The goal of a machine translation (MT) system is to automatically translate a document written in some human input language (e.g., Mandarin Chinese) into an equivalent document written in an output language (e.g., English). This task---so simple in its specification, and yet so rich in its complexities---has challenged computer science researchers for 60 years. While MT systems are in wide use today, the problem of producing human-quality translations remains unsolved. Statistical approaches have substantially improved the quality of MT systems by effectively exploiting parallel corpora: large collections of documents that have been translated by people, and therefore naturally occur in both the input and output languages. Broadly characterized, statistical MT systems translate an input document by matching fragments of its contents to examples in a parallel corpus, and then stitching together the translations of those fragments into a coherent document in an output language. The central challenge of this approach is to distill example translations into reusable parts: fragments of sentences that we know how to translate robustly and are likely to recur. Individual words are certainly common enough to recur, but they often cannot be translated correctly in isolation. At the other extreme, whole sentences can be translated without much context, but rarely repeat, and so cannot be recycled to build new translations.This thesis focuses on acquiring translations of phrases: contiguous sequences of a few words that encapsulate enough context to be translatable, but recur frequently in large corpora. We automatically identify phrase-level translations that are contained within human-translated sentences by partitioning each sentence into phrases and aligning phrases across languages. This alignment-based approach to acquiring phrasal translations gives rise to statistical models of phrase alignment.A statistical phrase alignment model assigns a score to each possible analysis of a sentence-level translation, where an analysis describes which phrases within that sentence can be translated and how to translate them. If the model assigns a high score to a particular phrasal translation, we should be willing to reuse that translation in new sentences that contain the same phrase. Chapter 1 provides a non-technical introduction to phrase alignment models and machine translation. Chapter 2 describes a complete state-of-the-art phrase-based translation system to clarify the role of phrase alignment models. The remainder of this thesis presents a series of novel models, analyses, and experimental results that together constitute a thorough investigation of phrase alignment models for statistical machine translation.Chapter 3 presents the formal properties of the class of phrase alignment models, including inference algorithms and tractability results. We present two specific models, along with statistical learning techniques to fit their parameters to data. Our experimental evaluation identifies two primary challenges to training and employing phrase alignment models, and we address each of these in turn. The first broad challenge is that generative phrase models are structured to prefer very long, rare phrases. These models require external pressure to explain observed translations using small, reusable phrases rather than large, unique ones. Chapter 4 describes three Bayesian models and a corresponding Gibbs sampler to address this challenge. These models outperform the word-level models that are widely employed in research and production MT systems.The second broad challenge is structural: there are many consistent and coherent ways of analyzing a translated sentence using phrases. Long phrases, short phrases, and overlapping phrases can all simultaneously express correct, translatable units. However, no previous phrase alignment models have leveraged this rich structure to predict alignments. We describe a discriminative model of multi-scale, overlapping phrases that outperforms all previously proposed models. The cumulative result of this thesis is to establish model-based phrase alignment as the most effective approach to acquiring phrasal translations. Only phrase alignment models are able to incorporate statistical signals about multi-word constructions into alignment decisions and score coherent phrasal analyses of full sentence pairs. As a result, phrase alignment models outperform classical word-level models in both generative and discriminative settings. This result is fundamental to the field: the models proposed in this thesis address a general, language-independent alignment problem that arises in all state-of-the-art statistical machine translation systems in use today.


For real-time video broadcast where multiple users are interested in the same content, mobile-to-mobile cooperation can be utilized to improve delivery efficiency and reduce network utilization. Under such cooperation, however, real-time video transmission requires end-to-end delay bounds. Due to the inherently stochastic nature of wireless fading channels, deterministic delay bounds are prohibitively difficult to guarantee. For a scalable video structure, an alternative is to provide statistical guarantees using the concept of effective capacity/bandwidth by deriving quality of service exponents for each video layer. Using this concept, we formulate the resource allocation problem for general multihop multicast network flows and derive the optimal solution that minimizes the total energy consumption while guaranteeing a statistical end-to-end delay bound on each network path. A method is described to compute the optimal resource allocation at each node in a distributed fashion. Furthermore, we propose Embedded Sleep Scheduling & Prims Algorithm for energy-efficient flow selection from the set of directed acyclic graphs forming the candidate network flows. The flow selection and resource allocation process is adapted for each video frame according to the channel conditions on the network links.Considering different network topologies, results demonstrate that the proposed resource allocation and flow selection algorithms provide notable performance gains with small optimality gaps at a low computational cost.


A new type of machine for complex structure decoration materials based on hybrid cubic manipulator with six degree of freedom(DOF) suggested in view of traditional serial manipulator and parallel manipulator, three dimensional translation and rotation of output shaft obtained through lineal driving. Define the description of spacial moving capability of common couples and translation base and rotation base of mechanism, based on the fact of mechanism consists of components, a new description method by topological graph theory of components relationship suggested, new description of serial mechanism and parallel mechanism and hybrid mechanism obtained with this method, description elements include component pane and constrained component pane and component relationship line and constrained component relationship line and spacial relative moving capability between adjacent components. DOF(degree of freedom) of hybrid mechanism analysised with example based on the definition of dimensionity of branch spacial moving capability and mechanism spacial moving capability, necessary and sufficient condition of nonsingularity of mechanism presented. Method of analytic geometry used to find the regular cuboid of the reachable working space shape of mechanism, the volume of the reachable working space rest with the limit of translation of couplers, its influential factors obtained, limit length of guideway etc. are the primary influential factors.


Bail and pretrial detention decisions may have important consequences for racial disparities in incarceration rates. Poor minority defendants who are unable to post bail and get released from jail before trial may be more likely to plead guilty and accept longer sentences of incarceration. Racial disparities in incarceration sentences may then reflect a combination of differences in the seriousness of a defendant's case, criminal history, and economic resources to pay bail. This study examines the extent to which bail decision-making and pretrial detention explain Black-White disparities in criminal adjudications and sentences in the Delaware courts from 2012 to 2014. Over 80% of all criminal defendants have a bond imposed on them before their adjudication. Almost a third of cases involve pretrial detention. After controlling for measured differences in a variety of case characteristics, including severity of charges and criminal histories, cash-only bail and pretrial detention increase a defendant's likelihood of conviction and pleading guilty, being incarcerated, and receiving a longer incarceration sentence. Bail and pretrial detention also contribute to 30% to 47% of the explained Black-White disparity in these court dispositions. Careful examination of cash-only bail, bail amount, and pretrial detention policies may help reduce racial disparities in incarceration.


To address the need for evaluation techniques for complex business processes, also known as workflows, this paper proposes an approach based on generalized stochastic Petri nets (GSPNs). We review ten related approaches published in the last fifteen years and compare them to our approach using a wide range of criteria. On the basis of this evaluation, we observe that the newly proposed approach provides results that are at least as good as those from the most accepted alternatives and holds a number of additional advantages, such as modeling simplicity, improved precision, and model reuse for qualitative analyses. The overall approach is formally defined in this paper, along with the definition of several performance metrics. Part of these metrics can be computed analytically, while the remainder can be obtained by simulating the GSPN. Furthermore, a tool has been developed to translate automatically business process execution language processes into GSPNs. Finally, we present a case study in which we applied the proposed approach, colored Petri net tools, and an industrial tool to obtain performance insights into a realistic workflow. The results were highly similar, demonstrating the feasibility and the accuracy of our approach.


Plants that grow epiphytically are often adapted to hold water in a central cup or leaf axils to maintain hydration given that they cannot access soil water. These bodies of water, called phytotelmata, are temporary miniature aquatic ecosystems. This water frequently contains a variety of microorganisms. The New Zealand native Collospermum hastatum is known to hold water within the leaf axils, however an assessment of algal communities within this habitat has never been undertaken. To remedy this lack of knowledge, water samples were obtained from the leaf axils of Collospermum hastatum, with exotic bromeliads for comparison. Freycinetia banksii and Astelia solandri were also investigated, but excluded from further analysis due to inadequate supply of axil water. Samples were investigated using a light microscope for algae, in particular desmids and diatoms, and other biological material. Urban bromeliads investigated had a wide range of organisms within the phytotelmata, including four genera of diatoms. No desmids were identified. Forest-sourced bromeliad and Collospermum water held a comparatively less diverse range of biota, with a complete lack of algal presence. We propose two possible explanations for this, low background levels of algae for dispersal within native forest environments, and the phytotelmic conditions being unsuitable for algal growth


The acquisition of spatial cognition is essential for both everyday functioning (e.g., navigation) and more specific goals (e.g., mathematics), therefore being able to assess and monitor spatial cognition from the first years of life would be essential to predict developmental outcomes and timely intervene whenever spatial development is compromised. Several shreds of evidence have indicated that spatial development can be compromised in the case of development with atypical sensory experience such as blindness. Despite the massive importance of spatial abilities for the development of psychomotor competencies across childhood, only a few standardized and experimental methods have been developed to assess them in visually impaired children. In this review, we will give a short overview of current formal (standardized) and informal (experimental) methods to assess spatial cognition in visually impaired children, demonstrating that very few validated tools have been proposed to date. The main contribution of this current work is to highlight the need of ad hoc studies to create and validate clinical measures to assess spatial cognition in visually impaired individuals and address potential future developments in this area of research.


