As a key mechanism of the human emotion interaction, Facial Expression is a powerful tools in HRI(Human Robot Interface) such as Human Computer Interface. By using a facial expression, we can bring out various reaction correspond to emotional state of user in HCI(Human Computer Interaction). Also it can infer that suitable services to supply user from service agents such as intelligent robot. In this article, We addresses the issue of expressive face modeling using an advanced active appearance model for facial emotion recognition. We consider the six universal emotional categories that are defined by Ekman. In human face, emotions are most widely represented with eyes and mouth expression. If we want to recognize the human`s emotion from this facial image, we need to extract feature points such as Action Unit(AU) of Ekman. Active Appearance Model (AAM) is one of the commonly used methods for facial feature extraction and it can be applied to construct AU. Regarding the traditional AAM depends on the setting of the initial parameters of the model and this paper introduces a facial emotion recognizing method based on which is combined Advanced AAM with Bayesian Network. Firstly, we obtain the reconstructive parameters of the new gray-scale image by sample-based learning and use them to reconstruct the shape and texture of the new image and calculate the initial parameters of the AAM by the reconstructed facial model. Then reduce the distance error between the model and the target contour by adjusting the parameters of the model. Finally get the model which is matched with the facial feature outline after several iterations and use them to recognize the facial emotion by using Bayesian Network.


Multiple mutational processes drive carcinogenesis, leaving characteristic signatures on tumor genomes. Determining the active signatures from the full repertoire of potential ones can help elucidate the mechanisms underlying cancer initiation and development. This involves decomposing the frequency of cancer mutations categorized according to their trinucleotide context into a linear combination of known mutational signatures. We formulate this task as an optimization problem with L1 regularization and develop a software tool, sigLASSO, to carry it out efficiently. First, by explicitly adding multinomial sampling into the overall objective function, we jointly optimize the likelihood of sampling and signature fitting. This is especially important when mutation counts are low and sampling variance, high, such as the case in whole exome sequencing. sigLASSO uses L1 regularization to parsimoniously assign signatures to mutation profiles, leading to sparse and more biologically interpretable solutions. Additionally, instead of hard thresholding and choosing a priori, a discrete subset of active signatures, sigLASSO fine-tunes model complexity parameters, informed by the scale of the data and prior knowledge. Finally, it is challenging to evaluate sigLASSO signature assignments. To do this, we construct a set of criteria, which we can apply consistently across assignments.


In this paper, we describe an innovative modular microfluidic platform allowing filtering, concentration and analysis of peptides from a complex mixture. The platform is composed of a microfluidic filtering device and a superhydrophobic surface integrating surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors. The microfluidic device was used to filter specific peptides (MW 1553.73 D) derived from the BRCA1 protein, a tumor-suppressor molecule which plays a pivotal role in the development of breast cancers, from albumin (66.5 KD), the most represented protein in human plasma. The filtering process consisted of driving the complex mixture through a porous membrane having a cut-off of 12–14 kD by hydrodynamic flow. The filtered samples coming out of the microfluidic device were subsequently deposited on a superhydrophobic surface formed by micro pillars on top of which nanograins were fabricated. The nanograins coupled to a Raman spectroscopy instrument acted as a SERS sensor and allowed analysis of the filtered sample on top of the surface once it evaporated. By using the presented platform, we demonstrate being able to sort small peptides from bigger proteins and to detect them by using a label-free technique at a resolution down to 0.1 ng μL−1. The combination of microfluidics and nanotechnology to develop the presented microfluidic platform may give rise to a new generation of biosensors capable of detecting low concentration samples from complex mixtures without the need for any sample pretreatment or labelling. The developed devices could have future applications in the field of early diagnosis of severe illnesses, e.g. early cancer detection.


Abstract A recent cladistic study suggested that the parasitoid wasp subfamily Dallatorrellinae is a monophyletic clade within the cynipoid family Liopteridae. The subfamily currently includes only four known species belonging to two genera, i.e., the monotypic genus Mesocynips Cameron, 1903 and the genus Dallatorrella Kieffer, 1911. The present study presents a revision of the subfamily, including descriptions of five new species in the genus Dallatorrella: D. maculata, D. maxima, D. pulla, D. ronquisti and D. sinica A key to the species of the subfamily is provided. Cladistic analysis of the subfamily at species level is undertaken and the biogeographic history of the subfamily Dallatorrellinae is reconstructed with respect to phylogeny. Contrary to an earlier assumption that the Dallatorrellinae originated in the Australian region, the phylogeny indicates that the Dallatorrellinae originated in southeastern Asia and dispersed to Australia at a later date. Consequently, the divergence between the Dallatorrellinae and the stem species of two other liopterid subfamilies, Liopterinae and Oberthuerellinae, corresponds with the separation between Laurasia and Gondwanaland.


Two series of P1'-extended HIV-1 protease inhibitors comprising a tertiary alcohol in the transition-state mimic exhibiting Ki values ranging from 2.1 to 93 nM have been synthesized. Microwave-accelerated palladium-catalyzed cross-couplings were utilized to rapidly optimize the P1' side chain. High cellular antiviral potencies were encountered when the P1' benzyl group was elongated with a 3- or 4-pyridyl substituent (EC50 = 0.18-0.22 microM). X-ray crystallographic data were obtained for three inhibitors cocrystallized with the enzyme.


In a recent publication it was suggested that human toxocarosis, including ocular larva migrans, may result from petting dogs infected with Toxocara canis, the dog roundworm. Recalculating the eggs per gram in the dog's coat revealed that in 7 of the I5 positive dogs only one Toxocara egg per dog was found. Only 4% of all eggs were embryonated and hence infectious. It is, however, very plausible that this is contamination originating from the environment. The authors found also many other parasite eggs and free-living larvae in their samples, which points to the dog being merely a passive transport host. The risk to man of acquiring the infection by stroking a dog is therefore considered to be extremely limited.


The cost efficiency of model inference is critical to real-world machine learning (ML) applications, especially for delay-sensitive tasks and resource-limited devices. A typical dilemma is: in order to provide complex intelligent services (e.g., smart city), we need inference results of multiple ML models, but the cost budget (e.g., GPU memory) is not enough to run all of them. In this work, we study underlying relationships among black-box ML models and propose a novel learning task: model linking, which aims to bridge the knowledge of different black-box models by learning mappings (dubbed model links) between their output spaces. We propose the design of model links which supports linking heterogeneous black-box ML models. Also, in order to address the distribution discrepancy challenge, we present adaptation and aggregation methods of model links. Based on our proposed model links, we developed a scheduling algorithm, named MLink. Through collaborative multi-model inference enabled by model links, MLink can improve the accuracy of obtained inference results under the cost budget. We evaluated MLink on a multi-modal dataset with seven different ML models and two real-world video analytics systems with six ML models and 3,264 hours of video. Experimental results show that our proposed model links can be effectively built among various black-box models. Under the budget of GPU memory, MLink can save 66.7% inference computations while preserving 94% inference accuracy, which outperforms multi-task learning, deep reinforcement learning-based scheduler and frame filtering baselines.


Reversible logic has received great attention in the recent years due to their ability to reduce the power dissipation which is the main requirement in low power digital design. It has wide applications advanced computing, low power CMOS design, Optical information processing, DNA computing, bio information, quantum computation and nanotechnology. This paper presents an optimized reversible BCD adder using a new reversible gate. A comparative result is presented which shows that the proposed design is more optimized in terms of number of gates, number of garbage outputs and quantum cost than the existing designs.


The continuous monitoring on the operated machine can allow the industrial manufacturers to proactively react to the degenerations of the parts. Therefore, development of precise and cost-effective sensing system gains a lot of interest lately. In this paper we proposed and demonstrated a wireless sensing system, which is composed by a temperature sensor module and a Wi-Fi transceiver module, aiming to ball screw health monitoring. This sensing unit is built up by SMD-type glass PT-100 under extreme size restriction (~1 cm 3 ), whereas the Wi-Fi module is integrated with a microcontroller on a printed circuit board with size less than 5 cm 2 . An experimental setup has been performed on a single-axis ball screw stage using three temperature sensors embedded at different positions. Those temperature data are successfully measured and wireless transmitted to the central computer, verifying the feasibility of this proposed system.


Author(s): Zhu, Yilun | Advisor(s): Lander, Arthur D. | Abstract: Although developing organisms of the same species may vary in size, the proportions of body sizes are kept remarkably constant. They do so even in the face of perturbations to growth. Morphogen gradients provide positional information in a concentration-dependent manner, and are linked to organ patterning and the control of organ size. To achieve proportional patterning morphogen gradients need to scale with the size of the tissue. This has been demonstrated for gradients of decapentaplegic (Dpp), a homolog of vertebrate bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), which regulates pattern and growth in the wing imaginal disc of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. It has been argued that Pentagone (Pent), a secreted protein whose expression is repressed by Dpp, plays a central role in scaling the wing disc Dpp gradient, because the Dpp activity gradient of Pent mutants is severely contracted and does not scale well. It has been proposed that Pent acts as the expander in an "expansion-repression" feedback circuit that produces automatic gradient scaling. In agreement with this model, I found that Pent controls the spread of Dpp molecules in the wing disc, but in strong disagreement with it, I found that Pent has a very short spatial decay length, i.e. its biological activity does not spread far from its sites of synthesis. I used experiments to examine how Pent regulates Dpp spread, and mathematical modeling to explore how Pent acts locally to scale the Dpp gradient globally. I showed that Pent spreads the Dpp gradient by inhibiting the function of co-receptors at the edge of the wing disc. Based on that, I propose a modified expander-repressor model that can work even if Pent has a short decay length. The model predicts that Dpp-mediated feedback regulation of the receptor Thickveins (Tkv) and the co-receptor Division abnormally delayed (Dally) is necessary for scaling. I present experimental evidence that this is in fact the case.


