A case study of the Eagle Creek community in the Cherokee Nation explored the development of a sexuality education curriculum using Paulo Freire's mode:. Data indicated that the curriculum empowered people, helped to uncover socio-political and cultural issues that affect behavior, and emphasized the collective knowledge that emerges when a group shares experiences. The curriculum was more culturally sensitive than others because it allowed participants to pose problems to be discussed, and the social action component made the curriculum different from other reviewed curricula. Suggestions proposed that authentic dialogue using Freire's model can occur but will occur unevenly based on race, class, religion, and gender as well as trust, experience, and benefit/risk variables. Historical considerations found Freire's model congruent with Cherokee traditions: (1) more attention was paid to the process than the end product; (2) dialogue was congruent with traditional storytelling; and (3) participatory democracy was similar to early Cherokee government. Specific recommendations suggested the use of the Freirian model in curriculum development, American Indian education, family planning, and sexuality/health education. The data implicated a need for further research into Native American sexuality, the relationship of language to sexuality, and Cherokee gender roles. (CK) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** USING THE FREIRIAN MODEL TO DEVELOP AN ETHNICALLY SENSITIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION CURRICULUM FOR AN AMERICAN INDIAN GROUP


After DNA replication, sister chromatids must be untangled, or decatenated, before mitosis so that chromatids do not tear during anaphase. Topoisomerase IIalpha (Topo IIalpha) is the major decatenating enzyme. Topo IIalpha inhibitors prevent decatenation, causing cells to arrest during mitosis. Here we report that acute myeloid leukemia cells fail to arrest at the mitotic decatenation checkpoint, and their progression through this checkpoint is regulated by the DNA repair component Metnase (also termed SETMAR). Metnase contains a SET histone methylase and transposase nuclease domain, and is a component of the nonhomologous end-joining DNA double-strand break repair pathway. Metnase interacts with Topo IIalpha and enhances its decatenation activity. Here we show that multiple types of acute leukemia cells have an attenuated mitotic arrest when decatenation is inhibited and that in an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell line this is mediated by Metnase. Of further importance, Metnase permits continued proliferation of these AML cells even in the presence of the clinical Topo IIalpha inhibitor VP-16. In vitro, purified Metnase prevents VP-16 inhibition of Topo IIalpha decatenation of tangled DNA. Thus, Metnase expression levels may predict AML resistance to Topo IIalpha inhibitors, and Metnase is a potential therapeutic target for small molecule interference.


A kind of centrifugal casting plus in situ techniques of fabricating iron-based composite coating reinforced by tungsten carbide (WC) particles was developed. The experimental results show that the reinforcing particles were generated by reaction between dissolved tungten wires and carbon from gray cast iron molten. The composite coating mainly consists of primary WC carbides, some fine secondly WC carbides as the reinforcing phase and pearlite accompanied by negligible graphite flakes as the matrix. Compared with the unreinforced gray cast iron, the in situ synthesized WC particles can enhance the ultimate tensile strength and decrease elongation rate of the composite coating. Fracture morphology reveals that fracture mode of composite coating is brittle and ductile mixed fractures, the fracture mechanism of the composite is not only related with the introduction of reinforcement but also with the reduction of graphite flakes in the matrix


Purpose:Ultrasound (US)‐CT modality has a potential to provide accurate target definition for prostate IMRT planning. However, several physical uncertainties, such as the US speeds in different soft tissues and the US probe pressure on abdomen, may degrades the accuracy of this modality. The aim of this study is to improve the accuracy of US‐CT modality for US‐guided prostate IMRT planning. Method and Materials: Five patients were evaluated in this study. A 3‐D US‐CT scan was performed for all patients. Three steps were adopted sequentially to reduce the uncertainties of US‐CT modality. First, three BBs were placed on the patient's skin to compensate for the mechanical inaccuracy of wall lasers of CT‐sim and table sag. Second, a finite element method was applied to trace the displacement of prostate induced by US probe pressure. Finally, CTimages were used to distinguish soft tissues which corresponded to different US propagation speed. The three‐dimensional vector displacement of prostate obtained from these three steps was applied into US‐CT match. A physician contoured the prostate and bladder on both Ultrasound and CTimages. The accuracy of such correction was evaluated by the overlapping volume ratio (OVR), which is the ratio of the overlapped prostate volume between US and CT over the prostate volume on USimages.Results: For all the patients, the US probe‐induced abdominal skin deformation and fat thickness ranged from 2cm to 4.7cm and from 1.7cm to 5.2cm, respectively. Compared to the US‐CT match without correction, the proposed method increased OVR value from 0.796±0.189 to 0.972±0.041. Conclusion: To obtain more accurate US‐CT match for US guided prostate planning, the US speed in different soft tissues and the probe‐induced deformation has to be taken into account, especially when subcutaneous fat is thicker than 3cm or the deformation of abdominal skin is larger than 2cm.


A methodological framework for the determination of environmental quality in coastal areas is presented. The method is based on the identification of a series of characteristics (e.g. water quality, hazard level, potential for use) which can be used to describe different environmental components (e.g. coastal waters, natural hazards, human features) using certain indicators (e.g. ppm of selected pollutants, number of storms per year, number and quality of historical sites). Numerical indices which can be used to assess different qualities on the basis of the indicators are proposed. These indices can be applied to both "natural" environmental units and coastal jurisdictions and they can be used for mapping environmental quality and monitoring its change with time. A conservation/development diagram is proposed as a tool to help identify and assess planning conflicts in coastal areas. The method proposed should facilitate the integration of scientific assessments into the process of coastal planning and management, through the application of indices which summarize environmental characteristics in terms significant for planners. It can also help to determine whether existing management and policy trends move away or towards sustainability, as the indices provide a means to determine whether environmental quality in a coastal area is decreasing or increasing.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To describe the ophthalmic manifestations of amyloidosis and the corresponding therapeutic measures. Methods: The 178 patients included in the study had different types of amyloidosis, diagnosed at a single internal medicine institution (Bari, Italy). To provide a comprehensive review of the types of amyloidosis that can be associated with ocular involvement, the images and clinical descriptions of patients with amyloidosis structurally related to gelsolin, keratoepithelin and lactoferrin were obtained in collaborations with the ophthalmology departments of hospitals in Mainz (Germany) and Helsinki (Finland). Results: Overall, ocular morbidity was detected in 41 of the 178 patients with amyloidosis (23%). AL amyloidosis was diagnosed in 18 patients with systemic disease, 3 with multiple myeloma, and 11 with localized amyloidosis. AA amyloidosis was detected in 2 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 3 with Behçet syndrome, and transthyretin amyloidosis in 4 patients. The treatment of AL amyloidosis is based on chemotherapy to suppress the production of amyloidogenic L-chains and on surgical excision of orbital or conjunctival masses. AA amyloidosis is managed by targeting the underlying condition. Vitreous opacities and additional findings of ocular involvement in patients with transthyretin amyloidosis indicate the need for pars plana vitrectomy. Gelsolin amyloidosis, characterized by lattice corneal amyloidosis and polyneuropathy, results in recurrent keratitis and corneal scarring, such that keratoplasty is inevitable. In patients with lattice corneal dystrophies associated with amyloid deposits of keratoepithelin fragments, corneal transparency is compromised by deposits of congophilic material in the subepithelial layer and deep corneal stroma. Patients with established corneal opacities are treated by corneal transplantation, but the prognosis is poor because recurrent corneal deposits are possible after surgery. In patients with gelatinous drop-like dystrophy, the amyloid fibrils that accumulate beneath the corneal epithelium consist of lactoferrin and can severely impair visual acuity. Keratoplasty and its variants are performed for visual rehabilitation. Conclusion: A routine ophthalmic follow-up is recommended for all patients with established or suspected amyloidosis, independent of the biochemical type of the amyloid. Close collaboration between the ophthalmologist and the internist will facilitate a more precise diagnosis of ocular involvement in amyloidosis and allow the multidisciplinary management of these patients. Abbreviations: CD: corneal dystrophy; CLA: corneal lattice amyloidosis; CNS: central nervous system; CT: computed tomography; FAP: familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy; GDLCD: gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy; GLN: gelsolin; LCD: lattice corneal dystrophy; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; OLT: orthotopic liver transplantation; TEM: transmission electron microscopy; TGFBI: transforming growth factor β induced; TTR: transthyretin.


ABSTRACT: Since data analytics enables data exploration and the uncovering of hidden relationships, in this study we use cluster analysis to gain more insight into governmental data and financial reports. This research initiative is performed using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, where we develop and apply an appropriate artifact. We apply our artifact to two different datasets: the first uses the U.S. states' financial statements, and the second utilizes survey results from the Volcker Alliance about states' budgeting performance. In both applications, we demonstrate how clustering may be used on governmental data to gain new insights about financial statements and budgeting. This study contributes to the literature in two ways: First, the two applications bring advanced data mining techniques into the not-for-profit domain; and second, the results provide guidance for auditors, academics, regulators, and practitioners to use clustering to gain more insights.


When Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey chose not to renominate Justice John Wallace Jr. to the State Supreme Court in May, it was a case of political overreach. The situation is now a national disgrace, thanks to the governor, the State Senate president, Stephen Sweeney, and Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto. (1) With America's twenty-four hour news cycle, media plays a major part in modern politics. The executive and legislative branches engage in media ventures so often, (2) it seems only "natural" this lust for information would creep into the government's most mysterious branch. Over the last several years, media backlashes forced state judges from the courts for perceived political actions. In Arizona, criticism forced the state's highly respected chief judge to resign after she merely circulated a letter to other judges. (3) She received the letter from Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association (4) who cautioned against using terms like "illegal" and "alien" because the labels "establish" a brand of contemptibility." (5) After the Iowa Supreme Court opined on the legality of same-sex marriage, (6) interest groups from outside Iowa worked tirelessly to remove every judge running in the state's retention election. (7) In New Jersey, the move was more public and more political, but only tangentially tied to any specific court action. In early May 2010, newly elected Republican Governor Chris Christie issued three press releases, which thrust the New Jersey Supreme Court and its retention policies onto the national stage. (8) For the first time since New Jersey ratified its 1947 constitution, the governor refused to reappoint a sitting justice of the state's supreme court--who is a registered Democrat. (9) Based on this executive action, within one year, the branches of government fractured and turned on each other. Tensions continue to run high between the executive and the judiciary. The legislature refused a fair hearing to the judicial nominee and called for the resignation of a sitting justice. (10) An associate justice authored the court's first abstaining opinion, wherein he charged the chief with unconstitutionally administrating the court. (11) Today, the court functions with two vacancies; the senate recently rejected two of Governor Christie's judicial nominations. (12) I. THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT I ask that each of us continue to hear cases with the integrity, scholarship, and independence that are the hallmarks of New Jersey's judiciary. (13) Scholars frequently praise the New Jersey Supreme Court for its thoughtful opinions; however, some instate pundits criticize the court's judicial activism. (14) Much of the praise, and criticism, can be directly tied to the state's judicial selection and retention policies. (15) Following World War II, New Jersey ratified a new constitution, which, in part, streamlined the judicial selection process. (16) The new process mirrored federal selection. (17) "The governor independently chooses a judicial candidate, who is then subject to legislative confirmation.'' (18) Unlike its federal counterpart, these judges do not serve life-terms; instead, they serve and must be reappointed every seven years until they reach seventy, the mandatory retirement age. (19) A. Appointments System & Brief History With this new process, elected officials in the executive and legislative branches adopted three ancillary policies. First, through "senatorial courtesy," a senator from a judicial appointee's home district may block the nomination. (20) If this occurs, no other senator will vote to confirm the appointee. (21) In previous years, this process did not apply to reappointments, but it appears to affect the current crisis. (22) The other policies reflect the intent behind constitutional language, reading: "[I]f reappointed he shall hold office during good behavior" until he reaches the mandatory retirement age. …


Data acquisition involves gathering signals that measure real world physical conditions from measurement sources and then modify it into different format for storage purpose. Typically a Data acquisition system converts physical signals which are analog in nature into digital form which is to be manipulated by a computer. In this work a multi channel data acquisition system is developed to acquire the data from Artillery unit in real time environment. More importance is given on the accuracy of the data captured and speed of operation of the developed data acquisition system. Micro controller based hardware system is developed to generate prototype signals similar to the signal generated by the artillery unit. This is required to simulate firing pulses of the artillery unit in the laboratory to test the data acquisition system off line before implementing it in the real time environment. The driver software is programmed to implement sixteen channel data acquisition system. The front end is designed in a simplified manner from the user point of view where several buttons with different nomenclature are placed for the corresponding operation of data. The capability of storage of data, retrieving the stored data in a graphical format for back analysis and instant calculation of different timing parameters during the data acquisition process made the overall system into a powerful and efficient tool. In addition to that another feature is implemented in this system where, the quest for a particular segment of stored data can be done instantly without putting any effort and necessary information can be obtained from that segment. Further analysis of stored data is done where presence of error in the signal is detected. The data gets corrupted by noise during the process of firing which makes it difficult to detect the presence of error in the signal. Hence at the outset, the signal enhancement method is implemented to the data followed by which, the error detection method is applied to find out the presence of error.


Effects of hydrogen on machinability involving cutting force, surface roughness and chips morphology of BT25y alloy with semi finish machining were carried out. The microstructures and phase composition of different concentrations were studyed by metallurgical microscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray diffractions (XRD). The results show that existing a optimum hydrogen concentration (0.20wt.%) for machinability of BT25y alloy in which cutting force decreases 179N and surface roughness reduces about 24%, in addition, chips morphology are transferred from continuous to segmental. The grain refinement, hydride precipitations and thermal conductivity resulting from hydrogen can improve the machinability of BT25y alloy.


Background. Recent reports point to a nuclear origin of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aged postmitotic neurons try to repair their damaged DNA by entering the cell cycle. This aberrant cell cycle re-entry involves chromatin modifications where nuclear Tau and the nuclear lamin are involved. The purpose of this work was to elucidate their participation in the nuclear pathological transformation of neurons at early AD. Methodology. The study was performed in hippocampal paraffin embedded sections of adult, senile, and AD brains at I-VI Braak stages. We analyzed phospho-Tau, lamins A, B1, B2, and C, nucleophosmin (B23) and the epigenetic marker H4K20me3 by immunohistochemistry. Results. Two neuronal populations were found across AD stages, one is characterized by a significant increase of Lamin A expression, reinforced perinuclear Lamin B2, elevated expression of H4K20me3 and nuclear Tau loss, while neurons with nucleoplasmic Lamin B2 constitute a second population. Conclusions. The abnormal cell cycle reentry in early AD implies a fundamental neuronal transformation. This implies the reorganization of the nucleo-cytoskeleton through the expression of the highly regulated Lamin A, heterochromatin repression and building of toxic neuronal tangles. This work demonstrates that nuclear Tau and lamin modifications in hippocampal neurons are crucial events in age-related neurodegeneration.


Web 2.0 has significantly transformed the way how modern society works now-a-days. In today's Web, information not only flows top down from the web sites to the readers; but also flows bottom up contributed by mass user. Hugely popular Web 2.0 applications like Wikis, social applications (e.g. Facebook, MySpace), media sharing applications (e.g. YouTube, Flickr), blogging and numerous others generate lots of user generated contents and make heavy use of the underlying storage. Data storage system is the heart of these applications as all user activities are translated to read and write requests and directed to the database for further action. Hence focus is on the storage that serves data to support the applications and its reliable and efficient design is instrumental for applications to perform in line with expectations. Large scale storage systems are being used by popular social networking services like Facebook, MySpace where millions of users' data have been stored and fully accessed by these companies. However from users' point of view there has been justified concern about user data ownership and lack of control over personal data. For example, on more than one occasions Facebook have exercised its control over users' data without respecting users' rights to ownership of their own content and manipulated data for its own business interest without users' knowledge or consent. The thesis proposes, designs and implements a large scale, robust and fault-tolerant key-value data storage prototype that is peer-to-peer based and intends to back away from the client-server paradigm with a view to relieving the companies from data storage and management responsibilities and letting users control their own personal data. Several read and write APIs (similar to Yahoo!'s P NUTS but different in terms of underlying design and the environment they are targeted for) with various data consistency guarantees are provided from which a wide range of web applications would be able to choose the APIs according to their data consistency, performance and availability requirements. An analytical comparison is also made against the PNUTS system that targets a more stable environment. For evaluation, simulation has been carried out to test the system availability, scalability and fault-tolerance in a dynamic environment. The results are then analyzed and conclusion is drawn that the system is scalable, available and shows acceptable performance.


Introduction and Objective Aclidinium bromide is a novel, long-acting, muscarinic antagonist indicated as a maintenance treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Maintaining significant bronchodilation throughout the 24-hour day is important to improve outcomes for patients with COPD. This study evaluated daily bronchodilatory symptom control with twice-daily (BID) aclidinium in patients with stable, moderate-to-severe COPD. Methods In this 6-week, randomised, double-blind, Phase IIIb study, patients received aclidinium 400 µg (metered dose; equivalent to aclidinium 322 µg delivered dose) BID, tiotropium bromide 18 µg once daily or placebo. Change from baseline in normalised forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) area under the curve over the 24-hour period immediately following morning treatment (AUC0–24) at Week 6 was the primary endpoint. Other endpoints included change from baseline in normalised FEV1 AUC12–24 and AUC0–12, pre-dose (trough) FEV1 and peak FEV1. Daily symptoms were recorded each evening using the 11-item EXAcerbations of Chronic pulmonary disease Tool-Respiratory Symptoms (EXACT-RS) and a total score was calculated (range 040: more severe symptoms indicated by higher score). Additional daily symptoms, including presence of morning symptoms and night-time symptom severity (5point scale: 0=none; 4=very severe), were recorded using electronic diaries. Results In total, 414 patients were randomised: mean age was 62.3±8.1 years (mean±SD); 54.1% were current smokers; baseline FEV1 was 1.484±0.51 L At Week 6, aclidinium 400 µg BID and tiotropium 18 µg QD significantly improved lung function from baseline compared with placebo (Table). Compared with placebo, aclidinium and tiotropium significantly reduced EXACT-RS total scores from baseline (–2.1 and –1.3 versus –0.1; p<0.0001 and p<0.05, respectively), and increased percentage of days without morning symptoms from baseline (6.7% and 3.4%, respectively, versus 2.2%; p<0.05 for both) at Week 6. Night-time symptom severity scores were significantly reduced from baseline with aclidinium (–0.16) versus placebo (–0.02) at Week 6 (p<0.05) but improvements with tiotropium (–0.09) did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions Aclidinium 400 µg BID provided significant 24-hour bronchodilation and daily symptom improvement throughout the study. The bronchodilatory effect of aclidinium was similar to tiotropium, with numerically greater improvement in morning and night-time symptoms among aclidinium-treated patients. Abstract S51 Table 1 Spirometric variables at Week 6 Change from baseline vs placebo, mL Aclidinium 400 µg Tiotropium 18 µg Difference Normalized FEV1 AUC0–24 150† 140† 10 Normalized FEV1 AUC12–24 160† 123† 37 Normalized FEV1 AUC0–12 138† 156† –18 Morning pre-dose (trough) FEV1 141† 102* 39 Peak FEV1 180† 172† 8 * p<0.05; †p<0.0001.