The Doctoral Programme in Bioengineering trains graduate students through a strong interdisciplinary education on engineering, mathematics, medical and biological knowledge to develop high level engineering problem-solving abilities in life sciences inside a research group or in private or public industrial context. Students are involved in research works in fields currently ongoing at the Bioengineering Department of Politecnico di Milano which organizes the PhD track.PhD students in Bioengineering are about 20 per year, around 60 in the three year course. Research themes include modelling and analysis of physiological data, signals and systems; biomedical imaging processing and technologies; technologies and instrumentation for movement analysis, rehabilitation, ergonomics and sports; therapeutic devices and life support systems in cardiology, cardio/surgery and pneumology; design and assessment of prostheses; computer aided surgery and surgery optimization through modelling; cardiovascular fluid dynamics; molecular, cellular and tissue engineering for biomaterials and prostheses; neuro-engineering and nanobiosystems; genomic and proteomic data analysis; bioinformatics. Stage periods in distinguished research institutes in Italy and abroad are an essential feature of the student training.


This work presents derivation, implementation, and the first applications of the restricted-unrestricted approach based on restricted Kohn-Sham formalism for evaluation of hyperfine coupling constants. By using the spin-restricted Kohn-Sham method the well-known spin contamination problem existing in the unrestricted Kohn-Sham formalism is avoided and a proper description of spin polarization is achieved via the restricted-unrestricted approach without introducing spin contamination into the evaluation of the hyperfine coupling constants. The performance of the proposed formalism is evaluated for a set of organic radicals and transition metal compounds. The results of this investigation indicate promising accuracy of the restricted-unrestricted approach for calculation of the isotropic hyperfine coupling constants in organic radicals as well as transition metal compounds.


The temporal profiles of ion signals were measured for probe electrospray ionization (PESI) and nano-electrospray ionization (nESI) by changing the pulse width of the high voltage applied to the emitters (PESI: 0.12 mm o.d. and 700 nm tip diameter metal needle; nESI: metal-coated 15 μm i.d. silica capillary). The ion signals started to be detected at ∼400 μs and 5 ms, respectively, for PESI and nESI (solution: 10−5 M cytochrome c and 0.1–1% acetic acid in H2O/MeOH (1/1)). With the addition of 10 mM ammonium acetate in 10−5 M cytochrome c solution, the threshold for the signal appearance became about one order of magnitude longer with weaker signal intensities than those for acidic solutions. PESI was applied to real samples such as mayonnaise, natto (fermented soybeans), tomato ketchup and salmon eggs. Marked sequential electrospray was observed for these samples.


The crosslinked poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) heat sensitive color-developingmicrocapsuleswere prepared by emulsion polymerization, in which leucocompound was used as core material and methyl methacrylate and unsaturated hyperbranched poly(amide-ester) aswall-forming materials. The microcapsules were characterized by Malvern particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and densitometry. Triton X-100 was used as the emulsifier of emulsion polymerization. The effects of the emulsifier content on the particle size distribution andmorphology ofmicrocapsuleswere discussed in detail. The FTIR analysis of leucocompound-containing microcapsules demonstrated that leucocompound was successfully encapsulated in the crosslinked PMMAmatrix. TGA results showed that the prepared microcapsules had good thermal stabilities. The DSC analysis of the resultant microcapsules indicated that the glass transition temperature of the microcapsules was 123.8 °C. The resultant microcapsules had narrower particle size distribution, smoother surface and higher heat sensitive color- developing densitywhen emulsifier mass fractionwas 0.6%.


We describe the implementation of a module for the Athena magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code that solves the time-independent, multi-frequency radiative transfer (RT) equation on multidimensional Cartesian simulation domains, including scattering and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) effects. The module is based on well known and well tested algorithms developed for modeling stellar atmospheres, including the method of short characteristics to solve the RT equation, accelerated Lambda iteration to handle scattering and non-LTE effects, and parallelization via domain decomposition. The module serves several purposes: it can be used to generate spectra and images, to compute a variable Eddington tensor (VET) for full radiation MHD simulations, and to calculate the heating and cooling source terms in the MHD equations in flows where radiation pressure is small compared with gas pressure. For the latter case, the module is combined with the standard MHD integrators using operator splitting: we describe this approach in detail, including a new constraint on the time step for stability due to radiation diffusion modes. Implementation of the VET method for radiation pressure dominated flows is described in a companion paper. We present results from a suite of test problems for both the RT solver itself and for dynamical problems that include radiative heating and cooling. These tests demonstrate that the radiative transfer solution is accurate and confirm that the operator split method is stable, convergent, and efficient for problems of interest. We demonstrate there is no need to adopt ad hoc assumptions of questionable accuracy to solve RT problems in concert with MHD: the computational cost for our general-purpose module for simple (e.g., LTE gray) problems can be comparable to or less than a single time step of Athena's MHD integrators, and only few times more expensive than that for more general (non-LTE) problems.


This article draws on liberal democratic theory to provide a philosophical foundation for understanding the relationship between speech rights and democracy. Utilizing the work of key political theorists, such as Mill, Friedman, Hayek, Green, Dewey and Barber, I argue that two conflicting theories of speech rights coexist within liberal democratic thought. I demonstrate how legal interpretations of the First Amendment manifest and reinforce these theories, which I label 'defensive' and 'empowering'. Analysis of two Supreme Court cases widely recognized as pivotal in determining print and broadcast speech regimes, Red Lion Broadcasting v. Federal Communications Commission (1969) and Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974), highlights the role these theories play in legal thought. I conclude by arguing that empowering speech rights offer the best foundation for democratic communication, and by proposing a set of legal principles capable of revitalizing the meaning and function of speech rights in the USA.


Background: In a previous review article in the Taiwanese Journal of Psychiatry (Takeda and Tagami: Taiwanese J. Psychiatry 2020; 34: 152-61), we gave the development status of drugs for Alzheimer's disease, presented a relatively pessimistic view, and highlighted the difficulties in their development. Methods: Since I have witnessed some encouraging development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics against Alzheimer's disease, I have decided to contribute this article. I reviewed new data from published journals and from internal reports of pharmaceutical companies. I have also offered some explanations and comments. Results: In 2021, I saw promising clinical trial results reporting the use of aducanumab, a monoclonal antibody treatment against amyloid β protein, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a decision for expedited approval of aducanumab. But the results of aducanumab's phase III clinical trials were considered by some to be insufficient for the approval, and the FDA's decision was controversial. The European and Japanese regulatory authorities did not approve aducanumab. In September 2022, however, more promising results were announced from Phase III clinical trials of another monoclonal antibody, lecanemab. Conclusion: In this review, I have recounted the state of the arts of drugs for treating dementia and highlighted remarkable recent progress in the development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease.


Our analysis and measurements of a custom-designed two-port microstrip test fixture for biological tissue characterization at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies demonstrated that the transmission parameter S 21 would provide a better sensitivity to the complex permittivity change than the reflection coefficient S 11. However, the standard through-reflect-line (TRL) calibration method employed for the extraction of the tissue complex permittivity did not fully remove the coaxial-to-microstrip adaptors' induced errors, which were manifested by ripple artifacts on the measured two-port S parameters. A simple deconvolution method was demonstrated wherein these errors were removed by postcalibration correction of the measured S 21 of the tissue under test (TUT) by using water as a reference material. This paper provides a theoretical analysis of this method based on a model presented for postcalibration adaptors. Our detailed analysis shows that the error for S 21 using the deconvolution method linearly depends on the difference between the S 11 of the TUT and the reference material. Measurement and error estimation are also provided for various biological tissues and are consistent with analytical expectations. Our analysis provides support that systematic errors of numerically modeled S 21 utilized for complex permittivity extraction can significantly be reduced by the deconvolution method. On the other hand, the analysis also shows that the S 21 numerical modeling errors and the postcalibration adaptors' error terms have a similar impact on the extracted complex permittivity using the standard time-gating technique and are irreducible, unless the deconvolution method is used. Our analysis also identifies water as a better reference sample than methanol for accurate extraction of the complex permittivity of tissues in the range of epsiv' > 9 and epsiv" > 7 at 30 GHz.


The fluid mosaic model proposed by Jonathan Singer and Garth Nicolson in 1972 served as the starting point for our modern understanding of biological membranes [1]. A visual example of their model is depicted in Fig. 1. Their model describes the biological membrane bilayer as an integration of proteins and lipids – capable of communicating and interacting to serve the necessary functions of the cell. These interactions can control movement of material in and out of the cell through protein pores, form lipid rafts, and regulate vesicle formation. This article will focus on computational methods used to study biomembranes (specifically Monte Carlo) but will start by examining the need of such tools.


A well-functioning and inclusive financial sector in developing countries is important for economic development. A mobile payment revolution has been taking place in Africa and allows frugal financial innovations for inclusive finance. This paper looks at the experience of M-Pesa in Kenya and in particular how they deal with customer care. Not enough use is made of the field agents and of customer segmentation (the low-income customers in particular deserve more attention), while customer care and operations can also be improved. Suggestions are made for how to do so and conclusions drawn about the strong points of this potentially frugal financial innovation. M-Pesa is helping people to become 'financially included' and tries to learn from customer satisfaction research.


