A main objective of Behavioral Decision Theory (BDT) research – demonstrating that economic theory often fails as a description of decision making as well as gaining insights into systematic influences on judgment and choice – has been largely accomplished. This research program, published in psychology, decision making, marketing, and other fields, has had unique characteristics that combined criteria employed in economics and psychology. Now that the prominent portion of the BDT agenda has been largely completed, it is time to consider whether the BDT and greater judgment and decision making (JDM) community in marketing will pursue a new direction or just follow the topics of the day (e.g., current topics in social psychology, public policy applications of previous JDM findings). I propose a broad research area – the interaction between the evolving information environment and consumer JDM – that raises a wide range of important questions and may fit the skills and interests of BDT researchers. In addition to raising new JDM concepts and problems, the proposed area can lead to major revisions of long established frameworks of consumer behavior and marketing. It is far from obvious, however, that BDT researchers/marketing professors, who are accustomed to studying general purpose JDM topics and are aligned with the broader JDM and social psychology community, will be receptive to a consumer-centric research program.


The medullary raphé nuclei are involved in controlling cardiovascular, respiratory, and thermoregulatory functions, as well as mediating stress-induced tachycardia and hyperthermia. Although the serotonergic system of the medullary raphé has been suggested as the responsible entity, specific evidence has been insufficient. In the present study, we tested this possibility by utilizing an optogenetic approach. We used genetically modified mice [tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (Tph2); archaerhodopsin-T (ArchT) mice] in which ArchT, a green light-driven neuronal silencer, was selectively expressed in serotonergic neurons under the regulation of Tph2 promoters. We first confirmed that an intruder stress selectively activated medullary, but not dorsal or median raphé serotonergic neurons. This activation was suppressed by photo-illumination via a pre-implanted optical fiber, as evidenced by the decrease of a cellular activation marker protein in the neurons. Next, we measured electro cardiogram (ECG), respiration, body temperature (BT), and locomotor activity in freely moving mice during intruder and cage-drop stress tests, with and without photo-illumination. In the intruder test, photo inactivation of the medullary serotonergic neurons significantly attenuated tachycardia (362 ± 58 vs. 564 ± 65 bpm.min, n = 19, p = 0.002) and tachypnea (94 ± 82 vs. 361 ± 138 cpm.min, n = 9, p = 0.026), but not hyperthermia (1.0 ± 0.1 vs. 1.0 ± 0.1°C.min, n = 19, p = 0.926) or hyperlocomotion (17 ± 4 vs. 22 ± 4, arbitrary, n = 19, p = 0.089). Similar results were obtained from cage-drop stress testing. Finally, photo-illumination did not affect the basal parameters of the resting condition. We conclude that a subpopulation of serotonergic neurons in the medullary raphé specifically mediate stress-induced tachypnea and tachycardia, which have little involvement in the basal determination of respiratory frequency (Res) and heart rate (HR), specifically mediate stress-induced tachycardia and tachypnea.


Suppose that $P(D)$ is a linear differential operator with complex coefficients and $\{f_k\}_{k \in \mathbb{Z}}$ is a two-sided sequence of complex-valued functions on $\mathbb{R}$ such that $f_{k+1} \,{=}\, P(D)f_k$ with the following growth condition: there exist $a\,{\in}\,[0,1)$ and $N\,{\geq}\,0$ such that $|f_k(x)|\,{\leq}\,M_{|k|}\exp (N|x|^a)$, where the sequence $\{M_k\}_{k=0}^{\infty}$ satisfies that for any $\varepsilon\,{>}\,0$, the sequence $\{{M_k}/{(1+\varepsilon)^{k}}\}_{k=0}^{\infty}$ has a bounded subsequence. Then $f_0$ is an entire function of an exponential growth. This result is a generalization of those of Roe, Burkill and Howard.


The rules governing negligent infliction of emotional distress claims differ significantly from state to state. The predominant rule is the bystander recovery rule, which permits recovery by persons who are not physically threatened by the defendant's negligent conduct but who suffer emotional distress from witnessing injury to a third person. In bystander recovery jurisdictions, the required degree of proximity of the plaintiff to the accident scene, how the plaintiff hears about the accident, the plaintiff's relationship to the person actually injured in the accident, and the proof required to establish severe emotional distress vary, sometimes significantly, from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The purpose of this Article is to review the response of Engler v. Illinois Farmers Insurance Co. to the issue of whether a plaintiff in the zone of danger should be entitled to recover damages for emotional distress arising from fear or anxiety for the safety of a third person, primarily against the backdrop of the Minnesota experience with negligent infliction of emotional distress claims. Part II of this Article sets out the primary Minnesota emotional distress cases in order to provide a context for the discussion of Engler in Part III. Part IV looks at the mechanics of applying Engler in the future. Part V is the conclusion.


It is discovered that, if material has been applied with super-low impact stress that for certain times, macroscopic plastic deformation may be happen. The stress can be far below the static yield limit of material. The strain rate will decrease with impact times and distance from the surface. For exploring the micro-mechanism of the new deformation phenomena, the paper presents the theory of dislocation slip based on the principle of superposed dislocation vibration and the microscopic dislocation slip model under low-stress repeated impact. Analysis showed that the stress threshold is related to not only material damping, but also the frequency of repeated impact. Lower material damping and higher frequency of repeated impact are favorable to dislocation slip and, consequently, favorable to macroscopic plastic accumulation. Stress threshold being closely related to impact frequency is an important feature of repeated-impact plastic accumulation.


The fabrication and characterization of an 11-stage ring oscillator utilizing integrated enhancement- and depletion-mode (E/D-mode) high-electron mobility transistors (HEMT's) in the lattice-matched InAlAs/InGaAs/InGaAs material system is demonstrated. The 0.5-/spl mu/m gate length depletion-mode HEMT's (D-HEMT's) used in the circuit exhibit a threshold voltage (V/sub T/) of -365 mV with a standard deviation of 19 mV, while the enhancement-mode HEMT's (E-HEMT's) with identical gate length display a V/sub T/ of 195 mV with a standard deviation of only 9 mV. The unity current gain cutoff frequency (f/sub t/) for both devices is 70 GHz. The extremely high uniformity of the threshold voltages of these devices allowed for the implementation of a ring oscillator utilizing direct coupled FET logic (DCFL). At a supply voltage of 0.4 V, a room temperature propagation delay time (/spl tau//sub pd/) of 22.4 ps/stage, and a corresponding power dissipation of 120 /spl mu/W/stage is measured, yielding a power delay product (PDP) of 2.65 fJ/stage. To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a circuit employing E/D-HEMT technology in the lattice-matched InP-based material system.


Tshivenḓa is characterised by a number of dialects which exhibit some linguistic features different from those of other groups. The standard dialect in Tshivenḓa is Tshiphani. This dialect is spoken in the areas of Tshivhase and Mphaphuli. The selection of the Tshiphani as a standard dialect in Tshivenḓa did not cause the other dialects to die out as they are still used by the Vhavenḓa as spoken language. However, there is non-inclusion of dialectal entries in some dictionaries, whereas in others, very few dialectal entries have been included. A lexicographer must always take into consideration that there is a variation in language. Lexicographers should not see the inclusion of non-standard dialects as corrupting the standard language. Tshiphani was superimposed on other dialects. A dictionary is expected to accommodate all dialects of a language because they have equal value in spoken language. It is important for a lexicographer to first carry out research regarding the existence of dialects in a language if one intends to compile a dictionary. This paper seeks to show that it is necessary to include lexicons from non-standard dialects in lexicography works such as bilingual dictionaries because there is no dialect which is better than others. The addition of non-standard dialects in dictionaries will enrich the languages.


Abstract. Historical fire records and meteorological observations spanning over one century (1894–2010) were assembled in a database to collect long-term fire and weather data in Greece. Positive/negative events of fire occurrence on an annual basis were considered as the years where the annual values of the examined parameters were above (positive values) or below (negative values) the 95% confidence limits around the trend line of the corresponding parameter. To analyse the association of positive/negative events of fire occurrence with meteorological extremes, we proceeded with a cross-tabulation analysis based on a Monte Carlo randomization. Positive/negative values of total annual precipitation were randomly associated with the corresponding values of burned areas, and significant associations were observed for seasonal precipitation totals (spring and fire season). Fire season precipitation is the dominant factor coinciding with negative values of area burned, while years with high spring precipitation coincide with years with large areas burned. These results demonstrate the dual role of precipitation in controlling a fire's extent through fuel build-up and dryness. Additionally, there is a clear outperformance of precipitation-related variables compared with temperature-related weather revealing that, at least in Greece, total area burned at the national scale is controlled by precipitation totals rather than air temperature. This analysis improves our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of fire regimes and provides valuable information concerning the development of models relating fire activity to weather parameters, which are essential when facing a changing climate that may be associated with shifts in various aspects of the typical fire regimes of ecosystems. Our results may allow fire managers to more easily incorporate the effect of extreme weather conditions into long-term planning strategies. They contribute to the exploration of fire–climate relationships and may become more important if climate change scenarios are used to predict the occurrence of future extreme weather taking into consideration that climate change is discussed on the basis of changes of extremes rather than changes in means.


We studied the prevalence of syphilis and HIV infection in 217 female prisoners at Oukacha prison, Casablanca and associated risk factors. The mean age was 32.0 years and mean length of imprisonment 22.8 months. As regards risk factors, 9% of the women said they used condoms, homosexuality was not admitted, 1.8% were intravenous drug users and the average number of sexual partners was 5.17. Fifty-one women (23%) were positive for syphilis and 4 (2%) were HIV-positive. Multivariate analysis found that being married was protective (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.57-0.97), while high number of partners was a positive risk factor (OR = 2, 95% CI: 1.2-3.51).


