Part I: Epidemiology and Clinical Treatment: Issues in defining and treating the metabolic syndrome Chapter 1 Metabolic Syndrome: to be or not to be? Gerald M. Reaven Chapter 2 The Role of Obesity in Insulin Resistance: Epidemiological and metabolic aspects James B. Meigs Chapter 3 Treatment of the Metabolic Syndrome with Weight Loss, Exercise, Hormones, and Surgery George A. Bray Chapter 4 Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, and Cardiovascular Disease: an epidemiological perspective Earl Ford and Simin Liu Chapter 5 The Sympatho-Adrenal System in Metabolic Syndrome Lewis Landsberg Part II: Endothelial Function, Inflammation, and Dyslipidemia Chapter 6 Insulin Action and Endothelial Function Kieren J. Mather, Alain Baron, and Michael J. Quon Chapter 7 Macro and Micro Vascular Disease in an Insulin Resistant - Pre-diabetic Animal Model (the JCR:LA-cp Rat) James C. Russell and Spencer D. Proctor: Chapter 8 High Sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) in Metabolic Syndrome Yiqing Song, Simin Liu, and JoAnn Manson Chapter 9 Insulin Signaling in Adipocytes and the Role of Inflammation Christian X. Andersson, Ann Hammarstedt, Per-Anders Jansson and Ulf Smith Chapter 10 Insulin Resistance and Dyslipidemia Tina J. Cahil, Gissette Reyes, and Henry N. Ginsberg Part III: Insulin - Secretion and Action: Underlying mechanisms of the metabolic syndrome Chapter 11 Pancreatic Islet Pathophysiology and Pathology in Obesity Anne Clark, Jenni Moffitt, Leanne van de Laar, Katherine Pinnick, Farhina Sayyed Chapter 12 Glucagon Peptides and Insulin Sensitivity Jens Juul Holst and Filip Krag Knop Chapter 13 The Relationship between the Insulin Receptor Substrates and Metabolic Disease Morris F. White Chapter 14 Insulin Resistance and Inhibitors of the Insulin Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Jack F. Youngren Chapter 15 Fat Feeding and Muscle Fat Deposition Eliciting Insulin Resistance: an update E.W. Kraegen, G.J. Cooney, J.M. Ye, and S.M. Furler: Chapter 16 Alternations in Atypical Protein Kinase-C (APK-C) Activation in Insulin Resistance Syndrome Robert V. Faresse Chapter 17 The Liver's Role in Insulin Action and Resistance


This study explores the dynamics involved in establishing discourses necessary for constructing organizational change within the public sector. Drawing upon critical discourse analysis, the study identifies two competing discourses – a 'patient' and a 'healthy citizen' discourse, which exist as strategic resources in health care. The case study focuses on a municipality in Denmark and the way the organizational actors translated meaning into the development of a new healthcare centre. The analysis contributes to our understandings of translation by focusing on discursive legitimizing strategies in the context of public sector change. First, the study shows that discourses not only provide different senses of meaning and warrant particular social actors a louder voice than others, but that these actors also develop discursive legitimizing strategies and translate particular meanings into the organization and organizational practices. Second, when the strategies make a discourse resonate with the local context, in this case a highly political context, then specific organizational practices become more legitimate than others, and the discourse is more inclined to become manifest. Finally, the findings indicate that the manifestation of a discourse can also be explained by how successful this discourse can be carried out in practice.


Peptide synthesis can be used for elucidating the roles of secondary structures in the specificity of hormones, antigens, and toxins. Intermediate sized peptides with these activities assume amphiphilic secondary structures in the presence of membranes. When models are designed to optimize the amphiphilicity of the secondary structure, stronger interactions can be observed with the synthetic peptides than with the naturally occurring analogs.


The neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) has recently been described as being pivotal in the
development of cancer. NK1R antagonists, such as the clinical drug aprepitant, are
therefore under current investigation as future innovative anticancer agents. However, little
is known about the NK1R complex as a potential target in hepatoblastoma and colon
cancer cells. Thus, we aimed at investigating the impact of NK1R inhibition with aprepitant
on cell growth, apoptosis, downstream mechanims and cancer stem cells in three human
hepatoblastoma cell lines HepT1, HepG2 and HuH6 and the human colon cancer cell lines
LiM6 and DLD1. Finally, mRNA from 47 children with hepatoblastoma were analysed
regarding both full length and truncated forms of NK1R.
NK1R is highly expressed in human hepatoblastoma cell lines predominantly in its
truncated version. Following NK1R blockage by aprepitant, a significant growth inhibition of
hepatoblastoma cells and colon cancer cells as well as induction of apoptosis was
detected, which was associated with the downregulation of two critical signaling pathways,
namely Wnt and PI3K/AKT/mTOR. Further, treatment of colon cancer or hepatoblastoma
cells grown under cancer stem cell conditions reduced sphere formation in number and size
as well as expression of the stemness markers SOX2, NANOG, and OCT4. From a clinical
perspective, both forms of NK1R were generally overexpressed in hepatoblastoma cases,
without any correlation with clinicopathological parameters indicating that aprepitant might
be used in a wide variety of hepatoblastoma.
Taken together, these findings give important insight into the molecular mechanisms of the
NK1R as a critical component in tumorigenesis and can help in the development of future
anticancer therapies for Wnt-activated cancers such as hepatoblastoma and colon cancer.


Psychophysical tests of S-cone contributions to temporal ONand OFF-channels were conducted. Detection thresholds for S-cone modulation were measured with two kinds of test stimuli presented on a CRT: a rapid-on sawtooth test and a rapid-off sawtooth test, assumed to be detected differentially by temporal ONand OFF-channels, respectively. S-cone related ONand OFF-temporal responses were separated by adapting for 5 min to 1 Hz monochromatic (420, 440, 450, 540, or 650 nm in separate sessions) sawtooth flicker presented in Maxwellian view. Circular test stimuli, with a sawtooth temporal profile and a Gaussian spatial taper, were presented for 1 s in one of four quadrants 1.0° from a central fixation point. A four-alternative forced-choice method combined with a double-staircase procedure was used to determine ONand OFF-thresholds in the same session. Following adaptation, the threshold elevation was greater if the polarity of the test stimulus was the same as the polarity of the sawtooth adaptation flicker, consistent with separate ONand OFF-responses from S-cones. This asymmetrical pattern was obtained, however, only when the adaptation stimuli appeared blue with a little redness. When the adaptation flicker had a clear reddish hue component, the threshold elevation did not depend on the polarity of the sawtooth test stimuli. These results are consistent with a model in which OFF-signals originating from S-cones are maintained by a postreceptoral mechanism signaling redness, but not by a postreceptoral chromatic mechanism signaling blueness. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


The structure of organizations impact their performances. Here, we present a framework based on enterprise architecture to analyze the impact organization structure has on flexibility and coordination within an organization. The framework incorporates organization structure theories by Henry Mintzberg using the Object Constraint Language (OCL) and the Unified Modeling Language (UML) in the modeling tool Enterprise Architecture Analysis Tool (EAAT). The framework has also been applied on a case study where the suitability of three organizations' structures with regards to flexibility and coordination are analyzed.


Crystallization with additives is based on self-organization, dendritic crystal growth and subsequent pattern formation. The principle is used as an indicator, differentiating food samples according their treatments and origin. The present study focuses on methodological investigations by taking different milk fractions as well as a single polymer as examples. Both kinds of samples alter the patterns derived from cupric chloride crystallization. The changes can be evaluated by image analysis, when a structure related algorithm is applied. The crystallization with additives seems to be an innovative approach following modifications in various sample types. Potential fields of application may be authentication of samples, following processing treatments as well as other modifications in the sample structure during production.


The ultrastructural features of growth hormone (GH) secretory granules were observed by immuno-gold procedure in the anterior pituitary glands of streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. The diabetic state of rats induced by one injection of STZ was severely advanced at 10 months after the injection. The cytoplasmic organella were revealed to be poorly developed in GH-cells of the diabetic rats. The size of immunoreactive GH-granules of 10-months-old diabetic rats was smaller than that of sham-controls. The insulin therapy in the diabetic rats resulted in a considerable improvement in relation to the changes seen in the GHcells, but the therapy did not return the profile of the granule size distribution to that of the control group.


Over the last 2 decades, hemodialysis catheter use has increased. Annually, approximately 30% of patients using a central venous catheter (CVC) experience a septic or bacteremic episode and are subsequently at risk of its associated long-term complications and mortality. Because of the serious clinical and financial impact of hemodialysis catheter-related bacteremias (HCRIs), standardized, validated definitions based on the hemodialysis patient population are necessary in order to better diagnose, monitor, and report HCRI for patient quality assurance and research purposes. The pathophysiology of HCRI involves a complex interaction between a triad that consists of the host patient, the infecting microorganism, and the vehicle catheter. Although the microorganism contribution in the pathogenesis of HCRI is likely most important, certain patient and catheter-related characteristics may be more amenable to manipulation. The key to managing HCRI is on prophylaxis against the initial microorganism catheter adherence and subsequent biofilm development. General and specific prophylactic maneuvers directed at both an intravascular and extraluminal route of microorganism entry are discussed including antibiotic- and silver-impregnated catheters and dressings, subcutaneous access devices, and topical prophylaxis at the exit site. In addition to systemic antibiotic use, the 3 methods of HRCI treatment using catheter salvage, guidewire exchange, and concurrent antibiotic lock are compared. The outcome and complications of HCRI may be serious and highlight the importance of careful, continual infection surveillance. Although the use of a multidisciplinary hemodialysis infection control team is desirable, staffing education and physician feedback have been shown to improve adherence to infection control guidelines and reduce HCRI.


