This paper presents a visualization tool to improve the performance of a classifier based on the hidden Markov Model. A specific recognition system for which the visualization tool is designed is an on-line handwritten Japanese character recognition system. The recognition system was built from already estimated parameter values, which leads to some difficulties when trying to adjust the system. To tackle this problem we describe how visual information can be helpful to interpret the results and how it can be used to build a set of viewers for helping the tuning task. These viewers were used to examine the data structure and internal procedures of the recognition engine allowing to detect and correct errors in the first implementation. We conclude the paper comparing the two implemented versions of the classifier by showing the increase we achieved in recognition accuracy.


The loess area ecology environment is very fragile, happening various geological disasters, loess landslides is one of the most mainly the geological disasters in loess area. Lvliang region loess hilly develops common, with the human economic activities increasing, inducing a lot of loess landslides. Taking typical loess landslides as the main research object, the loess landslides of Lvliang region from two aspects of characteristics and mechanism are analyzed. It is considered that the main types of the loess landslides are located within the layer of loess. Landslide is controlled by topography and lithology, landslide mechanism is induced by human economic activities. Through research for the region loess landslides hazard prevention provide the scientific basis.


The aim of this study is to shed the light on the critical success factors that lead to high supply chain performance in a manufacturing company. The critical success factors consist of relationships with customer and supplier, information communication and technology (ICT), material flows management, corporate culture and performance measurement. Questionnaire was the main instrument for the study and it was distributed to 84 staffs from departments of purchasing, planning,logistics and operation. Hypotheses were testing by using Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) of Windows software. Data analysis was conducted by employing descriptive analysis (mean and standard deviation), reliability analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression. The findings show that there are relationships between relationships with customer and supplier, ICT, material flows management, performance measurement and supply chain management (SCM)performance, except for corporate culture. Forming a good customer and supplier relationship is the main predictor of SCM performance, followed by performance measurement, material flows management and ICT. It is recommended that future study to determine additional success factors that
are pertinent to firms' current SCM strategies and directions, competitive advantages and missions. Further study is recommended also to examine a wider scope that includes more geographical data coverage, other nature of businesses and research instruments.


Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. ) productivity is low in major growing regions of Ethiopia mainly due to drought, caused by low and erratic rainfall. A field experiment was carried out at Gofa in Southern Ethiopia, to assess genetic variability for drought resistance in forty-nine small red seeded common bean genotypes of both local and foreign origin. The genotypes were evaluated under two soil moisture regimes, non-stress (NS) and drought stress (DS). Drought stress was initiated at flowering by withholding application of irrigation water. The average linkage method of clustering grouped the forty-nine genotypes grown under drought stress condition in five clusters. The maximum distance was found between Cluster I and Cluster III. Pattern of variation examined through principal component analysis (PCA) involving morpho-physiological traits showed that the first four PCs accounted for more than 74% of the total variation, of which 59.9% was contributed by the first two PCs. The first principal component alone explained 49.9% and was highly correlated with seed yield, harvest index and geometric mean. The second PC explained 9.7% of the total variation and was highly correlated with days to maturity and drought susceptibility index. Both PCs had higher relative contributions to the total diversity and were the ones that most differentiated the genotypes.


We measured glucose transport in jejunal brush-border membrane vesicles isolated from piglets with acute viral diarrhea, comparing our results with those from control animals. Characterization of membranes from both study groups demonstrated comparable purity and integrity. In the presence of an inwardly directed Na SCN gradient, D-glucose accumulated in control vesicles to a concentration several times the 60-min equilibrium level. "Overshooting" uptake was much lower and more gradual in vesicles from 40-h transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE)-infected pigs compared with control pigs. Equilibrium kinetic studies, in which gramicidin was used to clamp membrane potential at zero, demonstrated a pattern of Na-dependent D-glucose transport in 40-h TGE-infected membranes that differed greatly from the control pattern. From an Eadie-Hofstee plot of stereospecific Na-dependent D-glucose uptake into control vesicles, a pattern suggesting two carrier populations emerged: one with a low-affinity, apparent Km equaling 52.63 +/- 13.81 mM and the other a high-affinity apparent Km equaling 3.92 +/- 0.24 mM for D-glucose. In 40-h TGE-infected membranes, the pattern conformed to a single line, suggesting a homogeneous population of low-affinity carriers, (Km = 37.03 +/- 1.92 mM), which did not differ from the low-affinity carriers seen in control animals. We conclude that the absence of the high-affinity D-glucose carriers in jejunal brush-border membrane is an important determinant of the defective glucose transport that characterizes viral diarrhea. Because previous studies have strongly suggested that in acute TGE diarrhea the epithelium is composed of relatively undifferentiated crypt-type cells, we speculate that high-affinity D-glucose carriers are lacking in normal crypt epithelial cells and that they are incorporated into brush-border membranes of jejunal enterocytes as the cells differentiate in the course of their migration from crypt to villus.


In experimental systems, hydroxyurea (HU) and cytarabine (ara-C) produce synergistic cytotoxicity to murine and human leukemia cells due to both cytokinetic and biochemical interactions that tend to enhance the effectiveness of ara-C. Therefore, we began a phase II trial of the combination of HU and ara-C to determine the efficacy and toxicity of this combination in treatment of patients with refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Chemotherapy began with HU 500 mg administered orally every six hours for four doses. Twelve hours following the fourth HU dose, ara-C 100 mg/m2/d was administered by continuous intravenous (IV) infusion for three days. Concomitantly with the three-day ara-C infusion, patients again received HU 500 mg orally every four hours. Cycles of therapy were repeated every 28 days. Twenty-five patients ranging in age from 26 to 70 years were enrolled in the study. Of 21 patients evaluable for response, nine (43%) obtained complete (CR) or partial remissions (PR). Most responding patients had either large-cell or cutaneous T cell lymphoma, and all but two had a performance status of 0 to 1 at entry in the study. The median survival for all responding patients was 13 months compared with 2.5 months for nonresponders. Patients obtaining a CR had a median survival of 27.5 months, and two of the four CRs remain alive and in remission at 10+ and 30+ months from achievement of CR status. The primary toxic effect of this regimen was bone marrow suppression. The median WBC nadir was 2,200 cells/microL, and the median platelet nadir was 80,000/microL. Other toxicities included mild nausea and vomiting and diffuse maculopapular rash. This biochemically rational approach to enhancing ara-C activity may have significant clinical utility and should be further explored in treatment of patients with large-cell and cutaneous T cell lymphomas.


Viscosity loss occurs in polymer flooding in middle and high permeability reservoir. For larger specific surface and more clay in low permeable rock, the actual viscosity of polymer solution is more important. Polymer cores' flow experiments are reported which were performed using long natural geological outcrop sands cores. These cores were in good simulation of natural cores and the length of cores allows viscosity variation mechanisms that occur when polymer solution flows through long distance. These mechanisms can not be assessed by silica cores of conventional length. Results of polymer cores' flow experiments gives viscosity of polymer solution after it through different permeability cores, and the effects of molecular weight, concentration of polymer, migration distance, permeability, and injection velocity on viscosity loss rate. Results show the molecular weight and concentration of polymer is higher, or the core's permeability is lower, and the viscosity loss of polymer solution through cores is greater. Injection velocity is found to be insignificant within 15m/d for polymer with middle or low molecular weight. This simulation work confirms the viscosity loss mechanism for one polymer in low permeable cores.


Reduced order models (ROMs) can be simulated with lower computational cost while being more amenable to theoretical analysis. Here, we examine the performance of the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), a data-driven model reduction technique. We show that the accuracy of ROMs obtained using POD depends on the type of data used and, more crucially, on the criterion used to select the number of proper orthogonal modes (POMs) used for the model. Simulations of a simply supported Euler–Bernoulli beam subjected to periodic impulsive loads are used to generate ROMs via POD, which are then simulated for comparison with the full system. We assess the accuracy of ROMs obtained using steady-state displacement, velocity, and strain fields, tuning the spatiotemporal localization of applied impulses to control the number of excited modes in, and hence the dimensionality of, the system's response. We show that conventional variance-based mode selection leads to inaccurate models for sufficiently impulsive loading and that this poor performance is explained by the energy imbalance on the reduced subspace. Specifically, the subspace of POMs capturing a fixed amount (say, 99.9%) of the total variance underestimates the energy input and dissipated in the ROM, yielding inaccurate reduced-order simulations. This problem becomes more acute as the loading becomes more spatio-temporally localized (more impulsive). Thus, energy closure analysis provides an improved method for generating ROMs with energetics that properly reflect that of the full system, resulting in simulations that accurately represent the system's true behavior.


Context. Software testing is the process of finding faults in software while executing it. The results of the testing are used to find and correct faults. Software defect prediction estimates where faults are likely to occur in source code. The results from the defect prediction can be used to opti- mize testing and ultimately improve software quality. Machine learning, that concerns computer programs learning from data, is used to build pre- diction models which then can be used to classify data. Objectives. In this study we, in collaboration with Ericsson, investigated whether software metrics from source code files combined with metrics from their respective tests predicts faults with better prediction perfor- mance compared to using only metrics from the source code files. Methods. A literature review was conducted to identify inputs for an ex- periment. The experiment was applied on one repository from Ericsson to identify the best performing set of metrics. Results. The prediction performance results of three metric sets are pre- sented and compared with each other. Wilcoxon's signed rank tests are performed on four different performance measures for each metric set and each machine learning algorithm to demonstrate significant differences of the results. Conclusions. We conclude that metrics from tests can be used to predict faults. However, the combination of source code metrics and test metrics do not outperform using only source code metrics. Moreover, we conclude that models built with metrics from the test metric set with minimal infor- mation of the source code can in fact predict faults in the source code.


