Abstract In global Earth models such as the preliminary reference Earth model (PREM), seismic attenuation is dominated by shear friction, which is expressed by the relation Q K ≫ Q μ between the bulk and shear Q factors. Weak bulk attenuation appears to be one of the most general observations for Earth materials, which is often used as an assumption for building attenuation models. Nevertheless, we consider three observations suggesting that Q K may generally be comparable to or below Q μ . First, shear-dominated dissipation is a stringent limit requiring "auxetic" behavior of materials in respect to internal friction, that is, analogous to elastic materials with extreme negative Poisson's ratios. Although possible, auxetic behavior is extremely rare in elasticity, and it is unlikely that it is common for internal friction. To avoid pervasive auxetic effects, the quality factors should generally satisfy Q K Q μ . Second, the relation between Q K and Q μ may depend on the wave modes in which these quantities are measured. Knopoff (1964) observed that in mantle surface waves, Q K may be lower than Q S despite Q K ≫ Q μ in free oscillations. Third, many observations and micromechanics-based models of Q K exist, particularly for rock containing grains, fractures, pores, and fluids. Almost all of these models show Q K values comparable to or below Q μ within the seismic frequency band. Thus, seismic attenuation is broadly variable and likely not shear dominated. The relation Q K ≫ Q μ inverted for the whole Earth could be caused by the use of a constant- Q parameterization, whereas the Q S can be strongly frequency dependent for free oscillations. In addition, key mechanisms of anelasticity (nonlinear viscosity, grain-boundary sliding, effects of partial melts) are not of viscoelastic type and cannot be accurately described by Q factors.


Bleeding diathesis has been considered for a long time the main clinical issue impacting the lives of patients affected by inherited thrombocytopaenias. However, the number of known inherited thrombocytopaenias greatly increased in recent years, and careful evaluation of hundreds of patients affected by these 'new' disorders revealed that most of them are at risk of developing additional life‐threatening disorders during childhood or adult life. These additional disorders are usually more serious and dangerous than low platelet count. For instance, it is known that mutations in RUNX1, ANKRD26 and ETV6 cause congenital thrombocytopaenia, but we now know that they also predispose to haematological malignancies. Similarly, MYH9 mutations result in congenital thrombocytopaenia and increase the risk of developing kidney failure, cataracts and hearing loss at a later stage, while MPL mutations cause a congenital thrombocytopaenia that almost always evolves into deadly bone marrow failure. Thus, identification of patients with these disorders is essential for evaluation of their prognosis, enabling effective genetic counselling, personalizing follow‐up and giving appropriate treatments in case of development of additional diseases. Careful clinical evaluation and peripheral blood film examination are extremely useful tools in guiding the diagnostic process and identifying the candidate genes to be sequenced.


The paper draws lessons from the collapse of Iceland's banking system in October 2008. The rapid expansion of the banking system following its privatization in the early 2000s is explained, as well as the inherent fragility due to the size of the banking system relative to the domestic economy and the central bank's reserves, market manipulation enabling bank capital to expand rapidly and the weak and understaffed public institutions. Most of Iceland's banking system was traditionally in state hands but was privatized and sold to politically favoured entities at the turn of the century, with laws and regulations subsequently changed to facilitate the expansion of the banking system. Political connections and the tacit support of the authorities enabled senior bank managers and key shareholders to extract significant private benefits while shifting risk to domestic and foreign taxpayers and foreign creditors. These problems were exacerbated by symptoms of what the paper terms the small country syndrome. The size of the banking sector made the central bank incapable of serving as the lender of last resort. The domestic supervisor, the central bank and the ministries in charge of economic affairs were understaffed and lacking in experience in how to manage a large financial sector. The rapid growth was also ultimately unsustainable due to high levels of leverage and a weak capital base due to both the rapid expansion of balance sheets and lending to finance investment in own shares. The episode demonstrates the importance of closely monitoring rapidly growing financial institutions and even possibly slowing growth when institutions are systemically important. One lesson to be drawn from the crisis relates to the role of politics in a financial crisis. The Icelandic authorities as a matter of policy encouraged the creation of an international banking centre. This involved the privatization and deregulation of the banking system, rules and regulations being relaxed and the neglect of financial supervision. Another lesson is that floating exchange rates can be hazardous in the presence of large capital flows. The central bank raised interest rates during the boom years in order to meet an inflation target. This created an interest rate differential with other countries that encourages a large volume of carry trades and incentivized domestic agents to borrow in foreign currency. Both conspired to create an asset price bubble, excessive currency appreciation and – counter-intuitively – high inflation. The result was that monetary policy as conducted was ineffective at curbing domestic demand. The eventual large depreciation of the currency made a large section of the economy insolvent. Finally, there are lessons about the European passport system in financial services and the common market. The Icelandic banks had the right to set up branches in the European Union by means of the passport on the explicit assumption that home regulators were exercising adequate controls. The collapse of the banks left the United Kingdom and the Netherlands with significant costs, demonstrating the inherent weakness in the passport when one member country can undercut the supervisory standards of other member countries. For the passport system to work, the home supervisor must be trustworthy.

— Sigridur Benediktsdottir, Jon Danielsson and Gylfi Zoega


Abstract Introduction The objective of the study was to determine the course and outcomes of pregnancy and childbirth in adolescents compared to women aged 20–24 years in Slovenia. Methods In the retrospective study, the course of pregnancy and labour and the perinatal outcome of newborns in primiparous adolescents aged ≤19 years (study group) have been compared to the control group of primiparous women aged 20–24 years. The study group was further divided into a study subgroup of adolescents aged ≤17 years. Data were retrieved from the National Perinatal Information System in Slovenia for the period 2008–2012. Altogether, 13,663 women and their newborns were included. Results Adolescent pregnancy was associated with increased rates of unknown estimated date of delivery, preterm labour, low birth weight newborns, small for gestational age newborns and low gestational weight gain. Spontaneous labour was more common in adolescents, while emergency and elective Caesarean sections were less common than in women aged 20–24 years. In addition, pregnancy in adolescents aged ≤17 years was associated with increased rate of maternal anaemia and labour without complications. Higher rates of smoking, lower rates of parenting school attendance, lower rates of pregnancy check-ups and screening tests in pregnancy such as nuchal translucency in adolescents were found. Conclusions The results of the study show that adolescent pregnancy is related to higher health risks for pregnant adolescents and their newborns. In addition, adolescents are subject to poorer prenatal care comparing to older women.


Keeping cool Silver ants inhabit one of the hottest and driest environments on Earth, the Saharan sands, where most insects shrivel and die moments after contact. Shi et al. show that the triangular shape of the silver hairs that cover their bodies enables this existence. The hairs both increase the reflection of near-infrared rays and dissipate heat from the ants' bodies, even under full sun conditions. Evolution's simple solution to intense heat management in this species could lead to better designs for passive cooling of human-produced objects. Science, this issue p. 298 Silver hairs on Saharan ants facilitate both reflection and dissipation of intense heat. Saharan silver ants, Cataglyphis bombycina, forage under extreme temperature conditions in the African desert. We show that the ants' conspicuous silvery appearance is created by a dense array of triangular hairs with two thermoregulatory effects. They enhance not only the reflectivity of the ant's body surface in the visible and near-infrared range of the spectrum, where solar radiation culminates, but also the emissivity of the ant in the mid-infrared. The latter effect enables the animals to efficiently dissipate heat back to the surroundings via blackbody radiation under full daylight conditions. This biological solution for a thermoregulatory problem may lead to the development of biomimetic coatings for passive radiative cooling of objects.


This paper presents a procedure to implement the concept of surface impedance boundary condition (SIBC) for lossy dielectrics in time domain. The SIBC formulation, validation, and results are obtained with a time domain numerical method, namely the transmission-line matrix (TLM). The formulation of surface impedance in frequency domain is converted to the time domain using a rational approximation followed by a bilinear transform with a canonical representation in the state-space. This surface impedance formulation has been implemented in TLM. Simulations show that the proposed model is valid for interfaces between air and a lossy dielectric, and arbitrary conductivity $\sigma$. An application that concerns mode propagation in a rectangular tunnel with lossy dielectric walls is shown. A comparison with an approximate method proposed by Marcatilli is presented. It confirms that the propagation in electrically large guided structures, such as tunnels with lossy dielectric walls, can be efficiently modeled by this approach.


Tomosynthesis was developed for mammography, especially breast cancer detection. However, its limited-angular range scan and resultant data incompleteness causes strong image artifacts and distortions. To address this problem, a hybrid imaging method was proposed in our previous work, which combines tomosynthesis and low-resolution CT into a single system to produce fewer artifacts and distortions at a similar dose level. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the images reconstructed using the proposed method as compared with that using the conventional tomosynthesis method (ML-convex). For that purpose, the projection datasets are acquired in both numerical simulation and phantom experiments on our breast imaging platform. Three kinds of phantoms are used in our work, including a numerical phantom, a physical phantom and 8 in vitro phantoms made of breast specimens. In addition to visual comparison of the reconstructed images, we employ spatial resolution, image contrast, reconstruction error, and convergence rate to evaluate the results quantitatively. It is observed that the results from our method can achieve significantly higher spatial resolution, higher contrast, smaller reconstruction error and faster convergence rate. Besides, a reader study using 8 in vitro phantoms of breast specimens demonstrates the clinical potential of our method, which significantly outperforms the conventional tomosynthesis.


