A major barrier for the adoption of wireless mesh networks is severe limits on throughput. In this paper, we apply superposition coding to substantially improve network capacity of large, dense wireless mesh networks. Superposition coding is a physical layer technique that allows a transmitter to simultaneously send independent packets to multiple receivers. While superposition coding has been studied extensively by the physical layer community, we present the first design of practical and effective MAC protocols to take advantage of superposition coding in wireless mesh networks. Extensive evaluations show that superposition coding can be a practical method to increase the throughput of large, dense wireless mesh networks. Specifically, in a mesh network with 2 to 64 active receivers and one gateway, we show that our system can increase throughput up to 154%, with average gain ranging from 10% to 21%. When there are multiple gateways forming a mesh network, our system gains up to 98%, with average gain ranging from 24% to 46%. These results clearly demonstrate the potential benefits of our system. We also present results from an implementation of superposition coding using GNU Radio.


Face recognition by machines has various important applications in our daily life. However, the task to teach machine to recognize face images has been a very challenging task. This paper presents face recognition by combining Generalized Discriminant Analysis (GDA) as a feature extractor and Support Vector Machines (SVM) as a classifier. Our experiment showed that the performance of combining these two methods as a face image classifier is better than by only using SVM. The accuracy of combined method is above 85%.


The conflict in Darfur, Western Sudan, is frequently represented in the media as a dispute over access to resources by competing communities. Environmental degradation is often cited as either a causal or a contributory factor to the outbreak of the conflict and its prolongation. In this paper, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data are used as a measure of 'eco-scarcity' to assess the notion that the outbreak of conflict was the result of competition for resources between communities. It is shown that there is no evidence in the vegetation mapping for a worsening of the ecological situation in Western and Northern Darfur states around the outbreak of the conflict. On the contrary, the years prior to the outbreak of the conflict experienced better than average vegetation growth in the context of the past 25 years.


Somatic cell reprogramming proceeds through a series of events to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The early stage of reprogramming of mouse embryonic fibroblasts is characterized by rapid cell proliferation and morphological changes, which are accompanied by downregulation of mesenchyme-associated genes. However, the functional relevance of their downregulation to reprogramming remains poorly defined. In this study, we have screened transcriptional regulators that are downregulated immediately upon reprogramming, presumably through direct targeting by reprogramming factors. To test if these transcriptional regulators impact reprogramming when expressed continuously, we generated an expression vector that harbors human cytomegalovirus upstream open reading frame 2 (uORF2), which reduces translation to minimize the detrimental effect of an expressed protein. Screening of transcriptional regulators with this expression vector revealed that downregulation of (odd-skipped related 2 [Osr2]) is crucial for efficient reprogramming. Using a cell-based model for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), we show that Osr2 is a novel EMT regulator that acts through induction of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling. During reprogramming, Osr2 downregulation not only diminishes TGF-β signaling but also allows activation of Wnt signaling, thus promoting mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) toward acquisition of pluripotency. Our results illuminate the functional significance of Osr2 downregulation in erasing the mesenchymal phenotype at an early stage of somatic cell reprogramming.


Production of nitrogenous waste by livestock agriculture is a significant environmental concern in terms of pollution of land and water. In the rumens of cattle and sheep, the excessive proteolysis which contributes to inefficiency of nutrient use involves both the rumen microbial population and the intrinsic plant proteases that can mediate protein degradation in ingested fresh forage on exposure to the environmental stresses of the rumen. Here, white clover (Trifolium repens) plants that do not form root nodules, and so are dependent on nitrate supplied to the roots, have been used to determine how nitrogen status of the plant affects the rate of plant-mediated proteolysis in forage under conditions that simulate ingestion by grazing ruminants. Plants were grown from seed and supplied with nutrient solution containing 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 or 10 mM nitrate. Protein, free amino acid and protease activity were determined in leaves which had been placed in an in vitro system designed to simulate conditions experienced in the rumen (anaerobic phosphate buffer maintained at 39°C in the dark). Foliar protein content increased with increasing nitrate supply, while in vitro incubation of leaves resulted in time-dependent decreases in protein concentration and increases in amino acid concentration. Regardless of nitrate supply, 50% of the protein was degraded in 6 h and 80% after 24 h. As the extent of protein decrease was determined by initial protein content, more protein degradation occurred in those plants grown with the highest nitrate supply: after 6 h, 130.7 mg g -1 dry matter (DM) was degraded in leaves grown at 10 mM nitrate but only 52.3 mg g -1 DM in leaves grown at 2.5 mM nitrate. Hence, although the percentage of proteolysis is independent of foliar protein concentration, the latter is critical to the quantity of protein degraded. Heat-stable serine and cysteine proteases were active throughout the term of the in vitro incubation. Although proteolysis in ingested forage can continue for many hours, mediated by heat-stable proteases, maximum amino acid accumulation accounted for less than 40% of initial protein. Therefore, it is proposed that continued and extensive proteolysis occurs following leaf excision and exposure to rumen conditions because amino acid accumulation is insufficient to initiate those feedback systems which sense cytoplasmic amino acid concentration and prevent excessive proteolysis during normal source-sink relations.


This article discusses gift authorship, the practice where co-authorship is awarded to a person who has not contributed significantly to the study. From an ethical point of view, gift authorship raises concerns about desert, fairness, honesty and transparency, and its prevalence in research is rightly considered a serious ethical concern. We argue that even though misuse of authorship is always bad, there are instances where accepting requests of gift authorship may nevertheless be the right thing to do. More specifically, we propose that researchers may find themselves in a situation much similar to the problem of dirty hands, which has been frequently discussed in political philosophy and applied ethics. The problem of dirty hands is relevant to what we call hostage authorship, where the researchers include undeserving authors unwillingly, and only because they find it unavoidable in order to accomplish a morally important research goal.


The agglutination test when carried out so as to give the entire range of serum dilutions to the limit of clumping is a delicate test which reflects a variety of conditions involved in infection with Bacillus abortus. Among these conditions are its time relation to the act of abortion and the length of time the abortion bacilli live and multiply in the pregnant uterus. It is obvious that if a uterus be infected in the 8th month of pregnancy, the opportunity for agglutinins to accumulate are poorer than if the uterine infection lasts 3 or 4 months. The presence of Bacillus abortus in the udder determines in many cases the intensity of the reaction. No definite rules can therefore be formulated for the interpretation of the agglutination reaction quantitatively, since it is bound up with a complicated process varying from case to case. In the individual cow in general a titer of 1:40 or less may be regarded as indicating that the cow is not infected with Bacillus abortus at the time of the blood examination. It does not exclude former infections in the case of older cows, nor does it absolutely exclude very recent infection (Nos. 278 and 351). The highest titers, 1:640 and above, generally indicate recent infection and in the absence of recent premature births infection of the udder. Even when abortion has just occurred, it may be due to other agencies and the high titer maintained by a chronic infection of the udder dating from an earlier uterine infection with Bacillus abortus. Intermediate titers may indicate a gradual rise or decline of agglutinins preceding or following abortion without infection of the udder. They may also stand for a relatively high resistance or partial immunity of the cow. In any herd a uniformly low titer (1:40 or less) in all animals may be regarded as indicating the entire absence of Bacillus abortus. A high titer in any one cow serves to indicate quite definitely the presence of infection in the herd. To determine more accurately the character of the infection in any individual cow there is needed in addition to the quantitative agglutination test a bacteriological study of the milk and of any prematurely discharged calf or fetus.


Biomolecular simulations have traditionally benefited from increases in the processor clock speed and coarse-grain inter-node parallelism on large-scale clusters. With stagnating clock frequencies, the evolutionary path for performance of microprocessors is maintained by virtue of core multiplication. Graphical processing units (GPUs) offer revolutionary performance potential at the cost of increased programming complexity. Furthermore, it has been extremely challenging to effectively utilize heterogeneous resources (host processor and GPU cores) for scientific simulations, as underlying systems, programming models and tools are continually evolving. In this paper, we present a parametric study demonstrating approaches to exploit resources of heterogeneous systems to reduce time-to-solution of a production-level application for biological simulations. By overlapping and pipelining computation and communication, we observe up to 10-fold application acceleration in multi-core and multi-GPU environments illustrating significant performance improvements over code acceleration approaches, where the host-to-accelerator ratio is static, and is constrained by a given algorithmic implementation.


Introduction: The early identification of factors that predict the length of hospital stay (HS) in patients affected by coronavirus desease (COVID19) might assist therapeutic decisions and patient flow management. Methodology: We collected, at the time of admission, routine clinical, laboratory, and imaging parameters of hypoxia, lung damage, inflammation, and organ dysfunction in a consecutive series of 50 COVID-19 patients admitted to the Respiratory Disease and Infectious Disease Units of the University Hospital of Sassari (North-Sardinia, Italy) and alive on discharge. Results: Prolonged HS (PHS, >21 days) patients had significantly lower PaO2/FiO2 ratio and lymphocytes, and significantly higher Chest CT severity score, C-reactive protein (CRP) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) when compared to non-PHS patients. In univariate logistic regression, Chest CT severity score (OR = 1.1891, p = 0.007), intensity of care (OR = 2.1350, p = 0.022), PaO2/FiO2 ratio (OR = 0.9802, p = 0.007), CRP (OR = 1.0952, p = 0.042) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (OR = 1.0039, p = 0.036) were significantly associated with PHS. However, in multivariate logistic regression, only the PaO2/FiO2 ratio remained significantly correlated with PHS (OR = 0.9164; 95% CI 0.8479-0.9904, p = 0.0275). In ROC curve analysis, using a threshold of 248, the PaO2/FiO2 ratio predicted PHS with sensitivity and specificity of 60% and 91%, respectively (AUC = 0.780, 95% CI 0.637-0.886 p = 0.002). Conclusions: The PaO2/FiO2 ratio on admission is independently associated with PHS in COVID-19 patients. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm this finding.


