To derive location-specific parameters that reflect the geographic differences among cultivars in vernalization requirements, sensitivity to day length (photoperiod) and temperature, which can be used to simulate the phenological development of wheat and maize at the global scale. Location: Global. Methods: Based on crop calendar observations and literature describing the large-scale patterns of phenological characteristics of cultivars, we developed algorithms to compute location-specific parameters to represent this large-scale pattern. Vernalization requirements were related to the duration and coldness of winter, sensitivity to day length was assumed to be represented by the minimum and maximum day lengths occurring at a location, and sensitivity to temperature was related to temperature conditions during the vegetative development phase of the crop. Results: Application of the derived location-specific parameters resulted in high agreement between simulated and observed lengths of the cropping period. Agreement was especially high for wheat, with mean absolute errors of less than 3 weeks. In the main maize cropping regions, cropping periods were over- and underestimated by 0.5-1.5 months. We also found that interannual variability in simulated wheat harvest dates was more realistic when accounting for photoperiod effects. Main conclusions: The methodology presented here provides a good basis for modelling the phenological characteristics of cultivars at the global scale. We show that current global patterns of growing season length as described in cropping calendars can be largely reproduced by phenology models if location-specific parameters are derived from temperature and day length indicators. Growing seasons can be modelled more accurately for wheat than for maize, especially in warm regions. Our method for computing parameters for phenology models from temperature and day length offers opportunities to improve the simulation of crop productivity by crop simulation models developed for large spatial areas and for long-term climate impact projections that account for adaptation in the selection of varieties.


An adaptive combined array and multiuser detector (spatial and temporal) structure for direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) has been proposed in Legnain et al. (1998) to combat co-channel interference and increase the capacity for cellular CDMA. The structure uses a L-sensor (element) linear array. Each element is followed by a chip matched filter (CMF) and a fractionally spaced adaptive equalizer. The proposed structure outperforms the conventional receiver and the structures proposed in Abdulrahman et al. (1994) and Miller (1995) in-terms of capacity and near far resistance. In this paper we propose a new centralized decision feedback space-time receiver, which feeds back the detected symbols for all users through a FIR filter without respreading the detected symbols. The focus in this paper is the co-channel interference rejection capability of this structure. Analysis of the optimum tap weights and the minimum mean square error in multipath (no fading) channels are provided, and comparison between this structure and other structures are also provided.


Gas turbine machine,Multi-level recursive,Prediction,Experimental study Abstract. Take the huge gas turbine set of Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Refinery as the research object. The most important feature of machine is the vibration characteristic,and vibration displacement is the most important parameter of the machine,based on the historical vibration displacement datas,use multi-level recursive method to predict the state of the machine.With this method,fault prediction is divided into two parts:forecast of time-varying parameters and forecast based on the former forecast,the prediction precision is improved. Through the analysis of gas turbine failure mechanism,use Bently rotor bench,effectively simulate the mechanical failure of the rotor imbalance.


ABSTRACT In this article, a new active building component with electronically tunable transresistive block, voltage difference transresistance amplifier, and its floating frequency dependent negative resistor simulator circuit application is presented. The simulator circuit is shown to operate using single active building block with two grounded passive components, to be electronically tunable over its value which is controlled by an independent current source, not to require any conditions of component matching and to have good sensitivity performance with respect to tracking errors. To examine functionality of the design, a CRD band-pass filter example is given. Numerous simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) simulations are performed and depicted through the article to verify validity of the study. Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company (TSMC) 0.18 µm complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology parameters are used through simulations.


The bulk of cartilage retained in the haemal arch of the abdominal vertebrae of adult carps was examined using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. A special attention was devoted to the mineralization of the cartilage. The mineralization is spheritic but the processes differ in the proximal and distal parts. The proximal hyaline cartilage contacts the lamellar bone of the centrum without an intermediate chondroid bone; it mineralizes although chondrocytes bearing a hypertrophic phenotype were not identified in this area. The distal part of the cartilage contains hypertrophic chondrocytes associated with the mineralization of the cartilage matrix. Mineralized globules fuse to form longitudinal septa that are replaced by trabecular bone after their resorption by multinucleated chondroclasts. The distal part, resembling a mammalian epiphyseal growth plate, was coined the "haemal growth plate". Two types of chondrocytes are identified in the distal part by transmission electron microscopy. Apart from typical chondrocytes called "light chondrocytes", a population of "dark chondrocytes" is present in all stages of chondrocyte differentiation. The dark chondrocytes are electron dense and they are characterised by an abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum and by Golgi complexes. Their nuclei show irregular outlines and they contain a very-condensed chromatin. The compacted chromatin is scattered within the nuclei. Some dark chondrocytes show signs of shrinking and self-destruction through autophagic vacuoles and blebbing with disruption of the cellular membrane. Such chondrocytes, considered as cells exhibiting chondroptosis, a variety of programmed cell death, have only been described so far in the growth plate of amniotes. In this study, dark chondrocytes following a chondroptotic pathway are described for the first time in the cartilage of a non-amniote vertebrate. The present study raises the possibility that specific microenvironmental conditions in the abdominal vertebrae of the adult carp prompt differentiation of dark cells


In this work the growth of spatially ordered and vertically aligned ZnO nanowires is examined. Nanowire arrays are grown using chemical bath deposition (CBD) and carbothermal reduction vapour phase transport (CTR-VPT) techniques. Nanosphere lithography (NSL) was used to achieve spatial ordering of these arrays; arrays with inter-wire distances of 500 nm, 1.0 μm, and 1.5 μm were grown using both CBD and CTR-VPT techniques. Two distinct implementations of the NSL technique are investigated, one which relied on the deposition of a catalyst material and one which involved the deposition of a secondary mask which prevents ZnO deposition from occurring in undesired areas. The field emission (FE) characteristics of these arrays were examined, revealing a significant dependence of the FE properties on both nanowire morphology and array density. A geometric factor is calculated which is dependent on both nanowire aspect ratio and the density of nanowires in an array and this factor has been found to correlate with other indicators of FE properties. The results presented in this work may be useful in informing the design of ZnO nanowire arrays in order to maximise their FE efficiency and uniformity.


The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated response have delivered a recessionary shock to the global economy. As with prior downturns, these forces have collided with a leveraged corporate sector and spurred an increase in financial restructuring activity. However, in many respects this restructuring cycle is unlike any other cycle that we have experienced. In this paper, we explore the unique aspects of this restructuring cycle, how they differ from those of past cycles, and what this implies for the future.


Abstract The low-frequency mechanical properties of pure and Ca-doped lead orthophosphate, (Pb1-xCax)3(PO4)2, have been studied using simultaneous dynamical mechanical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and optical video microscopy in the vicinity of the first-order ferroelastic phase transition. Both samples show mechanical softening at T > Tc, which is attributed to the presence of dynamic short-range order and microdomains. Stress-induced nucleation of the low-temperature ferroelastic phase within the high-temperature paraelastic phase was observed directly via optical microscopy at T ≈ Tc. Phase coexistence is associated with rapid mechanical softening and a peak in attenuation, P1, that varies systematically with heating rate and measuring frequency. A second peak, P2, occurs ≈ 3-5ºC below Tc, accompanied by a rapid drop in the rate of mechanical softening. This is attributed to the change in mode of anelastic response from the displacement of the paraelastic/ferroelastic phase interface to the displacement of domain walls within the ferroelastic phase. Both the advancement/retraction of needles (W walls) and wall translation/rotation (W' walls) modes of anelastic response were identified by optical microscopy and XRD. A third peak, P3, occurring ≈ 15ºC below Tc, is attributed to the freezing-out of local flip disorder within the coarse ferroelastic domains. A fourth peak, P4, occurs at a temperature determined by the amplitude of the dynamic force. This peak is attributed to the crossover between the saturation (high temperature) and the superelastic (low temperature) regimes. Both samples display large superelastic softening due to domain wall sliding in the ferroelastic phase. Softening factors of 20 and 5 are observed in the pure and doped samples, respectively, suggesting that there is a significant increase in the intrinsic elastic constants (and hence the restoring force on a displaced domain wall) with increasing Ca content. No evidence for domain freezing was observed down to -150ºC in either sample, although a pronounced peak in attenuation, P5, at T ≈ -100ºC is tentatively attributed to the interaction between domain walls and lattice defects. Both samples show similar high values of attenuation within the domain-wall sliding regime. It is concluded that the magnitude of attenuation for ferroelastic materials in this regime is determined by the intrinsic energy dissipation caused by the wall-phonon interaction, and not by the presence of lattice defects. This will have a large impact on attempts to predict the effect of domain walls on seismic properties of mantle minerals at high temperature and pressure.


Recent epidemiological and immunological studies provide evidence for an association between Epstein–Barr virus infection and multiple sclerosis, suggesting a role of Epstein–Barr virus infection in disease induction and pathogenesis. A key question in this context is whether Epstein–Barr virus-infected B lymphocytes are present within the central nervous system and the lesions of patients with multiple sclerosis. Previous studies on this topic provided highly controversial results, showing Epstein–Barr virus reactivity in B cells in the vast majority of multiple sclerosis cases and lesions, or only exceptional Epstein–Barr virus-positive B cells in rare cases. In an attempt to explain the reasons for these divergent results, a workshop was organized under the umbrella of the European Union FP6 NeuroproMiSe project, the outcome of which is presented here. This report summarizes the current knowledge of Epstein–Barr virus biology and shows that Epstein–Barr virus infection is highly complex. There are still major controversies, how to unequivocally identify Epstein–Barr virus infection in pathological tissues, particularly in situations other than Epstein–Barr virus-driven lymphomas or acute Epstein–Barr virus infections. It further highlights that unequivocal proof of Epstein–Barr virus infection in multiple sclerosis lesions is still lacking, due to issues related to the sensitivity and specificity of the detection methods.


