Plant endoparasitic cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii Schmidt, gallic nematode Meloidogyne incognita and stem nematode Ditylenchus destructor damage various agricultural crops. The application of ecologically safe natural biostimulants with bioprotective properties is a newer approach for increasing plant resistance to parasitic nematodes. The molecular-genetic analysis of biostimulants action on plant genome is necessary for creation of new effective bioregulators for plant protection against phytopathogenic organisms. In our field and greenhouse experiments, we investigated the influence of new natural biostimulants Avercom and its derivatives on plant protection against nematodes Meloidogyne incognita and Ditylenchus destructor. Considerable increase of resistance to nematodes and productivity of cucumber and potato were observed for plants treated by biostimulant Avercom and its derivatives. Impact of biostimulants Radostim-super and Avercom on increase of resistance of sugar beet and cucumber sprouts to nematodes Heterodera schachtii and Meloidogyne incognita was studied in the laboratory conditions. Comparative analysis of morpho-physiological signs of control and experimental plants showed that plants treated by Radostim-super and Avercom were more viable and resistant to these nematodes as compared to control sprouts. In the molecular-genetic experiments, we studied the impact of these biostimulants on inducing synthesis of small regulatory si/miRNA, which plays key role in plant immune protection. Using method Dot-blot hybridization we studied degree of homology between si/miRNA with mRNA populations, isolated from plants untreated and treated with new natural biostimulants. We found considerable difference in the degree of homology (6-28%) between populations of mRNA and si/miRNA from nematode-infected plants that were either untreated or treated with biostimulants. We have also investigated silencing of translation of mRNA activity of si/miRNA in the wheat embryo cell-free system of protein synthesis. In these experiments, we found high inhibitory activity (38-65%) of si/miRNA from plants treated by biostimulants as compared to low inhibitory activity (15-20%) of si/miRNA from untreated plants. Obtained differences in the degree of homology between populations of mRNA and si/miRNA from untreated and treated with biostimulants plants, which were infected by nematode, and also the high inhibitory activity of si/miRNA from plants treated by biostimulants confirm that these biostimulants induce synthesis of anti-nematodic si/miRNA in plants, resulting in considerable increase of their resistance to these phytopathogens.


The novel tellurium rhenium carbonyls [TeI2Re(CO)5][AlCl4] (1), [BMIm][Te2I4(μ-I)2Re(CO)4] (2), {Te3I2(μ-I)3(μ3-I)}Re(CO)3 (3) and [BMIm][(Te2)3{Re(CO)3}2{Re(CO)4}3] (4) were prepared by reacting TeI4 and Re2(CO)10 in ionic liquids (ILs). [TeI2Re(CO)5][AlCl4] (1) was obtained in a mixture of [BMIm]Cl (BMIm: 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium) and AlCl3 (ratio: 1 : 1) and contains a [TeI2Re(CO)5]+ cation. Increasing the amount of AlCl3 ([BMIm]Cl : AlCl3 = 1 : 2) results in [BMIm][Te2I4(μ-I)2Re(CO)4] (2) with the anion [Te2I4(μ-I)2Re(CO)4]-. At a [BMIm]Cl to AlCl3 ratio of 1 : 3, {Te3I2(μ-I)3(μ3-I)}Re(CO)3 (3) was realized with a Te3I3 ring and μ3-coordinating iodine. Finally, [BMIm][(Te2)3{Re(CO)3}2{Re(CO)4}3] (4) was prepared in [BMIm][OTf] (OTf: triflate) and contains the ufosan-like anion [(Te2)3{Re(CO)3}2{Re(CO)4}3]- with three Te22- and two Re(CO)3+ units that establish a distorted heterocuban-like cage. The compounds were characterized by single-crystal structure analysis, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, thermogravimetry (TG), and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The course of the reaction and the formation of the four novel tellurium-rhenium carbonyls can be directly correlated to the reaction conditions and especially to the acidity of the IL.


Background—The goal of this study was to examine a possible association between systemic microinflammation, as reflected by C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels, and coronary vasomotion in patients with coronary risk factors but with angiographically normal coronary arteries. Methods and Results—Coronary vasomotor function was studied in response to cold pressor testing (CPT) in 71 patients with normal angiograms. In all patients, CPT-induced changes in epicardial luminal area (LA; mm2) were assessed with quantitative angiography. Within 20 days, myocardial blood flow (MBF) responses to CPT were measured (mL · g−1 · min−1) noninvasively with 13N-ammonia and PET imaging. The CPT-induced mean changes in LA and in MBF in patients with elevated CRP (≥0.5 mg/dL) were significantly impaired compared with patients presenting with CRP levels within normal range (<0.5 mg/dL) (&Dgr;LA, −1.09±0.86 versus 0.45±0.63 mm2; &Dgr;MBF, 0.06±0.18 versus 0.44±0.31 mL · g−1 · min−1; P<0.0001, respectively). Coronary LA changes and MBF responses to CPT were inversely correlated with CRP serum levels (r=−0.84 and r=−0.63; P<0.0001). Lastly, regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between the changes in LA and MBF during CPT for patients with elevated CRP levels and those for patients with normal CRP levels (r=0.56 and r=0.66; P<0.001). Conclusions—These findings suggest a direct association between systemic microinflammation and altered coronary vasomotor function of both the epicardial conductance and the arteriolar resistance vessels.


We consider higher-derivative perturbations of quantum gravity and quantum field theories in curved space and investigate tools to calculate counterterms and short-distance expansions of Feynman diagrams. In the case of single higher-derivative insertions we derive a closed formula that relates the perturbed one-loop counterterms to the unperturbed Schwinger-DeWitt coefficients. In the more general case, we classify the contributions to the short-distance expansion and outline a number of simplification methods. Certain difficulties of the common differential technique in the presence of higher-derivative perturbations are avoided by a systematic use of the Campbell-Baker-Hausdorff formula, which in some cases reduces the computational effort considerably.


This thesis examines subtitles written for heritage films from France and Spain, using six films as case studies. Beginning by offering an overview of the history of subtitling, bringing together a range of different accounts of the field, it aims to situate current approaches to subtitling in relation to changing models of translation and language transfer as well as to developments in the study of audiovisual culture. The increasing importance of subtitling in recent decades, together with rapid technological changes, have had a great impact on subtitling practice, making it necessary to address the technical constraints and solutions diachronically and synchronically, in order to develop a framework for the comparative analysis of film subtitles from different periods and countries. By focusing on films of a particular genre, this limited the extent to which any technical differences might be attributed to internal features, and the choice of the heritage genre allowed greater scrutiny of linguistic and cultural issues in audiovisual translation. After drawing up a framework for analysis of the technical and cultural aspects of subtitling, the second half of the thesis compares these elements in six heritage films, aiming to evaluate critically the impact of the different versions.


In modern server CPUs, last-level cache (LLC) is a critical hardware resource that exerts significant influence on the performance of the workloads, and how to manage LLC is a key to the performance isolation and QoS in the cloud with multi-tenancy. In this paper, we argue that in addition to CPU cores, high-speed I/O is also important for LLC management. This is because of an Intel architectural innovation – Data Direct I/O (DDIO) – that directly injects the inbound I/O traffic to (part of) the LLC instead of the main memory. We summarize two problems caused by DDIO and show that (1) the default DDIO configuration may not always achieve optimal performance, (2) DDIO can decrease the performance of non-I/O workloads that share LLC with it by as high as 32%.We then present, the first LLC management mechanism that treats the I/O as the first-class citizen. Iat monitors and analyzes the performance of the core/LLC/DDIO using CPU's hardware performance counters and adaptively adjusts the number of LLC ways for DDIO or the tenants that demand more LLC capacity. In addition, Iat dynamically chooses the tenants that share its LLC resource with DDIO to minimize the performance interference by both the tenants and the I/O. Our experiments with multiple microbenchmarks and real-world applications demonstrate that with minimal overhead, Iat can effectively and stably reduce the performance degradation caused by DDIO.


SUMMARY: Isolated cell walls of six Gram-negative bacteria were disaggregated by sodium dodecyl sulphate at all pH values between pH 2 and 9. Disaggregation as measured by decrease in turbidity showed maxima at pH 3 and 8. Salmonella gallinarum walls were disaggregated by alcohol sulphate compounds with alkyl chain lengths of 10, 12, 14 and 16 carbon atoms; maximum activity was observed with the C14 homologue. No sulphydryl groups were detected on disaggregation of the walls of S. gallinarum and p-chloromercuribenzoate had no protective action. Autolytic enzymes of Vibrio metchnikovii do not contribute to the dissolution of the walls of this organism by sodium dodecyl sulphate.


Furan is a liver toxicant and carcinogen in rodents. It is classified as a possible human carcinogen, but the human health effects of furan exposure remain unknown. The oxidation of furan by cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes is necessary for furan toxicity. The product of this reaction is the reactive α,β-unsaturated dialdehyde, cis-2-butene-1,4-dial (BDA). To determine whether human liver microsomes metabolize furan to BDA, a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to detect and quantify BDA by trapping this reactive metabolite with N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) and N-acetyl-l-lysine (NAL). Reaction of NAC and NAL with BDA generates N-acetyl-S-[1-(5-acetylamino-5-carboxypentyl)-1H-pyrrol-3-yl]-l-cysteine (NAC-BDA-NAL). Formation of NAC-BDA-NAL was quantified in 21 different human liver microsomal preparations. The levels of metabolism were comparable to that observed in F-344 rat and B6C3F1 mouse liver microsomes, two species known to be sensitive to furan-induced toxicity. Studies with recombinant human liver P450s indicated that CYP2E1 is the most active human liver furan oxidase. The activity of CYP2E1 as measured by p-nitrophenol hydroxylase activity was correlated to the extent of NAC-BDA-NAL formation in human liver microsomes. The formation of NAC-BDA-NAL was blocked by CYP2E1 inhibitors but not other P450 inhibitors. These results suggest that humans are capable of oxidizing furan to its toxic metabolite, BDA, at rates comparable to those of species sensitive to furan exposure. Therefore, humans may be susceptible to furan's toxic effects.