Lightweight, compliant actuators are particularly desirable in robotic systems intended for interaction with humans. Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) exhibit these characteristics and are capable of higher specific work than comparably-sized hydraulic actuators and electric motors. The objective of this work is to develop a control algorithm that can smoothly and accurately track the desired motions of a manipulator actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles. The manipulator is intended for lifting humans in nursing assistance or casualty extraction scenarios; hence, the control strategy must be capable of responding to large variations in payload over a large range of motion. The present work first investigates the feasibility of two output feedback controllers (proportional-integral-derivative and fuzzy logic), but due to the limitations of pure output feedback control, a model-based feedforward controller is developed and combined with output feedback to achieve improved closed-loop performance. The model upon which the controller is based incorporates the internal airflow dynamics, the physical parameters of the pneumatic muscles and the manipulator dynamics. Simulations were performed in order to validate the control algorithms, guide controller design and predict optimal gains. Using real-time interface software and hardware, the controllers were implemented and experimentally tested on the manipulator, demonstrating the improved capability.


The principal axes of the time-frequency representation of a signal are defined as those mutually orthogonal directions in the time-frequency plane for which the width of the signal's fractional power spectrum is minimum or maximum. The time-frequency kernels used in the Cohen class of time-frequency representations are then rotated in the time-frequency plane, in order to align the kernels' preferred axes to the signal's principal axes. It is shown that the resulting time-frequency representations show a better reduction of cross-terms without too severely degrading the autoterms than the corresponding original time-frequency representations.


We present a simple model and algorithm for predicting driver destinations and routes, based on the input of the latest road links visited as part of an ongoing trip. The algorithm may be used to predict any clusters previously observed in a driver's trip history. It assumes that the driver's historical trips are grouped into clusters sharing similar patterns. Given a new trip, the algorithm attempts to predict the cluster in which the trip belongs. The proposed algorithm has low temporal complexity. In addition, it does not require the transition and emission matrices of the Markov chain to be computed. Rather it relies on the frequencies of co-occurrences of road links and trip clusters. We validate the proposed algorithm against an experimental dataset. We discuss the success and convergence of the algorithm and show that our algorithm has a high prediction success rate.


Major facilitator superfamily (MFS) proteins operate via three different mechanisms: uniport, symport, and antiport. Despite extensive investigations, molecular understanding of antiporters is less advanced than other transporters due to the complex coupling between two substrates and the lack of distinct structures. We employ extensive (~300 μs) all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to dissect the complete substrate exchange cycle of the bacterial antiporter, NarK. We show that paired basic residues in the binding site prevent the closure of unbound protein and ensure the exchange of two substrates. Conformational transition only occurs in the presence of substrate, which weakens the electrostatic repulsion and stabilizes the transporter by ~1.5 ± 0.1 kcal/mol. Furthermore, we propose a state-dependent substrate exchange model, in which the relative spacing between the paired basic residues determines whether and bind simultaneously or sequentially. Overall, this work presents a general working model for the antiport mechanism within MFS family.


Geothermal heat flux (GHF) is an important part of the basal heat budget of continental ice sheets. The difficulty of measuring GHF below ice sheets has directly hindered progress in the understanding of ice sheet dynamics. We present a new GHF measurement from below the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, made in subglacial sediment near the grounding zone of the Whillans Ice Stream. The measured GHF is 88 ± 7 mW m−2, a relatively high value compared to other continental settings and to other GHF measurements along the eastern Ross Sea of 55 mW m−2 and 69 ± 21 mW m−2 but within the range of regional values indicated by geophysical estimates. The new GHF measurement was made ~100 km from the only other direct GHF measurement below the ice sheet, which was considerably higher at 285 ± 80 mW m−2, suggesting spatial variability that could be explained by shallow magmatic intrusions or the advection of heat by crustal fluids. Analytical calculations suggest that spatial variability in GHF exceeds spatial variability in the conductive heat flux through ice along the Siple Coast. Accurate GHF measurements and high‐resolution GHF models may be necessary to reliably predict ice sheet evolution, including responses to ongoing and future climate change.


What causes people to move within and between certain places and not within and between others? How do physical outdoor environments affect the way people act and move? Do different environments generate different body language and mimics in the bodies that inhabit them? In my pursuit for answers to these questions I studied literature and initiated and took part in dialogues in the form of workshops, all of which has resulted into this thesis.

My questions have initially arisen from reflections of my own environment and how it not only affects my mental condition, but also my actions. Drawing upon the hermeneutic term "preconception" I trust that what we label "truth" is constructed by our lived experience and the society we grow up in. Therefore I don't believe in deriving an objective and truthful knowledge about places solely from the mental processing of visual inputs. Instead of focusing on mental notions of places I have therefore chosen to study (human) bodily presence, experience and adaptation to its environment.

My analysis shows that despite vast criticism towards modernist or functionalist planning ideas within architectural discourse over the last thirty years, it still clearly lacks the notion of bodies. Since the birth of the modern city at the end of the 19th century, the experience of the city has dealt with visual, spiritual and mental notions about space. The focus on the opposition space-place during the 20th century has further evolved the mental notions without considering bodies. The result of this is that, up until this day, architectural discourse is governed by mental, transcendental notions.

Further I show how the terms space, place and landscape (as well as its corresponding terms within a constructivist and bodily approach) are equally relevant and may well represent different dimensions that ought to be taken into account in the production of space. The significance of the three dimensions is expanded through the examination of the human body in space, by means of theories derived from modern and post-modern dance. This analysis shows that bodily movement speaks directly to a bodily preconception which, similar to a mental one accumulate experiences, but where the bodily preconception mainly takes place in everyday life.

The study of the term territoriality (which explains the power or influence that environments have on bodies) further shows that different territorialisations play an important role for our actions during everyday life and that a territorial complexity is preferred if one requests environments that allow and welcome different types of actions and bodies. The contribution of choreography to urban planning is thus the understanding of the body in space and the three dimensions of bodily movement (movement, participation and presence) that should be considered in production of space. My proposal for urban planning is to explore the design of environments that are engaging bodily instead of mentally, thus creating bodily presence rather than visual form evoking mental notions.


Abstract Three steps have been established during the Holocene formation of the bar-built estuary of Las Nuevas (Doñana National Park, Spain), on the basis of the clay mineralogy variations and the palaeontological record. The first step is characterized by the presence of ostracodes and homogeneous quantities of clay minerals (17−20% illite, 25−29% smectites), values of smectite (0.64− 0.70) and illite (0.60−0.70) crystallinity indexes, and the ratio of AlVI/(FeVI + MgVI) in illite (0.46− 0.47). This zone is interpreted as a very shallow lagoon with euryhaline conditions. The presence of roots, the progressive disappearance of foraminifers and an increase in the smectite content (up to 35%) define the second step. A salt-marsh environment with low-energy hydrodynamic conditions is deduced for this zone. The third step is characterized by an increase in illite content (up to 35%), and a decrease of the smectite content (up to 21%). The smectite crystallinity index decreased to 0.38, whereas the illite ratio AlVI/(FeVI + MgVI) decreased to 0.36. In this zone, the ostracode assemblage contains numerous juvenile stages of coastal species coinciding with lumachelle accumulations of the estuarine bivalves, abundant foraminifers and the presence of charophytes. This zone represents a strong marine input, probably caused by storms.


In [arXiv:0706.4180], a certain natural phenomenon of self-observing consciousness was shown to be incompatible with the standard axioms of quantum theory. In order to consider a possibility of removing this inconsistency, which arises due to the separation between an observing party and a state vector being observed stated in the quantum theory axioms, we provide a conjecture where 'being' is identified with the conscious experience of observing the state vector. That is, the observer is not observing the state vector in terms of the relative difference between reference frames, instead, the conscious experience of observing the state vector should define the observer, or being. It is shown that the Heisenberg picture provides a natural description of this conjecture.


One of the most intriguing protein materials found in nature is bone, a material composed of assemblies of tropocollagen molecules and tiny hydroxyapatite mineral crystals that form an extremely tough, yet lightweight, adaptive and multifunctional material. Bone has evolved to provide structural support to organisms, and therefore its mechanical properties are of great physiological relevance. In this article, we review the structure and properties of bone, focusing on mechanical deformation and fracture behavior from the perspective of the multidimensional hierarchical nature of its structure. In fact, bone derives its resistance to fracture with a multitude of deformation and toughening mechanisms at many size scales ranging from the nanoscale structure of its protein molecules to the macroscopic physiological scale.


Shear-stress analyses provide easily determined estimates of the competence of rivers to transport coarse bedload material. Relevant data from diverse geological and engineering reports are integrated, and a good correlation between competent particle size and shear stress results when data points are derived in a uniform way. Because flow mechanics differ in contrasting fluvial environments, the shear stresses needed to entrain large sediment may diverge considerably from values based on theoretical grounds. In shallow rivers, entrainment may occur at lower shear stresses than predicted by the Shields theory because hydrodynamic lift and bank caving provide additional transporting force. In very deep flows, the shear stresses needed to initiate particle movement are greater than theoretical values. Potential use of the empirical relationship between particle size and shear stress is limited by the following considerations: (1) random nature of turbulent life forces, (2) problems in interpreting the significance of the sedimentary deposit, (3) sediment finer than 5 cm in diameter is not considered, and (4) the analysis ignores special considerations of sediment packing, shape, and grain-size distributions.