Osteoinduction of calcium phosphate (CaP) ceramics has been widely confirmed and accepted, but the underlying mechanism has not been fully elucidated. This study investigates the early biomolecular events that contributed to the transduction of extracellular material cues outside in, when MSCs were cultured in osteoinductive biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) ceramics, and explores their roles in BCP-induced osteogenesis. The results demonstrated that BCP ceramics had a strong adsorption affinity for serum proteins, which might favor cell adhesion and mediate the expression of the cell surface receptor - integrin. qRT-PCR analysis found that BCP ceramics significantly up-regulated integrin α2 and α3 genes under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. As integrins clustered together into focal contacts (cell adhesion sites), immunofluorescence staining showed that compared to glass surfaces, cells seeded in BCP ceramics formed a relatively short focal contact and exhibited a smaller cell size. Moreover, western blotting analysis indicated that BCP ceramics could activate down-stream MAPK signaling pathways, whereas blockage of either ERK or P38 signals could dramatically attenuate BCP-induced osteogenesis. These findings suggested that BCP ceramics might mediate cell adhesion through trans-membrane proteins - integrins - to realize the transduction of "outside-in signaling", and subsequently trigger the intracellular MAPK signaling cascade to induce the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. They offered a promising principle for designing and fabricating tissue-inducing biomaterials to provide appropriate cues for target cells.


Some nonlinear developmental phenomena can be represented by using a simple piecewise procedure in which 2 linear growth models are joined at a single knot. The major problem of using this piecewise approach is that researchers have to optimally locate the knot (or turning point) where the change in the growth rate occurs. A relatively simple way to detect the location of the knot or turning point is to freely estimate the time-specific factor loadings using the linear latent growth model framework. The major goal of this simulation study was to examine the effectiveness of using modification indexes (MIs) to detect potential turning points in longitudinal data. The results showed that when using a restricted search strategy with an adequate number of both observations (210) and measurement waves (8), MIs performed well in detecting a medium change in the growth rate between two linear models at the turning point. Implications of the findings and limitations are discussed.


The topology of two discrete fracture network models is compared to investigate the impact of constrained fracture growth. In the Poissonian discrete fracture network model the fractures are assigned length, position and orientation independent of all other fractures, while in the mechanical discrete fracture network model the fractures grow and the growth can be limited by the presence of other fractures. The topology is found to be impacted by both the choice of model, as well as the choice of rules for the mechanical model. A significant difference is the degree mixing. In two dimensions the Poissonian model results in assortative networks, while the mechanical model results in disassortative networks. In three dimensions both models produce disassortative networks, but the disassortative mixing is strongest for the mechanical model.


During early odontogenesis the basement membrane is known to be important in epithelio-mesenchymal interactions. Mutations in the gene of one of the major structural proteins of the basement membrane such as laminin 5 might therefore be expected either to seriously compromise ameloblast differentiation and/ or interfere with normal basement-membrane formation and degradation and thus the binding of the ameloblasts to their underlying matrix. Teeth of patients suffering from junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) can be severely affected by abnormal dental development and generalized or focal enamel hypoplasia. Those changes are found in 100% of individuals with JEB but the expression is variable. Beside the quantitative alterations, changes in the prismatic structure and orientation of enamel crystals are described. In addition JEB is associated with an increased risk for dental caries, caused by developmentally compromised enamel and external factors such as difficulties in maintaining oral hygiene because of oral lesions or a softer and more refined high caloric diet. Dental care includes three main strategies: Prevention by consequent oral hygiene and reduction of cariogenic nutrition is of paramount importance to minimize caries development; the restoration of enamel and dentin defects with fillings and stainless steel crowns to guarantee structure and function of teeth; and extractions of most severely affected teeth with osteolytic foci to remove continuous sources of oral infections.


Composites is increasingly used in different applications in the last decade, especially in aerospace due to their high strength and lightweight characteristics. Indeed, the latest models of Airbus (A350) and Boeing (B787) have employed more than 50 wt% of composites, mainly Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP). Yet, the increased use of CFRP has raised the environmental concerns about their end-of-life related to waste disposal, consumption of non-renewable resources for manufacturing and the need to recycle CFRP wastes. In this study, generic model is developed in order to propose an optimal management of aerospace CFRP wastes taking into account economic and environmental objectives. Initially, a life-cycle systemic approach is used to model the environmental impacts of CFRP recycling processes focusing on Global Warming Potential (GWP) following the guidelines of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The whole supply chain for recycling CFRP pathways is then modeled from aircraft dismantling sites to the reuse of recycled fibers in various applications. A multiobjective optimization strategy based on mathematical programming, ε-constraint and lexicographic methods with appropriate decision-making techniques (M-TOPSIS, PROMETHEE-GAIA) has been developed to determine CFRP waste supply chain configurations. Different scenarios have been studied in order to take account the potential of existing recycling sites in a mono-period visions as well as the deployment of new sites in a multi-period approach considering the case study of France for illustration purpose. The solutions obtained from optimization process allow developing optimal strategies for the implementation of CFRP recovery with recycled fibers (of acceptable quality) for the targeted substitution use while minimizing cost /maximizing profit for an economic criterion and minimizing an environmental impact based on GWP.


The focus of the project is on the tourism representations of Central and Eastern European post-communist capital cities and the process of representation. Drawing from a number of academic fields such as urban tourism, culture, marketing, and media, as well as original primary and secondary research, the study wishes to contribute to existing debates on tourism representations and post-communist Central and Eastern European city tourism. Bucharest is the case-study. The project adopts a multi-method qualitative approach in line with the social-constructivist paradigm. Analysis of findings employs NVivo8 content analysis programme.
Findings reflect on the thin line between representation producers and consumers and on the cyclical nature of the representation process. Bucharest representations are dominated by stereotypical images of the destination, both on the projected and perceived side. There is a strong overlap between the representations and images of Romania and of its capital.
Disagreements exist between the projected tourism representations of tourism government, tourism industry, and tourism media, and how tourists and potential tourists perceive the city and its projected representations. The tourism representations projected by Bucharest representation-makers are determined by an ongoing process of self-rediscovery and reaffirmation of a European identity. Bucharest's projected tourism representations are strongly affected by politics, transition and change. They are unstable and adapted to satisfy new political wills and urban regimes. On the other hand, tourists and potential tourists are attracted by the distinctiveness of the city, by its 'Eastern' characteristics, and by the change from communism to democracy. While tourist testimonials seem to be strongly influenced by tourism media destination representations, especially guidebooks, potential tourists perceive projected destination representations as unappealing and creating false expectations.


Impact of Stratospheric Intrusions, Regional Wildfires, and Long-Range Transport Events on Air Quality in the Western United States Leo Miguel Paolo M. Baylon Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Daniel A. Jaffe Department of Atmospheric Sciences Baseline ozone refers to observed concentrations of tropospheric ozone at sites that have a negligible influence from local emissions. In 2004, the Mount Bachelor Observatory (MBO) was established to examine baseline air masses as they arrive to North America from the west. In the western U.S., air quality is impacted by local, regional, and trans-Pacific sources, which can be natural or anthropogenic. Because of increasing baseline O3 and tighter air quality standards, it is therefore important to understand the nature and the impact of high-ozone events on urban air quality in the western U.S. This dissertation is focused on three types of high-ozone events that we typically observe at MBO and in other surface sites in the western U.S.: (1) upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS) episodes, (2) biomass burning (BB) plumes, and (3) long-range transport (LRT) events. First, I looked at an anomalously high-O3 springtime episode in May 2012, where I observed an O3 increase of 2.0–8.5 ppbv in monthly average maximum daily 8–hour average O3 mixing ratio (MDA8 O3) at MBO and numerous other sites in the western U.S. compared to previous years. This shift in the O3 distribution had a strong effect on the number of exceedance days. I also observed a good correlation between daily MDA8 variations at MBO and at downwind sites. This is consistent with previous studies that show that under specific meteorological conditions, synoptic variation in O3 at MBO can be observed at other surface sites in the western U.S. At MBO, the elevated O3 concentrations in May 2012 are associated with low CO values and low water vapor values, consistent with transport from the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UT/LS). The Real-time Air Quality Modeling System analyses indicate that a large flux of O3 from the UT/LS in May 2012 contributed to the observed enhanced O3 across the western U.S. Results from this component suggest that a network of mountaintop observations, LiDAR and satellite observations of O3 could provide key data on daily and interannual variations in baseline O3. Second, I studied BB events that I observed at MBO during the summer of 2015. Regional BB has the potential to increase ozone in the western U.S. especially during summer. I explored the photochemical environment in BB plumes, which remains poorly understood. Because I am interested in understanding the effect of aerosols only (as opposed to the combined effect of aerosols and clouds), I carefully selected three cloud-free days in August and investigate the photochemistry in these plumes. At local mid-day (solar zenith angle, SZA = 35), j(NO2) values were slightly higher (0.2-1.8%) in the smoky days compared to the smokefree day, presumably due to enhanced scattering by the smoke aerosols. At higher SZA (70), BB aerosols decrease j(NO2) by 14-21%. I also observe a greater decrease in the actinic flux at 310-350 nm, compared to 350-420 nm, presumably due to absorption in the UV by brown carbon. I compare my measurements with results from the TUV5.2 model and find a good agreement during cloud-free conditions. I perform sensitivity runs and find that j(NO2) is not sensitive to O3 column input. If I keep single scattering albedo and aerosol optical depth constant, an increase in the total ozone from 280 to 400 DU leads to only a 0.8% decrease in j(NO2). Finally, I used the extended Leighton relationship to estimate mid-day HO2 and RO2 concentrations and P(O3) in the fire plumes. I calculate HO2 and RO2 values from 49-185 pptv, and compute ozone production rates of ~2 ppbv/hour in these fire plumes. Finally, I looked at an LRT event on Spring 2015. I observed O3 and CO enhancements of up to 40 ppbv and 80 ppbv, respectively, at MBO. I also used measurements from the NOAA WP-3D Orion research aircraft during the Shale Oil and Natural Gas Nexus (SONGNEX) campaign in Spring 2015. One of the flights during the SONGNEX campaign intercepted the Siberian plume. Ground-based, satellite, and LiDAR data suggest that the Siberian plume was transported at high elevation, did not encounter a high-pressure system that would have led to air subsidence, and therefore did not cause any surface O3 enhancement. I compare our measurements at MBO with aircraft observations and conclude that the Siberian airmass split into two plumes in the eastern Pacific. One plume moved eastward and was sampled by MBO. The other moved over to Alaska and then down to the U.S. Midwest; this second plume was intercepted by the aircraft. Δσsp/ΔCO enhancement ratios for the Siberian 2015 plume were higher than similarly aged plumes in previous studies, owing to dust and the absence of particulate matter loss because of the relatively intact nature of the Siberian plume. ΔO3/ΔCO ratio observed at MBO was higher than the aircraft because of PAN decomposition. I look at the plume's reactive nitrogen speciation using data from the aircraft and find that ~75% of the NOy is stored as PAN. For ozone production to take place, the plume has to warm up (i.e., descend) to re-form NOx. But given the high elevation of the plume and stable atmospheric conditions, this likely did not take place. The results of this dissertation have important policy implications. They suggest that at the current standard, high-ozone events such as BB plumes, UT/LS episodes, and LRT events would affect the attainment status of a site if they were not identified as exceptional events, which the EPA defines as an uncontrollable event that affected air quality. Understanding the nature and year-to-year variability of these events is therefore critical for an effective implementation of the US NAAQS. Long-term measurements aimed at observing exceptional events would be valuable. MBO is the only high-elevation site on the U.S. West Coast that routinely observes high-O3 events in the FT; however, it provides measurements at only a single point. High-frequency measurements of O3, water vapor and CO at a network of mountaintop sites would be valuable at observing exceptional events. Vertical profiles of O3 and water vapor from LiDAR and ozonesondes, and satellite retrievals would also be helpful. This network of mountaintop observations, LiDAR and satellite observations of ozone could also provide key data on daily and interannual variations in baseline O3. Forecasting exceptional events would be possible using high-resolution chemical transport models that have been evaluated and verified with free troposphere observations.