Infection with the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, results in pneumonia and other respiratory symptoms as well as pathologies at diverse anatomical sites. An outstanding question is whether these diverse pathologies are due to replication of the virus in these anatomical compartments and how and when the virus reaches those sites. To answer these outstanding questions and study the spatiotemporal dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infection a method for tracking viral spread in vivo is needed. We developed a novel, fluorescently labeled, antibody-based in vivo probe system using the anti-spike monoclonal antibody CR3022 and demonstrated that it could successfully identify sites of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a rhesus macaque model of COVID-19. Our results showed that the fluorescent signal from our antibody-based probe could differentiate whole lungs of macaques infected for 9 days from those infected for 2 or 3 days. Additionally, the probe signal corroborated the frequency and density of infected cells in individual tissue blocks from infected macaques. These results provide proof of concept for the use of in vivo antibody-based probes to study SARS-CoV-2 infection dynamics in rhesus macaques.


Morphine, the principal alkaloid of "papaver somniferum" is the reference substance of central analgesics, the parmacodynamic constants of which are: analgesia and the possibility of addiction. Respiratory depression is, for many of them, a grave side-effect. At the present time, no substance in this category is fully satisfactory and all may result in dependence. Equi-analgesic doses of dextromoramide, phenoperidine and Fentanyl are less than those of morphine, whilst those of pethidine and pentazocine are higher. Study of the pharmacokinetics of these various substances indicates no common elements, and it is difficult to consider that the analgesic action is proportional to blood levels. Clinical assessment of the mean duration of action makes it possible to divide morphine derivatives into substances with a very short action (20 to 45 minutes) such as Febtanyl and phenoperidine, and those with a longer action (1 to 4 hours) which includes the majority of the other substances. The analgesic activity of Methoadone lasts for 4 to 6 hours. Morphine antagonists such as Methadone, nalophine, naloxone and naltrexone possess specific problems in terms of their utilization. Pharmacological data concerning theses substances are described.


RNA replication and systemic trafficking play significant roles in developmental regulation and host–pathogen interactions. Viroids are the simplest noncoding eukaryotic RNA pathogens and genetic units that are capable of autonomous replication and systemic trafficking and offer excellent models to investigate the role of RNA structures in these processes. Like other RNAs, the predicted secondary structure of a viroid RNA contains many loops and bulges flanked by double-stranded helices, the biological functions of which are mostly unknown. Using Potato spindle tuber viroid infection of Nicotiana benthamiana as the experimental system, we tested the hypothesis that these loops/bulges are functional motifs that regulate replication in single cells or trafficking in a plant. Through a genome-wide mutational analysis, we identified multiple loops/bulges essential or important for each of these biological processes. Our results led to a genomic map of viroid RNA motifs that mediate single-cell replication and systemic trafficking, respectively. This map provides a framework to enable high-throughput studies on the tertiary structures and functional mechanisms of RNA motifs that regulate viroid replication and trafficking. Our model and approach should also be valuable for comprehensive investigations of the replication and trafficking motifs in other RNAs.


A growing literature associates poverty with biases in decision-making. We investigate this link in a sample of over 3,000 small-scale farmers in Zambia, who participated in a series of experiments involving the opportunity to exchange randomly assigned household items for alternative items of similar value. Analyzing a total of 5,842 trading decisions over a range of household items, we show that exchange asymmetries are sizable and remarkably robust across items and experimental procedures. Using cross sectional, seasonal and randomized variation in financial resource availability, we show that exchange asymmetries decrease in magnitude when subjects are more constrained. Consistent with the interpretation that financial constraints increase decision stakes, we also show that trading probabilities increase when the value of the items involved is exogenously increased.


Air-break disconnectors (DS) in a high-voltage network can interrupt small capacitive currents (e.g., occurring when disconnecting short unloaded transmission lines, current transformers, and so forth). The performance of a device with high-velocity opening auxiliary contacts attached to the DS enhancing the interrupting capability is presented. A series of laboratory experiments is carried out with the interrupted current range between 5 and 27 A. The experimental observations include voltage and current characteristics of the DS, and synchronous optical recording of the arc with a high-speed camera. Electrical and optical data are studied for fail and successful interruptions. The results show: 1) The short arcing time by the fast opening contacts limits the energy input into the arc, enhancing the probability of arc extinction; 2) the contribution to the arc energy mainly comes from the oscillations upon restrike. The energy input to the arc increases with higher breakdown voltage, larger air gap, and higher interrupted current; 3) the arc brightness is synchronous with arc current. With higher interrupted current, the overall arc is brighter and its remnants decay slower. Based on the results, potential successful approaches to increase the interruption capability are discussed.


The development of sensors for the detection of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) has attracted great attention. Here, we constructed a low-cost, portable, reusable, visible paper-based fluorescent sensor for the sensitive detection of TATP via vapor sampling. Under optimized conditions, the fluorescent film showed a high sensitivity to TATP with a detection limit of lower than 0.5 μg mL-1 in air. The linear range of the response is from 0.5 to 8.0 μg mL-1. In addition, the paper-based sensor exhibited high selectivity to TATP. The presence of potential interferents showed little effect on sensing. Moreover, sensing is fully reversible. Fortunately, the test can also be conducted in a visualized way.


To support knowledge sharing between practitioners of oral medicine throughout Sweden, the SOMWeb system for community collaboration has been constructed, based on Semantic Web technologies. A large function of the system is to support the discussion of difficult and interesting cases at a monthly telephone conference. From our observations of these meetings, a the users' responses to a questionnaire, and discussions with users, we find that many of the improvements that can be made to enable further use of the system relate to adding the use of context. Some initial thoughts on what would be relevant to represent in relation to context are given, such as the experience of the practitioner, the reason for adding a case to the system, and the current activity of the user. The long-term aims of this work is to identify aspects of context relevant to online communities of practice in healthcare, and to investigate how these contexts can be modeled using Semantic Web technologies.


This paper describes an experimental approach to information system based on virtual reality. The basic part of the system consists of 3D model of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the Czech Technical University. The model has been created in VRML and stored in a standalone database. The information system provides three main functions: retrieving information from the model, automatic navigation, and interactive editing of 3D model. The last function allows changing the appearance of classrooms and offices as well as manipulating furniture and other objects within those rooms. The system is fully controlled via Internet.


This was a prospective randomised study comparing carboxyhaemoglobin concentrations between low-flow anaesthesia (fresh gas flow 1.0 L/min) and minimal-flow anaesthesia (0.5 L/min) using desflurane. Sixty (ASA 1 or 2) adult patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia were randomly allocated to receive either low-flow (Group 1) or minimal flow anaesthesia (Group 2). Venous blood samples for carboxyhaemoglobin levels were taken at baseline and at 10 mins intervals for 40 mins. Both groups showed significant increase in carboxyhaemoglobin concentrations within the first 10 mins when fresh gas flow of 4.0 L/min was used. Reduction in carboxyhemoglobin levels was seen after 20 mins of minimal or low flow anaesthesia. However, there was no significant difference in the magnitude of reduction of carboxyhemoglobin concentrations between the groups. The fractional inspired of oxygen (FiO2) showed no significant changes in either group. In conclusion, desflurane usage in anaesthesia with either low-flow or minimal-flow was not associated with increased carboxyhaemoglobin concentrations.


Unlike secondary batteries that need to be recharged, fuel cells are a type of eco-friendly power generation system that produce electricity directly from electrochemical reactions using hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as oxidant. There are various types of fuel cells, differing in operating temperatures and electrolyte materials. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), which use a ceramic electrolyte, are receiving increasing attention. Because they operate at high temperatures around 700 degrees Celsius, they offer the highest efficiency among fuel cell types, and can also be used to produce hydrogen by steam decomposition. For the commercialization of this technology, further improvement of cell performance is necessary, and novel hightemperature catalyst materials are highly anticipated.


In 1946 in the
North-West region of Western Australia, a White man named Donald William McLeod
came to prominence when he assisted Aboriginal pastoral workers to leave their
employment during a strike that continued for three years. His membership of
the Communist Party of Australia was thought to be his motivation, and he was
kept under surveillance by Australia's security organisation. He was arrested,
fined and jailed for his actions but was undeterred and for the next fifty
years lived with the strikers and worked with them to gain their freedom from
the controls of government.
   Research was centred on documentary evidence in archives and
libraries and drew on private collections and stories of some who worked with
McLeod. It shows that McLeod identified Section 70 of the original Constitution
of Western Australia as the British Crown's intention to educate the Colony's
Aboriginal peoples and care for their welfare. When it was removed in the final
Constitution Act, 1905, he brought this action into the public arena and
campaigned to have its benefits reinstated. He established proprietary limited
companies through which illiterate tribal elders could gain their civil rights,
advised them on income-producing manual work and assisted them to buy land with
the proceeds of their work. He helped them establish the first Western
Australian Aboriginal-controlled independent school and culturally-appropriate
medical service with an aeroplane to reach their outlying communities. He
assisted them to sink water wells and make roads into the desert, enabling
families to return to their country, and supported the Lawmen to develop social
programs dealing with alcoholism amongst the younger generation. The question
this thesis addresses is: who was this man and why was he committed to working
for these Aboriginal people?
   Investigating McLeod's characteristics and motivations
expands the historical record of changes in the pastoral industry and the
emergence of Aboriginal enterprises in the Pilbara. The study is a
micro-historical record that offers evidence of a North-West culture imbued
with a colonial philosophy. It offers insights into the incremental steps the
previously disempowered Aboriginal pastoral workers took to manage their
transition to the modern economy while maintaining their traditional Law. It
also provides an insider's account of the processes of social and change that brought
Aboriginal people freedom from the controls of a state government.
   This biographical study is the first to examine McLeod's life
story and consider the reasons for his actions. Its findings establish that he
had a coherent philosophy and that his actions were consistent with his
transformative understanding of traditional Aboriginal Law. It theorises that
he was an empathy-induced altruist who recognised the fundamental injustice
perpetrated on Aboriginal
   people during the process of colonisation, and chose to help
the people recover their previous autonomy. It demonstrates that a working man
with no institutional base can challenge an entrenched idea and, if willing to
suffer for his principles, can exercise power disproportionate to his position
in society.