In stereoscopic 3D video, it is well-known that humans can perceive high quality 3D video provided that one of the views is in high quality. Hence, in stereo video encoding, the best overall rate vs. perceived-distortion performance may be achieved by reduction of the spatial, temporal, and/or quantization resolution of the second view, while keeping the first view in full resolution. In this paper, we address the best selection of unequal inter-view rate allocation strategy depending on the content of the video for a scalable multi-view video codec (SMVC) (Ozbek et al., 2006). Since the perceived 3D video quality does not correlate well with the average PSNR of the two views, we propose a new quantitative measure using a weighted combination of two PSNR values and a jerkiness measure. We verified that unequal rate allocation between the left and right views results in better perceived stereo video quality.


Biped robot control techniques are usually based on the tracking of pre-computed reference trajectories. Therefore, to achieve autonomy in locomotion, it is necessary to store a set of trajectories handling all the possible situations and events the system is susceptible to encounter. This paper presents a method for the generation of walking gaits for biped robots. Theses gaits define locomotion in the three dimensional space (3D) and are parameterized with the steps characteristics. The approach we propose is based on an actuator input minimization under constraints. These constraints are linked to the gait parameters (step length, step clearance...). The method is based on a simple and intuitive reasoning, allowing the designer to define walking trajectories in a fast and easy way. We present simulation results obtained with the 15 actuated joints biped robot of INRIA called BIP.


We report an 8-year-old boy with a six month history of unilateral, progressive facial atrophy, heralded by the development of a morpheaform plaque on the left cheek. The clinical features and investigations were consistent with a diagnosis of progressive hemifacial atrophy with contralateral maxillary mucocele. This case highlights the substantial overlap of progressive facial hemiatrophy with morphea, masqueraded by contralateral maxillary mucocele.


For applications of high-power LED illumination and advanced CPU electronic cooling, since the traditional plate heat sinks by aluminum extrusion are simple geometry only and with limited thermal performance, a new design and new fabrication process of heat sink for high-density heat flux applications is inevitable. In this study, a heat sink fabricated by vacuum die-casting is analyzed. To evaluate the thermal performance of this heat sink, two experiments, free convection measurements in an enclosure and forced convection measurements in a wind tunnel, are conducted by two experimental methods of thermocouples and IR thermograph. As to free convection experiments, compared to the free convection over a plate, temperature decrement by the attached casting of pin-fin heat sink is 46.2% for the input power of 10W. In the case of 15W heating power, temperature distribution along center pin shows uniformly distributed temperature along length direction, but there is a temperature difference of 9.5°C,varied from 86.9°C to 77.4°C, at outer pin. As to the case of 10W heating power, there is a temperature difference of 6.5°C, varied from 69.2.9°C to 62.6°C, at the outer pin. Furthermore, forced convection experiments show that resistances of heat-sink casting are decreased when Reynolds numbers are increased, and a linear relationship between pressure drop and Reynolds number is noticed. Base on the measurement results, this heat sink casting can be a feasible thermal solution of LED and high-power chip products.


Adopting self-determination theory as a guiding framework, this cross-sectional study examined how motivational orientations (perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns) relate to mindfulness, core self-evaluation, and outcomes of life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety. A total of 273 college students responded to measures of perfectionism, mindfulness, core self-evaluation, life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety. Results supported that mindfulness and core self-evaluation sequentially mediated the associations between perfectionistic concerns and outcomes, but the hypothesized serial mediation model was not supported for perfectionistic strivings. Findings suggest that de-centering with awareness may build positive self-evaluation and thus mitigate the effects of perfectionistic concerns on life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety. On the other hand, not mindfulness but positive self-evaluation alone functions as a binder in the association between perfectionistic strivings and outcome variables. This study concludes that perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns, each positioned to reflect autonomous motivational orientations and controlled motivational orientations, relate to wellbeing with or without the role of mindfulness.


This paper will discuss how third world cities are overpopulated and the number of vehicles plying on roads far exceeds the available traffic handling facilities resulting in frequent traffic congestions. Billions of dollars are being spent by the governments to construct over bridges for traffic management. This work proposes a unique solution scheme in which current traffic information is gathered through inductive loop detectors, piezoelectric sensors and wireless sensor networks coupled with mobile telephony to predict traffic flow and control traffic dynamics. The device placements in turn are dependent on information concerning traffic history of the place. The scheme is modeled on the basis of load-based packet switching as in computer network theory and is cost effective, business-oriented and hence sustainable and replicable. This work proves the effectiveness of the solution both mathematically and through simulated traffic dynamics for Jadavpur and Gariahat , two heavily congested test cases in Calcutta, India. This is the first information-based decision making scheme which predicts the future for current congestion control using an integrated architecture of in-vogue techniques, sensor and cellular networks.


Contrary to the common belief that more information is always better, Gigerenzer et al. (1999) showed that simple decision strategies which rely on little information can be quite successful. The success of simple strategies depends both on bets about the structure of the environment and on the core capacities of the human mind, such as recognition memory (Gigerenzer, 2004). However, the interplay between the environment and the mind's core capacities has rarely been precisely modeled. We illustrate how these environment-mind interactions could be formally modeled within the cognitive architecture ACT-R (J. R. Anderson et al., 2004). ACT-R is an integrated theory of mind that is tuned to the statistical structure of the environment, and it can account for a variety of phenomena such as learning, problem solving, and decision making. Here, we focus on studying decision strategies and show how the success of theses strategies in particular environments depends on characteristics of core cognitive capacities, such as recognition and short term memory.


PURPOSE
To develop a systematic method for identifying and grading age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) in human donor eyes, postmortem fundus appearance was compared with histopathologic assessment in eyes with a spectrum of age-related macular change.

METHODS
Eyes without grossly visible, late ARMD were obtained from 8 cancer patients and 26 donors older than 50 years. Postmortem fundus appearance was graded for drusen and pigmentary change, using stereo color photographs. Eyes were processed and sectioned at 1 microm for histopathologic evaluation of macular retinal pigment epithelium-Bruch's membrane complex. The histologic diagnosis was compared with gross fundus appearance, clinical ophthalmic histories (n = 25), and clinical fundus photographs that were graded using the Wisconsin Age-related Maculopathy Grading System (n = 5).

RESULTS
Ten eyes met histopathologic criteria for early ARMD. A similar proportion of eyes (27%-32%) was identified as affected by ARMD by other published histopathologic criteria. By choosing eyes with at least one druse larger than 125 microm in diameter or an area of pigment-clumping 500 microm in diameter that was visible in the postmortem fundus, ARMD cases were identified with 90% sensitivity and 95% specificity.

CONCLUSIONS
The Alabama ARMD Grading System permits rational and standardized use of donor eyes in studies that are directed toward understanding the pathogenesis of ARMD.


Introduction: Internet addiction is a global problem that caused negative effects on health.
The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction in Iranian high
school students in 2014.
Materials and methods: In a cross – sectional study assessed the prevalence of Internet
addiction among 381 high school students in Ilam, in 2014. The samples were selected by a
multi-stage sampling method. Data was collected by a two-part questionnaire. The first part
of the questionnaire was included the personal characteristics. Second part of the
questionnaire was Internet Addiction Test (ITA) -20. SPSS software Package 16 was used to
analyze the data.
Results: Overall 75 (19.7%) students put into the Internet addiction group. Mild and
moderate Internet addiction reported in 18.1% and 1.6% of all participants, respectively.
There were any cases of sever Internet addiction. The mean Internet used to be 2.12 ± 2.32
and 3.57 ± 2.7 hours in non-Internet addiction and internet addiction groups, respectively (P
< 0.000). The mean Internet access was 8.11 ± 6.7 and 8.2 ± 5.75 hours in non-Internet
addiction and internet addiction groups, respectively.
Conclusion: Internet addiction is a serious issue in teenagers. High school students possess a
high danger for internet addiction. Therefore, education about the proper use of the Internet is
necessary for high school students.


The use of venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) has traditionally been limited to a narrow set of clinical circumstances, such as acute hypoxic respiratory failure, submassive pulmonary embolism, and cardiopulmonary collapse. Within the pediatric population, there have been cases of VV-ECMO in the context of extrinsic airway compression by a mediastinal mass, typically in the setting of either a lymphoma or germ cell tumors. However, the use of VV-ECMO for adults with extrinsic airway compression is comparatively limited. More specifically, VV-ECMO has been used as a bridge for tracheal reconstruction in both children and adults. Although, it has not been used in adults in the context of palliative endobronchial stent placement. We present a case of a 49-year-old woman with refractory multiple myeloma and extramedullary plasmacytoma presenting with acute hypoxic respiratory failure from extrinsic airway compression by a mediastinal plasmacytoma. We were able to use VV-ECMO to assist with endobronchial stent placement, followed by radiation therapy, and ultimately hospital discharge. In this article, we also review the literature surrounding VV-ECMO for extrinsic airway compression.


We detail Ludion, a service-oriented hybrid architecture, well-adapted to launch, monitor and steer interactive services running either on on-premise HPC resource, on user laptop and workstation or in the cloud. Based on AWS server-less components at virtually no cost, Ludion requires no special privileges. It consists of a catalog of services, a dashboard hosted in the cloud and a set of commands to install on the target resources. In the lifetime of a job, a user can register and publish new service on the dashboard. From this unique location, it is possible to trigger basic commands that are forwarded to the corresponding job. In this article, we expose several typical use cases Ludion was designed for and detail its implementation as well as the services already in place relying on this architecture.