This study was developed at Universidade do Planalto Catarinense—UNIPLAC, an university established since 1954, located in the city of Lages State of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. The city of Lages has approximately 160,000 inhabitants. In 1997, the Planalto Catarinense University (UNIPLAC) created the Scientific Exhibition (Mostra Cientifica), intended to disclose scientific works brought about by their faculty, researchers and students. The goal is to identify UNIPLAC's scientific output from 1997 to 2012 in the Scientific Exhibition. A survey of existing reports on the exhibition was executed. 3237 scientific works have been published since the creation of the event in 1997 until 2012. Initially, the Scientific Exhibition was intended for the presentation of degree requirement works and was extended to works of research and extension developed within UNIPLAC and other institutions. There was a considerable increase in the number of works presented along the years of Scientific Exhibition, and therefore there was also a greater integration between the university and the community. The exhibition motivates students to submit their ideas, writings and findings. The young scholar shows greater motivation towards his studies. Academic exchange operates in several ways: between teachers and students of an institution and towards colleagues from other institutions. The scientific and technological advancements of a nation depend on the quality of its researchers, on the awareness of its science and the interaction between industry and science.


Farm planning often focuses on optimal diversification with respect to risk, where the risk-management strategies combine production, marketing, financial and environmental aspects of the farm-firm. In this study an empirical examination of diversification has been carried out using a sample of farms in Eastern Norway. Four measures of diversification (indices) were defined to record the risks in relation to income from farm production. Using these alternative measures of diversification and panel-data, the results show that larger farms are more diversified, and for farms in more favourable locations and access to labour, the farmers have a greater incentive to spread risk. These results suggest that diversification and farm size are positively linked and that there may not be sufficient economies of scale to warrant specialisation and/or farm specialisation may not be environmentally desirable because of the pollution that would result. The Norwegian model offers good prospects for analysing similar issues of diversification in the Australian farming sector.


Ultrasound cavitation of microbubble contrast agents has a potential for therapeutic applications such as sonothrombolysis (STL) in acute ischemic stroke. For safety, efficacy, and reproducibility of treatment, it is critical to evaluate the cavitation state (moderate oscillations, stable cavitation, and inertial cavitation) and activity level in and around a treatment area. Acoustic passive cavitation detectors (PCDs) have been used to this end but do not provide spatial information. This paper presents a prototype of a 2-D cavitation imager capable of producing images of the dominant cavitation state and activity level in a region of interest. Similar to PCDs, the cavitation imaging described here is based on the spectral analysis of the acoustic signal radiated by the cavitating microbubbles: ultraharmonics of the excitation frequency indicate stable cavitation, whereas elevated noise bands indicate inertial cavitation; the absence of both indicates moderate oscillations. The prototype system is a modified commercially available ultrasound scanner with a sector imaging probe. The lateral resolution of the system is 1.5 mm at a focal depth of 3 cm, and the axial resolution is 3 cm for a therapy pulse length of 20 μs. The maximum frame rate of the prototype is 2 Hz. The system has been used for assessing and mapping the relative importance of the different cavitation states of a microbubble contrast agent. In vitro (tissue-mimicking flow phantom) and in vivo (heart, liver, and brain of two swine) results for cavitation states and their changes as a function of acoustic amplitude are presented.


The teaching of critical thinking is a relatively new focus in higher education. Some argue that to advance as a profession radiologic technology must examine the role of critical thinking in the professional curriculum. Attitudes that impede critical thinking are presented as well as sample teaching methods designed to foster critical thinking.


AIM
This study set out to show how well samples from general practice registers compare with census data, to describe those characteristics of the population and of the register that influence the response to postal surveys, and to demonstrate how general practice records can be used to assess non-response bias.

METHOD
The data for this study were obtained from a large postal survey about low back pain among the general adult population aged 20-59 years in eight areas of the United Kingdom, using general practice age-sex registers as the sampling frame.

RESULTS
The overall response rate was 59%. In the areas chosen, general practice registers yielded samples of size and age-sex composition close to that predicted from national census data. Responses were more likely to be obtained from women, from older age groups and from practices where the sample lists had been inspected for errors. The use of computerized registers and a letter of recommendation from the general practitioner had no effect on the response rate. Inspection of the general practice records of subsamples of respondents and non-respondents to determine consultation rates suggested that there was little response bias in respect of the subject of the survey.

CONCLUSION
General practice registers can provide a suitable sampling frame for epidemiological purposes. Inaccuracies in the register can be reduced to some extent by careful inspection, but an irreducible minimum remain. Information held in general practice records can be useful in assessing response bias in health surveys.


In this article, the authors look at the second-lien issue, demonstrating that just over 50% of first liens in private label securitizations have a second (or higher lien) behind them. This includes simultaneous seconds, subsequent seconds, and both. The presence of a second lien raises the CLTV (combined loan-to-value ratio) by over 20 points and has a significant adverse impact on first-lien performance. The authors also show that the performance of simultaneous seconds is worse than subsequent seconds. The policy implication is that second liens are too important to ignore when considering loan modifications. And if modifications involving principal reductions begin to gain traction, the second-lien issue moves front and center.


Herein we report a universal method for the preparation of multifunctional hollow microporous organic nanospheres (H-MONs) using functional aromatic monomers (such as benzylamine, 2,2-bipyridine, triphenylamine or carbazole) and the polylactide-b-polystyrene (PLA-b-PS) diblock copolymer as precursors based on a one-pot hyper-cross-linking mediated self-assembly strategy. In this method, co-hyper-cross-linking among the PS block and various aromatic monomers forms the functional microporous organic shell frameworks, while the degradable PLA block produces the hollow core structure. By introducing functional organic ligands, various metal-loaded or heteroatom-doped H-MONs can be successfully synthesized. Owing to their high special surface area, robust organic framework, and hierarchically porous structure, these multifunctional H-MONs exhibited excellent catalytic activity or high adsorption capacity for radioactive iodine. The proposed one-pot strategy may provide a general approach to produce a variety of functional H-MONs for various applications in the future.


This paper presents a simple, effective and economical system capable of suppressing periodic vibration (external or self-induced) affecting a structure or payload. The approach used integrates piezoelectric materials/actuators, sensors and low-cost electronics in a novel way. The key innovation is the use of phase-lock loops (PLLs) and switch-capacitor filters (SCFs) for the on-line identification, tracking and control of periodic vibration. This method concentrates its control action at those frequencies where periodic vibration is detected. Among the advantages of this approach are the following: it is conceptually simple, easily expandable and modular; the controller does not rely on a model of the structure and it only needs some approximate notion of the frequency range where the periodic disturbances are expected to occur; it is robust and can be operated at high gain without loss of stability; it is not significantly affected by the presence of random vibration or sensor noise and it can be implemented with inexpensive electronics. The effectiveness of this new approach was experimentally evaluated using a test unit consisting of a simple structure, accelerometers and Terfenol-D actuators. The structure was excited by driving one of the actuators with sinusoidal and random signals. The resulting periodic disturbances were measured using the accelerometers. The acceleration signals were passed though a bank of PLLs and associated SCFs to detect the fundamental frequency and harmonics. This information was used to drive another actuator that rejected the original disturbances, and attenuation levels as high as 30 dB were achieved.


This paper presentss a single-phase nine-level (9L) inverter configuration which can be suitable for gridconnected renewable energy systems. The proposed inverter is realized using a T-type neutral point-clamped inverter connected in series to a flying capacitor (FC) H-bridge. A self-voltage balancing based on superfluous switching state is developed and integrated with PWM controller, which is responsible for constrain the FC voltage at one-fourth of the input dc source voltage. The advance PWM technique employs the generation of 9L waveform without using any voltage sensor, thereby reducing the complicacy of the overall control scheme. In comparison to conventional and recent configurations, generation of the 9L waveform using a lower number of components is the notable contribution. Furthermore, a compendious comparison study is included which confirms the merits of the proposed inverter against those of other state-of-the art topologies. Finally, simulation results are included for validating the feasibility of the proposed system.


Objectives: to examine the association between pressure ulcer (PU) in critical care patients and their Braden scale score and the association between patient acuity and nursing workload, and to identify the risk factors for pressure ulcer among patients in critical care units (CCUs). Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with 74 patients in three CCUs at a major hospital. Data were collected prospectively using the simplified acute physiology score (SAPS II), the nursing activities score (NAS), and the Braden scale. Results: Approximately a third of patients (31%) had a PU. Factors associated with PUs were age, days of hospital stay, the score on the Braden scale, and the score on the SAPS II. The score on the NAS was not associated with PUs. Scores on the SAPS II and NAS were moderately correlated with the score on the Braden scale. Conclusion: The development of PUs was associated with advanced age, longer hospital stay, and patient acuity. Patient acuity and nursing workload were predictors of UPs.


This article explores the deconstructive function of grotesque elements in contemporary Spanish and Ibero-American Literature. Starting with Tirano Banderas. Novela de Tierra Caliente (1926), a highlight in Valle-Inclan's esperpento aesthetics, mocking what authors as Bakhtin or Foucault pointed out as "official truths", both collective and individual. It is argued that grotesque representation establishes a subversive relation when confronted with epic or tragic modes, as established by aristotelic-horatian and dogmatic poetics. This may shed some light on the relation between grotesque structure and critical deconstruction, from the so-called Baroque era up until modernist and postmodernist essay, such as it is the case of one of the most thoroughly sophisticated contemporary writers in Brasil, Silviano Santiago, whose collection of essays O Cosmopolitismo do Pobre (2004) is the third pillar of our analysis.