ABSTRACT Although often theorised, empirical research concerning the relationship between parties' candidate selection and MPs' parliamentary activity is scarce. Our analysis focuses on the Dutch case, which features national party lists. It is therefore well-suited to examine the relationship between parliamentary activity (in terms of speeches, resolutions, amendments and questions) and candidate selection: are MPs reselected and do they move up or down the candidate list from one election to the next? We expect that more active MPs have a higher probability of reselection and promotion, i.e. moving up the candidate list. The empirical analysis of the Dutch lower house of Parliament between 1998 and 2017 combines data from the Dutch Parliamentary Behaviour Dataset with data on parliamentary speech-making. Our main finding is that speaking in the plenary is the parliamentary activity most strongly related to reselection and promotion.


A correction for the turbulence dissipation rate, based on nonequilibrium turbulence considerations from rapid distortion theory, has been derived and implemented in combination with the RNG k-e model in a KIVA-based code. This correction reflects the time delay between changes in the turbulent kinetic energy due to changes in the mean flow and its turbulence dissipation rate, and it is shown that this time delay is controlled by the turbulence Reynolds number. The model correction has been validated with experimental data in the compression and expansion phase of a small diesel engine operated in motored mode. Combustion simulations of two heavy-duty DI diesel engines have been performed with the RNG k-e model and the dissipation rate correction. The focus of these computations has been on the nitric oxide formation and the net soot production. These simulations have been compared with experimental data and their preditions are explained in terms of the turbulence dissipation effect on the transport coefficients for mass and heat diffusion. It has been found, that the dissipation correction yields consistent results with observations reported in previous studies.


There is no universally applicable software reliability growth model which can be trusted to give accurate predictions of reliability in all circumstances. A technique of analyzing predictive accuracy called the u-plot allows a user to estimate the relationship between the predicted reliability and the true reliability. It is shown how this can be used to improve reliability predictions in a very general way by a process of recalibration. Simulation results show that the technique gives improved reliability predictions in a large proportion of cases. However, a user does not need to trust the efficacy of recalibration, since the new reliability estimates produced by the technique are truly predictive and their accuracy in a particular application can be judged using the earlier methods. The generality of this approach suggests its use whenever a software reliability model is used. Indeed, although this work arose from the need to address the poor performance of software reliability models, it is likely to have applicability in other areas such as reliability growth modeling for hardware. >


The article is devoted to the problems of neuropsychological support of the educational process in elementary school, prevention possible disorders of primary school children's mental processes and neuropsychological correction of difficulties in their learning. The neuropsychological causes of school failure are generalized (summarized). The methods of correctional and developmental education of elementary school children with specific neuropsychological features are analyzed. Neuropsychological factors of educational failure, particulary left-handed children and psychophysiological principles of special children's psychological and pedagogical support in an inclusive environment are described. Organizational-didactic, diagnostic and correctional conditions of individual neuropsychological support of elementary school education are analyzed. A correctional and developmental program for neuropsychological diagnostics and correction of young schoolchildren's educational failure is developed. The neuropsychological approach to the psychological and pedagogical supervision of first-grade pupils, taking into account their learning success, the level of communicative skills development and cognitive mental processes are come near.


With the emergence of data-intensive applications, recent years have seen a fast-growing volume of I/O traffic propagated through the local I/O interconnect bus. This raises up a question for storage servers on how to resolve such a potential bottleneck. In this paper, we present a hierarchical data cache architecture called DCA to effectively slash local interconnect traffic and thus boost the storage server performance. A popular iSCSI storage server architecture is chosen as an example. DCA is composed of a read cache in NIC called NIC cache and a read/write unified cache in host memory called helper cache. The NIC cache services most portions of read requests without fetching data via the PCI bus, while the helper cache (1) supplies some portions of read requests per partial NIC cache hit, (2) directs cache placement for NIC cache, and (3) absorbs most transient writes locally. We develop a novel state-locality-aware cache placement algorithm called SLAP to improve the NIC cache hit ratio for mixed read and write workloads. To demonstrate the effectiveness of DCA, we develop a DCA prototype system and evaluate it with an open source iSCSI implementation under representative storage server workloads. Experimental results showed that DCA can boost iSCSI storage server throughput by up to 121 percent and reduce the PCI traffic by up to 74 percent compared with an iSCSI target without DCA.


Summary For competing risks data, the Fine–Gray proportional hazards model for subdistribution has gained popularity for its convenience in directly assessing the effect of covariates on the cumulative incidence function. However, in many important applications, proportional hazards may not be satisfied, including multicenter clinical trials, where the baseline subdistribution hazards may not be common due to varying patient populations. In this article, we consider a stratified competing risks regression, to allow the baseline hazard to vary across levels of the stratification covariate. According to the relative size of the number of strata and strata sizes, two stratification regimes are considered. Using partial likelihood and weighting techniques, we obtain consistent estimators of regression parameters. The corresponding asymptotic properties and resulting inferences are provided for the two regimes separately. Data from a breast cancer clinical trial and from a bone marrow transplantation registry illustrate the potential utility of the stratified Fine–Gray model.


Visual content must be labeled to facilitate navigation and retrieval, or provide ground truth data for supervised machine learning approaches. The efficiency of labeling techniques is crucial to produce numerous qualitative labels, but existing techniques remain sparsely evaluated. We systematically evaluate the efficiency of tagging and browsing tasks in relation to the number of images displayed, interaction modes, and the image visual complexity. Tagging consists in focusing on a single image to assign multiple labels (image-oriented strategy), and browsing in focusing on a single label to assign to multiple images (label-oriented strategy). In a first experiment, we focus on the nudges inducing participants to adopt one of the strategies (n=18). In a second experiment, we evaluate the efficiency of the strategies (n=24). Results suggest an image-oriented strategy (tagging task) leads to shorter annotation times, especially for complex images, and participants tend to adopt it regardless of the conditions they face.


Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of pharmacist's interventions through a collaborative ambulatory care pharmacy practice (CAPP) model in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among the underrepresented population. Methods: Eligible patients were 18 years and older with a diagnosis of T2DM with or without comorbid cardiovascular disease risk factors. Patients were enrolled through routine primary care provider referrals. During a one-on-one, face-to-face scheduled clinic visit, the pharmacist provided a comprehensive medication management by reviewing vital signs and laboratory values, provided medication reconciliation and management, followed by medication counseling through a CAPP approach in a primary care setting. The pharmacist worked in close collaboration with the primary care provider to intervene on medication therapy through recommendations to initiate, adjust, modify, or discontinue drug therapy and order laboratory tests and drug concentration levels as appropriate. Each visit was documented as a "PharmD Progress Note" in the patient's electronic medical record. Follow-up visits were scheduled until patients' targeted treatment goals were achieved. Primary and secondary outcome data were collected and then analyzed. Findings: A pharmacist saw 47 patients over 12 months. Sixty-four percent of the participating patients were able to achieve targeted treatment goals. A statistically significant decrease in the mean change in hemoglobin A1c, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and triglyceride levels was observed from the baseline which was −2.3%, −7.75 mmHg, −76.1 mg/dL, and −55.5 mg/dL, respectively. No significant changes in other clinical outcomes were observed. Conclusion: The CAPP model demonstrated a significant reduction in clinical endpoints in patients with T2DM among the high-risk underrepresented population.


Technology scaling increasingly emphasizes complexity and non-ideality
of the electrical behavior of semiconductor devices and boosts interest on alternatives to the conventional planar MOSFET architecture.
TCAD simulation tools are fundamental to the analysis and development of new technology generations. However, the increasing device
complexity is reflected in an augmented dimensionality of the problems
to be solved. The trade-off between accuracy and computational cost of
the simulation is especially influenced by domain discretization: mesh
generation is therefore one of the most critical steps and automatic approaches are sought. Moreover, the problem size is further increased by
process variations, calling for a statistical representation of the single
device through an ensemble of microscopically different instances. The
aim of this thesis is to present multi-disciplinary approaches to handle
this increasing problem dimensionality in a numerical simulation perspective. The topic of mesh generation is tackled by presenting a new
Wavelet-based Adaptive Method (WAM) for the automatic refinement
of 2D and 3D domain discretizations. Multiresolution techniques and
efficient signal processing algorithms are exploited to increase grid resolution in the domain regions where relevant physical phenomena take
place. Moreover, the grid is dynamically adapted to follow solution
changes produced by bias variations and quality criteria are imposed
on the produced meshes. The further dimensionality increase due to
variability in extremely scaled devices is considered with reference to
two increasingly critical phenomena, namely line-edge roughness (LER)
and random dopant fluctuations (RD). The impact of such phenomena
on FinFET devices, which represent a promising alternative to planar
CMOS technology, is estimated through 2D and 3D TCAD simulations
and statistical tools, taking into account matching performance of single
devices as well as basic circuit blocks such as SRAMs. Several process
options are compared, including resist- and spacer-defined fin patterning as well as different doping profile definitions. Combining statistical
simulations with experimental data, potentialities and shortcomings of
the FinFET architecture are analyzed and useful design guidelines are
provided, which boost feasibility of this technology for mainstream applications in sub-45 nm generation integrated circuits.