Legally speaking, consumption of any substance that causes inebriation is prohibited in the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In terms of medicine, alcoholic liquor is ethanol-containing liquid whether causes inebriation or not. Its consumption is considered as a crime and the user will be punished. Ethanol as a known harmful substance might lead to mood instability and subsequently different crimes. Ethanol is the most abused substance throughout the world. There are 15 to 20 million alcohol consumers in the United States. 200 mg per deciliter is considered as the level of inebriation. When it rises to 300 or 400 mg and above, it may cause unconsciousness and coma and even death. Inebriation in Islamic jurisprudence is a conditioned state, so that it occurs following consumption of an inebriant substance. Islamic penal code does not have a definition of inebriation; although consumption of the inebriant substance is considered as a crime. Inebriant in Islamic jurisprudence is any substance which causes inebriation and its consumption is known as a crime. Therefore, the punishment is stated in Islamic sharia in details. Based on Islamic criminal law, if an individual consumes an inebriant substance leading to inebriation, he will be punished even if one drop is drunk; no matter if it is low or high, pure or mixed, diluted or concentrated. Inebriation induced by inebriant substances is in different types. Islamic crime law has been revised in 2013 and the related subjects to alcohol use are 165, 168, 169, 173, 174 and 175.


We segment the trajectory of a moving object into piecewise smooth motion intervals separated by motion boundaries. Motion boundaries are classified into various types, including starts, stops, pauses, and discontinuous changes of motion due to force impulses. We localize and classify motion boundaries by fitting a mixture of two polynomials near the boundary. Given a classification of motion boundaries, we use naive physical rules to infer a set of changing contact relationships which explain the observed motion. We show segmentation and classification results for several image sequences of a basketball undergoing gravitational and nongravitational motion.


Geophysical studies suggest that fluid plays important roles on generation of slow earthquakes in subduction zones. However, it remains unknown how fluid affects slow earthquake-related deformation. The mélanges exhumed from source depths of slow earthquakes are expected to record the fluid-rock interactions and deformation that are responsible for slow earthquakes. Here, we examined the serpentine mélange in the Nishisonogi metamorphic rocks in western Kyusyu deformed at ~460 °C and 25–30 km depth and the Makimine mélange in the Shimanto accretionary complex in central Kyusyu deformed at ~370 °C and 10–15 km depth. The both mélanges record a metasomatic reaction between the pelitic schist and chlorite-actinolite schist or dolerite/basalt, resulting in albitization and consumption of muscovite and carbonaceous material in the pelitic schist. The albitization is not caused by sodium supply from albite in basic schist, dolerite, and basalt, but is rather derived from the infiltration of sodium-bearing external fluid into the subduction plate boundary. The albitized reaction zones are accompanied with localized viscous shear zones that show low-angle thrust shear sense. The kinematics of viscous shear and the temporal relation between albitized reaction zones and viscous shear zones suggest that the reaction-enhanced viscous shear occurred during subduction, which may account for the generation of slow slip events. The sodium-bearing fluid flow along the plate boundary may control metasomatism and deformation responsible for slow earthquakes.


Partially automated processing of horticultural products often contains simple and highly repetitive manual work processes. The handling of susceptible products, especially the feeding of conveying units, is difficult to mechanise. The machine capacities continuously increase and in consequence a higher material input is necessary. This is commonly realised by boosting the speed of material transport, but in practice a full capacity is rarely achieved. The manual material input is a shortcoming that needs to be optimised, taking into account that there are motivating aspects for the worker like a belt speed increase, but also risk factors resulting from the work task itself. Highly repetitive work can cause work related disorders. Job satisfaction is generally low in this work environment, offering no substantial task variation, with stress commonly present due to high production speeds. There should be a balance between task demands and worker's motivation and abilities. The purpose of this pilot study is to introduce a motion-based approach for assessing the effects of machine speed on worker's performance in a simple repetitive task.
A conveyor belt and wooden sticks are used to simulate a simple and highly repetitive process of placing products on a moving belt. The influences of increasing machine speeds on the human performance and motion are investigated in this study.
A 3-D-motion analysis system collects objective data (Jakob, 2005). Active infrared light emissive diodes are attached to the upper extremities of the subjects to record the motions.
Three different machine capacities are run from 7300 pieces up to 10300 pieces per hour. The speed of the moving belt respectively rises from 0.19 m/s to 0.3 m/s. To decide on the optimal speed, knowledge about the product and the complexity of product placement is also essential. Within the experiments it was possible to determine major influence factors on the human performance, which is again influenced by many internal factors like abilities, health status or motivation and external factors like work technique and process organisation. Two different work techniques were identified. A synchronous work style proved to be more efficient, but at the same time caused more body movement as an asynchronous work style.
Although the experimental work task was very simple, large variations in the human capacities were noticed. The operation breakdown limits the maximum human capacity and needs to be optimised first. The synchronous work style showed a greater potential for a performance increase induced by the machine speed but also by large variations in the individual performance-rate. To explain these variations the precise analysis of the motion tracks revealed more differences in the efficiency of individual job performance.


Item response theory (IRT) has arguably been one of the most successful and widely used statistical modeling techniques in psychometrics, with applications in developmental, social, educational and cognitive psychology for example, as well as in medical research, demography and other social science settings. In this paper I will try to briefly summarize some of the important research in nonparametric and parametric IRT today. I will try to show that a broad understanding of IRT as an instance of mathematical statistics in the service of substantive psychology, together with an appreciation of some of the current measurement challenges in education and cognitive psychology, lead us to assessment models that do not look very much like today's IRT models, but for which the tools and conceptual framework of nonparametric and parametric IRT are still quite well suited.


: Antibiotic susceptibility of 446 Enterococcus isolates from 9 medical centres of Moscow and St. Petersburg was tested. Among the isolates 386 belonged to E.faecalis, 48 to E.faecium and 12 to the other species. All the isolates were susceptible to vancomycin. As for E.faecalis 84 and 85 per cent of the isolates were susceptible to ampicillin and ampicillin/sulbactam respectively (no production of beta-lactamases), the frequency of high resistance to aminoglycosides amounted to 44 per cent with respect to streptomycin and to 25 per cent with respect to gentamicin, 75 per cent of the isolates was susceptible to ciprofloxacin. As for E.faecium and the rare species of Enterococcus more than 70 per cent of the isolates was resistant to ampicillin and ampicillin/sulbactam, the frequency of high resistance to aminoglycosides exceeded 60 per cent, 17 and 25 per cent of the isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin.


As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) become widely used in various civil applications, many civil aerodromes are being transformed into a hybrid environment for both manned and unmanned aircraft. In order to make these hybrid aerodromes operate safely and efficiently, the autonomous taxiing system of UAVs that adapts to the dynamic environment has now become increasingly important, particularly under poor visibility conditions. In this paper, we develop a probabilistic self-learning approach for the situation awareness of UAVs' autonomous taxiing. First, the probabilistic representation for a dynamic navigation map and camera images are developed at the pixel level to capture the taxiway markings and the other objects of interest (e.g., logistic vehicles and other aircraft). Then, we develop a self-learning approach so that the navigation map can be maintained online by continuously map-updating with the obtained camera observations via Bayesian learning. An indoor experiment was undertaken to evaluate the developed self-learning method for improved situation awareness. It shows that the developed approach is capable of improving the robustness of obstacle detection via updating the navigation map dynamically.


Plasmodium vivax is traditionally known to cause benign tertian malaria, although recent reports suggest that P. vivax can also cause severe life-threatening disease analogous to severe infection due to P. falciparum. There are limited published data on the clinical and epidemiological profiles of children suffering from 'severe malaria' in an urban setting of India. To assess the clinical and epidemiological profiles of children with severe malaria, a prospective study was carried out during June 2008–December 2008 in the Department of Pediatrics, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, a tertiary hospital located in East Delhi, India. Data on children aged ≤12 years, diagnosed with severe malaria, were analyzed for their demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters. All patients were categorized and treated as per the guidelines of the World Health Organization. In total, 1,680 children were screened for malaria at the paediatric outpatient and casualty facilities of the hospital. Thirty-eight children tested positive for malaria on peripheral smear examination (2.26% slide positivity rate). Of these, 27 (71%) were admitted and categorized as severe malaria as per the definition of the WHO while another 11 (29%) received treatment on outpatient basis. Most (24/27; 88.8%) cases of severe malaria (n=27) were infected with P. vivax. Among the cases of severe malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax (n=24), 12 (50%) presented with altered sensorium (cerebral malaria), seven (29.1%) had severe anaemia (haemoglobin <5 g/dL), and 17 (70.8%) had thrombocytopaenia, of which two had spontaneous bleeding (epistaxis). Cases of severe vivax malaria are clinically indistinguishable from severe falciparum malaria. Our study demonstrated that majority (88.8%) of severe malaria cases in children from Delhi and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh were due to P. vivax-associated infection. P. vivax should, thus, be regarded as an important causative agent for severe malaria in children.


From 1976 to 1982, 72 patients with Ménière's disease had endolymphatic sac surgery. Sixty of the 72 were reviewed after a mean period of 33 months from operation; in these, sac surgery (regardless of type) provided abolition or improvement of vertigo in 75%, and 70% of these had hearing improvement or stabilization. Twelve had failure of vertigo control and required either labyrinthectomy or vestibular neurectomy, usually within one year of the first operation. In a smaller subgroup followed for a mean period of 51 months, vertigo control was achieved in 60% and hearing maintenance in 40%. Our data indicate that sac surgery provides good control of vertigo and maintenance of hearing for a period up to about three years, with a significant decline in benefit at about four or five years after operation.