This paper studies liquidity risk at the six largest U.S. banks. The starting point is the stress tests performed under the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) regulation, which compare a bank's liquid assets to its loss of cash in a stress scenario that regulators say is based on the 2008 financial crisis. These tests find that all of the large banks could endure a liquidity crisis for 30 days without running out of cash. This paper argues, however, that some of the assumptions in the LCR stress scenario are not pessimistic enough to capture what could happen in a crisis like 2008. The paper then proposes changes in the dubious assumptions and performs revised stress tests. For 2019 Q4, the revised tests suggest it is unlikely that any of the six banks would survive a liquidity crisis for 30 days. This negative finding is most clear-cut for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.


This research investigates the mutual interference between a GNSS signal refracted through the atmosphere and the same signal reflected from the surface below. For low-altitude occultations, the reflected signal can be present as multipath when tracking the direct signal. This poses a problem when making remote sensing measurements using GNSS-RO or GNSS-R techniques. Here, this issue is addressed in the context of GNSS data collected by a mountaintop receiver on the Hawaiian island of Maui. First, an elevation-angle threshold, below which the reflected signal can be present as multipath on the direct signal, is calculated for the mountaintop geometry. Next, the first steps are taken to mitigate the mutual interference between the direct and reflected signals. A frequency-domain filtering approach and a time-domain smoothing approach are applied to the signal intensity in an effort to separate the multipath contribution and the direct signal contribution.


Background: Functioning as a specialist research unit with a website offering the opportunity for enquiry submission requires provision of up-to-date, relevant information and the ability to direct the patient seeking specific clinical advice to the health care professional responsible for their care. This paper reports on an audit of enquiries submitted to a specialist wound healing research unit (WHRU) in the UK from December 2001 to May 2003. Objectives:To establish the number of on-line enquiries received in a 17-month period and to identify the nature or subject of the on-line enquiry. Results: There were a total of 285 enquiries for the 17-month period from December 2001–May 2003. Enquiries from the UK represented 66% (n=188) of the total. Subjects ranged from provision of educational courses to requests for general wound management information. In terms of the professional background of the individuals; Health Care Professionals (HCPs) and Professions Allied to Medicine (PAMs) accounted for 74% (n=212) of the total number of enquiries. Conclusions: Having a website means that many individuals can access information more easily and strategies need to be in place to deal with such requests. Declaration of Interest: None.


World energy demand is increasing relentlessly. The total global energy demand in 2030 is projected to be 50–60% above the current rate of energy consumption (IEA, 2008). Existing developed economies and fast)growing ones like China and India rely heavily on fossil fuels as a source of energy. Coal is still a key element in the energy mix for the world's leading economies, and around 30% of all CO2 emissions come from the combustion of fossil fuels for electricity generation (IEA, 2008). Therefore, there is a need for clean coal technology to reduce the negative effect of the combustion. The coal particle size is critical to cleaner combustion; the classifier is responsible for that. The present work details an investigation into improving the performance of coal classifiers. The particular area of focus is to find the optimum design parameters by looking at the effects and influences of key classifier parameters towards the classifier performance. The use of ineffective classifier parameters, especially the vane angle and inlet velocity, reduces the performance of the classifiers where an inappropriate size of particle is being released. This contributes to a reduction in overall efficiency of the coal power plant and contributes to the formation of NOx gases during fuel burning. The performance of the classifier in terms of flow and particle distribution is the focus of the analysis. The work within this research study employs the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique, which is a very effective, non) intrusive, virtual modelling technique with powerful visualisation capabilities. However, the importance of the experimental appreciative of the classifier is not neglected. Experiments were carried out to provide a tool for validating the CFD propositions. A one)third scale test facility that mimics an industrial air classifier has been carefully constructed in order to provide experimental data for the further understanding of the coal classification process. The outcome of this research work provides a guideline for selecting suitable parameters for specific classifier design and application.


BACKGROUND
Osteitis pubis is a rare and self-limited condition. Surgery may be necessary in 5%-10% of cases. The outcome after surgery for osteitis pubis is not known.

METHODS
To determine the success of surgical intervention for osteitis pubis, we used a computerized data registry to identify patients (10 women [mean age 40 yr]) who underwent surgery for osteitis pubis. A retrospective chart review was carried out. We also searched the literature for all cases of osteitis pubis managed surgically and identified 73 cases.

RESULTS
The 10 patients in our series had had symptoms for a mean of 4 years preoperatively. Onset of pain was insidious in 4 patients, it followed childbirth in 4 and it followed trauma in 2. Depending on the surgeon's preference, either a wedge resection of the symphysis pubis was performed or a symphysiodesis. At the latest follow-up (average 26 mo), although all patients had some improvement, only 6 of 10 patients were satisfied with the outcome. From the literature review, we identified 3 categories of patients with osteitis pubis: elite athletes, patients with postoperative or infectious osteitis pubis and the remainder, which would include the patients in our series.

CONCLUSIONS
Four types of surgical intervention are described: curettage, arthrodesis, wedge resection and wide resection. The elite athletes respond well to curettage. Patients with osteitis pubis following urologic or gynecologic procedures or have a proven infection require surgery in roughly 50% of cases. The third group has an unpredictable outcome.


Precisely controlling the deformation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has practical application in the development of nanoscale functional devices, although it is a challenging task. Here, we propose a novel method to guide the deformation of CNTs through filling them with salt water and applying an electric field. With the electric field along the axial direction, the height of CNTs is enlarged by the axial electric force due to the internal ions and polar water molecules. Under an electric field with two mutually orthogonal components, the transverse electric force could further induce the bending deformation of CNTs. Based on the classical rod and beam theories, two mechanical models are constructed to verify and quantitatively describe the relationships between the tension and bending deformations of CNTs and the electric field intensity. Moreover, by means of the electric field-driven tension behavior of CNTs, we design a stretchable molecular sieve to control the flow rate of mixed gas and collect a single high-purity gas. The present work opens up new avenues in the design and fabrication of nanoscale controlling units.


We describe here, the design and use of a unique test chip on power and variability (TPV) to measure and report for the first time, the magnitude of leakage and dynamic power dissipation and its variation. This test chip, fabricated in a state-of-the-art 45nm process node technology, addresses the important issues of variability in power and delay and quantifies them as a function of voltage and cycle time. Multiple power-saving techniques are implemented on-chip to facilitate the analysis. The uniqueness of the chip lies in: a) the use of 64 AES core-based processing-element (PE) blocks that are identical, independently controllable and designed using a state-of-the-art power-aware design flow, b) the use of MTCMOS switches within each PE block combined with multiple power domains which results in excellent granularity of power measurements and, c) the implementation of separate voltage areas in each PE block which enables power measurements down to very low voltages. Good correlation was established between measured data and simulations. Estimates of within-die and die-to-die delay variability were also quantified through measurements of Vddmin, the minimum voltage for functionality. For the silicon tested, the analysis of Vddmin revealed significant within-die variations which were similar in magnitude to the die-to-die variations seen. A methodology to use the Vddmin variation to estimate on-chip delay variability is described in detail.