Disorders of the Respiratory Tract in children is a timely pediatric text, edited by Dr. Kendig, with 29 authoritative collaborators discussing these various disorders in considerable depth, a virtue lacking in most books devoted to general pediatrics. References at the end of each chapter are plentiful and current. (The item on "Congenital Malformations of the Lower Respiratory Tract" has two pages of references within its 31/2 pages of material.) The 38-page chapter on asthma by Susan C. Dees, MD, is one of the highlights of this book. Dr. Dees' long experience in this area is clearly demonstrated by her authoritative discussion of the symptomatology and treatment of asthma in its various types and degrees of severity. The section on "Aspiration Pneumonia" presents a good analysis of the controversy on gastric lavage for petroleum distillate ingestion. There are ample, excellent radiographic illustrations of the early and late pulmonary changes that occur


Nitrate contamination of groundwater is increasingly becoming a global concern due to its potential risks for human health. Fertilizer overuse is often thought to be the cause and a reduction in fertilizer use considered the most effective way of reducing contamination. The present study, however, presents the case of Zhangye City, Gansu Province, China, in which the nitrate contamination of underground sources of drinking water resulted from a combination of fertilizer overuse and a mismatch between the geological structure of farmland and the crop type cultivated upon it. In addition, a market-induced driver was identified for its role in accelerating the contamination process. This new evidence emphasizes that environmental pollution is often driven by multiple factors of great complexity, demonstrating that causes of environmental problems should be addressed and analyzed with a cross-sectoral perspective. Furthermore, this case revealed that Chinese cabbages cultivated in a drought-stressed region contained very high nitrate concentrations that exceeded Acceptable Daily Intake level, whereas tomatoes and cucumbers from the same region were shown to contain nitrate levels within the safe range. These findings are useful for developing a new policy framework for environmentally sound agricultural planning.


We introduce a novel dataset for architectural style classification, consisting of 9,485 images of church buildings. Both images and style labels were sourced from Wikipedia. The dataset can serve as a benchmark for various research fields, as it combines numerous real-world challenges: fine-grained distinctions between classes based on subtle visual features, a comparatively small sample size, a highly imbalanced class distribution, a high variance of viewpoints, and a hierarchical organization of labels, where only some images are labeled at the most precise level. In addition, we provide 631 bounding box annotations of characteristic visual features for 139 churches from four major categories. These annotations can, for example, be useful for research on fine-grained classification, where additional expert knowledge about distinctive object parts is often available. Images and annotations are available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5166987


This article rationalizes the need of coordination between protective systems and VSC-HVDC controls to steer power systems away from voltage instability conditions. The concept of coordination involves the use of feasible communication mechanisms which can be exploited by protection systems to send out a "protective information set" to an algorithm which will determine preventive, corrective, and protective actions particularly by taking advantage of the availability of VSC-HVDC. This "protective information set" considers synchrophasor vector processing capabilities which allows for the exploitation of phasor measurements while satisfying protective relaying data transmission and processing requirements. Coordination refers to the ability of the protective systems and VSC-HVDCs to cooperate and to synchronize their actions so that voltage instability can be avoided.


Abstract The Bonn Test of Statement Suggestibility (BTSS) has been proposed as a tool for measuring individual differences in interrogative suggestibility in 4 to 10 year old children. The current study sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Dutch version of the BTSS (BTSSNL) in a sample of 48 primary school children. Test-retest stability and internal consistency of the two subscales of the BTSS-NL (i.e., the Yield and Shift scale) proved to be sufficient. Indirect support for the validity of the BTSS-NL was found in that younger children had higher BTSS-NL scores than older children. Also, children who were judged by their teacher as highly suggestible displayed higher scores on the Yield scale of the BTSS-NL than children who were not particularly suggestible according to their teacher. While these results indicate that the BTSS-NL is a valuable research instrument for measuring individual differences in children's suggestibility, more large scale studies are needed to determine whether the BTSS-NL can be used as a forensic tool.


We have generated an FLT3/ITD knock-in mouse model in which mice with an FLT3/ITD mutation develop myeloproliferative disease (MPD) and a block in early B-lymphocyte development. To elucidate the role of FLT3/ITD signaling in B-cell development, we studied VDJ recombination in the pro-B cells of FLT3/ITD mice and discovered an increased frequency of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) introduced by the VDJ recombinase. Early pro-B cells from FLT3/ITD mice were found to have a lower efficiency and decreased accuracy of DSB repair by nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), which is required for rejoining DSBs during VDJ recombination. Reduced NHEJ repair probably results from reduced expression of Ku86, a key component of the classic DNA-PK-dependent NHEJ pathway. In compensation, early pro-B cells from FLT3/ITD cells mice show increased levels of the alternative, and highly error-prone, NHEJ pathway protein PARP1, explaining the increase in repair errors. These data suggest that, in early pro-B cells from FLT3/ITD mice, impairment of classic NHEJ decreases the ability of cells to complete postcleavage DSB ligation, resulting in failure to complete VDJ recombination and subsequent block of B-lymphocyte maturation. These findings might explain the poor prognosis of leukemia patients with constitutive activation of FLT3 signaling.


Lemoine and Rudik (2017) argue that it is efficient to delay reducing carbon emissions, because there is substantial inertia in the climate system. However, this conclusion rests upon misunderstanding the relevant climate physics: there is no substantial lag between CO2 emissions and warming, which policy could rely upon. Applying a mainstream climate physics model to the economics of Lemoine and Rudik (2017) invalidates the article's implications for climate policy: the cost-effective carbon price that limits warming to a range of targets including 2 oC starts high and increases at the interest rate.


SUMMARY Effective infection control measures during norovirus outbreaks are urgently needed in places where vulnerable individuals gather. In the present study, the effect of a number of measures was investigated in daily practice. Forty-nine Dutch nursing homes were monitored prospectively for norovirus outbreaks during two winter seasons. A total of 37 norovirus outbreaks were registered. Control measures were most effective when implemented within 3 days after onset of disease of the first patient. Measures targeted at reduced transmission between persons, via aerosols, and via contaminated surfaces reduced illness in staff and in residents. Reducing illness in staff results in fewer costs for sick leave and substitution of staff and less disruption in the care of residents. The effect of control measures on outbreak duration was limited. This is the first intervention study examining the effect of control measures. Further research is needed to extend and refine the conclusions.


Analysis of the broadband gain of a GaInNAs single quantum well (QW) semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is developed considering the tuneability of the gain in detail. The SOA is analyzed as a single device multiwavelength channel amplifier in a wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) network. The gain model includes the QW material gain derived using a band anti-crossing model and includes quantum dot (QD) fluctuations in the conduction band arising from compositional fluctuations of N within the QW. The material gain is broadened by adding the gain of the QD-like fluctuations and the QW confined level. Simultaneous amplification of two optical signals is analyzed, one at the peak of the QW gain and one at the peak of the QD distribution gain, and the linear and nonlinear regions are established. In addition, multi-channel signal amplification, appropriate for WDM applications, has been modeled across the frequency range of the QW and the QD-like fluctuations and no wavelength degradation between the channels was observed demonstrating the potential of dilute nitride QW as multiwavelength SOAs at optical communications wavelengths.


The performance of multi-task learning in Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) hinges on the design of feature sharing between tasks within the architecture. The number of possible sharing patterns are combinatorial in the depth of the network and the number of tasks, and thus hand-crafting an architecture, purely based on the human intuitions of task relationships can be time-consuming and suboptimal. In this paper, we present a probabilistic approach to learning task-specific and shared representations in CNNs for multi-task learning. Specifically, we propose "stochastic filter groups" (SFG), a mechanism to assign convolution kernels in each layer to "specialist" and "generalist" groups, which are specific to and shared across different tasks, respectively. The SFG modules determine the connectivity between layers and the structures of task-specific and shared representations in the network. We employ variational inference to learn the posterior distribution over the possible grouping of kernels and network parameters. Experiments demonstrate the proposed method generalises across multiple tasks and shows improved performance over baseline methods.


A computer program, run on a hand-held printing pocket computer, that simplifies routine calorie and fluid calculations on high-risk neonates in the intensive care nursery is described. It is useful in performing these calculations on patients with parenteral nutrition, diluted feedings, other intravenous fluids, and medium-chain triglyceride oil supplements, all of which make calorie and fluid calculations by hand very difficult. Both physician and nonphysician personnel can be taught to use this program, allowing them to quickly and easily perform the otherwise laborious fluid and calorie calculations, even on complicated patients.


Summaries Ideas about poverty and gender in Africa have been built in part on a conventional model of poverty and fertility, which implies that specific policy interventions such as female education will have synegistic impact. However, much recent anthropological work on reproduction in Africa challenges the simple, conventional model as being too deterministically demographic and ignoring the social construction of familial relationships as well as the possibility and importance of social marginalisation within families. This article describes the main findings of some of this research, and tries to draw out some policy implications for poverty and gender. It points particularly to the importance of seeing impoverishment or escape from poverty as gendered processes which can take place over long periods of a life‐cycle.


Protection of data-in-use, contrary to the protection of data-at-rest or data-in-transit, remains a challenge. Cryptography advances such as Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) provide theoretical, albeit impractical, solutions to functionally-complete computation over encrypted operands, necessary for general-purpose computation. In this work, we propose a practical data-in-use protection mechanism that, contrary to application-specific homomorphic encryption approaches, focuses on arbitrary computation native to established programming languages, such as C++. Therefore, our work provides a more efficient alternative to FHE schemes that can be used for general-purpose computation. Specifically, we use Binary Decision Diagrams (BDD) to transform high-level programming operations to their equivalents working on protected data. To automate this, we develop a framework that allows automatic conversion of program expressions over encrypted operands into efficient circuits that are reduced using BDDs and can simulate corresponding composed operations. Our experimental results show that our methodology is orders of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art FHE schemes and enables execution of real C++ applications with practical overheads. Our framework is complemented with security analysis proving resistance to different attack methods.