The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) introduced guidelines for environmental and social considerations in April 2004. The guidelines could lead to an improvement in the quality of environmental and social consideration reports. The main reason for this may be the inclusion of alternatives analysis and public involvement. This study aimed to quantitatively verify the effectiveness of alternatives analysis and public involvement, and to propose concrete methods for improving the quality of reports based on the analytic result. The Lee-Colley review package was used to review the quality of the samples of 120 reports dating from 2001 to 2012. A path analysis with structural equation modeling was used to obtain a causal model. The rating scales from A to F (ordinal scales) were converted to rank scores and analyzed using a statistical technique. This paper acknowledges the effectiveness of alternatives analysis, public involvement, and the number of criteria for improving the quality of the reports. The effectiveness of those variables may be verified by the causal model. As a result of statistical analysis, the paper points out the effectiveness of alternatives analysis with a wide range of criteria and public involvement. Further research is needed to improve the causal model by attaining new knowledge, to find out what are the concrete benefits of public involvement to the quality of the reports, to verify the most suitable number of alternatives and criteria for alternatives analysis, and to prepare technical guidelines for the use of the quantitative technique of alternatives analysis in case studies.


Severe toxemia of pregnancy should he included in any discussion of coagulation defects. We have recently cared for 2 severely preeclamplic and 3 eclamplic patients who demonstrated varying degrees of disseminated intravascular coagulation. All patients recovered without sequelae; 2 of the fetuses died. One patient with hepatic rupture represents only the second eclainpttc to have survived this complication, despite her associated cardiopulmonary and renal failure. In such diagnoses a low platelet count is probably the single most important finding. Fibrinogen levels may be only slightly depressed, or even normal, in the face of severe fibrin deposition. Hemolysis, deformed red cells, abnormal hepatic function, urinary casts, and elevated BUN also occur. The severity of the clotting dysfunction does not always correlate with the severity of the toxemic process; convulsive thresholds in particular are not consistently related to the severity of the coagulopathy. In these cases heparin was given to 3 women, 2 of whom were delivered while being heparinized. Preliminary clinical laboratory data suggest that this drug, when added to a magnesium sulfate regimen, can improve organ function in toxemia prior to delivery.


Concerns about privacy are growing. A right to privacy is in part a constitutional right. However, there are also important economic implications to the fair redress and enforcement of that right. Admittedly, not everything of value can be measured in dollars and cents and courts have found that monetary compensation is not sufficient for violations of constitutional rights, such as free speech. Nevertheless, a better understanding of the economic values associated with privacy, and its violation, can inform the current policy debate in at least two ways. Narrowly, violations of privacy that cause direct economic harm may need to be compensated. Broadly, a better understanding of the economic market failures associated with privacy can help inform policies that attempt to create the right economic price signals to guide private decision making when it concerns privacy.The economic harms to individuals who have their privacy violated fall into at least two categories. First, some violations of privacy lead to direct economic harms. This is the type of harm, for example, that occurs from identify theft — someone gains access to your private information and that allows them to create liabilities in your name. Second, while not always economic costs, some privacy violations create value that is not shared with the individuals whose information creates the value. This is the so-called Big Data phenomenon where aggregations of data are more valuable than their component parts. The economic flows associated with this type of transaction can be further complicated when the data are collected from use of a 'free' product. The first part of this analysis will review literature and characterize issues with estimating both of these types of value. For example, the Big Data problem has many characteristics similar to allocation of common costs or apportioning joint value creation as well as issues related to two-sided markets — topics economists have studied extensively.The broader economic issues reach beyond the value of data about individuals to those individuals and concern the externalities of costs and benefits to others. Better understanding these externalities is urgent as institutions around privacy are developed and policy is codified in legislation. These costs and benefits can be divided between those that directly impact other economic actors (e.g., firms, data aggregators and researchers) and those that concern society as a whole (e.g., so-called social benefits of Big Data or protection of constitutional rights.) The first type of externality would be the type imposed on a company that possesses protected data from individuals. While this data might be necessary for a firm to provide appropriate services to their customers, the firm incurs costs to protecting the data. Significantly burdensome protection requirements would impose substantial negative externalities on the firm protecting the data, possibly leading to under provision of the firm's goods or services. The second type of externality concerns the potential for research and analysis for the greater good, as many proponents of Big Data would argue. This is essentially a positive social externality. In the face of such social externalities, economic inefficiencies arise, suggesting the potential for some policy intervention. Understanding underlying economic consequences of protecting, or violating, privacy can help guide policies that enable the correct price signals for private actors to inform the proper level of privacy protection. (Of course, punitive damages for violations of fundamental rights are also intended to incentivize behavior, although with possibly blunter signals.)In addition to characterizing and organizing the different types of economic flows associated with various dimensions of privacy, this paper will provide illustrative examples of estimating select economic values.


Abstract The realist movement in political thought has until recently been defined as much by its enemies as by its theses. It has often spent more time explaining what was wrong with ideal theory than doing realist theory. This essay argues that realism is entering a new phase, constructive rather than combative. It identifies three modes of constructive or affirmative realist theory (present in this volume's essays and elsewhere). The first focuses on feasibility; the second revisits the realist canon; and the third shows how familiar ideologies can be defended without appealing to the abstract or abstruse philosophical claims on which they are often sought to rely. The essay does not seek unity where none can be found. It counsels accepting that the family surnamed Realism is a large and nontraditional one in which splits and remarriages are not unknown and many prospective partners raise eyebrows.


Patients with Hodgkin's disease have increased numbers of spontaneously proliferating circulating lymphocytes. In order to test the relationship between this phenomenon and the in vitro mitogenic response, both spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation and the response to stimulation with phytohaemagglutinin were quantified. In addition, the proliferating lymphocytes were identified autoradiographically and characterized for the presence of lymphocyte surface markers and monocyte markers. Spontaneous thymidine incorporation by lymphocytes from patients with Hodgkin's disease was increased compared with normal controls, and the phytohaemagglutinin response was depressed. A significant inverse relationship was demonstrated between the spontaneous thymidine incorporation on day 0 and the phytohaemagglutinin response on day 3 (P is less than 0.01). The activated lymphocytes were heterogeneous with respect to both morphology and surface markers. These data suggest that the circulating proliferating lymphocytes in Hodgkin's disease are reactive cells and that the quantitative depression in cellular immunity demonstrable in these patients may be related to this chronic reactivity.


In the current study, it is aimed to evaluate the hardness and gloss properties of water-based UV curable polyurethane (PU) acrylate films by using two types of photoinitiators at different ratios. For this purpose, UV curable water-based unpigmented and pigmented formulations were prepared. Formulations were applied on glass plates and UV cured under gallium and mercury (Ga/Hg) lamps at three different power levels, i.e., 60, 90 and 120 W/cm. After UV curing process, gloss and hardness values of polymeric films were measured. The highest film hardness values implying the highest curing level was obtained with the formulation A1, including only Omnirad® 819 DW (former Irgacure® 819 DW) which is effective in deep curing, and formulation A3 including Omnirad® 819 DW and Omnirad® 500 (former Irgacure® 500) effective in surface and deep curing at 2:1 ratio, respectively. Among these two formulations, the highest gloss value was obtained with the formulation A3. GaHg lamp combination provided the highest gloss values while highest film hardness values were obtained with GaHg and GaGaHg lamp combinations. Compared to clear films, pigmented films rendered higher gloss values which was more prominent in single lamp (Ga, Hg) cured films. Results showed that photoinitiators (Omnirad® 819 DW and Omnirad® 500) provided better hardness and gloss values at 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1 ratios. Gloss values increased due to the increase in film hardness. The increase in the total applied energy resulted in an increase in the film hardness values of all clear and pigmented formulations. In terms of film hardness and gloss values, films prepared with Omnirad® 819 DW and Omnirad® 500 at 1:1 ratio and cured under GaHg lamp combination provided better results.


Although treatment of cycling cows with low concentrations of melengesterol acetate (MGA) results in formation of persistent follicles, in the absence of corpora lutea, it is not known whether persistent follicles form in anestrous cows in response to a similar treatment. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of long-term MGA treatment (14 d) on follicular dynamics and the secretion of estradiol in anestrous postpartum beef cows. Treatment groups (replicated over 2 yr) included the following: anestrous control (AC; n = 11), anestrous MGA (AM; n = 16), and cycling MGA (CM; positive control; n = 16). Angus-crossbred cows were assigned to treatment by age, cow body condition, and days postpartum. Cows were fed carrier (AC group) or 0.5 mg MGA x animal(-1) x d(-1) (AM and CM groups) for 14 d beginning approximately 38 d postpartum. Cows allotted to the CM group were injected with PGF2alpha, on the first day of MGA treatment to induce luteolysis. The preceding treatment (CM) results in formation of persistent follicles and secretion of elevated concentrations of estradiol. Ovaries of each cow were examined daily by transrectal ultrasonography beginning 5 to 7 d preceding the initiation of feeding MGA or carrier and continued until ovulation or 7 d following MGA feeding. There was no difference among groups in the stage of follicular wave or diameter of the largest follicle at the start of carrier or MGA feeding. The length of the follicular wave present at the start of MGA feeding was greater (P < 0.01) for cows in the CM (14.5 d, yr 1; 18.3 d, yr 2) group compared to the AM (9.4 d, yr 1; 7.9 d, yr 2) or AC (9.7 d, yr 1; 10.7 d, yr 2) groups. Maximum follicular diameter over both years was greater (P < 0.01) for the CM (20.6 mm) group than the AM (15.1 mm) or AC (16.4 mm) groups. Circulating concentrations of estradiol were also increased (P < 0.05) in the CM group compared to the AM or AC groups. However, MGA appeared to have no effect (P > 0.05) on the number of follicles recruited, growth rate of the dominant follicle during the first 6 d oftreatment, or growth rate to the maximum follicular diameter. In summary, MGA treatment did not increase the duration ot the follicular wave, maximum follicular diameter, or secretion of estradiol in anestrous postpartum cows, nor did MGA affect the number of follicles recruited or growth rate of dominant follicles in cycling or anestrous animals.


