Although cycling is one of the most popular aerobic exercises in competitive and non-competitive recreational sports, limited data exist regarding the acute physiological responses to a period of intensified training in recreational cyclists. Increases in training load typically occur, however in annual training camps. Thus, the aims of this observational field study were to (i) assess short-term autonomic, haematological and muscular responses to increased training load in recreational active male cyclists; and (ii) to elucidate, whether there is a correlation between autonomic response and indices of training load in this population. It was hypothesised, that an increase of aerobic training volume leads to significant elevations of serum creatine kinase (S-CK), increases in morning heart rate, and alterations of indices of heart rate variability (HRV). Methods: Heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV), serum creatine kinase (S-CK) and hematocrit (Hct) were measured in the mornings before (PRE) and following three consecutive training days (POST 1-3). Daily cycling distance, altitude difference, maximum temperature of the day differed between the training sessions and were: 105 km, 1800 m, 26°C for training day 1; 122 km, 1700 m, 20°C for training day 2, and 80 km, 1900 m, 20°C for training day 3, respectively. Results: Morning HR significantly increased during the training period (PRE: 52.2±6.7 bpm, POST 1: 58.8±7.0 bpm POST 2: 58.5±8.1 bpm, POST 3: 57.9±7.2 bpm; F(3,33) = 11.182, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.554). While the parasympathetically modulated HRV high frequency power (HFP) decreased from PRE to POST 1-3, no significant effect was found for normalised low frequency power (LFP n.u.; PRE: 0.60±0.23, POST 1: 0.74±0.13, POST 2: 0.69±0.20, POST 3: 0.68±0.21; F(3,33) = 2.287, p = 0.101, partial η2 = 0.203), a measure reflecting sympathetic HR modulation. Hct showed a progressive decrease across measurement days (PRE: 49.9±4.0%, POST 1: 46.5±5.1%, POST 2: 45.5±3.8%, POST 3: 43.2±3.4%; F(3,33) = 11.909, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.520). Average S-CK increased after the training, with three subjects showing above reference values at POST 1 and 2 (PRE: 90.0±32.1 U/L, POST 2: 334.7±487.6 U/L, POST 3: 260.1±303.4 U/L, POST 3: 225.1±258.8 U/L; (F(3,33) = 3.996, p = 0.017, partial η2 = 0.285). S-CK leakage was significantly associated with HR (r=0.452, p=0.002) and HFP after night rest (r=-0.492, p<0.001). Conclusion: Three days of increased aerobic training volume can be associated with hemodilution, parasympathetic withdrawal and increases in muscular damage seromarkers in recreational cyclists. Despite cycling is thought to be an activity inducing no or only minor elevations in seromarkers of muscular damage (Noakes, 1987), an intensified training period increased S-CK in our sample of recreational cyclists. At POST 2 S-CK value tended to decrease, possibly due to a repeated bout effect (McHugh, 2003). Morning HR and its variability reflected larger alterations in training load in our study. Furthermore, S-CK, a marker of muscular damage and/or training load, was associated with alterations of HR-derived indices of autonomic control, a finding that has been previously reported by only a few investigators (Buchheit et al., 2011).


Tumors employ diverse strategies to suppress and evade the immune system's ability to recognize and destroy tumor cells. Immune-suppressive Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the tumor microenvironment correlate with poor prognosis in solid tumors. Therefore, selective depletion of tumor-associated Tregs or impairment of Treg function is considered an attractive cancer immunotherapy approach. The pro-tumorigenic deubiquitylase (DUB) USP7 is also essential for Treg functions. USP7 controls Treg function largely by regulating post-translational modification of Foxp3 and TIP60. Deletion of USP7 in Tregs results in impairment of Treg functions and autoimmunity in mice. Progenra has developed potent, selective covalent irreversible USP7 inhibitors that impair Treg functions ex vivo and in vivo. Most importantly, USP7 inhibitors exhibit robust antitumor activity against several syngeneic solid tumor models in immunocompetent mice. In addition, Progenra's USP7 inhibitors enhance the efficacy of anti-PD1 antibody, anti-CTLA4 antibody, and cancer vaccines. These studies strongly suggest that USP7 inhibitors alone or in combination regimens can improve the efficacy and expand the scope of cancer immunotherapy. Citation Format: Suresh Kumar, Jian Wu, Feng Wang, Liqing Wang, Lee Chen, Ivan Sokirniy, Hui Wang, David Sterner, Charles Grove, Brigid Cunnion, Joseph Weinstock, Michael Mattern, Wayne Hancock. Covalent irreversible usp7 inhibitors for cancer immunotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2017 Oct 26-30; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2018;17(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B202.


We present the generation of amplitude-, phase-, and polarization-controlled femtosecond laser pulses tunable in the ultraviolet (UV) between 305 nm and 370 nm by nonlinear optical methods. Two delayed sets of individually amplitude- and phase-shaped pulse profiles in the visible are transferred into the UV via two independent sum-frequency generation (SFG) processes in two perpendicular oriented nonlinear crystals. The two resulting shaped UV light fields of orthogonal polarizations are temporally recombined via a birefringent material. Common-path geometry throughout the entire setup is ensured for interferometric phase stability. Examples for polarization pulse shaping around 360 nm are demonstrated with emphasis on the creation of interferometrically stable polarization-controlled optical pulse trains.


Substructure and structure formation as well as functional properties of thermomechanically treated Ti-Ni wire have been studied using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and mechanical. The low- temperature themomechanical treatment (LTMT) was carried out by rolling at room temperature in a true strain range e = 0.3 to 1.9. It was shown that severe plastic deformation (e=1.9) of Ti-50.0at.%Ni alloy results in partial amorphization and formation of nanocrystalline austenite structure during post-deformation annealings up to 400 °C. As a result, the fully recoverable strain and recovery stress become much higher than the values reachable after traditional LTMT (e=0.3 to 0.88) with post-deformation annealing which creates a poligonized dislocation substructure.


These authors used MR imaging studies from 210 patients being treated with bapineuzumab derived from 3 phase-2 studies to assess imaging abnormalities related to amyloidosis. Areas of edema and exudate/effusions were seen in 17% and hemosiderin deposition in 12%. Of those with significant hemosiderin deposition, nearly all had microhemorrhages and almost 50% of those with edema and exudate had hemosiderosis. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: AD is one of the few leading causes of death without a disease-modifying drug; however, hopeful agents are in various phases of development. MR imaging abnormalities, collectively referred to as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, have been reported for several agents that target cerebral Aβ burden. ARIA includes ARIA-E, parenchymal or sulcal hyperintensities on FLAIR indicative of parenchymal edema or sulcal effusions, and ARIA-H, hypointense regions on gradient recalled-echo/T2* indicative of hemosiderin deposition. This report describes imaging characteristics of ARIA-E and ARIA-H identified during studies of bapineuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against Aβ. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two neuroradiologists with knowledge of imaging changes reflective of ARIA reviewed MR imaging scans from 210 bapineuzumab-treated patients derived from 3 phase 2 studies. Each central reader interpreted the studies independently, and discrepancies were resolved by consensus. The inter-reader κ was 0.76, with 94% agreement between neuroradiologists regarding the presence or absence of ARIA-E in individual patients. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients were identified with incident ARIA-E (17.1%, 36/210) and 26 with incident ARIA-H (12.4%, 26/210); of those with incident ARIA-H, 24 had incident microhemorrhages and 2 had incident large superficial hemosiderin deposits. CONCLUSIONS: In 49% of cases of ARIA-E, there was the associated appearance of ARIA-H. In treated patients without ARIA-E, the risk for incident blood products was 4%. This association between ARIA-E and ARIA-H may suggest a common pathophysiologic mechanism. Familiarity with ARIA should permit radiologists and clinicians to recognize and communicate ARIA findings more reliably for optimal patient management.


We review the last two decades of research in dynamic corporate finance, focusing on capital structure and the financing of investment. We first cover continuous time contingent claims models, starting with real options models, and working through static and dynamic capital structure models. We then move on to corporate financing models based on discrete-time dynamic investment problems. We cover the basic model with no financing, as well as more elaborate models that include features such as costly external finance, cash holding, and both safe and risky debt. For all the models, we offer a minimalist, simplified presentation with a great deal of intuition. Throughout, we show how these models can answer questions concerning the effects of financial constraints on investment, the level of corporate leverage, the speed of adjustment of leverage to its target, and market timing, among others. Finally, we review and explain structural estimation of corporate finance models.


Melt infiltration (MI) has been described as an effective way to disperse transition metals (TM) in ordered mesoporous supports. The alternative method described here is based on the infiltration of molten precursors into the support pores in the presence of a support polymer porogen. The resulting materials contain metal oxide particles (metallic particles after reduction) smaller than 2 nm, dispersed within the support micropores, which prove to be stable upon reduction up to 900 °C and to exhibit improved catalytic performances for the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde due to the high fraction of the active metal exposed.


The 1930s in Australia was a period marked by rising awareness of and attention to Australia's 'half-caste problem'. Released and promoted in tandem with the 1938 sesquicentenary of Australia's settler colonisation, Xavier Herbert's novel Capricornia appeared as a searing protest against the exclusion of so-called 'half-castes' from white Australia. The novel itself was published by the Publicist Publishing Company, platform for rationalist and businessman W.J. Miles and editor and polemicist P.R. 'Inky' Stephensen, both strict advocates of a racially pure white Australia. Yet together, Herbert and his patrons capitalised on the sesquicentenary, and the Day of Mourning protests they helped organise, to promote what they proclaimed the 'Great Australian Novel'. This article reads Herbert's racial understandings in relation to those of Stephensen, and reads them both in relation to the prevailing circumstances of 1930s Australia, as well as the underlying dynamics of settler colonialism. Whereas Stephensen subscribed to the 'Aryan Aborigines' hypothesis and emphasised Australia's supposed racial purity, Herbert celebrated instead the potentiality of 'Euraustralian' hybridity. While these approaches are ostensibly at odds, this article argues instead that they share a common drive towards settler indigenisation and independence as their ultimate aims.