The influence of an extremely low frequency (ELF) electric field stimulus (30 Hz at 6 μV/cm rms), known to promote bone formation in vivo, was evaluated for its ability to affect bone cell function in vitro. To accomplish this, we developed an apparatus for the exposure of monolayer cell systems to electric fields in a manner that provides relatively uniform electric field exposure of multiple cell samples as well as a rigorous sham exposure. We show that field exposure significantly limits the normal increase in osteoblastic cell number and enhances alkaline phosphatase activity compared to sham‐exposed samples. Moreover, these alterations are shown to occur in a cell density‐dependent manner. Samples plated at 6 × 103 cells/cm2 show no effect of field exposure. In samples plated at 30 × 103 cells/cm2, 72 h of field exposure resulted in 25% fewer cells in the exposed samples, and a doubling of alkaline phosphatase activity in those cells compared to sham exposure. Experiments using a 12 h exposure to preclude significant changes in cell number during the exposure show this density‐dependent response to be biphasic. Sparse cultures (>50 × 103 cells/cm2) were not found to be affected by the field exposure, but increases in alkaline phosphatase activity occurred in cultures at densities of 50–200 × 103 and 200–350 × 103 cells/cm2 and no effect on alkaline phosphatase activity was seen in confluent cell cultures of greater than 350 × 103 cells/cm2. This work suggests that the demonstrated osteogenic effect of this specific electric field stimulus on bone tissue may be initiated by an alteration of the differentiated status of the osteoblasts in the tissue rather than by stimulating cell proliferation, as has been previously suggested. As importantly, a more thorough characterization of this density‐dependent interaction with electric fields may help to identify the mechanism of transduction by which ELF electric fields interact with cells.


Recent decades have witnessed an increase in internal armed conflicts, resulting in significant consequences for affected civilian populations. At the same time, there has been rapid growth in international criminal law and a trend towards accountability. Yet, attempts to mitigate violence may come at the cost of accountability, leading to the commonly referenced to peace-versus-justice dispute. Blanket amnesties are one tool for conflict mitigation, bargaining chips that allow actors to come to the negotiating table. This article examines issues related to blanket amnesties that are absent from the amnesty versus accountability debate. The basis of the analysis is not whether accountability reduces a victim's desire for revenge. Instead, the analysis examines whether amnesty increases a victim's desire for revenge, and when combined with other socio-political factors that contribute to conflict relapse, finds that this increased desire may escalate the potential for renewed violence in post-conflict regions.


ABSTRACT Aminopeptidase N is a species-specific receptor for transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), which infects piglets, and for the 229E virus, which infects humans. It is not known whether these coronaviruses are endocytosed before fusion with a membrane of the target cell, causing a productive infection, or whether they fuse directly with the plasma membrane. We have studied the interaction between TGEV and a cell line (MDCK) stably expressing recombinant pig aminopeptidase N (pAPN). By electron microscopy and flow cytometry, TGEV was found to be associated with the plasma membrane after adsorption to the pAPN-MDCK cells. TGEV was also observed in endocytic pits and apical vesicles after 3 to 10 min of incubation at 38°C. The number of pits and apical vesicles was increased by the TGEV incubation, indicating an increase in endocytosis. After 10 min of incubation, a distinct TGEV-pAPN-containing population of large intracellular vesicles, morphologically compatible with endosomes, was found. A higher density of pAPN receptors was observed in the pits beneath the virus particles than in the surrounding plasma membrane, indicating that TGEV recruits pAPN receptors before endocytosis. Ammonium chloride and bafilomycin A1 markedly inhibited the TGEV infection as judged from virus production and protein biosynthesis analyses but did so only when added early in the course of the infection, i.e., about 1 h after the start of endocytosis. Together our results point to an acid intracellular compartment as the site of fusion for TGEV.


This paper describes the morphologic structure of chickens' livers as a result of restrictive feeding in variable intensity. This experiment was performed on 96 chickens of two hybrids (Ross 308 and Cobb 500) of both sexes. The chickens were divided into 3 groups (control group and two groups with restricted feeding). There were 8 chickens in each group. After hatching, the control group was fed a standard mixture ad libitum. The first restricted group was fed 80% ad libitum from the age of 2 weeks. The second restricted group, from the age of 2 weeks, was fed 65% ad libitum. The experiment lasted for 5 weeks. The liver samples were obtained by necropsy, then weighed, and after this processed by standard histological methods. The slices of liver were stained with haematoxyline-eosin. The liver samples were evaluated both objectively and subjectively. In the control group, steatosis and marginal pathological acute venosis hyperaemia were found. In the group with 80% restriction, perilobular steatosis was observed. In the group with 65% restriction, centrolobular steatosis was observed. Controlled measurement of the average hepatocyte thickness in the individual sample groups was performed using an objective method. The hepatocyte diameter thickness of males was higher than the hepatocyte diameter thickness of females, which was significant (P < 0.001). This is the first work providing the possibility of morphometrical verification of the time factor including other morphological criteria. Fibrosis, lipids, metabolism, non-alcoholic liver steatosis, steatohepatitis, nutrition


After graphic footage of cows sent from Australia being slaughtered in Indonesia was shown on the current affairs program Four Corners, the issue of live animal export from Australia entered the national spotlight. While debate about the validity of live export was passionate and involved many different voices, an animal welfare frame dominated. The philosophy of animal welfare accepts and promotes the idea that the slaughter of other animals can be humane, whereas an animal rights position rejects this slaughter, regardless of how it is carried out. Ideally, the media would present a wide range of frames on political issues. The public sphere is a concept developed by Jurgen Habermas, which specifies that in its optimal form, the media would function as an integral part of the 'political consciousness and a vibrant site of resistance' (Marden 89) to 'common sense' political discourse, where the public can hear all views on an issue. Obviously the media can never present all views on an issue, but presenting an animal rights as well as an animal welfare frame when it covers human/ non-human relations means that the issue can be understood in a broader manner. In this article, a content analysis of the Four Corners episode 'A Bloody Business' and the subsequent media coverage will be carried out. This will determine the extent to which the dominant or hegemonic frame of animal welfare was advanced and also the extent to which the counter-hegemonic frame of animal rights was included. This journal article is available in Animal Studies Journal: http://ro.uow.edu.au/asj/vol4/iss1/7 LIVE ANIMAL EXPORT, HUMANE SLAUGHTER AND MEDIA HEGEMONY 99 Live Animal Export, Humane Slaughter and Media Hegemony Nick Pendergrast Curtin University Abstract: After graphic footage of cows sent from Australia being slaughtered in Indonesia was shown on the current affairs program Four Corners, the issue of live animal export from Australia entered the national spotlight. While debate about the validity of live export was passionate and involved many different voices, an animal welfare frame dominated. The philosophy of animal welfare accepts and promotes the idea that the slaughter of other animals can be humane, whereas an animal rights position rejects this slaughter, regardless of how it is carried out. After graphic footage of cows sent from Australia being slaughtered in Indonesia was shown on the current affairs program Four Corners, the issue of live animal export from Australia entered the national spotlight. While debate about the validity of live export was passionate and involved many different voices, an animal welfare frame dominated. The philosophy of animal welfare accepts and promotes the idea that the slaughter of other animals can be humane, whereas an animal rights position rejects this slaughter, regardless of how it is carried out. Ideally, the media would present a wide range of frames on political issues. The public sphere is a concept developed by Jurgen Habermas, which specifies that in its optimal form, the media would function as an integral part of the 'political consciousness and a vibrant site of resistance' (Marden 89) to 'common sense' political discourse, where the public can hear all views on an issue. Obviously the media can never present all views on an issue, but presenting an animal rights as well as an animal welfare frame when it covers human/non-human relations means that the issue can be understood in a broader manner. In this article, a content analysis of the Four Corners episode 'A Bloody Business' and the subsequent media coverage will be carried out. This will determine the extent to which the dominant or hegemonic frame of animal welfare was advanced and also the extent to which the counter-hegemonic frame of animal rights was included.


Combining reliable data with dynamic models can enhance the understanding of health-related phenomena. Smartphone sensor data characterizing discrete states is often suitable for analysis with machine learning classifiers. For dynamic models with continuous states, high-velocity data also serves an important role in model parameterization and calibration. Particle filtering (PF), combined with dynamic models, can support accurate recurrent estimation of continuous system state. This thesis explored these and related ideas with several case studies. The first employed multivariate Hidden Markov models (HMMs) to identify smoking intervals, using time-series of smartphone-based sensor data. Findings demonstrated that multivariate HMMs can achieve notable accuracy in classifying smoking state, with performance being strongly elevated by appropriate data conditioning. Reflecting the advantages of dynamic simulation models, this thesis has contributed two applications of articulated dynamic models: An agent-based model (ABM) of smoking and E-Cigarette use and a hybrid multi-scale model of diabetes in pregnancy (DIP). The ABM of smoking and E-Cigarette use, informed by cross-sectional data, supports investigations of smoking behavior change in light of the influence of social networks and E-Cigarette use. The DIP model was evidenced by both longitudinal and cross-sectional data, and is notable for its use of interwoven ABM, system dynamics (SD), and discrete event simulation elements to explore the interaction of risk factors, coupled dynamics of glycemia regulation, and intervention tradeoffs to address the growing incidence of DIP in the Australia Capital Territory. The final study applied PF with an SD model of mosquito development to estimate the underlying Culex mosquito population using various direct observations, including time series of weather-related factors and mosquito trap counts. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of PF in regrounding the states and evolving model parameters based on incoming observations. Using PF in the context of automated model calibration allows optimization of the values of parameters to markedly reduce model discrepancy. Collectively, the thesis demonstrates how characteristics and availability of data can influence model structure and scope, how dynamic model structure directly affects the ways that data can be used, and how advanced analysis methods for calibration and filtering can enhance model accuracy and versatility.