Growing concerns related to the adverse health effects of airborne ultrafine particles (UFPs; particles smaller than 300 nm) have highlighted the need for field-portable, cost-efficient, real-time UFP dosimeters to monitor individual exposure. These dosimeters must measure both the particle density and size distribution as these parameters are essential to the determination of where and how many UFPs will be deposited in human lungs. However, though various kinds of laboratory-grade instruments and hand-held monitors have been developed, they are expensive and only capable of measuring particle size distribution. A microfluidic UFP dosimeter is proposed in this study to address these limitations. The proposed sensor, based on an electrical detection method with a machine-learning-aided algorithm, can simultaneously measure the size distribution (number concentration, mean mobility diameter, geometric standard deviation) and particle density, and is compact owing to the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. In a comparison test using physically synthesised Ag and di-ethyl-hexyl sebacate (DEHS) aerosols, the mean measurement errors of the proposed sensor compared to the reference system were 6.1%, 4.5%, and 7.3% for number concentration, mean mobility diameter, and particle density, respectively. Moreover, when the machine-learning aided algorithm was operated, the geometric standard deviation could be deduced with a 7.6% difference. These results indicate that the proposed device can be successfully used as a field-portable UFP sensor to assess individual exposure, an on-site monitor for ambient air pollution, an analysis tool in toxicological studies of inhaled particles, for quality assurance of nanomaterials engineered via aerosol synthesis, etc.


This work aims to investigate the effects of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma cells and to analyze the regulation mechanism of TMP on the long noncoding RNA UBL7-AS1/miR-144-3p pathway. Glioma cell line and normal astrocytes were collected. The expression of UBL7-AS1 was detected by real-time PCR. The glioma cells were overexpressed with UBL7-AS1. CCK-8 and Transwell assays were used to detect cell proliferation and cell invasion ability, respectively. Bioinformatics was adopted to predict the possible regulatory mechanisms of UBL7-AS1. The dual luciferase reporter gene was applied to verify the regulatory effect of RNA UBL7-AS1 with miR-144-3p. TMP inhibited the proliferation and invasion of glioma cells. UBL7-AS1 was highly expressed in glioma tissues and cells. The overexpression of UBL7-AS1 promotes the cell proliferation and invasion of glioma. UBL7-AS1 can act as a sponge for miR-144-3p in glioma cells. The overexpression of UBL7-AS1 can reverse the inhibition of TMP on proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma cells. TMP inhibits the proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma cells by regulating the UBL7-AS1/miR-144-3p pathway.


The 2007 forum on the biology and conservation of Australasian bats provided a snapshot of the issues and state of knowledge at that time, now recorded for posterity in this book. As we went to press in 2011, the 'International Year of the Bat' provided an opportunity for bat researchers and managers to publicise some of the pressing conservation issues facing bats. No story exemplifies these more than the recent extinction of the Christmas Island Pipistrelle Pipistrellus murrayi. In his reflective book on forest pattern and ecological process, ecologist David Lindenmayer emphasised the complementarity between species-oriented and ecosystemoriented research approaches. This applies to all of Australasia's bat fauna. The conclusion we draw is that basic research on both individual species and the ecosystems in which they dwell is required to underpin management actions, and that this research must be integrated with community education, sound policy and a commitment to act on research and monitoring outcomes.


This paper introduces an algorithm that combines naive Bayes classification with feature weighting. Most of the related approaches to feature transformation for naive Bayes suggest various heuristics and non-exhaustive search strategies for selecting a subset of features with which naive Bayes performs better than with the complete set of features. In contrast, the algorithm introduced in this paper employs feature weighting performed by a support vector machine. The weights are optimised such that the danger of overfitting is reduced. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that naive Bayes classification has been combined with feature weighting. Experimental results on 15 UCI domains demonstrate that WBCSVM compares favourably to state-of-the-art machine learning approaches.


This text represents a major sociological investigation into present day Quakerism in Britain. Its main focus is how belief has become individuated within the group and the consequences of this postmodern condition. It is argued that Quakers in Britain have become post-Christian, and that unity and cohesion are provided by adherence to a behavioural creed, that a liberal belief culture operates alongside a conservative and confromist culture. The relationship between these two aspects of the Quaker double-culture is explored, as is the way aspects of the behavioural creed, especially the sacralization of silence, have accommodated and promoted a paradigmatic shift in the nature of Quaker theology in the last 30 years, a silent revolution. The study examines alternative ways in which membership of a group can be constructed, how apparently contradictory sets of values can be accommodated within a single culture, how liberalism can be both promoted and constrained simultaneously and how organizational change can occur without any explicit or common agreement over the nature of change.


Multi-view volumetric rendering techniques have recently shown great potential in modeling and synthesizing high-quality head avatars. A common approach to capture full head dynamic performances is to track the underlying geometry using a mesh-based template or 3D cube-based graphics primitives. While these model-based approaches achieve promising results, they often fail to learn complex geometric details such as the mouth interior, hair, and topological changes over time. This paper presents a novel approach to building highly photorealistic digital head avatars. Our method learns a canonical space via an implicit function parameterized by a neural network. It leverages multiresolution hash encoding in the learned feature space, allowing for high-quality, faster training and high-resolution rendering. At test time, our method is driven by a monocular RGB video. Here, an image encoder extracts face-specific features that also condition the learnable canonical space. This encourages deformation-dependent texture variations during training. We also propose a novel optical flow based loss that ensures correspondences in the learned canonical space, thus encouraging artifact-free and temporally consistent renderings. We show results on challenging facial expressions and show free-viewpoint renderings at interactive real-time rates for medium image resolutions. Our method outperforms all existing approaches, both visually and numerically. We will release our multiple-identity dataset to encourage further research. Our Project page is available at: https://vcai.mpi-inf.mpg.de/projects/HQ3DAvatar/


Abstract: Neonatal mortality accounts for about 1/3 of deaths < 5 years of age and preterm infant mortality for approximately 1/3 of neonatal mortality. Intervention programs must be based on reliable statistics applicable to the local setting.Objectives: The objective of this study is to identify factors associated with survival of preterm infants among preterm infants admitted to Tikur Anbessa Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This was a retrospective chart review of 397 preterm infants admitted from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 G.C to the neonatal unit. Overall survival was 69.3% Survival of infants below 28 weeks of GA 40%, survival for infants between 28-31wks of GA is 54.5%, for those between 32-34wks of GA is 74.6% and the survival rate for late preterm infants(35-36+6days) is 100%.GA, birth weight, gender and place of delivery are among the factors associated with survival of preterm infants. This study evidently indicates that the survival rate of preterm infants admitted to TAH is lower than other developing countries that must be improved.


In kernel-based regression learning, optimizing each kernel individually is useful when the data density, curvature of regression surfaces (or decision boundaries) or magnitude of output noise varies spatially. Previous work has suggested gradient descent techniques or complex statistical hypothesis methods for local kernel shaping, typically requiring some amount of manual tuning of meta parameters. We introduce a Bayesian formulation of nonparametric regression that, with the help of variational approximations, results in an EM-like algorithm for simultaneous estimation of regression and kernel parameters. The algorithm is computationally efficient, requires no sampling, automatically rejects outliers and has only one prior to be specified. It can be used for nonparametric regression with local polynomials or as a novel method to achieve nonstationary regression with Gaussian processes. Our methods are particularly useful for learning control, where reliable estimation of local tangent planes is essential for adaptive controllers and reinforcement learning. We evaluate our methods on several synthetic data sets and on an actual robot which learns a task-level control law.


Introduction: H&N cancer patients may require frequent CTimaging for re‐planning due to significant anatomical changes to improve dosimetric accuracy. A challenging task is manual delineation of target(s) and normal structures on each image sets acquired on different days. The aim of this study was to verify a Small Deformation Inverse Consistent Linear Elastic (SICLE) deformable image registration for its ability to deformably‐map contours on H&N image sets by comparing them to physician‐drawn contours. Methods and Materials: Six patients with H&N cancer who had frequent CTimaging were selected. GTVs, parotids, cord and brainstem were physican‐drawn on both source and target image sets. Physician‐drawn contours on source image set were deformed by the DVFs to produce deformably‐mapped contours and dose on target images. Differences between the physician‐drawn and deformably‐mapped contours were compared using: "Differences in volumes(Vdiff)", "differences in center of mass(COMdiff)", "volume overlap index(VOI)", "3D‐perpendicular‐distance‐maps". To evaluate the clinical usefulness, plans were generated based on the physician‐drawn and deformably‐mapped contours. Furthermore, the dose from source image was deformed to target images using the DVFs. Plans were compared for their coverage of physician‐drawn contours. Results: While GTV and NodalGTV VOIs ranged from 0.57 to 0.72 and 0.57 to 0.79 respectively, for parotids, brainstem and cord, it varied from 0.42 to 0.82. Up to 1.7cm and 2.9cm discrepancies were observed in esophagus and cord COM in z direction. Visual comparison of physician‐drawn and deformably‐mapped GTVcontours showed a reasonably well agreement. Dosimetric impact of contour differences was not very significant with <5% differences in PTV D95. Conclusion: SICLE algorithm can produce high quality contours on subsequent H&N image sets. However, manual modification of deformably‐mapped contours may be necessary. Deformably‐mapped contours can be used as a QA tool for inspecting manually‐drawn contours, in addition to reducing or even eliminating the manual contouring workload.