Detection of double JPEG compression plays an important role in digital image forensics. Some successful approaches have been proposed to detect double JPEG compression when the primary and secondary compressions have different quantization matrices. However, detecting double JPEG compression with the same quantization matrix is still a challenging problem. In this paper, an effective error-based statistical feature extraction scheme is presented to solve this problem. First, a given JPEG file is decompressed to form a reconstructed image. An error image is obtained by computing the differences between the inverse discrete cosine transform coefficients and pixel values in the reconstructed image. Two classes of blocks in the error image, namely, rounding error block and truncation error block, are analyzed. Then, a set of features is proposed to characterize the statistical differences of the error blocks between single and double JPEG compressions. Finally, the support vector machine classifier is employed to identify whether a given JPEG image is doubly compressed or not. Experimental results on three image databases with various quality factors have demonstrated that the proposed method can significantly outperform the state-of-the-art method.


ABSTRACT Macropinocytosis is exploited by many pathogens for entry into cells. Coronaviruses (CoVs) such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV are important human pathogens; however, macropinocytosis during CoV infection has not been investigated. We demonstrate that the CoVs SARS CoV and murine hepatitis virus (MHV) induce macropinocytosis, which occurs late during infection, is continuous, and is not associated with virus entry. MHV-induced macropinocytosis results in vesicle internalization, as well as extended filopodia capable of fusing with distant cells. MHV-induced macropinocytosis requires fusogenic spike protein on the cell surface and is dependent on epidermal growth factor receptor activation. Inhibition of macropinocytosis reduces supernatant viral titers and syncytia but not intracellular virus titers. These results indicate that macropinocytosis likely facilitates CoV infection through enhanced cell-to-cell spreading. Our studies are the first to demonstrate virus use of macropinocytosis for a role other than entry and suggest a much broader potential exploitation of macropinocytosis in virus replication and host interactions. IMPORTANCE Coronaviruses (CoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV, are critical emerging human pathogens. Macropinocytosis is induced by many pathogens to enter host cells, but other functions for macropinocytosis in virus replication are unknown. In this work, we show that CoVs induce a macropinocytosis late in infection that is continuous, independent from cell entry, and associated with increased virus titers and cell fusion. Murine hepatitis virus macropinocytosis requires a fusogenic virus spike protein and signals through the epidermal growth factor receptor and the classical macropinocytosis pathway. These studies demonstrate CoV induction of macropinocytosis for a purpose other than entry and indicate that viruses likely exploit macropinocytosis at multiple steps in replication and pathogenesis. Coronaviruses (CoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV, are critical emerging human pathogens. Macropinocytosis is induced by many pathogens to enter host cells, but other functions for macropinocytosis in virus replication are unknown. In this work, we show that CoVs induce a macropinocytosis late in infection that is continuous, independent from cell entry, and associated with increased virus titers and cell fusion. Murine hepatitis virus macropinocytosis requires a fusogenic virus spike protein and signals through the epidermal growth factor receptor and the classical macropinocytosis pathway. These studies demonstrate CoV induction of macropinocytosis for a purpose other than entry and indicate that viruses likely exploit macropinocytosis at multiple steps in replication and pathogenesis.


To the traditional requirements on cooling systems for switching equipment, are now added, concurrently with rising energy prices and labour costs, requirements on energy- and space-efficiency and installation- and maintenance-friendliness. This paper describes a cooling system based on water, with compact units that can be placed in the same room as the equipment to be cooled by the system. The heat transport from the switching equipment to the system is based on the well-tried principle of natural convection. The central points of this paper are the Switch Room Cooling concept, the principle of natural convection and the energy-saving free-cooling function.


Unemployment insurance is designed to help workers smooth consumption in the event of a negative employment shock. These benefits are traditionally funded and administrated by the individual states and territories of the United States. The depth and severity of the " Great Recession " that started in December of 2007 and ended in June of 2009 was such that, Congress was compelled on multiple occasions to extend those benefits. Legislation during this period extended the duration of unemployment benefits to the longest period in history, as unemployed individuals in many states could receive up to 99 weeks of unemployment compensation. The policy goal was to help those individuals impacted by the recession rather than the chronically unemployed from earlier time periods. An arbitrary date was chosen for determining eligibility. The creation of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program created a " natural experiment " to test the impact of extended unemployment benefits. In this paper I analyze the effects of the EUC program on unemployment and wages after re-employment using data from the State of Kentucky. This study is based on administrative data from the Kentucky unemployment insurance system and includes After an overview of the EUC program and the labor market conditions in Kentucky during the relevant time period, I examine the natural experiment created by the arbitrary effective date of the EUC program across two distinct cohorts in Kentucky. In the final section of this paper, I examine the relationship between extended unemployment iii compensation and post-unemployment wage outcomes for individuals that utilized the extended benefits of EUC as compared to those individuals that exited the unemployment insurance system in Kentucky after utilizing only the state benefit system. My estimates indicate that utilizing extended unemployment benefits had a large and statistically significant negative impact on the quarterly, reemployment wage earnings. Utilizing an instrumental variable approach to control for the potential endogeneity of the choice to reduce search effort, this study finds that after controlling for demographic and education characteristics, the utilization of extended unemployment benefits reduced workers annual reemployment earnings by thousands of dollars. iv Dedication To my family, with love and gratitude.


A prospective multicentre 12‐month survey of neonatal respiratory disorders in 63 537 Italian infants was performed to evaluate the incidence of acute neonatal respiratory disorders and of the main related complications. A total of 1427 developed respiratory disorders (2.2%), 208 of whom died (14.6%). The incidence of respiratory distress syndrome was 1.16%, with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 24%; that of transient tachypnoea was 0.93%, with a CFR of 1.3%. The rates of meconium aspiration syndrome, persistent pulmonary hypertension and pneumonia were 0.06%, 0.02% and 0.07%, with CFRs of 10.3%, 38.5% and 21.7%, respectively. The occurrences of the main complications in affected newborns were: bronchopulmonary dysplasia 5.6%, necrotizing enterocolitis 1.7%, patent ductus arteriosus 9.8%, 3o and 4o grade intraventricular haemorrhage 6.8% and air leak 4.9%. It was concluded that the incidence of acute neonatal respiratory disorders and the main related complications was lower than that reported two decades ago and that the CFR of acute neonatal respiratory disorders had increased. These results may be the consequences of (i) progress in the management of high‐risk pregnancies, (ii) an increased number of viable infants with extremely low birth weight and (iii) diffusion of antenatal treatment with corticosteroids which, in this series, seemed to reduce the morbidity but not the mortality in the high‐risk infants.


Modern statistical machine learning (SML) methods share a major limitation with the early approaches to AI: there is no scalable way to adapt them to new domains. Human learning solves this in part by leveraging a rich, shared, updateable world model. Such scalability requires modularity: updating part of the world model should not impact unrelated parts. We have argued that such modularity will require both "correctability" (so that errors can be corrected without introducing new errors) and "interpretability" (so that we can understand what components need correcting).
To achieve this, one could attempt to adapt state of the art SML systems to be interpretable and correctable; or one could see how far the simplest possible interpretable, correctable learning methods can take us, and try to control the limitations of SML methods by applying them only where needed. Here we focus on the latter approach and we investigate two main ideas: "Teacher Assisted Learning", which leverages crowd sourcing to learn language; and "Factored Dialog Learning", which factors the process of application development into roles where the language competencies needed are isolated, enabling non-experts to quickly create new applications.
We test these ideas in an "Automated Personal Assistant" (APA) setting, with two scenarios: that of detecting user intent from a user-APA dialog; and that of creating a class of event reminder applications, where a non-expert "teacher" can then create specific apps. For the intent detection task, we use a dataset of a thousand labeled utterances from user dialogs with Cortana, and we show that our approach matches state of the art SML methods, but in addition provides full transparency: the whole (editable) model can be summarized on one human-readable page. For the reminder app task, we ran small user studies to verify the efficacy of the approach.


A computer program that models an expert in a given domain is more likely to be accepted by experts in that domain, and by non-experts seeking its advice, if the system can explain its actions. An explanation capability not only adds to the system''s credibility, but also enables the non-expert user to learn from it. Furthermore, clear explanations allow an expert to check the system''s "reasoning", possibly discovering the need for refinements and additions to the system''s knowledge base. In a developing system, an explanation capability can be used as a debugging aid to verify that additions to the system are working as they should. This paper discusses the general characteristics of explanation systems: what types of explanations they should be able to give, what types of knowledge will be needed in order to give these explanations, and how this knowledge might be organized. The explanation facility in MYCIN is discussed as an illustration of how the various problems might be approached.