The U.S. crop insurance program has major policy implications in terms of resource allocations, with government subsidies playing a major role. Efficient implementation of crop revenue insurance contracts requires accurate measures of risk for both crop prices and yields. In addition, rating methods are to consider the natural hedge between prices and yields. Empirical evidence shows that crop prices tend to be positively skewed with fat tails. This paper analysis is two-fold. It first studies crop prices using a Burr distribution, with parameters that capture skewness and kurtosis (fat tails), providing a better fit than current normal or log-normal distributions being used. It then uses a copula method to measure the correlation between crop prices and yields, for the study of crop revenue insurance. Results indicate a smaller probability of payout than present methods being used, having direct implications on the design and rating of crop and revenue insurance contracts.


We model the two most recent Mw~6 Parkfield, California, earthquakes, which occurred in 1966 and 2004, from a nonlinear global inversion of near-fault strong motion seismograms. Our rupture models are characterized by spatially variable slip amplitude and rake, rupture velocity, and risetime. The rupture models indicate that the two earthquakes generated slip in regions of the fault that are not identical, as earlier suggested. Given the sparse seismic data set available for the 1966 earthquake, we conduct a series of tests to verify our results: (1) we perform synthetic tests in order to study the resolution of the 1966 seismic data set; (2) we perform an inversion of the 2004 earthquake using a data set equivalent to the 1966 earthquake; and (3) we model the 1966 data set under the a priori assumption that it was similar to the 2004 earthquake. All of the tests, as well as independent observations, indicate that slip during the 1966 and 2004 Parkfield earthquakes occurred in different regions of the fault. This result implies that regions of a fault that are frictionally locked may remain locked even during a main shock (moderate-size earthquake). In this scenario, large earthquakes occur when all the locked regions of a fault are "synchronized" and ready to slip at the same time.


We analyze profiles and associated comments on social network sites following the death of the user to suggest two novel approaches to death and computing. Using the dead as examples of "extreme users", we develop recommendations for design of Web2.0 applications that consider the importance of intersubjectivity in online identity construction and management, and the ubiquity of technospiritual practices.


Abstract. The objective of the trial is to compare fattening performance, slaughter results and meat quality of bulls from international cattle breeds with local Hungarian breeds fattened under the same conditions. Altogether 62 growing bulls – Angus, Charolais, Holstein, Hungarian Grey, Hungarian Simmental, Charolais × Hungarian Grey – were fattened in small groups. The daily gain varied from 897 (Hungarian Grey) to 1 240 g/day (Angus). In general, the lower gain value is caused by the semi-intensive fattening system with low concentrate supplementation. The slaughter weight showed a similar tendency as final weight, there was a significant difference between Angus and Hungarian Grey. The killing out of Charolais (59.50 %), Angus (56.80 %) and Hungarian Simmental (57.84 %) was significantly higher than Hungarian Grey (55.13 %) and Holstein (55.03 %). Due to Charolais crossing the dressing percentage of Hungarian Grey was developed by about 1.5 %. The EU conformation scores of Charolais (9.50) and Hungarian Simmental (9.33) and the fatness scores of Angus (8.33) and Charolais × Hungarian Grey (7.33) were significantly higher than that of the other genotypes. The tissue composition of dissected carcass as well as ribs joint composition determined by X-ray computerised tomography method showed the lean meat of Hungarian Simmental and bone proportions of Holstein to be the highest, whilst Angus had the highest fat content. Charolais und Hungarian Simmental had significant higher longissimus muscle area in ribs joint compared to Angus, Holstein and Charolais × Hungarian Grey. Angus and Hungarian Grey had the highest intramuscular fat level of the three examined muscles.


This research has studied bank risk management in relation to efficient bank regulation
in the form of optimal bank financial reorganization. Efficient banking regulation can be
achieved only if it includes closure policies which prevent moral hazard behaviour; in
turn, they should enhance bank regulators' accountability. Yet, Basel II gives more
discretion to domestic banking authorities and focuses more on the implementation of
best practices of risk management. This creates a gap between the needs of efficient
banking regulation and the objectives of Basel II, on the one hand, and Indonesian bank
regulation on the other. To fill the gaps, the Fries, Mella-Barral, Peraudin (FMP) model,
under a robust regulatory regime concept, is used to provide a framework for banking
regulation.
Optimal bank reorganization aims at achieving efficient bank regulation, where bank
regulators are assumed to act as social planners. In this thesis, optimal bank
reorganization is analysed within the concept of a "robust regulatory regime". Optimal
bank reorganization comprises closure rules and bailout policies arising endogenously
through the interaction of two factors, namely regulators' attempts to minimize
discounted, expected bankruptcy costs, and equity-holders' incentives to recapitalise
banks. The shareholders will be allowed to continue to control the bank if the bank is
well capitalized. The cash flow approach to optimal bank financial reorganization is
adopted. The subsidy policies for financially ailing banks consider the implementation of
socially-optimal closure rules at minimum financial cost to regulators and which reduce
moral hazard. The FMP model implies that optimal bank reorganization requires a
deposit insurance scheme. The FMP model involves capital and risk management as
crucial factors.
This research includes an empirical study of the implementation of the FMP model in
Indonesia using the American call option approach. Maximum likelihood estimates in
VAR and GARCH are applied to monthly data on the market return and equity and
deposit values for relatively-large Indonesian banks, including regional banks and
foreign banks. The results indicate that the authorities can establish an optimal closure
rule for each bank, levy fair deposit insurance premiums that can be adjusted to take account of quantitative and qualitative factors, estimate optimal subsidies at different
deposit insurance premiums, and identify the banks' imminence to bankruptcy. (Continues...).


The paper presents the volume and the structure of Jewish real estate property, located within the present territory of Poland (before WWII German Reich), included in the restitution proceedings. The problem of restitution has been shown against the background of legislative proceedings. The paper describes the subject of the proceedings and provides the characteristics of the Regulatory Commission. It also shows agreement proceedings which are quite common in such cases. The paper discusses the principles of appraisal of the contested real property, and presents the cases of waiving the right to restitution by the applicants. Further the author provides the characteristics of real property included in the restitution proceedings. Various classification criteria have been applied, such as: location of real property, type of real property, its present function, title to property, value of property, historic value of property, useful area, technical condition and designated use. The author describes some special cases of restituted property, such as destroyed cemeteries. Quite an interesting aspect of the discussed problem is such development of the restituted property which does not allow the former owners to change its function. It seems that the subject of real property restitution is one of the problems which have not yet been solved by the new member states of the European Union and it needs further studies and analyses.


This study aims to reveal the underlying mechanism associated with the enhancement of wear resistance of tool steels by deep cryogenic treatment and to resolve the issue of reported varied degree of improvement in wear resistance through structure-property correlation of cryotreated vis-à-vis conventionally treated AISI D2 steel. Microstructures of heat treated specimens have been characterized employing various techniques with specific emphasis on quantitative estimation of the characteristics of secondary carbides. Evaluations of properties include measurements of bulk hardness, apparent strength of the matrix, fracture toughness and dry sliding wear resistance under wide rage of normal loads supplemented by in-depth characterizations of worn surfaces, wear debris and subsurfaces of worn specimens in order to identify the operative mode and mechanism of wear. It has been demonstrated that the favorable modifications of the precipitation behavior of secondary carbides in addition to removal of retained austenite are the governing mechanisms for the enhancement of wear resistance of tool steels by deep cryogenic treatment. The cause of the reported varied degree of improvement in wear resistance by deep cryogenic treatment has been explained by disparity of the operative modes and mechanisms of wear.


Nodes residing in different parts of a graph can have similar structural roles within their local network topology. The identification of such roles provides key insight into the organization of networks and can be used for a variety of machine learning tasks. However, learning structural representations of nodes is a challenging problem, and it has typically involved manually specifying and tailoring topological features for each node. In this paper, we develop GraphWave, a method that represents each node's network neighborhood via a low-dimensional embedding by leveraging heat wavelet diffusion patterns. Instead of training on hand-selected features, GraphWave learns these embeddings in an unsupervised way. We mathematically prove that nodes with similar network neighborhoods will have similar GraphWave embeddings even though these nodes may reside in very different parts of the network, and our method scales linearly with the number of edges. Experiments in a variety of different settings demonstrate GraphWave's real-world potential for capturing structural roles in networks, and our approach outperforms existing state-of-the-art baselines in every experiment, by as much as 137%.


After the rock bolt or cable bolt installed in rock and soil mass, as the time goes on, the pre-stress load in bolt maybe losing. Through studying and analyzing the field test data, the factors leading to pre-stress losing are both external and internal factors. The internal factors are cable steel wire loose and rock and soil mass creep deformation. In which the cable steel wire has been pre-tensioned, its affection for load losing is very little. While the rock and soil mass creep deformations have great affection to pre-stress loss. There, if the cable bolt is installed in hard rock, the rock creep deformation will be very little and the load losing in cable bolt will be very few. But if the cable bolt is installed in soft rock and soil mass, the creep deformation will be very much greater than in hard rock, and the pre-stress losing in cable bolt will be very great. The external factors are shocking load, such as blasting load, storm rainfall, temperature change and stress change of anchored rock mass. Through analyzing these affecting factors, some recommend the compensative measures which include choosing appropriate steel wire, pre-tensioning and over-tensioning cable bolt, controlling the blasting rigorous and monitoring the cable long time enough in work time.