(11/08/2019) Methane production, recovery and emission from two Danish landfills Landfill gas (LFG), mainly consisting of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), is produced by the anaerobic digestion of biodegradable waste deposited in landfills. CH4 is a greenhouse gas with global warming potential 28 times that of CO2 over a period of 100 years. The produced CH4 in landfills can be recovered and utilized for the production of electricity and/or heat. Higher recovery of CH4 could result in lower CH4 emissions into the atmosphere, and thus lower the contribution of landfills to climate change. Moreover, higher CH4 recovery can result in higher production of heat and electricity, leading to higher revenue for landfill owners. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that can affect CH4 recovery from landfills. The amount of CH4 recovered from a landfill is indeed a function of the amount of CH4 produced in a landfill. The amount of produced CH4 in a landfill is governed by the waste composition and can be affected by many factors, including temperature, moisture, and chemical or microbial reactions, which occur simultaneously inside a landfill, such as corrosion. Moreover, the amount of CH4 recovered from a landfill depends on the efficiency of the gas recovery system, which is affected by its design and management, as well as the presence and type of top cover at the landfill. Furthermore, CH4 recovery from a landfill can be affected by changes in meteorological parameters. For instance, changes in barometric pressure affect the pressure gradient, which is the driving force for advective gas transport, between inside the landfill and the atmosphere, and thus potentially can impact CH4 recovery. The overall goal of this PhD project was to address specific challenges regarding CH4 production and recovery at landfills. The PhD project focused on three topics: 1) an in-depth investigation of CH4 production from shredder waste (SW) at landfills, 2) the determination of gas recovery efficiency at two adjacent Danish landfills by field measurement, and 3) the influence of meteorological parameters on gas recovery from landfills. This PhD project focused on two adjacent Danish landfills, Stige Ø and Odense Nord, which are connected to the same gas recovery system. In order to assess the CH4 production from SW at landfills, SW was sampled from the Odense Nord landfill, size-reduced and characterized in terms of total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), total carbon (TC), total organic carbon (TOC) and biogenic carbon (BioC). SW samples were incubated to measure their first-order decay kinetic constant (k-value), under different operating conditions (temperature and moisture), and their biochemical methane potential (BMP). In addition, four main metals present in SW (Fe, Al, Zn and Cu) were examined for their ability to produce available H2 for methanogens. The characterization results showed that a high fraction of the organic carbon (47-61%) in SW is fossil carbon. Moreover, high TS content (82-91%) in the waste samples showed that the samples were fairly dry. The measured BMPs were 1.5-6.2 kg CH4/ton waste, while the measured kvalues were 0.033-0.075/yr at room temperature, 0.220-0.429/yr at 37 oC and 0.235-0.488/yr at 55 oC. The fine fraction of SW obtained after sieving showed a lower BMP and k-value in comparison to the unsieved SW, meaning that landfilling of the fine fraction of SW could result in lower CH4 production in comparison to unsieved SW. Carrying out the incubation experiments under different operating conditions indicated the high dependency of the CH4 production rate on temperature and moisture. H2 was produced by biocorrosion of Fe, Al and Zn and utilized by methanogens to convert CO2 into CH4. The addition of Al and Zn to the incubated SW resulted in higher CH4 production. Relatively high CH4 production from SW at landfills and the unusual gas composition (high CH4 and low CO2 content) are most likely due to methanogens converting the existing CO2 in the produced LFG into CH4, using the H2 produced by biocorrosion of Al and Zn. In order to determine the gas recovery efficiency at the landfills, a set of field activities was performed: whole-site CH4 emissions were measured by the tracer gas dispersion method (six measurement campaigns), while CH4 oxidation in the top layer of the landfills was measured by stable carbon isotopic analysis (two measurement campaigns). The CH4 recovery rate, which was provided by landfill operators, was the sum of the CH4 recovered from both landfills. In addition, the total CH4 production rate was estimated using the Afvalzorg model and compared with the results of field measurements. Total CH4 emissions from the two landfills combined were 29-50 kg/h, while the measured CH4 oxidation efficiency was 6-37%. The CH4 recovery rate from both landfills combined was 85-115 kg/h. The calculated gas recovery efficiency was 59-76%, which indicated a high potential for improvement in the gas recovery system at landfills. The average total CH4 production rate determined by field measurements (sum of methane recovered, emitted and oxidized) was 147 kg/h, which was close to the estimated total CH4 production rate of 154 kg/h by the Afvalzorg model. The calculated gas recovery efficiency, along with the observed major CH4 emission areas during the surface screenings, can be used for developing a plan for improvement of the gas recovery system. In order to investigate the influence of meteorological parameters on LFG recovery, correlation coefficients and p-values were calculated between the gas recovery data and meteorological parameters. Barometric pressure, wind speed, ambient temperature and solar radiation were the chosen meteorological parameters. Four periods (from a few days to approximately one month) in 2015 and 2016 were studied. These four periods were chosen because the gas recovery system was not manually adjusted in these periods by the landfill operators. Relatively high correlation coefficients were observed between LFG data (LFG CH4 concentration, LFG flow and CH4 flow) and barometric pressure (│r│= 0.37-0.73), while higher correlation coefficients were observed between LFG data and changes in barometric pressure (│r│= 0.80-0.93). Moreover, a strong correlation was observed between wind speed and LFG data in winter (│r│= 0.75-0.77), but not in summer (│r│= 0.05-0.30). The correlations of LFG data with barometric pressure, changes in barometric pressure and wind speed were statistically significant (p < 0.01) and observed visually in scatterplots. The slope of the linear regression between changes in barometric pressure and LFG data can be used to predict changes in recovered LFG as a function of changes in pressure. As LFG recovery data only correlated weakly with ambient temperature (│r│= 0.12-0.49) and solar radiation (│r│= 0.030.21), these two parameters were not found to affect LFG recovery.


The rising number of families formed by homosexual, transvestites and transsexual fathers/mothers has become, not only a social fact, but also a socio-anthropological one, requiring a mandatory review of traditional convictions. The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate how a traditional model of family - considered a "normal" family - has been is to able to influence the construction of parenthoods considered, until recently unthinkable, either socially or in the law. Therefore, I suggest it is time to face the new demands and deconstruct former certainties of Anthropology, of Psicology/Psicanalisis and of the Law, for the sake of the families.


This study reflects upon some episthemological and ethical dilemma we find in the psychological knowledge production facing the hegemonic rationality that establishes a model of production, application and evaluation of knowledge to education and to Post-Graduation programmes, above all in Psychology. In order to understand the present condition of Psychology, we revisited its past, searching for indication of its struggle and resistence history, searching marks of permanence and ruptures, so we could think prospectively about our condition and our becoming. In the effort to systematize some points of the discussion, we initially approach the specificities of Psychology knowledge production; then, we emphasize the hegemonic rationality crisis and the emergence of a new pradigm in science, and we conclude with the discussion on evaluation.


Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that live in the sunlit layer of oceans and water bodies. Marine phytoplankton play a key role in the ecology of the marine ecosystem, affects its diversity and drives its functioning as well as setting the upper limits for fishery yields. Eventually, any significant changes in their patterns of spatial distribution and abundance can have significant impact on the entire ecosystem. The primary objectives of this study are to investigate the inter-annual variations of phytoplankton chlorophyll concentration levels south of the Arabian Peninsula using MODIS data in the period 2003-2013. The sea area south of the Arabian Peninsula is characterized by high primary productivity and strong phytoplankton blooms at different times of the year. The data over the study area comes from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA Aqua satellite. MODIS data are processed to ground reflectance and then further processed into chlorophyll concentration using chlorophyll estimation algorithms. The study area was subdivided from the global products into three regions (Sea of Oman, Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.) The average annual chlorophyll concentrations were calculated from the MODIS product for each area. The preliminary hypothesis is that inter-annual phytoplankton chlorophyll concentrations should oscillate annually with no particular direction, if there is no significant change in the average annual concentration levels. The preliminary results suggest declining concentration levels in the whole area in contrast to the initial assumptions. MODIS estimated annual concentrations ranged between 0.97 to 2.2 mg/m for the sea of Oman, 0.411 to 0.88 mg/m for the Arabian Sea and between 0.38 to 0.86 mg/m for the Gulf of Aden. The estimated values depict an overall pattern of annual concentrations decline during the period 2003-2013 of approximately 7% for the sea of Oman, 1% for the Arabian sea and 4% for the Gulf of Aden. This result confirms previous study of global decline of phytoplankton chlorophyll levels. To investigate this pattern further, MODIS annual average sea surface temperatures (SST) for the study area were analyzed along with the chlorophyll concentration levels. The SST observations are showing a slight rate rise of less than 1% for the Sea of Oman, however, it is not strong enough to relate the phytoplankton chlorophyll decline to SST rise in this area. The other parts of the study area are displaying flat SST levels during the study period with no particular direction. While only eleven annual observations are not enough to be a statistically valid sample to draw conclusions, this pattern of decline is of major concern. This work will be further improved by the analysis of more than 30 years worth of satellite data and the incorporation of other factors such as the water salinity, and water and wind currents in another study.