We studied the electrochemical behavior of a zinc oxide anode in the presence of succinic acid as an organic additive. This additive was added to the electrolyte, which is 8.5 M KOH solution containing 25g of ZnO and 3000 ppm of polyethylene glycol in 1 liter of water. The modified electrolyte was newly attempted to improve the main problems namely the hydrogen overpotential and dendrite formation during cycling in Zn/Air energy system. The results obtained in the presence of succinic acid were compared with the behavior of the electrolyte 8.5 M KOH in the absence of the additive. It has been concluded that the hydrogen overpotential is raised enormously, shifting to the more negative potential side as -4.19 V vs. Hg/HgO while zinc oxide electrode was at -1.399 V. Similarly, we found that dendrite formation on the surface of zinc oxide anode is reduced to some extent by scanning electron micrographs.


Objective: The use of midface distraction in patients with achondroplasia and upper airway obstruction secondary to midface hypoplasia has not been reported. In this report, we review the treatment of two patients with severe midface hypoplasia and obstructive sleep apnea secondary to achondroplasia using midface distraction osteogenesis. Design, Setting, and Patients: Two patients with achondroplastic dwarfism and midface hypoplasia with airway obstruction were treated in a tertiary referral center for craniofacial disorders. Results and Conclusions: Both patients had their tracheostomies decannulated after midface distraction of 25 mm. Midface distraction osteogenesis is useful to alleviate upper airway obstruction from midface hypoplasia seen in achondroplasia.


There is ample evidence in recent surgical literature to show that surgeons are not satisfied with the present methods of face masking. Walker 1 in 1930 outlined what he considered the requirements of an ideal mask and hastened to state that he had not yet found it. Waters 2 in 1936 pointed out that improper surgical masking has constituted a persistently weak link in the chain of aseptic operative technic. Walker in 1935 presented bacteriologic evidence as to the source of hemolytic streptococci in four epidemics in hospitals, three in surgical services and one in an obstetric service. Cultures of material taken from hands, instruments, solutions and sterile goods at the time of these epidemics failed to show hemolytic streptococci. The masks were found to be ineffective and half of the operating room personnel were found to be carriers of hemolytic streptococci. Meleney 3 in 1935 studied the bacterial flora


Lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC), a component of atherogenic lipoproteins and atherosclerotic lesions, has been recently suggested to play a role in atherogenesis. LysoPC is known to induce several endothelial genes involved in leukocyte recruitment, mitogenesis, and inflammation. Cyclooxygenases (prostaglandin H2 synthases) are rate-limiting enzymes involved in the endothelial synthesis of prostacyclin, an antiplatelet, vasorelaxant, and vasoprotective molecule. We investigated the effect of lysoPC on the endothelial expression of cyclooxygenases. Our results demonstrate that, in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells, lysoPC induces cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA and protein levels. Increased expression of cyclooxygenase-2 is accompanied by the enhancement of both basal- and calcium ionophore A23187-induced synthesis of prostacyclin. Nuclear runoff experiments demonstrated an increased rate of transcription of the cyclooxygenase-2 gene by lysoPC. In contrast, lysoPC did not affect the expression of constitutive cyclooxygenase-1. Our results suggest that the induction of endothelial cyclooxygenase-2 by lysoPC may be an important vasoprotective mechanism that limits progression of atherosclerotic lesions and promotes their regression.


1. Plasma membranes were isolated from a 10000g-min pellet prepared from a renal cortical homogenate in 20mm-NaHCO(3) by isopycnic centrifugation in a linear sucrose gradient in an ;A'-type zonal rotor. 2. The preparation was characterized by electron microscopy, and alkaline phosphatase, 5'-nucleotidase, l-leucine beta-naphthylamidase and l-leucine p-nitroanilidase activities were found to be selectively associated with the renal plasma membrane. 3. The preparation had a high degree of purity, as indicated by the presence of low activities of marker enzymes associated with subcellular organelles. A preliminary chemical analysis indicated that the chemical composition resembled that of plasma membranes of other tissues. 4. Plasma membranes were also prepared from tubular fragments and their enzyme contents were found to be similar to those of plasma membranes prepared from cortical homogenates. 5. l-Leucine beta-naphthylamidase, l-leucine p-nitroanilidase and 5'-nucleotidase were not enriched to the same extent as alkaline phosphatase in the preparation of plasma membranes from tubular fragments. A possible explanation for this finding is discussed.


Deborah Melahouris was given only a one percent chance of survival after suffering a stroke. But God had a different diagnosis in mind. Her co-workers in Foursquare's central offices in Los Angeles, along with family, friends and pastors around the world, interceded for her healing. Today, Deborah is back at work in her role as assistant corporate secretary for Foursquare.


An 8-year-old castrated male hound mix was referred to the Purdue University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for severe lameness, pollakiuria, and dyschezia. On presentation, the dog was nonweight bearing on the right rear limb and the right carpus was diffusely swollen. Synovial fluid analysis from the right carpus revealed a population of epithelial cells displaying marked anisocytosis, anisokaryosis, multinucleation, and prominent, variably sized nucleoli. A metastatic carcinoma with presumed prostatic or urothelial origin was diagnosed based on cytomorphology. Subsequent cytologic evaluation of peripheral lymph nodes revealed the presence of a similar neoplastic population. The dog was euthanized and synovial fluid from both stifle joints, as well as impression smears of the prostate gland, were collected. Carcinoma cells were identified in each stifle joint and in the prostate gland. Immunocytochemistry was performed on synovial fluid smears from 2 of the joints (right stifle and right carpus) and on impression smears of the prostate gland. The neoplastic population in the joints and prostate gland showed strong immunoreactivity to uroplakin III, a urothelial marker, indicating metastasis of a transitional cell carcinoma to multiple joints. In addition, evidence for epithelial to mesenchymal transition was identified using cytokeratin, an epithelial marker, and vimentin, a mesenchymal marker. A necropsy was performed and histopathology confirmed the presence of metastatic transitional cell carcinoma in various tissues. This case illustrates the importance of considering metastatic disease when a patient is presented with severe lameness and joint pain, and the clinical utility of synovial fluid cytology for diagnosis of metastasis in these cases.


The article was initially intended as a review of Carolyn Steel's book Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives. However, the author's foreword on the reasons and variations of the sociological interest in food turned the review into the reflections on the ways of (or a kind of) sociological analysis of food's role in the contemporary consumer society, a role that cannot be simply reduced to a "fuel" necessary for the trouble-free operation of man as a biological creature. There are several clearly-defined contexts of the scientific analysis of food that can be of interest and importance for sociologists. These contexts include the macroeconomic approach (such as various interpretations of food security from the social-economic to the (geo)political, such as the Russian state's politicized discourse of import substitution that ignores the population's real food practices and access to food); the gender-economic approach (a 'feminized' version of economic history); the culinary-ideological approach (when the recipes of the usual cookbook or the model of public catering development hide the ideological didactic instructions on the mandatory way of life, i.e., "political dietology"); and the historical-cultural-anthropological approach (the attempts to reconstruct the social-cultural codes of food and its role in the epoch-making events of the past). Such wide boundaries of today's scientific interpretations of food allowed the presentation of the Hungry City as an almost ideal example of the sociological analysis of the social life of food in all its diverse manifestations (such as the production and transportation of food, urbanization and food markets, the transformations of home kitchens' design, the development of the public catering system, social meanings of the joint meal-and-wastes recycling, social justice and utopias), even though the book focuses on only the culinary culture of England.


The hemostasis system was studied in 31 pregnant women with Fallot's tetralogy, aged 18 to 32. In women with a history of radical correction of this condition a subcompensated form of the DIC syndrome was detected, manifesting as chronometric and structural hypercoagulation and platelet hyperaggregation. In patients with the cyanotic form of Fallot's tetralogy hypocoagulation thrombophilia was revealed, that was due to deficiency of contact factors (Hageman factor, highly molecular kininogene) and that was responsible for thrombohemorrhagic complications in these patients. Replacement therapy is recommended for such cases in labor and controlled anti-thrombotic therapy in the postpartum period.


The stipple-throated antwrens of the genus Epinecrophylla (Aves: Thamnophilidae) are represented by eight species primarily found in the lowlands of the Amazon Basin and the Guiana Shield. The genus has a long and convoluted taxonomic history, with many attempts made to address the taxonomy and systematics of the group. Here we employ massively parallel sequencing of thousands of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) to provide both the most comprehensive subspecies-level phylogeny of Epinecrophylla antwrens and the first population-level genetic analyses for most species in the genus. Most of our analyses are robust to a diversity of phylogenetic and population genetic methods, but we show that even with thousands of loci we are unable to confidently place the western Amazonian taxon pyrrhonota. We uncovered phylogenetic relationships between taxa and patterns of population structure that are discordant with both morphology and current taxonomy. For example, we found deep genetic breaks between taxa in the ornata group currently regarded as species, and in the haematonota and leucophthalma groups we found paraphyly at the species and subspecies levels, respectively. Our population genetics analyses showed extensive admixture between some taxa despite their deep genetic divergence. We present a revised taxonomy for the group, discuss the biogeographic patterns that we uncover, and suggest areas for further study.