Nearly 350 Hypericum species exist on the earth, widely spreading in Europe, Asia and North Africa. 32 of 80 species growing in Turkey are endemic. The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from the aerial parts of the H. uniglandulosum Hausskn. ex Bornm., H.scabroides Robson and Poulter, H.kotschyanum Boiss., H.salsugineum Robson and Hub.-Mor. and H.thymopsis Boiss. By using the hydro-distillation method is identified by GC and GC/ MS. Finally the results are compared with each other. The differences between the results of the H.thymopsis and H.scabroides obtained in this study and the previous studies show that the chemical compositions of the essential oils are different for the same species obtained at different locations. The essential oil compositions of these species, except for the H. thymopsis and H.scabroides are identified for the first time.


The pulsating pressure waves are composed of fundamental frequency and higher order harmonics in exhaust pipe of engines. The nonlinearity in exhaust pipe is caused by their interactions. The error which is between prediction and measurement is induced by the nonlinearity. We can not explain this phenomenon using linear acoustic theory which is existing theory. So power spectrum which was used in linear theory is not useful. Bispectrum and bicoherence functions which are a higher order spectrum are applicable to explain this phenomenon. This paper proposes a nonlinear effect of pulsating pressure waves. The phenomenon proposed here is identified by using of higher order spectrum density functions.


The information needs of search engine users vary in complexity, depending on the task they are trying to accomplish. Some simple needs can be satisfied with a single query, whereas others require a series of queries issued over a longer period of time. While search engines effectively satisfy many simple needs, searchers receive little support when their information needs span session boundaries. In this work, we propose methods for modeling and analyzing user search behavior that extends over multiple search sessions. We focus on two problems: (i) given a user query, identify all of the related queries from previous sessions that the same user has issued, and (ii) given a multi-query task for a user, predict whether the user will return to this task in the future. We model both problems within a classification framework that uses features of individual queries and long-term user search behavior at different granularity. Experimental evaluation of the proposed models for both tasks indicates that it is possible to effectively model and analyze cross-session search behavior. Our findings have implications for improving search for complex information needs and designing search engine features to support cross-session search tasks.


Steel produced in Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) contain a high amount of copper that causes a detrimental surface cracking phenomenon called hot shortness. Studies have found that nickel can alleviate hot shortness by increasing copper solubility in the Fe phase, decreasing oxidation rate and promoting occlusion [1-3]. Occlusion is a phenomenon whereby the copper-rich phase becomes incorporated into iron oxides. Nickel promotes occlusion by causing an uneven interface and increasing the number of internal oxides. The uneven interface is likely a result of the two concentration fields resulting from ternary diffusion of nickel, copper and iron in the Fe phase. This work is aimed at explaining why nickel causes wavy oxide/liquid-Cu and liquid-Cu/Fe interfaces. Constitutional super-saturation criterion [4] was applied to explain uneven interfaces caused by nickel. A model simulating diffusion behaviors of copper and nickel in Fe was developed by coupling Comsol Multiphysics® and Matlab®. Interface concentrations of copper and nickel and perturbation criterion values were calculated as a function of time. Modeling results show that (i) the nickel interface concentration first increases to a peak value then decreases slowly during oxidation process as a result of the change in oxidation rates, and (ii) the alloys with higher nickel contents have more potential for interface breakdown and this occurs within the initial linear oxidation regime.


OF DISSERTATION Balaji Purushothaman The Graduate School University of Kentucky 2011 PARTIALLY HALOGENATED ACENES AND HETEROACENES FOR ORGANIC ELECTRONICS ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATIONOF DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Balaji Purushothaman Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. John E. Anthony, Professor of Chemistry Lexington, Kentucky 2011 Copyright © Balaji Purushothaman 2011 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATIONOF DISSERTATION PARTIALLY HALOGENATED ACENES AND HETEROACENES FOR ORGANIC ELECTRONICS Inorganic materials have dominated electronic applications such as photovoltaic cells, thin film transistors (TFTs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). However developments in the field of organic electronics over the past three decades have enabled the use of organic materials in these devices. While significant improvements have been made to improve their electronic properties there are several road blocks towards commercial application. One of the significant obstacles is the poor charge carrier mobility associated with organic semiconductors processed by well established printing methods. The goal of my research project is to improve the charge carrier mobility of solution cast films of acene semiconductors by partial halogenation and heteroatom substitution. Spin coated films of triisopropylsilylethynylated difluoropentacene exhibited higher hole mobility compared to TIPS pentacene due to contact induced nucleation of pentacene on perfluorobenzenethiol treated gold electrodes. The success of this project allowed me to further investigate the effect of degree of fluorination on the electronic properties of pentacene. A series of trialkylsilylethynylated tetrafluoro and octafluoropentacenes were synthesized and their performances in thin film transistors and solar cells were explored. Solar cells made from these materials using poly(3-hexylthiophene) as donor exhibited poor open circuit voltages (Voc) resulting in low power conversion efficiency (PCE). Better device performances were achieved using pentacenes having single halogen substituent. In order to improve the charge carrier mobility in TFTs soluble trialkylsilylethynylated hexacenes were explored. However these molecules exhibited a greater tendency to photodimerize in solution and solid state. Partial halogenation was used as a tool to improve the solution stability of reactive hexacene. The improved solution stability of partially halogenated hexacenes allowed me to successfully extend this approach to heptacene and nonacene. Finally a series of new trialkylsilylethynylated anthradiselenophenes were synthesized to improve molecular ordering in the solid state by increasing non-bonding Se – Se interaction. However single crystal x-ray diffraction studies revealed no such interaction between the acene chromophore resulting in poor device performance.


System safety was conceptualized by the aerospace industry in the late 1940s in the United States (U.S.). Traditionally, users of system safety applied analysis to identify operational hazards and subsequently provide countermeasures before or after an accident. Unfortunately, very few aviation safety researches from the airlines had utilized it to promote aviation safety. To enrich this knowledge and contribute interest from academia, this paper adopted the inductive techniques of system safety in analyzing airline accidents and recommending a countermeasure. The authors reviewed 189 final accident reports from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) covering FAR Part 121 scheduled operations (dated between January 1999 and May 2004). The findings revealed ten (10) accident causes (direct hazards), namely Flight Operations, Ground Crew, Turbulence, Maintenance, Foreign Object Damage (FOD), Flight Attendant, Air Traffic Control, Manufacturer, Passenger, and the Federal Aviation Administration. A block-diagram model using a Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), a leading tool for system safety experts, was created followed by probability simulation of accidents, five (5) case studies and FTA reports aiming to demonstrate the usefulness of system safety techniques in promoting airline safety.


This paper examines the effects of housing market institutions on labour mobility. The authors construct durations for individuals leaving their current job for a different job, becoming unemployed or leaving the labour market, from a sample of households from 14 European countries in 1994-2001. This data are then merged with country-specific housing market institutions, such as transaction taxes, and language and religion diversity. Similar to previous studies, estimated hazards indicate that home-ownership reduces job-to-job mobility as well as the probability to become unemployed or economically inactive on an individual level. However, a comparison between countries reveals that countries with high levels of home-ownership rates also have high levels of unemployment. Therefore, this paper is able to reconcile the seemingly contrasting empirical results from both the macroeconomic and the microeconomic level.


The post-contract phase of the construction process remains critical to cost management. Several techniques have been used to facilitate effective cost management in this phase. However, the deployment of these techniques has not caused a reduction in the incidence of cost overruns hence casting doubts on their utility. The seeming underwhelming performance posted by these post-contract cost control techniques (PCCTs), has been traced to improper deployment by construction project managers (CPM) and quantity surveyors (QS). Utilizing the perspectives of CPM and QS professionals, as elicited through a survey, produced 135 samples. The instrumentality of the artificial neural networks (ANN) in this study enabled the development of a structured decision-support methodology for analysing the most appropriate PCCTs to be deployed to different construction process phases. Besides showcasing the utility of the emergent ANN-based decision support methodology, the study's theoretical findings indicate that CPM and QS professionals influence decisions pertaining to PCCTs choice in distinct phases of the construction process. Whereas QS professionals were particularly responsible for the choice of PCCTs during the initial and mid-level phases, CPM professionals assumed responsibility for PCCTs selection during the construction process close-out phase. In construction cost management practice, the crucial PCCTs identifies more with the application of historical data and all cost monitoring approaches.


The Czech Republic Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) is a school-based survey of students in grades 7-9, conducted in 2002. A two-stage cluster sample design was used to produce representative data for all of the Czech Republic. On a large sample of students (N=4,149) from 7-9th grade it reveals that smoking among children has been continually growing. According to the results of this study, over 34% of the respondents smoke. Results of the study help us to understand social and attitudinal factors that affect adolescent smoking habits. Social factors include particularly the convenient availability of cigarettes and the lack of the legal regulation of the retail of cigarettes: over one half of all smokers under 15 years of age regularly purchase cigarettes in regular retail outlets; 72% of them reported never having been restricted in their purchases because of their age. Advertising and media coverage appears to be another important factor that affects smoking in this age group. Over 80% of children under 15 years of age reported that they have been exposed to the tobacco advertising. The study also allows an interesting analysis of the exposure to the environmental tobacco smoke. Compared to non-smokers, this exposure has been significantly higher in the case of smokers--both in their homes and at other locations (58% vs. 25%, and 90% vs. 57% respectively). The analysis of the data also revealed a strong misconception about the health risks related to passive smoking among smokers. The study provides three key findings for health promotion: (1) it is necessary to exert a continuous pressure on the political representation to strictly enforce the regulations of tobacco distribution and availability to minors; (2) school health education as well as community oriented prevention programs need to explicitly communicate non-smoking as a standard; and (3) it is important to increase the attractiveness and availability of smoking cessation programs.


