORES, the most recent tool developed by Wikimedia which assigns a damaging score to each edit, and we show that our system outperforms ORES in spam users detection. Moreover, by combining our features with ORES, classification accuracy increases to 82.1%. Additionally, we also show that our system performs well in a more realistic, unbalanced setting, that is, when spammers are greatly outnumbered by benign users, by achieving an AUROC of 0.84 (which increases to 0.86 when we combine with ORES).


Among Dziga Vertov's films, Three Songs of Lenin is unique in its immediate and enduring approval within the Soviet Union. The film was commissioned for the tenth anniversary of Lenin's death and made extensive use of archival material documenting Lenin's political trajectory and his funeral. Annette Michelson offers a reading of the film's political function within the historical situation of the USSR in the 1930s, claiming that the register and scale of Three Songs of Lenin make the film a "kinetic icon" for the deceased leader. Michelson discusses similarities between religious icons and films, particularly the way in which death haunts both, and she examines the way in which the film's emphasis on the role of the female mourner enables it to transform document into monument.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: High-attenuation areas (HDAs) called pseudo-subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAHs) may develop in some patients resuscitated from cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA), though no hemorrhage has occurred. We investigated the imaging characteristics and clinical significance of this phenomenon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CT images of consecutive patients resuscitated from nontraumatic CPA were reviewed and classified into cases with pseudo-SAH (pseudo-SAH[] group, n 9), those without pseudo-SAH (pseudo-SAH[] group, n 28), and those with true SAH (SAH-CPA group, n 8). Typical patients with SAH (SAH group, n 13) and 20 healthy individuals were also extracted as control groups. The degree of brain edema was scored visually as none, mild, or severe, and the CT values of the HDAs and brain parenchyma were measured. These parameters were compared among the groups. We also compared the prognosis between the pseudo-SAH() and pseudo-SAH() groups. RESULTS: On CT, pseudo-SAH was associated with severe brain edema, whereas there was mild or no edema without pseudo-SAH. The CT values of the HDAs in the pseudo-SAH() group were significantly lower than those of the CPA-SAH and SAH groups (P .0001). The brain parenchyma of the pseudo-SAH() group had the lowest CT values among all of the groups (P .0001). The prognosis of the pseudo-SAH() group was significantly poorer than that of the pseudo-SAH() group in terms of both clinical outcome (P .02) and survival (P .046). CONCLUSION: The findings of pseudo-SAH have several imaging characteristics differing from SAH and predict a poor prognosis. This provides important information that can be used for deciding treatment strategies.


We consider the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm applied to equality-constrained optimization problems, where the problem data is differentiable with Lipschitz-continuous first derivatives. For this setting, Dennis–Moré-type analysis of primal superlinear convergence is presented. Our main motivation is a special modification of SQP tailored to the structure of the lifted reformulation of mathematical programs with complementarity constraints (MPCC). For this problem, we propose a special positive definite modification of the matrices in the generalized Hessian, which is suitable for globalization of SQP based on the penalty function, and at the same time can be expected to satisfy our general Dennis– Moré-type conditions, thus preserving local superlinear convergence. (Standard quasi-Newton updates in the SQP framework require twice differentiability of the problem data at the solution for superlinear convergence.) Preliminary numerical results comparing a number of quasi-Newton versions of semismooth SQP applied to MPCC are also reported.


ABSTRACT The Cambodian government introduced a dramatic reform in 2001 that reduced the allocation of commercial fishing lots in favor of local community access. Hailed by community activists, the policy shift nevertheless accelerated a crisis in the sector, with effectively open access and very poor law enforcement leading to intense exploitation and a surge in illegal fishing. This essay reviews the context and the content of the reform initiative, the preliminary outcomes and many challenges faced in its implementation, and the lessons for other developing countries aiming to support community-based management in fisheries or other natural resource sectors. Building the organizational capacity of community institutions, I argue, is inadequate if not complemented by efforts to improve governance by establishing appropriate legal authorities and rights, strengthening the accountability of public officials, and removing barriers to the economic viability of community management.


