In order to state their commitment to sustainability, colleges and universities across the United States are signing environmental charters which emphasize the importance of incorporating environmental issues into education, research, operations, and outreach. As a signatory of several charters, the University of Florida (UF) has taken a particular interest in greening their student housing and has made considerable progress in retrofitting a housing stock over 100 years old. However, despite the implementation of sustainable practices throughout their residence buildings the university has continued to identify areas needing further improvement. As participants in the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Research to Practice (R2P2) program, which aims to engage the educational community in a variety of oncampus research, a team of UF students and faculty utilized the opportunity to investigate obstacles faced in enhancing student housing performance. This case study reports on the pedagogy used by this team to assess the efficacy of applicable sustainable strategies and the environmentally significant behaviors of residents within three residence halls. This pedagogy aimed to first, involve students in project-based learning (PBL); and second, to provide a service to the university by contributing to its efforts to green the campus. Findings of this study illustrated a number of methods for improving building performance. Additionally, as pedagogy, PBL was found in this study to set the stage for acquisition of Gestaltungskompetenz—the organizational, participatory, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and reflection competencies necessary for sustainable development. However, while these findings offer great promise for improving sustainable practices and education, more focused research is needed to explore the challenges and opportunities of their application. Therefore, this study is an invitation to further our exploratory research and continue the discovery of applications for the PBL model in sustainability education.


The authors have analyzed the legal acts regulating accountancy in the Russian Federation and concluded that they contain no definitions, classification or descriptions of innovations, which makes it problematic to put the corresponding provisions of State programs into practice. The authors suggest singling out "expenditure on innovation" as a separate object of accounting and define it as expenditure for the purpose of improving the quality of production, works and service as well as improving the organizational and management system. This new level of quality can be measured by means of the following indicators: physical properties, chemical composition, technical and economic indicators. In view of the fact that investments in innovation can be referred to as both fixed capital (intangible assets, constant assets) and working capital (elite seeds, young animals, innovative biological additives etc.), the authors suggest adding to entry 08 "Investments in fixed assets" sub-entry 9 "Creating or purchasing innovations as part of fixed capital" and sub-entry 10 "Creating or purchasing innovations as part of working capital". In view of the fact that Cash flow statement reveals some important analytical information about investing, it would be advisable to add to "Cash flow from investing activities" line 4215 "Cash inflows from selling innovations" and line 4225 "Expenditures on purchasing, creating innovations"


This paper presents a novel approach to estimation of the cumulative incidence function in the presence of competing risks. The underlying statistical model is specified via a mixture factorization of the joint distribution of the event type and the time to the event. The time to event distributions conditional on the event type are modeled using smooth semi‐nonparametric densities. One strength of this approach is that it can handle arbitrary censoring and truncation while relying on mild parametric assumptions. A stepwise forward algorithm for model estimation and adaptive selection of smooth semi‐nonparametric polynomial degrees is presented, implemented in the statistical software R, evaluated in a sequence of simulation studies, and applied to data from a clinical trial in cryptococcal meningitis. The simulations demonstrate that the proposed method frequently outperforms both parametric and nonparametric alternatives. They also support the use of 'ad hoc' asymptotic inference to derive confidence intervals. An extension to regression modeling is also presented, and its potential and challenges are discussed. © 2017 The Authors. Statistics in Medicine Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.


Healthcare organizations exchange sensitive health records, including behavioral health data, across peer-to-peer networks, and it is challenging to find and fix compliance issues proactively. The Healthcare industry anticipates a growing need to audit substance use disorder patient data, commonly referred to as Part 2 data, having been shared without a release of information signed by the patient. To address this need, we developed and evaluated a novel methodology to detect Part 2 data exchanged between organizations that integrates Blockchain technologies with knowledge graphs. We detect substance use disorder data in patient encounters exchanged using clinical terminology based upon the value sets provided by the National Institutes of Health for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Generally, we consider sharing Part 2 data without consent as Byzantine medical faults, as they represent data shared between known and trusted network participants, that is valid, but is not relevant, and sharing it causes a breach. In this paper, we present our methodology in detail along with the experiment results. We model a medical network of hospitals based upon the most recent healthcare legislation, TEFCA, and generate synthetic patient encounter data dynamically in HL7 format. We convert exchanged encounter data into a knowledge graph data model so that we can use SNOMED-CT for identifying Part 2 data. For cohorts of 1,000 patients, we detect Part 2 data in a subset of their encounter data shared between organizations and log that securely on an Ethereum-based blockchain.


There are number of techniques being used to convert the organic waste into the useful products like bio fuel, manure etc. Among them, the mesophilic process using earthworms, vermicomposting is the most effective and low cost process to convert large amount of organic waste in relatively shorter time.The significance of the process is not only to improve the fertility of the soil but also to improve the diversity of beneficial microorganisms in the soil.The process also eradicate harmful microbes from the ecosystem. The current study is to investigate the presence, range and diversity of microbial population in vermicast fed with different raw materials like cow dung, biomethanisation plant slurry, and press-mud). The vermicomposting unit at the Periyar Maniammai University, Vallam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India was the study area where open bed method is followed. Six samples were tested for this study, three for composts and three for vermicompost from the same raw materials.After inoculating earthworms, samples were collected on the 42nd day of the process. Samples from composting beds were collected at 90 th day and proceeded to the metagenomic analysis.The sequence results were categorized from higher order phylum to lower order species level and the report indicates microbes like Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria etc., were present in larger quantity in all the vermicompost samples compared to compost samples. The results indicate vermicompost obtained from the biomethanisation slurry did not have any pathogenic bacteria like Salmonella spp ., Escherichia coli , Enterobacter spp., and Enterococcus spp despite night soil being one of the components used in the plant. In contrast, it had maximum number of bacteria species useful for the plant growth than other samples in our study.


Adrenals were studied in 17 children with adrenogenital syndrome with a salt loss. Adrenals from 9 children who died from mechanical asphyxia served as control. Adrenal weight, the width of adrenal zones were measured, the volumes of nuclei and nucleoli were calculated after having been drawn on millimeter paper. The dilatation of both fascicular and reticular zones, the persistence of a fetal zone were found. Nuclear polymorphism, hyperchromatism and in 2 cases-mitotic figures were observed in the fascicular zone. An increase of nuclear and nucleolar volume is noted in cells of glomerular and fascicular zones. The zones of an increased functional activity (inner part of a glomerular zone and external part of a fascicular one) are distinguished. Alterations if cortex cells are the evidence of their hypertrophy and, to a lesser extent, their hyperplasia.


Information technologies (IT) supporting business strategies and business processes are often the most important factor for successful organizations. Aligning IT with the business depends on many factors, including communication and cooperation between the top management of organizations and the top management of IT departments in strategic decision making and planning. This paper discusses the outcomes of a survey conducted in six hundred organizations operating on the Czech market. The aim of the survey was to verify whether organizations operating on the Czech market meet basic assumptions for business/IT alignment or, in other words, to find out the reality of business/IT alignment in practice.


DECOMPRESSION IN LABOUR Abdominal Decompression. By 0. S. Heyns, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.C.O.G., F.1.C.S. (Pp. 113+xiv; illustrated. 30s.) Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. 1963. Professor Heyns is well known as an original investigator of uterine action since 1950, and when, a few years ago, he introduced the novel idea of enclosing parturient women in a " space suit " it attracted world-wide attention. In this monograph he describes how he came to employ what he recognizes was originally an empirical remedy to smooth the course of labour, and discusses his continued experiments with modifications of his apparatus. By creating a negative pressure around the trunk and lifting the abdominal wall from its contents, Professor Heyns claims that better and less painful uterine action is ensured. Further developments of the work include the use of abdominal decompression throughout all stages of labour, and of applying decompression to the vulva to permit rapid delivery of the foetus and placenta. This mechanical device is described not only as a promoter of more efficient uterine action but as a means of lowering the intrauterine pressure, thus preventing the foetus suffering anoxia during labour. In pregnancy it is said to encourage Braxton Hicks contractions and thus to improve the blood supply to the uterus. In the third trimester of pregnancy regular periods of abdominal decompression may prevent pre-eclampsia. In the non-pregnant woman the author uses the suit to relieve dysmenorrhoea and backache. Professor Heyns is aware that not all those who have tried his method on patients have been able to confirm his results. Indeed, one of the objects of this book is to give details of the technique of using the apparatus so that others can observe these and thus avoid failures. Whatever view may be taken of the method, there is no question that this monograph is a fascinating account of a painstaking study continued throughout many years. The enthusiasm and dedication of the author are manifested in no uncertain manner and cannot fail to encourage others to give abdominal decompression an unprejudiced trial.


Bilingual language models (Bi-LMs) refer to language models that are modeled using both source and target words in a parallel corpus. While translating a source sentence to a target language, the decoder in phrase-based machine translation system breaks down the source sentence into phrases. It then translates each phrase into the target language. While decoding each phrase, the decoder has very little information about source words that are outside the current phrase in consideration. Bi-LMs have been used to provide more information about source words outside the current phrase. Bi-LMs are estimated by first creating bitoken sequences using a parallel corpus and the word alignments between the source and target words in that corpus. When creating the bitoken sequences, the vocabulary expands considerably and Bi-LMs suffer due to this huge vocabulary which in turn increases the sparsity of the language models. In previous work, bitokens were created by first replacing each word in the parallel corpus either by their part-of-speech tags or word classes after clustering using the Brown clustering algorithm. Both of these approaches only take into account words that are direct translations of each other as they only depend on word alignments between the source word and target word in the bitokens. In this thesis, we propose the use of bilingual word embeddings as a first step to reduce the vocabulary of the bitokens. Bilingual word embeddings are a low dimensional representation of words trained on a parallel corpus of aligned sentences in two languages. Using bilingual word embeddings to build Bi-LMs for machine translation is significantly better than the previous state of the art that uses Bi-LMs with an increase of 1.4 BLEU points in our experiments.