Recent studies have demonstrated a crucial role for TNF during inflammatory granuloma formation. In addition, TNF has been shown to up-regulate adhesion molecules that participate in cellular recruitment and lymphocyte activation. In the present study, we have examined the mechanism of TNF activation during Schistosoma mansoni egg granuloma formation and its relationship to the expression of ICAM-1. Our initial studies showed that high affinity human soluble TNFR coupled to the Fc portion of an Ig (sTNFR:Fc construct) could effectively diminish granuloma formation and lymphocyte activation in vivo. We have also assessed the increased expression of ICAM-1, its contribution to granuloma development, and its relationship with TNF during lesion formation. Increased steady state ICAM-1 mRNA expression was observed in primary egg granulomas when compared with normal lung and foreign body (Sephadex bead) granulomas, which suggests a role for ICAM-1 in Ag-induced lesion formation. Subsequent studies have demonstrated that sTNFR:Fc treatment down-regulated granuloma formation and ICAM-1 expression, thus suggesting one mechanism of TNF involvement in granuloma formation was through the induction of ICAM-1. Anti-ICAM-1 decreased the soluble egg Ag-specific T cell proliferation in vitro. In addition, passive immunization of mice with anti-ICAM-1 mAb during primary granuloma formation resulted in an attenuation of lesion development as compared with lesion development in a control Ab-treated group. The proliferative response to soluble egg Ag was also significantly reduced in ex vivo experiments that used spleen cells from the anti-ICAM-1 treated mice. These data demonstrate that both TNF and ICAM-1 participate in lymphocyte activation and granuloma formation and suggest that one mechanism of TNF in granuloma development is through TNF-induced ICAM-1 expression.


Web gate system of aluminum castings in permanent molds is investigated in order to improve the quality of aluminum castings produced in permanent molds. The metal flow in the mold were observed and conducted using graphite molds and real time X-ray radiography recorded at a rate of 30 images per second through those molds. The affects of web thickness on flow patterns, gas entrapment, jetting possibility are studied and discussed. Flow and solidification simulation programs were employed to predict the flow behavior under the different conditions that can prevail in permanent mold gating. The study highlights the characteristic features of web gate system used in permanent mold aluminum foundries and recommends gating procedures designed to avoid common defects, and provides direct evidence on the filling pattern and heat flow behavior in permanent mold castings.


The objective of International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 384 was to carry out engineering tests with the goal of improving the chances of success in deep (>1 km) drilling and coring in igneous ocean crust. A wide range of tools and technologies for potential testing were proposed by the Deep Crustal Drilling Engineering Working Group in 2017 based on reports from recent crustal drilling expeditions. The JOIDES Resolution Facility Board further prioritized the testing opportunities in 2018. The top priority of all recommendations was an evaluation of drilling and coring bits because rate of penetration and bit wear and tear are the prevalent issue in deep crustal drilling attempts, and bit failures often require an excessive amount of fishing and hole cleaning time. The plan included drilling in basalt with three different types of drill bits: a tungsten carbide insert (TCI) tricone bit, a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit, and a more novel TCI/PDC hybrid bit. In addition, a TCI bit was to be paired with an underreamer with expanding cutter blocks instead of extending arms. Finally, a type of rotary core barrel (RCB) PDC coring bit that was acquired for the R/V JOIDES Resolution several years ago but never deployed would also be given a test run. A second objective was added when additional operating time became available for Expedition 384 as a result of the latest schedule changes. This objective included the assessment and potential improvement of current procedures for advanced piston corer (APC) core orientation. Expedition 384 began in Kristiansand, Norway, on 20 July 2020. The location for tests was based on various factors, including the JOIDES Resolution's location at the time, our inability to obtain territorial clearance in a short period of time, and a suitable combination of sediment and igneous rock for the drilling and coring operations. IODP Expedition 395, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had proposed sites that were suitable for our testing and offered the opportunity to carry out some serendipitous sampling, logging, and casing work for science. We first spent 3 days triple coring the top 70 m of sediment at Site U1554 (Proposed Site REYK-6A) to obtain cores for evaluating potential problems with the magnetic core orientation tools and for assessing other potential sources of errors that might explain prior anomalous core orientation results. Comparison of the observed core orientation from magnetic orientation tools to the expected orientation based on the paleomagnetic directions recorded in the cores revealed an 180° misalignment in the assembly of one of the tools. This misalignment appears to have persisted over several years and could explain most of the problems previously noted. The assembly part was fixed, and this problem was eliminated for future expeditions. We subsequently spent 20 days at Site U1555 (Proposed Site REYK-13A) to test the three types of drill bits, an underreamer, and a coring bit in six holes. The TCI bits were the best performers, the TCI/PDC hybrid bit did not stand up to the harsh formation, and the PDC bit did not get sufficient run time because of a mud motor failure. The cutter block underreamer is not considered able to perform major hole opening in basalt but could be useful for knocking out ledges. The PDC coring bit cut good quality basalt cores at an unacceptably low rate. In the seventh and final hole (U1555G), we used a regular RCB coring bit to recover the entire 130 m basalt section specified in the Expedition 395 Scientific Prospectus and provided the project team with shipboard data and samples. The basalt section was successfully wireline logged before the logging winch motor failed, which precluded further operations for safety reasons. Additional operations plans in support of Expedition 395, including coring, logging, and casing at Site U1554, had to be canceled, and Expedition 384 ended prematurely on 24 August in Kristiansand. © 2020 Authors. All rights reserved.


This thesis is dedicated to the study of isoperimetric inequalities in some Carnot-Caratheodory spaces, related to the Heisenberg geometry.
The thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 is concerned with some preliminaries: we consider Carnot-Caratheodory spaces, and we define Grushin spaces and H-type groups. Then, we introduce the notion of X-perimeter, showing the validity of a non-sharp isoperimetric inequality. In Chapter 2, we study the sharp isoperimetric inequality in H-type groups and Grushin spaces. Several techniques are needed here, such as representation formulas for the X-perimeter, a concentration-compactness type argument, and non-classical rearrangements. In Chapter 3, we prove quantitative isoperimetric inequalities in the Heisenberg group H^n and in some Grushin spaces. To this purpose, we use a technique, known in the Calculus of Variations as subcalibration, in a suitable class of sets of finite X-perimeter. Finally, in Chapter 4, we address the problem of studying quantitative isoperimetric inequalities in the Grushin plane in a class of symmetric sets, starting from Euclidean techniques. Crucial differences arise from the lack of invariance under translation of the X-perimeter and lead us to study a variational problem, which has connections with
the study of soap bubbles in the Grushin plane.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Epidemiologic evidence suggests that Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and multiple sclerosis (MS) share a common set of risk factors with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). It was hypothesized that such shared risk factors would lead to clustering of the 4 diagnoses in the same patients.

METHODS
All patients with HL, MS, CD, or UC were identified in the veterans population from 2016-2020 and the Medicare population from 1986 to 1989. In a case-control study, the observed concurrences amongst these 4 diagnoses were compared with their expected frequencies in the overall veterans or Medicare population during the same time period by calculating odds ratios (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS
The study included 6 million veterans and 35 million Medicare patients. In the veterans population, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was significantly associated with a concurrent diagnosis of HL (OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.15-1.71) and MS (1.34, 1.19-1.50). In the Medicare population, IBD was also significantly associated with HL (1.84, 1.07-3.17) and MS (2.31, 1.59-3.35). Similar trends were observed in CD or UC when analyzed separately in both datasets. In the veterans population, adjustment for the potentially confounding influence of ethnicity, sex, and age left all OR values largely unaffected and statistically significant.

CONCLUSION
The concurrence of IBD with HL or MS could reflect on a common pathway in the etiology or pathogenesis of these 4 diseases.


A prospective study was conducted to determine the possibility of obstructive hydronephrosis in horseshoe kidney found incidentally in school children and adolescents by using a radionuclide diuretic renogram. In a 2-year period, 22 school children and adolescents with horseshoe kidney were found in a mass renal sonography survey. They each underwent a 99mTc dimercaptosuccinic acid renal cortical scan to confirm the horseshoe kidney. Each diuretic renogram was performed with the patient in the supine position to rule out obstructive hydronephrosis. The patients were advised to empty their bladders before the intravenous injection of furosemide (1 mg·kg−1). The half-time for the clearance of radioactivity from the renal pelvis were calculated. Of the 22 patients, asymmetrical renal cortical function between the two kidneys was found in 14 (63.6%). Eleven kidneys (11/44, 25%) showed stasis of radioactive urine in the renal pelvic region prior to injection of furosemide. There was no incidence of bilateral hydronephrosis in these 22 patients. Only one kidney (1/44, 2.3%) showed obstructive hydronephrosis and five showed clearance of radioactive urine stasis from the renal pelvis immediately after standing up for voiding. There is a low percentage of obstructive hydronephrosis in these cases of horseshoe kidney found incidentally in children and adolescents. A follow-up cohort study on these patients would be valuable for monitoring the development of complications.


The authors have determined the mean diameter of granulomas in the liver of mice infected with cercariae from two different and well definite geographic strains of Schistosoma mansoni (LE, Belo Horizonte, MG, and SJ, Sao Jose dos Campos, SP). A total of 1,170 granulomas has been measured. Granulomas measured on the 60th day after infection showed larger size than the other ones measured on the 90th day. Modulation of the immunopathologic response was significantly more efficient for the LE strain, whereas the granulomas ( with 60 and 90 days) related to SJ strain were significantly larger. Data suggested a higher pathogenicity for the SJ strain. It is speculated whether these findings could explain, in part, the occurence of regional variations of the anatomo-clinical forms of schistosomiasis.