Over the past two years, EleutherAI has established itself as a radically novel initiative aimed at both promoting open-source research and conducting research in a transparent, openly accessible and collaborative manner. EleutherAI's approach to research goes beyond transparency: by doing research entirely in public, anyone in the world can observe and contribute at every stage. Our work has been received positively and has resulted in several high-impact projects in Natural Language Processing and other fields. In this paper, we describe our experience doing public-facing machine learning research, the benefits we believe this approach brings, and the pitfalls we have encountered.


The survival and differentiation of canine normal, atypical nodular (preneoplastic, and neoplastic mammary tissues were examined after transplantation to the cheek pouches of immunosuppressed female golden hamsters. Without immunosuppression, none of the mammary transplants, survived 40 days of transplantation. With either prednisolone or antilymphocyte serum immunosuppression, 78% of the mammary transplants that were recovered from the cheek pouch survived at least 35 to 45 days.


The Phenomenon of beggar children is one of the most dangerous phenomena which have tragic effects against younger generations in our society . After the American occupation , this phenomenon has been spread in Iraqi society. Some of children rights studies indicate that the begging has been increased lastly as well as the number of vagrants within the wars in a way their number exceeded than 100 thousand of vagrant children in Iraq according to the statistic of humanitarian organizations . Therefore , it is necessary to children rights organizations to do hard to rescuer and save those children . This phenomenon has been increased due to unemployment , the lack of security , poverty , diseases , the absence of parents and the problems of family , all these mentioned factors led to the appearance of "begging" in a way the vagrants spread through roads , alleys and traffic intersection . Finally , we can consider beggar children as victims of these miserable conditions , they bear the burdens of


This paper presents an efficient fuzzy classifier with the ability of feature selection based on a fuzzy entropy measure. Fuzzy entropy is employed to evaluate the information of pattern distribution in the pattern space. With this information, we can partition the pattern space into nonoverlapping decision regions for pattern classification. Since the decision regions do not overlap, both the complexity and computational load of the classifier are reduced and thus the training time and classification time are extremely short. Although the decision regions are partitioned into nonoverlapping subspaces, we can achieve good classification performance since the decision regions can be correctly determined via our proposed fuzzy entropy measure. In addition, we also investigate the use of fuzzy entropy to select relevant features. The feature selection procedure not only reduces the dimensionality of a problem but also discards noise-corrupted, redundant and unimportant features. Finally, we apply the proposed classifier to the Iris database and Wisconsin breast cancer database to evaluate the classification performance. Both of the results show that the proposed classifier can work well for the pattern classification application.


A novel dual pathway electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device based on 0.6µm CMOS p-well technology has been designed and fabricated according to the ISE-TCAD simulation tool and the C-R method. The new device was verified by a multi-project wafer (MPW) fabrication and tested by the transmission line pulse (TLP) generator system. The results show that new device has lower trigger voltage, smaller chip area and a higher ESD failure voltage compared with those of gate grounded NMOS (ggNMOS) protection circuits with the same MPW. The voltage up to 5KV under human-body mode (HBM) test has been obtained.


The variation of concentration of the toxic substrate has a negative effect on the sludge activity. Although this loss of activity of the microorganisms under toxic starvation has been reported, this variable is not taken into account in the operation of biological wastewater treatment plants. In order to monitor and control the biological plant with a certain confidence it is necessary to consider the acclimation and deacclimation processes to avoid the reactor malfunctioning, resulting in loss of efficiency or in false data acquisition during monitoring. This paper proposes a model for the acclimation/deacclimation process. The experiments have been done in a sequencing batch reactor during the 4-chlorophenol degradation. The basic idea of the model is to consider the variation of the kinetic parameters of the Haldane law in terms of the acclimation and deacclimation state. The idea is discussed, and the results obtained are presented.


The present study aimed to evaluate phytochemical and antioxidant activity ( in vitro and in vivo ) of Origanum vulgare (L.) ethanolic extract. The phytochemical test was assessed using the Clule method in ethanol, ethyl acetate, and hexane. In vitro evaluation of antioxidant activity was determined by radical scavenging assay using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) as an artificial free radical activity. In vivo test was conducted to evaluate the effect of malondialdehyde (MDA) level in blood plasma during maximum physical activity treatment. In vivo test was done using 25 male Sprague Dawley rats in pre and post-test control group design. The phytochemical test of O. vulgare ethanol extract was showed some compounds, such as a flavonoid, alkaloid, triterpenoid/steroid, essential oil, and tannin, then in ethyl acetate and hexane. In vitro assay showed that O. vulgare extract has strong antioxidant activity with an IC 50 value of 133.47 µ g/mL. While in the in vivo test, the most effective dosage is 20 mg/200 gr B.W., represented by a significant decrease of MDA level (0.509 nmol/mL) before and after treatment. So, the ethanolic extract of clove has potency as an herbal antioxidant because of the low level of IC 50 and can decrease the MDA level. • The phytochemical test of O. vulgare ethanol extract was showed some compounds, such as a flavonoid, alkaloid, triterpenoid/steroid, essential oil, and tannin, then in ethyl acetate and hexane. • In vitro assay showed that O. vulgare extract has strong antioxidant activity with an IC 50 value of 133.47 µ g/mL. • I n vivo test, the most effective dosage is 20 mg/200 gr B.W., represented by a significant decrease of MDA level (0.509 nmol/mL) before and after treatment.


We analyze energetics of a non-Gaussian process described by a stochastic differential equation of the Langevin type. The process represents a paradigmatic model of a nonequilibrium system subject to thermal fluctuations and additional external noise, with both sources of perturbations considered as additive and statistically independent forcings. We define thermodynamic quantities for trajectories of the process and analyze contributions to mechanical work and heat. As a working example we consider a particle subjected to a drag force and two statistically independent Lévy white noises with stability indices α = 2 and α = 1. The fluctuations of dissipated energy (heat) and distribution of work performed by the force acting on the system are addressed by examining contributions of Cauchy fluctuations (α = 1) to either bath or external force acting on the system.


Few studies using modern methods have been carried out on ciliated protozoa in tropical marine waters. In the present work, two hypotrichs, Parabirojimia multinucleata spec. nov. and Anteholosticha scutellum (Cohn, 1866) Berger, 2003, collected from Daya Bay in southern China, were investigated morphologically. P. multinucleata is distinguished by the following combination of characters: slender body, without a snout-like protrusion in the frontal field, and about 50 macronuclear nodules. The poorly known A. scutellum has never been investigated using modern methods; hence, a redescription is needed. During the present study, observations of specimens in vivo and following protargol impregnation revealed new information concerning structures such as the cortical granules and the infraciliature. A redescription and improved diagnosis are supplied based on the China population. The small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene was sequenced for both organisms and comparisons with those of similar congeners clearly support the findings based on morphological studies.


Background: Emergency hospital admission with adversity-related injury (ie, self-inflicted, drug-related or alcohol-related, or violent injury) affects 4% of 10–19-year-olds. Their risk of death in the decade after hospital discharge is twice as high as that of adolescents admitted to hospitals for accident-related injury. We established how cause of death varied between these groups. Methods: We did a retrospective, nationwide, cohort study comparing risks of death in five causal groups (suicide, drug-related or alcohol-related, homicide, accidental, and other causes of death) up to 10 years after hospital discharge following adversity-related (self-inflicted, drug-related or alcohol-related, or violent injury) or accident-related (for which there was no recorded adversity) injury. We included adolescents (aged 10–19 years) who were admitted as an emergency for adversity-related or accident-related injury between April 1, 1997, and March 31, 2012. We excluded adolescents who did not have their sex recorded, died during the index admission, had no valid discharge date, or were admitted with injury related to neither adversity nor accidents. We identified admissions for adversity-related or accident-related injury to the National Health Service in England with the International Classification of Diseases-10 codes in Hospital Episode Statistics data, linked to the Office for National Statistics mortality data for England, to establish cause-specific risks of death between the first day and 10 years after discharge, and to compare risks between adversity-related and accident-related index injury after adjustment for age group, socioeconomic status, and chronic conditions. Findings: We identified 1 080 368 adolescents (388 937 [36·0%] girls, 690 546 [63·9%] boys, and 885 [0·1%] adolescents who did not have their sex recorded). Of these adolescents, we excluded 40 549 (10·4%) girls, 56 107 (8·1%) boys, and all 885 without their sex recorded. Of the 333 009 (30·8%) adolescents admitted with adversity-related injury (181 926 [54·6%] girls and 151 083 [45·4%] boys) and 649 818 (60·2%) admitted with accident-related injury (166 462 [25·6%] girls and 483 356 [74·4%] boys), 4782 (0·5%) died in the 10 years after discharge (1312 [27·4%] girls and 3470 [72·6%] boys). Adolescents discharged after adversity-related injury had higher risks of suicide (adjusted subhazard ratio 4·54 [95% CI 3·25–6·36] for girls, and 3·15 [2·73–3·63] for boys) and of drug-related or alcohol-related death (4·71 [3·28–6·76] for girls, and 3·53 [3·04–4·09] for boys) in the next decade than they did after accident-related injury. Although we included homicides in our estimates of 10-year risks of adversity-related deaths, we did not explicitly present these risks because of small numbers and risks of statistical disclosure. There was insufficient evidence that girls discharged after adversity-related injury had increased risks of accidental deaths compared with those discharged after accident-related injury (adjusted subhazard ratio 1·21 [95% CI 0·90–1·63]), but there was evidence that this risk was increased for boys (1·26 [1·09–1·47]). There was evidence of decreased risks of other causes of death in girls (0·64 [0·53–0·77]), but not in boys (0·99 [0·84–1·17]). Risks of suicide were increased following self-inflicted injury (adjusted subhazard ratio 5·11 [95% CI 3·61–7·23] for girls, and 6·20 [5·27–7·30] for boys), drug-related or alcohol-related injury (4·55 [3·23–6·39] for girls, and 4·51 [3·89–5·24] for boys), and violent injury in boys (1·43 [1·15–1·78]) versus accident-related injury. However, the increased risk of suicide in girls following violent injury versus accident-related injury was not significantly increased (adjusted subhazard ratio 1·48 [95% CI 0·73–2·98]). Following each type of index injury, risks of suicide and risks of drug-related or alcohol-related death were increased by similar magnitudes. Interpretation: Risks of suicide were significantly increased after all types of adversity-related injury except for girls who had violent injury. Risks of drug-related or alcohol-related death increased by a similar magnitude. Current practice to reduce risks of harm after self-inflicted injury should be extended to drug-related or alcohol-related and violent injury in adolescence. Prevention should address the substantial risks of drug-related or alcohol-related death alongside risks of suicide. Funding: UK Department of Health.


