First steps towards a mathematical theory of deep convolutional neural networks for feature extraction were made---for the continuous-time case---in Mallat, 2012, and Wiatowski and Bolcskei, 2015. This paper considers the discrete case, introduces new convolutional neural network architectures, and proposes a mathematical framework for their analysis. Specifically, we establish deformation and translation sensitivity results of local and global nature, and we investigate how certain structural properties of the input signal are reflected in the corresponding feature vectors. Our theory applies to general filters and general Lipschitz-continuous non-linearities and pooling operators. Experiments on handwritten digit classification and facial landmark detection---including feature importance evaluation---complement the theoretical findings.


Dissatisfaction from sexual relationships can result in deprivation as well as problems, such as depression, anxiety, and destruction of family's mental health. One hundred twenty-five women (18 to 40 years) who suffered from hypoactive sexual desire disorder were divided into Elaeagnus angustifolia flower (4.5 g g daily for 35 days), sildenafil citrate tablet (50 mg for 4 weeks), and control groups. The study data were collected using the Female Sexual Function Index and Spielberger's questionnaire and measurement of thyroid-stimulating hormone and prolactin hormone. In the Elaeagnus angustifolia group, the mean score of state and trait anxiety decreased after the intervention. In the sildenafil citrate group also, the mean score of state anxiety decreased from 22.15 ± 4.98 to 20.1 ± 5.15 (P = .001) and that of trait anxiety decreased from 23.07 ± 4.44 to 21.55 ± 4.82 (P = .002) after the intervention. Consumption of sildenafil citrate tablet was effective in reduction of the mean score of anxiety resulting from sexual dysfunction.


ABSTRACT One of the largest recent private-sector investments and the first airport private-sector concession in the Maghreb is Enfidha Airport, a key factor in the success of the Tunisian Government's public–private partnership (PPP) strategy. However, since Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution, political and social turmoil is sweeping the country and worsening the economic indicators. This article aims to assess this PPP infrastructure, allowing us to determine if it is profitable in the long term and contributes therefore to the economic growth. The case study reveals the key role of the economic, social, and political environment in Tunisia, the dawn of the Arab Spring.


This study extends previous studies on accrual anomaly to investigate the emerging market's mispricing of accruals. Using Mishkin (1983) test, hedge portfolio test and Fama and MacBeth (1973) regression, we test whether the Tunisian Stock Exchange price rationally reflects the 1-year ahead earnings implications of its earnings components. We find that earnings and their cash flow and accrual components are not rationally priced by the market. Additionally, this paper examines the role of sophistication investors in the pricing of earnings and their components. Our results show that accruals for firms with higher level of institutional ownership are not mispriced, while accruals for firms with lower institutional ownership are overpriced significantly by the market.


In the context of the FLI MICCAI 2016 MSSEG challenge for lesion segmentation, we present a fully automated algorithm for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) lesion segmentation. Our method is composed of three main steps. First, the MS patient images are registered and intensity normalized. Then, the lesion segmentation is done using a voxel-wise comparison of multi-channel Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) against a set of controls. Finally, the segmentation is refined by applying several lesion appearance rules.


Elongated Au nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in silica matrix were fabricated by 100 MeV Ag ion irradiation of 3 MeV Au ion implanted SiO2/Si(100) substrates, annealed at 1050 o C. Electron-beam-induced shape evolution of elongated Au NPs embedded in SiO2 has been studied by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Electron beam irradiation resulted in a decrease in the aspect ratio of Au NPs from ~ 1.4 to 1 with increase in irradiation time. The observed ellipsoidal-to-spherical shape transition of Au NPs has been ascribed mainly to the cumulative effects of electron beam induced heating, softening of silica matrix and radiation enhanced diffusion of knock-on displaced O and Si atoms, resulting in local stress relaxation. Copyright © 2013 VBRI press.


One of the major modes of failure in germanium alloy power transistors is collector diode degradation. It has been found that the time response of the collector diode, measured initially, is a strong indicator of later degradation failure. The "0" hour time varying characteristic of a potential failure is explained by a proposed model which involves an ionic charge separation phenomenon. This phenomenon involves the transient formation of an accumulation layer and an avalanche-limited breakdown of the junction near the surface. The proposed model suggests several process modifications which would reduce or eliminate conditions which result in degradation failure. Process improvements which were generated by this study and other related programs have resulted in a significant improvement of the degradation failure rate.


Conflict over Iran's nuclear program, which involves a US-led policy to impose sanctions on Iran, is perceived by each side as a preeminent challenge to its own national security and global peace. Yet, there is little scientific study or understanding of how material incentives and disincentives, such as economic sanctions, psychologically affect the targeted population and potentially influence behaviour. Here we explore the Iranian nuclear program within a paradigm concerned with sacred values. We integrate experiments within a survey of 1997 Iranians. We find that a relatively small but politically significant portion of the Iranian population believes that acquiring nuclear energy has become a sacred value, in the sense that proposed economic incentives and disincentives result in a "backfire effect" in which offers of material rewards or punishment lead to increased anger and greater disapproval. This pattern was specific to nuclear energy and did not hold for acquiring nuclear weapons. The present study is the first demonstration of the backfire effect for material disincentives as well as incentives, and on an issue whose apparent sacred nature is recent rather than longstanding.


Coastal scour accounts for a significant proportion of the damage to marine structures. It is therefore important to be able to measure, model and predict scour effects to inform the design of new structures and to assess potential damage to existing ones. The aim of this project was to compare the results from field surveys to those obtained in a marine test laboratory. Since this project employed small scale modelling this provided a further opportunity to compare results with those obtained in previous published studies. This project has compared collected data from two coastal structures with results obtained from modelling in the COAST facility at the University of Plymouth. The results obtained have validated the use of this technique. Scouring was investigated in the vicinity of two breakwater structures; the Falmouth Eastern breakwater and the Mount Batten breakwater. A bathymetric survey was conducted in the vicinity of Mount Batten breakwater and previously published data from the Falmouth breakwater was obtained. This data was used to model the sea bed profile at the end of each of the structures. Small scale models of these two breakwaters were designed and built for this project and tested in laboratory facilities. Data collected from the field surveys was subsequently compared to results collected from laboratory testing and then the differences were analysed. It was found that expected scour pits were not present at the end of either structure. This indicates how complex scour in coastal areas is to predict and model, it is likely that variables such as such tides, bidirectional currents, interaction with other structures and turbulence from marine vessels accounts for the absence of the usual scour patterns in these cases. However the data collected was valuable in developing the test methodology and will be helpful in future work. The similarity between the small scale laboratory results obtained and previously published literature for larger scale modelling indicates that this method of testing could be considered valid for the future design and development of costal structures as well as providing a tool to model the behaviour of such structures in hostile conditions. There are economic advantages to being able to test in smaller less expensive facilities and this project has demonstrated the validity of such small scale testing.


This paper describes the process of translating an adaptive sequencing strategy designed using Sequencing Graphs to the semantics of IMS Learning Design. The relevance of this contribution is twofold. First, it combines the expressive power and flexibility of Sequencing Graphs, and the interoperability capabilities of IMS. Second, it shows some important limitations of IMS specifications (focusing on Learning Design) for the sequencing of learning activities.


Mitotic abnormalities are a common feature of human cancer cells, and recent studies have provided evidence that such abnormalities may play a causative, rather than merely incidental role, in tumorigenesis. One such abnormality is prolonged activation of the mitotic checkpoint, which can be provoked by a number of the gene changes that drive tumor formation. At the same time, antimitotic chemotherapeutics exert their clinical efficacy through the large-scale induction of prolonged mitotic checkpoint activation, indicating that mitotic arrest is influential in both the formation and treatment of human cancer. However, how this influence occurs is not well understood. In this perspective, we will discuss the current evidence in support of the potential mechanisms by which prolonged activation of the mitotic checkpoint affects both tumorigenesis and antimitotic chemotherapy.


Formative time lags have been measured in mercury vapour for Es/p0=138-422 V cm−1 Torr−1, and have been compared with time lags calculated from models based on Davidson's theory of the temporal growth of a gas discharge. The observed times were compatible with a model having one slow process and one faster secondary ionization process: that is, a process in which delayed photons are produced by the destruction of metastable atoms by collisions in the vapour (coefficient δ1/α), and a faster process such as positive ion bombardment (coefficient γ). The analysis could not distinguish between the various faster processes so all were included in the coefficient γ. Data are given for the appropriate values of both these secondary ionization coefficients as functions of Es/p0. The curve for δ1/α as a function of Es/p0 resembles the excitation probability curve for the 3P2 metastable state of mercury and the corresponding delayed photon process is predominant for Es/p0<220 V cm−1 Torr−1.


Transport Multiple Protocol Label Switching (Transport-MPLS, T-MPLS) is one of networking schemes for Packet Transport Network (PTN). It specifies a connection-oriented, packet-switched architecture for carrier class Ethernet. In order to evaluate the performance of T-MPLS network, we have to apply this technology to the real network topology with Internet-bound traffic (e.g., VoIP, P2P, Http). In this paper, we first design the functional architecture and interface of T-MPLS network. Then a novel simulation test bed based on 11-node topology of European Cost239 model is implemented. Most of protocols are realized and the characteristics of packet transport network are verified via numerical simulation.