Utilizing a modification of the rat diaphragm technic, studies of the mechanism of action of the albumin-associated antagonist were carried out using human fraction V. It was demonstrated that the antagonist could not be washed off of the diaphragm, that prior exposure of the diaphragm to insulin did not fully protect it from subsequent antagonism of the insulin effect and that, although antagonism was proportional to albumin concentration, large excesses of insulin could not completely overcome small concentrations of the antagonist. The intracellular accumulation of AIB was inhibited by the antagonistic albumin but not by a nonantagonistic one (bovine fraction V). Both albumins depressed radioactive glycine incorporation into muscle protein. The antagonist was shown to inhibit glucose uptake much more than glycogen synthesis. These data indicate that the albumin-associated antagonist primarily blocks insulin effects on transport by either an extremely strong binding to the muscle cell or an irreversible alteration of the diaphragm's response to insulin without binding.


Web services are being increasingly exploited in software development. Their advantages, for example, platform independence, would be enhanced if they could be bound to dynamically at run time. However, existing methods for dynamic binding have proved problematic. This paper proposes an approach based upon both continuously caching on a Local Area Network (LAN), web services selected for their relevance to an organisation and their quality of service data, and upon dynamically linking to these at run time based upon QoS criteria required by specific organisation business processes.


High current effects on double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) performance were investigated. Three DHBTs with different collector doping densities were grown and processed. DC and RF measurements were performed to evaluate the influence of collector doping and the related Kirk effect on HBT performance. In addition to these samples, the Kirk effect was proven on SHBTs and the delay of this effect on submicron HBTs was investigated.


ABSTRACT:This article examines the political and economic contexts driving Edith Ayrton Zangwill's narrative of women's professional work, the war effort, and the end of the women's suffrage movement in her 1924 novel The Call. In The Call, Ayrton Zangwill revisits prewar equality feminism's concerns as a response to the relatively circumscribed difference feminism of the postwar years. While the existing scholarship on The Call treats the novel either as a belated artifact of the suffrage movement or as a "women in the professions" novel, this article attends to the economic contexts that bridge these genres and provides a reading of the ways in which The Call strategically registers the differences between the lives of women in the years it depicts and at the time of its composition. It also situates the novel in the context of recent periodical studies of the "modern woman" in order to demonstrate how Ayrton Zangwill's particular professional woman offers a nuanced corrective to the glossier version of the ideal that appeared in women's magazines of the postwar years.


Static typing allows type errors to be revealed at compile time, which reduces the amount of maintenance and debugging that must occur later on. However, often the static type information included in source code is duplicate or redundant. Type inference resolves this issue by inferring the types of variables from their usage, allowing much of the type information to be omitted. This thesis formally describes Mocha, an extension to Java, which supports the inference of both local variable and field types. Mocha has unique support for local variables having different types at different program points which allows variables to be retyped due to certain conditional statements. It also includes a procedure for handling the effect Java exceptions have on the type inference process.


Young people in America today face a crisis of character. Traditional role models continue to disappoint the public, falling short of expectations and fostering cynicism rather than idealism. As a result, many young people struggle to distinguish right from wrong and seem indifferent to whether it matters. It clearly becomes the task of parents and schools to re-engage the hearts and minds of our children in forming their own characters. In Building Character in Schools, Kevin Ryan and Karen Bohlin draw from nearly fifty years of combined field experience to offer a practical guide to character education -- designed to help children to know the good, love the good, and do the good. Ryan and Bohlin provide a blueprint for educators who wish to translate a personal commitment to character education into a schoolwide vision and effort. They outline the principles and strategies of effective character education and explain what schools must do to teach students the habits and dispositions that lead to responsible adulthood -- from developing curriculum that reinforces good character development to strengthening links with parents. A useful resource section includes sample lessons, program guidelines, and a parents' list of ways to promote character in their children. Building Character in Schools clearly defines the responsibilities of adults and students in modeling and nurturing character and sets forth practical guidelines for schools seeking to become communities of virtue where responsibility, hard work, honesty, and kindness are modeled, taught, expected, celebrated, and continually practiced.


Nowadays it is possible to combine X-ray crystallography and fragment screening in a medium throughput fashion to chemically probe the surfaces used by proteins to interact and use the outcome of the screens to systematically design protein-protein inhibitors. To prove it we first performed a bioinformatics analysis of the Protein Data Bank protein complexes, which revealed over 400 cases where the crystal lattice of the target in the free form is such that large portions of the interacting surfaces are free from lattice contacts and therefore accessible to fragments during soaks. Among the tractable complexes identified, we then performed single fragment crystal screens on two particular interesting cases: the Il1β-ILR and p38α-TAB1 complexes. The result of the screens showed that fragments tend to bind in clusters, highlighting the small-molecule hotspots on the surface of the target protein. In most of the cases the hotspots overlapped with the binding sites of the interacting proteins.


We read with interest the evaluation of the Briiel and Kjler monitor 1304 by McPeak and his colleagues (Anaesthesia 1992; 47: 41-7). With regard to the sensitivity of the vapour channel of this instrument to alcohol, it was shown that it is totally unaffected. This is due to the fact that the wavelength used for measurement of anaesthetic vapours is a t the high end of the infrared spectrum (10.3-13 pm). This is unlike some other infrared vapour analysers who sample at the low end of the spectrum e.g. the Datex Capnomac (3.3 pm). In our veterinary clinic we use the latter instrument to measure anaesthetic vapour concentrations during inhalation anaesthesia in horses. We noticed that the Capnomac displayed erroneously high readings in some cases. We have shown that this instrument is sensitive to the presence of methane that accumulates in the circle system during anaesthesia of these herbivores [I]. When comparing the Capnomac with the B and K we found that the latter monitor is totally unaffected by methane. This is not unexpected since methane absorption occurs a t the low end of the infrared spectrum. Methane can accumulate during closed system anaesthesia in man [2]. It was shown recently that when true closed system conditions were maintained during the entire anaesthetic period, methane accumulation (up to 1967 ppm) was responsible for false 'halothane' readings up to 2% when an infrared analyser sampling at 3.3 pm was used [3]. It appears that the B and K monitor 1304 is more suited for use during prolonged closed circuit anaesthesia.


Background The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of 99mTc-labeled PSMA-SPECT/CT and Diffusion-Weighted Image (DWI) for predicting treatment response after carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) in prostate cancer. Methods We prospectively registered 26 patients with localized prostate cancer treated with CIRT. All patients underwent 99m Tc-labeled PSMA-SPECT/CT and multiparametric MRI before and after CIRT. The tumor/background ratio (TBR) and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC mean ) were measured on the tumor and the percentage changes between 2 time points (ΔTBR and ΔADC mean ) were calculated. Patients were divided into two groups: good response and poor response according to clinical follow-up. Results The median follow up time was 38.3months. The TBR was significantly decreased ( p =0.001), while the ADC mean was significantly increased compared with the pretreatment value ( p <0.001). The ΔTBR and ΔADC mean were negatively correlated with each other ( p = 0.002). On ROC curve analysis for predicting treatment response, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of ΔTBR (0.867) for predicting good response was higher than that of ΔADC mean (0.819). The AUC of combined with ΔTBR and ΔADC mean (0.895) was higher than that of either ΔADC mean or ΔTBR alone. The combined use of ΔTBR and ΔADC mean showed 91.4% sensitivity and 95.2% specificity. Conclusions Our preliminary data indicate that the changes of TBR and ADC mean maybe an early bio-marker for predicting prognosis after CIRT in localized prostate cancer patients. In addition, the ΔTBR was a more powerful prognostic factor than ΔADC mean in prostate cancer treated with CIRT.


Collaborative learning algorithms, such as distributed SGD (or D-SGD), are prone to faulty machines that may deviate from their prescribed algorithm because of software or hardware bugs, poisoned data or malicious behaviors. While many solutions have been proposed to enhance the robustness of D-SGD to such machines, previous works either resort to strong assumptions (trusted server, homogeneous data, specific noise model) or impose a gradient computational cost that is several orders of magnitude higher than that of D-SGD. We present MoNNA, a new algorithm that (a) is provably robust under standard assumptions and (b) has a gradient computation overhead that is linear in the fraction of faulty machines, which is conjectured to be tight. Essentially, MoNNA uses Polyak's momentum of local gradients for local updates and nearest-neighbor averaging (NNA) for global mixing, respectively. While MoNNA is rather simple to implement, its analysis has been more challenging and relies on two key elements that may be of independent interest. Specifically, we introduce the mixing criterion of $(\alpha, \lambda)$-reduction to analyze the non-linear mixing of non-faulty machines, and present a way to control the tension between the momentum and the model drifts. We validate our theory by experiments on image classification and make our code available at https://github.com/LPD-EPFL/robust-collaborative-learning.


Acoustic liners have traditionally been used to reduce fan noise from the aircraft engine intake. To increase noise reduction there are now plans to also put liners in hot stream parts of the engine. In order to test liners under as realistic conditions as possible there has been a large development in inverse techniques for determination of liner impedance under grazing flow conditions, so called impedance eduction techniques. Testing under hot stream conditions has received smaller attention. This paper discusses techniques for measuring liner impedance under hot stream conditions and present some results obtained for single degree of freedom Helmholtz resonator liners with different configurations. It could be argued that the main effect of high temperatures is a change of medium properties such as: density, viscosity and speed of sound. If this is true the high temperature impedance could be predicted by scaling from the result at cold conditions. This is investigated in the paper by comparing measured results from liner impedance models available in the literature.


