Tyrosine is an aromatic amino acid with a wide range of uses. Tyrosine is a precursor for numerous biological compounds ranging from neurotransmitters to hormones. It therefore plays a big role in the pharmaceutical industry. Tyrosine is also used by the chemical industry to make non-biological products such as polymers, adhesives, and semiconductors. Yeasts are unicellular eukaryotic organisms capable of producing tyrosine through the shikimate pathway. We seek to evolve specific genes in the Shikimate pathway – ARO2, ARO3, ARO4 – to increase yeast tyrosine production and improve efficiency. These genes are evolved through a method called in vivo continuous evolution, or ICE, which is a novel way to generate mutations using a retrotransposon. ICE allows for mutations to target genes instead of random mutations throughout the genome. We used ICE to induce mutations to the shikimate genes and produced a library of mutant yeast cells. We screened the cells for high tyrosine production and found four possible mutants. Three of the four strains could not be sequenced due to failure to isolate the mutant gene through PCR. The mutant gene from the AROp-G strain was successfully isolated and amplified. Sequencing showed that AROp-G strain was a mutant with a truncated Cterminus at the ARO4 gene. We inserted this mutant gene into a plasmid which was then transformed into wild-type yeast. There was a significant increase in tyrosine production, confirming that increased tyrosine production was due to the mutant gene. We will continue to make additional mutant libraries and find more mutant sequences.


In many of Edouard Vuillard's (1868-1940) most famous paintings, figures are nestled in intimate settings among bold patterns and colours. As the viewer's eye adjusts to the complexity of the scene, the artist's world opens up. At a young age, Vuillard was one of a group of avant-garde painters in Paris who favoured rich palettes and dreamlike imagery. He was equally a member of the literary and theatrical circles that included writers like Marcel Proust and Stephane Mallarme. As his career progressed into the new century, he entered the rarefied society of upper-class French families - many of them Jewish - who collected the new art, published the new poetry, and wrote the new criticism. This beautifully illustrated book examines the master artist's work in the context of a unique circle of friends and patrons between the turn of the 20th century and World War II. Essays by leading scholars explore the artist's relationship with key members of this glamorous social circle, as well as the connections between Vuillard and Proust as two of the world's great observers of a world now lost. A fascinating exploration of artistic culture in Paris before the war, Edouard Vuillard establishes the artist as one of the masters of the modern portrait.


Background A recent human exome-chip study on plasma lipids identified a missense mutation in the A1CF (APOBEC1 complementation factor) gene that is associated with elevated triglyceride (TG) levels, but how A1CF, an RNA binding protein, influences plasma TG is unknown. Methods We generated A1cf knockout (A1cf −/−) mice and knock-in mice homozygous for the TG-associated Gly398Ser mutation (A1cfGS/GS), determined lipid phenotypes, and assessed TG physiology through measurements of clearance and secretion. We further identified A1CF's RNA binding targets using enhanced cross-linking and immunoprecipitation sequencing of cultured HepG2 cells and investigated pathways enriched for these targets. Transcriptomic effects of A1CF deficiency were evaluated through RNA sequencing and analyses for differential expression, alternative splicing, and RNA editing. Results Both A1cf −/−and A1cfGS/GS mice exhibited increased fasting plasma TG, establishing that the TG phenotype is due to A1CF loss of function. In vivo TG secretion and clearance studies revealed increased TG secretion without changes in clearance in A1cf −/−mice. Increased VLDL-apoB secretion was also seen in A1cf −/−rat hepatoma cells, but no increase in apoB synthesis was observed. This phenotype was seen without significant shifts in apoB-100/apoB-48 in A1CF deficiency. To discover novel pathways for A1CF's role in TG metabolism, we identified A1CF's RNA binding targets, which were enriched for pathways related to proteasomal catabolism and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Indeed, proteasomal inhibition led to increased cellular stress in A1cf −/−cells, and higher expression of ER-stress protein GRP78 was observed in resting A1cf −/−cells. RNA-seq of whole livers from wild-type and A1cf −/−mice revealed that pro-inflammatory, not lipogenesis, genes were upregulated as a secondary effect of A1CF deficiency. Differential alternative splicing (AS) analysis and RNA editing analysis revealed that genes involved in cellular stress and metabolism underwent differential changes in A1CF deficiency, and top A1CF binding target proteins with relevance to intracellular stress were differentially expressed on the protein but not mRNA level, implicating multiple mechanisms by which A1CF influences TG secretion. Conclusions These data suggest an important role for A1CF in mediating VLDL-TG secretion through regulating intracellular stress.


Group layer file containing multiple townships for the CentralEast portion of the five-foot contour extent. This is one of nine clusters and corresponding group layer files. Use custom layer file - survey > PLSS_TWN_AREA_CTRCLUSTERS.lyr - to determine which cluster (group layer file) you require for your area of interest. The individual five-foot contour layers in each group are all symbolized the same way to provide a seamless display, and can be activated/deactivated as necessary in order to manage drawing performance.


Midwifery Basics: Mentorship 4
Mentorship: is the fourteenth series of 'Midwifery basics' targeted at practising midwives. It aims to provide information to raise awareness of the impact of the work of midwives on student learning and ultimately on women's experiences and encourages midwives to seek further information through a series of activities. In this the fourth article Julie Parkin and Joyce Marshall consider some of the key issues related to the responsibility of the sign off mentor in the process of assessing student midwives' competence in clinical practice.
Scenario
Suzanne is practising on labour ward and is mentoring Emily, a second year student midwife. She is concerned that at the end of her first week Emily does not appear to be making the transition to being a second year student as she still requires close supervision and direction, and is struggling to communicate with women and their birth partners


In this position paper d one of six care practice papers published by Lamaze International and reprinted here with permission d the benefit of continuous labor support is discussed and presented as an evidence-based practice that helps promote, protect, and support normal birth. The paper is written for childbearing women and their families. Women with continuous support are less likely to have a cesarean, an instrument delivery, and regional anesthesia. They are also less likely to report dissatisfaction with or negatively rate their childbirth experience. The value of the doula for both the laboring woman and her labor partner is discussed. The accompanying commentary d written by a leading proponent of maternity care practices d supports evidence that promotes continuous labor support. Lamaze International encourages women to plan for a supportive birth environment that includes continuous support.


At the CTU in Prague, there is a long tradition of master degree courses in geodesy, geodetic surveying and cartography. Taking into account the fast development of information technologies in recent decades, we decided to prepare a new study program that would combine computer science with a background of geodetic and cartographic know-how.  Apart from other sources, our plans were inspired and influenced by the Review of Education Needs, a report prepared by Stig Enemark (Prague 1998), and by our experience from several Virtual Academy workshops.We have decided to call this program "Geoinformatics" to emphasize the role of computer technologies in collecting, analyzing and exploiting information about our planet.  Within this presentation we will explain the basic ideas behind our new study program and emphasize the features that distinguish it from classical geodetic or cartographic programs. We will mention the connection between our new study program and several geodetic and software projects running at our institute - software development for real-time GPS applications, cooperation with the Astronomical Institute, University of Berne, on the development of so-called Bernese GPS Software, the GNU project Gama for adjustment of geodetic networks, etc.


ABSTRACT The geochemistry of detrital garnets in the Upper Paleocene Forties Formation has been studied by electron microprobe techniques. In this sand body, variations in garnet geochemistry can be related to provenance and diagenetic factors. Two separate sand fans can be mapped using the technique, the dominant Forties-Montrose Fan being supplied from the metamorphic terrain of the Northern Highlands of Scotland and the subsidiary Gannet Fan supplied from the mainly granitic terrain of the Grampian Highlands. Intrastratal solution, caused by high-temperature pore fluids circulating at depth, has removed some of the garnets from the assemblages. Garnets with the highest calcium contents are the least stable and are dissolved at comparatively shallow depths. The dependence of garnet stability on calcium content in deep burial must be taken into account when assessing provenance by this technique, but nevertheless garnet is far less sensitive to diagenetic and hydraulic controls than is the total heavy mineral suite.


This thesis is a theoretical analysis of organisational identity, community and belonging. I use a debate concerning transgender inclusion/exclusion to exemplify the identity work of the Council members of Morton Hall, a UK based public sector LGB organisation. I draw on a range of queer, feminist and post-structural theorists in explicating the processes of dis/identification that I have observed. I elucidate the complex, and often contradictory, relationship between gender and sexuality by employing discourse/narrative analysis on the transcripts of interviews and meetings of the organisation. The reasons given by Council members for either including or excluding transgender from the organisation give insights into the identity constructions of the individuals themselves, and of the organisation as a whole. This is combined with a diverse and distinctive theoretical approach which aims to utilise contemporary queer and gender theory as well as less obvious thinkers such as Nietzsche, Durkheim, Hegel, Bataille and Deleuze and Guattari. Using these theorists I develop the argument that the transgression of normative gender codes is central to the creation of a boundary between gender and sexuality which instigates the exclusionary practice adopted by the organisation at the conclusion of the debate. Whilst the research site specifically relates to sexual and gender identity, the theoretical conclusions regarding the construction of collective identity and the formation of community are widely applicable.


