This article presents a unified synchronization framework with application to precision formation flying spacecraft. Central to the proposed innovation, in applying synchronization to both translational and rotational dynamics in the Lagrangian form, is the use of the distributed stability and performance analysis tool, called contraction analysis that yields exact nonlinear stability proofs. The proposed decentralized tracking control law synchronizes the attitude of an arbitrary number of spacecraft into a common time-varying trajectory with global exponential convergence. Moreover, a decentralized translational tracking control law based on phase synchronization is presented, thus enabling coupled translational and rotational maneuvers. While the translational dynamics can be adequately controlled by linear control laws, the proposed method permits highly nonlinear systems with nonlinearly coupled inertia matrices such as the attitude dynamics of spacecraft whose large and rapid slew maneuvers justify the nonlinear control approach. The proposed method integrates both the trajectory tracking and synchronization problems in a single control framework.


This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of in-group social presence on the relationship between face concern and hotel customers' behavioral responses to service failures.,Participants were randomly assigned to two conditions: in-group presence vs control group. They read a scenario describing a hotel check-in service failure and answered questions regarding their behavioral intention after the failure and level of face concern.,The results indicate that face concern is positively associated with the intention to voice a complaint, to spread negative word-of-mouth and to post negative online reviews. While the impact of face concern on complaint intention became insignificant in the presence of an in-group, its effect on posting negative online reviews was enhanced when surrounded by an in-group.,It addresses the long-lasting debate about the association between face concern and various types of behavioral responses to service failure. Practically, extra attention should be paid to the process quality when serving face concerned customers, particularly when they are accompanied by important others.,This study enriches the literature on cultural effects by identifying the situational effect of face concern on customers' service failure responses. A model that describes the situational effect of face concern on different types of behavioral intention has been built.


Purpose: To evaluate the epidemiological characteristics and ocular trauma scores (OTSs) of open globe injuries and to determine other factors that may affect OTS. Materials and Methods: Patients who were diagnosed with open eye injuries, treated and followed up between July 2018 and July 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. The demographic features, injury type, initial and final visual acuity (Snellen chart), ophthalmoscopic examinations, hospitalization days and number of operations were recorded. OTSs were determined as described by Kuhn et al. in 2002. Results: Forty-two patients, 12 of whom were female (28.6%), were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 42.9 ± 19.4 (7-90). While the best corrected visual acuity of the patients at presentation was 0.038 ± 0.13 (Snellen line), it was evaluated as 0.37 ± 0.39 (Snellen line) at the final examination. When compared with the OTS study group, statistically significant differences were found in final VA. A statistically significant difference was found in the light perception (LP) (-) and 1/200-19/200 VA subgroups in Category 1 (p <0.001). In Category 2 only the final VA between 1/200-19/200 was insignificant. In Category 3 the final VA of 68% patients was 20/40, or better; and 16% of the patients was between 20/200-20/40. Also, none of our patients had LP or hand motion (0%) at the end. All three values in Category 3 were statistically significantly different, either. The OTS was lower in eyes with iris damage (such as those with iris sphincter rupture, iridodialysis or iris defect) and in eyes with vitreous loss. Conclusion: OTS provides prognostic information after ocular trauma and is reliable and applicable in the management of open globe injuries. It is open for improvement by adding different parameters. Other factors, such as iris damage and vitreous loss, that may negatively affect final visual acuity have to be considered in the rearrangement of OTS.


Behavioral thermoregulation is an efficient mechanism to buffer the physiological effects of climate change. Thermal ecology studies have traditionally tested how thermal constraints shape thermoregulatory behaviors without accounting for the potential major effects of landscape structure and water availability. Thus, we lack a general understanding of the multifactorial determinants of thermoregulatory behaviors in natural populations. In this study, we quantified the relative contribution of elevation, thermal gradient, moisture gradient, and landscape structure in explaining geographic variation in thermoregulation strategies of a terrestrial ectotherm species. We measured field-active body temperature, thermal preferences, and operative environmental temperatures to calculate thermoregulation indices, including thermal quality of the habitat and thermoregulation efficiency for a very large sample of common lizards (Zootoca vivipara) from 21 populations over 3 yr across the Massif Central mountain range in France. We used an information-theoretic approach to compare eight a priori thermo-hydroregulation hypotheses predicting how behavioral thermoregulation should respond to environmental conditions. Environmental characteristics exerted little influence on thermal preference with the exception that females from habitats with permanent access to water had lower thermal preferences. Field body temperatures and accuracy of thermoregulation were best predicted by the interaction between air temperature and a moisture index. In mesic environments, field body temperature and thermoregulation accuracy increased with air temperature, but they decreased in drier habitats. Thermoregulation efficiency (difference between thermoregulation inaccuracy and the thermal quality of the habitat) was maximized in cooler and more humid environments and was mostly influenced by the thermal quality of the habitat. Our study highlights complex patterns of variation in thermoregulation strategies, which are mostly explained by the interaction between temperature and water availability, independent of the elevation gradient or thermal heterogeneity. Although changes in landscape structure were expected to be the main driver of extinction rate of temperate zone ectotherms with ongoing global change, we conclude that changes in water availability coupled with rising temperatures might have a drastic impact on the population dynamics of some ectotherm species.


Establish the uniform regression relation expression for these three parameters including composition of over ten kinds of common steels, composition tempering temperature and hardness (HRC) of steel, which can accurately calculate the relative values of these three parameters of over ten kinds of common steels within the discussed scope. Binary regression analysis can be expanded to any Tempering temperature and each kind of steel grade, and the work can be fulfilled with computer. Furthermore express other thermal treatment process parameters and its corresponding mechanical property of each kind of steel with the uniform mathematic relation, so that related uniform regression relation expression can be used into the actual production process, and this is what the author will complete further.


This study compares the plastic behaviour of a near isotropic sheet metal
at a constant straining rate under conditions of balanced biaxial and
uniaxial tension with close attention being paid to the calibration of
the apparatus and analysis of deformation.
Plastic behaviour consistent with two stages of strain hardening was
observed for biaxial tension but not for uniaxial tension. Further
investigation to attempt to explain this behaviour by studying the
variation of plastic anisotropy under uniaxial tension has revealed a
variation in lateral strain ratio throughout the strain range.
It is demonstrated that the difference in plastic behaviour observed for
uniaxial and biaxial tension can not be attributed to experimental method
but rather to the difference in constraint for the testing processes and
that the high initial strain hardening rate is prolonged in hydraulic
bulging.
Following investigation of these phenomena it was concluded that the
perceived behaviour of sheet metal under biaxial tension during hydraulic
bulging is fundamentally different to that under uniaxial tension.


This paper has structured the simultaneous equations including the human capital development, economic indicators and environmental quality in the period from 2002 to 2016. Acknowledging the economic value of services helps to understand that we are part of nature and have a duty to live responsibly. Human capital is widely viewed as playing an essential role in the creation of wealth and economic growth, however, our understanding of the relationship between environmental quality and other elements of human capital is just emerging. There is a strong correlation between the GDP / Oil Price and human capital expenditures (r = 0.83). Correlation between the state spending on human capital development and the GDP growth (r = 0.995) is higher than if the first variable was family spending (r = 0.9). There is a strong inverse interrelation between the level of poverty is society and total expenditure aimed at human capital (r = -0.95). The hypothesis saying that investment in human capital return in 2-4 years was not exactly true. From the econometrical result, it is concluded that there is a significantly negative relationship between environmental quality and the imbalance of economic indicators; the improvement of human capital can reduce the detrimental effects from the differences in income distribution and better the environmental quality.


Progressive neuronal loss is a typical characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases. In Parkinson's disease, the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia results in impaired mobility and flawed muscle control. The loss of cholinergic neurons largely in the basal forebrain contributes to memory and attention deficits and the overall cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease. This being said, neuroprotective drugs should be expected to preserve and/or restore the functions affected by neuronal loss, and substantially prevent cell death. The endocannabinoid system, comprising lipid mediators able to bind to and activate cannabinoid receptors, has emerged as a therapeutic target of potential interest in a variety of central nervous system diseases. Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is one of the most important endocannabinoids, which has a key role in modulating oxidative stress and inflammatory response with neuroprotective potential in neurological disorders. Neurodegenerative diseases undergo varied, progressive stages. The current therapeutical approaches are beginning to fall short when it comes to meet the expected results, urging to either develop or identify or develop new effective treatments. This chapter discusses the neuroprotective potential of new drugs, aiming to shed some light on their proposed mechanism of action and their effect in cellular and animal models of neurodegeneration.


The quality of donor pancreata is important for successful islet isolation. However, in some countries like Japan, the number of donor pancreata is very low; therefore, marginal donors have been used with less restrictive donor criteria. In order to use marginal donor pancreata, we established the Kyoto islet isolation method (KIIM). According to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in 2005, more than 6,000 pancreata were not clinically used in the US. In this study, we applied the KIIM for brain-dead donors and reevaluated donor usability based on the Japanese islet donor criteria. Islets were isolated with the Ricordi method using pancreata stored in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution (UW group) or by the two-layer method (TLM group) or the TLM combined with ductal injection (DI group). We implemented the KIIM (KIIM group) to confirm the effect of the KIIM on brain-dead donors. Donor charts in Texas from 2005 to 2006 were reviewed. If pancreata were not used clinically, the reason was reviewed and donors were reevaluated based on Japanese criteria. There were no significant differences of islet yield, viability, and purity between the UW and TLM groups. The DI group significantly improved islet yields and isolations were further improved in the KIIM group [UW: 251,663 ± 60,217 islet equivalent (IE); TLM: 243,738 ± 54,170 IE; DI: 498,639 ± 28,853 IE; KIIM: 678,286 ± 55,853]. The KIIM provided high-quality islets in high numbers from islet isolations from brain-dead donors. A total of 236 donor charts were reviewed and 194 pancreata (82%) were not used. Of these, 185 cases identified the reasons that the pancreata were not used. When we applied the Japanese criteria, an additional 82 cases out of 185 (44%) seem to be suitable for islet isolations. With the KIIM, more than 2,500 additional donor pancreata can be used for islet isolation in the US every year when the Japanese criteria are applied.