While hospitalized for pneumonia with ventilator-dependent respiratory failure, a 45-year-old man on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) had nosocomial peritonitis secondary to infection by expanded spectrum β-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-Kp). He was treated successfully with a 3-week course of intraperitoneal (IP) flomoxef therapy without subsequent relapse, loss of peritoneal catheter, ultrafiltration failure, or dialysis inadequacy. The International Consensus Panel recommends IP ceftazidime as the treatment of choice for CAPD patients suffering Klebsiella species-related peritonitis. However, the most appropriate form of IP antibiotic therapy and the outcomes for expanded-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria-related peritonitis for CAPD patients have not been established yet. Further, the ability to correctly report minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of ceftazidime for ESBL bacteria in the resistant range varies between laboratories, making the diagnosis of ESBL-Kp-related CAPD peritonitis more complex and difficult. Thus, it appears reasonable to suggest that its incidence is probably underestimated and its significance ignored. The authors suggest that a 3-week IP treatment with flomoxef, a synthesized oxacephem, with loading and maintenance doses of 250 and 125 mg/L, respectively, is effective and safe for ESBL-Kp-related peritonitis in these patients. ESBL producing bacterial infection should be considered as a possible cause of overt CAPD-related peritonitis. Early detection of ESBLB pathogens and institution of effective antibiotic treatment may improve the prognosis.


The brain was perfused with artificial blood containing [U-(14)C] glucose, and then induced the disturbances of cerebral blood flow as in the previous report. The changes in the glucose metabolism of the brain were studied by measuring oxigen consumption, carbon dioxide formation, glucose uptake and lactic acid output as well as the contents of glucose metabolites and their radioactivities. The results are presented as follows. 1. In the case where the cerebral blood flow is decreased 20% or less, the cerebral oxygen consumption maintains approximately a constant level; where the decrease is over 40% it decreases; and in the decrease of 20-30% both of the above phenomena can be observed. 2. As for carbon dioxide formation, likewise when the decrease is over 40%, the amount of carbon dioxide formed is decreased. 3. The glucose uptake is 0.44μmole in average before the cerebral blood flow is decreased, it is 0.12μmole 32-39 minutes after the cerebral blood flow is decreased, showing the decrease in proportion to the lapse of time. In addition, when the decrease of cerebral blood flow is over 40%, there is observed a decrease in the glucose uptake. With the lactic acid output there is observed no fixed tendency.
4. In the brain with blood flow disturbances the glycogen content is decreased to 1.65μmole. 5. The lactic acid content of the brain shows a tendency to increase when the cerebral blood flow is low. 6. The relative specific activity of metabolites in the brain under the diminished blocd flow, is found to be glucose 100%; lactic acid 45%; and in comparison to 63-75% of lactic acid in standard brain perfusion, the decrease in the radioactivity of lactic acid is marked in the brain with blood flow disturbances. This means that the contribution of non radioactive endogenous substances to the glycolytic process has been potentiated as compared with that in normal state. 7. The relative specific activity of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glutamine and respiratory carbon dioxide are 30%, 32%, 17% and 20% respectively. In the standard perfusion these values are high in the high level of EEG, respective values being 80%, 75%, 61% and 55%, and it is known that the lower the EEG level, the lower is such ratios. However, these values in the brain with blood flow disturbances, agree approximately with those values in the brain with low function. 8. The relative specific actiyity of γ-amino butyric acid is 14% , being lower than that in the standard brain perfusion where the brain function is low. 9. The relative specific activity of glycogen, while it shows a big standard deviation, is about 22%, giving a considerably higher value than what has been expected. Even from the decrease of the glycogen content in the brain, it can be surmised that the involvement of glycogen in the energy metabolism in the brain under the blood flow disturbance is hightened. 10. These results seem to indicate that in the glucose metabolism of the brain with blood flow disturbances, there occur general disturbances of glucose uptake, glycolytic pathway and the citric acid cycle.