Drinking water quality, especially in many parts of South Africa, is far below acceptable standards. With an annual estimate of 43,000 deaths from diarrheal diseases, 3 million cases of illness, and treatment costs of over half a billion US dollars, the impact is critical [4]. This research addresses the challenge of reporting complex and critical water quality information in a way that is accessible to all South Africans as required by law. In a country with high illiteracy rates, 11 official languages and limited-to-no access to technology in many areas, this is no easy feat. We describe the details of WATER Alert!, a prototype mobile phone application designed to alert and report critical water quality information to consumers who subscribe to it. Our initial evaluation of this design with users suggests that such an application would help to improve consumers' understanding of water quality information. The symbol-based messages make critical water quality information more accessible to illiterate or low-literate users, or non-native English or Afrikaans speakers. Additionally, the use of a tool and interface design most of our users are familiar with (the mobile phone) lowers the learning curve.


With increasing regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) across the world, understanding the molecular level interactions that drive their binding by functional adsorbent materials is key to effective PFAS removal from water streams. With the phaseout of legacy long-chain PFAS, the emergence of short-chain PFAS has posed a significant challenge for material design due to their higher mobility and hydrophilicity and inefficient removal by conventional treatment methods. Here, we demonstrate how cooperative molecular interactions are essential to target short-chain PFAS (from C4 to C7) by tailoring structural units to enhance affinity while modulating the electrochemical control of capture and release of PFAS. We report a new class of fluorinated redox-active amine-functionalized copolymers to leverage both fluorophilic and electrostatic interactions for short-chain PFAS binding. We combine molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and electrosorption to elucidate the role of the designer functional groups in enabling affinity toward short-chain PFAS. Preferential interaction coefficients from MD simulations correlated closely with experimental trends: fluorination enhanced the overall PFAS uptake and promoted the capture of less hydrophobic short-chain PFAS (C ≤ 5), while electrostatic interactions provided by secondary amine groups were sufficient to capture PFAS with higher hydrophobicity (C ≥ 6). The addition of an induced electric field showed favorable kinetic enhancement for the shortest PFAS and increased the reversibility of release from the electrode. Integration of these copolymers with electrochemical separations showed potential for removing these contaminants at environmentally relevant conditions while eliminating the need for chemical regeneration.


Re-representation is a mechanism for aligning non-identical structurally corresponding predicates during comparison. Re-representation is therefore a shift in the encoding of a stimulus from an initial set of elements to an altered set. For example, when comparing two analogous sentences, different verbs could be re-represented to allow a match – thereby altering construal. Re-representation is theoretically and intuitively compelling, but difficult to demonstrate. We had participants compare pairs of short text passages and judge them as potential analogies. At test, participants read an altered version of a prior passage and were asked to detect changes from the original. The alterations increased the semantic match between the passage and its analog. Participants who had compared the original passage to the analog were less likely to detect changes than those who compared to a non-analogous passage. As would be expected due to re-representation, analogical comparison made participants less sensitive to the changes.


Studies for the Historical-Critical Analysis of a Historical Center. The Case Study of Castel CamponeschiAim of the paper is the historical-critical study of Castel Camponeschi (aka Castello di Prata), a village at about 25 km from L'Aquila city (Italy), with peculiar urban characteristics –a herringbone pattern– probably founded in the thirteenth century and characterized by important phenomena of modification and stratification. The study roots on the direct analysis of the built heritage through the architectural surveying, realized at multiple scales from the urban settlement to the masonry structures. According to the morphology of the historic center, it could be traced to the process of new settlement foundation that characterized the territory –the border between the Papal State and the Frederic's Empire first, and then the Angevin kingdom–. The analysis of the village requires both a correlation with the natural and anthropic historical context in which it is inserted and, a specific study of masonry equipments, characterized by the re-used of stone elements from the nearby Vestino-Roman town of Peltuinum.


Background: Tree carbon estimates for New Zealand indigenous tree and shrub species are largely based on mean basic stem-wood densities derived from a limited number of trees, often of unspecified age and from a limited number of sites throughout New Zealand. Yet stem-wood density values feed directly into New Zealand's international and national greenhouse gas accounting. We augment existing published basic stem-wood density data with new age-specific values for 12 indigenous forest and shrubland species, including rarely obtained values for trees <6-years old, across 21 widely-distributed sites between latitudes 35° and 46° S, and explore relationships commonly used to estimate carbon stocks.
Methods: The volume of 478 whole stem-wood discs collected at breast height (BH) was determined by water displacement, oven dried, and weighed. Regression analyses were used to determine possible relationships between basic stem-wood density, and tree height, root collar diameter (RCD), and diameter at breast height (DBH). Unbalanced ANOVA was used to determine inter-species differences in basic stem-wood density in 5-yearly age groups (i.e. 0–5 years, 6–10 years etc.) (P<0.05). As specific taxa of Kunzea ericoides (Myrtaceae) has only been identified at some study sites we combine the data from each site, and use the term Kunzea spp. We compare our age- and species-specific results with existing published data where age is specified versus non-age-specific values.
Results: Kunzea spp. and Leptospermum scoparium exhibited positive correlations between basic stem-wood density and tree height, RCD, and DBH. No relationships were established for Melicytus ramiflorus, Coprosma grandiflora, Weinmannia racemosa ?6-years old, or for Podocarpus totara, Agathis australis, Vitex lucens, and Alectryon excelsus <6-years old. Dacrydium cupressinum and Prumnopitys ferruginea <6-years old exhibited a significant positive relationship with DBH only, while for Dacrycarpus dacrydioides, each correlation was negative. Irrespective of age, basic stem-wood density is not different between the hardwood species L. scoparium and Kunzea spp. but is significantly greater (P=0.001) than that of the remaining, and predominantly softwood species of equivalent age. For Kunzea spp., L. scoparium, Coprosma grandiflora, Weinmannia racemosa, and Melicytus ramiflorus ?6-years old there was no evidence that basic stem-wood density increased with tree age, and values were within the range of published and unpublished data. For naturally reverting stands of Kunzea spp. located between latitudes 35° to 46° S, basic stem-wood density values tended to increase with decreased elevation and increased temperature.
Conclusions: Increasing basic wood density values in Kunzea spp. with decreased elevation and increased temperature suggest that where local data are available its use would improve the accuracy of biomass estimates both locally and nationally. Furthermore, refining biomass estimates for existing communities of mixed softwood species, stands of regenerating shrubland, and new plantings of indigenous species will require additional basic stem-wood density values for scaling from stem wood volume to total stand biomass.


The free-living, hermaphroditic nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae has a nutritional requirement for sterols. It will reproduce indefinitely in a liquid medium containing only bacterial cells (Escherichia coli) and salts if various sterols are present. Several other lipid-soluble materials are ineffective in supporting reproduction.


Water scarcity is threatening the sustainability of global food grain production systems. Devising management strategies and identification of crop species and genotypes are direly required to meet the global food demands with limited supply. This study, consisted of two independent experiments, was conducted to compare faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes Giza Blanka, Goff-1, Hassawi-1, Hassawi-2 and Gazira-2 in terms of physiological attributes and yield under waterlimited environments. In first experiment, conducted in a growth chamber, osmotic stress of � 0.78, � 0.96, � 1.19 and � 1.65 MPa was induced using polyethylene glycol for 4 weeks. In second experiment, conducted in open field for two consecutive growing seasons, water deficit treatments were applied 3 weeks after sowing. In this experiment, irrigation was applied when an amount of evaporated water from the 'class A pan' evaporation reached 50 mm (well watered), 100 mm (moderate drought) and 150 mm (severe drought). Water deficit, applied in terms of osmotic stress or drought, reduced the root and shoot length, related leaf water contents, total chlorophyll contents and efficiency of photosystem-II, plant height, grain yield and related attributes in faba bean; increased the leaf free proline, leaf soluble proteins and malondialdehyde contents, and triggered the maturity in tested faba bean genotypes. However, substantial genetic variation was observed in the tested genotypes in this regard. For instance, root length of genotypes Giza Blanka and Hassawi-2 decreased gradually, whereas it was increased in genotypes Goff-1, Hassawi-1 and Gazira-2 with increase in the level of osmotic stress. Genotypes Gazira-2 and Hassawi-2 had better relative leaf water contents, leaf free proline and soluble proteins under water deficit conditions; however, these were minimum in genotype Giza Blanka. Better accumulation of leaf free proline, soluble proteins, and maintenance of chlorophyll contents, tissue water, efficiency of photosystem-II and grain weight in water-limited conditions helped some genotypes like Hassawi-2 to yield better. Future breeding programs for developing new faba bean genotypes for water-limitedenvironments may consider thesetraits.