In this study, we applied the integration methodology developed in the companion paper by Aires (2014) by using real satellite observations over the Mississippi Basin. The methodology provides basin‐scale estimates of the four water budget components (precipitation P, evapotranspiration E, water storage change ΔS, and runoff R) in a two‐step process: the Simple Weighting (SW) integration and a Postprocessing Filtering (PF) that imposes the water budget closure. A comparison with in situ observations of P and E demonstrated that PF improved the estimation of both components. A Closure Correction Model (CCM) has been derived from the integrated product (SW+PF) that allows to correct each observation data set independently, unlike the SW+PF method which requires simultaneous estimates of the four components. The CCM allows to standardize the various data sets for each component and highly decrease the budget residual (P − E − ΔS − R). As a direct application, the CCM was combined with the water budget equation to reconstruct missing values in any component. Results of a Monte Carlo experiment with synthetic gaps demonstrated the good performances of the method, except for the runoff data that has a variability of the same order of magnitude as the budget residual. Similarly, we proposed a reconstruction of ΔS between 1990 and 2002 where no Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment data are available. Unlike most of the studies dealing with the water budget closure at the basin scale, only satellite observations and in situ runoff measurements are used. Consequently, the integrated data sets are model independent and can be used for model calibration or validation.


Staphylococcus aureus is a highly successful human pathogen capable of colonising and spreading easily between humans while causing a wide range of infections, including life threatening bacteraemias, endocarditis and pneumonia. Virulence gene expression is regulated primarily by the staphylococcal accessory gene regulator (agr) in a cell density-dependent manner termed quorum sensing. Strains of S. aureus, particularly community-associated methicillin resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA), carrying the genes for a pore forming exotoxin, the Panton Valentine Leukocidin (PVL), have been spreading worldwide over the last 10 to 15 years. As high level production of exotoxins has been implicated in the success of the CA-MRSA clone USA300, a collection of PVL producing clinical isolates from Nottingham were studied with the aim of understanding why PVL production might vary between strains.

Sequence typing of the Nottingham strain collection revealed that high PVL producing ST22 agr group 1 and low PVL producing ST30 agr group 3 strains were the most common types. PVL production was stimulated by addition of the type specific exogenous autoinducing peptide (AIP), which activates the agr sensor AgrC, and inhibited by the AgrC antagonist (ala5)AIP-1 if added before a critical cell population density was reached. Analysis of the pvl promoter identified predicted binding sites for RNA polymerase and the SarA protein family of regulators. Promoter pull down experiments confirmed the binding of several staphylococcal regulators to both the agr and pvl promoters including SarA, SarS, Rot and MgrA indicating that these are likely to play a role in the regulation of PVL production.

Analysis of the agr locus of high and low PVL producing strains found that a low PVL producing ST22 agr group 1 strain TS13 had a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) conferring an N267I substitution in the cytoplasmic domain region of agrC not present in a high PVL producing ST22 strain TS14. Whole genome sequencing of these strains revealed them to be closely related to each other, differing by less than 200 SNPs across their core genomes. While not possessing an SCCmec element, they carried phages encoding pvl and the immune evasion complex (IEC) comprising staphylokinase, the chemotaxis inhibitory protein (CHIPS) and the staphylococcal complement inhibitor (SCIN).

AgrC N267I reduced sensitivity to AIP in a bioluminescent reporter for agr which responds to but does not produce AIP. Introducing AgrC N267I into an agr reporter which both produces and senses AIP resulted in delayed autoinduction. This appeared to explain the delay in AIP autoinduction observed in TS13 as compared with TS14 with resulting low PVL production. Other naturally occurring agrC cytoplasmic mutations including T247I and I311T/A343T reduced AIP sensitivity and were associated with delayed autoinduction and reduced exotoxin production.

PVL production is closely regulated by agr with expression mediated by several staphylococcal regulators in a cell population density dependent manner. Mutations in agrC occur naturally, delay autoinduction, can have a marked impact on exotoxin production and may be a form of adaptation to niches where high level agr expression is not required.


Virtual learning environments (VLEs) form part of modern pedagogy in education, they contain student usage data that has potential to inform and improve this pedagogy. The question this thesis explores is how might the development of data mining and log analysis systems for the Moodle virtual learning environment, improve computer science students' course engagement and encourage course designers' future engagement with data analysis methods for the evaluation of course resources? The thesis proposes that a student will complete missed work sooner if their utilisation of the VLE is automatically tracked and electronic prompts are sent when VLE activities are missed. The thesis also hypothesises that presenting a simple-to-use data mining and visualisation tool to course designers would increase their future acceptance of data mining technology for informing course design with a longer-term intent that this would improve the quality of the online learning experience ultimately improving student engagement. Exploring the two hypotheses required the development of two software artefacts, MooTwit – a tool that contacts students when they fall behind in their VLE study and MooLog – a tool that extracts and presents summative information on VLE course utilisation.
To establish if student timely engagement improved, the study used MootTwit with two groups of students over a period of 15 weeks, messaging one group only when they fell behind. Statistical analysis and comparisons were made between how quickly each group engaged with the missed items. Using MooTwit to track and contact students did influence the timeliness of their engagement with the VLE activities. Specifically, the results suggest by direct messaging a student to engage with missed material, they complete missed activities closer to required completion date. To ascertain if the acceptance of data mining for course evaluation could be improved, surveys were used before and after a demonstration of MooLog to a group of course designers. The pre-demonstration survey assessed existing planning and evaluation processes. The post-demonstration survey collected evaluations of the relevance of the information provided by MooLog and the likelihood of
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the software being used to evaluate course effectiveness. The results of the study established that many designers currently do not use data analysis as a method of informing course improvement and there was evidence to suggest the MooLog demonstration significantly increased acceptance of the potential of data mining.
The findings within the thesis show that educational data-mining has the potential to improve pedagogy in VLE linked education offering opportunities to increase timely engagement and to raise course designers' acceptance of data mining to improve the validity and quality of course evaluation.


The nation's opioid overdose deaths reached an all-time high in 2021. The majority of deaths are due to synthetic opioids represented by fentanyl. Naloxone, which is a FDA-approved reversal agent, antagonizes opioids through competitive binding at the μ-opioid receptor (mOR). Thus, knowledge of opioid's residence time is important for assessing the effectiveness of naloxone. Here we estimated the residence times of 15 fentanyl and 4 morphine analogs using metadynamics, and compared them with the most recent measurement of the opioid kinetic, dissociation, and naloxone inhibitory constants (Mann, Li et al, Clin. Pharmacol. Therapeut. 2022). Importantly, the microscopic simulations offered a glimpse at the common binding mechanism and molecular determinants of dissociation kinetics for fentanyl analogs. The insights inspired us to develop a machine learning (ML) approach to analyze the kinetic impact of fentanyl's substituents based on the interactions with mOR residues. This proof-of-concept approach is general; for example, it may be used to tune ligand residence times in computeraided drug discovery. Graphical TOC Entry


This work targets the automated minimum-energy optimization of Quantized Neural Networks (QNNs) — networks using low precision weights and activations. These networks are trained from scratch at an arbitrary fixed point precision. At iso-accuracy, QNNs using fewer bits require deeper and wider network architectures than networks using higher precision operators, while they require less complex arithmetic and less bits per weights. This fundamental trade-off is analyzed and quantified to find the minimum energy QNN for any benchmark and hence optimize energy-efficiency. To this end, the energy consumption of inference is modeled for a generic hardware platform. This allows drawing several conclusions across different benchmarks. First, energy consumption varies orders of magnitude at iso-accuracy depending on the number of bits used in the QNN. Second, in a typical system, BinaryNets or int4 implementations lead to the minimum energy solution, outperforming int8 networks up to 2–10× at iso-accuracy. All code used for QNN training is available from https://github.com/BertMoons/.


This thesis is particularly about the translation done on the subtitles of the movie entitled American Beauty. In doing the research the writer would like to find out (1) what kinds of mistakes appear in the subtitles that do not convey the meaning of the original utterances, (2) which mistake mostly occurs in the subtitles (3) what the quality of the subtitles is. To do the research, the writer would like to make use of the qualitative approach. The data of the transcription of utterances are obtained from the internet and then compared to the VCD (Video Compact Disc) entitled American Beauty. The seventy-six scenes in the film have three parts - the beginning, the conflicts, and the ending. The subtitles being analyzed are from twelve scenes which belong to the three parts, having more utterances than the others. The analysis is based on the theories of translation. The translation theories are those of Peter Newmark?s, about unit of translating, audience criteria, the categorisation of translation mistakes; and of Christine Durieux about the criteria of a good translation. The findings of the analysis reveal that the mistakes occurring in the subtitles are of two kinds. They are having misleading mistakes and having nuanced mistakes. The acceptable subtitles are the most samples found in the data. The subtitles of having misleading mistakes are in the first position while of having nuanced mistakes in the second. The quality of the subtitles is good.