La-doped BiFeO3 (BLFO) thin films have been deposited on Pt (Ill)/TiO2/SiO2/Si (100) substrates under different oxygen pressure of 5 mTorr -50 mTorr by the pulsed-laser deposition (PLD). The effects of oxygen pressure on crystal structure and ferroelectric properties have been investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the BLFO thin films are of pure perovskite phase with tetragonal structure. The dielectric constant of the films increases with increasing oxygen pressures. The film deposited at 10 mTorr is found to have a relatively high dielectric constant and a relatively small dielectric loss. It also shows a low value of leakage current 1.17 x10-7 A/cm2 at a field strength of 100 kV/cm and ferroelectric properties at room temperature.


To examine the effect of lymphocyte specific protein 1 (LSP1) on phagocytic cell motility, stable transfection of LSP1-null U937 cell line with an episomal expression vector carrying the LSP1 complementary DNA created lines expressing varied LSP1 levels. Mock transfectants without LSP1 (U937(-)) and cell lines with LSP1 levels similar to those of monocytes (U937(+)) or 4-fold those of monocytes (U937(+)) express LSP1 as indicated and express other actin-binding proteins at normal levels before or after monocytic induction (MI) with dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate. The cell lines were compared for rate of growth and cell division and, after monocytic differentiation, were video-tracked to measure locomotion as distance moved in 2 hours and examined for morphologic changes. Rates of cell division and growth were similar for different U937 cell lines at all LSP1 levels. In contrast, mean rate of locomotion (micrometers moved in 2 hours) was slower in MI-U937( +) (7.78 + 1.11 microm, n = 3) and MI-U937(-) (23.89 + 2.78 microm, n = 3) than in MI-U937(+) cells (50.77 + 4.11 microm, n = 3). Compared with MI-U937(-), the locomotive histogram (n = 150 cells) of MI-U937(+) or MI-U937( +) cells shows all cells move respectively faster or slower as an entire cell population. In LSP1(+) U937 phagocytes, high LSP1 levels inhibit some (locomotion) but not all (cytokinesis) cell motile behaviors and cause the formation of surface projections. In contrast, normal LSP1 levels in U937 phagocytes enhance some (locomotion) but not all (cytokinesis) cellular motile behaviors and have no effect on cell morphology. Therefore, LSP1 level has a unique biphasic effect on cellular locomotion. The data suggest LSP1 is an important regulator of phagocyte locomotion.


The aim of this study was to (1) determine the prevalence of malnutrition and (2) investigate factors affecting nutritional status of older persons living in urban areas of Lake Victoria Basin. The prevalence of underweight was 16.5%, with men (24.1%) being significantly more likely to be underweight (P < 0.05) than women (12.3%). Overall, 61.2% had normal body mass indices, 13.2% were overweight, and 9.1% were obese. Energy intake was low (1596.3–1630.5 Kcal), with only 22% and 38% of men and women, respectively, meeting their daily requirements. Protein intake was adequate in more than half of men and women. Vitamin A, iron, and zinc intakes were moderate, while calcium intake was low (P < 0.05). Inadequate food access, poor health, living arrangements, and poor eating patterns were the main nutritional risk factors. There is a need to plan nutrition programs that can improve living conditions, health, and nutritional status of older adults in these urban areas of the Lake Victoria Basin.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a critical literature review on design management.

Design/methodology/approach
The map of the field is based on the analysing the chain of associations between the papers (Latour, 1987). The strategy for this review is informed by the methodology described by Callon et al. (1986) on following the construction of the arguments. The first search was conducted in EBESCO and Web of Science looking for papers dealing with design management; "design management"; innovat* and design* in the management, including title, keywords and abstract. It resulted in 8,216 articles that were exported and downloaded in a database.

Findings
Five groups emerged: design as rational decision making, industrial design, managing as designing, design as proposals of new meaning and design as a network construction.

Originality/value
This paper maps the role of designers in innovation and design management literature. Design management is a variegated field of research, and the focus of this paper has been on product design in business and management literature. To begin with, the research philosophy which was inferred by analysing the preferred methodology in the papers belonging to five perspectives was analysed, and the ontology, essence, metaphysics delineated. Then, a map of the field of on the role of designers was proposed. The author concluded with a reflection of a possible research agenda in design management, focussing on investigating the role of designers in transformational economies, such as Vietnam.


This paper analyzes the impact on compensating for Type-I errors in video quality assessment. A Type-I error is to incorrectly conclude that there is an effect. The risk increases with the number of comparisons that are performed in statistical tests. Type-I errors are an issue often neglected in Quality of Experience and video quality assessment analysis. Examples are given for the analysis of subjective experiments and the evaluation of objective metrics by correlation.


International child migration has become a modern form of brutality. Ethiopia is also one of the source countries for thousands of young migrants leaving their villages in search of better opportunities elsewhere. The article aims to explore the experiences of Ethiopian  unaccompanied and separated migrant children in Yemen. The study was conducted using constructivist research paradigm qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry with a cross sectional exploratory study design. Twelve purposefully selected unaccompanied and separated migrant children returnees from Yemen, with the registered age of sixteen and seventeen, had participated in the study. Data collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussion and observation were analyzed thematically. The finding indicated dreadful experiences such as detention; bomb attack; physical abuses; emotional problems; imprisonment; starvation; military recruitment; and sexual abuse which were part of the lives of unaccompanied and separated migrant children in Yemen. The study concluded that the experiences of the migrant minors in Yemen were against the universally declared basic human and child rights that recognize the inherent dignity of all human beings and the developmental needs of children in particular. Findings implied points for comprehensive social work practice, and further research endeavors on the topic under investigation. Keywords : Child migrants, Unaccompanied Child, Separated Child, Ethiopia, Experiences, Yemen


Indirect immunofluorescence demonstrated a dramatic reorganization of cytokeratin filaments produced by cytochalasin B (CB) treatment of PtK1 cells. Much of the normal cytokeratin network became arranged into a latticework consisting of bundles of cytokeratin filaments that radiated from, and interconnected, distinct foci. Electron microscopy showed foci to be dense granular regions through which bundles of cytokeratin filaments looped. Composition of the foci included actin, myosin, and alpha-actinin, as shown by labeling with rhodamine phalloidin or specific antisera. Simultaneous treatment with CB and colchicine was not required for lattice formation, but did produce more extensive development than did CB alone. In cells treated only with CB, the microtubule network remained intact, even in regions of extensive lattice formation. These results contrast sharply with those of Knapp et al (J. Cell Biol. 97:1788 [1983b]), who found lattice formation dependent upon simultaneous CB and colchicine treatment. Time-course and dose-response studies of CB treatment showed lattice formation to follow disruption of stress fibers and the concentration of actin into distinct patches that marked the location of lattice foci. Overall results suggest a structural association between microfilaments and cytokeratin filaments that produces the lattice pattern upon CB-induced disruption of stress fibers. Lattice formation was not limited to a specific cell-cycle stage, since G1, G2, and M cells displayed the lattice. Treatment of cells with dihydro-CB and experiments with enucleated cells showed that lattice formation was dependent upon neither the inhibition of sugar transport nor the nuclear extrusion effects of CB.


To quote John Lennon: 'Life is just what happens to you while you're busy making other plans'.1 While sexual health services in England have been dealing with the consequences of the Health and Social Care Act2 and commissioning,3 decisions are being made that will affect how postgraduate training is delivered throughout the UK. These have been driven primarily by the Shape of Training (SoT) review4 and the Future Hospital Commission,5 underpinned by the medical registrar role being perceived as less rewarding so fewer doctors now wish to take it on.6 However, the time has come for Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) to return its gaze to changes in acute care delivery to ensure the specialty influences how these are implemented, and in turn the impact they have on GUM.

The current career path for doctors who wish to become medical specialists is to spend 2 years in foundation training (FY1-2) after qualification, followed by a further 2 years in core medical training. The Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (UK) diploma is …


Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have become popular investment vehicles in the U.S. corporate bond market. A market that is characterised by over-the-counter transactions, low liquidity and high trading costs, is with ETFs more accessible to retail investors and arbitrageurs alike. The ongoing trend is raising several questions from both academics and practitioners. A stream of recent publications explores how these new, mostly passive investment vehicles are affecting the liquidity, valuations and other aspects of the underlying markets. We set out to investigate the effect of ETFs on the commonality of underlying bonds in the U.S. corporate bond market. In our thesis, we examine if different measures of fixed income ETF activity are explanatory factors of commonalities in bond returns, yields, trading volume and illiquidity. Previous research finds that the turnover of ETF shares influences the commonality of individual securities more compared to other ETF activity measures in the equity market. For this reason, we additionally investigate if ETF turnover carries the same relevance in the corporate bond market. In our empirical research we employ naïve OLS, time series and panel regressions to investigate the relationship between ETF activity variables and corporate bond commonality. We include both time and individual fixed effects and various control variables in the models. Additionally, we conduct robustness tests where we add fundamental factors that are potential drivers of bond commonalities in our time series models. Our empirical findings suggest that there exists a relationship between ETF activity and several commonality measures, indicating that fixed income ETFs may have an influence on the comovement of underlying bonds. In addition, we find turnover to have the most pronounced effect of all the included ETF measures. Implications of ETFs inducing higher commonality could be lower diversification benefits and higher liquidity risk. As fixed income ETFs are experiencing solid growth, further research on their implications is needed.