In this paper, we investigate the effects of residual hardware impairments (RHIs), channels estimation errors (CEEs) and imperfect successive interference cancellation (ipSIC) on the cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system over Nakagami- $m$ channels, where the amplify-and-forward (AF) relay can harvest energy from the source. The exact expressions for outage probability and ergodic sum rate are derived in closed-form. In addition, the asymptotic outage analyses in the high signal-to-noise (SNR) regime are carried out. The results show that the outage probability exists an error floor due to the existence of CEEs and compared with RHIs, CEEs have a more serious impact on the system outage performance. The close simulation results of Monte Carlo verify the accuracy of our theoretical derivation. Finally, the performance of energy efficiency is examined with RHIs, CEEs and ipSIC.


Compiled by a team of leading historians, this is a wonderfully rich, lavishly illustrated history of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The reader is taken on a journey from prehistoric times to the present day, examining such topics as the spread of literacy, the development of transport, and the evolution of country houses on the way. British cities are brought to life in artwork reconstructions that take the reader back to the Dublin of the 18th century or London in the 1850s. Scholarly yet accessible, this is the ideal introduction to British and Irish history.


In Indonesia, according to source of Riskersda in 2007, the most powerful of death cause was stoke (15,4%), then hypertensi, diabet, cancer and cronic and obstructif lungs disease which can decrease the grand quality of life. There were many studies that told us religiousity (obeying the religion"s rule) had good impact for health, one example was in US. This research purpose is to tell us the relationship between religiousity and depression, anxiety, stress and life quality of cronic sufferer in Makassar, which is held in Haji Hospital and Labuang Baji Hospital. All of cronic sufferer in Makassar 2013 are population which taken by non probability sample accidental sampling total ammount 38 people. This research uses survey analitical method with cross sectional study by using question to get the data about religiousity, depression, anxiety and stress, also patient life quality. The result of this research shows us that, there is no significant relationship between religiousity and depression of cronic disease because mark of P >0,05 is 0,457 and shows positive relations with weak relation 0,321. Religiousity of anxiety also shows there is no significant relationship between religiousity and anxiety chronic suffer disease because mark of P >0,05 is -0,72 and shows negativecorrelation with strong correlation 0,769. Religiousity of stress shows there is no significant relationship between religiousity and stress of chronic suffer because mark of P>0,05 is 0,232 and shows positive correlation with power of correlation 0,449. Besides religiousity and life quality shows there is no significant reltionship between religiousity and life quality of chronic suffer because mark of P>0,05 is 0,556 and shows positive correlationwith weak correlation 0,250. We need new program from the health and medical departement especially the hospital that can include religiousity to the patient in healing process. Applying religiousity research in many side of life, not only in health and medical departement but also ini educational departement, then religousity experience especially for the patient in dialy of life by reading and reciting the holy qur"an. Key word : Cronic disease, religiousity, depression, anxiety, stress and quality of life


Safety-critical systems require guarantees on their worst-case execution times. This requires modelling of speculative hardware features such as caches that are tailored to improve the average-case performance, while ignoring the worst case, which complicates the Worst Case Execution Time (WCET) analysis problem. Existing approaches that precisely compute WCET suffer from state-space explosion. In this paper, we present a novel cache analysis technique for direct-mapped instruction caches with the same precision as the most precise techniques, while improving analysis time by up to 240 times. This improvement is achieved by analysing individual control points separately, and carrying out optimisations that are not possible with existing techniques.


This paper proposes a new system structure of FBC100-H1 (Foundation FieldBus communication control ASIC) and introduces its theory and implementation method. By using VMM verification methodology, the authors build up the verification environment of FBC100-H1 and enable it to obtain 100% function coverage. FBC100-H1 has taped out successfully and reached its every expected target.


IEEE 802.16 defines three types of power saving classes for supporting the sleep mode operations on mobile stations using different types of traffic. While related work has developed analytical models to evaluate the performance of the power saving operations in IEEE 802.16 networks, most of these endeavors are limited to the Poisson traffic model and hence their capability is limited in capturing the characteristics of the sleep mode operation under realistic traffic distributions. In this paper, we propose an analytic model for capturing the behaviors of IEEE 802.16 sleep mode operations under the type I power saving class with arbitrary traffic distribution, including the Pareto and 4IPP traffic models. We compare the proposed model against existing work, and explain how such a general model allows a better investigation of the impact of different traffic models on optimal performance of IEEE 802.16 power saving operations.


MOTIVATION
Bioinformatics requires reusable software tools for creating model-organism databases (MODs).

RESULTS
The Pathway Tools is a reusable, production-quality software environment for creating a type of MOD called a Pathway/Genome Database (PGDB). A PGDB such as EcoCyc (see http://ecocyc.org) integrates our evolving understanding of the genes, proteins, metabolic network, and genetic network of an organism. This paper provides an overview of the four main components of the Pathway Tools: The PathoLogic component supports creation of new PGDBs from the annotated genome of an organism. The Pathway/Genome Navigator provides query, visualization, and Web-publishing services for PGDBs. The Pathway/Genome Editors support interactive updating of PGDBs. The Pathway Tools ontology defines the schema of PGDBs. The Pathway Tools makes use of the Ocelot object database system for data management services for PGDBs. The Pathway Tools has been used to build PGDBs for 13 organisms within SRI and by external users.


Community learning disability nurses need a clear understanding of the concept of 'role'. This is important because it has implications for role clarity, role perception and role enactment when meeting the healthcare needs of people with learning disabilities. In addition, understanding of 'role' prevents role ambiguity and role conflict in the work environment, and can help to ensure appropriate delivery of health care to people with learning disabilities, who often present with complex needs. This article examines literature on role from symbolic interactionist, psychological, anthropological and organisational role-theory perspectives. It also highlights the significance of role ambiguity and examines current role-theory research in community learning disability nursing.


PURPOSE
To compare the diagnostic accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) isotropic magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography with two-dimensional (2D) MR arthrography for the diagnosis of labral lesions of the shoulder performed by using a 3.0-T imager.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Institutional review board approval was given for this retrospective study and informed consent was waived. From March 2006 to January 2007, 100 patients underwent 3D isotropic and 2D MR shoulder arthrographic imaging by using a 3.0-T imager and subsequent arthroscopic surgery. The 3D isotropic sequences were performed by using fast gradient-echo imaging with fat suppression (voxel size, 0.6 x 0.6 x 0.6 mm; imaging time, 5 minutes 32 seconds) and were evaluated for the presence of superior, anterior, and posterior labral lesions by using 3D isotropic and 2D MR arthrography. The statistical differences between the sensitivity and specificity for both methods were analyzed by using the McNemar test, with arthroscopic findings regarded as reference standard.

RESULTS
Surgical findings confirmed 53 superior labral anterior posterior (SLAP) lesions, 17 anterior labral lesions, and five posterior labral lesions. Respective sensitivity and specificity were 85% and 96% for SLAP lesions, 100% and 98% for anterior labral lesions, and 80% and 99% for posterior labral lesions by using 2D MR arthrography and 83% and 96% for SLAP lesions, 100% and 96% for anterior labral lesions, and 80% and 99% for posterior labral lesions by using 3D isotropic MR arthrography. There was no significant difference in sensitivities and specificities of both methods; however, the power of this study was limited and larger comparison is needed.

CONCLUSION
Isotropic 3D shoulder MR arthrography combined with a multiplanar reconstruction technique can help in the diagnosis of shoulder labral lesions as does 2D MR arthrography, but with shorter imaging times.


Objective: About 20% of the European population suffers from chronic pain and its consequences which include depression and work loss. The body of research on resilience mechanisms in chronic pain needs more exploration. In this study, the influence of positive affect (PA) and psychological wellbeing (PWB) in a sample of chronic pain patients is explored. According to the resilience model and the broaden-and-build theory, PA and PWB can have positive effects on the lives of people in all different situations. From this point of view, we explored if high levels of these two aspects can have a positive influence on the working situation and the level of depression in chronic pain patients one year later. Methods: The sample was gathered through the LISS panel in the Netherlands, and included 479 participants who indicated to regularly have pain in the knee, hip or back. Pearson correlation coefficients and regression analyses were computed between the independent variables PA and PWB at baseline and the dependent variables work status, absenteeism and depression one year later. Results: Regression analyses indicated a positive influence of PWB on work status and a negative influence of PA on absenteeism one year later. Discussion: Psychological wellbeing had a positive influence on the work status of chronic pain patients. Existing psychological therapies for chronic pain patients who mainly suffer from the loss of work might be expanded by modules which promote psychological wellbeing. Long-term measurements of positive affect might clarify possible effects.