The level of expression of sexually selected traits is generally determined by genes, environment and their interaction. In species that use multiple sexual signals which may be costly to produce, investing in the expression of one sexual signal may limit the expression of the other, favoring the evolution of a strategy for resource allocation among signals. As a result, even when the expression of sexual signals is condition dependent, the relative level of expression of each signal may be heritable. We tested this hypothesis in the East-Mediterranean barn swallow (Hirundo rustica transitiva), in which males have been shown to express two uncorrelated sexual signals: red-brown ventral coloration, and long tail streamers. We show that variation in both signals may partially be explained by age, as well as by paternal origin (genetic father-son regressions), but that the strongest similarity between fathers and sons is the relative allocation towards one trait or the other (relative expression index), rather than the expression of the traits themselves. These results suggest that the expression of one signal is not independent of the other, and that genetic strategies for resource allocation among sexual signals may be selected for during the evolution of multiple sexual signals.


Set in a time when the world's population has surpassed a sustainable level, the biggest threat to humanity is itself. Manmade climate change is poised to render Earth irreparably inhospitable. One of the first successful products of human genetic engineering, Cain, is directing his immense intellect toward solving the problem. Cain sees only one true solution: cleanse the planet of mankind. Cain and his followers, known as Darwin's Disciples, seek to recruit the top ten percent of the population based on genetic makeup. The unfit, the unworthy, and the underwhelming are targets to be eliminated. A small faction, the Bastion, has risen to challenge him. These champions of the people need every stroke of luck they can get if they are to succeed in stopping the coming darkness. This is the story of the culling of the human race and the desperate struggle that ensued.


We report results from an intensive multiwavelength monitoring campaign on the TeV blazar Mrk 421 over the period of 2003-2004. The source was observed simultaneously at TeV energies with the Whipple 10 m telescope and at X-ray energies with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) during each clear night within the Whipple observing windows. Supporting observations were also frequently carried out at optical and radio wavelengths to provide simultaneous or contemporaneous coverages. The large amount of simultaneous data has allowed us to examine the variability of Mrk 421 in detail, including cross-band correlation and broadband spectral variability, over a wide range of flux. The variabilities are generally correlated between the X-ray and gamma-ray bands, although the correlation appears to be fairly loose. The light curves show the presence of flares with varying amplitudes on a wide range of timescales at both X-ray and TeV energies. Of particular interest is the presence of TeV flares that have no coincident counterparts at longer wavelengths, because the phenomenon seems difficult to understand in the context of the proposed emission models for TeV blazars. We have also found that the TeV flux reached its peak days before the X-ray flux did during a giant flare (or outburst) in 2004 (with the peak flux reaching ~135 mcrab in X-rays, as seen by the RXTE ASM, and ~3 crab in gamma rays). Such a difference in the development of the flare presents a further challenge to both the leptonic and hadronic emission models. Mrk 421 varied much less at optical and radio wavelengths. Surprisingly, the normalized variability amplitude in the optical seems to be comparable to that in the radio, perhaps suggesting the presence of different populations of emitting electrons in the jet. The spectral energy distribution of Mrk 421 is seen to vary with flux, with the two characteristic peaks moving toward higher energies at higher fluxes. We have failed to fit the measured spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model; introducing additional zones greatly improves the fits. We have derived constraints on the physical properties of the X-ray/gamma-ray flaring regions from the observed variability (and SED) of the source. The implications of the results are discussed.


Background and aims Human factors (HF) is the science of human performance within a given system.1 It was adopted by healthcare from safety critical industries to improve patient safety. HF training is recommended by the General Medical Council (GMC), World Health Organisation and Royal Colleges.2 3 Despite the importance of HF to patient safety, there is a relative paucity of research on how to incorporate HF perspective within existing patient safety reporting systems such as Datix. Aims To analyse the contribution of HF within Datix reports submitted from the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. To enable a HF perspective in patient safety incidents (PSI) within the paediatric directorate. Methods PICU Datix submitted between 1.4.2007–1.4.2015 were analysed according to HF categories which were devised according to "Implementing Human Factors in Healthcare: How to Guide".4 A drop-down menu on Datix was developed to enable staff to choose a HF at the time of reporting. The new system became live from 1.10.2015. The effect of the change on reports submitted by PICU between 1.10.2015–1.12.2015 was analysed. This work was registered as a quality improvement initiative. Results 1946 PICU Datix were submitted from April 2007–April 2015. 329(20.3%) reported HF. Communication (10.4%, n = 203), was the most commonly cited HF. 127 PICU Datix were submitted between 1.10.2015–1.12.2015. 48 (37.8%) attributed a contributory HF, most 19 (15%) cited communication. Conclusion Simple changes to existing safety tools can enable a HF perspective to overcome wrong assumptions about error causation. The relevance of HF is still not fully embraced within reports but within 2 months, HF reporting has increased since the change in reporting system and there has been subsequent trust-wide implementation of HF within Datix. Further research is required as we strive to improve the safety culture of teams and organisations and a human factors perspective will feature increasingly as healthcare's socio-technically complex system is better understood. References DoHclass="RefAuthor"> Human Factors Reference Group Interim Report, National Quality Board, March 2012 GMC Academy of Medical Royal Colleges July 2015 "Developing a framework for generic professional capabilities" A public consultation WHO Patient Safety Curriculum Guide: Multi-professional edition 2011 Carthey, J Patient Safety First: The "How to Guide" for Implementing Human Factors in Healthcare Version 1 2009


My subject is federalism and rights. I will argue that jurisdictional competition is, by and large, an effective way for society to discover a good set of rights for people to flourish. It is wholly appropriate to discuss federalism in relation to law and economics because federalism creates a market for governance. (1) Like other market processes, federalism offers a process of discovery--for individuals who can find states with the rights that allow them to flourish and for society that can allow it to evaluate best the effects of different rights by comparing the results in different jurisdictions. I draw on work on which Professor Nelson Lund and I collaborated. (2) I will begin with an abstract discussion of the advantages of competitive federalism and then illustrate these advantages in a concrete case, suggesting that competitive federalism provides a better alternative than the judicial doctrine of substantive due process for creating freedoms connected to sexual autonomy. This area is a useful one in which to compare federalism and the Supreme Court as mechanisms for creating rights, not simply because writing about rights of sexual freedom keeps people's attention but because it is in the area of sexual autonomy that the Court has most usurped the process of competitive federalism. I begin with two simple premises--one about the content of rights and another about their epistemology. First, good societies are concerned with protecting both liberty and other conditions for human flourishing. (3) In a good society, people should have freedom to act, but legal norms also should help sustain the conditions for the success of family life, friendship, and other social goods. In short, we should seek the set of rights that will maximize freedoms without permitting these rights to turn into license--the kind of activity that damages other social goods. (4) My second premise is that it is hard to draw a line between liberty and license. This is because it is difficult to assess the consequences of freedoms and restrictions in the social realm-maybe even more difficult than it is to assess than the effects of economic regulation because of their scope and subtlety. (5) Like many law professors, I have predictions about the likely effects of many rights that are debated. But everyone, even a law professor, must admit occasionally that he is fallible in his social and moral intuitions. Because of such all too human fallibility, a desirable feature of constitutional design is a structure that helps us calculate together the consequences of our social policies by providing us evidence beyond just our intuitions. The need for such a mechanism of individual and social discovery offers a powerful argument of a presumption against a monopolized process for creating rights whether the monopoly is held by Congress or the courts. I say presumption because I do not deny that some rights may best be protected at the federal level, and some should be protected against legislative abridgement. We have a constitutional process that can entrench specific rights at the federal level so long as they obtain supermajority support. (6) That consensus gives us greater confidence than we have in ordinary politics. In contrast with monopoly power at the federal level, states take part in a process that is relatively competitive, better approximating the private market. (7) To be sure, federal constitutional law plays a crucial role in creating the framework for competitive federalism by protecting the free movement of people and information among the States. (8) These protections leave individuals "free to exit [their states] if the balance between liberty and license becomes radically off-kilter." (9) The paradox of a system of constitutional federalism is that two levels of government with defined roles can better protect freedom than one by permitting states to choose a bundle of rights while the federal government guarantees the rights of movement and information. …


Background and Purpose
 In Japan, rt-PA has been approved for use since 2005 for treating acute ischemic stroke within 3 hr of onset. Since emergency medical service (EMS) is often the first medical contact for stroke patients, EMS is an important step in stroke recovery. Recently, we developed the Izumo Prehospital Apoplexy Scale (IPAS) and started the prehospital stroke registry, including IPAS scores and information on diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis. We share this registry with EMS and exchange the data electronically; this helps providing regular feedback to EMS on accurate diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of patients. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of our feedback system on stroke care.

 Methods
 We retrospectively reviewed the prehospital stroke registry to identify all patients evaluated using the IPAS and transported by EMS to our hospital between January 2010 and June 2011. We divided the patients into 2 groups: those evaluated between January 2010 and September 2010 (first period) and between October 2010 and June 2011 (second period). Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of IPAS were determined. To assess the utility of IPAS on shortening of the duration from stroke onset to hospital arrival, we performed two comparisons; first, the comparison before and after IPAS introduction, second, the comparison between first and second period after IPAS introduction.