Background: Recently, assisted reproductive technology has been widely accepted as a well-established procedure to treat infertility. Unfortunately, the success rate is still below expectations, whereas the rate of infertility has risen steadily. Intrauterine insemination procedure is the highest performed compared to other procedures, but the success rate is still lowest, around 10%. One cause of failure has been thought to occur due to lack of oocytes and embryos protection from cleaning of oxygen radicals. Reactive oxygen species negatively affect the maturation and interaction of gamete, fertilization, as well as acceleration of pathological states of the reproductive tract. On female reproduction, an antioxidant is essential for the maturation and quality of oocyte, implantation, placentation, fetal growth, and development of the organ. Concentrations of antioxidants have an important role in the reproduction, and interventions to reduce the influence of reactive oxygen species can improve the quality of embryos and their implantation. Objective: To determine the effect of antioxidants (superoxide dismutase [SOD]) in ovarian stimulation response and pregnancy rates in women undergoing intrauterine insemination. Material: Women undergoing intrauterine insemination procedures and who met the criteria of research were randomly and in double-blind divided into two groups, that is, SOD group and placebo group. During ovarian stimulation, 20 patients randomly selected were administered capsules containing 250 mg SOD (glisodin®, Kalbe Pharmaceutical, tbk.) twice a day, and the remaining 20 patients were given the same dose and color capsules containing placebo. Furthermore, ovarian activity and endometrial thickness were monitored by regular transvaginal ultrasound scans. A dose of 5000 U of hCG (Profasi, Serono Pharmaceuticals Ltd., UK) was administered when the leading cohort of follicles reached a diameter of 18–22 mm. Intrauterine insemination with prepared sperms was then performed 34–36 hours following hCG using Friedman catheter. Biochemical pregnancy is determined at day 15 after insemination with the cut-off point 25I U/mL. The data are compared between two groups and analyzed using SPSS 16 with a 95% confidence interval. Result: Forty women underwent intrauterine insemination cycles, with 20 cycles administered to each group, SOD and placebo. There were five (12.5%) positives for chemical pregnancies, four (80%) in SOD, and one (20%) in placebo. The pregnancy rates tend to be higher in the SOD group than in the placebo group, even though it was not significantly different (p = 0.151). The ovarian stimulation determined by the number of growing follicles and endometrial thickness showed that more follicles (≥ 6 follicles) were found in SOD group (n = 10, 58.8%) than in placebo (n = 7, 41.2%); however, it was not statistically significant (p = 0.075). Endometrial thickness of 10 mm or more is statistically significant (p = 0.017), which is higher (79.2%) in SOD compared with placebo (20.8%) and yields significantly (p = 0.0251) greater pregnancy rates (n = 4, 80%) than placebo (n = 1, 20%). Conclusions: SOD provides better stimulation response and increased pregnancy rates in intrauterine insemination program.


We previously showed (Kotrschal et al., 2009) that owner personality and human–dog relationship predicted the performance of a human–dog dyad in a practical task. Based on the same data set we presently investigate the effects of individual and social factors on the social attraction of dogs to their owners. Twenty-two male and female owners and their intact male dogs were observed during a "picture viewing" test, where we diverted the owner's attention away from their dog whilst it was permitted to move freely around the room. Owner personality axis "neuroticism" and dog personality axis "vocal and aggressive" were, respectively, positively and negatively related to the time the dog stayed in proximity to the owner. Quality of relationship and attachment also had significant effects on this proximity. We conclude that personality and the nature of the human–dog relationship may all influence dogs' social attraction to their owners. Keywords: companion animals; dog–human attachment; dyadic relationships; human-animal interactions; human–dog attachment; human–dog relationship; human–dog social interactions; personality; pets


Agata Marta Ochocinska, firstname.lastname@example.com and Joseph Sweeney, firstname.lastname@example.com. Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AD, United Kingdom
Small heterocyclic molecules, such as lactones, are often found in bioactive compounds and are therefore of great importance. Depending on the functional groups present, they are generally synthesized by ring closure of hydroxy acid derivatives. Novel methodology for the catalytic conjugate addition of nucleophiles to furanone species has been developed in our group, leading to lactones with good control of the stereochemistry. This methodology and efforts to apply it to more complicated systems will be discussed in this presentation.


Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment is becoming increasingly common in routine clinical practice. Consequently many individuals are likely to be identified as being at increased CVD risk and risk reducing strategies implemented with a view to preventing future CVD. There are many steps along the pathway from CVD risk assessment to the prevention of CVD events. First, CVD risk needs to be accurately estimated using an appropriate CVD risk calculator. Secondly CVD risk information needs to be effectively communicated to the individual identified as being at increased risk. Thirdly, the risk information communicated needs to be capable of motivating behaviour change and finally behaviour change needs to result in a reduction in CVD risk. The evidence base for many of these steps has yet to be fully established. Aims: The overall aims of this work were first to adapt the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Risk Engine to better display risk and achievable risk. Secondly to investigate lay perceptions of risk and to develop two interventions designed to reduce CVD risk. The two interventions were a personalised 10-year CVD risk estimate and a brief lifestyle advice intervention. Finally, the capacity of these interventions to increase physical activity and improve CVD risk factors in adults at increased CVD risk was tested. Methods: Three focus groups were held to investigate lay perceptions of risk and to inform the design of the UKPDS Risk Engine interface and a brief lifestyle advice intervention designed to motivate risk reducing behaviours. The two interventions were then tested in a 2x2 factorial randomised controlled trial. Results: The focus group results demonstrated that public interest and understanding of risk was high. In addition participants expressed clear views regarding how risk information and lifestyle advice should be presented. 194 participants at increased 10-year CVD risk (≥ 20%) were recruited from 4 Oxfordshire general practices. Neither a personalised 10-year CVD risk estimate nor a brief lifestyle advice intervention was capable of increasing physical activity or reducing estimated 10-year CVD risk in this group. Conclusions: Whilst public interest in CVD risk appeared to be high this study was unable to demonstrate that a 10-year personalised CVD risk estimate or a brief lifestyle advice intervention was able to increase physical activity in adults at increased CVD risk.


The processing of sound changes and involuntary attention to them has been widely studied with event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been applied to determine the neural mechanisms of involuntary attention and the sources of the corresponding ERP components. The gradient-coil switching noise from the MRI scanner, however, is a challenge to any experimental design using auditory stimuli. In the present study, the effects of MRI noise on ERPs associated with preattentive processing of sound changes and involuntary switching of attention to them were investigated. Auditory stimuli consisted of frequently presented "standard" sounds, infrequent, slightly higher "deviant" sounds, and infrequent natural "novel" sounds. The standard and deviant sounds were either sinusoidal tones or musical chords, in separate stimulus sequences. The mismatch negativity (MMN) ERP associated with preattentive sound change detection was elicited by the deviant and novel sounds and was not affected by the prerecorded background MRI noise (in comparison with the condition with no background noise). The succeeding positive P3a ERP responses associated with involuntary attention switching elicited by novel sounds were also not affected by the MRI noise. However, in ERPs to standard tones and chords, the P1, N1, and P2 peak latencies were significantly prolonged by the MRI noise. Moreover, the amplitude of the subsequent "exogenous" N2 to the standard sounds was significantly attenuated by the presence of MRI noise. In conclusion, the present results suggest that in fMRI the background noise does not interfere with the imaging of auditory processing related to involuntary attention.


Abstract Linguistic Change in Southwest German: from apical to uvular r We start with a brief description of the realization of /r/ in standard German and proceed to examine the evolution of the /r/ in Alemannic dialects in general. We then look at the specific conditions which apply to the /r/ in southwest Germany. Recordings for the 'Atlas of Southwest German' demonstrate a multitude of variations of the /r/; in the west, the uvular R dominates, whereas in the east the apical r is the most common realization. In the area around Lake Constance, there is a third variant, namely dorsal r. According to the definition of sound change established by Haag (Teuthonista 6: 1–35, 1929), the change from apical to uvular r should be classified as the older one; it was a conscious adoption of uvular r, first by speakers in towns and their immediate surroundings, which then became incorporated into regional dialects. The transformation of lingual to dorsal r, on the other hand, is regarded in Haag's terms as a current sound change, which is still in progress.


Laryngeal control is essential for airway protection, breathing, deglutition, speech, and voice. Unfortunately, integration of laryngeal sensory assessment in research and clinical practice is limited by technical and practical limitations of commercially available technology. A commercial device is available, but reported limitations include procedural complexity requiring two or three individuals to operate, limited stimulus dynamic range, device generated noise, and questionable stimulus reproducibility. The objective of this study was to design a new laryngeal somatosensory stimulus delivery device that provides direct, reliable control over the timing, duration, and dynamic range of stimulus presentation, and test the device in individuals who may manifest a laryngeal sensory deficit. The new device operates silently and has more than four times greater stimulus dynamic range than the commercial device. Testing with the new device revealed laryngeal mechanosensory detection thresholds in an individual with Parkinson's disease that were seven times higher than those of healthy controls. These data would have otherwise gone undetected due to limited stimulus dynamic range in the commercial device. The new design resulted in a new assessment instrument that is simple to use for routine clinical assessment, yet sufficiently versatile for integration within rigorous clinical research protocols.