Introduction The treatment of haemorrhoids aims to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life. However, generic tools used to measure quality of life in economic evaluation may not be sensitive to patients' preferences for alternative treatment modalities and their associated outcomes. Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are increasingly used in health economics as an alternative method to value health care. This technique can be used to investigate the tradeoffs that people are willing to make between different attributes of treatments. Method Based on literature reviews and expert opinion, four important attributes of haemorrhoid treatment were identified: time in post operative pain; chance of serious complications requiring hospitalisation; time taken to return to usual activities; and chance of a recurrence of haemorrhoidal symptoms. Experimental design techniques were used to create a manageable number of choices between the alternative treatment modalities, which varied with respect to the levels ascribed to the treatment attributes and also a cost attribute, that was included to enable estimation of individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for the different treatment modalities and attributes. The study was conducted using a sample of the general population from an online survey panel. Response data were analysed using conditional logistic regression techniques. Results Of the 1010 respondents who completed the DCE, 44% had experienced haemorrhoids. Very few respondents chose not to be treated and none of the surgical treatment modalities were preferred over the others. The coefficients for all the attributes had the expected sign and were significantly different from zero (p < 0.0001). For example, an increase in chance of recurrence or the amount of time spent in pain was associated with a decrease in the probability of selecting an option. A marginal change in the chance of recurrence of haemorrhoidal symptoms had the greatest influence on respondents' choices, WTP for a percentage reduction in the chance of recurrence of haemorrhoidal symptoms and a percentage reduction in chance of serious complications was £189 and £117 respectively. Individuals were willing to pay £14 to reduce the time spent in post-operative pain by one day, and £14 to reduce the time taken to return to usual activities by one day. Conclusion After accounting for the main associated attributes and outcomes of treatment, the type of treatment per sedoes not significantly influence patients' choices. The findings suggest that the outcomes of haemorrhoidal surgery influence the respondent choices and there is need for further research to put these findings into context by combining these results with evidence from randomised controlled trials to establish the most cost beneficial approach to treatment. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


The teaching-learning of programming fundamentals is increasing in secondary schools, however, it is a very difficult task for the teacher because the student has not yet achieved full development of their computational thinking, so they have difficulty in learning programming fundamentals. In this article, we describe the development of computational thinking activities prior to the teaching of programming fundamentals and we analyze the data obtained from a pre- and post-test of computational thinking applied to a control group and an experimental group. Afterwards, we analyze the results obtained from a test of programming fundamentals to both the control group and the experimental group. The activity has been evaluated during the academic year 2017-2018 by 80 high school students from 10th grade (15 and 16 years old), our results indicate that the development of activities of Computational Thinking previous to the teaching of programming fundamentals has allowed the students to assimilate in a better way the learning in the mentioned subject, that is to say, they extended their mathematical logical reasoning to develop the respective flow charts without any difficulty. That is, they expanded their mathematical logical reasoning to develop the respective flow diagrams without any difficulty.


The mechanisms of failure over time of a series of model acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives under a moderate level of stress has been investigated with a probe method. Two competing mechanisms of failure have been observed: a progressive nucleation of cavities under stress and the propagation of existing cavities at the interface between the probe and the adhesive layer. Homogeneous creep of the adhesive was never observed as the only failure mechanism. In situations where the resistance to crack propagation was good relative to the resistance to cavitation, extensive nucleation of cavities was observed until a material-dependent and stable value of stress was achieved. On the other hand in situations were the resistance to crack propagation was weak, propagation led invariably to a complete failure of the adhesive bond. In addition to the stress relaxation, the energy dissipation was studied allowing to distinguish the different adhesives even further. This allowed determination of the optimal amount of a comonomer (acrylic acid) that had to be added to improve the long-term resistance of the adhesives under study. Further more we investigate the compliance of the confined adhesive layers and compare the obtained results to predictions from theoretical models.


The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of a bradykinin‐potentiating factor (BPF) isolated from Leiurus quinquestriatus scorpion venom as a natural modulator of radiation‐induced cardiac damage. Four groups of rats were treated as follows; control group, group receiving BPF (1 µg/g b.wt i.p./biweekly) for 4 weeks, group irradiated at 6 Gy, group receiving BPF post‐irradiation for 4 weeks. Irradiation induced a significant elevation of myocardial parameters: atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), cardiac troponin I (cTnI), potassium (K+) and creatine kinase (CK); vascular indices: lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelin I; oxidative stress indices: malondialdehyde (MDA) associated with a significant depletion of both reduced glutathione (GSH) in the cardiac tissue homogenate and serum ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) depletion and significantly reinforced elevation of Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS) indices: serum angiotensin II (AngII) and aldosterone, and also protein expression of cleaved caspase‐3 and cyclophilin A. BPF administration altered the biochemical damage of radiation, specifically inhibited AngII formation, aldosterone release and prevented the histopathological and immunohistochemical alterations which were observed in cardiac tissue with significant reduction in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) caused by irradiation. In conclusion, biochemical assays, histopathological and immunohistochemical findings of the present study demonstrated that exogenous BPF isolated from scorpion venom reduced the cardiomyopathy alterations induced by irradiation via remodelling of the RAAS pathway.


The NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) announces its intent to evaluate the performance of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas (GTM) National Estuarine Research Reserve. The National Estuarine Research Reserve evaluation will be conducted pursuant to sections 312 and 315 of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) and regulations at 15 CFR part 921, subpart E and part 923, subpart L. Evaluation of a National Estuarine Research Reserve requires findings concerning the extent to which a state has met the national objectives, adhered to its Reserve final management plan approved by the Secretary of Commerce, and adhered to the terms of financial assistance awards funded under the CZMA. The evaluation will include a public meeting, consideration of written and oral public comments and consultations with interested Federal, state, and local agencies and members of the public. When the evaluation is completed, OCM will place a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Evaluation Findings. Notice is hereby given of the date, local time, and location of the public meeting.


Moral psychology is a field of study in both philosophy and psychology. Some use the term "moral psychology" relatively narrowly to refer to the study of moral development. However, others tend to use the term more broadly to include any topics at the intersection of ethics, psychology, and philosophy of mind. Some of the main topics of the field are moral judgment, moral reasoning, moral sensitivity, moral responsibility, moral motivation, moral identity, moral action, moral development, moral diversity, moral character (especially as related to virtue ethics), altruism, psychological egoism, moral luck, moral forecasting, moral emotion, affective forecasting, and moral disagreement. Moral psychology is a novel branch within the field of psychology. The study of moral identity development is one aspect of psychology that shows the most potential for growth due to the numerous sections within the field regarding its structure, mechanisms, and dynamics. A moral act is a type of behavior that refers to an act that has either a moral or immoral consequence. Moral Psychology can be applied across a broad range of studies, including philosophy and psychology. However it is implemented in different ways depending on culture. In many cultures, a moral act refers to an act that entails free will, purity, liberty, honesty, and meaning. An immoral act refers to an act that entails corruption and fraudulence and usually leads to negative consequences.


Dramatic increases in the number of cyber security attacks and breaches toward businesses and organizations have been experienced in recent years. The negative impacts of these breaches not only cause the stealing and compromising of sensitive information, malfunctioning of network devices, disruption of everyday operations, financial damage to the attacked business or organization itself, but also may navigate to peer businesses/organizations in the same industry. Therefore, prevention and early detection of these attacks play a significant role in the continuity of operations in IT-dependent organizations. At the same time detection of various types of attacks has become extremely difficult as attacks get more sophisticated, distributed and enabled by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Detection and handling of these attacks require sophisticated intrusion detection systems which run on powerful hardware and are administered by highly experienced security staff. Yet, these resources are costly to employ, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To address these issues, we developed an architecture -within the GLACIER projectthat can be realized as an in-house operated Security Information Event Management (SIEM) system for SMEs. It is affordable for SMEs as it is solely based on free and open-source components and thus does not require any licensing fees. Moreover, it is a Self-Contained System (SCS) and does not require too much management effort. It requires short configuration and learning phases after which it can be self-contained as long as the monitored infrastructure is stable (apart from a reaction to the generated alerts which may be outsourced to a service provider in SMEs, if necessary). Another main benefit of this system is to supply data to advanced detection algorithms, such as multidimensional analysis algorithms, in addition to traditional SIEMspecific tasks like data collection, normalization, enrichment, and storage. It supports the application of novel methods to detect security-related anomalies. The most distinct feature of this system that differentiates it from similar solutions in the market is its user feedback capability. Detected anomalies are displayed in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the security staff who are allowed to give feedback for anomalies. Subsequently, this feedback is utilized to fine-tune the anomaly detection algorithm. In addition, this GUI also provides access to network actors for quick incident responses. The system in general is suitable for both Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) environments, while the detection algorithm must be specifically trained for each of these environments individually. TYPE OF PAPER AND


Abstract The megasite Bitterfeld‐Wolfen is highly contaminated as a result of accidents and because of dumping of wastes from local chemical industries in the last century. A variety of contaminants including chlorinated ethenes and benzenes, hexachlorohexanes and chlorinated dioxins can still be found in the groundwater and (river) sediments. Investigations of the in situ microbial transformation of organohalides have been performed only over the last two decades at this megasite. In this review, we summarise the research on the activity of anaerobic dehalogenating bacteria at the field site in Bitterfeld‐Wolfen, focusing on chlorinated ethenes, monochlorobenzene and chlorinated dioxins. Various methods and concepts were applied including ex situ cultivation and isolation, and in situ analysis of hydrochemical parameters, compound‐specific stable isotope analysis of contaminants, 13C‐tracer studies and molecular markers. Overall, biotransformation of organohalides is ongoing at the field site and Dehalococcoides mccartyi species play an important role in the detoxification process in the Bitterfeld‐Wolfen region. Figure. No Caption available.


Strip mining for coal in the arid western US will remove grazing land as energy demands are met. Conventional resotration usually includes leveling the spoil banks and covering them with top soil, fertilizing, seeding and irrigation with well or river water. An overview of research on an alternate method of restoring this land is reported. From 1976 through 1981 studies were conducted on the use of water harvesting, the collection and use of rainfall runoff, to restore the vegetative productivity of strip mined lands in arid regions. These studies tested the technical and economic feasibility of using partially leveled spoil banks at strip mines as catchment areas to collect and direct runoff to the topsoiled valley floor where crops were cultivated. Information was collected on the efficiency of seven treatments to increase runoff from the catchment areas and on the productivity of seven crops. The experiments were conducted in arid areas of Washington, Arizona, and Colorado. It was concluded that water harvesting can replace or augment expensive and inadequate supplies of well and river water in arid regions with a suitable climate. These studies showed that some treatments provided adequate runoff to produce a useful crop in the valleys, thusmore » making this alternative approach to restoration technically feasible. This approach was also potentially economically feasible where the treatment costs of the catchment areas were low, the treatment was effective, the crop was productive and valuable, and earthmoving costs were lower than with conventional restoration involving complete leveling of spoil banks. It was also concluded that water harvesting can be made more effective with further information on catchment area treatments, which crops are most adaptable to water harvesting, the optimum incline of the catchment areas and climatic influences on water harvesting.« less


In 1995 the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform concluded, If we do not plan for the future, entitlement spending promises will exceed financial resources in the next century... (U.S. Congress 1995). Now, well into the next century, we have still failed to act. Yet the problem not only remains, but in many ways has intensified simply because we are years closer to the day of reckoning. Relative to both available revenues and societal needs, we have promised more than we can afford to an elderly and fairly well-off near-elderly population that will soon grow very rapidly as the baby boomers retire and life expectancy continues to increase.