An alternative poverty rate was calculated using poverty thresholds from the U.S. Census Bureau to assess income poverty and a similar set of thresholds at four months' of the poverty threshold for annual income to assess wealth (i.e. net worth) poverty. Using point estimates derived from the multiple imputations of the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) between the years of 1989 and 2007, the findings revealed the percentage of households in poverty by both measures was 6% in 2007 compared to 11.1% of households experiencing poverty of income only and 22.4% experiencing a poverty of at least one of the measures. The author assessed the demographics of the households experiencing poverty of both income and wealth and found a larger racial gap for African Americans and Hispanics than income poverty alone, support for the lifecycle hypothesis, and the importance of home ownership in lower poverty rates among other factors.


Heterometallic cubane-type clusters were synthesized from the reaction of group 6 and 8 metallaboranes using transition-metal carbonyl compounds. Structural and spectroscopic study revealed the existence of novel "capped-cubane" geometry. In addition, the crystal structure of these clusters distinctly confirms the presence of boride unit as one of the vertices. These clusters possess 60 cluster valence electrons (cve) and six metal–metal bonds. A plausible pathway for the formation of ruthenium-capped cubane has been described.


BACKGROUND: ASPIRE, a multicenter randomized controlled trial to evaluate AeriSeal System endoscopic lung volume reduction (LVR) for advanced upper lobe predominant emphysema, was conducted from 9/2012-11/2013. It was terminated for non-regulatory reasons after 95/300 patients were randomized. AIM/METHODS: ASPIRE compared AeriSeal Lung Sealant therapy plus medical treatment to medical treatment alone with a 3:2 randomization and planned 3, 6, 9, and 12 month follow-up. The primary endpoint was 12 month FEV 1 improvement. Secondary endpoints included changes in St. George9s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Medical Research Council Dyspnea score (MRCD), and 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Subjects underwent pulmonary rehabilitation. RESULTS: At termination, safety data were available for 90 patients. Efficacy results were available at 3 months for 57 patients (34 treatment group, TG; 23 control group, CG) and at 6 months for 32 patients (19 TG, 13 CG). Improvements at 3 months persisted at 6 months. 43% of TG and 16% of CG patients experienced AEs requiring hospitalization (P CONCLUSION: Interim results confirm prior open label studies showing hydrogel-based LVR improves physiology and patient reported outcomes compared to optimal medical therapy in patients with advanced emphysema, but with increased AE risk requiring hospitalization.


Our understanding of ovarian cancer is complicated by disease heterogeneity. There are five major histological types, each with alterations in different pathways and distinct clinical outcomes. Even within these histological types there is clinical and molecular heterogeneity. The Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis (OTTA) consortium was established to validate prognostic markers for ovarian cancer in a large population of patients to allow stratification by histological type and molecular subtype. OTTA is currently a collaboration among 38 studies and has tissue microarrays (TMAs) from over 8,000 tumors available for immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. In addition formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue on slides or cores are available from the majority of OTTA studies for DNA and RNA analysis. Approximatley 60% of the cases are part of the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC) and have genotype data on over 200,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms and extensive epidemiological data. We recently performed IHC analysis of 12 markers using centralised staining and scoring to reduce heterogeneity and improve power to validate biomarkers. We showed that estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor were prognostic markers for endometrioid and high-grade serous carcinomas by performing the first robust subtype-specific analyses of these biomarkers in nearly 3000 patients. In contrast, FOLR1 expression was not associated with survival in 1507 high-grade serous carcinomas. We have shown that FFPE material from OTTA is suitable for RNA expression analysis on high through-put platforms such as the NanoString GX system. Expression analysis of 50 candidate genes in 244 high grade serous ovarian cancer cases has validated prognostic markers identified by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project and investigated a series of novel candidate genes. IHC and RNA expression profiling from formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue is being used to better subclassify the ovarian tumors for further analysis. We would welcome groups with collections of ovarian tumor samples and corrsponding clinical data to join OTTA and participate in ongoing collaborative projects. Citation Format: Susan J. Ramus, Martin Kobel, Weiva Sieh, Michael S. Anglesio, Joshua Millstein, David D. Bowtell, James D. Brenton, Estrid Hogdall, Paul DP Pharoah, Ellen L. Goode, David G. Huntsman. The ovarian tumor tissue analysis (OTTA) consortium. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research: From Concept to Clinic; Sep 18-21, 2013; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2013;19(19 Suppl):Abstract nr A27.


Physical inactivity is a serious growing health problem. Epidemiological studies have shown that a sedentary lifestyle will contribute to the early onset and progression of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and is associated with a doubling of the risk of premature death. Exercise favorably affects lipoprotein metabolism. The protective effect of exercise is by increasing circulating HDL. Hence there is a need to study the effect of exercise on the levels of High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), Apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) and Lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase (LCAT) activity. A total of 100 subjects were studied, aged 30-50 years. Group I consisted of 50 athletes who were involved in regular physical exercise. Group II consisted of 50 age and sex matched healthy controls with sedentary life style. LCAT activity was assessed by measuring the difference between esterified and free cholesterol by using digitonin precipitation method. Apolipoprotein A-I was measured by immunoturbidemetric method using semiautoanalyzer. Total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol were measured by CHOD-POD method. Triglyceride was measured by GPO-PAP method. LDL and VLDL were calculated by formula. The levels of TC, TC / HDL and LDL / HDL were significantly increased in Group II in comparison with Group I. The levels of HDL, LCAT and Apolipoprotein A-I were significantly increased in Group I compared to Group II. Individuals engaged in regular physical activity had higher HDL, LCAT activity and Apolipoprotein A-I levels and lowered levels of atherogenic lipid components. This might help in preventing cardiovascular disease development in these individuals.


Written by a biblical scholar in collaboration with an art historian, Illuminating Luke: The Infancy Narrative in Italian Renaissance Painting demonstrates just how much those two disciplines have to say to one another today. Through their close readings of famous paintings illustrating stories from Luke, the authors ask: How did Renaissance artists and their patrons understand the gospel? And what traditions of faith guided them in translating biblical text and Church tradition into paint? The answers to those questions are unfolded within a rich context of meaning, that provides a unique access to these ageless retellings of the stories of Christ s infancy while illuminating the profound heritage of spirituality that Italian Renaissance artists embodied in their work.


REV BRAS EPIDEMIOL ABR-JUN 2017; 20(2): 200-211 ABSTRACT: Introduction: The proactive search of deaths is a strategy for capturing events that were not informed to the Mortality Information System of Ministry of Health. Its importance to reduce underreporting of deaths and to evaluate the operation of the information system is widely known. Objective: To describe the methodology and main findings of the Proactive Search of Deaths, 2013, establishing the contribution of different information sources. Methods: The research was carried out in 79 Brazilian municipalities. We investigated several official and unofficial sources of information about deaths of municipality residents. Every information source investigated and all cases found in each source were typed in an on-line panel. The second stage of the research was the confirmation of cases to verify information of year and residence and to complete missing information. For all confirmed cases, we estimated the completeness of death registration and correction factors according to the adequacy level of mortality information. Results: We found 2,265 deaths that were not informed to the Mortality Information System. From those, 49.3% were found in unofficial sources, cemeteries and funeral homes. In some rural municipalities, precarious burial conditions were found in cemeteries in the middle of the forest and no registration of the deceased. Correction factors were inversely associated to the adequacy level of mortality information. Conclusion: The findings confirm the association between level of information adequacy and completeness of death registration, and indicate that the application of the proactive search is an effective method to capture deaths not informed to the Ministry of Health.


Elegant stands for ``Electron Generation and Tracking,`` a somewhat out-of-date description of a fully 6D accelerator program that now does much more than generate particle distributions and track them elegant, written entirely in the C programming language, uses a variant of the MAD input format to describe accelerators, which may be either transport lines, circular machines, or a combination thereof. Program execution is driven by commands in a namelist format. This document describes the features available in elegant, listing the commands and their arguments. The differences between elegant and MAD formats for describing accelerators are listed. A series of examples of elegant input and output are given. Finally, appendices are included describing the post-processing programs.


In light of the fact that the initial development of the LNG industry depended upon the development of a large gas reserve and the construction of a suitable liquefaction facility, the LNG industry traditionally has been a seller-driven market dominated by long-term LNG sale-and-purchase contracts that do not provide any flexibility to the consumer and require dedicated LNG tankers and a strict framework governing the shipping of LNG. However, the future projections of the international LNG industry indicate a rapid increase in liquefaction and shipping capacity that may lead to greater short-term LNG sales and could result in the shifting of the LNG industry from being seller-dominated to one that is equally controlled, if not driven by, the buyers and end consumers of LNG. In addition to discussing such trends, this article describes the LNG chain and the way it is financed, project structure and documentation for upstream and downstream LNG projects, and typical LNG purchase and sale agreements.