Annealing of the Z1/2 and EH6/7 has been studied by DLTS after ion implantation of MeV Si ions and subsequent annealing in either N2 or O2 at 1150 °C, in the dose range 1 - 4 × 108 Si / cm2. It is found that the annealing rate of these prominent defects is greatly enhanced after thermal oxidation, and in particular close to the surface area, due to injection of a defect species which annihilates with both Z1/2 and EH6/7. The migration part of the diffusion coefficient of the injected defect is established to be in the range 1 – 2 × 10-8 cm2/s, and the measured concentration versus depth profiles of both Z1/2 and EH6/7 are accurately simulated by a simple model.


Abstract. The use of optical tweezers (OTs) and spin angular momentum transfer to birefringent particles allows new mechanical measurements in systems where torque and rotation are relevant parameters at the single-molecule level. There is a growing interest in developing simple, fast, and inexpensive protocols to produce a large number of submicron scale cylinders of quartz, a positive uniaxial birefringent crystal, to be employed for such angular measurements in OTs. Here, we show that laser interference lithography, a method well known for its simplicity, fulfills these requirements and produces quartz cylindrical particles that we successfully use to apply and measure optical torque in the piconewton nm range in an optical torque wrench.


A new mixed solvent system that consists of cholinium glycinate ([Cho][Gly]) and aqueous N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) solution was developed in this work to serve as CO2 absorbent. The equilibrium absorption was carried out to investigate the effect of solution composition, pressure, and temperature on CO2 absorption performance. The effect of CO2 absorption on the viscosity of the aqueous solutions was studied, and the regeneration efficiency of the aqueous solutions was also investigated. The results showed that the CO2 absorption loading decreased with increasing [Cho][Gly] concentration and temperature, and the absorption loading strongly depended on CO2 partial pressure. The reactivity of MDEA was significantly enhanced with the addition of [Cho][Gly]. The aqueous solution with (10 wt % [Cho][Gly] + 20 wt % MDEA) showed an optimal CO2 absorption and high regeneration efficiency. Furthermore, the CO2 absorption mechanism in the aqueous [Cho][Gly]-MDEA solution was explored by 13C nuclear magnetic res...


A CASE STUDY OF AN EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM FOR RECOVERING ALCOHOLICS GERTRUDE RUTKOVE SANDERS The study design called for a longitudinal evaluation of one hundred subjects enrolled in a vocational counseling program for recovering alcoholics. Due to CETA stipend cuts, and slowing of referrals, eighty subjects were studied. Subjects were administered two questionnaires, one at program entry, the second at a six month follow-up point. The study's primary purpose was to identify those factors associated with success. Success was defined as diminution or elimination of the problem drinking pattern and employment at follow-up. A number of hypotheses were tested. The study was carried out over the course of twenty-three months. The mean age for subjects was 41. There were sixty-one men and nineteen women, 28% were members of a minority group. Subjects were typical of clinical treatment samples, more socially and psychologically impaired than a cross-section of the general drinking population. The majority were referred to the program by out-patient treatment facilities. Seventy-seven percent of the subjects mailed in their follow-up questionnaire. At follow-up the rate of employment was 56%. Employment was associated with the following factors: Program completion, younger age, some college education or beyond, abstinence or controlled drinking, higher rates of religious participation. Women and minority members were as successful in securing jobs as white males. The majority of the subjects were abstinent, with 13% problem drinking. Abstinence or controlled drinking was associated with the following factors: Employment, older age, minority group membership, no use of other drugs. Comparing employed with unemployed subjects, we found the unemployed were more likely to be drinking, and were experiencing higher rates of depression. Few subjects had strong family or friendship ties. Counselors predictions of subject performance reflected a favorable bias toward subjects with particular characteristics. Predictions had a high rate of accuracy, raising questions about the effect of counselor bias on subject performance. Overall, subjects rated the impact of the program high to moderately high.


Rubble mound breakwater is one of the most important coastal engineering structures for shore and harbor protection. Standard rock quality evaluation processes were performed on massive basalt, vesicular basalt, crystallized limestone, and micritic limestone from southeast of Turkey. The rock types were evaluated within five different rock quality classification systems (CIRIA, CUR, CETMEF 2007; Lienhart 1998; Winkler 1986; Fookes et al. 1988; BS 812). The methods of CIRIA, CUR, CETMEF (2007) and Lienhart (1998) were shown to be more successful than other methods, which are insufficient to explain rock quality. Massive basalt and micritic limestone can be used as armourstone, filter layer, and core materials, but vesicular and crystallized limestone provided engineering requirements for only core materials. Vesicular basalt and crystalline limestone exhibited few poor features in terms of strength, such as iddingsite, stylolites, and micro cracks. These features can favorably affect rock strength, and oppositely affect rock quality.


Piperazine derivatives when being oxidized by mercury-EDTA behave unusually. Due to the reactive cyclic enediamine intermediates as aza-analogous reductones and to the carbonyl compounds resulting from dehydrogenation in the side chain, there exists a high tendency of polymerization. 1-Benzylpiperazines 5a-d generate the piperazine-2,3-diones 8a-d in medium yields. From 1-benzhydrylpiperazine 11 results a mixture of piperazine-2,3-dione 12 and piperazine-3-on 13. The 1,4-bis-substituted piperazines react more differently because of the symmetry and the preferred direction of the dehydrogenation into the cycle. Thus, from 15 and 19 the diones 16 and 20, respectively, were available in very good yields. A mechanism for the reactions is proposed.


The torque converter, a major part of automatic transmissions, has many difficulties in analysis due to the factors such as power transmission through fluid flow, complex internal geometry, and various operating conditions. Because of such difficulties, the dynamic analysis and design of a torque converter are generally carried out by using equivalent performance model which is based on the concept of mean flow path. Since the design procedures of a torque converter are essential technology of automotive industry, the details of the procedures are rarely published. In this study, the basic design procedures of a torque converter are systemized and coded based on the equivalent performance model. The mathematical methods to deal with mean flow path determination and the core-shape are developed. And by using this model, the method of determination of performance parameters satisfying the requested performance is proposed. Finally, to embody the three-dimensional shape, the intermediate blade angles which maximize the tractive performance are determined and laid out.


OBJECTIVES
From the hypothesis that an impaired insulin and insulin-like growth factor cellular signalling in brain and body might result in the development of schizophrenia or related psychoses, I in this study chose to thoroughly investigate the insulin receptor gene in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and controls.

METHODS
For identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of interest in the insulin receptor gene, targeted whole gene sequencing of DNA using the SOLiD technology was first carried out in two subgroups of the study population: 1) 49 schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder patients with heredity for schizophrenia or related psychoses, and 2) 25 controls. Ten possible SNPs of interest were identified and these were then typed by standard methods in the whole study population consisting of 105 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 60 controls.

RESULTS
In comparisons between schizophrenia patients, schizoaffective disorder patients and controls, overall significant differences were found in genotype distribution and allele frequency for SNP rs2229431 in exon 13, and tendencies towards overall significant differences were found for SNP rs12610022 in intron 13, but not for the other 8 possible SNPs investigated. It was the patients with schizoaffective disorder who differed in genotype distributions and allele frequencies compared to both the patients with schizophrenia and the controls, whereas between the patients with schizophrenia and the controls, no significant differences were found.

CONCLUSION
The results of this study show that two gene variants in exon and intron 13 of the insulin receptor gene confer risk specifically for schizoaffective disorder.


Defined as a type of mistreatment of low intensity and ambiguous intent to harm, incivility is a persistent and troubling workplace phenomenon. Rooted in the self-determination theory, the impact of time pressure on workplace incivility was considered. Using an experimental design, 62 participants acted as managers in mock performance appraisals; half in each time condition ('time pressure' and 'no time pressure'). Sessions were video recorded and two third-party raters, blind to the manipulation, coded the verbal and non-verbal communication behaviours of the managers and employees. Results showed that time pressure had a non-significant impact on manager incivility, and the number and type of questions the manager asked. However, significant results supported the idea that incivility breeds incivility. Supplemental analyses demonstrated that while self-reported incivility was unrelated to either third party or employee reports of manager incivility, a significant relationship existed between third-party and employee reports of manager incivility. Despite insignificant findings regarding time pressure as an antecedent of incivility, further exploration is encouraged.


Cannabis is the most frequently used illegal substance in Ireland and elsewhere. The recently published findings of a survey of 8,442 people aged between 15 and 64 in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland showed that close to one-fifth of the population in the island as a whole had tried cannabis at some time in their lives (NACD & DAIRU, 2003).

This study is concerned with the consequences of cannabis use for the individual and society. It is concerned with the physical, the psychological, the educational and the mental health consequences, as well as the implications for public health, for society and for law enforcement. The study draws on relevant research from Ireland and abroad with a view to presenting a balanced account of how this illegal, but widely used substance affects a range of outcomes. This document draws on literature published up to early 2003. The intended readership of this report includes not only policy makers but also professionals in the public health area and journalists, as well as the general reader.


This research attempts to remedy a neglect of the voices of Irish young people affected by parental substance misuse and parents with a substance misuse issue from an area experiencing social and educational inequality. It challenges the idea that they are a 'hard to reach' group in research terms. A qualitative methodology was utilised involving a phenomenological approach to interview 7 young people affected by parental substance misuse and 6 parents with a substance misuse issue. The fragmented nature of service provision emerges as a key finding. The gulf between Irish policy statements, objectives and goals and actual services received by children and families is outlined. Outreach approaches and lead practitioner roles are cited as helpful. Unmet physical and emotional care needs are recalled as impacting on children and young people's participation in education. Notwithstanding these challenges, the majority of young people and all the parents describe strong parent-child relationships and the desire for parental rearing emerges as a key finding. Another key finding relates to the challenges of being in, and staying in school, including the perceived clash in approach and experience between primary and secondary school and the significance of school relations and atmosphere.
Key issues for system development which arise include: an intensive family outreach model in the contexts of early school leaving prevention targeting children affected by parental substance misuse, young carers, homeless children and supporting parental rearing; ancillary services and supports including nursing, psychological and care staff supports and food and laundry provision in and around schools; professional development for secondary school teachers in cognisance of the potential of the school and the teacher as a protective factor; trauma informed drugs services for parents and programmes that support parent child communication in relation to substance misuse.