The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which Chinese politeness was educated in the Ryukyus, by relying on a unique historical source, a textbook written to Okinawan students.
Before the 20th century Chinese was an honorific-rich language, and the education of proper Chinese politeness was part of basic education in the Kingdom of Ryukyu, which used to maintain close political and economic ties with China, especially during the Ming Dynasty. Due to these connections, Ryukyuan students often visited China; learning at a prestigious school of China meant good career upon return. Since Ryukyuan languages belong to the Japonic language family, the visiting students needed to learn Standard Chinese as a second language. Therefore, several textbooks were compiled for these students, in order to help them to brush up their Standard Chinese, and also to teach them some Fujianese, before departing to China. Among these works the supposedly most recent and influential one is Xue-guanhua (Learn Guanhua, or Gaku-kanwa in Japanese), compiled by an unknown author (or a team of authors) with native or near-native Chinese proficiency.
The source studied does not only reveal much about the linguistic characteristics of historical Chinese politeness but it is also an illuminating source for the scholar of historical intercultural language studies and historical linguistics. This is because Xue-guanhua is a is a 'pragmatic' textbook, which teaches Chinese oral communication in a situational way, for example, how to behave when invited to a Chinese family and how to talk with neighbours. Thus, many of the issues addressed by the (anonymous) author(s) are related with intercultural communicational and sociocultural difficulties. By exploring this issue, the present study not only contributes to Okinawan studies but also to intercultural ones, since so far no study has been devoted to historical intercultural communication.


How can the light-weight video camera in the hands of the improvising dancer, enhance compositional choices in moment-to-moment or retrospective decision-making in studio? I propose that the camera in the hands of the dancer moving and passing the camera between dancing subjects/objects is a form of improvisational investigation. I refer to this dyadic approach as camera-dancer , distinct from the tradition of the camera as archival instrument, in multimedia or interactive performance. The camera-dancer as instigator/provocateur opens perspectives towards composition otherwise not considered. In this paper I highlight approaches that moving image pioneers Maya Deren and Dziga Vertov held towards the camera and how this has informed studio improvisations myself and dance collaborators apply. Perhaps it is how we as dancing operators react to moments before, discoveries in the moment, a retrospective 'camera consciousness,' that enhances compositional openings as a form of camera dramaturgy.


Specific immunostaining for endothelin-1 (ET-1) was observed in the uterine mucosa of pregnant and nonpregnant rabbits. During gestation, giant cells immunopositive for ET-1 were identified in either endometrium or myometrium. In the latter, they were located in close proximity to the muscular fibers. High-affinity (dissociation constant = 0.25 nM) high-capacity [maximal binding (Bmax) = 7 pmol/mg protein] receptors for ET-1 were present in myometrial membranes of estrous rabbits. During pregnancy the concentration of ET-1 receptors progressively decreased (Bmax on day 29 = 4 pmol/mg protein), rising again at the time of spontaneous delivery. Conversely, ET-1 receptors in the aorta did not change during pregnancy and parturition. The presence of giant cells immunopositive for ET-1 in close proximity to the myometrial cells, together with the evidence of an increase in ET-1 receptors in myometrium of parturient rabbits, suggests a paracrine role for endometrial ET-1 during delivery. Because we previously demonstrated that oxytocin releases ET-1 from endometrial cells in primary culture and that endometrial and myometrial oxytocin receptors abruptly rise at the time of parturition, we propose that ET-1 might participate in the complex cell-to-cell interactions that occur during labor.


Growing apprehensions on greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, and pollution problems are directly related to fossil fuels consumption. To counteract these environmental issues, global efforts are being made to diversify energy supplies towards cleaner fuels, especially for the transportation sector. Hydrogen surpasses all other biofuels such as biodiesel, bio-oil, ethanol, and butanol because of its high energy content, no greenhouse gas emissions, rapid combustion properties, non-corrosive nature, and physical state. Hydrogen production from methane and methanol, through reforming reactions, has been thoroughly studied and these are well-entrenched industrial technologies. However, ethanol is an attractive feedstock for hydrogen production because it is less toxic than methanol and can easily be produced from renewable biomass. Interest in the conversion of ethanol to hydrogen through several thermochemical, hydrothermal, photochemical, and electrochemical technologies has grown recently. In this review, different thermochemical, hydrothermal, photochemical, and electrochemical technologies for ethanol to hydrogen conversion are comprehensively discussed. Ethanol conversion technologies reviewed in this paper include steam reforming, partial oxidation, autothermal reforming, alkaline-enhanced reforming, dehydrogenation, supercritical water gasification, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis. Current advancements, technical challenges, and future perspectives of each technology are thoroughly discussed. This technical compilation brings together various techniques that are being explored for hydrogen production from ethanol.


Technical dielectric materials and ceramics are used in many different high technology industrial areas and especially for spacecraft applications. On satellites, these materials are subjected to extreme conditions due to the space plasma environment. To survive, these ceramic insulators must have exceptional electrical and thermal properties. Boron Nitride (BN) and Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) are used in particular because they combine good electrical insulation and high thermal conductivity. However, BN and Al2O3 used in spacecraft interiors are exposed to critical radiation demands, where these insulators are irradiated by electrons with high energies and flux. Charged particles are trapped in the ceramics, producing high electric fields. Subsequently, internal disturbances and electrical breakdowns can occur. Over time, these phenomena may cause degradation or failure of various components and embedded systems. Consequently, this study endeavors to understand the physical mechanisms which occur in these ceramics materials under electron irradiation. These dielectrics materials have been characterized at ONERA Toulouse (DESP) in the CEDRE (Chambre d'Etude De Revetement Electrises) irradiation chamber. A parametric study was performed to assess the influence of incident energy and flux, temperature, coatings, annealing, and ionizing dose on the charging and relaxation kinetics of BN and Al2O3. Surface and thermal treatments were found to limit BN's charging. Dedicated treatments enhanced charge transport. To identify the effect of thermal annealing on electrical behavior in these materials, a thorough study of electron trapping processes was performed using cathodoluminescence in the Electron Emission Test facility at Utah State University. These tests explored differences in the nature and density of defect states. Together, these investigations determined correlations between chemical, structural and physical properties for each insulator's configurations. Further, we observed degradation of coatings and an evolution of the concentration of their chemical defects. Contamination and ageing effects were identified on the rough material surfaces of ceramics exposed under a critical electron flux. Therefore, treatments applied to optimize electrical properties were found to be ineffective, especially for long-term charging mitigation. We will discuss these results and compare them for each ceramic configuration. The goal of this investigation is to understand the predominant physical mechanisms and main structural and chemical differences between these ceramic configurations in order to perform an exhaustive correlation between the properties. In future studies, we propose to define a defect-based model which can be used to optimize a material to limit both its charging and degradation over the time.


for skilled advice on occupational health matters, and in consequence many previously neglected environmental problems have come to light which call for medical help. It is the duty of those who undertake to advise them to make it plain that these are the important tasks, and that occupational medicine does not consist of routine examinations of new employees on the pretence that the doctor can forecast future sickness absence experience or survival. F H TYRER Bettws Newydd, Usk, Gwent


The Paris Agreement has been celebrated as a breakthrough for international climate policy. However, relatively scant attention has been given to the emergent ecosystem of climate finance facilities that support it. We provide an overview of the rising number of climate-related trust funds at multilateral development banks (MDBs). These funds can be distinguished into mitigation funds and adaptation funds. Some funds have a focus on capacity building activities. To maximize their effect on sustainable development, the different types of funds should follow different resource allocation criteria: For adaptation funds, vulnerability should represent the primary criterion. For mitigation funds, the main criterion should be the emission reduction potential. Capacity building should primarily focus on countries with weak institutions. Using a novel dataset of disbursements of climate-related trust funds, available for the World Bank, we examine whether fund allocations correspond to these expectations, and compare them with those of bilateral donors. We find that while trust funds with a focus on mitigation generally allocate aid in line with efficiency considerations, trust funds with a focus on adaptation do not seem to prioritize the countries most strongly in need, contrary to bilateral aid. Furthermore, capacity building activities do not seem to focus on countries with weak institutions. These findings have important implications for the effectiveness and legitimacy of climate aid to developing countries.


Background: Several evidence have shown hyperglycemia and diabetes are frequent in patients with psychoses. There are evidences that some ethnic minorities are at higher risk of psychosis. It is less clear if migration history is a risk factor for diabetes and hyperglycemia during first-episode psychosis (FEP). The present study aims to evaluate if migration history might influence fasting plasma glucose change during antipsychotic treatment (APs) in (FEP).

Materials and Methods: We carried out a retrospective follow-up of all FEP drug na?ve patients at their first contact with Bologna West Community Mental Health Centres from January 2010 to December 2015. Blood tests carried out during the follow-up period were collated from clinical charts to evaluate the baseline fasting plasma glucose level upon starting APs treatment and at the time of follow-up. Out of 50 patients who had FEP during the recruitment period and consented to take part in the study, 25 cases had blood test results available at follow-up. We performed linear multivariate regression analysis to adjust the association between migrant status and fasting plasma glucose level of follow-up by gender, age, education, employment, APs treatment and dose.

Results: At baseline, the mean fasting plasma glucose level was within the normal range and at follow-up we observed a significant increase in the mean fasting plasma glucose in migrants. Upon multivariate linear regression analysis, migration history remained significantly associated with the follow-up fasting plasma glucose level.

Conclusions: In conclusion, we found that migrants with FEP are particularly at risk of developing hyperglycemia and type II diabetes during APs treatment.


The influence of Quarternary glacial cycles on the extant diversity of Holarctic species has been intensively studied. It has been hypothesized that palaeoclimatic changes are responsible for divergence events in lineages. A constant improvement in DNA sequencing and modeling methods, as well as palaeoclimatic reconstruction, permit a deeper exploration of general causes of speciation in geological time. In the present study, we sampled, as exhaustively as possible, the butterflies belonging to the genus Melitaea (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), which are widely spread in the Palaearctic region. We conducted analyses to assess the phylogeny of the genus and estimated the timing of divergence and the most likely distribution of ancestral populations. The results obtained indicate that the systematics of the genus is in need of revision and that the diversity of the genus has been profoundly shaped by palaeoenvironmental changes during its evolutionary history. The present study also emphasizes that, when employed with caveats, major palaeoenvironmental events could represent very powerful tools for the calibration of the dating of divergences using molecular data.