Most studies of evolutionary responses to climate change have focused on phenological responses to warming, and provide only weak evidence for evolutionary adaptation. This could be because phenological changes are more weakly linked to fitness than more direct mechanisms of climate change impacts, such as selective mortality during extreme weather events which have immediate fitness consequences for the individuals involved. Studies examining these other mechanisms may be more likely to show evidence for evolutionary adaptation. To test this, we quantify regional population responses of a small resident passerine (winter wren Troglodytes troglodytes) to a measure of winter severity (number of frost days). Annual population growth rate was consistently negatively correlated with this measure, but the point at which different populations achieved stability (λ = 1) varied across regions and was closely correlated with the historic average number of frost days, providing strong evidence for local adaptation. Despite this, regional variation in abundance remained negatively related to the regional mean number of winter frost days, potentially as a result of a time-lag in the rate of evolutionary response to climate change. As expected from Bergmann's rule, individual wrens were heavier in colder regions, suggesting that local adaptation may be mediated through body size. However, there was no evidence for selective mortality of small individuals in cold years, with annual variation in mean body size uncorrelated with the number of winter frost days, so the extent to which local adaptation occurs through changes in body size, or another mechanism remains uncertain.


In 2005, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Authors Guild (AG) sued Google for 'massive copyright infringement' for the mass digitization of books for the Google Book Search Project. In 2008, the parties reached a settlement, pending court approval. If approved, the settlement could have far-reaching consequences for authors, libraries, educational institutions and the reading public. In this article, I provide an overview of the Google Book Search Settlement. Firstly, I explain the Google Book Search Project, the legal questions raised by the Project and the lawsuit brought against Google. Secondly, I examine the terms of the Settlement Agreement, including what rights were granted between the parties and what rights were granted to the general public. Finally, I consider the implications of the settlement for Australia. The Settlement Agreement, and consequently the broader scope of the Google Book Search Project, is currently limited to the United States. In this article I consider whether the Project could be extended to Australia at a later date, how Google might go about doing this, and the implications of such an extension under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). I argue that without prior agreements with rightholders, our limited exceptions to copyright infringement mean that Google is unlikely to be able to extend the full scope of the Project to Australia without infringing copyright.


Recently published results confirm the positive effect of regional hyperthermia combined with external radiotherapy on pelvic tumours. Several studies have been published on the improvement of RF annular array applicator systems with dipoles and a closed water bolus. This study investigates the performance of a next-generation applicator system for regional hyperthermia with a multi-ring annular array of antennas and an open water bolus. A cavity slot antenna is introduced to enhance the directivity and reduce mutual coupling between the antennas. Several design parameters, i.e. dimensions, number of antennas and operating frequency, have been evaluated using several patient models. Performance indices have been defined to evaluate the effect of parameter variation on the specific absorption rate (SAR) distribution. The performance of the new applicator type is compared with the Coaxial TEM. Operating frequency appears to be the main parameter with a positive influence on the performance. A SAR increase in tumour of 1.7 relative to the Coaxial TEM system can be obtained with a three-ring, six-antenna per ring cavity slot applicator operating at 150 MHz.


This paper presents the design and performance of a new parallel graphics renderer for 3D images. This renderer is based on an adaptive supersampling approach that works for time/space-efficient execution on two classes of parallel computers. Our rendering scheme takes subpixel supersamples only along polygon edges. This leads to a significant reduction in rendering time and in buffer memory requirements. Furthermore, we offer a balanced rasterization of all transformed polygons. Experimental results prove these advantages on both a shared-memory SGI multiprocessor server and a Unix cluster of Sun workstations. We reveal performance effects of the new rendering scheme on subpixel resolution, polygon number, scene complexity, and memory requirements. The balanced parallel renderer demonstrates scalable performance with respect to increase in graphic complexity and in machine size. Our parallel renderer outperforms Crow's scheme in benchmark experiments performed. The improvements are made in three fronts: (1) reduction in rendering time, (2) higher efficiency with balanced workload,: and (3) adaptive to available buffer memory size. The balanced renderer can be more cost-effectively embedded within many 3D graphics algorithms, such as those for edge smoothing and 3D visualization. Our parallel renderer is MPI-coded, offering high portability and cross-platform performance. These advantages can greatly improve the QoS in 3D imaging and in real-time interactive graphics.


Recent theories suggest that behavioral control is a very important aspect in the drinking behavior of adolescents, and differences in the capacity to control one's own responses are assumed to underlie the escalation from relatively normal drinking patterns to more severe drinking in adults and adolescents. The development of the behavioral control coincides together with the maturation of the prefrontal cortex and it is not until late adolescence that these brain areas are fully grown. This ongoing maturation process during adolescence has been identified as vulnerable marker for the neurotoxic effects of alcohol. Alcohol use during adolescence could contribute to delay in development and impairment of cognitive functions and differences in brain functioning. At the same time, impairments in cognitive functioning have been found to predict increase in drinking behavior in adolescents. This raises the question of directionality of the relationship and suggests a bidirectional relation between cognitive functioning and adolescents' drinking behavior. Some cognitive impairments might result from heavy alcohol use, while other cognitive impairments found in heavy drinking adolescents, have been present before adolescents started with drinking. In this thesis, the influence of executive functioning, important functions for behavioral control, have been examined in relation to adolescents' alcohol use. Besides behavioral control, more automatic and motivational processes (e.g. wanting, craving, expectancies) also appear to play an important role in drinking behavior. These automatic processes can be assessed trough alcohol cognitions (e.g. implicit cognitions) or biases in attention (e.g. attentional bias) or motivational orientation (i.e. approach bias) towards alcohol. It is hypothesized that behavioral decisions to drink are influenced by the strength of automatic processes in combination with the ability and motivation to control these automatic processes. This theory has frequently been tested in adult drinkers and addicts, but less often in young adolescents who just start with drinking. Adolescents from mainstream education (a Dutch and English sample) as well as a high risk sample of adolescents (e.g. adolescents with externalizing behavior problems) were included in the studies and followed over a period of two years. Several measures of executive functioning and measures to assess automatic processes were completed by the participants. The findings of these thesis suggest that both controlled as well as automatic processes play a significant role in the drinking behavior of adolescents cross-sectionally as well as longitudinally. Impairments in executive functions predicted increase in, as well as the onset of, drinking behavior of adolescents. In addition, strong automatic processes also elevated alcohol use among at-risk adolescents, with even stronger influences when executive functions were relatively weak. In sum, weaknesses in executive functioning appear to precede the onset of drinking and heavy drinking in adolescents. Prolonged use of alcohol might further impair these functions, resulting in a vicious circle in which behavioral control problems, either by itself or in combination with automatic processes, increase alcohol use, and heavy drinking further impairs these cognitive functions.


It has been shown by Howland and Marriott that in spasmophilia the blood-calcium is much diminished, and that it might be as low as 50 per cent. of the normal amount. A number of cases of asthma have been tested, a few of spasmophilia, and a number of children suffering from other diseases. All the cases of spasmophilia showed a marked calciiim deficiency. Twelve cases of asthma were tested, and seven showed a calcium deficiency, not so great as in spasmophilia. Four tuberculous children who were not suffering from asthma showed no calcium deficiency. I do not conclude from these experiments that calcium deficiency is a factor in the production of asthma, but that children with the exudative diathesis are liable to faulty calcium metabolism, and may in consequence develop spasmophilia. Exudative infants are not easy to feed artificially on account of their liability to digestive disturbances, and their intolerance of fat which hinders the intake of the fat-soluble vitamin. Fat-dyspepsia would soon cause calcium deficiency, because the fat curds in the stools consist for the most part of calcium soaps, and calcium cannot be assimilated in such cases although abundantly present in the food.


The specificity and frequency of irregular erythrocyte alloantibodies in serum obtained from 85 pregnant women managed by a total of 480 intrauterine transfusions for treatment of fetal erythroblastosis was examined over a 4-year observation period. 138 alloantibodies reactive in the indirect antiglobulin test were detected. Their specificities were widespread. The frequency of non-anti-D alloantibodies primarily responsible for fetal immunohemolysis confirmed by elution from fetal red cells increased to 8% compared with studies performed in the 70s. 16 (19%) patients developed additional alloantibodies after onset of intrauterine transfusion therapy. Regarding the fact of the high incidence of secondarily induced alloantibodies, the high prevalence of antibody mixtures and the occurrence of rare alloantibodies against blood group antigens with weak immunogenic potency, we concluded that many of the patients were 'high responders'. Therefore the role of fetomaternal transplacental hemorrhage induced by invasive intrauterine examination methods and transfusions is discussed here. It obviously has to be considered as the main cause of the immunohematologic complications.


2 Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, 30 Kauno Street, 54333 Babtai, Kaunas District, Lithuania Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) fruits are rich in phenolic glycosides, triterpenic acids and other biologically active compounds. The apples are widely used as food products due to their biologically active compounds that have specific biological effects. It is important to use high quality apples or their recycling products, so it is necessary to investigate the qualitative and quantitative composition of the bioactive compounds. The amount of triterpenic acids varies during different phenological stages of apple development and maturation. In order to determine in which phenological stage of apple growth the quantity of triterpenic acids was highest, high-performance liquid chromatography was applied. The highest total amounts of triterpenic compounds were detected at the beginning of the phenological stage of fruit development. The study showed that the highest amounts of triterpenic acids were detected at the beginning of the phenological stage of apple development, while as the apple matured, the amount of triterpenic acids decreased from 2.63 ± 0.26 mg/g to 1.6 ± 0.28 mg/g. In this study, we identified and quantified four triterpenic compounds, which by the quantitative composition of triterpenic acids could be arranged in the following ascending order: betulinic acid < corosolic acid < oleanolic acid < ursolic acid. In order to use herbal extracts for medical practice it is important to perform biological effects study in vitro and in vivo. Antioxidants with different mechanisms of action neutralize harmful reactive oxygen and nitrogen forms and enhance antioxidants protection systems. The antioxidant activity of apple extracts in vitro varied during different phenological stages of the fruit. The strongest antiradical and reductive activities were observed at the beginning of apple development. In order to determine the relationship between the antioxidant activity of the acetone extracts of apples assessed by DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC and FRAP assays and the total amount of triterpenic acids in these extracts, a correlation analysis was carried out. The strongest positive correlation was observed between the amount of oleanolic acid and the antioxidant activity assessed by DPPH, ABTS and CUPRAC methods (respectively, r = 0.778, r = 0.784 and r = 0.720).