A large scale blackout is a long term loss of electricity over a large geographical area. In order to succeed with the restoration, the electric utility SCADA system must be highly reliable not only in normal operation but also during a black out. The main contribution of this paper is a circuit breaker (CB) reliability model to be used in restoration planning. The model consider both the reliability of a SCADA system and the reliability of a communication system during a power outage. If a remote control of CB fails, due to battery undersizing, it is assumed in the paper that a manual operation of CB can be performed if field personal can communicate with the TSO head-quarter. The evaluation of the reliability to operate CB is performed by solving the so called s-t reliability problem for a graph with failure prone components. The method is applied in a case study where the SCADA architecture for an IEEE reliability test system is modeled.


Historically Bangladesh is a breeding ground for different climatic disasters due to its geographical location and the impacts are huge due to economic condition, high intensity of exposed population and dependency on nature. Climate change is causing an increase in the intensity and frequency of natural disasters. In Bangladesh, coastal areas are susceptible to cyclones, storm surge, salinity intrusion etc. and northern areas are susceptible to drought. In both these areas agriculture is the major mean of livelihood and agriculture is heavily dependent on nature and thus being severely affected by climatic disasters. In the face of climatic change and disasters farmers apply different adaptive measures to survive. Documenting and analyzing the local adaptation practices is vital to design a comprehensive model of adaptation to save agriculture in these areas. The main objective of this study was to find out the mechanism applied locally by the farmers to adapt with the changing climate. A qualitative case study approach was applied to understand the mechanisms in detail. In-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and observations were tools applied for data collection. Male elderly farmers, elderly women from the community and Government Agriculture Officers were interviewed and FGDs were conducted with both male and female community people. Many local level adaptation practices were found. These adaptation practices can be divided broadly in three groups: protective measures, modification and alternative practice. Unavailability of required resources mostly because of poverty is a common challenge faced by the farmers during adapting to climate change. In some cases farmers are yet to find the best practices for best possible adaptations and in this regard institutional support with scientific knowledge could help to come up with best practices.


A mesh deformation algorithm for unstructured grids is presented. It is designed for high Reynolds number flow problems. Such grids are employed in aerodynamic and aeroelastic studies of wings or complete aircraft configurations in flows where the viscous effects are important. Given a surface deformation, the method efficiently recalculates new locations of high aspect ratio cells that make up the viscous layers of the grid and then deforms the inviscid part of the grid using an established method based on a torsional spring analogy technique. Results are presented for monitoring the deterioration of the quality of the grid during subsequent deformation steps for aeroelastic studies as well as to ensure the time efficiency of the method. Results for grid deformation of a 1.4 million cell AGARD 445.6 wing grid designed for flow at high Reynolds numbers due to typical deformations are also presented. Finally, a discussion of the parallelization performance and comparison of the running time of the mesh deformation algorithm to that used by the flow solver is made.


The general exact solution describing the dynamics of anisotropic elastic spheres supported only by tangential stresses is reduced to a quadrature using Ori's mass–area coordinates. This leads to the explicit construction of the root equation governing the nature of the central singularity. Using this equation, we formulate and motivate on physical grounds a conjecture on the nature of this singularity. The conjecture covers a large sector of the space of initial data; roughly speaking, it asserts that addition of a tangential stress cannot undress a covered dust singularity. The root equation also allows us to analyze the case of self–similar spacetimes and to get some insight on the role of stresses in deciding the nature of the singularities in this case. G. Magli, Gravitational collapse with non–vanishing tangential stresses II.


The effective design and facile preparation of noble metal-free catalysts is crucial for enhancing the performance of rechargeable Li–O2 batteries. Herein, we report a one-step controlled pyrolysis method to synthesize a Fe/Fe3C@graphitic carbon shell embedded in carbon nanotubes composite (F@NG-NCNTs) with Prussian blue as the single precursor. In these nanostructures, the Fe/Fe3C centres induce the formation of self-assembled N-doped carbon frameworks, which in turn offer superior connectivity as well as a protective coating. This novel architecture not only promotes the transfer of electrons but also uniformly encapsulates the catalytically active Fe/Fe3C nanoparticles, leading to a remarkably enhanced performance in Li–O2 batteries. As a result, cells catalyzed by the F@NG-NCNTs deliver a higher initial discharge capacity (6966 mA h g−1 at a current density of 0.1 mA cm−2) and demonstrate outstanding rate capability and cycle stability. This study verifies that F@NG-NCNTs can be a promising cathode material and provides a new avenue for the effective nanostructural design of electrocatalysts.


Huge-capacity flash-memory is now an economic solution for various portable devices and embedded systems, a NAND flash-based storage system has replaced a hard-disk drive in many applications. Recently, the implementation of database systems on NAND flash-based storage systems has become an important research topic. In particular, the B-tree index is an important data structure on database systems. With the very distinctive characteristics of flash-memory, previous work focuses on the manipulation of the B-tree index structures but the concurrency buffer control problem in flash-memory storage systems is not addressed. In the paper, we will propose a concurrency buffer control to increase the system throughput when two or more processes could access the same B-tree index structure.


Color discrimination thresholds proposed by receptor-noise type models are frequently used in animal vision studies to predict a precise limit on the capacity of an animal to discriminate between stimuli. Honeybees and bumblebees are 2 closely related hymenopteran species for which precise data on photoreceptor sensitivities and receptor noise exist, enabling accurate testing on how their vision conforms to model predictions. Color vision has been proved in these species, and they are known to predominantly visit flowers using visual signals to collect nutrition. Surprisingly, however, the natural variability of flower signals has been rarely considered, and recent work also suggests bees may tune color vision through experience. We initially measured the spectral variability of flowers from 2 species: Goodenia ovata and Rosemarinus officinalis where free-flying honeybees were observed constantly foraging from conspecific flowers. We empirically determined honeybee color discrimination thresholds for color stimuli considering either absolute- or differential-conditioning discrimination functions. Secondly, we analyzed greenhouse grown wild-type Antirrhinum majus flower petal spectra as well as spectra from mixta and nivea strains of this species, and empirically determined bumblebee color discrimination considering conditioning experience. In all measured cases, within-flower type spectral variability exceeded a 1.0 Receptor Noise threshold, often by several units. Observed behavioral color discrimination functions considering the respective conditioning procedures closely matched the range of signal variability for both honeybees and bumblebees, showing that color vision in bees cannot be described by a single fixed value, and plasticity is a key component of bee foraging behavior in natural environments.


Cells of the astaxanthin-producing yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous were subjected to successive 60 Co and UV irradiation. Colonies exhibiting increased pigmentation were recovered from different non-selective plates. Mutant strains were subcultured to ensure their genetic homogeneity and their pigment production was characterized. Analysis of the metabolic patterns of 7 pigment-overproducing mutants (derived from 3 wild-type parental isolates) revealed different patterns of carotenoid production: the greatest increase in astaxanthin production (6.7-fold) was found for X. dendrorhous strain ATCC 24229/S119 (274 μ g g −1 dry weight). Mutant strains with increased total carotenoid content, but without significant change in astaxanthin production, were also isolated.


Fabrication of micropatterned ceramics or ceramic microparts make high demands on the precision and resolution of the moulding process. As finishing of miniaturised or micropatterned ceramic components is nearly impossible, shaping has to be done by a replication step in the green, unfired state. To avoid high tooling costs in product development, a rapid prototyping process chain has been established that enables rapid manufacturing of ceramic microcomponents from functional models to small lot series within a short time. This process chain combines the fast and inexpensive supply of master models by rapid prototyping with accurate and flexible ceramic manufacturing by low-pressure injection moulding. Besides proper feedstock preparation and sufficient small grain size, the quality of the final components is mainly influenced by the quality of the master model. Hence, the rapid prototyping method must be carefully selected to meet the requirements of the component to be fabricated.


A consensus has progressively developed that the path towards complex organic molecules could be favoured by the icy mantles of interstellar dust particles. However, the question of whether activation energy is required to promote those reactions is open. This work deals with the simplest process thought to increase complexity i.e. successive additions of a single atom (H). Two situations can be considered, the direct additions of H in the gas phase and the atomic hydrogenation processes on water ice surfaces available in the interstellar medium (ISM). The synthesis of methanol, largely discussed in the literature is revisited as a case study. Computational investigations of the reactions leading from CO to CH3OH show that, with [H...(H2O)n] complexes as hydrogenation vectors, all steps of the process are barrier-less, contrary to the gas phase process and this, whatever the level of theory considered. The key parameter is the position of the CO + [H...(H2O)n] initial system on the global energy scale. At the present level of theory, when H is pre-adsorbed on the ice, the system happens to be high enough above the reaction path, namely, above any intermediates and possible transition states. This is true whatever the dimension of the ice support, even for the simplest model of one H2O molecule. Application of such a simplified synthetic approach, here validated for the synthesis of methanol, could be generalized, providing a simple way to get a fair insight into the important class of atomic hydrogenations on ices in the ISM.