To date there has been very little research looking at how former child analytic patients have made sense of the experience of being in psychoanalytic treatment as children. Based on semi-structured interviews with twenty-seven people who, as children, had been in intensive psychoanalysis at the Anna Freud Centre, London, between 1952 and 1980, this study uses a qualitative methodology to explore two central themes: "attitudes toward being in therapy" and "memories of therapy and the therapist". This report presents the findings of the study in narrative form, and argues that the recollections of former child analytic patients are an important, but under-used, source of knowledge for an understanding of the psychoanalytic process.


A Virtual Chinatown explores the reciprocal relationship between ethnic media and transnational communities by examining the adaptation of Chinese immigrants to New Zealand.


Many women of childbearing age now work in an environment that is associated with reproductive and teratogenic risks. Problems relating to the assessment and control of potential teratogenic hazards in the work place are discussed in this paper. Risk factors include industrial solvents, air pollution, water pollution, noise, anesthetic agents, and video display terminals.


The significant challenges associated with managing waste continues to attract international scholarly attention. This international handbook scrutinizes both developed and developing economies. It comprises original contributions from many of the most prominent scholars researching this topic. Consisting primarily of empirical research efforts – though theoretical underpinnings are also explored thoroughly – the handbook serves to further the understanding of the behaviors of waste generators and waste processors and the array of policies influencing these behaviors.


The effects of the horrific 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre went far beyond the destruction of 36 blocks of Black-owned property in the Greenwood section of Tulsa. The Sipuel family, burned out of their Greenwood home, moved to Chickasha, Oklahoma. Mrs. Sipuel became a civil rights activist, and she and her husband told and retold the story of the Massacre to their daughter, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher. Fisher's upbringing influenced her to become the test plaintiff in the lawsuit that forced the desegregation of the University of Oklahoma ("OU"). In Sipuel v. Oklahoma, the Supreme Court held that under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Blacks had a personal right to legal education equivalent to the education states offered to students of other races. Courts throughout the south relied on Sipuel in ordering the admission of Blacks to graduate and professional schools. The Supreme Court cited Sipuel in Sweatt v. Painter, which ordered the desegregation of the University of Texas School of Law despite the state's hasty creation of a separate Black law school. Ultimately, the Supreme Court built on Sipuel's holding, ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that "separate but equal" has no place in public education. The Article begins with the Sipuel family's experience in Tulsa and Fisher's upbringing in Chickasha. It reviews the litigation to desegregate American education brought by the National Association of Colored People and Thurgood Marshall prior to the Sipuel case, including their legal strategy and careful selection of test plaintiffs. The Article details the Sipuel case, the legal machinations of the State of Oklahoma to prevent Sipuel from enrolling in OU's College of Law, and George McLaurin's suit to enroll in OU's graduate school. It concludes that were it not for the Massacre, Fisher might never have stepped forward, and the desegregation of American education may have been significantly delayed.


The main goal of this research is to develop logical tools and techniques for effective reasoning about continuous data based on $\Sigma$-definability. In this article we invent the Uniformity Principleand prove it for $\Sigma$-definability over the real numbers extended by open predicates. Using the Uniformity Principle, we investigate different approaches to enrich the language of {Sigma}-formulas in such a way that simplifies reasoning about computable continuous data without enlarging the class of $\Sigma$-definable sets. In order to do reasoning about computability of certain continuous data we have to pick up an appropriate language of a structure representing these continuous data. We formulate several major conditions how to do that in a right direction. We also employ the Uniformity Principleto argue that our logical approach is a good way for formalization of computable continuous data in logical terms.


This paper estimates a stochastic production using household survey data to analyze the relationship between farmers' health impediments and agricultural production efficiency in Ethiopia. The results show that healthy farmers produce more per unit of inputs, earn more income and supply more labor than farmers affected by sickness. The model results show that production inefficiency increases significantly with the number of days lost to sickness. This finding suggests that investing in the health sector in rural areas will not only improve farmers' agricultural performance but also increase their income. Policymakers should therefore devise strategies that will maximize the contribution of health investments to agricultural productivity and the overall rural economy.


Reading is one of the most complex and uniquely human of cognitive activities. Our understanding of the processes and factors involved in text comprehension is quite impressive, but it also is fragmented, with a proliferation of "mini-theories" for specific components that in reality are intertwined and interact with one another. Theories of dynamic text comprehension (DTC) aim to capture the integration of these components. They depict reading comprehension as an ongoing process involving fluctuations in the activation of concepts as the reader proceeds through the text, resulting in a gradually emerging interpretation of the material. Features of texts and characteristics of the reader jointly and interactively affect these fluctuations, influencing and being influenced by the reader's understanding and memory of what is read. We illustrate the DTC approach by describing one theory, called the Landscape model, and summarize how its simulations match empirical data. We conclude with some implications of the DTC framework for basic and applied reading research.


Local and nonlocal models for the diffusion of photopolymers are applied to the dynamic formation of transmission gratings recorded in photopolymers and holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (H-PDLCs). We retrieve the main parameters of H-PDLCs (refractive-index modulation and diffusion coefficient) by combining a solution of the one-dimensional diffusion equation and the rigorous coupled-wave theory applied to transmission gratings. The rigorous coupled-wave theory method provides us with information on higher harmonics of the refractive profile (not only on the first harmonic as when the classical Kogelnik theory is applied). Measurements concerning the second harmonic validate the modeling.


This Country Study investigates the evolution and current state of Honduras? conditional cash transfer programme, known as PRAF, the Programa de Asignacion Familiar. The details of the past and current programmes are examined closely, with special attention paid to what can be learned from the experiences. While the programme was originally intended to compensate poor households for the hardships imposed by structural adjustment, it has evolved into a programme focused on human capital development. In this respect, it is similar to other conditional cash transfer programmes. However, its history and the dual nature of the programme (one part based on an external loan and the other domestically driven) have hindered institutional transformation. Although there have been attempts to make the domestic programme more closely resemble the externally financed version of PRAF, this process has been hindered on several occasions. In fact, domestic programme co-responsibilities have been neither emphasized nor enforced in the past. While the current alignment of political and economic forces, both inside and outside the country, has given the programme the opportunity to positively transform itself, other factors run counter to this goal. Although the outcome of this transformation is yet to be fully determined, several important lessons can be learned from the experience of PRAF in Honduras. These relate to topics that include organizational alignment, targeting methodology, administration of transfers, programme evaluation, enforcement of co-responsibilities and supply-side complements to the programme. These issues are investigated so that other similar programmes can learn both the strengths and weaknesses of the Honduran experience.


Elevated circulating cell-free DNA (CFD) levels were found in patients with cancer. The standard CFD assays are work-intensive and expensive. The aim was to evaluate in patients with cancer a new simple CFD assay. In mice inoculated with cancer cells, CFD levels correlated with tumor size. Compared with healthy subjects, 38 patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) had higher preoperative CFD levels (798 ± 409 vs 308 ± 256 ng/mL; P < .0001). Compared with patients free of disease at 1 year, CFD levels were elevated in patients who remained with disease or died (DD). CFD correlated with DD (P = .033), and a combined index of carcinoembryonic antigen × CFD exhibited a better correlation to DD than did pathologic staging (P = .0027 vs P = .0065). For patients with CRC, CFD levels were prognostic of death and disease. A large prospective study will need to be performed to truly evaluate the efficacy of this method for early detection, follow-up, and evaluation of patient response to treatment.


Prior to the introduction of mother tongue based education in 1994, the language of instruction for most subjects in Ethiopia's primary schools was the official language (Amharic) - the mother tongue of only one third of the population. This paper uses the variation in individual's exposure to the policy change across birth cohorts and mother tongues to estimate the effects of language of instruction on reading skills and early labour market outcomes. The results indicate that the reading skills of birth cohorts that gained access to mother tongue-based primary education after 1994 improved significantly by about 11 percentage points. The provision of primary education in mother tongue halved the reading skills gap between Amharic and non-Amharic mother tongue users. The improved reading skills seem to translate into gains in the labour market in terms of the skill contents of jobs held and the type of payment individuals receive for their work. An increase in school enrollment and enhanced parental educational investment at home are identified as potential channels linking mother tongue instruction and an improvement in reading skills.


Ability to safely withstand and survive self quench conditions is an important consideration in the design and utilisation of HTS current leads. The provision of a non superconducting shunt path allows current to be diverted in the event of a transition to the normal state. This shunt should allow very rapid transfer of current out of the HTS material and be able to safely support the full load current for the time required to detect the fault and reduce the current to zero. However, the shunt should also be designed to minimise the increased heat load which will result from it's addition to the lead. Test of leads based on melt cast BSCCO 2212 utilising a fully integrated silver gold alloy sheath are described. The HTS sub-elements form part of a full 13 kA lead, designed to the specifications of CERN for the LHC project. The sub-elements proved able to fully comply with and exceed the quench performance required by CERN. The HTS module was quenched at the full design current and continued to maintain this current for a further minute in the absence of any coolant without any damage being incurred or degradation of subsequent performance. Results were in full agreement with calculated quench performance. Work continues on similar modules for a 600 A lead.