A talented, innovative workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is a critical component of sustained economic growth and global competitiveness. The development of this workforce is a primary concern among policymakers, industry leaders, and academics. Although many students express an interest in STEM in secondary school, many of them eventually choose not to pursue a degree or career in a STEM field. This trend has been linked to inadequate achievement, but also to lack of confidence, inconsistent interest, and shifting motivation. It is important that we understand the development of precollege socialcognitive factors affecting persistence to help identify whether some trajectories might have more desirable outcomes than others, and points at which intervention efforts might best be targeted. Growth mixture modeling was used in the current study to uncover unobserved developmental subgroups of students' attitudes toward science and positive core self-concept through their middle and high school years. Three distinct subgroups of change patterns were found for each of mastery motivation, attitudes toward science utility, and science self-concept. Science Self-Concept subgroups demonstrated significant and reasonably distinct associations with relevant science achievement, postsecondary, and career outcomes, where the results for Mastery Motivation and Science Utility subgroups were mixed. Science Utility and Science SelfConcept subgroups of developmental trajectories both exhibited plausible and appropriate associations with parent and demographic factors as well as initial student, parent, and teacher expectations about college and career. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Education First Advisor Paul A. McDermott Subject Categories Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Psychology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2212 THE IMPACT OF ATTITUDES TOWARD SCIENCE AND CORE SELF-EVALUATION ON SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT AND CAREER OUTCOMES: A TRAJECTORY-BASED APPROACH Jessica Lena Chao A DISSERTATION in Education Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Supervisor of Dissertation ___________________________________ Paul A. McDermott, Professor of Education Graduate Group Chairperson ___________________________________ J. Matthew Hartley, Professor of Education Dissertation Committee Paul A. McDermott, Professor of Education Robert F. Boruch, Professor of Education Michael J. Rovine, Senior Fellow THE IMPACT OF ATTITUDES TOWARD SCIENCE AND CORE SELF-EVALUATION ON SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT AND CAREER OUTCOMES: A TRAJECTORY-BASED APPROACH


The particle-number fluctuations due to collective excitations are calculated for a one-dimensional interacting Bose-condensed gas confined in a harmonic potential. By using the Thomas-Fermi approximation, the behaviour of the anomalous fluctuations is found to be δ2N0~N10/3/(ln N)2 with N being the total number of particles.


Studies in animals have shown that effective immunity can be induced by vaccines employing plasmodial sporozoites, asexual blood forms (e.g., merozoites), and sexual blood forms (gametocytes/gametes). In the future, but only when extensive safety testing has shown them suitable for administration to human subjects, the efficacy of such vaccines in the control of malaria in human populations will need to be assessed. Field trials will pose many complex problems and assessment of the results they yield will demand precise and detailed information first on the frequency, density of parasitaemia, and clinical severity of malarial episodes in vaccinated and control subjects and second, on the changes that occur in the gametocyte reservoir and entomological indices of transmission within the trial area. They will require to be sited in areas where the prevalence, importance and epidemiology of malaria is known with precision and where much additional information on the endemicity of non-malarial illnesses is available. Trials will entail close collaboration with experienced statisticians and meticulous planning, with special emphasis on the design of an efficient records system. The services of experienced clinicians skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of malarial and non-malarial illnesses will also be essential. Surveillance of the indices of malaria transmission will require competent entomological expertise.


This paper addresses the problem of line pattern noise removal from a single image, such as rain streak, hyperspectral stripe and so on. Most of the previous methods model the line pattern noise in original image domain, which fail to explicitly exploit the directional characteristic, thus resulting in a redundant subspace with poor representation ability for those line pattern noise. To achieve a compact subspace for the line pattern structure, in this work, we incorporate a transformation into the image decomposition model so that maps the input image to a domain where the line pattern appearance has an extremely distinct low-rank structure, which naturally allows us to enforce a low-rank prior to extract the line pattern streak/stripe from the noisy image. Moreover, the random noise is usually mixed up with the line pattern noise, which makes the challenging problem much more difficult. While previous methods resort to the spectral or temporal correlation of the multi-images, we give a detailed analysis between the noisy and clean image in both local gradient and nonlocal domain, and propose a compositional directional total variational and low-rank prior for the image layer, thus to simultaneously accommodate both types of noise. The proposed method has been evaluated on two different tasks, including remote sensing image mixed random-stripe noise removal and rain streak removal, all of which obtain very impressive performances.


Pulse width modulated rectifier is a very popular topic nowadays. The modern industrial production demands continuous and lossless conversion of electrical energy parameters. This need leads to wide spread of power semiconductor converters. The rapid development in power electronics and microprocessor technology enables to apply sophisticated control methods that eliminate negative side effects of the power converters on the supply network. The phase controlled thyristor rectifiers overload the supply network with higher harmonics and reactive power consumption. That is why the PWM rectifier is being examined. In comparison with the phase controlled rectifier it can be controlled to consume nearly sinusoidal current with power factor equal to unity. Another advantage is its capability of energy recuperation. The PWM rectifier can assert itself for its good behavior in many applications, for example as an input rectifier in indirect frequency converter, or in traction. Traction vehicles equipped with PWM rectifier do not consume reactive power, do not load the supply network with higher harmonics, and the recuperation is possible. The paper deals with the PWM rectifier functional model realization and examination. Electromagnetic compatibility of PWM rectifier and classical phase controlled rectifier is compared on the basis of the input current harmonic analysis.


Current screen reader technology presents the content of web pages to users as a one-dimensional stream of data. However, as web pages themselves are two-dimensional, we believe this output method is lossy since it removes the visuospatial relationships between elements. Keyboard surface interaction is a growing field within human computer interaction that studies the repurposing of keyboards for nontraditional applications. We compare a keyboard surface interaction system (Fingers) designed to preserve the visuospatial relationships between web page elements to a traditional screen reader (VoiceOver) to learn which has better interaction effectiveness measured in terms of time spent and interactions per task on four simulated shopping tasks. We find no consistent difference in effectiveness between the two conditions. Participants consistently have more interactions per task with Fingers than with VoiceOver, but it is unclear whether this positively or negatively impacts their time. We find that learning a new mental model of a keyboard is challenging for participants. We suggest further research into the applicability of keyboard surface interaction as an alternative form of web accessibility, but that future studies take a longitudinal nature to help participants learn the mental model required and overcome the novelty effect.


The degradation under ambient humidity and room temperature of Pd(OAc)2(NEt3), which is an efficient catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols, to diethylamine and acetaldehyde derivatives is disclosed. Evolved diethylamine reacted with Pd(OAc)2 to give Pd(OAc)2(HNEt2), which is in dynamic equilibrium with Pd(OAc)2(HNEt2)2. The evolved acetaldehyde generated during degradation process was trapped with a nucleophile to form 2-methyl-3-tosyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinazoline. NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies have been used to characterize the reaction products of the reaction system.


This synthesis of the morphological and stratigraphical evolutions of the Marennes-Oleron Bay (west coast of France) combines bathymetric data (1824 and 2003) and very high-resolution seismic profiling groundtruthed by vibracore samples. The Marennes-Oleron Bay is characterised by a very high sedimentation rate and appears to be an ideal place to investigate the sedimentary record of the major environmental changes that occurred since the last several millennia.

The sediment budget of the Marennes-Oleron Bay, between 1824 and 2003, is clearly positive. The flood-dominated northern Marennes-Oleron Bay displays sediment gain in both intertidal and subtidal areas whereas the ebb-dominated southern Marennes-Oleron Bay displays sediment gain restricted to the intertidal area and deepening of subtidal channels. In addition, human influences such as oyster farming may play a role in the sediment gain of the bay.

The sediment-fill of the northern Marennes-Oleron Bay consists of five main phases: (1) lenticular units and flooded intertidal flats recording lower sea level periods before 7500 yr B.P.; (2) tidal channel-fills recording changes in tidal drainage pattern from 7500 to 5000 yr B.P.; (3) a subtidal unit which constitutes the main phase of sediment fill in the northern part of the bay from 5000 to 1500 yr B.P.; (4) a major channelized erosional surface related to huge coastline changes from 1500 to 1000 yr B.P.; and (5) a mud drape emplaced during the last millennia and potentially recording historical human impact (deforestation and land reclamation). The sediment fill of the southern Marennes-Oleron consists of sandbanks, mixed sand-and-mud flats and tidal channels, mainly emplaced under wave-and-tide processes since the last centuries.

Despite its relatively thin (20 m at the maximum), recent and rapid sediment fill, the stratigraphic organization and morphological evolution of the Marennes-Oleron Bay is very complex and spatially variable. Like in many other estuaries, sediment fill of the Marennes-Oleron Bay was successively controlled by relative sea level changes, and then by sediment supply driven by hydrodynamic changes related to huge coastline migrations, and finally by human activities. Moreover, this kind of "rocky coast" estuary, where the sediment-fill is very thin and discontinuous, is characterised by a bedrock control at each phases of the sediment fill both in terms of preservation in topographic lows and in terms of control on hydrodynamics and related sediment input.