This thesis argues in favour of the present 'hybrid' Australian system of industrial relations, in which an individualistic enterprise bargaining regime is underpinned by centralised, collective protections in the form of the no disadvantage test, administered by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, and with the possibility of trade union representation. Such hybrid is adjudged to be the best means of gaining a flexible labour system, which also effectively protects workers. That system is preferred to the alternatives, such as individual contracts, underpinned by statutory minimum conditions.

Whilst the thesis argues in favour of the present system, it further advocates that the employee safeguards must be fortified. In this regard, the weakness of the no disadvantage test is not seen as its inherently discretionary nature, bill rather the fact that it requires the Commission to compare the proposed agreement to an award, which may be obsolete at the time of making that assessment. It is submitted the benchmark should be updated, for example, to reflect more recent agreements.

It was mentioned that the no disadvantage test is a broad discretion administered by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. As such, the test is codependent on the strength of that institution. It is argued that the role of the Commission in Australia's labour system should remain central Further, analysis of the Commission's application of the no disadvantage test is undertaken to demonstrate that the Commission applies the test so as to ensure it is a substantive protection for workers, whilst also allowing for innovative agreement making.

As the no disadvantage test applies to both union and non-union collective agreements as well as individual Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs), the thesis examines the position of trade unions under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (so far as that relates to bargaining) and also the role of the Office of Employment Advocate (OEA) in applying the no disadvantage test. Yet again, the view is taken that the efficacy of the test is dependant on the supporting structures. While support is given for the retention of a non-union bargaining stream, the thesis argues in favour of the fortification of the position of responsible unions when attempting to negotiate union agreements. To that end, the thesis supports the interpretation of the freedom of association provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 given by Justice North in Belandra over that of Justice Kenny in the BHP litigation. Further, it is argued that a good faith bargaining jurisdiction should be reintroduced for the Commission As to the use of AWAs (especially for people in blue collar positions), it is argued that the secrecy of the OEA makes the operation of the no disadvantage test hard to gauge, such that the OEA's jurisdiction should be handed to the Industrial Commission and the option of AWAs limited to only highly specialised employees. It is further submitted that the definition of 'duress' should be amended to prohibit the use of 'take it or leave it' AWAs. By so doing, employers AND employees will make the choice as to the appropriate vehicle to govern their relationship and the no disadvantage test would have more strength. Such an approach would also be more in keeping with the principal objects of the Workplace Relations Act 1996.

It is significant to note that this thesis is grounded on two basic propositions. The first is that there is a power imbalance between worker and employer. The second is that such imbalance justifies intervention in the contract of employment, such as the role provided for the Industrial Commission by the no disadvantage test and scope for involvement of responsible unions. Such arguments are supported by over one hundred years of scholarly writing.

In closing, it is important to note that this thesis deals with collective worker protections and not safeguards, like unfair dismissal laws. That is because the collective, systemic measures have the greatest influence over the day-to-day lives of employees and determine the 'say' they have in actually setting their standards of work. The thesis is also a legal, not socio-legal study. It is of enormous importance to note the legal strength of the systemic protections - it is from those systemic measures that all socio-legal results flow. Likewise, such legal analysis is the starting point for law reform.


We study a New Keynesian model with bounded rationality, where agents choose their expectations heterogeneously from a discrete choice set. The range of their set of possible expectation values can be interpreted as the anchoring of expectations. In the model, multiple locally stable steady states can arise that reflect coordination on particular expectation values. Moreover, bad shocks to the economy can trigger a self-reinforcing wave of pessimism, where the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate becomes binding, and agents coordinate on a locally stable liquidity trap steady state. When we let the anchoring of expectations evolve endogenously, it turns out that the anchoring of expectations at the time the bad shocks hit the economy is crucial in determining whether the economy can recover from the liquidity trap. Finally, we find that a higher inflation target makes it less likely that self-reinforcing liquidity traps arise.


This article explores the potentially subversive nature of a nineteenth-century case of bigamy. It demonstrates how the spectacle of a British man able to marry two wives owing to discrepancies in the United Kingdom's marriage law de-stabilized the very notion of a 'British' rule of law. The subsequent trial secured multiple audiences at a time when the 'naturalness' of the monogamous union was under threat from the new knowledge of marriage practices in the empire contained in anthropological, travel and missionary narratives. It then shows how the new ethnography of matrimony helped secure the primacy of the English law of marriage, and its extension to the rest of the domestic empire.


Static models used in economics and ecology ignore dynamic processes at work in both human and natural systems. In the case of water management, whether for quantity or quality, static models fail to connect changing human demands on water systems with changing supplies due to short-run climate variations and long-run climate change. Water markets provide a way of connecting human demands to nature's supplies through prices, which signal values and scarcity. For water markets to make this connection, water rights must be well-defined, enforced, and tradeable. When they are, entrepreneurs are able to meet old and new demands on water ecosystems in novel ways, as examples in this essay illustrate.


A post-mortem examined case of cerebellar agenesis associated with microcephaly, agyria and deformities of the extremities and of the external ear in a newborn is presented. Such an association has not yet been reported in the literature. This is the seventh case of cerebellar agenesis ever registered in the literature. This case is compared with other previously published cases and the possible etiological factors involved as well as the period during which the cerebral malformations appeared in the present case are commented upon.


Mathematical entities associated with the golden mean, Fibonacci sequences and related concepts exhibit themselves abundantly in a variety of natural processes - perhaps most notably in plant phyllotaxis. The work in this paper represents an effort to obtain a simple, integrable, discrete dynamical system model for phyllotaxis that naturally establishes the preeminence of the golden mean and is inclusive enough to subsume many of the numerous mathematical aspects of plant growth phenomena. A deformation energy function, inspired by certain geometric properties observed in plant morphology, is introduced on the set of smooth, structurally stable diffeomorphisms of the n-torus. It is proved that the minimizers of the deformation energy comprise a denumerable hierarchy of diffeomorphisms characterized by their identification as harmonic mappings. The discrete dynamical systems generated by these diffeomorphisms are all integrable, and they include the systems corresponding to the Fibonacci sequence and its variants. It is demonstrated how this dynamical systems context for plant phyllotaxis provides an effective mechanism for deriving the well-known connections of this biological process with such mathematical concepts as the golden mean, the noble numbers, the Farey tree, chaos theory and symbolic dynamics.


Examining Korean American consumers' shopping orientation with demographic variables is a critical step toward identifying and understanding the distinctive characteristics of their consumer decision-making styles (CDMS). A principal components analysis was applied to identify how the consumer styles inventory (CSI) can be generalized to the case of Korean American consumers making purchases in the sport product category of golf clubs. Of the surveys collected through purposive sampling techniques, 306 completed responses were usable. The analysis clearly identified six out of the eight original CSI factors; these six were identified and found to be optimal for adequately representing characteristics of Korean American consumers: (1) Perfectionistic/High-Quality Consciousness; (2) Brand Consciousness/Price Equals Quality; (3) Confusion by Overchoice; (4) Novelty/High-Tech Consciousness; (5) Recreational/Hedonic Consciousness; and (6) Habit/Brand Loyalty. Novelty/High-Tech Consciousness was newly captured due to the innovative features of modern golf clubs. Two other factors from the original CSI, Price Consciousness/Value for the Money and Impulsiveness/Carelessness, were found to be unreliable. This six-factor model was derived from 28 of the original 39 items of the CSI scale; the 28-item scale was thus considered more parsimonious and stable for use with Korean American consumers.


ABSTRACT Objective: To study associations between the school and home environment and current asthma, respiratory symptoms and airway infections among Japanese students. Methods: Japanese students (12–15 y) (N = 1048) in four schools responded to a questionnaire on respiratory health, allergy and the home environment. Temperature, relative air humidity (RH) and student density (students/m2 floor area) was measured in the classrooms: dust was collected from floors and in classroom air and analysed for cat (Fel d 1) and dog (Can f 1) allergens. Health associations were analysed by multi-level logistic regression. Results: Doctor's diagnosed asthma was common (13.4%), 8.8% reported cat allergy and 6.1% dog allergy. The median level in floor dust was 41 ng/g (IQR 23–92) for Fel d 1 and 101 ng/g (IQR 54–101) for Can f 1. The median level in air was 18.6 ng/ m2/ day (IQR5.9–25.1) for Fel d 1 and 18.6 ng/ m2/ day (IQR 6.0–13.3) for Can f 1. High RH, high student density and airborne cat allergen was associated with airway infections. In the home environment, recent indoor painting, new floor materials, odour, having cats as pets, window pane condensation in winter, and dampness in floor construction were associated with respiratory illness. Conclusion: High relative air humidity, high student density and airborne cat allergens at school may increase the risk of airway infections. Having cats as pets, chemical emissions from paint and new floor materials, odour and dampness can constitute domestic risk factors for respiratory symptoms while having dogs as pets could be protective.