We measure crowdsourcing performance based on a standard IQ questionnaire, and examine Amazon's Mechanical Turk (AMT) performance under different conditions. These include variations of the payment amount offered, the way incorrect responses affect workers' reputations, threshold reputation scores of participating AMT workers, and the number of workers per task. We show that crowds composed of workers of high reputation achieve higher performance than low reputation crowds, and the effect of the amount of payment is non-monotone---both paying too much and too little affects performance. Furthermore, higher performance is achieved when the task is designed such that incorrect responses can decrease workers' reputation scores. Using majority vote to aggregate multiple responses to the same task can significantly improve performance, which can be further boosted by dynamically allocating workers to tasks in order to break ties.


Brillouin optical-fiber frequency-domain analysis is a new sensing technique for the distributed measurement of temperature and strain. Extensive theoretical investigations and experimental results of distributed temperature and strain measurements demonstrate the feasibility of this new concept. In an experimental demonstration, a spatial resolution of 3 m was achieved for a 1 km-long single-mode fiber.


The subject matter of this paper is empirical investigation of the decisions of public policy making on the issue of arable land ownership during the two centuries of Serbian agricultural development. The goal of this investigation was to shed new light on the causes of long term economic backwardness of The Republic of Serbia. Following relevant historical facts that are incorporated in this work, we found constant and common factor to all historical phases of the development of land property rights. Our hypothesis was that frequent and insufficiently transparent changes of land property relations have always negatively affected economic activity because they left no time for strengthening the legal security of property owners. The result of our study is that the problem of ambiguity definition of land property rights in Serbian legislation has created room for inconsistencies in the implementation of agrarian reforms after the First and the Second World War. Special attention is paid to current changes in land ownership that take place within the process of denationalization and restitution of property seized after World War II, which are very slow and also inconsistent themselves.


Nerve growth factor (NGF) has been shown to protect specific neurons that express its signaling receptor, trkA, from a variety of insults. There are some data, in particular in the developing brain, indicating that NGF has neuroprotective actions that extend beyond cells expressing trkA. In this study, we asked whether NGF would protect against brain injury in a neonatal model of hypoxia–ischemia. Postnatal day (PD) 7 rat pups received a right carotid ligation and were then exposed to hypoxic conditions. Prior to carotid ligation and 48 hours later, pups received an intracerebroventricular injection of NGF or denatured NGF dissolved in vehicle or vehicle alone. Brains were then assessed at PD21. In vehicle‐ and denatured NGF‐treated animals, there was significant damage (30–40% volume loss) to both the striatum and cortex ipsilateral to the carotid ligation. In contrast, little damage (10% volume loss) was observed in most NGF‐treated animals. NGF injection studies revealed that NGF stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of trkA in multiple brain regions. These results show that NGF appears globally neuroprotective to the developing brain in a neonatal model of hypoxia‐ischemia and that there may be novel mechanisms in vivo through which NGF exerts its protective actions.


Abstract:Since at least the 1940s, jazz musicians, scholars, journalists, and historians have expressed ambivalent and sometimes contradictory attitudes toward pianist, composer, and educator Mary Lou Williams. Though she undeniably experienced significant hardships throughout her career at least in part due to gender-based discrimination, Williams has also been recognized and celebrated as an important figure in jazz history in a variety of ways since at least the 1970s. Recent scholarly and mainstream discourses dedicated to Williams reveal an apparent widespread tendency within jazz culture to celebrate the pianist as a noteworthy historical figure at least in part due to her gender, and some institutions such as Jazz at Lincoln Center have tried to demonstrate that jazz culture reflects certain currently prevalent progressive values, namely diversity, equity, and inclusion. Such narratives encounter the problem that jazz culture has historically been a male-dominated field that has rarely treated its female practitioners equitably. The contradictions between the apparent facts of jazz history and more recent narratives celebrating the contributions of women such as Williams raise important and potentially uncomfortable historiographical and ethical questions for the jazz community. This article suggests that practical trial-and-error efforts aimed at actively engaging more women performers in jazz culture might be more promising projects for institutions as opposed to investing resources in continuously attempting to revise narratives about the role of women in jazz history, regardless of whether the aim of historical analysis is to point out past sexism or to try to obfuscate it or atone for it.


One of the early strokes of genius by the architects of the American system was entrusting to Congress the sacred duty of supporting and providing for our military. The founding fathers did so to guard against an all-powerful executive and protect the foundations of individual liberty. However, two centuries of democratic governance, separation of powers, and dedication to the propositions of our founding revealed their true brilliance and foresight.


Data-augmentation is key to the training of neural networks for image classification. This paper first shows that existing augmentations induce a significant discrepancy between the typical size of the objects seen by the classifier at train and test time. We experimentally validate that, for a target test resolution, using a lower train resolution offers better classification at test time.
We then propose a simple yet effective and efficient strategy to optimize the classifier performance when the train and test resolutions differ. It involves only a computationally cheap fine-tuning of the network at the test resolution. This enables training strong classifiers using small training images. For instance, we obtain 77.1% top-1 accuracy on ImageNet with a ResNet-50 trained on 128x128 images, and 79.8% with one trained on 224x224 image. In addition, if we use extra training data we get 82.5% with the ResNet-50 train with 224x224 images.
Conversely, when training a ResNeXt-101 32x48d pre-trained in weakly-supervised fashion on 940 million public images at resolution 224x224 and further optimizing for test resolution 320x320, we obtain a test top-1 accuracy of 86.4% (top-5: 98.0%) (single-crop). To the best of our knowledge this is the highest ImageNet single-crop, top-1 and top-5 accuracy to date.


This paper describes an engineering professor's first attempt at designing and implementing a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) study in a basic electrical circuits course at LaGuardia Community College. Inspired by his understanding of Lee Shulman's (2005) concept of "signature pedagogy" and Eric Mazur's emphasis on student-centered approaches (2009, November 12), and aware that his students did not always understand the electrical theories and concepts presented in class, the author decided to change his pedagogy. He explains his efforts to train his students to think as engineers, first by making them more "visible" and "accountable" in the classroom, and second, by offering them hands-on practice through the use of Multisim, a free and open source simulation software. The implications for the teaching of the basic electrical circuits course are offered as well as the author's reflection on his own growth as a teacher and his developing understanding of the scholarship of teaching and learning.


The primary purpose of conducting this research is to determine how campus journey application development is progressing. As a result, this research proposes a conceptual model for visitor journey application development. The study included 100 top ranking educational institutes and additionally included Finnish and Estonian universities. 39 virtual campus tour applications and 36 visitor journey applications are benchmarked in total for this study. Provides an example of visitor journey mapping with features, complexities, and best practices that are influential for improving visitor experience during visitor journey application development.


Ameloblastic carcinoma is characterized by rapid, painful expansion of the jaw, unlike conventional ameloblastoma. The tumor most frequently involves the mandible. The expanding lesion causes perforation of buccal and lingual plates of the jaw and invades the surrounding soft tissue. Rapidly growing large tumor mass may cause tooth mobility. Mandibular tumor involving mental nerve leads to the paresthesia of the nerve. Maxillary tumor can produce fistula in the palate and paresthesia of infraorbital nerve. Although rare, these lesions have been known to metastasize mostly to the regional lymph nodes or lungs. Because the lesion is usually found unexpectedly after an incisional biopsy or the removal of a cyst, a guide to the differential diagnosis is usually not useful. The tumor cells resemble the cells seen in ameloblastoma, but they show cytologic atypia. Moreover, they lack the characteristic arrangement seen in ameloblastoma. Direct extensions of the tumor, lymph node involvement have been reported. A case of ameloblastic carcinoma in a 60 year old man of typical aggressiveness and extensive local destruction is reported here and its clinical, radiographical and histological features are discussed.


Genetic diversity at the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is particularly important for species viability as it allows populations to respond to emerging pathogens and infectious disease. Patterns of variation at this gene complex serve as a useful complement to information obtained from neutral loci for planning management and conservation strategies that seek to ensure the adaptive potential of at-risk species. In this study, we investigate patterns of genetic variation at exon 2 of the MHC class II gene in the critically endangered Barrens Topminnow (BTM). This species has undergone dramatic declines over the last thirty years, leading to its recent proposal for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Patterns of nucleotide substitution and phylogenetic analyses revealing trans-species polymorphisms suggest that this locus has been of adaptive importance in the history of this species. Despite recent population declines and documented population bottlenecks, measures of genetic diversity were high in comparison to patterns observed at putatively neutral microsatellite and mitochondrial markers. Results from this study are discussed in the context of recovery plans for the BTM and lend support to the previous designation of evolutionary significant units and management units based on neutral markers.