PURPOSE
Traditional measures of cardiac contractility such as dp/dt and ejection fraction has been noted to be sensitive to preload and afterload conditions. The end systolic pressure-volume relationship of the left ventricle (ESPVR, Suga Index or Emax) has been found to be the best load independent measure of the cardiac contractile state. However, determination of the ESPVR requires very highly invasive procedures. Impedance cardiography (IC) is a reliable noninvasive method for calculating stroke volume and may also be useful for estimating the end systolic volume.

METHODS
An equation was derived using the systolic time intervals (PEP = pre-ejection period, LVET = left ventricular ejection time) and determined stroke volume (SV) as calculated from the impedance cardiograph to estimate the end systolic volume of the left ventricle. Likewise, and systolic pressure (ESP) was estimated from brachial cuff pressures using a previously published method. The resulting ESPVR was then calculated from tracings recorded in healthy normal subjects and compared to those obtained from patients in decompensated congestive heart failure (ejection fraction < 30% by echocardiogram) using the standard t test (p < 0.05).

RESULTS
Using the derived equation (ESPVR = ESP/(SV/(1.125-1.25(PEP/LVET)) - SV), the ESPVR for the normal group of 6 averaged 2.72 +/- 0.71 and was significantly different from the 1.04 +/- 0.45 found in 6 patients with known systolic dysfunction. In a further test of the method, 15 patients who received concurrent echocardiographic and IC evaluations were found to have calculated ESPVR values that significantly correlated with determined ejection fractions (r = 0.83, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
A noninvasive method for estimating the ESPVR that differentiates the myocardial contractile state in the clinically setting was derived using parameters obtained from IC. While further studies are needed to correlate this new equation with invasive measurements, this method has the potential for easily estimating load independent contractility in patients with cardiac dysfunction.


Broad-based prospective sequencing has begun to inform the care of individual cancer patients. Such genomically driven cancer medicine is facilitating the use of mechanism-based therapeutic approaches in patients. In addition to the value of such data to inform the treatment of individual patients under active clinical care, over time these accrue as unprecedented datasets of integrated genomic, clinical, and treatment response data that can inform translational cancer research. Here, we present preliminary results of our efforts to combine both large-scale retrospective and prospective sequencing data in cancer to drive translational cancer biology. We will report on our efforts to develop a computational oncology framework to mine these data not only for new treatment hypotheses that can be tested clinically and the preliminary results from those studies, but also how this is driving new approaches to understand so-called long tail mutations both biologically and clinically. These efforts lie at the interface of retrospective and prospective studies to inform precision oncology through new tools that move beyond enumerating individual genetic vulnerabilities toward interpreting their biological and clinical interpretation for the benefit of patients. Citation Format: Barry S. Taylor. Clinical genomics alters care, informs new science. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Precision Medicine Series: Integrating Clinical Genomics and Cancer Therapy; Jun 13-16, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2016;22(1_Suppl):Abstract nr IA05.


This study aimed to assess neoadjuvant chemotherapy's clinical outcomes such as efficacy, toxicity, and survival outcomes followed by radical hysterectomy ((NACT-RS) among women with cervical cancer stage IB3 and IIA2, by comparing concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and NACT-RS. The study retrospectively reviewed patients with (2018 FIGO) stage IB3 and IIA2 cervical cancer who received preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by NACT-RS or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). The outcome measures were the 5-year survival and complication rates between the two groups. The median follow-up was 75 months. In total, 218 patients had stage IIA2, 136 patients had stage IB3, 201 patients received CCRT, and 153 patients received preoperative NACT-RS. In the CCRT group, the incidence of early complications (myelosuppression, gastrointestinal and urinary) was higher compared with that in the NACT-RS group (76.1 vs. 26.1%; p < 0.001, respectively). There was no significant difference between the two study groups concerning late complications. Five-year PFS was 79.9% and 85.5% in the NACT-RS and CCRT groups, respectively (p = 0.093). Five-year OS was 86.9% and 85.5% in the NACT-RS and CCRT groups, respectively (p = 0.97). In the multivariate clinicopathologic characteristics analysis for OS, initial tumor size > 4.3 cm (HR 5.11; p < 0.001), AC/ASC (HR 1.89; p = 0.02), histologic grade 2–3 (HR 2.25; p = 0.04), and 2018 FIGO stage IIA2 (HR 8.67; p < 0.001) were independent risk factors. The survival of patients with stage IB3 and IIA2 cervical cancer treated with NACT-RS was similar to that of patients treated with CCRT without increasing side effects.


The AUV ENDURANCE was designed to operate in a unique environment: the waters of Lake Bonney in Taylor Valley, one of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. This lake represents an extreme environment for AUV deployment and operation. The lake waters are permanently covered with an ice layer 3-4 m thick, and exhibit a relatively striking change in composition from the ice roof to the lake bottom, with salinity varying from that of fresh water in contact with the roof down to a sharp halocline at ∼12 m depth, then increasing to 4 times that of seawater at the maximum bottom depth of almost 40 m. ENDURANCE was successfully deployed in the West Lobe of Lake Bonney in the 2008-2009 austral summer, and will return to re-sample the same location in the 2009-2010 season. The ENDURANCE mission goals include traversing the entire∼1 km×∼2 km lobe of the lake to obtain a full 3-D synoptic chemical profile, highresolution mapping of the lake bottom with a multibeam sonar, and close approach for visual and high-resolution sonar examination of the face of the Taylor Glacier at one end of the lake. Thus, to accomplish the science tasks, the vehicle is required to perform larger scale navigation over several kilometers and find its way back home, as well as being capable of fine positioning and control to deploy instruments at points throughout the lake and near the glacier face. Environmental and logistical constraints at Lake Bonney place demands on the vehicle navigation and control. First, in order to avoid disturbing the deeper water layers, vehicle navigation is confined to the 8 m freshwater lens underneath the ice roof. Second, under-ice operation means that ENDURANCE has to be deployed and recovered through a melt hole only a few tens of centimeters larger in diameter than itself. Operation in this stratified environment, close to the solid ice surface, presents some difficulties for sonar sensors, including the vehicle DVL and iUSBL. In addition, in order to be able to profile the entire water column while remaining near the ice roof, ENDURANCE incorporates a spooling profiler system. Profiling is performed by deploying an instrument sonde from a cable spool inside the vehicle at nodes on a pre-determined sampling grid. Accurate profiling requires even deployment of the sonde, without jerking or swaying the cable. In pre-deployment tests, vehicle stationkeeping was refined to be sufficiently smooth and disturbance-free to allow accurate sonde profiling. In the field, an icepicking technique was developed to maximize the portion of the water column sampled, and to minimize disturbances on the instrument sonde even further. In order to ensure successful recovery through the melt hole, ENDURANCE has a three-stage return-tohole strategy. Normal navigation proceeds using a conventional down-looking DVL and an IMU to obtain dead-reckoned position. For recovery, as the vehicle approaches the melt hole, an on-board iUSBL and a transponder hanging under the hole provide relative position updates which are fused with the dead-reckoned navigation. The final approach and up-hole recovery are performed using a visual homing system. Navigation and control results from vehicle trials in temperate lakes and laboratory tests are presented, along with field results from the 2008 campaign.


How do group members respond when their group wrongfully punishes a group member? In two experiments, participants were presented with an ingroup member who argued for group change on moral (Experiment 1, N = 73) or scientific grounds (Experiment 2, N  = 94). Despite being right, the member was treated as deviant by the group. We manipulated whether the group retained its former opinion or adopted the deviant's position, and whether the deviant's punishment was ongoing or whether the deviant was reinstated. We tested opposing predictions about how these group actions would affect group members' negativity towards the deviant. Both studies showed that negativity towards the deviant was highest when the group opinion was unchanged and the deviant was not reinstated. Further, opinion change or reintegration defused negativity towards the deviant. Implications of groups rejecting or embracing change, and their effects on the evaluation of wrongfully accused deviants are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We assessed the day-to-day reproducible of vitreous fluorophotometry in 7 type 1 diabetic patients and in 1 healthy control subject. The coefficient of variation for duplicate measurements was 33.7, 40.3 and 23.6%, for the right eyes, the left eyes and mean values of both eyes, respectively. Assessment of reproducibility in 1 healthy subject, measured 4 times, resulted in coefficients of variation of about 60%. These values are somewhat worse than those obtained by others in healthy subjects. Since technical problems do not seem to play a significant role in this regard, our reproducibility results reflect the true biological variability of the permeability of the blood-retina barrier assessed by vitreous fluorophotometry in diabetic patients. This variability is substantial. Therefore, we conclude that this method is not precise enough to be used in intervention studies with a limited number of subjects.