Building proteins into larger, post-translational assemblies in a defined and stable way is still a challenging task. A promising approach relies on so-called tag/catcher systems that are fused to the proteins of interest and allow a durable linkage via covalent intermolecular bonds. Tags and catchers are generated by splitting protein domains that contain intramolecular isopeptide or ester bonds that form autocatalytically under physiological conditions. There are already numerous biotechnological and medical applications that demonstrate the usefulness of covalent linkages mediated by these systems. Additional covalent tag/catcher systems would allow creating more complex and ultra-stable protein architectures and networks. Two of the presently available tag/catcher systems were derived from closely related CnaB-domains of Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus dysgalactiae proteins. However, it is unclear whether domain splitting is generally tolerated within the CnaB-family or only by a small subset of these domains. To address this point, we have selected a set of four CnaB domains of low sequence similarity and characterized the resulting tag/catcher systems by computational and experimental methods. Experimental testing for intermolecular isopeptide bond formation demonstrated two of the four systems to be functional. For these two systems length and sequence variations of the peptide tags were investigated revealing only a relatively small effect on the efficiency of the reaction. Our study suggests that splitting into tag and catcher moieties is tolerated by a significant portion of the naturally occurring CnaB-domains, thus providing a large reservoir for the design of novel tag/catcher systems.


Speciation can proceed rapidly when natural and sexual selection act in concert. For example speciation can be ac- celerated when traits that confer a selective advantage in a particular habitat also influence mate preference. Studying parallel but evolutionarily independent instances of ecological divergence can illuminate the interaction between natural and sexual selection during speciation. Locally adapted populations of the eastern fence lizard Sceloporus undulatus have recently evolved in three different habitats in the Chihuahuan desert: blanched color morphs occur on the gypsum dunes of White Sands, melanic color morphs occur on the Carrizozo lava flow, and brown color morphs occur in the surrounding desert scrubland. In addition to dif- ferences in cryptic dorsal coloration, populations also differ in the size and color of ventral patches used for social signaling. This system therefore provides an opportunity to investigate the interplay of natural and sexual selection during rapid ecological speci- ation. We used mate preference experiments to determine whether locally adapted populations may exhibit the early stages of be- havioral reproductive isolation. We observed an asymmetrical mate preference in this system; White Sands males preferentially courted local females, while males from dark soils and black lava populations did not exhibit a preference for local mates. We also found that female behavior and ventral patch phenotype were associated with male courtship. Our results suggest that the observed preference for local mates evolved at White Sands, and we discuss the possible link between local adaptation and traits involved in mate preference in this system (Current Zoology 59 (1): 20-30, 2013).


The importance of vitamins in the prevention of cancer has attracted the attention of consumers, nutritionists and scientists for decades. The mechanisms of carcinogenesis, extended in the context of the function of vitamins, i.e. regulation of and participation in metabolic processes in the cell, suggest a substantial impact of these compounds on the initial stages of carcinogenesis. One-carbon metabolism involving folic acid, vitamins B2, B6 and B12, and folate metabolism doesn't only generate methyl groups, thus determining epigenetic processes, modifications of the genome and carcinogenesis. It also provides the compounds involved in the DNA synthesis and repair processes, especially the synthesis of purines and pyrimidines and the conversion of dUMP (2-deoxyuridine monophosphate) to dTMP (2-deoxythymidine monophosphate). In  light of these pathways, folate, together with vitamins B2, B6 and B12, became a subject of interest as compounds whose deficit or surplus can potentially have an impact on the processes of carcinogenesis. Literature reports, however, do not fully confirm that the influence on the synthesis of nucleotides is connected with the inhibition of carcinogenesis. The impact of individual vitamins involved in one-carbon metabolism on carcinogenesis and their role in the prevention of these conditions depend on the type of cancer and the dose administered. Nevertheless, the research conducted makes it possible to conclude a considerable and probably long-underestimated role of these compounds in the prevention of serious, difficult to treat or incurable diseases (Adv Clin Exp Med 2016, 25, 3, 561–568).