Abstract When field-of-study options vary across higher education institutions, geographical distances may create barriers to students' study choices. Based on this hypothesis, the present study empirically examines field-of-study decisions in Finland's university system, focusing on the effect of distance. The results of the conditional logit models suggest that a 100-kilometre increase in the shortest distance to enrol in a field is, on average, associated with an approximately 15% reduction in the likelihood of selecting that field. However, the effect of distance varies, to some extent, across the choice alternatives and is insignificant when choosing education, arts or medicine, while large and significant in most other cases.


The pineapple plant (Ananas comosus) was shown to contain at least four distinct cysteine proteinases, which were purified by a procedure involving active-site-directed affinity chromatography. The major proteinase present in extracts of plant stem was stem bromelain, whilst fruit bromelain was the major proteinase in the fruit. Two additional cysteine proteinases were detected only in the stem: these were ananain and a previously undescribed enzyme that we have called comosain. Stem bromelain, fruit bromelain and ananain were shown to be immunologically distinct. Enzymic characterization revealed differences in both substrate-specificities and inhibition profiles. A study of the cysteine proteinase derived from the related bromeliad Bromelia pinguin (pinguinain) indicated that in many respects it was similar to fruit bromelain, although it was found to be immunologically distinct.


The Ideas that Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy, and Free Markets in the Twenty-first Century. By Michael Mandelbaum. New York: Public Affairs Press, 2002. 402 pages. $30.00. The Ideas that Conquered the World provides insights on the principles that have guided US foreign policy since President Woodrow Wilson. Michael Mandelbaum, one of America's leading foreign policy intellectuals, uses history as a guide to describe the ascendancy of three big ideas--free trade, democracy, and peace. He offers this book as an alternative to conventional realist thought in foreign affairs, suggesting that America's soft power is more important than its military might, and, in effect, was responsible for winning the Cold War. Mandelbaum highlights the power and successes of Wilson's triad of ideas, but when applied to current strategic threats he treats them as self-implementing, ignoring the core issues in the struggles by Wilson and others to gain their acceptance as guidelines for US foreign policy. The book addresses the concepts of political Liberalism and the role of social history in the evolution of this very Western political philosophy. It traces the historical development of free trade and democracy, starting with the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and the French Revolution. The United States became the champion of the relatively new ideas of free markets, democracy, and common security, and later, under President Wilson, Mandelbaum argues, the diffusion of ideas and ideals of free markets and democracy ultimately led to the defeat of conservatism on the European continent, while facing down fascist and communist political and eventually military threats. He extends his argument in the wake of the Cold War, suggesting that the power of these ideas has created an extraordinary new reality-the obsolescence of war between great powers. Mandelbaum evokes the image of a tripod in explaining how free markets, democracy, and peace operate together. Free markets allow for the creation of wealth, democracy provides self-determination, and when both these legs are present it is highly probable that individuals will pursue peace over the destructiveness of war. Mandelbaum asserts that peace on the European continent is due to the triumph of free markets, democracy, and the adoption of a defensive-oriented military strategy. He does address technological advances in warfare, such as nuclear weapons and the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction, but does not give them their due credit in making warfare among global powers obsolete. In The Ideas that Conquered the World, Mandelbaum also neglects the difficulty of breaking the cycle of poverty, disease, murderous dictatorships, and human rights abuses that threaten the world. …


Results of analyses of specimens of plant or animal origin for various mycotoxins are presented. Analyses for aflatoxins, ochratoxins and zearalenone were most frequently requested. Aflatoxin B1 was found in one of 474 specimens at a level of 60 ppb in a sample of hay. Ochratoxin A was detected in four of 148 specimens of grains and two of 19 specimens of corn at levels up to 500 ppb. Trichothecenes were qualitatively found in two of 108 specimens of forage, three of 182 specimens of feeds and one of 148 specimens of grains. Ergot was detected qualitatively in three specimens of rye and one of forage. An overall detection rate of 3.8% of potent mycotoxins suggests that acute or chronic mycotoxicoses may occasionally occur in farm livestock or poultry.


The surface of beef cattle feedlot pens is commonly conceptualized as being packed uncomposted manure. Despite the important role that the feedlot pen may play in the transmission of veterinary and zoonotic pathogens, the bacterial ecology of feedlot surface material is not well understood. Our present study characterized the bacterial communities of the beef cattle feedlot pen surface material using 3647 full-length 16S rDNA sequences, and we compared the community composition of feedlot pens to the fecal source material. The feedlot surface composite was represented by members of the phylum Actinobacteria (42%), followed by Firmicutes (24%), Bacteroidetes (24%), and Proteobacteria (9%). The feedlot pen surface material bacterial communities were clearly distinct from those of the feces from animals in the same pen. Comparisons with previously published results of feces from the animals in the same pen reveal that, of 139 genera identified, only 25 were present in both habitats. These results indicate that, microbiologically, the feedlot pen surface material is separate and distinct from the fecal source material, suggesting that bacteria that originate in cattle feces face different selection pressures and survival challenges during their tenure in the feedlot pen, as compared to their residence in the gastrointestinal tract.


Certain individuals appear to be resistant to weight gain in an obesigenic environment, yet the mechanisms for this adaptation are unclear. These individuals may sense positive energy balance more appropriately leading to changes in intake. Preliminary studies have shown that thin individuals are very sensitive to overfeeding with significant changes in eating behaviors as compared to reduced-obese individuals. Sixteen thin 'obese-resistant' individuals (9 women and 7 men) and eight reduced-obese (RO) individuals (4 women and 4 men) were studied on two occasions in a randomized crossover design. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in the morning after an overnight fast following 2 days of eucaloric feeding and following 2 days of overfeeding by 30% over basal needs. fMRI was performed with visual stimuli of three different categories: objects (O), utilitarian foods (U), and hedonic foods (H). BOLD echo-planar data (TR = 2000, TE = 30, 642 matrix, 240 mm2 FOV, 28 axial slices angled parallel to the planum sphenoidale, 4 mm thick, 0 mm gap, 3 T) were motion corrected, normalized to standard space, spatially smoothed, and assessed using the general linear model in SPM2. In the eucaloric state, visual stimuli of U as compared to O (U > O) resulted in greater activation of insula and inferior temporal visual cortex in RO as compared to thin individuals, while H > U resulted in frontal cortex activation in RO but not thin individuals. Overfeeding resulted in attenuation of visual and parietal cortex in both groups but also resulted in activation of posterior cingulate cortex in RO individuals and hypothalamic 'deactivation' in thin individuals (H > U). In summary, there appears to be a phenotypic difference in the neuronal activation in response to external food-related cues. Overfeeding appears to have a greater impact on neural structures important in processing of emotions in RO individuals while having a greater impact on neural structures involved with the homeostatic regulation of food intake in thin individuals.


: The cytological technique takes a leading position in diagnostic of tumor processes according exudative fluids. However, its results depend on large number of subjective factors. The morphometry is one of techniques by virtue of which objectification of data of cytological analysis is possible. The study was carried out to establish differences of morphometric parameters of benign and malignant cells of pleural effusion. The morphometric analysis of cells of mesothelium, breast cancer, adenocarcinoma of lung and adenocarcinoma of stomach was implemented. The parameters characterizing size (area, perimeter) and form (form factor) of nucleus and cell, nucleus-cytoplasm ratio. The results demonstrated that in pleural effusion between cells of proliferating mesothelium and malignant neoplasms exist significant differences in morphometric parameters (p<0.001). The differences between area of nuclei and cells are especially significant. The comparison of data of morphometry of cells of breast cancer; adenocarcinoma of lung and adenocarcinoma of stomach demonstrated that despite of some morphological similarities, analysis of morphometric parameters can provide important data for proper establishment of cytological diagnosis.


Laser drilling technology is a new feasible and developing method of rock destruction. The unified modeling method of laser and rock interaction is a complicated subject of heat transfer science. According to the energy conservation law, the fundamental equation of heat transfer is established. Some primary parameters such as enthalpy, thermal conductivity and specific heat are simplified respectively on the liquid-gas interface or the liquid-solid interface. The general mathematical model of temperature fields on laser drilling process is proposed. Using the Galerkin method, the numerical investigation of a practical example in laser drilling rock is analyzed.


The overall aim of the project has been to develop and evaluate an e-learning training resource for practitioners, service users, carers and the public for dual diagnosis awareness. This means an awareness of the basic issues, and is not intended to create dual diagnosis â?ospecialistsâ? or replace skills-based training, although it would serve as a good introduction prior to commencing a more formal training course. E-learning content The e-learning will consist of 4 modules: 1. Introduction to dual diagnosis including definitions, impact and attitudes 2. Mental health awareness and how it impacts on drug/alcohol use 3. Substance use awareness and how it impacts on mental health 4. Skills and interventions focusing on the process of change and what helps. The e-learning resource will be suitable for practitioners both qualified and unqualified, as well as service users and carers, and members of the public. The language of the materials will be simple and jargon free. We will provide information about where to find out more on a range of subjects. There is a workbook template to print off and we advise people to use this to make notes while they work through the resource. We also suggest that you print off and keep some of the key documents that are of interest to you. This is not intended to be an exhaustive resource on dual diagnosis, and we also advise you to follow some of the weblinks and explore further resources that may be of interest to you. The access point will be through the CURVE repository. This can be accessed via the link below. We have also created a text only version which can be accessed using an audio reader for those with visual impairments.In addition we are working on developing the resource to be in a format that NHS organisations can embed in their own local learning systems. The IT requirements are a modern PC with sound facility, an internet broadband connection, and Flash player software. If you donâ?Tt have Flash player software, it is free to download. You may find that the sound quality from your PC speakers is limited, so we recommend you use external speakers or use earphones to listen to the videos.