Extracted from text ... Thoughts on transport,the environment andtechnology optionsWithout secure, accessible and affordable supplies ofappropriate energy, society as we know it would not exist. Onecharacteristic of the modern world is the availability of effectivetransport networks. Globally, about one third of all energyconsumed is for transporting people and goods. Most of thisenergy is sourced from petroleum. The ability to move peopleand goods rapidly and cheaply over great distances epitomisesrecent global development. Yet such globalisation comes at anenvironmental price, and with a warning for the future.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein is overexpressed in various cancers, including esophageal, gastric, colon, and pancreatic. To better comprehend the role of COX-2 in gastric cancer, especially with regard to angiogenesis, we investigated COX-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and microvessel density (MVD) in 108 patients with gastric cancer.

METHODOLOGY
We used immunohistochemical analysis of formalin-fixed tissues of gastric cancer.

RESULTS
Expression of COX-2 showed diffuse staining in the cytoplasm of tumor cells, however, no staining in normal epithelial cells. Of the 108 tumors examined, 71 (65%) were positive for COX-2 expression, the VEGF-positive cases numbered 43 of 108 cases (39.8%). The intensity of COX-2 expression did not correlate with any clinicopathological characteristics. The positive rate of VEGF expression in COX-2-positive cases was significantly higher than in COX-2-negative ones (47.9% vs. 24.3%, P<0.05). MVD in COX-2-positive cases was significantly higher than in COX-2-negative ones (22.0+/-7.8 vs. 18.5+/-7.5/1 mm2; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Our study provides evidence that COX-2 is closely related with angiogenesis.


World Health Organization (WHO) recognized obesity as a disease with an epidemic potential. The data in Poland confirms the need to learn about factors influencing health in childhood. Demographic changes occurring in Poland are caused by constant progressing phenomenon of an aging population. The article attempts to describe family factors which determine healthy childhood. The empirical research focuses on the parents' concerns about the proper development of their children, their health and life (one of the most essential care and education tasks). The research was conducted in the City of Warsaw (Poland) which creates specific space of life, particularly for families who live there. Finally, the article attempts to provide typology of childhood in the examined families.


The pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata, is the most enigmatic of the living baleen whales (Mysticeti). Its highly disparate morphology and the virtual absence of a described fossil record have made it extremely difficult to place Caperea into a broader evolutionary context, and molecular and morphological studies have frequently contradicted each other as to the origins and phylogenetic relationships of the species. Our study of a wealth of material from New Zealand collections, representing a wide range of ontogenetic stages, has identified several new features previously unreported in Caperea, which suggest that the pygmy right whale may be the last survivor of the supposedly extinct family Cetotheriidae. This hypothesis is corroborated by both morphology-based and total evidence cladistic analyses, including 166 morphological characters and 23 taxa, representing all the living and extinct families of toothless baleen whales. Our results allow us to formally refer Caperea to Cetotheriidae, thus resurrecting the latter from extinction and helping to clarify the origins of a long-problematic living species.


Amino acids have been regarded as potential plant nitrogen sources for more than a century. Some amino acids have been shown to support growth while others have growth-retarding effects. The D-isomers with notably adverse effects on plants' growth and development include D-serine and D-alanine. Recently, D-serine has been recognised as an endogenous ligand of receptor channels mediating calcium fluxes in plants, but otherwise little is known about endogenous roles of D-amino acids in plants.
In the studies underlying this thesis, the negative responses to D-serine and D-alanine were converted to positive effects in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) plants by introducing either of two D-amino acid-metabolising enzymes. Transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing either the D-serine dehydratase (dsdA) gene from Escherichia coli or the D-amino acid oxidase (DAO1) gene from Rhodotorula gracilis grew with otherwise toxic D-amino acids as the sole nitrogen source. I also expressed a transporter specific for D-amino acids, which further increased the transgenic plants' growth with D-serine as sole nitrogen source. Hence, both assimilation and uptake restrictions can limit plant growth on D-amino acids. The growth of transgenic lines on D-serine or D-alanine provides an unambiguous and highly visible phenotype, which is essential for a selectable marker. Thus, expressing of either the dsdA or DAO1 genes generated transformants that are easy to screen. Furthermore, the DAO1 gene can be readily used for either positive or negative selection, depending on the substrate, thus it provides a unique conditional, substrate-dependent positive/negative selectable marker for plant transformation.

 In summary, the presented work demonstrates that introducing the ability to catalyse a single metabolic step can allow plants to exploit an otherwise inaccessible or toxic form of organic nitrogen, and provides a versatile marker based on nitrogen nutrition for selecting transgenic plants. A possible role for D-serine in plants' touch response is also reviewed in the thesis.


This note discusses the feedback Nash equilibrium of linear quadratic N-player Nash games for infinite-horizon large-scale interconnected systems. The asymptotic structure along with the uniqueness and positive semidefiniteness of the solutions of the cross-coupled algebraic Riccati equations (CAREs) is newly established via the Newton-Kantorovich theorem. The main contribution of this study is the proposal of a new algorithm for solving the CAREs. In order to improve the convergence rate of the algorithm, Newton's method is combined with a new decoupling algorithm; it is shown that the proposed algorithm attains quadratic convergence. Moreover, it is shown for the first time that solutions to the CAREs can be obtained by solving the independent algebraic Lyapunov equation (ALE) by using the reduced-order calculation


The ontogeny of intestinal phosphate transport was examined in brush-border membrane vesicles prepared from 2-wk, 4-wk, 6-wk, and 3-mo-old rabbits. At all four ages, vesicles prepared from the duodenum demonstrated sodium-phosphate cotransport in that uptake in the presence of a sodium gradient was significantly greater than uptake in the presence of a potassium gradient. While sodium-independent phosphate uptake was comparable at all ages, sodium-phosphate cotransport was greatest in the youngest animals and declined with increasing age. Peak phosphate uptake was 10-fold the equilibrium value at 2 wk and declined to 3-fold in adults. Maximal transport capacity of sodium-phosphate cotransport fell from 2,292 +/- 161 at 2 wk to 286 +/- 12 pmol.mg-1.10 s-1 at 3 mo, whereas the Michaelis constant did not change with age, varying between 0.032 and 0.054 mM. At all ages, uptake was half-maximally stimulated between 30 and 50 mM sodium, and Hill coefficients were between 1.5 and 2. Generation of inside negative diffusion potentials did not significantly enhance phosphate uptake at any age. These data suggest that throughout development, the transport of each phosphate molecule across the rabbit duodenal brush-border membrane is coupled to the transport of two sodium molecules. There were distinct developmental changes in the distribution of the sodium-phosphate cotransport along the length of intestine. In 2-wk old animals, sodium-phosphate cotransport was present in the duodenum, proximal and distal jejunum, and proximal ileum. In 4-wk-old animals, sodium-phosphate cotransport was present throughout the duodenum and proximal and distal jejunum, and in 6-wk and 12-wk-old animals, sodium-phosphate cotransport was observed only in the duodenum and proximal jejunum.


In Part 1 T-distributed random fields (TRF) are adressed. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of a new, analytically tractable, heavy-tailed continuous random field model, namely the TRF model. In Gunning (2002) a related random field model is discussed. Based on a motivating example from a well log from the Gullfaks field in the North Sea, it is demonstrated how the T-distribution is able to describe the variability in the geophysical data better than the frequently used GRF model. This flexibility is obtained by introducing a new parameter, the degrees of freedom. The qualities of TRFs are defined in detail, together with results for hiearchical representations, simulation and estimation of model parameters. It is shown that the TRFs are analytically tractable, with several properties equal, or similar, to the GRF. Also, the TRF includes the GRF as a limiting case when the degrees of freedom parameter goes to infinity. The heavy-tailed effect is observable only cross-realization, and not in-realization, implying that several independent realizations of the random field is needed in order to formally estimate the degree of freedom parameter. Both the TRF and GRF models are estimated on a real well-log observations from the Gullfaks field, and the TRF model appears to be superior to existing Gaussian-based models, as well as L´evy-Stable random field models.In Part 2 inversion of well log observations and seismic data is performed. The goal is the elastic parameters, P-wave velocity, S-wave velocity and density. The main contribution of this paper is that a spatially continuous approach is used in the inversion, allowing the information to be included in their exact spatial locations, not having to be forced into a grid representation. Also, scaling differences between well log observations and seismic data are implicitely taken care of. The paper is an extension of parts of the work done by Buland and Omre (2003). A priori, the the elastic parameters are defined as a log-Gaussian random field. This results in a posterior distribution for the log of the elastic parameters being approximately a continuous Gaussian random field. Thus, the result of the inversion is analytically available when performing a linearization of the well log observations. As the posterior pdf is given on a spatially continuous form, grid refining is easy. Also, prediction in any arbitrary location can be performed.In Part 3 the problem of discretizing continuous random fields is adressed. The main contribution of this paper are general formulas for representation of any random field, by any set of basis functions. Assume a reparameterization of a continuous random field through a given set of spatial basis functions, and a corresponding set of random parameters. That is, the continuous spatial random field is split into a continuous spatial part, and a stochastic part. It is demonstrated how the stochastic properties of the continuous random field are inherited by the discrete set of random parameters, given the set of spatial basis functions. The results are demonstrated for different sets of basis functions, both orthogonal and non-orthogonal. Wavelet bases and results for GRFs are studied in more detail. See Walter and Shen (2001) for more on orthogonal systems.In Paper 4 a data analysis on synthetic production data genereated from a percolation system is performed. The main contribution of this paper is the demonstration of to which extent the knowledge of the breakthrough time increases precision in forecast of oil production. This is done by estimation of the two first moments. Clear trends in the behaviour of the empirical mean and variance, when conditioning on different breakthrough times, are observed. This suggests that there might exist general results being independent of the given percolation system. The two first moments are also introduced into a more formal statistical setting; as parameters in a Gaussian distribution. This can be used to quantitatively compare conditional and unconditional production data, and thus quantifying the increased knowledge of future oil production the breakthrough time provides. See Stauffer and Aharony (1992) for an introduction to percolation theory.In summary, Parts 1-3 contains the core of the thesis, focusing on near-well description of reservoirs, and the modelling of elastic material parameters as continuous random fields.Part 2 applies the frequently used continuous GRF model in a Bayesian inversion procedure, resulting in an analytical, continuous GRF posterior distribution for the elastic material parameters given both well log observations and seismic data. However, it is a well-known fact that the GRF model is not capable of explaining all the variability in geophysical measurements. Part 1 introduces a new analytically tractable, continuous random field model with a more heavy-tailed pdf, the TRF model. When working with continuous random fields, at some point a discretization must take place. Part 3 adresses the problem of discretizing continuous random fields given a set of basis function. Results for any random field in general, and GRFs in particular, are provided. Finally, Part 4 is an empirical study of synthetic production data generated from a percolation system. It thus differs from the first three parts in several ways, mainly in fact that the full field is considered, and that continuous random fields is not the main concern.