It has always been acknowledged that Venetian art was one of the components from which Annibale Carracci formed his painting style. There is little documentary evidence concerning Annibale's career and no Venetian sources to inform us of his contact with Venice. Taking his art as the primary source, this study examines the timing and nature of Annibale's contact with Venetian art and artists. It also investigates the works of his brother Agostino and his cousin Ludovico to discover their roles in directing Annibale towards Venetian art and communicating its qualities to him. The working method used is comparative analysis between Annibale's art and key paintings he could have seen in Venice and North Italian collections. Sources such as the early biographies and the marginal comments in the Carracci's copy of Vasari's Vite supplement the primary artistic evidence. This study compiles and critically engages with analyses from previous scholarship. The thesis investigates the role of prints in the early orientation of the Carracci in Bologna, particularly those reproducing Titian's work, and how these affected Annibale's ideas about composition and the representation of figures and landscape. It reconsiders Agostino's role as an engraver of Venetian paintings in transmitting ideas about Venetian art to Annibale. The Carracci practice of copying other artists is reviewed with a scenario tendered to explain why Annibale copied Correggio and Titian, but not Bassano, Veronese, or Tintoretto. Annibale's and Agostino's early adoption of drawing and painting techniques are investigated, as is Ludovico's later technical experiments. Annibale's travels in northern Italy as suggested by his annotations in Vasari's Vite are explored in terms of which paintings he could have seen there and how this experience may be reflected in his art. The most highly Venetianizing period of all three Carracci, from about 1587 to its zenith in 1592, is refined. Annibale's study of Venetian art is shown to have been more involved than suggested by previous scholars. Together with his observation of nature, accomplished draughtsmanship and his study of Correggio, Venetian art informed his mature style before he relocated to Rome.


Frank Close, a leading physicist and talented popular science writer, reveals the true story of the cold fusion controversy--a story ignored until now in spite of the glare of publicity surrounding Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons. On March 23, 1989, these two Utah scientists held an astonishing press conference, maintaining that they had succeeded, working in secret, in harnessing atomic fusion. What was the basis for their claims to have achieved cold fusion in a test tube in a basement laboratory, while other scientists--using magnets as big as houses and temperatures hotter than those in the center of the sun--were failing to produce as much power as they were using? Why did Fleischmann and Pons proclaim their "discovery" at a news conference, when first announcements of scientific results are almost always made within the scientific community? Why did the full-blown media event inspired by their initial report cause governments to reorient their research programs in hopes of cornering the "new technology"? And why did some scientists recklessly abandon their traditional painstaking methods in haste to be first to prove or discredit the experiment? Acquainted at first hand with investigations of cold fusion on two continents, Close is uniquely qualified to probe the motivations behind Fleischmann's and Pons's startling assertions and to explore the intellectual and political turmoil that surrounded the cold fusion debate. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


In the exploration of renewable energy, biodiesel is coming forward as one of the leading solutions. Biodiesel is produced from a plant oil or fat and methanol, giving crude glycerol as a byproduct. One of the big advantages of biodiesel production is that a local feedstock can provide the required plant oil whereas methanol is a common platform chemical. Production takes place all over the world and its product is available at most European gas stations. Unfortunately, the rapid introduction of biodiesel to the market showed to have an influence on the selling price of its byproduct which decreased considerably between 2006 and 2010. Deterioration of glycerol prices could make biodiesel a lot less economically attractive for its producers. The Supermethanol project was initiated to develop a cost efficient process to reform crude glycerol to methanol in a two-step process by first reforming the glycerol to synthesis gas, followed by the conversion of synthesis gas to methanol.
Methanol is produced on industrial scale at pressures between 5.0 and 10.0 MPa and formed via equilibrium reactions that requires the process to have a recycle stream back to the reactor. The synthesis gas obtained from the Supermethanol reforming process has an approximate pressure of 20.0 MPa, at this pressure the reaction equilibrium tends to full conversion. In addition, the formed methanol condenses in the reactor ensuring full conversion of the reactants. Without the necessity of a recycle stream, the methanol conversion process becomes less complicated and of smaller size which opens a window for implementation into an existing biodiesel plant.
In this study a kinetic model was developed for the synthesis of methanol at pressures of 17.5 – 22.5 MPa based on experimental data obtained from experiments using a commercially available Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst. The formation of methanol and water was studied using varying feed compositions of CO, CO2 and H2 in a continuous spinning basket reactor by making use of an online gas chromatograph. Three kinetic models, based on a Langmuir-Hinshelwood/Hougen-Watson model and power law model were fitted to the experimental data. Finally, the best fitting model was found to give a relative average error of ∆R_(〖CH〗_3 OH)^' = 18.4 % for a temperature range of 483 to 498 K.
Many kinetic models for the synthesis of methanol have been published over the last decades. Most of these are developed for low pressure methanol synthesis and are not applicable in the Supermethanol region. The kinetic model developed in this study can be considered the first of its kind.