Antioxidant activity of clove leaf was investigated. The clove leaves (Eugenia aromatica) wereprepared with reflux extraction using methanol, water, and ethanol. Total activities of the extractsand reducing power were measured with thiocyanate method and reducing potential method. Resultshowed that the highest total antioxidant activity was observed in methanol extract. It appearsthat the ability of this extract for partitioning at the interface of emulsion in tested oxidationsystem was the highest among the other extracts, therefore it had the best activity to inhibitoxidation. The type of phenolic compounds of this extract appeared to be responsible for the highestradical scavenging capacity. The same phenomenon occurred for reducing power, methanol extracthad the highest reducing power, thereby suggesting that each extracts comprised different type ofphenol based on different polarity of reflux used for extraction. Total antioxidant activity and thehighest reducing power obtained from methanol extract. Both are closely related to total phenolcontent of the clove leaves.


Coronavirus is a newly discovered infectious disease, most people infected by coronavirus experience respiratory illness and require special treatment for recovery Older people underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease diabetes chronic respiratory disease develop serious illness National responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been varied, and have included containment measures such as lockdowns, quarantines, and curfews More than 6 15 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in more than 188 countries and territories, resulting in more than 371,000 deaths More than 2 63 million people have recovered from the virus The most affected countries in terms of confirmed cases are the United States, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Turkey and China The main aim of this study is to determine and rank the measures adopted by each country to fight against covid 19 An online survey was conducted with a self-structured questionnaire comprising 10 questions that were distributed through the google docs The sample size of this study was 100 The results were analysed by performing the statistical software "SPSS VERSION 20" The data was represented in the pie chart form From this study population, 88% of the study population agreed that Covid 19 has to be controlled by all means Nearly 70% of the population follows social distancing and 56% of them follow self isolation if they have symptoms and every country is working hard to contain it and minimise its impact It is very important to prevent covid-19, because there is no vaccine found for treatment, preventive methods vary, and have measurements like quarantine, lockdown, curfews, sanitising our hands after coming home, using personal protective equipment This study helps us to get knowledge about the measurements taken by different countries to control covid-19 and creates awareness on how to prevent covid-19 © 2020 Ubiquity Press All rights reserved


There were many successful Web-based learning systems built to enhance the effectiveness of institutional teaching over the past decade. Students were benefited in two major aspects: asking questions to their course instructors, and downloading relevant course materials only when Internet/Intranet access is available. Recently, handheld devices integrated with the latest wireless technology are becoming popular. Thus, it is foreseeable that such learning facilities may move beyond the boundary of fixed network connections one day. We considered an interesting proposal to mobilize conventional Web-based learning systems with the integration of handheld devices, and pioneered its prototype implementation in the University of Hong Kong. Besides getting encouraging students' feedbacks, we gained invaluable experience of combining frontier technologies such as the Conduits and Web server technology to solve the data synchronization problems of students' questions distributed among the 'local' databases of handheld devices and the centralized database server.


In the testing of control systems, particularly the smaller types, it has long been the practice to apply to them test signals of a simple mathematical nature, for ease in evaluating test results. The principal signals used for this purpose are the step functions, ramp function, and the sinusoid. As the scale of systems has grown, so the complexity has increased also, and with that the severity of the effect of such disturbances until the stage is reached when dangerous conditions may be induced thereby. an alternative, means have been sought to obtain information of the system characteristics from data collected during normal operation; by this means, unduly severe disturbances are avoided. This work describes one such method of system analysis. In it, certain statistical properties of the data produced by the normal running of a control system are calculated. These statistical features are used to determine in the end the frequency response of the system, both in amplitude and in phase. mince in laboratory tests the scale of the apparatus used is restricted, use is made of an analogue computer to simulate the control systems, and also to assist in the statistical computations. source of random signals of the type encountered in practical systems is required to drive such a simulator, and an account of the development of such a device is included. device giving fixed time delay, needed for the statistical work is also described. The process is based on the use of the correlation functions of the time time signals produced by the system; the auto-correlation function of the input or output signal, and the cross-correlation function between these two signals, form Fourier transform pairs vdth the power spectral densities of in-out and output signals, and the cross-spectral density between them, respectively. Numerical methods of iburier transformation are used to obtain these power spectra; once they are known for both input and output of a control system, its frequency transfer function is readily determined. This direct approach to the mathematical manipulations represents a departure from most previous methods used, in that they have frequently involved the preparation and adjustment of a model to have the same performance as the original system, followed by a response analysis of the model. esults of tests on two types of systems are given, and probable sources of error indicated. It is conceded that the system as up:lied here is tedious to operate, and has several inherent sources of error. Lines of further development are indicated which could dispose of these, and would produce an attractive and versatile nethod of system analysis.


Facial reconstructions in archaeology allow empathy with people who lived in the past and enjoy considerable popularity with the public. It is a common misconception that facial reconstruction will produce an exact likeness; a resemblance is the best that can be hoped for. Research at Sheffield University is aimed at the development of a computer system for facial reconstruction that will be accurate, rapid, repeatable, accessible and flexible. This research is described and prototypical 3-D facial reconstructions are presented. Interpolation models simulating obesity, ageing and ethnic affiliation are also described. Some strengths and weaknesses in the models, and their potential for application in archaeology are discussed.


In this thesis the magnetic properties of RF and magnetron sputtered CoCr (81/19 at%) films for perpendicular recording are studied. In chapter 1 an introduction is given to perpendicular recording, the properties of CoCr are briefly reviewed and compared with other layers and finally several magnetic models, divided into particulate and continuous models, are briefly described. In tbe literature a controversy exists whether or not CoCr is a particulate or a continuous medium. In cbapter 2 the situation is compared with the dual particle-wave nature of light and it is shown tbat tbe problem bas to be defined more precisely. Arguments for and against a particulate reversal mechanism and a reversal by domain-wall displacements are summarized. Neither of the models can give a satisfactory explanation for all the observed phenomena, and a strict application of one of the models does not seem to be very fruitful. A new concept would be tbe existence of an antiferromagnetic coupling between tbe colurnnar particles. (The presence of the Meiklejobn effect would be convincing evidence for sucb a coupling, but as yet this bas not been found in CoCr films. ) In the results of the experimental work, that can be divided into tbe magneto-optic surface measurements (chapter 4) and tbe neutron depolarization experiments (chapter 6) evidence fqr a brancbed domain structure with reversed spike domains is found. These chapters are each preceded by a theoretical conspectus in whicb the techniques are introduced. Tbe coercivity at the surface is found to be lower than the bulk coercivity measured by means of a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer for films thicker than a critical thickness. This bebaviour is almost discontinuous for RF-sputtered films. Tbe critical thickness is correlated with the minimum film thickness at wbich spike domains can be formed. In neutron depolarization an effective film thickness is introduced to account for the lower experimentally found rotation of tbe polarization vector than expected on the basis of a perpendicular domain structure with straight parallel domains. Tbe effective film thickness approaches the real one for films near the critical thickness, while in the thicker films (-4- -5 ~m), the effective film thickness is only half of tbe real one. Again these results are consistent with the formation of reversed domains. Angular-dependent neutron depolarization showed that the domain width is proportional to hx, h being the film thickness and with the exponent x between e.6 and e.8. This value is closer to the calculated power of 2/3 for a branched domain structure than 1/2 predicted for a Kittel structure with perpendicular domains. The reversal mechanism in a branched domain structure would be the nucleation and growth of reversed spike domains. This could well take place inside each column. In that case it is a type of particle reversal mechanism although domain-wall motion is involved hence both contradictary models, viz. the particulate and the continuous type are united.


BACKGROUND
Bacterial meningitis (BM) is a severe infection mainly caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis (NM). However, genetically determined susceptibility to develop severe infections by these microorganisms is variable between individuals. Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) recognizes bacterial DNA leading to intracellular inflammatory signaling. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the TLR9 gene are associated with susceptibility to several diseases, no such association with meningitis has been described.

METHODS
We studied the role of TLR9 SNPs in host defense against BM. Two TLR9 SNPs and 4 TLR9 haplotypes were determined in 472 survivors of BM and compared to 392 healthy controls.

RESULTS
Carriage of the TLR9+2848-A mutant was significantly decreased in meningococcal meningitis (MM) patients compared with controls (p: .0098, odds ratio [OR]: .6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: .4-.9). TLR9 haplotype I was associated with an increased susceptibility to MM (p: .0237, OR 1.3, 95% CI: 1.0-1.5). In silico analysis shows a very strong immunoinhibitory potential for DNA of NM upon recognition by TLR9 (CpG index of -106.8).

CONCLUSIONS
We report an association of TLR9 SNPs with susceptibility to BM, specifically MM indicating a protective effect for the TLR9+2848-A allele. We hypothesize that the TLR9+2848-A mutant results in an up-regulation of TLR9 induced immune response compensating the strong inhibitory potential of NM CpG DNA.


Nowadays with a growing number of online controlling systems in the organization and also a high demand of monitoring and stats facilities that uses data streams to log and control their subsystems, data stream mining becomes more and more vital. Hoeffding Trees (also called Very Fast Decision Trees a.k.a. VFDT) as a Big Data approach in dealing with the data stream for classification and regression problems showed good performance in handling facing challenges and making the possibility of any-time prediction. Although these methods outperform other methods e.g. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Support Vector Regression (SVR), they suffer from high latency in adapting with new concepts when the statistical distribution of incoming data changes. In this article, we introduced a new algorithm that can detect and handle concept drift phenomenon properly. This algorithms also benefits from fast startup ability which helps systems to be able to predict faster than other algorithms at the beginning of data stream arrival. We also have shown that our approach will overperform other controversial approaches for classification and regression tasks.