A new microstrip Yagi array antenna with endfire radiation and vertical polarization is proposed. The Yagi antenna has a low profile, a wide bandwidth and a high gain. Each element of the Yagi array is based on a new microstrip antenna that has one edge opened and the other three edges shorted, working as a "magnetic dipole antenna". As opposed to previous microstrip Yagi array antennas, the proposed Yagi antenna could produce a beam radiating at exactly endfire for infinite ground plane, with vertical polarization in the horizontal plane. A coupling microstrip line is introduced between the driven element and the first director element to strengthen the coupling between them, and therefore the front-to-back ratio and bandwidth of the array can be improved. The endfire gain can be enhanced as the number of the director elements increases, in either case where the array has an infinite or a finite ground plane.


The question of endogeneity of conditional expenditures, as well as prices, in conditional demand equations for justices is examined. Both conditional expenditures and prices were found to be uncorrelated with the conditional demand errors, based on Wu-Hausman tests. Conditional demand error variance/covariance estimates and corresponding Slutsky coefficient estimates were approximately proportional, as predicted by the theory of rational random behavior, further supporting independence of conditional expenditures and conditional errors for juice demands.


This project provides technical support to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
for the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The TCEQ will lead an effort to
assess the causes and sources of the following water quality problems identified in the 2002 Texas
Water Quality Inventory and 303(d) List for Matagorda Bay/Powderhorn Lake (Segment 2451),
which only partially supports the aquatic life use due to exceedence of the dissolved oxygen (DO)
standard on the east half of the main bay; Tres Palacios/Turtle Bay (Segment 2452),which only
partially supports the aquatic life use due to exceedance of the dissolved oxygen standard in the
Palacios area assessment unit and Carancahua Bay (Segment 2456); which only partially supports
the general use due to high pH in 9.2 square miles at the north end of the bay; and Carancahua Creek
and Conn Brown Harbor (Segment 2483A), which does not support the aquatic life use in the entire
harbor due to depressed dissolved oxygen. The goals of the current project were to develop a Quality Assurance Project Plan, to develop and implement a monitoring program to assess the DO conditions in Matagorda Bay, Tres Palacios Bay, and Conn Brown Harbor and the pH conditions in Carancahua Bay, and to assess the data collected from the monitoring plan and determine the cause of impairments that result in exceedence of the water quality criteria.


If a state space is not completely known in advance, then search algorithms have to explore it sufficiently to locate a goal state and a path leading to it, performing therefore what we call goal-directed exploration. Two paradigms of this process are pure exploration and heuristic-driven exploitation: the former approaches explore the state space using only knowledge of the physically visited portion of the domain, whereas the latter approaches totally rely on heuristic knowledge to guide the search towards goal states. Both approaches have disadvantages: the first one does not utilize available knowledge to cut down the search effort, and the second one relies too much on the knowledge, even if it is misleading. We have therefore developed a framework for goal-directed exploration, called VECA, that combines the advantages of both approaches by automatically switching from exploitation to exploration on parts of the state space where exploitation does not perform well. VECA provides better performance guarantees than previously studied heuristic-driven exploitation algorithms, and experimental evidence suggests that this guarantee does not deteriorate its average-case performance.


This technical report presents the modeling approaches used in our submission to the ICML Expressive Vocalizations Workshop&Competition multitask track (ExVo-MultiTask). We first applied image classification models of various sizes on mel-spectrogram representations of the vocal bursts, as is standard in sound event detection literature. Results from these models show an increase of 21.24% over the baseline system with respect to the harmonic mean of the task metrics, and comprise our team's main submission to the MultiTask track. We then sought to characterize the headroom in the MultiTask track by applying a large pre-trained Conformer model that previously achieved state-of-the-art results on paralinguistic tasks like speech emotion recognition and mask detection. We additionally investigated the relationship between the sub-tasks of emotional expression, country of origin, and age prediction, and discovered that the best performing models are trained as single-task models, questioning whether the problem truly benefits from a multitask setting.


This article provides time series data on the medieval market in freehold land, including the changing social composition of freeholders, level of market activity, size and complexity of landholdings, and shifts in the market value of land. These are subjects hitherto largely ignored due, in part, to the disparate nature of the evidence. It argues that feet of fines, despite archival limitations, if employed with care and an understanding of the underlying changes in the common law of real property, are capable of providing quantifiable evidence spanning hundreds of years and comparable across large areas of England.


A Single-Ended Primary-Inductor Converter (SEPIC) converter with an Inductor-Capacitor (LC) regenerative snubber is proposed to reduce Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) for Electric Vehicle (EV) applications. The switching energy is transferred through a capacitor to an inductor which is coupled to SEPIC inductors. This technique reduces the number of components and also returns some of switching energy to SEPIC converter. The mathematical analysis and optimization of LC snubber with respect to number of turns is also presented. Spice simulations and experimental results are provided to verify its performance. The proposed LC regenerative snubber reduces the peak voltage by 16 V on the switching transistor during the switching transient. It is also indicated that 8 dB reduction is achieved in the EMI measurements at ringing frequency and 10 dB reduction at high frequency band.


The ability to predict penetration resistance in concrete is necessary to evaluate the vulnerability of protective designs for impacts by penetrating weapons, or deformable projectiles. The paper presents experimental work regarding oblique projectile impact of both normal strength and high performance concrete targets with modern type of hard target penetrators. Furthermore, finite element (FE) analyses of non-normal projectile impacts of the normal strength concrete targets are presented, and its limitations discussed.


Planning for a sustainable future involves understanding the past and present problems associated with urban centers. Rapid urbanization has caused significant adverse impacts on the environment and natural resources. In cities, one such impact is the unsettling urban growth, resulting in the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which causes considerable positive feedback in the climate system. It can be assessed by investigating the relationships between urban Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes and changes in land surface temperature. This study links the urban transformations in Bangalore, India, between 2001 and 2021, with the city's changing average land surface temperatures. LULC classification was performed on Landsat satellite images for the years 2001, 2011, and 2021, using the support vector machine (SVM) classification algorithm. LULC change analysis revealed an increase in the built-up area coinciding with a decreasing trend of water bodies, vegetation, and the area under the others (wasteland/open land/barren land) category. The results show that built-up increased from 462.49 km2 to 867.73 km2, vegetation decreased from 799.4 km2 to 485.72 km2, and waterbody declined from 34.28 km2 to 24.69 km2 in 20 years. The impact of urbanization was evident in Bangalore's land temperature changes between 2001 and 2021, showing the average temperature increased by 0.34 °C per year between the highest UHI events, contrary to 0.14 °C per year in non-urbanized areas. It is hoped that the results of this study can help the urban planners of Bangalore city identify critical areas where improvement in urban dwelling could be planned sustainably according to the global smart cities concept, an offshoot concept of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-11.


It takes a very long time for ionizing radiation of used nuclear fuel toreturn to a natural background level, for this reason one of the requirements for theselection of the location of a repository was that the environment as well people'shealth would be protected from the harmful effect of radioactivity. This requirementmeans that the waste must be isolated in a geological formation. In Sweden therepository will be built in the crystalline bedrock. The location for the Swedish nuclearfuel repository at nearly 500 meters depth at Forsmark in Osthammar was decided 3June 2009. The repository will be located at Soderviken, close to the Forsmarknuclear power plant in a 1.90 billion year old bedrock that will accommodate 12,000tons of spent nuclear fuel. The bedrock of Osthammar is a seismically quiet, howeverthere is a large system of fracture zones and fractures at the site considered to havebeen formed shortly after the ductile shear zone deformaton. The geology isdominated by medium grained metagranite with mafic intrusions. These rock volumeshave been subjected to metamorphism and ductile deformation at c. 1.85 Ga.The site investigations shown that the bedrock composition was asexpected, except for a few locations of a porous granite (episyenite) and a fracturedbedrock down to about 200 meters depth. This rock is relatively uncommon, but mayaffect the quality of the repository. Most episyenites are geographical associated tofractures and fracture zones, but there are exceptions where there are no distinctrelationships to the latter.