This is a patient who was presented initially with symptoms of malaise, tiredness and exertional dyspnoea and found to have a severe normocytic normochromic anaemia with low reticulocyte counts. Bone marrow confirmed the diagnosis of pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) and at the time serology for recent parvovirus infection was positive. He was successfully treated with transfusions and intravenous Ig. Six years later, he had a mild relapse of his PRCA and subsequently developed severe dysphagia and dysarthria which were fatigable. Positive antiacetylcholine receptor antibodies confirmed the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. The two conditions are both known to be associated with thymoma. Imaging and resection of the thymus gland showed only the presence of a thymic cyst. Treatment with pyrdistogmine and intravenous Ig have kept the patient asymptomatic and in remission. The rare association of the two autoimmune conditions associated in the same patient without thymoma is discussed.


This paper explores a paradox discovered in recent work by Phillips and Su (2009). That paper gave an example in which nonparametric regression is consistent whereas parametric regression is inconsistent even when the true regression functional form is known and used in regression. This appears to be a paradox, as knowing the true functional form should not in general be detrimental in regression. In the present case, local regression methods turn out to have a distinct advantage because of endogeneity in the regressor. The paradox arises because additional correct information is not necessarily advantageous when information is incomplete. In the present case, endogeneity in the regressor introduces bias when the true functional form is known, but interestingly does not do so in local nonparametric regression. We examine this example in detail and propose two new consistent estimators for the parametric regression, which address the endogeneity in the regressor by means of spatial bounding and bias correction using nonparametric estimation. Some simulations are reported illustrating the paradox and the new procedures.


Low power wide area networks (LPWANs) are suitable for many applications that require low energy consumption, support for a high number of nodes, and large coverage range. Long range (LoRa) is one of the most successful LPWAN technologies, as it enables robust long-distance low power communications and it is proven to be effective in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, such as environmental monitoring and smart metering. LoRa is also promising for Industrial IoT scenarios, but its adoption is impaired by the relevant standardized medium access control protocol, LoRaWAN, that does not offer support to real-time data flows. For this reason, this article proposes RT-LoRa, a medium access strategy for LoRa that provides support for real-time flows, thus enabling the implementation of LoRa-based LPWAN for Industrial IoT applications. This article describes RT-LoRa, presents a simulative assessment in a realistic Industrial IoT scenario and provides some guidelines for the configuration of an RT-LoRa network.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the demographic characteristics and postwar health status of U.S. Gulf War veterans who participated in the Department of Veterans Affairs health examination registry program.

DESIGN
Case records of 52,835 veterans who participated in a standardized health examination program were reviewed.

SETTING
Participants volunteered for physical examinations at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical treatment facility from August 1992 to September 1996.

SUBJECTS
U.S. Gulf War veterans deployed to southwest Asia between August 1990 and 1996.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Demographic, military, symptom, and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, diagnostic categories.

RESULTS
A wide variety of symptoms and diagnoses were reported without apparent internal variation by military characteristics (branch and service component). The frequency of symptoms (fatigue, skin rash, headache, muscle and joint pain, and memory loss) reported increased over time, whereas the proportion of individuals with physician-diagnosed illnesses remained fairly constant. No single category of disease increased or decreased substantially over time.

CONCLUSIONS
Veterans have experienced a wide variety of health problems since their Gulf War service. These problems, in aggregate, are different from what has been seen in other armed conflicts. The Department of Veterans Affairs registry is a very large case series and has failed to identify a single, unique syndrome or new illness after Gulf War service. An epidemiologic study would better define the prevalence of specific symptoms and medical conditions among Gulf War veterans and to what extent any of the conditions identified are associated with Gulf War military service. The knowledge provided by such studies would be important to development of preventive measures and future deployment medical surveillance planning.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of prior instruction on automatic postural responses and voluntary postural sways measured about the ankle joint. Ten subjects with right hemiplegia resulting from a cerebrovascular accident (mean age = 56 +/- 14 years) and 5 healthy subjects (mean age = 47 +/- 6 years) stood symmetrically on a movable force platform. During platform-induced sway, the support surface was translated horizontally to induce antero-posterior body sway about the ankle joints. Surface electromyographs were obtained from the tibialis anterior, quadriceps femoris, gastrocnemius, and hamstring muscles bilaterally. Prior knowledge appeared to have no significant influence on healthy subjects' ability to execute postural adjustments more rapidly during AP displacements. Hemiplegic subjects exhibited longer and more variable latencies in the paretic limb than in the nonparetic limb during voluntary AP weight shifts. When hemiplegic subjects had prior knowledge of the platform's movement (time and direction), latencies were significantly shorter in the paretic limb and could be as brief as those seen in the nonparetic limb. The results showed that prior knowledge may be an important treatment consideration for patients with muscle timing disorders.


Widespread disruption has made tracking what is happening to local journalism in Canada a challenge. The Local News Map is a crowdsourced web-based mapping tool that invites the public to contribute information about local newsroom startups, closings, and service reductions/increases. As concerns mount about the future of local journalism, the map's data are cited with increasing frequency and it has the potential to influence debate, policy, and other research. Taken at face value, the map is a straightforward tracking device. A critical assessment of the assumptions, decision-making, and biases underpinning the map, however, illustrates that nothing is ever quite that simple. Researchers have called for a more critical and reflective approach to the application of geographic information technologies to mapping. This article draws on theories of critical cartography to evaluate the Local News Map's biases, limitations, and strengths with a view to enhancing its credibility as a research tool.

Keywords : local news, mapping, local journalism, participatory mapping, crowdsourcing, critical cartography


Ecosystems are an important aspect of today's software business. Different companies aim to create an ecosystem around their products so that they can benefit from this. Unfortunately, creating such ecosystems is not an easy task. One of the few tools that can be used to facilitate this process is Adner's Value Blueprint. This tool allows a company to identify the different types of risks that it faces during the establishment of an ecosystem. Adner presents several examples of blueprints he has built and provides some guidelines to create new ones. Given the potential of the approach in addressing some of the issues faced by ecosystem designers, we decided to assess the usage of the Value Blueprint through a case study using data from the Apple Watch ecosystem. We report our results from the Apple ecosystem, and more importantly, our evaluation of the value blueprint tool. We conclude by providing recommendations for practitioners interested in establishing their own ecosystems and researchers interested in the design of ecosystems.


BACKGROUND
Persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most important risk factor for cervical cancer, and understanding genotype-specific HPV persistence is essential for elucidating the natural history of HPV infections.

METHODS
In the Finnish Family HPV Study, 329 pregnant women (mean age, 25.5 years) were recruited during the third trimester of pregnancy and were followed up for 6 years. Multiplex HPV genotyping for 27 low- and high-risk HPV types was used to define genotype-specific prevalence at each visit. Generalized estimating equation models were constructed to estimate predictors of type-specific persistence (positive results at 2 consecutive visits) of species 7 and 9 HPV genotypes.

RESULTS
HPV16 was the most common type, followed by HPV types 18, 31, 35, 45, 58, 70, and 6. Prevalence of multiple infections ranged from 21% to 45%. Persistence was most prolonged for HPV types 35, 58, and 52, with durations of 38.7, 32.1, and 24.2 months, respectively, and was equal for multiple-type infections and HPV16, with durations of 21 and 24 months, respectively. Independent predictors of type-specific persistence of species 7 and 9 HPV genotypes were age (odds ratio, 1.13 [95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.25]; P=.017), oral sex (odds ratio, 0.37 [95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.81]; P=.013), and young age (<13 years) at initiation of smoking (odds ratio, 0.51 [95% confidence interval, 0.27-0.98]; P=.046).

CONCLUSION
HPV16 was the most frequent persisting HPV genotype followed by multiple infections. Early initiation of smoking, practicing oral sex and older age increase the risk for persistence of species 7 and 9 HPV genotypes.


Using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo optimization algorithm and a computer simulation, I find the passenger ordering which minimizes the time required to board the passengers onto an airplane. The model that I employ assumes that the time that a passenger requires to load his or her luggage is the dominant contribution to the time needed to completely fill the aircraft. The optimal boarding strategy may reduce the time required to board and airplane by over a factor of four and possibly more depending upon the dimensions of the aircraft. I explore some features of the optimal boarding method and discuss practical modifications to the optimal. Finally, I mention some of the benefits that could come from implementing and improved passenger boarding scheme.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different application rates of nitrogen and phosphorus on growth, yield, earliness and quality of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivar Darmi, grown in Chirpan, Bulgaria. The cotton was grown during 2007-2010 in crop-rotation with durum wheat under non-irrigated conditions. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Single and combined nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers in rates 0; 40; 80; 120 and 160 kg.ha were tested. Values were established for the September and total seedcotton yield, earliness, lint percentage, number of bolls per plant, boll size, plant height, 1000 seeds weight, fibre length. Under the influence of N fertilization the total yield increased with 10.023.1% compared to the control and under phosphorous fertilization with 1.46.6% (P120). Productivity increased most under combined fertilization N120-160 P40-80 27.7-36.3% more than the unfertilised with a very good share of the September yield. The increase of nitrogen rates decreased earliness with 4.2% (N120) to the check. Average for the 20-year period a high effective yield was formed under moderate N rates combined with low to moderate P levels, whereat the cotton yield increased with 17.824.4%. The fertilization significantly increased the height of the plant, boll number (55.6% over control) and boll weight (21.8% more). There was a tendency for decrease in lint percentage with the increase of fertilization rate. No significant changes were found in terms of fiber length and it ranged within 23.76-25.05 mm.