ABSTRACT A key question in the field of religious studies is the extent to which 'religion' as a concept 'translates' in various cultural contexts, with some arguing that it is a purely Western and academic construct. In this article, I argue that the Islamic understanding of religion as a universal category of human experience with various, distinct manifestations is similar to the concept of religion widely operative in the academic discipline of comparative religion; for this reason, Islamic terms related to religion can easily be translated into terminology broadly found in the study of religion, including the term 'religion' itself. I argue, however, that the apparent ease with which one can translate Islamic religious terminology may obscure some important nuances in the Islamic conception of religion that make it both distinct and internally coherent with its broader view of human nature and of its own particular religious system relative to others. Attentiveness to the semantic range and usage of some key terms in Qur'anic and Islamic terminology regarding religion yields a distinctly Islamic conception of religion that is independent of Western, academic theories of religion.


The radiative recombination rate of moderately doped n-type and p-type GaAs/AlAs multiple quantum wells using a timecorrelated single photon counting system is presented. The experimental study has been obtained within a wide temperature range from liquid helium to room temperature and the work has focused on identifying photoluminescence decay rates based on freeexciton recombinations. It was found that the free exciton decay time was reduced in doped multiple GaAs/AlAs quantum wells, and that the reduction rate depends on both the concentration and doping type.


This article aims to analyze factors associated with unawareness of prenatal HIV serostatus at admittance for delivery. A cross-sectional study was performed in 2006 in "Friends of Children" Hospitals from the High-risk Pregnancy System, belonging to the Unified Health System, in Rio de Janeiro City. Data were collected through interviews applied to 873 rooming-in mothers submitted to a rapid HIV test at the hospital. Prevalence ratios (PR) of the lack of HIV serologic status were estimated by Poisson regression with robust variance, controlled by maternal and familiar socio-demographic characteristics, pregnancy and prenatal care. Prevalence of unawareness of HIV status was 32.2%. Mothers with low educational level, low-income, more than one relationship in the last year, enrolling late in prenatal care, and low number of prenatal visits were more likely to have unknown HIV status. The main predictor for unawareness of HIV serostatus at hospital admittance was the low number of prenatal visits. It is recommended that coverage of HIV testing during prenatal care be broadened with timely delivery of results, improving early access of pregnant women and increasing the number of prenatal visits, focusing on clients with low socio-economic level.


The effects of dietary carbohydrates on the adherence of Candida albicans to HeLa epithelial monolayers and buccal epithelial cells were compared by two assay systems. Candida prehcubated in O ~ M , glucose, sucrose, galactose, xylitol or maltose medium produced a significant enhancement in adhesion to both types of epithelial cells. Maltose was the most effective sugar and glucose the least effective in promoting adhesion, while lactose had no significant effect. A clinical isolate of C. albicans demonstrated a greater overall enhancement in adhesion from preincubation with glucose, sucrose and maltose, when compared with a reference laboratory strain of Candida. These results imply that exogenous or endogenous carbon sources may affect the oral and vaginal carriage of C. albicans, by modifying their adhesive properties.


Abstract : A Phase 1 study was initiated by the Coast Guard R&D Center to determine the feasibility of using composite materials to reduce the weight of the National Strike Force cargo transfer pumps. The Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (CDNSWC) was tasked to carry out Phase I. Initially all of the pumps in the Coast Guard's inventory were investigated. The study eventually focused on one particular pump at the Coast Guard's request, the CCN-150. A CCN-150 was obtained and disassembled by CDNSWC. Each of the major components was assessed as to the feasibility of fabricating it out of composite materials. A test plan for strain gaging and running the CNN-150 at a variety of operating conditions was proposed. Actual testing of the CCN-150 would provide an understanding of the operational strain levels in the pump. Three options were presented for a composite CCN-150. The risk and potential weight savings for each option were presented. CDNSWC recommended that a composite CCN-150 be pursued in two separate stages. First, the suction bell and pump bowl would be replaced by a composite version. This pump would then be evaluated. If the performance of the CCN-150 was not degraded by these new composite components and significant weight savings were demonstrated, work on a composite motor housing would be initiated. A CCN-150 with a composite suction bell, pump bowl, and motor housing has the potential for reducing the weight of a state- of- the-art stainless steel CCN-150 by 36%.


The impact of the digital economy on tax compliance, tax bases and tax administration has emerged as a key issue for taxpayers, tax advisors, tax administrators and tax academics. The topic was the focus of the 13th International Conference on Tax Administration organised by the University of New South Wales in Sydney (UNSW Sydney) in April 2018.

Most of the papers presented at the conference fell under the umbrella of three overarching themes: the challenges and opportunities for tax administrators created by the digital economy; issues in tax compliance; and the intersections of digitalisation and international tax issues. A fourth group of papers considered several discrete tax administration and compliance issues not confined to the digital age. Additionally, support from the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) made it possible for administrators from Asian and Pacific countries to report on the interaction of the digital economy and tax administration in their jurisdictions.


Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an inflammatory and infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus with a complex pathophysiology. While COVID-19 vaccines and boosters are available, treatment of the disease is primarily supportive and symptomatic. Several research have suggested the potential of herbal medicines as an adjunctive treatment for the disease. A popular herbal medicine approved in the Philippines for the treatment of acute respiratory disease is Vitex negundo L. In fact, the Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines has funded a clinical trial to establish its potential as an adjunctive treatment for COVID-19. Here, we utilized network pharmacology and molecular docking in determining pivotal targets of Vitex negundo compounds against COVID-19. The results showed that significant targets of Vitex negundo compounds in COVID-19 are CSB, SERPINE1, and PLG which code for cathepsin B, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and plasminogen, respectively. Molecular docking revealed that α-terpinyl acetate and geranyl acetate have good binding affinity in cathepsin B; 6,7,4-trimethoxyflavanone, 5,6,7,8,3',4',5'-heptamethoxyflavone, artemetin, demethylnobiletin, gardenin A, geranyl acetate in plasminogen; and 7,8,4-trimethoxyflavanone in plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. While the results are promising, these are bound to the limitations of computational methods and further experimentation are needed to completely establish the molecular mechanisms of Vitex negundo against COVID-19.


The focus of this paper is using nonparametric transfer function models in forecasting. Nonparametric smoothing methods are used to model the relationship between variables (the transfer function) and the noise is modeled as an Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) process. The transfer function is estimated jointly with the ARMA parameters. Nonparametric smoothing methods are flexible thus can be used to model highly nonlinear relationships between variables. In this paper polynomial splines are used to model the transfer function. Modeling noise term as an ARMA process removes the serial correlation so the transfer function can be estimated efficiently. As a result, the nonparametric transfer function model can generate accurate forecasts when the transfer function is highly nonlinear with unknown functional form. The proposed polynomial splines-based estimator is also highly computationally efficient. The performance of nonparametric transfer function models is demonstrated in this paper by forecasting river flow based on temperature and precipitation. A comparison of the results show that the performance of this model is better than some widely accepted benchmark models. Key–Words:Nonparametric smoothing, Time series, Forecast


This dissertation demonstrates the versatility of epidemiology in public health research. The association between hearing sensitivity and diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and their risk factors was examined in a population of 2,049 adults within the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study (mean age 77.5 ± 2.8 years; 37% black). CVD and diabetes may contribute to age-related hearing loss by affecting blood flow within the inner ear via macro- and micro-vascular changes. Clinical CVD was not associated with hearing sensitivity however; subclinical CVD measures were moderately associated with poorer auditory function in females. After controlling for age, race, and site, CVD risk factors positively associated with worse mid-frequency hearing thresholds in males were weight, insulin, glucose, triglycerides, and smoking and in females were heart rate and glucose. Risk factors associated with worse high frequency thresholds were weight, insulin, triglycerides, and smoking in males and heart rate, glucose, and smoking in females. Diabetes was associated with mid-frequency hearing loss upon adjustment for common hearing loss risk factors (OR=1.60; 95%CI: 1.26-2.02). The metabolic syndrome was associated with mid-frequency hearing loss in whites prior to excluding diabetics. These results suggest that diabetes, in conjunction with CVD, contributes to age-related hearing loss, particularly strial presbycusis, and independent of common hearing loss risk factors. Given the high prevalence of hearing impairment among older adults, the identification of potentially modifiable risk factors for age-related hearing loss is of public health significance. Epidemiology can also be utilized in more applied settings. A retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine if residents affected by an underground gasoline spill in Hazle Township/Hazleton, Pennsylvania were at increased risk for cancer from 1990-2000. A total of 663 individuals representing 275 households comprised the study population. Age-adjusted standard incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated using Pennsylvania rates to determine expected numbers. The age-adjusted leukemia SIR for the gasoline affected area was 4.40 (95%CI: 1.09-10.24). These results suggest a possible association between chronic low-level benzene exposure and increased risk for leukemia in the residents living near the spill site. This project directly impacted the public health of residents and also demonstrated the importance of collaboration and surveillance.