From the established expert on the subject comes this new biography of one of the world's most successful writers. Breath-taking in scope, and full of the kind of revelations sure to cause press and controversy, Butcher combines existing and new research on Verne's life with the evidence from Verne's works to explore what sort of man Jules Verne was, how he achieved what he did, what went on inside his head, what really made him tick. Butcher examines the forgotten nitty-gritty of Verne's life: his appearance, his schoolmates, the size of his bedroom, who he talked to and slept with, who he fell out with and was sued by, the fibs he told, how he got to work, how much he made, what he did on his days off, where he went, what he studied, what he read, whether he was a good husband and father -- in sum, all the behavior that points to personality, as only a family member can know it.


The surface microhardness and flexural strength of colored zirconia were examined. Two groups of zirconia disks (1mm thick, 20mm in diameter) within 5 disks each were shading with the same coloring liquids IL2 (Vita Classic-scale) when another group of 5 disks measured in no color. The shading time of one group was 3s and that of the other group was prolonged to 30s. The mechanical properties were tested after sintering at 1500°C. Data were evaluated using ANOVA analysis. Disks of shading 30s showed a lower strength 712  53 MPa. The value of 3s was 853  46 MPa. There were no significant difference on microhardness between the two shading time. Prolonged the shading time lowered the biaxial flexural strength of zirconia ceramic, but shading time did no effect on surface microhardness.


Idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) predicts Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia. However, the nature of the disease that emerges from RBD has not been fully characterized. Since 2004, we have been conducting a prospective study of idiopathic RBD patients, providing an opportunity to directly observe patients as they transitioned to a defined neurodegenerative syndrome. Patients with idiopathic RBD underwent an extensive annual evaluation of motor function, olfaction, color vision, autonomic function, cognition and psychiatric symptoms. Neurodegenerative disease was defined according to standard criteria. We compared these measures in patients who had developed PD to those with dementia, all within the first year of developing disease. Of 67 patients, 6 developed PD and eleven developed dementia. Except for cognitive functioning, all tests of olfaction, color vision, autonomic function, depression, and quantitative measures of motor speed were similar in patients with PD and dementia. Of dementia patients, seven met criteria for probable Lewy body dementia (LBD) and four for Alzheimer's disease (or, possible LBD). In all probable LBD cases, the diagnosis was made because of parkinsonism, with no patient experiencing hallucinations or fluctuations. Patients with "Alzheimer's disease" seemed to have LBD, as they demonstrated typical LBD cognitive profiles on neuropsychological testing and were indistinguishable from LBD patients in ancillary measures. Therefore, among RBD patients with new‐onset LBD, hallucinations or fluctuations are absent, suggesting that RBD is a reliable early sign of LBD. The indistinguishability of dementia and PD in all ancillary measures suggests a single unitary "RBD‐then‐neurodegeneration" process, the clinical presentation of which depends upon selective neuronal vulnerability. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society


The association between gout and injury remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the injury risk in patients with gout. Using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) from 2000 to 2010 in Taiwan, patients with gout (group CFG) and those without gout (group C) were enrolled for further analysis. The CFG group was separated into two subgroups (with and without medication) to determine whether the risk of injury was reduced with drug intervention. The follow-up period was defined as the time from the initial diagnosis of gout to the date of injury. A total of 257,442 individuals were enrolled in this study, with 85,814 people in group CFG and 171,628 people in group C. Using Cox regression analysis, group CFG showed a significant increase in the risk of injury. Traffic injuries, poisoning, falls, crushing/cutting/piercing injury, and suicides were prominent among these injuries. Furthermore, when urate-lowing drugs were used to treat the CFG group, there were no significant differences in the occurrence of injury. Patients with gout had an increased risk of injury overall, and drug intervention did not lower the risk of injury in these patients.


The recent rise in oil prices has brought concern about its eventual impact on economic growth. However, empirical studies seem to be reassuring. Actually, the link between oil prices and GDP growth estimated since the mid 80s is not as strong as it was before the mid 80s. Several explanations have been called to highlight this empirical evidence. One potential explanation is the non-linear or asymmetric nature of the oil price - GDP link. Other explanations are the fact that economies have become less oil-dependent, or changes in rules governing wage and price formation. Developing a fully micro-founded dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model, we examine the relevance of these different interpretations, focusing on France. Non-linear preferences generate oil price - GDP asymmetries that do not in the expected direction, and introducing adjustment cost do not trigger any. The observed diminution in oil intensities explains a reduction by one half in the GDP response to oil-price shocks. The desindexation of wages and prices further flattens the GDP response, but cannot explain the observed lack of GDP response. All these results claim for further analysis, including the examination of causes of the recent oil price hikes.


Piezoelectric tube scanners are the actuators of choice in scanning probe microscopy. These nanopositioners exhibit a dominant first resonant mode that is excited due to harmonics of the input scan signal. This introduces errors in the scan obtained. The presence of this resonant mode limits the upper bound of a triangular scan rate to around 1/100th of the first mechanical resonance frequency. Passive and active shunts have shown to damp this resonant mode substan- tially and improve scan performance. Sensorless active shunts optimised using H2 and H1 tech- niques, is designed. These shunts reduce the amplitude of the first resonant peak of a prototype tube nanopositioner by 24 dB. A triangle wave input is used to test the improvement in scan per- formance due to the damping achieved by these active shunts. Analysis shows that damping the resonant mode in such fashion reduces the scan error by five times.


Climate change is one of the greatest threats to global health in the twenty-first century and has recently been declared a health emergency. The lack of effective dissemination of emerging evidence on climate change health risks, effects, and innovative interventions to health professionals presents one of the greatest challenges to climate action today. To identify and address the knowledge gaps at the intersection of health and climate change, the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (CCGHR) established a Working Group on Climate Change and Health (WGCCH). WGCCH is evolving organically into a community of practice (CoP) that aims to elevate knowledge brokering on climate change and health and expand to global multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary realms. To date, the WGCCH established a regular webinar series to share expert knowledge from around the world on intersections between climate change and health, developed short summaries on climate change impacts on broad health challenges, supported young professional training, and enhanced climate health research capacity and skills through collegial network development and other collaborative projects that emerged from CoP activities. This paper proposes that WGCCH may serve as an example of an effective strategy to address the lack of opportunities for collaborative engagement and mutual learning between health researchers and practitioners, other disciplines, and the general public. Our experiences and lessons learned provide opportunities to learn from the growing pains and successes of an emerging climate change and health-focused CoP.


A comparison of 15 patients with sialadenosis of the parotid gland and 15 control patients was made of their levels of immunoglobulins A, G and M, sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, albumin, inorganic phosphate, cholesterin, uric acid and creatinin. Those patients with sialadenosis, in comparison with the control group and the findings in other reports, show reduced immunoglobulin A and increased potassium in the parotic secretion. The disturbance of function of the acinic cell is discussed.


In this study, we propose a chronobiological method for examining inter-microbial interactions in bacterial and fungal associations in female reproductive tract. Fungal and bacterial species were isolated in 45 women of reproductive aged 19–35, with regular menstrual cycle, applying no hormonal contraceptives, without previous gynecological surgery, abortions, miscarriages with vaginal eubiosis and dysbiosis in history. Sexually transmitted diseases (HIV infection, syphilis, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, chlamydiosis) were excluded in all subjects. Proliferation rate, morphogenesis and phospholipase activity were examined within the 48-hour period every 4 hours, in winter time, Moon phase IV. The data obtained were assessed by using Student's t-test, Wilcoxon test, and least squares method. All subjects were divided into the groups: group 1 — women with vaginal eubiosis, group 2 — women with vaginal dysbiosis. It was shown that in all subjects experimental parameters ofC. albicanscultures showed a diurnal dynamics characterized in healthy women by circadian rhythms with a single peak of activity. However, in women with vaginal dysbiosisC. albicanswas characterized by significant ultradian (around 12 hours long) rhythms with two peaks of biological activity. Concurrence and consistency in manifested physiological functions related to clinical isolates was coupled to temporal pattern of distributed biological resources in fungi depending on course of infectious process. It was found that in vaginal eubiosis exometabolites released by dominant associated microbiota did not significantly change microbiota-related amplitude-phase parameters. The data obtained evidenced that temporal pattern of parameters related toC. albicansfrom healthy individuals was stable and independent on bacterial metabolites. In contrast, dominant microsymbiont in vaginal dysbiosis inhibited fungi-related rhythms, which might be important in establishing lactobacillus-associated biotope colonization resistance. Effects of metabolites released by the associated microbiota typical to dysbiosis was revealed by increased mesor, amplitude, preserved biorhythm spectral pattern in examined properties as well as amplitude-phase characteristics indicating at enhanced or sustained C. albicans adaptive potential. Therefore, the amplitude-phase parameter ofC. albicansphysiological activity served as a marker of opposite (enhanced/weakened) effect of microsymbiont survival described in "microbial dominant-associate" pairs.