Porous Ti and Ti alloys have received increasing research interest for bone tissue engineering, especially for dental and orthopaedic implants because they provide cell ingrowths and vascularization, improving of adhesion and osseointegration. The tribocorrosion process is encountered in orthopaedic and dentistry applications, since it is known that the implants are often exposed to simultaneous chemical/electrochemical and mechanical stresses. The purpose of this study was to carry out a systematic investigation of the tribo-electrochemical performance of porous TiO2–ZrO2 thin film formed by anodization of Ti–10Zr alloy surface in an artificial saliva solution and to compare the resulted performance with that of the untreated Ti–10Zr alloy surface in order to be applied for biomedical use. The in situ electrochemical technique used for investigation of tribo-electrochemical degradation was the open circuit potential (OCP) measurement performed before, during and after sliding tests. The results presented herein show that controlled anodic oxidation method can significantly improve the tribocorrosion and friction performances of Ti–10Zr alloy surface intended for biomedical applications.


This paper highlights: (i) numerical methods developed to solve annular/stratified internal condensing flow problems, and (ii) the assessed effects of transverse gravity and surface tension on shear driven (horizontal channels) and gravity driven (inclined channels) internal condensing flows. A comparative study of the flow physics is presented with the help of steady and unsteady computational results obtained from the numerical solutions of the full two-dimensional governing equations for annular internal condensing flows. These simulations directly apply to recently-demonstrated innovative condenser operations which make the flow regime annular over the entire length of the condenser. The simulation algorithm is based on an active integration of our own codes developed on MATLAB with the standard single-phase CFD simulation codes available on COMSOL. The approach allows for an accurate wave simulation technique for the highly sensitive shear driven annular condensing flows.This simulation approach employs a sharp-interface model and uses a moving grid technique to accurately locate the dynamic interface by the solution of the interface tracking equation (employing the method of characteristics) along with the rest of the governing equations. The 4th order time-step accuracy in the method of characteristics has enabled, for the first time, the ability to track time-varying interface locations associated with wave phenomena and accurate satisfaction of all the interface conditions — including the more difficult to satisfy interfacial mass-flux equalities.A combination of steady and unsteady simulation results are also used to identify the effects of transverse gravity, axial gravity, and surface tension on the growth of waves. The results presented bring out the differences within different types of shear driven flows and differences between shear driven and gravity driven flows.The unsteady wave simulation capability has been used here to do the stability analysis for annular shear-driven steady flows. In stability analysis, an assessment of the dynamic response of the steady solutions to arbitrary instantaneous initial disturbance are obtained. The results mark the location beyond which the annular regime transitions to a non-annular regime (experimentally known to be a plug-slug regimes).The computational prediction of heat-flux values agree with the experimentally measured values (at measurement locations) obtained from relevant runs of our in-house experiments. Also, a comparison between the computationally predicted and experimentally measured values regarding the length of the annular regime is possible, and will be presented elsewhere.© 2014 ASME


Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative dementia disorder, after Alzheimer's disease (AD). DLB is characterised clinically by cognitive fluctuations, visual hallucinations, rapid-eye-movement sleep behaviour disorder, and Parkinsonism. Differentiating DLB from AD and related disorders of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) can be difficult at early disease stages due to overlapping clinical and pathological features. Nevertheless, it has been shown that visuoperceptual, attention and executive deficits, relative to memory impairments, are especially prominent in the early stages of DLB compared with AD or PD. The importance of these impairments is reflected in the recent revision of the diagnostic consensus guidelines of DLB. As the last reviews of cognitive impairments in DLB were conducted over a decade ago (Collerton, Burn, McKeith & O'Brien, 2003; Metzler-Baddeley, 2007; Ralph, 2001), we provide an up-to-date review of the literature into perceptual and attention-executive functions in DLB. There is a need for better controlled studies into cognitive deficits, their neural correlates, and relationships to clinical symptoms in DLB, that go beyond standard clinical assessments. Evidence regarding visuoperception suggests that low-level functions may be relatively preserved while mid- and higher-level functions, that require the recruitment of attention and executive functions are disproportionally affected in DLB. Cognitive fluctuations and visual hallucinations may arise from a desynchronization of top-down attention and bottom-up sensory networks.


This paper presents a stability evaluation of two Virtual Synchronous Machine (VSM) implementations in the control of Voltage Source Converters (VSCs): a current-controlled (CCVSM) and a voltage-controlled (VCVSM) version of the VSM. The performances of the two control implementations are analyzed under power reference and grid frequency variations and the evaluation of their stability properties is carried out by adopting the impedance-based stability analysis. The results of the dq impedance analysis of the two VSMs implementations reveal a clear differentiation between the CCVSM and the VCVSM, particularly in the very low frequency range, even if a close similarity is observed in the time domain responses. The dq impedances of both implementations show an RL behaviour in the medium frequency range, but when inspecting the stability margin on the Nyquist plot, the VCVSM appears to have a lower stability margin than the CCVSM from the intersection with the unit circle.


Colony PCR and semi-nested PCR techniques were employed for screening polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) producers isolated from the environment. Three degenerate primers were designed based on multiple sequence alignment results and were used as PCR primers to detect PHA synthase genes. Optimized colony PCR conditions were achieved by adding 3% DMSO combined with 1 M betaine to the reaction mixture. The sensitivity limit of the colony PCR was 1x 10(5) viable cells for Ralstonia eutropha. Nineteen PHA-positive bacteria were used to evaluate this PCR protocol; fifteen of the nineteen could be detected by colony PCR, and the other four could be detected by applying semi-nested PCR detection following colony PCR. In a preliminary screening project, 38 PHA-positive strains were isolated from environmental samples by applying the PCR protocol, and their phenotype was further confirmed by Nile blue A staining assay. By combining the colony PCR and semi-nested PCR techniques, a rapid, reliable and highly accurate detection method has been developed for detecting PHA producers. This protocol is suitable for screening large numbers of environmental isolates. The PHA accumulation ability of well-separated colonies isolated from environmental samples can be directly validated by PCR with no further culturing or chromosomal DNA extraction procedures. In addition to its application to the screening of wild-type isolates, the individual PCR-amplified product is also suitable as a specific probe for PHA operon cloning. The results suggest that the application of this PCR protocol for rapid detection of PHA producers from the environment is plausible.


Abstract : Class A sodalites of the composition Na8X2(SiAlO4)6 were synthesized hydrothermally (X = Cl-, BR-, I-). AgNO3 melt and hydro aqueous exchanges were used to replace Na+ ions by Ag+ ions. The sodalite precursors and products were studied by chemical analysis, powder XRD, mid- and far-IR, multinuclear MAS and DOR NMR and optical reflectance spectroscopy. The structures of selected precursors as well as partially and fully silver exchanged sodalites were determined by Rietveld refinement of high resolution powder X-ray data The unit cell sizes on the and loading of cation and anion. Combined results from the above techniques indicated that a solid-solution structure Of cages with different cation contents was formed. Organized assemblies of Na4-nAgnX3+ clusters consisting of the components of insulators (NaX) and semiconductors (AgX) were encapsulated by the cubic sodalite framework which forms perfectly periodic arrays of all-space filling 6.6 A cages. The concentration and identity of cations and nature of the anion controlled the extent of vibrational and electronic coupling between clusters. Vibrational coupling was strongly mediated by the anions. Electronic interaction was possible through the framework (Na, Ag) or directly (Ag). Extended Huckel molecular orbital calculations supported the idea of band formation for an extended Na4-nAgnX3+ cluster lattice at increasing Ag+ loadings. They also aided in the assignment of the optical spectra. The calculations indicated that electronic transitions existed between clusters and the framework.


Following standard Austrian School theory, in this paper I identify merger waves as parts of Austrian type business cycles. As indicated by Mises, Rothbard and Hayek, when loan rates are reduced below their natural level through bank credit expansion this falsifies the monetary calculation of capitalist-entrepreneurs. As a result, new investments are initiated that calculation showed were not profitable before the interest rate reduction. On the other hand, the fall in interest rates falsifies households' appraisals of their income and wealth, which turns them overly optimistic and causes them to over-consume, save less and go into debt. As a consequence of these developments the economy does not have enough resources for the completion of the new projects and businesses must increasingly withdraw the resources from other companies. I conclude that the increase in investment activity and the accompanying "resource crunch" cause a merger wave that helps prolong the boom phase of the cycle. The merger wave ends when the credit expansion is not sufficient to sustain the economic boom (which usually occurs when central banks finally let interest rates rise again and an overextended financial system tightens credit standards) and the bust phase begins. On the other hand, if the newly created fiduciary media does not enter the economy through the loan market to finance business investment, there should be no pronounced and sustained increase in merger activity followed by an economic bust.


Metabolic flux technology with the Seahorse bioanalyzer has emerged as a standard technique in cellular metabolism studies, allowing for simultaneous kinetic measurements of respiration and glycolysis. Methods to extend the utility and versatility of the metabolic flux assay would undoubtedly have immediate and wide-reaching impacts. Herein, we describe a platform that couples the metabolic flux assay with high-content fluorescence imaging to simultaneously enhance normalization of respiration data with cell number; analyze cell cycle progression; quantify mitochondrial content, fragmentation state, membrane potential, and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. Integration of fluorescent dyes directly into the metabolic flux assay generates a more complete data set of mitochondrial features in a single assay. Moreover, application of this integrated strategy revealed insights into mitochondrial function following PGC1a and PRC1 inhibition in pancreatic cancer and demonstrated how the Rho-GTPases impact mitochondrial dynamics in breast cancer.