Conventional wideband beamformers are known highly sensitive to gain and phase errors in microphone characteristics, especially for small-sized arrays. Recently, a robust design approach for nearfield wideband beamformers using worst case performance optimization has been proposed. However, the worst case performance optimization criterion might be overly conservative in practice, which may lead to undesired low-pass filtered distortion of target signals. In this paper, a robust design approach for nearfield wideband beamformers using the worst case mean performance optimization is proposed, which is less conservative than the existing approach. Unlike the existing robust design approaches which have no control over array response variance, the presented approach further proposes to impose the passband response variance constraint to enhance the stability of passband array response and hence to reduce the target signal distortion. Moreover, some insights into the properties of array response variance are derived, which are helpful to better understand the robustness characteristics of nearfield wideband beamformers. Design examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed robust design approach.


The impact of menstruation on women's health manifests itself on different levels. The sociocultural dimension shows the influence of societal and cultural norm, which regulate the way of dealing with menstruating women. These rules are at first glance in most cultures characterized by rather expulsion, rejection and submission of women. At a closer look many traditions however reflect the fascination and the power which is associated with the "blood of women", which means that throughout history menstruation is conceived in an ambivalent manner. This ambivalence is still present in the subjective experience of modern women, who experience the biological process of menstruation but finally attribute emotional and cognitive meaning to it. This means that women finally decide when menstruation becomes a "disease" for them. Many empirical studies show that although a majority of women declare menstruation as something negative and disturbing, only a much smaller percentage would want to get rid of it, because menstruation seems to be associated with feelings of connectedness with nature and with other women. The biomedical view on menstruation is historically new and quite different: uterine bleeding can either be a sign of disease (uterus, ovaries) or it can lead to anemia, pain, anxiety, frustration in women consulting. Menstrual disorders are in fact one of the most frequent reasons for consultation. Modern medicine has developed a large range of interventions which modify or abolish menstruation. From a medical standpoint menstruation is not necessary and may be obsolete. The transition from "healthy menstruation" to "menstruation related diminution of quality of life", to "Menstrual Disease" is continuous and has to be elaborated in the physician patient interaction, the patient being expert for her values, aims and health objectives and the physician being the expert for knowledge and information. The patient has to use this to come to a personal and individual solution of her menstruation problem.


Abstract In this paper, we use Bakhtin's theory of carnival in a literary analysis of young people's accounts of the role of alcohol in their social lives. Bakhtinian themes in the focus-group transcripts included the dialogic character of drinking stories, the focus on parodic grotesquery, ribald and satiric laughter, and the temporary subversion and reversal of social norms and roles in a world turned 'inside out'. We suggest that our analysis of the UK's drinking 'culture' hints at a previously untheorised complexity and force, and points to a deep contradiction between young people's lived experience of alcohol and government policy discourses based on appeals to individual moral responsibility. We conclude that the carnivalesque resonance of drinking is such that the UK's alcohol problem will continue to worsen until the availability and cultural presence of alcohol is subject to stricter controls.


The aim of this study was to explore if measurement of pretransplant circulating CD161-expressing cells, in addition to clinical risk factors, could predict mucositis and infections in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). To determine if CD161-expressing cells are likely to predict early complications, namely, mucositis (≥grade 3), infections, and cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation, we prospectively examined CD161-expressing cells (CD3+CD4+CD161+ and CD3+CD8+CD161+) in peripheral blood samples from 108 patients with MM undergoing ASCT. After adjusting for factors identified by univariate analysis that predicted mucositis (≥grade 3), infection before engraftment, and CMV reactivation, multivariate analyses revealed that the low proportion of CD3+CD4+CD161+ cells in peripheral blood was an independent predictor of mucositis (≥grade 3) (P = 0.020), infections before engraftment (P = 0.014), and CMV reactivation (P = 0.010). In addition, we found that female sex and decreased glomerular filtration rate were independent factors for predicting mucositis. Female sex and severe pulmonary comorbidity were independent factors for predicting infection before engraftment. We found that the proportion of circulating CD3+CD4+CD161+ cells is useful for predicting the occurrence of early complications, including mucositis and infections, after ASCT in patients with MM.


p38 kinases are key elements of the cellular stress response in animals. They mediate the cell response to a multitude of stress stimuli, from osmotic shock to inflammation and oncogenes. However, it is unknown how such diversity of function in stress evolved in this kinase subfamily. Here, we show that the p38 kinase was already present in a common ancestor of animals and fungi. Later, in animals, it diversified into three JNK kinases and four p38 kinases. Moreover, we identified a fifth p38 paralog in fishes and amphibians. Our analysis shows that each p38 paralog has specific amino acid substitutions around the hinge point, a region between the N-terminal and C-terminal protein domains. We showed that this region can be used to distinguish between individual paralogs and predict their specific. Finally, we showed that the response to hyperosmotic stress in Capsaspora owczarzaki, a close unicellular relative of animals, follows a typical for the p38 kinases pattern of phosphorylation-dephosphorylation. At the same time, Capsaspora's cells upregulate the expression of GPD1 protein resembling an osmotic stress response in yeasts. Overall, our results show that the ancestral p38 stress pathway originated in the root of opisthokonts, most likely as a cell's reaction to salinity change in the environment. In animals, the pathway became more complex and incorporated more stimuli and downstream targets due to the p38 sequence evolution in the docking and substrate binding sites around the hinge region. Overall, this study improves our understanding of the p38 evolution and opens new perspectives for the p38 research.


In drinking water production, river bank filtration has the advantages of dampening peak concentrations of many dissolved components, substantially removing many micropollutants and removing, virtually completely, the pathogens and suspended solids. The production aquifer is not only fed by the river bank infiltrate but also by water percolating through covering layers. In the polder areas, these top layers consist of peat and deposits from river sediments and sea intrusions. This paper discusses the origin and fate of macro pollutants in river bank filtrate, based on extensive full-scale measurements in well fields and treatment systems of the Drinking Water Company Oasen in the Netherlands. First, it clarifies and illustrates redox reactions and the mixing of river bank filtrate and polder water as the dominant processes determining the raw water quality for drinking water production. Next, full-scale results are elaborated on to evaluate trickling filtration as an efficient and proven one-step process to remove methane, iron, ammonium and manganese. The interaction of methane and manganese removal with nitrification in these systems is further analyzed. Methane is mostly stripped during trickling filtration and its removal hardly interferes with nitrification. Under specific conditions, microbial manganese removal may play a dominant role.


Recent empirical studies on agricultural productivity growth in African countries have produced mixed results; some find that uptake of new technology (technical progress) is the main source of total factor productivity growth while others point to improved use of existing technology (efficiency catch-up). This study tests for efficiency catch-up in the agricultural productivity of 33 African countries from 1966 to 2001. We use recent advances in data envelopment analysis (DEA) to generate standard and bootstrap bias corrected technical efficiency scores. In general, we find no evidence of efficiency catching-up. The standard DEA overestimated the efficiency scores of some countries due to small sample bias.


We present iWalk, a system for interactive out-of-core rendering of large models on an inexpensive PC. The system uses a new outof-core preprocessing algorithm and a new multi-threaded out-ofcore rendering approach. The out-of-core preprocessing algorithm is incremental and fast, and it builds an on-disk hierarchical representation for a model larger than main memory. The out-of-core rendering approach uses multiple threads to overlap rendering, visibility computation, and disk operations. A rendering thread uses a from-point visibility algorithm to find the nodes of the model hierarchy that the user sees, and sends fetch requests to a geometry cache, which reads nodes from disk into memory. To avoid bursts of disk operations, a look-ahead thread guesses the nodes that the user may see next, and sends prefetch requests to the geometry cache. The system can run in approximate mode for interactive rendering, or in conservative mode for rendering with guaranteed accuracy. On a commodity PC, iWalk can preprocess a 13-million-polygon model in 17 minutes, and then render it in approximate mode with 98% accuracy at 9 frames per second. Thus, iWalk allows us to use an inexpensive PC to visualize models that would typically require expensive high-end graphics workstations or parallel machines.


This study explored the articulate resident's experience of nursing home living. Using an ethnographic approach, data was collected through progressive, in-depth, open-ended interviews and participant observation from two 80-bed nursing homes in New South Wales. Employing purposeful sampling, eight key informants were selected concurrent with data collection and analysis according to the adequacy of information and appropriateness of subjects. Four major themes emerged from the data: (i) against my will, (ii) living in a public domain, (iii) cultural implications of living with others, and (iv) the impact of nursing home residency. Findings indicate that whilst some residents find the experience acceptable, for others the experience is both constraining and dehumanising.


We study distributed power control for cognitive radio in this paper. The cognitive radio environment of multiusers is viewed as a non-cooperative game. In the condition of incomplete information, the efficient power control for two users can be realized by finite repeated gaming. If the repeated times M satisfy certain term, the two users can cooperate in the preceding phase of the repeated gaming, thus reaching the Pareto stable equilibrium point of the power allocation. Only when the repeated game is nearly over, users will adopt competitive power allocation strategy.


The purpose was to establish baseline data for all northeastern secondary agricultural education programs that incorporated aquaculture in the total curriculum during 1996-1997. Perceptions of the educational enrichment, barriers, and aquaculture curricula were sought from agriculture teachers in 12 states. Respondents @ = 70) averaged 16 years of experience in agricultural education, but only 4.5 years experience teaching aquaculture. Aquaculture awareness occurred in 1990, but was not taught until 1993. Teachers rated three instructional units (water quality, tank systems, and fish nutrition) as very important sources of educational enrichment in an aquaculture program. Limitedfacilities to house the program, need to care for fish on weekends and holidays, high cost of equipment to teach aquaculture, low teacher knowledge about aquaculture, and high costs of remodeling facilities for aquaculture were rated as important barriers to implementing an aquaculture program. Northeastern agriculture teachers rated the National Council's aquaculture publications, tilapia and model aquaculture recirculation system, as very useful. Only 8 respondents had used all 22 aquaculture curriculum materials produced by the National Council for Agricultural Education. Increased efforts are needed in sharing what is known about aquaculture with younger and female northeastern agriculture teachers, especially those with limited experience in teaching aquaculture.