Glioblastoma multiforme is one of the most aggressive central nervous system tumors and with worse prognosis. Until now, treatments have managed to significantly increase the survival of these patients, depending on age, cognitive status, and autonomy of the individuals themselves. Based on these parameters, both initial or recurrence treatments are performed, as well as monitoring of disease by imaging studies. When the patient enters the terminal phase and curative treatments are suspended, respect for the previous wishes of the patient and development and implementation of palliative therapies must


The electron microscopic data on compactization of DNA at interaction with the synthetic oligopeptides having the trend of beta-structures formation in solutions are summarized. The new types of intramolecular and intermolecular compact structures are described in brief. Sequence of compactization process steps is discussed, the models of DNA packaging in the structures are presented. On the basis of the data presented the general principles of arrangement of the described compact structures are formulated, the mechanisms are proposed for formation of different types of compact particles on the final stage of the process of DNA condensation. Some processes of the genetic material compactization in vivo are discussed in which the proposed mechanisms for compact structures formation may have realization.


Low molecular weight dextran sulfate (DXS) has been reported to inhibit the classical, alternative pathway as well as the mannan-binding lectin pathway of the complement system. Furthermore, it acts as an endothelial cell protectant inhibiting complement-mediated endothelial cell damage. Endothelial cells are covered with a layer of heparan sulfate (HS), which is rapidly released under conditions of inflammation and tissue injury. Soluble HS induces maturation of dendritic cells (DC) via TLR4. In this study, we show the inhibitory effect of DXS on human DC maturation. DXS significantly prevents phenotypic maturation of monocyte-derived DC and peripheral myeloid DC by inhibiting the up-regulation of CD40, CD80, CD83, CD86, ICAM-1, and HLA-DR and down-regulates DC-SIGN in response to HS or exogenous TLR ligands. DXS also inhibits the functional maturation of DC as demonstrated by reduced T cell proliferation, and strongly impairs secretion of the proinflammatory mediators IL-1 (cid:1) , IL-6, IL-12p70, and TNF- (cid:2) . Exposure to DXS leads to a reduced production of the complement component C1q and a decreased phagocytic activity, whereas C3 secretion is increased. Moreover, DXS was found to inhibit phosphorylation of I (cid:3) B- (cid:2) and activation of NF- (cid:3) B. These findings suggest that DXS prevents TLR-induced maturation of human DC and may therefore be a useful reagent to impede the link between innate and adaptive immunity. The Journal of Immunology, 2008, 181: 878–890.


Single doses of anticancer drug biocarbazine (BC)--DTIC synonym--were injected intraperitoneally at 50 and 200 mg/kg body weight to sexually mature BALB/c mice. Among other features previously reported (Martinova et al. 1989) BC causes ultrastructural alterations in spermatogonia and spermatocytes significantly expressed after administration of higher dose. In addition BC induces some defects in acrosome formation of early spermatids in Golgi and cap phase, while spermatids in later stages of maturation showed marked resistance to BC treatment.


Fuzzy graph theory has enormous range of applications in neural networks, physical, logic, algebra, topology, operations research, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, natural and sociobiological sciences and in several other areas. We propose new concepts for generating different types of fuzzy subgraph defined as κ̃1κ̃2 fuzzy subgraph which depend on the changeable of the memberships of vertices and edges with discussing new type of paths Pκ̃1κ̃2 . Our approach is based on studying its effect of strength on different types of arcs by explaining several examples and deducing new important properties. Finally, we demonstrate all of the above on the circulation of hepatic portal system. Also, we analyze the influence of the resultant properties with medical phenomena and views with illustrating the consequences of abnormal cases. A new algorithm was created a code through MATLAP methods to calculate the membership of both the vertices and edges of whatever parts to be studied on the circulation of the hepatic portal system.


Hollow fibers were spun from a solution of surface-modifying macromolecule blended polyethersulfone in dimethyl acetamide by using dry-wet spinning method at different air gaps and at room temperature. The air gap was varied from 10 to 90 cm. The ultrafiltration performance of hollow fibers was studied by using aqueous solutions of polyethylene glycols and polyethylene oxides of different molecular weights. Significant difference in surface morphology between the inner and outer surface of the hollow fibers was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Similar results were obtained by contact angle measurement and XPS. Mean pore sizes of the inner surface and outer surface were calculated from AFM images and compared with the pore sizes obtained from mass transport data. Pore size distribution curves were drawn from both data, i.e., from AFM images and mass-transport data, both methods gave similar results.Roughness parameters of the inner and outer surfaces and the sizes of nodular aggregates on both surfaces were measured. An attempt was made to correlate the above parameters with the performance of the membranes. Unexpected values of contact angles of both inner surface and outer surface were obtained. It was observed that the studied membranes could be put into two groups: (i) the membranesfabricated between 10 and 50 cm air gap and (ii) fabricated at higher than 50 cm air gap. A plausible mechanism for the unexpected results was discussed.


Enhancement of genomic resources is needed for the cultivated octoploid strawberry Fragaria x ananassa (2n=8x=56). A diploid (2n=2x=14) relative, Fragaria vesca, has been used as a model system for strawberry genomics because of its small (~200 Mb) basic genome size, ancestry to the octoploid strawberries and availability of inbred lines, among other favorable features. In this study, a cDNA library was constructed from developing flower buds of Fragaria vesca ssp. vesca cv. 'Yellow Wonder'. A cDNA library of 7680 clones was created using the CLONTECH SMART cDNA Library Construction kit. Sequencing and bioinformatic analyses of 3298 clones resulted in 2717 quality Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) and 1910 unigenes. ESTs appear in GenBank as accession numbers DV438013-DV440729. Of these sequences, approximately 600 did not have homology to sequences in any of the databases used for sequence similarity searches. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).


Maternal colostrum or maternal colostrum plus colostral supplement, composed of a blend of lyophilized colostrum and dried whey, was fed to 32 Holstein calves as soon as possible after birth (mean +/- SEM = 2.0 +/- 0.2 hours) and, again, 12 hours later. Mean immunoglobulin concentration in colostrum was 59.2 mg/ml; mean immunoglobulin fraction in supplement was 11.4%. Serum immunoglobulin concentrations were measured at 0, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours, and at 28 and 56 days. Hour/treatment interactions were significant for total immunoglobulin, IgG1, and IgM concentrations. Immunoglobulin concentrations were highest at 12 hours (total immunoglobulin, IgG1, IgM) or 24 hours (IgG2) in calves fed colostrum plus supplement, whereas all immunoglobulin concentrations were highest at 24 hours in calves fed maternal colostrum only. Peak mean immunoglobulin concentrations did not differ between treatments. Supplementation of colostrum did not increase peak mean serum immunoglobulin concentration, but did alter the serum concentration-time profile from 12 to 72 hours after birth.


Globally seen, two trends are noticed that threaten the quality of the living environment in cities. First of all, a strong urbanization trend is seen. Secondly, cities have to deal with increasing climate changes. These two trends lead to the development of new policies with the aim to sustain the liveability of city centres by making motorized vehicles less dominant in city centres and improve the quality of public space. Such new policy development always takes place in a network consisting of public and private actors, as well as non-profit organisations and societal stakeholders. All these actors in the network are highly interdependent and characterized by different values and interests. In practice these differences lead to strategic choices and actions of actors to stand up for their own interests which cause complex decision-making processes during spatial redevelopment projects. Despite such varying values and interests, to achieve good outcomes of such collective decision-making processes, support of a suggested policy by involved actors in the network is important. However, although trust is considered as an important condition for support and consequential successful policy development, based on earlier studies it can be concluded that the amount of literature on trust in public-private networks" in public administration, public management and policy science is remarkably small. Consequently, it is not clear which governmental interventions can be carried out during decision-making processes in governance networks to steer on trust. For this reason, the goal of this research project is to find out how trust within public-private networks works and if this can be influenced. The following research question is formulated: "Which and to what extent lead interventions to trust within networks during the initiating phase of spatial redevelopment projects in city centres with the aim to make motorized vehicles less dominant and improve the quality of public space?" This research project starts with literature research to construct a preliminary model that shows how we assume that "trust within networks" evolves during the initiating phase of spatial redesigning projects. During the second phase of the research project three cases in Rotterdam are investigated. Neighbours, entrepreneurs, municipal officials and independent researchers are interviewed. This explorative research leads to a number of observations that improve the model and answer the question which specific interventions and events lead to more or less trust during the initiating phase of spatial redevelopment plans. It is observed that the initial amount of trust that actors have at the start of the initiating phase, is not significantly changed by current investigated interventions during the initiating phase. Especially the trend of competence trust and collaborative trust seems hardly changed during the process by interventions. The trend of companion trust is influenced by the investigated interventions, but not necessarily in a positive direction. Companion, competence and collaborative trust during the initiating phase of spatial redevelopment projects are already merely subject to overarching, longer term processes that characterize actor networks.


There is currently mixed evidence for the relationship between poor sleep and daytime fatigue. It is well documented that retrospective measures of insomnia and fatigue are highly correlated with one another. However, other studies fail to demonstrate a link between objectively less sleep and fatigue; that is, individuals with shorter sleep times do not necessarily report increased fatigue. As such, the relationship between these two constructs remains unclear. The current investigation will help to elucidate the complex relationship between sleep and fatigue among those with and without insomnia by advancing the existing literature in two important ways. First, this study proposed to examine the temporal relationship between sleep and fatigue across two weeks, thereby investigating whether sleep and fatigue occur in accordance with one anotherover time. Second, this study utilized a multi-method approach by collecting subjective (i.e.,sleep diary) and objective (i.e., actigraphy) measures of sleep, as well as retrospective (i.e.,visual analogue scales: VAS) and prospective (i.e., momentary ratings) measures of fatigue. Two separate hierarchical linear models were used to test whether sleep (measured by sleep quality and total sleep time) predicted daytime fatigue on the VAS and actigraph, respectively. The secondary objective asked whether cognitive-behavioural variables (i.e., maladaptive sleep beliefs, fear and avoidance of fatigue, and fatigue-based rumination) may help account for the relationship between sleep and fatigue using mediation. The results of the primary analyses suggested that sleep quality significantly predicted VAS fatigue ratings, whereas total sleep time was a significant predictor of fatigue within- but not between-persons.