In this thesis, a nonlinear model predicting hydrodynamics data for waves shoaling and breaking on a beach is reproduced and extensively tested with laboratory data. The model is based on the 1D Boussinesq equations as derived by Madsen et al. (1991) and Madsen and Sorensen (1992), with the free surface elevation and the depth-integrated velocity as variables. It allows slowly varying bathymetries and contains additional high order terms to improve the frequency dispersion for shorter wave periods, and thus also to improve the shoaling properties of the model. Wave breaking is modelled using the concept of a surface roller as formulated by Schäffer et al. (1993). It is assumed that bottom friction is negligible. A large scale laboratory experiment (Supertank), designed in particular to obtain data to test the validity of wave propagation models, provides the wave and current data. Wave evolution over a complex bathymetry is examined for 4 cases. The data include conditions for long and short waves, and regular and irregular waves. During the model evaluation, emphasis is put on the study of parameters of importance to sediment transport, including (orbital) velocity, undertow and wave shape prediction. The latter encompasses velocity and elevation skewness, kurtosis and asymmetry. It is found that, despite an overestimation of the depth-averaged horizontal velocity in some cases, the predicted velocity moments and undertow are in good agreement with the data. Using a bispectral analysis, it is shown that the nonlinear transfers of energy amongst the low order harmonics are well reproduced, but that errors are introduced in the treatment of the high order super-harmonics. As a result, the short waves tests are found to yield better results than those for long waves. A sensitivity analysis on the free parameters introduced in the simulation of wave breaking is carried out. It appears that the results are mostly sensitive to the critical xv avve fi-ont slope OB , and in particular that the elevation and velocity skewness and kurtosis predictions are very sensitive to this parameter.


Introduction Pathogenic gut microorganisms, and dysbiosis of the gastrointestinal microbiota are a significant cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, for instance infection with Clostridium difficile or Salmonella species can prove fatal, whereas alteration of the gastrointestinal microbiota has been implicated in irritable bowel syndrome. Due to increasing resistance of gastrointestinal pathogens to conventional antibiotics, alternative antimicrobial agents are urgently needed. The aim of this study is to investigate whether essential oils (concentrated mixtures of aromatic compounds obtained by the distillation of plant tissues) have antimicrobial activity against selected gastrointestinal pathogens. Methods We have investigated the antimicrobial activity of essential oils of a wide range of culinary and medicinal herbs against type strains of selected gastrointestinal pathogens, namely Salmonella enterica, Clostridium difficile, two strains of Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans by disc diffusion assays. Grapeseed oil was the negative control. If the essential oils inhibited the growth of the organisms, a clear halo was seen around the test discs. This was measured. The experiments were performed three times and results were analysed by two sample T Tests. Essential oils were analysed by thermal desorption gas chromatography with mass spectrometry to identify the compounds present. Results Seven of the essential oils (aniseed, asafoetida, cinnamon, clove, oregano, thyme and winter savoury) produced a strong and statistically significant inhibition of the growth of all five of the organisms tested whereas a further seven essential oils (coriander, garlic, lemon balm, lemon grass, May Chang, peppermint and rosemary) markedly inhibited the growth of three or four of the organisms (and these results were also statistically significant). Batch to batch variation was evident in the antimicrobial activity of some of the essential oils. This might correlate with variations in the profile of compounds present in the essential oils. Conclusion Some of the essential oils studied might be therapeutically useful against gastrointestinal pathogens. Quality control of the oils would be necessary and further work is needed to identify the active antimicrobial compounds in the oils. Disclosure of Interest None Declared.


In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in dual linear polarization antennas for various purposes, e.g. polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging. A key design goal for dual polarization antennas is to obtain a high cross-polarization suppression. When using standard techniques for improving the cross-polarization suppression in dual linear polarization antenna arrays undesired sidelobes appear. This paper describes the properties of some known cross-polarization suppression methods and presents a new method for obtaining high cross-polarization suppression and simultaneously avoiding undesired sidelobes.


Shipbuilding industry was developed and grown in the late 19 and early 20 centuries. The Turkish shipbuilding industry started to develop in an international level around 15 years ago with specialization in small tonnage vessels. The global economic crisis that started in 2008 has affected the enhancement of shipbuilding industry in Turkey. This study addresses the important factors affecting the development of Turkish shipbuilding industry by focusing on the global shipbuilding during the crisis and the current state of the industry with the application of a survey to the key decision makers. The data was obtained from the survey collected from the Turkish shipyards and maritime companies that represent the considerable share of the industry. The surveys were conducted between 2012 and 2013. The current state of shipbuilding industry concerning the most relevant factors for the development of the industry according to the respondents has been designated, and it was seen that the highlighted factors were lower in the current state of the industry. Moreover, the strongest and weakest factors for the Turkish shipbuilding industry were pointed out. Herein, general views of the respondents regarding the development of Turkish shipbuilding industry were presented.


The disease of pyorrhea alveolaris, in spite of its name, is not always associated with a flow of pus from the infected tooth-sockets. As a matter of fact, pus does not appear in 25 per cent of the cases. The main symptoms are inflammation of the peridental membrane, bleeding of the gums at the slightest touch and a tendency for the teeth to elongate and be sensitive to mastication. Finally, the gums separate from the roots of the teeth, forming pockets in which salivary calculus and infection cause such centers of irritation and disintegration that the destruction of the teeth involved is only, a question of time unless the tartar is removed from the roots, the mass of infection destroyed and the gums stimulated to reattach themselves to the roots of the teeth. A single blind fistula from an infected root may cause the most profound nervous depression, which, being


The objectives of this study were: (i) to compare five models (Wood, Cobby & Le Du, Wilmink, Cappio Borlino, Djikstra) for describing the lactation curve of Chios sheep, (ii) to identify variation in lactation parameters related to environmental factors (season) and animal factors (parity). A data base on 61,705 recordings of daily milk production obtained from an automatic milking system was used. The lactation models were individually adjusted for each lactation. Analysis of variance was performed for the comparison of the parameter estimates. The goodness of fit measures used for comparisons of the models was the coefficient of determination (R), mean of mean square error (MMSE), Akaike information criterion (AIC), corrected Akaike information criterion (AICc) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC). Wood model had the lowest values for information criteria (MMSE = 347.4681, AIC = 1,056.436, AICc = 1,056.733, BIC = 1,063.856) and the highest value for the coefficient of determination (R=0.79). The highest values for information criteria were found for Djikstra's model (MMSE = 636.6438, AIC = 1,076.621, AICc = 1,077.117, BIC = 1,086.582) having the same time the lowest value for the coefficient of determination (R=0.59). Overall, Wood (1967) model showed the best adjustment. Despite of being more recent, the model by Djikstra (1997) mechanist based and with a higher number of parameters showed a low convergence for the data used. Wood model (1967) has a greater advantage of producing a good fit measurement with only three parameters.


Objective: Interaction between the chemokine-like receptor 1 (CMKLR1) and its cognate peptide ligand, chemerin, can downregulate the inflammatory responses. This study investigates the regulatory role chemerin in lung tumorigenesis and cancer-associated inflammation.
Materials and methods: Animal experiments, cell culture, gene cloning and transfection, chemotaxis assay, Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumorigenesis assays, histopathological evaluation, mixed leukocyte reactions, flow cytometry, proliferation and clonogenicity assays, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and immunohistochemistry (IHC) techniques were used.
Results: CMKLR1 was identified in mouse LLC tumors. The LLC cells were modified to secrete prochemerin at a level that cannot induce chemotactic activity. Inflammatory cytokine expression, TNF-α, IL-12 p40, but not IL-1β, was diminished in leukocytes when exposed to conditioned media obtained from the chemerin-expressing LLC cells, and in the tumors established with those cells. On the other hand, leukocyte proliferation and IFN-γ expression were not drastically impeded. Correspondingly, tumor forming capacity of the chemerin-expressing LLCs was decreased.
Conclusion: Chemerin may possess a potential to modulate the inflammatory responses in the tumor microenvironment.


Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) with autologous tumor-reactive T cells is a promising strategy in cancer immunotherapy, but treatment of solid tumors is limited by the rapid decline in function of the transplanted T cells. In order to maintain high numbers of viable antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells in tumors, co-administration of supporting immunostimulant agents together with transferred cells is often necessary in clinical practice. However, the high systemic doses of such agents needed to enhance T cell functionality can also result in serious side effects. Here, we developed a carrier-free strategy to deliver cytokines specifically to adoptively transferred T cells for cancer immunotherapy. IL2-Fc or an IL-15 superagonist were chemically crosslinked with a disulfide linker to form protein nanogels (NGs), which were conjugated to the plasma membrane of ACT T-cells. These NGs had exceptionally high loading of cytokines (~70 wt%) and released native protein in physiological conditions in a sustained manner through breakdown of the degradable disulfide linker in response to the activated T cell surface reduction activity. Cytokine-NGs were chemically conjugated onto the plasma membrane of donor T cells, enabling continuous pseudo-autocrine release of cytokine for stimulation of transferred CD8+ T cells. Transferred pmel-1 CD8+ T cells with optimized number of NGs conjugated per cell showed enhanced expansion and long persistence in B16F10 tumor bearing mice. Quantification of transferred Thy1.1+CD8+ T cells in tumors at Day 13 showed that T cells with conjugated cytokine-NGs expanded ~80 fold more than the T cells with systemically administered free cytokine. We demonstrated that the cytokine-NG-T cell conjugation strategy could augment transferred T-cell expansion efficiently and specifically in vivo, and thus improve the therapeutic efficacy. This T cell-NG "back pack" approach provides a readily generalizable strategy to provide autocrine protein drug support to donor cells to enhance the safety and efficacy of ACT. Citation Format: Li Tang, Yiran Zheng, Llian Mabardi, Darrell J. Irvine. Carrier-free delivery of cytokine to specifically expand adoptively transferred T cells for enhanced cancer immunotherapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A073.