 Results
 During the study period, 220 patients evaluated with IPAS were transported to our hospital. The sensitivity (0.86 versus 0.95,
 p = 0.03
 ) and positive predict value (0.65 versus 0.78,
 p = 0.02
 ) of the paramedic's stroke/TIA identification significantly improved in the second period than in the first period. The duration from onset to arrival at the emergency department was significantly shorter in the second period (2.2 h versus 1.9 h,
 p = 0.04
 ). Moreover, the duration was significantly shorter with IPAS use than without (3.8 h versus 2.2 h,
 p = 0.005
 ).

 Conclusions
 Sharing the prehospital stroke registry with EMS resulted in a 9% increase in sensitivity for identifying stroke patients in the prehospital setting. Moreover, feedback system contributed to shortening the duration from stroke onset to arrival at the emergency department.


The persistence of the hypoglossal artery (PHA) into adulthood is a very rare vascular anomaly and, when present, provides the only vascular supply to the posterior circulation. We describe a case of a 64-year-old male presenting with symptoms of vertebro-basilar insufficiency associated with severe high grade stenosis of a persistent hypoglossal artery and tandem stenosis of the proximal ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA), both treated by an endovascular approach. Given this patient's comorbidities and the potential anatomic difficulties presented by the PHA during performance of a carotid endarterectomy, we decided to proceed with stent placement in both the proximal ICA and the PHA in the same treatment setting. The high degree of stenosis in the PHA and the presence of a large atherosclerotic plaque in the proximal ICA were felt to be good indications for proximal embolic protection by a flow-reversal technique using the GORE Flow Reversal System (W.L.Gore and Associates, Inc., Flagstaff, AZ). The unique anatomical and technical challenges associated with this case are reviewed in detail. Post-operatively, the patient improved clinically, remaining with minimal subjective right sided numbness and he was discharged home on ASA, Effient and Crestor. The patient had no complications related to the endovascular procedure. Competing interests J Eller: None. S Jahshan: None. T Dumont: None. P Kan: None. E Levy: Stent Assisted Recanalization in Acute Ischemic Stroke—SARIS, Boston Scientific, Codman & Shurtleff, ev3/Covidien Vascular Therapies. Scientific Advisors to Codman and Shurtleff, ev3/Covidien Vascular Therapies, TheraSyn Sensors Inc., Intratech Medical Ltd., Mynx/Access Closure. Fees for carotid stenting training from Abbott Vascular, Fees for carotid stenting training from ev3/Covidien Vascular Therapies. A Siddiqui: National Institutes of Health (co-investigator NINDS 1RO1NS064592-01A1 Hemodynamic Induction of pathologic remodeling leading to intracranial aneurysms, Research Development Award from University at Buffalo. Codman & Shurtleff, Inc, Concentric Medical, ev3/Covidien Vascular Therapies, GuidePoint Global Consulting, Penumbra. Genentech. Abbott Vascular, American Association of Neurological Surgeons courses.Abstract E-022 Figure 1


Inadequate and/or inappropriate host immune responses, are mainly responsible for the liver disease of chronic hepatitis B. Infection of the hepatocyte with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) results in very high levels of viral replication without actually killing the infected cell directly. The HBV uses reverse transcription to copy its DNA genome and because of a lack of proof-reading capability, mutant viral genomes or quasi species, emerge continually. All the selection pressures, both endogenous (host immune clearance) and exogenous (vaccines and antiviral drugs), readily select particular quasispecies with increased replication fitness, which then emerge as the new dominant population. The specific viral mutations or combination of mutations that play a role in the final clinical outcome of HBV infection are not fully known, but certain patterns and associations are starting to emerge. In particular, the expression of a novel protein, the hepatitis B splice protein (HBSP), has been linked to liver fibrosis and liver disease progression. Further studies are needed to identify the molecular pathological basis and subsequent clinical sequelae arising from the selection of these quasispecies in infected individuals.


This paper studies the energy-saving adaptive robust precision motion control of a single-rod hydraulic cylinder through the use of programmable valves. The programmable valves used in this study is a unique combination of five proportional cartridge valves connected in such a way that the meter-in and meter-out flows can be independently controlled by four of the valves as well as a true cross port flow controlled by the fifth valve. The programmable valves decouple the meter-in and meter-out flows providing tremendous flexibility to control the cylinder motion while decreasing the energy usage by utilizing the potential and kinetic energy of the load. This paper investigates the different working conditions of the programmable valves and proposes a simple yet effective way to use the programmable valves based on the desired states and current states.


There is a wealth of information to be found in government publications. Although not a complete list, this guide contains many of the available resources.


This glamorous book, part of the "V&A Fashion in Detail" series, illustrates the intricate details of twentieth-century fashion. Spectacular photographs, accompanied by expert commentaries and specially commissioned line drawings, focus on fanciful Dior bows, Chanel button-holes and metal sprinfs on a Schiaparelli jacket. This unique study provides an insight into the techniques and craft practices used by couturiers and the construction of these amazing garments. "Twentieth-Century Fashion in Detail" will delight all followers of fashion. This title was previously available as "Modern Fashion in Detail".


Management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus is getting complex with the apparition of new treatments, but also new technologies. Among these, continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) lead to a better glycemic control and less hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetic patients. Studies are scarce in type 2 diabetes but also seem to show a benefit, particularly in patients using insulin. Nevertheless, type 2 diabetic patients taking advantage of CGMS must be better defined. In any case, a multidisciplinary approach to the use of CGMS and interpretation of data is warranted.


Coronary heart disease (CHD) leading to myocardial infarction (MI) is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Following an MI, a number of structural and functional changes to the myocardium occur, known as cardiac remodelling. Initially, these changes are adaptive. Inflammation and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) components and collagen occurs in order to form the scar tissue, and in response to the rise in wall stress cardiomyocytes undergo adaptive hypertrophy in order to maintain contractile performance of the heart. There are also alterations in the electrical properties of the heart, including dysregulation of a variety of Ca2+-handling proteins. In the long term these processes become maladaptive. Reactive fibrosis stiffens the ventricular wall, eccentric hypertrophy contributes to expansion of the left ventricle (LV) and the electrical changes lead to reduced contraction and increased propensity to arrhythmia, all of which can contribute to the development of heart failure (HF) and the possibility of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Dysregulation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is one of the factors responsible for driving these adaptive and maladaptive remodelling processes. The main effector peptide of the RAS, Angiotensin II (Ang II), acting via the Angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1R) mediates the majority of the maladaptive changes which occur post-MI. The counter-regulatory axis of the RAS has been found to counteract many of deleterious effects associated with Ang II signalling. The peptide Ang-(1-7), signalling via Mas, has been found to exert anti-fibrotic and anti-hypertrophic effects and improve LV function post-MI. Less is known about the peptide Ang-(1-9), however there is evidence that it too is able to exert anti-hypertrophic and anti-fibrotic effects post-MI, however improvements on cardiac function have not been previously demonstrated. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis was to investigate the therapeutic potential of Ang-(1-9) via a gene transfer approach on adverse remodelling in a mouse model of MI, with a focus on cardiac functional parameters.

First, the mouse model of MI was established and characterised for adverse structural and functional remodelling parameters. Haemodynamic and functional measurements using echocardiography and pressure-volume (PV) loops demonstrated a reduction in contractility and ejection fraction (EF) following MI. This was also associated with an increase in concentric cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, fibrosis and collagen deposition. Moreover, alterations in expression of cardiac AT1R, Angiotensin type 2 receptor (AT2R), Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) were detected. Following characterisation, this model was utilised to assess the effects of viral-mediated Ang-(1-9) delivery.

Initially, an adenoviral vector (Ad) expressing a biological peptide pump enabling the synthetic production of Ang-(1-9) [RAdAng-(1-9)] was utilised in order to assess the effects of the peptide following MI. Efficient transduction of the healthy myocardium following MI was demonstrated using direct intramyocardial Ad injection. Initially, it was found that administration of RAdAng-(1-9) reduced the mortality rate associated with the MI procedure, with a reduction in deaths from unknown causes and cardiac rupture. Functional cardiac parameters were monitored using echocardiography for a 4 week period, with RAdAng-(1-9) administration found to be associated with increased LV fractional shortening (FS) compared to MI controls from 1 to 4 wks. PV loop measurements confirmed this improved function, with increased end systolic pressure (ESP) and normalised EF found in RAdAng-(1-9) administered animals. Post-mortem analysis and histology demonstrated an anti-hypertrophic effect of RAdAng-(1-9) delivery, with reduced heart weight and cardiomyocyte thickness in MI animals over-expressing Ang-(1-9). An anti-fibrotic effects was also evident, with a reduction in total LV fibrosis demonstrated, primarily due to reduced collagen I expression.

Next, an adeno-associated virus serotype 9 (AAV9) vector expressing the Ang-(1-9) fusion protein expression cassette [AAVAng-(1-9)] was utilised in the same mouse MI model in order to assess the effects of Ang-(1-9) 8 wks post-MI. Global transduction of the healthy myocardium in MI hearts using a single tail vein injection of AAV9 was demonstrated, with transgene expression detectable as early as 1 wk post-MI. Similarly to the previous study, AAVAng-(1-9) delivery demonstrated a reduction in the incidence of cardiac rupture following MI. Echocardiography also demonstrated improvements in cardiac contractility, with increased FS evident from 1 to 8 wks post-MI in AAVAng-(1-9) transduced animals. Again, PV loop measurements found that AAVAng-(1-9) increased ESP and normalised EF. Moreover, CO was significantly elevated in Ang-(1-9) expressing animals. Due to the more advanced 8 wk time-point, a reduction in LV stiffness was detectable in AAVAng-(1-9) animals compared to controls as measured by the end diastolic pressure-volume relationship (EDPVR). In contrast to RAdAng-(1-9) administration at 4 wks post-MI, no anti-hypertrophic effect was detectable, with an increase in heart weight and cardiomyocyte thickness found in AAVAng-(1-9) animals equivalent to control MI groups. However, AAVAng-(1-9) administration was associated with a reduction in total fibrosis in MI animals, which was attributable to reduced collagen I expression. Moreover, gene expression analysis in MI animals found AT2R expression was elevated in the myocardium of AAVAng-(1-9) administered animals, which had not previously been identified.