Introduction: Bordetella pertussis causes an acute respiratory infectious disease that, in newborns and infants, can present with severe clinical manifestations or even death. In Portugal, whole cell pertussis vaccine introduced in 1965 was replaced, in 2006, by the acellular form. An increasing number of cases has been observed, with an incidence of 5.5 per 100,000 cases in 2016. The duration of protection against pertussis is unknown after the last immunization or disease itself. Healthcare staff working with children can be the source of infection of hospital outbreaks and, therefore, knowing the seroprevalence of pertussis among them can help to decide the potential need for vaccination in susceptible professionals.
Methods: Prospective study including healthcare workers from neonatology and paediatric departments as well as the clinical pathology laboratory of a Portuguese hospital. People with acute respiratory symptoms, pregnant or vaccinated against pertussis in 2016 were excluded. The seroprevalence for pertussis was tested through immunoglobulin G for pertussis toxin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: The population tested was negative for immunoglobulin G pertussis toxin in 97.8% (88/90); only the remaining 2.2% (2/90) showed equivocal results.
Discussion: This population is potentially susceptible to pertussis infection and could be a reservoir for disease and for its transmission. A booster immunisation could be recommended to these individuals.


The cuticle constitutes the outermost defensive barrier of most land plants. It comprises a polymeric matrix – cutin, surrounded by soluble waxes. Moreover, the cuticle constitutes the first line of defense against pathogen invasion, while also protecting the plant from many abiotic stresses. Aliphatic monomers in cutin have been suggested to act as immune elicitors in plants. This study analyses the potential of tomato cutin oligomers to act as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) able to induce a rapid immune response in the model plant Arabidopsis. Cutin oligomeric mixtures led to Ca2+ influx and MAPK activation in Arabidopsis. Comparable responses were measured for cutin, which was also able to induce a reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst. Furthermore, treatment of Arabidopsis with cutin oligomers resulted in a unique transcriptional reprogramming profile, having many archetypal features of pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). Targeted spectroscopic and spectrometric analyses of the cutin oligomers suggest that the elicitors compounds consist mostly of two up to three 10,16-dihydroxyhexadecanoic acid monomers linked together through ester bonds. This study demonstrates that cutin breakdown products can act as DAMPs; a novel class of elicitors deserving further characterization.


In this paper, a whitening filter technique using Idl (lower diagonal lower) and udu (upper diagonal upper) factorizations is used to provide a simple carrier phase ambiguity resolution on-the-fly (OTF) technique. The technique proved to be very efficient for short baselines over short observation periods. It also performed very well in instantaneously recovering ambiguities after loss of lock. The ability to function without a search algorithm, combined with the simplicity of its implementation, makes the whitening filter a powerful tool to resolve GPS carrier phase ambiguities. The whitening filter can also be used with algorithms involving a search technique. This application is accomplished by applying the whitening filter right before the search; in this case, the search becomes more efficient. A MATLAB® implementation of the algorithm is given in the appendix.


Variable geometry turbocharger and exhaust gas recirculation valves are widely installed on diesel engines to allow optimized control of intake air mass flow and exhaust gas recirculation ratio. The positions of variable geometry turbocharger vanes and exhaust gas recirculation valve are predominantly regulated by dual-loop proportional–integral–derivative controllers to achieve predefined set-points of intake air pressure and exhaust gas recirculation mass flow. The set-points are determined by extensive mapping of the intake air pressure and exhaust gas recirculation mass flow against various engine speeds and loads concerning engine performance and emissions. However, due to the inherent nonlinearities of diesel engines and the strong interferences between variable geometry turbocharger and exhaust gas recirculation, an extensive map of gains for the P, I, and D terms of the proportional–integral–derivative controllers is required to achieve desired control performance. The present simulation study proposes a novel fuzzy logic control scheme to determine appropriate positions of variable geometry turbocharger vanes and exhaust gas recirculation valve in real-time. Once determined, the actual positions of the vanes and valve are regulated by two local proportional–integral–derivative controllers. The fuzzy logic control rules are derived based on an understanding of the interactions among the variable geometry turbocharger, exhaust gas recirculation, and diesel engine. The results obtained from an experimentally validated one-dimensional transient diesel engine model showed that the proposed fuzzy logic control scheme is capable of efficiently optimizing variable geometry turbocharger and exhaust gas recirculation positions under transient engine operating conditions in real-time. Compared to the baseline proportional–integral–derivative controllers approach, both engine's efficiency and total turbo efficiency have been improved by the proposed fuzzy logic control scheme while NOx and soot emissions have been significantly reduced by 34% and 82%, respectively.


Morphometric properties of solitary hair cells dissociated from the semicircular canals (SCC), utricles (UTR), and lagenas (LAG) of adult white king pigeons, Columbia livia, were compared. Measurements were made of the cell body, cuticular plate and hair bundle. Cells were divided into two groups: type 1 (group 1) was predominantly type I hair cells, and type 2 (group 3) was primarily type II hair cells. Comparisons are made initially between end organs for each group. A subpopulation of short otolith hair cells was identified. Quantitative comparisons between isolated type 1 and type 2 hair cells demonstrated that type 1 hair cells were more homogeneous both within and between vestibular end organs; while they had shorter, thinner neck regions, narrower apical surfaces, with longer and thinner bodies than did type 2 hair cells. Generally, for both type 1 and type 2 hair cells, two different hair bundle shapes were present, those (unimodal) with a single sharp taper from longest to shortest stereocilia, and those (bimodal) with an initial steep taper followed by a less steep taper. An additional subtype of type 1 hair cells with short hair bundles was identified. SCC hair cells have fewer hair bundles with bimodal tapers across all cell groups when compared to UTR or LAG. All cell subtypes identified for dissociated hair cells were corroborated using histologic sections.


We conducted an experiment to evaluate the effects of four common seedling containers on the morphology and plant biomass production efficiency of Cercocarpus ledifolius Nutt. (curlleaf mountain mahogany) seedlings. All four types produced well-balanced shootroot ratios. The largest container (Styro-20) produced the largest seedlings and greatest total plant biomass production per unit bedspace area, but also produced the most inconsistently sized seedlings. Among the smaller containers, cell spacing density proved more important than cell volume. The smallest container (Stubby-10) produced seedlings comparable to or greater than the Styro-10 and RL-10, with a high degree of crop consistency and efficient use of growing medium. The RL-10 produced the smallest seedlings by all measures, and plant biomass per unit volume of growing medium was lower than any of the three CopperblockTM containers. Despite its shortcomings, the versatility of the RL system may make it a worthy selection for those nurseries where seedling germination or survival has been problematic.


In November 1977 the Belgian Government appointed an interdepartmental commission to study questions relating to the ratification of the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions. This was done even before the Protocols, which had been adopted on 8 June of that year, were open for signature. The commission's work at that point was both to determine whether there was cause for Belgium to make an interpretative declaration or even announce a reservation when ratifying the Protocols, and to draft a bill for a law approving that ratification. This required consultation not only between the various ministerial departments concerned with implementing the Protocols but also between the Belgian Government and the governments of member countries of the military alliance to which Belgium belongs. It will be noted that the two NATO countries which ratified the Protocols before Belgium had decided not to make an interpretative declaration accompanying their ratification and did not therefore have to await the result of that consultation. The only reservation formulated by Denmark related to a question of judicial procedure in its national law.


Abstract Due to the detrimental effects of boron (B) on the efficiency of silicon (Si) photovoltaic cells, complete boron removal from Si is necessary to produce solar grade Si (SoG–Si, with a maximum limit of 0.1 ppmw boron). Gas refining is a promising technique for boron removal from Si, in which the thermodynamic equilibrium never establishes. Hence, by starting from any B concentration in the melt, the required limit for SoG–Si will be achieved. This research is devoted to studying the refractory interactions' effect with melt and the chamber atmosphere on boron removal. For this purpose, gas refining experiments were carried out in alumina and graphite crucibles with H2 and H2–3% H2O refining gases. Gas refining in Ar, He, and continuous vacuuming conditions were also carried out to study the effect of chamber atmosphere. The gas refining results are supported by the characterization of the evaporated species by molecular beam mass spectroscopy (MBMS) technique. The MBMS measurements indicated that the boron evaporation occurs by the formation of the volatile species BH x , BO y , and B z H x O y compounds. Most of these compounds are already known in the literature. However, HBO, HBOH, and AlBO (in the case of alumina refractories) were measured experimentally in this work. Results indicate that the evaporation of B in the form of AlBO x compounds leads to higher mass transfer coefficients for boron removal in alumina crucibles. Density-functional theory (DFT) and coupled cluster calculations are carried out to provide a thermodynamic database for the gaseous compounds in the H–B–O–Al system, including enthalpy, entropy, and C P values for 21 compounds.


This investigation has involved the study of the adsorption and desorption kinetics of two n-alkanes on a wood-based active carbon (BAX950). The adsorption and desorption characteristics of n-octane vapor on the activated carbon were investigated over the relative pressure (p/p degrees) range 0-0.97 for temperatures in the range 288-313 K in a static vapor system. The adsorption characteristics of n-nonane were studied over the relative pressure range 0-0.97 and temperature range 303-323 K. The adsorption and desorption kinetics were studied with different amounts of preadsorbed n-octane for set changes in relative vapor pressure (p/p degrees). The desorption kinetics were much slower than the corresponding adsorption kinetics for the same pressure step. The rate constants for adsorption increased with increasing relative pressure and surface coverage. The kinetic data for adsorption were used to-calculate the activation energies for each increase in relative pressure. The activation energy was highest at low p/p degrees and decreased with increasing p/p degrees until a maximum was reached at p/p degrees similar to 0.075. n-Nonane adsorption showed similar trends in adsorption kinetics and activation energies to the n-octane adsorption. The results are discussed in terms of diffusion in the pore structure in relation to the adsorption isotherm and mechanism.