ABSTRACT Background: Cilioretinal arteries (CAs) represent enlargements of microscopic and early established collaterals formed via vasculogenesis between choroidal and retinal circulations. We aimed to investigate whether genetic tendency to thrombosis due to well-known gene polymorphisms may induce CA vasculogenesis in embryonic life. Methods: We assessed plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) 4G/5G, methylenetetrahydrofolatereductase (MTHFR), FACTOR V LEIDEN and PROTHROMBIN gene polymorphisms on 130 patients [82/48 females/males; Median age: 57 (18–84) with visible CAs and 100 (64/36: female/male; Median age: 55 (19–90)] without visible CAs. Results: Using multiple logistic regression models, we found PAI-1 4G/5G; MTHFR (C677T and A1298C) polymorphisms to have significant effects on the probability of visible CAs, that having at least one 5G allele would increase the odds of having visible cilioretinal artery by 98.4% [Odds ratio: 1984 (95% CI: 1.320–3.000, p = 0.001)], and having at least one MTHFR C677T or A1298C allele would decrease the odds of having visible CAs by approximately 38% (OR = 0.618, 95% CI: 0.394–0.961, p = 0.035) or 44% (OR = 0.558, 95% CI: 0.354–0.871, p = 0.011), respectively. Conclusions: This is the first study to test the existence of significant association between presence of enlarged and visible CAs and genetic factors predisposing to thrombosis, according to the literature. Here we suggest that not only the lack of genetic predisposition to thrombosis by MTHFR gene polymorphisms, but also the PAI-1 5G allele might promote vasculogenesis of CAs.


Muscle contraction depends upon the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which releases free energy when a phosphate bond is broken. Three systems function to supply energy in the form of ATP to muscle – the phosphagen system, glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration.  During exercise, the phosphagen system is capable of supplying ATP for about 10 – 30 seconds before the muscle cells must revert to glycolysis as a source of ATP.  The purpose of this study was to investigate the phosphagen system and particularly the role that creatine phosphate (CrP) plays in supplying energy in the form of an inorganic phosphate (Pi) to animals supplemented with excess creatine.  Creatine kinase, which enables the hydrolysis of phosphocreatine, to produce ATP and creatine, also serves to reverse this reaction by hydrolyzing ATP to produce ADP and phosphocreatine once again.  By supplementing with creatine, athletes aim to saturate their muscles in order to increase the production of phosphocreatine through the reversed reaction.  In order to mimic the effects of creatine supplementation in athletes, creatine was administered to mice for 12 weeks.  These animals had free access to running wheels.  To assess the effects of creatine supplementation, measurements of force generation, endurance, activity, muscle mass and muscle creatine kinase (CK) levels were taken.  This study found that creatine supplementation lead to a significant increase in force generated during a grip test, but did not affect the endurance or overall activity of the mice.  In addition, soleus muscle mass was significantly increased, while gastrocnemius muscle mass was not affected.  Further investigation of the effect of creatine supplementation on CK protein levels through Western blot analysis found a trend (p = 0.10) toward increased CK in the gastrocnemius of creatine supplemented animals.  Western blot results suggest that grip strength was enhanced due to increased availability of phosphates in Type II muscle fibers, which are more predominant in gastrocnemius versus soleus muscle.  In comparison, Type I fibers are more predominant in the soleus than the gastrocnemius. Since endurance is mostly mediated by Type 1 fibers which have lower creatine content and decreased CK activity, this is likely why the experimental results did not demonstrate an effect on endurance in the creatine supplemented animals.


Spiders are exceptionally diverse and abundant organisms in terrestrial ecosystems and their evolutionary success is certainly related to their capacity to produce different types of silks during their life cycle, making a specialized use on each of them. Presenting particularly tandemly arranged amino acid repeats, silk proteins (spidroins) have mechanical properties superior to most synthetic or natural high-performance fibers, which makes them very promising for biotechnology industry, with putative applications in the production of new biomaterials. During the evolution of spider species, complex behaviors of web production and usage have been coupled with anatomical specialization of spinning glands. Spiders retaining ancestral characters, such as the ones belonging to the Mygalomorph group, present simpler sorts of webs used mainly to build burrows and egg sacs, and their silks are produced by globular undifferentiated spinning glands. In contrast, Araneomorphae spiders have a complex spinning apparatus, presenting up to seven morphologically distinct glands, capable to produce a more complex set of silk polymers with different degrees of rigidness and elasticity associated with distinct behaviors. Aiming to provide a discussion involving a number of spider silks' biological aspects, in this review we present descriptions of members from each family of spidroin identified from five spider species of the Brazilian biodiversity, and an evolutionary study of them in correlation with the anatomical specialization of glands and spider's spinning behaviors. Due to the biotechnological importance of spider silks for the production of new biomaterials, we also discuss about the new possible technical and biomedical applications of spider silks and the current status of it.


OBJECTIVE: Microvascular decompression may fail to relieve trigeminal neuralgia because a compressing vessel at the root entry zone may be overlooked during surgery. Alternatively, effective decompression may not always be achieved with the visualization provided by the microscope alone. We theorized that the addition of an endoscope would improve the efficacy of microvascular decompression. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed microvascular decompression of the trigeminal nerve in 114 patients. Before closure, the endoscope was used to inspect the root entry zone. When visualization with the microscope was poor, the endoscope was used to identify an aberrant vessel and to perform or improve the subsequent decompression. RESULTS: Of 114 patients who underwent microvascular decompression, 113 successfully underwent endoscopy. In 38 patients (33%), endoscopy revealed arteries that were poorly seen (25%) or not seen at all (8%) with the microscope. At a mean follow-up period of 29 months, the pain was completely relieved in 112 patients (99.1%), all of whom were off medication. Complications included trigeminal dysesthesias in nine patients and a wound infection, partial hearing loss, and complete hearing loss in one patient each. The overall complication rate was 9%. CONCLUSION: Endoscopy is a simple and safe adjunct to microscopic exploration of the trigeminal nerve. The markedly improved visualization increases the likelihood of identifying the offending vessel and consequently of achieving satisfactory decompression of the nerve. Thus far, the success rate has been high, and the complication profile is comparable to that of other large series.


As IP technologies providing both tremendous capacity and the ability to establish dynamic secure associations between endpoints emerge, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are going through dramatic growth. The number of endpoints per VPN is growing and the communication pattern between endpoints is becoming increasingly hard to forecast. Consequently, users are demanding dependable, dynamic connectivity between endpoints, with the network expected to accommodate any traffic matrix, as long as the traffic to the endpoints does not overwhelm the rates of the respective ingress and egress links. We propose a new service interface, termed a hose, to provide the appropriate performance abstraction. A hose is characterized by the aggregate traffic to and from one endpoint in the VPN to the set of other endpoints in the VPN, and by an associated performance guarantee.Hoses provide important advantages to a VPN customer: (i) flexibility to send traffic to a set of endpoints without having to specify the detailed traffic matrix, and (ii) reduction in the size of access links through multiplexing gains obtained from the natural aggregation of the flows between endpoints. As compared with the conventional point to point (or customer-pipe) model for managing QoS, hoses provide reduction in the state information a customer must maintain. On the other hand, hoses would appear to increase the complexity of the already difficult problem of resource management to support QoS. To manage network resources in the face of this increased uncertainty, we consider both conventional statistical multiplexing techniques, and a new resizing technique based on online measurements.To study these performance issues, we run trace driven simulations, using traffic derived from AT&T's voice network, and from a large corporate data network. From the customer's perspective, we find that aggregation of traffic at the hose level provides significant multiplexing gains. From the provider's perspective, we find that the statistical multiplexing and resizing techniques deal effectively with uncertainties about the traffic, providing significant gains over the conventional alternative of a mesh of statically sized customer-pipes between endpoints.


Waste projectile recycle means a lot to cost saving and could improve the waste propellant utilization ratio. Simulation analysis was conducted to study the emptying technology of waste projectile by cavitating jet. Twodimensional axial model of angle nozzle was build and the cavitating results under different working condition (different inlet media's pressure and temperature, different temperature in the projectile) was simulated by using of mixture multiphase model. The results indicate that, the velocity contours show "sword shape", and the gas phase mass fraction shows the "tongue shape" and decay along the axis director. The temperature of inlet media and the temperature in the projectile is not the main factor to influence the cavitation. While the inlet media's pressure affects the cavitation a lot, the bigger the pressure, the better the cavitation intensity. The conclusions could offer references for further study of emptying technology of waste projectile by cavitating jet.


What determines services TFP: Is it services trade or services‐trade regulation? To respond to this question I use four indicators of international trade in services since 1990 to 2005 – namely FDI inward stock, services imports, domestic sales of foreign affiliates (FATS) and FDI inflows – to examine what type of services trade directly affects services TFP. Such analysis is done both for the level and growth rate of TFP in each of the 14 selected services sectors. Subsequently, we analyze what type of sector‐specific regulation with respect to each of the four indicators of services trade has played an inhibiting effect on both the level and growth of services TFP. Such analysis contrasts with former studies in which mainly factor inputs and economy‐wide regulatory variables are used to explain services TFP. We provide evidence that services trade has a direct effect on the level of services TFP, but this effect is inhibited as soon as the regulatory variables are included. As for services TFP growth, we find that neither trade nor entry barriers are robust determinants to explain cross‐country differences over time. Instead, regulation on operational procedures affecting the variables costs structure of the firm play a much more important role in explaining TFP growth between countries.