The mechanism of drain disturb is studied in silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon Flash electrically erasable programmable read-only memory cells. It is shown that disturb is a serious problem in programmed cells and is caused by injection of hot holes from substrate into the oxide/nitride/oxide stack. The origin of these holes is identified by analyzing the influence of halo doping, channel doping, and channel length scaling on drain disturb. Band-to-band tunneling at the drain junction is normally the dominant source of these holes. It is also shown that holes generated out of impact ionization of channel electrons become dominant in cells with high channel leakage (especially at lower channel lengths). Finally, the effect of repeated program/erase cycling on drain disturb is studied. Drain disturb becomes less severe with cycling, the reasons for which are determined using gate-induced drain leakage measurements and device simulations


Based on the introduction of the status of animal vaccine industry in China, the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat of animal vaccine industry is analyzed by SWOT. Among them, strength is mainly reflected in the broad market, and the favorable industrial policy and development environment. Weakness is the irrational structure of product, the nonstandard production inspection, and the irregular market. Opportunity is mainly reflected in improving government's emphasis on animal security, expanding the scope of compulsory immunization, increasing the proportion of scale breeding, upgrading animal vaccine in China, speeding up industry consolidation and improving market concentration. Threat is manifested mainly in the poor market consciousness due to the long-term planned economy. And animal vaccine enterprises in China are at a relatively disadvantage position during the competition with international companies. Based on these, countermeasures to promote the development of animal vaccine enterprises in China are put forward from the aspects of both government and enterprise. On the one hand, government should improve the laws and regulations and promote the healthy development of vaccine industry, strengthen the manufacturers' consciousness of quality and biological safety, and create a favorable environment for market competition. On the other hand, enterprises should adjust the product structure and strengthen research and innovation, improve the brand competitiveness, take the road of common development, enhance the management capacity of the enterprises, and promote customer service.


The aim of this study was to compare sleep problems among adolescents who attempted suicide and healthy adolescents who never attempted suicide. Adolescents who attempted suicide (study group, n = 103) and healthy adolescents (control group, n = 59) completed a questionnaire prepared by researchers including demographic factors. In addition, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were administered to both groups. The median age was 16 years and 73% were girls, in both groups. The study group had lower rate of attending to school (88.3% vs. 100%; p = 0.001), academic achievement (45.7% vs. 83.1%; p = 0.001), higher rate of smoking (37.9% vs. 13.8%; p = 0.001), socializing problems (31.1% vs. 3.4%; p = 0.001), and appetite changes (57.3% vs. 39.7%; p = 0.032) than controls. The rate of those with PSQI scores 6 or higher was 53.4% in the attempted suicide group and 37.3% in the control group (p = 0.048). Adolescents, classified as sleepy according to the ESS, did not differ significantly between the groups (p = 0.214). Adolescents who attempted suicide had poor sleep quality. It is crucial to examine the kinds of sleep problems adolescents who have attempted suicide have experienced. Among adolescents attending outpatient clinics with poor sleep quality, PSQI can be a useful screening tool. Those with high scores should be evaluated for suicide risk.


In the current paper we describe a new type of hybrid molecules including red fluorescent protein mCherry and 10th type III human fibronectin domain (10Fn3) - one of the alternative scaffold proteins which can be used for the construction of antibody mimics with various binding specificity. We have constructed different gene variants encoding for the hybrid fluorescent protein and studied their expression in Escherichia coli cells. It was shown that N-terminal position of mCherry and modification of its N-terminal amino acid sequence promotes efficientbacterial expression of the hybrid protein in the soluble form. On the basis of the proposed construction we have obtained the hybrid fluorescent protein ChIBF, containing alphaVbeta3-integrin binding vari- ant of 10Fn3, and demonstrated the possibility of its utilization for the visualization of alphaVbeta3-integrin at the surface of MDCK epithelial cells by confocal microscopy.


Acknowledging that both analysts and practitioners face problems of meaningful categorization of social order in general, and the European political-administrative system in particular, this article suggests a conceptual frame through which European administrative order may be understood. Providing such a frame is important, because the catalogue of categories of the European Union (EU) polity developed so far fails to acknowledge its administrative dimension. Given that the ongoing political transformation in the EU implies ever more administrative interaction between political levels in order to coordinate, manage and implement policies, this administrative dimension becomes ever more important. This article thus sets out a threefold agenda: First, it offers a supplementary conceptual frame that takes the 'administrative dimension' seriously. It is suggested that the European politico-administrative organism should be conceived as a European multilevel administrative system (MLA) consisting of three dimensions: Institutional independence, integration and cooptation. Second, the article suggests how the MLA approach differs from one of its main conceptual rivals – the multilevel governance approach (MLG). Finally, the article offers some empirical illustrations of the value of the developed MLA approach for our understanding of the contemporary European administrative system.


We present data streaming algorithms for the $k$-median problem in high-dimensional dynamic geometric data streams, i.e. streams allowing both insertions and deletions of points from a discrete Euclidean space $\{1, 2, \ldots \Delta\}^d$. Our algorithms use $k \epsilon^{-2} poly(d \log \Delta)$ space/time and maintain with high probability a small weighted set of points (a coreset) such that for every set of $k$ centers the cost of the coreset $(1+\epsilon)$-approximates the cost of the streamed point set. We also provide algorithms that guarantee only positive weights in the coreset with additional logarithmic factors in the space and time complexities. We can use this positively-weighted coreset to compute a $(1+\epsilon)$-approximation for the $k$-median problem by any efficient offline $k$-median algorithm. All previous algorithms for computing a $(1+\epsilon)$-approximation for the $k$-median problem over dynamic data streams required space and time exponential in $d$. Our algorithms can be generalized to metric spaces of bounded doubling dimension.


Multicore microprocessors have been largely motivated by the diminishing returns in performance and the increased power consumption of single-threaded ILP microprocessors. With the industry already shifting from multicore to many-core microprocessors, software developers must extract more thread-level parallelism from applications. Unfortunately, low power-efficiency and diminishing returns in performance remain major obstacles with many cores. Poor interaction between software and hardware, and bottlenecks in shared hardware structures often prevent scaling to many cores, even in applications where a high degree of parallelism is potentially available. In some cases, throwing additional cores at a problem may actually harm performance and increase power consumption. Better use of otherwise limitedly beneficial cores by software components such as hypervisors and operating systems can improve system-wide performance and reliability, even in cases where power consumption is not a main concern. In response to these observations, we evaluate an approach to throttle concurrency in parallel programs dynamically. We throttle concurrency to levels with higher predicted efficiency from both performance and energy standpoints, and we do so via machine learning, specifically artificial neural networks (ANNs). One advantage of using ANNs over similar techniques previously explored is that the training phase is greatly simplified, thereby reducing the burden on the end user. Using machine learning in the context of concurrency throttling is novel. We show that ANNs are effective for identifying energy-efficient concurrency levels in multithreaded scientific applications, and we do so using physical experimentation on a state-of-the-art quad-core Xeon platform.


Biodegradable polymers (e.g. poly-ε-caprolactone, PCL) have been studied largely for tissue engineering applications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the composite fabrication technique on PCL modified with the phosphate salts (i.e. NaH2PO4, Na2HPO4, KH2PO4, or K2HPO4) as well as to determine the compression strengths thereof. The chemical structure and morphology of composites were analyzed using FTIR and SEM/EDX. The influence of a plain phosphate salt in different quantities on the hydrophilic properties of PCL was evaluated by measuring the water contact angle. The results of this study indicated that the addition of phosphate salts led to an improvement in compression strength of PCL composites. According to the results of preliminary biomimetic mineralization, Na2HPO4 seems to increase the bioactivity of PCL.


Abstract. A new fuzzy neural network method to predict minimum dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in a highly urbanised riverine environment (in Calgary, Canada) is proposed. The method uses abiotic factors (non-living, physical and chemical attributes) as inputs to the model, since the physical mechanisms governing DO in the river are largely unknown. A new two-step method to construct fuzzy numbers using observations is proposed. Then an existing fuzzy neural network is modified to account for fuzzy number inputs and also uses possibility theory based intervals to train the network. Results demonstrate that the method is particularly well suited to predicting low DO events in the Bow River. Model performance is compared with a fuzzy neural network with crisp inputs, as well as with a traditional neural network. Model output and a defuzzification technique are used to estimate the risk of low DO so that water resource managers can implement strategies to prevent the occurrence of low DO.


The isothermal oxidation behavior of Zr58Nb3Cu16Ni13Al10 bulk metallic glass (BMG) under dry air in the glassy state and the supercooled liquid state (SLS) was studied by the thermogravimetric method. The oxidation rate and thickness growth speed in the SLS were both hugely higher than in the glassy state. The oxidation kinetics of BMG in both states for 1.5 hours was different, the parabolic law was followed in the glassy state at 300°C and 350°C, contrarily the linear law was followed in SLS at 400 °C. After the oxidation for 126 hours in SLS, the oxidation kinetics possessed two stages, the linear stage and the parabolic stage. The diffusion of the Cu2+ ion and CuZr intermetallic alloys were detected by GIXRD.