Dioxin exposure alters a variety of neural functions, most likely through activation of the arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway. Many of the adverse effects, including disruption of circadian changes in hormone release and depressed appetite, seem to be mediated by hypothalamic and/or brainstem neurons. However, it is unclear whether these effects are direct or indirect, because there have been no comprehensive studies mapping the expression of components of the AhR pathway in the brain. Therefore, we used a sensitive in situ hybridization histochemical (ISHH) method to map the neural expression of AhR mRNA, as well as those of the mRNAs encoding the AhR dimerization partners, arylhydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) and ARNT2. We found that AhR, ARNT, and ARNT2 mRNAs were widely distributed throughout the brain and brainstem. There was no neuroanatomic evidence that AhR is preferentially colocalized with ARNT or ARNT2. However, ARNT2, unlike ARNT expression, was relatively high in most regions. The most noteworthy regions in which we found AhR, ARNT, and ARNT2 mRNA were several hypothalamic and brainstem regions involved in the regulation of appetite and circadian rhythms, functions that are disrupted by dioxin exposure. These regions included the arcuate nucleus (Arc), ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), paraventricular nucleus (PVN), suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), and the dorsal and median raphe nuclei. This neuroanatomic information provides important clues as to the sites and mechanisms underlying the previously unexplained effects of dioxins in the central nervous system. J. Comp. Neurol. 427:428–439, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The general equivalence principle of Tacina & Dahm (2000) (Part 1) that extends scaling laws for non-reacting flows to account for density changes due to reaction heat release is applied to turbulent mixing layers to develop physically based scaling laws for heat release effects in exothermic reacting mixing layers. This leads to an 'extended density ratio' $s^+$ based on the equivalent elevated temperature for one of the two free-stream fluids that accounts for the density variations within the layer due to exothermic reaction. When used in place of the isothermal density ratio $s$ in scaling laws for growth rate and entrainment ratio in non-reacting mixing layers, resulting predicted effects of heat release show good agreement with measured values, and reveal subtle effects of stoichiometry previously unnoticed in experiments. Results also suggest ways to achieve increased growth rates and entrainment ratios due to heat release in turbulent mixing layers. These results for heat release effects in mixing layers, and earlier results for heat release effects in the near and far fields of planar and axisymmetric jets, support the validity and utility of the equivalence principle between exothermic reacting turbulent shear flows and a corresponding equivalent non-reacting flow under otherwise identical conditions.


Body Area Networks (BAN) designed for medical, lifestyle and entertainment applications have drawn the attention of many researchers and industry players alike. This is primarily due to the surge in the number of personal electronic gadgets, new sensing and monitoring devices for in-body and near-body use, device miniaturization, and technological advances in Wireless Sensor Networking (WSN). BAN enables the convergence of these technologies by providing a single unified solution for connectivity in and around the body towards providing the connected consumer experience.

BAN brings about new set of challenges such as scalability (in terms of data rate, power consumption and number of devices), integration of in and around the body networking, interference mitigation, coexistence, QoS, and ultra-low power protocols and algorithms. Moreover, effects on human body have to be considered and several regulatory requirements have to be met. On the standardization side, the IEEE 802.15 Study Group on BAN (SG-BAN) has recently been formed to lead the initiative of developing a single unifying BAN standard that addresses these challenges.

In this paper we study the applications, functional and technical requirements that are at the center of the first BAN specific standards making process. We compare and contrast these requirements with existing low power low data rate WPAN standard called ZigBee. Our goal is to highlight the core set of requirements and research challenges which must be addressed by a BAN standard for it to become ubiquitous and pervasive technology.


This paper presents the essential elements for developing objective methods of assessment of the performance of time-frequency signal analysis techniques. We define a measure for assessing the resolution performance of time-frequency distributions (TFDs) in separating closely spaced components in the time-frequency domain. The measure takes into account key attributes of TFDs, such as components mainlobes and sidelobes and cross-terms. The introduction of this measure allows to quantify the quality of TFDs instead of relying solely on visual inspection of their plots. The method of assessment of performance of TFDs also allows the improvement of methodologies for designing high-resolution quadratic TFDs for time-frequency analysis of multicomponent signals. Different TFDs, including the modified B distribution, are optimized using this methodology. Examples of a performance comparison of quadratic TFDs in resolving closely spaced components in the time-frequency domain, using the proposed resolution measure, are provided.


Clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.), known for its aromatic and medicinal properties, belongs to the Lamiaceae family. Although the species grows wild throughout Sicily, knowledge of its production and qualitative properties is limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agronomic behavior of the species over two years of testing and to characterize the chemical properties of its wild counterparts in order to identify the most promising accessions for cropping or for use in breeding programs. Tests were carried out during 2008, 2009, and 2010. During the first year, the plot was established. Subsequently, the main parameters for bio-agronomic evaluation were taken in 2009 and 2010. Regarding qualitative characterization, essential oils (EO) were extracted from flowering samples of clary sage. The accessions in the study showed satisfactory adaptation capacity to cropping. The accessions examined belong to the "linalyl acetate" (range 36–43%) chemotype. Test results show good potential for Mediterranean cropping systems, helping to increase the range of medicinal and aromatic species in cultivation.


Effective control of Fusarium-mycotoxin accumulation in grain affected by Fusarium head blight (FHB) (caused by Fusarium graminearum) begins with selecting moderately resistant wheat cultivars; however, little is known about how this resistance affects mycotoxin levels in the stem. A study was conducted from 2011 to 2014 in a mist-irrigated FHB nursery in Urbana, IL to determine whether the FHB resistance class of a cultivar (very susceptible, susceptible, moderately susceptible, and moderately resistant) affects the concentration of Fusarium mycotoxins in the stem. FHB incidence, FHB severity, and Fusarium-damaged kernel ratings were collected and used to calculate FHB index; incidence, severity, and kernel damage (ISK) index; and deoxynivalenol (DON), incidence, severity, and kernel damage (DISK) index. Grain was assayed for levels of DON, and the bottom 25 cm of plant stems was collected from each plot and assayed for DON, 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3ADON), and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15ADON). Significant differences in DON concentration in the grain were detected among cultivars (P = 0.0001) and for the concentration of all DON (P = 0.003), 3ADON (P = 0.03), and 15ADON (P < 0.0001) in the stem. Significant differences among resistance classes were observed for FHB index value (P < 0.0001), ISK index (P = 0.006), and DISK index (P = 0.004). In all years of this study, the concentration of DON in the grain and the concentrations of all mycotoxins in the stem were consistently lower in the moderately resistant cultivars. All three indices were poor indicators of mycotoxin concentrations in the stem. Overall, the selection of a moderately resistant cultivar provides effective control of DON accumulation in the grain and mycotoxin accumulation in the stem.


Background: Carcinomas of esophagus, mostly squamous cell carcinomas, occur throughout the world. There are a number of suspected genetic or environmental etiologies. Human papilloma virus (HPV) is said to be a major etiology in areas with high incidence of esophageal carcinoma, while it is hardly detectable in low incidence regions. This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of HPV in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases diagnosed in Pathology Department, Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: DNA material for PCR amplification of HPV genome was extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 92 cases of ESCC, diagnosed during 20 years from 1982 to 2002. Polymerase chain reaction was performed for amplification and detection of common HPV and type specific HPV-16 and HPV-18 genomic sequences in the presence of positive control (HPV-18 and HPV positive biopsies of uterine exocervix) and additional internal controls i.e. beta-globin and cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4). Result: Good amplification of positive control and internal controls was observed. However, no amplification of HPV genome was observed. Conclusion: There is no association between HPV infection and the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the cases evaluated.


International tension between energy supply and demand boost developments of energy-saving industry. Structure drawbacks of four linkage bar of the conventional beam pumping unit in oil field artificial lift led to the study of a single crank flexible pumping unit. Because of beam pumping unit issues, such as many energy transfer links, high energy consumption and investment, and so on, the single crank flexible pumping unit made the flexible delivery instead of rigid, substantially reduce the energy transfer links, to reduce the weight of the load rod as a breakthrough to achieve light and compact oil production ground equipment, while minimizing energy consumption, increased functionality, lower investment and overall cost. Field tests show that significant energy savings are found in the single crank flexible pumping unit, which is worth of promoting.


The ecology of riverine ecosystems in the eastern Canadian subarctic remains relatively unknown and, like their circumpolar counterparts, these systems are predicted to be vulnerable to climate-induced ecological changes that are likely to affect species composition, distribution, and overall ecosystem functioning. Thus, lotic systems in this area must be evaluated in order to begin long-term monitoring of climate-driven alterations to ecological structure and function. The aim of the present research was to assess contemporary patterns in stream structure and function within the Torngat Mountains National Park in subarctic Labrador and determine the environmental (physicochemical) drivers of these ecological patterns. In particular, the study examined the influence of environmental variables from multiple spatial scales on macroinvertebrate assemblage structure, consumer trophic diversity and dietary overlap, and cellulose decomposition rates. Environmental variables that were measured at the reach scale ( a 1-km buffer around study sites), which included the relative area of glaciers and various land cover types, produced the most variation in stream structure and function. Glacier-fed streams had the lowest consumer richness and abundance, the lowest trophic diversity and little dietary overlap, arid the lowest cellulose decay rates. Cellulose decay rates were highest where consumer richness, trophic diversity and dietary overlap were highest and where riparian input was greatest. Consumer diets consisted primarily of allochthonous carbon (53 95%) and cellulose decay was likely mediated primarily by shredder invertebrates, as microbial activity was not correlated with decay rates. The present study provides baseline ecological data for long-term stream ecosystem monitoring in the Park and suggests that changes in glacial extent,


Previous research (Tew and Laurence 1972) suggested that children with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus had particular difficulties in the development of mathematical concepts. This research considered factors which may affect such development and consisted of two main sections.