 No significant relationships were found between objective measures of sleep and momentary fatigue ratings. Finally, each of the cognitive-behavioural variables, with the exception of avoidance of fatigue, were significant mediators of the relationship between sleep and fatigue. The results demonstrated that compared to sleep quantity, our perception of sleep may play a more important role in predicting reports of daytime fatigue. These findings could help decrease the burden that individuals with insomnia place on their total sleep times, and instead, treatment could focus on challenging maladaptive sleep-related cognitions, which ultimately could lessen the overall sleep-related anxiety.


Exploiting Tangshan 1976 - the deadliest earthquake in the 20th century - as a source of exogenous variation, we estimate the long-run effect of a historical shock on contemporary socio-economic outcomes. Cohorts born after the earthquake were not only larger, but exhibit lower school completion rates, particularly among the female today. Despite lower schooling levels, there is no evidence for adverse labour market outcomes. We conduct robustness checks and argue that the effect is causal.


Objective To assess clinic- and community-based trends in demographic and behavioral characteristics and clinic-based trends in HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in female sex workers in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Design Multiyear cross-sectional study of first-time attenders in Clinique de Confiance, a confidential STD clinic; biannual community-based behavioral surveys. Methods From 1992 to 1998, female sex workers were invited to attend Clinique de Confiance, where they were counseled, interviewed, clinically examined during their first visit and tested for STD and HIV infection. Community-based surveys, conducted in 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1997, interviewed women regarding socio-demographic characteristics and HIV/STD-related knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Results Among female sex workers in Abidjan, there was a trend toward shorter duration of sex work, higher prices, and more condom use. Among sex workers attending Clinique de Confiance for the first time, significant declines were found in the prevalence of HIV infection (from 89 to 32%), gonorrhoea (from 33 to 11%), genital ulcers (from 21 to 4%), and syphilis (from 21 to 2%). In a logistic regression model that controlled for socio-demographic and behavioral changes, the year of screening remained significantly associated with HIV infection. Conclusion The increase in condom use and the decline in prevalence of HIV infection and other STD may well have resulted from the prevention campaign for female sex workers, and such campaigns should therefore be continued, strengthened, and expanded.


ABSTRACT Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP contains the genes,atzA, -B, and -C, that encode three enzymes which metabolize atrazine to cyanuric acid. Atrazine-catabolizing pure cultures isolated from around the world contain genes homologous to atzA, -B, and -C. The present study was conducted to determine whether the same genes are present in an atrazine-catabolizing bacterial consortium and how the genes and metabolism are subdivided among member species. The consortium contained four or more bacterial species, but two members, Clavibacter michiganese ATZ1 andPseudomonas sp. strain CN1, collectively mineralized atrazine. C. michiganese ATZ1 released chloride from atrazine, produced hydroxyatrazine, and contained a homolog to theatzA gene that encoded atrazine chlorohydrolase. C. michiganese ATZ1 stoichiometrically metabolized hydroxyatrazine to N-ethylammelide and contained genes homologous toatzB and atzC, suggesting that either a functional AtzB or -C catalyzed N-isopropylamine release from hydroxyatrazine. C. michiganese ATZ1 grew on isopropylamine as its sole carbon and nitrogen source, explaining the ability of the consortium to use atrazine as the sole carbon and nitrogen source. A second consortium member, Pseudomonassp. strain CN1, metabolized the N-ethylammelide produced byC. michiganese ATZ1 to transiently form cyanuric acid, a reaction catalyzed by AtzC. A gene homologous to the atzCgene of Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP was present, as demonstrated by Southern hybridization and PCR. Pseudomonassp. strain CN1, but not C. michiganese, metabolized cyanuric acid. The consortium metabolized atrazine faster than didC. michiganese individually. Additionally, the consortium metabolized a much broader set of triazine ring compounds than did previously described pure cultures in which the atzABCgenes had been identified. These data begin to elucidate the genetic and metabolic bases of catabolism by multimember consortia.


Based on effective composite material failure criteria and property limited degradation model, axial compressive ultimate strength of composite laminated stiffened panels are analyzed by nonlinear laminated degenerated 3D finite element analysis, which is based on incremental continuum-based updated Lagrangian formulation. Comparison between analytical solutions and test results in this article indicates that this article provides an effective and practical method to evaluate the axial compressive ultimate strength of composite laminated stiffened panels. Using this method, ultimate strength of hull girders made of continuous basalt fiber composite materials are analyzed . Comparing the results,it can be seen that the ship hull in basalt fiber composite materials has equivalent longitudinal ultimate strength to S-2 glass fiber composite materials, basalt fiber composite material could replace the S-2 glass fiber composite materials used in shipbuilding engineering. The gist for building ship with basalt fiber composite materials was provided by this paper.


111 Staggered price and staggered wage contracts are commonly viewed as similar mechanisms in generating persistent real effects of monetary shocks. In this paper, we distinguish the two mechanisms in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium framework. We show that, although the dynamic price setting and wage setting equations are alike, a key parameter governing persistence is linked to the underlying preferences and technologies in different ways. Under the staggered wage mechanism, an intertemporal smoothing incentive in labor supply creates a real rigidity that is absent under the staggered price mechanism. Consequently, the two mechanisms have different implications on persistence. While the staggered price mechanism by itself does not contribute to, the staggered wage mechanism plays an important role in generating persistence. JEL classification: E24, E32, E52


Adapting to climate change requires the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders, including the private sector. However, little is still known about if and how corporations, particularly those operating in the Global South, are involved in climate adaptation. This paper explores the existing evidence base, provides insights into multinational corporations' adaptation framings in their external communication, and asks what we can learn from corporate adaptation disclosure. Our review suggests that if adaptation is used in corporate disclosure, it is commonly framed along one or more of the following categories: risk reduction, supply chain management, corporate social responsibility, and/or business opportunities. We investigate this in greater detail for global Food and Beverage (F&B) companies that operate in developing countries. By comparing adaptation case studies both in the UNFCCC's Private Sector Initiative (PSI) database and in the companies' own sustainability reporting, we find that F&B companies frame their engagement using risk and supply chain-based language, with a focus on short-term business opportunities, while the need for strategic planning for longer-term action in response to future risks is largely missing from the companies' discourse. We argue that a better understanding of private sector's terminology and disclosure on adaptation is important for establishing collaborative, multi-stakeholder processes of adaptation in developing countries.


The phenomenon of voltage collapse eclipses a potential hazard for the transmission and distribution systems. The load shedding for avoiding the existence of voltage instability in power systems is taken as a remedial action during emergency states. The load shedding strategy for power systems with location and quantity of load to be shed is presented in this paper. Two methods are used for this purpose. The first method is based on a mathematical calculation of an indicator of risk of voltage instability. The second method is based on a fuzzy load shedding based algorithm that uses a voltage stability indicator for averting voltage collapse. Applications to the standard IEEE 30-bus system are presented to validate the applicability of the two proposed methods.


COVID-19 has evolved into a global pandemic, affecting millions. An effective vaccine is the need of the hour to curb this pandemic, playing a role in increasing herd immunity, preventing severe disease, and reducing the ongoing health crisis. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) draft landscape of COVID-19 vaccines, around 64 vaccine candidates are in clinical assessment. So far, WHO has approved five vaccines; Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Sinopharm. Although vaccine technology is proposed to be safe, the adverse effects of the vaccines are not yet fully characterized. Given the importance of the vaccine in fighting this public health crisis, understanding the adverse effects of the approved COVID-19 vaccines is crucial. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding adverse events of the COVID-19 vaccines. These adverse events may include; PE (pulmonary embolism), DVT (Deep venous thrombosis), allergic reactions, CVST (cerebral venous sinus thrombosis), and GBS (Guillain-Barre Syndrome). These findings should be interpreted in light of the proven beneficial effects of the vaccine, and awareness should be spread regarding these adverse effects so that patients can seek early care.


How can a product be legitimated when the legitimation process includes another legitimate product as a barrier? To address this question, we conducted a process theorization through in-depth analysis of interviews and newspaper articles in the context of Brazilian premium cocoa and chocolate markets. We found that the legitimation process involving the interaction of different actors focused on building cultural-cognitive legitimacy was supported, in particular, by normative legitimacy. In this process, media appears as an important market ally in educating consumers. We used institutional theory to show that it is essential to address other legitimate products and the interaction of actors to understand the legitimation process.