The mapping of coral reefs may be efficiently accomplished by the use of airborne laser bathymetry. However, there are often data holes within the bathymetry data which must be filled in order to produce a complete representation of the coral habitat. This study presents a method to fill these data holes through data merging and interpolation. We first merge ancillary digital sounding data with airborne laser bathymetry data of Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida. What follows is to generate an elevation surface of topography under the sea by spatial interpolation based on the dataset obtained in the first step. Four interpolation techniques, including Kriging, natural neighbor, spline and inverse distance weighted, are implemented and evaluated on their ability to accurately and realistically represent the shallow-water bathymetry of the study area. The natural neighbor technique is found to be the most effective qualitatively with a root mean square error of 3.8 meters. This enhanced digital elevation model is used in conjunction with Ikonos imagery to produce a complete, three-dimensional visualization of the study area. INDEX WORDS: Airborne laser bathymetry, Digital elevation model, Dry Tortugas, Interpolation, Kriging, Coral reef HOLES IN THE OCEAN: FILLING DATA VOIDS IN BATHYMETRIC LIDAR, A CASE STUDY IN DRY TORTUGAS NATIONAL PARK, FLORIDA


The ED50 and 95% confidence limits of 4 succinate analogues against the seizure induced by electric shock were compared in mice. For ip injections, fumarate (6.3±1.3 mmol/kg) maleate. Following ip injection of succinate (l0 mmol/kg), the concentration of GABA in brain was elevated about 19%, and the decrease of GABA level produced by semicarbazide was antagonized, suggesting that the anticonvulsive action of succinate analogues was related to the rising of the brain GABA content.


Poverty remains a pressing problem in rural areas of the developing world. This is also true for India. Expanding the rural financial system with a focus on increasing access to credit has been an important approach for poverty alleviation in India. Nevertheless, there is empirical evidence and theoretical consideration that, credit markets fail for the poor in particular. Market failures can be either driven by moral hazard or adverse selection. In the case of moral hazard, the borrower can either devote insufficient effort to enable subsequent repayment (ex ante moral hazard) or he may voluntarily default (ex post moral hazard). His actions remain hidden. In both cases, the loan would not be repaid successfully. To avoid default, lenders may demand collateral in a form that the poor cannot provide. Adverse selection describes the process of relatively more risky borrowers selecting into loan commitments. If the lender cannot observe the riskiness of potential borrowers, due to information asymmetry, he may demand a higher interest rate in an effort to compensate for loan defaults by riskier borrowers. This may in turn preclude relatively risk-averse borrowers who may not be willing to bear the risk premium, which represents the compensation for the default risk of riskier borrowers. The relatively more risky borrowers remain in the market, and consequently, the likelihood of loan default increases. In the extreme case, this can result in a totally nonexistent credit market.
To complement prior research which focused on the supply side and market failures of India's rural financial system, we focus on rural households' and individuals' financial decision making in this study. We argue that this perspective can contribute to the understanding of outcomes of rural households' financial decisions. In this study, we first shed additional light on the borrower as an individual, the means available and the limits to an individual's financial decision making. Second, we stress the decision-making process within a household. Several individuals may be involved in this process and may determine the outcomes of financial decisions at the household level.
The first objective focuses on an individual's financial literacy, as it is central to undertake informed financial decisions. However, in the context of poverty, taxes on mental capacity may disturb an individual's decision making. Mental capacity, which is limited for each individual, can be demanded by pressing financial obligations (e.g., education, health and social events) to which individuals may be exposed simultaneously. In contrast, non-poor individuals may be relatively less exposed to this tax. They may be exposed to the same financial obligations, but are able to settle them more easily, as they are not poor. We explore whether such a tax negatively affects an individual's level of financial literacy. Experimentally, we show that for individuals, considered to be poor, such a tax negatively affects their level of financial literacy. In contrast, individuals who are not considered poor are not negatively affected by the tax. Moreover, we find that a financial incentive can act as a counter-measure. It increases the level of financial literacy. We recommend that policymakers consider measures that assist individuals in financial decision making when they have a lower level of financial literacy and to consider incorporating financial incentives in measures intended to increase financial literacy, e.g., in financial literacy training.
Our research is informative on the relevance of financial decision making for poverty in rural India. We find that a tax on mental capacity negatively influences financial literacy in the context of poverty. Thus, financial literacy, which is central for informed financial decisions, is negatively affected. When informed financial decision making is hampered, it may become more difficult to escape poverty. In essence, this suggests a vicious circle, whereby poverty promotes the likelihood of the tax on mental capacity and the tax leads to worse financial decisions due to lower financial literacy. In turn, the likelihood of escaping poverty diminishes.
For the second research objective, we focus on loan control among women who are members of a Self-help group (SHG) and have access to loans through the SHG. We analyze the influence of loan control on the likelihood that the households invest into agriculture. Agricultural investments are important for potential poverty reduction due to their productive nature. Moreover, agriculture is a traditional male domain in India. In our econometric analysis, we show that the likelihood of investing into agriculture declines with increasing loan control by women. The implication of our findings is twofold. First, this inverse relationship shows that households in which women have less loan control invest in domains over which women have no say, agriculture in our study. Thus, the women bear the obligation to repay while having no control over the loan. This may make it more difficult for SHG member women to repay their loans and to develop the reputation of being a reliable borrower. Second, although this burden contradicts the goal of empower¬ing women through access to credit, the household as a whole may still benefit from the productive agricultural investment. This is the tradeoff found in our study in the case of SHG lending. We suggest measures intended to diminish that tradeoff. Measures to encourage women's agricultural investments are discussed. First, we elaborate on women's access to land and markets in India. Second, we discuss the potential for diminishing the tradeoff through measures to increase loan control for women. In particular, we argue that it is worth exploring having loans that are not distributed directly to the SHG member women but are instead transferred to an agricultural investment counterpart. The women can then obtain goods or services from the investment counterpart and do not face the risk of losing control over the money when bringing it home. This research is informative for rural development because it identifies two diametrically opposed outcomes that are both important for rural development, namely potential monetary benefits at the household level through productivity-increasing investments and women's empowerment in the area of loan control.
This dissertation relies on data collected through a survey of 658 households between February and May 2014 in India. To conduct the survey, we visited the households of SHG member women. During the survey, we conducted an experiment that yielded the data for the first research objective. The second research objective relies on cross-sectional data from the survey.


BACKGROUND
Adenoma of the major papilla carries a relatively high risk of malignant transformation to carcinoma, the leading cause of death in patients with familiar adenomatous polyposis (FAP) after colectomy.

CASE REPORT
A 35-year-old man had undergone prophylactic colectomy for FAP 3 years earlier. On the forward-viewing and side-viewing endoscopy done for surveillance, the overlying mucosa of the major papilla showed even granularity. On magnifying duodenoscopy using a narrow-band system (NBI), which uses modified optical filters and yields clear images of fine surface structures on the mucosal layer, a compact formation of round pits was seen in the affected ampulla. The microvascular architecture on NBI magnification showed no abnormalities, such as dilated, tortuous or network-like vessels, suggestive of malignancy. On endoscopic retrograde pancreaticocholangiography there was no intraductal growth, and endoscopic ultrasonography showed confinement to the mucosal layer. The ampullary lesion was completely resected using endoscopic snare papillectomy. Histopathological examination of the removed specimen showed tubular adenoma without malignant foci. The patient's post-treatment course was uneventful and without complications, and no local recurrence was noted on repeat endoscopy.

CONCLUSIONS
Thus, endoscopic surveillance and removal of ampullary adenomas appear to be justified.


This study argues the importance of the Gothic abbey to Romantic-period constructions of creative imagination and identity. I examine four Romantic-period authors with reference to particular abbey sites with which they engaged, placing their works in dialogue with contemporary topographical and antiquarian literature, aesthetic theory, and cultural trends. I consider these authors' representations of Gothic abbeys specifically in the terms of eighteenth-century picturesque landscape aesthetics, according to which the abbey was associated with contemplation. My study thus provides an alternative to readings of architectural descriptions in Romantic- period literature that have conflated abbey architecture with castle architecture (regarded as representing states of repression and confinement). Relating Ann Radcliffe to St Alban's Abbey, William Wordsworth to Furness Abbey, Sir Walter Scott to Melrose Abbey and George Gordon, Lord Byron to Newstead Abbey, I show how these authors each used their informed awareness, and aesthetic appreciation, of Gothic abbey architecture both to assert their personal senses of artistic identity and purpose, and to promote their work within a Gothic Revival-epoch literary market. In this consideration of individual authors and their experiences and representations of specific Gothic abbey sites, my study demonstrates the usefulness of sustained engagement with the eighteenth-century Gothic Revival context to an appreciation of those many literary works of the Romantic period that feature Gothic architectural settings. It is also hoped that it may indicate possible, new directions for critical investigation into the relationships between "Gothic" and "Romantic" literature, and between the literary and the architectural Gothic.


In the international edible oil markets, there is believed to be high substitutability between vegetable oils and fats produced under different conditions. In light of this, we consider the question: what is the nature of the long‐run relationships between vegetable oil prices? Long‐run co‐movements among oil prices are analysed, based on a multivariate cointegration model. The empirical finding is that most co‐movements are consistent with the predictions of market theory. Prices of oils tend to be grouped according to their different end‐uses. Some policy implications of a buffer stock scheme are discussed.