Firstly research was carried out in a school for physically handicapped children. This involved the use of the Young Group Mathematics Test with groups within the school, and detailed case studies of nine children with Myelomeningocele and Hydrocephalus, all of whom were in the same year group. Secondly, large scale data on approximately 600 children with Spina Bifida, from Sheffield Children's Hospital, was analysed. The analysis was broken down into groups based on diagnosis, these being; Myelomeningocele with and without shunts and Meningocele. They were also sub-divided into four groups based on ability in arithmetic as measured on the WISC. A large number of variables and their relationship to arithmetic were considered. The main variables were diagnosis, presence of shunt, ventricle-brain ratio, thickness of neonatal cortex, circumference of head at birth, mobility, level and extent of lesion, continence, intelligence and school placement. Frequently the children with the greatest degree of Hydrocephalus are also the most physically handicapped so additional data for children diagnosed as having 'Congenital' Hydrocephalus only was employed to try and separate out the effects of mobility from the other neurological variables.

The data led to the conclusion that it is the neurological damage present in children with Hydrocephalus which has the most direct effect on the development of mathematical concepts, although this would be influenced by the degree of physical disability and related environmental factors. Suggestions are made as to how to help these children to develop mathematical concepts. An early start is recommended regarding the training of selective attention to attempt to overcome the distractibility which is a frequent concomitant of neurological damage. After this a carefully structured approach to the teaching of maths is recommended.

However, since the most significant correlations with maths ability were with neurological damage, preventative measures must also be concerned with the immediacy and efficacy of shunt surgery.


Power-factor-correction (PFC) preregulator commonly suffers from slow dynamic response due to the need to operate with small closed-loop bandwidth for realizing low total harmonic distortion of input current. Ripple cancellation is one of the widely adopted strategies to achieve high power factor and fast dynamic response simultaneously. The main idea is to eliminate the double-line frequency component in the sampled output voltage by means of subtracting a replica of the output voltage ripple from the sampled output voltage. In this paper, a systematic derivation and analysis of the main figures of merit of PFC preregulator incorporating ripple cancellation is presented. Based on the equations obtained, three variants of a family of ripple cancellation methods based on switched-resistor circuits are proposed. The performances of these methods are experimentally investigated and compared by implementing them in a 200-W average-current-mode-controlled boost PFC preregulator. By comparing the measured figures of merit, it is shown that near-perfect ripple cancellation is achievable when the amplitude and phase angle of the sampled output voltage ripple are estimated independently, whereas a more cost-effective solution is provided by another approach that tracks the ripple amplitude only at the expense of decreased power factor and increased total harmonic distortion.


Objective: To assess the pregnancy outcome and neonatal follow-up in fetuses with first trimester increased nuchal translucency (> p97.5) and normal karyotype. Methods: For an optimal follow-up, a specific clinic attended by an obstetrician has been established since October 2002. Fetal echocardiography (14 and 20 weeks), early anomaly scan (12–14 w), anomaly scan at 20 weeks with nuchal fold measurement and maternal infection screening (CMV, toxoplasmosis and parvovirus B19) have been allocated. Newborn follow-up has been established during the first year of life. Results: From October 2002 to February 2004, 52 fetuses with increased NT and normal karyotype were detected. A structural defect or genetic syndrome was diagnosed in 14 cases (26%): 6 cardiac defects, 2 urinary tract abnormalities, 2 fetal akinesia deformations, 2 fetal hydrops, one multiple malformation and one unespecified syndrome. From these, there was one spontaneous fetal loss at 15 weeks, 7 terminations of pregnancy (TOP), 2 neonatal or infant demises, and the four survivors required medical or surgical treatment. In addition, there was one spontaneous miscarriage at 13 weeks, and one TOP undertaken at 20 weeks, because of PROM with severe oligohydramnios after CVS. Twenty-five newborn (47%) were delivered with no defect and showed normal neurodevelopment up to the first year of life. In all of them, nuchal fold had been resolved by 20 weeks. Finally, there are 9 ongoing pregnancies (17%) with no abnormalities detected in the first half of the pregnancy. Conclusions: Increased NT with normal karyotype is associated with a high incidence of fetal abnormalities (25%). When no anomalies are detected and nuchal fold is normal at 20 weeks, the risk of and adverse outcome is very low.


This article examines the returns and risk-adjusted performance of the 99 mutual funds that have been in continuous operation for the 45-year period 1967–2011. The returns and risk-adjusted performance of the mutual funds are compared to the results of a passive buy-and-hold strategy (S&P 500) and simulated portfolios market timed in accordance with the Super Bowl Stock Market Predictor. Over the 45-year history of the Super Bowl through 2011, the simulated market-timed portfolios outperformed 95 of the 99 mutual funds based upon return and terminal portfolio value, and all 99 mutual funds on a risk-adjusted basis.


We address the steady-state behavior of a system consisting of several correlated monoatomic layers sandwiched between two metallic leads under the influence of a bias voltage. In particular, we investigate the interplay of the local Hubbard and the long-range Coulomb interaction on the charge redistribution at the interface, in the paramagnetic regime of the system. We provide a detailed study of the importance of the various system parameters, like Hubbard $U$, lead-correlated region coupling strength, and the applied voltage on the charge distribution in the correlated region and in the adjacent parts of the leads. In addition, we also present results for the steady-state current density and double occupancies. Our results indicate that, in a certain range of parameters, the charge on the two layers at the interface between the leads and the correlated region display opposite signs, producing a dipolelike layer at the interface. Our results are obtained within nonequilibrium (steady-state) real-space dynamical mean-field theory, with a self-consistent treatment of the long-range part of the Coulomb interaction by means of the Poisson equation. The latter is solved by the Newton-Raphson method and we find that this significantly reduces the computational cost compared to existing treatment. As the impurity solver for real-space dynamical mean-field theory, we use the auxiliary master equation approach, which addresses the impurity problem within a finite auxiliary system coupled to Markovian environments.


The field of special education is in the midst of a scientific revolution that began with the passing of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) legislation (Slavin, 2002). There has been a longstanding dispute about how to translate research in education into practice and make the results effective in relation to increased student learning. The debate is centered on what constitutes rigorous research and what elements of a particular design employed in practice create positive student outcomes. For some time now the fields of medicine, agriculture, psychology, and economics have moved forward with their version of what "evidence" is and how it can be used in order to enhance the particular disciplines' capability to predict and alter outcomes. There is much debate about how certain principles of experimentation in education can assist students in achieving their maximum potential. This examination of the literature and issues surrounding Evidence-based Practices (EBPs) will focus on the problems related to the current research of the field special education, how the objectives are defined for moving towards rigorous research, the opposition to this movement, and the recommendations from experts in the field. One of the more important recommendations is the need to connect with teachers in the field. We need them cooking up these interventions as well in order to best serve the students in the public school system. However, if all the chefs in this situation are cooking up different recipes and wanting the same outcome, we have a problem. The problem, which certainly warrants further examination outside this initial analysis becomes: Can the field of special education employ EBPs in practice in order to enhance student outcomes in an inclusive classroom?


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Measuring cerebrovascular reactivity with the use of vasodilatory stimuli, such as acetazolamide, is useful for chronic cerebrovascular steno-occlusive disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of acetazolamide on the assessment of hemodynamic impairment and functional connectivity by using noninvasive resting-state blood oxygen level–dependent MR imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 20-minute resting-state blood oxygen level–dependent MR imaging scan was acquired with infusion of acetazolamide starting at 5 minutes after scan initiation. A recently developed temporal-shift analysis technique was applied on blood oxygen level–dependent MR imaging data before and after acetazolamide infusion to identify regions with hemodynamic impairment, and the results were compared by using contrast agent–based DSC perfusion imaging as the reference standard. Functional connectivity was compared with and without correction on the signal by using information from temporal-shift analysis, before and after acetazolamide infusion. RESULTS: Visually, temporal-shift analysis of blood oxygen level–dependent MR imaging data identified regions with compromised hemodynamics as defined by DSC, though performance deteriorated in patients with bilateral disease. The Dice similarity coefficient between temporal-shift and DSC maps was higher before (0.487 ± 0.150 by using the superior sagittal sinus signal as a reference for temporal-shift analysis) compared with after acetazolamide administration (0.384 ± 0.107) (P = .006, repeated-measures ANOVA). Functional connectivity analysis with temporal-shift correction identified brain network nodes that were otherwise missed. The accuracy of functional connectivity assessment decreased after acetazolamide administration (P = .015 for default mode network, repeated-measures ANOVA). CONCLUSIONS: Temporal-shift analysis of blood oxygen level–dependent MR imaging can identify brain regions with hemodynamic compromise in relation to DSC among patients with chronic cerebrovascular disease. The use of acetazolamide reduces the accuracy of temporal-shift analysis and network connectivity evaluation.


Fatigue remains a challenge especially for high end metal AM parts and materials. From a design perspective, the fatigue limit of an AM solution can be improved upon by optimizing the manufacturing process for a certain material and part. In addition, improved accuracy of design methodologies aids in capturing the features critical for fatigue and quantifies their significance to desired part lifetime as well as providing a basis for their avoidance. In current work we present an overall concept merging thermomechanical process and powder bed solidification modeling to micromechanical analysis of fatigue of the resulting material microstructure. Material features critical to fatigue, particularly surface roughness, internal defects such as porosity and cracks and on the other hand inclusions, can be assessed directly on the basis of AM part microstructure with respect to the resulting fatigue limit. Case analyses consist of maraging steel and nickel alloys. The overall scheme provides a basis for optimization of metal AM solutions against fatigue and multiscale modeling founded basis for fatigue design.