Abstract. The JULES-crop model (Osborne et al., 2015) is a parametrisation of crops within the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES), which aims to simulate both the impact of weather and climate on crop productivity and the impact of croplands on weather and climate. In this evaluation paper, observations of maize at three FLUXNET sites in Nebraska (US-Ne1, US-Ne2 and US-Ne3) are used to test model assumptions and make appropriate input parameter choices. JULES runs are performed for the irrigated sites (US-Ne1 and US-Ne2) both with the crop model switched off (prescribing leaf area index (LAI) and canopy height) and with the crop model switched on. These are compared against GPP and carbon pool FLUXNET observations. We use the results to point to future priorities for model development and describe how our methodology can be adapted to set up model runs for other sites and crop varieties.


The aims of this thesis are:
To give an overview of one of the serious consequences of acute pain – the
transition to chronic pain; To measure and rank pain intensity in a large number of surgical groups in order to define the surgical groups where pain treatment is insufficient and those where pain control is adequate; To determine possible reasons for inadequate pain relief: to identify patient and surgical factors that are associated with postoperative pain intensity, as well as: to analyze whether their influence is dependent on the type of surgery; To obtain a better insight into patient's pain perception and the impact of acute pain by analyzing different pain outcome variables next to pain intensity.
Outline of this thesis:
Acute postoperative pain is known to be the most important risk factor for the
development of chronic postoperative pain. Chapter 2 reviews the transition from
acute to chronic postoperative pain and its consequences.
Chapter 3 describes and compares pain intensity, pain treatment, and anesthesia
technique of 179 different surgical groups.
In Chapter 4, more than 800 cesarean-section patients are analyzed and compared
to more than 2,400 hysterectomy patients with respect to anesthesia and analgesic
techniques, to identify potential causes of insufficient pain treatment after cesarean
section.
In Chapter 5 the procedure-specific influence of gender, age, and preoperative
chronic pain intensity on postoperative pain scores is investigated using the 30
most frequently performed surgeries involving over 22,000 patients.
Chapter 6 further examines the potential role of gender in the development of
postoperative pain. In addition to pain intensity, other relevant outcomes such
as wish for more analgesics or pain-related interferences are used to indicate the
clinical relevance of gender-specific pain perception.
Chapter 7 analyzes the influence of the duration of surgery on postoperative pain.
In Chapter 8, the factors influencing satisfaction with postoperative pain treatment
are analyzed based on data from the PainOut registry.
Chapter 9 aims to define optimal cut-off values to divide the 11-item numeric
rating scale (NRS 0-10) of postoperative pain intensity into three frequently used
categories (mild, moderate, and severe pain).
In Chapter 10 results of the studies are discussed and directions for improvement
and future studies on postoperative pain treatment are outlined.


Current conveyors have been identified as a possible component within the current injection electrodes of an electrical impedance tomography system, where accurate current generation or precise measurement of the current injected is required. Several circuit configurations have been investigated through simulation to determine the most suitable to meet the specifications of the EIT system. A bipolar (floating source) circuit configuration employing the use of current conveyors has been designed, which achieves greater than 12 mA output current without saturation, over an accepted body impedance range. Simulations were performed over frequencies in excess of 1 MHz, and the output phase shift was less than 0.15 degrees up to 250 kHz, and 0.6 degrees up to 1 MHz.


The utility of double-blind continuation data in assessing long-term efficacy was evaluated in an analysis of data from the development program of a new antidepressant, nefazodone. The benefit of nefazodone therapy was examined during continuation treatment of patients who improved during the 6-8 week acute phase of efficacy studies. Discontinuation for lack of efficacy was used as an indicator of relapse. Pooled long-term data from the extension phases of placebo-controlled, acute efficacy trials were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate survival curves for time to discontinuation. Both nefazodone (p < .01) and imipramine (p < .05) were more effective than placebo during long-term continuation therapy. The findings demonstrate the value of double-blind continuation data in the evaluation of long-term drug benefit and provide an early assessment of nefazodone's effectiveness in continuation treatment of major depression.


Summary Robust and secure transmission strategy for high-quality image through wireless networks is considered a great challenge. However, majority of encrypted image transmission schemes do not consider well the effect of bit errors occurring during transmission and this issue is considered a problem that should be handled by an efficient coding scheme. In this paper, a modified wireless image transmission scheme that combines chaotic encryption and turbo coding technique into one processing step is proposed. In the proposed scheme, selective encryption algorithm based on two-dimensional chaotic map is utilized for data security. Furthermore, error correction technique based on turbo coding is employed as channel coding for data communication in order to solve the problem of channel's limited bandwidth and throughput. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves high degree of robustness against channel impairments and wide varieties of attacks. In addition, it improves image quality with acceptable data rates. Keyword Error correction code, Image transmission, DWT, Image encryption


Until now, there has been little empirical evidence that EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) transaction costs are incurred at firm level. The transaction costs (internal costs, capital costs, consultancy and trading costs) incurred by Irish firms under the EU ETS during its pilot phase (2005–2007) were measured and analysed. Evidence for the sources of transaction costs, their magnitude and the distribution of costs shows that these were mainly administrative in nature. Considerable variation in costs was found due to economies of scale, as the costs per tonne of CO2 were lower for participants with larger allocations. For the largest firms—accounting for over half the emissions—average transaction costs were €0.05 per tonne. However, for small firms, average transaction costs were €2.02—over 18% of the current allowance price. This supports the concerns that transaction costs are excessive for smaller participants. The immediate policy implication is that additional attention will be needed to address different sizes of firms, number of installations per firm, and the size of the initial allocations.


Strictly speaking, the indoor environment intelligent control system can not only detect the parameters of indoor environment, the state of every equipment, but also adjust indoor environment automatically in order to achieve the most comfortable indoor environment under condition of saving energy. Based on thermal comfort index PMV, we have constructed the MAS (Multi-Agent System) for indoor environment control with Zigbee network technology after the deeply research on the decoupling of the environment parameters. In this paper, main researching contents have been discussed like the cooperation strategy in the MAS, proposed a cooperation strategy based on the task distribution, which decreased the communication and enhanced problem solving efficiency.


The Extreme Universe Space Observatory Super Pressure Balloon 2 (EUSO-SPB2) is an approved NASA balloon mission that is planned to fly in 2023 from Wanaka, NZ with target duration of up to 100 days. It is a pathfinder for the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA), a candidate for a NASA Astrophysics probe-class mission. EUSO-SPB2 will consist of a Cherenkov telescope and a fluorescence telescope. The first is optimized for fast signals and is devoted to estimate the background sources for astrophysical neutrino observations; the second looks at the nadir to measure the fluorescence emission of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs). The long-duration flight will provide a large number of VHECR Cherenkov signals and UHECR fluorescence tracks. In this contribution we discuss the calibration with dedicated signal of the photodetection module.


Continuous particle size data (0.5–20μm) were collected using aerodynamic particle sizer (TSI 3321) at an urban site in Lanzhou, north western China from 1 st August to 31 st October. Variations of particle concentrations and general characteristics of particle size distributions were analyzed. The hourly averaged particle number, surface area and volume concentration are 108.1±92.2cm -3 ,282.9±267.9μm 2 cm -3 and 92.2±127.3μg 3 m -3 , respectively. Fine particles (0.5–2.5μm) accounted for 98.7%, 73.8% and 37.5% of the total particle number, surface area and volume concentrations in 0.5–20μm, respectively. The size distribution of number concentrations is unimodal with a maximum at 0.54–0.58μm, while that of the surface area and volume concentrations are bimodal. The main peak of surface area concentration appears near 0.63–0.67μm with a secondary peak at 3.79–4.07μm, and the main peak of volume concentration is at 4.7–5.1μm with a secondary peak near 0.67–0.72μm. K-means cluster analysis was used to group the particle volume size distributions into 7 clusters by their dominant mode and average concentration. Particle volume size distributions observed during dust storms and under dry and clear weather conditions were characterized by a single coarse mode, while particle volume size distributions affected by fog, smog and traffic related emissions were bimodal with peaks at accumulation mode and coarse mode, respectively.


A Newton-type method for the reconstruction of inhomogeneous 3-D complex permittivity variation of arbitrary shaped materials loaded in a rectangular waveguide is presented. The problem is first formulated as a system of integral equations consist of the well-known data and object equations, which contain the dyadic Green's function of an empty rectangular waveguide. Two unknowns of this system are solved in an iterative fashion by linearizing one of them, i.e., the data equation in the sense of the Newton method, which corresponds to a first-order Taylor expansion of the related integral operator. Since the problem is severely ill posed by nature, a regularization in the sense of Tikhonov is applied to the data equation. A detailed numerical implementation of the method, together with some numerical examples are also given to show the capabilities and validation limits of the method.