Split-resistant and split-susceptible rabbiteye blueberry fruit were evaluated at all stages of development to determine "water uptake thresholds" by soaking in distilled water. Weight increase after soaking was measured, and percent weight gain was calculated to take into consideration the weight increase of the fruit from development. The ratio of percent increase in volume to weight increase resulting from water uptake was calculated. Ratios of percent water uptake to weight increase between split- susceptible 'Tifblue' and split-resistant 'Premier' blueberries were found to be similar. The split-susceptible 'Tifblue' had a 1.6 g/50 fruit increase with a 1.7% water uptake and a ratio of 1.08. 'Premier' had a higher weight increase with 3.3 g/50 fruit and also a higher percentage of water uptake at 3.6% providing a ratio of 1.09. Although both absorbed water at a constant rate shown by a linear increase of weight increase over time, Premier' absorbed a significantly greater amount of water than did 'Tifblue' yet remained intact and did not split.


Ritchiea longipedicellata had been reported to exhibit antimicrobial properties. Therefore, this study is aimed at determining the antimicrobial activities of Ritchiea longipedicellata; family caparidaceae leaves against microorganisms and to serve as criteria to recommend the Ethnopharmacological uses of the plant. The plant leaves were dried, powdered and extracted by cold maceration with Ethylacetate for 24h. Phytochemical screening was done for alkaloids, saponin, essential oil, phenolic group, steroidal nucleus, simple sugar, starch, cyanogenic glycoside, proteins and flavonoid using standard procedures. Antimicrobial screenings were done using agar diffusion technique. Antibacterial activity test was conducted by screening against seven pathogens comprising both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria obtained from pharmaceutical Microbiology laboratory stock. The extract was screened against 24h broth culture of bacteria seeded in the nutrient agar at concentrations 200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25 mg/ml in DMSO and incubated at 37ċ, for 24 h and measuring the inhibition zone diameter IZD. The same was done for antifungal however; fungi were seeded into a sabouraud dextrose agar and incubated for 72 h at 25 o C. Aspergillus niger and Candida albican were used. The positive control was ampicillin 20μg/ml and clotrimazole cream 1mg/ml for bacteria and fungi respectively. DMSO was used as negative control. The results of phytochemical screening showed moderate availability of alkaloid, simple sugar and abundance of flavonoid, steroidal nucleus, essential oil, phenolic group, cyanogenic glycoside; absence of starch and protein and doubtful quantity of saponin. The extract displayed various activities against bacteria inhibiting it at various concentrations ranging from 200 to 6.25 mg/mL. Ethylacetate extract inhibited all the bacteria in a most appreciable extent. The extract demonstrated activities against certain bacteria and fungi (to some extent) confirming the use of the plant in ethno pharmacology. Taking the least IZD of the standard (Ampicillin) as the breaking point, the extract passed the breaking point.


This case explores the larger context of competition among Internet companies for market share globally, especially in the emerging Chinese economy, as well as concerns about advancing the core values of the company including user privacy. Specifically, it concerns the decision facing Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang when he is confronted with a request by the Chinese government to release the name of one of its users for alleged violations of Chinese law.


We propose a novel relevant feature selection technique which makes use of the slowness principle. The slowness principle holds that physical entities in real life are subject to slow and continuous changes. Therefore, to make sense of the world, highly erratic and fast-changing signals coming to our sensors must be processed in order to extract slow and more meaningful, high-level representations of the world. This principle has been successfully utilized in previous work of Wiskott and Sejnowski, in order to implement a biologically plausible vision architecture, which allows for robust object recognition. In this work, we propose that the same principle can be extended to distinguish relevant features in the classification of a high-dimensional space. We compare our initial results with state-of-the-art ReliefF feature selection method, as well a variant of Principle Component Analysis that has been modified for feature selection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of the slowness principle for the sake of relevant feature selection or classification.


Female Diaprepes abbreviatus L. were presented with immature citrus leaves, mature citrus leaves, and doubled strips of various substances as potential oviposition sites. In both the laboratory and in caged outdoor experiments more egg masses were deposited between freezer paper strips than between mature leaves. No egg masses were deposited between immature leaves. Artificial substrates were preferred in the following order: freezer paper > waxed paper > transparency film. In emergence experiments utilizing freezer paper with the plastic-coated side out as the oviposition substrate, no neonate larvae escaped from 65% of the egg masses. In contrast, larvae easily escaped from egg masses laid between strips of the other substrates tested. In the field, wax paper and freezer paper were preferred as oviposition sites 43:1 and 50:1 over mature leaf pairs, respectively. These data suggest a new prototype monitoring trap for this weevil.


Capital market development in Brazil is a key policy issue going forward to foster savings, investment and absorptive capacity in a context of prospects for sizable capital flows in the medium term. During the last decade, Brazil has achieved substantial progress in capital market development. The menu of available financial instruments has been expanded, market infrastructure has been reformed and strengthened, and a diversified investor base has been built. Nonetheless, Brazil's capital markets are still facing a number of challenges including prevalent short-term indexation, investors' risk aversion to long-term fixed rate bonds, still low liquidity in the secondary market, and managing the role of BNDES. A shift to a lower yield curve environment should continue to gradually take place. But further progress will require continued policy effort to assure macro stability and financial sector reforms to promote the development of longer-term private finance.


Deep-seated landslides (DSLs) involve large-scale deformation and likely affect transportation infrastructure. Movement rates are in general very slow (less than a metre per year) with acceleration periods controlled by external factors such as the seasonal fluctuation of groundwater pressure. Acceleration response may change from season to season depending on hydrogeological conditions, changes in slope geometry and degradation of geological materials. More localized landslide types are associated with and develop within DSLs, such as rock falls, topples and debris slides. Management of hazards related to DSLs requires first the assessment of geological, hydrogeological and geomechanical processes. This is the starting point for developing a management strategy. This paper presents the characterization of a deep-seated landslide located in the Swiss Jura Mountains, Les Buges landslide, where a railway line, a power line and an aqueduct of regional importance cross the slide, as well as a highly frequented hiking trail beneath the landslide toe. Slide kinematics is governed by the geology and hydrogeology of the slope, which can be subdivided into two dominant bodies. A management strategy is subsequently discussed for this DSL. Les Buges is a good example illustrating that hazards related to deep-seated landslides must be tackled first of all by means of the observational method.


ABSTRACT The mineralization of organic matter in anoxic environments relies on the cooperative activities of hydrogen producers and consumers obligately linked by interspecies metabolite exchange in syntrophic consortia that may include sulfate reducing species such as Desulfovibrio. To evaluate the metabolic flexibility of syntrophic Desulfovibrio to adapt to naturally fluctuating methanogenic environments, we studied Desulfovibrio alaskensis strain G20 grown in chemostats under respiratory and syntrophic conditions with alternative methanogenic partners, Methanococcus maripaludis and Methanospirillum hungatei, at different growth rates. Comparative whole-genome transcriptional analyses, complemented by G20 mutant strain growth experiments and physiological data, revealed a significant influence of both energy source availability (as controlled by dilution rate) and methanogen on the electron transfer systems, ratios of interspecies electron carriers, energy generating systems, and interspecies physical associations. A total of 68 genes were commonly differentially expressed under syntrophic versus respiratory lifestyle. Under low-energy (low-growth-rate) conditions, strain G20 further had the capacity to adapt to the metabolism of its methanogenic partners, as shown by its differing gene expression of enzymes involved in the direct metabolic interactions (e.g., periplasmic hydrogenases) and the ratio shift in electron carriers used for interspecies metabolite exchange (hydrogen/formate). A putative monomeric [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase and Hmc (high-molecular-weight-cytochrome c3) complex-linked reverse menaquinone (MQ) redox loop become increasingly important for the reoxidation of the lactate-/pyruvate oxidation-derived redox pair, DsrCred and Fdred, relative to the Qmo-MQ-Qrc (quinone-interacting membrane-bound oxidoreductase; quinone-reducing complex) loop. Together, these data underscore the high enzymatic and metabolic adaptive flexibility that likely sustains Desulfovibrio in naturally fluctuating methanogenic environments.