Demographic behaviour is shaped not only by characteristics at the individual level, but also by the context in which individuals are embedded. The Contextual Database of the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) supports research on these micro-macro links by providing cross-country comparative contextual data on demographic, socio-economic, and policy developments covering up to 60 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania. This paper presents conceptual considerations and recent advances in the implementation of this database. Although conceptually linked to the Generations and Gender Survey, the GGP Contextual Database can also be used for the analysis of data from other surveys or to study macro-developments. With its unique combination of features, this database could serve as a model for the development of contextual databases linked to other surveys. These features include the provision of harmonised national and sub-national regional time series of indicators in a dynamic web environment with innovative functionalities, such as metadata documentation by single data entry and automatic geocoding.


In this study, zinc recovery from lead–zinc–copper ore was performed by column flotation with and without ultrasonic pretreatment. First, optimization of operational parameters was carried out by only single-stage column flotation without ultrasonic pretreatment. A zinc concentrate containing 16.93% Zn was obtained from the feed containing 2.71% Zn with 29.41% recovery using single-stage column flotation. Second, a concentrate containing 24.51% Zn was obtained with a recovery of 39.97% when ultrasonic pretreatment was applied to zinc beneficiation by single-stage column flotation at these optimized conditions. Third, a zinc concentrate having 53.41% Zn was produced with a recovery of 71.48% by using three stages of cleaning and three stages of scavenging flotation by column. Finally, a zinc concentrate containing 73.32% Zn was received with a recovery of 76.44% when the ultrasonic pretreatment was used before column flotation by multiple stages. The results revealed that zinc grade and recovery were increased by ultrasonically assisted column flotation tests. It may be due to the increasing dispersion of ultrasound, increasing adsorption of collectors, and the hydrodynamic cavitation which produced small bubbles attaching to the hydrophobic particles, thereby increasing contact angle and attachment.


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Data visualization is important to obtain a better understanding of many networks. However, for larger networks it is hard to perceive the visualization of the network. In order to simplify such visualizations of networks, graph clustering algorithms may be used to identify subgraphs of close vertices and group them together. In this paper we study graph clustering algorithms applied to event structures from continuous integration infrastructures. These event structures are special in the sense that they can be viewed as a directed acyclic graph with edges weighted by the duration between connected events. We have chosen to cluster this graph with variations of divisive graph clustering algorithms utilizing betweenness centrality measures, a measurement which originates from sociology. While some of the algorithms we tested produced acceptable clusters, our conclusion is that more theory behind the event structures is needed in order to achieve greater graph clustering qualities.


Letter from W. J. McKinley to Claude D. White. Birdie wrote them a while ago and they never heard from them. They are worried that Claude and them are all sick. The last time they heard from them they were planning on coming to visit. He asks that they write back if they have been sick.


Early results are reported of hepatic neoplasms studied with dynamic gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (Gd-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of the Gd enhancement pattern for characterizing these neoplasms and to compare the performance of spin-echo (SE) to SE plus dynamic Gd-enhanced gradient-echo (GRE) pulse sequences. Forty-two patients with hepatic neoplasms were examined at 1.5 T field strength. In each patient, short and long repetition time/echo time (TR/TE) SE images were obtained, followed by pre- and post-Gd-DTPA (0.1 mmol/kg body wt), single-slice, breath-hold (13 s/scan) GRE images, which were serially acquired less than or equal to 12 min postinjection. The patterns of contrast enhancement of the various hepatic lesions were documented and analyzed. The time to peak Gd signal enhancement-to-noise ratio (SE/N), contrast-to-noise ratio (C/N), contrast (defined as the signal intensity ratio [SIR]), as well as the peak values of these quantities, were determined. The C/N and SIR values on the short and long TR/TE SE and pre-Gd GRE images for all hepatic neoplasms were also obtained. The discriminating abilities (hemangiomas vs. malignant neoplasms) of these quantities were analyzed statistically. In addition, the impact of lesion characterization on the SE versus the SE plus the Gd-enhanced GRE scans was assessed by means of a blinded reader study. Malignant hepatic neoplasms could be differentiated from hemangiomas by visual inspection of their enhancement patterns (p = 0.0009), by the time to peak C/N on Gd-enhanced images (p = 0.0002), and by the magnitude of such peak (p = 0.02). Combined SE + Gd-enhanced GRE scans afforded minor, though statistically significant (p less than 0.01), improvement of the accuracy in differentiating benign from malignant hepatic neoplasms. Late scans (12 min post-Gd) may be particularly useful in identifying hemangiomas that, unlike other neoplasms, have a significant high signal of their enhancing portions on such images.


Clozapine is an anti-psychotic drug that is known to be effective in the treatment of patients with chronic treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS-SCZ), commonly estimated to be around one third of all cases. However, clinicians sometimes delay the initiation of this drug because of its adverse side-effects. Therefore, identification of predictive biological markers of clozapine response are extremely valuable to aid on-time initiation of treatment. In this study, we develop a machine learning (ML) algorithm based on pre-treatment electroencephalogram (EEG) data sets to predict response to clozapine treatment in 57 TRS-SCZs, where the treatment outcome, after at least one-year follow-up is determined using the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). The ML algorithm has three steps: 1) a brain source localization (BSL) procedure using the linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) beamforming approach is employed on the EEG signals to extract source waveforms from 30 specified brain regions. 2) An effective connectivity measure named symbolic transfer entropy (STE) is applied to the source waveforms. 3) A ML algorithm is applied to the STE matrix to determine whether a set of features can be found to discriminate most-responder (MR) SCZ patients from least-responder (LR) ones. The findings of this study reveal that STE features can achieve an accuracy of 95.83%. This finding implies that analysis of pre-treatment EEG could contribute to our ability to distinguish MR from LR SCZs, and that the source STE matrix may prove to be a promising tool for the prediction of the clinical response to clozapine.


Palatal necrosis after palatoplasty in patients with cleft palate is a rare but significant problem encountered by any cleft surgeon. Few studies have addressed this disastrous complication and the prevalence of this problem remains unknown. Failure of a palatal flap may be attributed to different factors like kinking or section of the pedicle, anatomical variations, tension, vascular thrombosis, type of cleft, used surgical technique, surgeon's experience, infection, and malnutrition. Palatal flap necrosis can be prevented through identification of the risk factors and a careful surgical planning should be done before any palatoplasty. Management of severe fistulas observed as a consequence of palatal flap necrosis is a big challenge for any cleft surgeon. Different techniques as facial artery flaps, tongue flaps, and microvascular flaps have been described with this purpose. This review article discusses the current status of this serious complication in patients with cleft palate.


Paraíba is the main natural bentonite producing state of Brazil. Besides the advantage of abundance of bentonite clays, its transformation in organoclay is a simple method and there is only little study about the commercialization of Brazilian organoclays. In this work, Brazilian bentonite clay was organophilized with different quantity of a quaternary ammonium salt, such as 100, 125 and 150 wt.% in relation to Cationic Exchange Capacity (CEC) of the clay. The clays were characterized by X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetry (TG) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). It was observed that with increasing amount of salt the degree of dispersion of the clay increased, leading in some cases to the delamination of the clay layers and its loss of thermal stability.


Background: Elderly caregivers present increased physical and mental health problems. These factors can lead to a lack of autonomy and a need for social support. This study aims to analyse the relationships between perceived social support and mental health status in elderly caregivers aged 65 and older. Methods: a cross-sectional study based on data from the Spanish National Health Survey (ENSE-17) carried out on 7023 people. The study population was restricted to 431 caregivers aged ≥65 years. A study of the correlation between the mental health state and the perceived social support was carried out. Both variables were related to the sex of the caregiver. Results: Perceived social support by older caregivers is significantly related to mental health (p = 0.001), and stress (p < 0.001). Also, there is a significant relationship between perceived social support and mental well-being (p = 0.001), self-esteem (p = 0.005) and stress (p = 0.001) in older women caregivers. Conclusions: Older caregivers have adequate mental well-being and perceive high social support. Perceived social support can contribute to improving the mental well-being of older caregivers.


At the previous meeting of the Society, data from an auditory lexical decision experiment were presented that demonstrated that subjects are faster to respond to bisyllabic words in which the first syllable is a word (e.g., KIDNEY) than to bisyllabic words in which the first syllable is a nonword (e.g., CHIMNEY). These findings suggest that the activation of component lexical items embedded in longer words has demonstrable effects on recognition time. Data from a single word shadowing experiment will be presented that replicate the previous findings from auditory lexical decision. These results provide further evidence for activation of sublexical units in spoken word recognition and demonstrate that sublexical activation has facilatory—not inhibitory—effects on recognition time. [Work supported by NIH Grant No. DC‐00879‐01 to the State Univ. of New York at Buffalo.]


Value-directed remembering refers to the tendency to best remember important information at the expense of less valuable information, and this ability may draw on strategic attentional processes. In six experiments, we investigated the role of attention in value-directed remembering by examining memory for important information under conditions of divided attention during encoding and retrieval. We presented participants with lists of words of varying objective or subjective value and compared participants completing the study phase under full or divided attention, in addition to participants completing the testing phase under full or divided attention. Results revealed that certain forms of selectivity were impaired when attention was divided during encoding but not when attention was divided during retrieval. Participants initiated recall (i.e., probability of first recall [PFR]) with high-value words as well as with words they subjectively deemed important; these value-mediated PFR retrieval dynamics resisted influence from reduced attentional resources during encoding and retrieval. Thus, while value-directed remembering involves both strategic encoding and retrieval operations, attentional resources during encoding appear crucial for subsequent recollection of valuable and important information; however, attentional resources during retrieval may be less influential in strategic selective memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).