This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first DNA exoneration in the United States. In the last twenty-five years, the Innocence Movement has succeeded in achieving thousands of additional exonerations while bringing about significant reform in the criminal justice system. These reforms have particularly sought to address the primary causes of wrongful convictions, including eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, and flawed forensic science. However, as pre-trial and investigatory policy changes have taken hold, very few comparable systemic procedural reforms have been implemented. In fact, in 1996, on the eve of the Innocent Movement, Congress passed the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act ["AEDPA"]. Rather than seeking to alter post-conviction procedure to more effectively address viable claims of innocence, AEDPA operated to radically restrict federal habeas review for state prisoners. Nowhere is AEDPA's impact more devastating than in the context of factually innocence prisoners seeking review of their wrongful convictions.Although federal habeas corpus review was historically designed to perform the fundamental function of correcting wrongful convictions of the innocent, under AEDPA, federal habeas review no longer adequately achieves that goal. The overhaul of federal habeas procedure under AEDPA occurred before the Innocence Movement was in full swing. Thus, the debate leading up to the enactment of AEDPA did not benefit from the exoneration data available today. Now that the number of exonerations has risen to over 1500 — with this ever-growing figure widely recognized as the mere tip of the iceberg — the moment to revisit federal review of criminal convictions is long overdue.This Article proposes a federal post-conviction innocence track as a viable, systemic response to the wrongful conviction crisis. In doing so, this Article contributes to the ongoing debate among legal scholars about the role of innocence claims in federal habeas corpus jurisprudence. As the Innocence Movement turns twenty-five — and as it continues to expose the depths of the wrongful conviction epidemic in the American criminal justice movement — the time has come for more widespread systemic reform.


Abstract Specially instrumented aircraft of the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA), Research Flight Facility (RFF) have supported environmental research efforts for more than a decade. In 1969 the RFF participated in the Barbados Oceanographic and Meteorological Experiment (BOMEX) providing. in addition to approximately 1000 flight hours during the field operating periods of the program (May through July), flights designed to develop operational patterns, test, calibrate and compare sensor derived data. While the three participating RFF research aircraft accomplished 146 missions, for a total of approximately 1138 hours of flying time, they collected about three million digitally recorded meteorological observations, numerous sea-surface temperature and water vapor flux measurements, two million cloud and radar photographs, and other special data. A brief description of the scientific objectives of the program, aircraft and instrumentation systems employed, sample tracks, data collected ...


State estimation is critical to the operation and control of modern power systems. However, many cyber-attacks, such as false data injection attacks, can circumvent conventional detection methods and interfere the normal operation of grids. While there exists research focusing on detecting such attacks in dc state estimation, attack detection in ac systems is also critical, since ac state estimation is more widely employed in power utilities. In this paper, we propose a new false data injection attack detection mechanism for ac state estimation. When malicious data are injected in the state vectors, their spatial and temporal data correlations may deviate from those in normal operating conditions. The proposed mechanism can effectively capture such inconsistency by analyzing temporally consecutive estimated system states using wavelet transform and deep neural network techniques. We assess the performance of the proposed mechanism with comprehensive case studies on IEEE 118- and 300-bus power systems. The results indicate that the mechanism can achieve a satisfactory attack detection accuracy. Furthermore, we conduct a preliminary sensitivity test on the control parameters of the proposed mechanism.


Objectives: Current models based on fetal biometry and maternal characteristics have a poor performance in predicting macrosomia. The primary aim of this study was to elucidate the diagnostic performance of fetal Dopplers in predicting macrosomia in the third trimester of pregnancy; the secondary aim was to build a multiparametric prediction model including pregnancy, ultrasound and Doppler characteristics able to accurately predict macrosomia. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study on 2,156 singleton pregnancies scheduled for routine ultrasonographic examination at a gestational age of 36 weeks (range 35-37). Fetal biometry, estimated fetal weight (EFW), PI in the uterine, umbilical artery and middle cerebral arteries, cerebroplacental ratio and umbilical vein blood flow (UVBF) normalised for fetal abdominal circumference (UVBF/AC) were recorded. Outcome evaluated were a birthweight (BW)> 90 centile or >4,000g. Logistic regression and area under the curve (AUC) analyses were used to elucidate diagnostic accuracy of different ultrasound parameters and maternal characteristics for the prediction of macrosomia. Results: Macrosomia occurred in 9.8%, while birthweight >4,000 g was recorded in 7.7% newborns. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, maternal BMI (aOR:1.23), pregestational diabetes (aOR:1.83), a prior newborn with a birthweight >95th centile (aOR:1.49 ), EFW (aOR:2.23 ) and UVBF/AC (aOR1.84) were independently associated with macrosomia. EFW had an AUC of 0.750 alone and of 0.801 in association with maternal characteristics for the prediction of macrosomia. The addition of UVBF to this model significantly improved the prediction of fetal macrosomia with an of AUC 0.892 (95% CI 0.76-0.91) (De Long:p = 0.0078). The predictive performance for birthweight >4,000 g was similar and was significantly affected by the inclusion of UVBF in the diagnostic algorithm. Conclusions: Combined screening by maternal factors fetal biometry and UV flow can predict a high proportion of pregnancies that will deliver a macrosomic neonate.


Colombia holds one of the most unequal sex ratios at government level in Latin America.The research therefore attempts to examine how the minority of women who have a seat in government are being reflected and reproduced in the media based on the representation of gender. In this qualitative study, the aim is to investigate, analyze and illustrate how women in high political office in Colombia are portrayed in Colombian newspapers. The study examines how gender affects the discourse of these female politicians. In the study a critical discourse analysis is used from a feminist perspective on material from Colombian newspapers, concerning four different female Colombian top politicians. The focus of the analysis is to examine how the image of these women are being produced and reproduced in the media and if the reproduction of the discourse of these women stand out or differ significantly because of their gender. The study contributes to gain a broader understanding and overview of what the situation of women in the political world in Colombia looks like, how it is shaped by the media and the social and cultural context, and finally how this affects women in politics.


ABSTRACT Recently, the University of Waikato introduced a first-year physics course requiring no specific physics or mathematics background, to support degrees in other subjects and allowing maximum diversity in student intake. This course uses the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach in which students develop their own experiments to tackle scientific questions. ISLE has proved successful with mathematically able classes; we have adapted it for a less capable cohort in a regional New Zealand context. We have assessed our approach for 2018 using: pre- and post-course concept tests; performance in exams; a student focus group; analysis of laboratory notebooks and marksheets; interviews with teaching staff; and student comments from the university's course evaluations. Concept tests showed a mean normalised gain of 0.61. Students did well in the exam. Many students were initially unfamiliar with practical scientific investigation and record keeping but laboratory notebooks showed desired learning outcomes were achieved by the end. Students and staff engaged well with this course. Students' final grades were not significantly different between genders and between under-represented minority and non-minority students. We cannot yet say whether this approach provides a sufficient platform for progress in engineering but students have learned fundamental practical physical concepts.


Since the 1980s, Italy has rapidly shifted from a country of emigration to a host country of international immigrant communities. Today, immigrants make up 8.1% of the Italian population (Osservatorio Regionale 2014: 4). Italy's historical development of immigration laws have greatly shaped the work opportunities that they can acquire as well as how they are perceived in Italian society. These political processes have also molded how immigrant participation in the Italian labor market is racialized and genderized. While studying abroad in Bologna, Italy during the academic year of 20132014, I was frequently confronted by West African street merchants selling items such as artisanal products from their country of origin, tissues, lighters, and socks. Some had a vending license while others did not. Their ability to get a license was dependent on their legal status. Supported by the Global Research Fellowship of the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives and the Mount Holyoke UAF LYNK funding, I developed an independent research project that explored how immigration politics shape the men's opportunities for finding, creating and maintaining forms of employment. This project analyzes the fieldwork I conducted within the city center of Bologna from May to August 2014. I had informal conversations and facilitated interviews with fourteen undocumented street peddlers in the city, six irregular and eight regularized workers. Three of the men were from Nigeria and the other eleven were from Senegal. I pose the following questions: why do the men engage in petty vending? What effects do immigration policies have on their ability to obtain employment in Italy? What kinds of obstacles do they confront and how do they overcome them? Common themes arose about their socio-economic and legal obstacles in Italian society, as well as discrimination that they face from police, state employees, and local politicians. I argue that regardless of the men's legal status, regular or irregular, they are negatively impacted by Italian immigration policies as they hinder their opportunities to find and maintain employment, thus pushing them to work in the informal economy. I use social theorist Michel Foucault's concepts of biopower and biopolitics to analyze how contemporary Italian immigration policies marginalize, segregate and racialize immigrant communities, particularly African individuals. In the first chapter, I provide a brief historiography of Italian immigration politics until 2009, and how these laws have shaped immigrant participation in the Italian labor market and the political economy of the Emilia-Romagna. Chapter Two demonstrates how Italian immigration laws trap the irregular merchants into a vicious cycle of poverty. In the final chapter, I discuss how the combination of flaws within immigration policies and discrimination embedded within local bureaucratic practices restrict regularized merchants to do documented work, thus forcing them into the underground economy. At the end, I have also included two interview transcriptions with participants in Italian and a photo gallery.


Objectives: Despite clinical evidence demonstrating that meniscus tears are early events in the initiation and propagation of knee osteoarthritis (OA), the biology of how meniscus injury leads to changes in the articular cartilage is not well studied. Therefore, we compared the molecular biology of articular and meniscal cartilage within the same knees undergoing partial meniscectomy to advance our understanding of early molecular events in the knee that contribute to the development of OA following a meniscus tear. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that meniscal and articular cartilage from knees undergoing arthroscopic partial meniscectomy will demonstrate molecular signature representative of early OA. Methods: Patients (n=12) with a known isolated medial meniscus tear without any knee chondrosis or radiographic OA were consented prior to surgery. During arthroscopic partial meniscectomy, a sample of their injured meniscus and a small fragment of their articular cartilage off the medial femoral condyle were procured. The transcriptome signatures measured through Affymetrix microarray were compared between the two tissues and underlying biological processes were explored computationally. Results: 3566 gene transcripts, representing several underlying biological processes, including extracellular matrix organization, wound healing, cell adhesion, chemotaxis, blood vessel morphogenesis, and angiogenesis, were differentially expressed between meniscus and articular cartilage. Conclusion: Articular cartilage and meniscus exhibit molecular events associated with OA at the time of partial meniscectomy despite no gross evidence of degeneration in the knee. These findings identify early effects of meniscus injury on meniscus and articular cartilage, which likely lead to the development of knee OA.