Dietary supplementation of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-enriched products inhibits the final step of biohydrogenation in the adult rumen, resulting in the accumulation of 18:1 isomers, particularly of trans(t)-11 18:1. Occasionally, a shift toward the formation of t10 intermediates at the expense of t11 intermediates can be triggered. However, whether similar impact would occur when supplementing DHA-enriched products during pregnancy or early life remains unknown. Therefore, the current in vivo study aimed to investigate the effect of a nutritional intervention with DHA in the early life of goat kids on rumen biohydrogenation and microbial community. Delivery of DHA was achieved by supplementing DHA-enriched microalgae (DHA Gold) either to the maternal diet during pregnancy (prenatal) or to the diet of the young offspring (postnatal). At the age of 12 weeks, rumen fluid was sampled for analysis of long-chain fatty acids and microbial community based on bacterial 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Postnatal supplementation with DHA-enriched microalgae inhibited the final biohydrogenation step, as observed in adult animals. This resulted particularly in increased ruminal proportions of t11 18:1 rather than a shift to t10 intermediates, suggesting that both young and adult goats might be less prone to dietary induced shifts toward the formation of t10 intermediates, in comparison with cows. Although Butyrivibrio species have been identified as the most important biohydrogenating bacteria, this genus was more abundant when complete biohydrogenation, i.e. 18:0 formation, was inhibited. Blautia abundance was positively correlated with 18:0 accumulation, whereas Lactobacillus spp. Dialister spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. were more abundant in situations with greater t10 accumulation. Extensive comparisons made between current results and literature data indicate that current associations between biohydrogenation intermediates and rumen bacteria in young goats align with former observations in adult ruminants.


We performed reaction dynamics simulations to demonstrate that the vibrational dynamics of C60 induced by infrared (IR) pulses can be traced by triggering Coulomb explosion with intense femtosecond X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) probe pulses. The time series of the angular anisotropy β(t) of fast C+ and C2+ fragments of C60 60+ produced by such an XFEL pulse reflects the instantaneous structure of C60 vibrationally excited by IR pulses. The phases and amplitudes of excited vibrational modes and the coupling between excited modes can be successfully extracted from the expansion of β(t) in terms of vibrational modes. This proof-of-principle simulation clearly demonstrates that various information of the structures and reaction dynamics of large clusters or biomolecules can be retrieved by decomposing the experimentally determined β(t) into vibrational modes.


Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has several advantages in the evaluation of cancer patients with thoracic lesions, including involvement of the chest wall, pleura, lungs, mediastinum, esophagus and heart. It is a quite useful tool in the diagnosis, staging, surgical planning, treatment response evaluation and follow-up of these patients. In the present review, the authors contextualize the relevance of MRI in the evaluation of thoracic lesions in cancer patients. Considering that MRI is a widely available method with high contrast and spatial resolution and without the risks associated with the use of ionizing radiation, its use combined with new techniques such as cine-MRI and functional methods such as perfusion- and diffusion-weighted imaging may be useful as an alternative tool with performance comparable or complementary to conventional radiological methods such as radiography, computed tomography and PET/CT imaging in the evaluation of patients with thoracic neoplasias.


RNA interference and the therapeutic applications using small interfering RNA was discovered more than 10 years ago and currently is used in various applications including in therapeutic field. However the research in this field is still in its infancy. Many challenges like safe delivery of targeted siRNA to nucleus and cytosol of cancerous cells without compromising the activity of siRNA needs to be addressed. We have overcome this hurdle with the help of nanotechnology using PLGA hollow nanoparticles (PLGAHNPs) and suppressing the oncogene of MYC transcription factors by using anti myc-siRNAs in human cancer cell lines. siRNA was encapsulated in PLGAHNPs. These spherical PLGAHNPs of size 70 nm had high efficiency of gene release at pH 4.2 under in vitro conditions. Cell penetrating peptide (CPP)- Tat peptide (TAT) and peptide nucleic acidnucleolus localizing signal (PNA-NLS) was used for siRNA delivery without affecting the therapeutic activity of siRNA. The siRNA duplex was prepared using T7 polymerase and double stranded DNA through in vitro transcription. Incubation of the siRNA encapsulated PLGAHNPs functionalized with TAT and PNA-NLS (TAT-siRNA-PNA-PLGAHNPs-siRNA) with cancer cells resulted in reduced cell proliferation. A downregulation of gene expression by 90% was observed even with low concentration of siRNA. We found complete arrest of cell division which was mediated by downregulation of MYC expression.


Most of the world's people live in "developing" economies, as do most of the world's poor. The predominant means of economic development is economic growth. In this book Gary Fields asks to what extent and in what circumstances economic growth improves the material standard of living of a country's people. Most development economists agree that economic growth raises the incomes of people in all parts of the income distribution and lowers the poverty rate. At the same time, some groups lose out because of changes accompanying economic growth. Fields examines these beliefs, asking what variables should be measured to determine whether progress is being made and what policies and circumstances cause some countries to do better than others. He also shows how the same data can be interpreted to reach different, even conflicting, conclusions. Using both theoretical and empirical approaches, Fields defines and examines inequality, poverty, income mobility, and economic well-being. Finally, he considers various policies for broad-based growth.


Constructing a time-series momentum strategy involves the volatility-adjusted aggregation of univariate strategies and therefore relies heavily on the efficiency of the volatility estimator and on the quality of the momentum trading signal. Using a dataset with intra-day quotes of 12 futures contracts from November 1999 to October 2009, we investigate these dependencies and their relation to timeseries momentum profitability and reach a number of novel findings. First, momentum trading signals generated by fitting a linear trend on the asset price path maximise the out-of-sample performance while minimizing the portfolio turnover, hence dominating the ordinary momentum trading signal in literature, the sign of past return. Second, the results show strong momentum patterns at the monthly frequency of rebalancing, relatively strong momentum patterns at the weekly frequency and relatively weak momentum patterns at the daily frequency. In fact, significant reversal effects are documented at the very short-term horizon. Finally, regarding the volatility-adjusted aggregation of univariate strategies, the Yang-Zhang range estimator constitutes the optimal choice for volatility estimation in terms of maximizing efficiency and minimizing the bias and the ex-post portfolio turnover. JEL CLASSIFICATION CODES: D23, E3, G14.


Distance education (henceforth DE) has gained momentum and become famous all over the world. It has become a feasible solution to increase worldwide access to education. This study examines the main outlooks, prospects, technologies, and challenges facing DE in line with international best practices, as well as the need to expand the benefits and interests of many learners. To present an accurate view of these aspects in this study, 20 samples referring to these aspects were randomly selected from different authoritative international universities. Then, observation and testing have been conducted to answer the research questions. Many prospects are being achieved by applying such a system of education. Moreover, the researchers identify many technical devices that have been used in this area with their advantages and disadvantages. Challenges are the most influential concepts that affect the whole process, its usefulness: development and success.


Essential oils of four Citrus species , Citrus aurantifolia , C. limon , C. paradisi and C. sinensis , were extracted from fruit peels by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of the isolated oils was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Effect of the isolated essential oils on seed germination and seedling growth of Silybum marianum was evaluated. The essential oils were also tested for their molluscicidal and insecticidal activities against the adults of Theba pisana snails and the fourth instar larvae of Spodoptera littoralis . Chemical analysis showed that dl -Limonene was the major component in the four essential oils and represented 40.19, 56.30, 74.29 and 89.23% of C. aurantifolia , C. limon , C. paradisi and C. sinensis , respectively. In general, the four oils were characterized to be rich in monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes. Allelopathic experiment on S. marianum revealed that the tested oils reduced the germination percentages at all of the tested concentrations. The oil of C. aurantifolia caused the highest germination reduction at concentration of 10 μL/ Petri dish where 26.7 % of seeds were germinated. The oil of C. sinensis was the most potent inhibitor for root and shoot growth of S. marianum with EC 50 values of 2.5 and 6.97 μL/Petri dish, respectively. The tested oils were more effective in reducing the growth of roots than shoots, except for C. paradise which stimulated the root growth. On the other hand, the tested oils showed strong fumigant toxicity against the adults of T. pisana snail with C. sinensis oil (LC 50 = 14.2 μL/L) being the most potent one. Also, the tested oils possessed a remarkable toxic effect against the fourth instar larvae of S. littoralis and the oils of C. aurantifolia and C. sinensis had the highest toxic effect with LC 50 values of 6.84 and 6.88 μL/L, respectively. The findings of the present study suggest that the essential oils have a potential to be used for pest control.


The idea of the AGTI was formulated in a gathering of teachers in Academy House on the 22nd of September 1961, with the first meeting, at which the constitution was adopted being held in 1962. As we mark the 50th anniversary of its foundation during this academic year, this article will reflect on one of the fruits of the organisation - this journal, Geographical Viewpoint, In this brief article, we chart the emergence of the journal from its first issue in 1964 to today. highlighting the various developments over its 47 year history. The article ends with some thoughts about the future of the journal


The field of audiology has grown steadily since its inception in the 1940s. In the 1970s, the first self-employed audiologists began practicing independently of medical and academic centers. Since that time, the number of audiologists choosing to enter private practice has increased significantly. Private practitioners have made significant contributions to the field, including advocacy, involvement in professional organizations, and increased recognition of the audiologist as a well-credentialed and skilled professional. In this article, current challenges of private practice are discussed, including recognition among the medical community and the general public, business and time management, education and recruitment of new private practitioners, marketing, and continuing education. Additionally, some of the more rewarding aspects of private practice are highlighted.


The purpose of this study was to achieve optimal contrast of imaging characteristics in 4 dimensional MR images of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) for evaluating the TMJ structures during mandibular movement. Twelve TMJs from six subjects without any TMJ dysfunction were studied. MRI was performed using a 1.5 MR system with an eight-channel phased array coil. The images were acquired using a balanced steady-state free precession (b-SSFP) sequence. The optimal flip angle was determined for differentiation for the main anatomical structures of the TMJ; the posterior band of the articular disc, the retrodiscal tissues, the condylar head, and the lateral pterygoid muscle, by examining the signal intensity (SI-d) of TMJ structures on b-SSFP MR images obtained using various flip angles. Repeated measures two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, followed by Bonferroni's multiple comparison analysis. The main anatomical structures of the TMJ had the highest SI-d at flip angles of 30 degrees and 40 degrees, and there were the most significant differences between the SI-d of the articular disc and all other structures at a flip angle of 40 degrees, followed by a flip angle of 30 degrees. These data suggest that a flip angle of approximately 30 degrees to 40 degrees is appropriate for obtaining the optimal contrast of imaging characteristics for 4 Dimensional MR images of the TMJ with b-SSFP sequence.


The Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery publishes original articles containing clinical information of use to the practicing micro-surgeon. In addition, special sections discuss new technologies, innovations, materials, and significant problem cases. The journal welcomes controversial topics, editorial comments, book reviews, and letters to the Editor, in order to complete the balanced spectrum of information available in the Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery. All articles undergo stringent peer review by international experts in the specialty.


In a longitudinal study of 140 eighth-grade students, self-discipline measured by self-report, parent report, teacher report, and monetary choice questionnaires in the fall predicted final grades, school attendance, standardized achievement-test scores, and selection into a competitive high school program the following spring. In a replication with 164 eighth graders, a behavioral delay-of-gratification task, a questionnaire on study habits, and a group-administered IQ test were added. Self-discipline measured in the fall accounted for more than twice as much variance as IQ in final grades, high school selection, school attendance, hours spent doing homework, hours spent watching television (inversely), and the time of day students began their homework. The effect of self-discipline on final grades held even when controlling for first-marking-period grades, achievement-test scores, and measured IQ. These findings suggest a major reason for students falling short of their intellectual potential: their failure to exercise self-discipline.


Behavior of adiabatic logic circuits in weak inversion or subthreshold regime is analyzed in depth for the first time in the literature to make great improvement in ultralow-power circuit design. This novel approach is efficacious in low-speed operations where power consumption and longevity are the pivotal concerns instead of performance. The schematic and layout of a 4-bit carry look ahead adder (CLA) has been implemented to show the workability of the proposed logic. The effect of temperature and process parameter variations on subthreshold adiabatic logic-based 4-bit CLA has also been addressed separately. Postlayout simulations show that subthreshold adiabatic units can save significant energy compared with a logically equivalent static CMOS implementation. Results are validated through extensive simulations in 22-nm CMOS technology using CADENCE SPICE Spectra.


Evidence for the importance of marine-derived nutrient (MDN) inputs from spawning salmon to terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems is rapidly accumulating, but the mechanisms by which MDN inputs are transferred and stored within spawning streams and their catchments are poorly understood. Presumed marine isotope signals have been found in riparian vegetation, suggesting that marine nutrients may impact terrestrial plant communities. Studies have suggested that MDN increases stream productivity both im- mediately after spawning and during the following spring. The peak of many spawning runs occurs at the end of the summer growing season, suggesting that overwinter storage of MDN must be occurring. A potential location for lateral nutrient transfers and overwin- ter MDN storage is the hyporheic zone within stream channels or in adjacent riparian flood- plains. Within Lynx Creek, a sockeye-spawning stream in the Wood River Lake drainage in southwestern Alaska, extensive floodplain hyporheic zones occur along spawning reaches. Surface water moves into the floodplain hyporheic zone and flows downstream 70-80 m before returning to the stream. Ambient nutrient concentrations within the surface and hyporheic zone indicate that marine-derived nitrogen and phosphorus entered hyporheic flow paths, where they were rapidly removed from the water during the spawning run. Some marine-derived ammonium was remobilized as nitrate and continued to move, but ma- rine-derived phosphorus was stored for at least the duration of the spawning run. Hyporheic sediments are not scoured by winter floods and contain active heterotrophic biological communities that are capable of storing and transforming various forms of MDN. Thus, it seems likely that hyporheic storage and re-release of marine-derived nutrients is an im- portant mechanism by which salmon-derived nutrients are retained over winter within stream ecosystems and subsequently made available to primary producers the following growing season.


The temporal evolution of Alpine snowpacks is important for assessing water supply, hydropower generation, flood predictions and avalanche forecasts. Especially in high mountain regions with an extremely varying topography, it is until now often difficult to derive continuous and non-destructive information on snow parameters. Since autumn 2012, we are running a new low-cost GPS (Global Positioning System) snow measurement experiment at the high alpine study site Weissfluhjoch (2450 m a.s.l.) in Switzerland. The globally and freely broadcasted GPS L1-band (1.57542 GHz) was continuously recorded with GPS antennas, which are installed at the ground surface underneath the snowpack. GPS raw data, containing carrier-to-noise power density ratio (C/N0) as well as elevation and azimuth angle information for each time step of 1 s, was stored and analyzed for all 32 GPS satellites. Since the dielectric permittivity of an overlying wet snowpack influences microwave radiation, the bulk volumetric liquid water content as well as daily melt-freeze cycles can be derived non-destructively from GPS signal strength losses and external snow height information. This liquid water content information is qualitatively in good accordance with meteorological and snow-hydrological data and quantitatively highly agrees with continuous data derived from an upward-looking ground-penetrating radar (upGPR) working in a similar frequency range. As a promising novelty, we combined the GPS signal strength data with upGPR travel-time information of active impulse radar rays to the snow surface and back from underneath the snow cover. This combination allows determining liquid water content, snow height and snow water equivalent from beneath the snow cover without using any other external information. The snow parameters derived by combining upGPR and GPS data are in good agreement with conventional sensors as e.g. laser distance gauges or snow pillows. As the GPS sensors are cheap, they can easily be installed in parallel
with further upGPR systems or as sensor networks to monitor the snowpack evolution in avalanche paths or at a
larger scale in an entire hydrological basin to derive distributed melt-water runoff information.


Several cases of paediatric acute hepatitis of an unknown aetiology have been described in these last few months and in several countries worldwide. We present two patients, a 7-month-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, with gastrointestinal symptoms and lethargy, associated with elevation of transaminase levels. Serologies for hepatitis A-E virus and PCR test to SARS-CoV-2 were all negative. In the first case, an adenovirus serotype C could be isolated in a respiratory sample as well as cytomegalovirus (CMV) in the blood (100 copies/mL). In both children, there was a progressive decrease in the hepatic markers and symptomatic resolution, compatible with a good prognosis, also seen globally in most cases. To date, infection remains the most plausible cause to consider, especially when it is presumed to be linked to adenovirus. Other potential agents and causes are still being evaluated, thus emphasizing the importance of continuous epidemiological surveillance, notification, and detailed study of all hepatitis cases.


Natural ecosystems are often sources of pest arthropods and their natural enemies
 for nearby agroecosystems. This study treats the ecology of the native California
 blackberry, Rubus ursinus Cham. and Schlecht, and an imported blackberry, Rubus procerus P.J. Mueller, the blackberry leaf-hopper (BLH), Dikrella califomica (Lawson), and its egg parasite, Anagrus epos Girault, in two riparian habitats and a vineyard site. Anagrus is also an effective natural enemy of the grape leafhopper (GLH), Erythroneura elegantula Osborn, which evolved on wild grape in the riparian habitat and became a serious
 pest after the introduction of commercial varieties.
 The parasite overwinters in immature stages in the eggs of BLH in blackberry. In the
 early spring, growth of the native blackberry and BLH oviposition precede grape growth
 and GLH oviposition by the length of one parasite generation. Since Anagrus becomes active when BLH oviposition begins, this synchrony allows the parasite to
 increase its populations in the riparian refuge before entering the vineyard.
 The two blackberry species differ in their preferred habitats: the native blackberry
 is limited to moist shady habitats, while the imported species grows in open sunlit
 areas. In phenology the imported blackberry appears less synchronized with and less
 constrained by the California climate. The blackberry leafhopper produces three generations
 per year and overwinters as a diapausing adult. The leafhopper is well adapted to
 the phenology of the native blackberry, but less so to that of the imported species,
 which breaks dormancy in the spring long after BLH terminates diapause. Leafhopper
 females oviposit primarily in the lower half of the leaf canopy of the native blackberry
 throughout the season, while in the imported species they shift oviposition from the
 top of the canopy in early spring to the bottom by late summer.
 A time-varying life table analysis shows that BLH immature mortality due to Anagrus, nymphal parasites, and general predators is positively density dependent. Age-specific
 life table analyses in the laboratory estimate that Anagrus' intrinsic rate of increase (rm) is 2.2 times those of BLH and GLH. Although rm is a questionable index of parasite effectiveness, the difference probably allows
 Anagrus to respond rapidly to changes in GLH populations. Suggestions for the further augmentation
 of Anagrus populations in artificial refuges includes the management of blackberry and the monitoring
 and maintenance of BLH populations.


This pilot study explores an aspect of speaker individuality, the individual's vowel space, when one person speaks two languages. It is asked whether a speaker's characteristic range of vowel formant frequencies can be measured in one language and used, in conjunction with vowel data found in the literature, to model the speaker's vowel space in the other language. One practical application of the results would be to make a computer speech recognition system used as a pronunciation trainer speaker‐adaptive. Vowel data are being gathered from a small set of bilingual speakers of English and Italian and English and Mandarin Chinese. Linear and nonlinear transformations for converting the F2 vs F1 plots of each of the bilinguals between the appropriate languages will be explored, in an approach similar to those of Disner [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 67, 253–261 (1980)] and DiBenedetto [ICSLP 92, 579–582 (1990)]. The adequacy of the transformations and of the simple vowel representation employed, i.e., F1 and F2 midp...