Finally, in order to attempt to elucidate the mechanism of action of Ang-(1-9), single cardiomyocyte Ca2+-handling measurements were utilised in order to assess its effects on Ca2+-handling protein function. Pre-treatment of isolated mouse cardiomyocytes with 1 µM Ang-(1-9) increased cardiomyocyte Ca2+-transient amplitude and shortening compared to control, equivalent to the effects seen using 1 µM of Ang II. However, only Ang II induced an increase in spontaneous rises in intracellular Ca2+. Ang-(1-9) pre-treatment was also associated with increased sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ content.

Overall the findings from this thesis have demonstrated for the first time that Ang-(1-9) exerts beneficial effects on cardiac function post-MI, which may in part be due to modulation of cardiomyocyte Ca2+-handling. These findings provide the impetus to further investigate the potential of Ang-(1-9) as a possible therapeutic agent to prevent progression of adverse cardiac remodelling and HF post-MI.


Introduction Hydrogen breath testing is a valuable tool to aid in the diagnosis of carbohydrate malabsorption, however this procedure can be time consuming and costly for both the patient and clinician. Here, an existing bench-top clinical breath test device is compared to a hand-held, app-connected breath test device, which could allow for at-home use, enabling a more time and cost-effective physician-patient interaction and treatment pathway. Methods Fourteen healthy adult volunteers mean age 31 (2–3) yrs, were recruited. Breath tests were performed by each volunteer using two of the proposed devices and the results were compared against those of the existing clinical device, a reference standard benchtop device. A baseline reading was recorded using each device prior to the ingestion of 10g of lactulose, a non-absorbable carbohydrate substrate. Each volunteer took a breath reading every five minutes, sequentially switching between each device, such that over a 15-minute interval, three breath samples were recorded, each with a different device. Over the course of three hours, this yielded 39 data points per volunteer. The exclusion criteria for analysis was a baseline breath hydrogen concentration of >15ppm on any of the devices. One volunteer was excluded from the final data analysis due to a high H2 baseline leaving 13 subjects for analysis. The H2 concentrations recorded by the reference device were used to assess whether malabsorption had occurred. In instances where there was a >20ppm increase in H2 over the initial baseline (Pimentel et al, Am J Gastroenterol. 2000 Dec;95(12):350–), the test was considered positive, otherwise it was considered negative. The H2 concentrations from each device were compared at 15-minute intervals, using concentration plots created for each volunteer, by linearly interpolating the H2 concentrations over time. Results There was diagnostic agreement in 13 out of 13 (12 positive and one negative) cases between the proposed devices and the reference device. The mean difference was 3.6 ppm and the mean absolute difference was 7.4 ppm. Conclusions Initial testing on healthy volunteers suggests that the proposed device may offer results comparable to those delivered by the reference benchtop device. Furthermore, the use of the proposed device via the associated smartphone app could allow for the immediate transmission of results to the clinician, for use in further consultation and guidance. Further validation studies are necessary to assess the performance of proposed device over a longer time period, using a larger cohort of patients, with a focus on those with functional digestive disorders.


Intramuscular administration of Toxoplasma gondii lysate antigens to mice produced titers of T. gondii-specific antibody (measured by Sabin-Feldman dye test) greater than or equal to 1:1,024 in their sera. Intravenous administration of heat-killed Propionibacterium acnes to mice produced peritoneal macrophages with enhanced microbicidal capacity against T. gondii. Mice with high antibody titers or activated peritoneal macrophages or both had reduced numbers of Toxoplasma cysts in their brains 30 days after peroral challenge. Specific antibody and activated macrophages appeared to act together to significantly (P = 0.01) reduce the numbers of Toxoplasma cysts. A reduction in tissue infection as a result of these treatments was also demonstrated by subinoculation of brain tissue. A high antibody titer alone did not protect against congenital infection. Mice treated with P. acnes delivered reduced numbers of T. gondii-infected pups (P greater than 0.05). Treatment that produced high titers of Toxoplasma antibody and activated macrophages provided significant protection against congenital infection (P less than 0.05).


Existing face sketch synthesis (FSS) similarity measures are sensitive to slight image degradation (e.g., noise, blur). However, human perception of the similarity of two sketches will consider both structure and texture as essential factors and is not sensitive to slight ("pixel-level") mismatches. Consequently, the use of existing similarity measures can lead to better algorithms receiving a lower score than worse algorithms. This unreliable evaluation has significantly hindered the development of the FSS field. To solve this problem, we propose a novel and robust style similarity measure called Scoot-measure (Structure CO-Occurrence Texture Measure), which simultaneously evaluates "block-level" spatial structure and co-occurrence texture statistics. In addition, we further propose 4 new meta-measures and create 2 new datasets to perform a comprehensive evaluation of several widely-used FSS measures on two large databases. Experimental results demonstrate that our measure not only provides a reliable evaluation but also achieves significantly improved performance. Specifically, the study indicated a higher degree (78.8%) of correlation between our measure and human judgment than the best prior measure (58.6%). Our code will be made available.


Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) is a cell surface receptor on macrophages and microglia that senses and responds to disease associated signals to regulate the phenotype of these innate immune cells. The TREM2 signaling pathway has been implicated in a variety of diseases ranging from neurodegeneration in the central nervous system to metabolic disease in the periphery. We report here that TREM2 is a thyroid hormone regulated gene and its expression in macrophages and microglia is stimulated by thyroid hormone. Both endogenous thyroid hormone and sobetirome, a synthetic thyroid hormone agonist drug, suppress pro-inflammatory cytokine production from myeloid cells including macrophages that have been treated with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein which produces a strong, pro-inflammatory phenotype. Thyroid hormone agonism was also found to induce phagocytic behavior in microglia, a phenotype consistent with activation of the TREM2 pathway. The thyroid hormone antagonist NH-3 blocks the anti-inflammatory effects of thyroid hormone agonists and suppresses microglia phagocytosis. Finally, in a murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) multiple sclerosis model, treatment with Sob-AM2, a CNS-penetrating sobetirome prodrug, results in increased Trem2 expression in disease lesion resident myeloid cells which correlates with therapeutic benefit in the EAE clinical score and reduced damage to myelin. Our findings represent the first report of endocrine regulation of TREM2 and provide a unique opportunity to drug the TREM2 signaling pathway with orally active small molecule therapeutic agents.


Canine forced eruption comprises one among a number of procedures that can be used in orthodontic treatment to ensure that cuspids are positioned in the dental arch in normal esthetic and functional conditions. Canine forced eruption should be characterized as an orthodontic movement. Unfortunately, in discussions of clinical orthodontic practice some professionals are reluctant to indicate orthodontic forced eruption, especially of maxillary canines. These professionals believe that orthodontic forced eruption can cause many clinical problems during and after surgery. Among the most widely cited reasons for restricting the indication of orthodontic forced eruption are: 1) Lateral root resorption in lateral incisors and premolars. 2) External cervical resorption of canines due to forced eruption. 3) Dentoalveolar ankylosis of the canine involved in the process. 4) Calcific metamorphosis of the pulp and aseptic pulp necrosis. In two previous works, we reviewed the first two topics. In this last article in the series we address the biological foundation of dentoalveolar ankylosis, replacement resorption, calcific metamorphosis of the pulp and aseptic necrosis cases either directly or indirectly related to the orthodontic forced eruption of canines.