Now experimental investigations based on the methods of natural sciences allows us to register the dynamics of processes in biological systems. The results may be represented by various ways, in particular as digital images or signals. The application of mathematical and computer methods of image analysis opens up possibilities to obtain numerical data that characterize real processes and helps to estimate the biological system state, which is important in medical practice. We apply image analysis to study changes in a biological system state. Our experiments on some classes of biomedical preparations including ones obtained by sensitive crystallization and capillary dynamolysis methods resulted in obtaining numerical characteristics which allows us to distinct images from different classes,( such as acute and chronic inflammatory processes, benign and malignant tumors, etc.) and may be considered as classifying signs.


Forty-seven children suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were examined for criteria of the efficacy of the immunocorrecting drugs prodigiosan, sodium nucleinate, decaris and splenin. Certain differences were discovered in the clinicoimmunologic efficiency of the drugs enumerated. The treatment of choice should be conducted on an individual basis under control of the immunologic status with regard to the clinicometabolic effect. The necessity has been shown of including the immunocorrecting remedies into multimodality treatment of diabetes mellitus. Decaris and splenin have been found to possess the greatest immunocorrecting activity in respect of the cellular component of immunity and the highest clinicometabolic efficacy.


The world is being transitioning from the information age to the knowledge age. Successful organizations typically have a higher capability in learning from their past experiences and they are efficient in using their intellectual assets resulting in higher usage of technology and improved processes to support constant changes within the work units and organization. These are essential factors for organizations to become world leader in their core business areas. Today, one of the key challenge of any lesson learned system is the enormous effort required to establish a knowledge base, which ensures data integrity and having the ability to generate useful information from various data sources. When the volume of information data for the project increases over time the complexity of various projects parameter associated for lesson learned management turns into an extravagant process. The paper will elaborate an implementation of a self-sustainable lesson learned framework, which can be independently maintained with minimal effort. This approach outlines a robust methodology to capture the lessons and information that enable the organization to learn efficiently streamlining the knowledge transformation from project level to organizational level and vice versa.


Purpose: The popularity of open source software in contemporary world with the emergence of globally distributed base of developers, contributors and users has given new identity to the present software development industry with growing use of freely available software tools along with the source code by non-profit organisations, universities and commercial establishments to suit their varied requirements. The success of such software tools is evident with the growing number of downloads and users from diverse professions. The present paper makes an attempt to explore some of the most Prominent Open Source tools used for highly specialised professional tasks in the fields of Business Management and Health. Design/Methodology/Approach: Six most prominent open source tools available in both categories have been identified and discussed based on the popularity owing to number of downloads and prominent features that catch user attention for using such software. Implication: These tools not only provide means for managing resources in a more sophisticated manner but also provides ample opportunity for non-profit organisations and commercial establishments to attain their goals by taking advantage of prominent features and utilities of such software. Research Limitations: The paper only highlights prominent open source software tools available in two fields based on their specialised utilities best suited for professional requirements and operations. The scope can further be extended to reveal user satisfaction by way of analysing the experiences of working with such software in different setups.


The last two decades have witnessed a proliferation of medieval gender studies, yet few scholars have addressed the material culture of masculine identity in a late medieval context. This thesis is a response to this scholarly lacuna, focusing on the active role of anthropomorphic pottery in constructing masculinity in 13th- to 15th- century England.

Whilst anthropomorphic vessels have been published in a variety of catalogues and reports, few systematic attempts have been made to assess the range and distribution of these vessels across a wide geographical area. To this end, an intensive review of museum collections, grey literature and published material was conducted across five study areas, centred on Norwich, Lincoln, Coventry, Oxford and Bristol, and their respective regions. It was found that, whilst exhibiting local variability, the anthropomorphic pottery from each study area adhered to the same basic set of themes and motifs. These are divided into two main categories: representations of elite masculinity, in which the knight-on-horseback plays a central role; and more overt representations of virility, expressed through the depiction of bearded men and phallic decoration.

Whilst it was found that anthropomorphic vessels were not restricted to any particular site-type or social demographic, their distribution demonstrates a strong association with the commercial environs of medieval towns and ports. It is argued that these vessels, collectively, formed part of a cultural package that emerged in England during the 13th century, at a time when new forms of urban masculinity were competing with traditional understandings of what it meant to be a man in medieval society. This was, moreover, a package that placed women at the margins of the social aspects of drinking, reflected in the overwhelming preoccupation with masculine imagery on serving and drinking vessels, to the virtual exclusion of female attributes.


The electrical resistivity of the shallow double-donor system Si:P,Bi, prepared by ion implantation, was investigated in the temperature range from 1.7 to 300 K. Good agreement was obtained between the measured resistivities and resistivities calculated by a generalized Drude approach for the same temperatures and dopant concentrations. The critical impurity concentration for the metal-nonmetal transition for the double-doped Si:P,Bi system was found to lie between the critical concentrations of the two single-doped systems, Si:P and Si:Bi. @S0163-1829~99!11747-8#


The aim of this research is to find out whether there are significant differences regarding the performance of Sharia banking and conventional banking as a whole in Indonesia in the period 2011-2016. This research is an exploratory research with quantitative methods. The sampling technique is done by using purposive sampling method with the number of samples is 8 banks, 4 banks for Islamic banks (PT. Bank Syariah Mandiri, Bank BTN Syariah, Bank BNI Syariah and BRI Sharia), and 4 banks for Conventional banks (Bank Mandiri, Bank BTN, Bank BNI and BRI Bank). This study uses a different test with the SPSS version 22.00 program. The results showed that Islamic banking has a better LDR compared to conventional banks' LDR, conventional banks have better CAR compared to CAR of Islamic banks, conventional banks have better ROA compared to ROA of Islamic banks, conventional banks have better ROE compared to ROE of Islamic Banks, conventional banks have better BOPO compared to BOPO Islamic Banks.


In hermaphroditic plants, the effect of a social environment on sex allocation has not been studied to our knowledge, while in hermaphroditic animals such effects are known to be common. In recent years, studies on root competition beyond the effects of nutrients have shown that plants can respond to their conspecific root competitors (social environment), making it interesting to ask if these effects could also influence sex allocation in addition to more commonly studied factors, such as plant size or resources. In this study on hermaphroditic Viola tricolor, we investigated how plant size, soil nutrients and presence of a root competitor influenced allocation to pollen competitive ability versus seed production, i.e. male and female reproductive functions. We allowed plants to grow in pairs with partly intermingled or separate roots in the same amount of soil. In additional treatments with intermingled roots (as part of the same experiment) one of the two competitors was given combinations of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and micro nutrients. We found that pollen performance but not seed production increased when plants were in contact in the soil. Additionally, pollen performance was negatively correlated to plant size across fertilisation treatments. For seed production, the opposite relation to plant size was seen, indicating that large, fertilized plants invest relatively more in the female function. In conclusion, in violets, sex allocation appears to be size-dependent and influenced by both the presence of a root competitor and by nutrients. These results suggest that social environment can influence sex allocation in plants as well as in animals, indicating that such effects are important to consider in sex allocation studies across taxa.


Abstract. The classical Karst transboundary aquifer is a limestone plateau of 750 km2 that extends from Brkini hills in Slovenia to Isonzo River in Italy. For 20 years, and especially in the last two years, the Mathematic and Geosciences Department of Trieste University has run a monitoring project in order to better understand the groundwater hydrodynamics and the relation between the fracture and conduit systems. A total of 14 water points, including caves, springs and piezometers are monitored and temperature, water level and EC data are recorded. Two sectors are highlighted: the southeastern sector mainly influenced by the sinking of the Reka River, and a northwestern sector connected to the influent character of the Isonzo River. Water table fluctuations are significant, with risings of > 100 m. During floods most of the circuits are under pressure, and only a comparative analysis of water levels, temperature and EC permits a precise evaluation of the water transit times in fractured and/or karstified volumes.


This glass is to be produced from the glass raw material, Na2O-CaO-SiO2, as fundamental material with addition of CuO in combination as colorants. The analysis of Spectrum Transmittance and Chroma Index have been carried out on the different sample plates obtained in the glass melting.The test results indicate that the coloring effects by coloring agent in glass melting are greatly depended on the Oxidizability –Reducibility of mixed batch glass material. In addition, the followings have been also observed during the glass melting: When carbon powder was included and was in the Oxidizability –Reducibility state, it was found that it was difficult to melt the mixed batch glass material and a lot of air bubbles remained in the melted glass; When Sodium Nitrate(Na2NO3) was included and was in the Oxidizability –Reducibility state, it was found the melting glass was less sticky and better clearness of glass achieved. Good and clear test sample plates were obtained in the glass melting.


Abstract Tissue factor (TF) is a 47-kDa transmembrane glycoprotein and the main initiator of the blood coagulation cascade. Binding to its ligand factor VIIa (FVIIa) also initiates noncoagulant signaling with broad biological implications. In this review, we discuss how TF interacts with other cell-surface proteins, which affect biological functions such as cell migration and cell survival. A vast number of publications have demonstrated the importance of TF-induced activation of protease-activated receptors, but recently published research has indicated a more complicated picture. As it has been discovered that TF interacts with integrins and receptor tyrosine kinases, novel signaling mechanisms for the TF/FVIIa complex have been presented. The knowledge of these new aspects of TF signaling may, for instance, facilitate the development of new treatment strategies for cancer and acute coronary syndromes, two examples of diseases characterized by aberrant TF expression and signaling.