It has been proposed that one way of reducing the sonic boom is to deposit energy upstream of the vehicle. A computational and experimental study has been carried out on the near-field flow around a wedge model placed in a Mach 2.4 wind tunnel, where a Nd:YAG laser beam is used to breakdown the air upstream of the wedge, leading to a hot spot of gas which interacts with the wedge oblique shock. These interactions are studied with the help of time-resolved Schlieren (using a MHz rate camera) and using four sequentially placed pressure sensors, located in the region of impingement of the oblique shock on the floor; here they measure the effect of the energy deposition on the shock-induced pressures on the floor. 2D Euler calculations are compared with the wind tunnel results. Both numerical and experimental results agree quite well in the relative pressure levels before and after the shock impingement position, and also in the qualitative behavior of the pressure levels as a function of time after the discharge. The presence of other extraneous shocks and also the well-developed, large, turbulent boundary layer on the tunnel floor hindered a further quantitative comparison of experimental and computational results.


A learning controller is presented for a Markovian decision problem in which the transition probabilities are unknown. This controller, which is designed to be asymptotically optimal with consideration of a conflict between estimation and control, uses a performance criterion incorporating a tradeoff between them explicitly for determination of a control policy. It is shown that this controller achieves asymptotic optimality in the sense that the relative frequency of applying the optimal policy converges to unity.


This paper provides an overview of some of the recent developments in the assessment of network vulnerability and robustness through appropriate tools that assist in the quantification of network efficiency / performance and the identification of the importance of network components, such as nodes and links. We demonstrated how rigorously constructed and well-defined network measures can capture not only the network topology underlying a particular critical system, but also the underlying behavior of decision-makers, the resulting flows, and induced costs in the reality of demands for resources, whether fixed or elastic (price-dependent). In addition, we reviewed how to determine the synergy associated with network integration, with a focus on supply chains, as may occur not only in corporate applications, such as in mergers and acquisitions, but also in humanitarian ones, as in the case of the creation of teams and partnerships for humanitarian logistics. We illustrated the concepts and tools in this paper, which are based on numerous publications, through a spectrum of applications and numerical examples. Since the number of disasters is growing globally, it is imperative to have transparent, well-understood, and appropriate tools for the determination of network vulnerability and robustness, since critical infrastructure networks from transportation, telecommunications, supply chains, to financial and electric power ones, provide the ties that bind our economies and societies together. Local disruptions can have global impacts. Only when network components are identified as to their importance and rankings can decision-makers and policy analysts as well as planners and engineers understand in an objective way which components should be maintained and


Based on the physical process of holes trapped in oxide and interface trap buildup induced by proton, a unified physics-based model of oxide-trapped charge and interface trap charge in MOSFET after ionizing radiation exposure as a function of radiation dose is proposed. This model predicts that the oxide-trapped charge density and interface trap charge density induced by radiation rays would be linear in dose at low dose levelss, and would deviate from linear relationship and tend to saturation at moderate to high dose levels. The change of these two kinds of charge induced by ionizing radiation as a function of radiation dose can be well described by the expressions proposed in this model. At last, the correlation between these two kinds of charge is discussed and a linear dependence is suggested at low dose level. This model gives insights into the trap generation in gate oxide induced by radiation, and provides a more accurate predictive model for radiation damage in MOS devices operated in space ionizing radiation environment.


This paper introduces the control of the parallel operation of two voltage source converter (VSC)-HVdc links interconnecting an offshore wind farm. The aim of the study is to propose and validate a control system that allows the parallel operation of two VSC-HVdc links by controlling the currents injected by the VSC converters. The currents set points are established by a voltage controller in order to maintain constant voltage and frequency in the capacitor of the output filter and therefore within the offshore wind farm (OWF). It is demonstrated that the decoupled control of the d-q component of the voltage at the capacitor allows achieving the direct control of voltage and frequency, respectively. The voltage and frequency control is implemented by orienting the capacitor voltage toward a synchronous axis that is generated within the controller and therefore is not subjected to any grid disturbance. Both converters collaborate therefore in maintaining constant voltage and frequency, achieving in this way the parallel operation of the converters. The validation of this approach is demonstrated by simulation where the OWF and the VSC-HVdc rectifier have been modeled. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control system allows the parallelization of the converters while maintaining constant voltage and frequency within the OWF, even during transient faults.


Werktreue (faithfulness to the original) or Regietheater (director's theatre) continue to be at the centre of discussion, in academia and journalism, of opera and theatre productions. Werktreue is defined as the extent to which the director is faithful to the original; related terms are traditional and orthodox. Regietheater is the apparent disregard for the original work: the director's ideas in relation to the original work dominate production decisions; traditionalists are not able to see those decisions as resulting from, or as intrinsic to the work, but as superimposed arbitrarily on the work and thus artificial. Regietheater, however, is also considered as dynamic, associated with ideas, provocation and confrontation (Balme 43), whereas Werktreue can be regarded as a thing of the past, as fundamentalist in nature even if necessary for the discussion of opera and theatre (Balme 43). In the current debate, Regietheater and Werktreue are defined as binary opposites. This definition limits the usefulness of the concepts, rendering them unproductive and preventing further progress in understanding, and production practice, of opera and theatre.

The chapter is designed to reassess the current definitions of Werktreue and Regietheater with reference to selected 2010-12 productions of selected operas by Wagner. The resulting new definitions of Werktreue and Regietheater will, in the short term, end the stagnation in research and production practice caused by the traditional definitions of these concepts. Medium and long-term impacts include the reinvigoration of innovative, rigorous and original research into the performance of opera and theatre, and the launch a new wave of imaginative opera and theatre production practice.


"Smart" patternable polymer-based materials that can be designed from various molecular building blocks show great potential, as they may be used in many fields, including nanotechnology, biochemistry, organic and physical chemistry, and materials science. The focus of this highlight will be on the basic design characteristics of practical Stimuli Responsive Materials (SRMs), the wide range of potential applications and the challenges to be accomplished in this rapidly expanding area. In particular, recent developments are described which are related to two of the many fundamental aspects of stimuli triggered responses: those that are photo-triggered and those that are solvent triggered. These selected state-of-the-art examples demonstrate the large scope and diversity in terms of activation mechanism, response time and property control.


Dynamic and static properties of neurons were investigated in lateral suprasylvian area of cat. It was shown that neurons with different dynamic characteristics could have the receptive fields with similar static organization. Thus strict correlation between static and dynamic organization of the receptive fields of suprasylvian neurons were not observed. The majority of black-sensitive neurons appear to have off-fields. The contrast reversal test of moving stimuli revealed that the generation of responses both to the light and to the black stimuli was performed by the same part of the receptive field and was not conditioned by the spatially separate on- and off-discharge centers in the receptive field.


A financial patent valuation is only as good as the estimations behind it. For start-up companies and young entrepreneurs in particular, patents usually play a major role in finding possible investors to finance the future commercialisation of the innovative product covered by the patent. At the same time, investors need to economically valuate the potential of the patent by using an easily and quickly adaptable method, in order to make the right decisions for their investments. The new valuation method presented here is specially customised for patents in start-up companies or for patents owned by entrepreneurs; it provides an easy calculation method combined with a qualitative valuation method, to be applied both to the patent itself and to its future commercialisation in possible markets. In four steps (combined with provided templates), the patents can be financially valuated, with comparatively little effort and low costs.


A pivotal characteristic of credit defaults that is ignored by most credit scoring models is the rarity of the event. The most widely used model to estimate the probability of default is the logistic regression model. Since the dependent variable represents a rare event, the logistic regression model shows relevant drawbacks, for example, underestimation of the default probability, which could be very risky for banks. In order to overcome these drawbacks, we propose the generalized extreme value regression model. In particular, in a generalized linear model (GLM) with the binary-dependent variable we suggest the quantile function of the GEV distribution as link function, so our attention is focused on the tail of the response curve for values close to one. The estimation procedure used is the maximum-likelihood method. This model accommodates skewness and it presents a generalisation of GLMs with complementary log–log link function. We analyse its performance by simulation studies. Finally, we apply the proposed model to empirical data on Italian small and medium enterprises.


Biomass is the sustainable resource for natural value-added compounds for instance alkaloid, terpenoid, phenolic, saponin, and several others antioxidants which are of great interest for pharmaceutical, food, fine chemicals and cosmetic industries [1]. Almost 40% of the total drugs manufactured are originated from natural products [2]. Therefore extraction of such small biomolecules from bioresources is of outmost importance. The conventional and commercial extraction processes of such biomolecules possess a number of inadequacies such as laborious and energy intensive extraction process, use of volatile organic solvents and environmental concerns


The present work describes the preparation of hyaluronan derivatives and hydrogels with potential use in tissue engineering applications. A potentially injectable hydrogel consisting of hyaluronan and collagen was successfully used to grow neurons in vitro by encapsulation of neural stem and progenitor cells. Attempts were further made to establish a suitable modification strategy which could be used for the preparation of in vivo cross-linkable hyaluronan derivatives. The synthesis of a model substance consisting of a D-glucuronate derivative which could simplify the development of such a modification technique is described, although a new method to prepare hyaluronan derivatives was found without its use. The modification strategy involves the use of a triazine-reagent which enables the covalent attachment of hydrophilic and hydrophobic amines to hyaluronan carboxyl groups in a controlled fashion under mild conditions. Using triazine-activated amidation we synthesized an aldehyde-derivative of hyaluronan which was used to prepare gels by cross-linking with hydrazide-modified polyvinyl-alcohol. Gels were formed in less than 1 minute by mixing equal volumes of the polymer derivatives and they were subsequently used as a carrier for bone morphogenetic protein-2. An in vitro release study showed that approximately 88% of the growth factor is retained in the gel over a 4 week period. The ability to form new bone in vivo was further evaluated in an ectopic rat model by the injection of gels containing 30 µg BMP-2. Radiographic and histological examination 4 and 10 weeks after injection showed the formation of new bone without any signs of inflammation or foreign body response. Hydroxyapatite particles were further added to improve the mechanical properties of the gel, and a comparative study was conducted. This time the induced tissue consisted not only of bone, but also of interconnected cartilage and tendon, as confirmed by histology and immunohistochemistry.