The purpose of the research is the optimisation of surface finishes for application to oriented strand board (OSB) in order to increase its moisture resistance. The aim of the research is to compare test specimens with different types of coating, spray, primer and waterproofing under predefined conditions and different forms of moisture exposure. The paper contains a definition of the basic material, test specimens and test methods, and covers 8 different types of surface finish materials selected for application to the test specimens. The results include graphs showing growth in humidity over time, specifically graphs showing the causal relationship between increases in weight and moisture absorption, as well as graphs depicting swelling in thickness. The results are also discussed. In the conclusion the results are evaluated and an outline of the next steps to take with regard to further research is formulated. The results are of benefit to all subjects concerned with wooden structures in which OSB is used, both at the design stage and at the stage of the preparation and execution of construction with respect to unpredictable weather conditions that can irreparably damage unprotected structures. In addition, these are results which are important for the operation of buildings during which a suitable surface finish can alleviate the consequences of later accidents and defects. They may also be beneficial during the construction of buildings from structural insulated panels who's facing most often consists of OSB. Construction periods tend to be adversely affected by changes in the weather. The application of suitable surface finishes to OSB immediately during the prefabrication stage could eliminate this issue.


I am a student of thermodynamics. Yes, I have been teaching the subject to baccalaureate and graduate students in petrology and materials science for about 25 years. But in every course, almost every lecture, I perceive something new: some new (to me) subtlety in the ideas that facilitates deeper appreciation and understanding of some of the experimental data generated in my research group and that fosters a profound admiration for the many scholars who brought forth these ideas in the nineteenth century and refined them in the twentieth. In this process, I have identified and shared with my fellow learners two pieces of advice that are particularly valuable in applying thermodynamics to the analysis of textures in rocks, which is so very often the center of our interest in thermodynamics: trust your eyes; use your imagination. Let me explain, or at least try...


Collisional relaxation of 2S–nS and 2S–nD superposition states in atomic Li vapor is measured with the trilevel photon-echo technique. Principal quantum numbers range from n = 4 to well into the Rydberg regime with n = 30. For the rare-gas perturbers (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) the variation of collisional cross section with n is considerably weaker than that previously found with Na vapor.


Pleurotus ostreatus is one of the most widely cultivated and popular edible fungi from the genus Pleurotus. In the last years, genetic variation of wild strains and cultivated varieties was investigated by use molecular markers and revealed a reduction of the diversity in commercial cultures. In this paper are presented the results obtained by application of combinatorial tubulin based polymorphism (cTBP) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers, in order to investigate the genetic variability in several commercial strains of P. ostreatus collected from different geographical locations and their genetic relationships with wild isolates. Five polymorphic PCR products were obtained with primers designated for intron 1 of beta-tubulin gene, and 12 polymorphic amplicons were detected when primers for intron 2 of the same gene were used. Molecular analysis performed with ISSR primers displayed a polymorphism at intra specific level. The data achieved with the cTBP and ISSR markers revealed a reduced genetic differentiation among the commercial lines dispersed in Europe. However, comparing with commercial lines originated from USA, differences at molecular level were observed, suggesting a possible influence of environmental conditions. Regarding the wild strain of P. ostreatus, the molecular data indicated similarity with all European commercial lines. The results demonstrated that the applied molecular methods could be considered efficient tools to evaluate the genetic diversity in Pleurotus ostreatus.


The goal of this paper is to present a model of children's semantic memory, which is based on a corpus reproducing the kinds of texts children are exposed to. After presenting the literature in the development of the semantic memory, a preliminary French corpus of 3.2 million words is described. Similarities in the resulting semantic space are compared to human data on four tests: association norms, vocabulary test, semantic judgments and memory tasks. A second corpus is described, which is composed of subcorpora corresponding to various ages. This stratified corpus is intended as a basis for developmental studies. Finally, two applications of these models of semantic memory are presented: the first one aims at tracing the development of semantic similarities paragraph by paragraph; the second one describes an implementation of a model of text comprehension derived from the Construction-integration model (Kintsch, 1988, 1998) and based on such models of semantic memory.


Tonic nerve activity in skate electroreceptors is thought to result from spontaneous activity of the lumenal membranes of the receptor cells which is modulated by applied stimuli. When physiological conditions are simulated in vitro, the receptor epithelium produces a current which flows inward across the lumenal surface. This epithelial current exhibits small spontaneous sinusoidal fluctuations about the mean that are associated with corresponding but delayed fluctuations in postsynaptic response. Small voltage stimuli produce damped oscillations in the epithelial current similar in time-course to the spontaneous fluctuations. For lumen-negative, excitatory stimuli, these responses are predominantly an increase over the mean inward current. For inhibitory stimuli they are predominantly a decrease. Increased inward current across the lumenal membranes of the receptor cells increases depolarization of the presynaptic membranes in the basal faces leading to increased release of transmitter and an excitatory postsynaptic response. Decreased inward current decreases depolarization of the presynaptic membranes leading to a reduction in transmitter release and an inhibitory postsynaptic response. Clear changes in postsynaptic response are detectable during stimuli as small as 5 microV with saturation occurring at +/- 400 microV. The evoked oscillations in epithelial current are damped and the postsynaptic responses decline during maintained stimuli with large off-responses occurring at stimulus termination. The initial peak of the off-response is similar to the response produced by onset of an oppositely directed stimulus. These observations substantiate the role of receptor cell excitability in the detection of small voltage changes.


The planktonic cyanobacterium Trichodesmium spp. is a globally important diazotroph, fixing at least 80 Tg N yr -1 in tropical waters. Despite its biogeochemical importance, the mechanisms of Trichodesmium mortality, and the means by which its fixed N enters upper levels of the food web, are poorly understood. Potential virus-like particle (VLP) production by Trichodesmium spp. was observed in both culture (IMS101) and field samples from the tropical North Pacific Ocean, in oceanic waters around the Hawaiian Islands. VLP observed by TEM in IMS101 lysate were approximately 56 nm wide and untailed, and VLP with similar morphology were observed in tissue treated with mit- omycin C. A most-probable number cultivation technique (utilizing bacterized cultures of Tricho- desmium) detected moderate abundances of Trichodesmium-infecting cyanophage (605 to 9750 ml -1 infecting only 1 cultured strain) in 0.2 µm-filtered seawater samples from surface, subsurface and deep chlorophyll maximum samples. Estimation of mortality from virus production was not possible due to rapid VLP release in the first 6 h of dilution incubations. Rather, an indirect approach using burst size (determined from mitomycin C treatment of washed trichomes resuspended in virus-free seawater), decay rate of VLP (from latter part of virus production incubations) and average cyanophage titer was used to estimate mortality. These conservative calculations suggested that 0.3 to 6.5% d -1 (mean = 1.65 ± 0.99% d -1 ) of trichomes could potentially be lysed by viruses, represent- ing the release of approximately 3 to 64% fixed N d -1 . These estimates are based upon a steady-state maintenance of observed VLP abundance, which in nature could be from lysogeny, pseudolysogeny, carrier state, or successive lytic infection. Viral lysis therefore may represent a significant novel mechanism of N release from Trichodesmium spp., even in non-bloom conditions.


We sought to begin a natural resource-based partnership with a Minnesota Tribe, but gaining clear insights into environmental perspectives can be difficult for outsiders, and methods typically used are often ineffective or inappropriate. We introduce the Extension community to a method for assessment of Tribal community context, perspectives, and priorities. We present the method in the context of an emerging collaboration between the University of Minnesota Extension and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Finally, we summarize key lessons that emerged, namely, that disconnect, identified at multiple scales, frames the community's natural resource perspectives and priorities.


Increased urinary albumin excretion rate (AER) in the microalbuminuric phase of diabetic nephropathy has been attributed to intraglomerular hypertension. This could be caused by constriction of efferent glomerular arterioles, which carry α-adrenoceptors. We tested the hypothesis that insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients with microalbuminuria are hypersensitive to vasoconstriction induced by norepinephrine (NE). We studied 15 IDDM patients with microalbuminuria (AER 32–295 mg/24 h), 13 IDDM patients with normal AER (5–24 mg/24 h), and 9 nondiabetic subjects (AER 8–22 mg/24 h). All were normotensive. NE-induced vasoconstriction was measured in dorsal hand veins, which carry α-receptors similar to those of glomerular efferent arterioles. Vein diameter was measured with a linear displacement probe during a stepped NE infusion (1–32 ng/min) into the vein, and venoconstriction was expressed as a percentage of the maximum passively distended venous diameter. Microalbuminuric IDDM patients exhibited significantly greater vasoconstriction (P < 0.005) at all NE infusion rates than both other groups. The NE infusion rate producing 50% of maximal venoconstriction (ED50) in the microalbuminuric IDDM group (median 1.1 ng/min, range 0.2–25.2 ng/min) was significantly less than in both the normoalbuminuric IDDM group (median 12.5 ng/min, range 4.9–40.5 ng/min, P = 0.00007) and the nondiabetic group (median 17.7 ng/min, range 5.9–42.2 ng/min, P = 0.0003). Dose-response curves and ED50 did not differ significantly between normalbuminuric IDDM and nondiabetic groups. IDDM patients with microalbuminuria are hypersensitive to NE-induced vasoconstriction. Such an abnormality in efferent glomerular arterioles could contribute to albuminuria and, if affecting the systemic resistance vessels, to the hypertension that coexists with later phases of nephropathy. This test may help identify at an early stage IDDM patients at risk of developing nephropathy.