Long-term percutaneous intravenous catheters have added greatly to the comfort of cancer patients who receive intensive therapy, but the resulting breach in body defenses contributes to infection. Staphylococcus epidermidis has been a prominent infecting organism, and recently aspergillus species have been reported in association with Hickman lines. Two patients are reported with yeast infection: Candida parapsilosis with a Groshong catheter and Candida albicans with a Hickman catheter. In immunocompromised patients such infections are potentially life-threatening and may reinforce the case for totally implanted venous access devices overlaid by intact skin.


The restraints and conflicts between indexes in the project decision-making often influence rationality of outcomes. Through applying PPE model to project decision, the author makes use of RAGA to optimize the projection direction, turns multi-dimension data into low dimension space, so the value of projection function can be calculated by way of seeking the optimal projection direction, thereby, according to the value, project decision can be processed. The outcome from concrete application indicates that it is very reasonable, has avoided the problem of calculating coefficient of weight subjectively, and it provides we with a new method and thought to project decision.


A conjugative R-plasmid PE004, Inc F11, conferring resistance to ampicillin, tetracycline, streptomycin, kanamycin and trimethoprim was obtained from an E. coli serotype 026 isolate from the stool of a child with acute diarrhoea. The R-plasmid PE004 also co-transfers an enteropathogenicity antigen without the production of enterotoxins or manifestation of invasiveness. It is not yet known whether this transferable antigen mediates enterocyte damage with consequent diarrhoea. The R-plasmid was of molecular weight 2.4 megadaltons (3.7 kilobase) with a transfer frequency of 6 x 10(-4) cfu/ml E. coli J53-1. The uncontrolled mediation with antibiotics in cases of acute diarrhoea could select gut bacteria not only possessing R-plasmids conferring resistance to several antibiotics but with associated undesirable extrachromosomal genes.


Purpose: The aim of this article is the analysis of normative aspect of Presidential Elections in the Republic of Poland in 2020, conducted under conditions of coronavirus epidemics SARS-CoV-2. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research analysis mainly focused on normative acts (also their projects), as well as official announcements of National Electoral Commission, which resulted in adopting the analytical method. Findings: Performed analyses allow to conclude that the trial to realize voting in Presidential Elections as of 10th May 2020 had been impossible in those legal and actual conditions. This state could have been anticipated already, a least the previous month. Practical implications: Performed analysis gives legitimacy to state that interfering in electoral action 's regulations during its duration is not only objectionable from the point of view of fundamental rules of democratic law-governed state, but also counterproductive. Implementation of changes into nationwide electoral action during its term only brings irreparable damage. In case of repetitive extraordinary situations, which result in electoral action 's fiasco, information policy ought to be performed in a transparent way on the basis of announcements of specialized (election oriented) administration organs. Originality/ value: Presidential Elections in 2020 were the first nationwide electoral action in the history of the Republic of Poland, during which legal and factual circumstances made voting in initially planned term impossible. At the same time, till the last day before elections called for 10th May 2020, public authority tried to perform elections through subsequent normative changes. However, it occurred to be impossible - which had been anticipated by National Electoral Commission a few days before. Conclusions and values which stem from the nationwide electoral fiasco, allow to manage risk more effectively in the times of unforeseeable circumstances, disturbing seriously social life.


Container technology provides a lightweight operating system level virtual hosting environment. Its emergence profoundly changes the development and deployment paradigms of multi-tier distributed applications. However, due to the incomplete implementation of system resource isolation mechanisms in the Linux kernel, some security concerns still exist for multiple containers sharing an operating system kernel on a multi-tenancy container cloud service. In this paper, we first present the information leakage channels we discovered that are accessible within the containers. Such channels expose a spectrum of system-wide host information to the containers without proper resource partitioning. By exploiting such leaked host information, it becomes much easier for malicious adversaries (acting as tenants in the container clouds) to launch advanced attacks that might impact the reliability of cloud services. Additionally, we discuss the root causes of the containers' information leakages and propose a two-stage defense approach. As demonstrated in the evaluation, our solution is effective and incurs trivial performance overhead.


Appendage regeneration is not a simple task. The animal must harness all of its energy and resources to orchestrate perhaps one of the most complicated events since its development. Balancing the immune response, wound healing, proliferation, patterning and differentiation is an elegant job, and how some animals achieve that still leaves researchers enchanted today. In this work, we review some of the molecular aspects of regeneration, with a focus on the axolotl, the champion of tetrapod limb regeneration, and the mouse, an excellent mammalian model for digit tip regeneration. Advances in molecular and genomic tools have enabled the discovery of exciting fundamental features of limb regeneration. Integrating the data from different animal systems will be crucial to understanding the common requirements of successful appendage regeneration and places for flexibility. The combination of these efforts is paving the way to grasping how good regenerators respond to the loss of body parts, how these mechanisms might compare in modest regenerators, and, ultimately, in developing approaches for improving regenerative outcomes in humans.


Prof. Lengyel was interviewed by Maxim Markin, junior research fellow at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Prof. Lengyel was asked about changes in major research streams in Hungarian economic sociology since 2002 when he gave his first interview to the Journal of Economic Sociology. In this interview, Prof. Lengyel notes that the Hungarian tradition of economic sociology tends to remain pragmatic. However, Hungarian sociology obviously has become more internationalized due to scholars' participation in international research projects, the establishment of peer-reviewed journals, and offering English-based MA and PhD programs. In addition, Prof. Lengyel emphasizes that entrepreneurship — along with employment policy, migration, and unemployment — remains a popular topic for sociological research. He proposes that the decline of entrepreneurship inclination among adults observed in European countries can be explained by a number of reasons, including a low level of general trust and crises. At the same time, European integration contributed to the emergence of new social categories such as supranational elites and globalized classes, which have rarely been in the center of sociological studies. Finally, Prof. Lengyel expects that such topics as economic behavior and its social implications under crises will attract serious attention from economic sociologists in the near future.


Background: A computer aided diagnosis system was established using the wavelet transform and neural network to differentiate malignant from benign in a group of patients with histo-pathologically proved breast lesions based on the data derived independently from time-intensity profile. Materials and Methods: The performance of the artificial neural network (ANN) was evaluated using a database with 105 patients' records each of which consisted of 8 quantitative parameters mostly derived from timeintensity profile using wavelet transform. These findings were encoded as features for a three-layered neural network to predict the outcome of biopsy. The network was trained and tested using the jackknife method and its performance was then compared to that of the radiologists in terms of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. Results: The network was able to classify correctly the 84 original cases and yielded a comparable diagnostic accuracy (80%), compared to that of the radiologist (85%) by performing a constructive association between extracted quantitative data and corresponding pathological results (r=0.63, p<0.001). Conclusion: An ANN supported by wavelet transform can be trained to differentiate malignant from benign breast tumors with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2005; 3 (3): 135-142


Background: Intraocular pressure (IOP) is the fluid pressure inside the eye and is maintained by the equilibrium between the forces determining the formation of aqueous humour and the alteration in the resistance to its outflow. IOP is important to evaluate patients who are at an increased risk of glaucoma. Clinically measurement of IOP is based on principles of indentation and applanation and such a method is called Tonometry. The tonometers used today are the Schiotz Indentataion Tonometer (ST) and the Goldmann's Applanation Tonometer (GAT). However the latter is accepted as the standard one. Aim: 1) To estimate the normal mean IOP for the population under study.2) To study the various factors- age, sex, refractive errors that influence the IOP.3) Merits and demerits of the individual tonometers. Method: A sample size of 100 cases of 200 sets of eyes was taken and divided into 2 groups, Group A with emmetropia, myopia, hypermetropia of both sexes and Group B with frank glaucomatous changes of both sexes. 3 consecutive measurements with GAT were recorded in each eye followed by ST with 5.5gm weight first followed by ST with 7.5gm weight. The whole database was recorded and statistically analysed. Results: Out of the total 200 eyes studied, Group A consisted of 168 apparently normal eyes which included emmetropes, myopes and hypermetropes and Group B comprised of 32 eyes which were frank glaucomatous cases with glaucomatous field defects. On estimating the mean IOP with the help of GAT and ST between the 2 eyes there was not a significant difference. On comparing the refractive status, myopes showed a higher IOP than hypermetropes and emmetropes. With both GAT and ST females had higher IOP than males. The mean IOP increased as age progressed. Group B studies which had frank glaucoma cases showed that the IOP measured with GAT was higher and more accurate to the actual IOP value whereas the readings with Schiotz were variable and unreliable. Conclusion: IOP is one of the key metrics which is used to monitor the health of one's eye especially an eye with glaucoma. The IOP measured with GAT was more accurate towards the true intraocular pressure and hence Applanation Tonometer is considered gold standard in measuring IOP.


The U.S. steel industry has a long history of being protected, first when it was an infant industry in 1791 and later as it became a mature industry and needed breathing room to allow it to restructure so that it could compete against more efficient foreign producers. In recent years the steel industry has resorted to antidumping laws to ward off foreign competition. In the first quarter of 2002, President Bush imposed tariffs of up to 30 percent on foreign steel producers in many countries, including those in East Asia. This tariff, which was the result of a finding that some foreign steel companies had dumped their steel on the American market, may be the first shot in what might become a trade war. A number of countries have filed protests with the WTO seeking compensation for the tariff and some countries have already taken retaliatory measures. These recent trade actions have a ripple effect throughout the East Asian countries, including Korea, and the world. For example, if the United States market becomes closed to the steel companies in the EU, those steel companies will have to try to sell more steel within the EU at a time when Chinese, Korean and Japanese steel companies will also be trying to penetrate the EU market to make up for lost American sales. This paper will explore some of these issues, with an emphasis on the effects that steel protectionism in the United States will have on their industries and their economies. A different version of this paper was first published in 2002 and was reprinted in 2009. The present version includes a bibliography on trade, including links to more than 100 studies on trade.