Soybean is a legume crop enriched with proteins and oil. It is frequently exposed to anthropogenic and natural flooding that limits its growth and yield. Current study applied gel-free proteomic techniques to unravel soybean response mechanism to flooding stress. Two-days-old soybeans were flooded for 4 days continuously and root samples were collected at days 2 to 6 for proteomic and enzymatic analyses. Age-matched untreated soybeans were collected as control. After protein extraction, purification and tryptic digestion, the peptides were analyzed on nano-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 539 and 472 proteins with matched peptides 2 or more were identified in control and flooded seedlings, respectively. Among these 364 proteins were commonly identified in both control and flooded soybeans. Fourty-two protein's abundances were changed 4-fold after 2-days of flooding stress as compared to starting point. The cluster analysis showed that highly increased proteins included cupin family proteins, enolase, pectin methylesterase inhibitor, glyoxalase II, alcohol dehydrogenase and aldolase. The enzyme assay of enolase and pectin methylesterase inhibitor confirmed protein abundance changes. These findings suggest that soybean adopts the less energy consuming strategies and brings biochemical and structural changes in the cell wall to effectively respond to flooding stress and for the survival.


Methods: A total of 35 patients who had been pathologically diagnosed with carcinoma of the prostate between December 1994 and December 2003 were entered into the present study. Patients aged over 80 years were excluded from the study. As for the treatment methodology, diethylstilbestrol diphosphate (DES-P) at 500 mg/day was intravenously injected for 20– 40 days, followed by monotherapy with an analog of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH). In all subjects, surgical castration was not conducted. The survival rate was analysed according to the method of Kaplan–Meier. Materials and methods The study subjects were consecutive 35 patients at the Division of Urology, Social Insurance Funabashi Chu-oh Hospital, who were histopathologically diagnosed with prostate cancer and, further, who had bone metastases on the bone scan, between the period from December 1994 and December 2003. There was no history of cardiovascular disorders or cardiovascular complication in any patients. The subjects aged over 80 years were excluded from the present study. Informed consent was sought prior to the study and was obtained from each participant. Regarding the treatment methodology, DESP at 500 mg/day was intravenously injected for 20–40 days. As a rule, immediately following the initial treatment, continuous administration with a LHRH analog was instituted, although some patients initially received estramustine phosphate (EMP) or chlormadinone acetate (CMA) as maintenance therapy. Castration was not carried out during the treatment period in any of the patients. The clinical course of the patient was followed up by measuring the level of prostatespecific antigen (PSA) at three to four monthly intervals. The level of total PSA was determined using Tandem-R PSA assay (Beckman-Coulter, Fullerton, CA, USA). However, after August 2001, this parameter was determined by AxSYM PSA assay (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, USA). The point of the first increase in the PSA level among three consecutive increases was regarded as PSA-failure. Furthermore, clinical recurrence was evaluated according to the Regulations for Prostate Cancer Management. The survival rate was calculated in accordance with the Kaplan–Meier method. The author would like apologize for this error and any inconvenience caused.


The metal-containing molecules AlF, MgNC, and NaCN have been detected toward CRL 2688, a circumstellar envelope in the proto-planetary nebula (PPN) phase. These measurements are the first detections of such species in a source other than the carbon star IRC +10216. Three transitions of MgNC were observed, each of which consists of two spin-rotation components, and five lines of NaCN were measured; both detections were made in the 2 mm wavelength region using the NRAO 12 m telescope. Three transitions of AlF were observed as well at 2 and 1.2 mm with the IRAM 30 m antenna. All three species appear to trace the AGB wind, not the high-velocity outflows characteristic of post-AGB mass loss. Rotational temperature analysis suggests that MgNC emission is from cooler gas than AlF and NaCN, indicating an outer shell distribution for this molecule, as is found in IRC +10216. AlF and NaCN appear to be confined to the inner envelope of CRL 2688. The column density obtained for MgNC in this source assuming a shell-like distribution is Ntot ~ 4 × 1012 cm-2, corresponding to a fractional abundance, relative to H2, of f ~ 4 × 10-9. This abundance is about a factor of 10 less than that in IRC +10216. For NaCN, the column density and fractional abundance in CRL 2688 are Ntot ~ 0.7-3 × 1014 cm-2 and f ~ 3-5 × 10-8, comparable to what has been measured for IRC +10216. In the case of AlF, the column density toward CRL 2688 was determined to be Ntot ~ 0.9-3 × 1013 cm-2, resulting in f ~ 4-5 × 10-9. In IRC +10216, f(AlF) is 1-2 × 10-7. These data suggest that the chemistry in the outer envelope of CRL 2688 has altered abundances for species like MgNC, but inner shell molecules like NaCN may remain intact over a longer timescale. While the abundance of AlF in CRL 2688 is less than that of 19F in the solar system, in IRC +10216, the AlF abundance exceeds the fluorine solar value. Hence, observations of this molecule suggest that 19F is produced in thermal pulses in the AGB phase.


In this Hot Topics presentation, David Roberts describes recent work in image-guided neurosurgery.

Gliomas can present a challenge for surgical removal because they invade normal brain tissue that may be highly functional, so it is crucial to develop techniques for improved visualization of the tumor's margins. Surgical removal of a brain tumor can be aided using a technique in which tumor tissue is fluoresced during surgery.

Roberts received an A.B. degree from Princeton University, an M.A. degree from Oxford University, and an M.D. degree from Dartmouth Medical School. He interned in surgery at the University of Utah and did his neurosurgical residency at Dartmouth.

In 1982, he jointed the staff of the Hitchcock Clinic and the faculty of Dartmouth Medical School, at the rank of Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1988 and Professor in 1994. In 1997 he became Chair of the Section of Neurosurgery at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Director of the neurosurgical residency training program. While retaining those responsibilities, he was appointed in 2000 to the position at Dartmouth Medical School of Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, and the following year to the Alma Hass Milham Distinguished Chair in Clinical Medicine.

His present research interests are in epilepsy, stereotaxy and computer-assisted surgery. He has been the author or co-author of more than 100 publications and has co-edited six books and monographs.


A growing body of anatomic findings has led investigators to suggest that peptide-containing pulmonary neuroendocrine cells may control pulmonary vascular tone. One such peptide, bombesin, has been found in increased quantities in the lungs of infants with pulmonary disorders that cause pulmonary hypertension. Therefore we studied the effect on pulmonary vascular tone of bombesin, and its C-terminal analog, gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP). Normoxic and hypoxic unsedated newborn lambs with chronically implanted flow probes around the right and left pulmonary arteries were used. Bombesin and GRP were injected into one pulmonary artery only, and direct effects of these peptides were determined by comparing the flow changes in the injected vs. the uninjected lung. Bombesin had no measurable effect on pulmonary vascular resistance under any condition or at any dose (0.1-60 micrograms/kg). Systemic blood pressure increased significantly (12%) after a 10-micrograms/kg dose. GRP was devoid of any measurable hemodynamic effects, even at a dose of 10 micrograms/kg. If pulmonary neuroendocrine cells help regulate vascular resistance, bombesin does not appear to play a role.


An increasing interest in psychological and interactional aspects of intensive care unit stay is found in the recent literature. On one hand, seriousness and acuteness of the pathology, on the other hand, environment specificity as well as their respective consequences result in the fact that the ICU is a peculiar context for the patient and his family. The patient experiences a stressful event which probably differs from the one experienced in other types of wards. The family and its needs during this critical period are the focus of an increasing number of studies. A corresponding occupational stress for the caregivers is now widely acknowledged.


Janet Vida Watson was born on 1 September 1923, one of two sisters and the daughter of Professor D.M.S. Watson. Her father had succeeded to the chair of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at University College two years earlier. He had, at that time, already established himself as an international authority on vertebrate palaeontology. A career which was to be recognized in many ways including election to the Royal Society in 1922, the presentation of the Lyell Medal from the Geological Society in 1935 and the Wollaston Medal in 1965; sharing the latter awards ceremony with his daughter. Professor Watson stated that his great aim had been the discovery of the evolutionary courses followed by the vertebrates, and it is interesting to note that it was the same step from careful observation to the elucidation of history which intrigued and stimulated his daughter. The family lived in South Hampstead and Janet attended the local high school. Subsequently she went to Reading University where she took a General Science degree in 1943. Colleagues at that time recall Janet as a very clever student rather than being particularly hard working; she was a relatively quiet person with a few close friends. She had a keen interest in the arts, making, for example, regular trips to Sadler's Wells ballet. At Reading Janet studied under Professor H.L. Hawkins a notable invertebrate palaeontologist and an influential teacher. Carrying with her a strong recommendation from Hawkins Janet went to Imperial College where she graduated with a first class honours in Geology in 1947. At this stage given her strong background in palaeontology it is probable Janet was considering a research career in the subject. However, at that time, H.H. Read was building a research team following the end of the war. Impressed by Janet's performance in her honour's exams - Read reportedly said she should have been given 120% to do justice to her relative performance - Read persuaded Janet to join him, the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.