Abstract A growing body of research demonstrates that political involvement by Christian religious leaders can undermine the religion's social influence. Do these negative consequences of politicization also extend to Islam? Contrary to scholarly and popular accounts that describe Islam as inherently political, we argue that Muslim religious leaders will weaken their religious authority when they engage with politics. We test this argument with a conjoint experiment implemented on a survey of more than 12,000 Sunni Muslim respondents in eleven Middle Eastern countries. The results show that connections to political issues or politically active religious movements decrease the perceived religious authority of Muslim clerics, including among respondents who approve of the clerics' political views. The article's findings shed light on how Muslims in the Middle East understand the relationship between religion and politics, and they contribute more broadly to understanding of how politicized religious leaders can have negative repercussions for religion.


type="main" xml:id="ajar12035-abs-0001"> Australia's resources boom is underpinned by increased demand from industrialising China and a rise in export prices. Current depletion rates will soon exhaust currently known reserves of iron ore and coal. This paper presents a dynamic optimisation model of a growing open economy where a social planner chooses the time path for depletion of a non-renewable resource during a demand-led resources boom. We find that for particular functional forms and in the absence of extraction and social costs, the optimal depletion rate equals the difference between the price elasticity of export demand times the world interest rate and growth in export demand. In contrast to the existing literature, we show that the optimal depletion rate is unaffected by a temporary increase in price, but reduced by growth in demand which is in turn sustained by offshore steel production and urbanisation. The main theoretical implication is that growth in export demand from China reduces the depletion rate. Australian iron ore exports, simulated using this theory, move together with actual volumes over the period 1995–2011, and the error between simulated and actual iron ore exports is lower for the model in this paper than it is for the model without growth in export demand.


Consider the case where consecutive blocks of N letters of a semi-infinite individual sequence X over a finite alphabet are being compressed into binary sequences by some one-to-one mapping. No a priori information about X is available at the encoder, which must therefore adopt a universal data-compression algorithm. It is known that there exist a number of asymptotically optimal universal data compression algorithms (e.g., the Lempel-Ziv (LZ) algorithm, context tree algorithm and an adaptive Hufmann algorithm) such that when successively applied to N-blocks then, the best error-free compression for the particular individual sequence X is achieved as N tends to infinity. The best possible compression that may be achieved by any universal data compression algorithm for finite N-blocks is discussed. Essential optimality for the compression of finite-length sequences is defined. It is shown that the LZ77 universal compression of N-blocks is essentially optimal for finite N-blocks. Previously, it has been demonstrated that a universal context tree compression of N blocks is essentially optimal as well.


This study aimed to analyze the levels of metallothionein and damage to hepatocytes and gills of Barbonymus gonionotus in the Brantas River (upstream and downstream), and the correlation levels of metallothionein in the gills and liver of Barbonymus gonionotus with different sampling time variation (March, June, and September 2016). Fishes were caught using trawl in two stations (Karangkates Reservoir and the Kali Jagir river). Fish gills and livers were taken for histopathological analysis and levels of metallothionein were measured by ELISA method. Gills histopathological analysis showed that the highest damage in Karangkates reservoir dan Kali Jagir river is hyperplasia. Liver histopathological analysis in Karangkates reservoir showed normal hepatocytes meanwhile necrosis is highest damage found in Kali Jagir river. Metallothionein levels of fish in Karangkates reservoir for March, June, and September were 0.18 ng/mL; 0,18 ng/mL; and 0.2 ng/mL (gills fish); 0,18 ng/mL; 0,34 ng/mL; and 0,21 ng/mL (liver fish) respectively. Metallothionein levels of fish in Kali Jagir river for March, June, and September were 0,26 ng/mL; 0,18 ng/mL; and 0,18 ng/mL (gills fish); 0,2 ng/mL; 0,45 ng/mL; 0,19 ng/mL (liver fish) respectively. We conclude that the damage to the gills and liver of Barbonymus gonionotus was mostly found in Kali Jagir River and the highest metallothionein level of Barbonymus gonionotus also presented in Kali Jagir River.


In this paper, we present a novel method for online LiDAR–Camera system calibration tracking and refinement. The method is correspondencefree, formulated as a maximum-likelihood learning task. It is based on a consistency of projected LiDAR point cloud corners and optical image edges. The likelihood function is robustified using a model in which the inlier/outlier label for the image edge pixel is marginalized out. The learning is performed by a stochastic on-line algorithm that includes a delayed learning mechanism improving its stability. Ground-truth experimental results are shown on KITTI sequences with known reference calibration. Assuming motion-compensated LiDAR data the method is able to track synthetic rotation calibration drift with about 0.06 degree accuracy in yaw and roll angles and 0.1 degree accuracy in the pitch angle. The basin of attraction of the optimization is about ±1.2 degree. The method is able to track rotation calibration parameter drift of 0.02 degree per measurement mini-batch. Full convergence occurs after about 50 mini-batches. We conclude the method is suitable for real-scene driving scenarios.


In our original manuscript, we only addressed the effects of land cover change but excluded the land management practices such as nitrogen fertilization and irrigation, which are tightly associated with the land cover change and associated carbon fluxes. In the revised manuscript, after addressing the referees' comments and suggestions, we extended our study period to 2005 and made a major revision on the manuscript by including fertilization and irrigation effects on cropland carbon storage. As shown in the previous version of the manuscript, the land cover change (without considering land management practices) could result in a source of 0.18 Pg C/yr during 1901-


A bacterial species is operationally difficult to define. There is considerable phenotypic variation in some species, such as Escherichia coli; thus, the limits of the species are difficult to determine. Other species such as Edwardsiella tarda and Serratia marcescens are "tighter" because the strains which comprise these species show little phenotypic variation. The latter species are easier to define biochemically. Newer taxonomic techniques have been helpful in defining bacterial species. Often, the results have agreed with those obtained by conventional methods. However, species such as Enterobacter agglomerans have been shown by DNA-DNA hybridization to be composed of over twelve different hybridization groups which could be considered "new species." Many different bacterial species are washed from the soil into water. Some of these are soil bacteria; others make up the gut flora of insects, invertebrates, and lower vertebrates. Often, these environmental species are closely related to species known to be pathogenic for man. Sometimes environmental isolates can be differentiated from the human pathogens by simple tests; S. liquefaciens and S. rubidaea are phenotypically different from the human pathogen S. marcescens and can be recognized easily. Environmental strains of Klebsiella, for which the taxonomy has not been completely defined, cannot yet be differentiated from the human pathogens. Similarly, in Enterobacter, Citrobacter, Proteus, Vibrio, Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, and other groups, there are taxonomic gaps where species lines are not completely clear. Many isolates that have been classified in these genera may not be pathogenic for man. Consequently, to ensure that standards will have relevance in public health, writers of microbiological standards for water should proceed very carefully in their treatment of indicator organisms. Many species in water are probably not pathogenic for humans but are closely related to species which are pathogenic. Even with a complete battery of biochemical and serological tests, isolates cannot always be assigned to their correct species. We see many isolates which probably belong to new species which have not been defined.


Literary history made a Futurist out of Palazzeschi, and he himself said about his manifesto, Il controdolore (published in Lacerba in 1914) that it represented his "modest and direct" contribution to Marinetti's movement. This article situates Il controdolore among other mainly contemporary texts devoted to laughter. Referring to theories of manifestos, it looks at Palazzeschi's text as a theatrical space, underlining its literary and non-pragmatic nature. I intend to show that, in this iconic work, we start to recognize certain recurring features and ideas that position Palazzeschi's very anomalous avant-garde experience among the ranks of the Futurists, in a space of autonomous opposition to both poles of the binary Futurism/non-Futurism. As a matter of fact, his position, liminal, and somewhat anarchic, makes his work a convincing antecedent of avant-garde movements to come, especially Dadaism.