In supramolecular wrapping chemistry, polysaccharides are widely used as wrapping agents for the dissolution, dispersion and functionalization of carbon nanotubes. It is, therefore, of paramount importance to understand the effect of the topology – specifically the linkage – of the polymer chain on its spatial arrangement around the hollow tubular structure, and, hence, on the configuration and the nature of the supramolecular complex. To this end, the β-1,4, α-1,4 and β-1,3-glucans were chosen to wrap a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) as three prototypical assemblies. Molecular simulations reveal that α-1,4-glucan has the ability to wrap SWCNTs very tightly, whereas β-1,3-glucans can only form irregular helices. The calculated binding affinity of the polysaccharide to the tubular surface follows the order α-1,4 > β-1,4 > β-1,3-glucan. The differences between the three hybrids can be generally described in terms of the inherent propensity of glucans to fold into helices, the hydrophobic interaction of the polysaccharide with the SWCNT, and the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds within the polymer chain. The wrapping mode of the glucan chain is mainly determined by its inherent helicity. The hydrophobic interaction is the driving force for helical wrapping. Moreover, the intramolecular hydrogen-bonding interaction can stabilize ideal, compact helical scaffolds. These factors determine the conformation and the binding affinity of the polysaccharide to the SWCNT. The present results can be generalized to other polymers like DNA, and shed new light on the universal principles that underlie the formation of supramolecular complexes using wrapping agents.


Most people agree that staff productivity and quality of work are influenced by physical surroundings. This awareness usually kindles a desire to implement a plan of action. The environmental checklist can serve as a quality assurance tool to monitor comprehensively the work environment. In our Central Service department, we have seen a number of positive changes as a result of implementing environmental checklists. The efficiency of work performed has increased through appropriately organized and labeled supplies. Positive images of the department have been emphasized and communicated to others. Awareness of and appreciation for the physical surroundings in which we work each day are integral parts of our management routine. Regardless of how large or small your healthcare facility may be, we believe the efficiency and safety of any Central Service operation will be significantly improved through the consistent use of a well-designed environmental checklist. And yes, you will be better prepared for those unexpected visitors and surprise inspections.


In this paper, we discuss the perceptions of people from a Bangladeshi village about what they considered to be 'mental illness'. Observations, informal conversations, interviews, focus group discussions, and illness narratives include the perspectives of both the caregivers and the patients in Kakabo. The villagers provided us with local terms (e.g., paglami), their beliefs about illness causation, treatment, and its effects. Some illnesses were believed to be present from birth and mostly incurable. Supernatural causation and local cure were mentioned for some other categories of illness. There were very few instances when they accessed the existing mental health care in the big city. Widespread abuse of various substances was reported. In general, the participants showed broader acceptance of these conditions, excepting certain forms of substance abuse. We discus these findings in relation to defining their perceptions in terms of explanatory model(s). Our analysis is also concerned with the way people 'embody' their 'illness experience', and how this is made relevant for the process of coping with 'mental illness' in the family. Further investigation, however, is required to clarify some of the questions and ambiguities arising from this small-scale exploratory qualitative study.


Achieving the desired structures of organic molecules for targeted applications is vital. Folding caused by weak intermolecular forces plays an important part in their 3D structure. Powerful tools which enable us to do this are currently under investigation by researchers across the globe. On this account, quinoline was chosen as a model scaffold because of its rigid 3D structure. Addition of fluorine was found to result in increased flexibility of the structure with a decrease in the number of intermolecular interactions. This resulted in improvement of their photophysics and blue emission. A total of 19 novel fluoroquinoline molecules were synthesised in order to carry out this study. Of these, grown crystals of 10 compounds were successfully achieved and used. In addition, characterisation techniques such as NMR, HRMS, UV-vis and computational techniques were used to explore the 3D structure of these molecules.


Oligoasthenozoospermia is the condition where the two parameters, sperm count and sperm motility is altered. It depicts a decrease in the concentration and percentage of motile spermatozoa in a sperm sample and is determined by semen analysis. Researches show that nearly 50% of infertility in India is related to the male reproductive factors or diseases. Based on the study conducted by WHO from 1982 to 1985 in multicentres about 20% of infertility cases is due to male factors. Approximately 23% of Indian couples taking infertility treatment attributed the cause towards male factors. Oligoasthenozoospermia can be correlated to Sukra kshaya Lakshanas mentioned in Ashta sukra dushtis. A male patient aged 32 years with 2.5 years of married life revealed the semen volume as 2ml, Sperm concentration 1 million/ml, progressive motility 3%, Non progressive motility 2% and immotile sperms 95% with normal sperm morphology, increased viscosity and increased liquefaction time. After Ayurvedic management through Sodhana and Samana chikitsa for about 5 months revealed Normozoospermia with Sperm count 47 million/ml, progressive motility 25% and Non progressive motility15%. This shows the effectiveness of Ayurveda medicines in the case of Oligoasthenozoospermia and ensures that Ayurveda can provide spectacular outcome in the areas of Male infertility.


Land salinization is a major obstacle to the sustainable development of agriculture in arid regions. The demand for food, fiber, fuel and fresh water has increased in the recent decades, particularly in developing nations, due to alarming rise in populat ion. As fresh water resources and productive lands for crop production are limited, new strategies for the sustainable utilization of marginal lands and water resources have become urgently necessary. The objective of this article is to propose Haloculture as a holist ic approach for the sustainable management of saline resources, enhancement of environmental quality and improvements in socioeconomic conditions in less developed salt affected regions. Haloculture refers to the sustainable production of agricultural and industrial products in saline environments. It is essentially an integrated production system that makes use of diverse salt tolerant aquatic species and halophytes to produce different economically and industrially valuable products such as food and fuel and environmental services from the salt affected lands. Although immense socio-economic, industrial and environmental benefits of Haloculture are increasingly becoming evident, careful ecological, cultural and economic considerations are a pre-condition for the successful implementation of Haloculture-led improvements in saline environments.


Municipal bonds are held in taxable accounts because the interest is tax-exempt, but gains and losses are subject to complex tax treatment. The author explains how selling at a loss when the market value falls below the investor's tax basis can improve after-tax performance. The hold value, which can differ substantially from the market price, is a key part of calculating the potential benefit from sale. The difference between the sale proceeds and the hold value shows the benefit of selling. If the benefit is positive, the question is whether to act now or wait for a possibly better opportunity. The answer lies in the transaction's tax efficiency, which compares the benefit captured to the value of the tax option (i.e., the right to take a tax loss at any time). The latter's value depends on interest-rate volatility and transaction costs. The author recommends selling only if the benefit captures a high percentage of the forfeited tax option (i.e., if the tax efficiency is sufficiently high).


Bibliometric analysis is essential for understanding the growth, health, and trajectory of scientific disciplines. In effect, such analyses help researchers determine if a given field is well-structured or fragmented through anarchy. Prior work examined to what extent cybersecurity education research generated a follow-up study. The goal of the work was to uncover bibliometric features and characteristics linked to overall maturity of the field. The results suggested little, if any, research follow up or extension took place based on the dearth of interlinking between citations. This work continues the line of bibliometric description by investigating if cybersecurity education papers are not extended because of discoverability issues during literature reviews. To answer this question, this work explored structural bibliometric indicators in 163 journal and conference articles. Specifically, we extracted metadata keywords and paper content keywords as input to frequency analyses of the sample articles. The results revealed 12.4% of the sample contains metadata keywords. Further, 18.03% of the sample contained educated related keywords. Lastly, four of the top five sample papers by citation count do not contain keywords at all and papers with content only keywords exhibited more frequent citation than those with only metadata keywords. Based on these results, we offer observational conclusions as well as notions for future work.


Experimentation and research are necessary precursors to most scientific breakthroughs that we know of today. Little wonder then that many countries provide for what is commonly referred to as an "experimental use" exception use in their patent regimes, an exception that shields experimental activities from charges of patent infringement. The underlying rationale of such an exception appears to be that experimentation on a patented invention is necessary to test the invention and ensure that it works in the manner claimed — i.e., to validate the "disclosure" function of patents and provide credence to the "bargain" or the "social contract" theory. Some countries have gone further and permitted their exception to even cover the testing of patented inventions with a view to creating improvements or inventing around such patents. This Article argues that this latter rationale is particularly appealing in the context of developing countries that are often net importers of patented technology caught in the game of technological catch up. To that extent, this Article attempts to offer a "developmental" perspective on the experimental use exception. This perspective is offered through the specific lens of India, a developing country that articulated a statutory exception in its patent regime as far back as 1970. A plain reading of the Indian section vests it with a latitude not found in most other regimes. The Indian provision may therefore serve as a model for other developing countries that wish to boost their innovative potential.A wide experimental use provision is particularly appealing to "technologically proficient" developing countries such as India, China, and Brazil that are yet to witness significant levels of innovation. Since such countries are gaining proficiency as low cost hubs of outsourced research and development ("R&D") by multinational technology majors, we argue that a wide research exemption ought to be leveraged to attract even greater levels of outsourced research to such countries. However, in order to effectively leverage the exception, developing countries must ensure that there is a complete and enabling disclosure of the patented invention.