The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, USA has identified activities, beliefs, and perceptions critical for healthy development. The aim of this study was to measure the activities, beliefs and expectations, and perceived outcomes of adolescents with myelomeningocele. In this descriptive study, 66 adolescents with myelomeningocele, aged 12 to 21 years and functioning at grade level, completed a structured interview. Thirty-eight (58%) of the participants were female. The level of lesion was distributed as follows: 30% had thoracic level lesions, 32% had lumbar level lesions, 15% had lumbosacral level lesions, and 23% of the sample had sacral level lesions. Instruments used had both established reliability and validity (WeeFIM, Harter's Self-Perception Profile, Austin's Child Attitude Toward Illness Scale, and Snyder's Hope Scale, Adolescent Decision-Making Inventory, Adolescent Coping Scale) or were scales developed for this study (Adolescent Activities Inventory, Future Expectations Scale, Communication Efficacy, and Adolescent Self-Management and Independence Scale). Scale reliabilities ranged from 0.70 to 0.88. These participants, though hopeful and positive in their attitudes toward myelomeningocele and generally able to perform activities of daily living independently, are not engaging in the full range of adolescent activities (decision making, friendship activities, and household responsibilities) and achieving positive outcomes (self-management and job) necessary to make a successful transition to adulthood. This might explain why so many individuals with myelomeningocele are underemployed and are not living independently as young adults.


Compression is one of the most demanding of the processing steps. Still, image compression is achieved by removing spatial redundancy, while in video devices, temporal redundancy can be used to further improve the compression performance. Various image compression algorithms and coding schemes have been proposed, such as predictive coding, Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) based compression algorithms and wavelet-based compression, Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) algorithms, moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) standards. VLSI circuit implemented image/video compression standards have been reported in the early literature Improvement in CMOS technology results in CMOS image sensor competitive to CCD image sensor in many applications. In this article, we provide a basic introduction to CMOS and CCD image-sensor technology, design and performance limits and present recent developments and future directions in this area correspondingly. CMOS technology enables the integration of image sensing and image processing, making the CMOS image sensor the optimum solution to improve the performance of the overall system. In the last several decades, image sensors integrating different on-chip compression algorithms, such as predictive coding. One of the most important advantages of CMOS image sensors over CCDs is the ability to integrate sensing with analog and digital processing down to the pixel level.


The decade of the 90's has seen a remarkably consistent worldwide reform agenda for the finance and management of universities and other institutions of higher education. What is remarkable about the consistency is that there are very similar patterns in countries with dissimilar political-economic systems and higher educational traditions, and at extremely dissimilar stages of industrial and technological development. Thus, there seem to be similarities among countries greatly disparate in wealth and in political-economic systems. And there are similarities in the reform agendas of countries whose higher education systems are elite and universal, predominantly public or private, or relatively wealthy or staggering under austerity. This review is an attempt to assess the status of this worldwide reform agenda in the late 1990s, in anticipation of the first years of the next millennium. This financial and management reform agenda can be viewed in five themes: a) expansion and diversification; b) fiscal pressure; c) orientation to the market; d) accountability; and e) quality and efficiency.


Aiming at inaccurately and inefficiently fault feature of early crack by the vibration method in the environment of strong noise, the acoustic emission signal (AE) is used to cracks defect with the advantages of sensitive. The Pseudo Wigner-Ville Distribution (PWVD) is introduced to extract the amplitude and frequency of AE signal as feature vector, which combines with support vector machine (SVM) to achieve prediction and diagnosis of fault types of different rotor cracks depth. It is shown by experiment that the proposed method have the features of obvious frequency characteristic, early prediction of fault time, accurate and reliable diagnosis results of early cracks fault diagnosis.


This study introduces the notion of "ecolinguistics" to identify the linguistic correlates of ecological — bedouin, village, and urban — developments in the Arab world, and describes the ecolinguistic rules which speakers generate and apply as they gradually acquire an awareness of the social parameters for their use, to produce new lexical items.


The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is a popular tool to evaluate and compare the accuracy of diagnostic tests to distinguish the diseased group from the nondiseased group when test results from tests are continuous or ordinal. A complicated data setting occurs when multiple tests are measured on abnormal and normal locations from the same subject and the measurements are clustered within the subject. Although least squares regression methods can be used for the estimation of ROC curve from correlated data, how to develop the least squares methods to estimate the ROC curve from the clustered data has not been studied. Also, the statistical properties of the least squares methods under the clustering setting are unknown. In this article, we develop the least squares ROC methods to allow the baseline and link functions to differ, and more importantly, to accommodate clustered data with discrete covariates. The methods can generate smooth ROC curves that satisfy the inherent continuous property of the true underlying curve. The least squares methods are shown to be more efficient than the existing nonparametric ROC methods under appropriate model assumptions in simulation studies. We apply the methods to a real example in the detection of glaucomatous deterioration. We also derive the asymptotic properties of the proposed methods.


Power consumption imposes a significant cost for data centers implementing cloud services, yet much of that power is used to maintain excess service capacity during periods of predictably low load. This paper investigates how much can be saved by dynamically 'right-sizing' the data center by turning off servers during such periods, and how to achieve that saving via an online algorithm. We prove that the optimal offline algorithm for dynamic right-sizing has a simple structure when viewed in reverse time, and this structure is exploited to develop a new 'lazy' online algorithm, which is proven to be 3-competitive. We validate the algorithm using traces from two real data center workloads and show that significant cost-savings are possible.


Embedded Microcomputer Systems: Real Time Interfacing provides an in-depth discussion of the design of real-time embedded systems using 9S12 microcontrollers. This book covers the hardware aspects of interfacing, advanced software topics (including interrupts), and a systems approach to typical embedded applications. This text stands out from other microcomputer systems books because of its balanced, in-depth treatment of both hardware and software issues important in real time embedded systems design. It features a wealth of detailed case studies that demonstrate basic concepts in the context of actual working examples of systems. It also features a unique simulation software package on the bound-in CD-ROM (called Test Execute and Simulate, or TexaS, for short) - that provides a self-contained software environment for designing, writing, implementing, and testing both the hardware and software components of embedded systems.


In accordance with the ink cell structural redundancy of laser gravure image, a method of laser gravure image lossless compression by eliminating the ink cell structural redundancy is presented. At first the background of the ink cell is introduced. The problem of high resolution and high-capacity laser gravure image stored and transmitted is analyzed. Then the compression method is proposed based the characteristic of laser gravure image. The unified description model of four kinds of ink cell was discussed in order to effectively remove the structural redundancy. Experiments show that the proposed method results in reduction of bit rate by 450% compared to using directly universal methods of image lossless compression.


Previous studies have observed that the recently described endogenous opioid, nociceptin/orphanin FQ (NOC/oFQ), contributes to impairment of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced cerebrovasodilation following fluid percussion brain injury (FPI) via a cyclooxygenase (COX)-dependent generation of superoxide anion (O(2)(-)). This study was designed to investigate the relationship between NOC/oFQ, another opioid, dynorphin, and activation of the COX-2 isoform of the enzyme in such impaired dilation to NMDA after FPI in piglets equipped with a closed cranial window. Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-inhibitable nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction was determined as an index of O(-)(2) generation. Under non-brain injury conditions, NOC/oFQ (10(-10) M), the CSF concentration observed after FPI, increased CSF dynorphin, while the NOC/oFQ antagonist [F/G] NOC/oFQ (1-13) NH(2) attenuated the stimulated release of dynorphin following FPI (34 +/- 3 and 97 +/- 6 vs. 36 +/- 3 and 68 +/- 8 pg/mol for CSF dynorphin before and after FPI in untreated and NOC/oFQ antagonist-pretreated animals). FPI increased SOD-inhibitable NBT reduction, but pretreatment with norbinaltorphimine, a dynorphin antagonist, or NS398, a COX-2 inhibitor, blunted such reduction (1 +/- 1 vs. 19 +/- 3 vs. 4 +/- 1 vs. 4 +/- 1 pmol/mm(2) for control, FPI, FPI-norbinaltorphimine and FPI-NS398, respectively). Under non-brain injury conditions, dynorphin, in a concentration observed in CSF after FPI, also increased SOD-inhibitable NBT reduction, which was blunted by NS398. NMDA-induced pial artery dilation was reversed to vasoconstriction following FPI, but pretreatment with norbinaltorphimine or NS398 partially protected such responses (9 +/- 1 and 16 +/- 1, control; - 8 +/- 1 and - 13 +/- 2, FPI; 6 +/- 1 and 12 +/- 1% FPI-norbinaltorphimine for NMDA 10(-8), 10(-6) M, respectively). These data show that NOC/oFQ modulates the CSF release of dynorphin after FPI. These data also show that dynorphin contributes to O(2)(-) generation after FPI via COX-2 activation. These data additionally indicate that dynorphin and COX-2 activation contribute to impairment of NMDA pial artery dilation after FPI. Finally, these data suggest that NOC/oFQ impairs NMDA dilation postinsult via the sequential release of dynorphin, activation of COX-2, and generation of O(2)(-).