The experience gained during the operation and maintenance activities on the Camisea Pipeline Gas Transport System (SDT) owned by TGP in Peru — which goes from the Amazon rainforest in the region of Cusco to the Pacific coast near Lima, along 729 Km — has led to the evolution and the optimization of the design, construction and maintenance processes regarding works focused on the stabilization of the slopes along the right of way of the pipeline carrying natural gas and natural gas liquid.This section of the right of way is 95 km long and crosses tropical mountains in the Amazon rainforest, in a transitional area between the Manugaly valley and the basin top boundary.It was noticed since 2005 that the right of way had being affected by a land slide consisting of a horizontal crack in the ground, between both pipelines and along them. So, after number of in-site inspections, the team concluded that the area was being affected by a large ground removal event.As a consequence, traces of geotechnical instability were found on the right side of the right of way, consisting of stress cracks, transverse settlements and leaks. All of those were affecting the stability conditions of the ground. From the annual in-site follow-up, monitoring and geotechnical testing, the team established that this process affecting the right of way was caused by a large mass removal process directly related to the increase of the imbalance rate of an old colluvial deposit below the entire area, triggered by the heavy rainfall in the area — ca. 3 500 mm a year, mainly between October and April.It is to be mentioned that the axis of the NG and NGL pipelines is located on the top of this colluvial deposit, which is susceptible to landslides. This is noticeable because of cracks present in the place. Local geomorphology and heavy deforestation — caused by locals — triggers an increase of the rainfall water filtration rate into the ground, thus speeding up the slide processes. Piezometers installed in the area showed high levels of the local water table. Movement readings are: top length: 70 m; length: 250 m; width: 150 m.Criteria for the construction of landslide mitigation structures in the pipeline area are being established based on a permanent land survey monitoring system — including inclinometers, piezometers and strain-gages — as this is a large regional movement. This control action allowed the operation to continue free of damages to the pipelines and under controlled costs.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Upon genotoxic stress and during normal S phase, ATM phosphorylates the checkpoint clamp protein Rad9 in a manner that depends on Ser272. Ser272 is the only known ATM-dependent phosphorylation site in human Rad9. However, Ser272 phosphorylation is not required for survival or checkpoint activation after DNA damage. The physiological function of Ser272 remains elusive. Here, we show that ATM-dependent Rad9Ser272 phosphorylation requires the MRN complex and controls repair pathways. Furthermore, the mutant cells accumulate large numbers of chromosome breaks and induce gross chromosomal rearrangements. Our findings establish a new and unexpected role for ATM: it phosphorylates the checkpoint clamp in order to control repair pathways, thereby maintaining genomic integrity during unperturbed cell cycle and upon DNA damage.


Understanding the environmental context of potential subsea CO2 storage projects is a challenging task that requires the development of risk-based environmental monitoring to address public assurance, as well as regulatory requirements. A core need is an understanding and quantification of background environmental variability in relation to the likelihood of detection from putative release. Unmanned surface vehicle (USV) technology is rapidly evolving, with a number of USV platforms available that can meet a variety of needs in ocean observing. Advanced sensor technologies integrated on USVs promise coverage and flexibility for sustained observations at space and time scales not previously achievable. This paper describes CSIRO research with USVs in support of CCS environmental monitoring studies in Australia.

CSIRO utilises a range of autonomous systems, including autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles and robotic profiling floats as part of its observing capabilities. For CCS studies, CSIRO is partnering with Saildrone Inc. to provide a flexible platform that houses a suite of sensors for environmental assessments at offshore CCS sites. The Saildrone platforms have been designed to accommodate sensors for detection of three important monitoring types: seawater carbon dioxide, bubble acoustics and water quality. The Saildrones can be used for long-range reconnaissance in a broad range of sea conditions and with up to 6-month deployment durations. Each Saildrone platform and its science systems can be operated remotely, with data transmitted back to shore via satellite to allow real-time monitoring of changes in the marine environment. The rapid deployment and response of the platform allows for more detailed investigation of features identified during surveys and of anomalies that exceed the known variability in measured variables. The combination of the platform with fixed measurements, such as those collected using more traditional oceanographic moorings, provides new capability to assess variability at CCS sites over a larger survey area than has been possible before.

The sensor systems fitted to the Saildrone and the land based calibration and maintenance support facilities are state of the art. The carbon sensor suite delivers pH, pCO2 and dissolved oxygen. It is based on a robust system proven to work in the field over long periods and includes reference gas and transmission of multiple diagnostic parameters to ensure sensor performance and calibrations are maintained. The acoustic sensors use a two-frequency split beam system operating at 38 kHz and 2002 kHz that can detect low concentrations of bubbles in the water column. It will be possible to detect and monitor potential or reported bubble plumes over time to determine the cause. In this way reducing false alarms where under certain circumstances aggregations of fish or zooplankton can be mistakenly interpreted as a bubble plume. Sensors for sub-surface bio-optics to assess water column plankton (chlorophyll and particle backscatter), oceanographic (temperature and salinity) and meteorological data are also incorporated into the real-time data streams delivered from the Saildrone. This paper will provide an overview of the sensor configuration and performance capabilities of the USVs for use in environmental assessments to support CCS. Sea trial and other data including CCS monitoring strategies will be presented. Finally, the paper will discuss potential future uses of the platform for ongoing monitoring of CCS sites.


The article covers the studies of relationships between the physical parameters of impulsive noise in shrink workshops of automobile building. A peak noise level (Lp) and number of impulses per shift (N) in the workplaces were calculated and evaluated by means ACGIH-89 criterion and by patterns with the parameters q = 1.5-3.0 and limited maximal levels 140-160 dB. A total of 328 blacksmiths were examined by pure-tone audiometry, the hearing loss was evaluated according to the standard ISO 1999 (1990). The peak levels appeared to equal 115-143 dB with the number of impulses per shift equal to 1,000-9,500. The study revealed a reliable correlation between Lp, N and the hearing loss in blacksmiths. Comparison of the various hygienic patterns showed that the simultaneous consideration of Lp and N is preferable according to the "equal energy" rule (level of 10 dB corresponding to 10-fold increase of the impulses number) in the studied range of the impulses number per shift.


We propose a scheme for training a computerized agent to perform complex human tasks such as highway steering. The scheme is designed to follow a natural learning process whereby a human instructor teaches a computerized trainee. It enables leveraging the weak supervision abilities of a (human) instructor, who, while unable to perform well herself at the required task, can provide coherent and learnable instantaneous reward signals to the computerized trainee. The learning process consists of three supervised elements followed by reinforcement learning. The supervised learning stages are: (i) supervised imitation learning; (ii) supervised reward induction; and (iii) supervised safety module construction. We implemented this scheme using deep convolutional networks and applied it to successfully create a computerized agent capable of autonomous highway steering over the well-known racing game Assetto Corsa. We demonstrate that the use of all components is essential to effectively carry out reinforcement learning of the steering task using vision alone, without access to a driving simulator internals, and operating in wall-clock time.


Robot grasping and dexterous, in-hand manipulation allow robots to interact with their surroundings and execute a plethora of complex tasks such as pushing buttons, opening doors, and interacting with electrical appliances. In robotics, such complicated tasks are typically executed by multi-fingered end-effectors that are heavy, rigid, and expensive, employing numerous degrees of freedom and actuation. In this paper, we focus on the analysis, design, and development of a multi-grasp, reconfigurable, five fingered, anthropomorphic robot hand that can facilitate the execution of both robust grasping and dexterous manipulation tasks in service robotics and industrial automation applications. The robot hand is composed of eight actuators driving eighteen degrees of freedom with a telescoping mechanism and opposable thumb and pinky fingers to produce multiple anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic configurations for grasping and manipulation tasks. The reconfigurable finger base frames allow the hand to transform and utilize its degrees of actuation in an optimal manner to overcome its underactuated limitations. The underactuated robot hand is designed with a human hand structure that takes advantage of objects specifically designed for human operation (e.g., tool or handles with ergonomics for the human hand). This allows the system to better operate within a human-centered environment. The effectiveness of the proposed device is experimentally validated through three different tests: i) grasping experiments involving everyday-life objects, ii) force experiments that assess the force exertion capabilities of the hand in different finger base frame configurations, and iii) demonstration of in-hand object manipulation capabilities. The proposed hand weighs 1.28 kg and has a cost of approximately $1920 USD. The device is capable of exerting up to 14.3 N of contact force during pinch grasping and a maximum of 150.6 N power grasping.


In this study, an attempt is to figure out the institutional changes that initiate the agricultural commodity exchange (ACE). To assess the affecting factors, new institutional economics approach has been chosen. The framework consisting of four levels of social analysis introduced by Oliver E.Williamson is used to analyze the social environment, institutional rules, institutional arrangements and finally the agency level economics (Neo-classical economics). Regarding this framework, the institutional changes that have initiated the Iranian ACE is analyzed and its constraints to further improvement are discussed.


ABSTRACT The author discusses the field of locative arts, focusing on works and interests from 2003 to 2004. An overview is presented of the artistic project types found within this field, and the author considers in depth a number of issues such as how projects are shaped by their reliance on positioning technologies and the importance of the social within this area of practice.