BACKGROUND There is a high rate of toxicity-related discontinuation in elderly patients with NDMM, which in general is higher in patients ≥75 years. Therefore, we investigated the feasibility of a dose-adapted MPV scheme in patients ≥75 years and whether the International Myeloma Working Group frailty score (fit, unfit, and frail) predicts feasibility. Moreover, geriatric assessments, including functional assessments, were performed in order to design a model for more precise prediction of feasibility of treatment. METHODS Patients were treated with 9 cycles of MPV: Mel 6 mg/m2, day 1-4; Pred 30 mg/m2, day 1-4; and Bort 1.3 mg/m2 day 1,8,15 and 22 of a 35-day cycle. This first planned analysis on discontinuation rate was restricted to the first 100 eligible consecutive patients out of 240 planned patients. A preliminary analysis of grip strength and walking speed was performed, comparing tertiles. RESULTS Of the 96/100 evaluable patients, none were fit (because of age ≥75 years), 23/96 (24%) were unfit and 64/96 (67%) were frail (9/96 (9%) unknown). 28/64 (44%) frail patients were aged 75-80, and 8/64 (13%) patients were defined frail based on age >80 years only. Frail patients were found to have significantly less grip strength and lower walking speed as compared to unfit patients (see table 1), both for men and women. However, 19% (male) and 15% (female) of the patients with low grip strength were not frail, but unfit. For slow walking speed these percentages were 13% and 7% respectively, indicating these tools might be complementary to the IMWG frailty score in predicting outcome. The median follow up was 16 months. The discontinuation rate of MPV in the total population was 49%; 30% in unfit and 55% (including 7% discontinuation of bortezomib only) in frail patients (p=0.055). In patients >80 years (by definition frail) discontinuation rate was higher (69% (including 11% bortezomib only)) than in patients aged 75-80 years (37%; p=0.003). Reasons for early discontinuation in unfit versus frail were: progressive disease 1/7 vs 4/31, toxicity 3/7 vs 10/31, death 0/7 vs 4/31, non-compliance 1/7 vs 8/31, other 2/7 vs 5/31. In 72% 6 cycles of MPV were found to be feasible, both in unfit (78%) and frail (73%) patients. Response on protocol was ≥PR 69%, ≥VGPR 29% and ≥CR 7%, not significantly different in unfit versus frail patients. Median progression free survival (PFS) was 17 months: 22 for unfit and 17 months for frail patients (p=0.38). Overall survival (OS) at 18 months was 76%: 88% for unfit and 71% for frail (p=0.26) patients. Conclusions Treatment of elderly NDMM patients ≥75 years with 9 cycles of dose-adjusted MPV results in a high discontinuation rate of 49%: 30% in unfit versus 55% in frail patients, indicating the need for further treatment adjustment and more precise selection of patients. Concerning the first; 6 cycles were found to be feasible in the majority of both unfit and frail patients. Concerning the latter; a preliminary analysis of functional geriatric assessments showed significantly lower performance in frail compared to unfit patients. Moreover, the results of functional geriatric assessments were found to add to the IMWG frailty score, hopefully leading to a better prediction of the feasibility of treatment in elderly NDMM patients. Functional assessments in unfit versus frail patients 1 p=0.18 2 p=0.012 3 p=0.037 4 p=0.014 Additional cognitive and nutritional geriatric assessments and biomarkers (sarcopenia and senescence markers) were performed in all patients. FISH analysis of isolated plasma cells will be available in the majority of patients. This trial was registered at www.trialregister.nl (NTR 4244), EudraCT 2013-000320-33, and supported by the Dutch Cancer Society (project number VU 2013-6411 ) and by an unrestricted grant from Janssen-Cilag. Disclosures Zweegman:Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Honoraria, Research Funding. Ypma:Advisory Board Sanofi (Plerixafor): Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Minnema:Celgene: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Jansen Cilag: Consultancy. van de Donk:BMS: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Amgen: Research Funding. Sonneveld:Karyopharm: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.


OBJECTIVES
The study aimed to (1) elucidate the energetic adaptations of Huli people by comparing the three sub-populations in relation to their diversified natural and socioeconomic environment, based on energy expenditure and time allocation data; and (2) assess the applicability of a new index of physical exertion levels of activities (physical exertion index: PEI).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Married males and females (n = 43) were selected, including 14 from a hilly village, 13 from a flat swampy village and 16 migrants to a town. Continuous heart rate (HR) monitoring, in conjunction with minute-by-minute observation of activities, was undertaken. Total energy expenditure was assessed by flex-HR method and physical activity level (PAL) was calculated as multiples of basal metabolic rate. Observed activities were divided into 15 categories and the PEI was calculated for each: PEI = (mean HR of a categorized activity)/(flex HR) x 100.

RESULTS
No significant difference was found in PAL among the three sub-populations: 1.77, 1.92 and 1.81 for men and 1.78, 1.98 and 1.66 for women in hilly and flat villages, and a town, respectively. The comparison of the two village groups revealed that hilly terrain did not affect substantially the physical intensity of agricultural activities. On the other hand, the town migrants were engaged in sedentary paid jobs and these were less energy consuming than agricultural work. However, the different energy costs between paid jobs and agricultural work were offset by longer work time in the town group than in the two village groups (251 vs 50 or 70 min in males; 258 vs 152 or 138 min in females), resulting in similar PAL in the three groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite contrasting natural and social environments, no significant difference was found in daily physical activity level among the three sub-populations (two villages and a town) of Huli-speaking people in Papua New Guinea Highlands.


Being a critical highway between FPGA core IPs, the routing fabric components play an integral part in overall core performance. Optimizing the components in the routing fabric region is not a trivial task when considering the multitude of variable physical parameters involved especially the profound association with software programming and constantly changing process parameters. Common optimization algorithm would be discussed, incorporating propose multi-dimensional graphical method. Case study illustrates the potential of graphical method in identifying optimal component sizing and tradeoffs, aiding design and decision making in delivering the most optimal designs in routing fabric region. Supported by comprehensive graphical performance visualization, basic routing element architecture would also be discussed, developing expressions to promote faster optimization by narrowing down the region of interest; improving resource utilization on optimization.


Mutual fund transactions occur at the funds net asset value (NAV), typically computed at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time using closing prices for the day. For funds whose securities trade on a foreign exchange closing before the U.S. market, this convention can result in stale prices that can prompt short-term speculators to trade on information observed after the close of the foreign market to earn substantial profits at the expense of long-term shareholders. Fair value models, which suggest adjusting the closing prices of foreign securities according to information after the foreign market close, provide a solution to the mutual fund timing problem. Fair value pricing also lets mutual funds comply with regulation when significant events after foreign market closes result in stale closing prices. This article examines international equity fair value pricing, paying particular attention to model selection, empirical testing, and issues of implementation.


The speed, barometric pressure, and number of revolutions of the engine of a seaplane were measured, including tests with stopped engine. The mean data obtained are given in the following note; the results of the gliding tests are used for the computation of the lift and drag coefficients, and by making use of them the results of the engine flights are used for the computation of the propeller efficiency.


The nine essays in this collection, selected from La theologie au douzieme siecle, inquire into the historical context and origins of medieval scholasticism. They are representative of Chenu's finest work. 'If Pere Chenu considers "history of theology" to be the central concern of this collection, it is because he conceives of theology as an all-encompassing science, one which reflects the comprehensive unity of intellectual life as that develops within a culture. Literary history and criticism, cultural history, philosophy, biblical exegesis, historiography, ecclesiastical and social history, the history of education-all these and more are here involved, in their interdependence.' -- From the Translators' Note First published as La theologie au douzieme siecle by J. Vinn, 1957. English translation published by University of Chicago Press, 1968


This article designed 12 kinds of conductive yarns were fabricated by different number of shares and twists, observed the relationship of resistance and elongation through tensile test. It is shown that the resistance variation curve of conductive yarn generally approaches a parabola. That is, the resistance increased during the loading process; and the linearity of conductive yarns improved with the number of shares increased, but the sensitivity will decrease. Among the samples which contain the same number of shares but different twist per meter (TPM), samples were fabricated by 300TPM represented a better stability. Therefore, the textile sensors using conductive yarns could increase the number of shares or twists to improve the linearity in the situation that the sensitivity could achieve the minimum requirements.


A new heuristic algorithm is described. It can be used to minimize the weighted wire length in the placement of modules in VLSI chips. A salient feature of PIREN2.0 is that multiple permutations based upon the connectivity between the modules are made simultaneously on all modules in order to minimize the objective function. This allows the algorithm, without major modifications, to be mapped to a processor array structure, the MasPar MP-2.2. Each processor in this massively parallel single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) machine can perform in parallel the computation necessary to place cells in an optimum relative location to one another based upon the connectivity (the number of wires) between cells. A speedup for the benchmark circuits of at least 7.5 is obtained from the parallel version without degrading the quality of the layout solution.<<ETX>>


The non-equilibrium structural and dynamical properties of semiflexible polymers confined to two dimensions are investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Three different scenarios are considered: the force-extension relation of tethered polymers, the relaxation of an initially stretched semiflexible polymer, and semiflexible polymers under shear flow. We find quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions for the force-extension relation and the time dependence of the entropically contracting polymer. The semiflexible polymers under shear flow exhibit significant conformational changes at large shear rates, where less stiff polymers are extended by the flow, whereas rather stiff polymers are contracted. In addition, the polymers are aligned by the flow, thereby the two-dimensional semiflexible polymers behave similarly to flexible polymers in three dimensions. The tumbling times display a power-law dependence at high shear rate rates with an exponent comparable to the one of flexible polymers in three-dimensional systems.


Aim: The present study describes the three-dimensional ultrastructural aspects of three solid basal cell carcinomas with scanning electron microscopy and compares the findings with light microscopy. Material and Methods: A small fragment of the surgical piece was obtained from the three potential solid facial basal cell carcinomas, which were surgically removed and were fixed in glutaraldehyde. The diagnosis was confirmed by light microscopy. These fragments were then dehydrated and metalized and the outer surface of the dermis was examined using scanning electron microscopy. Results: The first tumor was an adenoid subtype, cell nests with peritumoral retraction and also strands of cells with adenoid pattern were observed. The second tumor was a typically solid BCC, tumoral nests and at higher magnification peritumoral retraction were shown in a there dimensional way. The third tumor had cells with fusiform pattern in some areas. The scanning electron microscopy examination at lower magnification identified the tumor nests, with higher magnification, part of the cells showed a similar fusiform pattern. Conclusion: The nests of neoplastic cells were easely observed, as well as the typical peritumoral retraction of basal cell carcinoma. The ultrastructural findings are similar to light microscopy and could be used to document tumor morphology in a three dimensional way.


Current research on the cartography of the Venetian Empire rests on a state-centred perspective which reduces maps to mere technical tools in the service of maritime expansion and colonial government. In contrast, this paper argues that such an approach cannot sufficiently account for the multiple ethnocartographic transactions between Venetian authorities and local communities which defined Venetian map-making projects. Taking the seventeenth-century conquest of the Peloponnese as its focus, the paper proposes to rethink the Venetian cartographic archive as constituted through a set of socio-cultural and political practices involving both colonial surveyors and native inhabitants. By analysing the assemblage of cartographic knowledge in the context of the encounter between colonisers and colonised, the paper examines topographical surveys as the product of cross-cultural communication shaped through negotiation, competition and unequal dialogue. Ultimately, the paper aims to show the heuristic value of a dialogic approach to cartography for a better understanding of both the colonial society of the Venetian Peloponnese and the making of knowledge in Venice's overseas empire.