Reliability of high resolution airborne and shipborne magnetic surveys depends on accurate removal of temporal variations from the recorded total magnetic field intensity data. At mid latitudes, one or a few base stations are typ- ically located within or near the survey area and are used to monitor and remove time dependent variations. These are usually assumed to be of external origin and uniform throughout the survey area. Here we investigate the influence on the magnetic base station correction of the time varying magnetic field variations generated by internal telluric currents flowing in anomalous regional 2D/3D conductivity structures. The study is based on the statistical analysis of a data set collected by four magnetovariational stations installed in northwestern Italy. The variometer sta- tions were evenly placed with a spacing of about 60 km along a profile roughly parallel to the coastline. They record- ed the geomagnetic field from the beginning to the end of April 2005, with a sampling rate of 0.33 Hz. Cross-corre- lation and coherence analysis applied to a subset of 125 five hours long magnetic events indicates that, for periods longer than 400 s, there is an high correlation between the horizontal magnetic field components at the different sta- tions. This indicates spatial uniformity of the source field and of the induced currents in the 1D Earth. Additionally, the pattern of the induction arrows, estimated from single site transfer functions, reveals a clear electromagnetic sig- nature of the Sestri-Voltaggio line, interpreted as a major regional tectonic boundary. Induced telluric currents flow- ing through this 2D/3D electrical conductivity discontinuity affect mainly the vertical magnetic component at the closer locations. By comparing this component at near (32 km) and far (70 km) stations, we have found that the mean value of the power spectra ratio, due to the electromagnetic induced field, is about 1.8 in the frequency band rang- ing from 2.5 ×10 −3 to 5.5 ×10 −5 Hz. This energy, folded in the spatial domain of an hypothetical survey in this region produces unwanted noise in the dataset. Considering a fifth of nyquist frequency the optimal tie-line spacing to as- sure complete noise removal would be 1 km and 15 km for a rover speed of 6 knots (marine magnetic survey) and 100 knots (aeromagnetic survey) respectively. Similar power spectra analysis can be applied elsewhere to optimise tie-line spacing for levelling and filtering parameters utlilised for microlevelling.


The theme of the conference is a celebration of history teaching in the 350 th year of schooling in South Africa. A lot of developments have happened during with regard to the teaching and understanding of history as a subject. In order to appreciate these developments in the classroom, students should be able to make specific historical claims. Making specific historical causal claims of the form 'A caused that B' is one of the most important things that a person learns. However, the making of causal claims is not confined to the teaching and learning context. School children of whatever age, are in a position of making specific historical causal claims, and do this in varying degrees of skill and standards. The purpose of effective history teaching should be to develop in students a deeper understanding of historical processes. Whilst historical claims can be made about all sorts of things, in this paper, attention will be confined to those claims that have direct relevance to the teaching and learning situation in history. The paper identifies critical issues that need to be considered to make this succeed in the history classroom.


Spatial yield variability is a complex interaction of many factors, including soil properties, weather, pests, fertility,
and management. Crop models are excellent tools to evaluate these complex interactions and provide insight into causes of
spatial yield variability. The goal of this study was to use a soybean crop growth model to determine the contribution of three
factors that cause spatial yield variability and to test several calibration and validation strategies for yield prediction. A
procedure was developed to calibrate the CROPGRO–Soybean model and to compare predicted and measured soybean
yields, assuming that water stress, soybean cyst nematodes (SCN), and weeds were the dominant yield–limiting factors. The
procedure involved calibrating drainage properties and rooting depth over three seasons for each grid. These procedures were
tested on 77 grids (0.2 ha in size) in the McGarvey field in Perry, Iowa, for 1995, 1997, and 1999. Predicted soybean yields
were in good agreement (r2 = 0.80) with measured yield after calibrating three model parameters. The calibrated model was
used to quantify the effects of three yield–limiting factors on soybean. The maximum soybean yield potential in 1997 was
estimated by running the calibrated model with no water, SCN, or weed stress. The model was then run for 1997, turning each
yield–limiting factor off to assess its relative impact on yield reduction. Average estimated yield loss due to the combined
effects of water stress, SCN, and weeds in each grid was 842 kg ha–1. Soybean yields were significantly reduced by an average
of 626 kg ha–1 as a result of water stress. The presence of SCN in several grids accounted for an average yield reduction of
105 kg ha–1. The effects of weeds on soybean yield were not significant.


Objectives To deploy a methodology accurately identifying tweets marketing the illegal online sale of controlled substances. Methods We first collected tweets from the Twitter public application program interface stream filtered for prescription opioid keywords. We then used unsupervised machine learning (specifically, topic modeling) to identify topics associated with illegal online marketing and sales. Finally, we conducted Web forensic analyses to characterize different types of online vendors. We analyzed 619 937 tweets containing the keywords codeine, Percocet, fentanyl, Vicodin, Oxycontin, oxycodone, and hydrocodone over a 5-month period from June to November 2015. Results A total of 1778 tweets (< 1%) were identified as marketing the sale of controlled substances online; 90% had imbedded hyperlinks, but only 46 were "live" at the time of the evaluation. Seven distinct URLs linked to Web sites marketing or illegally selling controlled substances online. Conclusions Our methodology can identify illegal online sale of prescription opioids from large volumes of tweets. Our results indicate that controlled substances are trafficked online via different strategies and vendors. Public Health Implications Our methodology can be used to identify illegal online sellers in criminal violation of the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act.


Large-scale integrated silicon photonic circuits suffer from two inevitable issues that boost the overall power consumption. First, fabrication imperfections even on sub-nm scale result in spectral device non-uniformity that require fine-tuning during device operation. Second, the photonic devices need to be actively corrected to compensate thermal drifts. As a result significant amount of power is wasted if no athermal and wavelength-trimmable solutions are utilized. Consequently, in order to minimize the total power requirement of photonic circuits in a passive way, trimming methods are required to correct the device inhomogeneities from manufacturing and athermal solutions are essential to oppose temperature fluctuations of the passive/active components during run-time. We present an approach to fabricate CMOS backend-compatible and athermal passive photonic filters that can be corrected for fabrication inhomogeneities by UV-trimming based on low-loss amorphous-SOI waveguides with TiO2 cladding. The trimming of highly confined 10 μm ring resonators is proven over a free spectral range retaining athermal operation. The athermal functionality of 2nd-order 5 μm add/drop microrings is demonstrated over 40°C covering a broad wavelength interval of 60 nm.


This thesis is concerned with the problem of shape similarity retrieval in image databases. Curvature Scale Space (CSS) image representation is examined for this purpose. It consists of several arch shape contours representing the inflection points of the shape as it is smoothed. The maxima of these contours are used to represent a shape. In order to make the representation more reliable and also reflection invariant, the conventional matching algorithm is modified. The method is then tested on a database of 1100 images of marine creatures, where the advantages and shortcomings of the method are discovered. One of the main advantages of the method is the existence of local support. This enables us to deal with the main shortcoming of the method which appears in case of shapes with shallow concavities. Several approaches are suggested and implemented to overcome the problem of shallow concavities. The shape is segmented using its CSS image, and more information is extracted from the segmented shape which is then used to enrich the representation. The matching algorithm is also modified to accommodate the new information. Each segment of the shape corresponds to a contour and consequently a maximum of the CSS image. In one approach the normalised average curvature on each segment is used together with the maxima of the CSS image to represent the shape. In another approach the segments are examined at different levels of scale and for each segment, the level of scale where it is converted to a straight line is determined. Using this information along with the maxima of the CSS image yields to the best results. Both inflection points and corners are considered as end-points in different approaches. There is less information about the global appearance of a shape in its CSS image. A small number of global parameters are included and used for indexing to obtain even better results. The problem of evaluation of similarity retrieval methods is addressed. In order to evaluate different approaches, a set of classified shapes are introduced and the performance measure of each method is calculated using this database. In another approach, a subjective evaluation of the method is presented based on the judgements made by human subjects. The method is also tested on a real-world application where the task is to help the users find out whether an unknown leaf belongs to one of the existing varieties or whether it represents a new variety. A web-demo of the work is also prepared and is available in the below mentioned address. The boundary contours of the marine animals images can be obtained from this page.


ABSTRACT There is a need to improve the assessment of causes and consequences of vocal behaviour. The lack of descriptions of the context of call or song production comes from the complexity of its definition. The context is composed of numerous physical and social parameters and therefore its analysis should be multi-dimensional. Classical approaches involve a relatively subjective data reduction. This is due to a pre-selection of the parameters which may be potentially involved, as the analysis becomes rapidly complicated when the number of factors increases. This paper describes a helpful method that allows a much wider range of potential parameters to be explored and displayed visually. The parameters selected for subsequent analysis are those indicated by the display as most relevant and are therefore not arbitrary. We applied this method to observations of events (external or internal to the group) or behaviours (including postures) preceding and following call production. Calls of Campbell's monkeys Cercopithecus campbelli present call types composed of several stereotyped sub-types, raising the question of whether or not such variations have a functional meaning for animals. We present three examples of the application of this method to describe in detail the context of production of a given call type, to detect specific temporal sequences of production and to discriminate between structurally close sub-types.


This thesis is composed of two different parts, aiming to predict and understand the protein structure from their contact maps. In the first part, residue contacts of a protein are predicted using neural networks in order to obtain structural constraints for the three-dimensional structure. Physical and chemical properties of residues and their primary sequence neighbors are used for the prediction. Our predictor can predict 11% of the contacting residuees with a false positive ratio of 2% and it performs 7 times better than a random predictor. In the second part, a new method is developed to model a protein as a network of its interacting residues. Small-world network concept is utilized to interpret the parameters of residue networks. It is concluded that proteins are neither regular nor randomly packed but between these two extremes. Such a structure gives the proteins the ability for fast information relay between their residues. They can undergo necessary conformational changes for their functions on very short time scales. Also, residuee networks are shown to obey a truncated power-law degree distribution instead of being scale-free. This shows that proteins have fewer structurally weak points, whose failure would be total damage for the system. This finding conforms to evolutionary plasticity of proteins: Having a low number of weak points makes the mild DNA mutations to be tranlated into the protein structure as highly tolerable.