Introduction: Glioblastoma is the most aggressive tumor type affecting the adult brain, with an overall patient survival from the time of diagnosis of about 15 months. Tumor promoting proteins such as EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor) and its mutant form, EGFRvIII, are amplified in a subgroup of patients and have attracted attention as potential therapeutic targets. Unfortunately, kinase inhibition of EGFR or EGFRvIII has been proven to be ineffective due to resistance mechanisms that prevent the onset of cell death. Here we hypothesize that the presence of cytokines in the tumor microenvironment, in addition to their previously shown promotion of glioblastoma growth, also promote resistance to EGFR-directed therapies. To address this, we investigated core pathways known to protect cancer cells from induced cell death and tested novel treatment strategies of EGFR blockade in combination with inhibitors of cytokine-induced signaling effectors, activated by inter-clonal communication between heterogeneous tumor cell populations expressing EGFRvIII and EGFR. Experimental procedures: For these studies we used human and mouse glioma cell lines engineered to express wild type (wt) EGFR, EGFRvIII, or an analog-sensitive (as)-allele of EGFRvIII, as well as primary human glioma neurospheres expressing amplified EGFRvIII. Expression of cell death-related molecules was determined by RT-qPCR to identify potential survival factors regulated by conditioned medium (CM) produced from EGFRvIII-expressing glioma cells. Findings were validated in vivo by orthotopic engraftment of heterogeneous tumors and measurement of tumor burden by fluorescence molecular tomography technology during single and combined drug therapy regimens. Results and discussion: Previous results demonstrated that CM from EGFRvIII-expressing glioma cells enhances in vitro and in vivo growth of wtEGFR cells through an EGFRvIII-prompted IL-6/LIF paracrine mechanism. Here, our data indicate that EGFRvIII-CM additionally promotes resistance to EGFR inhibition in cells and tumors expressing wtEGFR. We show that IL-6/gp130-mediated signaling specifically promotes this resistance through mTORC2/NF-κB upregulation of the anti-apoptotic protein, Survivin (BIRC5). Blocking Survivin expression or pharmacologically inhibiting mTORC2 restores sensitivity to EGFR inhibitors. Conclusion: The mTORC2/NF-κB/Survivin axis promotes resistance to EGFR inhibitors in glioblastoma and nominates targeting this pathway as a means to enhance efficacy of EGFR blockade. Citation Format: Ciro Zanca, Webster Cavenee, Frank Furnari. Tumor heterogeneity contributes to anti-EGFR therapy resistance in glioblastoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Advances in Brain Cancer Research; May 27-30, 2015; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(23 Suppl):Abstract nr B37.


Multiframe resolution enhancement ("superresolution") methods are becoming widely studied, but only a few procedures have been developed to work with compressed video, despite the fact that compression is a standard component of most image- and video-processing applications. One of these methods uses quantization-bound information to define convex sets and then employs a technique called "projections onto convex sets" (POCS) to estimate the original image. Another uses a discrete cosine transformation (DCT)-domain Bayesian estimator to enhance resolution in the presence of both quantization and additive noise. The latter approach is also capable of incorporating known source statistics and other reconstruction constraints to impose blocking artifact reduction and edge enhancement as part of the solution. We propose a spatial-domain Bayesian estimator that has advantages over both of these approaches.


The present Study aimed to examine the efficacy of using literary texts in promoting intercultural communication competence, and intercultural awareness and understanding within language teaching contexts. The participants were 50 Iranian undergraduate students of English Literature, 20 male and 30 female, with their ages ranging from 19 to 24 engaged in reading and discussing literary texts with an emphasis on their social and cultural themes and contents. 9 English and 2 Persian short stories were the main material implemented, and these were supplemented by 6 American and 2 Iranian movies with their screenplays adopted from literary works. The themes attended to included racial discrimination, social class, gender roles, and ethnic minorities.  Based on Byram's (1997) proposed model of Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC), five factors of the students' ICC development, Savoir Comprendre, Savoire Etre, Savoire S'engager, Savoirs and Savoire Apprendre/Faire, were observed throughout a 14-session course. A Content analysis of students' writing assignments and an examination of how fruitful they found the tasks and materials in enhancing their cultural understanding demonstrated a noticeable involvement of all the studied ICC factors in reading, discussing and contemplating on the literary texts and their cultural content.


We start with a review of the pervasiveness of the nearest neighbor search problem and techniques used to solve it along with some experimental results. In the second chapter, we show reductions between two different classes of geometric proximity problems: the nearest neighbor problems to solve the Euclidean minimum spanning tree problem and the farthest neighbor problems to solve the k- centers problem. In the third chapter, we unify spatial partitioning trees under one framework the meta-tree. Finally, we propose a dual tree algorithm for Bichromatic Closest Pair and measure the complexity of batch nearest neighbor search


Near a quantum-critical point in a metal strong fermion-fermion interaction mediated by a soft collective boson gives rise to incoherent, non-Fermi liquid behavior. It also often gives rise to superconductivity which masks the non-Fermi liquid behavior. We analyze the interplay between the tendency to pairing and fermionic incoherence for a set of quantum-critical models with effective dynamical interaction between low-energy fermions. We argue that superconducting T_{c} is nonzero even for strong incoherence and/or weak interaction due to the fact that the self-energy from dynamic critical fluctuations vanishes for the two lowest fermionic Matsubara frequencies ω_{m}=±πT. We obtain the analytic formula for T_{c}, which reproduces well earlier numerical results for the electron-phonon model at vanishing Debye frequency.


Over the last two decades there have been striking advances in molecular biology, which now have, and will continue to have, great impact on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with either benign or malignant diseases. The translation of these new findings from the laboratory to the clinic has just begun and promises to revolutionize the care of patients with certain neoplastic diseases. The most significant advances relate to molecular genetics, particularly the identification of inherited germline mutations that can be identified in kindred members by direct DNA testing. The surgical oncologist is in a pivotal position to define prophylactic interventional strategies for patients who are destined to develop certain solid tumor malignancies. The most immediate opportunities will be in the patients with hereditary disorders, such as breast cancer, large bowel cancer, and the endocrine neoplasia syndromes.


As the central notion in semi-supervised learning, smoothness is often realized on a graph representation of the data. In this paper, we study two complementary dimensions of smoothness: its pointwise nature and probabilistic modeling. While no existing graph-based work exploits them in conjunction, we encompass both in a novel framework of Probabilistic Graph-based Pointwise Smoothness (PGP), building upon two foundational models of data closeness and label coupling. This new form of smoothness axiomatizes a set of probability constraints, which ultimately enables class prediction. Theoretically, we provide an error and robustness analysis of PGP. Empirically, we conduct extensive experiments to show the advantages of PGP.


The Valdostana is a local dual purpose cattle breed developed in Italy. Three populations are recognized within this breed, based on coat colour, production level, morphology and temperament: Valdostana Red Pied (VPR), Valdostana Black Pied (VPN) and Valdostana Chestnut (VCA). Here, we investigated putative genomic regions under selection among these three populations using the Bovine 50K SNP array by combining three different statistical methods based either on allele frequencies (FST ) or extended haplotype homozygosity (iHS and Rsb). In total, 8, 5 and 8 chromosomes harbouring 13, 13 and 16 genomic regions potentially under selection were identified by at least two approaches in VPR, VPN and VCA, respectively. Most of these candidate regions were population-specific but we found one common genomic region spanning 2.38 Mb on BTA06 which either overlaps or is located close to runs of homozygosity islands detected in the three populations. This region included inter alia two well-known genes: KDR, a well-established coat colour gene, and CLOCK, which plays a central role in positive regulation of inflammatory response and in the regulation of the mammalian circadian rhythm. The other candidate regions identified harboured genes associated mainly with milk and meat traits as well as genes involved in immune response/inflammation or associated with behavioural traits. This last category of genes was mainly identified in VCA, which is selected for fighting ability. Overall, our results provide, for the first time, a glimpse into regions of the genome targeted by selection in Valdostana cattle. Finally, this study illustrates the relevance of using multiple complementary approaches to identify genomic regions putatively under selection in livestock.


Capsule networks consider spatial relationships in an input image. The relationship-based feature propagation in capsule networks shows promising results. However, a large number of trainable parameters limit their widespread use. In this paper, we propose Decomposed Capsule Network (DCN) to reduce the number of training parameters in the primary capsule generation stage. Our DCN represents a capsule as a combination of basis vectors. Generating basis vectors and their coefficients notably reduce the total number of training parameters. Moreover, we introduce an extension of the DCN architecture, named Multi-scale Decomposed Capsule Network (MDCN). The MDCN architecture integrates features from multiple scales to synthesize capsules with fewer parameters. Our proposed networks show better performance on the Fashion-MNIST dataset and the CIFAR10 dataset with fewer parameters than the original network.


Integrin β3 is seen as a key anti-angiogenic target for cancer treatment due to its expression on neovasculature, but the role it plays in the process is complex; whether it is pro- or anti-angiogenic depends on the context in which it is expressed. To understand precisely β3's role in regulating integrin adhesion complexes in endothelial cells, we characterised, by mass spectrometry, the β3- dependent adhesome. We show that depletion of β3-integrin in this cell type leads to changes in microtubule behaviour that control their migration. β3- integrin regulates microtubule stability in endothelial cells through Rcc2/Anxa2 driven control of Rac1 activity. Our findings reveal that angiogenic processes, both in vitro and in vivo, are more sensitive to microtubule targeting agents when β3-integrin levels are reduced.