Many snake populations contain moderate to high frequencies of individuals with ventral scale anomalies, which are often associated with duplicated or fused vertebrae and ribs and are known to impair locomotion and growth. In an attempt to test whether such anomalies may influence survival, we examined their frequency among cage-reared juvenile adders, Vipera berus, and wild-caught individuals that presumably had been exposed to natural selection. Midbody ventral scale anomalies were significantlyless frequent among snakes exposed to selection than among cage-reared juveniles in one of three populations studied, indicating that they might indeed reduce survival. Furthermorem, idbody anomalies wereless common among large than among small wild-caught individuals, although not significantly so. The association between anomalies among captive mothers and their offspring was very weak, indicating low heritability of this trait. This low heritability might explain why scale anomalies are common in adder populations in spite of the apparent selection against anomalous individuals. We also found the proportion of anomalous offspring to increase with litter size, suggesting a trade-off between number and quality of young.


Abstract. A climate event at 7.5–7.0 cal ka BP (thousand calibrated years before present) has been recognized. This event is important for foreseeing the possible response of the climate system to global warming and for interpreting considerable societal change, but it has heretofore lacked a systematic review. Here, we summarize previously published paleoclimate records spanning this event from 47 sites around the world. The proxy evidence from a variety of paleo-archives, including lake sediments, speleothems, marine sediments, and ice cores, provides a clear picture of this climate change. The synthesis results show a weaker Asian summer monsoon, in contrast to a stronger South American summer monsoon during the event. The event also involves dramatic cooling and wetter conditions in north-central Europe and in western North America, widespread aridity across Africa, contrasting patterns of precipitation variability throughout the Mediterranean, and notable cooling over the polar region, suggesting that it is a worldwide climate event. Comparison of paleoclimate records with climate-forcing time series gives likely climate controls for the event. The close correspondence in time of solar irradiance minima, strong volcanic eruptions, the meltwater flux into the North Atlantic, an orbitally induced decrease in solar insolation, and climate changes indicated by proxy data suggest possible linkages. More quantitative reconstructions and higher resolution climate records are needed to fully capture the magnitude, timing, duration, and nature of this event, which will be of considerable relevance to modeling.


Quadrature oscillators usually suffer from output signal phase ambiguity. A modified quadrature oscillator is proposed, where the output sequence is deterministic. Simulation and measurements show that the modified QOSC has little degradation in phase noise or increase in power consumption, and has a unique output sequence. The circuit dissipates 6 mW and tunes from 1.37 to 1.85 GHz.


A simplified description of a new computing procedure for the Hitchcock-Koopmans transportation problem is given, together with a step by step solution of an illustrative example. The procedure is based on Kuhn's combinatorial algorithm for the assignment problem and a simple "labeling process" for solving maximal flow problems in networks. The proposed computation appears to be considerably more efficient than the specialized form of the simplex method which is in common use.


The word "finish" can mean two things that have quite different implications for large-scale humanities computing projects: "to bring to completion; to make or perform completely; to complete" and also "to perfect finally or in detail; to put the final and completing touches to (a thing)." The word "finish" is just not part of the deal for the Linguistic Atlas Project in either sense. However, granting agencies must ask "what do you want money for this time?" and, from this viewpoint, the Atlas Project consists of a series of particular tasks or experiments, each one of which is capable of being "finished" in both senses of the word. This paper discusses the reality of funding, deadlines, and deliverables, as they relate to the sequence of tasks that make up the larger Atlas Project. There are no once-and-done, permanent solutions. The largest humanities computing projects require continuing care and maintenance, and the best way forward is to create some sort of stable institutional setting for large projects that will provide continuity and baseline resources for the work.


Giovanni Testori was one of the fundamental intellectuals of the Italian twentieth century, who inaugurated a new way of conceiving and decline the languages of art within society. Among the many aspects of his artistic character emerges that of man of the theater, since the art of performance was the form of 'total art' in which he reached the highest expressive vertices. It is no coincidence, in fact, that Testori's posthumous rediscovery took place mainly within the perimeter of the scene, through an exceptional intensification of his shows in contemporary Italian theater. Leveraging on a precise historical-critical methodology and an updated theatrological approach, the essay analyzes the current stage fortune of the Lombard 'scribe', through the examination of six testorian theatrical productions realized in 2019. The study conducted on the grammar of scenic writing, on the compositional procedures of the directorial work, and on the forms of the acting of these productions led us to elaborate a completed prospectus of the new testorian scene; a vivid theatrical mapping of his artistic renaissance, linked to the practical and intrinsic memory of his dramaturgical corpus. The results of the analysis illustrate the cultural and social reasons of the rediscovery of Testori, the concrete ways in which the scenic 'reactivation' of his works is performed today, and the strengths, connected to the role of the actor and the ritual dimension, of this intense testorian vague.


In the event of an accidental or intentional release of radionuclides into a populated area, massive numbers of people may require radiobioassay screening as triage for dose-reduction therapy or identification for longer-term follow-up. If the event released significant levels of beta- or alpha-emitting radionuclides, in vivo assays would be ineffective. Therefore, highly efficient and rapid analytical methods for radionuclide detection from submitted spot urine samples (≤50 mL) would be required. At present, the quantitative determination of alpha-emitting radionuclides from urine samples is highly labor intensive and requires significant time to prepare and analyze samples. Sorbent materials that provide effective collection and enable rapid assay could significantly streamline the radioanalytical process. The authors have demonstrated the use of magnetic nanoparticles as a novel method of extracting media for four alpha-emitting radionuclides of concern (polonium, radium, uranium and americium) from chemically-unmodified and pH-2 human urine. Herein, the initial experimental sorption results are presented along with a novel method that uses magnetic nanoparticles to extract radionuclides from unmodified human urine and then collect the magnetic field-induced particles for subsequent alpha-counting-source preparation. Additionally, a versatile human dose model is constructed that determines the detector count times required to estimate dose at specific protective-action thresholds. The model provides a means to assess a method's detection capabilities and uses fundamental health physics parameters and actual experimental data as core variables. The modeling shows that, with effective sorbent materials, rapid screening for alpha-emitters is possible with a 50-mL urine sample collected within 1 wk of exposure/intake.


Recently, it has attracted much attention to build reliable named entity recognition (NER) systems using limited annotated data. Nearly all existing works heavily rely on domain-specific resources, such as external lexicons and knowledge bases. However, such domain-specific resources are often not available, meanwhile it's difficult and expensive to construct the resources, which has become a key obstacle to wider adoption. To tackle the problem, in this work, we propose a novel robust and domain-adaptive approach RDANER for low-resource NER, which only uses cheap and easily obtainable resources. Extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets demonstrate that our approach achieves the best performance when only using cheap and easily obtainable resources, and delivers competitive results against state-of-the-art methods which use difficultly obtainable domainspecific resources. All our code and corpora can be found on https://github.com/houking-can/RDANER.


We present a probabilistic 3D generative model, named Generative Cellular Automata, which is able to produce diverse and high quality shapes. We formulate the shape generation process as sampling from the transition kernel of a Markov chain, where the sampling chain eventually evolves to the full shape of the learned distribution. The transition kernel employs the local update rules of cellular automata, effectively reducing the search space in a high-resolution 3D grid space by exploiting the connectivity and sparsity of 3D shapes. Our progressive generation only focuses on the sparse set of occupied voxels and their neighborhood, thus enabling the utilization of an expressive sparse convolutional network. We propose an effective training scheme to obtain the local homogeneous rule of generative cellular automata with sequences that are slightly different from the sampling chain but converge to the full shapes in the training data. Extensive experiments on probabilistic shape completion and shape generation demonstrate that our method achieves competitive performance against recent methods.


Abstract. Climate and human-induced environmental change promote biological regime shifts between alternate stable states, with implications for ecosystem resilience, function, and services. While these effects have been shown for present-day ecosystems, the long-term response of microbial communities has not been investigated in detail. This study assessed the decadal variations in phytoplankton communities in a ca. 150 year long sedimentary archive of Lake Nong Thale Prong (NTP), southern Thailand using a combination of bulk geochemical analysis, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and lipid biomarkers techniques including compound-specific hydrogen isotope analysis as a proxy for precipitation. Relatively drier and by inference warmer conditions from ca. 1857 to 1916 Common Era (CE) coincided with a dominance of the green algae Botryococcus braunii, indicating lower nutrient levels in the oxic lake surface waters, possibly related to lake water stratification. A change to higher silica (Si) input around 1916 CE was linked to increased rainfall and concurs with an abrupt takeover by diatom blooms lasting for 50 years. These were increasingly outcompeted by cyanobacteria from the 1970s onwards, most likely because of increased levels of anthropogenic phosphate and a reduction in rainfall. Our results showcase that the multi-proxy approach applied here provides an efficient way to track centennial-scale limnological, geochemical and microbial change, as influenced by hydroclimatic and anthropogenic forcing.


Research has suggested that distance-learning students may rate their tuition less favourably when it is provided online rather than face-to-face. The experiences of students taking business studies courses by distance education were compared when tutorial support was provided conventionally (using limited face-to-face sessions with some contact by telephone and email) or online (using both computer-mediated conferencing and email). The Course Experience Questionnaire and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory were administered in a postal survey to students taking one of three business studies courses with the Open University. The students who received online tuition rated their workload as more appropriate. Otherwise, there were no significant differences between the students who received faceto- face tuition and those who received online tuition, either in their perceptions of the academic quality of their courses or in the approaches to studying that they adopted. Provided that tutors and students receive appropriate training and support, course designers in business studies can be confident about introducing online forms of tutorial support in campus-based or distance education.