In this paper the authors consider the cross-cultural and cognitive aspects of the semiotic information transmission, namely, how information is exchanged and interpreted by representatives of different cultural groups in the context of business processes. The article deals with the issues of subjective perception of information, the visual effectiveness of business process models and their informative content, and the way cultural factors affect the complexity or simplicity of models' perception. The study includes models and drawings as illustrations of processes. The semantic content of some notations for describing business processes, the pictogram language, and associative drawings are given on specific examples. A hypothesis is proposed about the relationship and influence of certain objective and subjective factors over the semiotic content of business processes and the ability to manage those factors for more effective solutions for better addressing the relevant business challenges. The concepts of knowledge, information and data are considered in relation to the research topic for a clearer understanding of the subject area. The authors note the general goal of using process models in the form of the processes notations and schematic images in the form of drawings and pictograms with differences in the levels of semantic support and emotional context based on identical simple cognitive mechanisms: visual associative series, text, and the location of objects. The research can be useful for the design of cultural and context-dependent types of communication, both the imperative and motivational (posters, signs) and also the descriptive (information about processes, instructions, messages, etc.).


Background/context Moulage was an area that needed development at HILS, our knowledge was very limited and we had little time to practice. With the appointment of an apprentice simulation technician we were able to branch into areas that we couldn't previously – in-house moulage being one of these. Our apprentice technician was tasked with this development and pioneered our journey from having no moulage activity to having our own in-house moulage skills course. Description of innovation or topic Our apprentice expressed an interest in moulage skills and through a mixture of formal training (Inspire, Trauma FX) and research our apprentice was able to grow an in depth knowledge of moulage and special effects within healthcare. Being high in confidence and proud to have ownership of a section of the teams services our apprentice began to have ambitious plans such as developing a HILS in-house moulage skills course. Improvements/outcomes Technical team member highly skilled is in medical moulage skills. Every course that now runs in HILS is offered the option to have moulage in their scenarios. An extensive stock of specialist makeup/moulage materials. The development of an in-house course. The 'Introduction to Moulage' course has had a successful pilot and is now due to run bi-annually in HILS. Enhanced fidelity for our scenarios and courses which in turn helps to improve participant engagement. Take home messages Addressing opportunities in your team's skillset and finding solutions can advance your centre by using individuals strengths and enthusiasm to build new skills. Moulage can be a key element in simulation and can improve candidate engagement in scenarios. There are fantastic training opportunities to help your staff become proficient in moulage skills on humans or manikins. Empowering staff and giving them responsibility to improve areas of the team can lead to extremely positive outcomes.


The energy–carbon–water (ECW) nexus has aroused increasing attention worldwide, as it is very important for sustainable development of socioeconomic systems. Researchers conducted a literature review of existing studies on the ECW nexus in terms of concepts, research focuses, mechanisms, and methodologies. Current research on the ECW nexus mainly focuses on the ECW flow accounting, the impact assessment of ECW‐related policies or measures, and the description of the nexus characteristics. ECW‐related measures may lead to a variety of cobenefits: economic growth, pollutant reduction, water quality improvement, and the carbon–water trade‐off—that is, that the adoption of water‐saving cooling technologies (such as wet cooling) could increase energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. ECW‐related measures could also lead to the deployment of some low‐carbon power generation technologies, such as hydro, nuclear, and biofuel that could increase power sector water use. Nexus mechanisms of existing studies are mainly aimed at a specific sector; fewer studies consider the mechanisms from an economy‐wide perspective. Integrated models, such as computable general equilibrium‐based models and input–output (IO)‐based hybrid life cycle assessment models, should be used to assess the broad socioeconomic impacts of ECW‐related measures in future, in order to inspire policymakers to design and implement effective measures for integrated ECW management.


In the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic, the role of surfaces in transmitting pathogens is clearer than ever. Herein, we report an organo-soluble, quaternary antimicrobial paint (QAP) based on polyethyleneimine (PEI) which was coated on a wide range of surfaces such as polyvinylchloride (PVC), nylon, rubber, aluminum. The coating completely killed drug-resistant bacteria. It showed rapid bactericidal properties with complete killing in 45 min of exposure and lowered bacterial adherence, asserting self-sterilizing nature. The coating exhibited complete killing of stationary phase cells of bacteria. The coating killed drug-resistant C. albicans strains. Importantly, QAP coating showed complete killing of influenza virus (H1N1). Graphic abstract


This paper aims at further investigating the finite-time distributed tracking control problems for multi-agent systems with a virtual leader under the conditions of fixed and switching topologies, respectively. Two continuous distributed tracking protocols are designed for tracking the virtual leader in finite time. Compared with the traditional distributed tracking protocols, the proposed distributed tracking protocols can reach consensus in finite time. In particular, to eliminate the chattering phenomenon occurred in non-Lipschitz dynamical systems, this paper introduces a saturation function to replace the original sign function in the proposed distributed tracking protocols. The improved protocols can guide all agents to track the virtual leader without chattering phenomenon in finite time for the same position. Numerical simulations are also given to validate the proposed distributed tracking protocols.


The new mineral stracherite, BaCa6(SiO4)2[(PO4)(CO3)]F [R3m, a = 7.0877(5) Å, c = 25.201(2) Å, V = 1096.4(1) Å3, Z = 3], belongs to the zadovite group, which also includes zadovite, BaCa6[(SiO4) (PO4)](PO4)2F; aradite, BaCa6[(SiO4)(VO4)](VO4)2F; and gazeevite, BaCa6(SiO4)2(SO4)2O. All minerals of this group exhibit single-layer antiperovskite modules, which are intercalated with tetrahedral layers. In stracherite, the first CO3-bearing intercalated hexagonal antiperovskite, about 38% of the (PO4) tetrahedra are randomly substituted by planar (CO3) groups. The mineral was discovered in spurrite rocks of the Hatrurim Complex in the Negev Desert near Arad, Israel. Associated minerals are spurrite, calcite, brownmillerite, shulamitite, CO3-bearing fluorapatite, fluormayenite-fluorkyuygenite, and ariegilatite. The empirical formula of stracherite is: (Ba0.96K0.02Na0.01)S0.99Ca6.01[(SiO4)1.86 (PO4)0.12(AlO4)0.01(TiO4)0.01]S2[(PO4)1.05(CO3)0.75(SO4)0.18(VO4)0.02]S2(F0.95O0.03)S0.98. Poikilitic crystals of stracherite are up to 0.5 mm in size and are confined to re-crystallization zones of spurrite marbles under the influence of by-products (gases, fluids) of combustion metamorphism.


The Effects of Elevation and Vegetation Type on Snow Accumulation and Melt ln Logan Canyon, Utah by Paul R. Thies, Master of Science Utah State University, 1972 Major Professor: Dr. George E. Hart Department: Forest Science Vii Snow accumulation and melt characteristics were studied in Logan Canyon, Utah. Three replications of aspen, conifer, and open field types at 6300, 7100,and 8000 feet were measured for snow depth and water content during 1972. Elevation was found to have the greatest effect on snow water content. The gradient of increasing water content with rise ln elevation was found to be .51 inches/100 feet in the zone from 6300 to 7100 feet and 1.9 inches/100 feet from 7100 to 8000 feet. The cooler temperatures at higher elevations partially account for the 8000 foot zone beginning to melt 40 days after the 7100 foot zone, and the 7100 foot zone trailing the 6300 foot zone by 20 days. Although the snow at the 8000 foot elevation began melting later than the lower zones, it melted at twice the rate. Vegetation cover type has no significant effect on the amount of snow deposited. However, the conifer type protects the snowpack from solar radiation causing the snowpack to have a significantly lower /


As an essential step in the pathological diagnosis, histochemical staining can show specific tissue structure information and, consequently, assist pathologists in making accurate diagnoses. Clinical kidney histopathological analyses usually employ more than one type of staining: H&E, MAS, PAS, PASM, etc. However, due to the interference of colors among multiple stains, it is not easy to perform multiple staining simultaneously on one biological tissue. To address this problem, we propose a network based on unpaired training data to virtually generate multiple types of staining from one staining. Our method can preserve the content of input images while transferring them to multiple target styles accurately. To efficiently control the direction of stain transfer, we propose a style guided normalization (SGN). Furthermore, a multiple style encoding (MSE) is devised to represent the relationship among different staining styles dynamically. An improved one-hot label is also proposed to enhance the generalization ability and extendibility of our method. Vast experiments have demonstrated that our model can achieve superior performance on a tiny dataset. The results exhibit not only good performance but also great visualization and interpretability. Especially, our method also achieves satisfactory results over cross-tissue, cross-staining as well as cross-task. We believe that our method will significantly influence clinical stain transfer and reduce the workload greatly for pathologists. Our code and Supplementary materials are available at https://github.com/linyiyang98/UMDST.