The AP-1 adaptor complex is associated with the TGN, where it links selected membrane proteins to the clathrin lattice, enabling these proteins to be concentrated in clathrin-coated vesicles. To identify other proteins that participate in the clathrin-coated vesicle cycle at the TGN, we have carried out a yeast two- hybrid library screen using the γ-adaptin subunit of the AP-1 complex as bait. Two novel, ubiquitously expressed proteins were found: p34, which interacts with both γ-adaptin and α-adaptin, and γ-synergin, an alternatively spliced protein with an apparent molecular mass of ∼110–190 kD, which only interacts with γ-adaptin. γ-Synergin is associated with AP-1 both in the cytosol and on TGN membranes, and it is strongly enriched in clathrin-coated vesicles. It binds directly to the ear domain of γ-adaptin and it contains an Eps15 homology (EH) domain, although the EH domain is not part of the γ-adaptin binding site. In cells expressing α-adaptin with the γ-adaptin ear, a construct that goes mainly to the plasma membrane, much of the γ-synergin is also rerouted to the plasma membrane, indicating that it follows AP-1 onto membranes rather than leading it there. The presence of an EH domain suggests that γ-synergin links the AP-1 complex to another protein or proteins.


Light absorption enhancement is very important for improving the power conversion efficiency of a thin film a-Si solar cell. In this paper, a thin-film a-Si solar cell model with double-sided SiO2 particle layers is designed, and then the underlying mechanism of absorption enhancement is investigated by finite difference time domain(FDTD) simulation;finally the feasible experimental scheme for preparing the SiO2 particle layer is discussed. It is found that the top and bottom SiO2 particle layers play an important role in anti-reflection and light trapping, respectively. The light absorption of the cell with double-sided SiO2 layers greatly increases in a wavelength range of 300 nm–800 nm, and the ultimate efficiency increases more than 22% compared with that of the flat device. The cell model with double-sided SiO2 particle layers reported here can be used in varieties of thin film solar cells to further improve their performances.


Flaws (defects), such as local thinning due to corrosion, inevitably exist in piping and pressure vessels. These defects can be evaluated using the fitness for service (FFS) method provided in the GB/T 19624 standard. Recently, the GB/T 35013 standard (Fitness-for-service assessment of pressure equipments), which provides another FFS assessment method for local thinning on piping and vessels, has been published. The evaluation method for local thinning in the GB/T 35013 standard is generally similar to that in the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 (2016), but is totally different from that in the GB/T 19624. In this paper, the differences of the local thinning assessment methods in the GB/T 35013 (or API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 (2016)) and the GB/T 19624 are summarized, and the degree of conservatism comparisons between these standards are presented. The maximum allowable operating pressure (Prmax) that takes into account the effect of defects for straight pipe sections and vessels under different defect sizes and safety factors in these two standards have been calculated and compared. Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out to estimate the failure probability (Pf) and reliability of the straight pipe sections and vessels with different safety factors using the GB/T 19624.


An EPR redox titration was performed on the tetraheme cytochrome c3 isolated from Desuljovibrio baculatus (strain 9974), a sulfate-reducer. Using spectral differences at different poised redox states of the protein, it was possible to individualize the EPR g-values of each of the four hemes and also to determine the mid-point redox potentials of each individual heme: heme 4 (70 mV) at g,,, = 2.93, gmed = 2.26 and gmin = 1.51 ; heme 3 (-280 mv) at g,,, = 3.41 ; heme 2 (300 mv) at g,,, = 3.05, gmed = 2.24 and gmin = 1.34; and heme 1 (-355 mV) at g,, = 3.18. A previously described multi-redox equilibria model used for the interpretation of NMR data of D. gigas cytochrome c3 [Santos, H., Moura, J. J. G., Moura, I., LeGall, J. & Xavier, A. V. (1984) Eur. J . Biochem. 141, 283 -2961 is discussed in terms of the EPR results.


Since its creation in 1988, Politix has evolved considerably. In twenty-five years, a new generation has replaced the founding one and a new paradigm has emerged, replacing the previous one. Originally a journal devoted to critical political sociology, Politix has progressively adopted the international standards of social sciences publication. For a long time, the journal had been dominated by a constructivist approach; now constructivism is either criticized or ignored. Whereas most of the first issues of Politix included many historical papers, recent issues mostly focus on non socio-historical studies and contemporary case studies on other countries. Empiricism, little valued in the past, has now become a core subject. Recently published research is also much more cumulative. Although the journal was focused on critical approaches of political science's canons for a long time, it now addresses new research fields. Inquiries inspired by the sociology of science explain the profound change of this journal that kept the same title, the same presentation and the same way of working. This article offers a research agenda for such inquiries.


Despite the passage of time and the accumulation of information about the Nazi era, many crucial aspects still maintain their historical significance and moral urgency. In this thought-provoking volume, distinguished scholars provide critical yet controversial analyses of Nazi racism, economic and industrial policy, the place of ideology in decision making, and the structure and function of the Nazi state. The authors' interpretations of these significant issues are influenced by contemporary concerns such as the focus on social history and everyday life; feminist interest in the role of women and reproductive politics; the emergence of a eugenics paradigm; and investigation into the relationship of big business, labour, and the Nazi economic order. Yet these essays do not collectively normalise the Third Reich nor do they diminish the enormity of its project of systematic mass murder. This challenging book is certain to provoke further debate as it expands our knowledge of the complex dynamics of a brutal regime.


Traditional authentication mechanisms use passwords, Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and biometrics, but these only authenticate at the point of entry. Continuous authentication schemes instead allow systems to verify identity and mitigate unauthorised access continuously. However, recent developments in generative modelling can significantly threaten continuous authentication systems, allowing attackers to craft adversarial examples to gain unauthorised access and may even limit a legitimate user from accessing protected data in the network. The research available on the use of generative models for attacking continuous authentication is relatively scarce. This paper explores the feasibility of bypassing continuous authentication using generative models, measuring the impact of the damage, and advising the usage of metrics to compare the various advertised attacks in such a system. Our empirical results demonstrate that generative models cause a higher Equal Error Rate and misclassification error in attack scenarios. At the same time, training and detection time during attack scenarios is increased compared to perturbation models. The results prove that data samples crafted by generative models can be a severe threat to continuous authentication schemes using motion sensor data.


The immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy and light chain variable gene mutational pattern of the B cell receptor (BCR) in primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma (PCNSL) cells suggests antigenic selection to drive pathogenesis and confinement to the CNS. This hypothesis is supported by the observation that the tumor B cell receptor (tBCR) of PCNSL is polyreactive and may be stimulated by CNS proteins. To obtain further insight into the role of the germinal center (GC) reaction on BCR reactivity, we constructed recombinant antibodies (recAb) with Ig heavy and light chain sequences of the corresponding naive BCR (nBCR) by reverting tBCR somatic mutations in 10 PCNSL. Analysis of nBCR-derived recAb reactivity by a protein microarray and immunoprecipitation demonstrated auto- and polyreactivity in all cases. Self-/polyreactivity was not lost during the GC reaction; surprisingly, tBCR significantly increased self-/polyreactivity. In addition to proteins recognized by both the nBCR and tBCR, tBCR gained self-/polyreactivity particularly for proteins expressed in the CNS including proteins of oligodendrocytes/myelin, the S100 protein family, and splicing factors. Thus, in PCNSL pathogenesis, a faulty GC reaction may increase self-/polyreactivity, hereby facilitating BCR signaling via multiple CNS antigens, and may ultimately foster tumor cell survival in the CNS.


The olfactory system includes a large number of cortical components that contribute to normal odor perception and memory. Cerebral activation profiles during olfaction have been fairly well explored in healthy subjects, but little attention has been given to olfactory brain mapping in aging processes. To explore whether olfactory loss leads to deficits of olfactory profile by electroencephalogram (EEG) were used to investigate neural responses in healthy subjects. Participants smelled both pleasant (perfume, LANCOME TRESOR) and unpleasant (alcohol) odors. In the preliminary study, we report the results of using EEG to explore and map the cortical areas involved in sensing odorous molecules. Importantly, the intensity of the EEG signal elicited by olfactory chemosensory stimulation of cortical regions decreased following aging in healthy subjects. Moreover, we found that olfactory loss in normal subjects is correlated with several cerebral regions under aging. The fact that individuals with olfactory loss exhibited several signs of brain degeneration is in agreement with the postulation that olfactory loss could be a preclinical marker of aging. The purpose of the study will be to investigate the cerebral correlates of impairments in odor identification in a sample of healthy subjects following aging and to correlate the olfactory brain mapping of functional networks in the normal progression of aging by EEG. Here, we will focus on normal, nonpathological aging in humans and how it may affect the main olfactory system. In this study, we will also explore the possibility that olfactory dysfunctions in older persons could be associated not only with brain olfactory regions, but also with other brain regions which are sensitive to the aging processes.


PURPOSE: Law enforcement officers regularly conduct tests of physiological responses to assess impairment in drivers. Previous studies showed that visual field decreases with alcohol intoxication. We assessed visual fields at blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) around the per se limit, 0.08 g% for most states and Canada. We also propose a new test that officers may use in addition, or as an alternative, to other tests. METHODS: We tested 34 volunteer drinkers at baseline and at three intervals after starting drinking. All testing was done with both eyes open. Peripheral visual field was assessed with an arc perimeter, centered 30 cm from the bridge of the nose. The target was moved in from the periphery until the subject was able to identify it. Modified Confrontation Visual Field (MCVF) was assessed with the evaluator standing 60-80 cm from the subject, presenting 1, 2, or 5 fingers at 45 deg lateral angles with respect to midline. On each of three presentations on each side, the evaluator assessed the presence of head turn, incorrect count, saccade or fixation loss, and body sway. BAC was measured with a calibrated breath analysis instrument at each set of evaluations. RESULTS: Peripheral visual field, averaged over both eyes, decreased linearly with increasing BAC. On the MCVF test, body sway, fixation loss, and the presence of two or more clues all increased linearly with increasing BAC. The overall accuracy of the MCVF test at the 0.08 g% criterion level is 68.4%. CONCLUSIONS: We confirm the decrease in peripheral visual field with increasing BAC. We also demonstrate increasing difficulty in performing MCVF with increasing BAC. We believe these results will assist the law enforcement community to remove impaired drivers from the road.