In this paper, we will present some ideas on how informal learning could be communicated. Within today's fast changing society, most of our competences predominantly result from an on-going process of experiential learning at our workplace and in other day-to-day activities. So-called expert knowledge is not acquired or constructed in the short time span of our formal or non-formal learning career (school, studies) but during all our (life) activities in which we try to find solutions to challenges. Therefore, this kind of knowledge is not the outcome of arrangements that are particularly oriented to the intention of learning, but is a spin-off or side effect of intrinsically meaningful actions for all persons actively involved in these situations. This leads to the problem, that learners are often unaware of the significance, the depth or the variety of their informal learning. But how can we judge this kind of personal knowledge in a reproducible and comparable way? We need a theoretically sound procedure to validate informal learning. The validation of informal learning plays an important role when it comes to lifelong learning, as informal learning through the people's professional, social and personal lives needs to be recognized. Successfully implemented validation procedures could act as the missing link between informal workplace learning and formal education and training. In this article, we propose the model of validation used at the University of Chester, considering it to be a useful approach to capture tacit knowledge through reflecting on practical learning experiences. As a concrete example, we have chosen the professional field of teaching, as this is where we are most experienced and thus more able to substantiate our theoretical claims.


Abstract : The objective of this project was to investigate the feasibility of using the bubble dosimeter as an alternative to the present methods used to verify nuclear arms treaties. Because of the draw-downs of nuclear forces associated with the end of the cold-war, demand has increased for an unobtrusive technology that could be used in the field by inspectors to measure whether the nuclear weapons inspected meet the guidelines of the treaties. The Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) sponsored the project, believing that the bubble dosimeter could fulfill this need. Although the bubble dosimeter is a rugged device, ideally suited for field work, three problems must be tackled and overcome before use of the dosimeter can be considered feasible. This project focussed upon evaluating and solving the problems of temperature dependence, bubble growth rate and accurate statistical analysis of the data. Extensive theoretical and experimental work was undertaken to design new detectors which would have a response which remained consistent with temperature. Furthermore, extensive experimentation was conducted at USNA's Neutron Generator Facility, with the purpose of evaluating the neutron detection characteristics of the bubble dosimeter.


Scarcity of land sites applicable for wind turbines is pushing the technology offshore. By going offshore the expenses of nearly all components increases, which has triggered extensive research with the aim of decreasing component costs, and increasing reliability, as also maintenance costs increase as going offshore.The focus of this thesis is to look at ways to reduce aerodynamic loads which can contribute in lowering structural fatigue loads and thereby component costs for offshore wind turbines. The loading is mainly reported as blade root flapwise bending moment on wind turbines intentionally made for bottom fixed offshore sites. The load reduction is investigated using a different wind turbine configuration with a downwind mounted rotor and further compared with the conventional upwind mounted rotor on a monopile tower. Blades on downwind mounted rotors are exposed to the fluctuating wake behind the towers, known as the tower shadow. The influence from the tower shadow on blade fatigue loads is investigated using three different types of towers; a full height truss type tower, a faring (airfoil shaped) tower and a monopile tower.For reliable wind turbine simulations with downwind mounted rotors, an accurate tower shadow model is essential. Thorough investigations of the tower shadow is presented, including the detailed flow picture of the mean velocity deficit, unsteady and turbulent motions, as well as velocity spectra. The tower shadow is investigated in three different ways; using three dimensional physical model scale experiments, steady tower shadow models and two dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations.By use of the tower shadow from the CFD simulations, an artificial increase in blade fatigue loading is seen as the transversal grid is made coarser. Although this is a 'safe-fail' design (for the coarser grid), it should be kept in mind as this 'simulated' safety factor from the coarse grid simulations could increase wind turbine costs.A method for improving the accuracy of the steady tower shadow models (currently the most frequently used model in commercial software) through a preprocessing step, where the results are directly applicable in commercial software for full wind turbine simulations, is presented. This method will improve the reliability of the simulated results. The parameters of the steady tower shadow model and the turbulence intensity are fitted and calibrated with short CFD simulations of the relevant tower geometries. This method accounts for any deviation between the mean velocity deficit obtained from the steady tower shadow model and the CFD simulations, as well as the unsteady motions and turbulence due to the presence of the tower through the calibration of the turbulence intensity (maximum deviation of ±3 percent with respect to the tower shadow based on the CFD simulations, measured as blade fatigue loading).The response measured as blade fatigue load show an increased loading for the blades on the downwind mounted rotors using the original blades, compared to the conventional upwind mounted rotor on a monopile tower. Introducing softer and lighter blades changed this result, with reductions in blade fatigue loading (compared to the upwind mounted rotor with the original blades) of three, four and five percent for the monopile, truss and fairing towers, respectively.


The aims of this project were to determine the role of two antisense genes, RL1 and ORF P in herpes simplex virus (HSV) virulence and to identify the HSV-2 strain HG52 ICP34.5 expression. The first overall aim was to define individual phenotypes associated with ICP34.5 and ORF P in HSV-1 strain 17+. HSV-1 contains an ORF in the long repeat sequences named RL1 (also called ?134.5) which expresses the polypeptide ICP34.5, One RL1 deletion variant, 1716, is avirulent upon intracranial inoculation in the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Replication of 1716 in vitro was shown to be cell type and cell state dependent. The avirulent phenotype of 1716 based on deletion of this region of the HSV-1 genome was originally attributed solely to the RL1 gene. However, transcripts in the opposite direction and antisense to RL1 in HSV-1 were identified in 1994. From these transcripts two open reading frames (ORF O and ORF P) mapped antisense to RL1. This led to the hypothesis that ORF P may be at least partly responsible for the avirulent phenotype of ICP34.5 negative mutants. 1716 was used as the backbone to generate three recombinant viruses containing either RL1 or ORF P in the nonessential UL43 gene. Two lengths of RL1 were cloned due to uncertainty about the position of the putative RL1 promoter sequence and role of the 5' untranslated leader in expression. One RL1 fragment contained only the ORF while the other fragment contained the ORF and 134 bp additional upstream sequence. The RL1 or ORF P genes were individually sub-cloned downstream of the HSV-1 gD promoter. This promoter was used because it has similar kinetics to that of the natural ICP34.5 promoter. These RL1 or ORF P cassettes also contained the lacZ gene under the SV40 promoter in the opposite orientation for detection of recombinant virus. The recombinant virus, 1622, contained only the RL1 open reading frame and demonstrated an 8-fold overexpression of ICP34.5 by Western blotting and immunoprecipitation. 1622 regained wild type replication kinetics in vitro in cell lines non- permissive for ICP34.5 negative viruses. In certain cell types, an in vitro function of ICP34.5 is to maintain protein synthesis by using a protein kinase (PKR) pathway. 1716 showed host protein synthesis shut-off in human neuroblastoma and HeLa cells confirming the previously reported data for the HSV-1 strain F ICP34.5 deletion mutant, R3616. 1622 infected cells demonstrated protein synthesis similar to 17+ by SDS-PAGE. 1622 demonstrated a small reduction in neurovirulence compared with 17+ by intracranial inoculation but was 40-fold more virulent than its parent following infection via the snout and trigeminal ganglia as assayed by in vivo replication and immunohistochemsitry. The recombinant virus, 1623, by Western blotting expressed very low levels of ICP34.5 compared to 17+. Based on 2-fold dilutions of 1623 infected BHK cell extracts, ICP34.5 is expressed eight times less than in 17+ and thus 64-fold less than in 1622. Interestingly, this low level of expression still enabled 1623 to maintain wild type levels of protein synthesis in neuroblastoma and HeLa cells. However, the replication kinetics in vitro from 1623 was slower than 1716. This suggests that there may be a second mutation elsewhere in the genome. The recombinant virus, 1624, contained ORF P under the HSV-1 gD promoter. Due to difficulties in cloning the ORF P gene, final purification and characterisation of this mutant was not carried out. However, expression of ORF P from 17+ infected cells was analysed by an antiserum from a GST/ORF P fusion protein. By Western blotting, ORF P was detected in 17+ infected cells during normal lytic infection in vitro. Cells infected with a RL1 epitope tagged virus, 1621, demonstrated expression of a slightly larger form of ORF P. The temperature sensitive virus, tsK, when grown at 39.5


Digitization has been transforming organizations for decades, but only recently has the general interest turned to digitization in industrial context. It has been proposed that new technologies are driving towards the next industrial revolution, having profound economic implications. This discussion is referred as Industrie 4.0 or Industrial Internet by industry practitioners. Information is the key enabler and resource that companies use in achieving the higher productivity levels that the Industrial Internet promises. Industrial processes are often highly complex and companies are continually seeking to improve the efficiency of these processes. In this work, many companies use services from various service providers, notably those of original equipment manufacturers (OEM). Over time, many OEMs have transformed from goods producers to advanced solutions providers, supporting their clients e.g., in asset availability with maintenance services and improving their process efficiency with consultancy services. Academic research has been interested in this transformation of OEMs towards service providers, but the role of information and related technologies have not been addressed in any satisfying depth. This thesis investigates the impacts of the proposed industrial revolution from the OEM perspective, focusing on industrial services. Although focused on OEMs, most of the study's findings should be valuable also for other industrial value network participants. An abstract concept termed "information intensity" is developed and applied to avoid restricting the focus to contemporary development only. A broad, multidisciplinary literature review synthetizes existing knowledge on the topic, and a case study on a process manufacturing sector OEM provides further perspectives contributing to the discussion on servitization. It was found that various sectors and service types differ greatly in the scale of benefits that increased information intensity offers. Especially in manufacturing, very high efficiency levels have been achieved relatively early, offering less radical improvement opportunities when compared to e.g., fleet management. In mature sectors, client focus on cost efficiency may also push service market backwards to lower information intensity services. A conceptual division into thingand system-oriented businesses is proposed, structuring topic discussion and research. Information-based businesses build on contextual expertise, protecting OEMs from disruption from IT-sector companies. However, the competitive environment is becoming more complex, and many players will be trying to encapsulate the service networks. Information may enable sectorspecific OEMs to vertically expand further towards client processes while the largest cross-sector OEMs may drive ecosystem development forward horizontally. Basic services are becoming commoditized and consumerized. Importance of service network orchestration increases. Industrial digitization is rapidly evolving, and an understanding of its technical and conceptual foundations would benefit both industry practitioners and academicians. The concept of information intensity provides a novel perspective on advanced services and offers an analytical tool with which to investigate digitization also outside this context. Findings have practical relevance and they contribute theoretically to services transformation and service strategy topics within the discourse on servitization, as well as others focusing on industrial sectors and digitization.