The determination of the key physical and chemical properties of a new material is
essential.The melting point, glass transition temperature, the number and identification of
the different phases it may have, and the temperatures at which they are formed are all of
great value, not only in assessing its practical pharmaceutical potential but also as they can
form the basis of many routine QC procedures.


The research community has achieved great success in building autonomic systems (AS) in line with the vision of autonomic computing (AC) released by IBM in 2001. The success is gaining ground in addressing the perceived concerns of complexity and total cost of ownership of information technology (IT) systems. But we are now faced with a challenge springing from this very success. This challenge is trustworthiness and there are limited research results published in this direction. This, if not addressed will definitely undermine the success of AC. How do we validate a system to show that it is capable of achieving a desired result under expected range of contexts and environmental conditions and beyond? This paper identifies the challenges and significance of AS validation and proposes a roadmap towards achieving trustworthiness in autonomic systems.


This paper presents the advantages of e-Learning education and focus on the importance of data replication in the design of a distributed database system. In addition, we analyze the methods of data replication, for improving performance and increasing data availability. The purpose of this paper is to present the advantages of using distributed databases in e-learning systems by universities with geographically distributed offices.


ABSTRACT Despite high-profile divergences, competition officials in the European Union and United States frequently state a desire to reach convergent substantive decisions when regulating individual transatlantic merger cases. The extent of transatlantic convergence depends largely on the role of two domestic actors involved in the merger review process: regulators and firms. This article employs two competing approaches (principal–agent and regulatory capture) to assess the ways in which these actors and domestic institutions shape convergence in transatlantic merger review. Empirically, the article investigates the work of the EU–US Mergers Working Group and explores the extent to which it conforms more closely to the preferences of regulators or merging firms. By increasing procedural convergence over information exchanges, the competition regulators increase the likelihood of convergence in substantive decisions, which reduces the likelihood of intervention by political principals. The findings suggest that regulators have used their discretionary authority to overcome domestic political and legal institutions that obstruct information sharing and have reduced the information asymmetry traditionally enjoyed by merging firms. As a result, it is the regulatory agents who have shaped the convergent process via their discretionary authority and captured the merging firms to serve their regulatory interests.


Reproductive data collected from 13 medium-size goat farms in central Mexico (582 goats), were used to investigate if linear type traits influenced reproductive performance of high-yielding dairy goats. Data were analysed using multiple stepwise forward logistic regressions. Goats with the higher scores for strength were 1.43 times more likely (p < 0.05) to have larger litters (1.49 vs 1.39) than goats with lower strength. Goats approaching level rump angles were 1.68 times more likely (p < 0.01) to have larger litters, compared with goats with extremely sloped rump angles (1.48 vs 1.37). Goats with rear legs nearly straight (posty) in hock tended (p < 0.08) to presented larger litters than goats with rear legs slightly angled (sickled) in hock (1.49 vs 1.38). Less pronounced rump angle was favourable associated (p < 0.05) with litter weight (4.88 vs 4.53 kg) compared with goats with low pin bones. Goats with poorer udder texture were 1.42 more likely (p < 0.05) to have heavier litters than goats with good udder texture. Goats with faulty mammary system tended (p < 0.07) to have heavier litters than goats with good mammary system. Increasing udder height was associated (p < 0.05) with increasing number of services per conception. Goats with good fore udder attachment and non-refined heads were at reduced risk (p < 0.05) for stillbirths. Goats with stronger median ligament were 65% less likely (p < 0.05) to lose their foetuses than those with looser udder support. Our findings indicate that a greater litter size and litter weight is expected in goats as rump angle becomes less sloped. This study showed that a relationship exists between strength of goats and litter size, and that some traits linked to high milk yield were antagonist to some reproductive traits.


Due to rapid modernization there are changes in the life style in terms of habits and food intake, due to which there is alteration in the metabolism leading to various metabolic disorders. Hypertension is considered to be one among them. Ayurveda emphasis completely on Dosha-Dushya vivechana rather than one entity like Nidanas. There are no direct references in our classical texts explaining about Hypertension. Thus one should understand the concept of Hypertension in Ayurveda based on functions of Doshas and Dhatus like Vyana Vata, Pranavata, Rasa-Rakta-Medo dhatu mechanism. As many research works have been conducted on this to understand this condition in detail, it can be comparable to Uccha Raktachaapa, Vyana bala Vaishamya, Dhamani Upalepa etc. As there are different versions of explanation available on this condition in terms of physiological and pathological aspects, a review is done in this article by compiling different versions explained by Acharyas in the Samhitas and different authors in the contemporary and Ayurveda text books for better understanding of the concept, which is fruitful in the line of management. The concept of Vyana vayu in relation to Gatavata, Hridaya in relation Dhamani upalepa the mechanism of occurrence is detailed in the article.


Introduction: Body position affects the respiratory mechanics and could be favorable to pulmonary function when combined with respiratory physiotherapy. Objective: Was to compare the ventilatory restriction in respiratory therapy techniques and changes of position. Method: For analysis of lung volume was measured Slow Vital Capacity (SVC) in university students in the positions: sitting, dorsal decubitus (DD), DD with application of maneuver thoracic blockade of the right hemithorax and right lateral decubitus (RLD). In all maneuvers were instructed to perform an inspiration to total lung capacity and slow exhalation to residual volume. Results: It was evaluated 26 subjects with a mean age of 25.5 ± 11 years and mean body mass index of 25 ± 4 kg/m2. The values obtained from SVC sitting, DD, DD with blockade and DLD were respectively 3.5 ± 1.5 liters (87.7 ± 26.8%); 2.9 ± 1.4 liters (75.0 ± 26.5%); 3.0 ± 1.4 liters (75.2 ± 26.2%); 3.5 ± 1.6 liters (88.3 ± 29.4%). Using the SVC in a sitting position as compared, there was no statistical difference in DD (p = 0.024) and DD with position blockade (p = 0.036). There was no significant difference in the DLD (p = 0.459) position. Conclusion: Can conclude that the positions DD and DD with blockade reduced lung volume, whereas DLD position showed no significant difference when compared to sitting position, suggesting that this position is an option favorable position for respiratory therapy.


Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs link public transfers to human capital investment in hopes of alleviating current poverty and reducing its intergenerational transmission. However, little is known about their long-term impacts. This paper evaluates longer-run impacts on schooling and work of the best-known CCT program, Mexico's PROGRESA/Oportunidades, using experimental and nonexperimental estimators based on groups with different program exposure. The results show positive impacts on schooling, reductions in work for younger youth (consistent with postponing labor force entry), increases in work for older girls, and shifts from agricultural to nonagricultural employment. The evidence suggests schooling effects are robust with time.


Background: When labor pain appears, pharmacological and non-pharmacological techniques can be offered as pain relief methods. Midwives may offer local heat application as a pain relief method. This paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of the prototypes of a non-pharmacological method consisting of a thermal belt designed by midwives, which provides comfort and pain relief through the application of thermotherapy on both lumbar and suprapubic areas during labour.
Method: Prototypes of a thermal belt were designed, tested and protected as a business model. A randomized, parallel, open, non-blind clinical trial was conducted at the University Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, from Badalona (Barcelona) to assess the beneficial effects of heat application on lumbo-suprapubic pain during initial stages of labour. Participants were pregnant women in the prodromal, early and active labour (up to 4-5 cm of dilation), with lumbo-suprapubic pain. The intervention group received local heat at a temperature between 38-39°C on the lumbo-suprapubic areas for 30 minutes using an elastic pelvic belt as a pain relief device and was compared to a control group in which no heat was used.
Results: show that the application of local heat on lumbo-suprapubic areas during labour is effective since, after the intervention, pain level in the study group decreased significantly in the Visual Analogic Scale; and the thermal belt obtained a positive response amongst pregnant women who used it: tested with a global satisfaction index mean score of 80,94% over 100%.
Conclusion: Heat application on both lumbar and suprapubic areas in case of labor pain is effective in relieving pain. The heat pads subjection device, a new abdominal two-pocket belt, obtained positive feedback from women in the study group who used it and answered the satisfaction questionnaire.


Combining ability and heritability of yield and yield components of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) breeding lines were studied using line x tester analysis. Eight lines and six testers along with their 48 F1 single cross combinations and two checks were planted in simple lattice design with two replications. The results of analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for all the traits including seed length, seed width, seed thickness, seed yield and oil yield. Line x tester analysis displayed significant effects of genotypes for all the studied traits but parents, hybrids and lines had significant differences for all the traits except seed thickness. RF81-30 and AF80-427/2/1/1 with significant positive General Combining Ability (GCA) effects for seed length and seed width were considered as good combiners for improving these traits. Non of the lines and testers had significant GCA effects for seed thickness. Most of the lines and testers with significant positive GCA effects for seed yield had significant positive GCA effect of oil yield. AF-6937*RF81-30 had significant positive specific combining ability (SCA) effects for seed width, seed yield and oil yield. The crosses including AF80-460/2/1/1 × RF81-25 and AF8-6937 × RF81-30 had significant positive specific combining ability (SCA) effects for seed yield and oil yield. Estimating low narrow sense heritability for all the traits except seed thickness indicate the importance of non additive genetics effects for them; so for improving these traits, hybrid method will be more effective. Keywords : Cross combinations, general combining ability, lattice design, oil yield, sunflower African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(25), pp. 3978-3983


High temperature superconductors (HTS) may become in future an option for the superconducting magnets of commercial fusion plants. At the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC) the R&D activity toward HTS high current, high field cables suitable for fusion magnets started in 2012 and led in 2015 to the assembly of the first 60 kA, 12 T prototype conductor. The cable concept developed at the SPC is based on the principle of 'soldered, twisted stacks' of REBCO tapes. The required number of stacks is assembled in a cored flat cable, cooled by forced flow of supercritical helium. The sample environment of the test facility at SPC has been upgraded with a HTS adapter and a counter-flow heat exchanger to allow testing the HTS sample in a broader range of temperature (4.5 K–50 K) using the existing, NbTi based superconducting transformer and the closed loop refrigerator.