Increasing life expectancy and rapid fertility decline in China since the 1970s have accelerated the rate of population ageing, fuelling the prospects of an ageing workforce and a significant slowdown in the growth of the working age population. The present paper examines the trend of labour supply in China over the next 45 years under alternative fertility scenarios by taking account of the demographic composition effect and potential trends of the age-and sex-specific labour force participation rates. The main finding is that the labour supply contraction will accelerate from 2020 onwards in response to population ageing and the probable attrition of the LFPR of the young population. Relaxing the current one-child policy may moderate the adverse labour market consequences by increasing the base of the working age population and decelerate the rate of population ageing.


Periodontitis is a chronic oral inflammatory disease affecting one in five individuals that can lead to tooth loss. CD4+ Th cells activated by a microbial biofilm are thought to contribute to the destruction of alveolar bone surrounding teeth by influencing osteoclastogenesis through IL-17A and receptor activator for NF-κB ligand effects. The relative roles of mucosal Ag presentation cells in directing Th cell immune responses against oral pathogens and their contribution to destruction of alveolar bone remain unknown. We tested the contribution of mucosal Langerhans cells (LCs) to alveolar bone homeostasis in mice following oral colonization with a well-characterized human periodontal pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis. We found that oral mucosal LCs did not protect from or exacerbate crestal alveolar bone destruction but were responsible for promoting differentiation of Th17 cells specific to P. gingivalis. In mice lacking LCs the Th17 response was suppressed and a Th1 response predominated. Bypassing LCs with systemic immunization of P. gingivalis resulted in a predominantly P. gingivalis–specific Th1 response regardless of whether LCs were present. Interestingly, we find that in vivo clonal expansion of P. gingivalis–specific Th cells and induced regulatory T cells does not depend on mucosal LCs. Furthermore, destruction of crestal alveolar bone induced by P. gingivalis colonization occurred regardless of the presence of mucosal LCs or P. gingivalis–specific Th17 cells. Our data indicate that both LCs and Th17 cells are redundant in contributing to alveolar bone destruction in a murine model of periodontitis.


Background: A 10-year-old boy presented with genital ambiguity, poor linear growth, and delayed milestones. The aim and to highlight that although rare but congenital, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism may rarely present as ambiguity. Materials and Methods: The patient was found to have bilateral cryptorchidism with proximal penile hypospadias, microphallus with a proportionate dwarfism with mildly delayed bone age, and karyotype 46XY. Euthyroid with normal steroid axis, growth hormone insufficient as suggested by auxology, low IGF1, and poor response to clonidine stimulation. MRI brain shows hypoplastic corpus callosum, hypoplastic anterior pituitary, and ectopic posterior pituitary bright spot. Results: The patient underwent laparoscopic removal of right intrabdominal testis and orchidoplexy was performed on the left one. Testicular biopsy revealed no malignancy and growth hormone replacement was initiated. The patient awaits definitive repair of hypospadias. Conclusion: As a provisional diagnosis of combined growth hormone and gonadotropin deficiency, most probable diagnosis is septo-optic dysplasia or de moseir syndrome leading to genital ambiguity.


ABSTRACT The Greater Darwin area has long experienced high housing costs and high rates of homelessness. Into this already stressed housing context have come large-scale, natural resource development projects, which are predicted to bring thousands of new workers to town, and exciting property investor interest. While many view these developments as positive, there is concern about the impacts upon the most vulnerable members of the population. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research project exploring current housing issues in the Greater Darwin area. Interviews with housing support service providers and real estate agents reveal that the current population and investment growth have exacerbated longstanding housing issues. Increased housing stress in Darwin, and a myopic focus on rapid economic growth, may disenfranchise current residents and undermine service and support industries. We argue that while there may be some economic benefits from a 'booming' Darwin, greater planning and partnership between government, community organisations and corporates is required to ensure the benefits are spread across the population. Unfortunately, the Northern Territory government's dilatory approach to both housing issues and the social costs of the resources boom makes it highly unlikely innovative partnerships will occur.


By JOHN LLOYD, Esq. IT can hardly be doubted that larvae of various insects are occasionally passed from the human bowels, the ova or the larvae themselves having been received into the body by the mouth along with water or food. A case of this kind has recently come under my notice, in which I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the statements. The annexed woodcut* represents a living creature which was brought to me by a man living in this town, who stated that he had passed it from his bowels: and that previously he had passed others of exactly the same description. The man's wife confirmed the statement of her husband. They both ascribed to the " worms" severe abdominal pains to which the man is subject. The animal lived for several days in water. In general, it was torpid; but at other times it was quite lively, frequently bending itself into a circle, as if trying the game of putting its curious long tail into its mouth. Through the kindness of Professor Owen, I am enabled to state that it is the larva of the helophidts )endulum-an aquatic larva. Dr. Cormack has directed my attention to notices of an analogous case, which he brought before the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, on two separate occasions; viz., on the 2nd of June 1841, and the 8th of March 1843. He informs me that Dr. T. R. Scott, of Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, in whose practice the case occurred, thoroughly investigated it, and was convinced that no deception had been attempted. The following are the brief notices referred to. "2nd June 1841. At the period for medical news, Dr. Cormack exhibited an animal which had been passed, about ten days ago, from the bowels of a young child, a patient of Dr. Thomas R. Scott, of Musselburgh. The animal was still alive. It appeared to be the larva of a beetle, probably blaps mortisga." (Edin. Afonthl Journal for 1841, p. 538.) The following notice refers to the same patient. "8th March 1843. Dr. Cormack exhibited two specimens of the larva of the bllaps mortisaga, which had been discharged per anuin by a patient of Dr. Scott, of Musselburgh, whom he had lately seen." Dr. Mason Good tells us that leeches have lived in the stomach; and various reputable authors aver that different non-parasitical reptiles and larvw of insects resist the action of the stomach, as completely as any of the true intestinal parasites.


Learning from human demonstrations can facilitate automation but is risky because the execution of the learned policy might lead to collisions and other failures. Adding explicit constraints to avoid unsafe states is generally not possible when the state representations are complex. Furthermore, enforcing these constraints during execution of the learned policy can be challenging in environments where dynamics are difficult to model such as push mechanics in grasping. In this paper, we propose Derivative-Free Recovery (DFR), a two-phase method for generating robust policies from demonstrations in robotic manipulation tasks where the system comes to rest at each time step. In the first phase, we use support estimation of supervisor demonstrations and treat the support as implicit constraints on states. We also propose a time-varying modification for sequential tasks. In the second phase, we use this support estimate to derive a switching policy that employs the learned policy in the interior of the support and switches to a recovery policy to steer the robot away from the boundary of the support if it drifts too close. We present additional conditions, which linearly bound the difference in state at each time step by the magnitude of control, allowing us to prove that the robot will not violate the constraints using the recovery policy. A simulated pushing task in MuJoCo suggests that DFR can reduce collisions by 83%. On a physical line tracking task using a da Vinci Surgical Robot and a moving Stewart platform, DFR reduced collisions by 84%.


This paper proposes an intelligent diagnosis method for condition diagnosis of rotating machinery by using wavelet transform (WT) and ant colony optimization (ACO), in order to detect faults and distinguish fault types at an early stage. The WT is used to extract a feature signal of each machine state from a measured vibration signal for for high-accuracy condition diagnosis. The decision method of optimum frequency area for the extraction of the feature signal is discussed by using real plant data. We convert the state identification for the condition diagnosis of rotating machinery to a clustering problem of the values of the nondimensional symptom parameters (NSPs). ACO is introduced for this purpose. NSPs are calculated with the recomposed signals of each frequency level. These parameters can reflect the characteristics of the signals measured for the condition diagnosis. The synthetic detection index (SDI), on the basis of statistical theory, is defined to evaluate the applicability of the NSPs. The SDI can be used to select better NSPs for the ACO. Practical examples of diagnosis for a bearing used in the centrifugal fan system are shown to verify the effectiveness of the methods proposed in this paper.


Background/Objectives: The aim of this study was identifying the influence of self-management on dance confidence and dance achievement of university student majoring in dance. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The survey was conducted of 320 university student majoring in dance based in Seoul and Gyeonggi region. Questionnaires were used as the investigation tool as a purposive sampling method in which a total of 303 copies excluding 17 insincere responses were used for final analysis. Materials were analyzed using frequency analysis, factor analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. Findings: It was revealed that participants of 2nd and 4th grade higher than 1st and 3rd grade in self-management and participants of 4th grade higher than other grade in confidence. And participants of modern dance were higher than that of traditional dance and ballet. Dance achievement was higher as dance career was higher. The training management and mental management had a positive influence on performance confidence and activity confidence. The training and mental management had a positive influence on practical ability achievement. And training, mental and performance management had a positive influence on understanding ability achievement. The confidence of university dancer is higher as dance achievement is higher. Application/Improvements: The self-management of dancers have an overall positive effect not only on dance confidence, but also on dance achievement, with a particularly significant influence on practical skill and comprehension ability achievement.


Abstract On 23 September 2014, the United States of America sent a letter to the Security Council justifying the launch of an air campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Syrian territory. In this letter, the US referred to a formula that appeared a few years ago in certain scholarly writings: the 'unwilling or unable' test. The aim of this article is to show that this test has not been accepted by the international community of states as a whole in the Syrian case. It is also to stress that such an acceptance would lead to a radical transformation of the jus contra bellum regime, one that a large majority of states is probably not ready to accept.


In this paper, a new approach to estimation of unknown inputs and faults in a class of nonlinear systems is presented. The approach is based on the design of a cascade connection of two sliding mode observers. The first is used for estimation of state and unknown inputs and the second is used for fault detection. An important feature of the proposed approach is that the state trajectories do not leave the sliding manifold even in presence of unknown disturbances and faults. This allows for faults and disturbances to be reconstructed based on information retrieved from the equivalent output injection signal. The proposed approach is tested on a nonlinear model of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) system to reconstruct unknown disturbances and faults.