Ullman and Erdδs and Freud have studied the distribution of the zeros of certain classes of orthogonal polynomials. Among other results they have shown that for a wide class of weight functions the associated orthogonal polynomials all have the same limiting zero distribution. We show, in a related result, that in certain cases one can deduce the limiting distribution of the zeros of the orthogonal polynomials without explicitly knowing the weight function (or the distribution function) of the orthogonal polynomials. In particular, for polynomials with certain types of triple recurrence formula we show that the limiting zero distribution is always the one studied by Ullman and Έrdδs and Freud. Polynomials with this limiting zero distribution are said to have "regular zero behavior". In §2 we give the basic definitions and notation needed for our result. Our main theorem is in § 3, and § 4 contains some related comments and examples.


The rapid increase in the number of very aged people has not been accompanied by appropriate expansion of local authority residential facilities. The rate of provision in 1976 was already acknowledged to be inadequate, but data are now presented to show that since then there has been an effective fall in the rate of provision of some 9000 places equivalent to, say, 180 old people's homes of 50 places each. The prospects for the future are even gloomier: public spending cuts and local authority priorities suggest a continuing fall in the rate of provision that can be expected to have a profound effect on the National Health Service, on the burden on families, and on the condition in which old people are obliged to remain "in the community" (where support services have likewise failed to keep pace with demographic change).


ABSTRACT The ipl locus is a site for the preferential insertion of IS6110 and has been identified as an insertion sequence, IS1547, in its own right. Various deletions around theipl locus of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were identified, and these deletions ranged in length from several hundred base pairs up to several kilobase pairs. The most obvious feature shared by these deletions was the presence of an IS6110 copy at the deletion sites, which suggested two possible mechanisms for their occurrence, IS6110transposition and homologous recombination. To clarify the mechanism, an investigation was conducted; the results suggest that although deletion transpositionally mediated by IS6110 was a possibility, homologous recombination was a more likely one. The implications of such chromosomal rearrangements for the evolution ofM. tuberculosis, for IS6110-mediated mutagenesis, and for the development of genetic tools are discussed. The deletion of genomic DNA in isolates of M. tuberculosishas previously been noted at only a few sites. This study examined the deletional loss of genetic material at a new site and suggests that such losses may occur elsewhere too and may be more prevalent than was previously thought. Distinct from the study of laboratory-induced mutations, the detailed analysis of clinical isolates, in combination with knowledge of their evolutionary relationships to each other, gives us the opportunity to study mutational diversity in isolates that have survived in the human host and therefore offers a different perspective on the importance of particular genetic markers in pathogenesis.


We introduce a class of MPDs which greatly simplify Reinforcement Learning. They have discrete state spaces and continuous control spaces. The controls have the effect of rescaling the transition probabilities of an underlying Markov chain. A control cost penalizing KL divergence between controlled and uncontrolled transition probabilities makes the minimization problem convex, and allows analytical computation of the optimal controls given the optimal value function. An exponential transformation of the optimal value function makes the minimized Bellman equation linear. Apart from their theoretical significance, the new MDPs enable efficient approximations to traditional MDPs. Shortest path problems are approximated to arbitrary precision with largest eigenvalue problems, yielding an O (n) algorithm. Accurate approximations to generic MDPs are obtained via continuous embedding reminiscent of LP relaxation in integer programming. Off-policy learning of the optimal value function is possible without need for state-action values; the new algorithm (Z-learning) outperforms Q-learning.


In this paper, we describe Cornell BigRed, the team of Robot Soccer competition that we developed to attend the RoboCup competition. The project entails the construction of fully autonomous, fast moving robots which will work together as a team in an effort to compete against similar teams of robots in a robotic soccer match. We designed and built the robots and the image processing algorithm, and developed the game strategy for the many situations and the artificial intelligence for collaboration between the robots. To provide a realistic testing platform for our artificial intelligence system, we have constructed a simulation of the playing field. The simulator has provided a means of testing the artificial intelligence play-by-play even before our robots were fully constructed.


Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) recently has emerged as a promising genomic approach for assessing genetic diversity on a genome-wide scale. However, concerns are not lacking about the uniquely large unbalance in GBS genotype data. Although some genotype imputation has been proposed to infer missing observations, little is known about the reliability of a genetic diversity analysis of GBS data, with up to 90% of observations missing. Here we performed an empirical assessment of accuracy in genetic diversity analysis of highly incomplete single nucleotide polymorphism genotypes with imputations. Three large single-nucleotide polymorphism genotype data sets for corn, wheat, and rice were acquired, and missing data with up to 90% of missing observations were randomly generated and then imputed for missing genotypes with three map-independent imputation methods. Estimating heterozygosity and inbreeding coefficient from original, missing, and imputed data revealed variable patterns of bias from assessed levels of missingness and genotype imputation, but the estimation biases were smaller for missing data without genotype imputation. The estimates of genetic differentiation were rather robust up to 90% of missing observations but became substantially biased when missing genotypes were imputed. The estimates of topology accuracy for four representative samples of interested groups generally were reduced with increased levels of missing genotypes. Probabilistic principal component analysis based imputation performed better in terms of topology accuracy than those analyses of missing data without genotype imputation. These findings are not only significant for understanding the reliability of the genetic diversity analysis with respect to large missing data and genotype imputation but also are instructive for performing a proper genetic diversity analysis of highly incomplete GBS or other genotype data.


In 2002, regional, multilateral and unilateral trade policy options are all on the table for the government of Brazil. In this paper, we evaluate the key trade policy options of Brazil and MERCOSUR for the next few years. Some of the questions we answer are the following. What is the impact of the FTAA or the potential EU-MERCOSUR free trade agreement? If the EU excludes agricultural products from the agreements or if the US applies antidumping actions to the most protected sectors, do the agreements lose their attractiveness? What are the potential gains from multilateral liberalization compared with regional. Importantly, how can Brazil and MERCOSUR use a combination of regional, multilateral and unilateral policies to optimize their trade policy options? How do these policies impact on partner or excluded countries and how do they compare to multilateral liberalization.

Given the desire to know the impact of trade policy on the poor, there is a strong focus in the paper on the impact of the various policies on the poor in Brazil. We analyze the impact on 20 different types of Brazilian households: ten rural and ten urban, where rural and urban households are classified according to income levels. The household demand functions for Brazil are endogenously incorporated into our multi-region model. We claim that one of the most important innovations of this paper is to establish a clear and intuitive link between factor incomes, trade liberalization and the poor. This required careful work in both estimating factor intensities in Brazilian sectors of production and working with the Living Standards Measurement Survey for Brazil.

We employ a multi-region, multi-commodity model to answer these questions. Given the focus on the FTAA and the EU-MERCOSUR agreement, we retain all the GTAP regions or countries in the Americas, but aggregate the GTAP regions outside of the Americas, the EU and Japan into one aggregate Rest of the World region. We aggregate the 57 GTAP sectors into 22 sectors, retaining the sectors most important for trade policy.

We employ the GTAP5 dataset for countries outside of Brazil. Within Brazil we significantly reconstruct the dataset. The input output table is updated from 1985 to 1996. Due to the notorious problems within input output tables in presenting factor shares (especially in agriculture and services) we calculate factor shares at the level of the industry from independent data. We employ the Brazilian Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) to obtain household expenditure shares and the source of income for household from factors of production and transfers. We impose MERCOSUR on the data set and correct for problems in the trade distortions reported in services sectors. All these data modifications are documented in several appendices.

Our results indicate that both the FTAA and the EU-MERCOSUR agreements provides benefits to Brazil, although the FTAA is negative for Argentina due to the erosion of preferential access to Brazil's markets. Access to the highly protected agricultural markets of the European Union can have a very powerful impact on the welfare of the MERCOSUR countries, especially Uruguay, given its relative small size. But if the EU excludes agriculture the gains to MERCOSUR countries are very modest. The gains from an FTAA combined with and agreement with the EU for MERCOSUR exceed the sum of the agreements separately due to the decline in trade diversion.

Excluded countries are esimated to lose from the regional agreements in virtually all cases, and the gains to the world from multilateral liberalization are more than four times greater the best of the regional arrangements.

The impact at the household level is progressive: the poor gain three to four times the average for the economy as a percent of their consumption. This is because Brazil protects capital manufacturing at the expense of agriculture and unskilled labor intensive manufacturing. Since agriculture is relatively unskilled labor intensive, liberalization raises the wage of unskilled labor, which is the major source of income for the poor.


Although there is increased recognition of the global challenge posed by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), translating that awareness into resources for action requires better data than typically available in low- and middle-income countries. One middle-income country that does have good-quality information is Mongolia. Using detailed administrative data from Mongolia and supplementary survey-based information, we estimated public spending on four NCDs in Mongolia and reached four main conclusions. First, Mongolia's public spending patterns on NCDs are similar to NCD spending observed in countries with much higher per capita incomes. Second, public spending for NCDs is low relative to the NCD disease burden in Mongolia. Third, public-sector NCD spending is dominated by inpatient care and hospital-based specialist outpatient services, which suggests inefficiency in resource use. Finally, while public spending on cardiovascular disease is evenly distributed across regions, for cancers it is heavily concentrated in the nation's capital.


Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis and results in innumerable deaths across the world. The emergence of multidrug-resistant and extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis strains and its coinfection with HIV has made tuberculosis more difficult to treat. Therefore, new antimycobacterial agent(s) for both therapy and disinfection are urgently required. In this context the present study describes the antibacterial property of long-chain fatty alcohols against mycobacteria. The antimycobacterial activities of alcohols with chain length ranging from C(5) to C(13) were examined against Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2) 155 and M. tuberculosis H(37)R(v). The best activity was found with one with a C(10) chain length. This bactericidal activity can partly be attributed to its ability to damage the robust and complex cell envelope of Mycobacteria. Moreover, our study reveals the ability of decanol to attenuate biofilm formation by M. smegmatis. This knowledge can be used to develop new therapeutics and disinfectants against mycobacteria.


Abstract Calcium carbonate biominerals are frequently analysed in materials science due to their abundance, diversity and unique material properties. Aragonite nacre is intensively studied, but less information is available about the material properties of biogenic calcite, despite its occurrence in a wide range of structures in different organisms. In particular, there is insufficient knowledge about how preferential crystallographic orientations influence these material properties. Here, we study the influence of crystallography on material properties in calcite semi-nacre and fibres of brachiopod shells using nano-indentation and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The nano-indentation results show that calcite semi-nacre is a harder and stiffer (H ≈ 3-5 GPa; E = 50-85 GPa) biomineral structure than calcite fibres (H = 0.4-3 GPa; E = 30-60 GPa). The integration of EBSD to these studies has revealed a relationship between the crystallography and material properties at high spatial resolution for calcite semi-nacre. The presence of crystals with the c-axis perpendicular to the plane-of-view in longitudinal section increases hardness and stiffness. The present study determines how nano-indentation and EBSD can be combined to provide a detailed understanding of biomineral structures and their analysis for application in materials science.


In this thesis we are concerned with the design and investigation of dedicated programming languages for programming agents. We focus in particular on programming languages for rational agents, i.e., flexibly behaving computing entities that are able to make "good" decisions about what to do. An important line of research in this area is based on Bratman's so-called Belief Desire Intention (BDI) philosophy. The idea of BDI philosophy is that the behavior of rational agents can be predicted by ascribing beliefs, desires, and intentions to the agent, and by assuming that the agent will tend to act in pursuit of its desires, taking into account its beliefs about the world. The idea was then coined that it might not only be possible to explain and describe rational agents in terms of the BDI notions, but that it might also be possible to program rational agents, using these notions as first class citizens in a programming language. The research that is done along these lines not only uses the notions of beliefs, desires, and intentions, but also related notions such as goals and plans. We refer to these notions as "cognitive" notions, and to programming languages for agents based on these notions as "cognitive agent programming languages". Our work proposes new constructs for representing these cognitive notions in a programming language, and investigates existing constructs. We take a semantic approach, in that we define formal semantics for the proposed constructs, and investigate the constructs by performing a semantic analysis. We investigate in particular ways for representing goals, and we study a construct called "plan revision rule" of the cognitive agent programming language 3APL, which can be used for revising an agent's plan if the circumstances call for this. Regarding the representation of goals, we investigate the representation of subgoals in the plans of agents. We show how declarative subgoals, i.e., subgoals representing a desired state, can be programmed in 3APL, even though the semantics of subgoals of 3APL defines them to behave in procedurally. Further, we propose a semantics for the representation of conflicting goals that is based on default logic, and investigate properties of this semantics. Also, we provide an analysis of ways in which goals have been represented in cognitive agent programming languages. Regarding plan revision rules, we analyze the semantic issues that arise with the introduction of these rules. That is, the semantics of plan execution becomes non-compositional with the introduction of these rules. This is problematic when reasoning about the execution of plans. We propose a dynamic logic that is tailored to handle plan revision by circumventing the non-compositionality issue in a certain way, and we show how these rules can be restricted such that the semantics becomes compositional again. Finally, we propose a way to introduce support for modularization in cognitive agent programming languages that is based on the goals of the agent, and we show that the Maude term rewriting language is well suited for implementing logic-based cognitive agent programming languages.


This paper is concerned with traffic accidents and safety management in Nigeria. It focuses on trends in road crashes and carries out a critical review of current road safety approaches with a view to identifying their defects and deficiencies in tackling the traffic accident problem in the country. Accident records and details of current safety measures obtained from such relevant agencies as the Federal Road Safety Corps, The Nigeria Police and Department of Road Transport Services in addition to maps and photographs provided the basic data for the study. The results show the generally high rate of accidents in Nigeria with the driver as the main culprit, the functional limitations of FRSC as the lead agency for road safety matters, the practical difficulties of implementing the driver licence and vehicle registration schemes, and  poor driving culture of Nigerians arising from weak traffic education, public awareness and enforcement programmes.  Restructuring and re-tooling of the lead agency, declaration of traffic accidents as a national health problem and institution of driver identity management system among others are proposed to improve safe motoring in Nigeria.

 Key words: Road crashes, road safety, lead agency, enforcement, safety education, crash response.


The structure of a circuit determines how the effects of a fault can propagate and hence affects the cost of concurrent error detection. By considering circuit structure during logic optimization, the overall cost of a concurrently checked circuit can be minimized. This report presents a new technique called structure-constrained logic optimization (SCLO) that optimizes a circuit under the constraint that faults in the resulting circuit can produce only a prescribed set of errors. Using SCLO, circuits can be optimized for various concurrent error detection schemes allowing the overall cost for each scheme to be compared. A technique for quickly estimating the size of a circuit under different structural constraints is described. This technique enables rapid exploration of the design space for concurrently checked circuits. A new method for the automated synthesis of self-checking circuit implementations for arbitrary combinational circuits is also presented. It consists of an algorithm that determines the best parity-check code for encoding the output of a given circuit, and then uses SCLO to produce the functional circuit which is augmented with a checker to form a self-checking circuit. This synthesis method provides fully automated design, explores a larger design space than other methods, and uses simple checkers. It has been implemented by making modifications to SIS (an updated version of MIS [Brayton 87a]), and results for several MCNC combinational benchmark circuits are given. In most cases, a substantial reduction in overhead compared to a duplicate-and-compare implementation is achieved.


This project tackles the problem of analyzing a specific form of reasoning called 'sunk costs' in economics and 'argument from waste' in argumentation theory. The project is to build a normative structure representing the form of the argument, and then to apply this normative structure to actual cases in which the sunk costs argument has been used. The method is partly structural and partly empirical. The empirical part is carried out through the analysis of case studies of the sunk costs argument found in business decision-making, as well as other areas like medical decision-making and everyday conversational argumentation. The structural part is carried out by using existing methods and techniques from argumentation theory, like argumentation schemes. The project has three especially significant findings. First, the sunk costs argument is not always fallacious, and in many cases it can be seen to be a rational precommitment strategy. Second, a formal model of argumentation, called practical reasoning, can be constructed that helps a rational critic to judge which sunk costs arguments are fallacious and which are not. Third, this formal model represents an alternative model of rationality to the cost-benefit model based on Bayesian calculation of probabilities. This alternative model is called the argumentation model, and it is based on interpersonal reasoning in dialogue as the model of rational thinking. This model in turn is based on the underlying notion of commitment in dialogue.


The thioredoxin (Trx) from Bacillus acidocaldarius (BacTrx), an eubacterium growing optimally at 333 K, is the first Trx described to date from a moderate thermophilic source. To understand the molecular basis of its thermostability, the three-dimensional structure in the oxidized form was determined by NMR methods. A total of 2276 1H-NMR derived distance constraints along with 23 hydrogen-bonds, 72 phi and 27 chi1 torsion angle restraints, were used in a protocol employing simulated annealing followed by restrained molecular dynamics and restrained energy minimization. BacTrx consists of a well-defined core region of five strands of beta-sheet, surrounded by four exposed alpha-helices, features shared by other members of the thioredoxin family. The BacTrx 3D structure was compared with the Escherichia coli Trx (EcTrx) determined by X-ray crystallographic diffraction, and a number of structural differences were observed that may contribute to its thermostabilty. The results of structural analysis indicated that protein stability is due to cumulative effects, the main factor being an increased number of ionic interactions cross-linking different secondary structural elements and clamping the C-terminal alpha-helix to the core of the protein.


The geometry and material property mismatch across the interface of hybrid materials with dissimilar building blocks make it extremely difficult to fully understand the lateral chemical bonding processes and design nanocomposites with optimal performance. Here, we report a combined first-principles study, molecular dynamics modeling, and theoretical derivations to unravel the detailed mechanisms of H-bonding, deformation, load transfer, and failure at the interface of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and silicates, as an example of hybrid materials with geometry and property mismatch across the interface. We identify contributing H-bonds that are key to adhesion and demonstrate a specific periodic pattern of interfacial H-bond network dictated by the interface mismatch and intramolecular H-bonding. We find that the maximum toughness, incorporating both intra- and interlayer strain energy contributions, govern the existence of optimum overlap length and thus the rupture of interfacial (interlayer) H-bond assemblies in natural and synthetic hybrid materials. This universally valid result is in contrast to the previous reports that correlate shear strength with rupture of H-bonds assemblies at a finite overlap length. Overall, this work establishes a unified understanding to explain the interplay between geometric constraints, interfacial H-bonding, materials characteristics, and optimal mechanical properties in hybrid organic-inorganic materials.