The Zak transform on R is an important tool in condensed matter physics, signal processing, time-frequency analysis, and harmonic analysis in general. This article introduces a generalization of the Zak transform to a class of locally compact G-spaces, where G is either a locally compact abelian or a second countable unimodular type I group. This framework unifies previously proposed generalizations of the Zak transform. It is shown that the Zak transform has invariance properties analog to the classic case and is a Hilbert space isomorphism between the space of L-functions and a direct integral of Hilbert spaces that is explicitly determined via a Weil formula for G-spaces and a Poisson summation formula for compact subgroups. Some applications in physics are outlined.


This study investigated the relationship between the mastery of maladaptive interpersonal patterns, assessed from narratives told during psychotherapy, and outcome of psychotherapy. A psychoanalytic account of the processes of mastery through psychotherapy was developed and empirically tested. Mastery was hypothesized to develop as long standing repetitive core conflictual relationship themes are worked through in psychotherapy. Mastery was defined as the development of self-control and self-understanding in the context of interpersonal relationships. A content analysis Mastery Scale was developed to quantify degrees of self-control and self-understanding in the accounts of relationship narratives patients tell early and late in psychotherapy. Verbatim transcripts of 41 patients (29 females, mean age 25) seen in dynamic therapy were scored for mastery. Results indicated : (1) The inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Mastery Scale was excellent. (2) Changes in mastery level over the course of therapy were significantly related to changes in observer ratings of psychological health-sickness and therapist ratings of patient satisfaction, success and improvement. In addition, the patient's o w n judgements of changes in their symptoms and main target problems paralleled changes in the mastery of interpersonal conflicts found in their narratives. (3) Early therapeutic alliance predicted gains in mastery over therapy, and (4) changes in the response of self component of the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme paralleled changes in mastery. (5) Patients with a personality disorder appeared to make particularly clinically significant gains in mastery. (6) Of all the narratives of relationships told by patients in psychotherapy, changes in mastery of the relationship with their parents showed the strongest association with clinical changes. This suggests that mastery of this primary relationship with the parents is particularly therapeutic. Overall these results are consistent with the proposition that symptoms abate with the mastery of core interpersonal conflicts. The results support the importance of the development of mastery as an central mechanism of improvement through psychotherapy.


We use an invariant-theoretic method to compute certain twists of the modular curves X(n) for n = 7, 11. Searching for rational points on these twists enables us to find non-trivial pairs of n-congruent elliptic curves over Q, that is, pairs of non-isogenous elliptic curves over Q whose n-torsion subgroups are isomorphic as Galois modules. We also find a non-trivial pair of 11-congruent elliptic curves over Q(T ), and hence give an explicit infinite family of non-trivial pairs of 11-congruent elliptic curves over Q. Supplementary materials are available with this article.


The smooth operation of largely deployed Internet of Things (IoT) applications will depend on, among other things, effective infrastructure failure detection. Access failures in wireless network Base Stations (BSs) produce a phenomenon called "sleeping cells", which can render a cell catatonic without triggering any alarms or provoking immediate effects on cell performance, making them difficult to discover. To detect this kind of failure, we propose a Machine Learning (ML) framework based on the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) statistics from the BS under study, as well as those of the neighboring BSs with propensity to have their performance affected by the failure. A simple way to define neighbors is to use adjacency in Voronoi diagrams. In this paper, we propose a much more realistic approach based on the nature of radio-propagation and the way devices choose the BS to which they send access requests. We gather data from large-scale simulators that use real location data for BSs and IoT devices and pose the detection problem as a supervised binary classification problem. We measure the effects on the detection performance by the size of time aggregations of the data, the level of traffic and the parameters of the neighborhood definition. The Extra Trees and Naive Bayes classifiers achieve Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Area Under the Curve (AUC) scores of 0.996 and 0.993, respectively, with False Positive Rates (FPRs) under 5%. The proposed framework holds potential for other pattern recognition tasks in smart-city wireless infrastructures, that would enable the monitoring, prediction and improvement of the Quality of Service (QoS) experienced by IoT applications.


Abstract Building classroom and school cultures of thinking is one of the fundamental and critical purposes of education. This study is an exploratory effort to obtain a clearer picture of teachers' perceptions about eight components of a culture of thinking within their own classroom. The instrument used is a quantitative survey developed by Ritchhart (2015) that examines eight forces of cultures of thinking (expectations, language, modeling, time, opportunities, routines, physical environment and interactions). The survey results provide useful information about potential target areas for those seeking to deepen cultures of thinking in educational settings.


This chapter examines the role of renewable energy in shaping energy security against the backdrop of global geopolitical, socioeconomic, and technological uncertainties. The evolving definition of energy security during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries is discussed initially. The dimensions, components, and metrics of energy security are reviewed, including the 4A definition of energy security that comprises physical availability; economic affordability; accessibility from a sociopolitical standpoint; and environmental acceptability. A novel energy security index is proposed, with the following components: physical availability; technology development; economic affordability; social accessibility; governance; unconventional threats; and natural environment. Of these, physical availability followed by technology development, economic affordability, and governance was rated as the most important, and the environment was rated as the least important by a small panel of experts. The roles of wind and solar energy are highlighted, with an emphasis on the social acceptance of renewable energy in an energy security context. Other energy security indexes are discussed, focusing on sustainability and renewable energy. Denmark, Germany, China, Russia, and the United States are examined as case studies that help understand the transition to renewable energy in the context of coopetition among states. As these countries face different political concerns, geopolitical realities, and energy security issues, they consider different policy approaches to address them.


Seventy-eight clinical isolates and four control strains of viridans streptococci were tested in parallel for arginine hydrolysis by five different methods. These comprised two commercial systems, the API20 STREP and Vitek GPI card, two published methods, one based on ammonia production and one on alkalisation of Møeller's decarboxylase medium, and a method based on alkalisation of a phenol-red broth medium dispensed into microtitration plates. The clinical isolates were speciated by their biochemical reactions in the API20 STREP and API20 ZYM systems. One strain produced only a weak reaction for arginine hydrolysis in the medium by ammonia production, but otherwise the results with this medium, the API20 STREP and the microtitration plate method were identical. Tests with the Møeller decarboxylase medium and Vitek GPI card gave negative results with isolates that were positive by other methods. Inoculum size was shown to influence arginine hydrolysis obtained with Streptococcus sanguis NCTC 7863 and S. milleri 10713.


AIMS
To examine the prevalence of five life-style behaviours among New South Wales police.

DESIGN
A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
A total of 852 police were recruited from metropolitan Sydney.

MEASUREMENTS
Prevalence related to age and sex of self-reported alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, inadequate exercise, perception of overweight and stress symptoms.

RESULTS
A high level (89%) of participation was achieved in the survey. Almost half (48%) of males and more than two-fifths (40%) of females consumed alcohol excessively including continuous hazardous or harmful consumption and binge drinking. Excessive drinking was more prevalent among younger police. There were 8% of male and 15% of female police who reported that they did not drink alcohol. Over one-quarter (27%) of male and one-third (32%) of female respondents reported smoking. Almost half (46%) of men and women (47%) believed that they were overweight. More than one-fifth (21%) of men and less than one-quarter (24%) of women reported that they did not exercise. Finally, 12% of men and 15% of women reported feeling moderate to severe symptoms of stress.

CONCLUSIONS
The police work-force offers an opportunity to screen for a large number of healthy, young and high risk individuals (particularly men) who are hard to reach in other settings and who rarely visit their general practitioner. A sizeable majority (83%) of NSW police had at least one unhealthy life-style behaviour with 19% reporting 3-5 unhealthy factors. The high prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption among police is of particular concern. More active health promotion and provision of brief interventions among police may reduce morbidity and mortality associated with unhealthy life-styles.


In the present paper, we address symmetry issues in the context of the so-called giant gaussian process (GGP) modelling approach, currently used to statistically analyse the present and past magnetic field of the Earth at times of stable polarity. We first recall the principle of GGP modelling , and for the first time derive the complete and exact constraints a GGP model should satisfy if it is to satisfy statistical spherical, axisymmetrical or equatorially symmetric properties. We note that as often correctly claimed by the authors, many simplifying assumptions used so far to ease the GGP modelling amount to make symmetry assumptions, but not always exactly so, because previous studies did not recognize that symmetry assumptions do not systematically require a lack of cross-correlations between Gauss coefficients. We further note that GGP models obtained so far for the field over the past 5 Myr clearly reveal some spherical symmetry breaking properties in both the mean and the fluctuating field (as defined by the covariance matrix of the model) and some equatorial symmetry breaking properties in the mean field. Non-zonal terms found in the mean field of some models and mismatches between variances defining the fluctuating field (in models however not defined in a consistent way) would further suggest that axial symmetry also is broken. The meaning of this is discussed. Spherical symmetry breaking trivially testifies for the influence of the rotation of the Earth on the geodynamo (a long-recognized fact). Axial symmetry breaking, if confirmed, could hardly be attributed to anything else but some influence of the core–mantle boundary (CMB) conditions on the geodynamo (also a well-known fact). By contrast, equatorial symmetry breaking (in particular the persistence of an axial mean quadrupole) may not trivially be considered as evidence of some influence of CMB conditions. To establish this, one would need to better investigate whether or not this axial quadrupole has systematically reversed its polarity with the axial dipole in the past and whether dynamo simulations run under equatorial symmetric CMB conditions display additional transitions (mirror transitions, which we describe) only allowed in such instances. This remains to be fully investigated.