The scalable video coder generates embedded bit stream that will satisfy all the end users irrespective of their capacities. Lifting implementation of wavelet transform is a benchmarked technology for temporal decomposition of video in a scalable video coding. The temporal filtering is done along the motion trajectory in Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering (MCTF) framework and the motion model failure in particular region results in ghosting artefacts in the low frames, hence temporal scalability will be at stake in such scenario. This paper proposes a novel idea which selectively applies the update step of lifting wavelet transformation during temporal analysis stage. The technique identifies the failure of motion model and update operation will not be applied for such block. The resulting technique reduces the ghosting artefacts in the low frequency frame and hence supports for efficient temporal scalability. There will be an additional cost of one bit per block to indicate the status of update step for a particular block.


In 1945 the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, in a project for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance, established a testing laboratory for ram jet motors at Forest Grove, Maryland in relatively open country where high noise levels could be tolerated.


To close the knowledge gap between the wide application of amorphous silica nanoparticles (aSiNPs) and their health impact, the present study endeavored to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in aSiNPs-mediated hepatotoxicity with a systems toxicology approach and how it is related to the physico–chemical properties of aSiNPs. To this end, we used four types of aSiNPs with different surface areas: aSiNP-116 (surface area: 116 m2 g−1), aSiNP-189 (surface area: 189 m2 g−1), aSiNP-26 (surface area: 26 m2 g−1) and aSiNP-8 (surface area: 8.3 m2 g−1); we also used the human hepatoma (HepG2) cell line as a model system. We applied multi-OMICS (DNA microarray based transcriptomics and GC-MS based lipidomics) followed by bioinformatics analysis in aSiNP-116 treated HepG2 cells. The perturbations of steroid-cholesterol biosynthesis were revealed by KEGG (with significantly altered genes) and IMPaLA (with integrated significantly altered genes and metabolites) pathway analysis. Furthermore, in corroboration with in silico analysis, the biochemical tests exhibited a concentration dependent increase in total cholesterol levels due to aSiNP-116 treatment. In a subsequent step, the hypothesis derived for aSiNP-116 was further tested for cells exposed to other aSiNPs (aSiNP-189, aSiNP-26 and aSiNP-8) with GC-MS based lipidomics as well as biochemical tests. The alterations in cholesterol biosynthesis were found to be directly proportional with the surface area of the aSiNPs, i.e., the larger the surface area, the higher the cholesterol level. Taken together, perturbation of cholesterol biosynthesis as a function of surface area was found to be a principal mode-of-action of aSiNPs exposure, which necessitates a safe-by-design approach for its biological applications.


The university-wide mentoring system of the University of Duisburg-Essen pursues systematic, continuous and individual counseling for all students. The Faculty of Educational Science therefore offers different mentoring concepts according to its study programs considering not only the students' demand but also their course content and job prospects in order to enhance their autonomy. Existing counseling services of the university are involved and different mentoring programs are linked so that synergies regarding content and organization are leveraged and a matching appearance is maintained. 14.02.2014 | Julia Niemann (Essen)


The leaky bucket scheme is a promising method that regulates input traffic for preventive congestion control in ATM networks. One of the important problems in ATM networks is meeting the quality of service requirements for real-time and non-real-time traffics. The authors propose a priority leaky bucket scheme with queue-length-threshold scheduling policy. The motivation of this proposed leaky bucket scheme is to meet the quality of service for real-time traffic while providing more improved services for non-real-time traffic. Using the embedded Markov chain method, the authors obtain the joint distribution of the queue lengths, the loss probability and the mean waiting time. Numerical results show the effects of the system parameters such as the buffer size and the token pool size on the performance of the proposed scheme.


RESUMEN: Late Antique ethnography is generally more of a testimony to its authors' antiquarian learning than to the social realities of they age in which the lived. Thus the Huns could be called Scythians, and the Avars be called Huns, because of the similarity of the geographical, though not the chronological, setting of their activities, at least in so far as these affected Rome. The Romans had never really been very interested in recording accurately the organisation and mores of the peoples living beyond their frontiers, and tended only to produce stylised models of such 'barbarian' societies in the interests of making moralising comments on their own. This didactic tradition proved peculiarly active in the final stages of Roman rule in the West, when, linked to a specifically Christian ascetic moral code, it manifested itself in the De Gubernatione Dei of Salvian. Similarly, the early sixth century British De Excidio Britanniae of Gildas probably makes most sense when viewed as a representative of this genre.


This study focused on the mechanism of effects of strong magnetic fields on a process of dissolution of fibrin clots. We measured the rate of fibrinolysis using a fibrin column as a model of a thrombus, and investigated the effects of gradient magnetic fields. Fibrin clots in glass tubes were digested by plasmin under magnetic fields of up to 8 T which were produced by a horizontal type of superconducting magnet at 37 "C. When a fibrin gel and a plasmin solution were exposed to magnetic fields where a product of magnetic fields and field gradients, B.dB/dz, was 370 T2/m, dissolution of fibrin was enhanced by 34 %. However, we obtained no distinct effects when B.dB/dz was less than 150 T2/m. As a mechanism, we proposed a model in which fibrin polymers in water magneto- phoresically drifted in the direction of increasing magnetic fields, and digestions of fibrin polymers by plasmin were accelerated.


Prolactin regulates a variety of physiological processes, including mammary gland growth and differentiation, and recent findings support an important role in breast cancer development and progression. However, little is known about the trafficking of its receptor, a member of the cytokine receptor superfamily. In the present study, we examined the effect of ligand on the endogenous "long" isoform of the prolactin receptor in breast cancer cells. We found that prolactin caused rapid and prolonged down-regulation of this receptor. The prolactin-induced increase in degradation was blocked by inhibitors of both proteasomes and lysosomes. However, the ubiquitin-conjugating system was not required for internalization. Prolactin also resulted in the concomitant appearance of a cell-associated prolactin receptor fragment containing the extracellular domain. This latter process required proteasomal, but not metalloprotease, activity, distinguishing it from ectodomain "shedding" of other membrane receptors, which are secreted as binding proteins. The prolactin receptor fragment was labeled by surface biotinylation and independent of protein synthesis. Together, these data indicated that prolactin binding initiates limited proteasomal cleavage of its receptor, generating a cell-associated fragment containing the extracellular domain. Our findings described a new potential mediator of prolactin action and a novel mechanism whereby proteasomes modulate cellular processes.


Upping its commitment to gene therapy, Pfizer says it will invest $500 million in its manufacturing facility in Sanford, North Carolina. The time and cost of making the quadrillions of viruses used to deliver DNA have been major holdups for the entire gene-therapy field. Manufacturing is particularly important for Pfizer, which is focused on treating relatively common conditions like hemophilia B and muscular dystrophy. Commercialization of such therapies will require an unprecedented production scale-up. Pfizer has 650 employees in Sanford and is adding about 300 more.


This paper considers the topic of state estimation for the Stochastic Hybrid System (SHS). The SHS is a class of dynamical systems which can accurately describe many interacting continuous and discrete dynamics. State estimation for the SHS, also called hybrid estimation, is an important yet challenging problem. While most previous research has addressed the hybrid estimation for some special classes of the SHS, this paper solves this problem for the general SHS which is a class of continuous-time stochastic processes defined on a hybrid state space. The major contribution of this paper is the proposal of dynamical filtering equations for hybrid estimation. With a given sequence of noisy observations, the filtering equations describe the evolution of the probability distribution function (pdf) of the estimated hybrid state.


Abstract Pulmonary hypertension (PH) due to left heart disease (PH-LHD) is a significant predictor of outcome for patients with any type of heart failure (HF), and represents a subset of PH affecting a large number of patients. Because the condition is no standalone inherent pulmonary vascular disorder but the consequence of heart disease, its understanding is dependent on a thorough insight in current HF epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatments. Although the age-specific incidence of HF is decreasing, this trend is less dramatic for HF with preserved ejection fraction than for HF with reduced ejection fraction. Both the current 2015 ESC/ERS guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of PH, and the 2016 ESC guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic HF have adopted new insights in the current understanding of PH-LHD (PH group 2), but no consensus has been reached. Due to multimorbidity, advanced age, referral biases, and a large proportion of noncardiovascular deaths in this population, proper hemodynamic and clinical characterization of patients with and without significant pulmonary vascular disease is important. Definitions largely depend on fluid status which should be assessed prior to any hemodynamic assessment. Benefit from pulmonary arterial hypertension–targeted treatments appears unlikely from today's perspective, but there is an immense unmet need for any treatments of this condition, and proper trials still have to be done.


A 58-year-old man was admitted due to mild right-sided hemiparesis and a speech disturbance. We diagnosed an atherosclerotic brain infarction of the left cerebral hemisphere. The patient had severe clubbing of his fingers and toes bilaterally. Based on the history, clinical features, and X-ray examinations, he was diagnosed as having pachydermoperiostosis. Although general complications have been reported in previous literature, this is the first report of a patient with pachydermoperiostosis who had a cerebrovascular event.