Abstract Objectives: To assess outcome and predicting factors 1 year after a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: Multi-centre prospective inception cohort study of patients aged 15 or older with a severe TBI in the Parisian area, France. Data were collected prospectively starting the day of injury. One-year evaluation included the relatives-rating of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX-R), the Glasgow Outcome Scale–Extended (GOSE) and employment. Univariate and multivariate tests were computed. Results: Among 257 survivors, 134 were included (mean age 36 years, 84% men). Good recovery concerned 19%, moderate disability 43% and severe disability 38%. Among patients employed pre-injury, 42% were working, 28% with no job change. DEX-R score was significantly associated with length of education only. Among initial severity measures, only the IMPACT prognostic score was significantly related to GOSE in univariate analyses, while measures relating to early evolution were more significant predictors. In multivariate analyses, independent predictors of GOSE were length of stay in intensive care (LOS), age and education. Independent predictors of employment were LOS and age. Conclusions: Age, education and injury severity are independent predictors of global disability and return to work 1 year after a severe TBI.


Efficiency gains in economic processes often do not deliver the projected overall savings. Irrespective of whether the increase in efficiency saves energy, resources, time or transaction costs, there are various mechanisms that spur additional consumption as a consequence. These mechanisms are generically called rebound effects, and they are problematic from a sustainability perspective as they decrease or outweigh the environmental benefits of efficiency gains. Since one of the overarching purposes of digitalization is to increase efficiency, rebound effects are bound to occur frequently in its wake. Rebound effects of digitalization have been ignored until recently, but they have been increasingly studied lately. One particular mechanism of digital rebound, however, has been largely disregarded so far: the digitalization-induced lowered skill requirements needed to perform a specific activity. As with other types of rebound effects, this leads to an increase in the activity in question. In this paper, we propose the term skill rebound to denote this mechanism. We use the example of self-driving cars to show how digitalization can lower the skill bar for operating a vehicle, and how this opens 'driving' a car to entirely new socio-demographic categories such as elderly, children or even pets, leading to increased use of the (transportation) service in question and thus to rebound effects. We finally argue that these unintended environmental effects of skill rebound must be better understood and taken into account in the design of new digital technologies.


A comparative analysis of the antioxidant activity of a series of pharmacological compounds was performed in vitro using Fe2+ induced chemiluminescence of lipoproteins. With respect to the protective action against lipoprotein oxidation, the compounds studied can be arranged in the following order: trolox > carnosine > emoxypine > L-carnitine = mildronate. The results show good prospects for using the proposed chemiluminescent technique for evaluating the antioxidant activity of pharmaceuticals.


The compressive stress signal of soil during vibration compaction is an unstable and transient saltation signal accompanied by broadband noise, and the spectra of the signal and noise always overlap. To extract the ideal original signal from noisy data, this paper studies several signal de-noising methods such as low-pass filtering, multi-resolution wavelet transform, spectrum subtraction and independent component analysis. Experiments show that the traditional low-pass filter is only applicable when the spectra of the signal and noise can be separated in the frequency domain. The multi-resolution wavelet transform can decompose the signal into different frequency bands and remove the noise efficiently by extracting useful the frequency band of the signal, but this method is not reliable when the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is low. Spectrum subtraction can remove strong background noise with stationary statistical characteristics even if the noise level is high and the spectrum of the signal overlaps with that of the noise. Independent component analysis can extract weak signals which are combined with heavy noise and can separate the noise from signal effectively when the independent channel hypothesis holds. These de-noising methods are of great importance for further analysing vibration signals in engineering.


Background: The positive effects of caffeine supplementation on strength-power and endurance performance in healthy athletes have been demonstrated in many studies. A possible mechanism for its ergogenic effect relates to its influence on the central nervous system. Post-traumatic complications in cervical spinal cord injury affect almost all body systems including the nervous system. For this reason, we expect that caffeine will have a different effect of performance in the group of athletes with spinal cord injuries. Objective: To examine the effects of caffeine supplementation on maximal aerobic power in elite wheelchair rugby players. Methods: Seven elite male wheelchair rugby players with complete cervical-level SCI (C4-Th1) were recruited (mean age: 28 ± 5.42 years; mean body mass index: 26 ± 2.84 kg/m2). The effect of caffeine was assessed by an incremental arm ergometer test until volitional exhaustion. The maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max/kg), maximum power (W max/kg), peak heart rate (HR peak), and intensity of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured. Participants performed the test twice with a two-week washout period. One hour before each exercise test subjects ingested a capsule of placebo or caffeine (3 mg per kg of body weight). The tests were applied in a double-blind, randomized, repeated-measures, and cross-over design. Wheelchair rugby players were chosen because of the expected high homogeneity of participants - in terms of the type and degree of disability, gender, and age of the players. Results: The monitored parameters were not significantly influenced by caffeine intervention as compared to placebo: VO2max/kg (p = .40), W max/kg (p = .34), HR peak (p = .50) and RPE (p = .50). Conclusions: The current findings suggest that a caffeine dose of 3 mg/kg body mass does not improve oxygen uptake and maximal power in elite wheelchair rugby players.


Deep convolutional neural networks have emerged as a powerful technique to identify hidden patterns in complex cell imaging data. However, these machine learning techniques are often criticized as uninterpretable "black-boxes" - lacking the ability to provide meaningful explanations for the cell properties that drive the machine's prediction. Here, we demonstrate that the latent features extracted from label-free live cell images by an adversarial auto-encoding deep convolutional neural network capture subtle details of cell appearance that allow classification of melanoma cell states, including the metastatic efficiency of seven patient-derived xenograft models that reflect clinical outcome. Although trained exclusively on patient-derived xenograft models, the same classifier also predicted the metastatic efficiency of immortalized melanoma cell lines suggesting that the latent features capture properties that are specifically associated with the metastatic potential of a melanoma cell regardless of its origin. We used the autoencoder to generate "in-silico" cell images that amplified the cellular features driving the classifier of metastatic efficiency. These images unveiled pseudopodial extensions and increased light scattering as functional hallmarks of metastatic cells. We validated this interpretation by analyzing experimental image time-lapse sequences in which melanoma cells spontaneously transitioned between states indicative of low and high metastatic efficiency. Together, this data is an example of how the application of Artificial Intelligence supports the identification of processes that are essential for the execution of complex integrated cell functions but are too subtle to be identified by a human expert.


BACKGROUND Blow-out fracture of the orbit is a common injury. However, not many cases are associated with massive subcutaneous emphysema. Even fewer cases are caused by minor trauma or are associated with barotrauma to the orbit due to sneezing, coughing, or vomiting. The authors present a case of blow-out fracture complicated by extensive subcutaneous and mediastinal emphysema that occurred without any obvious traumatic event. CASE REPORT A 43-year-old man presented to the Emergency Department with a painful right-sided exophthalmos that he had noticed in the morning immediately after waking up. The patient also complained of diplopia. Physical examination revealed exophthalmos and crepitations suggestive of subcutaneous emphysema. The eye movements, especially upward gaze, were impaired. CT showed blow-out fracture of the inferior orbital wall with a herniation of the orbital soft tissues into the maxillary sinus. There was an extensive subcutaneous emphysema in the head and neck going down to the mediastinum. The patient did not remember any significant trauma to the head that could explain the above mentioned findings. At surgery, an inferior orbital wall fracture with a bony defect of 3×2 centimeter was found and repaired. CONCLUSIONS Blow-out fractures of the orbit are usually a result of a direct trauma caused by an object with a diameter exceeding the bony margins of the orbit. In 50% of cases, they are complicated by orbital emphysema and in 4% of cases by herniation of orbital soft tissues into paranasal sinuses. The occurrence of orbital emphysema without trauma is unusual. In some cases it seems to be related to barotrauma due to a rapid increase in pressure in the upper airways during sneezing, coughing, or vomiting, which very rarely leads to orbital wall fracture. Computed tomography is the most accurate method in detecting and assessing the extent of orbital wall fractures.


We sketch the basic principles of natural bond orbital (NBO) theory, including critical discussion of its relationship to alternative bonding concepts and selected illustrations of its application to a broad spectrum of chemical bonding motifs. Particular emphasis is placed on the close NBO connections to prequantal bonding, and electromerism concepts, as well as the deep roots in quantal eigenvalue, superposition, and Pauli exclusion concepts that are manifested in many aspects of NBO donor–acceptor analysis. With respect to leading alternative perspectives, we identify similarities and differences that distinguish NBO theory from the corresponding precepts of valence bond theory, molecular orbital theory, and Bader's quantum theory of atoms in molecules, with critical discussion of the assumptions underlying characteristic differences in each case. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The splitting and steering of ultrashort pulses propagating through a Kerr medium are investigated. This investigation extends earlier ones of cw spatial soliton Y junctions into the area of subpicosecond solitonlike pulse propagation. Besides that of the all-optical steering process, the influence of normal group-velocity dispersion and two-photon absorption is discussed. It is found that both processes modify the transmission characteristics of the system (i.e., output versus input beam intensity) in a similar way. However, two-photon absorption inhibits the steering property of Y junctions, whereas normal group-velocity dispersion enhances it. A model based on an adiabatic propagation approximation is used to explain this behavior qualitatively.


At a time of a high level of polarization in Congress, public opinion surveys routinely find that Americans want politicians to compromise. When evaluating legislation, does the preference for bipartisanship in the legislative process trump partisan identities? We find that it does not. We conduct two experiments in which we alter aspects of the political context to see how people respond to parties (not) coming together to achieve broadly popular public policy goals. Although citizens can recognize bipartisan processes, preferences for bipartisan legislating do not outweigh partisan desires in the evaluation of public policies.