ABSTRACT Although the enzymes enabling Hypocrea jecorina (anamorph Trichoderma reesei) to degrade the insoluble substrate cellulose have been investigated in some detail, little is still known about the mechanism by which cellulose signals its presence to the fungus. In order to investigate the possible role of a G-protein/cyclic AMP signaling pathway, the gene encoding GNA3, which belongs to the adenylate cyclase-activating class III of G-alpha subunits, was cloned. gna3 is clustered in tandem with the mitogen-activated protein kinase gene tmk3 and the glycogen phosphorylase gene gph1. The gna3 transcript is upregulated in the presence of light and is almost absent in the dark. A strain bearing a constitutively activated version of GNA3 (gna3QL) exhibits strongly increased cellulase transcription in the presence of the inducer cellulose and in the presence of light, whereas a gna3 antisense strain showed delayed cellulase transcription under this condition. However, the gna3QL mutant strain was unable to form cellulases in the absence of cellulose. The necessity of light for stimulation of cellulase transcription by GNA3 could not be overcome in a mutant which expressed gna3 under control of the constitutive gpd1 promoter also in darkness. We conclude that the previously reported stimulation of cellulase gene transcription by light, but not the direct transmission of the cellulose signal, involves the function and activation of GNA3. The upregulation of gna3 by light is influenced by the light modulator ENVOY, but GNA3 itself has no effect on transcription of the light regulator genes blr1, blr2, and env1. Our data for the first time imply an involvement of a G-alpha subunit in a light-dependent signaling event in fungi.


Author(s): Bardolph, Megan | Advisor(s): Coulson, Seana | Abstract: Polarization is increasing in American politics and frequently involves disagreement over basic facts. Although this phenomenon is rare, the domain of social and political issues provides an environment where emotions may influence opinions and decisions in seemingly irrational ways. This research explores how individuals judge and respond to evidence about controversial socio-political issues, considering whether behavior is more appropriately modeled by accounts of motivated reasoning or Bayesian updating rules.We find evidence of an attitude congruency bias, where people judge information to be of higher quality when it aligns with their existing attitudes on an issue. However, we find that this bias does not necessarily lead to polarizing. Instead, people's change in attitudes is better described by Bayesian updating, where people are sensitive to the amount and quality of information they are presented with. This behavior does not seem to be driven by affect or knowledge in a domain.Judgment of information, in the form of argument rating, was analyzed by creating separate measures of objective argument quality and individual rating bias. Both factors were found to model attitude change, indicating that participants are sensitive to both the objective quality of evidence and to the effects of their own biases. Accounts of Bayesian information processing and motivated reasoning both predict behavior when information is modeled in terms of these two factors.Finally, this research explores the role of information choice and shows that a bias toward choosing attitude-congruent information may lead to motivated attitude change, where exposure to a biased set of evidence models attitude change in line with one's existing views. People exhibit more sensitivity to information quality when they do not choose which information to view, indicating that choice may play a special role in allowing individual bias to outweigh information quality. These findings inspire questions about the role of curated information and people's capacity for rational behavior in a tense political climate.


The growth of social media enables firms to co-create value with customers in online communities. The lack of authority of the sponsoring firm in online communities brings questions on how to orchestrate all members of the online community. The extant literature is unsettled about whether sponsoring online communities by firms are worthwhile, and what shapes value co-creation in these communities. Through a critical realist case study, we examined a firm sponsored community of interest in Indonesia. We found that the sponsoring firm should play roles as a co-creator and as a facilitator and switch between them to navigate a community of interest. This study contributes to current knowledge: (i) we propose three mechanisms in the community of interest and how those can be conditioned by the firm roles when orchestrating communities of interest; (ii) we provide an example of a critical realist case study in the field of information systems.


that this framework is extremely useful for the examination of chemistry and its many questions. The scientific process, an iterative process, uses the repeated acquisition and testing of data through experimental procedures to disprove hypotheses. A hypothesis is a proposed explanation of natural phenomena, and after a hypothesis has survived many rounds of testing, it may be accepted as a theory and used to explain the phenomena in question. Thus, the scientific method is not a linear process of steps, but a method of inductive reasoning.


Examines the incidence and adjustment experiences of workers who are displaced by economic change. Since the mid-1970s, the aggregate annual rate of retrenchment has fluctuated in a counter-cyclical pattern around a relatively stable long-term trend of about 5 per cent. The paper shows that the probability of retrenchment and the nature of post-retrenchment adjustment varies between different groups of workers and depends on general economic conditions.


I. Introduction. The notes contained in this appendix are based on the examination of about 120 specimens, which form a part of the collection made by Dr. Matley in the course of his work on the Basal Complex of Jamaica, the majority of the specimens coming from the Kingston district. They have been divided into the same sub-district groups as in the main paper. The other rocks which have been examined are: —first, from a group of andesites and associated instrusives, the position of which in the sequence is, at present, uncertain; and, secondly, a series of pebbles derived from the Complex. The rocks of the Basal Complex of Jamaica are either igneous, or rocks which have undergone metamorphism. Although they fall into these two groups, the types, especially of the metamorphic rocks, are very varied. (a) The Igneous Rocks. Of the plutonic types of igneous rock, which are a part of the Complex, the most important is a granodiorite. Macroscopically, this rock is mesocratic, although some specimens are richer in ferromagnesian minerals than are others. The felspars, when fresh, are colourless; but, when they are slightly altered, the orthoclase assumes a faint pink coloration (K.P. 131). Quartz, a ferromagnesian mineral (usually biotite or hornblende), and sphene can generally be seen in the hand-specimen. A thin section of the granodiorite, examined under the microscope, shows hypidiomorphic crystals of plagioclase (oligoclase-andesine to andesine), which are sometimes poikilitically embedded in orthoclase, or surrounded by allotriomorphic quartz and orthoclase. The dark minerals are


: Malaria-controlling measures and the population's chemoprevention in the intensive foci caused a drastic morbidity reduction in the republic, by showing a 1.5-fold decrease in the number of malaria cases in 2005 as compared with the previous year (2309 versus 3577). Malaria patients are notified in the republic throughout the year, but infection transmission occurs in June to October. Eleven species ofAnopheles mosquitoes have been currently known in Tadjikistan; only three of them (An. superpictus, An. pulcherrimus, and An. maculipennis) are effective vectors. Malaria mostly affects the Khatlon Region (a total of 2039 cases, including 76 cases of tropic malaria) that is a valley-desert landscape in the south of Tadjikistan. In the 2006 spring, mass preventive treatment with primaquine was performed in 10 districts of the Khatlon Region, covering 98694 persons. In August 2006, the houses were treated with the insecticides Alfacipermetrine and Triton in 34 towns and districts of the republic; 25145 permetrine-impregnated bed curtains were distributed in 7 districts to protect the population from mosquito bites. In 8 districts, topminnows (Gambusia) were let into the Anopheles mosquito-rich water reservoirs and rice-growing fields with a total area of 680 ha.


Research Highlights and Abstract This article provides the first detailed and evidence-based account of the coalition government's approach to transport-related carbon management. It exposes the existence of a 'governance vacuum' between the statutory target and a very weak devolved implementation system (i.e. 'fuzzy governance' and 'fuzzy accountability'). Research in four major city regions reveals a systemic switch from an emphasis on carbon management and reduction towards economic growth and job creation. Officials within the policy design and delivery chain emphasise the manner in which the demands of democratic politics tend to frustrate meaningful policy change. A general demand by actors at the local level not for the discretions delivered by localism but for a more robust and centrally managed—even statutory—governance framework. The Climate Change Act 2008 received global acclaim for embedding an ambitious set of targets for the reduction of carbon emissions in legislation. This article explores the policies and institutional frameworks in place to deliver transport-related carbon reductions as part of the subsequent Carbon Plan. A detailed methodology involving institutional mapping, interviews and focus groups combined with a theoretical approach that combines the theory of multi-level governance with the literature on 'blame avoidance' serves to reveal a complex system of 'fuzzy governance' and 'fuzzy accountability'. Put simply, it reveals there are no practical sub-national implementation levers for achieving the statutory targets. Apart from symbolic or rhetorical commitments, the emphasis of policy-makers at all levels in the delivery chain has switched from carbon management and reduction to economic growth and job creation. This raises fresh research questions about the pathologies of democratic competition and future responses to the climate change challenge.


MOTIVATION
Variable selection is a typical approach used for molecular-signature and biomarker discovery; however, its application to survival data is often complicated by censored samples. We propose a new algorithm for variable selection suitable for the analysis of high-dimensional, right-censored data called Survival Max-Min Parents and Children (SMMPC). The algorithm is conceptually simple, scalable, based on the theory of Bayesian networks (BNs) and the Markov blanket and extends the corresponding algorithm (MMPC) for classification tasks. The selected variables have a structural interpretation: if T is the survival time (in general the time-to-event), SMMPC returns the variables adjacent to T in the BN representing the data distribution. The selected variables also have a causal interpretation that we discuss.

RESULTS
We conduct an extensive empirical analysis of prototypical and state-of-the-art variable selection algorithms for survival data that are applicable to high-dimensional biological data. SMMPC selects on average the smallest variable subsets (less than a dozen per dataset), while statistically significantly outperforming all of the methods in the study returning a manageable number of genes that could be inspected by a human expert.

AVAILABILITY
Matlab and R code are freely available from http://www.mensxmachina.org