Background: In this survey the absorbed dose by kidneys, bladder, liver and ovaries with Tc-EC (Tc Ethylene dicysteine) renal scintigraphy was measured and compared with the absorbed dose from Tc-DTPA (Tc Dietheylne Triamine Penta-Acid), which often is used in renal scintigraphy. Methods: In this applicable study, we used a water phantom with geometrical sizes similar to that of human body and composed of thorax and hip. Then in accordance with International Committee on Radiation Protection ICRP -23, we placed kidney, liver, bladder and ovary phantoms in to the thorax and hip parts. For dosimetry 30 cubical Lithium fluoride chips (TLD-100) were used. By using different values of Tc-EC and Tc-DTPA distributed in different phantom parts, the absorbed doses in kidneys, liver, bladder and ovaries were measured. Then by measuring skin dose in the region of kidneys, bladder, liver and ovaries in 20 female patients (10 patients for each radioisotope) that were under renal scan, the absorbed doses of above mentioned organs using phantom results were calculated. Statistical software used was SPSS V.16 and statistical data analysis was done by One sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov and t-tests. Results: The results of skin and organ absorbed doses of kidneys, liver, bladder and ovaries showed a good linear regression. The relationship between organ dose and skin dose with total activity varied linearly. The results of organ absorbed dose in patients that were under renal scan with both radiopharmaceuticals showed: Bladder absorbed dose with Tc-DTPA and Tc-EC respectively were: 4.42±0.98 mrad/mCi, 2.91±0.74 mrad/mCi (p=0.001). -Liver absorbed dose with Tc-DTPA and Tc-EC respectively were: 2.44±0.44 mrad/mCi, 1.58±0.019 mrad/mCi (p=0.000). -Right kidney absorbed dose with Tc-DTPA and Tc-EC respectively were: 4.04±1.06 mrad/mCi, 2.67±0.036 mrad/mCi (p=0.003). Left kidney absorbed dose with Tc-DTPA and Tc-EC respectively were: 4.11±0.93 mrad/mCi, 2.60±0.14 mrad/mCi (p=0.000). -Ovaries absorbed dose with Tc-DTPA and Tc-EC respectively were: 2.55±0.28 mrad/mCi, 1.62±0.025 mrad/mCi (p=0.000). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that in patients under renal scan with Tc-EC, absorbed dose by kidneys, liver, bladder and ovaries is considerably lower than those with Tc-DTPA. Also as Tc-EC has several other advantages such as: easily prepared, cheap, lower hepatic uptake, produces high quality images and has high renal excretion as compared to Tc-DTPA, thus it could be used more in radioisotopic renal scan in nuclear medicine clinics.


The primary principle underlying the application of genomics is that it has the most value for difficult and expensive to measure traits. These traits will differ between species and probably also between markets. Maintenance of health will be one of the biggest challenges for efficient livestock production in the next few decades. This challenge will only increase in the face of demand for animal protein, resistance to existing drugs, and the pressure to reduce the use of antibiotics in agriculture. There is probably genetic variation in susceptibility for all diseases but little has been done to make use of this variation to date. In part this is because it is very difficult as well as expensive to measure this variation. This suggests that genomics should provide one of the ways of tackling the challenge of improving animal health. This paper will discuss the concepts of resistance, variation in susceptibility, and resilience; provide examples and present some recent results in cattle and pigs; and briefly discuss the application of gene editing in relation to disease resistance.


The 1907 Gentlemen's Agreement – promoted by President Theodore Roosevelt – was a US immigration policy that established restrictions on Japanese labour. The policy came at a time of growing tension over Asian immigration to the west coast of the USA as well as to Canada and Mexico. The Agreement is often interpreted as an act of racial discrimination and exclusion. Undoubtedly, racial discrimination played a role in stoking and instigating American opinions over immigration in the early twentieth century. However, this article seeks to explain how the Gentlemen's Agreement was not an act of exclusion from the perspective of Theodore Roosevelt. The article contends that Roosevelt's initiative in the immigration policy was, instead, to exclude the Japanese based on class. In fact, this analysis of the Gentlemen's Agreement contends that the 26th president was particularly mindful of Japanese rights and the effect immigration would have on international diplomacy.


Abstract The geological history of Filicudi in the Middle–Late Pleistocene (246–29 ka) is described by four successive Epochs of activity separated by quiescence stages, erosional episodes during marine isotope stage (MIS) 7 and MIS 5 and the Vallechiesa sector collapse. The partially overlapping Casa Ficarisi, Fossa Felci and Chiumento stratocones and the Monte Guardia scoria cone are built up under control of the WNW–ESE regional tectonic trend, with a subsequent progressive south-eastwards shift and chemical differentiation towards the Monte Terrione and Capo Graziano domes. The Monte Montagnola dome (64 ka) and Case dello Zucco Grande pyroclastics (<56 ka) are the youngest products, together with the Canna neck (29 ka) of an independent volcanic centre offshore of Filicudi. Filicudi rocks are calc-alkaline basalts, basaltic andesites and high-K andesites with minor dacites. Incompatible elements increase from basalts to dacites, with much scatter. Sr, Nd and Pb isotopes show moderate variations. δ18O‰ of clinopyroxene phenocrysts ranges from +5.37 to +6.20, and shows the highest values in the mafic rocks. Geochemical data suggest a complex interplay of different evolution processes (fractional crystallization, crustal assimilation and mixing) for the various eruptive centres of Filicudi. Variable incompatible element ratios of mafic rocks are suggested to reflect source heterogeneity. DVD: The 10 000 scale geological map of Filicudi is included on the DVD in the printed book and can also be accessed online at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Memoir37-electronic. Also included are a full geochemical dataset and xenolith data for Filicudi.


In comparison with the modest religious revival of the 1950s, the 1960s was a time of change and turbulence. This article focuses on Archbishop Matthew Beovich (1896–1981) and the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Adelaide in South Australia. It briefly considers Beovich's involvement in the Second Vatican Council before turning to the implementation of conciliar reforms in his diocese. Other areas examined include the reaction in Adelaide to the papal encyclical on birth control, Humanae Vitae; discontent among some clergy in the late 1960s; and the controversial Vietnam War. The challenges of the decade brought out the best and worst of Beovich's leadership qualities: his wisdom and compassion were sometimes obscured by a brusque manner and an inability to cope effectively with dissent. As the problems that faced Beovich were not unique to the archdiocese of Adelaide, this article sheds lights on the strengths and weaknesses of institutional Catholicism in this period.


Generalist invasive predators consume prey at different trophic levels and generate drastic changes in local communities. However, the long-term effects of predation may be reduced by eco-evolutionary responses of native populations. The capacity of prey species distributed across the trophic network to develop antipredator responses may determine the ecosystem potential to buffer against the invader. The African clawed frog is a major invader on several continents. Because of its large size, generalist diet, and aquatic lifestyle, we predicted the development of antipredator responses in prey species at different trophic levels. We tested for behavioral shifts between populations within and outside the invasive range in the herbivorous snail Physella acuta and the predatory heteropteran, the backswimmer Notonecta glauca. We detected antipredator responses in both prey species. In sympatry, P. acuta stayed higher in the water column, while N. glauca spent more time swimming underwater and less time surfacing when the predator cues were present. In allopatry, P. acuta dived deeper and N. glauca spent more time surfacing and stayed longer still underwater. In both species, sympatric populations showed evidence of olfactory recognition of the frog. Our results show that the introduction of a top predator like Xenopus laevis in the pond ecosystem drives behavioral antipredator responses in species across the trophic network. Eco-evolutionary processes may allow some degree of long-term resilience of pond communities to the invasion of X. laevis.


In 1924, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York acquired a large collection of both archaeological and documentary material that had belonged to Austrian medical doctor, anthropologist and collector Felix von Luschan. Colloquially termed "The von Luschan Collection", a large portion of this collection consisted of human skeletal remains. Of these remains there are currently 339 individuals designated to the "el-Hesa" sub-collection, which is mainly made up of cranial and associated postcranial elements. Uncovered in 1907 at Cemetery 2 of el-Hesa, one of the islands of the first cataract of the Nile, this skeletal collection illustrates the difficulties of using osteological material coming from Nubia, at the edge of the Egyptian territory. In particular, physical anthropologists continue to use outdated chronologies when discussing the age of the collection. This review of the el-Hesa collection provides an updated historical context for the remains, including new evidence dating them from the Late Roman period to the beginning of the Christian era. DOI:10.2458/azu_jaei_v06i1_harcourt-smith


Tonic GABA type A (GABAA) conductance is a key factor regulating neuronal excitability and computation in neuronal networks. The magnitude of the tonic GABAA conductance depends on the concentration of ambient GABA originating from vesicular and non-vesicular sources and is tightly regulated by GABA uptake. Here we show that the transport system regulating ambient GABA responsible for tonic GABAA conductances in hippocampal CA1 interneurons depends on its source. In mice, GABA from vesicular sources is regulated by mouse GABA transporter 1 (mGAT1), while that from non-vesicular sources by mouse GABA transporters 3/4 (mGAT3/4). This finding suggests that the two transporter systems do not just provide backup for each other, but regulate distinct signaling pathways. This allows individual tuning of the two signaling systems and indicates that drugs designed to act at specific transporters will have distinct therapeutic actions.


The adult stature of 6,512 North Korean refugees born from the 1930s to the 1980s was employed as an indicator of living standards in North Korea. The height of North Koreans born before the division of the Korean Peninsula exceeded that of their South Korean peers. All North Korean cohorts born thereafter were shorter than their South Korean counterparts. North Koreans did not experience a meaningful secular increase in height during 60 years of communism. A consistent and positive effect of about 1–2 cm for high educational status was found when height was regressed on birth decades, education, regional origin, and occupation.


Contact spermicides represent a novel method of contraception. Many compounds with diverse pharmacological activity have been evaluated in vitro for their spermicidal activity. Drugs with membrane stabilizing action such as procainamide, quinidine, mexiletine, propranolol, certain ionophores, chelating agents such as EDTA, gramicidin, natural or synthetic surfactants such as saponins, nonoxynol, benzalkonium chloride, anti-liquefying agents have all been demonstrated to possess good spermicidal activity. However, there is a paucity of data regarding the safety profile of most of these agents. In case of propranolol, chlorhexidine, gossypol and nonoxynol where such data is available, the results are not worthy enough to recommend their widespread use. Nonoxynol is the only contact spermicide currently being employed clinically. Combination formulations of two or more contact spermicides are being evaluated in order to minimize their adverse effects. But there is still a need to develop more safe contact spermicides.