Salivary gland cancer is an aggressive and painful cancer, but a rare tumor type accounting for only ~0.5% of cancer cases. Tumors of the salivary gland exhibit heterogeneous histologic and genetic features and they are subdivided into different subtypes, with adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACC) being one of the most abundant. Treatment of ACC patients is afflicted by high recurrence rates, the high potential of the tumors to metastasize, as well as the poor response of ACC to chemotherapy. A prerequisite for the development of targeted therapies is insightful genetic information for driver core cancer pathways. Here, we developed a transgenic mouse model toward establishment of a preclinical model. There is currently no available mouse model for adenoid cystic carcinomas as a rare disease entity to serve as a test system to block salivary gland tumors with targeted therapy. Based on tumor genomic data of ACC patients, a key role for the activation of the PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR pathway was suggested in tumors of secretory glands. Therefore, we investigated the role of Akt3 expression in tumorigenesis and report that Akt3 overexpression results in ACC of salivary glands with 100% penetrance, while abrogation of transgenic Akt3 expression could revert the phenotype. In summary, our findings validate a novel mouse model to study ACC and highlight the druggable potential of AKT3 in the treatment of salivary gland patients.


A time-harmonic acoustic inverse scattering problem involving smart obstacles is formulated and a method to solve it is proposed. A smart obstacle is an obstacle that, when hit by an incoming acoustic wave, tries to pursue a given goal circulating a suitable pressure current on its boundary. A pressure current is a quantity whose physical dimension is pressure divided by time. The goals pursued by the smart obstacles that we have considered are the following ones: to be undetectable or to appear with a shape and/or acoustic boundary impedance different from its actual ones eventually in a location in space different from the actual location. The following time-harmonic inverse scattering problem is considered: from the knowledge of several far fields generated by the smart obstacle when hit by known time-harmonic waves, the knowledge of the goal pursued by the smart obstacle and of its acoustic boundary impedance reconstruct the boundary of the obstacle. A method to solve this inverse problem that generalizes the so-called Herglotz function method is proposed. Some numerical experiments that validate the method proposed are presented. The website http://www.econ.univpm.it/recchioni/w13 contains some auxiliary material that helps the understanding of the current paper.


maximal ideal is regular; (III) if C is a subset of B such that a± u • • • u <*" s# 1 for any ^ , • • •, «" e C, there exists a regular maximal ideal containing C; and (IV) if y ^ 1, then there exists a regular maximal ideal containing y. Next, let S be the set of all formulas in simple type theory formulated in Gentzen's sequentstyle (cf. Ono'sIV89 and Takeuti'sXXII351). ForsequentsPx, • • •,Pm andQ.letPi; • • •;PJ/Q mean that if Pt, • • •, Pm are provable without cut, so is Q. Hence the cut-elimination theorem can be expressed as T ->• A, A; A, II -> 0//r, II -> A, 0 . Moreover, for A, B « S, A ^ B shall denote the fact that T -> A, A//F ->A, B, for any finite sequences T and A of formulas. Then the structure <2 = <S, ^ , v, A. —, E}, where v, A, and -• are interpreted as operations such that v(A, B) = Av B, A(A, B) = A A B, and -(A) = -A respectively, and E is an arbitrary fixed formula provable without cut, is a quasi-Boolean algebra. This is proved by using such facts as T ->A, A v B//T ->A, A, B and T ->A, A A B//T -> A, A and / I , T ->A//r ->A, ^ . The main result of this paper is the following Theorem: The cut-elimination theorem in simple type theory is equivalent to the assertion that (I) (and hence (II), (III), and (IV)) holds in €>. The proof also uses the above facts. MOTO-O TAKAHASHI


The hotel sector is linked to the excessive consumption of non-renewable resources, particularly water, energy and non-durable goods. Several hotel groups have developed voluntary self-regulatory initiatives that are aimed at improving the resource. Currently, there is limited research pertaining to the application of EMA and voluntary initiatives, particularly in the hotel sector. As a result, the implementation and application process of these initiatives remains unclear. A qualitative exploratory multiple case study research method was employed in this study. A total of 12 individuals participated in this study, which consisted of 3 general managers, 3 financial managers, 3 maintenance managers, from 4 hotels. The sample size was selected using purposive sampling. The study found that there is a fair amount of awareness, knowledge and experience of the EMA and the use of voluntary self-regulatory initiatives by the hotel sector in South Africa. However, the implementation of EMA and voluntary self-regulatory initiatives in the South African hotel sector is still at an elementary stage.


Background In conservative and rural areas, where antidiscrimination laws do not exist, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people are at risk for excess stress arising from discrimination. Stress-reducing interventions delivered via innovative channels to overcome access barriers are needed. Objective This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of online mindfulness-based stress reduction (OMBSR) with LGB people in Appalachian Tennessee at high risk for stress. Methods In 2 pilot studies involving pre-post test designs, participants completed 8 weeks of OMBSR, weekly activity logs, semistructured interviews, and surveys of perceived and minority stress. Results Overall, 24 LGB people enrolled in the study and 17 completed OMBSR. In addition, 94% completed some form of mindfulness activities daily, including meditation. Participants enjoyed the program and found it easy to use. Perceived stress (Cohen, perceived stress scale-10) decreased by 23% in women (mean 22.73 vs mean 17.45; t10=3.12; P=.01) and by 40% in men (mean 19.83 vs mean 12.00; t5=3.90; P=.01) between baseline and postprogram. Women demonstrated a 12% reduction in overall minority stress (Balsam, Daily Experiences with Heterosexism Questionnaire) from baseline to 12-week follow-up (mean 1.87 vs mean 1.57; t10=4.12; P=.002). Subscale analyses indicated that women's stress due to vigilance and vicarious trauma decreased by 21% and 20%, respectively. Conclusions OMBSR may be a useful tool to help LGB people reduce general and minority-specific stress in socially conservative regions lacking antidiscrimination policies.


The current dominant theory of antidepressant drug action proposes that increased monoamine function is necessary for antidepressant effects. This is based on the evidence that all known antidepressant drugs alter monoamine neurotransmission and/or produce changes in monoamine receptor sensitivity. It is therefore of considerable interest that, in a placebo-controlled, double-blind study, a potent substance P antagonist (MK-869) has now been shown to manifest


Abstract In terms of all the changing orientations and perspectives towards "Traditional Healing" as an activity and professional that might meet with the call of "back to nature", the present research aims to shed light on the views and perceptions of the one who are truly and totally involved in this practition. By using the comparative method in presenting and analyzing two different cases : the case of a traditional healer from the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya and the case of a traditional healer from El Gabaleya tribe in Egypt. Field studies were carried out among both tribes and intensive in depth structured interviews were conducted to the two cases. The research came up with some important results about the social economic and cultural challenges and changes that both healers had to face. Some other results were concerned with Anthropology as a discipline and its unlimited interest and various concerns.


After Marx:Literature, Theory and Value demonstrates the importance of Marxist literary and cultural criticism for an era of intersectional politics and economic decline. The volume includes fresh approaches to reading poetry, fiction, film and drama, from Shakespeare to contemporary literature, and shows how Marxist literary criticism improves our understanding of racial capitalism, feminist politics, colonialism, deindustrialization, high-tech labor, ecological crisis, and other issues. A key innovation of the volume's essays is how they attend to Marx's theory of value. For Marx, capitalist value demands a range of different kinds of labor as well as unemployment. This book shows the importance of Marxist approaches to literature that reach beyond simply demonstrating the revolutionary potential or the political consciousness of a 19th-century-style industrial working class. After Marx makes an argument for the twenty-first century interconnectedness of widely different literary genres, and far-flung political struggles.


Over the past couple of decades there has been a tremendous amount of progress on the development of ultrasensitive nanomechanical instruments, which has enabled scientists to peer for the first time into the mechanical world of biomolecular systems. Currently, work-horse instruments such as the atomic force microscope and optical/magnetic tweezers have provided the resolution necessary to extract quantitative force data from various molecular systems down to the femtonewton range, but it remains difficult to access the intracellular environment with these analytical tools as they have fairly large sizes and complicated feedback systems. This review is focused on highlighting some of the major milestones and discoveries in the field of biomolecular mechanics that have been made possible by the development of advanced atomic force microscope and tweezer techniques as well as on introducing emerging state-of-the-art nanomechanical force transducers that are addressing the size limitations presented by these standard tools. We will first briefly cover the basic setup and operation of these instruments, and then focus heavily on summarizing advances in in vitro force studies at both the molecular and cellular level. The last part of this review will include strategies for shrinking down the size of force transducers and provide insight into why this may be important for gaining a more complete understanding of cellular activity and function.


In this paper an application of the meta–heuristic Ant Colony Optimization to optimal planning is presented. It is well known that finding out optimal solutions to planning problem is a very hard computational problem. Approximate methods do not guarantee either optimality or completeness, but it has been proved that in many applications they are able to find very good solutions, often close to optimal ones. Since one of the most performing stochastic method for combinatorial optimization is ACO, we have decided to use this technique to design an algorithm which optimizes plan length in propositional planning. This algorithm has been implemented and some empirical evaluations have been performed. The results obtained are encouraging and show the feasibility of this approach.