The recent use of insulated aircraft wing or fin cap sections for radio antennas has required that consideration be given not only to the protection of radio equipment but to the protection of the insulated aircraft sections as well. Failure of simple spark gap protection used in early installations for aircraft radio equipment has been correlated to the occurrence of long duration lightning strokes, which, because of low current rates of rise, do not build up sufficient voltages across lead or tuning inductances to flash simple protective gaps. In order to provide protection against all types of lightning discharges, an aircraft lightning arrester utilizing a combination gap and series capacitor was proposed by LTRI, and has been developed in a number of commercially available types for various type installations discussed in the paper.


From Shakey the Robot to self-driving cars, from the personal computer to personal assistants on our phones, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has led the development of integrated artificial intelligence (AI) systems for more than half a century. From the earliest days of AI, it was apparent that a robust, generally intelligent system should include a complete set of capabilities: perception, memory, reasoning, learning, planning, and action; and when DARPA initiated AI research in the 1960s, ambitious projects such as Shakey the Robot went after the complete package. As DARPA realized the challenges, they backed away from the ultimate goal of integrated AI and tried to make progress on the individual problems of image understanding, speech and language understanding, knowledge representation and reasoning, planning and decision aids, machine learning, and robotic manipulation. Yet, even as researchers struggled to make progress in these subdisciplines, DARPA periodically resurrected the challenge of integrated intelligent systems and pushed the community to try again. In the 1980s, DARPA's Strategic Computing Initiative took on challenges of integrated AI projects such as the Autonomous Land Vehicle and the Pilot's Associate. These did not succeed, but instead set the stage for the several decades of more siloed research that followed, until it was time to try again. In the 2000s, DARPA took on the integrated AI problem again with its Grand Challenges, which led to the first self-driving cars, and projects such as the Personalized Assistant that Learns, which produced Apple's Siri. These efforts created complex, richly-integrated systems that represented quantum leaps ahead in machine intelligence. The integration of sophisticated capabilities in a fundamental way is the key to general intelligence. This is the story of DARPA's persistent long-term support for this essential premise of AI


The key problems of nation- and state-building are revealed in the concept of the chronotope of the Ukrainian "long twentieth century," which is a hybrid projection of the "long nineteenth century." An essential feature of this stage in the history of Ukraine and Ukrainians is the realization of the intentions of socioeconomic, ethnocultural and political emancipation: in fact, the end of the Ukrainian revolution, which began in the context of World War I, and the destruction of the colonial system. The second book deals with the essential changes of the united Ukraine, which emerged within the framework of the Yalta-Potsdam system. Its fate in the era of World War II and the Cold War, the consequences of re-Sovietization, unconscious collective traumas and transgressions and their impact on modernity are the author's optics of studying the historical path of Ukraine in the era of confrontation of world systems and the collapse of communism, which enabled Ukraine's sovereignty. For a wide audience.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease associated with chronic inflammation, referred to as synovitis, and ultimately joint destruction. It is acknowledged that ultrasound Power Doppler imaging can reveal subclinical synovitis but the quantification of inflammation stages is currently limited by the coarse resolution and sensitivity of conventional Doppler imaging. Here we show that ultrafast Doppler imaging characterizes metacarophalangeal joint microvasculature with an unprecedented accuracy, making it a promising microangiography method for the early diagnosis of RA. We made use of a 15 MHz probe (256 elements linear array, 0.125 mm pitch) connected to a programmable ultrafast ultrasound scanner. We insonified the second metacarpophalangeal joint of 13 healthy volunteers with a dedicated ultrafast Doppler imaging sequence consisting of 41 plane wave transmissions at a pulse repetition frequency of 20 kHz during one second. The received ultrasound data were beamformed and digitally filtered to get rid of tissue clutter. Power Doppler maps were computed and overlaid on co-registered Bmode images of the joint anatomy. Ultrafast Doppler imaging allowed for the detection of healthy metacarpophalangeal joint microvasculature, which is invisible in conventional Power Doppler imaging. We imaged microvascular blood flow in 12 out of 13 healthy joints, with Doppler signal to noise ratios of the order of 5 dB. In addition, we computed for each individual a functional capillary density (defined as the length of perfused capillaries in mm per tissue area in mm2) and obtained values of the order of 0.6 ± 0.1 mm microvessel/mm2 tissue. The method, which can be readily implemented on ultrafast ultrasound scanners, shows strong potential for the early diagnosis of RA and has the advantage of being fully noninvasive. A group of RA patients with different stages of inflammation will be investigated next.