2 Abstract: Low-power test generation procedure targets the switching activity during the fast functional clock cycles of broadside tests. The procedure is based on Test Cubes merging using Test Point Insertion that it extracts from functional broadside tests. Test cube merging supports test compaction and test point insertion improves fault coverage. The use of functional broadside tests provides a target for the switching activity of low-power tests, not exceeding the switching activity that is possible during functional operation. The use of test cubes that are extracted from functional broadside tests is a unique feature. It ensures that the low-power tests would create functional operation conditions in sub circuits that are defined by the test cubes and test point insertion reduces the complexity involved in detecting additional faults. Experimental results show that the procedure detects all or almost all the transition faults that are detectable by arbitrary (functional and non-functional) broadside tests in benchmark circuits. The simulation results are obtained using MODELSIM 6.3f and the power is analysed using XILINX 8.1 software.


Strenuous exercise leads to muscle soreness, decrements in muscle function, and increases in circulating intracellular proteins and inflammatory markers. The magnitude of change and time course of recovery of these symptoms is largely dependent upon exercise mode. Cryotherapy, (cold water immersion (CWI) or whole body cryotherapy (WBC)), is commonly utilised in an attempt to minimise the negative impact of these symptoms on subsequent performance. Although WBC is becoming increasingly popular, there remains a lack of literature comparing CWI and WBC following ecologically valid exercise stresses and research suggests that reported beneficial effects may be attributed to the placebo effect. Furthermore, there is a need to examine the impact of repeated cryotherapy exposure on adaptations to training. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to compare the effectiveness of CWI, WBC and placebo interventions on acute recovery following endurance and resistance exercise, and to examine the impact of habitual CWI on adaptations to a resistance training programme.

The acute studies demonstrated that cryotherapy was more effective than a placebo for attenuating increases in muscle soreness. Whilst there was no difference in soreness between CWI and WBC following endurance exercise, WBC was superior to CWI following resistance exercise. Neither cryotherapy intervention was more effective than a placebo for recovery of functional markers following endurance or resistance exercise. Importantly, cryotherapy appeared to exacerbate rather than attenuate the inflammatory response following both exercise modes compared to a placebo.

When used as an adjunct to a resistance training programme, CWI did not attenuate soreness over time, and diminished increases in muscle fibre pennation angle compared to a placebo. CWI may have enhanced neural adaptations, although there were no clear functional improvements compared to placebo. Lastly, decrements in markers of bone and collagen turnover were more pronounced in the CWI group.

These findings indicate that cryotherapy is no more effective than a placebo intervention for functional recovery or the attenuation of inflammation following acute endurance or resistance exercise. Furthermore, whilst CWI may enhance neural adaptations to resistance training, repeated exposure may result in maladaptive hypertrophic responses.


An incomplete Sanskrit inscription found in the south gate of the Jami Masjid at Jaunpur has traditionally been ascribed to the Maukhari king of Kanauj Īśvaravarman (first half of 6th century). Collation of this inscription with another Maukhari inscription (the Haraha Stone Inscription of Īśānavarman ) makes it clear that the Jaunpur inscription is to be ascribed to his son Īśānavarman or one of his successors. This collation is made possible by recovering the metrical structure of the very fragmentary Jaunpur inscription. The article edits the text of the Jaunpur inscription in its versified form, gives a translation, and presents a comparison with the Haraha Inscription in the annotation.


To broaden the absorption spectrum, improve intramolecular electronic push-pull balance capability, enhance electron transfer and promote the photovoltaic performances of dye sensitizers, four new polymeric metal complex dyes (PBDTT-PhenCd, PBDTT-PhenCu, PPV-PhenCd and PPV-PhenCu) with donor-acceptor-π-bridge-acceptor (D-A-π-A) structure were designed and synthesized. These dyes, for the first time, used the complexes of Cd(ii) or Cu(ii) with phenanthroline as auxiliary electron acceptors (A) instead of organic electron withdrawing groups and adopted thienylbenzo [1,2-b:4,5-b'] dithiophene (BDTT) or hydroquinone (PV) derivatives as electron donors (D) and 8-quinolinol derivatives as π bridge and acceptors (A). The impacts of different auxiliary electron acceptors (A) of metal complexes due to their thermal, optical, electrochemical properties and photovoltaic performance were also investigated. The best power conversion efficiency of 6.68% was achieved in PBDTT-PhenCd DSSC device. In addition, all dyes showed outstanding thermal stability (Td > 300 °C). The results revealed that these novel polymeric metal complex dyes are potential materials for constructing new sensitizers of high performance.

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This paper investigates the liquidity effect in asset pricing by studying the liquidity-premium relationship of an American depositary receipt (ADR) and its underlying share. Using the [Amihud, Yakov, 2002. Illiquidity and stock returns: cross-section and time series effects. Journal of Financial Markets 5, 31-56] measure, the turnover ratio and trading infrequency as proxies for liquidity, we show that a higher ADR premium is associated with higher ADR liquidity and lower home share liquidity, in terms of changes in these variables. We find that the liquidity effects remain strong after we control for firm size and a number of country characteristics, such as the expected change in the foreign exchange rate, the stock market performance, as well as several variables measuring the openness and transparency of the home market.


In this paper, we first assess the historical evolution of total factor productivity in Haiti and then consider alternative scenarios related to accelerating growth. Specifically, we focus on issues of intertemporal coordination between population growth, TFP (Total Factor Productivity), capital accumulation, foreign debt, output, and consumption. To that end, we developed a model of the Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans type. This class of models are the workhorse of most contemporary work in modeling the long and very long term growth of countries (Barro and Sala-i-Martin 2004 and Acemoglu 2009). In doing so, we make two contributions to the empirical economic analysis of developing countries such as Haiti: (a) we estimate Haiti's capital stock and perform a growth accounting exercises using data that goes back to the 1950s; and (b) we built a 2016 macro consistent dataset and use it to calibrate a long-run growth model for a small open economy such as Haiti.


I. INTRODUCTION TO THE ARCTIC II. OIL AND GAS IN THE ARCTIC AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE A. Arctic Geography B. Oil in the Arctic C. Scientific Projections on the Arctic III. EMERGING ARCTIC TERRITORIAL DISPUTES IV. THE LANGUAGE AND HISTORY OF THE LAW OF THE SEA. A. Legal Background on the Law of the Sea B. The Content of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea C. Existing Legal Framework for Claims to Territory under UNCLOS V. ONE OPTION FOR RESOLVING ARCTIC TERRITORIAL DISPUTES UNDER UNCLOS A. Abandoning UNCLOS Is Not Necessary B. Specific Recommendations VI. CONCLUSION AND CALL TO ACTION "International law in most important particulars never has been impartially just and never has been stable, but always has been and always will be a product of the interplay of national interests, prejudices and pressures, and therefore has been unstable, uncertain, and controversial." (1) I. INTRODUCTION TO THE ARCTIC Less than two weeks before President George W. Bush left the White House, the Bush Administration issued a Presidential Directive asserting that "[t]he United States is an Arctic [N]ation." (2) Though this declaration might have seemed surprising, it was the Administration's final attempt to position the United States to stake a claim in the Arctic--the last large piece of non-jurisdictional territory on Earth. (3) Isolated on top of the planet, the North Pole and the vast Arctic region surrounding it contain valuable oil and natural gas deposits. (4) Despite the region's valuable resources, until fairly recently, the international community has paid little attention to the Arctic. (5) As the Earth's atmosphere has warmed and the Polar Ice Cap has thawed, Arctic waters have become more navigable, causing fossil fuels in the Arctic to become more accessible. (6) The result has been a flurry of international competition. (7) The Arctic has been international territory since 1997 when 152 nation-states ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). (8) Today, UNCLOS governs territorial claims in the Arctic. (9) Under UNCLOS, each of the five nations bordering the Arctic--the United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark, and Norway--has limited jurisdiction extending up to 200 nautical miles from its respective coastal baseline. (10) Despite these limitations, UNCLOS also permits a country to extend its so-called offshore exclusive economic zone (EEZ) where it can demonstrate "that the Arctic seafloor's underwater ridges are not a separate feature, but a geological extension of the country's own continental shelf." (11) This rather obscure clause in UNCLOS has sparked an international race to the Arctic, dubbed the "Cold Rush." (12) Arctic nations now find themselves competing among one another for enormous wealth by submitting extended continental shelf claims to the United Nations. (13) These extended territorial claims have led to what some consider '"the last big shift in ownership of territory in the history of the Earth."' (14) The resolution of these disputes will determine which nations own a piece of the Arctic, and answer the ultimate question: "Who gets the oil"? This Comment will evaluate the effectiveness of UNCLOS at resolving Arctic territorial disputes. Part I will provide background information on Arctic geography and recent climate change in the region. Current Arctic territorial disputes under UNCLOS will be discussed in Part II, with a focus on Russia's current extended continental shelf claim. Background information on early maritime law and the law of the sea will be provided in Part III, as well as an outline of the relevant provisions of UNCLOS. Part IV will recommend one option for resolving extended continental shelf claims under UNCLOS. Specifically, Part V will argue for universal ratification of UNCLOS and posit that UNCLOS signatories amend Article 298 to permit binding resolution of boundary disputes pursuant to Article 287. …


Dr. Davison was chairman of the War Councll of the American Red Cross and of course is best qualified to write on the subject in which all America is interested and especially the thirty million men and women who were enrolled as members of the Red Cross. Every phase of the Red Cross activity is touched upon-service to soldier and sailor at home and abroad, to the children and mothers, also what it has done and is now doing ,for the disabled soldter. It is weH bound and beautifully illustrated.