Objectives: To determine the frequency of expulsion of post PPIUCD after spontaneous vaginal delivery. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Unit-II, Lady Willingdon Hospital, Lahore. Period: October 2013 to October 2014. Methodology:  In this study the pregnant females delivering vaginally at any age of gestation were included. The cases were selected irrespective of gravida, parity and having age range of 18 years or more. The cases undergoing any instrumentation or surgical intervention were excluded. Then these cases were followed for 6 weeks postpartum and X ray was done to confirm the position of IUCD and absence of the radio opaque shadow reveal its expulsion. Results: In this study 150 pregnant females were selected. The mean age of the subjects was 29.13±4.46 years. PPIUCD expulsion was seen in 11 (7.33%) of cases. PPIUCD expulsion was more commonly seen in age group more than 30 years affecting 7 (8.33%) of cases with p=0.24. PPIUCD was also more often seen in cases with multiparous women where it was observed in 08 (7.55%) cases with p= 0.78. Conclusion: Expulsion of PPIUCD is not uncommon and is more common in cases with age more than 30 years and multiparous women.


Digital Predistortion (DPD) is a popular technique for linearizing a power amplifier (PA) to help reduce the spurious emissions and spectral regrowth. DPD requires the learning of the inverse PA nonlinearities by training on the output of the PA. In practical systems, the analog output of the PA will have to go through an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) so that training can be done on a digital processor. The quantization degrades signal quality and may limit the performance of a DPD learning algorithm. However, a lower resolution ADC may cost less and allow for less computational complexity in the digital processing. We study this trade-off to try to find how much precision is needed in DPD systems and discover that for a full-band DPD as few as 6 bits can reliably be used. For sub-band DPD, a single bit ADC can be used.


In this article, the authors report an investigation of the relationship between terror management and social identity processes by testing for the effects of social identity salience on worldview validation. Two studies, with distinct populations, were conducted to test the hypothesis that mortality salience would lead to worldview validation of values related to a salient social identity. In Study 1, reasonable support for this hypothesis was found with bicultural Aboriginal Australian participants (N = 97). It was found that thoughts of death led participants to validate ingroup and reject outgroup values depending on the social identity that had been made salient. In Study 2, when their student and Australian identities were primed, respectively, Anglo-Australian students (N = 119) validated values related to those identities, exclusively. The implications of the findings for identity-based worldview validation are discussed.


The recently established equilibrium model for galaxy evolution gives major importance to the role of gas in regulating galaxy growth; the efficiency of star formation as gas is cycled in and out of galaxies is a central theme in this emergent picture. Low mass galaxies in the local universe, with their low metallicity environments, high gas mass fractions, and low LCO ratios, make them ideal and interesting candidates to test this SFR model. Several questions remain: How can we accurately trace the total molecular gas in sub-solar metallicity environments where photodissociation of CO occurs? Is there a fundamentally different star formation efficiency in these systems compared to their high mass counterparts? This Thesis answers these questions using a new multiwavelength data set based on the IRAM xCOLD GASS survey, alongside auxiliary [CII] 158um line spectroscopy observations, using PACS on-board Herschel, with a newly built multi-phase ISM Radiative Transfer model and robust statistical methods. To accurately trace molecular gas in sub-solar metallicity environments we wish to use the [CII] emission line to quantify the CO-dark H2 gas however, as the [CII] 158μm emission line can arise in all phases of the ISM, being able to disentangle the different ISM contributions is an important yet unresolved problem when undertaking galaxy-wide, integrated [CII] observations. We first present a new multi-phase 3D Radiative Transfer interface that couples starburst99, a stellar spectrophotometric code, with the photoionisation and astrochemistry codes Mocassin and 3d-pdr. We model entire star forming regions, including the ionised, atomic and molecular phases of the ISM, and apply a Bayesian inference methodology to parametrise how the fraction of the [CII] emission originating from molecular regions, f[CII],mol, varies as a function of typical integrated properties of galaxies in the local Universe.  Once this has been achieved we present the first results using xCOLD GASS, a legacy survey of molecular gas in nearby galaxies, now extending down to stellar masses of 109M⊙ from its precursor survey COLD GASS. Using the IRAM 30m telescope we measure the CO(1−0) line and, with Herschel PACS observations, measure the [CII] 158μm emission line in a sub-sample of 24 intermediate mass (9 < log M∗/M⊙ < 10) and low metallicity (0.4 < Z/Z⊙ < 1.0) galaxies. We provide the first scaling relations for the integrated and molecular region L[CII]/LCO(1-0) ratio as a function of galaxy properties. We connect the L[CII]/LCO(1-0) ratio to the CO-to-H2 conversion factor and find a multivariate con- version function, which can be used up to z∼2.5. We then apply this to the full xCOLD GASS and PHIBSS1 surveys and investigate molecular gas scaling relations across red- shifts, aiming to test the equilibrium model. Finally we discuss ongoing survey planning and the latest software development for the ongoing JINGLE survey, which aims to simultaneously quantify gas and dust content for a large sample of galaxies. By conducting such a survey we shall be able to investigate how quantities such as the dust temperature, emissivity and dust-to-gas ratio vary systematically across the galaxy population; refining an alternative method to quantify gas masses of galaxies. The first results from JINGLE are presented, demonstrating the potential of the survey and highlighting the work carried out by this author.


We present eigenvalue decay estimates of integral operators associated with compositional dot-product kernels. The estimates improve on previous ones established for power series kernels on spheres. This allows us to obtain the volumes of balls in the corresponding reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. We discuss the consequences on statistical estimation with compositional dot product kernels and highlight interesting trade-offs between the approximation error and the statistical error depending on the number of compositions and the smoothness of the kernels.


The ECB announced in October 2018 that it would begin to cut back the amount of monthly asset purchases starting January 2018 while extending the duration of the purchases until at least September 2018. At it latest Governor's Council meeting in January 2019 it decided to remain on this track despite a sharp appreciation of the euro in the meanwhile. These steps were just two on a longer and potentially slippery path back towards standard monetary policy. Market turbulences like the so-called "Taper Tantrum", which followed the Fed's 2013 announcement that it was considering to cut back its asset purchasing program, have made central banks wary of the risks of premature or overly explicit announcements of monetary policy normalization. This article provides a short review of quantitative easing (QE) in the euro area since 2015 and of the debate about the right timing for terminating QE.


textabstractWe provide soundness and completeness results for the extension of muCRL with time put forward by Groote. The specification language muCRL has been designed especially to deal with data in a process algebraic context. Using the features for data, only a minor extension of the language was needed to obtain a very expressive variant of time. The main tool to establish the completeness result is a mapping of timed to untimed muCRL and employing the completeness results obtained for untimed muCRL.


The Journey to the East is Hermann Hesse's most deeply personal book. This enigmatic novel, with its deceptively simple narrative structure, lends itself well to multiple interpretations. To date, however, little attention has been paid by educationists to the book. This paper attempts to address this lacuna in the literature, beginning with an examination of the autobiographical and dream-like qualities of the novel. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the ritual of confession undertaken by H.H., the narrator and central figure in the book. H.H. lives in despair following the apparent dissolution of the League of Journeyers to the East. He seeks to overcome his despair, and learns the League is alive and well, through the character of Leo. At the end of the book H.H., having confessed his 'sins' and faced both his League brothers and himself, believes he has found the answer to his troubles. This paper argues that in his solution, H.H. fails to grasp of the importance of education, questioning and critique in self understanding and development. This being so, it is suggested, he will be unable to make the most of the knowledge available to him through the League archives, and his reflections on himself, Leo and the purpose of his existence will have only limited lucidity. He will, the paper concludes, have a long way to go on his journey to 'the East'.


Initially, each soil type has a certain level of acidity depending on the composition, the natural vegetation, the amount of rainfall and various other factors that cause changes in soil pH over time. Soil amendment in order to obtain an optimal pH improves also the yields for long-term. This paper refersto the selection of an agriculture lime material to be used in experiments on acidity correction of an acid soil. In Romania, according to official data are obtained annually approximately 75 000 t of steel slag. If the slag is not dangerous for the environment and public health, then the priority should be given to the use of recycled materials. Considered an unconventional amendment, steel slag was selected taking into account its quality and association with legislation. Steel slag presented an Amendment Neutralization Potential very high (ANP = 114%) reported to the content of calcium oxide and magnesium oxide. Steel slag can be considered a mineral amendment used to improve soil acidity, and also a source of calcium and magnesium. Using steel slag as amendment for acid soils can be considered a potential and significant environmental risk, which is why the whole process of amendment must be conducted in terms of environmental protection.


This paper presents analytical techniques for the determination of the expressions for the modulation signals used in the carrier-based sinusoidal and generalized discontinuous pulse-width modulation schemes for two-level, three-phase voltage source inverters. The proposed modulation schemes are applicable to inverters generating balanced or unbalanced phase voltages. Some results presented in this paper analytically generalize the several expressions for the modulation signals already reported in the literature and new ones are set forth for generating unbalanced three-phase voltages. Confirmatory experimental and simulation results are provided to illustrate the analyses.


SYNOPSIS We investigate the role of external auditors in constraining managerial slack. Using panel data on Chinese public firms, we find that firms hiring Big 8 auditors are associated with reduced managerial slack after controlling for the endogenous auditor choice. We also document that Big 8 auditors are more effective in mitigating slack in privately controlled firms and firms located in more developed regions. Moreover, we show that international Big 4 auditors are more effective than the domestic Big 4, and the Big 8 effect is more salient in more competitive and less regulated industries, and in industries with higher litigation risks. Finally, we document a positive relationship between managerial slack and audit fees, particularly in the presence of Big 8 auditors. Overall, our results suggest that high-quality external auditors play an important corporate governance role by serving as both bonding and controlling mechanisms to mitigate managerial exploitation of firm resources. Data Availabilit...