Background: One of the current challenges in cancer management is finding diagnostic and prognostic markers for various cancers. CXCL10 is a small protein that is defined as an 'inflammatory' chemokine and binds to CXCR3 to mediate immune responses through the activation and recruitment of leukocytes such as T cells, eosinophils, monocytes and natural killer cells. It facilitates the immune system antitumor activity, and causes tumor regression through induction of angiostasis and cellular apoptosis. Most previous studies have reported the anti-tumor activity of CXCR10, while studies on its role in colorectal cancer are limited. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the correlation of serum CXCL10 level with the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed on 69 patients with a histopathological diagnosis of colorectal cancer in the oncology ward of Razavi Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, between July 2018 and September 2019. The relationship between the serum CXCL10 concentration and colorectal cancer prognosis was investigated. Results: The results of Cox regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between the patients' mortality and metastasis rate and a high concentration of CXCL10 (P = 0.018 and P = 0.045, respectively); however, a high concentration of CXCL10 was not significantly correlated with the recurrence rate (P = 0.81) during the four-year follow-up. Conclusions: The level of CXCL10 was significantly associated with incidence of mortality and metastasis in colorectal cancer patients during a four-year follow-up.


Nine diverse Upland cotton cultivars and germplasm lines differing in seed size were planted at two locations at Stoneville, MS in 2015, 2016, and 2017. 'AR 9317-26' and 'DP 555 BG/RR' were classified as small with a seed index (SI) < 10 g. 'FM 832', 'FM 966', and 'MD 15' had SI ranging from 10 to 12 g and were classified as intermediate seed size. 'TAM 182-34 ELS' and three other breeding lines: '201-2', '107-1', and '152-1' had large seeds with SI > 12 g. The seeds were planted in three replications at two sites at Stoneville, MS. Data were collected on ginning energy requirement (Wh kg-1 lint), ginning rate (g lint s-1), and other agronomic and quality traits. The objectives of the test were to determine the effect of seed size on the above parameters. Statistical analyses were performed using Proc GLM. Simple Pearson's correlation tests and regression analyses were conducted to test the relationships between SI and these traits. Covariance estimates were calculated using Proc GLIMMIX to determine the direction of linear relationships. Differences in SI were highly significant among cultivars. SI was positively and significantly correlated with ginning rate but significantly and negatively correlated with ginning energy requirement. Significant and negative relationships were observed between SI and fiber uniformity, lint yield, lint turnout, and number of seeds per kg. Significant and positive relationships were observed between SI and fiber strength, fuzz percentage, and seed surface area. Relationships among SI and micronaire, fineness, and fiber length were minor.


Pain catastrophizing is prominent in chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, and has been proposed to contribute to the development of pain widespreadness. However, the brain mechanisms responsible for this association are unknown. We hypothesized that increased resting Salience Network (SLN) connectivity to nodes of the Default Mode Network (DMN), representing previously reported pain-linked cross-network enmeshment, would be associated with increased pain catastrophizing and widespreadness across body sites.We applied functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and digital pain drawings (free-hand drawing over a body outline, analyzed using conventional software for multivoxel fMRI analysis) to investigate precisely-quantified measures of pain widespreadness and the associations between pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale, PCS), resting brain network connectivity (Dual-regression Independent Component Analysis, 6-minute multiband accelerated fMRI), and pain widespreadness in fibromyalgia patients (N=79).Fibromyalgia patients reported pain in multiple body areas (most frequently the spinal region, from the lower back to the neck), with moderately high pain widespreadness (mean±SD: 26.1±24.1 percent of total body area), and high PCS scores (27.0±21.9, scale range: 0-52), which were positively correlated (r=0.26,p=0.02). A whole-brain regression analysis focused on SLN connectivity indicated that pain widespreadness was also positively associated with SLN connectivity to the Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC), a key node of the DMN. Moreover, we found that SLN-PCC connectivity statistically mediated the association between pain catastrophizing and pain widespreadness (p=0.01).In conclusion, we identified a putative brain mechanism underpinning the association between greater pain catastrophizing and a larger spatial extent of body pain in fibromyalgia, implicating a role for brain SLN-DMN cross-network enmeshment in mediating this association.


People admitted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, who require continued longterm nursing care and fulfil at least one of seven identified criteria, can be referred to a special needs scheme for placement in a private local nursing home supported by education, free loan of electronic pressure-relieving equipment and visits to monitor progress. A clinical nurse specialist in tissue viability is also available for advice and the supply of equipment to any residents with tissue viability problems who are referred by nursing home staff. From a total of 293 referrals during the first four years of this scheme, 155 patients have been supported in nursing homes through the scheme. At the time of placement, 71 patients (46%) had pressure sores, all of whom received the free loan of an electronic mattress. A further 21 patients, whose skin integrity was at high risk, also received mattresses. The sores ranged from Grade 2 to Grade 4 (Stirling grading scale). During the study period, only four patients placed under the scheme suffered deterioration in their sores (all immediately prior to death). Over the three years before the scheme began, 14 patients per year were admitted from private nursing homes to an acute hospital with a primary diagnosis of pressure sore. Since the introduction of the scheme this figure has been reduced to nil.


remind readers of the frequency with which sight in one eye is lost or seriously impaired as a result of such injuries. Bowen and Magauran' analysed 105 cases treated in Liverpool from 1953 to 1972. In 19 of these cases the injured eye had to be removed. In 25 of the remainder subsequent visual acuity was 6/12 or less. I have not yet had time to check over a period of years the number of eyes enucleated as a result of an airgun pellet injury and sent to this department; but it seems worth mentioning, while the correspondence is in progress, that in three out of 21 injured globes received during a period of 12 months up to and including April 1981 the injury was due to an airgun pellet (two boys aged 16 and one aged 12). Perhaps the accompanying photograph ofthe left eye of a boy of 12, enucleated three weeks after injury by an airgun pellet, will help to publicise the devastating effects such pellets can have on the eye. In this case the pellet entered at the limbus and lodged in the sclera deep to the insertion of the inferior oblique.


The conditions for endfire radiation from a traveling-wave slot are discussed. These are that the phase velocity of the traveling wave be equal to or less than the velocity of light in free space and that the aperture be excited with a strong longitudinal component of electric field. Practical ways of achieving these conditions are mentioned and an approximate analysis based on partially dielectric-filled waveguide theory is used to determine the aperture fields as a function of the antenna geometry. Far-field pattern characteristics are discussed. It is found that the actual pattern may differ considerably from that predicted by simple theory. This is attributed primarily to two things, a finite ground plane and the discontinuity produced by the abrupt aperture opening. Two practical discontinuity minimizers are described. The ground plane effect is analyzed by applying Huygens Principle, and a simple procedure is described for determining the first-order effect. The problem of obtaining pencil-beam radiation in the horizontal (plane of the ground plane) pattern is solved quite simply by using wide-aperture antennas which can be made to operate satisfactorily over better than a 2:1 band. The efficiency and vswr of a practical antenna, with sidelobes in the horizontal pattern at least 20 db down, have been measured over a 2:1 band. The efficiency varied from 65 per cent at the high-frequency end of the band to 55 per cent at the low end. The vswr was less than 1.4 over the band.


A spectrahedron is the positivity region of a linear matrix pencil and thus the feasible set of a semidefinite program. We propose and study a hierarchy of sufficient semidefinite conditions to certify the containment of a spectrahedron in another one. This approach comes from applying a moment relaxation to a suitable polynomial optimization formulation. The hierarchical criterion is stronger than a solitary semidefinite criterion discussed earlier by Helton, Klep, and McCullough as well as by the authors. Moreover, several exactness results for the solitary criterion can be brought forward to the hierarchical approach. The hierarchy also applies to the (equivalent) question of checking whether a map between matrix (sub-)spaces is positive. In this context, the solitary criterion checks whether the map is completely positive, and thus our results provide a hierarchy between positivity and complete positivity.


This bi-annual list of recently published literature aims to supplement the notes on the plans and work of the various expeditions, and to draw attention to published data affecting equipment, research and conditions of living in polar regions. It makes no claim to completeness. Readers will greatly assist the Institute by sending copies of their publications and by notifying us of such references.


Th is paper examines empirically whether the diff erences in legal competences of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) of European gas and electricity markets are aligned to the corresponding countries' divergent levels of 1) security, 2) competitiveness, and 3) carbon-neutrality of energy supply. Scores are derived (a) on the extent to which these energy supply characteristics are realized and (b) on how many competences NRAs have regarding these policy objectives. Although higher energy scores should reduce the need for regulatory intervention and thus legal competences, it appears that this does not hold for most of the policy objectives. In fact, gas and electricity market unbundling and liberalization imply higher degrees of regulatory intervention. Finally, the legal competences do not completely follow the 'optimal' competence arrangement for regulatory authorities; compared with a theoretical benchmark there are relatively more 'tough' than 'soft ' competences, while the latter are less costly to exercise. Th ese potential regulatory 'mismatches' could be corrected by adjusting the number and intrusiveness of the NRAs' legal powers.


CONTEXT
Screening of autoimmune thyroid disease in children and young adults with Type 1 diabetes is important but vary greatly between clinics.

OBJECTIVE
The aim was to determine the predictive value of thyroid autoantibodies, thyroid function, islet autoantibodies, and HLA- DQ at diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes for autoimmune thyroid disease during subsequent follow-up.