Background Belatacept-based therapy in kidney transplant recipient has been shown to increase long-term renal allograft and patient survival compared with calcineurin inhibitor–based therapy, however, with an increased risk of acute T cell-mediated rejection (aTCMR). An improved understanding of costimulation blockade-resistant rejections could lead to a more personalized approach to belatacept therapy. Here, immunomic profiles of aTCMR biopsies of patients treated with either tacrolimus or belatacept were compared. Methods Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded renal transplant biopsies were used for immunohistochemistry and gene expression analysis using the innovative NanoString technique. To validate NanoString, transcriptomic profiles of patients with and without biopsy-proven aTCMR were compared. Biopsies from 31 patients were studied: 14 tacrolimus-treated patients with aTCMR, 11 belatacept-treated patients with aTCMR, and 6 controls without rejection. Results A distinct pattern was seen in biopsies with aTCMR compared to negative controls: 78 genes had a higher expression in the aTCMR group (false discovery rate P value <.05 to 1.42e–05). The most significant were T cell-associated genes (CD3, CD8, and CD4; P < 1.98e-04), &ggr;-interferon-inducible genes (CCL5, CXCL9, CXCL11, CXCL10, TBX21; P < 1.33e-04) plus effector genes (GNLY, GZMB, ITGAX; P < 2.82e-03). Immunophenotypical analysis of the classic immune markers of the innate and adaptive immune system was comparable between patients treated with either tacrolimus or belatacept. In addition, the transcriptome of both groups was not significantly different. Conclusions In this small pilot study, no difference was found in immunomics of aTCMR biopsies of tacrolimus- and belatacept-treated patients. This suggests that clinically diagnosed aTCMR reflects a final common pathway of allorecognition which is unaffected by the type of immunosuppressive therapy.


Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder which results in global developmental delay and intellectual disability. There is evidence that early treatment prevents intellectual disability and seizures. GAMT deficiency is now being discussed as a potential addition to the U.S. Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP); the availability of suitable screening methods must be considered. A neonatal screening derivatized method to quantify creatine (CRE) and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) in dried blood spots by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has been described. Its key feature is the ability to detect CRE and GAA in the same extract generated from neonatal DBS during amino acids (AA) and acylcarnitines (AC) analysis. More laboratories are adopting non-derivatized MS/MS screening methods. We describe an improved, non-derivatized DBS extraction and MS/MS analytical method (AAAC-GAMT) which incorporates quantitation of CRE and GAA into routine analysis of amino acids, acylcarnitines, and succinylacetone. The non-derivatized AAAC-GAMT method performs comparably to the stand-alone GAMT and non-derivatized AAAC screening methods, evidencing its potential suitability for high-throughput GAMT neonatal screening.


In this study of the role of microfloral beta-glucuronidase in colonic carcinogenesis, the effect of beta-glucuronidase inhibitor was evaluated. Starting at 5 weeks of age, male Donryu rats were fed either a semisynthetic diet or the same diet containing 0.1% beta-glucuronidase inhibitor as N-cyclohexyl-5-O-acetyl-2,4-O-p-methoxybenzylidene) -D-glucaro-1-amide-6,3-lactone (C-GAL). All animals were given s.c. injections of 7.4 mg azoxymethane (AOM) per kg body weight once a week for 11 weeks and followed for an additional 20 weeks. Most animals receiving the colonic carcinogen developed tumors in the colon, and a few also developed tumors in the small intestine. However, the number of tumors in the large intestine of the rats given C-GAL at the same time as AOM was significantly lower than in the control rats, especially in the proximal half of the colon, but those given C-GAL after AOM treatment had almost the same number of colon tumors as did the controls. It is concluded that, since bacterial beta-glucuronidase activity in the feces of rats given 0.1% C-GAL was significantly inhibited, intestinal microfloral beta-glucuronidase may play an important role in colonic carcinogenesis caused by AOM.


We present the most extensive analysis of Fourier-based X-ray timing properties of the black hole binary Cygnus X-1 to date, based on 12 years of bi-weekly monitoring with RXTE from 1999 to 2011. Our aim is a comprehensive study of timing behavior across all spectral states, including the elusive transitions and extreme hard and soft states. We discuss the dependence of the timing properties on spectral shape and photon energy, and study correlations between Fourier-frequency dependent coherence and time lags with features in the power spectra. Our main results follow. (a) The fractional rms in the 0.125–256 Hz range in different spectral states shows complex behavior that depends on the energy range considered. It reaches its maximum not in the hard state, but in the soft state in the Comptonized tail above 10 keV. (b) The shape of power spectra in hard and intermediate states and the normalization in the soft state are strongly energy-dependent in the 2.1–15 keV range. This emphasizes the need for an energy-dependent treatment of power spectra and a careful consideration of energyand mass-scaling when comparing the variability of different source types, e.g., black hole binaries and AGN. PSDs during extremely hard and extremely soft states can be easily confused for energies above ∼5 keV in the 0.125–256 Hz range. (c) The coherence between energy bands drops during transitions from the intermediate into the soft state but recovers in the soft state. (d) The time lag spectra in soft and intermediate states show distinct features at frequencies related to the frequencies of the main variability components seen in the power spectra and show the same shift to higher frequencies as the source softens. Our results constitute a template for other sources and for physical models for the origin of the X-ray variability. In particular, we discuss how the timing properties of Cyg X-1 can be used to assess the evolution of variability with spectral shape in other black hole binaries. Our results suggest that none of the available theoretical models can explain the full complexity of X-ray timing behavior of Cyg X-1, although several ansatzes with different physical assumptions are promising.


Italian death certification data from 1955 to 1979 for total cancer mortality and 30 cancer sites in the population aged 25 to 74, were analyzed using a log‐linear Poisson model to isolate the effects of birth cohort, calendar period of death, and age. The most frequent cohort pattern was characterized by increases up to the generations born between 1920 and 1930, followed by stabilization or a slight decrease. This pattern was evident for total cancer mortality in men, and for several common sites, including larynx, lung, esophagus, bladder, female breast, and ovary. Only four sites (pancreas, pleura, intestines in both sexes, and kidney in men) showed cohort values still rising in more recent generations. Stable cohort and period of death curves were observed for cancers of the prostate and testis, whereas trends were steadily going down for neoplasms of the stomach, and (cervix) uteri. Finally, there were a few discontinuous trends (e.g., in the case of brain neoplasms, leukemias, and lymphomas), which probably reflect different effects of improvements in diagnosis and/or treatment. Period of death values increased for lung and other tobacco related sites (chiefly in males) and, up to the early 1970s, for a few other common sites, including intestines, and the female breast. Downward trends over the calendar period were evident for cancers of the stomach and of the (cervix) uteri. Therefore, total cancer mortality trends over the calendar period of death were moderately increasing for men, and slightly decreasing for women. Cancer 59:1221‐1232, 1987.


Death Effector Domain-Containing DNA-binding protein (DEDD), a highly conserved and ubiquitous protein, has been studied primarily for its role as a scaffold protein in cell death pathways. DEDD resides predominantly in the cytoplasm, but translocates to the nucleus to propagate the terminal apoptotic signal. Overexpression of nuclear DEDD, not cytoplasmic DEDD, has been shown to be sufficient to induce cytotoxic effects. This suggests that DEDD may have functional importance beyond directing apoptotic signals. Further, the cytoplasmic function of DEDD has yet to be characterized. Other DED-containing proteins, such as FADD, have been shown to interact with cyclin/cyclin-dependent kinase cell cycle regulatory molecules. Here, we show that DEDD is implicated in cell cycle regulation and can assume a pro- proliferative function when overexpressed in the cytoplasm. To glean phenotypic changes in cell cycle transitions, we utilized a two-dimensional approach with an EdU proliferation label and a propidium iodine DNA content label differentiated via flow cytometry analysis. Based on these labels, it can be determined whether a cell is in the G1-, S-, or G2-phase of the cell cycle. We have identified that overexpression of DEDD leads to an increase in S-phase cells when compared to control suggesting an easier transition through the G1/S checkpoint. Conversely, a knockdown of DEDD leads to a decrease in S-phase cells and an increase in G1-phase cells when compared to control indicating G1 arrest. Gain-of-function flow cytometry analysis was repeated by overexpressing a DEDD construct with disrupted nuclear localization sequences. The resulting phenotype mirrored that of the overexpressed wild-type DEDD construct. Thus, these results suggest that DEDD may be interacting with regulatory molecules regulating the G1/S checkpoint of the cell cycle and that the change in G1- to S-phase transition dynamics in response to manipulated DEDD expression is not attributable to the nuclear function of DEDD. Further studies will focus on elucidating the specific molecular interactions through which DEDD can carry out this novel cell cycle regulatory function. Citation Format: Keon R. Schmidt, Yingjia Ni, Siyuan Zhang. Cytoplasmic DEDD promotes G1- to S-phase cell cycle transition [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-321. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-LB-321