The work of a tractor-towed machine for cleaning beet top residues from root crop heads, when used with supporting pneumatic wheels, is accompanied with its oscillations in the vertical plane, which has consider- able impact on the quality of implementing the technological process. Therefore, the determination of opti- mal parameters for the cleaning machine, ensuring more stable movement of its cleaning working tool, in the longitudinal-vertical plane fi rst and foremost, is an important task of the mechanization of sugar beet grow- ing industry. Aim. To enhance the effi ciency of cleaning sugar beet top residues from root crop heads via the elaboration of the mathematical model of the oscillating movement of the towed machine for cleaning beet top residues from root crop heads in the longitudinal-vertical plane. Methods. The methods of building computational mathematical models for the functioning of agricultural machines and equipment, based on theoretical mechanics and advanced mathematics, were used.
Results. The elaborated equivalent scheme of the movement of the towed cleaning machine was used to obtain the system of two non-linear differential equations for detailed study of the oscillations of the root crop head cleaner in the longitudinal-vertical plane while its supporting pneumatic wheels are moving along uneven soil surface. The mathematical model for the movement of the cleaner with horizontal cleaning roller, elaborated on the basis of initial dynamics equa- tions in the Lagrangian form of the second kind, allowed determining the connection between constructive and kinematic parameters of the vehicle and its oscillating characteristics. The established dependencies formed the prerequisites for further mathematical digital modelling of the parameters of the towed machine for cleaning of root crop heads with a horizontal cleaning roller. Conclusions. The established computation- al model allows optimizing the values of several parameters, characterizing the oscillations of the machine in the
longitudinal-vertical plane.


Manufacturing of ship piping systems is one of the major production activities in shipbuilding. The schedule of pipe production has an important impact on the master schedule of shipbuilding. In this research, the ITOC concept was introduced to solve the scheduling problems of a piping jobshop, and an intelligent scheduling system was developed. The system, in which a product model, an operation model, a factory model, and a knowledge database of piping production were integrated, automated the planning process and production scheduling. Details of the above points were discussed. Moreover, an application of the system in a piping factory, which achieved a higher level of performance as measured by tardiness, lead time, and inventory was demonstrated.


A regulation of the ATP-synthesizing complex by electron-transport rate has been found. The site of regulation could be localized within the Photosystem I region. The regulatory effect probably is produced by direct interactions between neighbouring charged protein complexes. The primary result is an increase in the percentage of those binding sites adopting a low-affinity state. This seems to lead to an enhanced leakage of protons out of the thylakoids, especially under those experimental conditions employing low nucleotide concentrations. Changes in the P/2e ratio can be observed, especially if the total ADP + ATP concentration used in the experiment is below 200 microM.


BACKGROUND
Hip replacement ranks among the more successful operations on the musculoskeletal system, but it can have serious complications. A common one is dislocation of the total hip endoprosthesis, an event that arises in about 2% of patients within 1 year of the operation. Physicians should be aware of how this problem can be prevented and, if necessary, treated, so that the degree of trauma due to hip dislocation after hip replacement surgery can be kept to a minimum.

METHODS
The authors searched Medline selectively for pertinent publications and analyzed the annual reports of international endoprosthesis registries.

RESULTS
The rate of dislocation of primary hip replacements ranges from 0.2% to 10% per year, while that of artificial hip joints that have already been surgically revised can be as high as 28%, depending on the patient population, the follow-up interval, and the type of prosthesis. Patient-specific risk factors for displacement of a hip endoprosthesis include advanced age, accompanying neurologic disease, and impaired compliance. Patients should scrupulously avoid hip movements such as bending far forward from a standing position, or internal rotation of the flexed hip. Operation-specific risk factors include suboptimal implant position, insufficient soft-tissue tension, and inadequate experience of the surgeon. Conservative treatment is justified the first time dislocation occurs without any identifiable cause. If a mechanical cause of instability is found, then operative revision should be performed as recommended in a standardized treatment algorithm, because, otherwise, dislocation is likely to recur.

CONCLUSION
The dislocation of a total hip endoprosthesis is an emotionally traumatizing event that should be prevented if possible. Preoperative risk assessment should be performed and the operation should be performed with optimal technique, including the best possible physical configuration of implant components, soft-tissue balance, and an adequately experienced orthopedic surgeon.


BACKGROUND
A number of recent longitudinal outcome studies have found substantial long-term morbidity in patients with bipolar disorder. The detailed course and pattern of illness emerging despite comprehensive treatment with mood stabilizers and adjunctive agents have previously not been well delineated.

METHOD
258 consecutive outpatients admitted from 1996 to 1999 to the Stanley Foundation Bipolar Network who had a full year of prospective daily clinician ratings on the National Institute of Mental Health-Life Chart Method were included in the analysis. Patients were diagnosed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, with the majority (76%) having bipolar I disorder. They completed a questionnaire on demographics and prior illness course, and variables associated with outcome were examined in a hierarchical multinomial logistic regression analysis. Patients were treated naturalistically with a mean of 4.1 psychotropic medications during the year.

RESULTS
Despite comprehensive pharmacologic treatment, mean time depressed (33.2% of the year) was 3-fold higher than time manic (10.8%); 62.8% of patients had 4 or more mood episodes per year. Two thirds of the patients were substantially impacted by their illness; 26.4% were ill for more than three fourths of the year, and 40.7% were intermittently ill with major affective episodes. After logistic regression analysis, those who were ill most of the year, compared with the largely well group, had a significantly greater family history of substance abuse, 10 or more depressive episodes, and limited occupational functioning prior to Network entry.

CONCLUSION
A majority of outpatients with bipolar illness, even with intense monitoring and treatment in specialty clinics, have a considerable degree of residual illness-related morbidity, including a 3-fold greater amount of time spent depressed versus time spent manic. A personal or family history of substance abuse, 10 or more prior depressions, and limited occupational functioning predicted the poorest outcomes. Additional interventions, particularly those targeted at treating depressive phases of bipolar illness, are greatly needed.


Doped ZnS nanocrystals have attracted attention since 1994. Previous results suggest that doped semiconductor nanocrystals form a new class of luminescent materials, which have a wide range of applications in displays, lighting, sensors and lasers. In this work we synthesized Y3+ doped ZnS nanoparticles by a chemical precipitation method. The reaction was performed with ZnSO4, Na2S, phosphates and Yttrium acetate in aqueous solution. Fluorescence (FL) studies of these nanoparticles have been carried out. FL analysis reveals that the incorporation of Yttrium and phosphates to colloidal solution of ZnS nanoparticles enhances the FL signal by 6-7 times of magnitude compared with uncapped ZnS nanoparticles.


Background : Given that Tabriz Shohada hospital is the place of admitting emergency patients including accident victims, Nurses are exposed to double stress at hospital. This study conducted to predict nursing stress based on personality traits and job engagement among nurses in Shohada hospital of Tabriz. Materials and Methods: The current study was a correlational one. Randomly selected 105 nurses from Tabriz Shohada hospital sections such as sixth general sections including Rehabilitation, ICU & Emergency Department participated. Contributors answered to Nursing Stress Scale, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised (EPQ-R) and Job Engagement Scale. Data were analyzed using stepwise multiple regression analysis. Results: The study results indicated that nursing stress was more strongly associated with the neuroticism; there were no relationships among nursing stress and extraversion or psychoticism. Also, nursing stress revealed a positive relationship with job engagement. Using the multivariate regression analysis showed that the neuroticism trait (p< 0.001, F=10.68) and job engagement (p= 0.004, F=10.12) were suitable predictors for nursing stress among three personality factors and job engagement. Conclusions: Nursing stress influenced by internal factors more than demographic variables and two important predictive variables (neuroticism trait and job engagement) had more important roles in nursing stress prediction.


International trade has hugely benefitted from digital progress and the integration of numerous computerized interfaces, as well as constant innovation. To promote international commerce through the adoption of digital technologies, the year of 2016 has been proclaimed by The World Customs Organization (WCO) as the "Year of Digital Customs".To encourage the unrestricted flow of information and to improve transparency while advancing the effectiveness of regular trade methods, the WCO has laid a special emphasis on the coordination of customs activities. This includes automated clearing methods and the improvement of computerized data transfers.Managing cross-border business indicator set measures of technological progress in the field of commerce facilitation by gathering data on the time and expense of customs clearing and inspection methods.The indicators accumulate data on the performance and improvement of individual windows throughout the world that is next distributed to all the appropriate administrative authorities, hence constantly adjusting controls in all the places where trade processes. The latest information on Single Windows capture the various levels of their integration and digitalization.


Abstract. Remote sensing is a popular technique that is using in the mapping and monitoring of earth features. Early remote sensing was predominantly passive, i.e. it depends upon the sun for energy. Till the last decade, optical imaging is mainly used in remote sensing works. Over the time, significant innovations and improvements have been made in the active remote sensing which resulted in the form of sophisticated imaging techniques like Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) and Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR). These advancements promoted the use of multi-sensor and multi-source data in remote sensing projects. This highlights the need to review these imaging techniques. Therefore, this review work is carried out. In this review, different imaging techniques are discussed and compared. Optical, SAR and LiDAR techniques are first summarized and then they are compared on the basis of technical specification and working. Finally, an in-depth assessment is made on the applicability of these imaging techniques in different fields.