SETTING
43 Paediatric Endocrinology units Sweden. Design, patients and main outcome measures: At diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, samples from 2433 children were analysed for autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb), thyroglobulin (TGAb), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA), insulin (IAA), insulinoma-associated protein-2 (IA-2A), and the three variants of the zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8W/R/QA) as well as HLA-DQA1-B1 genotypes and thyroid function. After 5.1-9.5 years disease duration, children treated with thyroxine were identified in the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare Prescribed Drug Register.

RESULTS
Thyroxine had been prescribed to 6% (147/2433; 66% girls). In patients below 5 years, female gender (HR=4.60, p=0.008) and GADA (HR=5.80, p=0.02) were significant predictors. In patients 5-10 years, TPOAb (HR=20.56, p<0.0001), TGAb (HR=3.40, p=0.006) and TSH outside the reference limit (HR=3.64, p<0.001) were predictors while in the 10-15 year olds, TPOAb (HR=17.00, p<0.001) and TSH outside the reference limit (HR=4.11, p<0.001) predicted future thyroxine prescription.

CONCLUSION
In addition to TPOAb and TSH, positive GADA tested at the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is important for the prediction of autoimmune thyroid disease in children below 5 years of age.


The present study examined the alterations in the cortical collecting tubule (CCT) Na-K pump that occur after unilateral ureteral obstruction and their consequences on electrolyte excretion. In male Sprague-Dawley rats, unilateral ureteral ligation led to a progressive decrease in intact CCT Na-K pump in situ turnover worsening with the duration of the obstruction: control, 20.1 +/- 0.4; obstructed kidney: 3 h, 14.6 +/- 0.3; 12 h, 12.7 +/- 0.6; 24 h, 12.8 +/- 0.5; 48 h, 11.6 +/- 0.5; and 96 h, 10.6 +/- 0.4 pmol Rb.mm-1.min-1 (all P less than 0.001 vs. control). CCT diameter increased with the duration of obstruction. Release of ureteral obstruction was associated with restitution of pump turnover rate. With 3 h of obstruction, recovery of pump in situ turnover was complete (19.7 +/- 0.4 pmol Rb.mm-1.min-1) by 24 h after release. With more prolonged obstruction (24 h) recovery was partial by 24 h postrelease (16.2 +/- 0.5 pmol Rb.mm-1.min-1) and complete (19.8 +/- 0.7 pmol Rb.mm-1.min-1) by 48 h, suggesting a delay in recovery without the occurrence of irreversible damage. The impairment in Na-K pump in situ turnover was paralleled by an impairment in the ability of the obstructed kidney to excrete an acute potassium load. This parallelism of functional and biochemical studies favors the notion that impairment of CCT Na-K pump in situ turnover contributes significantly to the abnormal potassium excretion that accompanies obstructive damage.


Academic institutions now operate in highly competitive environments. Consequently, myriad mechanisms for rating the services and impact of universities have emerged as a means of influencing the choice of potential students, faculty and partners. Webometrics has emerged in the recent past as one of the most popular frameworks for measuring the impact of universities. This mechanism puts great emphasis on research productivity and dissemination. Academic libraries have developed and implemented strategies to enhance their ranking. The role and levels of involvement of academic libraries in these strategies is unclear. This study analysed the role of academic libraries in enhancing Webometrics ranking of their parent institutions. It also examined the degree to which libraries are currently involved in enhancing the Webometrics ranking of their institutions as well as how they can scale up their roles. This study was designed as an exploratory survey because webometrics is a relatively new concept. Primary data was collected through key informant interviews with academic librarians. The respondents were selected through information-oriented purposive sampling. Additional data was collected through literature review. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The study established that academic libraries in Kenya are, to a great extent, involved in webometrics strategies through the development of the institution's repositories, generation of web content as well as publishing and providing access to updated e-resources. This involvement is effective because it facilitates enhanced scholarly communication, resolute institutional web presence, collaboration and networking among institutions, and ultimately endorsement of the institutions' webometrics ranking. The involvement can be scaled up through effective ICT policies and infrastructure, continuous training, involvement in library consortia, and high quality content development. The findings of this study may be used by academic libraries to mainstream their role in enhancing the research productivity and impact of their institutions hence facilitating a favourable ranking.


More and more organizations turn to the construction of process models to support strategical and operational tasks. At the same time, reports indicate quality issues for a considerable part of these models, caused by modeling errors. Therefore, the research described in this paper investigates the development of a practical method to determine and train an optimal process modeling strategy that aims to decrease the number of cognitive errors made during modeling. Such cognitive errors originate in inadequate cognitive processing caused by the inherent complexity of constructing process models. The method helps modelers to derive their personal cognitive profile and the related optimal cognitive strategy that minimizes these cognitive failures. The contribution of the research consists of the conceptual method and an automated modeling strategy selection and training instrument. These two artefacts are positively evaluated by a laboratory experiment covering multiple modeling sessions and involving a total of 149 master students at Ghent University.


Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant inherited disease caused by mutations in the gene coding for the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R). It is characterized by a high concentration of low density lipoprotein (LDL), which frequently gives rise to premature coronary artery disease. We studied the probands of five FH Sicilian families with 'definite' FH and one proband of Paraguayan descent with homozygous FH who has been treated with an effective living-donor liver transplantation. In order to seek the molecular defect in these six families, we used direct sequencing to define the molecular defects of the LDL-R gene responsible for the disease. We described three novel missense mutations (C100Y, C183Y and G440C), two frameshift mutations (g.1162delC in exon 8 and g.2051delC in exon 14) and one mutation (g.2390-1Gright curved arrow A) at splicing acceptor consensus sequences located in intron 16 of the LDL-R gene; the analysis of cDNA of this splicing mutation showed the activation of a cryptic splice site in intron 16 and the binding studies showed a reduction in internalisation of LDL-DIL in the proband's cultured fibroblasts. Moreover, a g.2051delC in exon 14 was identified in the proband of Paraguayan ancestry with clinical features of homozygous FH. The mutation identified in the South American patient represents the first description of a variant in South American patients other than Brazilian FH patients. The 5 mutations identified in the Sicilian patients confirm the heterogeneity of LDL-R gene mutations in Sicily.


Domestic revenue generation occupies a central domain in most countries, leading to continuous mapping of strategies towards its enhancement. Taxation is a dependable and foreseeable avenue to generate revenue for governments to fulfil their key obligations of employment creation, economic growth and infrastructural development, poverty reduction and state security. Despite these plausible arguments, tax revenues are minimal and tax bases narrow in developing countries. Contemporary tax debates point out that informal sector represents a lucrative fountain of tax revenue for governments, yet opponents of taxing the sector suggest that taxation might cripple small firms. Zimbabwe introduced presumptive tax in 2005, further enforcing to expand the tax base by including the sector into the tax basket in 2011. Researchers have focused on tax evasion and non-tax compliance when studying this sector, this paper focuses on the stakeholders perceptions on the impact of informal sector taxation on revenue generation and growth. This study adopted a sequential exploratory mixed method approach, argued to be ideal for under-researched areas such as this one. Key findings were that the current one size fit all tax framework suffocates small firms. Governments have to strike a balance between revenue mobilisation and the sector's key economic contributions, without crippling informal firms.

 Key words: Informal sector, taxation, growth, stifling, revenue mobilisation.


In our drive to improve human standards of living, we have paradoxically paid scant attention to the need for clean air and water; the impact of acid rain on agriculture, lakes and rivers; the effect of pollutants on the ozone layer; the safe disposal of hazardous wastes, and the relationship between population growth and the environment. It seems that every time governments are faced with an apparent choice between economic development and the protection of the environment, priority is always given to the former. Short-term plans - dictated by canons of political survival and expediency - always seem to take precedence over long-term strategies, with politicians and decision-makers deftly relegating environmental concerns to the realm of rhetoric. This book is an effort to better understand the problems faced by our global ecosystems. It is also the result of the authors deep commitment to urge both citizens and their leaders the world over to work together for a better protection of the environment so that our planet may be saved for the present and for future generations.


The partial differential equations of the potential and the boundary conditions of fields in highly saturated rotating machines at no-load are developed. These are expressed in finite difference form, and in the numerical solution the potentials and the permeabilities are over-relaxed alternately. The choice of a non-uniform system of meshes, and a method of identifying the numerical operations at the mesh points are given. Companion papers illustrate the application of the method.


Focus Area: Sustainable Business Models Multiple epidemiologic studies attest to the disparities in healthcare based on socioeconomic status. Integrative Medicine (IM) interventions aim to prevent disease and to treat disease in ways complementary to Western medicine, an approach especially important in underserved populations with high rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes and chronic pain. Two successful IM programs in community clinics will be discussed, including presentations of how the programs were started and maintained, how the programs operate, and what validated outcomes measures have shown. The aim will be to present a "how-to" guide on starting an IM program for the underserved and to facilitate discussion among participants about practical application of IM in underserved settings. We will share what has worked and what hasn't. An extensive toolkit with materials needed to build and maintain such a program will be shared. Ways to continue to network and obtain information from others around the country about IM and the underserved will be discussed.


In this work principal component analysis (PCA), a multivariate pattern recognition technique, is used to characterize the noise contribution of the experimental apparatus and two commonly used methods for fluorescence removal used in biomedical Raman spectroscopy measurements. These two methods are a fifth degree polynomial fitting and an iterative variation of it commonly known as the Vancouver method. The results show that the noise in Raman spectroscopy measurements is related to the spectral resolution of the measurement equipment, the intrinsic variability of the biological measurements, and the fluorescence removal algorithm used.