Demand planning is a challenging component for organizations across a broad spectrum of industries. A key element of a successful demand plan is accurate forecasting, due in part to the operational decisions that are made based on the results of forecasting models. This is what our capstone project sponsor, Agility, has come to realize during their time-sensitive operations. Agility supplies food rations to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions around the world. One particular mission, the mission in Darfur, or "UNAMID", has a unique problem related to inaccurate forecasting. UNAMID places orders for food rations approximately 80 days in advance of when they are needed, but the lead time for Agility to source and deliver these items often exceeds 150 days. Therefore, forecasting is required to ensure that food rations can be procured and delivered on time. Currently, Agility uses a simple three-period moving average forecasting method, also known as MA(3). Due to frequent errors in the order quantity forecasted using this method, Agility often incurs stiff penalties from the UN for delivering too little or too much food. This study explores how sophisticated forecasting techniques can be applied to reduce penalty costs. First, we segmented the historical order quantity data to isolate the most important SKUs. Second, we tested various forecasting methods against the currently used MA(3) to determine if a more sophisticated model would produce better results. Third, we applied the Holt-Winters Forecasting model and optimized the parameters using non-linear optimization to maximize statistical accuracy. Fourth, we added penalty costs to the model and re-optimized the parameters to minimize the projected penalty cost. Fifth, we provided a set of strategic recommendations for how Agility can use the results of this study to realize these cost savings. We found that by using our optimized Holt-Winters forecasting model, Agility could likely save at least $25,000 per year in penalty costs at UNAMID. An additional study is recommended to explore how this model can be applied to further increase cost savings at other UN peacekeeping missions. Capstone Advisor: Jarrod Goentzel Title: Director, MIT Humanitarian Supply Chain Lab Capstone Co-Advisor: Chelsey Graham Title: Research Associate


In recent literature, the concept of criticality aspires to provide a multifaceted risk assessment of resource supply shortage. However, most existing methodologies for the criticality assessment of raw materials are restricted to a fixed temporal and spatial reference system. They provide a snapshot in time of the equilibrium between supply and demand/economic importance and do not account for temporal changes of their indicators. The static character of criticality assessments limits the use of criticality methodologies to short‐term policy making of raw materials. In the current paper, we argue for an enhancement of the criticality framework to account for three key dynamic characteristics, namely changes of social, technical, and economic features; consideration of the spatial dimension in site‐specific assessments; and impact of changing governance frameworks. We illustrate how these issues were addressed in studies outside of the field of criticality and identify the dynamic parameters that influence resource supply and demand based on a review of studies that belong to the general field of resource supply and demand. The parameters are grouped in seven categories: extraction, social, economic, technical, policy, market dynamics, and environmental. We explore how these parameters were considered in the reviewed studies and propose ways and specific examples of addressing the dynamic effects in the criticality indicators. Furthermore, we discuss the current work on future scenarios to provide reference points for indicator benchmarks. The insights and guidelines derived from the review and our recommendations for future research set the foundations for an enhanced dynamic and site‐specific criticality assessment framework.


As the interest in sports vision continues to increase, it becomes important to further examine the relationship between optimal visual skills and optimal athletic performance. One of the athlete's most important visual skills is accuracy of stereolocalization. The intent of this project is to develop a portable, out of instrument, distance stereo testing apparatus. This pilot study will provide norms for a modified Howard-Dolman device, both for the general population and the college athlete . The study will statistically evaluate the importance of stereolocalization in athletic performance. The means will provide measurement of accuracy of stereolocalization, and the standard deviations will be a measurement of consistancy. The combined evaluation of both of these parameters will represent the subjects sensitivity to stereolocalization. This information can be utilized by the optometrist in determining the need for optometric intervention in providing optimal patient care.


The adrenal gland produces steroid hormones to play essential roles in regulating various physiological processes. Our previous studies showed that knockout of hepatic Surf4 (Surf4LKO) markedly reduced fasting plasma total cholesterol levels in adult mice, including low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Here, we found that plasma cholesterol levels were also dramatically reduced in 4-week-old young mice and non-fasted adult mice. Circulating lipoprotein cholesterol is an important source of the substrate for the production of adrenal steroid hormones. Therefore, we investigated whether adrenal steroid hormone production was affected in Surf4LKO mice. We observed that lacking hepatic Surf4 essentially eliminated lipid droplets and significantly reduced cholesterol levels in the adrenal gland; however, plasma levels of aldosterone and corticosterone were comparable in Surf4LKO and the control mice under basal and stress conditions. Further analysis revealed that mRNA levels of genes encoding enzymes important for hormone synthesis were not altered, whereas the expression of scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI), low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase was significantly increased in the adrenal gland of Surf4LKO mice, indicating increased de novo cholesterol biosynthesis and enhanced LDLR and SR-BI-mediated lipoprotein cholesterol uptake. We also observed that the nuclear form of SREBP2 was increased in the adrenal gland of Surf4LKO mice. Taken together, these findings indicate that the very low levels of circulating lipoprotein cholesterol in Surf4LKO mice cause a significant reduction in adrenal cholesterol levels but do not significantly affect adrenal steroid hormone production. Reduced adrenal cholesterol levels activate SREBP2 and thus increase the expression of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, which increases de novo cholesterol synthesis to compensate for the loss of circulating lipoprotein-derived cholesterol in the adrenal gland of Surf4LKO mice.


This thesis work, titled as "Experimental and computational research on the feasibility of solar driven power production in Rankine cycle using CO2 as working fluid", involves the study of Rankine cycle in power production and CO2 characteristics in heat transfer, especially its features in super-critical phase. The conceptual construction of solar collector is not actually installed, but a heat pump cycle was added in order to serve as a relatively low input heat source temperature. The proposed system under this concept was operated and the corresponding test results were collected and analyzed. According to the test results and the analysis, the feasibility of this system was abundantly confirmed. The system shows a great and promising potential in application. However, as the components of the test rig, especially the expander and pump did not seem to be functioning properly and stably when the CO2 working fluid was under higher temperature and higher pressure. Therefore, a computational model was established in Dymola software and validated according to the acquired data from the tests, for the sake of extending the working condition virtually. In the simulation, the input heat source temperature was raised from 80 °C to as high as 200 °C, the consequences of which indicated that the power production climbed significantly under such working condition. As a conclusion, the simulation proved that it is of great value to modify this test rig for better performance under further working condition and the future of its application is very promising.


A photonic technique for instantaneous microwave frequency measurement is proposed. In the proposed technique, a photonic microwave filter having a monotonic frequency response with the magnitude varying from positive infinity to negative infinity on a log scale, is constructed by cascading two photonic microwave filters with one having an infinite impulse response and the other having a finite impulse response. For a single-frequency microwave signal with a normalized magnitude, a unique relationship between the output response and the input frequency is established. Since the response extends from positive to negative infinity, for a given measurement range, a significantly increased measurement resolution is achieved. The proposed technique is verified by an experiment.


Many environmental policies including the Kyoto Protocol, the Acid Rain Program, the Montreal Protocol and the phase-out of leaded gas are designed to achieve a target level of abatement within a specified period of time. This paper examines how pollution abatement should be allocated over time using heterogeneous technologies characterized by learning by doing. In the presence of learning by doing, conventional economic wisdom regarding the allocation of pollution abatement must be modified. This paper derives the appropriate generalization of the principle that marginal abatement costs are equalized and shows how learning by doing alters the optimal allocation of abatement. The paper considers three classes of abatement cost functions: linear costs, convex costs and constant elasticity costs. The optimal solution is derived for linear and constant elasticity costs. In the case of convex costs sufficient conditions are given for abatement to be shared across all technologies and a bound is placed on the optimal cumulative abatement that occurs over any interval [0,t]. The results are used to provide insight into the effects of technological learning on pollution abatement policy, the tradeoffs involved in allocating abatement between mature and infant technologies, and the role played by abatement costs and discounting in determining how pollution abatement should be allocated over time and across technologies.


This study was designed to improve the students' reading comprehension ability through DRTA Strategy. It was conducted in order to find a strategy of teaching and learning that occurs, especially, in the teaching of reading skills. The strategy was selected because it was believed to be able to stimulate or activate the students to be more involved in the reading activities and to facilitate the students to comprehend the texts, especially report texts. Thus, this study was directed to solve practical problems in the teaching and learning process. The research problem was formulated as follows: "How to apply DRTA strategy in order to improve students reading comprehension at SMP ST.IGNASIUS MEDAN?
The study employed a collaborative classroom action research design in which the researcher and the collaborator as research team worked together designing the lesson plan, implementing the action, observing the action, and reflecting the action. The subjects of this research were 30 students the first semester students XI of SMP ST.IGNASIUS in the 2013/2014 academic year. This research study was conducted in two cycles by following the procedure of action research, i.e. planning, action, observation, analysis and reflection. Each cycle of the research study encompassed three meetings of the strategy implementation and reading comprehension test. The data of this research study were obtained through reading tests, observation checklist and field notes at the end of the cycle and the implementation of DRTA strategy in teaching-learning process. The findings of this research study indicated that the DRTA strategy was successful in improving both the students' ability in comprehending report texts and the students' involvement in reading activities. The improvement can be seen from the students' individual score percentage from preliminary study to Cycle 2. The students' mean score had improved greatly from 58.66 to 80.33 or the students' individual score percentage had achieved to a great extent from 77.14 to 85.71. The mean score and the students' individual score indicated higher than predetermined criteria of success that was 80% of 30 students who got score 70. Based on the result of the Cycle 2, the next cycle did not need to be conducted because the students' individual scores that the predetermined criteria of success have been met in the second cycle. Dealing with the students' involvement, it also seemed that most of students (93.30%) were involved actively in the reading activities in Cycle 2 which were shown by the observations checklists and field notes. The appropriate procedure of DRTA strategy in teaching reading comprehension encompassed the following steps: 1) the teacher create a classroom climate in which students are free to state their ideas and share their thinking; 2) Introduce the purpose of the DRTA; 3) The students divided into groups and then the researcher gives the copies of the text to the students; 4) Determine the text to be used and pre-select points for students to pause during the reading process, and provide examples of how to make predictions; 5) Then the researcher clarified the prior knowledge to the students that related to the content of the topic by applying DRTA strategy; 6) The teacher asked the groups to make a list of the different features that supply clues about the text; 7) The teacher helped the class understand that the features will help them predict what they are going to read, which in turn will help them understand the material; 8) Each group discuss the text and write their prediction, using prediction list.;9) The researcher called on each group to read their prediction and explain the group's reasoning. 10) Ask the students compare their predictions with the actual content of the text.11) Ask the students to analyze their checklist and determine how well they predicted the content of the text. Based on the students' achievement using DRTA strategy in comprehending report texts, it was suggested for the English teachers apply DRTA strategy as one of many alternatives that can be used in teaching reading skills. To the further researcher teachers, particularly those who are interested in applying DRTA strategy in their research, it is suggested that they conduct classroom action research and implement this strategy in the teaching of reading to other English text types (descriptive, narrative, recount, procedure) and other language skills, for instance writing and it can be their reference in conducting in the same strategy. For institution, DRTA strategy can be new strategy that can improve the students' reading comprehension ability of grade nine at SMP ST.IGNASIUS in comprehending the report texs.