We develop a simple theory that relates the performance of an optical component to the variance of the amplitude of its phase ripple that has been weighted by the incoming signal spectrum. Comparisons of model predictions for chirped fiber gratings with 10-Gbit/s test-bed simulations and measurements agree.


This paper discusses the historical connections between two large-scale undertakings that became exemplars for worldwide data-driven scientific initiatives after World War II: the International Geophysical Year (1957––1958) and the International Biological Program (1964––1974). The International Biological Program was seen by its planners as a means to promote Big Science in ecology. As the term Big Science gained currency in the 1960s, the Manhattan Project and the national space program became paradigmatic examples, but the International Geophysical Year provided scientists with an alternative model: a synoptic collection of observational data on a global scale. This new, potentially complementary model of Big Science encompassed the field practices of ecologists and suggested a model for the natural historical sciences to achieve the stature and reach of the experimental physical sciences. However, the program encountered difficulties when the institutional structures, research methodologies, and data management implied by the Big Science mode of research collided with the epistemic goals, practices, and assumptions of many ecologists. By 1974, when the program ended, many participants viewed it as a failure. However, this failed program transformed into the Long-Term Ecological Research program. Historical analysis suggests that many of the original incentives of the program (the emphasis on Big Data and the implementation of the organizational structure of Big Science in biological projects) were in fact realized by the program9s visionaries and its immediate investigators. While the program failed to follow the exact model of the International Geophysical Year, it ultimately succeeded in providing a renewed legitimacy for synoptic data collection in biology. It also helped to create a new mode of contemporary science of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER Network), used by ecologists today.


Written for new case managers, this book is a practical guide for nurses, social workers, and others responsible for coordinating and managing the care of the individual patient within the healthcare system. It is also used as a text for graduate level courses and an excellent 'prep' guide for the Case Management Certification (CCM) exam. Suzanne Powell and Hussein Tahan are co-authors of the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) Core Curriculum for Case Management. This Third Edition has new material on chronic disease management, information systems, and telehealth/telemedicine. New features include learning objectives and end-of-chapter study questions.


In this paper we examine the issues that arise in the definition, deployment and management of QoS (quality of service) in UTRAN (UMTS terrestrial access network). The paper provides an overview of radio resource management (RRM) functions with users and bearer services differentiation. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of the impact of different parameter settings on prioritized connections in high traffic mix situations is presented. Besides this, the capability to discriminate between users/services with different QoS profile is demonstrated in terms of waiting time, call block ratio, capacity request rejection ratio, active session throughput and perceived data transfer delay. While providing differentiation between non-guaranteed bit rate services, yet maintaining a high degree of fairness between peers (users of the same QoS class), results an easy task; the differentiation between guaranteed bit rate bearer services appears to be more difficult for the administrator to manage, despite the effective utilization of radio resources shown by the simulation results.


Depth reconstruction from single monocular images has been a challenging task due to the complexity and the quantity of depth cues that images have. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) have been successfully used to reconstruct depth of general object scenes; however, proposed works use several stages of training which make this process more complex and time consuming. As we aim to build a computational efficient model, we focus on single-stage training CNN. In this paper, we propose five different models for solving this task, ranging from a simple convolutional network, to one with residual, convolutional, refinement and upsampling layers. We compare our models with the current state of the art in depth reconstruction and measure depth reconstruction error for different datasets (KITTI, NYU), obtaining improvements in both global and local error measures.


Abstract Abstract. The ability to change expression of a behaviour through experience with contingencies among important stimuli can enhance the survival and fitness of animals under certain ecological conditions. It would seem paradoxical if strong variability in learning performance persists even when those conditions are met. In the honey bee, learning about the relationship between floral odours and the rewards offered by flowers is important for colony survival. Yet several studies have identified a significant amount of inter-individual variability in olfactory learning performance among workers within colonies. This variability could be due to changes in learning performance due to age, to caste-specific alteration of motivational state, or to genotypic variability among paternal lines within colonies. Experiments reported herein were designed to establish the contribution of all three variables under controlled environmental conditions within which significant variability in a measure of learning performance exists. The results indicate that, at least under these conditions and when genotype is not manipulated, neither age nor caste had an effect on motivational state or learning performance. Genotype was the only variable that could account for a substantial portion of the variability within colonies of honey bees. Therefore, manipulation of genotype will be necessary in future studies designed to establish the reasons underlying variability in learning performance in natural populations.


The local welfare -among other possibilities- effectively enhances the contribution of volunteering and nonprofit. On the local level we can identify the third sector institutions or companies operating on the market with which to make agreements to carry out activities of new welfare and social innovation, i.e. new ideas (products, services and models) to meet social needs, improve the quality of human life and well-being, and create new relationships and social inclusion. The paper describes a good practice to social innovation performed by volunteers of the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Research Foundation and Care John Paul II of Campobasso. The social innovation initiative in the health field, by developing new forms of co-operation between public actors of the third sector, shows that the actors are able to develop appropriate responses and affordable to different social needs in the area and to mobilize resources for this purpose and private skills, pro-ducing value for society as a whole in a perspective of innovative welfare.


A protein fraction was isolated from the TCA residue of rat brain water-soluble proteins by 80% ethanol treatment. The fraction consists of two proteins with molecular weight 16000 and 26000. The amino acid composition, amidation and intracellular protein localization are determined.


Time perspective is crucial in adolescence and youth, when individuals make important decisions related to their present and future. The focus of this research was to use the six-factor short version Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (S-ZTPI) scale in a sample of adolescents and young adults, and to analyse its associations with decision-making, relational styles and engagement. A structural equation model of the effects of S-ZTPI on these variables was computed, and its psychometric properties were found adequate. The results underline that young people's present orientation is associated with a relational style based on confidence in oneself and others, and with active engagement in terms of responsibility and trust in a better future. Our findings suggest a positive description of adolescents' views, as they are able to enjoy the time they are living in without giving up their responsibilities for making a better world for the future.


Like many of you reading JMMT, I had always associated the use of manual therapy (MT) interventions with musculoskeletal complaints in adults. Although I have successfully treated orthopaedic problems in some adolescents with MT, until a recent visit to Europe it had never so much as crossed my mind to use this intervention in young children, let alone infants. However, in several Northern European countries, a significant number of our medical and physical therapy colleagues are treating infants, 0-12 months old, with MT interventions based on an etiologic model that links a great number of [non] musculoskeletal signs and symptoms to functional disorders of the upper cervical spine1. Biedermann1 introduced a two-category diagnostic classification that proposes that birth traumainduced upper cervical dysfunction has immediate and-–if left untreated--long-term consequences. Proposed signs and symptoms of the Kinetic Imbalance due to Suboccipital Strain (KISS) syndrome include but are not limited to torticollis, frequent vomiting, problems swallowing, scoliosis, plagiocephaly, facial asymmetry, and colic with excessive crying2. The second category of KISS-induced Dyspraxia and Dysgnosia (KIDD) syndrome has been associated with slow development of fine and gross motor skills, poor posture and equilibrium, delayed language development, restlessness, and insecurity in older children2. KISS-syndrome has even been implicated as a causative factor in attention deficit disorder (ADD)3. Biedermann1 proposed impulse manipulation of the upper cervical spine in the direction of sidebending and, at times, rotation as the treatment for both syndromes. He also noted that scientific methods normally used for verification of short-term effects of MT interventions in adults have only limited usefulness in determining the effects of the manipulative treatment of children with KISSand KIDD-syndrome because these tests fail to capture the long-term interdependencies proposed in his etiologic model1. We know that the newborn cervical spine is insufficiently able to protect the spinal cord, vessels, nerves, and brain from traction and rotation forces4. Koch5 reported facial and whole-body flushing, diaphoresis, crying, bradycardia, and temporary respiratory arrest in children treated for KISS-syndrome with impulse manipulation. Severe bradycardia was seen more frequently in the group of 1to 3-month-old infants5. Perhaps relevant even despite the admitted difference in techniques applied, very similar symptoms have been reported in an infant who died after Vojta therapy to correct a congenital torticollis6. The lack of relevant outcome studies2,7, the assertion that the etiologic model does not lend itself to such studies1, and the suggested potential for adverse effects2 has understandably led to a heated debate in multiple countries on the topic of KISS and KIDD-syndrome2,7,8. However, not all MT clinicians who treat children ascribe to this etiologic model. Nor do these clinicians all use thrust-type manipulation techniques. Osteopathic pathophysiologic models for functional problems in children center on cranial entrapment neuropathies affecting cranial nerves IX-XII but they also attribute a role to dysfunctions affecting the pelvic region and the thoraco-abdominal diaphragm. These interventions generally consist of gentle, non-thrust techniques9. Chiro-


We consider a discrete analog of the classical A. Lotka – V. Volterra competition model by cellular automata. In the classical model, we know that the type of its time evolution depends on the double standards coefficients being at certain ranges of their possible values. The paper shows that the same situation holds for the discrete model either. We can see there is a soft power effect for the classical model. The classic competition model turns into a cooperative positional differential game, the limitations of which are the original system of competition equations by A. Lotka – V. Volterra. The controls are the coefficients of double standards when considering it concerning social systems. The effect of soft power is that the parties tend to compare the competitive pressure on them by the rival population with the one within the domestic population and may take the less stress of the opponent for his favorable attitude towards them, and more extensive – for the hostile manifestation. Whereas comparing the external competitive pressure with the internal pressure in this game does not give us any information – everything depends exclusively on the coefficients of double standards. Simulation experiments with the discrete competition model implemented in the cellular automata show that the effect of soft power also takes place in this case.