Our recent study demonstrated that chronic ablation of the cardiac sympathetic afferent reflex (CSAR) at the time of myocardial infarction (MI) by destroying TRPV1-expressing CSAR afferent nerve endings by epicardial delivery of the afferent neurotoxin, resiniferatoxin (RTX) significantly improved cardiac and autonomic dysfunction post MI. In this study, we provide an alternative route of epidural peri-ganglion administration of RTX for CSAR ablation thus destroying TRPV1-expressing CSAR afferent neuronal soma at the level of the T1-T4 DRGs in post-MI rats. This strategy completely abolished the CSAR for up to 6 months, significantly longer than epicardial application (~3-4 months). We compared the cardioprotective effects of epidural application of RTX with [Sar
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 11
 ]-substance P (SSP)-saporin (SAP) to determine if SP-containing CSAR afferents ablation mimics the cardioprotective effects of RTX in post-MI rats. Echocardiographic data demonstrated that both epidural RTX and SSP-SAP treatments significantly slowed LV chamber dilation in MI rats. Epidural application of RTX significantly decreased cardiac sympathetic tone (%max: 44±5 (n=6) vs. 11±1 (n=9), vehicle vs. RTX, P<0.01) and improved baroreflex sensitivity at 12-weeks post-MI whereas SSP-SAP had less effect on autonomic dysfunction. Compared to vehicle-treated MI rats (n=16), epidural RTX (n=13) reduced left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP: 22±1 vs. 7±1 mmHg, P<0.01) whereas epidural SSP-SAP only partially reduced LVEDP (15±2 mmHg, n=10, p<0.05) in MI rats. All groups had similar infarct size. Cardiac hypertrophy and lung edema in MI rats were reduced by epidural RTX whereas they were only partially reduced by SSP-SAP. Pressure-volume analysis data showed that epidural RTX significantly improved cardiac diastolic dysfunction in MI rats to a greater extent than SSP-SAP, neither of which improved cardiac systolic dysfunction. These data suggest that 1) epidural peri-ganglion RTX ablation of the CSAR can be used to reduce cardiac remodeling and autonomic dysfunction post-MI; 2) SP-containing thoracic afferents partially but not completely mediate the cardioprotective effects of thoracic afferent ablation post MI.


In the contemporary context, there is a growing practice of reading higher education teaching support material using digital media tools, via scrolling text on a screen on multiple devices (e.g. tablets, iPads and computers). These materials can be either specifically prepared digital texts or scanned printed texts, as opposed to the tradition of reading on paper. Thus, the following question emerges, which functions as the leitmotiv of the present study: what is the pedagogical potential of digital reading by scrolling text? In order to answer this question, we analysed a variety of information addressing this topic, which was collected from multiple sources. The analysis of this information allows concluding that, sometimes, rather than by the intentionality or pedagogical potential of the academic learning reading processes, this practice seems to be justified by the possibility of implementing a technology that tends to meet the actors' expectations (mainly students). There is the need for some caution in the mobilisation of digital reading in each specific situation, insofar as this reading is not always – necessarily and under any circumstance – the most fruitful. Besides the specificities that differentiate digital reading from printed reading (such as concentration and the relationship with new technologies), students' traits, their motivation, their knowledge about the use of the reading device or the type of digital document are some of the key elements to take into account for the success of learning through this reading process in academic learning, which, in addition, cannot overlook the importance of the type of teacher-student relationship established.


[Extract] High rates of work-related injury and illness within Australia's primary industries demonstrate that the creation of safe work environments remains a significant problem. There are many Work Health and Safety (WHS) programs designed to improve outcomes on farming and fishing enterprises; however, it appears that these programs are underutilised by those in the primary industries sector. The Primary Industries Health and Safety Partnership (PIHSP), as part of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), have been working to improve the health and safety of Australia's farming and fishing communities.

This project aims to explore the barriers to adoption of improved work health and safety (WHS) practices and develop a strategy to address these barriers which would lead to a reduction in workplace injuries and illness. The objectives of this project are targeted at primary industries (with focus on Cotton, Fisheries, Grains, Sugar, Meat and Livestock and Meat Processing).


Aims and background We investigated efficacy, safety, and prognostic factors of reirradiation in patients with recurrent or second primary head and neck cancer. Methods Records of 75 consecutive patients treated with reirradiation between August 2005 and December 2013 were reviewed. Results Median overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were 29.5 and 33.6 months. Median local control (LC) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 21.7 and 16.2 months. Univariate analysis showed that patients younger than 70 years, with a Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) >90 or with 2 or less comorbidities at time of reirradiation, have a better OS; KPS >90 and biological equivalent dose (BED) >72 Gy positively influenced the PFS. At multivariate analysis, KPS at reirradiation was an independent predictive factor for OS, while BED was an independent predictive factor for CSS and OS. At univariate analysis, patients with planning target volume (PTV) >221 mL had worse LC and PFS rates, with results confirmed at multivariate analysis. The rate of fatal treatment-related adverse events was 6.7% (3 carotid blowout, 1 soft tissue necrosis, and 1 thromboembolic event). Conclusions This study confirms the role and outcomes of reirradiation. A careful selection of patients could minimize acute and late side effects and influence survival: elderly patients, with significant medical comorbidities or poor KPS, are worse candidate for reirradiation. Total dose delivered with reirradiation and PTV appear to be other potential prognostic factors. Further studies of dose escalation are needed to establish the total dose that could achieve better LC rates with a safer toxicity profile.


Two core-holes have been drilled in the Comeya alpine graben in arder to obtain new data about the stratigraphycal characteristics of the sedimentary fill of the basin and to check its geometry, previously deduced by geophysical research. Available data show that the sedimentary evolution of the basin is related to the existence of two alluvial systems with their fronts resulting in a proglacial lacustrine environment. The ancient lake has been progressively filled evolving to a peat deposit at the beginning of the Holocene. At presently, the peat deposit as well as the alluvial system located in the SE are still active.


Information technology (IT) enables and facilitates trillion-dollar international trade. This paper studies whether the efficiency of IT-enabled trade on e-commerce platforms can be improved by integrating export logistic services. Exploiting a site-wide randomized experiment on eBay, I show that integrating the service of handling customs clearance and international shipping profitably increased cross-border trade on eBay by at least 2.9% through the extensive margin of export. The increase comes from groups where export entry costs are prohibitive: Small and medium sellers, more distant countries, and products with smaller price-to-shipping ratios. Foreign consumers benefited from higher marketplace quality through a change in seller composition and a 1% increase in product variety. Foreign sellers experienced no sales cannibalization on average but experienced higher competition from U.S. sellers in differentiated goods categories. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that 91% of the export response is explained by a reduction in export entry cost, manifested in the hassle cost of learning export procedures on eBay. I discuss implications for e-commerce platforms and government agencies.


In this paper, we study within firm heterogeneity in the discounts offered to consumers. Utilizing transaction level data from a large home appliance retailer, we quantify the extent of both across and within-salesperson heterogeneity in the discounts they negotiate with consumers. We find significant differences across salespeople in the discounts they offer: conditional on purchase, a consumer could realize a 15% higher discount by just negotiating with a different salesperson. We also find a significant effect of salesperson quotas on discounts, but as compared to across-salesperson heterogeneity, the impact of this within-salesperson heterogeneity is small. Using estimates from a structural demand model, we find that the retailer can realize 30% more profit, on average, by optimally allocating salespeople to consumers as compared to random allocation. This increase is economically significant given that a move from fixed pricing to bargaining (with random allocation) results in a 19% increase in profits. Further, strategic allocation based on consumer demographics, an implementable policy, captures about one-sixth of the total potential profit increase. We find that consumer welfare is lower under bargaining with strategic allocation, but it is not significantly different than under a fixed pricing mechanism. Together, these results suggest that, in addition to price discrimination through bargaining, the retailer can also price discriminate by matching salespeople to consumers.


The purpose of wireless LAN service is to provide mobile Internet environment for people who want to have wireless Internet using mobile devices. WLAN network consists of devices such as APs, routers, switches that are located in wide area, and they must be managed efficiently. So, wireless LAN network management system is developed, which is WLAN-NMS. It manages information of network elements and monitors the error status of each device on real-time. A WLAN-NMS that can manage a maximum of 50,000 network elements is designed and implemented and its operation and performance are shown.


This article traces the role of female patrons of architecture in thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century Anatolia. At the center stands Māhbarī Khātūn, the mother of the Seljuk Sultan Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw II (R 1237-46). During the rule of her son, Māhbarī Khātūn was active as a patron of architecture, building most notably the Huand Hatun complex in Kayseri in 1238, and several caravanserais. The foundation inscriptions of these monuments, and the funerary inscription on Māhbarī Khātūn's cenotaph in the Huand Hatun mausoleum present the founder both as the mother of the sultan, and as a pious Muslim woman. The insistence on Māhbarī Khātūn's position as the sultan's mother points to her activity in a later stage of life, after the dead of her husband, 'Alā' al-Dīn Kayqubād (R 1220-37), when her status was akin to that of the valide sultan in later Ottoman practice. This article compares Māhbarī Khātūn to other known female patrons, active in Anatolia during Seljuk and Ilkhanid rule, who are mostly recorded in their foundation inscriptions. Thus, the importance of these inscriptions as sources to trace patrons who are marginal in the chronicles and hagiographies of the time, as is the case for female members of the Seljuk court, clearly emerges.