As early as 1793, Congress exercised plenary legislative power and enacted statutes that enforced the constitutionally secured property rights of slaveholders in their slaves with civil remedies, including a civil fine and tort damages, and criminal penalties and made them applicable to anyone who interfered with the slave owner's constitutional right to recover fugitive slaves. Congress also created an elaborate federal enforcement structure. The United States Supreme Court repeatedly upheld the constitutionality of these statutes and Congress's plenary power to enact them. After the Civil War, the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment used these legislative and judicial precedents to insist that Congress possessed as much legislative power to enforce the constitutional rights of all Americans that earlier Congresses had exercised to enforce the constitutional rights of slaveholders. This article shows that, acting on this view, the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment actually exercised plenary legislative power when they enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which they modeled on the antebellum legislation by incorporating their civil and criminal remedies and enforcement provisions. The article also shows that, to ensure the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act and to protect it from being repealed by a future Congress, the framers explicitly incorporated it into the Fourteenth Amendment. The framers of the Fourteenth Amendment thereby exercised the power to define and enforce substantive constitutional rights the Rehnquist Court claims the framers intended to exclude from Congress. The framers adopted the remedies to redress violations of substantive constitutional rights the Court says the framers intended to reserve exclusively to the states. And, they expressly intended the Fourteenth Amendment to delegate to Congress the constitutional authority they had just exercised to define and enforce substantive constitutional rights, to define civil and criminal violations of constitutional rights, and to provide civil and criminal remedies to redress their violation. This article demonstrates that the Rehnquist Court's recent decisions interpreting Congress's Fourteenth Amendment power to enforce constitutional rights, which are based on the framers' intent, are contradicted by the framers' legislative actions to secure constitutional rights. It argues that the Rehnquist Court's understanding of Congress's power to secure constitutional rights is contradicted by the federal government's actions to enforce constitutional rights from the founding of the nation through the Civil War era, and it should be reevaluated.


Abstract Background Approximately 6000 children are born with CHD in Germany each year. It is increasingly rare that these children die from their chronic illness. In the present study, data recorded in the National Register for Congenital Heart Defects with respect to the prevalence of specific lesions and sex distribution are compared with that recorded in a published German prevalence study (Prevalence Study) and with the meta-analysis by van der Linde et al. Methods A descriptive data analysis was performed using a minimal data set. The demographic data included sex and birth year; the medical data comprised the cardiovascular diagnosis according to the short list of the International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code. Results As the data analysis shows, the National Register is a clinical register including primarily clinical cases/cases relevant to healthcare. The prevalence values and sex ratios recorded in the register are closer to the values given in the literature than those determined by the Prevalence Study. Severe CHD was slightly over-represented in the National Register compared with the van der Linde et al meta-analysis. The deviations with respect to prevalence values are within an acceptable range. Conclusion With its 48,000 patients, the National Register plays a unique and important role for research in the field of CHD. Samples from the National Register can be used as a gold standard for future studies, as the patient population registered in it can be considered representative of CHD in Germany and Europe.


War is commonly conceived of as the result of a bargaining process between states. However, war also has redistributive consequences within a state: certain groups face disproportionate costs (e.g. likely conscripts), while other groups may accrue most of the benefits (military contractors, politicians, etc.). War should thus be viewed simultaneously as the result of a bargaining process between domestic groups. This paper presents a two-level game in which the relative importance of different domestic groups to a government can impact the likelihood of going to war, but only under certain conditions. In particular, a necessary condition for domestic distributive politics to matter for war onset is the existence of redistributive frictions between domestic parties. This also allows the model to produce a new explanation for why war may occur despite the fact that it is Pareto inefficient: inability to costlessly redistribute value domestically between war's beneficiaries and the beneficiaries of any peaceful bargain.


Monofilament nylon strings with a range of diameters, commercially marketed as harp strings, have been tested to establish their long-term mechanical properties. Once a string had settled into a desired stress state, the Young's modulus was measured by a variety of methods that probe different timescales. The modulus was found to be a strong function of testing frequency, and also a strong function of stress. Strings were also subjected to cyclical variations of temperature, allowing various thermal properties to be measured: the coefficient of linear thermal expansion, and the thermal sensitivities of tuning, Young's modulus and density. The results revealed that the particular strings tested divide into two groups with very different properties: stress-strain behaviour differing by a factor of 2, and some parametric sensitivities even having the opposite signs. Within each group, correlation studies allowed simple functional fits to be found to the key properties, which have the potential to be used in automated tuning systems for harp strings.


This paper reports on a system of managing admissions and discharges from a specialist palliative day hospice (SPDH) in the south of England. SPDH is a well established component of palliative care provision in the UK, but studies have rarely addressed issues around admission and discharge. Case study methodology was used to evaluate the programme. Interviews were conducted with five patients who had attended the day hospice, taken a break or been discharged and returned; their carer(s); the key worker from the day hospice; and any other health professional who was involved in the patient's care during the admission. Communication issues were found within the team regarding referral and discharge processes, documentation of care, decision making, and information giving. Family members did not feel involved in decision making in relation to the programme. The most significant finding was the emotional and psychological impact on the patients of taking the break. Discharge from SPDH is known to be a difficult and sensitive issue, especially when patients are living with life-limiting illnesses that can change quickly. The patients in this study all had some form of dependency on the service and four of the five would have chosen to continue attending if they could. They experienced deterioration in psychological and physical wellbeing during the period in which they did not attend.


fdaReliable navigation and 3D modeling is a necessary requirement for any autonomous system in real world scenarios. German Aerospace Center (DLR) developed a system providing precise information about local position and orientation of a mobile platform as well as three-dimensional information about its environment in real-time. This system, called Integral Positioning System (IPS) can be applied for indoor environments and outdoor environments. To achieve high precision, reliability, integrity and availability a multi-sensor approach was chosen. The important role of sensor data synchronization, system calibration and spatial referencing is emphasized because the data from several sensors has to be fused using a Kalman filter. A hardware operating system (HW-OS) is presented, that facilitates the low-level integration of different interfaces. The benefit of this approach is an increased precision of synchronization at the expense of additional engineering costs. It will be shown that the additional effort is leveraged by the new design concept since the HW-OS methodology allows a proven, flexible and fast design process, a high re-usability of common components and consequently a higher reliability within the low-level sensor fusion. Another main focus of the paper is on IPS software. The DLR developed, implemented and tested a flexible and extensible software concept for data grabbing, efficient data handling, data preprocessing (e.g. image rectification) being essential for thematic data processing. Standard outputs of IPS are a trajectory of the moving platform and a high density 3D point cloud of the current environment. This information is provided in real-time. Based on these results, information processing on more abstract levels can be executed.


The monitoring of disease progression in certain neurodegenerative conditions can significantly be quantified with the help of objective assessments. The severity assessment of diseases like Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) are usually based on different subjective measures. The ability of a participant with FRDA to perform standard neurological tests is the most common way of assessing disease progression. In this feasibility study, an Ataxia Instrumented Measurement-Cup (AIM-C) is proposed to quantify the disease progression of 10 participants (mean age 39 years, onset of disease 16.3 years) in longitudinal timepoints. The device consists of a sensing system with the provision of extracting both kinetic and kinematic information while engaging in an activity closely associated with activities of daily living (ADL). A common functional task of simulated drinking was used to capture features that possesses disease progression information as well as certain other features which intrinsically correlate with commonly used clinical scales such as the modified Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale (mFARS), the Functional Staging of Ataxia score and the ADL scale. Frequency and time-frequency domain features allowed the longitudinal assessment of participants with FRDA. Furthermore, both kinetic and kinematic measures captured clinically relevant features and correlated 85% with clinical assessments.


This paper examines the relationships between copyright and competition law, paying special attention to the elements of conflict which have repeatedly emerged from recent antitrust cases in both the United States and Europe. In particular, the thesis argued is that the framework of intellectual property rights is crucial to antitrust evaluations because of the deterministic relation which exists between property rights on the one hand, and market structure and modes of competition on the other. In consideration of this relationship, it will be shown that several purportedly anti-competitive behaviours are in reality of an ambiguous character when considered within the system of incentives defined by copyright. What is more, given that copyright is essentially a calculated restriction on competition introduced by legislators to correct a specific market failure (i.e., creation of a sub-optimal level of copyrightable works), it then becomes quite difficult to pursue anti-competitive behaviours in a manner consistent with the nature of copyright and the incentives system. The work also shows how scholars are confronted with a structural weakness in the economic theory, vis-a-vis the current needs of antitrust enforcement in markets regulated by copyright. This weakness is probably attributable to the fact that the theory principally grew out of a study of the structure and dynamics of the manufacturing industries, and has therefore produced analysis tools geared to that particular context. However such tools are not ideally suited to the markets of information goods protected by copyright, which have modes of competition that differ substantially from those of the sectors which produce tangible goods.


The construction industry is the most significant contributor to the UK's CO2 emissions. Its activities are responsible for an annual output of approximately 45% of the total. This figure highlights the role the industry must play in helping to achieve the UK Government's CO2 reduction target. It is ergo incumbent on construction-related educators to emphasize this issue and explore ways in which it can be achieved. Unintentional desensitization has resulted in the term 'sustainability,' particularly CO2 production, being seen by students as just another concept to be studied from a theoretical perspective. Many students fail to grasp its broader implications and how it should affect strategic environmental decisions about construction processes, technologies, and products. To help address this problem, an innovative learning, teaching, and assessment strategy was used with final year undergraduate construction students to improve their level of sustainability literacy. The theory of threshold concepts in the context of transformative learning was used as the baseline philosophy to the study. The approach involved asking students to calculate their carbon footprint and to reflect upon and extrapolate their findings to the construction industry and its practice. Content analysis was performed on the reflective commentaries acquired from student portfolios collected over four academic years. The results showed how the students' reflections on their carbon footprints proved to be an enlightening experience. Terms such as 'shocked by my footprint,' 'surprised at the findings,' and 'change in attitude' were among the contemplative comments. When students linked their findings to the construction industry, phrases such as 'waste generation,' 'technologies,' and 'materials' were some of the concepts considered. By using their personal experiences as a benchmark, students were able to gain a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of CO2 production. They also found it more straightforward to relate these issues to the construction industry and its practice. Several recommendations are made to raise the level of sustainability literacy in the construction industry thereby facilitating a potential reduction in worldwide CO2 production.