Positron scattering by atomic hydrogen including positronium formation has been formulated using the R-matrix method and a general computer code written. Partial wave elastic and ground state positronium formation cross sections have been calculated for L<or=6 using a six-state approximation which includes the ground state and the 2s and 2p pseudostates of both hydrogen and positronium. The elastic scattering results obtained are in good agreement with those derived from a highly accurate calculation based upon the intermediate energy R-matrix approach. As in a previous coupled-channel static calculation, resonance effects are observed at intermediate energies in the S-wave positronium formation cross section. However, in the present results, the dominant resonance arises in the P-wave cross sections at an energy of 2.73 Ryd and with a width of 0.19 Ryd. The mechanism for the formation of this resonance and its possible experimental verification are briefly discussed. Finally, the summed elastic and positronium formation cross sections are presented and the latter compared with experiment for energies ranging from near threshold to 4.0 Ryd.


In everyday life, electricity is necessary, and proper use is critical. To strengthen home electricity control, the existing systems have been examined over the years. However, the existing PMAS method's error ratio is higher and does not allow for a remote monitoring system. Therefore, this study proposes a smart monitoring and control system (SMACS) for household appliances. The application's significance is to monitor household appliances' electricity usage using hardware and the Internet of Things (IoT) methods. The prototype of the proposed system is designed and developed considering Arduino UNO, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an ACS712 current sensor module, relays, and AC sources. The components are selected from the software library, and the simulation results are found the same as the prototype. WiFi module ESP8266 is not included in the design because it is not provided in the system. The data is recorded in cloud storage using Thing-speak. A mobile application (Virtuino) also accesses the data to visualize it through the graphical and numerical display. This study provides users with an easy system to monitor and control household appliances' power consumption using mobile applications. Results show that the proposed system provides 0.6% current errors for the hairdryer appliance, whereas the existing Power Monitoring and Switching (PMAS) system provides 7.8% current errors.


Many image processing algorithms have a very high execution time if only a processor is used for processing them. Using a SIMD parallel structure for its execution could reduce this time. This is particularly important in the case of algorithms that must be processed in real time. The use of networks of PC is an appealing solution that besides its low cost, takes advantage from both the high speed of actual interconnection networks, and the high-performance of PC. In this paper we present a model that explicitly considers system parameters, network parameters, and application parameters. So, the speed and communication model of the considered network, the workstations and PC computing power, the per-pixel computational cost of the algorithms (that can be constant or variable), and a variable number of computers have been considered. We do not aim to evaluate the processing of high and medium-level algorithms of a MISD structure, but we present the first results of our evaluations for iterative low-level image processing applications. Specifically, we give a prediction model to distribute the data to each processor of a distributed system, minimizing the processors' idle time.


A cytochemical technique that measures the ability of plasma to stimulate guinea-pig renal glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity in vitro, which is a marker of its ability to inhibit Na+-K+-adenosine-triphosphatase (Na+-K+-ATPase), was used in 19 patients with essential hypertension and 23 normotensive, healthy subjects. The ability of plasma to stimulate G6PD was significantly greater in the hypertensive patients when they were taking their normal sodium diet than in the normotensive subjects, and was significantly correlated with blood pressure. The ability of plasma to stimulate G6PD was inversely correlated with plasma renin activity in the hypertensive patients and increased with age and sodium intake in the normotensive subjects. These results support the hypothesis that essential hypertension, and also perhaps the increase in blood pressure with age in communities that consume large quantities of salt, is in part due to an increase in a circulating concentration of an inhibitor of Na+-N+-ATPase.


Abstract: Defective protein kinase C (PKC) has been implicated in impaired Na+,K+‐ATPase activity in the sciatic nerve of streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats. In the present study, α, βI, βII, γ, δ, and ε isoform‐specific antibodies were used in parallel to the measurement of compound PKC activity for the characterization of PKC distribution and isoform expression in sciatic nerves of normal and diabetic rats. To distinguish isoform expression between the axonal and glial compartments, PKC isoforms were evaluated in nerves subjected to Wallerian degeneration and in a pure primary Schwann cell culture. α, βI, βII, δ, and ε but no γ isoforms were detected in sciatic nerve. Similar immunoreactivity was observed in degenerated nerves 3–4 days after transection except for diminished βI and ε species; in Schwann cell cultures, only α, βII, δ, and ε were detected. In normal nerves, two‐thirds of PKC compound activity was found in the cytosol and 50% of total enzyme activity translocated to the Na+,K+‐ATPase‐enriched membrane fraction with phorbol myristate acetate. Similar redistribution patterns were observed for the immunoreactivity of all isoforms with the exception of δ, which did not translocate to the membrane with phorbol myristate acetate. No abnormality in compound PKC activity, in the immunoreactive intensity, or in the distribution of PKC isoforms could be detected in rat sciatic nerve after 6–12 weeks of diabetes. Thus, defective activation rather than decreased intrinsic PKC activity may occur in diabetic neuropathy.


Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was optimized for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum. Sputum was collected from patients (N = 112) with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis, tested by smear microscopy, decontaminated, and split into equal aliquots that were cultured in Löwenstein-Jensen medium and tested by qPCR for the small mobile genetic element IS6110. The human ERV3 sequence was used as an internal control. 3 of 112 (3%) qPCR failed. For the remaining 109 samples, qPCR diagnosed tuberculosis in 79 of 84 patients with culture-proven tuberculosis, and sensitivity was greater than microscopy (94% versus 76%, respectively, P < 0.05). The qPCR sensitivity was similar (P = 0.9) for smear-positive (94%, 60 of 64) and smear-negative (95%, 19 of 20) samples. The qPCR was negative for 24 of 25 of the sputa with negative microscopy and culture (diagnostic specificity 96%). The qPCR had 99.5% sensitivity and specificity for 211 quality control samples including 84 non-tuberculosis mycobacteria. The qPCR cost ∼5US$ per sample and provided same-day results compared with 2-6 weeks for culture.


Due to the tough competition in the banking industry in Jordan, it is very necessary for financial institutions to build and maintain a strong relationship with the customers in order to achieve the ultimate goal of customer satisfaction. For this reason customer relationship management (CRM) has become more important in the service industry; especially in the banking industry. Therefore, the present study came to focus on the impact of CRM on customer satisfaction in banking industry of Jordan. The population of the present study is customers of Jordanian banks operating in Amman city, the capital of Jordan. 528 respondents were selected through convenient sampling and data has been collected through questionnaires which were self administered by researcher. The study proposed that there is no statistical relationship between CRM elements and customer satisfaction as a dependent variable. The statistical analysis revealed that there is a significant relationship between the independent variables( i,e CRM elements represented by service quality, employee's behavior, customer data base, solving customer problems physical environment; and social network interaction) and customer satisfaction as a dependent variable in the services banking industry. Keyword s : CRM ,Customer Satisfaction, Banking Industry, Services Marketing, Jordan.


Introduction – Liver abscess (especially amoebic) is an important health concern in tropical countries. Effective management of liver abscess included appropriate antibiotics and drainage of abscess cavity. Percutaneous abscess drainage by pigtail catherization is now gaining popularity. We analysed the role of pigtail catheter drainage in the treatment of liver abscess.Method and Material – This was a retrospective analytical study conducted in a tertiary care center in western India. Data of total 64 patients admitted with diagnosis of liver abscess were analyzed. To find the effectiveness of treatment data were analyzed in three groups based on treatment strategies, Group A (Conservative treatment), Group B (Percutaneous needle aspiration) and Group C (Pigtail catheter drainage).Results – A total of 64 patients of liver abscess were analyzed. There was male predominance (93.75%). Mean abscess volume in Group C (307.9 ± 212.8 ml) was significantly higher when compared to Group A (130.8 ± 72.9 ml, p = 0.03) and Group B (177.2 ± 129.5; p = 0.024). Duration of hospital stay and residual abscess volume at the time of discharge did not show statistically significant difference between treatment groups. Pigtail catheterization of abscess with volume >150ml shortened the hospital stay, whereas it prolonged the hospital stay in patients with abscess volume <150ml.Conclusion - Percutaneous pigtail catherization would be an operative decision for management of liver abscess. We concluded that use of pigtail catherization of patients with abscess volume > 150ml improved the clinical outcome.


The left ventricular free wall (LVFW) grew approximately three times faster than the right ventricular free wall (RVFW) during the first 10 days of life in neonatal pigs. Faster growth was associated with proportional increases in total RNA and messenger RNA. These findings indicated that greater capacity for protein synthesis was a major factor in accelerated growth. Despite faster growth, heart content of ribosomal subunits was higher in piglets than in 60-day-old pigs or adult rats, suggesting a relatively slower rate of peptide chain initiation than elongation. When hearts from 5-day-old pigs were perfused in vitro, protein synthesis was more rapid in the LVFW than in the RVFW. In the absence of added insulin, the higher rate was due to both greater efficiency and greater capacity for protein synthesis. In the presence of the hormone, greater capacity was responsible for the increased rate of protein synthesis in the LVFW as compared with the RVFW.


bine 3 glm daily on days 1,3, and 5, which resulted in fever of 39 ·C, rash on his lower extremities, and renal failure (creatinine 1.9 mgldL) on the first day of treatment. The patient's24-hour urinary protein excretion rate increased to 12 g/day.There were no concomitant medications givenduringconsolidation treatment. The recurrent clinical pictureof HSP was attributedto cytarabine(Naranjoscale indicateda probable relationship), and it was discontinued/ Oral prednisolone was increased to 1 mg/kg/day, afterwhichskin lesions and diarrhea resolved. Urinary protein excretion gradually decreased, andtheprednisolone dose wastapered. Allogenic hematopoietic cell transplantation wasplanned. Discussion. Cytarabine isan antimetabolic agentusedin the treatment of acutemyeloidleukemiaand lymphomas. A direct toxiceffectof cytarabine onendothelial cellsmaybe the underlying mechanism of vascular injury,'Acralerythemaand cutaneoussmall-vessel necrotizing vasculitis have both been reported previously in association with eytarabine/"


We propose a 1st and 2nd order polarization mode dispersion emulator (PMDE) with one variable differential group delay (DGD) element using birefringence crystals and four polarization controllers (PCs).Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the output 1st and 2nd order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) generated by the PMDE consists with statistic theory. Compared with former PMDEs, this design is tunable, lower-cost, and more integrated for fabrication, which shows response time of 150μs, response frequency of 3.8 kHz, working wavelength of 1550 nm, total power consumption of less than 3 W, working range of 0-84 ps and 0-3600 ps2 for 1st and 2nd order PMD emulation, respectively. Also, it is programmable and can be controlled by either singlechip or computer. It can be applied to study the outage probability of optical communication systems due to PMD effect and the effectiveness of PMD compensation.