This article motivates the structure from motion (SfM) approaches by describing some current practical applications. This is followed by a brief discussion of the background of the field. Then, several techniques are outlined that show various important approaches and paradigms to the SfM problem. Critical issues, advantages and disadvantages are pointed out. Subsequently, we present our SfM approach for recursive estimation of motion, structure, and camera geometry in a nonlinear dynamic system framework. Results are given for synthetic and real images. These are used to assess the accuracy and stability of the technique. We then discuss some practical and real-time applications we have encountered and the reliability and flexibility of the approach in those settings. Finally, we conclude with results from an independent evaluation study conducted by industry where the proposed SfM algorithm compared favorably to alternative approaches.


The thermo-optic coefficient dn/dT at 632.8 nm and thermal expansion coefficient α of transparent ceramic yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) were measured between room temperature and 600 K. The data showed that dn/dT increases with temperature and α is in good agreement with that of single-crystal YAG. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first experimental data of the thermo-optic properties of highly transparent ceramic YAG above room temperature. We also present, using previously reported values measured below room temperature, fitting parameters for dn/dT that are valid over a wide temperature range (70–600 K) with an average error of 2.0%.


OBJECTIVE
Socially constructed ethnic identities are frequently rooted in beliefs about common descent that form when people with disparate cultures, languages, and biology come into contact. This study explores connections between beliefs about common descent, as represented by ethnic nomenclatures, and histories of migration and isolation ascertained from genomic data in New Mexicans of Spanish-speaking descent (NMS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We interviewed 507 NMS who further identified using one of seven ethnic terms that they associated with beliefs about connections to past ancestors. For groups of individuals who identified using each term, we estimated biogeographic ancestry, fit admixture models to ancestry distributions, and partitioned genetic distance into admixture and drift components.

RESULTS
Regardless of which ethnic term they used, all NMS had appreciable Native American (avg. 27%) and European ancestry (avg.71%). However, individuals who identified using terms associated with beliefs connecting them to colonial-period Spanish ancestors had significantly higher European ancestry than individuals who identified using terms associated with ancestral connections to post-colonial-period migrants from Mexico. Model-fitting analyses show that this ancestry difference reflects post-colonial gene flow with non-NMS European Americans, not colonial-period gene flow with Spaniards. Drift, not admixture, accounted for most of the genetic distance between NMS who expressed connections to Mexican versus Spanish ancestors, reflecting relative isolation of New Mexico and Mexico through the 19th century.

DISCUSSION
Patterns of genomic diversity in NMS are consistent with beliefs about common descent in showing that New Mexico was isolated for generations following initial colonization. They are inconsistent with these beliefs in showing that all NMS have substantial European and Native American ancestry, and in showing that a proportion of European ancestry derives from post-colonial-period admixture with non-NMS European Americans. Our findings provide insights into the construction of ethnic identity in contexts of migration and isolation in New Mexico and, potentially, throughout human prehistory.


The intellectual virtues include two seemingly quite different types of traits: reliable faculties on the one hand and inquiry-regulating traits of intellectual character like conscientiousness and openmindedness on the other. Extant virtue theories do not appear to have provided a single account that adequately covers both types of virtue. In this paper, I examine the different ways in which a trait or disposition can contribute to our cognitive goal of acquiring significant true beliefs. I propose that the two types of virtues can be understood as contributing in different ways to our cognitive goal, and develop a general framework for understanding their value.


BACKGROUND The financial benefit of an established clinical pharmacy service in the trauma intensive care unit has not been well-described. This study was conducted to identify adverse drug events prevented by the clinical pharmacy team and to determine the net cost savings associated with their input on a multidisciplinary trauma service. METHODS Between July 2010 and June 2011, we conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical pharmacy activities and interventions on our 31-bed trauma unit managed by a multidisciplinary team. At the initiation of the study, a Web-based pharmacy documentation system was officially integrated into the trauma pharmacy work process. Based on this system, the type of intervention and a value of cost savings ($0–$6,000) were assigned to each activity. Cost-saving values for interventions were calculated from the literature describing the costs of adverse drug events and average drug costs. RESULTS Over the year, a total of 2,574 pharmacy activity entries were documented in the Quantifi system. The total conservative estimate of cost savings associated with clinical pharmacy interventions amounted to $565,664. Considering the mean US hospital pharmacist salary and the highest quoted cost associated with the Quantifi program, the net cost savings associated with our clinical pharmacist interventions on the trauma service was $428,327. Most of the interventions (53%) fell under the category of pharmacotherapy improvement, with 21% in the category of quality/safety improvement and 18% as antibiotic stewardship. Prevention of 34 serious adverse drug events was documented. Antibiotic changes and discontinuing medications were other common interventions. Antimicrobial medications (668), anticoagulants (270), and gastrointestinal medications (231) were the most common medication classes involved in pharmacy interventions. CONCLUSION Using a Web-based pharmacy documentation system, we were able to demonstrate prevention of serious adverse drug events and a significant cost savings by including clinical pharmacy in a multidisciplinary approach to caring for the seriously injured. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Economic analysis, level III; therapeutic study, level IV.


This book provides an excellent overview of how melanoma is treated in the clinic. Since oncologists and clinicians across the globe contributed to this book, each area also explores the unique burdens that geographical areas experience from melanoma subtypes and how these are treated in different settings. It also includes several chapters that illustrate novel methods for diagnosing melanoma in the clinic using new technologies, which are likely to significantly improve outcomes. Several chapters cover surgical techniques and other present very rare or challenging clinical cases of melanoma and how these were treated. The book is geared towards informing clinicians and even patients how melanoma arises, what tools are available and which decisions need to be made by patients and their families in order to treat this devastating disease.


There are important similarities between the pattern of behavior Karl Marx identified with respect to commodities—a pattern he called "fetishism"—and the pattern of behavior identified in this article with respect to military force. Marx identified money as the mature expression of commodity fetishism; the author identifies nuclear weapons as the mature expression of the fetishism of force. As such, nuclear weapons function as the currency of power in the international system. This article lays out a theory of nuclear fetishism by adapting four themes that are characteristic of the pattern of behavior known as fetishism: materiality, historicality, efficacy, and reification. By applying these categories to the fetishism of nuclear weapons, the author shows that nuclear weapons represent a new social form consistent with, yet distinct from, other fetish objects.


Baudesson de Chanville, A., Brevaut-Malaty, V., Garbi, A., Tosello, B., Baumstarck, K., Gire, C., & Le Cozannet, R. (2017). Analgesic effect of maternal human milk odor on premature neonates: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Human Lactation, 33(2), 300-308. (Original DOI: 10.1177/0890334417693225) In this article that appeared in the May 2017 issue of Journal of Human Lactation, the following corrections are required due to an inadvertent omission by the research team authoring the paper. 1) Dr. Romain Le Cozannet has been added as an author. The corrected author list is as follows: Audrey Baudesson de Chanville, MD, Véronique Brevaut-Malaty, MD, Aurélie Garbi, MD, Barthelemy Tosello, MD, PhD, Karine Baumstarck, MD, PhD, Catherine Gire, MD, and Romain Le Cozannet, PhD 2) At the time this study was conducted, Dr. Le Cozannet was the scientific coordinator for Aroma Therapeutics in Marseille, France. The funding statement has been amended to include Aroma Therapeutics, which provided materials and technical and scientific support for this study. The corrected funding statement is also provided as follows: Funding The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by institutional grants from the French 2013 Appel d'Offre Recherche Clinique Assistance Publique, Hôpitaux de Marseille. The sponsor was represented by Assistance Publique, Hôpitaux de Marseille, France, whose role was to control the appropriateness of ethical and legal considerations. Aroma Therapeutics provided materials and technical and scientific support for this study.


High-throughput sequencing of ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) amplicons has opened up the door to large-scale comparative studies of microbial community structures. The short reads currently produced by massively parallel sequencing technologies make the choice of sequencing region crucial for accurate phylogenetic assignments. While for 16S rDNA, relevant regions have been well described, no truly systematic design of 18S rDNA primers aimed at resolving eukaryotic diversity has yet been reported. Here we used 31,862 18S rDNA sequences to design a set of broad-taxonomic range degenerate PCR primers. We simulated the phylogenetic information that each candidate primer pair would retrieve using paired- or single-end reads of various lengths, representing different sequencing technologies. Primer pairs targeting the V4 region performed best, allowing discrimination with paired-end reads as short as 150 bp (with 75% accuracy at genus level). The conditions for PCR amplification were optimised for one of these primer pairs and this was used to amplify 18S rDNA sequences from isolates as well as from a range of environmental samples which were then Illumina sequenced and analysed, revealing good concordance between expected and observed results. In summary, the reported primer sets will allow minimally biased assessment of eukaryotic diversity in different microbial ecosystems.