Following the outbreak of COVID-19, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions have been implemented to contain the spread of the pandemic. Despite the recent reduction in the number of infections and deaths in Europe, it is still unclear to which extent these governmental actions have contained the spread of the disease and reduced mortality. In this article, we estimate the effects of reduced human mobility on excess mortality using digital mobility data at the regional level in England and Wales. Specifically, we employ the Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, which offer an approximation to the changes in mobility due to different social distancing measures. Considering that changes in mobility would require some time before having an effect on mortality, we analyse the relationship between excess mortality and lagged indicators of human mobility. We find a negative association between excess mortality and time spent at home, as well as a positive association with changes in outdoor mobility, after controlling for the time trend of the pandemic and regional differences. We estimate that almost 130,000 excess deaths have been averted as a result of the increased time spent at home. In addition to addressing a key scientific question, our results have important policy implications for future pandemics and a potential second wave of COVID-19.


We propose a new type of artificial potential field, that we call hybrid potential field, to navigate a robot in situations in which the environment is known except for unknown and possibly moving obstacles. We show how to compute hybrid potential fields in real time and use them to control the motions of a real robot. Our method is tested on both a real robot and a simulated one. We present a feature matching approach for position error correction that we have validated experimentally with our mobile robot. We show extensive simulation results with up to 50 randomly moving obstacles.


Dialogue systems can benefit from being able to search through a corpus of text to find information relevant to user requests, especially when encountering a request for which no manually curated response is available. The state-of-the-art technology for neural dense retrieval or re-ranking involves deep learning models with hundreds of millions of parameters. However, it is difficult and expensive to get such models to operate at an industrial scale, especially for cloud services that often need to support a big number of individually customized dialogue systems, each with its own text corpus. We report our work on enabling advanced neural dense retrieval systems to operate effectively at scale on relatively inexpensive hardware. We compare with leading alternative industrial solutions and show that we can provide a solution that is effective, fast, and cost-efficient.


Embryos of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana are able to withstand bouts of environmental anoxia for several years by entering a quiescent state, during which time metabolism is greatly depressed. Within minutes of oxygen removal, intracellular pH (pHi) drops at least 1.0 unit. This acidification has been strongly implicated in the arrest of both catabolic and anabolic processes in the cytoplasm. A global arrest of cytoplasmic translation accompanies the transition into anoxia or into aerobic acidosis (artificial quiescence imposed by intracellular acidification with CO2 in the presence of oxygen). Similarly, protein synthesis in isolated mitochondria from these embryos is also reduced markedly in response to acidic pH (80% reduction) or anoxia (79% reduction). The constancy of mRNA levels during quiescence indicates that protein synthesis is likely to be controlled at the translational level. Mitochondrial matrix pH is 8.2 during protein synthesis assays performed at the extramitochondrial pH optimum of 7.5. When this proton gradient is abolished with the K+/H+ ionophore nigericin, the extramitochondrial pH optimum for protein synthesis displays an alkaline shift of approximately 0.7 pH unit. These data suggest the presence of proton-sensitive translational components within the mitochondrion. The oxygen dependency of mitochondrial protein synthesis is not explained simply by blockage of the electron transport chain or by the increased redox state. Whereas oxygen deprivation substantially depresses protein synthesis by 77% after 1 h, normoxic incubations with saturating concentrations of cyanide or antimycin A have only a modest effect (36% reduction, cyanide; 20%, antimycin A). This cyanide- and antimycin-insensitive, but hypoxia-sensitive, inhibitory signature for the arrest of protein synthesis suggests the presence of a molecular oxygen sensor within the mitochondrion.