There is a growing demand for companies to report and demonstrate their environmental credentials and corporate responsibility, which presents an opportunity for them to differentiate and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. They are now recognizing the limited capacity of the environment to endure the current level of development and economic growth, depletion of natural resources, increasing problem of waste, worrying carbon dioxide emissions, and other environmental impacts. In fact, for asset and project managers, financial criteria are no longer the sole considerations to achieve success and shareholder value. Therefore, environment is being considered as a future source of risk or opportunity. The present research proposes methodology and mathematical models for a sustainable asset and project management, with the focus on the environmental aspect of sustainable development and more specifically the issue of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The following models have been presented in this dissertation. First, a mathematical fleet optimization model is developed, which incorporates the environmental impacts of a fleet of assets over a finite horizon, in addition to its total cost of ownership. As a unique feature of the model, it allows the assets to be kept in storage over any time period, in which such assets do not deteriorate as in-use assets do. The mathematical model optimizes the number of new, in-use, in-storage, and salvaged assets in each time period, so that the total economic costs and environmental impacts are minimized. The application of this work is illustrated in a fleet of excavators.

Second, a hybrid Bayesian network (BN) is proposed for fleet availability analysis, focusing on the uncertainty of assets failure and repair rates. We model the common causes to individual rates, as well as the common causes that affect both failure and repair rates at the same time. The proposed model explicitly quantifies uncertainty in repair and failure rates of a fleet of assets and provides an appropriate method for modeling complex dependencies and factors affecting reliability, maintainability, or both, by considering influencing factors, either technical (such as working temperature, environment, quality, stress, etc.) or organizational (such as staff quality, management policies, etc.). We will then extend the model to consider extremely rare and/or previously unobserved risks (e.g. heavy storms, droughts, floods, etc.) that can significantly weaken reliability or maintainability levels.

Third, a deterministic model for equipment repair-replacement (R/R) decision with both economic and environmental considerations is formulated. We converted the model into an algorithm and an automatic R/R Calculator. A probabilistic version of this model is then developed to factor in the quality of preventive maintenance, repair perfection, and risk events. We also model the causal relationship between equipment reliability and its GHG emissions during the operation phase. A plastic shredder case study was used to present the models' results.

Fourth, we aim to capture the uncertainty of carbon price in the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) market, by determining the causality between carbon price and its driving forces. A probabilistic model is developed using BNs to infer the possible ranges of each driving force that could have an escalation/depreciation effect on price as well as the magnitude of this effect. The model is developed and run based on a database of historical and projection on the selected driving factors in all the jurisdictions of the WCI market, providing the most probable price(s) over the next ten years.

Finally, we developed two models to estimate and control project GHG emissions. The first model is developed based the earned value management (EVM) technique, a common practice in project cost and schedule performance measurement. The proposed model provides project managers with metrics to measure project GHG performance at any point in time over the life of a project and forecast the final emissions. In addition, we proposed a probabilistic model to quantify the uncertainty of project GHG emissions using Monte Carlo Simulation and BN techniques. The model provides a quantitative risk analysis mechanism to estimate the total emissions of the project as well as prediction of final emissions during the implementation process. The proposed models are applied to a work package of a real construction project.


Hybrid incompatibility is important in speciation as it prevents gene flow between closely related populations. Reduced fitness from hybrid incompatibility may also reinforce prezygotic reproductive isolation between sympatric populations. However, the genetic and developmental basis of hybrid incompatibility in higher vertebrates remains poorly understood. Mammals and birds, both amniotes, have similar developmental processes, but marked differences in development such as the XY/ZW sex determination systems and the presence or absence of genomic imprinting. Here, we review the sterile phenotype of hybrids between the Phodopus dwarf hamsters P. campbelli and P. sungorus, and the inviable phenotype of hybrids between two birds of the family Phasianidae, chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) and Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). We propose hypotheses for developmental defects that are associated with these hybrid incompatibilities. In addition, we discuss the genetic and developmental basis for these defects in conjunction with recent findings from mouse and avian models of genetics, reproductive biology and genomics. We suggest that these hybrids are ideal animal models for studying the genetic and developmental basis of hybrid incompatibility in amniotes.


In 1938 the British Lions visited South Africa to take on the team generally recognised as the best in the world and led by legendary scrum-half Danie Craven for the three match series. The task awaiting the Lions was huge and to their eternal credit they recovered after losing the first two Tests to secure victory in the third, a match recognised at the time as the finest played in South Africa. Seventy years may have passed but the names of Craven, Gerry Brand, Fred Turner, Flappie Lochner, Tony Harris, the brothers 'Boy' and 'Fanie' Louw, Ferdie Bergh and Jan Lotz are still revered in South African rugby circles. And the Lions? Under strength due to the absence of several leading players unable to afford the luxury of six months overseas travel the party still included players of the calibre of Vivian Jenkins, Charles Grieve, Bill Clement and Harry McKibbin - both destined for high office with their respective unions - Haydn Tanner, Bunner Travers, George Dancer, Bob Alexander and the enigma that was Blair Mayne, who won four DSOs, the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d' honneur in the Second World War which followed the tour. Memorable as events on the playing field may have been the 1938 tourists saw much which helps make their story one of the most interesting in the long history of Lions' rugby. The extended journeys by sea and the thousands of miles by train which took the visitors the length and breadth of the country make touring in the twenty first century seem nothing more than a brief interlude - all subsequent tours to South Africa would involve the aeroplane. Then there was the social side of touring - the receptions, parties, official dinners and much else besides. The 1938 tourists laid witness to much more than their counterparts in the era of a professional sport can ever expect. Theirs was more an adventure than a sporting extravaganza in which success or failure is determined solely by the winning or losing of a Test series. The book is called 'Last of the Blue Lions' because on the next tour - in 1948 - the Lions switched from blue jerseys to the famous red they still wear.


In this work the long-term antibacterial activity of silver doped titania coatings is studied systematically as a function of the titania layer structure (with and without molecular template) and the amount and physical properties of the silver dopant. Silver was incorporated in two different ways into the titania sol–gel films, either by co-deposition, i.e., adding the silver ions directly to the precursor sol of the layer or by post-synthetic impregnation of the mesoporous titania coating. The structure and morphology of the layers were investigated using transmission and scanning electron microscopy, whereas the silver content was determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli bacteria were studied by colony forming unit assay and agar diffusion method. It was found that directly after preparation, all composite coatings show antibacterial activity both in the dark and under visible light illumination. The antibacterial activity of the co-deposited samples vanished after the first use despite their high and constant remaining silver content (2.597 at%). This type of coating was not effective in agar diffusion tests at all. The antibacterial activity of the impregnated coatings with lower silver contents (0.596 at% and 1.961 at%), however, showed long-lasting antibacterial effect both in the colony forming unit assay and in agar diffusion tests as well. This can be attributed to the fact that the silver content is distributed over the mesoporous network of the titania coating and is effective during the long-term tests.


Sulphate aerosols are dominated by SO2 emissions from coal-burning for the Indian electricity sector and they are thought to have a short term but significant, negative impact on South Asian Summer Monsoon rainfall. This reduction in precipitation in turn can lead to reduced economic outputs, primarily through smaller agricultural yields. By bringing together estimates of (a) the impact of sulphate aerosols on precipitation and (b) the observed relationship between monsoon rainfall and GDP, we present a methodology to estimate the possible financial cost of this effect on the Indian economy and on its agricultural sector. Our preliminary estimate is that the derived benefits could be large enough that around 50% of India's SO2 emissions could be economically mitigated at no cost or net benefit, although it should be noted that the large uncertainties in the underlying relationships mean that the overall uncertainty is also large. Comparison of the 1952–1981 and 1982–2011 periods indicates that the Indian economy may now be more resilient to variability of the monsoon rainfall. As such, a case could be made for action to reduce SO2 emissions, particularly in the crucial monsoon period. This would have a significant, positive effect on a crucial and large sector in India's economy and the effects would be visible almost instantly. The recent growth in renewable energy sources in India and the consequent, reduced increase in coal burning means that further financial costs have already been avoided. This impact should be further investigated so that it can be included in cost-benefit analyses of different fuel types in the region. The significant uncertainties associated with these calculations are discussed.


The motion and equilibrium distribution of water molecules adsorbed inside neutral and negatively charged single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been studied using molecular dynamics simulations (MDSs) at room temperature based on CHARMM (Chemistry at HARvard Molecular Mechanics) potential parameters. We find that water molecules have a conspicuous electropism phenomenon and regular tubule patterns inside and outside the charged tube wall. The analyses of the motion behaviour of water molecules in the radial and axial directions show that by charging the SWNT, the adsorption efficiency is greatly enhanced, and the electric field produced by the charged SWNTs prevents water molecules from flowing out of the nanotube. However, water molecules can travel through the neutral SWNT in a fluctuating manner. This indicates that by electrically charging and uncharging the SWNTs, one can control the adsorption and transport behaviour of polar molecules in SWNTs for using as a stable storage medium or long transport channels. The transport velocity can be tailored by changing the charge on the SWNTs, which may have a further application as modulatable transport channels.