The estimation of unknown values of parameters (or hidden variables, control variables) that characterise a physical system often relies on the comparison of measured data with synthetic data produced by some numerical simulator of the system as the parameter values are varied. This process often encounters two major difficulties: the generation of synthetic data for each considered set of parameter values can be computationally expensive if the system model is complicated; and the exploration of the parameter space can be inefficient and/or incomplete, a typical example being when the exploration becomes trapped in a local optimum of the objection function that characterises the mismatch between the measured and synthetic data. A method to address both these issues is presented, whereby: a surrogate model (or proxy), which emulates the computationally expensive system simulator, is constructed using deep recurrent networks (DRN); and a nested sampling (NS) algorithm is employed to perform efficient and robust exploration of the parameter space. The analysis is performed in a Bayesian context, in which the samples characterise the full joint posterior distribution of the parameters, from which parameter estimates and uncertainties are easily derived. The proposed approach is compared with conventional methods in some numerical examples, for which the results demonstrate that one can accelerate the parameter estimation process by at least an order of magnitude.


This Comment will propose eliminating the adoptive parent's weight as a determinative factor in adoption proceedings, evaluating instead the parenting skills of the potential parents, as well as their ability to emotionally, physically, and financially care for the adopted child. Part II of this Comment will discuss the history of adoption law in the United States and show how this area of law arose out of the need to find loving homes for the overwhelming number of orphaned children in America. Part II will also describe the current adoption process to demonstrate how adoption agencies and the court system use discriminatory screening factors to give preference to "ideal" parents. Part III will provide an introduction to obesity and discuss how size stereotypes in American society negatively affect the obese person in numerous aspects of life from childhood through adulthood. Part III will also discuss the current federal and state laws already enacted to combat size discrimination in the workplace and suggest that similar laws be put in place in adoption proceedings as well. Part IV will propose that disallowing a person of size to adopt is weight discrimination and is likely unconstitutional as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Part V will discuss how an obese person may have a more difficult time in adopting a child due to the courts' ability to discretionarily deny an adoption based on the adoptive parent's weight. It will also examine similar practices of weight discrimination in international adoptions and argue that if the United States adopts the policy of denying adoption based on the prospective parent's weight, the obese person may not be able to adopt a child of any race, either foreign or domestic. Part V will then suggest the fallacy in the courts' concerns with granting an adoption to a person of size and illustrate how allowing an obese person to adopt will still meet the courts' objective of doing what is in the best interest of the child. Finally, Part VI will argue that the best course of action is to rescind the discriminatory policy of denying adoption based solely on the parent's weight, and allow adoptions to be based on the individual's parenting skills as well as his or her ability to financially and emotionally support the child.


Urbanization of coastal habitats is increasing worldwide. However, most man‐made structures are poor surrogates for the habitats they replace and can strongly impact the diversity and functioning of coastal habitats. The value of coastal engineering can be enhanced by the provision of microhabitats that facilitate colonization by marine life. One step forward is moved in this research by combining species coexistence theory, resource patchiness and applied ecology in order to find ways that maximize the biological diversity of coastal defence structures. Featureless areas of a seawall were modified by the addition of microhabitats (resource) that were distributed in different configurations of patchiness. Gastropod diversity peaked at intermediate levels of microhabitat patchiness. This appeared to be driven by different patterns of resource use among species. Gastropods dispersed longer distances on unmodified seawalls than on natural rocky shores, but when microhabitats were added the dispersal decreased. The ability to find microhabitats differed among species. Our results confirm that patchiness in microhabitat distribution affects biodiversity. The extent of microhabitat patchiness could potentially be tailored by coastal engineers to meet specific conservation priorities: increasing diversity versus increasing number of individuals.


Perfluoroalkyl resins are compounds containing hydrophobic alkyl chains, which are partially or fully fluorinated. These resins are heat-resistant (up to 260°C) thermoplastics used as coatings in the metallurgical industry (because of their mechanical and anti-adhesive resistance), as waterproofing agents for coating fabric, in papers used in the food industry, and in surface-active products, waxes, and insecticide formulations. As waterproofing agents, these resins are applied by manually-compressed or motorized spraying systems or by sprays. Reports of respiratory symptoms or epidemics in countries in Europe, Asia, and North America, totaling a few hundred cases, are summarized in a 2009 document by the Public Health Agency of Switzerland.


ABSTRACT Objective: Latinos are disproportionately affected by diabetes and people with diabetes experience frequent hospital admissions and readmissions. Care transition interventions can help reduce rates of readmission; however, there are many barriers to recruiting Latinos for participation in intervention research. Exploring reasons for study refusal furthers understanding of low research participation rates to help researchers address barriers. Design: This study presents a cross-sectional, descriptive analysis of reasons for study refusal and attrition drawing from data collected as part of a randomized controlled trial conducted to test the effectiveness of a transitions intervention for diabetic Latino discharged from the hospital to home. Reasons for refusal were elicited from participants, transcribed, and coded. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to compare those who completed the study and those who did not complete the study. Results: Reasons for study enrollment refusal and loss to follow-up ranged from difficulty locating the patient to homelessness to patient reluctance to having providers in the home. Study completers were more likely than non-completers to reside with family members (p = .03) and have a spouse as a primary caregiver (p = .08). Conclusions: Inner city, monolingual Latinos may be difficult to enroll and engage in home-based interventions. Although not representative of all Latino populations, barriers encountered highlight the need for targeted research to improve transitional care among Latinos. Researchers and clinicians should take into consideration the unique barriers that Latinos face in participating in research and intervention studies.


After 2004, agriculture and rural areas of Lower Silesian voivodeship were covered by financial support instruments within the frames of CAP. Direct payments played the basic significance, subsequently, the activity of RDP 2007-2013 and RDP 2004-2006, as well as SOP "Agriculture 2004-2006". In the work there was applied the method of comparative analysis, taking into account spatial distribution of CAP instruments implementation in the districts and subregions. The most considerable support in Lower Silesian voivodeship was obtained by subregion of intensive agriculture, especially the inhabitants of rural areas of Wrocław district. Absorption of support means connected with particular sectors of the EU programs consolidates the leading functions of each subregion of Lower Silesia region, which result from environmental, economic and location conditions. The issue of concern has become significant diversity of financial support level counted per 1 ha of arable land and per one farm. In subregions and districts the support level is very low, it is especially important to combine the instruments of common agricultural policy and cohesion policy.


This timely handbook traces the development of cyber capabilities from their roots in information warfare and cryptology to their potential military application in combat. Incorporates expertise from diverse viewpoints from the military, government agencies, industry, and academia Provides an informative timeline of key events in the development of cyber warfare capabilities Highlights the most prominent and effective cyber attacks in history as well as legal attempts to curb them


A 'robust decision maker' suspects that his model is misspecified and makes decisions that work well over a restricted range of specification errors around a base or 'reference' model. In the context of a discrete time linear-quadratic permanent income model, Hansen, Sargent and Tallarini (1997) (HST) used a single parameter – taken from a version of Jacobson and Whittle's 'risk-sensitivity' correction – to index the class of relevant model misspecifications from which the decision maker seeks protection. In that setting, HST showed how robust decision making would generate behavior that looks like risk aversion. HST calculated how much 'preference for robustness' – interpreted as a form of aversion to a particular kind of Knightian uncertainty – it takes to put 'market prices of risk' into empirically plausible regions. This paper extends the analysis of HST to economies with equilibrium allocations that solve continuous time optimal resource allocation problems. Most of our results exploit the analytical convenience of continuous-time diffusions. Working in continuous time lets us leave the confines of a linear-quadratic framework: objective functions can be nonquadratic and state evolution equations can be nonlinear. Leaving the linearquadratic framework makes it easier to link our robustness parameter to commonly used measures of risk aversion both in decision problems and in security market data. It also


We derive upper bounds on the rate of transmission of classical information over quantum channels by block codes with a given blocklength and error probability, for both entanglement-assisted and unassisted codes, in terms of a unifying framework of quantum hypothesis testing with restricted measurements. Our bounds do not depend on any special property of the channel (such as memorylessness) and generalize both a classical converse of Polyanskiy, Poor, and Verdú as well as a quantum converse of Renner and Wang, and have a number of desirable properties. In particular, our bound on entanglement-assisted codes is a semidefinite program and for memoryless channels, its large blocklength limit is the well-known formula for entanglement-assisted capacity due to Bennett, Shor, Smolin, and Thapliyal.